Frankie Follies

I was up on time after a delightfully fulfilling night of rest. I let Frankie out of her pen directly, and after a couple rubs and kisses we headed outside where she took care of business rather promptly. That only furthers my theory of getting to her early. It wasn’t raining but the deck was soaked and so was the lawn. From that I deduced that it had to have rained only recently. The lawn was swampy. We’ve certainly got our fair share of rain this week. Inside, I quickly completed my sit-ups and push-ups while trying to entertain the puppy at the same time. I don’t have the heart to re-pen her. The time I spend with Frankie is coming from my morning PC budget. Anymore, I’ll bet I don’t spend more than 2 or 3 minutes online. That’s OK, though … at least for a while. I did meditation and stretching before our second outing. And yes, I had to contend with Frankie crawling on and about me during. After another successful outing, Frankie and I delivered Mindy’s coffee. It was 620am. I was slightly ahead of the clock hitting the door for my run by 635am. My back was again a bit better than the day before – just what I hoped for – daily improvement. I ran four miles under cloudy skies and mild temps. It was 54 degrees when I last checked. I was back at home by 710am. Mindy was just getting ready to fry my eggs and asked if I wanted to do it myself. No thanks – continue as normal. Meanwhile, Bella had just brought the puppy in from yet another outing. This time she said she pooped. Good! Frankie followed me towards the PC, but then diverted under the dining room table. Odd, I thought. I went for a closer looks. Yep, she was peeing! No - Dammit. I wasn’t happy. I shared my frustrated feelings with Mindy. Feel like I’m right back where we were with Ykraps. Bella wasn’t pleased with me and gave me a very disparaging glance. She followed that up by moving down another place setting at our breakfast table so not to be next to me. I let her know that I wouldn’t tolerate a disrespectful tone or attitude. She straightened up right away. Perhaps I overacted to the accident, but I didn’t see anyone else making overtures to clean it up. Mindy allowed the kids to wear shorts. The high was expected to reach into the 80’s. Mindy left at 730am but not before throwing a roast in the crock pot. She asked me to tend to the bottom cardboard then reminded the kids to bus home with Noah. Bella kept the puppy while I headed for a shower. We regrouped downstairs at 755am. Frankie was content to rest in her pen with the door left opened. We headed out. After the kids were on the bus I headed home for some final prep. I closed the door on Frankie’s pen just before leaving. Work started out OK but quickly became overwhelmingly busy. Once again, I didn’t get a lunch. My boss came by mid-day and told me to make it a point to leave early and spend time with Mindy. The gesture was nice, but the afternoon got so busy that I just couldn’t leave. In fact, I didn’t leave until 7pm or after. It was crazy. I talked with Mindy a couple of times. She invited my dad for dinner and he was already there. I advised Mindy that they should proceed without me. It felt great to finally get out of the office. Again, it was after 7pm. I was hungry and tired. Any thought of cutting the lawn was now out of the question. The rain plaguing us for the past three days seemed to be gone and there was even a smattering of sunshine, although still shrouded by ominous looking clouds. Mowing will have to wait until Saturday - what a treat. Greeted Dad after arriving home. He’s fresh back form Florida. Said temps hovered around 90 everyday. Enjoyed himself. Dad and Mindy sat with me while I ate. We chatted about a number of things, including Glenn’s new full-time job status at MHCC. We’re all very excited and happy for him. Dad hung out until almost 8pm. That came around fast considering my late arrival. After Dad departed for home, Mindy and I walked down to the neighbors. Chrissy’s leaving for 4 days. Mindy wanted to say goodbye. I poured a bourbon and Coke. Mindy took a Sam Adams Imperial Stout. We didn’t stay too long. At home, we got the kids showers underway. And while the kids showered, I updated my blog. I headed up to tuck the kids into bed with Frankie in tow. It was 920pm. I collapsed on the sofa and tuned to the Earth Channel where I caught a program about nature and climate. Mindy joined me, but only briefly. She headed up to bed 15 minutes in front of me. I fell asleep like always. After waking, I put Frankie in her pen. She didn’t whine once. Good night!