Goodbye '08

It was Wednesday, New Year’s Eve. I was up around 5:30am and quick to get my routine started. Before heading out with Ykraps, I checked the temperature. It was in the upper teens but also very windy – gusts upwards of 40 mph. All the extra trash we had bagged and at the curb had blown across the street into the neighbors’ yards. I gathered all that I could while walking Ykraps at the same time. This is the only trash day of the year when the city will take extra garbage without scheduling a bulk pick-up. We were taking full advantage. I’ll bet we had seven large green trash bags stuffed full of Xmas trash. Like the two work days prior, I enjoyed my coffee while playing on the PC, and I wasn’t in any particular hurry to set out on my run. I didn’t have a “Mindy’ deadline like usual. She remains on vacation through the week’s end. I finally left for a run around 6:45am. It was a nice run despite the brutally cold arctic wind. Quietly, I went about preparing my breakfast not wanting to wake the household. Although, I heard a couple of the kids beginning to stir while enjoying my eggs, ham, and fruit. I didn’t bother packing a lunch. I made tentative plans to take my boss to lunch instead. Mindy was taking care of Landon by the time I made my way to the shower. I left her coffee downstairs. She offered that I drive the new Honda, but again I refused. She talked about taking all the kids to Kroger later on anyhow. Crazy, I know! I left for work around 8:15am. Traffic was very light making for a relaxing drive into the office. The work day was very low key. My boss and a couple of peers asked me to join them at Bob Evans for breakfast. I accepted even though I wouldn’t actually eat breakfast again. I did drink two cups of hot cocoa, however. Once we returned to the office my boss and I talked for better than an hour. Around 1pm we left for lunch – Wind Chimes, a local Chinese restaurant. I had egg drop soup and War-Su-Gai. It was scrumptious. We were back at the office by 2pm. My boss told me I could split anytime. After confirming that everything was well in hand, I began letting some of my engineers leave for the day, too. I left the office around 2:45pm. My first stop was Kroger. There I bought a shrimp platter, a bottle of Asti, and some Tostitos, all of which we’d be taking to the neighbor’s party later that evening. I bought Mindy a dozen roses, too. Speaking of Mindy, I gave her a call while in route to Barley’s. She was out and about with the all the kids. Her next stop was Kroghetto. I was headed to Barley’s to fill a jug with IPA and to enjoy one while waiting. Bob Imber and I exchanged emails earlier in the day. I was hopeful that he could meet me there. I talked with Tom Clark in route too. He’s leaving for Tampa possibly Friday or Saturday to start a new job Monday. We made tentative arrangements to meet Friday evening if he’s still in town. Barley’s was more crowded than I expected for the time of day. Jersey was working the bar. Sadly, they were out of IPA, which I’ll never understand. Hell, it’s there flagship beer. They did have Double-Dog Dare IPA on tap, which is supposed to be their IPA double hopped. Jersey intimated that it was good. That’s what I ordered. Yuck! It was nasty – buttery, just like many of their recent batches of IPA. Not sure what the heck is up, but one thing’s for sure – no quality control. I wasn’t too pleased. To make matters worse, when Jersey asked what I wanted in my jug, I replied Xmas Ale. I sure as hell wasn’t putting the nasty DD IPA in it. He said management asked him to sell no more jugs of Xmas Ale due to low supply. Are you just trying to piss me off? I left without finishing my DD IPA, and without leaving a tip. That might be a first. From Barley’s I thought about making the drive downtown to CBC to fill my jug with their IPA, which is always of the same high quality. Instead, I chose to visit Spagio’s Wine Cellar to buy some bottled craft IPA. They typically carry some of my favorites. Sadly, they were out of most. I left there and visited Gentiles, all still in Grandview. Gentile’s had some Hoppin’ Frog Mean Manalishi Double IPA in 22oz bottles. It’s expensive but delicious. I bought two. Home James! At home by 4:15pm, the kids were all playing nicely. Mindy was excited to see the roses. I took a brief nap in the recliner. That was awesome. We left for the Shultz’s annual New Year’s Eve party at 7pm. The beauty of that is that it’s right around the corner – no driving. We walked. I carried the cooler while Jacob carried a clothes basket that contained the food. Mindy carried Landon. Bella & Rocky hoofed it. We took neighbor Jake with us too. Hell, what’s a fifth kid when you’ve got four already? J Pat didn’t have as many folks at this year’s gathering but it was still lively. I think I’ve spent the last 7 or 8 New Year’s Eve’s at Pat’s. The last one I didn’t attend was 2000 – the Y2K scare when I actually worked instead. We hung out at Pat & Lisa’s until 11pm. By then the kids were tired, especially Landon. We walked home. Mindy offered the opportunity to stay, but I chose to celebrate the ball drop with my wife and kids. Rocky & Bella asked for kids champagne. I mixed 7up and orange juice and served it in plastic wine glasses. They did a toast. It was cute. Even though they did their toast, the ball had not yet dropped. We gathered on the sofa for the big event. Rocky literally fell asleep with one minute to go. We didn’t bother waking him. We stayed up for perhaps another fifteen minutes but no more. I had been up since 5:30am.

Expensive Hot Water

I wasn’t up until 5:35am but didn’t really care too much. I’d have plenty of time to complete my routine. It was another clear morning with temperatures in the mid 20’s. Like usual, I did my exercises, walked Ykraps, enjoyed coffee and spent ten minutes meditating. I left for a run at 6:38am. I ran my normal track. Why wouldn’t I? I noticed that the number of homes lit up by Xmas lights is already fading. Like the day before, I made my own breakfast as Mindy and the kids were still sleeping. I warmed some of the breakfast strada and topped it off with a ‘dollop of daisy’ (sour cream). It was very yummy. I also packed a lunch similar to Monday’s. Like clockwork, the kids had already begun to stir even before I finished my breakfast. I simply allowed it to be. Mindy got Landon changed then put him in Bella’s room where he watched cartoons with the other kids. Work was similar to Monday – very quiet, especially early on. At lunchtime I took a trip to All Season’s Spas to get some chlorine for the hot tub. On my way back, I stopped at Home Depot to check out water heaters. Over the holiday, I discovered that one of our two hot water tanks was completely empty. I’ve been eager to replace them both for over five years. Research indicates that a 50 gallon would be perfect for our family size and water usage patterns. But I am also very intrigued by the newer tankless hot water on demand systems. The cost of a whole house version is quite expensive, however. The tankless unit alone is $1000, plus the venting system runs another $300. That doesn’t include any other miscellaneous parts and professional installation. I’ll most likely replace them both with one larger tank. Back to work. The afternoon moved swiftly. There wasn’t a great deal going on. Mindy informed me that she took all four kids out in the new Pilot this afternoon. Most notably, they went to Saturday’s where Bella, Rocky, and Landon all got haircuts. Brave woman! Jacob & Bella were leaving for dinner with their daddy. Mindy emailed asking how I felt about going to Barley’s with Rocky & Landon. That didn’t sound remotely good. I was thoroughly against it. I couldn’t relax with a two year old in tow. I was eager for dinner at home. Mindy ended up making chili dogs & green beans for the four of us. They were quite good. After dinner I spent time backing up all of December’s pictures to CD, downloading the kids pictures from their new digital cameras, and updating my blog. The kids were home by 8pm. Mindy and I got them showered and in pajamas quickly. We had them all tucked into bed by 8:30pm. During our quiet time we discussed what we might be taking to the neighbor’s New Year’s Eve party tomorrow evening as well as some home finances. The grown kids are eating a giant hole in our disposable income. Yikes!!

Xmas Vacation Ends ... Wahoo!

My vacation was over and it was time to head back to work. I was more than ready after nine days of gluttony. It was a crystal clear morning with temperatures hovering near freezing. I completed a round of exercises and then walked Ykraps, all in the quiet solitude of the precious predawn hours. I was careful not to make any unnecessary noises for fear of waking the sleeping children prematurely. Mindy still has another week’s vacation ahead. Aside from me, no one had to be up. After some meditation I dressed for a run. I didn’t worry too much about the time because I wasn’t overly concerned about being to work by 8:30am. Too that end, I didn’t depart for my run until 6:45am. It was a nice run and it felt really good to once again complete it even before sunrise. I feel more control over my day under that scenario. Because it was so clear, I could see daylight coming as my run wrapped up. It was 7:20am by the time I was settled back at home. I quietly went about preparing my breakfast and lunch. Like any other day, I could hear the kids beginning to stir upstairs. I didn’t chase after the sounds. I let them go on as normal. I fried and enjoyed two eggs along with some strawberries and a Clementine. For lunch, I packed a cauliflower, broccoli, & tomato medley along with some nuts, and some leftover ham. By the time I headed up for a shower all the kids were awake. Mindy got up to get the kids squared away while I showered and dressed. By the time that I made it back downstairs their day was fully underway. I was thankful to be heading off to work. I didn’t leave the house until almost 8:15am after forgetting to start my Trooper ahead of time to clear the solid frost. Mindy offered that I should take the new Pilot but I declined. Just before departing, I downloaded some U2 songs to Jacob’s MP3 player. He was very excited. Traffic was light. Lots of folks take this week as vacation. The office was unusually quiet and only scantly populated. But all of this I expected. My boss emailed that he would be working from home. My overnight peer was still there. We enjoyed some coffee time and shared some Xmas stories. The day went surprisingly well. I could’ve left early but decided against it. Besides, things did get a little dicey, just as they often do, right around 4:00pm. I didn’t leave until 5:40pm. Mindy was making Ravioli for dinner. I noticed right away that she had taken the Xmas pine roping down from the all the banisters. That seemingly simple act opened the house up quite a bit. The kids were in great moods and after my brief walk with Ykraps, we all sat down for dinner. It was a tame evening by comparison. The kids were ready for bed by 8pm. Mindy & I relaxed in the livingroom for a while. I worked on my blog. She sat in one of the Queen Anne chairs. We headed to bed around 1030pm. Life was seemingly back to normal.

Vikings Win - They're In!!!!

