Old Starlight

I thought that I’d get up with the boys since Mindy did it Saturday. Doing so meant that I had to get up a little after 8:15am. I fetched Landon first, but before heading downstairs I changed his diaper. Downstairs I got their breakfast – waffles and juice. I made coffee at the same time. Once they were busy eating I started my exercise routine. And once Jacob was up I walked Ykraps. Mindy was still sleeping. I had a bunch of work related matters needing my attention right out of the shoot. I had no choice but to log in to address a couple of them. I don’t remember the exact time that Mindy got up but it was late. Once she was up, we all hung out on deck basking in the warm sunshine. The temperature was hovering near 50 degrees. It was still quite cool in the shade, however. Citing my desire to run before noon, I got ready and left around 10:15am. I decided to wear a heavy wicking shirt and skip a jacket. That combo worked well. I was quite comfortable. I found yet another errant drive along Trabue and hole #1. But it was a Top-Flite so I threw it back onto the fairway. They’re hard as rocks. I was encouraged by the lovely weather. My run went extremely well. Before I left, Mindy asked if I wanted a full blown breakfast upon my return. I didn’t. Once I was back home, the boys asked me to head outside and throw the football with them. We did that for a good 20 minutes. Afterwards, I got Landon dressed and we headed out back to swing. We hung out back there for almost an hour. The kids had fun. Mindy eventually joined us after spending some time inside sorting laundry. While Jacob and Rocky dashed off to the neighbors, Mindy & I took Landon to see the ducks along the pond. I fetched some duck food (cracked corn) from the garage, too. They never did come over, though. Still, Landon marveled at them from afar. We headed in around noon and I prepared myself a homemade Cuban (pork, ham, and cheese sandwich). Mindy put Landon down for a nap between then and 1pm. He needed it. He was up awfully late the night before. He cried just briefly. I asked Mindy for some dollar bills so I could take her Honda to the car wash. It was already dirty after last weekend’s wash. She was happy to hand over a few bucks, and I was happy to take it for a washing. The car wash was crowded but I lucked out and got the only open bay. The car in front of me pulled away just as I pulled up. Since it was open, I didn’t bother vacuuming. I could do that at home anyway. The Honda came clean a lot easier this week. Little wonder, though. Last week’s dirt was built up from two months and two long, wintry road trips. I was home to put the finishing touches on it 25 minutes after leaving originally. I dried it with the shami. Inside, Mindy was busy mopping the tile floor, which needed washed as much as the Honda. Our white tile floor gets dirty fast and shows it even quicker. It took me a good 45 minutes to detail the Honda inside and out. Motivated by the lovely weather, I decided to wash the BM’er next. Why not? The forecast calls for little to no chance of rain for the next several days with highs reaching 70 on Tuesday & Wednesday. I figured that I might get a chance to drive the BM’er to work. I pulled the Trooper onto the road and the Honda back into the garage before pulling the BM’er out. I was disciplined enough to start the BM’er at least once a month so not to run the battery down over the winter. Unlike last year, it started right up. I left the top down all winter. In kind, it tugged on my shoulder pretty good getting it closed so that I could wash it. The BM’er cleans up fast. It takes more time to wash the wheels than it does the small body. It was already fairly clean but it did have a coating of garage dust inside & out. I checked the oil afterwards. It was clean and full. I haven’t changed the oil in three years. But realistically, I haven’t put but 3000 miles on the thing in almost five years. I want to get it changed this spring, though. Most oil changing facilities won’t touch it. I have to take it to a foreign auto specialist. After finishing up the BM’er I took care of a few small chores in the yard. For starters, I put the sleds away in the shed. They’ve been setting out since the first appreciable snow – sometime in December. Winter sure went fast! I couldn’t help but notice the buds on many of our trees and bushes starting to open. It’s a little early for that, but nature has a way of taking care of itself. Two years ago we had an amazingly warm March only to be hit with a late winter blast in mid-April that killed lots of tree buds. They eventually spouted new buds. I still wish that we could sneak away for one last ski trip, but that’s looking less and less likely with each passing day. Mad River’s closed, and Holiday Valley’s snow pack is suddenly dwindling fast. The only real chance is Mt Hood. Oregon trip anyone? I headed inside around 3:45pm to get a shower. It was already time to get ready for Sunday dinner. We left the house at 4:30pm, but before heading to Gloria’s we had to stop at Shelly’s to pick-up Bella, who spent the night with GD Kaileigh. We arrived at Gloria’s around 4:50pm. Where had the day gone? We were missing Jacob (he went to a Blue jackets game with his dad). We were short 6 family members for Sunday dinner. But, it’s not about who isn’t there. Instead, it’s all about who is. We had meatloaf, mashed potatoes, pasta salad & garlic bread. It was all quite good. Landon ate three helpings of meatloaf. I couldn’t help but attribute his improved appetite to drinking less chocolate milk. Dessert was served just after 6:30pm. There were two choices, cheesecake and cherry pie. I had cheesecake. We left shortly after finishing dessert. We really wanted to be home close to 7pm in order to get all the kids ready for bed in timely fashion. Plus, I had a couple work related matters needing my attention and I couldn’t get them done via Blackberry. We arrived home around 7:10pm. I took care of Ykraps first, but then got into the work related matters. I stayed busy until 9pm. I was exhausted. We tuned into the Science Channel to unwind. We watched a cool program that peered into the microscopic world and then into the larger, cosmic world. Very cool. It’s hard to imagine that the stars we see at night casted off that very same light some 10,000 years ago. Many could be long gone by now.