Up on the Roof Top...

After a decent night’s sleep I woke around 7:30am to begin my day. Still hanging on was that undeniable queasiness in the pit of my stomach. It’s been there for the past two days, but has yet to completely knock me down. I wanted it to simply go away, but would settle for it not getting any worse. For like the third day in a row, there were crystal clear blue skies overhead. Telling, was the blanket of frost covering everything. It was cold – mid 20s. I did what I normally do to begin each day. I started some coffee then began my exercise regiment. The sit-ups went OK but the push-ups and curls took their toll on my tummy. I had to take a few minutes of rest between the two sets. Ugh! Soon, Ykraps and I were out on our walk. He still didn’t seem to have all of his faculties about him. I knew, too, that he hadn’t eaten very much. I hoped that he’d snap out of it soon. He actually seemed to get better while walking. Perhaps the cool air helped him too. It sure helped me. Back at the house Mindy and the kids remained in bed. I was careful not to wake anyone sooner than necessary. While sipping some coffee I reviewed my mental to-do list. Despite feeling poorly, I really wanted to get those icicle lights up today. Plus, if I could squeeze in some yard winterization work that would be perfect. But feeling as I did, my motivation and energy were kaput. Even the thought of doing my daily run left me feeling uneasy. Of course, not running wasn’t even an option – unnegotiable! Eventually Mindy & the children were up. Meanwhile, I went back and forth between playing on the PC to lying on the sofa. I delayed my run until about 9:40am. As I told Mindy when I finished, I ran on pure will. There wasn’t an ounce of me that felt up to it. In kind, I worked up one hell of a sweat. I frittered most of the middle day away doing absolutely nothing. It’s really quite sad. Meanwhile, Mindy continued her indoor Xmas decorating project. After an afternoon nap I finally mustered enough energy to start on the icicle lights. Before heading out, I opened and stretched a set across the living room floor to see how much reshaping, if any, would be necessary. As suspected, they weren’t hanging gracefully at all. I asked for Mindy’s help. She’s far better at such painstaking tasks. After an hour or so I bundled warmly for the cooler than expected temps. Originally, they forecasted highs similar to TG day’s (mid 40s), but it definitely wasn’t there yet. Plus, being out front, there was no sunshine striking me making it feel even colder, not to mention being borderline ill. Eventually, I shook off the funk and the cold and got moving. This would be the first time in fifteen years that I would hang lights from the roof line. It’s something I’ve considered a time or two but never did. I bought special plastic clips that were designed to attach to gutters and/or under shingles. I paid a little extra for the higher quality clips ($10 for 75). I hoped they’d do the trick. Actually, I had already experimented with them when I hung the wreath from the apex of the garage. I did a run along the garage roof gutters first. That went better, easier than expected. In fact, I had the garage peak done in les than 30 minutes. However, working my way towards the electric source, I realized two things. First, I would be a half set short of making the full run. In hindsight, if I had worked from the electric source out, I would’ve had just the right amount of lights with two sets running out where the roof meets the eave. The second thing was that I had a female plug at each end. How in the hell did that happen? I was confused for just a second. I inadvertently plugged the end-to-end into the back of the male end of the second set without realizing it. I had no choice but to remove and turn around an entire set. Damn! That wasn’t so easy, and of course it would be the set intertwined in the English Ivy. For a brief second I contemplated taking both sets down to eliminate the need for an additional half set but didn’t. We’d just have to buy another set of 150 lights, or only ten foot long. I thought the upper peak/second tier would go smoother. After all, much of it is a straight gutter line. It didn’t. It was a harrowing experience to say the least. The only practical way to do it was to get on the roof. That meant lugging the ladder around to the deck and climbing onto the roof. No problem, right?. I filled my pockets with clips and had Mindy bring me two sets of lights that we pre-warmed and stretched. I carefully made my way up to the roof top and out to the gutter line. Because my house sits on a hill it seems much higher than two stories. Yikes! I went back and forth between adding a clip and installing a length of lights moving about four feet at a time. The biggest trouble was straightening the light sets while resting on the pitched roof. Plus, with icicle lights, you’ve got to straighten the individual strands with your fingers. That left me hanging over the roof, something I didn’t care to do. I asked myself more than once just what in the hell I was doing up there. Was it worth the danger? Hardly! Adding an extra element of excitement was the small but steep gable in the center of the roof line. That proved more difficult than any other. I had to skooch out there from the roof’s very peak, and then stretch to install the clips and lights. While at the very pinnacle of the roof, Jimaken arrived to pick-up the kids for their weekend with daddy. I eventually completed my task but not before reducing myself to a monkey and not before putting myself in harms way. I felt foolish. If I do it again, I would install all of the clips first. But before that, I am already dreading taking them down. The last part was powering up the lights. For this, I ran an extension cord up the back side of a gutter using tie-wraps. You could hardly see the power source. That went well. I then connected the icicle lights into the dusk-to-dawn timer. It was still daylight but I got a sense of how well it looked. As I mentioned earlier, we need to pick-up another 10’ set to complete the job. And since Mindy was heading out for some late Black Friday shopping, I asked if she would do the honors. I was originally planning to go along but was again overcome with nausea. She gave me a hall pass to stay home and rest. Bless you, Mindy. Mindy was gone for a couple of hours. She phoned once to let me know that she couldn’t find the150 light icicle light set. All they had were the 300 light sets. I asked if she was up for trying another Target. I spent time resting on the sofa but never fell asleep. Mindy got home around 7:15pm. While out, she decided to grocery shop. I helped carry in everything. She went to another Target after all. She found a 150 icicle light set. The only difference was that this set was a name brand & HD (heavy duty). That would work. Since it was already dark, I set them aside until tomorrow. Despite feeling poorly, Mindy & I still planned to spend our evening at Barley’s. Crazy, I know. Although, I knew that after a beer I’d feel pretty good. Plus, I was craving protein, and more specifically, a Barely burger. After the groceries were put away and after a change of clothes we left for Barley’s. Barley’s was thinly populated, but no thinner than expected for the day after TG. Diedra was working the bar. Steve Won was in, as was Tim and a couple of his yuppy biker peeps. I ordered an IPA while Mindy went with a Cup of Joe (coffee stout). We ordered some wings to share as an appetizer and then each ordered a burger. Just as our food arrived I noticed that I had a rare voicemail from ex-Kelly. And given the recent drama Mindy insisted I call her back right away. What could it be? She was very cordial through our conversation. Bottom line, she wanted to know if we would be willing to take Landon and Rocky temporarily, just as we had originally planned. Without giving it further thought I assured her that we would. There were many details yet to be worked out, and Kelly wanted a few assurances, which I agreed to discuss at length later. In the end, this entire scenario is unfolding much like I thought it might. After hanging up the call and returning to my seat I filled Mindy in on the conversation. I could see both a sense of joy & relief in her eyes. The burger hit the spot but I could eat only about a third of it. Despite the craving, I haven’t had much of an appetite since Tuesday. Through our visit, Mindy had one beer, I had two. Feeling content, we left for home even before 10pm. By the time we got home and into bed I was feeling nauseous again. I may have failed to mention it, but coupled with the nausea has been a lack of good, uninterrupted sleep.