Another Pleasant Valley Sunday For the first time all vacation long, Mindy was out of bed first leaving me the opportunity to sleep in. Without giving it much thought, I quickly dosed back off to sleep. I woke two or three times, eventually getting out of bed just before 9am. As expected, she already had the kids fed and organized. Her plan was to attend church taking all three kids. Jacob was with his daddy overnight. I poured some coffee then kept an eye on the kids while Mindy got a shower. To save her some time I installed the two booster seats in the new Pilot to accommodate the kids. We had Landon’s child restraint seat in the middle as recommended. All three fit but left little to no room to reach in to buckle the seat belt. Plus, when it became time to load the kids, I was anxious about their lack of care for the new vehicle. I about had a coronary as Bella & Rocky drug their feet across the leather seats and ripped the etch-a-sketch from the seatback pocket. I walked away shaking my head. Mindy knew I was upset. She was frustrated too after trying unsuccessfully to get the mall buckled in. She was already running behind. As she backed out of the garage, one of the many extra garbage bags blocked the sensor and wouldn’t allow the garage door to fully descend. I encouraged her on and addressed that right away. I would address it more thoroughly after my run. Once she hit the road I dressed and left for my run. It wasn’t in the 60’s any longer but still fairly warm by end of December standards. It was about 37 degrees & sunny. I ran along Trabue & Hague avenue. As expected, even though it was chilly, there were several golfers out on the course. I found a stay golf ball but it was a Top Flite. I threw it back down. They’re too hard. I completed my run efficiently. Once I was home I went straight to work on my planned chores. I carried all the Christmas garage bags form the garage out side by the regular can. They’ll take extra trash this week only. They do it the first pickup after Xmas every year. Aren’t they good? J Next, I unlocked the shed and carried all three of the tiny trikes out there for storage. While in the shed I grabbed the driveway salt and placed it in one of my three 5 gallon pails and toted it back to the garage for easy access. Next, I moved the BM’er over as far as it would go within reason. I had to exit via the passenger door. Finally, there would be enough room to manipulate the Pilot’s doors. After taking care of the garage, I worked my way around to the deck where I carried the chaise lounger frame to the shed. I also turned on the hose and added about six inches of water to the hot tub. While screwing around out there, I discovered that one of the expensive large faux flower pots I bought for our Hibiscus was cracked in three places from ice. I’m certain that it wasn’t a coincidence that it was the one I left plastic plug in the drain hole. Dammit! Satisfied that the outside chores were addressed, I moved inside where I relaxed a little prior to Mindy and the wee ones return. I was a little stressed over the New Pilot, the soon to start Viking game, and the house full of folks we were expecting over around 2:30pm. The house looked like a Xmas bomb just went off. It’s really starting to get to me. Thank God for my return to work tomorrow. I almost decided to bag watching the game given the knots already in my stomach. However, Mindy encouraged me otherwise. I decided to watch. What the hell! The game developed slow and the Vikings drew first blood scoring a field goal. But like last week, Adrian Peterson fumbled. Lucky for us, the Vikings recovered. The very next drive, he rushed up the middle for a 67 yard run and a touch down. Just like that the Vikings were up 10-0. I never once relaxed. The Bears were winning too. We lose, they win, they’re in and we’re out. Yikes! By halftime, The Giants crawled back in it, trailing just 10-9. I decided then to turn off the TV and let the kids play Wii. Besides our guests would be arriving very, very soon. Everyone began arriving as planned around 2:30pm. After bout 30 minutes, I headed outside with Jacob and Rocky to play football in the neighbor’s yard. We played for a good hour. Eventually, neighbor Jake joined us. We played a while longer. Mindy came out onto the deck to tell me that the Vikings had just won their game and were headed to the playoffs. They won 20-19. Wahoo! I felt a hue sense of relief. When Kenny & Crissy came out to check on the kids I invited them to have pizza with us. They accepted. Crissy graciously acknowledged my team’s victory and gave me a full blow by blow description of their last second victory – 50 yard field goal with no time left on the clock. She’s a Cowboy fan and wasn’t happy. They were blown out by the Eagles and also eliminated from the playoff picture. Too bad. Nephew Joe agreed to pick-up our four pizzas on his way back to the house after dropping his dogs at home. For whatever reason, Ykraps began peeing all over our house – marking his territory – when they arrived earlier. Crazy thing! The pizzas arrived by 5pm and everybody seemed to enjoy them. We even had an all veggie pizza. It was really good too. Gotta love Minelli’s. The Wii was a big hit, especially Mario Kart. The kids, young and old had a blast. Others played Euchre in the livingroom on the floor. It was a fun filled afternoon, especially after learning of the Vikings dramatic victory. I felt whole! By 7pm everyone had left. I was really tired. Mindy & I collectively cleaned up the mess then got the kids ready for bed. We actually had them tucked into bed just before 8pm. We eventually allowed both Jacob & Bella to join us on the couch for some alone time. That lasted only 20 minutes before we sent them back up to bed. I watched the last regular season NFL game – Broncos versus the Chargers. The winner was in the loser out! Perfect way to end a season. The Chargers took a commanding lead by halftime. We headed to bed around 10:30pm.

Pilot, Mario Kart, & 68 degrees

I was up around 7:30am, which has been my default rise time throughout my Xmas vacation. No one else was yet awake. I proceeded quietly so not to wake any of the kids prematurely. I hoped to exercise and walk Ykraps before having to contend with all the kids, and especially Landon’s dirty diaper. I checked the temperature even before starting my exercise routine. It was a whopping 56 degrees. The day’s expected high was 68 degrees! How about that! 0 on Monday – 68 on Saturday. Gotta love Columbus weather. My walk with Ykraps was nice. It smelt and felt like spring. Bring it on, I say! Back at home, I fetched Landon. The other kids were awake too but playing rather quietly. Bella and Rocky joined me downstairs. I urged Bella to the basement to play with her new doll house. She was reluctant at first, given her new found worry of ghosts. Nothing brings all the kids up from the basement like a call for “Frank” the basement ghost. J My dad was slated to be over by 10:30am. I left for my run a little after 9am. Mindy waited until I was back before heading off to the shower. I was back by 9:45am. I was a little stressed mulling over the finances associated with the new car deal. We still had to do all the paperwork, and I envisioned them tossing in all sorts of hidden charges we hadn’t previously discussed. In the end, however, I recognized it as my imagination running amuck. At least temporarily, I casted it aside. My dad showed up just before 10:30am. We chatted briefly before leaving. We gave him his Xmas presents, too – a Bob Evans gift card and a box of Anthony Thomas chocolates. Also, before leaving the house, I had Mindy wrap an extra box of chocolates I picked up to give to Tony, our Honda salesman, after our deal was done. We headed out just before 11am leaving dad helplessly alone with four kids. I worried how he might do with Landon. We arrived at the dealership at 11:05am. There was a new Honda Pilot similar to ours setting under the overhang. We began looking while waiting on Tony to materialize when out of nowhere another salesman told us that that one wasn’t ours. OK! Tony soon came out to greet the two of us. After a brief meet & greet, he went to fetch our new Pilot for review. After much anticipation, it was there in front of us. And because the sky still threatened rain, Tony pulled it under the large over hang. Mindy was giddy with excitement. I was thrilled for her. This would be her first new car, ever. It was as beautiful and luxurious as we expected. The premium running boards we had them add looked awesome on it, too. We headed inside to complete the deal. Mindy did the loan completely on her own merit. Her first new car, and her first new car loan. Go figure! As it turned out, there were no hidden charges – none. For this I was pleased. The dealership’s financing agent has her job down to a science. She had us in & out of there in less than ten minutes. Very efficient! I fetched Tony’s gift from the Trooper while he went for our 30-day tag. I handed the gift to Mindy to present. During our lengthy conversation earlier, we learned that today was also Tony’s 32nd b-day. In fact, we got to know quite a bit about Tony during Saturday’s visit. Tony was pleased to receive a gift. Mindy was very excited driving off in her new Pilot. She was eager to show her sister and then her mom. We stopped by her sister’s first, but they were not home. Next stop was her mom’s. I followed closely behind in the Trooper. She was home and was genuinely excited and happy for Mindy. They went for a quick spin together. I stayed back at the house. We headed home immediately after. Mindy got stuck in traffic behind. I beat her home by about three minutes. Well, Dad survived. But what surprised me most wasn’t that he survived. Instead, it’s that he changed a shitty diaper. Of course he went on in full detail describing how he went about it. He commented that it was the first baby diaper he’s changed since one of mine, last year. No, not really. The first one since I was a young lad, about Landon’s age. It didn’t register until later that, if true, he hadn’t ever changed Tommy, Charles, Bob or Shawn. Although, I’ll bet he changed one or two of grandma’s. Dad and the kids went for a ride in Mindy’s new vehicle before he left. When he did finally head for home, he took his brownie tray, along with his white elephant gift. Not long after dad left, Jacob and I took his rod hockey table back to Target. They asked few questions and gave us no hassle whatsoever. They didn’t even look in the box. Could’ve been empty for that matter. I never even took it out of the cart. Once we got our $115 credit, Jacob went on a mini shopping spree. He wanted to browse the toy department, of course. While he did that, I browsed electronics, just across the main aisle from toys. Eventually, I sought Jacob out curious what he might’ve decided upon. All he had in his hands were two or three new bakugan balls. Curious about his intentions, I only asked what he might need more bakugan balls for. He had no good answer and decided on his own that he didn’t want them after all. He asked my opinion of what he should buy. I suggested something like a Wii game, digital camera - something like Bella’s, or even an MP3 player, but I also told him it was his money and if he wanted toys that’s what we would get. He asked me to help him pick out a camera. They have inexpensive, first digital camera’s for about $40. He loved the idea. He was also surprised to learn he still had enough money left over for an MP3 player. We found a real nice Phillips 2gig player for $42 complete with ear buds, a case, and USB transfer cable. Even after that, he had $20+ left. With that he eventually decided on a Spiderman movie DVD. He was stoked to have ‘big boy’ toys. I was happy for him. The difference in cost of the new versus the old was less than $2. The rod hockey table took up half the car. His new toys were small enough to fit in the glove box. We stopped at Burger King on our way home. We got three value meals, thinking of Mindy, too. He was extra excited to show his momma his catch. His daddy was coming to pick him up around 3:30pm. It was already 3pm. That left no time to ready the camera or download music to his MP3 player. I told him that we’d either do it tomorrow when he got home or I’d do some later that evening in his absence. He was down with that, and went as far as saying he was gonna borrow some CDs from his daddy. We shared the value meals with Bella, Rocky, Landon, and the neighbors, Evan and Emily. Originally, Jimaken was going to take Bella and Jacob. However, she was having fun with Rocky and the neighbors. We called Jimaken to ask if she could stay home. He agreed. That would give him some alone time with Jacob. After Jacob departed, Mindy cleaned out her minivan then moved it to the street making room in the garage for her new Pilot. It took her quite a while to get it all cleaned out. In doing so, lots of little things once thought missing turned up. I teased her about it. Soon the Honda was safely in the garage. And like I mentioned in a previous entry, it’s approximately the same length. The biggest difference we needed to consider was the kids getting in and out. The minivan has a slider on the passenger side only. The Pilot has four doors. We can ill afford to have the kids opening the full swinging doors in the garage lest my BM’er will almost certainly get dinged. For now, we latched the child safety locks. Before transferring the booster seats, we stripped off their covers and tossed them in the washer. Excited about putting her new vehicle through its paces, Mindy left in it for the grocery store. She was gone for about two hours. I stayed home with the wee ones. She brought home a rotisserie chicken for dinner. Picked it up at Wal-Mart. It was surprisingly tasty. Everybody liked it, and it easily fed all of us. The Honda worked out well for the grocery gathering, but then again, why wouldn’t it? I promised Rocky & Bella that we’d get the two new Wii games going after dinner. I followed through with Mario Kart. They loved. I loved it. We played all evening long, or until their bedtime. We put the kids to bed just after 8pm. Mindy & I stayed up talking and playing all while sipping drinks until about 10:30pm. We both got up from bed at midnight, she to eat a bowl of cereal and me to play some Wii Ski. That was fun. Very realistic. Mindy headed back to bed at 12:30am. I stayed up until 1am, the latest I’ve stayed up during my entire nine night vacation, and perhaps the latest I’ve stayed up for months. However, we both stayed up until almost midnight Xmas Eve and Xmas night.

