Circle of Influence

I started my day by pondering a well known principle that I learned many years ago while reading/studying Stephen Covey. ... what separates us from all the other animals in the world? One answer is our ability to insert reason between stimulus and response. The keyword, of course, being ability. Unfortunately, we don't always take advantage of this human-only feature. Monday morning came around fast. I allowed myself to sleep later than usual after not getting to sleep before 1am. I was up around 6:15am to Bella flashing two one-dollar bills in my face – a gift from the tooth fairy. Mindy sent her back to bed. Too cute! I took my time after resigning myself to being late. I earned it. I worked hard all weekend long – dangit! I slowly progressed through my entire routine all the while fighting father-time. Around 7:15am I sent my boss an instant message letting him know that I’d be about an hour or so late. I took off for my run around 7:30am. It was sunny and cool – about 59 degrees. I wore a sleeveless wicking shirt to help counter the slight chill. But honestly the cooler temp felt just fine. I made it back home by 8:08am, about the time I would typically be departing for work. I prepped breakfast and packed a lunch comprised of fruits and veggies – really healthy stuff! I was off to the shower by 8:30am. And while I placed coffee at Mindy’s bed side, she didn’t budge. She was slightly coherent after my shower and just before I left the house, but she remained in bed when I left for work. The work day was busy, especially with my early-AM peer again being off and all the fallout remaining from the weekend. I did my level best. I had a good conversation with my boss regarding the weekend’s activity. He understood that I was really busy. I took lunch around 1pm and drove to the Dublin Wal-Mart just to walk around and blow off some steam. Just before heading inside the store Mindy phoned. She reminded me that the kids were spending the entire day with neighbor Becky. Apparently she agreed to keep all the ‘local’ kids today. See what too many beers can do to your thinking? J Mindy and I continued talking for about ten minutes, mostly about her mom’s most recent verbal assault and how we might tactfully respond. We both agreed that by not saying anything was almost like saying it’s OK to speak to us in such a manner. In prior conversations, I talked about addressing it with her, but we ultimately agreed that Mindy would handle it, at least for now. We ended our conversation and I headed in Wal-Mart. I thought that I might pick-up a replacement anchor for the one I lost while camping, but they didn’t have any. I spent an entire hour looking at stuff but bought nothing. I headed back to work feeling good after walking around for an hour. The afternoon went really well. All the fallout from the weekend was now history and things were finally settling down. I was able to get away around 5:30pm. I drove the BM’er by the way, so the drive home was fun! Mindy was busy in the kitchen preparing dinner. She was grilling burgers and corn. Because everything needed to come off the grill in a hurry, I walked Ykraps on my own. During dinner one of the kids mentioned that their momma had talked with Gloria this afternoon. Mindy nodded and said we’d talk about it later. The burger and corn-on-the- cob were both delicious. The corn was by far the best of the season. This was the stuff we got from the O’Connell’s. Jacob had two ears. The kids were anxious to dash out and play with friends. Mindy and I did kitchen clean-up. I headed outside to water the back flower pots and hanging baskets while Mindy begged off to Targhetto to see if they had any of those small fridges we saw in their Sunday add. I was done watering and back inside by 8pm. I went to the PC to update my blog. Mindy must’ve joined me in the livingroom once she returned home. She filled me in on the conversation she had earlier in the day with her mother. I won’t go into the details but will say that our position has been clearly communicated. From my perspective, this was clearly a case where Gloria’s circle of concern is far greater than her circle of influence (another applicable Covey principle). One can never find happiness living their life in such a manner. However, I also know that what she ultimately wants is only what’s best for her grandkids and kids. Heck, I do too. On a lighter note, I added a really great picture of Olivia rolling around on our lawn to our blog. I also added a video clip of Chrissy’s dance fest along with a picture of Mindy, Ryan, and Becky singing karaoke. Nice! The kids came in around 915pm after a long day of playing. Mindy saw to it that they got their showers. We tucked them in around 9:40pm. We weren’t up much longer. We talked briefly from the sofa. Mindy was still a little anxious over the conversation she had earlier with her mom. We talked until 10pm or so then headed to bed.