Heavy Rain & Quite Warm

Day two of class, I was up and downstairs just ahead of 530a. Without glancing outdoors, I could tell that it was raining. That was apparent by the pounding against the family room skylights. I slipped into my exercise tennies then whipped out my sit-ups and later my push-ups. In between the two, I checked the weather forecast as well as the headlines. It was a balmy 53 degrees with an expected high of near 60. I saw that the 49ers won the MNF game 27-6. Not much scoring after I fell asleep. I enjoyed coffee ahead of taking Frankie out for a walk. When we finally headed out the rain had all but stopped. Our backyard was a swampy mess with more water collected along the flower beds than I've ever seen before. The upper backyard was a puddle, too. We walked to the middle backyard where Frankie took care of her business. Like I often do, I encouraged her back to the house merely by mentioning the word 'treat'. Works almost every time. It was already 608a. Where had the first 35 minutes gone? I spent another ten minutes meditating then another five stretching. I headed up to our room with Frankie and coffee a minute or two later. Mindy was just moving towards a shower. I dressed in light winter attire minus the gloves and ear covers. It was sprinkling but also with a gusty breeze blowing oddly enough from the SE. The clouds were moving fast from the same direction. I ran the full 4.1 miles without anything significant to mention. That's a good thing. Back from my run around 710-715a, Mindy and the kids were downstairs and in the kitchen. Mindy made scrambled eggs topped with cheese. Bella was on the sofa pouting. Jacob was eager to share that she was scared of the wind, worried we might have a tornado. She had tears in her eyes. I knew the fear was real despite what we said to try and calm her. She's been overly worried about such things ever since the September tornado ordeal. She even went as far to point our one of the ash trees in the middle back yard. She was worried that it might blow over as it swayed in the breeze. In reality, however, the breeze wasn't blowing anymore than 8 mph. Hardly enough to blow even the weakest of trees over. All kidding aside, the last thing I wanted to do was invalidate her fears. Instead, I simply reassured her that we'd be OK and that the likelihood of a late November tornado while possible were remote. She seemed comforted by my words of reassurance but remained clingy. Mindy asked the kids to bus home with Noah again. Not sure why. She left the house around 730a. I headed off to the shower around 733a. I was back downstairs preparing my lunch less than 20 minutes later. The kids made their way downstairs a few minutes later. By then my lunch was completely prepared and stowed. We headed out to the bus stop a few minutes later. Bella wore her heavier fall jacket despite me advising against it. Oddly enough, I think it made her feel safer, although I don't know. Kenny was at the bus stop with the girls. I asked how the Monday hunt went. Said he shot and hit a deer but that he only wounded it and it got away. Apparently his hunting mates were going back today to try and track it while Kenny takes care of some business matters. He said he'd be heading back out on Wednesday. For the time being, it looked like the skies were gonna clear up, at least part way. To lighten things up, we shared that we saw a buck in our own back yard the night before during dinner. Jacob spotted it while preparing to take Frankie out and pointed it out to the rest of us. After the bus picked up the kids, I walked Frankie a little while longer out front. She pooped and peed again. Good girl! I let for class around 820a. Not much different than a typical work day. It started to rain again during my drive north towards New Horizons. I'm pretty sure I was the first one into the classroom again. At any rate, I organized myself by sitting out my snacks, water bottle and course material then headed for the restroom. Steve, the instructor, picked up where we left off Monday shortly after 9a. We first did a little review and then a case study. I tried my best to stay interested/focused. I poked around on the internet a little but managed to stay engaged through morning break. During break, I got a cup of coffee, something I rarely do mid-morning these days. As promised, the material began to make a little more sense. Not sure if that was because of the material itself or if I was just getting used to it. Probably a combination of both. Steve was very punctual with our breaks. Lunch began at 1155a. Asked that we be back by 110p. Cool! Just before heading out for lunch, I stopped by the reception desk and once again asked for my course receipt. I'll need that to get my money back via tuition assistance. Despite the fact that it was raining fairly heavily, I headed out and ventured down the road to the Dublin Wal-Mart, just like I did the day before. This time, however, I bought nothing. Instead, I browsed the Xmas decorations and toys looking, gathering ideas for the Gkids. I was gonna buy a string of battery powered Xmas lights that changed colors for Jacob's bedroom, but the only clerk in the Xmas department said she wasn't trained on running the register. She was kind about it. Said she'd help if she could. I thought better of walking all the way across the store to the main registers especially given that I was parked just outside the garden section, which also doubles as the Xmas shop come autumn. I'd been gone about 40 minutes. I headed on back to New Horizons. Steve asked us to complete some sample test questions which we planned to discuss after lunch. I spent my time doing them once back in the classroom. Like all the questions before, the answers were not immediately available in the text. Instead, one had to deduce the answer, and if that's not tough enough, then had to choose the one that some nebulous body deemed the most right, as there are often three correct answers. I have never liked that type of testing. Who says one answer is more right than the other? I mean, if it's not taken directly from the material then it's subjective and based solely on opinion. But it is what it is. We breezed through the remainder of the material just like the day before. We covered lots of stuff. Just like the day before, we finished up just ahead of 345p, but then did a brief review session, which I stayed for. It lasted until 4p or so. Just before heading out Steve reviewed Wednesday's agenda. Said we'd have quiet time until 10a and then 2 hours of review/discussion. Then, any time after 12 noon we'd be welcome to take the certification test, which normally costs $160 by itself, but was included in the tuition for me. He encouraged us to study through the evening if at all possible. Not wanting to risk failure, or having to eat my tuition costs, I was determined to study and pass the test on my first crack Wednesday. I called Mindy on my drive home. She was at Targhetto picking up some odds and ends. I arrived home before she and the kids, and had the dish washer unloaded, coffee prepped, and Frankie walked before they arrived home. It was still raining, by the way. There were no immediate dinner plans discussed, and Mindy needed to run Bella to gymnastics at 550p. I started studying right away while also snacking on pita chips. Jacob opted to ride along with Mindy. Mindy and Jacob were gone for about 20 minutes. I figured they must've stopped for food. After studying for about 45 minutes, I warmed some leftover turkey to have as my dinner. I was just finishing my turkey when Mindy & Jacob returned. They stopped at Taco Bell. Said they got some extra tacos should I want them. Nope! Mindy wasn't home long before she needed to head off to fetch Bella. After a 30 minute break, I decided it time to start studying again. I was getting a little antsy worrying about the test and all the material I needed to study in preparation. And once Mindy & the kids were back home again, it was next to impossible for me to focus with the incessant noise. Truth is, it was driving me up a wall. At some point near 8p, I gave up and took my study materials up to our bedroom where I could at least have some quiet. Mindy wasn't too pleased with my storming off, but I had to do what I had to do. The bedroom doesn't offer the most hospitable conditions for study, but for the time being it was the quietest place in the house. I made do. I studied until 915p. My then my mind was mush. I tucked the kids into bed then headed back downstairs where I wanted nothing more than to veg for a while. I did just that on the sofa while watching the NatGeo channel, something about asteroids/comets. I started drifting off to sleep by 945p. At 1030p I secured the downstairs and headed up to bed still a little worried about this stupid test on Wednesday.