Emotional Rescue

Despite feeling a tad achy and tired, I still managed to roll out of bed just ahead of 530a. And why not? I had every reason to be excited. It was Monday, and that brought with it an opportunity to watch my beloved Vikings on MNF, the first such opportunity since opening night, September 9th. I was soon downstairs gazing out the back door towards the sky. As expected, there was a clear sky. I took my Dexilant, put in some eye drops, then started my exercise regimen. Bothering me was my right hamstring. I decided to take a couple Advil to take the edge off. In between sit-ups and push-ups I read headlines and checked the weather. Expecting a high in the upper 80’s. However, if correct, this will be the last really warm day for a while, if not the year. Heading back to near normal over the next ten days and with little to no rain in sight. I took Frankie outside after exercise and meditation. She was very slow to take care of business. We ran into Kenny & Woody out doing the same thing. Back inside I took five minutes to stretch then delivered both the pug and a cup of coffee upstairs to Mindy. It was almost 745am by the time I left for my run. Not sure where all the time went. It was around 55 degrees. I wore long running pants and a thick wicking shirt. That proved ideal attire. I was comfortable throughout, and ran the full 4.1 mile track successfully. Mindy seemed a little stressed back at home. She was running behind schedule. Didn’t sit down to eat her breakfast until 730a, her typical departure time. The kids and I soon headed upstairs, me to shower and the kids to brush their teeth and tidy up their rooms. Frankie joined me in the master bath. We were ready to go by 755a. As usual, I cleaned up the breakfast mess before heading out. Kenny was out with the girls and Woody. Bus arrived on time – 805a – like clock work. I walked Frankie around the back yard again quickly. She didn’t go. Inside, I readied all of my gear then departed by 820a in my shiny clean BM’er. I arrived at the office just after 835a. It was a lovely walk into the building. Despite the unusual warmth, the unmistakable smell of autumn hung heavy in the air – dry leaves. The work day was relatively quiet for a Monday. After taking care of the typical Monday morning administrative stuff, I took care of some personal matters. First, I took a call from XM radio on my Droid. It was a recording asking me to call a specific number for customer care. I figured it to be about disconnecting my service. I decided to call. Once again, I got Ivy, the same girl that I talked to 2.5 weeks ago and let her know we weren’t interested in keeping the service at the full price. She never did have our service disconnected. This time, she wanted to confirm my desires once more. Yes, please disco the service unless you can offer me the introductory rate permanently. She quickly advised that she wasn't authorized to make such changes but could adjust my pending bill. She also advised that she couldn’t do the actual disconnect. Instead, she transferred me to a girl that could. I was transferred to Lynda, who was quite pleasant and friendly, and located in Iowa. Ivy, I could tell, was from another country, likely the Phillipines. Lynda and I discussed the exceptional late Midwest summer weather. She was enjoying it too. Moving onto business, she wanted to understand our reason for discontinuing the XM service. Too pricey for the amount/time of use we get. I offered that we would consider keeping the service if it was billed at the promotional rate of $4 month. Without even a pause, Lynda offered me another 5 months for $20 ($23.05 with music royalties and tax). I accepted. We’re good now through March 11, 2011. Feeling good about our resolution, I thought I'd try calling the water company to finally resolve our billing dispute. Unfortunately, their offices were closed for Columbus Day. Perhaps tomorrow. Still not done, I scheduled the BM’er for an oil change at Blagoi’s. I tried calling MAG first, but got stuck in their phone labyrinth. I was warned of that by others. Anyway, Blagoi’s will do it for less cash and also while I wait as long as I am there at 8am Friday. It felt good having those issues dealt with. Hard to believe. but looming just around the corner is boat winterization. Hardly seems possible. I ended up working straight through the day after thinking I might go to Lowe’s to buy some primer for the smart wood trim we used on the tree house. I decided to do that another day. The afternoon went fast. Mindy called around 330p, or soon after leaving school. Reminded me that it was a Jimaken Monday. She was planning to stop and take an impromptu hike at Darby Battelle Park. We talked about our dinner plans, which were to have the leftover steak from Sunday. Mindy invited the neighbors down to dine with us. They talked about watching the first half of the Vikings game with us as well. Things nicely under control, I left work around 510p. It looked nice and sunny as I exited the building but there was a small, dark, yet innocent looking cloud hovering directly overhead. Almost on queue, it started shedding giant rain drops. My