Glutton for punishment

I am a glutton for punishment. I stayed up Wednesday night entirely too late. I didn't get to sleep until after 1am Thursday morning. I started out watching the basketball Buckeyes playing North Carolina. Innocent enough, right? Well, it was an exciting game in every way. The game didn't begin until 9:00pm and lasted until well past 11pm. Still not too late. And I even watched the second half from bed. At game's end, I was wide awake! Uncharacteristically, I laid there wishing I were sleepy for a few. Sometime after midnight Bella began calling for her momma. After a few chants for her,, it turned to me. I thought that I'd give Mindy a break and deal with it. I went to Bella's room and laid down with her. Even while I laid there beside her, she continued her "I want my mommy" chant even as she drifted back to sleep. It ended in an incoherent mumble but I could still sense what she was saying. I tried to get up and head back to our room before she was completely out. but she caught me and she insisted I stay longer, so I did. About ten minutes later I could tell she was out. I tucked Elephante' under her arm and tip-toed back to bed. I was thirsty, had to pee, and unusually hungry. I went down stairs to pee and quench my thirst. I thought for a moment about making some food but decided against it. I had eaten everything in sight at the company potluck earlier in the day, but I hadn't eaten any dinner. Regardless, I passed on eating through the night. I wandered back to bed where I laid until I finally fell asleep. When 5:30am rolled around my eyes felt like sand and my head a little fuzzy. I had to get up and get going just the same. I got crackin' on my exercises and eventually found my way outdoors to walk with Ykraps. It was another fabulously warm morning. But at least it wasn't pouring rain this AM. I completed the walk and my other routine tasks. Before long, we were eating our breakfast together. Jacob joined us but came in the room in a foul mood. Sometimes he just likes to project discontent on us. You know the look, a wrinkled forehead, and a sharp gaze out the top of the eyes. I tried filling his cereal bowl but he pulled it away causing a few to spill. His mother had seen enough and asked him to go to his room. Of course he, but somewhat defiantly. He begged for mercy once there sharing that he needed to eat. He sassed his mother a few more times leaving her few other options. After she calmed, she headed up the stairs with the dreaded spoon. He got a whack or two. When he returned downstairs he was much better but still a little bitter and angry. I thought he might earn more, but didn't. Mindy doesn't allow the children to be disrespectful under any circumstances to anyone. I tried to help ease his pain and helped him with his shoes before they left for the day. Jacob has a hard time with our relationship, I can tell. And I understand him too. After they left I carried on with my normal shower and such. I was ready for work by 7:45am. I left for work and arrived just after 8am. I saw along my way that gas process went up about $.15 overnight, and I need gas. Crap! I could've saved about $3.00 had I acted promptly. Work went quickly. Our weekly staff meeting was moved to Thursday so that always moves the AM along much faster. We didn't exit our meeting until 12:15pm. I was shocked that it was so late. I had a few things to do before leaving for my run. I left around 12:50pm. The weather was once again very nice for running. It was about 65 degrees under mostly cloudy skies. But for whatever reason, my legs were ridiculously stiff. Probably due to lack of rest. Being an everyday runner I count on my sleep to rebuild what I tear down each afternoon. Being the veteran that I am, I chugged through it. The afternoon went quickly. I left the office just after 5:10pm. Before heading home, I stopped at Target to return the set of rope lights I bought two nights before. I was hopeful that I would find two different sizes, but that wasn't the case. They simply reduced the over size making buying one replacement to resolve my problem futile. I thought for a moment about buying three new sets to make it all the way around the pergola but decided against it for now. And even though I returned the one set, I grabbed the company url off the box to poke around their webpage, and possibly even send them some feedback. That went quickly and before I knew it, I was home. Mindy made taco salad for dinner. But before sitting down to eat I took Ykraps on his ceremonial journey. Mindy insisted on driving to the Convenient store and fetching some sour cream since what we had in the fridge looked suspicious and expired near Halloween. Bella went with her momma; Jacob came along with me. I took the opportunity to talk with Jacob about his feelings towards me. I assured him that his daddy will always be his daddy and that he didn't have to love me, but that I loved him. I only asked that he be kind. He felt good about that and told me that he didn't love me but only liked me. I chuckled. We took a longer walk than normal. Jacob was excited with all the Xmas lights on display and wanted to drink them all in. As we approached our turn towards home he insisted on going a different route. He's very independent like that. I wasn't sure if he even knew the way home. I kept going the direction I intended, not wanting to cave to his every desire. I looked back a couple of times more than half expecting him to come a running. He didn't. I stayed my course and as I came around the corner closing in on our home I saw Jacob coming form the other direction - thankfully. I could just hear Mindy if I returned home without Jacob and couldn't explain what had happened to him. I asked him if he got worried or scared, and he said, no. He said he knew his way back. Mindy returned just as we were entering the house - good timing. We all sat down for dinner. The taco salad hit the spot. For dessert Jacob and I enjoyed a piece of Chocolate Mousse cake I brought home from the potluck. After dinner Mindy did her usual thing. She rushed the kids upstairs for baths. I was crashing fast having garnered little sleep the night before. I snuggled up in my reading chair and drifted off to sleep. She never woke me for the tuck and read. I slept till 9:30pm. And when I finally got up, I stayed awake just long enough to check on the Bengals Ravens score then head upstairs to bed. I was still pretty tired.

How Do I Get Out of This One?

I woke a few times throughout the night but never for longer than a couple of minutes. The first time was due to Bella calling for her mommy. And because of my poor eyesight, at first glance I thought it was near 4:30am, but after a second glance I realized it wasn't yet midnight. It was closer to 11:30pm. I went to bed somewhere near 9pm so I had a couple hours under my belt by then. The next time I woke it was 2 something, and then again around 4am. I got up for good at 5:24am and was downstairs at 5:28am. I felt very rested and marched through my exercise and vitamin routine like nothing. I leashed up Ykraps for our morning walk and left the house around 5:40am. It was spitting micro droplets of rain but nothing to be concerned about. But once we reached our halfway point, or the farthest point from the house, it begna to rain hard. Here I was, no hat, and getting soaked. And of course Ykraps insisted on doing some major sniffing around about the same time. Suddenly my peaceful, tranquil mood turned a bit stormy. And wouldn't you know it, it stopped soon after we got back inside. Hmmm? After toweling off myself and Ykraps, i made Mindy her coffee and took it to her in bed. She woke for a second, slid to my side of the bed, and asked for a hug and kiss. I obliged then left her alone so I could attend to the rest of my normal morning business. I did some peaceful mediatation and read the Daily OM. I had lots of extra time due in part to my slightly early rise as well as having no need to pack either of us a lunch. Mindy was lunching with a friend, and we are having a holiday pot luck at work. I did make our usual eggs & fruit for breakfast. Today featured fried eggs. Jacob joined us downstairs sometime around 7:00am. Bella never did come down for breakfast. She chose ot lay in our bed watchign her usual Sponge Bob DVD. You'd think that she'd be sick of that damn thing, but apparently not. Mindy commented about diving head first back into her low-carb eating for gaining five pounds on our trip and needing to be in the brides maid dress this Saturday for her friend Shelly's wedding. Without giving it much thought, I spouted off my standard weight loss lecture. Now's never a good time to be thinking of trying to lose weight for a coming event. That time was last spring. Need I say, she didn't care for my comment. I meant no harm, however. Apparently it's just something you don't say to your S.O. My point, of course, was relative to the weight loss infomercials you see in late spring that offer miraculous weight loss programs to help you fit into that bikini by summer. Come on! Should've of been working on that even before winter. And just as Mindy's noted for doing, she aired her feelings minutes later. All better! :) She loaded the car and I retrieved Bella and brought her downstairs. She inisted on being carried stating something about her feet huring too much. She's something else! Soon they were gone and I was in the shower. I shaved this mornign too, which took a couple extra minutes. I didn't rush myself by any measure. I took some time to pay bills, play guitar, and tidy up before heading off to work. I arrived to work by 8:20am. Things were not so busy this morning allowing me time to catch up on some dangling issues. I left for the Honey Baked store at 10:40am, just as I had planned. We ordered a whole ham and three roasted turkey breasts for our potluck. I agreed to expense the meat. I was at the Honey Baked store in no time flat. And since I was on Sawmill Rd, I stopped in Pier 1, Border's Books, and The Buckeye Corner. I spent no more than 20 minutes in total perusing thier wares. I was back at the office by 11:45am. I called one of my peers to come help me carry in the goods. There were plenty of bring ins too. Many of the engineers cooked up some really good stuff. Before i would eat a thing, I would have to run. I left to run at 12:05pm. It was fairly warm once again, cloudy but warm. It was in the mid 60's. And it was a good run. I worked up quite the sweat, due in part to the heavy humidity. I was back and ready to eat by 1:20pm. By now most of the engineers had alredy began eating. We had about eight pies & cakes, several crocks full of potatoes, as well as many other delicious sides. And we had the main course, the Honey Baked meats. It was goooood! I had too much. I could pass up some of the desserts either. I had two or three. I was full. We had a ton of leftovers by days end. Any worry that we wouldn't have enough for our C-shifters was put to rest. Besides, we had already carved off about 4 lbs of meat and put it in the fridge just for them. now, however, there were a butt load of sides and even more meats and dessert. I took a little home. Mindy called as I was leaving work. I tried calling Ashley too, to see how her day with Stephen unfolded but got only her VM. This is the first time that jerk has seen Olivia. I wish he'd just go away. As i told her, even a jerk will want to see his 'trophy' at least once. Any how, Mindy had been off of work since noon time. She had a doctor's appointment and then a plethora of Xmas shopping to do. She was heading home at the same time as I. While conversing she realized that she forgot to pick-up the wedding gift she was having gift wrapped at Lane Avenue Mall befor leaving. She swore a few choice words and then professed to be going back before choir practice later this evening. At home we walked Ykraps together. We tried to reach Bob to see if they had the baby today, but to no avail. We left a VM - no answer. We tried dad, too. No answer. I didn't bother leaving him a VM; he doesn't know how to retrieve them. Back home Mindy dove into the Honey Baked ham I brought home. Meanwhile, I took the rope light set I bought last evening at Target out to the deck to replace the strand that has a section burnt out. To my chagrin, the plug size doesn't match-up with the existing lights even though they're the same brand. That's crap. I thought they looked ever so slightly smaller. I may have to live with the 4 feet of burnt section, or repalce all three strands. That'll be a $30 expense, however. Mindy soon left for Lane Avenue mall, Choir, and a quick stop at her mom's. She insisted that the kids would behave when Jim drops them later. Jacob, as you may already know, can be quite the handful when he's dropped off to me alone. It makes me a little nervous, still. After she left and before the kids arrived I played some guitar, placed Jacob's bike on garage hooks. In the process, I noticed that the new box of DCON I put in the garage has already been half eaten. I carried Bella's tiny little bike to the basement. I blogged until the kids got home at 7:40pm. The drop went OK except for jacob calling Bella a liar whe nshe blerted out that Jacob didn't like me. :) Jim left after only two minutes inside. I allowed the kids to enjoy some Halloween candy before readying for bed.

