What Could a Ground Hog Teach Me?

The call came in right at 530a. School was canceled for the second day in a row for both Mindy & the kids. I wasn’t surprised. The call also served as my queue to get up and out of bed. Mindy asked for a hug before I headed downstairs. By 535a I was gazing out the back door at the icy landscape. The wind was howling fiercely but the amount of ice coating the trees was much less than the evening before, a sure sign that the temps continued their climb overnight and the additional precipitation mostly heavy rain. I slipped into my exercise shoes then headed to the livingroom where I almost always do my sit-ups. Frankie soon joined me. Sit-ups done, I was anxious to get online and see what the weather forecast held in store. The temperature was a balmy 36 degrees but it was expected to drop throughout the day. In kind, the icy rain was supposed to change over to snow. After push-ups, I headed out with Frankie. Footing was once again wickedly treacherous. I had to help Frankie off the deck. The icy snow was now wet from rain making it slippery than ever before. Solid footing was at a premium. Frankie only peed, and I could see that her focus was as much on her footing as it was on relieving herself. We reluctantly headed back inside. After some coffee I divided the next 20 minutes between meditation and stretching. Both went well. I headed off on my slippery run around 630a. Footing was about the same as Tuesday’s. I ran with complete focus on my next step while keeping my eyes and ears tuned towards approaching obstacles (cars, trucks, buses, and ice). The wind gusted to 30mph and added a new twist and challenge. When at my back it literally pushed me. I had to intentionally resist it. Furthermore, it seemed one heck of a lot colder than the 36 degrees I saw online earlier. I noticed, too, that the wet ice at the outset was fully frozen by run’s end. However, despite winter’s angriest weather so far, I completed the full 4.1 miles without incident. I checked the temperature as soon as I was inside. The temperature had plummeted 10 degrees in only 90 minutes. No wonder it felt so much colder! Before preparing my breakfast, I decided to take Frankie out one more time, only this time out front. Home run! She pooped almost immediately. By taking her out a second time, I am certain that I prevented a carpet cookie. I prepared my breakfast and packed my lunch just like I did the day before. This time, however, I made three fried eggs, two for me, and one for Frankie. She woofed hers down in a hurry. I’m her favorite! Headed up for a shower around 730a. The kids remained asleep. Not even a stir. Mindy asked about my run. I shared how the temperature dropped 10 degrees in a hurry. Like the morning before, Mindy got up when I headed back downstairs. The kids were still sleeping as I prepared to depart. I left my Trooper thawing for a good 20 minutes, long enough to melt away all the ice from the windows. As cold as it was, and now with snow coming, I couldn’t see any way that school would be in session come Thursday. I shared as much with Mindy just before heading off to work. It was 825a when I hit the road. The main roads and freeway were fine. Getting to them was the problem. I arrived at the office around 845a. Plenty of upfront parking. Work was a bit crazy with lots of scattered weather related issues. But given the storms breadth (Texas to New York) there was little wonder why. It started snowing around 9a and continued throughout the entire day. The wind was blowing all day too, and gusting up to 40mph in some places. Looked cold and blustery. Word was that the ground hog didn’t see his shadow meaning that spring would arrive early. I had to laugh when I stopped by HV’s website and saw a note praying for Puxatawny Phil to see his shadow thus prolonging winter. Here, here! As one of my engineers put it, we have all this technology to help forecast the weather yet we still gather around a groundhog on Feb 2nd to figure out when spring will come. Good point! I didn’t even consider leaving for lunch. Worked straight through the day. Mindy sent a couple emails, including one telling me that Bella lied about brushing her teeth and consequently got herself grounded. Oh boy! Bella, Bella, Bella. Mindy followed that up with a phone call advising that my dad was coming over for dinner. She never shared what we’d be having, and I didn’t ask. I packed up and headed for home just after 530p. There was a coating of light fluffy snow covering the Trooper but that came off easily. The drive home went much smoother than Tuesday’s. Our subdivision, however, was a different story. Our street was its slickest yet, an ice rink. Dad’s Blazer was parked along the curb in front of the house. I pulled into our driveway, parking in the same spot that Mindy cleared of ice the evening before. Mindy opened the overhead garage door to make my entrance easier. I greeted everyone, including dad then unloaded my lunch containers. A pork roast was cooking in the crock-pot. The kitchen smelt terrific. Everyone seemed to be in a fine mood. I asked my dad how the electrical repairs went/were going. Said he ran a new circuit to his dryer from the other working breaker box (he has two since it used to be duplex), but he still hasn’t put the dryer itself back together. Hasn’t started on the actual repair of the bad power feed either. As we started dinner I asked if he planned a trip to Florida this February to visit UK. Nope, at least not in February. Not entirely sure why, though he may have said. Shared that he had some spikes that retro fit over his tennis shoes to help give him traction on the ice. I wanted to see them. I went to the front door where he left his shoes. Cool invention. Numerous friends have long told me of these and how they might help my running on ice. Mindy sent dad home with a small doggie bag of leftovers. I’m thinking that it was near 730a when he departed, ice spikes and all. After dad left, Mindy asked the kids to get showers. I started Jacob’s at his request. But no sooner had I returned to my computer he was already out. Couldn’t have been even 60 seconds. I told Mindy that we needed to send him back for a more thorough shower. She agreed after giving him a sniff test. She asked if he washed all of his orifices. He didn’t pass the sniff test and hadn’t washed all his parts. Back to the shower! He debated but lost. He headed back to the shower and promised to do a more thorough job, especially after I asked if he wanted me to get in there with him and show him how to get himself clean.  Bella went next. Now just after 8p, we tuned into American Idol. But because Jacob & Bella were now both grounded from screens, neither was able to enjoy it with us. Wednesday’s auditions were from Austin, Texas. They went only one hour. At 9p Mindy sent the kids to bed while we watched Modern Family, a funny sitcom on a competing network, I believe ABC. That program ended at 930p. Mindy headed for bed a short time later. I promised to be up shortly. Before I headed up, I switched over to some Learning Channel program but can’t recall what it was. I do remember beginning to dose off almost immediately, however. Once up in bed I don’t think I fell asleep until 11p. Good night moon.