Rod Hockey Blunder

It was the day after Xmas - Friday. Like most vacation Friday’s, the day didn’t carry the same pleasure-weighting that it would otherwise. Still, I was happy to be off work. The kids were up early with me. And as expected, they were eager to play with their Xmas toys. The little bit of organization that Mindy and I did the night before was quickly gone. The kids were good, though. They spent a lot of time playing in the basement. I let Mindy sleep in until 10:30am. She asked for the favor last night. I expected her up by 9:30am. No biggie. Her late rise time delayed my run until just before 11am. Meanwhile, the weather was crappy (rainy), although the temperature was mild. Tony, our Honda sales rep, called a few times during the day to provide a status on our new Pilot. He called once to let us know that it was in, and again to ask if we wanted to apply the deposit to the purchase price. Finally, while I was putting together Jacob’s rod hockey table, he called to let us know that it was ready for pick-up. To be clear, when he called initially, they still hadn’t installed the dealer options. It was 4pm. I told Mindy that I’d prefer and wait until Saturday AM to pick it up. That way we could arrange childcare. Too, it was pouring rain. Who wants to pick up their new car in a down pour? Meanwhile, Jacob’s rod hockey table was just about done. I was just a little miffed with a few of the provided screws. They weren’t the same rounded top one’s shown in the diagram. I had to dig through my own supply of screws to finish off the assembly. A test of the rod mechanisms gave cause for alarm. Just like the older version from my own childhood, a few of them were binding up somewhere along their travel. I wasn’t pleased. Furthermore, a couple ‘hockey men’ couldn’t even slap the puck. Their hockey stick would travel over top. Even against my request, Jacob came to the cellar to check it out. I showed him my concerns. While we tried pushing one of the hockey men further into its recess, it snapped into two pieces. Oops! Jacob took off bawling. I felt bad for him. This was his ‘big’ gift. Inside, I was angry. Even if I could rig this thing up, its worthiness as a viable, ongoing toy was now in question. I felt as though we wasted $115. I decided the best thing to do was to disassemble it and take it back. Mindy & I found the receipt. We agreed to take it back after picking up our new car sometime tomorrow afternoon.. Jacob was still distraught. Mindy made cheese burgers for dinner. Save for the good news about our car, it was your typical ho-hum day after Xmas. Everyone had the blues. My blues were more cautionary, as I was happy Xmas was finally over. I love the holiday and gift giving part, but stress much over the disorganization and mess it almost always brings. I actually took solace in knowing that I’d be returning to work on Monday. There was no way I could take another week off wallowing in Xmas’ wake. Mindy made arrangements for my dad to watch all four kids while her & I went to fetch the new Honda Saturday morning. After the kids were asleep, I fetched Bella’s doll house from the basement and carried it upstairs to the familyroom where I completed its assembly. It took about an hour but went without a hitch. I poured myself a rum and Fresca afterwards. Mindy & I stayed up and watched our new Will Ferrell DVD, Step Brothers. It was funny, but also stupid. I’ll watch it again, though. I dosed off a time or two throughout. After the movie we headed up for bed. Must’ve been about midnight.

Jimindy Xmas IV

It was 7:20am Xmas morning. I was up before any of the kids. I was determined to complete my exercise routine and get Ykraps walked before the kids woke up. That endeavor was a success. However, I wasn’t back home long before the kids began to stir. Mindy sternly warned all the kids Xmas Eve about the danger of going downstairs without either of us. The warning worked. They waited for Mindy. In fact, they even waited for us to get Landon’s diaper changed. We headed down to greet what Santa left behind as a family. Mindy & I prepped coffees first, then put the Xmas breakfast strada in the oven. It would bake for about 35 minutes. The kids let their eyes wander around the familyroom marveling at all the packages. Santa wisely placed each kids stack in a separate corner. Under the tree were more gifts for all the kids, but those were from Mindy & I. The kids dumped their stockings before tearing into their gift boxes. That took only seconds. Rocky tore into his stack of boxes first. He had two or three opened just as the other two got started. Landon was largely uninterested. That’ll change in a couple of years. All the kids were grateful for their gifts. Nothing like a child’s coo at Xmas. And Jacob’s getting to an age where the gifts get cool - even for me! They opened all their Santa gifts before opening the Jimindy packages. Collectively, we got them Wii games, a movie, and a board game. The kids gift opening lasted 20-30 minutes. They wanted to play with everything. Sadly, though, that’s nearly impossible. Instead, we convinced them to keep it simple until after our gifts were opened. I went next. Mindy brought my stack up from the basement. And while she was down there, I went to the garage to fetch a few gifts I had stashed for her out there. Most of my gifts were of the practical nature - much like what my Grandma Wright would’ve got me. I got socks, underwear, chewing gum, & beer. Just to tease Mindy, I opened my camera box first, which I knew was empty since I already had it out and was taking pictures with it. I was the one who encouraged her to wrap it. Just as I tossed it aside, she asked that I check inside the box a little more carefully. Buried under all the tissue paper was the Live David Gilmour CD that I asked for a while back. Cool! I got a big bottle of Jack, too. Mindy was next. She got perfume, three winter wicking ski shirts, a ski helmet, and new hi-tech ski gloves. But that wasn’t all. She also got a tight, shimmery Minnesota Vikings shirt. And in her stocking I placed some Dove chocolates along with a nice long window scraper/snow brush after battling with her little piece of crap scrapper during one of our many recent snow/ice storms. But even that wasn’t all. I gave her two photo albums that contained about 320 pictures capturing many of our major events from the year 2008. Some of the pictures are priceless! Lastly, I had Jacob give her a tiny little box that contained a mother’s ring. The ring represents the birthstones of both Jacob and Bella - a diamond and a tourlamine, respectively. After getting all the wrapping paper picked up, we had the kids seek out the magic box. Jacob spotted it stuffed back in the corner behind the tree. Inside was a note telling Jacob, Bella, and Rocky to go to the basement to find their last gifts. They tore off to the basement extremely excited. In the basement they found a big gift for each of them - a rod hockey table for Jacob, a large wooden doll house for Bella, and a frog tent for Rocky. They were so excited. That idea worked well. After the kids were settled, I readied for a run. It must’ve been about 9:30am. Meanwhile, the weather was superb. It was about 30 degrees and sunny. I dressed for a mild wintry run and headed out. I ran four+ miles taking in the Trabue/Hague avenue route. It went really well. I passed another runner on Trabue. We exchanged Happy Xmas greetings. Back at home the kids were busy playing with their toys - big surprise. I ate a big slice of the strada and enjoyed another cup of coffee. Mindy told her mom that we’d most likely be at her place by noon. It was already after 11:00am. The morning was flying by. Despite our eagerness, there was no way we were gonna be at Mindy’s mom’s by noon. 1pm looked more likely. That ended up being more realistic. We loaded up the kids, gifts, food, and drink and left the house at 12:45pm. We had to take the minivan of course. Mindy mentioned that this might be the last family outing in it given our commitment to the new Honda deal. Wahoo! Half the family was already Xmas’ng at Gloria’s. Like always, everyone was gathered in the lower level. The food was laid out buffet style in the playroom and the drinks loaded into the washer (bet we’re the only family that does that!). The family room contained the family (go figure) and all the Xmas presents. Rocky and Landon opened gifts first. That helped on two fronts. First, the kids were antsy and eager. That would keep them busy. And lastly, Lindsey & Kelly were coming to pick them up at 2pm. That was just a short hour away. Mindy’s family was good to all the kids, but then again they always are. But this year they also took care of Landon & Rocky, and that was after learning of our situation kind of last minute, too. The kids cleaned up - lots of toys, lots of clothes. Lindsey showed up a little after 2pm. She didn’t stay long, just long enough to gather the kids and go. Mindy and I walked out to greet Kelly and to give her the gift from the kids. I love Rocky & Landon but felt a huge sense of relief after they left. I could now relax a little with family -something we don‘t get to do much of lately. The gift opening ceremony at Gloria’s seems to go on for hours - literally. This year was no exception. Everyone partook in the many eating opportunities as well. I spiked my Fresca with some Capt Morgan’s rum to take the edge off Xmas. It worked! Mindy & I might’ve been the only two drinking any booze. :) As the day faded into evening several family members headed upstairs to play Apples to Apples. I stayed back and hung out with Mindy and her mom. Later, after the game, we gathered for some Xmas icebox cookies - a Thompson Xmas tradition. We didn’t gather our things to leave until 8pm. It was a long day. Mindy phoned Kelly to plan the return of Rocky & Landon. Kelly agreed to bring them to us at our house. That worked well. We weren’t home long before they arrived. Jacob and I had just returned from walking Ykraps. Jacob rode his scooter while we walked. Lindsey brought the kids in. She was pleasant. The kids got into their Xmas toys but that’s to be expected. I had to calm Mindy lots. Lord, woman, it’s Xmas! :) OK … that’s not true. I was the one having the Xmas coronary. Xmas at our house is NOT healthy for the OCD. After getting the kids settled into bed, Mindy & I enjoyed yet another bottle of Spumante’. While we Xmas’d, daughter Courtney phoned to wish us well and to chat. She was doing fine. She also shared a little of their time at Kelly’s. I called my mom later, around 10pm. I also tried reaching Glenn but didn’t get an answer on his cell. We left a message. Once again, Mindy and I stayed up until just after midnight - new ground for Mindy. Good night Xmas ‘08.