Just Tuesday

1) a typical Newell sunrise 2) Xmas village 3) blinded sunshine I was awake and downstairs for exercise and the rest of my routine by 5:40am. The relatively clear skies we had on Monday we apparently gone even though there wasn't any precipitation expected. The high temps were still expected to reach well into the 60's. I did everything that I usually do on workday mornings. I walked Ykraps, made lunch, breakfast and meditated - not in that order. I made scrambled eggs for breakfast. The kids each had a bowl of cereal before their departure. Mindy left around 7:20am and I, just like most other days, headed to the shower. After tinkering around the house for a spell and playing a few licks on my guitar, I departed for work. It was 7:50am. The traffic on my way to work was back to normal. I think it's safe to say that the light traffic of Monday was restricted to folks simply extending their weekend by an extra day in lieu of taking the entire following week. Work was busier too. I kept busy all day long , but then again I always do. I left for my run around 12:45pm. It was 60 degrees on the nose when I headed out. I chose to run without a jacket again. My run went rather easily. I took notice of all the houses already decorated for Xmas. We go through the 90 day Halloween, TG, Xmas decoration phase so quickly any more. Realistically, many holiday decorations will remain up well into January, depending on the weather. If we have a severe cold snap after Xmas, as we often do, they could remain up for most until the January thaw, which routinely comes the last week. The afternoon was as busy as my morning. I stayed involved up until 5:10pm. When I left for home I called Mindy. I let her know that I would be stopping at Target to pick-up those rope lights I need for the deck. While there, I luckily remembered that Ykraps needed some god doof. I carried a 55lb bag on my shoulder. I found the lights. They looked marginally smaller than the three sets I bought last year, but they were the same price and the same brand. I figured it was my imagination. It was a quick stop. I was heading home by 5:35pm. Mindy let me no earlier that she had wings cooking. I could smell them as soon as I opened the garage to laundry room door. Before settling down for some food, however, I took Ykraps on his walk. Mindy asked me to eat first but I declined. I just can't relax knowing I have this pressing chore looming. It doesn't feel right, and besides, the walk helps me transition to home life. After we returned, I sat to eat some wings. I wasn't all that hungry, probably due to eating the hearty and satisfying salad that Mindy made for my lunch this morning. I ate about eight wings along with several pieces of celery. After dinner Mindy allowed the kids to help with more Xmas decorating. She was hanging the lighted pine roping on all of our oak banisters. The kids were excited to help. She's very patient with them. Throughout the evening, Jacob pushed her buttons to the point that I was certain he was gonna get the spoon, but he didn't. For whatever reason, he enjoys pushing his momma's buttons to the point of punishment. Come 7:20pm she herded them to a bath. I blogged and added pictures to each vacation day entry. There's so many good ones. I headed upstairs for the read and tuck, but then returned downstairs after only about 5 minutes. The kids both wanted extra hugs form me tonight. Lucky for me, I was in good standing with Jacob tonight. After a little more blogging I finally retired to the family room where I laid on the sofa and listened to soft music. By 9pm I was falling asleep. I was very tired. Mindy coaxed me upstairs at some point. I think that I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Back in Black

Blurry, but it still shows the deep colors. Olivia diggin' her papaw! After nine straight days off of work and a trip across the country, it was time to get back on the horse. I didn’t really feel like it, but knew that I had to. I knew my bedroom clock was fast, but forgot how fast. I guessed it to be roughly 15 minutes. So, I popped out of bed as it read 5:50 something. After brushing my teeth and making my way downstairs I could hear the coffee maker going through its brewing cycle - a clear indicator that it was a bit earlier than I had thought. It was just now 5:30am. I felt pretty good for it being 5:30am and having a body clock that’s all out of wack. Once again, I didn’t miss much about work while on vacation. I am convinced more than ever that I would be a perfect candidate for early retirement. That is, of course, as long as I could find a consistent and generous source of cash! :) Oh well, until I find that supply of cash I’ll have to keep working. With that in mind, I began my morning ritual, which doesn’t change much, work or no work. Ykraps and I did our walk in the dark but warm morning air. There weren’t many visible stars for a thin layer of fog. Upon my return I took about ten minutes to quiet my mind and reconnect with my source of abundance. Now in the right frame of mind, I began carrying on with the rest of my morning. Making lunches today went really quick since there were two pre-made salads left over from the anti-pasta salad we ordered from Minelli’s Saturday evening. I had our breakfast ready to go by 6:38am – far earlier than usual. When Mindy came downstairs she pointed out the stunning sunrise unfolding out of doors. The sky was a combination of purple, pink, and orange. I shot a couple of pics but feared they’d be blurry for not having a steady hand. Soon everyone was back into their routine. Mindy and the kids were off to school and I was off to the shower. I toyed with driving the BM’er but decided against it last minute. When I finally left for the day I couldn’t help but notice the sparse traffic on Wilson and again on I-270. I guessed it to be a popular vacation week for folks – the week after TG and deer hunting week. We’ll see how Tuesday flows. I arrived at work by 8:10am. It was a smidge difficult finding my way back into a routine, but I managed. Thankfully I had logged in from home on Sunday and cleared about 600 emails. Come 10:15am I was pretty much back in the groove. I managed to sneak a peak at the Viking headlines fresh off their first win in a month Sunday afternoon. I left for a run at 1pm after getting a bit sidetracked. The weather was remarkable for running. It was 65 degrees under hazy sun with only a slight SW breeze blowing. I didn’t need a jacket. It was a fabulous run. I felt slightly bloated from all the eating and drinking while vacationing, although I wouldn’t say I over did it on any one particular day. When I returned to my office it was already 2pm, but it didn’t seem like it. The only downside to the fallback thing of four weeks ago is that undeniable feeling late in the work day when one’s convinced that it should be later. Traveling to the west coast for a week cured that, however. I could’ve bought that it was mid-morning. The afternoon went quickly. Ashley called mid-afternoon to chat a little. We agreed that she would come over for a visit this evening, and she would be bringing Olivia and Lil’ Rocky. I was happy to hear that. The rest of my afternoon was spent working diligently. The next time I glanced towards the clock it was after 5pm. Yikes! That went fast. I made quick work of preparing for departure. I was in the Trooper by 5:15pm. The light traffic from the morning, I could see, carried over to this evening. The freeway was moving at a very fast clip. Great! I arrived home even before 5;30pm. Mindy was already there as was Ashley. It was a ‘daddy day’ for the kids but Bella chose not to go. She wanted to stay home. Jacob went to dinner alone with his daddy. After unloading my work stuff, I held Olivia for a spell so Ashley could relax. She looked really tired and reported having cold symptoms. I also sought a hug form Lil’ Rocky but he wouldn’t have any part of that – rarely does. I wasn’t real hungry so I didn’t eat dinner. I held Olivia some more. She loves being held by her Papaw. I put the original Grinch cartoon in for the kids to watch. They were getting a bit rambunctious. Ashley readied to leave around 645pm. Mindy came in to hold Olivia before she left. She hadn’t had a chance to spend any measurable time with her yet for all of the household chores I make her do. But, if she wants to keep her allowance… . :) Ashley left a few minutes later. Rocky denied Mindy and I hugs goodbye as he often does. Mindy rushed the kids upstairs for a bath and jammies while I updated my blog. My PC has been acting buggy since my return from vacation. I looked and saw that Ashley had been all over the Internet too. I chose to back load my PC to the day before we left. That process safely removes any configuration changes made in the interim, but doesn’t remove updated files such as documents or pictures. That worked perfectly. After helping to tuck in the kids I returned downstairs to add pictures to my vacation blog entries. Mindy continued with her Xmas decorating, adding her miniature village to our leaning shelves as well as other items. She spent another two hours or so. After blogging, I retired to the family room to catch the MNF game. The game featured Green Bay at Seattle. And to my surprise, it was snowing in Seattle and pretty hard, too. It was fun to watch. Also, we couldn’t help but feel connected having just spent a day there less than a week ago. Through the first quarter I turned down the volume and read. I finished my latest Deepak book, Power, Freedom, and Grace. Very, very good! Come halftime I headed up to bed. Mindy had gone up a few minutes before hand. I turned the game on from bed but only saw another five minutes or so before drifting off to sleep.

