Rakin', Vikings, and Xmas

I slept peacefully through the night, but did wake a time or two thinking that I might get up and going even before 5am. I had essentially been sleeping since before 9pm. I was more than rested. Ultimately, I didn’t get up until a little after 7am. I went through my usual weekend ritual, which doesn’t vary much from a weekday. The only glaring difference is that I rarely prep the coffee the night before and I go about my routine at a more relaxed pace.

The subdivision was quiet as Ykraps and I walked along the street. It was cool and gray – a typical November day. It must’ve been about 35 degrees. Back at home I poured coffee and then cozied up to the PC. Mindy wanted to be up by 8:30am as the kids were expected home around 8:45am. Jimaken was dropping them early so that he could move into his new place. They arrived on schedule. Mindy had resigned herself to skipping church. Because of this, she offered to make us all a big breakfast while I ran. We voted and sausage and pancakes won.
My run was nice. I listened to Xmas music on my MP3 player compliments of Sunny 95. I was back at 10:05am. Breakfast was ready. It smelt terrific. We had our “tree’ candle burning too. After breakfast Mindy & Bella headed for the grocery store. Jacob stayed home playing football on his Game boy. I went to the yard to winterize and rake leaves. I really wanted help but also understood that Mindy had things to do too.

Before raking, I finished winterizing. I stowed the garden hoses save for the one by the hot tub, emptied & stowed the flower baskets and clay pots even though the flowers were still alive. Lastly, I drained and bagged the fountain. The winterization was now complete. Next I grabbed a tarp from the shed along with my rake and got cracking on the leaves. I started up at the deck raking oodles of leaves from underneath and around the spent flowers and shrubs. That’s a lot of work. I filled the tarp five times before bagging it for the day. I made it back to the shed. Bella enjoyed playing in the leaves while I raked. I was happy she was enjoying it. Jacob finally came out just as I was heading in. They both went out and jumped in the leaf/compost leaf pile.
I told Mindy that I was sore and hungry. She suggested that I take an anti-inflammatory and eat the Wendy’s chili still in the fridge. I did both.

We were scheduled to go to her mother’s for dinner, but beforehand, we wanted to do our family Xmas photo. To that end, I had Mindy pick-up a white sheet from Wal-Mart to use as a back drop. So, after showering and dressing in the appropriate attire, I hung the sheet from a corner in the family room. I added a little Xmas flare, too. I hadn’t tried this before but was certain the props would net the effect I was striving for. Satisfied with the back drop, I had Mindy ready herself and the children. We spent the next 30-45 minutes taking about 20 different shots. I tried the balcony shot for the obvious impact such an angle nets but I just couldn’t make it comfortably into position before the camera fired, no matter how many tines I tried. And when I finally made it in I was soaked head to toe in sweat. The kids were getting cranky by then, too.
I decided that plan “A” just wasn’t going to work without another person taking the photos so I switched to plan “B”. That went well. We viewed the final product on the PC and were pleased with maybe two of the twenty shots. I pleaded with the gang to give it one more go with one or two slight modifications. They reluctantly agreed and headed back into position. I took three more shots. Finally done, we were exhausted, and the family room was a mess from the fire drill. I didn’t view the final shots until later.

We, minus Jacob, left for Gloria’s just after 4pm. He opted to go to the Blue Jackets game with his daddy. Still, most of the family was present. We celebrated Larry’s b-day. We had cheeseburgers, fried potatoes, and salad. We had a lovely time. I got a handful of cute photos, too. And for dessert we had Boston Cream Pie. We left for home around 7:15pm Where’d the day go?

Like always, I walked Ykraps as soon as we arrived home. Jimaken and Jacob were already in the drive listening to the end of the hockey game. After Jimaken left, Mindy readied the kids for bed. In the meantime, I downloaded the second batch of family holiday and dinner photos. After tucking in the children I hurried back downstairs to read about the Vikings big victory over the Raiders. At this point I consider any victory a bonus. At 9pm I went to the family room to watch Family Guy. It was hilarious! Afterwards, we headed to bed where we caught most of American Dad & some of the Sunday Night football game. The Patriots spanked the Bills.