Vesuvius

It was Thursday and it was cold! The morning low was 15 degrees with a steady 20mph wind. I was up by 515am, my world back in sync. I completed my exercises then headed out with Ykraps into the wrathful winter cold. This being our first extended dose of extreme cold, it was more difficult to take than I expected. The chill seemed to cut right through my gloves and ear covers, yet I found myself eager to run in it later. I had quite a bit of time to fool around online and sip coffee before waking Mindy. The routine went as planned. I spent a good measure of time playing, meditating, and stretching prior to my run. I bundled warmly for my run - two wicking shirts and pullover fleece - really, not any different than my below 30 degrees attire. I ran four miles without incident. There's something unique/special about running in the cold that brings me great pleasure. Breakfast and the bus stop went without incident. Jacob was well behaved and even pleasant. It was another difficult day at the office. I was so busy that I completely lost track of time. The day flew by. For some reason, I did a very poor job of taking the busyness at work in stride. I became agitated to the point that I purposefully flung my lunch against the wall. Unfortunately, when doing so I inadvertently knocked over my water glass, too. Felt like an ass, but it did serve a purpose. After cleaning up the mess I felt a whole lot better.  I wondered if the Afrin I'd been squirting up my nose all week was making me edgy. I called my mom on my drive home from work to confirm her Xmas weekend stay. I suggested she arrive on Xmas eve and stay through Sunday. She agreed. I also suggested she plan to bed at dad's place, albeit jokingly. Snow skiing may be on the agenda for the day after Xmas, weather permitting. Perhaps she can spend that day with Dad or with her sister Linda. Mindy was adding more lights to the tree when I walked in the door from work. It's unlike Mindy to put any remedial task like that before dinner, but I gathered she was doing so to avoid any potential conflict with me. Immediately in the door, I did my usual routine, prepping tomorrow's coffee and then walking Ykraps. It was another bitterly cold walk. It felt like zero, and with wind chill it was. Not only had Mindy added the 350 lights that I bought for her on Wednesday, I learned later that she borrowed more from Chrissy. It looked like she decided to skip adding colored lights. I decided earlier in the day that I was staying out of the Xmas tree business this year. As we learned yesterday and many times past, it just never ends well. Once the lights were on the tree, Mindy warmed leftovers for dinner. She & I went with pork roast and Bella had spaghetti. Jacob ate cereal. I was feeling somewhat ill, my cold symptoms, now in their 4th day, seemingly getting worse. I was in a quiet, non-participatory mood. Mindy unloaded the dishwasher so that clean-up would be easier on me. I appreciated the help. After dinner, I took one of Deena's giant Xmas tree sugar cookies and went to the PC. At the same time, Mindy and the kids started decorating the tree. I heard her yelp a few times as ornaments crashed to the ground, but all in all it seemed to go well. The best thing I could do to help was stay away. :) I was very productive while at the PC. I backed up November's photos to CD, reviewed my external hard drive's contents to make sure that it properly backed up all of my important files, and configured my new PC to download photos. I also organized my work surface, stowed away important paperwork and software discs, and carried all the empty boxes to the basement (stashing more stuff in the basement - i know). After Mindy and the kids finished the tree I took a couple photos. It was nearing 9pm. I popped some popcorn knowing it would please Bella, who was in whinny mood for some reason. As expected, the smell of fresh popcorn snapped her of it in a hurry. Jacob and I watched the Browns/Steelers game via Yahoo's NFL Gamecast. The game wasn't on TWX cable. The Browns were beating the Steelers 13-3 at halftime. What? The kids headed for bed around 915pm. I made myself a Jack & Coke. I tuned the TV to a Science Channel program about Mt Vesuvius in Italy. It's said to be the most dangerous volcano in the world with a population of more than 3 million people living near its base in and around Naples. Uh-oh! Mindy headed to bed before 10pm. I was tired too, but elected to stay up and watch more of the Science Channel . The alone time relaxing was nice too. I fell asleep on the floor, but woke with a brief second wind. I headed for bed at approximately 1045pm.