I woke a couple of times through the night to the sound of ferocious wind and rain pounding against the house. It sounded as though the roof might blow off. Word had it that we might even get a thunderstorm as we transitioned from warm back to cold. We never did get the thunder and lightning, at least to the best of my knowledge. But that wind! It was blowing so hard I wondered what my run might be like come dawn.
When 5:30am rolled around the rains had stopped but the winds continued to gust. After exercise I headed out with Ykraps. It was cold – only 12 degrees. And the wind, man, it was brutal. It made it feel colder than it’s been all year! It cut right through my two jackets. My back was facing the wind as we walked out, but on the way back it ripped the air right out from my lungs. It caught me off guard.
I was never more happy to be back inside. I did the coffee thing and delivered Mindy’s. Weatherbug said that we had overnight gusts of 54 mph. I believe it! Now they were a mere 30mph. Still very stiff! I prepared for my run as if it were zero after factoring in the wind. I wore my thickest winter running shirt and jacket. I was comfy after about a ¼ mile, but could feel some cold air penetrating here and there due mostly to the brutally cold, stiff wind. Each time my run faced me towards the west I braced for the shock. But by about the 3 mile marker I was numb to it as well.
It dawned on me during my run that I had a logistical problem on my hands this AM. Today was a late start day for Jacob, which I had planned for weeks ago, at least intended to plan for. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about it yesterday, and now had a conflict at work. Crap! I mulled over my options, which were blowing off the first two hours of work or possibly taking Jacob into the office with me. Neither idea felt perfect by any measure. When I finished and retuned home I shared my forgetfulness with Mindy. I was not in a pleasant mood given how much I wanted to please both sides. I struggle like this often.
Ultimately, she suggested that I take Jacob with me, too. Logically, that seemed the lesser of the two evils since I could accomplish both goals. The only impact would be leaving briefly to run him to school come 10:50am, but his school is effectively just around the corner. Jacob, however, was not happy. He threw a fit to the point of being defiant. This only aggravated me more. He downright refused to go into work with me. At that point I could only envision dragging an unruly seven year old into the office having him embarrass me with his cantankerous behavior. Mindy tried reasoning with him over it. It was clear to me, though, that given his outburst, I didn’t want to do that. I was figuring on calling my boss, falling on my sword, and staying home for 2 hours. Jacob kept on spewing his displeasure ultimately leading me to declare that the Wii was gone for the day (As predicted, taking away the Wii has become the ultimate disciplinary device).
Mindy was just leaving for the day. Jacob headed to the garage for some motherly intervention. Mindy, unbeknownst to me, contacted my father asking for his help with the issue. She reentered the house to let me know that dad would be coming over to tend to Jacob until 10am. I appreciated her finding a third alternative. I am not like that. I would not typically call my dad for help as much as she does. I wasn’t trained as such.
Mindy also tried refereeing the issue between Jacob and I. For obvious reasons, I didn’t care for that at all. Honestly, I couldn’t believe my ears. From my perspective – never in front of the kids should you dole out a motherly opinion. No way. In private only! Regardless, the immediate issue was under control. Dad would soon be over to spell me so that I could head into work on time.
Dad arrived while I showered. We chatted for a good 20 minutes before I had to depart for work. Jacob, as he often is, was excited that “grandpa” was over. His entire demeanor changed to a much more pleasant one. I reviewed the fire drill with dad so that he knew what had to be done then left.
Work went smoothly. My interview happened as did our staff meeting. It was like a normal day. Once again, I didn’t get away for lunch. I worked until 5:30pm. It seemed like a long day. I forgot that this was a kidless evening until Mindy mentioned it during our drive time chat. She also reminded me of choir practice. She hasn’t gone the past two weeks. I always forget about that. She divulged the big kicker! Jacob admitted to playing Wii this morning with dad even after I denied him access for one entire day. I wasn’t too surprised, but I was disappointed. She ensured me that there would be repercussions, and stated that he knew it.
After walking Ykraps I decided to use the quiet evening time to load my photo software onto our desktop PC. That turned into an all evening ordeal after getting a registry error multiple times just as it was about to complete. Crap! I fooled with it until the kids arrived home. At that point I had to make sure they got a bath. I took a much needed break.
After the kids bathed and were in their pajamas, I returned to the PC to continue my fight with the Paint Shop Pro software. Mindy arrived home around 8:30pm, and after a quick snack the kids were rushed off to bed. I popped some corn, which along with a couple pieces of two-day old pizza each served as my dinner. I never did get my software to load.
