52 Pick-up

I figured staying up late watching football Sunday would cost me dearly come morning, but the game was too darn interesting to not, and I wasn’t feeling at all fatigued. On top of that I slept lightly, too, so when I woke Monday morning at 5:20am and felt rested I was surprised, but also thankful. I had to prep coffee, something I knowingly neglected to do the night before. That didn’t take long, however. By 525am I was busy doing my sit-ups. And after checking the temperature and then completing 55 push-ups I headed out with Ykraps. It was chilly and cloudy, something like 38 degrees. It was trash day, too, so after our morning walk I carried out another full bag from the kitchen. The can was already at the curb, after remembering to place it out late Sunday evening. I had a good 20 minutes to play on the PC before waking Mindy. I read a few headlines, focused mostly on how the financial markets were responding to the crisis in Dubai. It appears that the crisis isn’t going to drag the markets down too significantly after all. A sign of relief! I delivered Mindy’s coffee at 610am. She thanked me for the coffee but presumably fell right back asleep. I didn’t hear her stirring for at least another ten minutes. Before leaving my PC time behind, I was reminded that it was cyber Monday, the day dubbed as the biggest internet shopping day of the Xmas season. Lots of online retailers are touting huge sales. I didn’t have time at the moment but planned to look for a couple things on our list later. I took my time with meditation and stretching. Both went well. It felt good to be back to my early morning routine. It’s the one thing I do so well on work days but not on my days off. Perhaps I’ll try to rise at 530am on weekends too. We’ll see. I finished my stretching at 632am and dressed appropriately for a run. I wore just one winter wicking shirt with a pull over fleece. That proved adequate along with long pants, hand and ear covers. Oh yeah, running shoes too! :) What I didn’t anticipate was the sharp, cold wind blowing in from the west. But over the years I’ve learned to tune the wind out. One might find this surprising. Wearing ear covers helps more than anything. If one can't hear it, one won't think about it. On the other hand, the stiffness I dealt with Sunday was only worse Monday. My legs were stiff for the run’s entirety – an almost certain sign of dehydration. But heading back to work would surely cure that. Again, there’s structure built into my work days but not into days off, like drinking a gallon of water, meditating and stretching. I ran four miles but was happy when it was over. Mindy made fried eggs for the two of us. Bella had a pop-tart and Jacob had a waffle. Mindy shared her plan to pick-up a rotisserie chicken on her way home from school to serve as our dinner, mainly because she’d be in a late staff meeting. That was fine with me. As Mindy prepared to depart we briefly discussed the day’s weather. The kids shared that we’re expecting snow by Thursday. I hadn’t looked that far out yet. I headed off to the shower as Mindy exited through the garage. Bella took care of locking the front door. The kids and I reconvened by the front door by 7:55am and headed out for the bus stop. Bella asked for her mittens just prior. She knew exactly where they were. We met Chrissy & Makayla at the bus stop. Kenny was hunting today and left the house around 4:00am. Wow! That’s dedication. The bus arrived on time – about 8:05am. I headed back home to take care of some last minute prep stuff before heading to work. I was out of the house by 8:15am. Instead of ESPN radio, I listened to Sarah McLachlan’s, Wintersong CD. Nice change of pace, but as I closed in on the office I reverted back to radio eager to hear Chris Mortenson’s take on Sunday’s NFL results. I arrived to work at 8:29am. Thanks in part to the long holiday weekend, the work day was a challenge from go. I forced myself to take lunch and drove home. There, I read for about 15 minutes then napped. Before heading back to work I did some Cyber Monday Xmas shopping. Mindy & I decided it a good idea to get the kids their own laptop for Xmas. Consequently, I found an incredibly good deal from HP that coupled with my discount brought the price well below $400. I nabbed it up. In addition, I ordered the new Corel Photo Express 2010 software for myself. I headed back to work arriving just after 2pm. It was beneficial getting away like that. Thankfully my afternoon wasn’t nearly as busy as the morning. Things came together nicely. I missed a call from Mindy around 345pm. I returned her call near 400pm. She just wanted to reaffirm dinner plans and share that her staff meeting was canceled. I suggested she invite my dad to dinner, whom we missed over TG weekend. She agreed. I left work for home at 535pm. I called Ashley and Courtney on my way home. I got Courtney’s VM. I left a brief message. I managed to reach Ashley who shared Olivia’s sizes and also suggested a Xmas gift at my prompting. Making no stops, I arrived home at 550pm. My dad was there, but Mindy was gone walking Ykraps. Actually, I saw her out the corner of my eye as I passed. Dad & I made casual small talk while awaiting Mindy’s return and dinner. Dad expressed feeling better with each passing day and seemed to be getting around better too. Good color and weight as well. I spotted the package I was expecting to arrive today via FedEx. Mindy placed it by my computer. I checked a few emails prior to dinner and also prepped Tuesday’s coffee. Dinner was served before 615pm: rotisserie chicken from Kroger, Bob Evan’s mashed potatoes, leftover TG stuffing, rolls and gravy. It was good. I ate a little too much. After clean-up, Mindy served up dessert, pumpkin pie and cheesecake. Mindy & Dad selected pumpkin pie. Dad commented that it might be the best pumpkin pie he’s had since his own mother’s. Jacob wanted everyone to play Apples to Apples, but none of us were warm to his suggestion. As he often does when he gets bored, he began tormenting and fidgeting. I recognized his errant behavior and attempted to save him from an almost certain beating. I asked him if he wanted to play cards, and more pointedly learn to play 52 pick-up (kidding) euchre. He refused at first, but within seconds changed his mind and joined me at the island for some two-handed euchre. We played two or three hands. I did my level best to explain the basic rules then quizzed him about certain scenarios. He truly seemed to get it. We stopped play after about 20 minutes. Through the late afternoon at work and then through dinner at home, my neck began to stiffen. As it intensified, I went to the family room floor to stretch and hopeful ease the spasm. The stretching helped enough that I could eventually turn my neck a bit easier. Dad left around 7:45pm. And almost as soon as he was gone, Mindy ushered the kids upstairs for showers and baths. I tuned the TV to the MNF pregame. While I laid strategically flat on my back, my eyes got heavy. I could’ve fallen asleep in an instant but didn’t. Mindy asked me to read with Bella while she addressed other chores. I agreed. Bella read three books, and wanted to read even more. I asked Mindy how many she was required to read. Three was plenty. We watched the beginning of MNF together, but the kids were sent to bed about ten minutes into the game, or just before 9pm. I helped get them tucked in. Bella once again requested I pop popcorn. I expressed doubt that I would. Wasn’t hungry. Mindy and I returned downstairs. She played on her laptop while I watched the game. New Orleans played extremely well and took a sizeable lead over New England. Feeling comfortable on the sofa I slowly drifted off to sleep waking only to the sounds of my own snoring. I suggested we head to bed even before halftime. I was zonked. Mindy wanted assurance that we wouldn’t be watching the rest from bed. Nope.

Xmas Shopping

It was close to 8am when I rolled out of bed. And although I had a pretty big buzz when we headed to bed, I felt no ill effects this morning. Instead, I felt terrific. Mindy remained asleep and didn’t budge as I crept out of the room and headed downstairs. I started some Starbucks then leashed up Ykraps. Because it was Sunday I skipped my sit-ups and push-ups. I miscalculated the temperature, automatically assuming it would be as chilly as Saturday morning. I wore my leather jacket, hand and ear covers. I chuckled at myself as soon as we stepped off the stoop realizing that it was fairly mild – about 40 degrees. Like we often do, we encountered the older couple already out on their usual morning stroll. I had my camera in my pocket. I took a couple photos of the lovely sunrise. After settling in at home with a hot cup of coffee I chose to do more writing. However, before beginning, I checked some Yahoo headlines then confirmed the day’s FOX NFL line-up, most concerned with whether or not the Viking game would be televised. It would be. Wahoo! After an hour or so of writing I decided to stretch and run. Still no sign of Mindy, I headed out the door just after 9:30am. And like I often do on Sunday’s I ran just three miles. I guessed myself a little dehydrated when my legs came up stiff. There’s little wonder though. I’ve been off work now for five days in a row, drinking booze every night, and consuming comparatively little water. I know my body well. It needs/wants more water. I finished my run before 10am. Mindy was finally up. I shared with her my stiffness and its likely cause. She started adding to her already printed out grocery list. I asked about her Sunday plans. I then suggested we do some Xmas shopping. She thought that sounded good. We loosely planned stops at Target, Kohl’s, & Sam’s Club. Mindy headed up for a shower just before 11am. Not wanting to head out shopping on an empty stomach, I made myself a sandwich with leftover bacon, cheese, and sliced Oscar Myer turkey on whole wheat. It was yummy. I headed up for a shower after hearing Mindy blow drying her hair, a sure sign that she was almost finished. It didn’t take me long. I was ready to go by 1130am. Before heading out, I wanted to confirm that we wouldn’t be doing the weekly grocery shopping. Mindy said she would do that later after our Xmas shopping. Perfect. We headed west towards Target. Traffic was heavy but the Target parking lot wasn’t that crowded. We stopped in Kirkland’s first checking out their decorative offerings. We admired a few things but bought nothing. Next door in Target we shopped for Rocky & Landon, first picking out some outfits and PJ’s, then a toy for each. Mindy & I searched high and low for one particular remote control car for Landon – a Tonka for 3 year olds. I eventually found it after several minutes of aisle surfing. While Mindy shopped in Xmas decorations, I looked at microwaves for Ashley. As luck would have it, they were out of the one I liked best. I’d wait. We picked up a hand full of miscellaneous items too. For one, I bought a new multi-outlet surge arrestor for my new PC. We picked up a new Junior-sized football for Jacob. As we walked towards checkout, Mindy asked which microwave I wanted. I showed her the display model. She said she was certain she saw several like it on the end cap of another aisle. She took me there. Sure enough, they had about six of them. Cool! All totaled, we dropped $350. Mindy headed to the Trooper while I pee’d. We headed across the street to Kohl’s. There we wanted to find Bella an OSU jersey. After searching high & low we found nothing. After asking for some help we were advised that they were all out. We did find some Cleveland Brown’s PJ’s for Jacob. We left Kohl’s and drove two store fronts south to Sam’s Club. Mindy headed towards the grocery section while I checked out laptops and other items. We met up in the food section where we picked up several steaks, a few of which we intended to grill out with the neighbors later in the afternoon. Mindy also picked up some fruit she said she can’t get at Wal-Mart (watermelon, strawberries, and raspberries). We headed home to unload our haul. It didn’t take long to carry everything in. And after woofing down a quick snack, Mindy bolted for the grocery. I tuned into the Browns/Bengals football game then snuggled up with my Tressel book. Over the next hour and some I watched football, read, and napped. It felt good having some additional time to myself. Mindy must’ve gotten back home around 3pm. And not long after she returned, the kids came home from their weekend with Jimaken. After getting all the groceries put away, Mindy called Chrissy to firm up dinner plans. We agreed to supply the steaks. Lord knows that we’ve eaten enough of theirs. Also firmed up the time – 630pm-ish. In the meantime, I was looking forward to the Viking game against the Bears slated to kick-off at 415pm. But as luck would have it, the early game on FOX went a few minutes long. They joined the Vikings game already in progress. The Vikings were already across the 50 yardline and driving. But not a minute later Adrian Peterson fumbled giving the Bears the ball. No! The Bears didn’t score. The Vikings got the ball back and never looked back. They pretty much controlled the game from that point forward. And Brett Favre was darn near perfect. We headed to the neighbors after the Vikings first drive after halftime. I’m quite sure they were up 27-10 when we walked down. Kenny was in charge of grilling, so Mindy took our steaks down earlier. Back at home, Mindy baked potatoes. Chrissy threw together a salad. Even with a convincing lead, I wasn’t about to relax. I stood through all of dinner. The Vikings cruised to a victory over the Bears winning 36-10. I was very happy. That game worried me. Chrissy joked that both Mindy & I would now have a good night. She was right. We hung out for a while, or until 7:45pm. Mindy really wanted to get home and get the kids ready for bed. After all, it was a school night. Kenny left to take his daughter Lillian home about 15 minutes before us. We wished him good luck on his Monday hunting trip. At home Mindy hurried the kids through their shower/bed prep process. I tuned the family room TV to SNF- Pittsburgh versus Baltimore. It was an interesting game to say the least. We watched until halftime downstairs and tuned in from bed for the second half. I’m sure Mindy expected me to fall asleep in a jiffy. I didn’t. I stayed awake for the entire game. In the back of my mind I worried how I might feel come morning. Baltimore won in overtime. Mindy woke to see the finish. We turned the TV immediately after the game ended. I rolled over and fell asleep.

