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.