Thoo- Lee

I woke at 525am, and although I’d been in bed since 9pm the evening before, I felt like I needed more sleep. However, I knew if I dosed off again the likelihood of waking on time would be minimal. I decided right then to drag myself out of bed and begin my work day. I quickly found my exercise shoes and started into my sit-ups. I could hear Ykraps struggling to breathe somewhere nearby. I checked the temperature online. It was only 14 degrees. Another cold morning in the offing. Before walking Ykraps, I still needed to complete my push-ups. That was taken care of in a jiffy. Ykraps and I headed off to the west, our most frequented route. Seeing him drink plenty of water the night before, and more than he has in maybe a month, I was surprised that he pee’d so little. I’d solve the riddle later. Sometime during the night, he pee’d on our tile floor. Back inside I did my normal coffee and PC time. I stopped at 610am to wake Mindy and deliver her coffee. She’s so spoiled! I didn’t spend anymore time on the PC. Instead, I moved immediately to meditation and stretching. Both went well, and at 6:32am I dressed for a run. I wore a pair of tight running pants that left me much warmer than the loose variety, but the rest of my attire was the same as any other winter day. I was comfortable from go. A large portion of the roads were either dry or hard packed snow after the city plows went through on Saturday afternoon. The run was a breeze. At my run’s conclusion, I fetched Mindy’s Honda keys to warm it up before her looming departure. She’s not used to leaving with a frozen car in the mornings. She had Ykraps’ and my eggs ready on the counter. I was hopeful that I could get Ykraps to eat his eggs and take his pill. Unfortunately, I couldn’t. He acted as if he wasn’t hungry. Well, at least my scrambled eggs were good. I ate a big ol’ plateful. Mindy left for school and I dashed off towards the shower. I had to hurry, not getting out of the kitchen until 740am. For the second time in a week, I shaved close with the Quattro razor Mindy got me last Xmas (’08). I’ve shaved with a razor just twice in the last four years, and both times in the last week. Something different. Bella came to hurry me along once I was out of the shower. As I hurried down the stairs, I saw that it was only 755am. We had oodles of time. I was just behind the kids as they scampered out to the bus stop. The bus pulled up at 8:03am. The Trooper was still warming/thawing, so I went back inside to take care of a few chores including unloading the dishwasher. I knew Mindy would appreciate that being out of the way when she arrived home later. I left for work at 8:20am after shutting down my work laptop and loading it with my gear. Off to work. During my drive in, I listened to ESPN radio discussing the Packers/Cardinals playoff game. I was surprised to hear the outcry over the ‘missed’ face mask on the final pay that resulted in a Cardinals touchdown. Interesting banter! And by the way, most sports pundits are picking the Cowboys to beat the Vikings at home. I’m not sure I’d want it any other way. I arrived to work at 835am. My boss was out ill and working from home. I brought along with me my Thule cargo box paperwork and my crock-pot replacement lid paperwork. I intended to contact both. Work was moderately busy – lots of weekend clean-up. I struck out calling Thule. Their customer service department is open Tues – Friday only. To save some heartburn, I relented and simply ordered the relatively inexpensive parts online via their parts page. The part is only $4. Shipping was $4.95. I ordered two just in case another one breaks. Next, I called Crock-pot who shipped us the wrong replacement lid. Their phone system put me in an endless loop. I tried multiple times. Interesting note about Thule, it’s pronounced (Too – lee). Who knew? I opted out of taking lunch staying busy all afternoon long. Mindy phoned around 415pm having just left school. The kids were at Deena’s. We discussed dinner and our work days. We didn’t talk long, however. I left work for home at 520pm. My mom phoned just as I was pulling out of the parking lot at work. She wanted an update on Ykraps’ status. We chatted for about ten minutes. And for the first time I can ever recall, my mom actually uttered something positive regarding her own future – something like good things will almost certainly happen. OK, what have you done with my ‘real’ mom? I arrived home at 536pm. Mindy & the kids seemed to be in good moods. I leashed up Ykraps then leaded out for our walk. The house smelt of dinner – cream of chicken over rice. The chicken was cooking in the crock-pot. Ykraps only pee’d along our walk. I gave him ample time to do more but he didn’t seem interested. Alrighty then. It was beginning to spit snow with more expected through the night time hours, although accumulation would be no more than an additional inch. Soon we were back at home. I was really eager for dinner having eaten only sparingly throughout the day. Mindy shared that brother-in-law Jeff’’s surgery was a success - went better/quicker than anticipated. Seems all of our positive energy held sway with the universe. That was great news! Dinner was delicious, perhaps too delicious. I had two helpings, eating way too much. My gut felt like it might split. After dinner the kids and Mindy put in the Home Alone DVD. I fooled around on the PC and then with my new iTouch, but eventually joined them for the second half of the movie. What a great movie concept – a combination of Xmas and cartoon-like humor. The movie was over around 9pm. We all headed to bed at roughly the same time.