Big Fat Saturday

I slept like a rock, not waking until nearly 8am. Mindy didn’t budge. I headed downstairs, made some coffee, and started my exercise regimen. After finishing my exercises I bundled warmly for a walk with Ykraps. It was only 26 degrees, and unless I’m mistaken, the coldest so far this season. There was a thin sheet of ice on the pond along with a thick coating of frost. Yet despite the chill, it was pretty nice given the brilliant late autumn sunshine. And speaking of sunshine, I couldn’t help but notice how far south the sun was coming up over the horizon – at least 45 degrees further south than its northern most ascension. I used the quiet time to write and update my blog, something I don’t often do on weekends or days off. Mindy didn’t get up until almost 10am. By then, I had already completed my four mile run. She was busy on her laptop when I returned. I asked if she still planned on doing yoga. She said she wasn’t sure. I continued to write and update my blog through 11am. Meanwhile, after starting some laundry, Mindy elected to head to her yoga class after all. I was glad she did. She tells everyone how much she loves it, and to think that she would blow it off kind of bothered me. In addition to yoga, she planned to get her hair streaked/colored immediately afterwards. Sounded like I’d have the entire afternoon to myself. When asked what I might do, I thought briefly about golf. Even though it was down right frigid early on, it was expected to warm to near 50 degrees with lots of sunshine. However, while considering golf, I also thought I might start the purging process in the basement, something I’ve been needing/wanting to do for a long, long time. After Mindy left for yoga I warmed some sauerkraut balls to cure my growing hunger. Until that point, I hadn’t yet eaten a thing. After my impromptu meal, I headed to the basement and began sorting through the pile of boxes I was most familiar with. I knew most, if not all, were empty, but still took the time to open them up and double check. I’m the type of person who keeps the box to everything I buy just in case I need to return it. So, the many boxes for my old, new PC, stereo, surround sound system needed purged. That amounted to about 15 boxes that can be tossed without batting an eye. Next, I moved to the west end of the basement where I knew the process would be much more difficult. There, I went through about 8-10 banker-type boxes, confirming most contained old bills needing shredded. However, among the same stack were boxes containing Cincinnati Reds 1990 World Series memorabilia, and another containing old family photos. All totaled, I spent about an hour in the basement. I spent the rest of my alone time reading, watching TV, and napping. However, I did a few chores too, like washing/drying the sofa cover. Mindy arrived home around 4pm. She was eager to get my opinion of her new hair color. It looked good. I was admittedly worried when she said she was getting blonde and red streaks/highlights added. Originally, we made plans to meet nephew Joe at Schmidt’s in German Village for dinner after which we were going to stop in at the Beck. However, Mindy mentioned the Big Fat and both of us agreed we wanted to eat there instead. Mindy texted Joe to let him know that we’d meet him at the Beck after dinner. We headed to dinner around 7pm dressed weekend casual. I was craving their scallops, which for my money are the best anywhere. The Big Fat was packed, but they had a table waiting just for us. Johnny and Maria were their typical gracious selves. Mindy started her dinner with a salad and a glass of wine. I did a salad and a Jack & Coke. Their drinks are always strong. Like creatures of habit, we ordered our usual selections: Mindy salmon, and me scallops. The service was exceptional and the food exquisite. I was a clean platter! As often happens after filling our bellies, suddenly neither of us was too keen on heading to the Beck. Instead, we decided to simply head home and possibly even walk over to the neighbors. Mindy notified Joe of our decision. Soon after arriving home, I filled my pocket flask with Jack Daniels & grabbed a can of Coke and then we walked down to the neighbors. I can’t recall what Mindy was drinking. We ended up playing euchre. It was fun. Mindy & I won. But to be fair, Chrissy just recently learned to play. She was a little overwhelmed. In between games, Kenny showed us his gun collection. I was impressed, and so was Mindy. We had an enjoyable time hanging out. And by the time we headed for home I had one heck of a buzz. That’s when the benefits of being right next door are paramount.

