God's Slow Hand Moving Across the Face of the Earth

Even after a good 7.5 hours sleep I woke feeling tired. Mentally, I felt fine, but still physically tired. Anyhow, I got the ball rolling despite my sleepy ways. It was another mildly chilly and damp winter morning with temperatures hovering in the low 30’s. The first step on the front stoop was a bit icy but everything else was just wet. I was careful with each step until I was certain it wasn’t slick. I was back from walking Ykraps by 5:54am, and by the time I hung up my coat, poured my first cup of coffee, and sat in front of the PC it was after 6am, Damn! I relaxed just a few short minutes before delivering Mindy’s coffee. She was still coughing profusely, almost to the point of gagging. She sounds terrible. Back downstairs, I did a little more PC time. Afterwards, instead of meditating, I chose to sneak in a few more winks. It was 6:15am when I surrendered myself to the sofa. And let me tell you, the additional rest was heavenly. I woke again at 6:32am. I thought briefly about sleeping longer but knew that I had to get moving to remain on task. I quickly dressed for a run. It was 6:40am when I headed out the door still needing to stretch. Again today, I ran almost completely pain-free and without any meds. Great news! Mindy had a frying pan filled with cheesy scrambled eggs for the ready when I got back. The kids were wound up, but in a good way. Our house is quite hectic, as one might imagine, between 7:15 & 7:30am each week day morning. Soon Mindy & the wee ones departed. I did a little kitchen clean-up before darting off for the shower. I wasn’t in the shower until 7:40am. Yet despite that late start, I was still ready ahead of time, but only by a minute or two. As usual, we tossed the football while waiting on the bus. Jake informed Jacob and I that he had a doctor’s appointment later in the afternoon and that he might have to have his tonsils removed. I think I freaked him out when I told him that meant they’d be taking parts he’s very likely fond of. I knew he’d be checking me on that later. J The bus pulled up at its usual time – 8:05am. As soon as the kids were off I headed back home for one last walk through before heading to work. The last thing I did was turn the dishwasher to run. Gas was down to a $1.97. I still had just under a quarter tank. I chose to go on knowing I’ll have to stop either tonight or tomorrow AM. I arrived at work just before 8:30am. It didn’t take long to get settled into my day. This was Wednesday, and that meant our first staff meeting of the new year. We didn’t have a great deal to cover but what we did talk about was important stuff. Our meeting didn’t end until 1pm. Once again, I didn’t take a lunch. I kept busy working, eating my lunch at my desk (veggies and fruit). I did take a fifteen minute siesta with my door closed. That was refreshing and exactly what my body needed. I talked with Mindy on my way home. Bella fussed about going with her daddy even though this was a Jimaken night. Mindy let her stay home. Jacob left with his daddy alone. Rocky was excited about earning a smiley face (good behavior validation) from his teacher. That meant he earned the right to play Wii. Mindy was making beef noodles for dinner, a Wright family staple made with pot roast leftovers. I was much looking forward to a hearty helping or two. It had been snowing lightly all afternoon. There was just under and inch of snow on the ground when I left work. It didn’t slow traffic too much. It was just pretty. I walked Ykraps as soon as I got home and settled. I took out the garbage too since Thursday would be the first trash day of ’09. Our 90-gallon can was beyond full. It should get back to normal though for next week’s pick-up. No holiday gluttony this week. I scraped some of the ice off the front stoop after letting Ykraps back in the house, but before going in myself. I was ready to eat some beef noodles! We all loved the beef noodles, even Landon. Clean up took a while due in par to the dirty pans from the cooking noodles. Still, we were done with clean-up by 7pm. While I was playing on the PC, Jimaken brought Jacob back home. Soon all the kids were bathed and ready for bed. By then, it was just about 8pm. Rocky called me up to tuck him in. Jacob had a minor melt down just before tuck in time earning his mother’s wrath. Later, he called her back to his room for a one on one consultation. While all of that was going on, I was downstairs tuning into the Science Channel and the Fearless Planet. Tonight’s show featured a look into the earth’s geological formation. They used the Grand Canyon and the Colorado River as a reference point to demonstrate how it all came to be. Extremely fascinating. I popped some corn come 9:30pm. The next show up was Survivorman. That was good too. Mindy headed for bed just before 10pm. I stayed up until 11pm.