Hot Damn I got some HopSlam

I woke abruptly after dreaming that I had a big creepy spider crawling on face. It was after 8am. I hustled downstairs to make coffee and exercise. Like each Saturday, my goal was to exercise and walk Ykraps before tending to the children. That wasn’t to be. Soon, Rocky was at my heels looking for some breakfast. As usual, he wanted cinnamon waffles. I did my best to meet his needs before walking Ykraps. It was very cold outside, but not even close to Friday’s frigid temps. It was 1 degree. Landon was already squeaking by the time I returned. He wanted rescued. I changed him and then carried him downstairs. We made loose arrangements with daughter Courtney to take her to get the minivan title changed over this AM. She started calling even before 9am. Mindy was up around the same time. After coffee, she asked how & when I planned to run. I wondered that too, given that she needed to get in the shower and hit the road in less than 45 minutes. I resigned myself to not running until she returned from her outing with Courtney. I told myself that it would be warmer by then, but honestly, that provided little consolation. I don’t mind running in the extreme cold. I was just happy that Mindy was so willing to take care of the title business. As it turned out, she had to get permanent tags for the Honda and renew her driver’s license anyhow. She left around 10am and took Bella with her since Courtney had Kaileigh overnight. The two of them (Kai & Bella) wanted to hook up. Mindy said that she’d try to bring Kaileigh over afterwards if time permitted. That made me happy. I played with Jacob, Rocky & Landon all morning long. The boys wanted to go outside but I made them wait until Mindy got home. I told them it had to be10 degrees, too. That just sounded like a reasonable temperature. I made Jacob and Rocky lunch around noon. Landon wasn’t hungry, which is a big surprise. He usually eats like a horse. He was warm and had a runny nose. I figured that he might be getting sick. Jacob and I teased Rocky to the point of tears. I didn’t really intend that to happen but it did. All the kids fear a make believe ghost, Frank, that hangs out in our basement. I acted as if ‘Frank’ had overtaken my body. Rocky bought it hook like and sinker. He was in tears trying to get away. He didn’t want to be eaten by Frank. Seeing his fear, Jacob refused to let it die and kept tormenting him about it. And sadly, I played along a few more times only adding to his panicked state. Mindy got home around 1pm. Along with Bella, she had Courtney & Kaileigh with her, too. She said the BMV was an aberration. They made multiple mistakes that only added to the fun. But in the end, all the ‘stuff’ got taken care of. Courtney had her title and tags. Mindy had her tags and a new driver’s license. I eagerly headed upstairs to dress for a run. It was ten degrees when I headed out. One of the benefits of running in the sub zero temps the past two morning’s was that 10 degrees now felt warm – no kidding. It was like a walk in the park. I took my time and enjoyed every step. I don’t like delaying my run like that. I tend to put everything else on hold until I knock out my daily run, especially eating. I did have a few snacks to tie me over, however. Still, the nervous energy mounted all morning. By the time I returned, the boys were needling Mindy to go out in the cold. Mindy at first said no. I quickly defended their request and told her my promise. She immediately acquiesced. The girls played inside while Rocky & Jacob played out. Courtney surfed the net and watched TV. Courtney talked of taking Bella and Kaileigh bowling but time was now their enemy. She had to have Kaileigh back by 3:30pm. Bella was very disappointed. Mindy planned to drop Courtney and Kai at the Grove City bowling alley and then head into school to work on report cards. After that, she planned to grocery shop. I asked if she would stop at Gentiles and get me some HopSlam. She willingly agreed. I offered my debit card but she refused. Mindy put Landon down for a nap before leaving. She/they left around 2:30pm. I was home with Jacob, Rocky, Landon and Bella. Landon never did fall asleep, which is highly unusual. More evidence that he was ill. He didn’t cry. Instead, he just jibber-jabbered for about two hours. I left him be in his room. I did very little – and nothing I’d consider constructive short of rest. Mindy called a couple of times, once to let me know that she was on her way to the grocery and again to let me know that she was on her way to Gentiles. She asked about dinner. I suggested McDonald’s for the kids and Big Fat Greek for us. She liked my thinking. She had me ask Jacob what he wanted. He chose McDonald’s over Greek. She must’ve gotten home around 6pm. By then, I had Landon up & dressed. I failed to mention that he had two major blowouts throughout the day. I was fortunate enough to get to deal with both. Not fun. I walked Ykraps after carrying in groceries. Mindy got the kids settled for some McDonald’s. They were stoked. I waited until the groceries were put away before partaking in my gyro. I was eager to crack a HopSlam but decided to wait until after dinner. Mindy let the kids stay up late watching Kung Fu Panda. I guessed her strategy was to let them stay up so late so that it might enable us to sleep in Sunday morning. Rocky fell asleep on the sofa around 9pm. The others stayed up until almost 10pm. All evening long, while the kids watched a movie, I enjoyed two HopSlams and spent time working on my blog and editing photos. After the kids were in bed I tuned to the History channel and watched a program chronicling the life and times of Andrew Jackson, our seventh president. I dosed off a time or two. Mindy headed off to bed well into it. I stayed up only to fall asleep once again. I joined her already in bed near midnight.