Jacob's 3-Mile Run

It felt great to sleep as late as I wanted, which on Friday equated to about 730am. For many that isn’t exactly late, but I guess it’s relative to the alternative. Mindy asked for a hug as I slipped out of the room still fresh from brushing my teeth and quietly gathering my running clothes. The house was chilly and it was snowing outside – the first of any sort this season. In fact, it was snowing enough that there was at least a coating on the deck and nearby roofs. Timely, I thought, being the day after TG. I started my push-ups at the foot of Mindy’s Queen Anne recliner. As I tucked my toes I noticed that Ykraps had made it his personal piss station once again. My patience is growing thin, although at that the same time I realize there’s little he can do to control himself in his later years. After sit-ups, I checked the temperature. It was 35 degrees, much cooler than it’s been the past couple of weeks. I read a few Yahoo headlines before doing push-ups, but I didn’t wait long. Soon Ykraps and I were out taking in the season’s first snow. It was coming down hard enough to coat my black fleece. I wore and hand and ear covers to help combat the chill. Even while the snow accumulated on roofs and decks, it wasn’t sticking to the grass, road, or driveways. Traction wasn’t an issue. Back at home, I watered Ykraps then poured the day’s first cup of coffee. Afterwards, I found my pocket camera and headed to the deck to get a couple photos of the snow. I spent the next hour on the PC writing and surfing. Of particular interest was Apple.com, who was reportedly having a one-day sale on most of their electronics. I checked to see if the iTouch I wanted was, in fact, on sale. It was – about 11% off. Mindy offered to buy me one for Xmas. I planned to share the news with her later. When I hugged Mindy at my rise, she requested I bring her coffee. I took her some around 830am. At the same time, I opened the blinds so she could see the snow coming down. She and the kids didn’t come downstairs until near 9am. I could hear them upstairs giggling about something but I had not idea what. They all came down in a positive frame of mind. The kids were excited to see the snow. It went along nicely with the Xmas music we had whirling in the background, as well as Mindy’s recently placed decorations. I soon declared it time for my run. Jacob asked if he could join me. I quickly agreed, but also warned how daunting it might be trying to run 3 or 4 miles. He has some idea having rode his bike along side me a couple times past. I couldn’t detour him. He asked how he should dress. He wore two wicking shirts, just like me, and a pullover fleece. I made sure he wore a hat and hand covers too. We headed out following my usually path. I had already decided we’d go just three miles. After what I dub the warm-up lap, Jacob was doing fine, although I could hear his breathing becoming stressed. I gave him a few pointers on how he might conserve energy as we approached the first ½ mile mark. He wanted to continue. Because I loop through a number of courts I offered those as a great opportunity for him to rest and wait, but each time he’d follow. I routinely pointed out landmarks I assumed him familiar with just incase he wanted/needed to head back home, but he continued to follow my lead. I altered the route a little winding through the neighborhood park, again offering him a place to rest and pointing out where we could possibly meet up. But he kept following my lead. As we approached the 2 mile marker, I was moved by his deep determination and tenacity, even as he struggled to breathe. He was moaning and breathing really hard. I was a tad worried that he might collapse. I slowed my pace to help him get a little rest, and he did stop periodically to catch some wind but he never gave up. Each time he would run to catch me. The final mile was toughest for him. He complained about a number of body aches, and a couple of times I thought he was starting to cry, but he kept at it. I continued to encourage him and point out landmarks I knew he was familiar with to show him how close we were to finishing. I ran in circles a couple of times to keep him close. As we approached the O’Connell’s house, Jacob cut through the back yard dashing towards the back of our home. I stayed the usual course. He made it. He was already inside peeling off his sweaty clothes when I entered from the front. I’m impressed. Hopefully that’ll serve as a positive experience in his world. From my perspective, he showed a great deal of character by not quitting even when his body was telling him otherwise. I didn’t allow the sweat on my body to dry before heading out to the garage to fetch my new extension ladder, and eventually to the shed to hopefully fix the strand of icicle lights that weren’t lit. After a wiggle here and a jiggle there, the bad section flickered on and off. I made sure each of the bulbs in that given section was secured. The lights were now lit and stable. I turned them on and off a couple of times to make sure that it would hold. It did. I carried the ladder back to the garage then headed inside. The neighbor kids came down around 10am. Chrissy agreed to drive Kapil and Pabino (off to Nepal) to the airport while we watched her kids. Our house was soon bustling with activity. Mindy read with the girls and I did some writing. Jake and Jacob played in Jacob’s room, video games I think. I was really impressed with Lillian’s reading. She read with a great deal of timely expression, which is rare at her age – 8. I began feeling nappy and developed a bit of a headache. As a matter of fact, it seemed like the molar that’s scheduled to be crowned next week might be the cause. It’s funny, it didn’t bother at all until I went to the dentist for my scheduled check-up, and now I feel discomfort in it everyday. I headed to our bedroom, shut the door and turned on the TV. I watched some History channel program but can’t recall its title. The kids came in a time or two, but I quickly shewed them away. I needed a nap. I must’ve slept for about an hour and felt 100% better when I woke up. It sounded like Chrissy was over. I secured the door then got a much needed shower. Chrissy was still visiting with Mindy when I made my way downstairs. Apparently Mindy made lunch for everyone, everyone but me that is. Chrissy and her children left a few minutes after I showed up. I spent the afternoon reading in the family room. I’m ashamed to admit how little reading I’ve done this past year. I am still working on Jim Tressel’s book and have three more waiting. I’ll say this about Tressel’s book, each time I pick it up I find more inspiring stories ripe with valuable life lessons. Meanwhile, the day seemed to be flying by, an all too familiar spin to a holiday weekend spent at home. Soon the day’s light faded into gray and even faster into dark. Jimaken arrived around 5pm to fetch the kids. By then I was reading again only this time from a chair in the living room. We planned on visiting Barley’s but not until 7pm or so. I used the time ahead of our departure to do more writing and reading. I also ordered my iTouch from Apple.com complements of Mindy, who also encouraged me to get the sound dock. But after further investigation it looked like a better deal picking one up at a brick n’ mortar thus saving ourselves $10 in shipping charges. Mindy wandered down to the neighbors to drop off some artificial snow and a candle. She was back in a jiffy after finding no one there. She left the goods on the porch. We left for Barley’s at 7pm. Barley’s was fairly crowded. Somehow I’d overlooked the fact that Mark Pansing was expected in. He was sitting in his old seat at the corner of the bar along side of Steve Won. Mark’s been living in Arizona for the past year or so, and this is his first visit back home since the big move. He’s been missed. We were hoping to see Bob & Mary Ann but they didn’t stop in. Reckoned they were out of town for the holiday weekend. I started with a Bitter Dan and Mindy a Pint-of-Joe. As the evening wore on Mindy and I agreed to share a Texas Barley burger. Believe me, it hit the spot. I consumed three beers during our visit, one being a DuganA IPA. Mindy had a second Pint-of-Joe. We stayed about three hours – long enough for the effects of 3 beers to diminish so I could safely drive home. We talked about paying a visit to Chrissy & Kenny, but once we were home Mindy asked if we could hot tub and talk instead. That’s what we did. We stayed up until nearly midnight.

Food Coma

I slept past 8am, but not by design. In fact, I was slightly troubled waking so late. However, I quickly got over it after realizing there were no hard fast deadlines in jeopardy of being missed. I started some Starbucks then whipped out 55 sit-ups. I took a short PC break before doing 53 push-ups. It was a gray TG day with the temperature hovering just under 40. Ykraps and I took to the barren streets just after 830am. During our walk, we passed the elderly couple I see almost every day out for their usual morning stroll. We exchanged your typical holiday pleasantries and went about our business. Now at home with coffee, I spent a short amount of time on the PC before readying myself for a turkey day run. The run was abbreviated - just three miles. It felt good. Back at the house I tuned the TV to the already in progress Macy’s TG Day parade, and then I created an assembly line of sorts to prepare my world famous sauerkraut balls. Mindy finally got up around 10am, or just as I finished rolling the sauerkraut mixture into 57 balls. The next step was to roll them in flour, then an egg bath and bread crumbs. I cleaned the Fry Pappy earlier then poured in fresh vegetable oil. It was fully preheated by the time I had all 57 balls rolled, floured, bathed and crumbed. I deep fried five at a time placing the finished product on a paper towel lined cookie sheet. I didn’t sample one until they were all done. Yummy! Even with the best laid plans, making sauerkraut balls is a messy process. I have it down pretty well, yet it still took a good 15 minutes to clean-up the mess and all the dishes. Next on my to-do list was topping the cheesecake. I pulled it from the fridge while Mindy fetched a fancy cake platter. We worked together to slide it off of the springform base and onto the glass cake platter. But since I used parchment paper the slide went smoothly. I topped the cheesecake with the entire contents of a large can of chocolate frosting along with some magic shell chocolate and caramel topping. Lastly, I sprinkled the top with a handful of mini-chocolate morsels. It looked terrific! We weren’t expecting the kids until noon, but they made somewhat of an early return. They were home at 1120am, just as I finished cleaning up the kitchen. They weren’t home long before I offered Jacob the opportunity to help me hang icicle lights from the shed. He was excited about the offer. We bundled warmly and headed out. It was much cooler than even I expected, and with a cool breeze the feel of winter was definitely in the air. Chrissy blessed us with a box of 50 plastic Xmas light clips shortly after we got home from Target Wednesday night saving me a trip and possible delay. I allowed Jacob to climb the ladder and mount the clips along the shed’s roof line. It took some patient coaching and doing but he got them all up. He seemed to enjoy himself. I was most impressed with the patience he exhibited. Next, we stretched out the new icicle light sets. I bought heavy-duty sets without realizing it. They were a bit more difficult to stretch out and get the ‘icicles’ to hang correctly, especially in the frigid temps. We managed the tedious process together as a team. Soon it was time to hang them along the roof line. I allowed Jacob the opportunity to hang them initially. He learned very quickly how difficult it was to hang them taughtly while maintaining safe balance on the ladder. He asked me to takeover after a couple ladder moves. However, he continued helping by bringing me more clips and stretching out each set of new lights. It took three sets of lights to complete three sides of the shed. We didn’t bother hanging them around back where no one would see them. The entire process took well over an hour – certainly longer than I expected. The last thing we did was mount the dusk-to-dawn timer and extension cord. After a final inspection we headed inside. As luck would have it, after putting the ladder away and getting inside I noticed a section of the lights not working, the same section that blinked on & off a couple times as we stretched out that particular set. Crap! It was bugging me but I wasn’t about to drag the ladder back out to make the repair. That would have to wait until Friday, because I needed to get in the shower. We were planning to be at Gloria’s around 230pm and it was already around 130pm. Where had the day gone? While I showered, Mindy packed our delectable dishes (fruit tray, cheesecake, and sauerkraut balls) for transport. That helped significantly. Just before heading up for my shower, I placed four CBC IPA’s in the freezer planning to take them along too. It was just after 2pm when I emerged after a shower dressed & ready. Mindy had everything loaded in the Honda including phones, cameras, kids’ toys, and food. All I had to do was grab my jacket and lock the door behind me. Off we went. We placed a call to my dad along the short drive to Gloria’s but got his VM. He was doing TG with brother Bobby and family. Earlier in the day I phoned my mom to wish her well too. She was hosting brother Tommy and Charles, although at the time, Charles was a no-show. They were starting their meal without him. Tommy needed to be back in town to open one of his shops around 4pm. I left a VM for Lindsey & Ashley too. We didn’t call or hear from Courtney. She’s pretty much written us off since early October. Can anyone say dysfunction? We arrived at Gloria’s around 230pm. Aside from Gloria, there wasn’t a soul there. I asked Mindy if she had the plans correct, or if she called ahead to confirm the start/suggested arrival time. I felt a little funny showing up unannounced. We entered through the garage and left the cheesecake in back of Gloria’s Saturn with the rest of her desserts. That’s a good way to keep them cold given the winterish-like temps (upper 30s.). Mindy was correct. We were using the lower-level as base, placing all the hors devours along the south wall counter. I asked that she keep our beer and wine in the Honda for the time being. Meanwhile, I found a cozy spot on the loveseat to watch the rest of the early NFL game – Detroit versus Green Bay. It wasn’t long before everyone else began to arrive.

The entire family was in attendance along with Pat & Mel, longtime family friends who’ve spent each Thanksgiving and Easter with us, at least since I’ve been around. Pat & Mel spent their summer vacation in Oregon, and brought a handful of photos for us to check out. They flew into Seattle/Tacoma and drove down the coast to Portland, taking in Astoria, Seaside, and Mt Hood along the way. They ended up at Crater Lake. They had a picture from Multnomah Falls that was all too familiar to Mindy & I. They marveled about Crater Lake describing the initial view as surreal. We snacked on hors devours and enjoyed festive libations until 5pm or so when dinner was finally served. If my math is correct, there were 20 of us. Dinner was traditional – turkey, stuffing, taters and gravy, green beans and rolls – delicious too. After dinner, we retired once again to the lower level, where everyone - minus the tiny ones – participated in a game of Apples-to-Apples. There’s no doubt that the game is a lot more fun with a larger group of players. However, there were 17 of us playing. That might be a few too many. As luck would have it, I won, netting five green cards over the span of about an hour. I’m guessing everyone felt as happy as I when the game finally ended. I failed to mention that over the course of the late afternoon evening, Jacob netted himself $7 from collecting on dares. I know he spent some time in the trash can and also along a fence. I know Jacob well. He’ll go to extraordinary lengths for cash, including dragging logs and eating worms. Dessert was served around 730-8pm. There were three choices: traditional pumpkin pie cheesecake, and Boston cream pie. I had cheesecake. I was getting a case of the yawns, feeling both tired and full. We started gathering our things and left for home at 9pm. I think I speak for everyone. We had a nice TG together. I walked Ykraps as soon as we arrived home (915pm). I hadn’t planned on being away that long. I’m sure he was ready to burst. It was chilly too. For the first time all month long, I could feel winter’s familiar nip in the air. I poured a Jack & Coke once back inside. We tucked the kids into bed at 10pm. Bella asked me to pop popcorn. That wasn’t in the cards but I was a tiny bit hungry. I snacked on a few chips before bed.