We headed to bed around 10pm.
When 5:30am rolled around the rains had stopped but the winds continued to gust. After exercise I headed out with Ykraps. It was cold – only 12 degrees. And the wind, man, it was brutal. It made it feel colder than it’s been all year! It cut right through my two jackets. My back was facing the wind as we walked out, but on the way back it ripped the air right out from my lungs. It caught me off guard.
I was never more happy to be back inside. I did the coffee thing and delivered Mindy’s. Weatherbug said that we had overnight gusts of 54 mph. I believe it! Now they were a mere 30mph. Still very stiff! I prepared for my run as if it were zero after factoring in the wind. I wore my thickest winter running shirt and jacket. I was comfy after about a ¼ mile, but could feel some cold air penetrating here and there due mostly to the brutally cold, stiff wind. Each time my run faced me towards the west I braced for the shock. But by about the 3 mile marker I was numb to it as well.
It dawned on me during my run that I had a logistical problem on my hands this AM. Today was a late start day for Jacob, which I had planned for weeks ago, at least intended to plan for. Unfortunately, I had forgotten about it yesterday, and now had a conflict at work. Crap! I mulled over my options, which were blowing off the first two hours of work or possibly taking Jacob into the office with me. Neither idea felt perfect by any measure. When I finished and retuned home I shared my forgetfulness with Mindy. I was not in a pleasant mood given how much I wanted to please both sides. I struggle like this often.
Ultimately, she suggested that I take Jacob with me, too. Logically, that seemed the lesser of the two evils since I could accomplish both goals. The only impact would be leaving briefly to run him to school come 10:50am, but his school is effectively just around the corner. Jacob, however, was not happy. He threw a fit to the point of being defiant. This only aggravated me more. He downright refused to go into work with me. At that point I could only envision dragging an unruly seven year old into the office having him embarrass me with his cantankerous behavior. Mindy tried reasoning with him over it. It was clear to me, though, that given his outburst, I didn’t want to do that. I was figuring on calling my boss, falling on my sword, and staying home for 2 hours. Jacob kept on spewing his displeasure ultimately leading me to declare that the Wii was gone for the day (As predicted, taking away the Wii has become the ultimate disciplinary device).
Mindy was just leaving for the day. Jacob headed to the garage for some motherly intervention. Mindy, unbeknownst to me, contacted my father asking for his help with the issue. She reentered the house to let me know that dad would be coming over to tend to Jacob until 10am. I appreciated her finding a third alternative. I am not like that. I would not typically call my dad for help as much as she does. I wasn’t trained as such.
Mindy also tried refereeing the issue between Jacob and I. For obvious reasons, I didn’t care for that at all. Honestly, I couldn’t believe my ears. From my perspective – never in front of the kids should you dole out a motherly opinion. No way. In private only! Regardless, the immediate issue was under control. Dad would soon be over to spell me so that I could head into work on time.
Dad arrived while I showered. We chatted for a good 20 minutes before I had to depart for work. Jacob, as he often is, was excited that “grandpa” was over. His entire demeanor changed to a much more pleasant one. I reviewed the fire drill with dad so that he knew what had to be done then left.
Work went smoothly. My interview happened as did our staff meeting. It was like a normal day. Once again, I didn’t get away for lunch. I worked until 5:30pm. It seemed like a long day. I forgot that this was a kidless evening until Mindy mentioned it during our drive time chat. She also reminded me of choir practice. She hasn’t gone the past two weeks. I always forget about that. She divulged the big kicker! Jacob admitted to playing Wii this morning with dad even after I denied him access for one entire day. I wasn’t too surprised, but I was disappointed. She ensured me that there would be repercussions, and stated that he knew it.
After walking Ykraps I decided to use the quiet evening time to load my photo software onto our desktop PC. That turned into an all evening ordeal after getting a registry error multiple times just as it was about to complete. Crap! I fooled with it until the kids arrived home. At that point I had to make sure they got a bath. I took a much needed break.
After the kids bathed and were in their pajamas, I returned to the PC to continue my fight with the Paint Shop Pro software. Mindy arrived home around 8:30pm, and after a quick snack the kids were rushed off to bed. I popped some corn, which along with a couple pieces of two-day old pizza each served as my dinner. I never did get my software to load.
We headed to bed around 10pm.
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