Trick-or-Treat

I woke a few times after midnight and before 5am, and on one of those occasions I got up to pee. Each time I fell back asleep not waking for good until almost 540am. Finally up, I made my way downstairs and started my exercise regimen, first sit-ups then push-ups. I glanced skyward out the back door but could see nothing but dark cloud cover. I was surprised given a forecast calling for clear, sunny, and 65 degrees. It was supposed to be an excellent day for Trick-or-Treat. It was already 56 degrees. Ykraps and I did our walk following our usual path. We were back right about 6am. I poured coffee for Mindy & I but delivered hers before tasting my own. I spent another ten minutes at the PC before moving on with meditation then stretching. I had to restart my new external hard drive. Something paused it overnight. It was only about halfway done. I took three more Advil too. I took my time doing my stretches in an effort to get the utmost benefit from it. It feels so good! I wore just one thick wicking shirt and skipped hand and ear covers. I was plenty comfy as I was. I ran only three miles despite thinking I would do four. My knee felt fine. At home, Mindy had cheesy scrambled eggs ready. Bella wanted cereal. I prepped it for her. Mindy asked if I could get off early enough to get the kids off the bus so that she could make it to an after school doctor’s appointment. I planned to do it but needed/wanted to confirm it with my boss. Mindy left for school at 730am. Jacob asked if it would be OK if he wore my Scream costume for Trick-or-Treat. Why not? Yes. That seemed to make his morning. I was ready to head out at 7:53am. The kids were already out the door. We greeted Chrissy, Makayla, and Lillian at the bus stop. Still no sunshine or clear skies. Instead, we had thin could cover. I didn’t hang out long at all after the bus came. I left for work at 8:12am. The sky began to brighten some on my drive in. I could even see a faint outline of the sun busting through the thin clouds, but still no blue skies. Work was rather tame, but still a couple issues requiring my direct oversight. I sent an email to my boss, who was at a doctor’s appointment letting him know about my need to leave early today and also Monday for my bi-annual dental appointment. Remotely, he responded that it wouldn’t be a problem. Through the day, I was happy to see the DOW climbing quickly after four straight days of losses. Since I’d be leaving early, I didn’t bother taking a lunch. My boss got in around noon and asked to speak with me. As he knocked, I was on the phone with the XM Radio folks trying to fix our bill. It’s a long story. I won’t go into it, but will say, they’re very slippery folks. Eddie, the guy I was dealing with, really pissed me off. Left me on hold for well over 20 minutes. I eventually hung-up. I went to chat with my boss for a few minutes soon after ending the call. I wasn’t in the best of moods. We had a good chat. It was already nearing 2pm. I planned to leave no later than 3:20pm to be home in time to intercept the kids. I spent the last 30 minutes of my time in the office with my team in the center. I heard a few good Trick-or-Treat stories. I headed back to my office at 3:10pm and left at 3:20pm just as I had planned. I was available via BlackBerry as necessary. I arrived home by 3:35pm. Immediately I grabbed a rake and tarp and started gathering the leaves from the two curbside maples that were blanketing the grass between the walk and street and also gathering in the gutter. I filled the tarp three times. That included a big batch of leaves that were blocking the storm drain. I didn’t expect there to be that much. I used my gas blower to clear the remainder. I worked up quite a sweat. Mindy and the kids were home when I finished. I completely lost track of time. It couldn’t have been that late, however. I checked. It was only 4:10pm. I was in a funky mood after dealing with the leaves, and still steaming over the XM radio guy. The gull of him. I kept largely to myself through the rest of the late afternoon early evening. To top it off, I was also having problems with my PC’s performance. It was almost at a standstill. After running task manager I could see that my new external HD’s processes, along with my anti-virus software, were crippling my machine. When I stopped the process my PC was back to normal. I really need to upgrade soon. Mindy was already busy in the kitchen making dinner, chicken & noodles. She used the remainder of the rotisserie chicken to make stock by boiling down the carcass. She kept asking me if I was OK. I simply wanted to be alone for a while. At 5:35pm I took Ykraps on his evening walk. There were already what appeared to be Trick-or-Treaters preparing for the go. Not sure how I missed him, but Jimaken was at our house when I got back. He was coming over to take the kids out Trick-or-Treating while Mindy & I pass out candy. We’ve done it this way for three or four years now. Works well. Mindy invited Jim to dine with us. We started eating as soon as I was back from walking Ykraps. The chicken & noodles were good. I had two bowls. It was 6pm when we finished. The kids hurried to put the finishing touches to their costumes, Bella as a pirate and Jacob as the Scream dude. Just as they were heading out the door our first batch of Trick-or-Treaters arrived. It was about 7 or 8 of the neighbor kids. Bella left with Chrissy and her kids while Jimaken and Jacob headed off on their own. Mindy stayed outside passing out candy while I cleaned up after dinner. Because it was so comfortable – about 60 degrees, Mindy asked that I fetch the folding chairs from the back of her Honda so we could sit on the driveway passing out candy. That way kids didn’t have to keep knocking on our door. We did the same thing last year and it worked well. I fetched the chairs and a beer. Most of the Trick-or-Treaters, I noticed, were non-subdivision kids. Moreover, lots of them were of Mexican descent. Not that it matters, but instead just an observation. Most of them were very polite. Most of the kids were very young, too. Mindy struck up conversation with almost all of them, even the older kids. The crowd thinned significantly by 7pm, yet the event went on until 8pm. We headed in as the evening chill set in around 7:15pm. We probably had another ten or so Treaters come to the door. No problem. The kids were back before 7:30pm Bella stayed. Jacob and Jimaken went back out. Jacob filled his sack all the way to the top. It was so full that the handles broke. He took Bella’s bag out for the second trip. Noah, Willow, and Bella stopped by too. Deena, they said, stayed home to pass out candy. Tony was with them. I poured myself a second beer and took to the PC. Why not? I didn’t have to work Friday. I scheduled it as another vacation day. I was hoping to golf, but would settle for yard work if that doesn’t work out. The weather forecast is still iffy. After the kids finished their Trick-or-Treating Mindy got them settled into their PJ’s and tucked into bed. Neighbors Kenny called around 830 or 9pm to ask if Mindy & I were interested in OSU tickets for Saturday’s game. He also shared that he couldn’t golf on Friday. Had to travel to Cleveland to complete another job. We declined the OSU tickets. Mindy’s still not feeling too well and wants to do yoga. I want to relax and watch the game on TV. We thanked him anyway. We sat on the sofa watching Thursday night football. Around 915pm I popped some popcorn. Bella sniffed it out like always and was soon back downstairs after asking permission. She watched football and ate popcorn with us. We eventually popped a second bag. She likes it as much as I do. When Mindy headed up to bed, Bella followed. I stayed up to watch more of the football game while also enjoying my third beer. I fell asleep within the next 30 minutes almost by design. I love falling asleep on the sofa. I woke around 1130pm and headed up to bed. I skipped penning Ykraps for begin too tired.