Bonjour 2008

It was a new day and a new year – 2008! The entire house was silent until just before 10am. I woke a handful of times between 7:30 and then, but nothing seemed more pleasurable than more sleep. For the first time in a long, long while I slept in past 10am just because. Mindy & the kids headed downstairs first and started the coffee. I must’ve stayed in bed until about 10:15am.

By the time I scooted downstairs the kids were already engaged in Wii sports. I moved my workout regiment to the living room to avoid the activity. The area’s not particularly suited for calisthenics but I made do. And since my bodies so accustom to being well beyond this point come 10:30am, I was a tad uptight. I felt better, however, after returning from a walk with Ykraps. It was much colder than it’s been for much of the past week or so, and much colder temperatures are on the horizon. However, looking further ahead to the weekend, another warming trend is coming (low 50’s).

I took my first cup of coffee to the PC where I checked email and read some headlines. I also downloaded pictures from the New Year’s Eve party before dressing for a run. Mindy asked how scrambled eggs sounded. Not sure. They usually don’t make too much noise, but I liked the idea of eating some after my run. She got busy making breakfast while I ran. I wore my MP3 player for the first time in a week or so. I listened to Sunny 95. Note to self - I need to reload my music collection to my new hard drive to spice up my MP3 player.

The run was tough. My legs were extra tight, which usually is a tell-tale sign of dehydration. I completed my run with sheer will. With the holidays and vacation, the conditions have been ripe for dehydration. While off work, I haven’t been drinking my typical half-gallon of water, and I’ve been drinking much more alcohol than usual. Couple that with eating poorly and there you have it. Good thing the holidays end after today!

Mindy had sausage and eggs ready upon my return. The kids had the Wii on pause. I cautioned them that the TV would have to be sacrificed for football. They weren’t pleased but hey, it was New Year’s Day. Bella begrudgingly suggested that I watch football in my room. No thanks! J I allowed them both to finish a game of Wii golf before exercising my parental power. That worked well. It was already 12:30pm. I wondered where the morning had gone – a byproduct of sleeping in.
I built a fire while waiting on the Michigan game to begin. Outside the wind was really beginning to whip around. Actually, though, it’s been blowing hard since the middle of the night. There were gusts up tot 40 mph! Mindy was taking down even more of Xmas. She moved the few gifts that remained under the tree to their new homes and then began de-ornamenting the tree. That took her an hour or so. Afterwards I took the lead on removing the lights. They came off much quicker than they went on. Mindy helped, making it so much easier. Soon, we had the Xmas tree all boxed up and back in the cellar where it will rest for the next 11 months. Hopefully some of the bare spots will fill-in over the spring. :)

The wind continued whipping around outdoors. It blew so hard that it shredded our outdoor furniture cover. I went out and removed it from the set since it was now nothing more than a nuisance. It was cold! I grabbed some more firewood too. Mindy was working hard to get our house back in order. At the same time she started a pot of chili. It had already been cooking for a couple of hours. It smelt terrific.

The day was moving by fast. It was already after 4pm. Meanwhile, Michigan was locked in a fierce battle with Florida. Michigan took control in the 3rd quarter only to allow Florida to come storming back and take the lead late in the 4th. The drama was building. Michigan ultimately found the solution to Tim Tebow, however, by applying constant pressure. In the end Michigan pulled out the victory. Mindy, Jacob, and I were all pleased. Time for the Rose Bowl.

I found myself disinterested in the Rose Bowl after only a few minutes. I spent the rest of my evening updating my blog until Mindy declared it dinner time. We enjoyed her latest batch of chili. It was spicy, meaty, and full of flavor – just how I like it. Mindy took care of most of the clean-up. I returned to the PC where I caught my blog up through yesterday. By then, Mindy and Jacob were setting up his laser game on the kitchen table. I retreated to the family room in front of the fire to spend the final hours of my holiday. Soon, Mindy called the kids upstairs to shower. Mindy hung out all day long in her pajamas and hadn’t yet showered. I showered right after breakfast but wore pajamas all day too. It was that kind of day.

While the kids bathed I found myself dosing off in front of the fire. I woke long enough to go help tuck in the kids. It was 8:10pm. I tuned into TBS to catch three episodes of Family Guy back-to-back-to-back. I was very cozy and fell asleep during each episode never once trying to fight through it. Come 10pm I shut down the fire and the TV and headed up to bed. Mindy was still up playing on the PC. She didn’t need to be up in the morning like me.