Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Table the idea


It was a shame that 5:30 rolled around so quickly and I wasn’t ready to face the world. Instead, I rolled back over and slept some more. I didn’t get my rear in gear until 6:05am. I didn’t care at the time that I was a little behind the eight ball in terms of my routine schedule. I just moved through my routine much as I would any other day.

While walking Ykraps I noticed how much lighter it was at 6:15am as compared to just a month ago. I also too notice of some neighbors having bulk pick-up items setting curbside. I toyed with the thought of placing my old deck furniture out too despite not yet calling for a special pick-up. Back at home I did the coffee thing and got going with food prep. Mindy made us each a salad so I had only a couple of tasks to complete relative to lunch. That saved me big time. By 6:50am I was on track and making breakfast.

I made an omelet again today. I am such a creature of habit. By 7:05am I had breakfast all ready to consume. Mindy and the kids departed on time – around 7:20am. I headed up to the shower. I retuned downstairs fresh and ready to tackle the new work day. Before setting out I took a couple of photos then decided to carryout the task I’d considered earlier. I dismantled the deck furniture set-up and moved it all curbside. It was beautifully sunny morning.

Just as I was carrying out the last piece and setting up to take one last photo of the old furniture, a neighbor came over asking questions about it. He asked if I were giving it away. I was, I said. Although I explained that it was twelve year old and had some issues. I showed him what I was speaking of. While he looked it over the bulk pick-up truck happened around the corner and pulled up curbside asking if this was set out for pick-up. I told them that it was but that I hadn’t called. He explained the rules but agreed to take it anyway. My neighbor’s wheels were now turning. As they began grabbing the chairs to toss into the crusher thingy, he quickly pulled the table and umbrella aside laying his claim to them. It was comical. I was happy to be rid of the set so easily & so cleanly. Soon I went on my merry way to work. It was a very nice drive in.

Work was still busy but not as much as earlier in the week. Today was staff meeting day so I knew the morning would blow by even faster than usual. It was 12:30pm by the time our meeting ended. It was nearly run time. It was cloudy, windy, and the temperature was in the low 50’s. Weatherwise, this was supposed to be the low point of the week. Given where we’ve been, I’ll take it! My run concluded. It was a delightful workout.

The afternoon went by in the bat of an eye. This was a Mindy Wednesday. I stopped at Home Depot to get a bag of sand and then headed directly home. We needed the sand for the base of our new patio table base. We used the time wisely. Mindy had already walked Ykraps by the time I arrived. We got busy right away putting the table together. Somehow we had to get this 50lb bag of sand into the table base via a hole the size of a quarter. I got out an oil funnel and cut off the lower extremity. The play sand was probably not the best choice in retrospect, but we made it work. It probably took us 45 minutes to get the entire bag in the small hole. It was a tedious process of filling the funnel and tapping against the base until it emptied itself. We used a metal skewer to aid in the process.
Jim brought the kids home prematurely after Jacob lost a tooth an Bella had a melt down. I guess he had a little trouble handling both issues at once. I understood his dilemma. The kids, especially Bella, congregated around us curious about the sand activity. It represented play for Bella. Jacob soon lost interest in the sand and took to riding his Razor scooter on the deck. Finally, after filling the base, we put the rest of the table together. The entire process took well over an hour. Unlike a lot of patio sets, the table is just as much a focal point as the chairs. It’s very unique and very handsome. Once the table was completed we carried out the chairs and began the tedious process of unwrapping the brown paper & tape used to protect each chair in shipping. It was almost 8pm by the time we finished up. We decided not to put the cushions on the chairs for the threat of rain and chilly temps.

Mindy got the kids ready for bed as soon as we went in. They were tucked into bed by 8:15pm. We watched the Idol elimination show. We witnessed Sanjaya’s demise. No sense feeling sorry for him. He’s got a very promising future ahead. We chose bed after Idol, both of us overtly tired.

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