Has Spring Re-Sprung?

1) The pond at sunrise 2) Jacoby and Bella walked Ykraps with me this AM I woke around 8am anxious to get going with my Sunday, my last day of vacation. I did my usual: prep coffee, vitamin, exercises, and walk with Ykraps. It was another gorgeous day taking shape. Saturday ending up reaching 70 degrees – a new record. I returned from my walk with Ykraps and made coffee for Mindy and I. Jacob was in bed with his momma when I dropped off her coffee at the night stand. Soon she was up and downstairs, her and the kids. We enjoyed a fairly casual morning from there on out. Mindy readied for church and was all ready to go come 10am. She decided to allow Jacob to stay home with me at his request. He didn’t feel well and I think she liked the idea that he wanted to spend uninterrupted time with me. The only drawback was that I’d yet to run. She understood that and was OK with Jacob staying back and watching TV while I ran. He was right where I left him before my run. He was eager for my return because we had agreed to play some football in the backyard. Our plans were kyboshed, however. Mindy took the Trooper and the football was in the back. And even though I had a back-up football in the shed, she had the shed keys too. They share a key ring with the Trooper keys. I felt bad for Jacob. He and I headed outside anyway to run around the yard. He ended up helping me with more yard winterization projects. I let him wield the tree prunners to help cut down the climbing roses that have become a bit of an eye sore. He enjoyed hacking away at them. We also pulled up the remaining tomato vines. I also spent some time using paint thinner to further remove the oil stains left on the concrete drive even after power washing yesterday. The petroleum based distillate did a fantastic job of removing what was left. We had a lot of fun hanging out together. We sat on the deck sipping water until Mindy got back. Once she returned home we quickly retrieved the football form the Trooper and took to a game in the back yard. Of course we played by Jacob’s rules, which almost always means he scores everytime and I don’t. He doesn’t realize yet just how competitive that I am, but he’ll learn! As it turned out, he was injured on his second set of downs. He cried and called me names. In reality, he ran into my knee with his shin. He eventually stopped crying and we played some more. He wants to play organized football, and he has a butt load of talent, but he’ll have to get over the wining thing if he hopes to play. After we finished playing and working outside we went inside for some food. Mindy was chomping at the bit to go tanning and to the grocery. This time both Bella and Jacob would remain behind. Bella was pushing my buttons all day. I wasn’t sure how this was going to go. After Mindy left I decided to take them to the park. Bella had asked earlier, and after thinking it through it seemed like a good way to kill time and work out some of her pent up energy. We drove the Trooper to the park and took Ykraps, too. Bella made a new friend almost immediately. Jacob and I played football the entire time. Ykraps took a crap and then spent time tied off to the swing set. I forgot to bring his scoop so the doggie-doo remained. We hung at the park for a little more than an hour. When we returned to the house I logged onto Yahoo Gameday to check on the Vikings game. Bella went upstairs to watch TV. Jacob hit the couch. The Vikings had a 31-12 lead and were about to score again just as I joined. I was pleasantly surprised. Suddenly however, the Vikings lost he ball via a goal line fumble and Arizona returned it 99 yards for a touchdown making the game somewhat close. Are you kidding, I thought. I was on pins and needles as we tried everything we could do to give them the game, including allowing them to recover and onside kick with 30+ seconds left. The Vikings survived and won. I was relieved but tense. Mindy arrived home with groceries and needed help carrying them in. It was now about 4:30 and I hadn’t even had a chance to shower. I was about to lose it. Meanwhile, the kids were ordering various food entrees before Mindy even got grocery item number one put away. Bella also told her mommy that I wouldn’t put a movie in for her. True – but she never asked. After helping carry in the groceries I retreated to the shower where I could accomplish two goals. I could get clean and get some alone-quiet time. After a shower I jumped in bed to catch a little football and a short nap. It felt amazingly good. At Mindy’s request, I headed downstairs around 5:30pm to grill some steaks. I fired up the grill then began watching more football downstairs. And truth be told, I was a little annoyed at the continued clutter in the kitchen/family room from all the activity. There was stuff every where, or so it seemed. As luck would have it, the grill ran out of propane. Great! Good thing we have a broiler. :) We ended up broiling the steaks and they turned out quite good. Mindy made brussel sprouts as the highlighted veggie. For dessert we ate the two pieces of pumpkin pie that her mother sent home yesterday. After dinner Mindy raced the kids upstairs to get there weekly washing. The game plan called for Ykraps to get his bi-annual bath after they were through. I discovered to patches of irritated skin on Ykraps, one on his foot and the other on his lower back. After a bath I would try to put some Neosporin on them. His bath went pretty well. Bella helped. After we got everyone bathed and tucked in, I went down stairs to write and watch football. Mindy began decorating for Xmas. She has more Xmas decorations than perhaps anyone else I know. She decorated for a good three hours. I had fallen a sleep reading at 11pm and she was still going strong. I headed to bed. But when I got to bed I suddenly felt wide awake. Crap! In addition, my back was achy further contributing to my inability to fall back asleep. Mindy finally joined me ten minutes later. I asked her to rub my sore right shoulder to hopefully loosen the swollen muscle. She did. I laid there until after midnight contemplating a number of things: mother, step-mother, kids, bills, work, etc.

There's No Place Like Home

1) Bella was after a green sucker right in the door 2) Ashley visits with Olivia 3) It's Dcon the mouse. I found him in Ykraps' dog food container a bit out of sorts. Sadly, he was slow and lethargic. I'm certian he puttered away to die. Like a dream, I woke in my own bed for the first time in several days. I really appreciate my own bed whenever I return from being away. I must admit, however, that Glenn's bed was surprisingly comfy. Still, there's no place like home. I had a case of jet lag, too. We didn't get up until just after 9am, and I could've slept even longer. We were expecting the kids to be home around 11am so that looming deadline helped prompt me into action. The morning was uncharacteristically beautiful. Nothing but clear blue skies and very mild morning temps. It was nearly 50 degrees already. I pushed through my exercise routine then leashed up Ykraps for a pleasant morning walk. The house felt cluttery with our luggage still strewn about the house as well as several of Ashley's things. I must admit, that had me a little on edge. As soon as we enjoyed some coffee, I began unpacking all of my luggage. My goal was to be completed before the kids returned. Mindy asked that I get my dirty clothes organized too since she was about to begin laundry. The kids arrived home at 11am sharp. Bella was happy to see me, but the verdict seemed out on Jacoby. He's very self-conscious about showing any affection towards me in front of his daddy. I can fully appreciate how he feels. We took a few pics of the kids and continued on with some household chores. I decided not to waste the incredibly nice day taking shape and ventured to the garage and the shed to further winterize the property. he first thing I did was stow Mindy's second bench seat in the shed since it has been sitting idle in the garage most of the summer and fall. Next I pulled all the cars off the drive and along the curb so that I could power wash was the automobile fluids that have leaked both from Mindy and Ashley's clunkers. By then it was about 65 degrees and felt incredibly warm in the sunshine. I was able to wash the majority of the petroleum based residue off the concrete. And while I had the power washer out, I re-did the front porch since a bunch of sparrows have shit allover it after nesting in the English ivy that covers the front of our house. After power washing I pulled the BM'er out of the garage so that I could stow the John Deere against the inside wall. I learned last year that my garage could handle both mowers and two cars nicely as long as I placed them strategically. While I had all vehicles out of the garage , I went ahead and blew all of the loose debris out with the leaf blower. After finishing with the garage I emptied all the clay flower pots for winter storage. Meanwhile, back inside, Mindy was taking down all of the fall decor that has been up since the last weekend of September. It's hard to believe that it had been up for almost two months. She brought four pumpkins outside destined for the mulch pile. I spent another hour or so winterizing the yard. By the time 3pm rolled around I had completed quite a bit. I was satisfied with our progress. We made arrangements to be at Gloria's around 4:30pm so Mindy could show off her ring. I asked if she wanted to have some pizza with us. She did. We ordered a Minelli's pizza just before leaving for her house. We picked the pizza up on our way. We were running about 25 minutes later than planned. No big deal. It was just us (Mindy, the kids and I) and Gloria – no other family members which felt a little odd. We sat at the dining room table to enjoy some pizza and then some pumpkin pie. We watched the Georgia versus Georgia Tech football game in the background. We stayed at Gloria’s until almost 6:30pm. Once home Jacob and I walked Ykraps, who hadn’t yet taken his evening walk. And until this walk, he hadn’t pooped since we’ve been home. Like usual, Mindy got the kids settled for bed between the hours of 7 & 8pm. And after they were tucked into their beds, we got comfy in front of the family room TV for the big USC/Notre Dame game. USC wasted little time dominating the Fighting Irish, fueling the fire that they should be the team playing the Buckeyes for the National Championship. Mindy went to bed before the game was over. I stayed up. Once the outcome was no longer in doubt, I took to updating my blog. I had the entire week saved in a Word document. I also spent about an hour downloading all of my vacation pictures. I stayed up until 1am.