Frog Tent in my Throat, Honda Deal, & Daughters

I woke around 7:30am. I hurried through the process of brushing my teeth in an attempt to get downstairs, make coffee, exercise, and walk Ykraps before Landon and Rocky were awake. I was successful. The temperature was 40 degrees and there were large puddles of rain in the middle back yard. And no surprise, the pond was up too. We must’ve gotten about an inch of rain. Even though the temperature was mild, there were several large patches of ice remaining on the walks and roads. Footing was treacherous.

Safely back at home, I scrambled to put something, anything into the magic box. I decided on a can of pears. That would almost certainly please the ‘Rockster’.

Meanwhile, Landon had an incredibly bad diaper – I was overwhelmed with the damage. It was so full of crap that it managed to explode outside his diaper and onto his previously clean and fluffy pj’s. Somehow I managed.

All of us were downstairs around 8am enjoying our breakfasts. Rocky & Landon ate pop-tarts while Mindy & I sipped coffee. The weather was deplorable - rain, ice & wind. The only bonus was the temperature – now hovering around 43 degrees. I dressed and left for a run around 9am. I had to be extra careful running on the slippery roads. I didn’t dare try the walks. They’re almost always worse. Like last week, I ran on the crown of the road where ever possible. That strategy served me well. The only real peril I found myself in was at the three mile marker where the roads were much slicker than elsewhere. That also is the lowest point along my run – I wouldn’t think it a coincidence. I managed to remain fleet afoot.

Back at home I sipped more coffee before getting a shower and preparing to meet Tony at the Honda dealership. I left the house around 10:40am with trips to Hugh White Honda & Target planned. I decided to stop at Targhetto (west broad st store) first. There’s no denying the difference in clientele from one Target to another. Still, they had what I needed; a photo album for Courtney, HP printer ink, and the frog tent Rocky wanted. I could’ve bought the two print cartridges I needed in a combo pack for $54, or the two print cartridges along with 100 4x6” photo sheets for $42. Hmmm? That made little sense. I bought the latter.

I called Tony from Target’s parking lot. We agreed to meet at the dealership in a few short minutes. I arrived first. Everyone at the dealership was in fantastic, Xmas Eve-type mood. Xmas carols abound! Tony came barreling up in his sporty new red Honda Accord Sport Coupe. Nice! He produced the deal in writing and then took me out into the lot to see the premium running boards installed on another new Pilot to make sure that we were on the same page. The only surprise was the $250 ‘documentation fee’ on the deal. I didn’t gripe too much. From past experience, it’s pretty standard stuff. I wrote him the refundable deposit check. That will get the ball rolling for the dealer vehicle exchange. Said ours will be in by Friday. I reiterated that we are not interested in picking it up until all the extra accessories are installed. I made that mistake in ’00 with my Trooper. I had to go back twice to get my luggage rack installed. Nightmare! That, he thought, could drag out delivery until Monday. I was OK with that.

I wasn’t there long, but did meet his daughter, Victoria, who is 12 years old and spending Xmas with her daddy. She was cute.

I headed home in the steady rain, the temperature now about 45 degrees. We were expecting Joe & Camilla to stop by to edit some photos for a Xmas gift project. We let them know that our printer was out of ink. I still wanted to help with the editing, however. They showed up around 12:30pm. Sadly, Camilla forgot her camera’s interface cable and could only download photos via the removable memory card. My HP printer has a card reader included on board. I was certain her card would fit, but sadly it wouldn’t. I tried both of my interface cables but the camera’s interface connector was different than both. We were SOL. I suggested Cord camera. They visited for a while longer but left around 1:15pm. Meanwhile, we had just a little window of time before my girls would be over to Xmas with us. We were expecting them at 2:30pm. At 1:45pm Ashley, Stephen, Lindsey & Olivia arrived. We were surprised they were so early, but we were well on our way to being ready. We began Christmasing right then. Courtney arrived around 2pm.

Somewhat surprisingly, Landon would have absolutely nothing to do with his mommy. He wanted me – ‘Pi-Paw’. Meanwhile, Lil’ Rocky was torn. He had good moments and bad. He let his anger get the best of him more than a time or two. But if you think about it, what a terrible thing for a 5 year old to experience. One minute he was fine and playing with his momma and then the next, throwing a fit, crying profusely, kicking, screaming, and throwing things. This was behavior we’ve never seen before. Mindy had a one on one discussion with him to calm his emotions. However, the last thing we wanted to do was to not allow him to express himself. In the end, both Mindy & I felt it good for him to let it out. We surmised that much of this had been building for some length of time. Honestly, I found myself a little concerned for Lindsey, too. I worried how she might process these emotions. Would it put her over the edge? She seemed heart broken but held up pretty well, in the end.

Lucky for all of us, Rocky eventually calmed and began interacting with his momma in an usually loving manner. In fact, he was almost over-the-top loving to everyone from that point forward. I suspect our hunch was correct .He needed to vent. While Rocky was dealing with his own pain, Olivia was testing Ashley. She’d scream at the top of her little lungs to get her way. It obviously works. Mindy & I pulled Olivia aside to calm her. That was far easier. Once she realized that we meant business she was much better behaved. Ashley needs to be incharge.

We had food laid out buffet style. Everyone partook as they saw fit. Our gift ‘exchange’ was next. That went well. The kids loved it. My girls got Mindy & I nothing, not even a card or a note. I only mention this, not because I want ‘things’. Instead, it’s because I am troubled by their ongoing lack of givingness - to anyone. They’ve been allowed to exist like this for years. They had there fill of Xmas and left around 4-4:30pm. Rocky was very loving to his mother at departure time. We weren’t sure how that would go. Landon was unfazed. I asked Ashley about her Xmas tree and gifts for Olivia. She intimated that they had none – not even a tree up. Mindy mentioned later what the money she spends on cigarettes might’ve bought. Good point!

Landon took a nap after the girls left. Rocky & I played Wii. We had a nice time hanging out. We readied for Xmas Eve mass around 6:15pm. Rocky walked Ykraps with me too. It was cooling off once more. Our earlier highs in the mid 40’s were fading fast. We left for mass early – around 6:45pm. Just before hand , I fixed Mindy’s burnt out brake light, which the Valleyview police so kindly pointed it out to Mindy a couple days prior. They didn’t cite her, however. They didn’t want to spoil her otherwise perfect driving record. Funny, I think they ruined mine when I was only 18. J

We arrived at church early and saved an entire pew for the family. Jimaken would be dropping Jacob & Bella off to us at mass. Mindy’s family arrived around 7:15pm. We had already placed Landon in the church nursery. Rocky would be hanging with us for a while through children’s time. He was squirming & talking a lot. After children’s time we’d sent him to the nursery, too.

Jacob & Bella arrived mid-way through mass and joined us in the sanctuary. It was a long mass complete with caroling and the story behind each one we sang. For those that weren’t sure, they were told that they could find the words to the carols in the U-n-i-t-e-d M-e-t-h-o-d-i-s-t H-y-m-n-a-l. Towards the end we took holy communion. That took awhile. After mass, there was a Xmas reception in the fellowship hall – a Crossroads tradition. I’ve attended it each of the last four years. There was more Xmas music played by two choir members (flute, electric guitar, saxophone, and vocals). More importantly, there were lots of Xmas treats for us to devour. We stayed until just before 10pm. I was shocked that it was that late.

The lot was icy as we made our way to the minivan afterwards. We all enjoyed the drive north on Hague avenue admiring the over-the-top Xmas displays along the way. As soon as we were home we got the kids settled into their pj’s and beds. That took a while. I brought the bottle of Asti we had setting on the deck inside. I put it out there after leaving it in the freezer too long earlier in the afternoon. While placing the gifts around the tree we drank Spumante. Finally, all the work was done. We sat, talked, and sipped more spumante before heading to bed ourselves. From our bed, I tuned the TV to Xmas with the Pope, live from the Vatican. He always puts on a grand show. Plus, all of his peeps dress like Santa. Merry Xmas to all, and to all a good night!

Ice, Ice Baby

Tuesday began much like Monday, cold weather included. It was only about ten degrees at sunrise. The biggest difference was the cloud cover. The day’s forecast called for sleet and rain, but I had no idea how given the bitter cold. I tried to get through my exercise routine before dealing with Landon. That endeavor was pretty much a success. 

Like the mornings before, Rocky raced for the magic box hoping to find something unique, special inside. Today he found two chocolate donuts stowed neatly in a sandwich baggie. He was pleased. 

Mindy, me, Landon and Rocky spent a relaxing morning sipping coffee and eating Xmas treats. Mindy’s goal for the day was to grocery shop. Aside from running, I had nothing major planned for the day time. However, I did plan a visit to Barley’s later in the evening hoping to hook up with a couple of my peeps. 

I left for my run a little after 9am. It was a very nice run in the cold temps. Again, running in the cold is more often than not very comfortable. Mindy & I discussed the new Honda Pilot deal, and planned to call Tony, the sales dude, later in the afternoon to begin the process. I strategically waited until about 1pm. We got the ball rolling and agreed to meet around 7pm to sign the papers.  I also called Liberty Mutual to figure out the certain increase to our auto insurance premium. 

Mindy left for the grocery leaving me alone with the boys. Rocky & I played Wii. He was a little wild today. Landon fell asleep at my side lying on the sofa and just before Mindy got home. Mindy was gone until almost 330pm. I was dog tired by the time she returned and was eager to sleep. I eventually fell asleep on the family room floor while listening to Xmas music and watching TV. 

By the time I woke, I thought I heard sleet/rain hitting the sky lights. Indeed it was. The temperature had risen to near 30 degrees. Apparently, the cold air mass was pushed out by a front out of the gulf. By the time that I walked Ykraps the stoop was once again coated with dangerously thin - hard to see – ice. I wondered briefly if I should skip the Honda deal. I called Tony once I was back. We both agreed that the roads were too bad for such an event and agreed to meet Xmas eve morning instead. He figured 20 minutes tops. 

I thought about canceling my Barley’s visit but didn’t. I trusted that the roads outside the subdivision would be clear. I left around 7:20pm. I slid out into Wilson Rd from our street after underestimating the ice. But like I figured, the main roads were very passable - only wet.

