Friday, February 16, 2007

Bagging Barley's












It was Friday again, but because I’d be on-call through the weekend I wasn’t as psyched about it as normal. Even still, I was up right on time and eager to begin my day.

After a quick workout I leashed up Ykraps for our Friday morning romp. I feel a little sorry for Ykraps relying so heavily on his sense of smell to unload his wastes. However, three days into this round of snow, there are plenty of other dog markings which seem to serve as his personal launching pad. It was surprisingly cold this AM. The actual low was -4 degrees. I didn’t expect it to be so cold.

Back home I made some coffee for Mindy and I – hers delivered bedside. Made lunch & breakfast – the usual stuff. Mindy left for school about fifteen minutes later than usual since Ashley was watching the kids from our home today. Remember, her and Olivia spent the night. The garage door was again giving us fits. It wouldn’t go up or down all the way. I tried adjusting the sensitivity controls but to no avail. I released it from the opener mechanism and went manual for the time being. I was hopeful that the moderating temperatures would cure the trouble as it often does. I was quick to be showered and ready to go. I warmed the Trooper for a short stint before leaving.

Work was dicey from the go, but almost all Friday’s are. I worked hard all morning long. I left for a run around 1pm. It had warmed to almost 20 degrees by then – a heat wave by comparison. Lucky for me, my trail was plowed to the asphalt making for a very pleasant run. My legs were a little sluggish today so having bare pavement to ruin on was a welcome sight.

Back in my office around 2pm, I picked up where I left off. I worked darn hard to eliminate any possible issues form getting out of hand. My motives were admittedly selfish given the fact that I would be on-call. I left work after tying up several loose ends somewhere close to 5:30pm. I had hoped to meet with my boss but it never happened.

I called Mindy as I drove along Trueman Rd. I let her know that I was stopping at Home Depot for lumber. I hoped to begin constructing the shelves in the basement this weekend. I drew up plans a few months back and referred to them just before leaving work. I had all of my material in short order. I headed home with twenty-one 2x4’s and other miscellaneous hardware in tow.

I walked in the door only to find our home in total disarray. I was not pleased, but it is about what I expected. We could never have a sitter watch the kids routinely form our home. I like it to look when I get home like it did when I left. I understood why, however. Ashley watched Jacob, Bella, and Lil’ Rocky all the while he took care of Olivia. Still, it didn’t lessen the impact a messy house has on my psyche. I tried my best to ignore it and immediately walked Ykraps then carried in my lumber by myself.

No sooner did I finish did Ashley ask for a ride home (her car is stuck in snow in front of her house). I dressed it my full winter garb and took her and Olivia home as requested. I loaded my snow shovels so that I could help free her car from the packed snow.

Her car was wedged in about a foot of snow with plowings directly behind. We tried for about thirty minutes to free it by rocking & digging. That didn’t work to well. I continued digging and pushing until I could push no more. But being one to never give up, I kept digging more. Finally, I insisted Ashley find something to give her front passenger side tire some traction. She produced a rough floor mat, which I thought would work perfectly. Twenty minutes later we had her free. I had to do the rocking through. It took some real doing. I was soaked with sweat and exhausted. We parked her car on the opposite side of the road.

I arrived home just before 8pm. I'd been gone so long Mindy and the kids were worried about me. The house was back to normal, and for this I was most grateful. There was order, soft music, and candlelight. It was very tranquil. The way it should be. Mindy put the kids to bed after I arrived. I helped with the tuck in then poured myself a glass of Riesling – the last one. I poured Mindy a red. We collectively decided to order a Minelli’s pizza, too. Mindy flew. I was content to simply sit on my ass. She returned with our favorite pie in hand - pepperoni and extra cheese. Too, I decided we should crack a bottle of Spumante. For the next hour we ate pizza and drank wine. In fact, we polished off the entire bottle of Spumante'. It went down easy! We thought about hot tubbing but those hopes were quickly dashed when I realized that I forgot to reset it after the power outage a week ago. A quick check revealed my fears. It was only 85 degrees in the default economy mode. We headed to bed after our hopes of hot tubbing were dashed.

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