Gas Giants

I was up early again and felt fantastic. Mindy was staying home so I knew out of bed that I didn’t need to wake her until just before my run. It was supposed to be sunny & 70 again, so I was surprised to see clouds at first glance out the back door. After exercise, I headed out with Ykraps. It was still fairly warm – about 50 degrees. As requested, I didn’t bother waking Mindy until 6:30am or just before I left the house for a run. As usual, I woke her with a hot cup of coffee. I ran four miles for the third day in a row, and four out of the last five. I felt good but did have some fatigue it in my legs. I half expected it. Even though Mindy was staying home, she still got up & prepped lunches and breakfast for me and the kids. She headed back to bed about the same time I was off to the shower. I half expected the kids to complain that they wanted her to take them to the bus stop. To my knowledge they never did. I said my goodbye’s to Mindy before heading out with the kids. She asked me to stop back afterwards but I explained that I needed to keep moving to remain on task. After the kids were on the bus and before dashing off to work I quickly gathered some data regarding our M/I trim knowing/hoping I’d be visiting Columbus Wood Products later in the day during lunch. I shouted off a goodbye as I headed out the door for work. Work went fairly well. Around 12:30pm I left work for Columbus Wood Products to get an 8’ piece of trim that matches exactly what we have in our home. They were the original supplier and still have the same stuff. Because I asked, I already knew it was less expensive than the lesser quality stuff at Home Depot – a win/win. CWP used to be in Grandview, but is now out off I-670 and Leonard Ave – quite a distance but almost all freeway. I was there in 15-20 minutes. CWP’s primary customers are builders, not single homeowners, but they don’t ignore that business. In fact, they were very gracious and fetched my tiny order quickly. My order was $8.50. The guy in front of me spent $5,000+. J I apologized for the small order, but the sales woman was quick to point out how much they welcome all the business, especially given how slow the home building market is. Good point! I noticed that they still stock/sell the same 4-panel arched wood doors we have too should I ever want or need them. Back to work. I was back at the office by 1:45pm. I felt really good about finding an exact match for our trim. My next hurdle will be matching the stain. From past experience, I know how difficult that is, but I’ll cross that bridge on Wednesday. For the time being I was pleased. Like most, my afternoon in the office was a busy one. I didn’t get out of there until 530pm. So much for our sunny and 70 degree day. That never fully materialized. Instead, it was in the low 60’s and cloudy. I learned on the drive home that our weather was impacted by tropical storm Ida. I called home. Mindy shared that she slept most of the day away accomplishing very little around the house and was toying with taking another day to rest even further. She asked if Wednesday would be my on-call comp day. Nope. Thursday. Saw that I had a missed call and VM from Kenny. He asked the same question. I called him back and confirmed that my day off was Thursday rather than Wednesday, but that I still wanted to try and golf. He was agreeable to that. We also agreed on a venue, Player’s Club at Fox Fire. I arrived home somewhere close to 6pm. Mindy already had the leftover roast in the oven warming while doing homework with the kids. Bella went along for the walk with Ykraps after I promised to help collect more leaves. I knew where there were some really pretty sweet gum leaves. She wasn’t disappointed. They were very large and somewhat supple, unlike maple and oak which are typically brown and brittle. She says she’s going to make a pilgrim hat. Not sure how, but hey! Before going in, we collected several red maple leaves from our own back yard. By then, dinner was almost ready. While waiting, I applied another thin coat of mud to the drywall repair. Bella asked if she could help paint when the time comes. I agreed. The roast was as good tonight as it was fresh out of the crock pot a few days prior. I ate two helpings. After dinner I did some light sanding and vacuumed up all the dust. At 8pm we snuggled up on the sofa to watch The Universe. Bella now asks for it by name. That pleases me much. Tonight’s episode dealt with nebulas and the four gas giants in our solar system. It also went into significant detail about the atmosphere and chemical composition of Jupiter. Very interesting. However, as interesting as it was, I fell asleep and missed a significant chunk. We headed for bed even before 10pm.