Chicken Little

1) Chicken Embryo 2) I named him 'Chicken Little' 3) Edgar Winter - Shock Treatment 4) Tyler - the ugly dog 5) Gloria dancing to some song I had never heard We both slept well, but Mindy was up and downstairs much earlier than me. My best guess is that she was up somewhere near 8:30. I slept a half hour longer. It was just after 9am when I found my way to the kitchen. Mindy already had coffee on the make, so I selfishly began my morning exercise routine. It didn’t take me long to work through my exercises. I was done in less than ten minutes. By 9:15am, I was heading out for a walk with Ykraps. And just like Sunday last, it was snowing, albeit lightly. It was cold again, too. I could tell that the temperature was below 20 degrees. Finding myself back inside for coffee seemed like a real treat. Although it was 9:30, Mindy still wasn’t certain if she was going to church. My guess was that she wasn’t. Soon, however, it was clear. She wasn't. It must have been around 10:15 when she finally declared, and in celebration I readied and left for a run. Mindy promised to have some eggs ready upon my return. The snow came down hard during my run. At times my black running gear was completely blanketed in white. I wisely decided to restrict my run to the confines of the subdivision. The snow let up just as I finished. Before going inside I grabbed one of my cheap plastic snow shovels to remove the ½” of snow from the drive and walks. It didn’t take long. Again, if I don’t shovel, even the smallest amount, one can slide immediately after backing out of the garage and onto the sloping drive. It wasn’t worth the risk. Mindy beckoned for my attention just as I was finishing up. She said she had something she wanted to show me inside. She reported finding a chicken in one of the many eggs she had cracked. I, of course, was skeptical. But sure enough, there swimming amongst the scrambled egg batter was an embryonic chicken. It looked more like a piece of used chewing gum, but it didn’t take much imagination to see the beginnings of a chicken. I immediately went to the PC to learn more about such a find. Sure enough, on line I found lots of info regarding embryonic chickens. Although, I didn’t find any detail regarding the odds of finding one in a “farm fresh chicken egg” meant for human consumption. However, she bought the eggs at Wal-Mart, and we all know that they're not looking to build a reputation on quality. By the looks of my initial research, this embryo was about ten days old. At some point, assuming that life begins at conception, this little chicken was probably looking forward to life on a farm, perhaps waking his/her humans at sunrise, or possibly even starring in a cartoon. At a minimum, he/she would certainly have had a chance to cross the proverbial road only to have his/her intentions questioned. Instead, one of the Walton boys plucked him from his mothers nest and threw him in an egg cartoon with eleven other sterile eggs. The journey which culminated in a bumpy ride to my house probably killed him/her. I came to the conclusion that it was actually edible and gave careful consideration to doing so, but Mindy would have nothing of it.. Ultimately, I decided it would be better as a science project. I took a number of photos in various poses then placed it in a zip lock baggie for safe keeping. Meanwhile, Mindy whipped up an entirely new batch of eggs. She was determined not to eat the white and yoke from which he/she came. She made southwestern omelets. They were ready in no time at all. She got out sour cream and salsa to top them off. While enjoying mine, I stumbled upon another embryo lurking amongst the onions and tomatoes. Mindy could eat no more despite my insistence that it was simply chicken. We moved on. Mindy decided that her free day would be spent shopping for that still elusive little black dress. I would stay home, clean, and relax. She reported that Jim Manken would be bringing the kids home at 2:30pm instead of the usual 3:00pm. While she was gone, I vacuumed the entire downstairs including the playroom in the basement (changed out the overstuffed bag, too). In addition, I folded a load of towels, measured for our master closet overhaul, and watered all of the house plants. While working away, I listened to some music not so recent to my ears. I listened to Edgar Winter’s, Shock Treatment & Elton John’s, Love Songs. The afternoon passed in a jiffy. Just after 2:30pm, Jim Manken pulled up with the kids. And just as I was opening the front door to let everyone in, Mindy pulled up, too. Good timing! Jim didn’t stay long. He wasn’t gone one minute before Jacob asked me to play with him. We went to the basement to play some hockey, basketball, and then some football. I asked Mindy to call when I needed to get a shower. She called me around 3:10pm. After a quick shower and jumping into my jeans and sweater, we loaded the Trooper destined for Gloria’s. I remembered to grab my volt meter so I could troubleshoot her failing garage door opener. We arrived at Gloria’s before anyone else. After a quick greeting, I took some tools to the garage to investigate the trouble. I determined and validated that the battery was definitely being prematurely drained. For that to be the case, something had to be shorted within the opener and most likely within the exterior keypad since it is exposed to the brutal elements. I wasn’t prepared to tear that apart, and didn’t. Besides, it was getting colder by the minute. My fingers were frozen. I decided that I'd work on it further on a warmer day. Back inside, others began arriving. Mindy asked me to take a look at her mother’s oven since it didn’t seem to be working. We checked the breaker and it was fine. We later learned that the top burners & broiler were operative, so it couldn't be the breaker. On closer inspection, I could see that the heating element was blown. It was charred and had a decent size hole in it. I asked that she get me the model number so that I could find one online. Mindy’s sister, Jody, talked to hubby Larry, who asked that I give her the model number so he could pick one up at his father’s old parts depot. Just before leaving, I did. Everyone was present minus Larry, Todd, Missy, and Mia. Too, we met Julie’s new girlfriend, Tara, and her lil’ dog. His name is Toto! O.K., I’m kidding. This dog was way uglier than Toto. His real name is Tyler, and he’s a miniature greyhound. Next to me, he might have the longest nose this side of the Persian Gulf. And by the way, Tara’s very cute too! Because Gloria’s oven was on the fritz, there would be no roasted chicken as planned. Instead, Gloria had to recover the meat and place it back in the freezer. And since Jody had to take daughter Lindy to work at Flyer’s Pizza, we decided to have their pizza for dinner. It wasn’t long before Jody was back with the four pies. And just because the oven wasn’t working didn’t mean that we didn’t have chicken dinner sides. We still had mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, and stuffing. I don’t know that I’ve ever had such sides with pizza, but it was all very good! For dessert, Mindy brought Bella’s adoption day cake. But before partaking in all of its sugar, we sang happy adoption day. Bella was quite pleased. We are blessed to have each of our lives touched by such an angel – and a loud one at that! We left just after 7pm. Just before hand, Mindy whispered in my ear that daughter Ashley would be at our house when we arrived home. She called Mindy earlier in some sort of despair. My three drama queens! Once at home we all hurried inside to escape the mounting cold. I had the fun task of walking Ykraps. I bundled accordingly, which rendered the cold an non-factor. Finally, back inside, and after giving quick hugs to Ash and Olivia, I rushed upstairs to change into my comfy jammies. Now I was ready to hold Olivia. She seems to be gaining weight very quickly. She’s getting rounder by the day, but still very, very beautiful! After tucking Jacob and Bella into bed I returned downstairs to feed Olivia. I see now why she’s gaining so much weight. She drank a 6 ounce bottle in a matter of five minutes. I think it’s time to move onto solid foods – perhaps even steak! Before they left, we briefly discussed Ashley’s recent quest to enter “beauty school” and her pursuit of financial aid. She indicated that she was awaiting word back on her FAFSA password and PIN. That’s a familiar story, I thought. I gave a wink and a nod to Mindy since I had projected she’d tell me that. I know my daughters all to well. After Ashley departed, Mindy and I watched some Hallmark Hall of Fame movie. Mindy, however, grew tired before its end and went to bed. I stayed up and read while passively watching the rest. I went to be at 10:40pm. Mindy was numb to the world.