RSV, Heavy Snow, Pizza, & Cold

I woke just before 5:30am. Before starting my exercise regiment I checked the temperature. It was a balmy 8 degrees. I knew that I’d have to bundle extra warmly for my walk as well as my run. In no time flat, Ykraps and I were walking our typical westward path. It was about as cold as I could bear. Burrrrrr! Unlike the last two days, I had a few minutes to enjoy my own coffee before taking Mindy hers. But by the time that I did, she was already up, had the bed made, and was in the closet gathering her day’s attire. I returned downstairs to spend a little more time on the PC and then meditating. I was ready for my run by 6:32am. As always, I stretched from the front stoop. Meanwhile, I wore my newest running tights, which aren’t that tight at all. For the first time all winter, my legs were cold. As you might imagine, if air can get in and move about freely, you will be cold. I was. And for the first time all winter, I wore my neck gaiter. Initially, I wore it up over my lips, but that proved too warm less than a mile into the run. I was very comfortable with it riding just below my lips but still up and around my cheeks. It kept cold air off my neck. Soon my legs were warm too. Tomorrow morning’s expected to be even closer to zero. I won’t wear the same running tights. I finished my run feeling great. I don’t want to jinx myself in any fashion but my hamstring/groin felt very good. Mindy had my breakfast waiting when I returned. I helped Rocky get his coat, hat, and gloves on. He let me know how much better he was feeling. Mindy & I were both relieved. Soon Mindy & the wee ones were gone. I cleaned up the kitchen then headed off to the shower. I was back downstairs ready for the bus stop by 7:55am. We left the house three minutes later. Because of the cold, we didn’t take the football. Even Jake & Jacob have their limits. The bus was a couple minutes late. Said her regular bus was having problems. This one was older. The southeastern sky was mostly clear at the horizon, but cloudy everywhere else. That left the horizon orangish-pink just as the sun was ascending skyward. Excited about the potential photo op looking across the pond, I hurried back home and grabbed my new camera, but by the time I had it in hand and was ready to shoot the clouds had overtaken the colorful entire horizon. Crap! I took a couple shots anyway. Before heading off to work I did a few chores. For one, I ran the ski tub back to the basement. While down there, I grabbed a canister of coffee to take to work. The last thing I did was take the garbage out. While at the can, I decided to pull it to the curb even though trash day wasn’t for another day. But since heavy snow was forecasted, I thought that I might save myself from pulling the large can through the snow later that evening. Smart – eh? I left for work at 8:15am. I arrived just after 8:30am. This was staff meeting day. The morning moved briskly. Our meeting lasted for over two hours. It was already 1:30pm before I could even bat an eye. I ate my nuts, but nothing else. I had a large tub of veggies and a fruit medley in the fridge. I decided to eat none of it since it was already after 2:30pm. Mid-afternoon ex-Kelly phoned to let me know that GD Olivia was at Children’s hospital with RSV – Respiratory Syncytial Virus. She said that they planned to keep her overnight. While talking, Kelly said she’d keep the boys next weekend so that Mindy & I can go skiing as planned. Wahoo! We clarified the details regarding pick-up and drop-off before ending the call. I immediately called Children’s asking to be transferred to Olivia’s room. Ashley answered and sounded stressed. She said that Olivia was fine given the circumstances and that there was little need for me to come. She called me back a little later with Olivia wanting to talk with me. Very cute! She ended up hanging up on me by accident, Olivia that is. I was just happy to hear her voice. I must’ve talked with Mindy around 4pm. I filled her in on the details surrounding Olivia. She said she’d call brother Craig for some additional insight into the diagnosis of RSV. I had already Googled it and learned that it was hard to distinguish it from the common cold, and perhaps even unnecessary. In other words, it would run its course much like the common cold and be done. Later, when Mindy called back, she said Craig pretty much echoed the same thing. I also told Mindy that Kelly would watch the boys. We could now comfortably tell Bob & Mary Ann that we’re in! We were both excited. Mindy asked that I pick up a pizza on my way home. She didn’t feel like cooking. I agreed. Meanwhile, it had been snowing all day. They were calling for 1-3 inches and possibly more over night, but that’s all I knew. I was really surprised when I left for home and found about five inches on my car, and it was still coming down rather hard. What’s more, the temperature was falling too. Mindy said neighbor Carl snow blew our driveway. Thanks Carl! I took the back way home because I-270 south was a parking lot south of Tuttle mall. The back way took about 45 minutes. I encountered an Upper Arlington plow/salt truck off the road in a ditch. Don’t see that often. Our pizza was ready & waiting when I arrived at Minelli’s. I was mega hungry after eating only nuts all day long. I ate a piece of pizza on the short drive home – about ¼ mile – just to test it out. It was good! :) That house was a buzz with mostly happy kids and a seemingly happy wife. I leashed up Ykraps and bundled warmly for a quick walk. I thought about shoveling the drive since another inch or two had already fallen but resisted the urge since it was still snowing hard. Instead, I went in and ate some pizza with the family. I planned to shovel definitely before bed and hopefully after it ends. I checked the radar and saw that it would most likely stop in an hour or so. After dinner, clean-up, and tuck in I bundled warmly for some snow shoveling. It was still snowing but the end was now very near. I did the entire driveway and all the walks again. In fact, I shoveled the walk for three house lengths. I noticed that neighbor Kenny was still out of town. Kenny’s the neighbor that dug us out during the blizzard with his plow, and also the neighbor that powered us up during the hurricane. Without hesitation, I happily shoveled his drive and walk, too. I must’ve got back inside around 9:20pm. I quickly changed into my flannel pjs then joined Mindy in the family room to watch night two of American Idol. We absolutely love the show, especially the qualifying rounds. Wednesday night’s show lasted two hours. Mindy poured me a run & Fresca at my request. I strengthened it a little before settling down. By the end of Idol, I was very sleepy. Even still, we stayed up for about 15 minutes watching the 10 o’clock news, something we almost never do. We were curious about school closings. We had to check for three – Columbus Catholic (Rocky), Southwestern (Mindy), and Hilliard (Jacob). As of then, none of them were reporting no school. The forecast calls for a morning low close to zero. And Friday morning’s low is expected to be even colder near -7 before wind chills. Friends, that’s cold. We went to bed around 10:20pm.