More Snow, And Just In Time For The Weekend

I woke initially around 330a. Unable to easily return to sleep, I started playing a game of cat and mouse with the clock. I got burned. It was darn near 6a the last of probably six times that I rolled over and glanced at the clock. Oops! I quickly leaped to my feet then rushed through brushing my teeth and gathering my running clothes. I was downstairs engaged in calisthenics in a hurry after glancing out back at the weather. As predicted, the soon to arrive snow storm hadn’t yet begun. I spent little time online, just enough to check the weather and give the Yahoo headlines a cursory review. I was busy with push-ups and coffee by 610a. I had already resigned myself to the fact that I would be behind in all phases of my morning prep. As luck would have it, Frankie was slow to take care of business once outback. I didn’t rush her. I was far more interested in having her take care of business. However, even after lollygagging around for 10 minutes, all she did was pee. Back inside I completed a relatively brief meditation (about ten minutes) then a full stretch routine. Mindy was already out of the shower by the time I delivered her coffee. I left for my run around 650a still bent on running the full 4.1 miles. There might’ve been a flurry or two, but it remained dry for the most part. If correct, we’d be buried in up to 5 fresh inches of snow by tomorrow morning. Since early December, we’ve been under snow pack for all but about 10 days. The pattern: a brief melt off followed almost immediately by another snow storm. I ran the full track without any problems or worries. Once again, I had to request Mindy’s keys. It was already 725a. My eggs were ready and waiting. The kids were excited about the prospect of more snow, but were disappointed that it didn’t start overnight, thus setting the table for a snow day. Mindy left at her usual time. I headed up for a shower a short time later. I was back downstairs working on my lunch by 749a. I had successfully made up for sleeping late. The kids and I headed out the door near 758a. Chrissy was out for the first time all week. We chatted for a while after the bus pulled up. Shared that I didn’t think we would be going to HV after all. Too much hurry and rush. Probably spend our kidless weekend at MRM. I walked Frankie out front but she didn’t go a second time. I took comfort in knowing that she did go when Jacob took her out after finishing his breakfast. I took care of some last minute business then headed out the door for work around 815a. By then, the first thrust of the snow storm was upon us. The flakes were small but plentiful and it quickly accumulated to around a ¼”. The main roads, of course, we still clear. I arrived to work just after 830a. The work day was quite busy. I spent a lot of time doing rumor control then some actual damage control after some unforeseen announcements. Oh boy! Once again, I didn’t bother taking a formal lunch delaying my haircut for yet another day. The snow fall remained steady all through the morning but with no more than an inch of accumulation. The heaviest stuff didn’t start coming down until about 2p. After that it really started piling up quick. Traffic on I-270 was at crawl, this I could see from the 5th floor windows. I missed a call from Mindy around 4p but called her back 30 minutes later. She was busy shoveling the drive after Kenny had already used the snow blower a little earlier. Said her Honda wanted to slide down the drive and into the road. Yikes! I left the office a few minutes ahead of 530p. It took a while to scrape the Trooper clean, but by the time I pulled out of the lot it was nice and toasty inside. The drive home was slow but steady. I think I was home just ahead of 6p. The snow was still coming down, and there was probably another good inch on the twice shoveled driveway. Inside, the house was extremely quiet. I asked Mindy if the kids left with Jimaken, this being his regular kid night. Nope, canceled due to bad weather. The kids, it turned out, were out back sledding with their friends. Mindy had our weekly leftovers warming in the oven (roast beef and rotisserie chicken). I wanted a little of both. She called the kids inside around 625p. They wanted to stay out and play but Mindy didn’t budge. Made Bella walk Frankie before coming in. Reminded her to keep the poop-scoop in hand, too. But even after reminding her not to drop it in the snow again, she inevitably did. Happens all too often. I had to chuckle when I heard Mindy send her back out to locate it in the 4 inches of snow. This time she was lucky, found it on the deck. When Bella & Frankie came back inside, so did Woody. He apparently got loose from Kenny, who gave up and decided to let him have a play date with Frankie. The chicken and roast were probably better than they were originally. I managed clean-up while Mindy helped Jacob with his math homework. The kids asked if they could head down to Kenny & Chrissy’s to play for a few. Mindy gave them until 8p. They took Woody back home when they headed down. I used the quiet time to update my blog. Mindy, I think, played on Facebook. The kids must’ve called right before 8p to ask for a brief extension. I heard Mindy say 810p. But not a minute later Jacob came home. Bella, however, did not. She stayed beyond 810p, but not by much. Mindy gave her no grief. Both kids wanted to watch American Idol again. This time they were in New Orleans, and the show was only an hour long. The kids got to see it in its entirety. We laughed a lot. Good stuff! Mindy and I tucked the kids into bed shortly after 9p. Bella saw the teaser from the following show, Bones. Not good. The decomposing body lying in the shower apparently stained her brain. She asked for help getting it out of her mind. I shared some techniques I use to clear my mind, but put them in terms I felt she could better understand. It worked. Mindy and I watched most of Bones, but with me dosing off a time or two. During the program, Mindy intently watched the school closing crawler running across the bottom of the screen. Sure enough, Southwestern City Schools announced that they would be closed on Friday. A few minutes later Hilliard announced the same. Mindy was excited. The kids wouldn’t find out until morning. I knew that they’d be excited too. I headed for bed at 10p sharp. I would still be going to work on Friday.