Friday, March 20, 2009

Spring 2009

There wouldn’t be any kind of consecutive streak building relative to waking at or before 5:30am. That deal was sealed when I woke Friday morning at 5:35am. Even then, I was slow to want to get up and face the new day. But it was Friday, and anyone who knows me knows all too well how much I love Friday’s. I was downstairs exercising by 5:40am. In an effort to help my aching upper-middle back & stiff neck I skipped push-ups for the first time in months. I did only sit-ups. Ykraps and I headed out the door right after checking the temperature. It was only 28 degrees – about 20 degrees cooler than where we’ve been most of the week. I bundled appropriately and was comfortable enough, at least for the short amount of time we usually spend on such walks. We were back by 5:55am. I poured some coffee and then relaxed in front of my PC for a few minutes reading the morning headlines, The Daily OM, and emails. I took Mindy coffee at 6:05am sharp. Ironically, this was the first day of spring. I say ironic because it was by far the chilliest morning of the week. The actual event – the sun crossing directly overtop the equator - took place at 7:44am EDT. A relatively fast moving winter, indeed. I can honestly say that this was the first winter where I was sad to see it end. Of course that had everything to do with our deepening passion for skiing. Once it became apparent that the ski season was over I turned my focus to the onset of spring. During today’s meditation I focused my energy towards helping Lindsey make the right decision relative to the boys. I asked the universe to give her the wisdom and strength to get her life together. I felt at peace with what ever may come. I did some stretching before donning my running attire. The benefits were obvious and immediate. Before setting out on my run I made Bella the cheese omelet she had asked for all week. Once it was done, I placed it in the microwave and taped her letter on the microwave door before heading out at around 6:40am. Although completely dark, I could see the promise of daybreak in the eastern sky. We were less than an hour from the vernal equinox. Daylight came on fast. For all intents and purposes, it was daylight at mile number three. I arrived back home around 7:15am. Bella had already finished her omelet. She was thankful that I remembered. Mindy shared how thrilled she was to discover that I remembered. The second half that I truly intended for Rocky still remained. He wanted waffles instead. I happily ate the other half along with some fresh fruit. Mindy & the wee ones left the house at 7:25am. I retreated to the shower after putting the kitchen in order. I was downstairs and ready to go by 7:50am. Earlier this morning, a song I’ve been stalking for the past several days was playing on Soundscapes. This time I got the information I was seeking – Fridrick Karlsson – Spiritual Fitness- Colour Purple. I decided to check its availability on Amazon. I was indeed available via CD or download. I chose to download and burn. To buy the CD and wait would’ve been almost $18. On the other hand, buying the download was only $7.92. What a deal! I burned it to CD before stopping. By then, Jacob had already headed out to the bus stop. I glanced out and saw him onto the bus for peace of mind then finished what I was doing. If you get a chance, give this music a listen, especially the title, Colour Purple. I think you’ll like it. I left for work at 8:15am. And just as you might expect, I let my brand new CD whirl during my drive in. What a fabulous morning it was. Spring was upon us, the sun was shining, and it was FRIDAY!!!!!! Work went about as smoothly as a Friday could go. I was careful not to do anything to jinx it. Just before 1pm I left the office destined for Home Depot. Along the way, I phoned my friend Tom Clark, who is fresh back from Florida to invite him out with us tonight. Said he’s starting work at the Time Warner RR Business Class NOC next week. Cool! At Home Depot I bought a bag of fertilizer to help jump start the lawn. It’s already greening up. Now’s the time to get it down. I also picked up a new light socket for one of my rear uplight fixtures. Fertilizer is getting more expensive every year. I paid $38 for a 15,000 sq ft bag, and that’s just plain Turf Builder. The crab grass preventer which will go down next is running around $55 this year. I may reconsider paying a service to do the work. However, the problem with most lawn services is quality. I was gone only 25 minutes. I thought about going elsewhere but had nowhere I needed to go. I headed on back to work. The afternoon moved rather slowly, a likely byproduct of a slow day. None of us were complaining. I used the time constructively and took care of numerous administrative tasks. By day’s end I was well caught up. Mindy called after dropping the Cabot boys at Lindsey’s. She was headed home to greet Jacob off the bus and eventually see the other two off with their daddy. This was a Jimindy weekend. I left the office at 5:30pm. I called my mom just to make sure that she’d be home tomorrow for our planned visit. She said she should be arriving home from work by 11am – far earlier than our planned arrival time. We were set. Mindy was at the grocery when I got home. I’d have about an hour all to myself. I walked Ykraps but then sat down in front of the PC to upload the past eight days worth of blog entries. From a publishing perspective, I was behind a lot more than usual. I managed to get it all updated before Mindy arrived home. She must’ve got home right around 7pm. I helped her carry in the groceries. It was nearly 7:30pm by the time she got them all put away. Time to ready for a night out at Barley’s! We left the house about 10 minutes later. We phoned neighbors David & Becky but got their VM. We left a message inviting them to join us. We also phoned neighbor Teri, who recently broke her ankle, just to see how she was doing. We left a VM there too. Barley’s wasn’t that crowded at all. That was nice for a change. Steve Won was already there and as were many other regular peeps. Tom Clark arrived earlier than usual. He & Mindy ordered food. I did not. David & Becky arrived after an hour or so passed. Glad they came out. And not too long after they showed up, nephew Joe & Danny arrived. We had a blast and didn’t leave until just after 11pm. That’s late for us. Time flew. Through the night I drank four beers, three of which were double IPA’s – Founder’s Double Trouble’s. Mindy had just one St. Joan’s. Of course, she drove. And while I didn’t order and eat dinner, I did nibble on some of her fries. We arrived home before 11:30pm. We chatted for a short while in the kitchen where I tore open the bag of dark chocolate M&M’s Mindy picked up from the grocery store earlier that evening. We headed to bed before midnight.

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