Leaving It at the Door ... I Tried

I woke feeling incredibly good after more than enough sleep. That marks the first time in a couple of months that I woke feeling like I had more than enough sleep on a work day. I already knew that it had snowed after glancing out the window in the middle of the night. It had all but stopped by the time 5:30am rolled around. Judging from inside, the depth looked to be no more than two inches. I seriously doubted that schools would be closed. I joyfully began my work out regiment.

I had the TV on watching the school closings stream in. I was surprised to see that Hilliard canceled early, but there still was no word on SWCS. Just after my walk with Ykraps they called it, however. And by then the snow had started back up in earnest. They close schools a lot faster than I remember!

Mindy asked why I hadn’t yet informed her. It was just after 6am. I was waiting ‘til coffee time to deliver the news. She promptly went back to bed. I could hear the kids stirring upstairs, though. That happens too frequently. No school – they’re up way early.

I still held out hope for my 30 minutes of peace before my run. I got it. Come 6:30am I left out the door for my run bundled warmly. The snow was blowing from the east and was on the heavy side. It was cold snow so it didn’t easily stick to my attire. It was a very nice run in the snow which served as a soft pad for my feet. Once I was back at home it was daylight – a sure sign of hope.

I shoveled the drive for the next ten minutes. Back in the house everyone was still in their beds. I was able to prep lunch and breakfast in complete silence. I delivered coffee for Mindy when I went to shower. Bella was in bed with Mindy. The kids were stoked that they didn’t have school and/or sitter. That made my morning incrementally easier too.

I left for work around 8:10am and arrived just after 8:30am. The snow was coming down good making the go slow. We had an abundance of call-offs due to weather and school cancelations. We made do, however. I was more than busy but still insisted on taking a short lunch break around 2pm. I had to get away for a few. I went to Tuttle Mall.

The afternoon kept me hopping as I met with several of my direct reports. Sometime mid-afternoon I walked down to the loading dock to pick-up/sign for a perishable package. It was a Cheryl’s Cookies bouquet from Mindy. I didn’t open it. I left for home around 5:50pm. I worked a bit later than I had hoped. I was not in a good frame of mind for reasons which I won’t immediately discuss here. I called Mindy and chatted briefly but eventually we hung up as my mind wandered other matters. She’d been home all day with the kids, and the neighbors kids visited too. Sounds like they had a fun day. Jacob finally got to snow board some in the back yard on the hill.

Mindy made a beef roast in the crock pot. Dinner was all but ready as I headed out the door with Ykraps. My stomach was a bit upset rendering my appetite nonexistent. I somehow managed to eat some of her delicious roast beef just the same. And once I began to eat I got hungrier! J I didn’t want to talk about my issue but instead chose to stew over it through all of dinner. All that aside, dinner was nice and even the kids enjoyed it, which is a switch. They often request something other than what Mindy & I are having.

After dinner and clean-up I snuck off to the PC where I blogged and downloaded several days worth of photos. That helped relieve the stress and burden I still carried. Mindy got the kids ready for bed during that same time period. She requested I tuck in the kids around 8pm. I did. When we both were back downstairs she made me a stiff Beam & Coke and herself some wine. The drink helped take the edge off of my matter. I was then able to discuss it in some detail with Mindy – work related! I felt somewhat better but not healed. We moved to the family room to catch American Idol around 9:10pm. We weren’t sure at the time if it would be a one or two-hour show. It ended up being a two-hour version.

It was decent. They’re almost down to the final 24 Hollywood contestants. One more show to get there, I think. We headed to bed at 10pm. Tired when we headed up, suddenly I found myself again fretting over this work related matter. I just couldn’t sleep. No matter what I tried, my mind wouldn’t release. I gave up on sleep and went downstairs to watch some mind numbing TV. I watched an episode of Office and then Ten Items or less. I soon fell asleep. After waking I went back to bed.