biggest concern was not that my top was down, but instead that the BM’er would get rain spots after washing it Saturday. I got in the BM’er and started off for home not bothering to put the top up. By the time that I turned out of the parking lot the rain was coming down even harder. I looked like fool sitting at the light with my top down. Come on light, change! The aerodynamics body style keeps the interior dry as long as you’re moving about 30 mph. However, setting still is a different story. Lucky for me, it was just a small cloud burst, and I was quickly out from under it and back in the sunshine. I arrived home just after 530p. Mindy acted surprised when I asked if it had rained, and then shared that it rained on me. She said she didn’t really feel like making dinner preferring instead to go to Barley’s. That wasn’t to be. Mindy eventually decided to slice up all the leftover steak and make fajitas burritos. That sounded good to me. While Mindy sliced and cooked, I walked Frankie and fooled around on my PC. I walked Frankie for almost 20 minutes with no joy. Mindy said she hadn’t gone since she arrived home. Hmm? The neighbors came down for dinner around 620p. They brought Jake, Makayla & Woody. Lillian was at her mother’s. We enjoyed the dinner. Mindy made black beans and rice too, and I got out my fresh salsa. I’m not positive, but don’t think anyone else ate it besides me. That’s OK. More for me! While eating, Frankie peed on the throw rug by the deck door. I wasn’t happy after just taking her out for 20 minutes. She knew she was in trouble. I put her in her pen while I cleaned up the mess. Mindy blamed her mishap on her paying attention to Woody. After finishing dinner, Kenny and I took both pugs out on their leashes. Kenny walked over by his own house to allow Woody to relieve himself. They rarely will go while the other‘s nearby. Too much activity, I guess. I headed back inside expecting Kenny to soon follow. He never did. At the time, I wasn't sure what happened. I went ahead and cleaned the kitchen up, which took at least 20 minutes, maybe longer. Mindy headed up to change into comfy clothes and her Brett Favre jersey ahead of the game. Chrissy eventually decided to go home and check on Kenny. Said she be back for the start of the game. Jimaken brought the kids home around 745p. Jacob started in about the Vikings almost immediately. He’s relentless. He went up and put on his Brown’s jersey. Heck, I didn’t care. Chrissy showed up shortly after 8pm with two beers in hand. Said Kenny was home stuck on the toilet. Said dinner did him in. Hmm? Nobody else was ill or having issues. The Viking game was supposed to kick-off at 830p from the Meadowlands in New Jersey, but due to a severe thunderstorm in the area, the NFL postponed the start for 45 minutes – very rare. There was heavy rain and lightning. They filled the 45 minutes with ‘expert’ banter. Blah, blah, blah. The game kicked off at 915p. By then, Mindy had sent the kids to bed and headed up to tuck ‘em in. Bella, especially, needed a good night’s sleep. Chrissy headed home with Makayla too. Only I witnessed the opening kick-off. The Vikings got the ball first and at their own 40 after the opening kick-off sailed out of bounds. Cool! The first play was a bit of trickery, Randy Moss taking a reverse then throwing a pass to Favre. It looked to net the Vikings a first down, but a penalty was called - foreshadowing things to come. The Vikings offense was just that – offensive for the first 2.5 quarters. They couldn’t do anything right. The Jets lead at halftime 9-0. It could’ve been way worse – should’ve been. I actually dosed off at the half, but woke just as the Vikings were returning a Jets punt to mid-field giving us excellent field position with 12 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. Right on queue, the Vikings squandered another opportunity by fumbling away the first snap. Briefly, I considered turning off the game and heading to bed, but something deep inside told me to stay tuned. However, not sure why, because up until then, the Vikings hadn’t done anything at all, and had maybe 50 total yards, that’s it! But sure enough, the Vikings went on a tear over the next 20 minutes throwing 3 touchdown passes. They suddenly started playing like champs. I was entertained. The only wrinkle was that the Jets snuck a touchdown in there too and still had a slim 22-20 lead with 2 minutes to go in the game. Just as I hoped, the Vikings got the ball back with an opportunity to drive for a winning score. Unfortunately, the football gods weren’t smiling on the Vikings much longer. After an unfortunate over throw to a wide open Percy Harvin that may very well have earned the Vikings an uncontested TD, Favre threw a pick-6 sealing the win for the Jets. I was disappointed but oddly also euphoric. I had just been entertained – taken to the very edge of my emotional boundaries. Where else can you get that? Brett Favre has a knack for doing that. Always gives us a chance, and for that I am grateful. It was just after 1230a. I knew it would be hard to fall asleep after such an adrenaline rush, but I headed to bed anyway. Maybe next week Vikes!