The Health Inspector

The kids were milling about well before Mindy & I wanted to get up. But realistically, we’d already slept later than 8am. We were fortunate that they held off for that long. Mindy kindly got up first leaving me the opportunity to sleep a little longer. I gladly seized the opportunity but never fell completely back asleep. Instead, I laid there for another 15 minutes or so thinking, eventually checking my Blackberry for work triggers. Things looked good. I finally made my way downstairs around 9am. By then, the kids were already done eating their breakfast and were busy playing in the basement. I was slow to get moving with my routine, but just like clockwork, I got my exercise routine underway in short order. I walked Ykraps soon after my exercises were done. The temperature was around 40 degrees under mostly cloudy skies. It wasn’t very pretty out. I returned to the house where I poured and enjoyed coffee. Mindy was prepping to go grocery shopping and asked that I not run until she was out of the shower. Originally, I was down with that, but all the waiting around was killing me truth be told. Courtney phoned while Mindy showered asking if she still planned to take her shopping for work clothes. I promised I’d have her call back. Do you hear the sucking sound? It was now close to 11am. Mindy granted me permission to run. How nice of her! I, in turn, relayed Courtney’s message. Good grief! I left for my run not fifteen minutes later. I ran along Trabue and Hague. I was surprised at the crowd golfing at Raymond. The lot was at least half full. It was a good run, and the temperature ideal for it. It was noon by the time I made it back home. I can’t exactly remember when the girls all arrived, whether it was before or after Mindy left for the grocery. But sometime during the early afternoon all the kids and grandkids were over. Ashley dropped Olivia and left again to go shopping with her momma. Ashley was eager to share that Olivia was wearing panties instead of a diaper. I probably don’t need to mention how that ended. J During the afternoon I had Courtney, Lindsey, Kaileigh, Olivia, Rocky, Landon, Jacob & Bella. I was more than agreeable to the kids request to play outside. While the others were outside playing, Lindsey gave me an earful for putting Landon down for a nap. He cried for just a couple minutes before falling fast asleep. I was going a little stir crazy by the time that Mindy got home. After Mindy got the groceries put away, we had a lengthy conversation with Lindsey about the boys and her progress. Short of clearly spelling out our expectations, I don’t think we accomplished much. Mindy & Courtney soon left for their shopping trip. At some point before or after the shopping spree, Mindy had to spank Rocky (two light whacks on his behind for pulling Bella’s hair). Lindsey let Mindy know that she wasn’t pleased. I had to chuckle with Mindy’s curt response. She quickly countered, saying that she didn’t care what she thought, and that she’d spank Jacob and Bella for similar behavior. Me too. Next I heard Mindy tell Lindsey not to roll her eyes at her. As Mindy puts it, we put the fun in dysfunction! By the time that Mindy and Courtney got back it was late afternoon. Al soon came to fetch Courtney. All the kids headed over to neighbor Mike & Teri’s. Lindsey took Landon down their too. It was just Mindy & I. We got dinner started. The plan called for grilling brats, burgers, and dogs. I was exhausted and a little frustrated. I didn’t really feel like grilling but did anyway. Mindy wanted to. Soon after I started the grill a couple of the kids come running back home saying that Teri fell off her patio and broke her ankle. Mindy headed over to validate the story. It wasn’t another couple minutes before I could hear the sirens coming. Sure enough, the paramedics rushed by our house to the O’Connell’s. I guess Teri’s ankle break was pretty severe. The paramedics took Teri away in the squad. Mike apparently followed behind in their vehicle. Mindy offered to keep their two kids, Evan and Emily. Now we had seven kids. Mindy made the best of it and making all the kids dinner. Kaileigh asked if Bella could spend the night at her place. Mindy ran Lindsey home and then took Kai & Bella home. Emily & Rocky rode along. Jacob, Evan, and Landon stayed home with me. The kids played and watched a movie upstairs. I poured myself a HopSlam. Mindy was home by 9pm. Mindy & I sat on the sofa with Landon. He entertained us for the duration of the evening. He was very sweet & funny. Mike called around 1030pm to let us know that he and Teri were on their way home. They’d be stopping by to pick-up their kids, Emily & Evan. Teri was in very good spirits when they arrived to get the kids. We wished them well and offered any help they might need. She needs to have surgery Monday or Tuesday, we learned. We got Jacob, Rocky, and Landon in bed after Emily & Evan left. Actually, Rocky went to bed on his own a bit earlier. That’s a first. Mindy and I stayed up watching Larry the Cable Guy in a movie called Health Inspector. It was stupid funny - hilarious. I laughed good and hard many times. We stayed up until midnight.