Old K9's

I was awake around 630am but drifted back to sleep until 715am. Fully satisfied, I rose from bed and headed down stairs to get the day moving. I started some coffee then completed 55 sit-ups. I played around online before doing my push-ups, but only briefly. The coffee maker beeped signaling its brewing process completed somewhere mid-push-ups. I did 53. Soon Ykraps and I were doing our morning walk. It was sunny and mild, a great start to a long, five day weekend. I had plenty of quiet time before there was any sign of life beyond Ykraps and me. But once there was it was plentiful. Kaileigh and Bella will never win an award for staying quiet. They were thumping around giggling from jump. I asked them to keep it down a time or two before they woke Mindy. And speaking of Mindy, she got up sometime around 9am, and just prior to me changing into my running attire. I suggested Mindy bake the double-chocolate muffins along with the bacon she was already preparing to make. Everyone agreed. I did my pre-run stretch routine like any other morning, only this time with an audience. I left for a run at 9:20am. I decided to run just three miles and outside the subdivision east on Trabue and south on Hague. In hindsight that probably wasn’t the wisest choice given that it was still a day of commerce. Traffic was heavier than I expected, especially on Trabue. Hague wasn’t much different than a Saturday or Sunday though. I felt a sense of relief as I reentered the subdivision at Western Run. I was back home after my run sometime close to 10am. We still had to wait on the chocolate muffins. They needed another 10 minutes or so. During our breakfast, Mindy checked the picture show start times and ticket prices at the Arena Grand theatre. We were planning to see Old Dogs, starring Robin Williams and John Travolta. The start time that best suited our plans was 220pm in part because Mindy made loose plans with George, Rene’s younger brother, to come over around noon to interview Bella as part of a Linguistics class assignment. Soon after we cleaned up from breakfast, I started making sauerkraut balls. I browned the sausage, onions, and habanera, then mixed it with the sauerkraut, cheese, and bread crumbs. I then placed it in the fridge to set up for a few hours while we movied ourselves. While I was busy cooking, Mindy continued the slow process of decorating the house for Xmas. George showed up while I was off showering. I could hear him down there having a somewhat forced dialogue with Bella. It was cute. Bella was shy at first, but like she always does, she warmed fairly quickly. On yeah, before heading up to the shower, I called and invited Rocky to join us at the movies. I’m trying to include him in as many of these types of activities as I can. He was very excited to be joining us. I confirmed plans to pick him up some time around 1pm with daughter Lindsey. It was 1250pm when George left for home and we loaded into the Honda. We asked George to give Rene our best holiday wishes. We haven’t seen her in quite a while. We picked up Rocky just before 1:30pm. After giving Landon a quick hug, we were off to the movies. Sadly for Rocky, I could already smell that over whelming odor of cat piss. It’s not his fault. We made great time getting downtown and parked in the Arena Grand parking garage. What a deal. It’s only $1 after having your parking pass validated by the movie theatre. Not only that, it’s a short walk from the garage to the theater’s entrance. Cost of admission, $39 for two adults and four children. That’s not too bad either. Mindy popped for the concessions – another $23 for three drinks and three popcorns to be shared by all of us. We headed to theatre, #3 at 2:00pm. We still had 20 minutes before showtime. We woofed down our popcorn quickly. Mindy offered to fetch more before the previews started. Yes, please! She returned minutes later with a jumbo bag we’d use to refill the smaller bags. It was finally show time, although we still had to sit through 10 minutes of previews before the actual movie began. Old Dogs was moderately funny but honestly, I expected more. But the kids enjoyed it, and at times they were laughing hysterically. That made the whole experience worth it. Bella got lonely during the movie and asked to sit on her momma’s lap. It was a relatively short movie – only an hour & twenty-some minutes. We were heading out of the theatre around 4pm. It was noticeably cooler and the skies completely grayed over. Traffic had picked up considerably, too. It was Thanksgiving Eve and everyone was trying to get out of town. Lucky for us, exiting the parking garage left us with direct access to 315 south and eventually I-70W, just the way we needed to go to take Rocky home. Mindy called Shelly, who made arrangements to meet us at Kelly’s to pick-up Kaileigh. That would certainly make it easy on us. She’d just gotten off work and had to go right by Kelly’s place, so it was easier on her too. We got out and played with Landon for a few minutes while waiting on Shelly. I restaked the Xmas lamp that had fallen over in Kelly’s flower bed. Jacob wanted/needed the fresh air too. He was getting a little car sick. We waited out front for Shelly. It was 430pm when she pulled up. We wished her a pleasant holiday and headed towards home. Heading north on Hague avenue is always a treat during the holidays. It’s that magical time of the year when the plastic santas make their inevitable appearance. I spotted about three. At home, there was little time to waste. Jimaken was coming around 5pm to pick-up the kids. They’d be spending the night at his place and returning around noon TG day. While Mindy gathered the kids’ overnight gear, I pulled the cheese cake ingredients from the pantry and fridge and started that whole process. Jimaken showed up while Mindy was still organizing the kids’ gear. Jimaken and Jacoby played paper football as I toiled with the cheesecake, but it wasn’t long before they were heading out the door. The cheesecake preparation went smoothly. Once it was in the oven, I asked Mindy if we could run to Targhetto so I could pick-up some plastic Xmas light roof clips. We had an hour before I needed to pull the cheesecake from the oven. Nephew Joe phoned just as we were heading into Target. Asked if the kids would or wouldn’t be at TG dinner. Apparently read my blog where I mistakenly stated that it was a Jimaken TG year in my reference to our potential Oregon TG trip that we eventually opted not to do. The nice thing about Target is that while the store set-ups may vary slightly they’re all uniformly clean, neat and well-organized. We headed towards their Xmas decorations. I had to remind Mindy that we couldn’t leisurely shop. Instead, we had to get what we came for and hurry back home. We perused the Xmas aisles separately looking for the clips. Finally, after looking in every single aisle maybe twice I found a store associate and asked for help. He checked with “Mr. Xmas’ on his walkie-talkie. I heard him answer, “not stocking them this year.” Crap! I shared the news with Mindy. We headed for the exit. I’d try elsewhere perhaps on Black Friday. We arrived home with ten minutes to spare, and actually more. The cheesecake wasn’t quite done when the timer went off, so I let it bake another ten minutes. Like often happens, the top cracked, but since I’d be topping it with chocolate, I didn’t let it bother me. I left the cheesecake cool in the oven for about 20 minutes before placing it in the fridge. We left for Barley’s around 730pm. Wahoo! I expected a big crowd, but that wasn’t the case at all. In fact, the lot wasn’t even half full. Inside, the bar was only sparsely populated but with a couple of familiar peeps – Dan and Calvin. We bellied up next to those two and ordered drinks – me one of their newest offerings, an Avery DuganA IPA. Mindy surprised us all and ordered wine. After a drink, Mindy ordered food – a variety of min-barbeque sandwiches: pork, beef, and chicken. After an hour or so our friend Tom Clark showed up. Said he might, although he was out shooting pool with buddies when Mindy talked with him earlier. He ordered a Pale ale then a Barley burger. I followed my DuganA with a Bitter Dan, then another DuganA. It’s really good – HopSlam-like. As the evening wound down I caved and ordered food, a Cuban – maybe my favorite sandwich in the entire world. And it was delicious! I picked up the check - $46 before tip. Still not done partying, once we got home Mindy phoned Chrissy and invited us down to their place. I pocketed a couple beers and we walked down. As late as it was, Chrissy was vacuuming after what looked like another marathon Xmas decorating session. Kapil came over not long after we arrived. Pabino was going to come over as well, but apparently Isha was having a meltdown. Mindy gave me a ‘ten-minute’ warning after about an hour’s worth of fun. I don’t really care for that. After ten minutes, she quickly bolted for home. I followed about a minute behind. With a big day ahead of us, we headed for bed.

