Sunday, January 09, 2011
Infestations
I slept in until 730a, late by my personal standards. I didn’t fret, however. I knew I needed the sleep. I started a pot of coffee then checked in immediately with work. Right away, I had to get involved with a couple lingering issues. I felt about as good as I have for the last 10 days.
As of the night before, we left open the option of skiing. I was torn between skiing and spending a rare day relaxing at home. The weather, meanwhile, was again supreme for skiing – cold, sunny, snowy. I felt it best that we stay home getting some much needed rest. In the end, however, I figured I’d leave it up to Mindy. And given that she was still asleep at 9a, I took that as a good indicator. If we were gonna ski, we talked about getting out early to facilitate an early return.
I didn’t run until almost 930a. By then it had warmed to 9 degrees. It was as cold as 3 degrees when I took Frankie out earlier. Mindy was in the shower when I headed out for my run.
I was jonesing for a big breakfast and thought about putting some bacon in the oven before leaving on my run, but thought better of it. If I still wanted some, we could bake it when I returned. I ran three miles in what were absolutely gorgeous conditions – sunny and cold with nice pad of fresh snow to help cushion the run.
I was back around 10a, and without heading inside, I shoveled the driveway and walks. Because we’d driven on the new snow for two days now, I couldn’t get some of the compressed stuff up. Mindy poked her head into the garage. I asked if she would mind starting the bacon. She agreed. After shoveling the drive I checked in with work. Once again, I had to spend considerable time helping out.
After the bacon was done, I started making an omelet. I had to juggle work while making the eggs.
Breakfast was delicious. After breakfast Mindy prepared to leave for the grocery. Some time late morning, Lindsey called Mindy checking on our plans. Boys wanted to come over. Mindy quizzed her about her status. Still at her mom’s but living on borrowed time. Has to be out this week. Checking with the YMCA for assistance. Will apparently take her and the boys for up to 20 days. Not sure what she’ll do thereafter. She’s still working through the details, but seemingly with little urgency. It can’t end well.
Mindy left for the grocery just as I was beginning to feel nappy. I went to the family room chair with book in hand. I knew that four or five pages in Id be toast, and was. Felt terrific. I read and slept for about 30 minutes, but then got up to check in with work and then make a sandwich. I was determined to get my daily calories.
At some point I got a much needed shower. Prior, I was lingering in my damp, smelly running clothes. Work had its grippers in me for the better part of the afternoon. I watched the early NFL playoff game only passively – Ravens/Chiefs.
Mindy got home around 230p (?). Not 100% positive. At any rate, I helped carry in the groceries. I saw that Mindy carried in our skis from the Honda and had them neatly on their racks. The kids were home near 3p. They headed almost immediately out back to sled with the neighbors. For whatever the reason, I became nappy again. How dare I deny myself the sleep I craved. While i napped, Mindy started dinner, stuffed peppers and mashed potatoes. Sounded good to me.
I slept for another hour maybe, but for some reason felt tormented through the entirety of my nap. Still not sure why. Dinner time came upon us fast. Next thing I knew, Mindy asked me to call the kids inside to eat. The stuffed peppers smelt terrific and tasted equally as good. We had the Packers/Eagles game whirling in the background. Both Jacob and I were pulling for the Eagles.
Dinner was good. Bella ate quite a bit. Jacob, however, did not. Instead, he complained about the taste. During dinner, I gave him an option regarding his next haircut, Stephen or Saturday's. He opted for Saturday's. Hopefully we'll get that done this coming week.
The Eagles and Packers went back and forth until Michael Vick threw an ill advised interception in the endzone to thwart their hopes of a last second comeback. Rats! After dinner, Mindy made Jacob start the homework that he and his dad were supposed to complete over the weekend. Jacob said his dad didn't understand it so he left it unattended. Great! It was long division using decimal dividends and divisors. I had to show Mindy how to move the decimal on both sides to simplify the expression. She thought me wrong at first, but ultimately agreed. Jacob never fully bought in. The 10-12 problems took a couple hours for him to do even with Mindy's help. Not only that, but his penmanship was making it difficult for us to discern his progress.
I suggested he use a separate sheet of paper to give himself more space for each problem. He seemed to like that idea. I went even further to try and help him grip his pencil differently thus producing smaller, more legible numbers. Currently, he chooses not to use his pointer finger tip to guide his pencil. As a consequence, he produces unrecognizable numbers/letters. He apparently didn't like my advice. He purposefully broke the pencil lead then tossed it at me as I walked away. Mindy caught his antics and sent him to his room. :(
Not a good idea, especially considering that Mindy was already angry that he didn't do his homework with his dad. This pushed her over the edge. Turns out, he hadn't taken his last dose of antibiotics either. Again, something she made Jimaken aware of beforehand. While I was out with Frankie, Jacob ended up getting a spanking. Not only that, but he was grounded for the work week, too. Later and privately, I suggested that it's time we stop spanking and rely on discussion and grounding. What positives can a ten year old learn from spankings?
Football over, we turned the TV to the Discovery Channel to watch Infestations. We watched three successive episodes, and each very creepy. They included: garter snakes, cock roaches, raccoons, argentine ants, hobo spiders, bedbugs, rats, and scorpions. Bella was quite bothered by the programs and went to bed after about 1.5 episodes. Honestly, they bothered me too, but I watched all three to the end. I headed to bed around 1030p.
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