Pacific Northwest in the morning - Barley's at night

1) Glenn's figure drawing illuminated 2) The drop at PDX 3) Back at Barleys I woke at 4:50am to get my Friday underway. Happily, a glance out of Glenn’s masterbath window revealed a few stars lurking above. Today the stars represented more than just a spiritual experience. They represented a dry run which would make my last minute packing much easier. I quietly made coffee, exercised, and took my multi-vitamin. I made a cup of coffee before leaving for a run at 5:20am. Of course it was pitch dark during my run. And even though there were a few stars above, the streets and walks were still wet from all the rain. I ran only four miles for the sake of time. I was back at Glenn’s by 5:52am. I quickly took a shower and then went to wake Mindy at 6:04am. While she showered and dressed, I packed us a light snack for the trip home. I made turkey and cheese sandwiches on French bread along with a baggie full of peanuts. After some last minute packing of carry-on items we were ready to wake Glenn and head to the airport. We woke him at 6:40am. He was up and ready in less than five minutes. We didn’t need to depart before 7am so he even had time for a cup of coffee. I loaded our bags into the Honda. We left Glenn’s place at 6:56am destined for PDX. We arrived at the airport at 7:12am. Glenn pulled along the curb where just five days ago he had picked us up. We unloaded our gear, said our goodbyes, and posed for a couple of pictures. Seconds later we disappeared into the mass of people. Check in was a breeze save for the double booking. They had us on two different flights home. One through Phoenix, and the other through Minneapolis. We selected the flight through Minny, of course. We were at our gate with about an hour to spare. We boarded our flight and left by 7:50am. Our flight time was almost an entire hour faster heading back east due in part to a 70mph tailwind. It was just a 2.67 hour flight to Minny versus 3.5 hours on the way here. I dosed several times during the quick flight. An hour and a half into the flight we enjoyed our sandwiches. I was ready to come unglued with a couple sitting in front of us. They were flawed adults with no apparent regard for the space and tranquility of others. They were watching a movie on their laptop and laughing hysterically and very, very loud to the point that they were down right obnoxious! I was still angry until I saw them when we all deplaned. They both got short changed in looks and common sense. On second though, they deserved a good laugh. We landed in the “C” concourse and took a tram to the “F” concourse where our CMH flight would depart. Once there we found a Burger King and grabbed some lunch. We were hopeful of a flawless flight-schedule home, but that wasn’t to be. Our flight was delayed about 40 minutes due to a late arriving crew. Not a big deal, however. The day was near done when we left Minny at 4pm CT. That was hard to fathom. The sun was beginning to set as we took off. I felt as though we had just gotten up, and the sun had just come up. It’s always a fast day flying back east. The CMH leg of the flight went really fast. Mindy slept soundly for almost the entire flight. I slept for about half, and read through the other. Before we knew it, we were preparing to land at home. No sooner did we land did we receive a call from brother Tommy, who was already waiting patiently at Barley’s for our arrival. I had given thought to stopping home first, but when we called, Ashley didn’t answer giving us any real purpose for going home first. Mindy wanted to go directly to Barley’s. Yikes! I’ve created a beer drinking monster! Barley’s was sparsely populated, but no Bob & Mary Ann, and no Jeremy and Courtney. Tommy’s stuff sat at the bar but he was no where to be found. It turned out that he was back playing pool. Steve, Dan, Lee, and Janet were there. We greeted everyone and Mindy shared our good news and showed everyone her ring. After procuring an IPA, I went and found Tommy. As time passed Barley’s emptied even more, but we remained and had a dandy time. Mindy ordered food; I didn’t. I did eat a few bites of hers, however. Later in the eve Rick showed up as did Josh and Thad. We stayed until almost 10:45pm. Tommy left around 10pm. We arrived home by 11pm. I walked Ykraps, who hadn’t been out for his evening walk yet. When he and I got back, Mindy went right to bed. I stayed up and surfed the web For about 15 minutes. I joined her in bed before 11:30pm. Our bed felt really good after being gone for five nights.

Rain, Mimosa, & Turkey

A bird in hand is worth two in the bush! Cooked & stuffed! Place settings I was up at 7:30pm after waking a couple of times through the night to pee. I could feel the effects of the many beers from the night before, but all in all, I felt pretty good. It was raining steadily yet lightly. I took my vitamin, allergy meds, and an anti-inflammatory. In the kitchen I prepped coffee and poured a glass of OJ. And just like prior mornings at Glenn’s, I drug the 3X5’ area rug from in front of the TV to the sofa so that I could comfortably complete my sit-ups on the hardwood floors. After the sit-ups, push-ups and curls I tuned into Today to catch-up on all the TG festivities. Mindy was up shortly after I began my exercises. I drank a cup of coffee and soon left for my TG run. As I alluded earlier, it was a rainy TG morning. To go along with the rain there was a stiff SW breeze blowing too. Despite the yucky weather, there were a number of runners and walkers taking in the Vancouver river front. That didn’t surprise me, though. There are always folks out and about the river front. It’s designed with walkers, runners, and bikers in mind. I completed my run n about 45 minutes. I was drenched with rain and sweat. We needed a few grocery items to complete our TG dinner, so before even changing out of my wet running clothes I requested Glenn’s CRV keys and left for a quick trip up the road to the Safeway. I grabbed some coffee, creamer, OJ, frosting, and whipped cream. I forgot to request Glenn’s Safeway card so I wasn’t able to take advantage of the good sale prices. If I could’ve remembered Glenn’s home phone number that would’ve worked too, but I couldn’t. Oh well! Back at Glenn’s I topped the cheesecake that I made the day prior. I also opened the bottle of champagne that Glenn’s neighbor, Lola left along with a box of pastries. I made Mimosas for everyone. After finishing off the cheesecake we got busy making the TG meal. My contribution was preparing the turkey, stuffing, and the gravy. Mindy helped me prep the stuffing. My recipe is an apple, sausage, walnut concoction blended with a handful of veggies, including bell pepper, celery, and carrots. Our turkey was medium sized -13.5 lbs. We had so much stuffing that we baked a little more than half in a separate casserole dish. Glenn went into work for an hour or two while Mindy and I put the bird in the oven. I think I had three or four of those mimosas. Mindy took a nap on the living room floor by the roaring fire Glenn built. We had Xmas tunes whirling in the background too. While Mindy napped I wrote and practiced guitar. I had a good little holiday buzz going. J Glenn returned sometime close to1pm and got busy making his famous green bean casserole. In the meantime, Mindy prepped the mashed potatoes. While we waited on our food to cook, we called our families back home in Ohio to share a little holiday cheer. We called Dad’s where they were celebrating TG for the first time in almost nine years, according to brother Bobby. Everybody talked, including Mindy. After that we called Mom. She had brother Charles and family over along with uncle Chuck. Mom reported not having the results of the tests her doctor ran on Wednesday. The description of her latest illness didn’t sound too promising. She managed to get Glenn and I concerned. Glenn commented that we could very likely loose both our mother and step-mother in the coming year. As 4pm approached, our turkey along with all the trimmings was finally complete. Glenn dressed the table in its holiday attire making for a most festive setting. We all sat down to TG dinner and shared a few things we were most thankful for. After we ate we agreed to take a walk about the neighborhood to help relieve our full bellies. We were out about an hour. We toured Glenn’s old digs, the Tip-Top Tavern (walk-by only), and other appealing neighborhood houses. It sprinkled a little but not too much. When we returned home we put in the Over the Hedge DVD. I cut myself a piece of cheesecake while watching the movie. I was crashing fast. After that movie we immediately put in Hannibal, a favorite of mine. After the second movie ended Mindy and I were whipped. We discussed our wake-up time and scheduled departure time with brother Glenn. We didn’t want to leave anything to chance. We headed to bed after 10pm. I had to be awake at 5am to ensure plenty of time for exercise, a run, and last minute packing.

