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.