Running

Finally, a Power Outage!

Friday was finally here and I was up to greet it at 5:40am. A clear sky loomed large just out the door, but it was still cold, although not nearly as bitter as it was earlier in the week.

Just as I was lunging through my sit-ups, the power went out, but not before bouncing three or four times. Almost instantaneously, Bella let out a very loud cry for her mother, and when Mindy didn’t immediately respond, she next cried out for Jacob. Mindy finally gathered up both the kids and pulled them into bed with her. It was still only 5:45am.

I finished my exercise routine then lit a few candles to serve as our only light source. I found the stillness and quiet most comforting. As settled as we could be, I leashed up Ykraps for our morning walk. His leash was once again a problem causing him to get tangled and me to trip. I noted that I’ll have to get out and replace it this weekend.

Back home, the power remained out. I made a cup of coffee for Mindy and I. Thank God for the auto brew mode! And just like always, I delivered hers upstairs. Back downstairs I decided to simply relax and enjoy my coffee. I snuggled up against the back of my reading chair then eventually grabbed my guitar. I strummed a few tunes before deciding I should get moving with packing our lunches.

I packed usual lunches under candle light and reflected light from my rechargeable flashlight. Because the power was out, there would be no hot breakfast. I haven’t gone without eggs on a work day in years!

Soon Mindy was downstairs gathering her stuff to depart. I noticed that she hadn’t showered and asked why. Turns out, she was reluctant to shower with out the ability to blow dry her hair. She chose stinking over vanity. Before departing, she asked for my help in raising the garage door – something I hadn’t immediately thought through. There’s a release cord that must be pulled to disengage the electric opener. As Mindy backed out the drive I went out to lower the door. And just as the door hit the concrete the power came back on. The timing was impeccable! It was almost like the jolt of the garage door hitting the floor forced it back on.

As she pulled away, I witnessed Mindy slow apparently in disbelief. She phoned me minutes later to express her disdain. I found it totally humorous that she leaves and the power restored. She expressed feeling a little snake bit. Hey, but she has me! :)

I switched into power-on mode. I put my jeans in the dryer then went around the house resetting most of the clocks. I also checked for stray lighting left on. Just after completing a quieter meditation and jumping to my feet, the power went back down. Oops! O.K. – maybe I’m not blessed. I gave it a few minutes – about 8 to be exact. Lucky for me, the power came back on for good enabling me to shower and ready as normal. I wore a vintage Muff's black t-shirt today. It's probably 26 years of age. Wow! I wasn’t going to let no power stand in between me and a shower anyhow. The rest of the morning at home was non-eventful. I left for work just after 8am.

It was Friday so I braced myself for a challenging day at the office. And challenging it was. I worked awfully hard. I had a little extra motivation for getting to my run, this being my anniversary day and all. So come 12:45pm I set out on my anniversary run.

The weather was perfect. It was cold but it was also very bright and sunny. And truth be told, I didn’t care what the weather. I was so excited to complete today’s run and hit this milestone. I was admittedly a little more careful stepping off of curbs and making my cuts not wanting to injure myself and jeopardize the streak.

After completing today’s run I put the icing on number 3652 – 10 full years without a miss! I expect some day that my face and name will be up there along with my fellow streak brethren, Cal Ripken Jr, who played in an unbelieveable 2632 straight ball games, and Brett Favre, who has started a record 237 consecutive games for the Green Bay Packers. Over the ten year period I have ran over 15,000 miles going through 20+ pair of running shoes. I have ran in sub zero temps and also in scorching heat. I have endured pounding rain, extremely high winds, grueling hills, and foot deep snow. I have run sick, hungover, and without much motivation. I have run in a handful of countries, many states, and numerous cities. I’ve run at 3am and I have run at 10pm – whatever it took to keep the streak alive I have done. Through it all I just keep runnin’. As one might guess, I was in a celebrative mood at my run's conclusion.

The afternoon was busy and a blur all in one. Come 5PM I was eager to get home and let the weekend begin. I called Mindy along my way home boasting about the day’s milestone. She allowed me to go on and on for a while. She advised that Jimaken was at our home playing with Jacob in the basement. Seemed a bit strange. Apparently he had been there for at least 30 minutes.

He was still there when I arrived home, but he and the kids prepared to leave shortly there after. I walked Ykraps. Mindy came along. We hung out for the next hour or so until it was time to ready for an evening out. It should come as no surprise that we were headed to Barleys.

We left for Barley’s shortly after 7:30pm. Being somewhat of an off week, the place was rather barren as compared to many recent Friday’s. There was plenty of bar side seating available. Mark, of Mark & Trudy fame, was just leaving when we arrived. Network Mark and new guy, Tim were the only familiar faces remaining. No Bob & Mary Ann, (they were skiing in NY), and no Courtney and Jeremy. However Jeremy appeared a few minutes later to pick-up some carryout. We chatted briefly and even discussed the possibility of hooking up Saturday for some fun. No Steve and no Rick. Rebecca was there too and expressed having trouble getting to my blog. She gave me her email address and asked that I send the url.

Lee served me up a Kiss My Bitter Ass (KMBA) IPA off the firkin. He quipped that he visited my blog and was disappointed not to find any pics of himself. Hmmm? I was certain there are plenty of pics if Lee and Janet on there, but mostly in the archives.

We ordered food. Mindy ordered the Tuna steak topped in Wasabi, and I ordered a Cuban and fries with a side of Gates of Hell hot sauce for dipping. This was a notable night for Mindy. She did not drink any wine. She had two Russian Imperial Stouts instead. I had three pints of the firkin.

As the evening wore on, other familiar faces showed including: Thad & Monica, Steve, and Josh. We left for home around 11:15pm.

Once home and in our comfy sleeping clothes we talked about our relationship along with eating some freshly popped corn. We were in bed asleep by 12:30am.