 Much to my dismay, there were very few familiar faces at Barley’s. I didn’t bother calling Tom Clark since the roads were bad. However, I did exchange emails with Bob I. earlier in the afternoon. The bar was very busy. Jim Bosch was the only person I knew. He bought me a beer. I later returned the favor. 

I didn’t stay too long, but long enough to enjoy a Xmas Ale and then an IPA. With about ½ a beer remaining, I ordered some Gate of Hell wings to-go along with a jug of IPA. The IPA, incidentally, is about as good as it’s ever been. Great job!

I called Mindy before leaving to see if she was hungry. She wasn’t. Home I headed.

 Save for some ice in the parking lot, the roads were fine until I hit our subdivision. Remembering earlier troubles I proceeded with caution. I tested my ability to brake. Sure enough, dangerous ice – and much worse than earlier. Yikes! I slid all the way down our street. As I approached our drive I tried braking gently going about as slow as possible. Even still, I began to slide. Boy, was I nervous. What was making it really slick was the warm rain hitting the solid base of ice underneath. I slid about 50 feet past our drive. I could see other vehicles coming down the street sliding/weaving as well. It was darn near impassable. I tried to get up our drive several times but to no avail. I stopped trying when I nearly slammed into our mailbox. I went and fetched Mindy for help. I knew that I couldn’t leave the Trooper where it was. Other cars would almost surely hit it as bad as it was.

 While Mindy guarded the Trooper, I fetched traffic cones and salt from the shed. After about ten minutes, it became obvious that the salt would not provide the traction necessary to get the Trooper up the driveway without sliding right back down. Our drive is just too steep and was too slick.

 Mindy talked me into trying to back up and away from the curb & mailbox, which was literally an inch or two from trashing the passenger side of my vehicle. I contemplated tearing out my mailbox to insure no damage to my vehicle. Mindy thought that was over the top and foolish. If backing away worked, I would drive around the corner and park in a secure little cul-de-sac. The plan worked well. I moved in my mirrors and walked home.

 Mindy was wrapping gifts inside. I ate my order of wings and poured an IPA. Very satisfying! I plopped down on the sofa tuning into an episode of The Universe on the Science Channel. I fell asleep with a blanket pulled over my face. Mindy woke me for bed just before midnight. 

Paying the Rent, Driving a Honda, & Drinking at CBC

I got up at 7:20am and snuck downstairs without waking a soul. Before doing anything, I checked the temperature. It was exactly 0 degrees! A side benefit of the bitter cold was clear skies. We haven’t had that much sunshine of late. It was nice to see. We had only Landon & Rocky. The other two were with their daddy until Wednesday. The two kids began to stir while I completed my inside workout. I headed back upstairs to fetch and change Landon. Downstairs, I made the two boys waffles. Rocky ended up eating four of them. He’s a much bigger eater than I ever imagined. Mindy got up so that I could walk Ykraps. It was incredibly cold, especially walking back towards the west where a light NW wind originated. I carried on with coffee and internet for an hour or so afterwards. By 9:30am I dressed for my run. I wore the same thing I always wear in cold temps – nothing extra. I was perfectly comfortable, save for my face getting a little cold at the run’s outset. A quarter mile or so into the run, I was nice and toasty. While I ran, Mindy took Landon & Rocky to Grandma Sharon’s so that we could finish some Xmas shopping later in the afternoon. She decided to do some shopping even before returning. Made sense. It would be at least 1.5 hours before I would be ready to leave the house anyhow. After completing my run and playing on the PC, I took a quick shower. It was about 11am. I phoned Mindy to measure her ETR. She said about 30 minutes. I used that time to wrap her remaining unwrapped gifts. I was stressing over her arriving home while in mid-wrap. That never materialized. She got home around 11:35am. We wasted little time prepping for an afternoon out. First on our list was taking care of daughter Ashley’s December rent, which only became a crisis late last evening. Her mother & I agreed that we’d each pay half. Because it was late, they would only accept a money order. I understood the apartment complex’s policy but I was still aggravated, mostly with Ashley. We stopped at my bank to get a cashier’s check to cover the rent. That cost me an extra $5. We then drove to Grove City and eventually to her rental office. The young lady working at the office thought it was a nice gesture paying her rent. I didn’t discuss the details. We moved on. We decided to stop by Ash’s apartment after seeing her car in the parking lot. As usual, no one answered the door. That pissed me off. We pay your rent, the least you can do is answer your door. Good grief! The whole event jaded my otherwise good mood. From there, we drove back towards the west stopping first at the Georgesville Bob Evan’s to pick up a gift certificate for dad. Afterwards we drove across the street to Hugh White Honda where Mindy test drove the Honda Pilot. Tony was more than happy to accommodate us at a moments notice. I road shotgun and battled nausea the entire time. I never do well riding as a passenger. We were gone with the Pilot for about 45 minutes. We stopped at the Georgesville Lowe’s parking lot so that Mindy could look it over good and sit in all the various seating arrangements without the interruption of a salesperson. I like doing that too. I coached Mindy on our almost certain interaction with Tony after returning the car. I asked that she not seem too excited about it and to remember that we drove the Toyota and Nissan equivalent. All of this, of course, in an effort to get ourselves an even better deal than he’s already offered up. As expected, Tony came right out. He focused his attention on Mindy instead of me. Smart move on his part. She told him that she liked the Honda but he’d have to do better with the numbers. I thought she did remarkably well. He bit. He went through the whole “let me talk to my sales manager” thing - a couple of times, in fact.. He reluctantly returned and said he could give us another $500 off but that was it. I countered with my own offer. His $500 off plus the few dealer installed options we needed (cross bars for the roof rack, trailer light wiring package, and stainless steel side steps). They totaled another $1000. He countered that there was no way possible but left again to discuss with his boss. If not, no deal then. Thanks just the same. His manager returned with him and agreed to split the cost of the three dealer installed options we wanted. The deal then would bring the cost back to his original offer, but with $1000 worth of additional options. We were satisfied. That said, we seemed to have a deal in principal, but like any wise customer, I told him we’d sleep on it and get back to him. We left for home. Both of us were extremely hungry. We carried in Jacob’s hockey table that’s been riding around in my Trooper for a week now. Mindy began wrapping some of the kids gifts while I warmed some Xmas party leftovers (ham and meatballs). While she wrapped gifts, I ran the numbers from our car deal and showed her to a penny what her monthly payments would be. Told her to think about it hard, plus to remember that the insurance would go up considerably. Mindy left to fetch Rocky & Landon from Grandma Sharon’s at 4pm. I spent about 30 minutes napping on the sofa. I was really tired. I walked Ykraps around 5:30pm – close to his usual evening walk time. We had plans to meet Julie, Katie, Joe, and Camilla at CBC around 7:30pm. We were expecting Kara, our new baby sitter, at 7pm. That time came around fast. By then, we had the kids in their pj’s. The kids seemed unfazed by Kara’s presence. Any worry that they might throw a fit was unfounded. Landon might’ve whimpered just a little as we exited. We arrived at CBC by 7:30pm. They place was almost empty, but that was fine by us. Jamie was working the bar. We’d never met her before but she seemed really nice. She said our friend and usual bartender, Kevin was in Brazil for Xmas spending it with his wife’s family. Julie & Katie arrived about ten minutes after us. We sat around the bar, us sipping beers, and those two sipping wine. They ordered some spinach dip to share while waiting for Joe & Camilla. Out of the blue, the bartender, Jamie, asked Julie if she still liked the A’s. We all stopped momentarily to grasp the magnitude of the question. This was Jamie Young, Julie’s childhood friend. It was a very cute encounter. Joe & Camilla arrived after another 30 minutes. They were at brother Todd’s having pizza after working on a Xmas project all day long. We asked to be seated at a table in the restaurant section. We were seated at a round table, which was my preference all along. That way it’s easy to interact with everyone. Because we were the only patrons in the restaurant, we made lots of noise and had lots of fun. We each ordered appetizers in lieu of a full blown meal. Glad I did. I had hot wings. Mindy had calamari. Joe & Camilla shared the spinach dip. Can’t recall what Katie and Julie shared. Through the evening, Mindy had just the one beer – house porter. I had three IPAs. They were good. We left for home around 10pm. Kara had the kids already asleep in bed, but that’s what we expected. She said they were in bed promptly at 8pm. We paid her well. Mindy asked if she would consider being on an every other Friday rotation. She agreed. That will guarantee Mindy & I some well-deserved alone time out with friends every other week – a blessing. I was excited to see that the Bears were losing 14-3 to the Packers. If the score held up, the Vikings would be division champs. Mindy knew the game was important to me, but found herself unbearably tired and begged off to bed. I stayed up to watch in horror. Somehow the hapless Bears pulled off a comeback, winning in overtime with a 38 yard field goal. I was bummed. Still, we control our own destiny. Win and we’re in. I took momentary solace in that and headed off to bed.

