Check Engine ... again

After waking at 525am, I decided to get up a few minutes early. I brushed my teeth, grabbed my running clothes, then headed downstairs. I woke Frankie as I went through my the early part of my routine- grabbing my exercise shoes, eye drops, and Prevacid. I could’ve kicked myself for not following through on my plan to place all of those things at the foot of the stairs before bed which I figured would allow me to complete my early routine a bit more transparently. As it was, I simply let her cry from her pen until my push-ups were in the bag. It had to be 545am when I finally let her out. She was excited to see me, anyone for that matter. I realize that. I sat with her calmly on the kitchen floor while she romped around. That lasted about five minutes before I decided to take her out. She took care of business quickly. I was proud of her. We headed back inside where I poured myself some coffee and tried to enjoy some peace and quiet. The truth is, I don’t get any quiet time until I drop coffee and the pug off to Mindy. Somewhat hurriedly, I checked the weather conditions and read the Daily OM. It was already 615am. Where had my morning gone? I spent the next 25 minutes meditating, stretching, and prepping for my run, not hitting the door until 640am. Ugh! I ran 4 miles with absolutely zero knee pain. – gone. And, if ever there was a morning when I half expected it, it would’ve been then – the morning after hitting 100 golf balls. Because of my somewhat late start, I was blessed with the sunrise from the very outset. Quite lovely. It was only 37 degrees at the time, but figured to reach 70 by mid-afternoon. The house was alive with activity upon my return. Jacob was outside with Frankie, and Mindy busy cooking breakfast. Bella was in one of her whiny moods. Jacob seized on the opportunity to tease her. Ouch! Mindy confirmed that Kenny was keeping Frankie again today and reminded the kids to bus home with Noah. She left at 730am. I was showered and was ready to go by 752am. I remembered that I said I’d take Rocky to a doctor’s appointment at 1pm, a commitment I made last Sunday. Honestly, I dreaded doing it. That meant leaving work no later than 1215pm, driving all the way to Lindsey’s, back to Hilliard for the appointment, back to Lindsey’s then back to Hilliard and work. In the end, a lot of driving to mask Lindsey’s inability to get her life together. The thought of it brings anger. I do it for the boys, not her. It’s not their fault. The kids were on the bus at their usual time. I handed Frankie off to Kenny then headed off to work. It was a gorgeous drive in. I was looking forward to the day’s lovely weather. I let my boss know that I had to leave for an appointment at 1215pm, and shared that I expected to be back around 130pm. We had a staff meeting that lasted about an hour, or until 11am. Lindsey phoned around 1145am to make sure I remembered. Yes. I left the office at 1215pm on the nose. There’s no quick and simple way to get to Kelly’s place from Hilliard. I took I-270 south to the Georgesville exit then cut across Clime Rd ultimately down Briggs Rd. I didn’t get there until 1245pm. Lindsey and boys were waiting out front. We were off. It dawned on me during the drive that I forgot to get the booster seats back from Mindy after last weekends Chiller trip. Oops! We headed back to Hilliard towards Dr Shultz’s office. Both boys asked if we could go to McDonald’s. I figured we could but didn’t fully commit. The cat stench that typically accompanies them where ever they go, was noticeably masked by heavy perfume. I didn’t say anything. We arrived at the doctor’s office right on time. Lindsey and Rocky headed in while Landon and I hung out outside in a nearby grassy area soaking up some of the warm spring sunshine. Landon had to pee so he and I walked over to Steak & Shake. Afterwards, we headed back to the car where we waited another 15 minutes or so. Lindsey & Rocky came out around 1:30pm. Lindsey had a prescription for Rocky. We headed over to the nearby Burger King where I bought the boys lunch. Lindsey wanted only a drink. Everybody happy we headed back to Kelly’s arriving around 2pm. I had already been gone from work for 1.75 hours. I decided to stop at home briefly to grab a couple monthly bills needing paid and perhaps some quick food. I was hungry. It was well past my typically lunch time. I decided to pay the bills from home rather than back at the office. Done. After a quick snack I was ready to head back to work. During the ten minutes that I was at home, a contractor for the county came by to assess my property value. Wanted to review it with me. I declined for needing to be busy with other things but offered freedom to roam my yard. I arrived back at work at 245pm. I’d been gone for 2.5 hours. I was a little stressed over being gone so long, especially on a golf night where I try to leave no later than 415pm. To that end, I didn’t feel right about bolting so early after being gone all afternoon. I decided that it was best for me to forego golf this week even though I really wanted to get out. I sent Bob I. and email indicating as much. My boss visited at 5pm. We chatted about the appointment. Shared that I should’ve left for golf, too. Also mentioned that he’d be off on Friday and would be deferring all of his escalations to me. Great!  I stayed busy until 530pm. I talked with Mindy well before via phone sharing that I wouldn’t be golfing and why. We agreed to make a Barley’s night of it since the kids were with Jimaken. On my drive home, I noticed that my Check Engine light was on again. Dammit! Are you frikin kiddin’ me? So far, no performance degradation, though. Still, I wasn’t the least bit amused. That’s it, I’m getting a new car. I am not gonna deal with anymore car troubles, especially repeat issues. I wasn’t happy about the dilemma, but at the same time, thankful to have the means to make it go away. I didn’t share my newest dilemma right away. Instead, I waited three minutes.  All Mindy could do was laugh. Me too. It’s crazy! We brushed up and headed to Barley’s. Janet was working the bar. Poured me a Centennial – Um good! Mindy went with a St Joan’s Revenge. We ordered food minutes later. Me buffalo chicken tenders, and Mindy their barb-q platter. Jill was sitting next to Mindy, a girl we met there a couple months ago. My buddy Doug showed up shortly after we placed our food order. We chatted with him for the duration of our visit. Always fun to hang out with the “do” side of Doomie.  Mie wasn’t in. She was working out at the gym. We stayed long enough for both Mindy & I to have second beers. Both of mine were regular IPA’s. Mindy’s were both of the high octane variety. I was done almost before Mindy started her second. I was fine to drive and did. I also picked up the check. We learned that our Friday server, Diedra has two pugs and absolutely loves ‘em. We headed for home just before 8pm. Mindy took a call from Jacob as we exited. The call was dropped. We assumed them already home waiting in the drive with their daddy. Yep, they were. I drug the trash can to the curb for tomorrow morning’s trash day before heading in. The kids were eager to see their puppy. I failed to mention that I contacted Teresa, the owner of the Clearwater Beach condo we stayed in July of ’08 earlier in the day. We booked it again for this summer. Having that booked, I was determined to secure our flights now too. To that end, I found ideal flights to and from on our desired dates and booked them. I’ll hold off on the car rental until it gets closer. Deals typically are for no more than 6 weeks out. Right now, the rates are through the roof. It felt good to have our summer family vacation booked. Mindy asked Bella to do her nightly reading with me. I listened while she read. Afterwards, both kids got showers. It was after 9pm in a hurry. At Mindy’s insistence, I went up to tuck in the kids at 940pm ahead of her. She was busy grading school papers. Bella threw a fit that I made her shut down the Disney Channel program she was watching. Jacob was watching the same show from his room. He didn’t pitch one though. In true Bella fashion, she cried to high heaven. And when her momma asked what was the matter, she chastised me for killing her show. Oh well! Mindy supported me, as expected. I didn’t want to be the first one up and the bad guy. I was forced. Bella went to sleep quickly. Mindy took Frankie out just before she and I headed to bed. Prior, Frankie laid on the sofa with me until 10pm in what’s become an every night thing. She loves to snuggle, something Ykraps never was into. Good night Sparky!