Father's Little Helper - HopSlam

I was up just before 5:30am. I checked school closings before starting my morning calisthenics. Just as I expected, there weren’t any relative to us. I completed my exercises then headed out with Ykraps. This was trash day. I placed our can curbside the evening before. The neighbor placed his on our side too, which usually means he has a double load. He’ll swoop in and grab it as soon as it’s emptied. He’ll then refill it and place it along his own curb. Our side is always picked up first. After sipping my own coffee I poured Mindy some and delivered it bedside. Along with the coffee, I delivered the news about no school closings. She assumed as much. Besides, she had another day of conferences so she still had to get up and going regardless. I thought about lying back down for some additional sleep but didn’t. For some reason I felt extra tired. I spent the next 20 minutes meditating, stretching, and then dressing for my run. I didn’t head out for my run until 7:40am. The hard packed snow was slipperier than it was the past two days. I had to be careful and tried to stay to the far left as much as possible where there was still some fluff left in the two day old snow. That worked pretty well. Mindy and the wee ones departed shortly after I returned from my run. Mindy was a bit panicked over needing to drop Rocky & Landon and Grandma Sharon’s and then take Bella to school before heading back to OSU. She had my eggs ready. I ate somewhat hurriedly then headed up for a shower. Jacob & I headed to the bus stop at 7:58am. The bus was on time. I was on my way to work by 8:10am. Work was busy. Still dealing with winter storm fallout. Come 1pm I left for Arlington to go look at snow skis. I visited Aspen Ski & Board. We’re just kicking the tires at this point, but it would sure be nice to have our own gear avoiding the hassle involved with rentals. Of course toting one’s own skis around presents issues, too. Still, I wanted to take a serious look. Aspen Ski & Board is located on Old Henderson Rd. The lot was tight, and because it was sunny, a lot of the snow was melting making for lots of slush and puddles. I managed. Inside I met Jason, a young 20-something. He was friendly, courteous and attentive. After a brief conversation where he gauged my ability and my most commonly visited ski parks, he showed me three different skis that seemed to fit the bill. The prices varied, and he did a good job of sharing the benefits and drawbacks with each. About the only draw back I saw was that I couldn’t specify color. Given my preference, I would choose black or silver. The three sets he showed me ranged anywhere from $550-800. That did not include boots, but did include top notch bindings, tuning, and poles. The $800 skis were the most technical and built more for speed and carving than the others. Save for the color – red - I really liked them. Most appealing was the fact that they guaranteed the best price against even internet vendors. Next, he showed me two sets of skis that might suit Mindy. They were $380-450. Again, minus boots. He assured me that he could get us in high quality boots somewhere between $200-300 each. They guarantee their boots will remain comfy or they’ll exchange, adjust, or fix. No matter how you slice it, skis will cost a lot of money. But then again, I knew that going in. He wrote down all the number for me to take along with me. I appreciated that. I was back at the office by 2:10pm. I ate my packed lunch while digging into the afternoon’s work. The day wound down nicely. That doesn’t always happen on Friday’s. I left for home at 5:15pm. I called Courtney to discuss her plans for Saturday. She spoke about taking Rocky to Chuck E. Cheese. Mindy wanted to know if she’d take Bella too. She said she would. We got disconnected, but not before I suggested she call Mindy to discuss the plans. I arrived home sometime just after 5:30pm. I walked Ykraps. It was getting colder seemingly by the minute. The night’s low was expected to approach zero – again. Mindy agreed to take Jacob to find a new winter coat – one suitable for skiing/snow boarding. His current coat is too small and pretty beat up. The neighbor kids were over playing. We had six kids running around. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Mindy & Jacob left for Kohl’s. I stayed home with the five kids. They played fairly well, although as often happens, Rocky found himself in the middle and was causing a raucous. I had to warn him a time or two. Mindy & Jacob must’ve gotten home around 7pm. I gestured to Mindy to make the noise (kids) go away. She said she would shortly. Minutes later, while I was upstairs changing into my pajamas, I learned that the Kenny & Crissy were coming down. We hadn’t visited with them in a long while – a typical winter phenomenon – but I was tired. I simply told Mindy that I would’ve appreciated her letting me know sooner. I had to quickly change modes. Kenny & Crissy showed up a few minutes later. Just as they arrived, I had a work issue needing my immediate attention. After a quick greeting, I took care of work before hanging with the neighbors. The kids ran around the house playing all evening while the four of us hung out in the kitchen. I drank two HopSlams, and they were delicious! We had plenty of ‘Kenny & Crissy’ beer on hand to help keep their whistles wet. We always try to keep some of our neighbors’ favorites around just for such occasions. We hung with the neighbors until 10:30pm or so. And unless I’m mistaken, all of our kids stayed up until they left. I helped Mindy get them tucked into bed after they left. Jacob and I needed to be up early enough for me to do my routine and then be at Mad River Mt. by 9:30am. Good night!