Friday, March 14, 2008

Preying on our Youth


I woke in an instant just as Mindy’s alarm sounded. Like a couple times past, I mistakenly assumed I was waking late. I hurried through my morning progression only to find it was only 8:33am when I made it down stairs for phase 2. I chuckled to myself and calmly began my 55-50-40 exercise routine.

It wasn’t long before my calisthenics were complete and Ykraps and I were on our way out the door. It was another mild morning with the temperature hovering near 40. The snow piles that were once as high as four or five feet only 5 days ago were now almost nonexistent. That made me happy. I could tell that it rained some through the night but it had temporarily stopped. That, too, I am sure, helped melt some of the remaining snow.

Coffee sounded awfully good. I made my usual vanilla caramel coffee topped with whipped cream, caramel topping, and cinnamon, and then headed to the PC. There I checked email, read the headlines, and finished with the Daily OM. I delivered Mindy’s coffee at 6:10am, just before meditation. Still weighing on my mind were our taxes, and more specifically how we’d get the mistakes corrected. Taking advice from one of my spiritual guides, I decided to let go realizing that there was nothing I could do at this hour. My time in meditation was time well spent. I finished up around 6:25am and quickly dressed for a run.

I ran listening to CD #4 of The Third Jesus, The Christ We Cannot Ignore. Like the day before, my run went incredibly fast. I finished with a stop on the bridge observing the geese swimming about the pond. Back inside Mindy had my eggs almost ready. I was hungry and eager to eat. I teased Jacob a little about his coming spelling test. Apparently he and his mother had already studied today’s words. Jacob’s only missed two words all year. He doesn’t take well to the strikes. Mindy has to work hard to restore his pride. As I’ve tried to impress upon him, that’s just what school is for – teaching what we don’t already know. There’s a strong chance that Jacob will always remember how to spell the two words that he’s missed. The latest, incidentally, was the word below. He spelled it ‘belowe’.

Mindy & Bella soon left leaving Jacob and I on our own. We somehow managed yet again. I headed up for a shower at 7:33am. It was time to head for the bus stop as soon as I returned downstairs. Jacob was first out the door just as he often is. I put my things in the Trooper and started it before heading down to the bus stop. There, Pat and Alanna were already being entertained by Jacob. He has a lot of morning energy. Pat & I chatted for a few minutes before we both headed off for home then work. I was backing out the drive at 8:20am.

It rained ever so lightly along my commute. And the rain only intensified as the day progressed. I was a very busy at work focusing most of my attention on one particularly challenging issue. I didn’t take a lunch but did have some hearty food. Mindy packed me some leftover chicken & dumplings. They were even better today than they were the day they were fresh – Tuesday, I think. During the day I left messages at our tax accounts home and office requesting that he call us to discuss our tax return. My strategy is to leave him several messages each day until he phones us. Soon, I figured I would fill his in box at both places making it almost necessary for him to call. I would be polite but also relentless. Late afternoon Mindy phoned to discuss our evening plans. She wanted to take the kids to Barley’s for dinner. I was warm to the idea but my on-call would take precedence. I called around 5:25PM to let her know that I would be working late. I was still dealing with the same issue from early this AM. I finally left for home just after 6pm. When I phoned Mindy she said a corrected tax return was in our mail today. Apparently Mike the tax guy got our message. She shared some new numbers. Our fed return was within a hundred of what I had roughed out originally. The State, however, was the exact same. That made no sense, and in fact, had to be incorrect. I told Mindy that I’d look at it once I was home.

I walked Ykraps almost as soon as I got home. When I returned, Mindy was on the phone and had our tax return forms sprawled out in front of her. My assumption was correct. She was finally talking with Mike the tax guy. As it turned out, he changed the State return, and, in fact, we now owed several hundred. The cover sheet simply hadn’t been changed. But again, I chalked this up to inattention to details. He told Mindy that he would make it right. By the time she hung up the phone it seemed, at least, that we had the right numbers. I felt a sense of relief knowing we were finally on our way to putting 2007 taxes behind us.

All of us began making preparations to leave for dinner. I logged onto my work laptop wanting to make sure that things were satisfactory prior to us leaving. We left around 7:05pm. Parking was difficult due to the crowd of cars. We had to park on the west side of the building. That never happens. Inside, Mindy was quick to find and chat with friends. The kids were very excited to share in our Friday night hangout. I was excited to try the Avery IIPA – Majahara. It was awesome. It’s almost as juicy as the Mean Manalishi. We found a table since having the kids at the bar would most likely be frowned upon - not by our peeps, but by other non-regular patrons.

Bella wanted a tour of the brewery. I walked her over to the heavily windowed brew area and pointed out the various containers and their purpose. She seemed to have a heart felt desire to learn, and I was most happy to oblige. Mindy had a Russian Imperial Stout. We ordered our food lickity-split. Jacob and I ordered wings. He ordered Buffalo. I ordered Gates of Hell. Mindy ordered a Pulled Pork sandwich. Bella had Grilled Cheese. Jacob seemed to enjoy his wings, but moreover, he asked to try my Gates of Hell. That, of course, perked my ears. You bet! We swapped wings. I was sure that he’d reject the Gates of Hell for the heat, but he didn’t. Instead, he relished it! He thought they were the best! How about that? He later asked for another. At that point I knew that I had just converted him! Some day, it’ll be time to let him experience his first double IPA! My guess is that he’ll enjoy that too, savoring the moment and hopefully passing it down through the generations.

We didn’t stay at Barley’s too late. We left after dinner and after only two beers for me. Mindy called Tom C. while we sat and dined. He was busy painting his flip-it in German Village. We hope to connect next weekend for some fun. It was just after 9pm as we loaded back into the Trooper. The Police helicopter hovered just overhead as we moved towards the Trooper. Jacob and I played much like Sean Meehan and I did as kids, when we were thrown into a cruiser behind Woolco’s Dept Store for a suspected crime we never committed. Then & now, we were only playing chicken with the police helicopter. Certainly they wouldn’t suspect a family leaving Barley’s as crime suspects. They finally moved their spot elsewhere. If nothing else, the kids gotta charge out of the event. Mindy drove. Soon, we were back home and getting ready for bed. Mindy got the kids tucked in pronto. I checked in with work and then cracked open a Stone’s Ruination Double IPA.

We headed for bed even before 10pm- shamefull.

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