A Quest for Immortality

1) My TG cheesecake 2) Egyptian Art 3) The Wright's in hieroglyphics 4) At the Dragon Fly We woke somewhere close to 7:30am again. I got busy immediately with making coffee, my exercises, and then some TV. It was raining again this morning and so that meant that I’d be running in the rain. It was coming down in varying degrees. Even though it was raining, I enjoyed the run in the rain. Something about overcoming the elements. There was plenty of company on the river trail this morning too. I figure most of them were holiday visitors like me. I was back at Glenn’s before 10am. Our plan today would be a little more relaxed. We planned a trip into Portland’s downtown to visit t he Portland Museum of Art, and more specifically to see the Egyptian Exhibit – The Quest for Immortality. After the museum visit, the plan called for Museum after hours with a few of Glenn’s close friends. In between, I was sure, we’d do lunch at a local pub or restaurant. Mindy and Glenn had breakfast underway when I returned fro my run. I jumped in the shower to warm my sweaty, rain chilled body. I enjoyed sausage and scrambled eggs topped with cheese. For the next two hours before heading to Portland, I made the holiday cheesecake. Glenn doesn’t have an electric mixer, and I didn’t have my official l recipe. However, I have made so many cheesecakes over the years I knew I could wing it. I had to be creative with t he mixing since I hadn’t an electric mixer. Like always, I overcame the minor barrier. My cheesecake was done by 12:40pm PT. I had 20 minutes o t tinker before leaving. I played guitar. At 1pm sharp we departed for downtown Portland. Traffic was quite heavy heading over the Columbia River towards town, but it always is on this day. Twenty-five minutes later we were parking in Portland. It was raining pretty hard once again. We sucked it up and took it in stride. We were only two or three blocks form the museum. Finally inside we purchased our tickets. Admission was $20 per person. We each grabbed ourselves portable audio guides to learn as much as possible about the pieces. The pieces were as old as 1500 B.C. and as new as about 500 B.C. The exhibit was well named. The Egyptians were hell bent on finding their way to the blessed afterlife after dying in the flesh. Much like the rest of antiquity, they believed in an underworld where life closely resembled life on earth as we know it but with perfection. However, to attain this status one had to prepare themselves according to their strict customs. The adorned their tombs with many of their favorite earthly relics in hopes of using them in the afterlife. One notable tidbit that I pulled away from the experience was that many Egyptians were in poor health, missing their teeth, and somewhat homely looking. As their bodies were prepared for the afterlife, mummified, and stowed in a sarcophagus, they were made to look beautiful as they might be in the afterlife. This is the reason that the Egyptian burial masks of gold presented an almost flawless looking specimen.. The exhibit had mummies from 3000 years ago complete with coffins and sarcophagi. Another little fact was that they placed covers made of gold over their fingers and toes. Gold was thought to be the metal of the Gods. They were a very spiritual people. We left the museum at close to 4pm PT. We sought a place to get some food and drink that wasn’t packed beyond capacity. That proved difficult. Finally, at our third stop, we found a place - McMenamin’s Market Street Pub. Mindy ordered a Terminator Stout, me a Kris Kringle, and Glenn had a … I forget. I ordered three appetizers; hummus, wings, and mini-burgers. Everything tasted especially good, both the beer and the food. We hung at the pub for three hours! I had a few beers. Mindy stopped after one beer and one Spanish coffee. Glenn, I think, kept up with me. We waited patiently at the pub for Tom Shepperd to call. We decided somewhere along the line to skip the after hours at the museum. Tom would call us when they were leaving, and then we’d meet up elsewhere downtown. He called around 7pm. We walked to Alexander’s which sits atop the Hilton on like the 20th floors. It provides an amazing view of the Portland nighttime skyline as well as quality local music. Sadly, we found the bar to be closed. After meeting up with Tom, Eric, Paul and Holly, we headed to Dragon Fish, a Japanese restaurant. There we ordered more beers and appetizers. By now I had about four beers in me. I was on a roll, but so were others. It’s fair to say, we raised some hell! We laughed and played for about 2 plus hours. We finally left downtown around 11pm and headed back to Glenn’s place in Vancouver. Once back we were quick to head to bed. Mindy and I talked and snuggled for a few, however, before drifting off to sleep.

Seattle, Pike St, Bodies & Brew

1) Driving into Seattle against a threatening sky 2) Looking East up Pike St from the Market 3) The Fish Market 4) Seattle night time sky line Tuesday morning came quickly. I was up at 7:30am PT. Mindy got up moments later. I loaded the coffee maker and then broke into exercise. I made quick work of my routine and enjoyed a glass of pine apple OJ and a cup of coffee before heading out on my morning run. It was a rainy drippy run. The sunshine of Monday was long gone. What’s more, there’s little chance that we’ll see much if any sunshine through the duration of our trip. The weather forecast calls for rain, rain, and more rain. And all that rain translates into snow in them there mountains. Today’s plan calls for a trip to Seattle for some sight seeing and more specifically, three major destinations. We plan to hit the Bodies Exhibit at the Washington Convention Center, Pike Street Market, and then the Space Needle. We originally talked of heading out at 9am, but given our 7:30am rise time, run, and breakfast, that wasn’t going to happen. But we’re on vacation so not one of us was too concerned. We left Glenn’s at 11am destined for Seattle. We hit cloud burst after cloud burst along our trip – it’s a 160 miles almost exactly. After about three hours, Seattle was in our view. Along the way you pass through the state capital – Olympia, and then Tacoma. Seattle has a most impressive skyline. The sky had brightened significant as we drove into the city. But hanging out over Puget Sound were deep purple clouds. By the time we found parking and made it to the streets, thunder began to rumble and a driving rain hit. The locals told us that they get thunder and lightning up to three times a year. We experienced it as soon as we exited the car. Anyone who’s been to downtown Seattle knows that the east to west streets run down steep hills towards Elliot Bay. We walked down one into the driving rain with umbrella’s launched. Glenn’s umbrella was destroyed in less than a minute. Somehow I managed to keep mine from busting, although due to the strong wind, it inverted several times. We could take no more. We ducked into a Starbucks and ordered some hot coffee drinks and then used their john. We hung in Starbucks until the rain lessened. We knew it wasn’t going to stop entirely. We made our way to the Bay and to the many gift shops. We stopped in The Ole Curiosity Shop – a landmark gift shop. There they have an interesting display of shrunken heads and a couple mummies – Sylvester and Sylvia. After some purchases we stopped in Ivar’s, a famous clam chowder house, and ordered some chowders. We enjoyed them in their covered patio as we peered out into the bay. After Ivar’s we found our way to the Pike Street Market. Mindy was looking forward to seeing the Fish Market, especially. We had to walk up several flights of stairs to get there but it was worth it. This is one of the coolest open markets in the country. Their produce and fresh seafood is unparalleled anywhere else. We hung out at the market for about an hour. And any trip to the Pike Street Market isn’t complete without a stop at the original Starbuck’s which sit directly across the street from the northern most end of the market. It’s quite small, plain and unassuming. We left the market area and walked about eight blocks to the east towards the Washing State Convention Center which houses the Bodies exhibit. Seattle has a beautiful down town. You’ve got to see it to appreciate it. Soon we were at the exhibit. As it turned out, this is probably one of the most significant exhibits I have ever witnessed. There were bodies donated t o science is full form and figure as well as all the various pieces and parts. Each of the bodies systems were amazingly separated form the rest and displayed for educational value with an artsy spin. We saw a circulatory system, digestive system, nervous system, skeletal system, muscular system, isolated organs, and then a body of skin only. It was very moving and insightful. Words cannot do it justice. If you want to be educated and amazed, find a way to see this fabulous exhibit. We left the Bodies exhibit after about 2.5 hours. It was nearly 7pm. We made a quick walk to the monorail system where we planned to take a ride over to the Space Needle. As it turned out, the monorail had just shut down – 7pm. It was raining significantly still and we were all hungry and tired. At Mindy’s prompting, we opted out of the Space Needle and instead headed to our car and then to dinner in the sports district. We drove to the Pyramid Brewing Company directly across from Qwest & Safeco Field. There we enjoyed a couple quality beers along with some top notch pub food. I had a Reuben. Glenn had wings and Mindy had … I can’t recall. After dinner we left Seattle and headed towards home (Vancouver). I fell asleep almost immediately. I felt bad for Glenn, thinking that if he were anything close to as tired as me, he would be suffering for all the driving ahead. We were home in just under 3 hours. I woke just as we exited the freeway and came to a stop. Funny how that works. Glenn and I stayed up and watched a little TV and had a beer before going to bed.

