Dentalingis

I was up a little late, but not by much. The only reason I mention it is because it makes the first such occurrence since the time change. Not only did I sleep a few minutes past 530am, but I felt a little groggy too. But there’s something about whipping out 55 sit-ups that cures that in hurry. I was wide awake afterwards. I checked the temperature. It was 40 degrees under perfectly clear skies and a full moon. Lovely! After 55 push-ups, Ykraps and I headed out for our walk. Given that this was December 1st, I realized this would be a bluemoon month. I planned to confirm later. After all of my pre-run prep (coffee, internet, waking Mindy, meditation, and stretching) I headed out for a run. At the 2.5 mile mark I chose to turn right, which shortened the run to three miles, not because I felt any aches but more because I didn’t want risk my running future. As I age and extend my streak, I need to make wiser decisions. Life holds lessons at every turn. At breakfast, Mindy reminded me that the both kids had after school dental appointments with Dr Scott, which would mean “Jimmy” time until about 630pm. Cool! At the time I thought I might use it to set up my new PC. Just before Mindy headed out, she asked me to start dinner when I get home from work, which entailed nothing more than placing a pot of chicken stock that was in the fridge on the stove. I could easily handle that, I thought. Mindy left and the kids and I carried on as usual. We left for the bus at 755am. It was a gorgeous morning with oodles of sunshine coupled with 40 degree temperatures. The bus swallowed up the children at 805am. After gathering my gear I was off to work. As I walked from the Trooper into the building at work, I thought back to last week and how differently my Tuesday felt then. In effect, last week’s was my Friday leading into a long five day weekend. This week, however, it was simply the second of five work days. I didn’t bother taking a lunch. Instead, I worked straight through. I saw that Mindy tried calling around 4pm. I was too busy to take the call. I left for home around 530pm arriving somewhere near 555pm. After prepping Wednesday’s coffee and rinsing the day’s lunch containers I took Ykraps on a walk. Back just after 6pm, I unloaded the dishwasher and put on soft music and then started a fire. Nice! Mindy phoned a few minutes later indicating that they were still at the dentist office in Westerville but expected to be home near 630pm. No way! Perhaps more importantly, she reminded me about starting dinner. Oops! I’d forgotten all about it. No worries, though. I placed the pot on the stove and pulled the noodles from the freezer. Nothing more than a waiting game. While the chicken stock boiled, I played on the internet. I didn’t have time to set up my new PC, and didn’t want to piece meal it. I scrapped the idea for the time being. Mindy & the kids arrived home around 645pm. I knew 630pm was stretch. Mindy promptly took over dinner duties while I did other mindless things. She shared her pleasure with me for unloading the dishwasher, staring dinner, and building a fire. Hey, no one appreciates coming home to dinner on the stove, a clean house, soft music, and fire more than me. It’s like medicine. Soon we were gathered for dinner, chicken & noodles and mashed potatoes. It was all very good. During dinner we practiced Bella’s weekly spelling words. At some point, Jacob started talking over her and I quickly corrected him. He wasn’t pleased, and honestly his mother fed into it. Anyway, he abruptly left the dinner table apparently expressing his displeasure. After Mindy explained that it was really her fault, I went to console him and bring him back to the fold. Unfortunately, he wanted no part of me. Instead, he bolted away defiantly. Defiance doesn’t fly with me. In a very direct tone, which I rarely if ever employ, I made it clear that he will stop, listen and comply – not walk away from me or his mom. He cried but stayed put. He also refused to eat his dinner asking instead for something else like cereal. Mindy held firm that if he was hungry he should eat what was in front of him. I even offered to reheat it. After several minutes passed he realized we weren’t gonna budge; he took me up on the offer to warm his plate. But even then he barely touched any of it. I heard him later, before and after his bath, cite being hungry. In fact, he went to bed hungry. He must’ve been really tired. He fell asleep in less than five minutes. Bella was a different story. She asked me to pop popcorn at tuck in. I doubted I do it. I wasn’t hungry at all. Back downstairs, I tuned the TV to a Science or History Channel program that explored what the Earth might be like if the human race were suddenly eradicated in a nuclear holocaust. It was a fascinating program. Over time the animal food chain was reordered based on who/what survived. The Earth healed itself fairly quickly – about 100 years if memory serves me. Anyway, they carried out their hypothesis to million years after. I fell asleep during pieces/parts, and Mindy headed to bed shortly before me. I woke around 1020pm and headed up to join her.