Hat a pilgrim would die for

Effectively sleeping since 7pm the evening before, I was up extra early and feeling wholly rested and raring to go. It was 445am when I made my way downstairs to begin exercising. I hit the go button on the coffee maker that otherwise wouldn’t have kicked on for another 45 minutes. After sit-ups I checked the weather and played around on the PC. I took a break around 515am to walk Ykraps, who seemed anxious to get outside. It was another mild morning under partly cloudy skies - the temperature almost 50 degrees. We were back home at about my normal wake time of 530am. I used the extra time to casually play on the internet. I sent the day’s Daily OM to Mindy via email after finding it spot-on relative to my need/desire for a place to decompress and transition from work role to husband/father role. Time went fast. Before I knew it, it was time to deliver Mindy’s coffee and start my meditation and stretching regimen. Both went well. I added yet another brief but effective stretch to my routine – one where I lean back while on my knees vigorously stretching my thighs. They were tighter than I realized. I dressed and left for my run at 635am. I wore two wicking shirts, hand and ear covers. I was quite comfy. Today was one of those runs when the mileage seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. I was lost in my thoughts. It seemed as though I was rounding third and heading for home in a snap. Mindy prepared fried eggs once again. That’s what I wanted. Among other things, I shared that my new PC was expected to be delivered later today. She said there was a good chance that she’d be home a little early and might be able to intercept it. That’d be cool. She left at her usual time and I headed off to the shower. I dressed in black head to toe – a fitting look for the work day ahead. Chrissy & I saw the kids onto the bus at 8:02am. The kids seemed as eager as us for the coming long weekend. I was quick in my final preparations for work. I left the house at 8:12am. I called one of my peers on the drive in. We had quite a bit we needed to talk about. The morning moved fast. To fulfill my duties as a leader, I had to deliver some bad news to a handful of team members. By mid-day, my thoughts turned toward the five day weekend now nearly upon us. I was anxious to get home. I spoke with Mindy late in the day. She shared that he made arrangements for GD Kaileigh to spend the night and go to the movies with us on Wednesday. That made me happy. I left for home around 530pm. However, before going home I wanted to stop at Kroger and possibly even Target. I stopped at Kroger first to get the ingredients for sauerkraut balls and cheesecake. I was gonna pick-up another six-pack of Great Lakes Xmas ale, too, but they were out of it. It goes fast in these parts. Kroger was crowded, but then again I expected that being just two days before TG. It took longer than I planned. I knew Mindy most likely had dinner ready & waiting. I decided to blow off Target, where I simply wanted to pick-up more Xmas light roof clips. I headed home. I phoned Mindy to let her know I was on my way. Mindy made baked pork chops – something we haven’t had for quite a while. Kaileigh was already there, and she and Bella were playing happily. As Mindy explained, Jacob was teetering on the verge of a beating for harassing the two of them. Dinner was really good. I ate two chops. Mindy baked chocolate chip cookies after dinner. After clean-up, Mindy started decorating the house for Xmas. At the same time, Bella and I got busy making her TG leaf hat. If you remember back about two weeks ago, Bella had me collecting leaves for this project she had in mind. Since then, I had been contemplating what this ‘thing’ might look like and how we might construct it. I had a plan. We used a shirt gift box as the base cutting it into our desired shape. Then, we selected about a dozen leaves from our collection and glued them to the base. That was more daunting than I expected it to be. The leaves were much more fragile than they were two weeks ago, but we managed. Before constructing the head strap and coloring in the bill, we had to let the glue set overnight. The kids helped Mindy decorate the family room while I spent a little time on the PC. I guess I could’ve started making sauerkraut balls but decided to wait until Wednesday. After waking so early on Tuesday morning, I was kind of tired. While everyone was downstairs, I went up and filled the air mattress for the girls. They asked me to do so earlier. Mindy allowed the kids to stay up much latter than usual. And why not? They didn’t have school on Wednesday. For entertainment, Jacob suggested we watch the American Music Awards that we DVR’d Sunday. Good idea! Funny thing was, I was just reading a review of Adam Lambert’s performance. I guessed that all the kids at school were talking about it thus inspiring Jacob to want to see it. Perfectly normal behavior for a nine year old, I surmised. Because it was DVR’d, we were able to fast forward through the commercials and mindless banter, watching only the performances of choice. Most appealing to Mindy was Chris Daughtry, the 2008 American Idol runner-up. For me it was Alicia Keys and Jay-Z doing a tune about New York City. I shared with Mindy just how lovely and talented I thought she is. I’ve got one of her first CD’s. Next best might’ve been Lady Gaga. She’s talented, theatrical, and edgy. Like a lot of people, I was eager to see Whitney Houston, whose decade worth of struggle has been well documented (drugs & violence). She was on top of the world 10-15 years ago. She looked a bit rough and her voice marginal, but still, it was nice to see her perform. In her music, she seemed to reference Jesus as the light along her path to recovery. Adam Lambert, the 2009 American Idol runner-up, was the final performer. Not to gloat, but I picked him to win the whole thing way back in auditions. His performance was good, but at the same time, not as good as it could’ve been. Guess I could see what’s stirring all the controversy, but I didn’t think it warranted such a scandalous review. The kids went to bed around 10pm. Mindy and I stayed up for just a while longer. I was hungry and snacked on some Triscuits before bed.

"Snowing like the dickens"

It was Monday and time to return to work. However, the doldrums typically associated with a Monday were minimal given the scant two-day work week lying ahead. I was up early – about 520am. I did my usual routine of exercise and walking Ykraps. Our newly hung Xmas lights were still burning bright under dark skies. The wreath’s on a mechanical timer and the house lights are on a dusk-to-dawn timer, but for the time being I had it set to a hard ‘on’. During coffee time I read Glenn’s blog and checked the snow pack on Mt Hood. Snowing like the dickens! I also tracked the delivery of my new PC. Slated to be delivered on Tuesday. At 6:10am I woke Mindy and delivered her coffee, although it didn’t sound like she got up for another 15 minutes. Meditation and stretching went really well. I gave both their due focus. It was fairly mild outdoors, mild enough to wear a double wicking shirt, gloves and ear covers during my run. I ran four miles comfortably. Mindy made fried eggs, my favorite. We enjoyed a brief burst of family time before Jacob headed upstairs, Mindy off to school, and me off to the shower. The kids and I reconvened at the front door destined for the bus stop at 755am. The bus received them openly. Their instructions were to ride home on Noah’s bus. Before departing for work, I changed the house light timer to the dusk-to-dawn mode. It was 815am when I pulled away from the house. Work went fairly well, but it was another difficult and challenging day. I was unable or unwilling to leave for lunch. However, I did close my door for a few minutes to do some writing. Mindy shared that we’d be having meatloaf leftovers for dinner. I didn’t mind. Sounded good to me. I called Ashley on my drive home – around 530pm. I asked about her TG weekend plans. She confirmed that she was hosting a family dinner on Saturday. When I asked what we should bring one could sense her uncomfortableness. I already knew better. We never do events where both Kelly and I are present together. I walked Ykraps as soon as I arrived home. Mindy had the house in order. Said she left school on time but decided to leave the kids at Deena’s until 5pm or so. She shared how much she enjoyed the brief alone time. I might understand that better than anyone. Our ‘leftover’ dinner was delicious. The meatloaf might’ve been better than it was Sunday, having an entire day to soak up the flavors. After dinner – sometime near 7pm – I took to the living room recliner for a brief nap. My brief nap ended up being just shy of two hours. I didn’t wake-up until 845pm. And when I did wake I was out of it and still sleepy. Mindy requested I tuck in the kids. Bella was still awake, and Jacob only half asleep. He was aware enough to acknowledge me being there. As she often does, Bella asked if I would be popping popcorn. No, not tonight. I headed back downstairs and tuned into the MNF game – Tennessee versus Houston. I slowly but surely began to wake-up, but unlike most after nap experiences, I never came out of it fully. I was still quite sleepy, but watched the game until after halftime. Mindy didn’t last even that long. She went to bed somewhere after the first quarter. I fell asleep on the sofa and woke well into the third quarter. I was so sleepy that I could barely muster the energy to shut down the house and make it up to bed. Somehow I managed.