Forest Park , Brew, and Dinner

1) Glenn's home early Monday morning - Sunny! 2) A pose in Forest Park 3) Glenn & Mindy Forest Park 4) Gourmet Pizza - Bridgeport Brew Pub - downtown Portland 5) Moet & Chandon toast 6) Rina, Glenn, Mindy, & Me Mindy was the first one out of bed this morning. It was 6:30am. I had a little headache so I took a couple of Advil and returned to bed for a few. She was happy to get up and not have to deal with kids vying for her attention. I could hear the happiness in her voice. While I laid in bed I could hear her talking with her mom back home. She was giving her all the details of our engagement. Gloria knew it was coming because not only had I asked her permission, but I had also asked her for Mindy’s ring size. I got up around 6:45am and dressed in my running clothes. When I went out into the living room, Mindy had coffee ready and was reading the book she had just started yesterday. She was all but done. I completed my normal exercise routine. Before leaving on a run, I unpacked my laptop and did a little journaling. At 8:00am PT sharp, I left for my run. I did my usual 5+ mile Vancouver run, down to the river bank, behind Joe’s Crab shack, along the river walk, to the shore side condos, and back. By the time I returned, 8:50am, Glenn was up. We had an aggressive action plan for the coming week that included, visiting the Museum of Art, skiing, and Seattle. After locking down the order in which we should attack our agenda, Glenn got on line to check out the Portland Museum of Art’s operating schedule – the first day’s main event. Uh-oh! Museum is closed on Monday’s. It was already 10am, too late to head to the mountain for skiing and probably too late to head towards Seattle. With all plans comes flexibility. We decided we’d go hiking in Forest Park, the same park where Glenn and I biked last TG week. We couldn’t really ski today anyhow. The snow pack on Mt Hood had diminished to a paltry 24” after a couple of rainy days in the mountains. That’s too bad because sky wise, today was an ideal ski day – clear blue skies. Unless we got appreciable snow over the next couple of days, and then some decent visibility, snow skiing was in danger of being nixed entirely from our agenda. Obviously that’s out of our control so we didn’t focus much time on it. Instead, we looked forward to our hike. We left the house around 1130am. We made a stop at the local Walgreen’s to get some bottled water and candy bars. We loaded up on the water. We bought a case. Each of us grabbed a couple candy (energy) bars, too. We drove across the river to Portland and then through downtown to Forest Park, the largest metropolitan park in the country. The park sits on the city’s western edge and winds up a very large hill that overlooks the city. It’s quite beautiful. The trail we took is about 12 miles long. We would not be doing the entire trail. We left for our hike under beautifully sunny skies. The trail has a slight upward slope pretty much the entire way. After attaining a pace, the slope was almost undetectable. The greenery was lush and beautiful. And like you might expect, we spent a great deal of our time chatting about this and that while we hiked. We hiked for a couple of hours. We did a total of four miles, turning around at the two mile marker. We left Forest Park near 2pm and headed into NW Portland for some lunch and some brew. We were going to visit the Blue Moon – somewhat of a tradition, but opted instead to try somewhere new. We ended up visiting the Bridgeport Brewpub in the trendy ‘new’ Portland area. The decision was a good one. The pub was ultra modern and the brew and food was A+ good. The décor was primarily stainless steel with lots of other metals mingled in. We ordered a pitcher of their stout along with a 12 inch gourmet pizza. We left the pub before 4pm and headed back towards Vancouver and to the grocery store where we would shop primarily for our TG fixins. We decided on the Safeway at Jantzen Beach. I was a little worried since we would be shopping without a list. That only increases the money we’d spend plus left us vulnerable to forgetting a few important ingredients. We headed home with our haul at 5:00PM. After carrying everything in, I played a little guitar while Glenn locked down our dinner reservations at the Hudson. Mindy and I would be meeting Rina for the first time ever. We had an hour or so to play before leaving to pick her up. I played guitar. Glenn checked email, and Mindy finished her book. We left for Rina’s place at 6:15pm PT. She lives a short drive from Glenn’s. Mindy and I waited in the car while fetched her. Rina looks a lot like her pictures but speaks much differently than I expected a bit rough. We chatted about numerous things including children and back grounds. She hails from Southern California and migrated here about 25 years ago. Like a lot of people, she moved for love. Four kids later she’s still here and now helping raise her grandchildren. We were seated promptly at the Hudson – at rustic looking lodge type place. The menu was a bit pricey, but according to Glenn, the food very good. As we perused the menu, Mindy and I decided to use this dinner out to celebrate our recent engagement and subsequently ordered a bottle of their best champagne – Moet & Chandon White Star. Of course we shared our bubbly with Glenn & Rina even though they had just ordered a bottle of wine. Mindy, Rina, and I ordered New York Steak. Glenn ordered cedar plank salmon. The food was very good. None of us wanted dessert. I picked up the bill. Glenn took care of the tip. We left the restaurant around 9pm. I was almost asleep at the table. After all, it was midnight back home. I slept all the way home, including the drop of Rina at her place. It was only 9:15pm PT when we arrived back a t Glenn’s. I went straight to bed. I was pooped!

An Engaging Experience

A Diamond, cool then warm And we're off ... again - Portland/Vancouver Bound! Detroit NWA tunnel - awesome! My day began early for a Sunday. I was up ten minutes before my self-prescribed 6am. I felt good having cut myself off from drinking during the OSU game at halftime save for one victory beer after the game ended. We probably were asleep by 11pm too. I carried on with my morning routine like any other day. I brushed my teeth, pee’d, took my vitamins and made a pot of coffee before cranking out some exercises. My plan, working backwards from our flight’s departure time, called for me to be back fro ma run by 8am. That would give me plenty of pad on both sides for any unforeseen extra actions I’d need to take prior to departing. Mindy had already requested a wake-up time of 7am, so after taking care of all the above stated business, and then walking Ykraps, I took her a cup of coffee. In our bed I found Jacob where I would usually be lying, snuggling close to his momma as he often likes to do. Back downstairs I blogged for Saturday while the events were still fresh in my personal storage. It’s been a while since I have documented the weekend on the weekend. Most often I do that on Monday, which takes some doing to recollect. Generally, though, once I get going, it all begins to flow like it just happened. But it wasn’t always like that. It’s an acquired skill. A little after 715am I sprung from my computer chair and dawned my back-up running attire (The my A & B sets being clean and packed). The only familiar running gear were my shoes. I decided once out the door, that I would remain in the subdivision in lieu of taking the Trabue route – no sense tempting fate this AM. After all, I had a lot on my mind and didn’t want to be dodging traffic too. I returned from my run feeling victorious and awfully sweaty. It was about 7:55am. Mindy was already out of the shower and half dressed. We were expecting ‘JaMaken’ around 9am to pick-up the kids. As the clock ticked, I was getting more nervous as the ever pressing secretive deadline I had arranged was fast approaching. Mindy was baking bacon and preparing scrambled eggs for all of us. I used the time to blog and tie up a few loose ends. As we sat for breakfast – just after 9am, JaMaken showed up to get the kids. We offered him food but he chose instead to just site and chat. Soon it was time. While Jim preparing to depart with the kids, I snuck upstairs to grab the jewels. We said our goodbyes and gave out liberal hugs. In part to ease the mounting tension, I carried all the suit cases to the car but couldn’t put them in to the Trooper until Jim backed out. He had the tailgate blocked. Jim was soon gone,. Suddenly I found myself alone with Mindy. I haven’t been so nervous in God knows how long. I told Mindy it was time to go. The little voice inside my head (the scared one) tried to conjure up another reason to delay! I paced nervously. Mindy said she wanted to check her email just before we left. I was ready to do the deed. Crap! I could take no more. While she plucked away at her email, and then my blog of all things, I approached her from behind, called out her full name. I told her that my heart was r acing faster than ever before. As she turned in wonder I asked her to marry me and presented her with the ring, still enclosed in the Diamond Cellar box. She seemed more than surprised and I think we both shed a tear or two. She, now equally nervous, accepted and opened the box. She handed the ring back to me to place it on her shaking left ring finger. I slid it on all the way to her knuckle where it stopped. She took over form there and pushed it the rest of the way on. Finally, it was done! Mindy shall be my wife. We left for the airport at 9:45am and were there in the Blue Lot by 10:00am. It’s a fast trip. With little trouble, we were in the terminal checking our bags five minutes later. We had almost 1.5 hours to burn before our flight departed. We strolled casually towards the security check point. Trouble! Apparently the liquid limitation issue was lost on Mindy. She had two items clearly violating the policy and the TSA folks weren’t going to be flexible. It was either leave them behind or possibly mail them home. One of the items was a $50 bottle of Calvin Klein Cologne I bought for her recently. I wasn’t pleased. She went to mail the items home while I passed through security safely. Mindy returned ten minutes later and explained that the items were too large to fit in the mail slot so she took them to the kind lady we met earlier at Bath & Body, gave her $20 bucks and our address. She said she’d ship them to our home. What ever was left, was all hers for the kind act. In the end, not such a bad thing. At our gate, B-36, we sat and waited patiently for our plane to board. Our trip would take us first to Detroit, then to Minneapolis, and finally onto Portland. Detroit was gray and snowy but nothing on the ground. Our original plans called for a quick 40 minute layover and because we had to change concourses, we no time at all. We hurried ourselves to our departing concourse only to arrive and learn the departing flight was delayed. We weren’t too upset because we had a planned 2 hour and forty minute layover in Minny anyhow. Here or there, we figured. We didn’t like having to change gates last minute due to mechanical issues. We left Detroit 50 minutes later than scheduled. We arrived in Minny close to 4pm local time (5pm ET). Again, we had 1.5 hours before our scheduled departure so we found ourselves some fast food – A&W rootbeer & burgers. After woofing down our meal and heading tot our gate we learned our next flight was delayed an hour. Shit- again! We called Glenn to let him in our delay. We’d be an hour later than originally scheduled. The next thing we learned was that our flight gate had changed again. We had to relocate to concourse ‘G’ from ‘C’. That ended up being a long ten minute walk. We were already exhausted! Finally at our new gate, we sat and watched NFL football on the plasma TV. We met a young lady from Portland who gave us a $35 flight voucher she had been given by NWA for transgressions during her trip. She was nice, funny, and also a bit annoying. She talked with Mindy for a long time. Finally, we boarded our Portland bound flight at 6:15pm Minny time. It was a 3.5 hour flight. It already seemed as if we had been traveling all day long. But, in the end, that’s all part of it. We read and slept through the final leg of our journey out west. Come 8:05pm we landed in Portland. We quickly spotted Glenn waiting just outside of baggage claim as we grabbed our four checked pieces of luggage. Soon we were being whisked back to his house. I needed a beer! We arrived at Glenn’s around 9:15pm. We settled in quickly. I cracked a beer, and Mindy some wine. We chatted for about an hour. Mindy, put on her pajamas and excused herself to bed at 10pm PT. Glenn and I went out for a beer after two at home. We found our way to the Hilton at Esther Short Park. It’s a trendy upscale bar. We’ve come along way form the hole in the wall kind of pubs we used to frequent when visiting. We caught up on all the recent goings ons in each of our lives. We shared a plate of deep fried calamari and each had a pint of JubeAle. I was beat. It was near midnight (3am ET). I needed to sleep. Glenn drove by a few other establishments on our way home. I sensed that he wasn’t ready to call it a night. I could take no more, however. Each place we cruised by was either closed or empty. We were back at his place by midnight. I excused myself and turned in. I was very, very tired. More to come...

