Mermaid Girl

Nothing new. It was cloudy and rainy at 5:30am – the beginning of my Friday. I did my exercises followed by a walk outdoors with Ykraps. I grabbed the umbrella in an effort to remain reasonably dry. If there was an upside to the rain it had to be the warmth. It was 53 degrees, which seemed rather balmy compared to the low 40s earlier in the week. I spent a few minutes at the PC before delivering Mindy’s coffee. Mindy invited me back into bed for a few minutes, but I was back downstairs by 6:25am – not too far behind. I moved on to meditation and stretching skipping any additional PC time. That went well. My knee wasn’t an issue at all while walking, exercising, or stretching. I held out hope it would remain that way through my run. Speaking of which, I dressed in a two-shirt upper layer with long running pants and gloves. Any hope of running completely pain free was thwarted quickly. I had the same familiar limp with a smidge of pain, enough to prevent me from running with my natural stride. And like most other days, it caused my legs to tire quickly and my body to work up a quick sweat. A mile or so into my run I was able to get it together and finished with a semi-normal stride. Lucky for me, the rain let up after the first mile or so, but that was enough to saturate my running clothes. Mindy had a towel waiting by the door. I didn’t really need it. I wasn’t dripping wet. However, I was quick to peel off the wet clothes before eating my breakfast. Mindy ate and left for work a little earlier than usual. She had a meeting planned with one of her student’s parents. After a shower, the kids and I prepared to head out to the bus stop in a light rain. Once again, in a very demeaning tone, I heard Jacob demand that Bella bring his shoes to the bottom of the stairs as he made his way down. This time I intervened and requested he get them himself. He responded by mocking me. What? I reminded him that he needed to mind his manners. He mocked me yet again while retrieving his own shoes and heading out the door. I let it slide for the time being but was determined to correct his disrespectful behavior later. Bella and I both had umbrellas. Jacob refused to share mine and consequently got rained on. The bus pulled up at 8:02am. I gathered my gear and left for work by 8:10am. It was a rainy drive into the office but thankfully, it let up as I walked from my car to the door. The day was uncharacteristically quiet. I made plans with my boss and a peer to do an early lunch at Chipotle. I owed my boss a lunch since the Bengals beat the Steelers two weeks ago. We headed out at 1130am. I drove. The lunch crowd was just getting fired up when we arrived. The line was long, but fast, yet only a few tables were presently occupied. I hadn’t had a Chipotle burrito in a couple of months. It was good, but I could eat just a portion of it (less than half). I wrapped the remainder for later. We weren’t back at the office five minutes before my boss showed up at my office door citing the need to make a quick return to Chipotle to get his jacket and car keys, which he errantly left behind. Oops! I didn’t mind. He’s the boss! We were there and back within 20-25 minutes. Once I was back, I called my ophthalmologists’ office to check on my sun glasses. They were supposed to be in. I was disappointed to learn that they weren’t. The receptionist promised to have JP call me on Monday to discuss the delay. The afternoon went by quickly. Mindy called late afternoon to discuss among other things, our dinner plans. I informed her that I had just eaten Chipotle and would most likely not want any dinner. She said Bella expressed a desire for hamburgers. I suggested Mindy take her to Burger King after they finish at the grocery store. I let Mindy know that I planned to stop at Cord Camera on my way home to pick-up the 11X14” sunset print I ordered a week ago. She wasn’t aware that I had placed such an order. I talked about the possibility of stopping at Barley’s for a growler of IPA, too. I also shared how Jacob acted up earlier before the bus stop. We discussed how best to deal with it. She emailed me just before I left the office informing me of the outcome. She gave him two whacks with the wooden spoon and grounded him from screens. He apparently told his mother that he mocked me because he didn’t like the tone I used when telling him to get his own shoes. It’s tough being nine! Because I’d be on-call, I packed up my laptop and left the office around 5:20pm. It was still raining lightly at commute time. I arrived at the Lane Ave. Cord Camera around 5:40pm. My print was ready and waiting. I gave it a brief once over back in the Trooper. Looked good. Last minute, I decided to skip the stop at Barley’s and instead planned a stop at Gentiles, which isn’t that far from the Cord store. Gentiles is located at North Star & King Ave. There, I picked up a four-pack of Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA and a four-pack of Founder’s Breakfast Stout – grand total - $28! Yikes! Mindy phoned as I wound my way through Arlington and towards home. She was on her way home from the grocery and picking up dinner. She stopped at Burger King for Bella and Chipotle for both herself and Jacob. I thought that she might. I arrived home first, but only by a couple minutes. I helped her carry in the groceries then leashed up Ykraps for his evening walk. We made no plans for our Friday evening, although Mindy loosely suggested hanging out with the neighbors. However, once she alerted me that Chrissy & Kenny had 7 or 8 kids over playing, I opted not. I was happy to have a simple, relaxing evening at home. I ended up eating my leftover Chipotle right along side with Mindy & Jacob, who were eating theirs. Bella woofed down her Burger King and dashed off for the neighbors. Mindy soon followed with four packs of microwave popcorn that Chrissy asked to borrow. When Mindy got back, she and Jacob played a board game. I tuned into The Learning Channel watching a program titled, Mermaid Girl, a documentary of a young girls struggle with sirenomelia (mermaid syndrome). It was a touching story. Mindy & Jacob caught part of the program too. During the program I sipped one of my Double Simcoe’s and then a Sam Adams Octoberfest. I tuned the TV to Friday College football at 9pm. Mindy put the kids to bed around 9pm. She wasn’t up much longer. I stayed up watching football from the sofa.