Still Stings

After getting to bed approximately 90 minutes late the night before, I woke only five minutes later than normal. Not bad. I felt pretty good too, although the fact that the Vikings lost still stung a little. Like most fans, I love and appreciate it when they win. I hit the go button on the coffee maker then started my calisthenics, first 55 sit-ups then 55 push-ups. Once again I remembered to do my windmills ahead of push-ups. Helps big! I opened Frankie’s pen next, but she didn’t bother coming out. It’s not uncommon for her to remain there until I go to the familyroom to meditate. Then she comes out for affection/attention. I checked the weather. It was 61 degrees, far warmer than I expected. There was a thin layer clouds too, but not enough to block the moon’s warm glow. Frankie took care of business fairly quick. We headed back inside for a treat. I started stretching at 620a, which is slightly ahead of my usual pace. It was 630a when I handed Frankie and coffee off to Mindy. By the time I was fully prepared for my run it was 635a, and after another quick stretch of my legs from the front porch I set out for the 4.1 mile run. I felt really good and ran almost effortlessly. At times I became so immersed in thought that I lost track of where I was. The time seemed to fly. Mindy and Jacob were in the kitchen when I returned. Jacob was just finishing a bowl of cereal. Mindy had my fried eggs ready and waiting. Bella was slow to join us and even slower to decided what she wanted to eat. I named off 6 or 7 options all of which she nixed. If I recall correctly, she eventually opted for donuts. By then, I had to get them for her, because Mindy had already departed for school. I headed up for a shower at 735a while Bella ate her donuts. Bella tossed Frankie in the master suite with me on her way to her room to complete chores. I was downstairs readying to depart by 753a. The kids weren’t far behind. As usual, Bella was dragging behind. Bill was at the bus stop with Makayla. Kenny & Chrissy weren’t expected home from their weekend trip until later in the evening. Bill shared that Woody was stung by a bee over the weekend. Another nice day in store, I toyed again with driving the BM’er but opted not at the last minute. I took a few extra minutes to scribble a check for my mom and then straighten the kitchen before heading off to work. Trooper’s getting low on gas. However, I decided to pass on refueling before my drive in. Maybe on the way home. I listened to Deepak during the short commute. Work was tame, especially for a Monday. I brought a banana and cheese, and already had a couple cans of tuna fish in my office. I ate only the banana and cheese. I never got too hungry. I heard from Mindy late in the afternoon. Apparently Noah went home from school ill, so Jacob phoned to alert Mindy. That meant the kids wouldn’t be busing home with Noah. Mindy ended up calling my dad for help getting the kids off the bus again. He agreed and brought Tommy and Wally along with him. They were all staying for dinner too. Mindy was making inferno chicken. Back at work, things were quiet. I left for home at 525p. It was a calm drive home. And for whatever reason, traffic was half of what it typically is at that hour. Not sure why. It wasn't a holiday. The first thing I noticed was the garage door fully opened. That didn’t resonate too well with me. That’s a cardinal sin. All it takes is a few seconds for a thief to snatch our stuff. I entered the through the open garage and before even greeting anyone asked who left the door open. Given a do over, I might've greeted everyone first. Mindy admitted that it was her failure. Too busy with dinner I guess. Tongue and cheek, I shared mom's note that basically promised to give me her lottery winnings since I’m the only one who ever helps, her words not mine. The only problem is, she doesn't play the lottery. I hadn’t seen Tommy for quite a while. I’m thinking since Labor Day weekend. Dad shared more about his electrical work with Pete. The breaker he bought fit the existing panel box. Good news! Dinner was served by 615p. Wally sat between Tommy and I, but was careful not to get too close to me. He’s become very shy in that regard, a tad whiney even. The inferno chicken was delicious. The kids weren’t too keen on it, though. Wally and Bella ate hot dogs instead. And Jacob didn’t finish his. They headed out to the tree house and tree swings after dinner. Mindy & Tommy soon followed while I stayed back cleaning up the kitchen. Dad stayed in with me until I was done. Dad & I eventually headed out back to join the others. However, by then it was almost dark. We were only out there for five minutes before everyone headed back towards the house. Dad was soon ready to depart, and mentioned as much to Tommy, who rode over with him. They left around 730p. Mindy had the kids prepare for bed after our company departed. At the same time, I worked on weekend blog material. Just ahead of MNF, Mindy worked with Jacob on a school project. She also questioned him with baited breath about his interactions with Noah. It was apparent to me from her questioning that she had some inside info from Dena, Noah’s mom. Something must've happened. I didn’t butt in, but listened passively while carrying on with my own stuff. I listened to Bella's nightly reading aloud at the same time. After reading, she asked me to teach her how to play guitar. She ponied up beside me with her pink First Act axe. Too cute! I am seriously considering buying her a good used guitar and then talking to my friend Josh about lessons. I like the genuine interest she shows not only in learning to play guitar but also in golf and skiing. She’s definitely a free spirit. The Noah conversation continued. It was sounding more and more like Jacob has been purposefully ostracizing him among peers. My only interjection was that doing so is a form of bullying, something we talk about a lot. However, at the same time, I realize that Jacob’s only ten years old. Getting him to understand that it’s more important to be a true friend than it is to pick a winning team every time is probably a bit beyond his current moral development. But even still, I think communicating what type of behavior we’d like to see from him is important. And thinking back, I probably want to make sure he realizes that we weren’t finding fault as much as we intended to make clear the other options when encountering those situations. We all did similar things at that age. At one point, Jacob came to the balcony while Mindy & I were still downstairs and shared matter of factly that Noah was a ‘pussy’. He saw absolutely nothing wrong with his choice of words. I didn’t quite catch it, but Mindy did. He clarified when asked. Mindy & I both chuckled quietly after correcting his choice of words. This conversation went on until Jacob finally fell asleep for the night. Mindy headed to bed with Dallas seemingly in control of the MNF game. They were up 20-7. I stayed up about 25 minutes longer, long enough to see Tony Romo sacked and out of the game with a broken collar bone. The Giants trailed 20-14 just before half when I headed up to bed. It was just before 10p.