Buckeyes Win 42 - 39 !

1) Pumpkin decomposing 2) Smashing Pumpkin 3) Ash, Olivia, & Mindy 4) Bella OSU tattoo 5) Bob & Mary Ann's Clubhouse 6) OSU wins! Buckeyes win a close one! More to come... I was up at 7:30am after sharing our bed with Bella for the last few minutes of sleep. I woke feeling well after a relaxing Friday evening at home. And while I felt good, I could already feel some tension building within. That always happens before departing on a trip. I'm not quite sure what the actual cause is but its something that's plagued me for years. Perhaps it's the fear of forgetting something or a looming, pressing dealine that has no flexibilty such as a scheduled flight time. I have never missed a flight, or been late. In fact, the reverse is true. I am always early - sometimes too early. Too, I get tunnel vision and only want to focus on the goal at hand, whether that's packing, loading or organizing. Any slight diversion and I'm a basket case. I have tried to manage this by relaxing a little and not placing so much emphasis on being ready days early. I have found that backing off of the annal act of preparing early only worsens the feeling. At the heart of it, perhaps, is a secret longing to be shamefully lazy. DId you ever have one of those dreams where you forgot to finish a major school project and found yourslef in a terrible pickle only because you lazily failed to get around to it? I had many such ddreams covering many of topics. As I write I think that I have maybe pinpointed the cause. The fear of failure! Ihate to lose. I hate to fail. I know this, I am miserably hard to live with on deadline days. I don't need to be told as much. Today falls well into that category. After my run Mindy prepped herself and the kids for a visit to her mother's and her sisters. She was dropping of the kids packings and picking up a suiitcase and a book. I would have approximately two sorely needed hours alone to pack and organize. And while they were out, I did just that. Come 1pm I was packed and ready. Now i could turn my attention to the Michigan and the clubhouse festivities at Bob and Mary Ann's. I alos made calls to my dad & Ashley to ensure our house sitting and dog walking plans were tight. I had to leave a VM for my Dad. Mindy arrived home around 2:20pm and we quickly organized ourselves around our goal to be at Bob's by 3pm. Mindy ordered wings for pick-up from Barley's, of course. I loaded the cooler and camera. Ashley arrived for a quick visit and to pick-up the key and cash. It was nice to see her and Olivia prior to leaving. We left for Bob and Mary Ann's at 2:45pm. We stopped at Barley's to get our wings. The tension was mounting in the Buckeye nation as the looming kick-off was now only 30-40 minutes away. We pulled up in front of Bob's at 2:57pm. Bob's clubhouse was already alive with activity. We quickly blended with the group, while Jacob and Bella mantained a low, shy profile. Bob served me up with a Sun Dog Blueberry Wheat. It was tasty. Mindy enjoyed a Mike's Hard Berry. Kick-Off was finally upon us. The game started poorly for the Buckeyes. The Wolverines drove right down the field to score the game's first touchdown. The Buckeyes answered on their first drive, and then two more times before Michigan scored again. By half, the score was 28-14, and the Buckeyes seemingly had all the momentum and the second half kick-off coming their way. Thanks God for halftime. It allowed me to catch my breath. I ws tense from the game and also from our looming trip. The second half started much like the first. Michigan scored quickly and before we knew it, it was aball game again. It was 28-24. But just like he's done all year, Troy Smith drove the Buckeyes right back and we build oour lead to 11 points. Never intending for this to serve as a sports recap, I'll cut to the chase. The Buckeyes continued applying pressure equal to Michigan. In the end, The Buckeye's proved to be up to the task. We won a real nail biter, 42 - 39! We celebrated loudly in the clubhouse. Bob couldn't resist his pyro-tendencies. He launched a couple serious fireworks. He's known around Grandview for his fire power prowess. In fact, he's been paid a visit or two by Grandview's finest. We headed for home sometime after 8pm. I walked Ykraps who waited patiently at home. Mindy got he kids in bed and then turned her full attention to packing. I relaxed while taking in more football. Mindy eventually went to bed. I stayed up a little longer. Eventually I joined her watching the USC game from bed. Good Night Moon! Go Buckeyes!

Bo Knows

I managed to sleep soundly until my normal rise time for the first time all week long. I think I still got up to pee around 4am, however. The realization that this was my last day of work for ten whole days did nothing but lift my spirits. I haven't enjoyed more than 4 successive days off of work since our mid-June Florida vacation. And that's a long time for me. I went through my usual paces - exercise, a morning walk, meditation, relaxation, food prep. Again ,this morning we were socked in by clouds. This will go down, I am sure, as one of the cloudiest, rainiest autumn's in recent memory. The weather forecast calls for partly sunny and mid 40's for tomorrow big game although given our recent pattern, I am not going to hold my breath. Mindy and the children left at their usual time and I was left to shower and dress in a quiet house. I went to my t-shirt archives to dig out my old "Bo Busters" t-shirt that I bought at the OSU-Michigan game in 1984(the first of two OSU vs Michigan games that I've attended). I wanted to wear it to work in lieu of the standard jersey. I found it with relative ease. It didn't smell so great but I wore it anyway. Just like other t-shirts from the archive, it was a bit tight around the chest and arms, confirming once again how well I have maintained my physique! :) I left for work around 7:50am after some guitar strumming and straightening up of the homestead. Despite a brightening forecast, I hit some drizzle along my way to work. The TG week forecast calls for temps soaring into the 60's and partly sunny skies. Hmmm? I was a little worried how the work day might unfold given the way that Thursday went. We were as busy as we've been since mid-summer. I knew, however, all I had to do was make it through the day and then I could forget about work altogether for ten days. In what was a little out of the ordinary, we had our weekly staff meeting this morning. It was an upbeat meeting with nothing too heavy discussed outside of a few employee related issues. Come 12:45pm I left for my last pre-vacation work day run. The temperature was a balmy 41 degrees under mostly cloudy skies. The light of the sun was peeking out from behind the clouds every so often. My run went fast. After a shower I was back in my office just before 2pm. Meanwhile, as expected, my Bo Buster's t-shirt yielded a handful of funny comments. Then a peer approached and told me that I should be ashamed and should turn my t-shirt inside out. When I asked why, he told me that Bo Schembechler had just passed away. At first I thought that he was joking, but once I logged onto my PC I immediately saw that he was not. That's just too coincidental! The game's already bigger than big, and now that one of the game's legendary icons passed away on the eve of perhaps the biggest game ever between the two is just too freaky! Sheepishly, some Buckeye fans quipped that they hoped this wasn't just what Michigan needed to boost their desire to win. For the next half hour I read all about Bo's timely/untimely passing. Oh boy! It was almost 3pm and my thought s turned to wrapping up and getting out of the office. I spent the next hour tying up all loose ends and preparing to be gone. At 4pm I left for home feeling awfully good! At home, the kids and Mindy were already there. I did the Ykraps thing before anything else. Mindy warmed leftover pizza for dinner and the rest of the evening we spent hanging out with the kids who very rambunctious. At 9 or so Mindy and hot tubbed. I'm convinced that Mindy tried hurting me when she knocked my drink and its contents along with shards of glass into the tub. However, I carefully fished out the missing pieces before sitting comfortably there in. Inside, while a fire roared, we watched Discovery Channel where a guy was dropped into the rain forest in Costa Rica and used only his knife as a tool for survival until he found his way out. Next, we watched a few folks climbing Mt. McKinley in Alaska - some 20,000ft up. Very tense. I fell asleep before the end but Mindy watched it all and told me what happened in the end. We went to bed sometime close to 11pm. No Barleys.

