Reliving a Nightmare

I was up on time feeling no worse for the wear. I measured roughly seven hours of quality sleep. I thought about skipping my push-ups and curls once again as my shoulder felt much better this AM. Giving it a break definitely did the trick. But in the end, I decided to get right back on the horse and whipped both out after my sit-ups. One day off was perfect.

I walked Ykraps after exercise, and during our walk I took special notice of the thick cloud cover. I knew rain was in the forecast, but what I didn’t know was how imminent. I checked the radar upon our return and saw that it was at least 100 miles out to our west. I knew then that I was going to fertilize the yard after my run and before readying myself for work. The way my schedule was playing out, if I didn’t get to it this AM, I might not have time or the weather until the weekend. And there’s nothing like getting it down before a good rain.

So, after meditation, coffee delivery, and stretching, I set out on my run. Today I skipped the fleece. It was 64 degrees. I was perfectly comfortable in my attire. The run went extremely well. And more importantly, I didn’t feel any tugging in my hamstrings, which I was more than thankful for. The stretching is helping a lot.

Back at home Mindy already had my breakfast casserole warmed a ready for my consumption. It was a tad cool in the center but I didn’t bother warming it more. I was hungry. A few minutes later Mindy and Bella rushed off for work. Jacob was not yet downstairs when I finished eating, which was a bit unusual for him. But I could hear the water running so I knew he must be up & brushing his teeth. I headed out to the shed to fetch my spreader and fertilized the yard. That took twenty minutes. I worked up a light sweat moving swiftly about the yard. I was most pleased with myself for squeezing in the clumsy chore. When I returned inside Jacob was finishing his pop-tarts and playing with his Gameboy. He said that he knew I was outside working in the yard. He wasn’t worried in the least. It was tweener time – 7:44am. I knew that a shower would put Jacob’s bus boarding time at risk – at least if I were joining him. I chose instead to wait until he was on the bus to shower. We spent the next ten minutes chatting about football and stuff. Finally, at 7:55am we tied his shoes and headed to the stop where he happily boarded the bus. I chatted with Pat about the Indians game. He’s a big Cleveland fan.

After chatting I headed home to shower up for work. I left the house at 8:20am – only 12 minutes later than usual. Not bad! I arrived right at 8:30am. Once again, work was fairly busy as my peer was scheduled off again today. I had an early email form Jill, my old pal reminding me of our rescheduled lunch plans. She wondered if I remembered and if so, where we were meeting. I hadn’t fully remembered but was good to go. What I wasn’t sure of was the venue. I got the idea that she preferred somewhere closer to her office in Worthington/Polaris. I responded that we were still on and that the Winking Lizard sounded good to me. We locked in on the Winking Lizard for11:30am.

I worked through a number issues before setting out towards Worthington around 11:10am. I worked through a number issues just before setting out towards Worthington around 11:10am. Unlike the last and only other time I visited the Winking Lizard, I didn't miss my turn (I was wise enough to google map it before leaving). I was there a couple minutes ahead of time. I was one of two patrons in the entire place. I took that opportunity to walk around familiarizing myself with all of the sports memorabilia. Very Cool!

After a ten minute wait Jill arrived. I greeted her at the door. We were quickly seated in a booth – our choice. We spent the next several minutes catching up before placing our order. The waitress had to come back a couple of times. Eventually we ordered – me a burger and Jill a salad. The time went fast and the food was good. We agreed to do a better job of staying in touch and even committed to planning an event sometime soon with our kids. It’s hard to fathom that her daughter is now 4.5 yrs old.

We parted ways around 12:45pm. It was raining fairly steadily as I pulled away. It let up, however, shortly after getting back on I-270W. I was back at work by 1:10pm. The afternoon went by quickly. I was fairly busy. I didn’t speak with Mindy until I was headed towards home. She was right around the corner at ITT where Jimaken teaches. It seems Jacob was suffering from daddy withdrawal so Mindy took him to see him at his part-time job. He’s an instructor there. She spoke of meeting somewhere for dinner, but I was set on going home. I am a creature of habit. She reluctantly agreed and instead decided to stop at KFC for take-out. She also reminded me that tonight was “watch” night at Dance Center West (DCW), where Bella takes classes. She was planning to attend and ask me to go along too. I happily agreed despite the urge to veg-out.

I walked Ykraps before Mindy arrived home with the vittles. When she did, the KFC smelt terrific. I couldn’t resist a piece of original recipe. We took about 20 minutes to eat and then somewhat hurriedly got ready and bolted out the door to DCW.
We took the back way to Nike Dr, turning north on a mostly unknown road just east of Wal-Mart. The center was larger than I pictured. There were several areas for simultaneous classes. A few other parents were on hand to watch as well. The kids were group in classes by age – duh. Bella’s group all seemed new to the techniques being taught. They used trampolines, the balance beam, and gym mats. The young instructor was as much a baby sitter as she was a gymnastics instructor. I got a couple decent photos and a couple short movie clips.

Just before 7:30pm the class wrapped up and we all headed home. Mindy quickly readied the kids for bed. They went down rather easily as compared to the prior two nights. Mindy wanted to hot tub. I didn’t. Instead, I was eager to catch up on the blog and simply relax by watching the baseball playoffs. Mindy was noticeably disappointed. She went to bed somewhat early, even for her. I stayed up for the entire game.

Running on ESPN2 concurrent to the baseball game was The Greatest NFL Games Ever Played. Tonight featured the Vikings 1998 NFC championship game against the Falcons. That’s the year they were 16-1 and unstoppable. We were winning this game throughout only to lose in overtime. My spirits were crushed then and they were recrushed again on this night as I recounted what could’ve been. Afterwards I questioned my thinking for even watching it. I know how I am. I had a sinking feeling that I couldn’t shake the rest of the night. But on a happier note, the Indians won game four by the score of 7-3. They’re now up 3 games to 1. One more win and they’re in the World Series. Finally, come 11:30pm I headed to bed.