And Winter Came

Welcome Winter! I was up before 8am Sunday – closer again to 7:30am. Landon was still sleeping. Taking full advantage, I slipped downstairs to make coffee and exercise before any of the kids woke up. I heard a little stirring as I completed my exercise routine. The kids were soon up. Mindy was up to deal with Landon and his morning diaper change. From Mindy’s perspective, we had already discussed me going to church, but I didn’t see it that way. I would agree, however, that she seemed to intimate that I would go. After a small debate I agreed to go. More than anything, that meant I had to accelerate my routine. After a fast cup of coffee and some quick PC time I dressed & left for a run. I cut my run to three miles to further expedite things. I ran along Trabue and Hague. It was bitter cold but I was dressed for it. It was only about 10 degrees. I found a stray golf ball along hole #1. That happens more often than not. It’s more a question of me picking it up or leaving it lie. Today I picked it up. I was back at home by 9:30am. Mindy was surprised that I was back so soon. Not only had I cut my run a little brief, but I ran it fast, too. The kids were already dressed. After checking with Mindy, I headed up for a shower. We didn’t really have anytime ot eat anything of substance. We left for church, me still hungry. We took gifts for my ex-inlaws. We’d be dropping Rocky & Landon at ex-Kelly’s immediately after church. I had yet to see the new church sanctuary. I was impressed with the design - very nice, very functional. The kids were doing a presentation of sorts. Bella chickened out and didn’t want to participate. I would’ve believed Rocky not wanting to do it, but Bella? Big surprise to both Mindy & I. Rocky & Jacob were still in. The sermon moved swiftly with the children doing their individual lines throughout. Rocky needed help with his lines, but still managed the intestinal fortitude to do it. I was proud of him. The choir was bad - sorry! Mass lasted almost a full 1.5 hours. It didn’t’ really seem that long, however. More than anything, I was getting really hungry. We hung out for about ten minutes after mass - long enough for the kids to pick-up a small gift. We bundled carefully before dashing out into the bitter cold. Rocky was excited to be going to Kelly’s. She lives right around the corner from Crossroads. Kelly came out to the van to greet us. Lindsey made a very brief appearance but barely acknowledged us. Probably more surprising, she didn’t offer a hug to Rocky. We briefly discussed their return arrangements with Kelly. She agreed to bring them home. Jacob & Bella asked to stop at McDonald’s on our way home, but Mindy & I were more eager to get home. Mindy needed to help the kids wrap their daddy’s Xmas gifts as he was coming to pick them up at 2:00pm. As soon as we got home I snacked on chunks of cheese and later my leftover chipotle from Friday night. The chipotle hit the spot. Jimaken arrived somewhere between 2-2:30pm. I was sound asleep on the sofa. The chipotle, while good, was like a rock in my tummy. Soon after eating it, I was suddenly struck with unbound sleepiness. I woke in time to wish the kids well. We wouldn’t see them again until Xmas eve. The afternoon moved on. Meanwhile, I was getting a little nervous about the Viking game which was on TV at 4:30pm. By winning, they would clinch the division title and a playoff birth. I was excited and full of nervous energy. As I often do, I cleaned. That helped diffuse the nerves. The Viking game started as scheduled. It didn’t start well. The Falcons scored first. However, the Vikings answered on the ensuing drive. I was very pleased with that. As the game unfolded, we seemed destined to loose. We fumbled a total of seven times losing four of them. Even still, we had a chance to tie the score as time expired. Our receiver was interfered with on 4th down but the officials never called it. I didn’t complain too much. We shouldn’t have left ourselves in such a position. I was bummed that we lost. Kelly brought the kids home around 5:30pm. We were on pins and needles wondering how they might respond to their first visit with Lindsey. They seemed fine and were very loving once back home. We let Rocky stay up later than usual. He was happy for that. We got a call from daughter Ashley soon after Kelly dropped off the kids. Ashley needed help with her rent. I was willing to help but wanted answers regarding the whereabouts of her money. She had none. Word has it, though, she does a terrible job of balancing her check book. She came over to get some money. She didn’t like the lecture we gave her. Please! I don’t like pissing my money way. We put Rocky to bed soon after Ashley and Olivia left. Must’ve been about 9pm. While reading the manual to my new Canon camera, we heard a knock on our front door. It was nephew Joe and Camilla. We stayed up partying with those two until nearly midnight. We shared some beers, snacks, pictures, and storeis. It was a lot of fun. We made loose plans ot meet up at CBC Monday evening for even more fun. Despite all the fun, I went to bed with a heavy heart still smarting after the Viking loss.

My Annual Stop at Anthony Thomas

Man, I must be snake bit. I got up with Landon just after 7:30am, and once again, he had a vigorously shitty diaper to deal with - P.U. I did my level best to take care of his business, and then lead him, Rocky, and Bella downstairs. Jacob soon followed. Rocky went right for the mini-Blueberry muffins. Meanwhile, Jacob went for the magic box, since this was his morning to open it. All three kids were eager to see its contents. Inside was a giant box of Whopper malted milk balls along with a huge Peppermint Pattie. I’d say he made out. The other kids thought so too. They were already discussing whose turn it was next. It wasn’t long before Mindy joined all of us downstairs knowing that I had to walk Ykraps. The kids were eating breakfast by the time Ykraps and I returned. Meanwhile, Mindy was already planning how our morning would unfold. The three older kids had to be at church by 10am for play rehearsal. She wanted me to remain home with Landon. I was cool with that but sorely wanted to get my run in before she left. In addition, I wanted to relax with coffee and perhaps even squeeze in a little writing beforehand. It was just before 8:30am. I needed to be home from my run by 9:45am. I played until 9:00am I left for my run a few minutes after 9am. I thought about running along Trabue but opted to stay inside the subdivision. It wasn’t as exciting but it’s so much easier that way. It was a very nice run. It was below freezing but just barely - about 28 degrees. Mindy & the kids left almost as soon as I hit the door. Landon and I hunkered down amongst his sprawling spread of toys. I started to panic just a little knowing that we were having a house full of guests later in the afternoon and our house was looking a bit upside down. However, I quickly contained my angst, knowing that Mindy and I would have everything under control by mid-afternoon. Instead, I focused my attention on entertaining Landon. We bonded. The time went fast. Mindy & the kids picked up Wendy’s on their way home. Must’ve been about 11:30am when they were home. After the kids finished their lunch, neighbor Crissy came to the rescue once again. She allowed our kids to visit her home while Mindy & I cleaned and cooked. God bless Crissy! What served as a big help to our cleaning and prep, Mindy put Landon down for a nap. Mindy asked that I scrub all three bathrooms. The kids’ was by far the worst, especially around the toilet. Afterwards, I dashed off to Anthony Thomas to pick-up some candy gifts for a handful of folks still on our buy list. For a brief time this holiday season, I thought that I might avoid such a stop. Doing so would’ve been the first time in maybe 20 years. Prices have gone up considerably over the years. Nowadays, a pound of their special chocolates averages about $19. Twenty years ago it was just over half that. I ran the sweeper in the living room and on the stairs after returning home. As is often the case, time started moving fast. It was 2pm before we knew it. I put the ham in crock-pot a little bit after 2pm. The afternoon moved along. Mindy asked that I make her aware as the clock approached 5pm. That was her personal deadline. She wanted to break free from baking cookies in order to ready herself and the kids for the holiday party. Come 5pm I alerted her. I picked up the cookie baking slack while they readied. When she returned all we had to do was lay out the rest of the spread. Things were coming together just as we planned by 5:30pm. Unless I’m mistaken, brother Tommy & Wally were first to arrive. He brought lots of eats – deviled eggs and a crock-pot full of Domino’s Wings. Dad soon followed, and brought a pan full of homemade brownies. Later, Bobby and family showed, as did Shelly & Kaileigh, and Ashley, Stephen, and Olivia.. That was it. Aunt Char said she would make it, as did Dodie, but neither did. But, as I often say, it’s not about who doesn’t show up. Instead, it’s all about who does. We had fun. All the kids had a ball and played nicely. Mindy doled out the kiddie party favors early on. That kept them occupied for a long while. We had oodles of food, too much really – ham, meatballs, lil’ baby sausages, mini-corn dogs, chips galore, cookies, brownies, and much, much more. We wanted to make sure that we had enough food. We didn’t do the white elephant until late. There were only five participants – Bobby, April, Jimindy, Dad, and Tommy. It was fun. We ended up with a snowman cookie jar along with some scratch off lottery tickets. Everyone left by 10pm or so. Mindy & I spent the next hour stowing away the food and picking up the house. It held up quite nicely. We were in bed by 11:30pm.

The Trilogy - Grandma, Dad, and Char

Dad, Happy 73rd Birthday! Friday was here, the 19th of December. I slept a little late, not getting out of bed until 5:25am. It was still before 5:30am when I made my way downstairs. The coffee maker kicked on while I was stretched out on the floor doing my sit-ups. Lying there, I could hear the heavy rain pounding against the sky lights. If this kept up, I’d surely be soaked during my run. However, before thinking about my run, I still had to walk Ykraps. I reached for the umbrella as he and I stepped off the stoop. I had trouble getting it to open, but little wonder. I leave it outside year round tucked into the corner. It must be 10 years old or even older. Finally, after having rain run down my back I got it to unfurl. The rain was driving in from the north-northeast. That was easily determined with the umbrella. Ykraps took care of business in a hurry – thankfully. Soon we were back at home. I went for coffee only to realize that I forgot to add coffee. In my cup was nothing but hot steamy water. Good grief! I went to the pantry to get the coffee but realized straight away that we were out. I had to run to the basement to fetch a new canister. Mindy keeps a back-up on hand all the time. Right now we have three others down there. It was on sale. By the time that coffee was ready it was 6:05am. Mindy must’ve thought I forgot to deliver her coffee. She came down just as I was putting the finishing touches on her cup. She took it and returned upstairs to continue with her shower and prep. I received an email from Immke Honda with a price quote on the Honda Pilot tricked out to my specifications. It was a decent initial offer, but now that Mindy’ van is running better, we’re not sure if we want to pull the trigger just yet. The idea was to wait a few more months before the sudden car troubles. However, that scare was a little reminder that it could go at any time. Better to be prepared than to get caught with ones pants down. We’ll see. I spent just a few minutes in meditation, but not nearly enough. Time was slipping away and if I were to remain on schedule I needed to leave for my run. In the meantime, the rain was coming down as hard, or even harder than it was earlier. I dressed as I normally would for the temperature – it was 33 degrees. Soon I dashed off into the wet streets. My high-tech gear kept me drier than I figured it would. More importantly, it kept me warm and dry long enough for my body temperature to counter the seeping dampness. About half way through the run my foot hit a deep puddle. I felt the cold wet water against my foot. It wasn’t pleasant. My mind drifted from this to that. By runs end I wasn’t even thinking about the constant barrage of rain. I entered the house dripping wet. As she often does, Mindy had a fresh beach towel ready by the door for me to dry off with. That was appreciated. Bella was excited because an elf left oodles of candy in the magic box we’ve placed under the Xmas tree. First it was Rocky benefiting from the magic box on Wednesday morning and now Bella. The kids agreed that Jacob must be next. Bella calmly added her catch to her larger supply in the dining room. She gave me the Butterfinger! ;) Soon Mindy and the little ones left for the day. They were all a little extra stoked given that this was their last day of school until next year. Mindy, too. In fact, all of us will be off next week. I will happily return to work the Monday after Xmas. The rain continued to come down heavily. When bus time came, I drove Jacob to the bus stop in the Trooper. The bus pulled up just as I approached. After seeing Jacob hand his bus driver her Xmas gift, I drove back home for my final prep. I had a couple of things still to throw in the Trooper for work. I arrived at work right at 8:30am. We were a little short handed due in part to some unplanned call-offs. We huddled and strategized. We’d be OK. My boss and I hung out for a good two hours sharing work stories and coffee time. We must’ve went on until 11am. That made the day fly by. Afterwards, we decided it a good idea to buy pizza for our teams today. I put the entire order on my credit card. I knew then that my packed lunch would most likely be returning home with me. The pizzas arrived around 1pm. I ate four slices. Honestly, it wasn’t that good, but it did the job. The afternoon was as low key as the AM. I was impressed with the calm. My boss departed a little early. I wished him a joyous holiday since I wouldn’t likely see him until the first of the year. I spent my last hour tying up several loose ends. I had a couple gifts I’ve been working that I pulled from the drawers of my credenza so I wouldn’t forget them. I left for home at 5pm eager to begin my nine day holiday celebration. I talked with Mindy as I approached Kroger, my first stop before home. I teased about heading to Barley’s to see Bob Imber. She wasn’t enjoying my humor, citing that we had too much to accomplish prior to tomorrow afternoon’s Wright family Xmas party. At Kroger I bought a ham, a bottle of Jack for Rene, and a couple of six packs of beer – some Great Lakes Christmas Ale (very good btw) and some CBC Pale Ale. Along my drive home I phoned my dad to wish him a happy birthday, number 73! I arrived home just after 5:30pm. First task, unload my haul and then walk Ykraps. Mindy and the kids were in festive moods. For this I was most pleased. Mindy was eager to head to the grocery to pick-up all the party supplies along with gathering a few party favor gifts. I encouraged her to wait until Landon was asleep. Honestly, I wasn’t looking forward to watching four kids by myself. What have my Friday’s become? J However, God loves me and always watches out for me. Neighbor Crissy called and invited the three older kids down to play with her children. His blessings aren’t lost on me. The house was quiet after they all headed down. Mindy was ready to leave but Landon wanted to cuddle. He embraced Mindy’s bosom like no tomorrow. He was in his own little world. It was really quite touching. Calm, quiet, relaxing. One look into his eyes spoke volumes. It was now nearly 8pm. Mindy put him to bed before leaving. Suddenly, I was home seemingly by myself in a quiet house. WAHOO! Does it get any better? I sipped a couple of brews in Mindy’s absence all the while updating my severely behind blog. I decided to download a song from the new Enya CD from Amazon after getting a coupon for one free song in my last shipment. Prior, I had never paid for a downloaded song, ever. While on their page, I decided to buy the entire thing. It was only $8.99. However, to my surprise, they charged me only $3.99. I had earned a $5-off coupon from my latest camera order. And BTW – it arrived Thursday and the new memory card arrived today. I’m all set. Mindy really wants to wrap it for Xmas but I’d prefer to have it now to use on Xmas. More than anything, I want to snuggle up and read the manual. Anyway, back to downloading Enya. Immediately after downloading the entire album, I burnt two copies to CD – one for my car and one for Mindy’s. A glance at the clock revealed that it was nearly 10pm. Wow! Mindy phoned asking if the kids were home and in bed. Nope – still at Crissy’s! She thought that I was kidding. Mindy would soon be home too. She called Crissy to let her know to send them home. The kids were home by 10pm. I gathered their pajamas from upstairs and tossed them down form the balcony. They were in them quickly. They asked for popcorn. I made some. Mindy was home a few minutes later. I helped carry in her haul. There was quite a load for simply being just the party stuff. As soon as it was put away, we encouraged the children to head up for tuck in. They were cooperative. Soon, Mindy and I had quiet time all over again. Mindy poured herself an eggnog. I topped it off with Capt. Morgan’s rum. We sat on the sofa basking in the quiet. We talked a little. She asked that I go to bed at the same time as her tonight. I did. I love my wife more than I love staying up watching Family Guy reruns – well, most times! :)