Crossing a Threshold

A rainy morning I woke in the middle of the night once again. It was approximately 3:00am. I had to pee and my sinuses ached and were stuffy. I pee’d, blew my nose, and took two Advil then jumped back into bed. I fought off the urge to get up even though for a few minutes I felt unable to fall back asleep. Finally, I past that imaginery threshold. Next thing I knew it was 5:40am. I was quick out of bed and downstairs getting after my exercises. Thunder rumbled across the sky, which was preceded by a few colorful lightning flashes. In an instant, I could hear little feet scurrying through the hallway. The storm woke them and they joined Mindy in bed. It was raining once again. We can’t seem to shake this turbulent weather pattern we’ve lived in since last Sunday, but who’s counting. As I went through my routine I could hardly believe that it was Thursday already – a week away from TG Day. The realization that my vacation is practically upon me and the beginning of the Xmas season began to take hold. I’m ready! In what’s becoming old hat, Ykraps and I headed out into the rainy morning. We took a different route than usual. He appreciates that as much as I like to shake up my run route from time to time. When we returned I toweled him off as I often do after a drenching to minimize the shakings that typically splatter the walls. I began making coffee for Mindy and I. In a bit of a twist, Mindy came downstairs to get her coffee since she was awakened by the kids, who were now romping around in our bed watching a video. As we sipped our coffee the kids began to squabble over the video and ended up in trouble. Always a little hard to take at 6am! Soon things quieted down and Mindy returned upstairs to get a shower. I continued making breakfast and packing our lunches. Before long, everyone was back downstairs ready to depart for the day. I headed up to get my own shower. I enjoyed the quiet of the house in everyone’s absence. I spent a little time playing guitar and laying out more vacation packings. All of my ski gear is accounted for, plus I verified that we I still have two patches for our use – a must as we ascend into the mountains. Comfortable with what I achieved, I left for work a little after 8am. I arrived by 8:20am and got myself involved in all the activity quickly. Needless to say, I worked hard! I didn’t come up for air until almost run time, which came at 12:45pm. By then the rain had subsided and temperature was a rather mild 53 degrees. I made a mental note of the sun’s position which was obscured by clouds yet obvious. It’s much lower in the sky these days. Duh! After my speedy return, I gobbled my lunch (turkey too!). I spent the afternoon trying to clear my to-do list prior before going on vacation. I even recorded my vacation away message and drafted my out-of-office email so all I have to do tomorrow is push a few buttons. Sure as day, 5pm rolled around quickly. I left the office somewhere near 5:15pm. I called Mindy before leaving my parking spot and she & the kids requested I bring pizzas home for dinner as long as it sounded good to me. I obliged and even placed our pick-up order before hitting the gas. It was drizzling again when I arrived at Minelli’s. Our pizzas were just coming out of the oven. Perfect! More often than not, there are familiar faces sitting in the dining room. Tonight I noticed the Ruby’s. They live or lived in the Westmoor Place subdivision that I once lived in some 40+ years ago, and had two sons (David and Doug) that Glenn and I went to school with. We didn’t speak, but I could tell that they recognized the familiarity in my eyes too. As soon as I got home with the pies I leashed up Ykraps for our walk. We took somewhat of an abbreviated stroll but just enough for him to do his business. We didn’t bother grabbing the umbrella. At least wit hall the recent rain, Ykraps knows the return routine well. I don’t allow him off the leash until we’re in and he’s been toweled off. I could smell the delicious pizza waiting. I woofed down several pieces of pepperoni and a couple cheese. After dinner the kids were sent to the basement to play while Mindy finished some laundry and packing. Not does she need to pack for our trip, she has to pack the kids for their stays with Grandma and then with Jim. And in what seems almost ridiculous, she packs the kids stuff for Jim in labeled bags for each day. I found my way to the reading chair where I slowly drifted off to sleep, and it was only like 6:45pm. I was woken by the cries of Jacob being sent to his room. Apparently, he was tormenting Bella and eventually kicked her. Mindy had heard and seen enough. Jacob’s night was officially over despite profuse begging and many apologies. After calming, Mindy slipped upstairs with the dreaded spoon to dole out some corrective action. I stayed up for a few and even updated my blog for the past two days. I went upstairs to tuck in Bella – Jacob was already asleep. I went back downstairs and returned to my chair where I read and again fell asleep. I woke a couple of times but slept there until almost 10pm. Eventually, I leaped to my feet and headed towards our bed. Mindy followed. For lots of reasons, I was thoroughly exhausted!

Rained all damn day & night

OK... it's not MY list but you get the picture! OK… this is becoming a habit. I was up once again sometime around 3:30am feeling entirely rested. This time, however, we both were awakened by Bella. I couldn’t return to sleep, so I once again got up and went downstairs to read. I read for a shorter spell than the previous two days and slowly but surely drifted back to sleep. I stayed downstairs until it was well past my usual rise time. I jumped to my feet at about 5:45am and got going. It was miserable out of doors. It was raw and rainy. After my usual exercises Ykraps and I ventured out into the rain together. Squish-squish describes it well. After some meditation, coffee, lunch, breakfast, and shower, I was all but ready to depart for work. Before leaving I spent some time playing guitar like always and then just like clock work, bolted for the office. My morning was painstakingly busy, and because of more interviews, I knew that my afternoon would be equal to the task. I left for a run a little early budgeting my time according. And as luck would have it, it was raining nicely at that time too. I got soaked but I didn’t mind too much. For the most part, I am impervious to water. I came with a protective coating that replenishes itself about every 28 days. After a return to my office I made very quick work of my brought food. I had to hurry. My interviewees were waiting downstairs.The interviews went until well past 3pm. The rest of the day was very busy. I ended up in a lengthy discussion with a peer until wel lpast 5:00pm. I nfact, I didn't leave for home until after 5:30pm. And yes, it was still raining. This was a Mindy Wednesday with the the choir practice caveat. Mindy had a nice pork chop dinner ready for the two of us. We didn't have long before she had to go. She left the house at 6:45pm. I was scared what the evenign might be like once the kids returned. As you may recall, last choir practice Wednesday didn't go so well. The plan as Mindy explained was for Jim to bring the kids home around 7:30pm - a full half hour later than ususal. I figured ot avoid some of the trauma of last week. Anyhow, they arrived at about 7:20pm. Jaocb, as he often is, was a bit stand-offish while his dad was present. But nothing more than one would expect from a young lad. After Jim departed both kids were exceptionally well-behaved. They didn't challenge my authority at all. They did ask to eat some Halloween candy before readying for bed, which I agreed to. Short of that they were little angels. We went through the entire process quickly and happily. Jacob & Bella each read, and then we did the brush and tuck. It was exactly 8:00pm. I changed into my own pajammas then slipped back downstairs to relax. Mindy arrived home right after 8:30pm. I think that she was as surprised as me at how quiet the house was. I gave her thumbs-up report on the kids behavior. Soon they heard her voice and beckoned for her attention. She quickly obliged then returned downstairs where we chatted about our coming trip, Lindsey, us, and other miscellaneous stuff. Mindy headed up to bed around 9:45pm and I popped some corn and snuggled up in my chair for a little reading. But I did more sleeping than reading. I found my own way to bed around 10:40pm.