Beyond A Late Awakening

I recovered quite nicely and was up even before the clock struck 530am. Yet despite my easy rise, my head felt a little groggy as I moved through my morning routine. Finally, out of doors, I was awestruck by the moon and stars shining ever so brightly in the clear sky above. I was eager for my first cup of coffee upon our return inside. Its medicinal tendencies were apparent almost instantaneously. Ahh! I read the Daily OM and a few Yahoo headlines before jumping into quiet meditation. I didn’t have a great deal of time, however if I were to remain on task - only about ten minutes. I delivered Mindy’s coffee. It was then that I realized I had no clean running clothes for the morning’s jaunt. I sifted through my dirty running clothes basket and pulled out a pair of shorts and a shirt. I mean come on, Tow months ago I would run in the same shorts and shirt for an entire week. The only difference was that now they lay damp in a clothes basket. Ewh! I have them warm with body heat & fresh sweat in no time at all, however. I dashed out the door at 6:30am on the nose. It was a most pleasant run. The clear sky aided the coming daylight. The sky lit up in fantastic orange hues on the eastern horizon. I was amused. I finished my run by 7:10am. It was fully daylight by then. After cool down stretching I proceeding inside to tear into some scrambled eggs already prepared by Mindy. Ye, she was up & about despite sounding like she should be in the hospital. She spoke of feeling marginally better but sounded horrible. Her eyes told the story as much as her raspy voice. It wasn’t long before Mindy & Bella were gone and Jacob and I were home finishing up with our morning routines. I was intent on driving the BM’er and told Jacob as much. For this reason alone, he was eager to catch a ride to the bus stop with me. At the bus stop we met Pat & Alena who were already in place. We chatted only briefly before the school bus pulled up and boarded the children. Work was on the busy side. I was completely engrossed in my day’s work. I didn’t stop to take a lunch break and readied to leave for home just after 5:15pm. I could see that I-270 was backing up so I opted instead for Old Dublin Rd. Besides, that’s a much prettier drive anyhow. Bella greeted me as I opened and entered the garage. She reported her mother napping in bed. I surmised that Mindy was feeling poorly. After tending to a couple of quick chores I leashed up Ykraps for his evening walk. It was a warm one. The temperature was still hovering near 85 after topping out at 87. The weekend looks even warmer with near record high temps predicted. I was felt a sudden lack of energy about the time that Ykraps and I returned. I continued with a few miscellaneous chores. Mindy was up & about now too. She looked ill and expressed feeling the same. I insisted that she go to bed and allow me to take care of the house & kids for the night, but she refused and went about her usual routine of caring for the two demanding children. Oh, and by the way, her rendition of the conversation might be a little different. J Neither of us felt the energy to cook a significant meal. Jacob was put out after asking for hot wings. But we convinced him to enjoy a bowl of cereal as a change of pace. And he eventually bought in. Mindy did the same. Afterwards, she went out on the deck seeking the warmth of the evening air. I went horizontal on the sofa. I’m not sure for how long, but I did go out. It felt incredibly good. I heard Mindy outside coraling the children impressing upon them the need to head in and get a bath. It must’ve been somewhere near 7:30pm. While she bathed the kids I surfed between the multiple sports programming. I bounced between the Thursday Night Football pregame and the Indians baseball game. Just as the kids were getting into bed I decided to pop some corn. I put it in the microwave, but didn’t start it. Instead, I went up and tucked in the children. When I returned I started the microwave. I knew instinctively that they would come a’calling for popcorn once they smelt it. They always do. As expected, as soon as I emptied the bag into my bowl the howls for some began. Mindy asked why I do that – pop corn just as they’re going to bed. I caved and allowed Bella to join me. And while Jacob asked once, I could tell he was on his way to sleep. I could tell by the slowness and tone of his voice. I had to ask Bella a couple of times to keep her noise to a whisper while downstairs. She can be a very noisy kid. After sharing my popcorn she eventually sought out her momma. Mindy found herself tucking in the kids for a second time. Afterwards, she came back down and laid with me for a while before heading off to bed around 9:15pm. I chose to stay up a while longer ultimately falling asleep on the couch while watching football and baseball.