Olivia = Joy

I took three Advil before leaping into bed last night. Good thing I did, too. But even that wasn’t enough to cure me fully. I woke near 8am to the sound of the boys. Please let me sleep a little longer, I thought. Mindy, keenly aware of my Friday night antics, volunteered to be the early riser. I got up and took two more Advil. I didn’t have a headache but was feeling the affects of the drinking. Ugh! I slept until 9:30am but never got to the deep sleep my body sorely craved. I decided to get up and get moving right then. I wasn’t hungover per se, but felt awfully grumpy and tired. OK, maybe I was. J I was slow to complete my exercise routine. Once I had that behind me, I leashed up Ykraps and took him on a walk. It felt really good outside. It was already above freezing and well on its way to the low 40’s not exactly tropic, but far warmer than where we’ve been. It’s all relative. Immediately upon my return I had to log into work. Things were a bit dicey. With few exceptions, I had to remain engaged all day long. I was able to leave for a run at 11am. I wore only a winter wicking shirt – no jacket, running tights, ball cap and light running gloves. That was perfect. It was 40 degrees but also sunny. Because of its denseness, there were still a few large, stubborn patches of hard packed ice to avoid, but they were scattered and scarce. For the entire 4 miles, I might’ve slid across two big patches. Mindy put Landon down for a nap soon after I got back. As luck would have it, I spent a great deal of my early afternoon working. Mindy headed into school to do some catch-up stuff mid-afternoon. She tinkered with going grocery shopping too but ultimately didn’t. However, she did stop and pick-up Olivia for a rare visit. I was excited about that, having not seen her since Xmas. While Mindy was gone and while Landon napped, I took a much needed shower. Landon must’ve slept until almost 4pm, when I finally went to fetch and change him. What a mess! Mindy got home with Olivia around 5:30pm. Joy is the first word that comes to mind when I saw Olivia. She was excited to be over and was busy spreading her joy to everyone else for the first several minutes. For about fifteen minutes the house was upside down with wee ones having fun. Mindy soon ordered a pizza from Minelli’s that would serve as our dinner. She agreed to fetch it too since I didn’t have on any shoes. Also, Jimaken dropped off Bella in there somewhere. He and Jacob were heading to the Blue Jackets game. They’d pick her up afterwards. The pizza was delicious – mouth watering good. After everybody had their fill, Mindy drew a bath for Rocky, Landon and Bella. Olivia wasn’t to be denied. Without prompting, she had her clothes off and was in the tub in no time flat, too. All four kids were in at the same time. I got a few cute pics. After tubby time the kids gathered in the familyroom to watch Elf. I wouldn’t exactly describe it as family movie time. It was much more chaotic than that. They bickered incessantly over pillows, blankets, and sippy cups. – you name it. Jimaken and Jacob were back before the hockey game was over. They swept up Bella and left. Ashley showed up soon after to retrieve Olivia. It must’ve been between 8:30-9:00pm. Like always, she was more than excited to see her momma. Hopefully we’ll see her again soon. I miss her much. She’s a gem! We were moved with her uncanny (advanced) speaking ability. She’s already putting together a number of five word sentences. She’s very articulate. After they left Mindy & I put Landon and Rocky to bed. That went well. I was tired and work had finally quieted down considerably. Mindy & I went to bed even before 10pm on a Saturday night.