"Me & Zero request you in the Mercedes..."

From past experience, I had a feeling that I might not sleep as well as I wanted. To that end, I found myself tossing and turning so much that I got up from bed and headed back downstairs and worked well past midnight. Then, once I did go back to bed, 530am came fast. I didn’t want to get out of bed, but work was beckoning, so I toughed it out, headed downstairs, and began my calisthenics. After sit-ups, I checked the weather via Yahoo local. It was zero! Wow - a lot colder than I imagined it would be. I eventually did my push-ups before enjoying coffee in front of my PC. I read a few super bowl related stories while lamenting over Sunday afternoon’s minor car accident. I couldn’t shake it. It’s just how I’m wired. And I’ll likely obsess over it for days to come. Poor Mindy! I delivered Mindy’s coffee right on queue – 610am. Mindy said she didn't slept well. I didn’t return to the PC. Instead, I moved on to mediation and stretching. I needed meditation badly – a break from the constant mind chatter. Both mediation and stretching went well. It was now time to run. And given that it was 0 degrees, I decided to dress even warmer than usual. I still used the traditional three upper layers; my usual two wicking shirts, and my warm ski shell in lieu of a pull over fleece. The only other difference was the addition of a neck gaiter. Out into the cold, I was surprised at how comfortable I was for the duration. I ran four miles. The slight modifications to my attire were just what the doctor ordered. Mindy had my eggs waiting upon my return. Jacob was still downstairs for a change. We joked around a little before Mindy left for school and I headed up for a shower. The kids and I were at the bus stop at our usual time. We dressed for the brutal cold. I started and warmed the Trooper while we waited for the bus. I was slightly worried that it might not star that easily given the cold and the fact that it hadn’t run at all over the weekend. It started right away, but it did take a while to get all the ice and snow removed. It wasn’t long before I was off to work. The work day was a busy one, a continuation of my on-call weekend. The east coast took a beating over the weekend, far worse than us. The DC/Baltimore area received upwards of 30” of new snow with blizzard-like conditions. I shared my car accident story with my peer Ken, He’s always a good sounding board for such matters. In fact, he’s the one that insisted that there was a mistake when I was hit in the round-about last fall and encouraged me to pursue justice. He was right and I was eventually vindicated by Hilliard’s finest. This time, however, he advised me to simply pay the ticket and move on. Not worth the time away from work. I listened. Mindy called after school let out. She shared her plans to make spaghetti and meatballs and to invite my dad for dinner. We haven’t seen him for a couple of weeks now. Come 5pm, my boss pinged me and told me to leave for the day. He also asked me to pick a day this week to take off after my treacherous on-call. That made me feel good. I tentatively picked Wednesday, and figured I might go skiing. Meanwhile, the weather forecast was calling for another 8-10” snow storm beginning Monday night and lasting through Wednesday. Along my drive home I called brother Glenn, having not talked with him since Xmas time, although we’ve emailed some. We talked about our fast approaching ski trip, and both of us marveled at how quickly it’s coming. He hasn’t been out skiing even once back home this winter. Hard to imagine having that kind of playground in one’s backyard and not taking full advantage. He promised to send me a link to his new blog, which I haven’t been able to read since the turn of the year. Dad was already at the house when I arrived home. Before dinner was served, we chatted about a number of things, including his pending ultrasound procedure for a couple large kidney stones. That’s to take place Friday. We also discussed our coming Oregon trip. We even invited dad to join us, although I think he’d get bored sitting in the ski lodge all day for 4.5 days. We plan to do a lot of skiing. Dinner was ready before 6pm – garden salad, spaghetti & meatballs. Everybody got their fill. After clean-up, Mindy got out what was left of her mom’s fudge from two weekend’s ago. It was still good. My dad loved it. We got to talking about Google Earth. Dad had seen it for the first time over the weekend and was amazed at the technology. We did some poking around via Jacob & Bella’s new PC. I hadn’t used GE much in the last two years. Many features have improved and/or changed. Dad hung out until almost 730pm. After he departed Mindy had the kids get ready for bed. She wanted them down at a reasonable hour given Sunday’s late super bowl festivities. Meanwhile, I still didn’t feel right. My stomach was borderline queasy and my head a little light. I spent a little time on my PC uploading more of my music collection – CD book number two. The kids were hoping to have school canceled for the coming snow storm. I advised against getting their hopes too high. After all, we were only expecting an inch or so over night. The big stuff wasn’t due until Tuesday mid-day. Mindy & I headed to bed near 10pm.