Fire, Water, and Me

After almost 10.5 hours of sleep, I was up well before 530am for the first time since Mindy’s been out of school, although I had a case of that familiar grogginess often associated with too much sleep. Thankfully, it quickly abated. Our summer schedule leaves me an opportunity to sleep a bit later without repercussion. Downstairs, I put in some eye drops, started the coffee maker (its program has been screwed up since the power outage last Friday), and choked down a One-A-Day vitamin. Because the upper side of my right wrist was bothering me, I decided not to aggravate it any more by doing push-ups. There’s a small bump there, similar to the ganglion cyst on my lower wrist. I first remember feeling some aching there after hitting a mega bucket of golf balls at the range a couple weeks back. I opened Frankie’s cage, but like she often does these days, remained inside while I carried on with coffee and internet time. She finally joined me while I was at the PC and seemed full of energy. I quickly coaxed her to the back door and outside where she took care of business – pooped three times! It was very sultry, lots of moisture in the air with temperature already hovering near 70. I’d be running in shorts alone. Inside, I completed a meditation and stretch routine. That took me up to 6:30am when I dressed for a run. Frankie went cooperatively to her pen. Good dog! It was a very good 4-mile run that was completed with ease. Back home I started breakfast and freed Frankie once again from her pen. I made a spinach, cheese, and bacon-bit omelet. It was good. It appeared we were out of English muffins. Rather than run to the cellar to check for more, I opted for a couple slices of Bella’s cinnamon bread toasted. After a quiet breakfast I poured Mindy some coffee and headed upstairs with Frankie. Mindy was sound asleep. I felt bad laying Frankie in bed with her. She attacked her face. I warned Mindy that she was full of energy this morning after being so lethargic the day before. Just as I had anticipated, Mindy remained firmly entrenched in bed when I headed downstairs. She looked exhausted. I ended up driving the Trooper but for no good reason. Could’ve/should’ve driven the BM’er. I took my monthly bills to work with intentions of scheduling their payment online, desiring to have that out of the way prior to vacation. Also, before leaving the house I printed off our car rental reservation confirmation. Work was so busy that I got lost in time. The day flew by. And for the second day in a row, I didn’t bother taking a lunch break, but as with most days, I ate my packed lunch at from my desk. I talked with Mindy sometime during the early afternoon. The kids had friends over playing. Jacob and Evan were fishing. Nothing major going on at home. Mindy shared that we’d be having leftovers for dinner. She knew I planned to cut the lawn, wanted to know if I cared to eat before or after the lawn work. After. Work was crazy busy through the late afternoon. I wasn’t able to get away until 545pm. I arrived home just after 6pm. Mindy was outside with Frankie. Asked how I liked my new Born shoes. I like them - very comfy. I snacked on cheese before heading out to cut the lawn. I wasn’t really looking forward to it, but I knew it needed done. I’ll most likely cut it again on Friday. It was fairly steamy too – 86, sunny and humid. Following last week’s new routine, I cut the back slope first then the entire front with the push mower. I worked up one heck of a sweat. After an hour or so I hopped on the Deere and finished the back. It felt heavenly to ride versus push. While ride cutting, Kenny stopped over to borrow my Sawz-all. They’re having all new hardwood floors put down while on vacation and he’s in the process of ripping all the existing lower level flooring up. Said they’ve been at it all day long. After putting away both mowers I moved directly to blowing purposefully skipping the whacking and edging, figuring that I’d be doing that on Friday when I cut again. While blowing off the lawn, Mindy and Jacob headed out with Frankie on a leash walk. After their return 20 minutes later I asked Mindy if she would water the rear flowers. I needed to cool down. I puttered around the yard while she watered. She finished 30 minutes later. Before shutting down the hose, I topped off the hot tub, which is working fine but leaking at a rate of about 2 inches every three days. Mindy made herself some leftovers after our yard work. By then, I had already snacked on potato chips and cheese chunks and wasn’t that hungry. After eating, Mindy headed off to Kroghetto and Targhetto to pick up a couple things. Included on her list was some picture wire so she can finish hanging the sports related artwork in Jacob’s new room. She recently reframed a Woody Hayes poster I gave him along with a commemorative Blue Jackets poster from their inaugural season that he got from his daddy. When Mindy returned she asked if I was up for hanging the wall shelves in his room. I wasn’t up for anything but rest. She went at it alone while I played on my PC. After about an hour or so she asked me to come up and take a look. Looked good, however, I didn’t care for the placement of the Blue Jacket poster. Offered an alternative. Come 9pm the kids were busy getting ready for bed. I popped some popcorn for the first time in a week or more. Bella sniffed it out and soon joined me for some on the sofa. We hoped to watch some gripping Science Channel programming but were disappointed to find nothing all that appealing. Frankie joined us too. She loves popcorn just like us. After the kids were tucked into bed Mindy and I watched a show about how water and fire have shaped the Earth’s recent history. Interesting perspective. I started to dose around 10pm but stayed up until almost 11pm.