My Day of Leisure

I slept about as long as I could, and by the time I made it downstairs it was 715a. To help Mindy out, I fried Bella an egg. Mindy didn’t want one. Not sure what Jacob ate for breakfast. While the pan heated for Bella’s egg, I whipped out my sit-ups and push-ups. And like any other morning, I didn’t have coffee until the calisthenics were behind me too. Jacob took Frankie out for her morning walk. Thanks Jacob! It felt good to feel no pressure to hurry. This was my on-call comp day, after all. After seeing the kids onto the bus, I planned to run, work in the yard a little, and then golf with the Bob’s. I played on the PC until it was bus stop time. We headed out around 757a. Frankie and Woody went at it. After the kids were safely on the bus, Frankie and I walked again in the back yard. We weren’t out too long. Inside, I updated my blog and downloaded a batch of photos from last night’s Sarah Mclachlan show. I stayed busy until just after 9a. At that point I deemed it time to run. Despite the fact that it was supposed to flirt with 70 degrees later in the day, it was still pretty chilly, and only 33 degrees. I dressed in my regular winter garb complete with hand and ear covers. Sun glasses were a must. It was sunny & bright. I put my two new sweaters in the washer just before heading out. And judging by the smell of my current running clothes, I planned to wash then later as well.  I ran the full 4.1 mile track, and felt really good. I was back home at 947a. The Bob’s and I made plans to meet at Split Rock at 130p. That meant I had two hours to work in the yard, or anything else for that matter. I ate what remained of Mindy’s Sunday omelet then headed out to the yard. With a limited amount of time, I planned to trim back some honeysuckle bushes and then blow away the scattered leaf fall that’s accumulated since Sunday. The honeysuckle trimmings piled up quickly. I was genuinely shocked at the size of the pile I amassed in about 30 minutes. I walked 4 or 5 loads back to the compost pile by hand. The last, and the biggest, I pulled via the tarp. I stacked the cut branches on the wall I’ve formed along a drainage ditch. It was already 1115a. Next, I got out my gas powered leaf blower and headed out front where I blew most of the leaves out into the street and along the curb. Heading around back, I blew what one might deem as light scattered leaf fall to the ponds edge all the way from the deck back to the kids tree house. Fairly simple and quick. Now almost noon, I headed inside to shower and ready for golf. Where had the morning gone? I planned to leave close to 1240p. After a shower I threw my dirty running clothes in the washer and my new sweaters in the dryer. I took the sweaters out before I left. I loaded my clubs into the BM’er and departed for Split Rock right on schedule. I wore a thin, long-sleeved wicking shirt, shorts, and my Vikings pullover. The air was still a tad chilly, especially noticeable boring down the freeway with the top down. I arrived at Split Rock around 115p. No sign of either Bob yet. I got a cart and paid my fees then practiced some putting. The Bobs arrived around 135p, or just when I was starting to think perhaps I had the wrong venue. Bob I is often a last minute arrival guy, but Bob B is frequently early. We tee’d off #1 around 145p. The course looked a bit odd, absent of the usual tree foliage and also with lots of brown rough. I drove well all day long, and played bogey golf. Which expecting much better would only lead to disappointment. I had a couple double bogeys sprinkled in but made up for them with a handful of pars. I think I shot a 91, but the funny thing is, I wasn’t hitting my irons that well, and struggled with my three wood, too. Probably the biggest help was my scoring on the par 3’s. Oh, and I had two lost balls. We finished 18 just in the nick of time – 525p There wasn’t enough sunlight to play even one more hole. This time of year, once that sun starts its descent, it goes down fast and cools off in a hurry. My vision was toast too. Eyes were dry. I called Mindy to let her know that we were finished and that I would soon be home. She mentioned that my dad was there for dinner. They’d wait for me. We didn’t hang out long at all. I drove home with the top still down. The western sky was to-die-for gorgeous. I arrived home at exactly 6p. Dad was sitting in his usual spot while Mindy began dishing up plates of meatloaf. It smelt terrific. Jacob was already eating leftover chili. I guess he didn’t want the meatloaf. Dinner was good. Aside from the small sliver of leftover omelet, I hadn’t eaten anything else all day long. I had a very small second portion of meatloaf – maybe 3 or 4 bites. I started dinner clean-up around 630p. Mindy broke out the leftover fudge her mom sent home. My dad enjoyed it much. Mindy joked that it was how hers was supposed to turn out. I had the kitchen back in order ahead of 7p. Jacob asked us to play Apples to Apples. Everyone agreed top play except for Bella. She was busy with something else. Dad agreed to one match only. Jacob was fired up and even a bit unruly - definitely annoying. I thought Mindy might deck him a time or two. Ironically, the first topic card he called out was "Annoying". We all got a chuckle out of that. Suddenly, he wanted to quit, recognizing that he was the butt of the joke. Dad, I could tell, felt bad and worked his magic on his ego. Jacob eventually opted back in. The game took a while, mostly due to Jacob fooling around. I’m pretty sure that Mindy won. I think everyone was happy that the game was over. Now approaching 8p, Dad quickly readied and left for home. He and Mindy discussed him getting the kids off the bus next Wednesday so we can attend parent/teacher conferences for both. Meanwhile, my hamstrings were aching something fierce. I headed out to check the water level of the hot tub. Down, but still in the acceptable range, I removed the cover and put in some chlorine. Hot tubbing was just what the doctor ordered. Bella saw me in my trunks and asked if she could join. Sure. That eventually turned into everyone, although I was in first. We hot tubbed as a family for the next 20-25 minutes. And while it didn’t fully cure my aching hamstrings, it felt terrific. After getting into my PJ’s, I settled down on the sofa. It must’ve been near 845p. I tuned into the Blue Jackets game already in progress. There was nothing else of interest on. The Jackets were ahead 4-0 at the time. Within the next five minutes I saw 3 more goals, two for us, and one for them. And even though the Jackets were ahead 6-1, by no means was I convinced that they would win. I fell asleep at some point, and woke later to an empty downstairs – no Mindy and no kids. The Blue Jackets game had just ended. They won 8-1. I mustered the energy to put Frankie in her pen, shut down the house, and head off to bed.