More Tiling

I was up on time, and even a few minutes early. I breezed through my exercises then checked the weather. I already knew it was raining. Temperature-wise, still not bad, it was 61 degrees. The forecast, however, called for dropping temps throughout the day and ultimately dropping down into the mid 30’s overnight. The upside was that the less than desirable weather was to last no more than two days. This time of year the weather can be iffy. I was done with exercise, coffee, and computer a minute or two in front of 6am. I went ahead and did my morning meditation early, even before heading up to wake Mindy. I dressed for a run in freshly washed attire. Boy was that nice! After a good stretch I headed off on a four mile run. It was still dark, in part because of the clouds but also because I was out about 12 minutes earlier than normal. Judging from the radar, more rain was coming, I hoped to beat it. I completed my run 7am. And don’t you know as soon as I headed up the driveway towards the house the rain started up again. I am truly blessed! I was back so early that I had to let myself in the through the garage. Mindy hadn’t yet comedown from the shower. I cooked my own eggs to help Mindy. Bella complained of feeling ill: sneezing, itchy eyes, and a sore throat. Mindy believes her symptoms to be allergies. She didn’t want to go to school, but Mindy insisted. She didn’t have a fever. Mindy did tell her to let Mrs. Valentine know if she felt any worse. I was off to the shower just after 730am. Both kids were on their way out the door as I was coming back downstairs. It was raining. I grabbed my umbrella. Bella shared it with me. Jacob wanted nothing to do wit hit at first, but eventually came to his senses and took the available cover. I left for work at 810am. It rained through my entire commute. My new wiper blades are incredibly smooth and efficient. Nice! The day moved along swiftly. Soon it was lunch time. By then, the rain had given way to partly cloudy skies, but considerably cooler temps. I didn’t mind. I headed towards Target & Home Depot. At Target I bought Jacob a set of starter golf clubs for his fast approaching 10th birthday. I also bought a package of golf spikes for my old golf shoes. I’m gonna try to get another season out of them. At Home Depot, I bought a tub of grout, matching caulk, and a new dryer venting tube – metal. Speaking of our tile project, I asked Mindy to consider running the tile all the way up each side of the kitchen window. I planned to complete that Thursday evening after work. That way we can grout the whole thing on Saturday. The afternoon went smoothly. Mindy reminded me that the kids would be doing dinner with their daddy. We opted out of going to dinner in part so I could tile. Mindy planned to work late and make a couple stops. I left work for home just after 530pm. It was no surprise that I was the only one home. I quickly readied Friday’s coffee then organized myself to hang the rest of the tile. It didn’t take me long to get in a groove. I had one side all but completed by the time Mindy was home. She liked the look. I did too. I had to nip about 25 tiles for each side of the window. That was the only painstaking part. Because the tiles are stone/slate, they’re very brittle. I’ll bet 30% of them broke during the nipping process. Starting on the opposite side, I suggested Mindy help by doing the appending while I focused on nipping. That went much faster. The kids got home just as we were wrapping up. Mindy offered to make me some dinner but nothing she suggested was good for my tummy. If the burning continues I’ll need to see Dr Broyles. I ended up snacking on Triscuits and cheese, but that’s it. It was already 8pm. Mindy got the kids organized for showers then walked down to Chrissy’s to help her put together two gift baskets for the kid’s school fun fair. I cleaned up the tile mess and unloaded the dishwasher. My eyes were dry and bothersome afterwards. I just needed to relax in the dark. Mindy got back home around 9pm. By then I was tuned into Fringe. There wasn’t anything good on the Discover, Learning, Animal Planet, or NatGeo channels. I watched Fringe until I fell asleep. That must’ve been about half way through. I woke still before 10pm and headed up for bed. Mindy said she’d be up soon.