Sleeping past nine the first day of '09

After some New Year’s Eve lovin’, I got up from bed hell bent on playing some Wii. I invited Mindy but she wanted no part of it. For some reason, I couldn’t get the Wii console to recognize the Wii Ski disc. At the same time, it was after 1am and the affects of alcohol were beginning to wear me down. I quickly surrendered to it and took refuge on the sofa. I slept there until about 5:30am when I heard the coffee maker kick on. Cold and tired, I headed back up to bed. I heard Mindy get up with the kids around 8am, I think. She told me to sleep in. That was nice. I slept until 9:30am or later. Even then, I was still sleepy, but I couldn’t bear to let the morning slip away. I had to get exercising and walk my dog. Meanwhile, the kids were already fed and happily playing with their Xmas toys. I hurried through a round of exercise and then walked Ykraps. It was cold – only 18 degrees. The cold air felt good and helped wake me up. After enjoying a cup of coffee and spending a few minutes on the PC, I dressed for a run. I ran along Trabue and Hague Avenue thinking the day’s traffic would be light. It wasn’t. It was about normal. I found and pocketed two golf balls along hole #1 - a Titleist and a Pinnacle. They’ll be good for chipping out back. Mindy wanted to go shopping alone at Kohl’s. She asked how I felt about such and adventure. How could I refuse? Any woman that will take four kids to get their haircut and follow that up by taking all of them to the grocery store deserves some alone time. Hungry, I warmed some of Sunday’s leftover pizza while she showered. I temporarily tuned the TV to the Rose Parade, but quickly switched to a Bowl game on ESPN. I just wanted to see a flicker of the parade, much the same way I treat the TG day parade. Mindy left around 1pm. She kindly put Landon down for a nap before leaving. He was cranky. That made life easier on me. The other three kids were bored & tired too. Come to think of it, I was tired and cranky, too. I asked for quiet all afternoon. More than anything, I feared Landon waking up. While Mindy was out, I made myself useful by sweeping and mopping the tile floor. Why we ever chose bright white ceramic tile is beyond me. “Mop it in the morning and entertain guests tonight” (I don’t think so)! Chasing behind four kids is tough business. It’s far easier to alter one’s expectations a bit. Mindy must’ve gotten home a little after 4pm, maybe 4:30pm. She was surprised that Landon was still sleeping. I was surprised but also happy. J I kept busy watching football and writing my blog entry from Mindy’s laptop. She quickly began making dinner – polish sausage, pork chops, and sauerkraut. It didn’t take her long. She shooed me away from the kitchen table around 5:30pm. Time to eat. I took Ykraps on a brief evening walk before sitting down for dinner. Dinner was delicious, especially the sausage. For the most part, the kids liked it too. Landon, Bella, and Rocky were all clean platters. Jacob was not. He got a little unruly about it and was sent to his room. We had no formal dessert. Rocky had ice cream. Landon had M&Ms. He loves them like nobody’s business. Bella had donuts. Mindy and I passed. Clean-up took a while. Lots of pans were dirtied. By the time I was through, Mindy urged the kids upstairs to ready for bed. After finishing in the kitchen, I turned the oven to self-clean – something I haven’t done in maybe four or five years. Meanwhile, we watched Penn State get annihilated by USC. I expected it. They were exposed in the last part of the season. Once again, the big ten is giving a poor showing in the bowls. The kids were tucked into bed just after 8pm. Afterwards, I made a rum and Fresca and decided it a good time to play Wii Ski. The console once again rejected the disc. On closer inspection, I discovered a tiny smudge of grease or food on the disc. After removing it the disc read fine. Hmm? I played Wii Ski for about an hour. It’s a very cool game. Before going to bed, I popped some corn and watched a little of the Virginia Tech/Cincinnati Orange bowl game. Mindy headed to bed at 10:10pm. I wasn’t but another 20 minutes behind her.