Lindsey Visits the Kids

I didn’t sleep as late as I wanted, waking to the coo of children stirring just down the hall. Given my druthers, I would’ve slept for another hour or so. However, I knew that Mindy didn’t feel well, the victim of yet another apparent cold, so I quickly bounced from bed to get the day going for everyone. However, I snuck off by myself in an effort to complete my exercise and dog walking routine before the kids were running around and demanding breakfast. That proved successful. I was back by 8:30am. I retrieved Landon who actually seemed pretty content just babbling away in his bed. I got him up and changed him anyway. There was no number two to deal with, thankfully. Downstairs I made cinnamon & blueberry waffles for the small kids, while Jacob had a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. By the time the kids were done with breakfast, it was nearly 9:30am. I was eager for Mindy to get up so that I could do my run. I didn’t force the issue choosing instead to let her wake naturally. She woke right about 10am. We enjoyed some coffee together before I dressed and readied for a run. It was 10:45am by the time I headed out the door. It was about 35 degrees and brightly sunny. I wore my typical winter attire and ran along Trabue and Hague. The weather was ideal for running. After returning home, the first thing I did was fry some farm fresh chicken eggs. Seeing what I was up to, Bella and Rocky insisted on an egg of their own. I obliged them. Neither of them ate much of it. We may not do that again anytime soon. After breakfast, Mindy went out to start her minivan. It hasn’t been run in over a week, not since we brought the Honda home. She planned to use it today, however, to take a load of old toys and other stuff to the Westside Free Store. It started fine. Mindy headed off to the shower and to call Lindsey in an attempt to set up a visit with the kids. After her shower she let me know that the visit was on. She planned to pick her up after dropping the goods at the Free Store. Jacob was going along for the ride and to lend some assistance. Before Mindy even left, I had the extended feather duster out eager to capture all the dust bunnies hanging from the ceiling corners. I was all over the house recalling where I’d seen them last. Mindy soon left. I stayed home with Landon, Bella, and Rocky. Mindy wasn’t gone two minutes before Bella and Rocky asked about playing with Emily & Evan. I agreed. Mindy put Landon down for a nap before she left. As always, that helped me out tremendously. I kept going with the dusting. The kids hadn’t been out playing but for three or four minutes when I figured I should take a look. Sure enough, they were out without their coats. I made them come to the deck to get their coats on. Not only did I do all the corners, but also the ceiling fans, plant ledges, and art frames. I felt good after completing the task. It’s one of those that I think about three or four times each year but only do maybe twice. Mindy, Jacob, and Lindsey were back after less than an hour. Rocky must’ve spotted his momma as she exited the car. I could hear him raving about her visit. That was very sweet. Lindsey looks good, even better than she did at Xmas. She was eager also to see Landon who was asleep. She and Mindy headed up to get him. She was worried about his recent haircut she heard about via Ashley. Ashley, I think, painted a poor picture, and she hadn’t even seen him. Can hardly blame her, though. It’s really my fault. I jokingly told Ashley that we gave him a crew cut. She passed that information along. Landon was equally happy to see his momma. He clung to her like nobody’s business. I know that made Lindsey happy. We hung out for at least an hour. After Jimaken came and picked up Jacob and Bella, Mindy, Lindsey, Rocky and Landon left for Target and Burger King. With my new found alone time, I continued on with my cleaning kick. I retrieved the shop-vac intent on cleaning all the carpet crevices along the woodwork, the fireplace hearth, under and beside the refrigerator, bathroom exhaust vents, and even the register vents. That exercise took about an hour. A couple register vents were full of all sorts of stuff. Probably the most surprising was the tennis ball I sucked up out of the bay window vent. Not so surprising, the vent in the masterbath was full of fern leaves. Probably enough to fill a one-gallon sized Ziploc baggie. I don’t know that I’ve vacuumed the vents before. It’s been nearly fifteen years. Yikes! With little ones around again, I’ll have to do it more frequently. I did a quick mop job of the tile floors again too. Just as I was relaxing, Mindy, Rocky & Landon returned. I found it odd that Rocky came right to me and jumped up on my lap. I figured Lindsey was still with Mindy. Sharing his time with anyone else when his momma’s around is rare. Turns out, though, Lindsey had Mindy drop her off after the Target visit. Mindy said it was a tearful goodbye, especially for Landon. Happily, both kids were very well behaved through the evening hours. Rocky is often calmer, more well behaved after a momma visit. Mindy & I hypothesized that it has everything to do with laying his fears aside. The kids enjoyed their Burger King. Mindy and I discussed making/eating something else later. Actually, though, we never did. At least not anything resembling a meal. The first NFL playoff game pitting the Cardinals against the Falcons ended as I hoped . The Cardinals won. Over come with sleepiness, I took a brief nap on the sofa. I woke after hearing Mindy talking with neighbor Crissy. I woke with my shoulder absolutely killing me. The danger of not eating dinner is snacking all night long. That’s exactly what I did. Through the early and late evening I ate popcorn, nuts, nachos. I had couple of beers and some Jack Daniels too. All of that over about four hours. I really never felt much of a buzz. Mindy & I watched the second NFL playoff game from the sofa. - the Colts versus the Chargers. The game went to overtime, which I watched alone after Mindy went to bed around 10:30pm. The Chargers won after being helped tremendously by the referees. I was pulling for the Colts. I absolutely love Tony Dungy. I headed to bed after the game. Mindy asked who won.