Carving Gourdon

Staying up until almost midnight watching football has its price. I woke for work wishing I’d gone to bed at a more reasonable hour. It was a fun game to watch, though. The Cardinals beat the Giants. I did my sit-ups then checked the temperature. According to Weatherbug, it was 44 degrees. After 53 push-ups, I leashed up Ykraps and headed out under a star-filled autumn sky. I could count the number of clear October mornings on one hand. I was most appreciative of the favorable weather. It was already after 6am when we got back inside. I delivered Mindy’s morning coffee before enjoying any of my own. She asked that I turn off the ceiling fan and turn up the heat. Yes dear. I spent close to 20 minutes on the PC fooling around. It was already 6:25am when I walked away to meditate. On my way to the family room, I choked down three Advil mostly for preventative measures. I didn’t leave myself enough time to meditate properly/thoroughly, but you’ll have that from time to time. I started stretching at 6:35am. The stretching went well. I think it was Saturday evening when Mindy showed me a yoga stretch used to stretch the upper back and shoulder muscles, the epicenter of a lot of my aches and pains. I planned to add it to my routine but my arms were still a little sore from doing it Saturday, not to mention being short on time. I stuck with my usual routine. It was later than usual by the time I headed out the door for my run. It was chilly enough for hand and ear covers. I wore both. My run went well. I kept it at 3 miles, although considered ratcheting it back up to 4. Maybe Tuesday. I was back home sometime between 7-715am. Mindy was in the middle of fixing breakfast. Bella reminded me that we’d be carving pumpkins later that night after dinner. Yep. Sure will! I enjoyed my fried eggs and fruit. I asked Bella not to make a meal of the fresh raspberries, and save some for me. But honestly, they weren’t that good. Mindy left at 730am after reminding the kids to get on Noah’s bus after school. Just as she was departing my dad called. I wasn’t sure what to make of such an early call. He was eager to share that he was on his way home from the hospital after all. Apparently his doctor changed his mind about the rehab after finding dad in such good shape early Monday morning. He was walking steps totally pain free. What’s more, he sounded good, too. That was exciting news. Glad he called. I headed up for a shower a couple minutes later. I was back downstairs showered and dressed by 7:50am. For whatever reason, the kids were more eager than usual to get out to the bus stop. As I do most days, I took Ykraps along on his leash. Makayla was waiting there with her grandma. Chrissy & Kenny were still in Virginia, and weren’t expected home until later in the afternoon. The bus arrived at 8:02am. I was surprised to find a thin coating of ice on my windshield. It wasn’t that cold. But it came off easily with wiper fluid. Off to work. I arrived at work at 830am. It was a lovely morning with oodles of sunshine and crisp blue skies. It would’ve been a great day to hike Old Man’s Cave. Work went well. I spent an hour or so with my boss after he was out all last week on vacation. He invited me to Chipotle for lunch but I declined wanting instead to adhere to my plan – tuna, vegetables and fruit. I drafted a quick email to my brothers sharing dad’s good news. I ended up sticking around all day without taking a formal lunch break. I ate my tuna, veggies, and fruit around 130pm. I didn’t hear from Mindy all day long, and don’t believe I called her during my commute home either. She was busy prepping dinner and chatting on the phone when I finally arrived sometime near 530pm. Bella was quick to greet me at the door and again wanted to remind me of my promise to carve pumpkins. Yep, but after dinner. She understood. And speaking of dinner, it looked like spaghetti judging by the pans. Mindy and Jacob joined me walking Ykraps. I teased Mindy about making spaghetti on a day when my stomach burned. She apologized. I planned to take another Tagament when we got back home. Mindy said I had enough time to sneak a nap before dinner. That made me happy. I haven’t taken a before dinner nap in a long, long time. It took a few minutes but I was finally able to get some sleep. I’ll bet I slept no more than 5-10 minutes but that was all I needed. I woke feeling refreshed. The Tagament I took did the trick. I was able to eat the spaghetti without the burn often associated with the sauce. I ate a plateful. As I finished clean-up, Mindy gathered the pumpkin carving gear (disposable table cloth and plastic cutting gear). I’m a firm believer in a plan. To that end, I asked that both kids draw out their ideas on paper first. Bella had hers ready last and drawn out last night. However, Jacob didn’t. He and I surfed the internet looking for ideas. He quickly found one he liked. I liked his selection too. Mindy helped Bella while I helped Jacob. We drew the features on the pumpkin with indelible markers (red/orange). The kids did much more of the work than years past. Jacob’s design featured a barfing cucurbita, so we gathered the scrapings in a handy container for later use. Jacob’s design included removing the orange skin from the teeth and eyes. I had never done that before and wasn’t certain how best to accomplish it. I guessed using a zester, and that worked perfectly – easy too. Bella liked Jacob’s so much that she whimpered and pouted about her own. Said it looked stupid, and not like her picture. Jacob offered to trade her. There was no comforting her. I must admit, Jacob’s looked far cooler. Like we have for the past few years, we did a ceremonial lighting of the pumpkins after we cleaned up the mess and then took photos. Bella was still not too happy with her design. However, after getting into her pajamas and returning for a snack, she began to warm a little to her pumpkin. Jacob and I added some ears and named his Gourdon. :)