I'm Going Orna -mental

I considered making it to Thursday somewhat of a milestone, this being my fourth work day in-a-row. Something I haven’t had to do for some time. I was up at 5:20am, just like I wanted to be. It wasn’t long before my exercise routine was in the bag and Ykraps and I were heading out into the chill. Thankfully, it wasn’t nearly as slippery this AM, although we still had to be careful, especially on the front stoop. Equally, the sidewalk crossing over the bridge was still coated in thin and slippery ice. That almost caught me off guard. Our walk was brief but fruitful. Soon we were back at home and I was pouring a hot cup of coffee, which I thoroughly enjoyed. By the time that I delivered Mindy’s she was up and making our bed. I left her coffee resting on her dresser in the master bath. I returned downstairs to meditate and then prep for a run. Although there were a few sparsely scattered slick spots, the roads were dry for the most part making my run so much easier and faster. I still had to be on the lookout for the occasional patch of ice. The unexpected ice patches are the ones that get you. Mindy and the kids were right where I expected them to be when I returned from my run. I helped get everyone bundled for the day just before the departed. Mindy happily reported that her van was still running fine after last weekends scare. Hmmm? Soon Mindy and the wee ones were gone. Jacob and I did our usual thing and left the house promptly at 7:58am. The boys and I once again were able to toss the football avoiding the few slick spots remaining. The bus was on time. Soon I was on my way to work. The work day started out pleasantly and never got out of hand. I was very happy for that. I didn’t bother with taking a lunch. I worked straight through the day. In truth, that made the day fly by. Soon it was time to go home. Spaghetti and meatballs was dinner. At first I wasn’t too hungry but managed to work up an appetite big enough to enjoy a plate full. The kids enjoyed it too. It’s a family favorite. The three older kids (minus Landon) enjoyed their advent calendar chocolates after dinner. Mindy brought home about 8 extra clear glass ornaments so that all of us could participate in the craft she had done at school with 70+ kids earlier. Essentailly, we pour five different colors of tempra paint into the ornaments then shook it vigorously. The end results was ty-die effect. We had the kids ready for bed by 8pm. The evening went much, much smoother. I enjoyed a Jack & Fresca while relaxing on the sofa, and went ot bed around 11pm. Mindy was off to bed before me.

Slick!

Like clock work, I was up at 5:20am eager to get my day rolling. It felt good to finally make it to Wednesday. After all, this was my first five day work week since the week before the Michigan Ohio State game. And the past two weeks, Wednesday was my Monday. From a work week stand point, I’ve been all out of sorts. Like any other day, I completed my calisthenics then headed outdoors with Ykraps. Stepping out the door I noticed a thick coating of ice on everything. Like always, our front stoop was incredibly slippery. I proceeded with much caution. I had no choice but to walk through the flower bed and front yard, otherwise I would‘ve slid all the way down the drive. Ykraps was confused by seeing me walking in the road in lieu of the sidewalk. The roads were slick as well, but not nearly as treacherous as the walks. My thoughts turned to my run and how I might pull that off. Everything was covered in a coating of ice. After a slow walk, Ykraps and I made it safely back home. Then, after pouring some coffee I took to the PC where I first scoped out the weather forecast. As bad as it was I figured I should look for school closings. Right off I saw that Hilliard schools would be operating on a two-hour delay. In response, I emailed my boss and peers to notify them that I would be approximately two hours late. Next, I prepped Mindy’ morning coffee for express delivery. I notified her of the severe conditions and the fact that Jacob’s school was delayed. She asked about hers. Nope, only the burbs (Dublin, Hilliard, Westerville, Worthington). I decided that Jacob’s delay would fix my running quandary. Since the temperature was on its way up, we stood a good chance that the ice would start melting in a couple of hours. It was hovering close to freezing already. I planned to delay my run until around 8:00am. I helped Mindy get the kids ready but also dashed outdoors to grab some road salt from the shed and then sprinkled a liberal amount over the drive and walk. I worried that Mindy might otherwise take out the Trooper backing out of the garage. To avoid that problem completely, I backed the Trooper onto the road and parked curbside. Now, if Mindy slid while backing out, she’d hit nothing but air. Because the front of our house faces due north, we have a wet, frozen stoop & drive almost all winter long. By the time Mindy needed to leave for work the salt had worked its magic and provided just enough traction for her to back out problem free. I played around on the PC for the next half hour before leaving on my run. Jacob was in his room playing his PS2. As I maneuvered down to the road I spotted Jake standing at the school bus stop and his mother’s SUV parked along side him. I hollered for the two of them to come my way. Somehow they missed the school delay message. I told Crissy to leave Jake with me and go on to work. She was grateful and departed. To be fair, I let her know that I’d be running for 30+ minutes and that the boys would be alone for that same amount of time. She understood and went on her way. As did I. I carefully struck out on my run. The walks were nearly impossible and the streets almost as bad. However, having done this for several years, I have a technique that thus far has served me well. The basic idea is this, I run slower, wider, and with total respect for the terrain ahead. I don’t think that I’ve ever fallen. I’ve come close, but never taken a dive. Whenever possible, I ran in the crown of the road (dead center). Occasionally, it would be completely free from ice. Whenever a car would come barreling down the road I would move cautiously up onto the grass strip between the road and walk. But believe it or not, that was slick too. I had to be careful. It took a bit longer than usual but I made it home unscathed. Boy, was I ever happy to be done. Before getting a shower, I loaded the clothes baskets now full of gift bags into the Trooper. I was out of the shower dressed for work by 9:50am. At 9:58am Jake, Jacob, and I walked to the bus stop. Of course, the two boys walked on the still treacherous sidewalks. I walked in the road. They loved the slick sidewalks and treated them as an ice rink. Finally, the bus cometh. The bus driver scolded my Jacob non-verbally for sliding out into the road before she came to a complete stop. Turns out, I was doing the same simultaneously. She commented that many of her peers were knocking over mailboxes. She went on about how they should’ve called off school all together. Back home I buttoned down the hatches befor departing. I arrived at work at 10:30am. I parked in a handicapped spot close to the rear entrance to aid in carrying in my three clothes baskets full of gifts. It took me a good ten minutes to get all three up to my fifth floor office. Our staff meeting was slated for 11am. I quickly totted my team’s gift bags into the center and distributed them like Santa. Only one of my guys was off. Everyone was most appreciative. Turns out, the team had a gift for me too – two in fact. The first was a $50 Dick’s gift certificate. The second was a gag gift and a play on some joking dialogue we’ve had recently about my easy jeans and black t-shirt wardrobe. They commented only days ago that it was easy because they were so small and could all be washed in one load. J In turn, my gag gift was a long sleeved black t-shirt and a pair of jeans. The unique thing was that they were tiny sized – about Rocky’s size. The team roared as I opened it. I laughed along with them. It was funny. A few minutes later, a couple of them (suck-ups) came by my office to make sure that I wasn’t offended. Please – me? I was barely settled before it was time to head off to our 11am staff meeting. The meeting was brief as we had a team lunch planned for the Cheesecake Factory at Easton. After our staff meeting I gave each of my peers their Starbucks gifts. Then, before heading off to Easton, we presented our boss with our joint gift – a gift basket full of OSU stuff. We found parking relatively close to the Cheesecake Factory. The walk was chilly but certainly not unbearable. They quoted us a fifteen minute wait but it was more like five. Soon we were seated for our team Xmas lunch. Bottomline, I wasn’t impressed with anything we ordered accept the cheesecake. Our spinach dip appetizer was average at best, and my Cuban sandwich couldn’t hold a candle to Barley’s rendition. But then again, it was more about the people I was with rather than the food. We had a lot of fun yucking it up. On my prompting, everyone ordered cheesecake. I went with their Kahlua cocoa. It was scrumptious! We headed back to the office around 2:30pm. However, one of my peers, Sandy, went her separate way, heading off for some shopping at Easton. She’d be off until Monday. The late afternoon in the office was easy. There wasn’t too much going on and everyone was in extraordinarily good spirits. Just as the end of the day often brings a big issue, today was no exception. I didn’t get out of the office until 5:45pm. On my way home I stopped at Target to pick-up the hockey table for Jacoby. I looked for the new Enya Xmas CD but like most places, they didn’t have it. Also, at Mindy’s prompting, I picked up a box of big boys training pants – what can I say. I’m having issues. J No, not really. They’re for Rocky. He’s pee’d the bed about three or four times over the last three weeks. Mindy’s tiring of washing his bedding. Everyone was pretty much settled by the time that I arrived home – one of the benefits of arriving home late. I still had to walk Ykraps, however. This was a Jimaken Wednesday for Jacob & Bella. They didn’t get home until 7:40pm. That gave Mindy and I a little more time to focus on Rocky & Landon. They seem to benefit from that. Once J & B were home, they were quickly off to the showers. Soon, everyone was tucked into bed, and Mindy & I were left with some alone time – time to ponder our day and our immediate future. There’s an awful lot going on over the next week or so. It’s important to plan. I lagged behind after Mindy headed off to bed. I watched a DVR’d episode of Family Guy. I headed off for bed around 11pm.