Light Up My Life

Done sleeping by 730am, I quietly rolled out of bed and headed downstairs. I don’t think Mindy heard me, but can’t be sure. Downstairs I prepped a pot of Starbuck’s then leashed up Ykraps for our morning walk. Since it was Sunday, I didn’t plan on doing calisthenics. It was another beautiful morning but quite chilly. In fact, there was an appreciable amount of frost covering the lawn. While we walked I reviewed the day’s agenda. After my run I planned a trip to Target for more Xmas lights. And since the weather was superb, I planned on putting them up later in the afternoon. Lastly, I planned to finish winterizing the yard. I got to spend a decent amount of time alone enjoying coffee and updating my blog through Thursday. It was 9:20 when I finished. By then, Mindy and the kids were up and getting ready for church. I readied and headed out for my run just before 10am. I gave Mindy a hug and kiss goodbye before leaving. She planned to pick-up Rocky & Landon on her way home. After six days in a row of running four miles, I ran just three, which has become the norm for Sundays. I felt really good and finished strong. The sweat barely had a chance to dry before I organized my things and headed out for a quick trip to the Hilliard Target. I planned to get some large multi-colored LED lights to string along the front roof line to add a little color behind the white icicle lights that I bought last year. I also wanted to get more icicle lights for the shed and an outdoor electronic timer. I found what I wanted quickly. It’s good to have a plan. I also picked up a green outdoor 15’ extension cord and the DVD, Land of the Lost, starring Will Ferrell. I spent $120. yikes! At home I woofed down my leftover Chipotle from Saturday evening. Then, I changed into jeans and my old tennis shoes and prepared to spend the afternoon on the roof hanging lights. However, before stringing the first set of lights I mounted all the plastic roof clips. That went well, and took no more than 45 minutes. Keep in mind, I had to do all of the work directly from the roof, not from a ladder. From the garage, I stretched out and tested the new LED lights sets. The first was perfect, but the second set had an obvious wiring flaw preventing it from being used. I wasn’t pleased. There’s just absolutely no way anyone QA’s these things. It was literally in a loop at one end. Mindy and the kids got home just as I was swearing at the second light set, realizing I’d have to make a return trip to Target thus stalling my progress. But Mindy, God love her, volunteered to go in my stead. By the way, Landon chose not to make the visit, I guess for fearing we would keep him. J I asked Mindy if she would pick up a third set of Led lights while there. It became obvious that two sets wouldn’t quite reach (2.5 sets would’ve been ideal). While she dashed off to Target, I unwound the icicle light sets from last year. The dangly parts are always a challenge getting to hang correctly. Out of a 1000 or so bulbs, I had to replace maybe three, and only one set had a problem section. But I fixed that with a bulb replacement. Not bad. Since I planned on adding the colored LED lights along the upper roof line only, I went ahead and strung the icicle lights along the garage roof. So far, so good. Mindy’s timing was perfect. I tested the two new sets (one replacement - one additional) and both were good. I was able to string the beefy LED lights rather easily. However, I knew the icicle lights would present a bigger challenge having hung them last year. Crawling out to the roof’s edge is a daunting feat, even on a mild sunny day. It appears much higher given the 10’ drop in elevation from the house to the street. Plus, I have to reach over the edge quite a bit to get the icicle strands to hang correctly. I took my time and got all 3 sets in place after about an hours work. The next task was to run the power up behind the gutter. While high up on the extension ladder Mindy came out and asked if I wanted a Viking update. I said, “honey, I’m high upon a ladder.” Before tie wrapping the extension cord, I gave them the ‘go – no-go test’. GO!!! Wahoo! BTW – The Vikings were winning 21-0. While both ladders were out, I hung the lighted wreath too. Mindy kindly assisted by wrapping it with a new set of lights. Last year’s strand wasn’t working. She also added a new ribbon/bow. The previous fell apart after roughly ten years of faithful service. Design achieved. But I’ve have to wait for night fall to measure the true beauty. The one thing I didn’t consider was how the white icicle light would over power/drown out the more spaced out LED lighting, which already wasn’t as bright. But still, a job well done! Again, while both ladders were out I caulked a small gap between our chimney flashing and the brick. I really want to caulk the actual chimney cap but I wasn’t prepared to be so daring alone. I’ll tackle that task come spring with help (someone to hold the ladder securely against the chimney from the sloping roof). Lastly, I placed the remaining plastic roof clips along the shed’s roof line, but ran about 5 or 6 short. I’ll take care of that later this week. Before calling it a day, I got out my blower and blew all the leaves from the front yard into the street’s gutter. Afterwards I gathered them into a tarp and drug them out back. Before ending my work, I collected both hose reels and stowed them in the shed. I made sure to blow all the water out first. I know I’ll need to use a section of hose a couple times through the winter to top off the hot tub. Chores finally complete, I joined Kenny, Rocky, Jacob, and Jake playing football. That ended up being a huge mistake. Rocky left the game almost as soon as I joined, then Jake and Jacob got in a tussle. Neighbor Jake complained endlessly about my poor quarterbacking. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but it was all him. He struggles with getting open and then catching the ball while moving. I eventually suggested we switch all-time quarterbacks. I’d do Jacob and Kenny, Jake. I wasn’t expecting our Jacob to go ballistic, but he did. He threw a fit about me being his quarterback and ran off home throwing his receiving gloves in the trash can. Jake ran off the field once too. Good grief! Jacob came back out after only being gone about a minute saying he was playing. The only problem was he was complaining once again. Having heard/seen enough, I whacked him on his behind and sent him to his room. He ran inside. Kenny and I asked why we put ourselves through this about once a week. The kids never seem to have fun playing football but always want to. Inside, Mindy already had the Jacob version of the story. I’m never one to want or feel like I have to explain myself but simply explained that he was being disrespectful and I whacked him on his butt. I promised I would do it more if his rude behavior or talking back continues. Mindy agreed. I left Jacob stew in his room for a good ten minutes while I was away walking Ykraps. I used our walk as a good opportunity to check out our freshly hung Xmas lights. It was almost dark, but still not completely. I took a couple pictures too. They looked great. Mindy had our Sunday meatloaf dinner ready upon my return. I probably failed to mention she’d been working on it for most of the late afternoon/early evening. I went up to Jacob’s room to discuss his backyard rant. He expressed sorrow. I told him that I loved him and let him out of jail. The meatloaf smelt great and tasted even better. Everyone had more than their fair share. Rocky ate especially well. The kids enjoyed cookies Mindy baked for dessert. I ate a couple pieces of Halloween chocolate. We have tons left. Our kids just don’t eat it that much of it. Mindy agreed to drive Rocky home while I stayed back with Jacob and Bella. By the way, the Vikings won big over the Seattle Seahawks earlier in the day, 35-9. Brett Favre threw four touchdown passes. The highlights were pleasing. I fully cleaned the kitchen while Mindy was gone dropping Rocky. Mindy wasn’t gone long. When she returned she shared that Lindsey informed her that all the girls along with their children and ex-Kelly would be doing a family TG dinner at Ashley’s on Saturday. That pretty much put the kibosh on our plans to host something similar at our home that very day. But on a brighter note, we agreed that it would certainly make our TG weekend easier. After putting on our PJ’s we watched SNF on NBC – Chicago versus Philly. Mindy watched only the first quarter then retired to bed. I figured to stay up at least until halftime but ended up watching through the third quarter. At 11pm I headed up for bed. I felt really good about all I had accomplished over the weekend. Short of a few loose ends in the yard, I got everything done. On top of my individual success, the weather was superb, the Buckeyes beat Michigan, the Vikings won, and my wife seemed happy.

Woop-Woop ... Six in-a-row

I slept soundly and didn’t wake until just after 8am. Fearing the day would quickly slip away, I leaped out of bed and rushed downstairs to get my Saturday started. First, I started some Starbucks then began my exercise regimen. At 820am I headed out for a walk with Ykraps. It was a lovely morning with lots of sunshine, but rather cool temps. It was somewhere near 40 degrees. Jacob was actually up just before I headed out with Ykraps. I asked him if he wanted to join us but he didn’t. I was surprised at how quiet it was outdoors, especially given that it was Michigan Saturday. If it were a home game I’m certain (based on years past) there would’ve been a lot more bustling. I poured myself some coffee then sat at the PC reading headlines, blogs, and email. I dressed for a run shortly after 9am. I almost headed out without stretching but caught myself last minute and turned around and did a good five minutes worth. I ran four miles winding my way through the western half of the subdivision then out onto Trabue and south on Hague. It was a very lovely morning for a run. I was back at home around 9:45am. By then Mindy and Bella were awake. I shared my plans to rake the back yard before the football game. Mindy offered to assist, and so did Jacob. I woofed down a roast beef and cheese sandwich first. I was really hungry and figured I would need the energy for raking. Jacob and I headed out together. We started around the deck getting the fallen leaves out from under the deck and from around all the landscaping. That’s always a pain in the ass. Jacob was very thorough taking time to pull the leaves from around the plants base with his bare hands. I did a belly crawl with a rake to drag the leaves out from under the deck and the taxus repandens. I used the blower extensively blowing the remaining leaves into a large pile for eventual tarping. Jacob and I drug off one tarp full before Mindy came out to join us. I asked her to start on the large gathering of pear leaves falling between ours and David and Becky’s house. Even though most of them were in their yard, I wanted to take care of them. Otherwise they’ll end up blowing into our yard if they’re not taken care of soon. Besides, lots of our leaves end up in their yard. While Jacob & Mindy worked on the pear tree leaves, I blew the rest of the back yard clean. The work went so much faster with help. Jacob did a really good job. I was grateful. Mindy went in ahead of Jacob and I. We still had a tarp full of leaves to dump out back. While I put the yard tools away, Jacob confirmed the time. It was 11:45am, or 15 minutes shy of kick-off. I decided to wait and shower after the game. I’m sure I stunk, but I didn’t want to miss any of the action. The Buckeyes wore replicas of their 1954 uniforms. I liked the look. As expected, our offense struggled but our defense saved us. Michigan fumbled in their own end zone and we recovered for a touchdown. It was 7-0 quick. The Buckeyes never trailed, although the game wasn’t a blow-out either. Michigan self-destructed each time they marched down the filed with any type of threat. In the end, their young quarterback threw four interceptions to go along with that early fumble. We won 21-10, beating Michigan for the 6th time in a row, a feat I never dreamt could happen. Hey, I lived in the 80’s and 90’s. The game ended around 3:30pm. Feeling euphoric, Jacob and I headed out to toss the football. It was lovely outside – sunny and almost 60 degrees. We threw the football for at least 30 minutes without incident. That might be record. J We weren’t inside long before Mindy & the kids headed out to Target. I stayed home to do chores. For starters, I hung my new ladder on the garage wall just above my 28’ fiberglass ladder. I could just reach it without needing a step ladder to get it down or stow it. Good deal. Next, I showered, unloaded the dishwasher, and took care of a few other miscellaneous chores. Mindy phoned around 5pm to measure my interest in dinner out at the Big Fat, her treat. Any other day I would’ve been big on the idea, but we’ve eaten out so much lately. I just wasn’t in the mood to leave the house, but I assured her that it was OK if they went. No, she agreed with me, but also offered that she didn’t want to cook. I then suggested Chipotle. I could do that. I could hear Jacob agreeing happily in the background. Chipotle it was! I managed a shower just prior to Mindy and the kids returning home with their shopping haul and the Chipotle. Oh, and Bella had Burger King. I walked Ykraps before enjoying any of my food. It’s just how I am wired. After dinner, I was looking forward to a peaceful evening at home. I built a fire and snuggled up on the sofa with a Jack & Coke. Among other things, I was looking forward to ABC’s late college football game – Oregon vs. Arizona. Mindy & Jacob ran off to the grocery leaving Bella and I behind. I was actually napping when they left. Bella was playing on the laptop when I woke and asked if I was surprised. Yes, I was. Mindy and Jacob weren’t gone that long. I helped carry in groceries and then Mindy, Jacob and I watched football while Bella watched TV in her own room. The Oregon game was extremely exciting. In fact, if they win out, they’ll be our Rose Bowl opponent. They took an early lead but squandered it late. Arizona lead with time expiring. However, with time running out, Oregon tied and forced OT, and eventually won it in the 2nd OT period. For the excitement level, it doesn’t get any better. After the game we headed to bed. It was midnight.

