Me & My Snow Shovel

I was up just before 5:30am to yet another round of light snow. I quickly finished my exercises and the leashed up Ykraps for our usual morning stroll. We were back by 5:50am. I went to pour my coffee when I realized that there was nothing but hot water in the pot. Crap! Forgot to put the coffee in. I quickly rectified the mistake and went to the PC while the real coffee brewed. I checked for school closings but doubted there’d be any, at least any of ours. There weren’t. I mean, hey, we didn’t even have two inches of new stuff. When the coffee was finally done, I delivered Mindy’s before sipping my own. I also informed her that school was not canceled. She already figured as much otherwise her phone would’ve been ringing off the hook. That’s how the school teachers’ do it. They have a call chain. Instead of meditation, I stretched out fully on the family room floor. My back was spasming ever so lightly, but enough to cause some discomfort. Stretching out and lying flat on my back for a while always seems to help. I left for my run at 6:35am. I ran in the road and in the soft cushion provided by the new snow. That helped my sore foot some, too. It felt better today than yesterday. Yippie! When I got home, I went immediately for the snow shovel and began shoveling the drive and walk out front. All this shoveling is getting old. Sadly they’re predicting lots more snow, possibly mixed with ice, later tonight. Mindy and the kids were loading into the Honda just as I finished up. It was already after 7:30am. Holy smoke! By the time I finished eating my eggs and packing a lite lunch, it was 7:45am. I figured I’d better wait and shower after getting Jacob on the bus. We walked to the bus stop at 7:58am. We waited, and waited and waited until I finally decided to walk home and get my cell and call Mindy. I knew there was a late start day planned this week, but what I didn’t know was which day. Surely Mindy would’ve mentioned it to me if it were today. She answered after several rings and said it was Wednesday. No sooner did I walk back out to the bus stop did it finally arrive. It was 8:12am. Better late than never. I went back home to shower and dress. Before heading off to the shower I emailed my boss and peers to let them know that I’d be late by 30 minutes. I left the house at 8:45am. Gas was down to $1.74 at Thornton’s. Work was pretty busy. Plus, I had enough administrative stuff to accomplish that it kept me busy all morning long. I printed off a Saturday’s coupon and left for a haircut at 2pm. I couldn’t imagine there being a crowd at Saturday’s at 2pm on a Tuesday afternoon. Lucky for me, there wasn’t. I got right in. Stacey cut my hair. She’s cut it several times past. Interestingly enough, she asked if I’ve been skiing lately. I shared just a little about our weekend ski trip, but then deferred to what’s been going on with her. It’s not so much that I care, but recognize that it’s nice to have someone ask how life is going. Who knows when the advice you might give will save or change a life (ding – fries are done). Stacey was efficient and had me out of there in less than fifteen minutes. I went promptly next door, just as I often do, to buy crickets and meal worms for the lizards. The guy working the counter showed me some giant meal worms – said they bite. But those weren’t the ones I needed. Heck, they were bigger than the lizards. Because I’d only been gone 30 minutes, I went across the street to Lowe’s where I browsed a few aisles. I didn’t stay too long and had nothing urgent on my shopping list. I left empty handed. I was back at work even before 3pm. I ate my lunch as soon as I got back. It began to snow just before 4pm. I made a bet with one of my team members that it wouldn’t snow more than an inch by 9am. There were conflicting reports of anywhere between 3 and 8 inches coming. A few folks even scheduled the next day off to avoid having to call off if their kid’s school canceled. I simply didn’t want to be party to sensationalizing it. I left for home around 5:25pm. I was surprised at how much snow had fallen by then. Probably an inch already. :) Mindy had been to the doctor earlier in the afternoon after her coughing attacks flared up again. She asked me to stop and pick-up her prescriptions – four of them. Damn! Because it was snowing so hard, I went through the drive-thru at CVS. $35 later I had the scripts and was headed for home. I took the back way home through The Glen. I already knew that I-270 was almost at a stand still. Travel was slow everywhere but at least we kept moving. The latest forecast called for 3 inches of snow changing over to sleet/ice overnight, then another 1-4 inches of snow tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, the temperature was in the low 20s. According to Ben Gelber there was warm air aloft, which would explain where the sleet/rain/ice would come from. I shoveled snow as soon as I got home just to give Mindy a path out if necessary. Afterwards I figured that not too wise if indeed we were gonna get a layer of ice. It’s always easier to shovel off the ice if there’s a layer of snow underneathe preventing it from sticking to the driveway. Oh well. Done! I went in with all my gear. Mindy already informed me that dad got Jacob off the bus so she could go to the doctor. He walked Ykraps for us while visiting. Cool! It stopped snowing a few minutes after I got home. Mindy made bubba burgers for her, Jacob, Rocky and me. The wee ones had hot dogs. I ate all of my burger and half of Jacob’s. Clean-up went easier than the night before. Jacob mentioned more than once that he hoped school would be canceled tomorrow. Word was that it was almost a certainty given the bleak forecast and the timing of it all. We got the kids in bed by 8pm. After they were tucked in, I worked on updating my blog. I was about four days behind. I had a couple days written but unpublished, however. Meanwhile, I knew that I was missing Idol but didn’t care. I still caught the last half hour. I was happy to read that brother Glenn was driving up to see Greg Six, an old high school pal, in Seattle. As I understand it, he’s dying of brain cancer and his time is short. I sent Glenn an email last week encouraging the trip, although I’m not taking credit for leading him to do so. I failed to mention that I spoke with brother Tommy late afternoon. We talked for a while catching up on everything that’s been going on in his life as well as my own. Sounds like he bought a car via eBay that should be arriving today or tomorrow – a BMW 328i. I asked about his Oregon intentions. He said that it most likely won’t happen. We discussed the recent success of his business operations, too. Sounds like it’s doing a lot better. After Idol, we watched Fringe. This week’s episode was about a computer virus that liquefied the brains of unsuspecting recipients. Very far fetched but also very cool! I fell asleep for the final few minutes all the while Mindy again rubbed my aching left foot. We headed to bed son after the show ended. But even before our heads hit the pillow Mindy’s phone rang. It was a teacher pal calling to let her know that school was canceled for Wednesday. I remember hearing Mindy ask about Columbus Catholic (Rocky’s school system) as well. Yep, it was canceled too. Apparently she didn’t have any scoop on Hilliard as of then. After that I was out!