Rain Delay

I was up just before 5:30am after a successful night’s sleep. I could’ve slept longer but knew that was just a bad habit waiting to happen. I brushed my teeth and grabbed my stale running garments from the hook in the closet before heading downstairs. The last thing I did was plaster my most worn ball cap onto my squirrely looking hair. Before engaging in my calisthenics I glanced out the back door and then towards the sky. It looked nice out there. There were scattered clouds overhead, but it didn’t look threatening by any means. If correct, this would be our last warm, dry spring day for a few days. In fact, there was a slight chance of showers for late afternoon/evening. After my exercises were in the bag, Ykraps and I scooted out the door for our morning walk. It was warm for 5:45am. It was nearly 60 degrees. Our walk went well. More importantly, Ykraps’ diarrhea was gone. It’s the little things that make me happy. Back at home I sipped my coffee while browsing the internet catching up on news, scores and email. After reading the Daily OM I decided that I oughta deliver Mindy’s coffee. She’s been slow to wake most of the week, most likely due to her incessant cough. Eventually, she woke to thank and hug me for bringing the coffee. Again, it’s the little things. Downstairs, I sipped more of my coffee before stretching and meditating. After three straight days/evenings of mulching my right upper leg, ass, and lower back were crying for a break. They’re getting little opportunity to heal with the daily pounding from both running and yard work. I managed to massage most of the serious kinks out before leaving for my run. It was warm, so I ran in loose shorts and a long sleeved shirt. I was quite comfortable. My run ended with the usual stiff ass. Like a repeat of the past few days, I finished cooking the eggs so that Mindy could load her van and ultimately depart. We firmed evening plans, which called for some Olivia time and then baseball practice. In addition, I planned on picking up yet another trailer load of mulch on the way home from work even though there was little chance of spreading it until Thursday. Mindy left & Jacob and I did out thing. He played Wii while I showered. At 7:54am sharp we left for the bus stop. Pat & Alanna arrived at about the same time. We didn’t stick around long after the bus departed with our kids. Once again, I drove off with the empty trailer attached to the Trooper. I was a bit more mindful of the tailgate after having it nearly bounce off on Monday. It used to fit snuggly into the trailer frame but I guess that the 2X4’s have shrunk a little over the years. No biggie! I arrived at work around 8:25am. It was a routine Wednesday. We were busy and we had our weekly staff meeting. The meeting went until nearly 1pm. As I often do, I skipped lunch. I received an email from Bob Imber letting me know that they were gonna golf tonight in lieu of Thursday due to the predicted decline in the weather. That took me out due to baseball practice. Plus, with my coming on-call weekend there’s little chance of golf over the weekend. Besides, I have tons of yard work yet to do. I worked straight through. I didn’t leave for home until 5:40pm. I was exhausted. I phoned Mindy directly who let me know right away that ball practice was called off due to approaching rain. I wondered. According to the radar, significant rain was coming up from the Dayton area and was less than an hour away. But for the time being, it was high and dry at the ball fields as I drove by. It wouldn’t likely last, and that’s why coach called it off. I wasn’t disappointed. I figured that I’d spread mulch, instead. I stopped at Ohio Mulch on Roberts Rd and bought just one more cubic yard. I seriously doubted that I’d need even that much. I was home shortly thereafter. Olivia was happy to see me just as she’s been all of this week. That makes me smile. She’s so adorable! Tonight’s dinner menu was hodge-podge, or probably better known as leftovers. I had a leftover burger and a couple slices of pizza. Ashley was already over to pick-up Olivia, but she was eating first. I excused myself in favor of getting some mulch down. Meanwhile, the sky was looking rather ominous. I knew that it could break loose any minute, but I didn’t allow that to stop me. I figured if I didn’t head out it wouldn’t rain, and then I’d complain about it for days. So… It took about ten minutes to get all of my gear in order – the tractor, pull-behind trailer, gloves, shovel and buckets. And wouldn’t you know it, as soon as I began to shovel mulch from one trailer into the other the rain began to fall in earnest. I shrugged it off and kept about my work. Once I was into it, I hardly noticed it beyond a minor inconvenience. It took me about an hour to cover the remaining beds. By the time I finished, I was a filthy mess, and so was my tractor and tools. I spent the next 30 minutes spraying everything off with the hose, including myself. I had about a third of a trailer load remaining. I’ll use a little to fill a few thin spot around the yard that have either settled or were skipped. Not sure about the rest. Perhaps Gloria’s. I was very careful not to lock my keys in the shed again. Successful, I headed in feeling good with my accomplishments. The mulching was done. I could now focus my attention squarely on getting flowers and vegetables planted. Inside I went directly for a shower. Because the Absolute Black mulch is dyed, I had a deep filth all up and down my arms. The kids had just finished their baths when I jumped in the shower. I tucked the two of them in. They went to sleep with little trouble. Mindy tuned into American Idol elimination night while I focused on updating my severely behind blog. I stopped on occasion to see some of the show. But we all knew who would be eliminated. Mindy headed for bed immediately after the program. I stayed up keeping after my blog. I didn’t stop until I was fully caught up.