I Decide

It was Friday, my favorite day of the week. I was up at 5:20am fully rested and ready to begin my day. After slipping into my exercise shoes I promptly whipped out 55 sit-ups, after which I hopped on the PC to check the weather and more importantly, the status of latest back-up to my external hard drive. The temperature was 44 degrees and the sky partly cloudy. My external hard drive seems to be working again as designed. My data was fully backed up. I completed some push-ups at 5:35am and then took Ykraps on his morning walk. After our walk I toted the city trashcan to the curb and then loaded in another large bag of trash from the main can in the garage. That now behind me, it was time for coffee! I enjoyed my first cup of coffee in front of the PC. I was surprised to read that the Buckeyes came back and put up one heck of a fight against North Carolina in last night’s basketball game. They lost by 4. Losing to N.C. by four is almost a victory. Like most work days, I broke away at 610am to deliver Mindy’s coffee. I also remembered to crank up the heat a little before heading up. I really need to buy a programmable thermostat thus avoiding the back and forth. I had another really good day of meditation and stretching. Both help set the tone for the entire day. I need to remember that when I am feeling rushed. I dressed and left for my run at 6:35am. My knee didn’t exactly hurt, but at the same time, I could feel a little swelling. I thought about ratcheting back to 3 miles, but didn’t. At the critical decision making point it was feeling pretty good. I ran the full four miles. Mindy made fried eggs again. Mine were a tad overdone but I wasn’t complaining. They were still good. I also ate a couple small hunks of leftover ham. We’ve definitely got value out of it. We loosely discussed Friday evening plans at the breakfast table. The overwhelming consensus was dinner at Barley’s, kids included, and then heading over to Kapil and Pabino’s party somewhere near 8pm. However, our plans weren’t firm. Mindy soon left for school and I headed up for a shower. I was in an excellent mood, mostly because it was Friday. The kids and I were at the bus stop at 7:56am. Chrissy was there with Makayla. We laughed about Thursday night’s parent/teacher conferences then headed our separate ways. I started the dishwasher before heading off to work. It was an easy drive in. I was determined to have a better day Friday than I did on Thursday. As tough as it was I realize it had more to do with how I responded than anything else. In my work environment one can become completely consumed and forget to take a few minutes to one’s self. Even when the pressure is on to go-go-go, it’s still a personal decision. I willed my day to go much better than Thursday. A couple of times I had to remind myself of that, but all in all, I kept my head held high above the water. Instead of leaving the office for lunch, I chose instead to shut my office door for about an hour and address a couple personal matters. First, I called Holiday Valley and booked our mid-January family ski trip. That was exciting. Next, I called XM radio in an attempt to resolve our ongoing billing dispute. I was expecting rough sledding given the last two attempts. But that wasn’t the case at all. Kim, a billing specialist, was very friendly and agreed with me whole-heartedly. She credited the account minus the $19.99 five-month promo we agreed to. Perfect! That was easier than I had even hoped. Some of my engineers chipped in and bought pizza. They offered me a piece mid-afternoon. I was tempted but in the end said no. After all, I knew we’d most likely be eating at Barley’s later, so I didn’t want or need to eat any ‘bad’ food then. I had a very active afternoon that kept me extremely busy. Through it all I remembered to remain positive. Things wound down nicely after about 400pm. I called Mindy around 430pm. She wanted to discuss Friday evening’s plans. We decided to stick to the plans we discussed early morning – Barley’s for dinner then the neighbors’ party/gathering. I felt good leaving work for the day slightly after 5pm. I stopped at the Hilliard Kroger on my way home. There I picked up a dozen roses for Mindy, a half-gallon of Jack Daniels, a half-gallon of Capt. Morgan’s, and two six-packs of beer – Great lakes Xmas Ale and CBC IPA. That’s a lot of booze! After presenting Mindy her roses and after carrying in the rest of my haul, I walked Ykraps. Jacob went along for the walk. We didn’t hang at home too long. Everyone readied to leave for dinner in a hurry. I’ll bet we were out of the house and on our way before 6:20pm. The kids were at each as we exited the house. I asked that they correct their behavior before arriving at Barley’s. It was crowded, but no more than one might expect on a Friday. There was one table remaining in restaurant/bar area. We got it. Not caring to wait, I went to the bar to get my first beer, a Barley’s Xmas ale just released/tapped on Thursday. A server showed up at our table a few minutes later to get drinks for Mindy & the kids. Mindy ordered a Pint-Of–Joe. Bella ordered lemonade and Jacob ordered Sierra Mist. We placed our dinner orders a short time later. Mindy went with a Southwestern salad. Jacob ordered Gates-of-Hell wings and onion straws. Bella went with grilled cheese and fries. Me, I ordered a Texas Barley burger with fries. While waiting for our food, Jacob and I watched the second half of the Buckeye/California basketball game. We were up by 20 at halftime but that lead dwindled to as little at 6 or 7 late in the game. They ended up wining by 6, I think. Our food arrived as the game wound down. I ordered a second beer shortly after my food arrived, only this time a Bitter Dan IPA. The Xmas ale was good, but I am a hophead after all. My burger was terrific. I hadn’t enjoyed one of their burgers for quite a while. During dinner,I spotted friend Doug Hamon across the way at a table with friends/co-workers. Mindy went over to say hello. He stopped over a short time later to say hello and meet our kids. As I understood it, he and Jamie were heading to the Ohio river casino’s this weekend, and then he goes in for shoulder surgery next week to repair a longtime torn rotator cuff. Nice way to spend TG. Mindy picked up the check and also drove us home. We wasted little time at the house before walking down to Kapil & Pabino’s. I suggested Mindy take a bottle of wine as a token gift. She agreed and did. Protected from the west wind, a beautiful rose bush stood tall and proud along the walk to their front door still displaying a plethora of impressive red flowers. Inside, all of our neighbors were already there and partying: Mike & Teri, Alex & Tanya, Chrissy & Kenny, and Theresa. I asked Kapil how he fared on the boards. Won’t know for three months but assumes he passed. There was plenty of food – Indian food. Sadly, I was full so I didn’t partake. Those that did said it was tasty. I brought two CBC IPA’s along. The kids played inside and out while everyone else congregated in the kitchen. Mike & Teri pealed off early for another party – her 45th birthday party at Emellio’s. The question circulating the room was how each of us met. That made for some interesting and humorous banter. As the evening spun away, Chrissy went and fetched her ipod Touch and Bose sound dock – the idea being to get everyone dancing. Within ten minutes of her return everyone was. It was fun. We couldn’t stay long, however. Bella was especially tired and so was Mindy. I stayed about five minutes longer than Mindy & the kids. In fact, I walked neighbor Jake home, who left because he was disenchanted with his parents. Once home, I tucked in the kids then headed to bed.

