Hot Diggity Dog

Hot diggity dog! I was up and downstairs beginning my day even before the clock struck 5:35am. I was most pleased with myself. I felt that I slept soundly, hardly moving a muscle, or waking multiple times. And as I laid down on the floor to begin my sit-ups, I realized that it has been days since I’ve taken an anti-inflammatory yet my back feels great. The key, I surmised, was having Mindy crack my back by walking on it every so often. I think that I’ll keep her! I finished my exercises with plenty of energy left in my tank. I bundled in my winter garb and leashed up Ykraps for our usual stroll. I noticed right way how much warmer it was this morning. It was still below freezing but in the mid to upper 20’s – a warming trend. Our walk was fruitful. Ykraps left tokens of his appreciation in several neighbors’ yards. Our return was rewarded by hot coffee. Our new coffee maker makes wonderful tasting coffee, and it’s very attractive. However, I recently realized, due to its design, we lack the aroma of freshly brewed coffee in the house. It pretty much keeps it sealed off from air, which they say ultimately contaminates good coffee. The trade-off is worth it. I delivered Mindy’s to her bedside, but she didn’t budge. I had to wake her. Before heading back downstairs I made sure that she was conscious & talking. I pretty much followed my new altered routine. I took my coffee computer side where I read the Daily OM, checked my email, and read the day’s Yahoo headlines. After that I did a mini-meditation then got busy with the food prep. I didn’t need much food packed since I had tuna and fruit in the fridge at work from the day before. Instead, my attention was placed on prepping Mindy’s lunch. For breakfast I whipped up scrambled eggs topped with sharp cheddar cheese. And just like every other day, I complemented that with cut fruit. Soon the whole family was downstairs going through their own little rituals. One has to respect the ritual of others even while we may not embrace their choices. For example, I don’t like playing video games, but since Xmas, the kids pretty much hit the ground running with game in hand. It’s all good! They left for school by 7:20am just as they usually do. Just as she was leaving, Mindy reminded me that we had a 6pm conference call and to contact her with the preferred technology. My plan was to stay after work to catch up on performance reviews and participate on the call at the same time. After they were gone I did a deep 10 minute meditation After my shower I decided that today would be yet another jean day, which would most likely mean that this week there will be three such days since every Friday, with few exceptions, is a jean day. Yahoo! Along with jeans, I wore a black t-shirt and my baby-shit brown wool sweater. I like the look! Trooper warmed, guitar played, it was time to leave for work. I left the house at 8:05am. Once at work, I was soaked with enthusiasm. I just knew that my day would be a total pleasure. And shortly after my day began I spoke with a couple old friends about employment opportunities. Perhaps we’ll be working together again soon. The morning moved along quickly and before I knew it was nearly run time. Once I took notice of that, I adjusted my schedule to ensure a timely depart. While it was still below freezing, the day’s temperature was approaching 30 degrees – at least ten degrees warmer than the last handful of days. Despite the heat wave, I still wore my full winter garb knowing there would be potential for shedding towards run’s end. As it turned out, I was comfy throughout the run. I peeled off the gloves just a quarter mile short of the finish. Eight more to go! After a really hot shower I moseyed back to my desk where I enjoyed my two-day old tuna salad. It tasted fresh as ever! Come 2:30pm I headed to my boss’ office for a meeting with our new internal recruiter. Finally, it seems like we’re getting somewhere. I had a meeting with a candidate at 3pm. That meeting went exceptionally well. It was almost 5pm by the time I made it back to my office. I spent the next hour, before our call with Lowell working on performance reviews. At 6pm I gave Lowell a call and also conferenced in Mindy. We talked for almost 1.25 hours. It was interesting. We might even speak again in the coming weeks. It was late - 7:30pm - by the time I left the office. My day still was not done. I had promised daughter Ashley that I would come by to jump start her car. It seems that her mom and sister were either too clueless or too afraid to jump her themselves. I arrived at Ashley’s a little before 8pm. We opted to use my high quality jumper cables instead of the jumbled pair she produced. The car started right away indicating that it wasn’t that run down. I had her take it for a spin around the block before shutting it down and attempting to restart. That went well too. I was there no longer than ten minutes. I called Mindy to let her know that I was finally on my way home. It was 8:20 by the time I was home. Mindy had not only warmed my dinner (leftover Ding-Ho), but she had already walked Ykraps too. That made the late hour seem less impacting. The kids requested that I come up and tuck them in as soon as I arrived. I followed through accordingly. The Ding-Ho leftovers hit the spot. Mindy sat at my side while I ate. We caught up on each others day. A glance at the clock revealed that it was nearly 9pm, already! We moved in to the living room where I updated my blog all the while continuing our conversation. I popped some popcorn to share as we continued our talk, and after that was gone we headed off to bed. It was 10pm.