That day each September when the weather turns...

I slept well, but woke in a semi-dreamy state a couple of times before 530am. I quickly shook off sleep and was downstairs and fully engaged in exercise by 5:40am. Afterwards, I checked the temperature and was surprised to see that it was a warm 67 degrees. I could see out the window that we were socked in with clouds, however. During my walk with Ykraps it began to drizzle. I checked the forecast and radar as soon as I got back home worried that my run might be a wet one. Thankfully, there wasn’t much in the way of a storm so the prospects for a dry run still looked good. Before settling in, I delivered Mindy’s coffee. She still sounded bad, so I suggested she stay home, but she quickly responded saying that she was heading in to work. However, a minute or two she came downstairs said she was staying home. She went to her PC to try and schedule a substitute, but apparently the time-window had passed to do so online meaning that it would now require an actual phone call to her principal. She decided against it, citing it being too big a hassle and headed back upstairs to ready for work. OK! I continued on with my routine eventually making my way to the family room for meditation and stretching. The stretching was especially beneficial. I dressed for a run in shorts and a sleeveless wicking shirt. After more stretching from the front stoop I was off and running. It was spitting rain for the duration of my run, but never hard enough to really matter. Instead, just a minor inconvenience. I was home between 715-720am. Mindy had cheeseless scrambled eggs on the table. I thought about sprinkling cheese over the top but in the end simply decided to go with the flow. Bella and I had our usual morning banter. Jacob was already up in his room doing the morning TV thing. Mindy left around 730am but came back in a minute later to hand me a $20 bill to put in Bella’s lunch account. I placed it in a baggie with a post-it note stating its purpose hoping that Mrs. Valentine would see it and take care of it. Bella insisted she would. Off to the shower. We walked to the bus even as light rain continued to pound the area. I grabbed the purple beater ‘dog-walkin’ umbrella from the front porch to help shield my fancy hairdo from the rain. I shielded Bella’s do too. Jacob, on the other hand, didn’t seem overly concerned about his getting a little damp. Kenny was sporting a couple nice gashes on his face from a little mishap on Lake Erie Saturday. Seems he jumped off the back of the boat for a swim in 6ft waves but hit the bottom of the boat when he resurfaced. OUCH!!!! And speaking of boats…. I left the house for work after enjoying a little quiet time reading Glenn’s blog. Looks like he finally bought himself that kayak after eyeballing one all summer long. Good for him! I considered stopping to refuel the Trooper but had enough gas for another couple trips to and from work. My bet was that fuel prices would drop during the course of the day anyhow. I hoped my hunch would be correct. Work went along smoothly for a Monday. After getting settled, I placed a call to my ophthalmologist to order those prescription sunglasses we spoke about two weeks ago. I was originally tentative about it, but found myself wishing I had them several times of late. Plus, the fact that I have two vision plans should reduce the cost significantly. JP remembered me being in, and still had the folder with the details. He verified that I wanted the ‘trifocal’ transitional lens type then promised to work up the final out-of-pocket costs and call me back. The day moved forward. Around 1pm I decided it important to slip out of the office for a formal lunch break. I drove to the Mill Run Home Depot and Target. At Home Depot I once again checked out hot water tanks. I really need to get on that project. It’s been on my list of to-dos for several years. I also checked out aluminum extension ladders again. I’ve looked at them several times. I bought nothing. I drove next door to the Target. I found myself in the men’s department looking at running attire. I ended up buying a cool t-shirt for ½ price and then some new running pants that don’t gather around the ankle like all my others. Next, I searched out rechargeable AAA batteries. We need some for Bella’s digital camera. Lastly, I picked up two containers of gum for the office. I was back at work by 2:10pm. The afternoon was fairly busy but not overwhelming. I could see I had a VM. I guessed it JP from my ophthalmologist’s office. It was. To my surprise, he said that my out-of-pocket cost would be a whopping … zero! And these are some cool looking Oakley’s. Now that’s a bargain. Later, when talking to Mindy, I suggested we have chicken & noodles for dinner using Sunday’s leftover rotisserie chicken. She agreed, and it was a good day for it. I left for home around 5:35pm. I stopped at Thornton’s on my drive home, too. Gas was about $2.38 per gallon. The Trooper took 18+. Mindy was busy making the chicken & noodles. We had a house full of kids too. For starters, we had Noah, Jacob’s school friend as well as Emily & Evan. I walked Ykraps alone. Once dinner was ready, Mindy sent Emily & Evan home. Noah was staying for dinner. His dad was slated to pick him up around 7:30pm. The chicken & noodles were absolutely delicious. Everybody loved them. I had two helpings plus. During clean-up, Mindy called my dad whom she had already spoken with earlier and knew he wasn’t doing well. This time she offered to deliver some chicken and noodles. He accepted the offer but asked that she simply hand them over at the door. He apparently expressed embarrassment for how unkempt his house is since he’s been ill. She wasn’t gone long. She was back within ten minutes. She said he looked really bad and spoke of being down about 25 lbs. She called brother Bobby to gauge his take on dad’s health since she heard he spent most of the day with him after dad found himself north of Columbus lost and without his wallet. Yikes! That doesn’t sound good at all. She ended up leaving a VM for Bobby. Bobby called back quickly and explained the whole ordeal. Apparently dad was scheduled for an appointment at St Ann’s hospital in Westerville where he was asked to fast for the 12 hours prior. Instead of 12 hours of fasting, he hadn’t eaten for 30. Anyway, he missed his exit and was low on fuel & up around route 36/37 off I-71. When he went to refuel he discovered that his wallet was missing. I can only imagine how that might’ve felt. He eventually phoned Bob who gave his credit card number so that Dad could get gas. He then stopped at dad’s, picked up his wallet, and drove up to meet him. He ended up going to his doctor’s appointment with him and then took him to lunch after. He said he didn’t eat much but what he did eat changed him in a hurry. He was much more himself after. He was now able to drive himself home when earlier he thought that he might not be able to. All told, it was a frightening tale. I couldn’t help but think that the symptoms sounded a whole lot like those of dementia. I didn’t say anything to Mindy. Not long after that conversation, Lindsey called asking our willingness to watch the boys on Monday evenings this quarter. I told her that I would talk it over with Mindy and call her back. I didn’t say when. It was now 745pm. Mindy wasn’t feeling so swift and in kind, decided to let the kids skip a bath. She spent a good hour on the sofa grading school papers. At the same time, I spent a good half hour completing an assignment related to an online course I signed up for. Time for MNF. I tuned the TV to football and the entire family watched on. Mindy put the kids to bed around 845pm. I went up for the tuck-in shortly after. Mindy headed to bed around 9:15pm. I stayed downstairs watching the game but drifting in and out of sleep. That felt incredible!