Calamity Day II

I was up at 5:30am. It was moderately cold – in the teens. More importantly, snow still covered the streets and walks enough that schools were closed all over town. We knew that before bed, so I didn’t bother waking Mindy at her usual 6:05am. However, she was still planning to attend a conference at OSU so I made sure that she was up before I left for my run. My run went well. As I often share, I don’t mind running in the cold and snow much at all. Footing is paramount, that and dodging the occasional car. Most of my run was in the street. I was back home by 7:25am. Mindy was still confirming whether or not her conference was a go. She must’ve learned that it was somewhere near 8am. She scrambled to head out the door with all the kids. Because none of them had school, she was dropping all of them at Grandma Sharon’s. She had to be at OSU by 9am. I ate, showered, and packed my lunch all before 8:10am. The Trooper was coated in thick ice and snow. I warmed and thawed it before leaving, but most of the ice and snow remained firmly in tact. Gas was $1.72 per gallon. I had about ¾’s of a tank. No gas for me. Work went smoothly. We had lots of issues after the winter storm wrecked havoc on the Midwest. Managing through all of that kept us busy all day long. We had our Wednesday staff meeting today after it was canceled yesterday. The meeting went until 1pm or after. It was a productive meeting. I ate my packed lunch – meatloaf – at my desk. I didn’t leave for home until 5:40pm. I called my mom, who I hadn’t spoken to in more than a few weeks. She reported her power being out and sitting in a cold house. I couldn’t help but notice the dramatic voice inflections she used to communicate just how cold she was. I suggested that she drive to Tommy’s for warmth, but she refused citing the need to care for her six dogs. Please! Meanwhile, as the conversation continued, her voice became more normal. Hmmm? We talked for about ten minutes. Mindy had my dad greet Jacob at the bus stop since her conference didn’t let out until 4pm. He walked Ykraps too. He was just pulling away as I was coming down the street. I was happy to have leftovers for dinner. Mindy & I discussed once again the prospect of me taking Jacob snow boarding Saturday. Mindy supported the idea, although she’d have to make arrangements to have the other kids cared for since she had a haircut scheduled for that afternoon. I planned to tell Jacob once we had some alone time, not wanting to broadcast our plans to all the kids for obvious reasons. Meanwhile, all the kids were hoping for a third consecutive snow day. I seriously doubted it. The main roads were almost completely cleared. The side streets were slick but passable. Mindy and I tuned in for a third straight night of Idol qualification. Thursday’s show featured two venues – New York City and Puerto Rico. It was funny. We headed to bed just before 10pm.