This Just-in

Up at my usual time, I quickly had my exercise routine underway and completed. I was eager to get outside with Ykraps and drink in the summer-like morning air. Once again gorgeous, we took our time during the walk. My thoughts turned to the three day weekend ahead and how much I might be able to accomplish with in landscape. Bur for here & now, I still had to get through the morning routine and the work day. After coffee, PC, meditation and stretching, I left for a run. I wore long running pants and a long sleeved shirt. It’s just about time to scrap the long stuff and move to shorts. The long stuff is getting a bit warm for the temperature, about 62 degrees. Not unbearable, however. I felt really good out the door, and for the duration of my run it remained that way. Mindy was putting the finishing touches on our eggs when I returned home. She & Bella left just after 7:30am. I headed off to the shower. Jacob and I hooked up at the bus stop around 7:57am. Both boys were excited about the long weekend ahead. Adding to the euphoria, I am sure, is that fact that next week is their last week of school for the year. Done May 29th. After they were on the bus, I watered the sod, flowers and a few other dry spots. I must’ve spent about 10 minutes doing so. I left for work in my dirty Trooper. It needs a bath inside and out. Gas, I noticed, was up to $2.49 a gallon. I hated to see that, but I didn’t need any. Work went well. It was relatively quiet all morning long. Come lunch time I drove to Lowe’s where I bought some CPVC primer for my plumbing job. It’s not necessary but recommended, and for $3, I decided to get some. It’s supposed to help ensure a leak proof seal after gluing (welding). All day, I kept thinking about making a list of all the small tasks I wanted to accomplish over the long weekend ahead. However, I never did take the time to scrawl them all down. I felt a bit uneasy with my ever growing list. My nature is to get uncomfortable in my own skin with everything I WANT to get done. I say want, but make it feel like an absolute necessity. Somewhere in my past I must’ve used this technique to make sure certain things got done. It eventually manifested into the way I go about getting most of my to-dos done. Though, as Mindy often points out, did it get done? Yes is always the answer. Sometimes the simple process of making a to-do list can have a positive impact. The list never seems quite as long on paper as it does in one’s head. I never made the list. J The afternoon wasn’t bad at all. I left for home around 5:20pm. I already knew that I’d have the house to myself since Mindy was at the grocery and the kids were with the neighbors. I quietly went about walking Ykraps. Bella came running after me during that walk. She asked permission to attend Makayla’s soccer game. I agreed. Jacob was apparently going too. Cool! Once again alone, I decided to take a brief nap before doing anything else. I must’ve slept for 10 minutes, no more, but that was all I needed to launch me into weekend mode. Yahoo! Mind arrived home with the groceries sometime after 6pm. I helped carry in the haul. Soon after Mindy got home, Justin, the strange kid that’s been hanging around our home for the past two days, came knocking on the door looking for his ‘friend’ (Jacob). We advised that he wasn’t yet home from a soccer game. Five minutes later he knocked again, only this time at our back door. Same answer, Justin. He won’t be back for awhile. And yes, ten minutes hadn’t yet passed when he knocked for a third time, again at our front door. Mindy assumes the kid autistic, or at least close. Last evening he was frolicking in our mucky pond like an idiot. The other neighbors shewed him away and advised their kids to stay away from him. This troubled Mindy. She felt sorry for him. I understood but quickly pointed out the apparent age, size difference between he and most of our kids. If he is disturbed in some fashion, who’s to say he wouldn’t harm the little girls (Bella, Makayla, Emily). After all, aside from his name, we don’t know this kid from Adam (not Lambert). Our Jacob took a liking to him and found himself conflicted and troubled with the rejection Justin received. He cried to his momma about it. On one hand, I am moved and proud of Jacob for not toeing the prevailing neighborhood line of rejection. Instead, he’s showing compassion when it’s not popular. This is a trait rarely seen in adults, let alone children. I also don’t want to be the responsible party if the kid harms someone else or even himself. At a minimum, Mindy & I agreed, we need to learn more about this kid, including where he lives and what school he attends. We later learned he lives in Moneyback. Once the neighbors were back from soccer Mindy and Crissy planned a pizza night on their deck. We ordered from Minelli’s. They ordered from Sporano’s. David & Becky joined us too. I later learned that they attended the soccer game with everyone else, too. Mindy left a note on our front door indicating that we’d be outback. She spotted the pizza dude while we yucked it up with all the neighbors. There are five households in our little cluster of homes. Four of five families gathered for an evening of fun. All of us are different in many respects, but at the same time, we also have several things in common. It works well. We ended up at Dave & Becky’s, our next door neighbors, they set up an old Lionel train set for the kids and then made arrangements for Bella, Makayla, and Emily to spend the night. We hung out until midnight. Mindy went home with Jacob around 11pm. They were both asleep when I arrived home.