For Butter or Worse

I was up extra early Thursday after an incredibly fulfilling night’s sleep. I’m tempted to give credit for waking so rested to my extended stretching. I know I can’t validate that 100%, but aside from the recent time change, it’s the only other significant change I’ve made. I was up just a smidge after 5:00am. I completed my exercise routine in leisure and spent a considerable amount of time fooling around on the PC. At 5:30am I headed out with Ykraps. It was still raining after doing so for most of Wednesday’s late evening and again through the night. We took the umbrella for shelter. After our walk I pulled Ykraps to the laundry room where I covered him in a bath towel to blot away the lion’s share of the rain covering his thick coat. He’s never acts too agreeable until he realizes how good it feels to be massaged with a towel. However, because he can’t speak, I can only judge by his rudimentary facial expressions. Coffee time was enjoyable. I was able to accomplish my PC agenda withy out any worry of the time. After delivering Mindy’s coffee at 610am I moved directly to meditation. That went well too after once again remembering to take the time to fully immerse myself in the gaps, thus reducing typical mind clutter and wander. After meditation I did a thorough stretching regimen. That went well, too. I was ready for anything. It was still raining outside, so even though it wasn’t too chilly I wore a second wicking shirt. I wore hand and ear covers too. That was just about perfect. The rain tapered to almost nothing by run’s end. And yes, I ran the full four miles. Somehow I missed the towel that Mindy draped over the banister in anticipation of my wet return. After asking where my orange towel disappeared to, she pointed me back to the home’s entrance. Ahh – OK! We had fried eggs, which lately I’ve been craving more so than the scrambled variety. There was still some of that ham left too, so I nuked a few pieces. The fruit was fresh but all of it tasted somewhat tainted to my buds. Mindy & Bella disagreed. I did eat Gates of Hell wings the night before, so maybe that had something to do with it. Probably not. I brushed my teeth and gargled when I got up to combat ‘barbeque’ mouth. Mindy left at 730am, and I was soon off to the shower. Bella visited me in the masterbath just as I was blow drying my head. She was there to douse the puncture wound on her hand with peroxide. But after giving it a once over, I declared it healed. She agreed. We headed for the bus stop at our usual time of 755am. I noticed a paper sticking out of Jacob’s book pack. I asked about it. He acknowledged it being there, and said I should know what it is. I then donned on me. It was the note Mindy said she’d write to his bus driver addressing a problem Jacob’s having with other older students’ picking on him while on the bus. I suggested alternative measures none of which left him feeling more comfortable, or better than Mindy’s note. Whatever. After he boarded the bus he quickly surrendered the letter and moved to his seat. I saw the driver reading it, and then called him forward to discuss. She looked at me then at him and asked why he hadn’t mention it before. Who knows. As she closed the bus door she addressed me and said that she’d take care of it. When I got back to the house I opened the card Mindy left for me on my side of the master bath sink (she frequently leaves cards there). It was a card celebrating or commemorating the 3-year anniversary of my Nov 19, 2006 marriage proposal. Thanks Princess. In kind, and before heading off to work, I scrawled a little thank you note for her to find later when she got home. Off to work.. During my drive I missed two phone calls from Mindy. Worried that there might be something wrong, I called her once in my office. She wanted to let me know that all the details were finalized should we want to do Portland for TG trip next week. She also reminded me of the evening’s parent/teacher conferences scheduled for both kids. I shared the bus driver’s reaction to her letter story and also thanked her for the card. My work day ended up being a total blur. I was inundated and immersed in busyness all day long. However, I did manage to shop air fares to Oregon throughout the day when I found a spare minute. I could find nothing cheaper than $600 and that was before baggage charges. Southwest, who doesn’t charge baggage fees, was even worse - $800. My mental cap was $500 a piece. I also wanted to book our MLK weekend Holiday Valley trip but couldn’t find the time. Not only was I busy, but I was also consumed with work stress. I wasn’t in the mood for personal fun. Now, as I reflect back on the day, I realize that I didn’t take enough breaks to allow myself to decompress. Work got the best of me. There’s no question. I let it. Thankfully, though, it doesn’t happen all too often, at least not to that degree. I could see that Mindy phoned multiple times but I was so immersed in my work that I had to let her calls pass. I figured then reminder calls about the parent/teacher conferences. I asked her to do that. This might’ve been the toughest work day of the year. Figures! When I finally got a minute I phoned Mindy around 520pm to let her know my status. She was already at the school with Jimaken in conference number one of three. I apologized and told her that I’d be late – somewhere near 545pm. I did my best to wrap things up in by 530pm. I left the office and headed directly to Beacon Elementary. I took an errant path attempting to go straight at Britton off Cemetery Rd. That cost me a few minutes. I ended up finagling my way around a labyrinth of businesses and eventually found my way back to Leap Rd and onto Beacon. I’ll bet I arrived around 545pm. I spotted Kenny & Chrissy in the book store as I rushed in and towards Mrs. Valentine’s classroom. I waved and moved on. Mindy & Jim were already in conference with Mrs. Valentine, Bella’s 1st grade teacher, although I‘m not sure how long they had been in there. I knew that I completely missed the first conference with Bella’s reading teacher. Jimaken offered me the seat by Mindy. I just assumed Mrs. Valentine already knew of our situation having taught Jacob two years ago. Everyone seemed comfortable. She reviewed Bella’s progress and recommended she could improve her hand writing. To my eyes it’s far better than Jacob’s was at the same grade level. Jacob’s writing looks much like Mindy’s. Bella’s looks similar to mine, but still under development. We had a nice time chatting with Mrs. Valentine. Chrissy popped her head in to say hello. Her daughter Makayla has Mrs. Valentine too. She and Mindy explained that they borrow things from one another routinely. Their example was butter. I quickly quipped, not for cooking either. After a brief moment of silence, there was a burst of laughter. I found it totally humorous. Our conference with Mrs. Valentine was over at 6:03pm. We moved on to Mrs. Anderson’s classroom, Jacob’s teacher. Her loyalty to the Cincinnati Bengals was apparent straight up. There were posters and pictures all over her classroom. I shared that Jacob threw darts at the team picture she recently sent home. She laughed and shared that she told him to do so since he’s a Brown’s fan (also his daddy’s favorite team). Mrs. Anderson gushed about Jacob and went as far as to call him her favorite student of all time. She had nothing but wonderful things to say about him as a student and a person. Funny, I got the same thing as a young student. NOT!!! In fact, my third grade teacher, Miss Tracy, hated me. Still not sure why. I was devastated because I had a crush on her. She shared some of his work but then got sidetracked talking about the NFL and her and her husband’s trip to the 1989 Super Bowl featuring the Bengals and 49ers. The conference ended near 6:25pm. We quickly left for home with Mindy and I agreeing that I would stop for a Minelli’s pizza on my way home. I called Minelli’s to place my order as I walked to the Trooper. They quoted me 20 minutes. It didn’t take but about ten minutes for me to get there. I had to wait a good five minutes. I didn’t have any coupons. It was almost $17. Yikes! Dad was at the house watching the kids. As soon as I got in the door with the pizza I asked Mindy if I needed to walk Ykraps. I didn’t; she’d already done so before heading to conferences. Dad hung out for a few more minutes but decided not to stay for pizza. Mindy sent him home with some toffee and her leftover vegetable soup. We dug into the pizza. I must’ve eaten 6 or 7 pieces. I was famished. While eating my pizza I reignited my recently purchased external hard drive. I don’t keep it active all the time because it causes my machine to drag (not enough RAM). I discovered it stuck/frozen locked up apparently during the last back-up. I tried everything to get it going, including rebooting and reinstalling the software. Nothing worked. I wasn’t pleased at all. My new PC will be here any day now and I certainly don’t want to lose any valuable data (music/pictures/docs). After an hour I took a brief break. Mindy sensed my frustration and kindly left me to myself. I was very angry. I did find my receipt so I was hell bent on returning it on Friday for another. I was concerned, however, that Best-Buy might not accept it as a return despite only having it for 2.5 weeks. I read my receipt carefully. It said they won’t accept returns on laptops or software, which it is neither. Everything else is 30 days. After a few minutes away from it, I returned to try a few more things, including fully removing the software from my hard drive and then reloading it. I also checked the online users’ guide for any tips, but they were extremely shallow – mostly back-up procedures. I was just about to give up after getting a pop-up indicating that the software reload failed. But after clicking that away Windows prompted me to reformat the external drive and then asked me to name it. It never did that new out of the box. Hmmm? That did it. After that it searched my hard drive and found all of my precious files (music, pictures, docs and mail) and scheduled a new back-up. I launched the back-up and went to the family room. By then it was almost 10pm. I was beat after the day I had at work and then fighting my external hard drive. Come on weekend! We headed up to bed together shortly after 10pm. Once in bed, I remembered that the Buckeye basketball game was on. And they were playing North Carolina. I turned on the bedroom TV to catch the final minutes of the first half. We were getting beat badly, 34-20 at halftime. Mindy turned off the TV and we went to sleep.

Level Metal

For the first time in a long while, I woke somewhat sleepy. Nevertheless, I was up a few minutes early – 5:27am. I completed my exercise regimen then headed out with Ykraps. The air was mild and the sky cloudy. Any leftover grogginess quickly evaporated during our walk.. Soon I was operating at full throttle. Coffee time passed quickly, but then again it always does. At 610am I delivered Mindy’s coffee. I returned to the PC for a few more minutes before starting meditation and stretching. I took extra care in meditation to fully relax my mind and focus on the gaps. It was quite refreshing. Stretching was equally beneficial. Many of my mini-stretches are focused on my shoulders, upper back and neck. They’re making a big difference in the frequency of my body aches and overall flexibility. I dressed for a run at 630am. My running clothes reeked of stale perspiration and I was on my last pair of clean running socks. I knew that I needed to launder my running clothes before leaving for work. My run went well, and I ran the full four miles. My knee was in no pain but I could feel some tenderness. I should probably be icing it more regularly. Mindy had scrambled eggs ready and waiting. Along with pouring juice, I warmed some leftover ham for both her and I to share. Breakfast hit the spot. Soon Mindy left for school and I headed for a shower. Like most mornings, I did some tidying up just before heading up. I was ready for work a few minutes early. I noticed Mindy left a check for Rachel, the girl that cleans our house. Today would be a cleaning day. After seeing the kids onto the school bus I returned home to take care of a few last minute items. I meant to grab the XM radio bill hoping to call their customer service one more time in an attempt to resolve our billing dispute but forgot it. I arrived at work near 830am. The morning moved swiftly given the back to back meetings (team and then staff). In addition to the meetings, there were numerous issues requiring my attention and focus. That made the day go really fast but I also allowed it to increase my personal stress level. And then, by not taking a lunch, it only exacerbated the issue. As 5pm neared, I mentioned to my boss that I wanted to head out. He understood. His day was tough too. I called Mindy during my drive home. Jimaken was already there to pick-up the kids. We agreed that a trip to Barley’s was in order, which is exactly what I needed after my busy day. The kids were gone by the time I arrived home. I had to walk Ykraps. Mindy didn’t do it because it started raining. During our walk the rain came down even harder. I took the umbrella. This was our first rain in a while. November has been fairly dry so far. Before heading out, I quickly perused two dental predetermination statements that arrived in the mail pertaining to my crown. Complicated stuff. I decided to review them more thoroughly later. After brushing my teeth we headed out. It continued raining steadily. I dropped Mindy near the door before parking the Honda. There wasn’t quite the crowd there was last Wednesday. Inside, there were bar seats too. Yippee! Janet offered me a Pale Ale remembering my choice the week prior, but I was more a Bitter Dan guy tonight. Mindy ordered a Pint-of-Joe. I shared how my growler of Pale Ale morphed into more of a stout by Saturday. While sipping our beers, I shared with Mindy my tinkering with a possible trip out west to ski either before Xmas or even next week’s TG holiday. Mindy offered that she could likely pull off such a trip next week, too since this TG is Jimaken’s to have the kids. I agreed to research air rates again on Thursday, but warned that my previous poking around revealed ridiculous prices in the $600-700 r/t range. I also shared the price quotes for lodging at the new Tamarack Club at Holiday Valley. They started taking reservations on Tuesday. It’s expensive but the amenities are about as good as it gets, especially if we’re taking the kids, which we will. It’s at the heart of the resort right next door to the ski shop – ski school. A simple studio w/kitchen and a full bath is $399 a night on weekends. Plus, MLK weekend requires a 3-night stay. Add to that a 16% bed/sales tax and it gets pricey quick. Mindy wants to do it. I promised to try and book it on Thursday. Hey, you only live once! We ordered food as our beers bottomed out. I ordered ten Gates-of-Hell wings. Mindy ordered potato skins topped with chicken, beef, and pork. I ordered a second beer. Mindy only water. Calvin was in and we chatted some. In fact, I switched seats with Mindy so that they could chat more easily. I kept largely to myself. Our tab was only $28 before tip. I got the check. We headed for home around 720pm. At home the first thing I did was address the crooked metal sculpture hanging on the newly repaired wall. I used a level earlier that morning to learn that it was off by nearly half and inch across its 30” span (that’s a lot). The screw holes were level so I figured the one on the left had to be loose and moving. It was. To help compensate, I placed a piece of duct tape around one of the screw slots on the metal piece to prevent it from sliding down as far as the other. That worked perfectly. I confirmed my work with a level. Mindy agreed, looking on from afar. The kids arrived home before 8pm, and Mindy quickly rushed them upstairs to get bathed and ready for bed. Sometime near 845pm I went to the family room, turned the TV to a rare Wednesday night college football game, and stretched out comfortably on the floor. I was out in minutes. I believe I heard Mindy request I come up and tuck in the kids, but I didn’t wake again until midnight. I shut down the electronics and headed for bed.