Paint & the Pumpkin Patch

I got little more than 4.5 hours sleep waking just ahead of 530a. I toyed briefly with the idea of purposefully oversleeping but quickly nixed it. Because of being short slept, I dealt with a foggy head for most of my early AM workout. Coffee helped minimally. Frankie was tired too. She didn't want to exit her opened pen initially. I eventually coaxed her out around 615a, shortly after meditation. But like she has the past couple of days, she showed more interest in playing than anything else. She eventually pooped but didn’t pee. That had me somewhat concerned, at least for the carpet’s sake.  Inside I did my stretch then prepped and delivered Mindy’s coffee. I thought about re-penning Frankie, but in the end let her follow me upstairs to the master bath and Mindy. I left for my run a few minutes later. It was almost 645a by the time I walked out the door. It was 55 degrees under clear skies. I wore long running pants and a winter wicking shirt. I was cozy. I ran the full 4.1 miles and felt really good despite being under slept. I thought about the Vikings near miss the night before and how nice it would’ve been had they pulled off the unlikely comeback. Time to move on, however. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about where I spend most of my time. Not so much physically, but instead mentally. Like a lot of folks, I often catch myself thinking/worrying about the past and/or future. When I do that, I realize that I am missing what’s truly relevant – the now, the only opportunity I have to make an impact. And many of the things I tend to worry about, never come to fruition anyhow, thus the energy expended worrying is wasted. With that thought in mind. I am trying to keep or divert my attention directed on the present. As is often the case when I do such deep thinking, the run was over in a hurry. I perused the new sod after my run just to make sure it was looking healthy. It was. Inside, Mindy had my eggs ready and waiting. The kids were both at the table already too. Mindy was a bit perturbed with Frankie. Uh-oh, I knew what was coming. Said she destroyed a fresh roll of toilet paper and also pee’d in the upstairs hallway. Yep, figured she would do that. Mindy shared her displeasure for me not forewarning her. Good point. Mindy reminded the kids to bus home with Noah and then asked if I planned to join them for the hayride/pumpkin event from 5-7pm. I reminded mindy that I wouldn’t be home until near 6pm. She acknowledged and said they’d wait. I didn’t commit either way. I was soon off to the shower while the kids to tended to their dental hygiene as well as their rooms. We were ready to go by 755a. I was feeling pretty good for such little sleep. We headed out for the bus just ahead of 8a. Chrissy joined us along with her girls. She commented about the Viking game. I shared my thoughts, basically stating that I was sorry they lost, but equally entertained by their dramatic, Favre-like comeback. She didn’t see it. Fell asleep early. I thought I might drive the BM’er. After all, it was supposed to be another sunny and warm day with highs near 80. I even went through the trouble of wetting the car washing shami and wiping it down to remove yesterday’s rain spots. Neighbor Carl joined me in the garage as I prepared to depart. At the same time I noticed the sky graying over quickly. Carl wanted to tell me about the city worker hovering about our yard last week. I shared that it must’ve been the water dude. I wasn’t concerned. We talked for about ten minutes. I knew I’d be late for work. As I prepared to depart I had a change of heart. I decided to take the Trooper instead. The gray sky was actually fog, and it was fairly heavy, too. It seemingly came out of nowhere. My entire drive was highlighted by moderately heavy fog. I even had to run my wipers. Work was busier than the past couple of days but still manageable. I decided not to call the water department given that this was their first day back after the Columbus Day holiday. As 1pm neared, I decided to make a trip to Home Depot to look at paint and stain for the tree house. I am pretty much set on staining the tree house the same color as our home’s deck. That in mind, I wanted to find exterior paint for the smart-wood trim to closely match the stain. I grabbed a few paint chips that looked close so that I could compare to my deck at home. Store lighting can be deceiving. I figured to need only a quart, and the paint I’ll likely use is Behr’s paint and primer all-in-one. Before leaving Home Depot, I browsed several other aisles, but more for the quiet escape it offered. I always enjoy that. I headed back to the office after spending nearly 55 minutes away. The afternoon was largely and thankfully uneventful. I didn’t hear from Mindy until sometime after 5pm. I was surprised to learn that she and the kids were preparing to leave for the hayride. I had actually decided to try and hurry home to join them, but must admit, more out of feeling obligated than a strong desire. I was pretty tired from a lack of sleep. The alone time at home would provide an opportunity to nap. That sounded awfully good. Mindy mentioned that they would most likely stop for dinner afterwards. Wanted to know if I was interested in her grabbing me something. I was not. I left work at 530p and headed straight home. I arrived around 550p. After taking care of my lunch containers and Wednesday’s coffee, I spent time on my PC doing some banking and other home management tasks. Next, I took Frankie out for a walk, both in the back yard but then also out front and down the walk a ways. She took care of business. When we got back, I took to watering the back yard flowers and topping off the hot tub. It was down about 7 inches after going ten days without adding any. That’ll be a real issue come winter. At this point I am committed to watering our flowers until the first hard freeze. The petunias are largely spent but the others still look nice and have new blooms bursting about them. I watered the new sod too even though it gets hit by the irrigation system early AM. It looked a tad dry. Inside, I grabbed some chunks of cheese and pita chips then went back to my PC, only this time to work on my blog. It was 7p. There wouldn’t likely be a nap after all. Mindy & the kids got home within ten minutes of sitting down at the PC. They were excited. They brought home a few pumpkins for carving. Mindy brought home Wendy’s, and even called ahead to ask if I was interested in some. No, I wasn’t. I was hungry, but planned to eat leftover – leftovers. I made a steak fajita. It was good. While eating, Bella did her required reading aloud – ten minutes worth. As we neared the end, we made a game out of it. I had to guess the subject of the sentence, and then I asked her to try reading her book backwards, from the end. In jest, I suggested she do so when called upon to read in class. These days, however, she would likely be diagnosed with some odd disorder - backward dyslexia.  Both kids were in bed by 830p. After tucking them in, I went and laid quietly on the family room floor and did some light stretching. It felt great. I eventually made my way to the livingroom where I did some reading. As anticipated, it put me to sleep. Mindy woke me around 930p on her way to bed. I was ready too, and followed closely behind. I was really tired.