Sick, but Eating at the Big Fat

I woke at 1:45am after a few hours of sleep and couldn’t readily fall back to asleep. My throat and lungs were scratchy and swollen from what I’ll attribute to the fiberglass and construction dust after working in Gloria’s basement. We really should’ve been wearing breathing masks. Instead of lying there, I got up and went downstairs.

 Downstairs I poured myself a glass of fresh, cool water then popped two Advil to address my achy shoulders. I spent the next 75 minutes or so working on my blog until it was completely caught up. Come 3am I was wide awake but figured I’d try to get more sleep before needing to get up for work. 

I laid there for ten minutes tops before falling back asleep. I got up for work at 5:30am on the nose. And what should come as no surprise, I felt tired. But more importantly, my throat and breathing was still restricted.  I did my sit-ups then decided once again to skip push-ups and curls to give my achy shoulders another rare break. Actually, they felt fine at the time but that was due to the Ibuprofen. 

Ykraps and I headed off for our walk like any other day. Once again, you couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful morning. It was magnificent out there. It was crystal clear and about 45 degrees. We returned from our walk around 5:50am. I made coffee just for myself since Mindy was staying home ill. I chose to let her sleep. After coffee and PC time I spent 10 minutes meditating. That felt terrific! Come 6:25am I up & readied for a run.

 I made a more concerted effort to hold each of my stretches for 15 seconds in preparation for my run.  I don’t always do a good job of that. The cool air felt good on my throat and lungs. I still wore my gloves. They seem to be comfortable at any temperature below 50 degrees. My run went well. During my run I pondered several questions that the world can’t readily answer. I was in a strange frame of mind. Too, I wondered how long some of my neighbors would leave the political signs up in their yards. For what it’s worth, there were more McCain than Obama signs posted. 

I was back by 7:06am. My throat was still bothering me even after I tried hacking up a fur ball. After some contemplation, I decided to use one of my sick days.  I hadn’t taken one since Mindy’s surgery mid May. What’s funny, she asked me to take one last night, but I refused. I sent a note to my boss and peers to let them know that I wouldn’t be in.  I couldn’t simply rest, however, at least not immediately. I felt obligated to make sure that Jacob was off to school. Mindy was counting on me doing so. I left her sleep and headed upstairs to make sure Jacob was up and getting ready for school. He was already dressed and playing his PS2. I offered to make his breakfast but he declined. He changed his mind a short time later and came down for food. I helped him out.

 Mindy got up around 7:30am. I told her that I was staying home too. I walked Jacob to the bus stop at our usual time then returned home for a long nap. I plopped down on the sofa and slept for about an hour and a half. That felt great. Around 10am I got up and decided I had to do something constructive despite my scratchy throat. I chose to cut the lawn since I didn’t get to it last weekend. It didn’t really need it then. Plus, the forecast is calling for rain and much cooler temps looking into the weekend. Today was the day. I whacked and edged first. Before using the push mower, I figured that I might as well blow all the leaves from the deck and rear flower beds saving myself a mess & extra work later. If I did it first, I could mulch up the leaves with the mower. That proved to be a daunting task, and certainly more work than I expected.  We had a major leaf fall just this week. Still, I blew the leaves into a long pile about eight inches high and about 5’ wide by 70’ long.

 I took the mower around front first and took the extra time to give my new grass its first full cut. Some of the areas have grown thicker over the last week or so. It’s still not nearly as thick as I had hoped. The two week cold snap followed by the freeze saw to that. I mulched up all the leaves that were dropped by my curb trees. The front lawn looks better than it ever has, especially given that it’s November. It’s exceptionally thick and dark green. 

Finally, I worked my way around back and began mulching up the leaves I’d blown out of the beds and off the deck. That worked well. I went over most of them twice. That did the trick. The only trouble was, some of the trees were still dropping. And the day’s extra warm temps were aiding the drop. After mulching and cutting the slopes I got the Deere out and did the rest of the lawn. Like the front, the back looks better than ever thanks to all the fertilizer and my new irrigation system. I blew off the driveway next, along with any mulched leaves still hanging around out front. I spent another 30 minutes outdoors doing a few autumn tasks before heading in. Mindy was kind enough to make us lunch. She made me a turkey, ham, and cheese sandwich. It was delicious. Unfortunately, it also left me sleepy.

 Bella and I took a rare bike ride together after lunch. We haven’t ridden our bikes since her melt down back in late August while on a family bike ride. She did really well this time. I made sure to keep the ride a little simpler even though she said she wanted to ride to the park. However, we probably went a full mile out and back. 

I was exhausted after our ride. I went to the deck and crashed on the chaise lounger. I‘ll bet that I slept for another hour or more. It felt great. Not long after I woke, Mindy & Bella chose to make a run to Target. I spent the time resting. Jacob arrived home before they got back. The first thing he did was ask where his mother was. He wasn’t too disappointed, but he didn’t believe me at first, either. It wasn’t long before Mindy and Bella returned from their shopping spree. 

Jimaken picked up the kids after work for their weekly dinner with dad visit. We swapped night’s this week due to a scheduling conflict. Despite being under the weather, Mindy & I planned to do dinner at the Big Fat Greek. After the kids left, I walked Ykraps and started the sprinkler. I knew that this would most likely be the last watering I’d do for the season. We arrived at the Big Fat Greek a little after 6pm. 

Mindy chatted some with Johnny, the owner. Our friend Rene used to date him. Having never met Johnny before, I found humor in the similarities between he and his sister Maria. We pretty much stuck with our faves. Mindy ordered the salmon and I ordered the gyro platter. Both were delicious. I washed down my meal with an Elevator Pale Ale. We headed home with leftovers and completely satisfied with our meal. I shut the sprinkler down a few minutes after arriving back home. Thirty minutes later Jimaken brought the kids home. 

Everyone was ready for and in bed by 9pm.