A Good Night's Sleep

Ykraps is concerned after hearing word of a coyote in the neighborhood. He asked if we could move. Jacob figured out quickly that I put dish soap in his cereal. I was up at 5:45am after a fulfilling and restful night’s sleep. I literally leaped from bed to begin my morning routine. After making quick work of my exercise and walk with Ykraps I returned to read the Daily OM before doing my own meditation. The message was freakishly timely, as is often the case. It was about “Lashing Out” – expressing our emotions. I found great meaning in it. I began the rest of my morning in a wonderfully positive mood. I did my usual breakfast prep but once again didn’t need to pack my own lunch since I still had Monday’s in the fridge at work. I had only to pack nuts and fruit for Mindy. Mindy left for work around 7:20am and I headed up to shower and dress. I took a few minutes to pay some early monthly bills and to take a few pictures. The weather was expected to turn much chillier today. I kept in the back of my mind the ongoing manager’s conference at work but decided against an early run. We were scheduled to wrap up today at noon anyhow. I left for work at 7:55am. I arrived close to 8:10am - long enough to head upstairs and drop my coat, fill my water, and grab my coffee creamer. I was downstairs in the conference room by 8:30am. We picked up where we left off the day before. The morning presentations went fast. Before we knew it, it was noon and time to move on and back to reality. I headed upstairs to my center where I checked a few emails and addressed a couple pending tasks. I left for a run at 1pm ET. It was chilly and there was a stiff breeze blowing almost directly out of the west. But after last Friday’s 65 mph wind, this was nothing! Believe it or not, I still felt a little queasy from the D&B thing. I toughed it out and was back in the gym after 42 minutes. A hot shower felt really good and helped me transition into the afternoon. Back in my office I ate my two-day old lunch and worked to dig out of the hole created from being out of pocket for almost two days. I worked hard, too. I didn’t leave the building until almost 5:25pm. On my way out I ran into my old buddy, Don Robinett. I shared the news of my recent engagement and let him know that we would eventually be distant family. Don is someone I have always respected on so many levels. I left for home but thought I might stop at Target to buy this silver wire tree topper for one of our family Xmas trees. After talking with Mindy, I could tell that she was a little disappointed that I was running late. It always seems to happen on Mindy Wednesday’s. I scrapped the Target stop and headed straight home where dinner would be waiting. Once in the door I could smell the polish sausage and sauerkraut cooking. It smelt wonderful! But before digging in, we took Ykraps on his evening walk. The night was turning colder quick. Tomorrow promises to not even top freezing, and it's expected to deliver the season’s first appreciable snow fall. I could check my blog, but last year I'm quite sure that we got our first and only big snow storm this same week. In fact, I think it was on December 8th. We finally sat down to eat our dinner. The meal tasted even better than it smelt. I decided to add a hint of honey to both the kraut and the sausage. That made it taste even better. We both had a second helping. After we cleaned up the dishes Mindy readied for choir – early than usual. She reported needing to rehearse her solos before others arrived. She left by 6:30pm. After her departure I decided the time would best be spent updating my lagging blog. I worked on my blog for the next hour solid adding both text and pictures. Jim brought the kids home just before 7:30pm. Bella seemed delighted to be home, but Jacob did not, at least not until his daddy was out of sight. To help them transition to home, I offered up some TV. They wanted to watch a Xmas show. Fortunately, The Grinch had just begun on the Cartoon Network. I allowed them to stay up till 8pm watching. When it ended, I rushed them upstairs for PJ’s, read, and tuck. That went with little incident. By 8:20pm I had the kids asleep soundly. Back downstairs I continued my work on the blog. By the time Mindy arrived home – almost 9pm, I was caught up through Monday. Once she got settled in, we talked about a few things while I put up my Charlie Brown Xmas tree. This was my solution to our tree dilemma. I need that creative outlet for Xmas. More pointedly, we discussed Lindsey’s childcare situation and came to a conclusion how we’d help moving forward. But before finalizing I’ll let the idea sink in for a day or two. Mindy headed off to bed just after 10pm. I stayed up about ten minutes longer matching up a basket of clean white socks. At 10:30pm I headed up to bed also.