Asti, Starbucks, & Step-Brothers

Just like that, it was Tuesday already. I was up at 5:20pm and felt pretty good even after staying up later than I should’ve the night before. There was talk of an overnight snow storm skimming us but that never happened. It was cold but no sign of snow. It was only 19 degrees. That’s 34 degrees colder than yesterday at the same time. I went about my morning exercise routine and quickly found myself outside in the cold walking Ykraps. It felt colder than it was due to a stiff little breeze blowing out of the NW. I already had the trash setting out waiting on the trash truck. In fact, I had another giant trash bag full & ready to be stuffed in the can as soon as it was dumped. I would then move it across the street to create a double pick-up. This giant trash bag has been resting full in our basement for almost a year. Time to rid ourselves of it once an for all. The initial pick-up happened just after 6am while I sipped my coffee – like always. After delivering Mindy’s coffee, I did my usual morning meditation. I placed a great deal of attention on the well being of my grand children, especially Rocky & Landon. Regardless of how tough it may seem to successfully manage 4 children, I know we’re their best hope. From that perspective I gather strength. Besides, short of self-serving gluttony, what else would I do? I left for my run out into the cold well dressed for such and event. I was very comfortable. I much prefer the bitter cold over nasty, wet, winter rain. As one might expect, the run went well. I returned to the house cold but comfortable. The kids and Mindy were busy eating breakfast and readying for departure. I made sure everyone knew to bundle warmly. It was cold! Jacob, Jake and I tossed the football in the bitter cold while standing at the bus stop. I wore my running gloves. The two of them played bare-handed. Jacob reminded me again that he needs receiving gloves. Why, when I was a kid … I was off to work by 8:05am. The work day proved to be an interesting one. I spent the entire morning moving my office. Despite cleaning my current office thoroughly a month ago, the filth oozed as I relocated down the hall and around the corner. My plan was to get everything in my new office first before beginning the organization process. That worked well, but also kept me out-of-pocket until about 11:30am. At lunch time I headed to Target to pick-up Xmas gifts for my team members. In addition, Mindy asked me to pick-up 75 clear glass ornaments for a school project. Before simply throwing them in my cart, I called her to make sure that I read the email right. I mean, who needs 75 clear glass ornaments? Lucky for me, she answered. That was correct – 75. OK. For my team members the plan was to get each of them a bottle of Martini & Rossi Asti and some fine chocolates. Target was able to meet both needs. Great! And since I was there, I checked out the hockey table that Jacob wants. They had one left. I decided not to buy it because I couldn’t be sure that it was the right one. I’d check the Target add later with Mindy’s help and go from there. I picked up the Step-Brothers DVD, starring Will Ferrell. I’ve heard that it’s a hoot. In addition, I bought 12 gift bags and tissue paper. Lastly, I picked up three one-pound bags of Starbucks coffee for my peers. Back to work. The rest of the afternoon moved swiftly. I was out of the office by 5:30pm. Mindy made beef noodles for dinner. They were exceptional. We ate the rest of the Italian bread with it. This was a Rocky & Landon bath night. Jacob & Bella were off the hook. After tucking the kids into bed, Mindy helped me build 12 gift bags to take to work tomorrow AM. I wrote out 12 Xmas cards too. I stowed all the gift bags in three laundry baskets for easy transport tomorrow morning. We talked about our expanded family roles afterwards. Without question, the task is daunting and incredibly taxing on the both of us. However, in the end, we both agree it’s the right thing to do. Mindy went to bed earlier than I. I stayed up watching some Science TV.

Pilot & Pot Roast

It was Monday morning once again and time to return to work. And it should come as no surprise that I was up at 5:20am. That’s become my latest positive habit. I felt good too. I was ready to get up and get moving. Somewhere during my exercise routine the coffee maker kicked on. I love that sound and the ensuing aroma. 

After exercise, Ykraps and I were out the door for our morning walk. It was very mild, especially given the recent bone chilling cold. It was 53 degrees. During my early morning think time, I thought about Mindy’s minivan, which almost certainly seems to be on its last leg. I worried whether or not she’d make it even one more day. What a pickle! Regardless, worrying wouldn’t help.

 I proceeded with the rest of my morning giving next to no more thought to her minivan. During PC time I read a few more articles covering the Vikings excellent victory over the Cardinals on Sunday. Nothing like controlling one’s own destiny. Win one more game and we’re assured of winning our division. Or, if the Bears lose we win it, too. I’d prefer the victory, of course.

 I delivered Mindy’s coffee around 6:00am. After a decent meditation I readied for a run. I thinned my running gear, completely skipping ear covers and gloves. The run went really well. Even though it’s just mid December, this is only like the third time I’ve been able to skip wearing ear covers and gloves since the beginning of November. It’s been quite cold, indeed. And actually, I want it to get cold enough to make snow so that we can take the kids to Mad River next week. We’ll see. 

I returned home to a warm, lively group. Everyone was up and chipper. Mindy had all the kids fed and all but ready for departure. My thoughts, once again,  returned immediately to her minivan. I wasn’t sure that it was road worthy. She started it and it didn’t sound nearly as bad as Sunday afternoon/evening, but then again, I figured it might act up after it warmed. I watched her and the wee ones back out of the garage. I panicked a little when she started pulling back up the drive, only to learn that she was trying to create more space between her van and my truck. 

Soon Jacob and I were at the bus stop tossing the football with Jake – the good life!

  I arrived to work around 8:25am. As it turns out, this would be our last day in the center we’ve been in for coming up on four years. We’re moving our entire team of 50 or so back to the old Network Operations Center (NOC) where I spent the first seven years of my tenure. My own office will now be located outside of the center away from my team. That’ll feel very odd. 

My peer was out sick so I spent very little time prepping for the move, although I probably could’ve. I did spend some time researching the price and options available on a ’09 Honda Pilot, the vehicle of choice to replace Mindy’ s minivan (her choice). Her preference was that I just pick something out and bring it home and she’d make the payments. Sounds easy enough unless you’re me. That actually caused me stress. 

The day was progressing slower than an average Monday, so I left for lunch around 12:30pm and drove to Hugh White Honda to look at the new Pilot up close, and perhaps even drive one. Immediately, I was approached by Tony D, a salesman. I consider myself pretty good at doing new car deals having negotiated four of them. The key is taking control of where the conversation and deal is going. I never let the salesman drive the conversation. Instead, it’s all on my terms. I ask most of the questions. I asked to drive the top of line, the 4WD Pilot Touring. He asked what color I said it didn’t really matter. Another queue that I wasn’t ready to give him control. We drove for about five miles where we I learned about the vehicles features. The Pilot Touring comes loaded with features that Mindy or I would most likely never, ever use. For instance, bluetooth hands free controls for all your personal communication devices, navigation system, rear entertainment system (DVD player). Admittedly, all nice features but most likely not worth the additional $4000. After our drive I thanked Tony and asked for some numbers to take home to share with my wife. I told him I’d give him an opportunity to woo me with the numbers. I already knew the MSRP from the webpage. 

I was impressed that he was willing to knock 10% off the sticker price on the first offer. It’s definitely a tough time for the auto industry. I looked him in the eye and told him that I might call him after checking out Nissan and Toyota’s offerings. Actually, Tony was quite pleasant and not too pushy. I liked that. I departed somewhat encouraged that we might be able to deal. As I walked away he offered that I bring Mindy in for another test drive and even said that we could possibly keep one for an entire day. Nice! 

On my way back to work, I stopped at the bank ATM to get some cash. The afternoon was busy, so I didn’t get out of the office until a little after 5:30pm. Mindy had a pot roast cooking in the crockpot all day long. She also invited my dad over for dinner. He walked Ykraps saving me the trouble. The kids were all wound up. Dad had something to do with that. They love playing with grandpa/great-grandpa. 

The roast was absolutely delicious. One of the best ever. It was served with mashed potatoes and beef gravy. Mindy sliced some Italian bread as well. We briefly discussed Saturday’s plans, and seemed to catch dad a little off guard. He didn’t realize that this coming Saturday was the annual family Xmas gathering at our place. After dinner and clean-up the kids were eager to play Apples to Apples. Everyone participated save for Landon. Dad won. Both Rocky & Bella can’t read well enough to understand their cards. It’s really quite entertaining. 

Dad sensed that Mindy & I were running out of steam and promptly departed just before 8pm. This was a Jacob & Bella shower night. Rocky & Landon had the night off. After bed time prep and the tuck in, Mindy & I were exhausted. We didn’t even have time to discuss the Honda Pilot thing. She did, however, report that her van seemed to be performing much better. That was encouraging to hear. She headed to bed well before me. I stayed up watching the MNF game until halftime. Like always, I fell asleep just before half. I woke around 10:30pm and turned down the house before heading off to bed.