Dinner with Dad

I made a concerted effort to be out of bed ahead of 530a and was successful. I was downstairs even before the coffee maker kicked on. I felt pretty good cruising right through my sit-ups. I checked the temperature after sit-ups. It was a balmy 34 degrees. I noticed that snow was in the forecast and that the day’s high wasn’t expected to soar much beyond where it currently stood. No sign of spring in the near term forecast. :(

I completed push-ups, enjoyed a little coffee, then leashed up Frankie and headed out back. Hadn’t walked her out there for a while. She did a lot of sniffing but also took care of business back by the tree house.

Inside, I enjoyed a little more coffee then did a meditation and stretch. It was 630a in a hurry. Not sure where all of my time went. Dang it! I delivered Mindy’s coffee and dropped off the pug. I wasn’t out the door for my run until 638a. I was bundled warmly. The stiff north breeze was much calmer than the morning before. I ran the full 4.1 mile track in about 35 minutes. No problems.

I started the Honda then headed in for eggs. I was incredibly hungry. I woofed my plate clean in minutes. Sorry Frankie. Mindy reminded me that there were leftover scrambled eggs in the fridge for Frankie. That’s right. She was in luck. I warmed and served them as soon as I was finished. Mindy asked if I planned on meeting them at Jacob’s soccer practice after work (630p). I was noncommittal. Promised to call her sometime in the afternoon. Mindy zipped off to work.

It wasn’t five minutes later that I was off to the shower. Felt terrific. I was in good spirits and hoped to remain that way all day. Downstairs ahead of 750a, I spent the next five minutes readying my lunch. I opted to skip the usual salad and replaced it with a can of tuna. Everything else the same; cheese, fruit, and a banana.

Kids and I headed out at 758a. Jacob wasn’t happy about having to wear his winter coat. He gave Mindy an earful about it earlier. She wouldn’t budge. I asked him how much money he had, but only jokingly. Frankie took a dump out front while waiting on the bus. I asked Bella to retrieve the shovel from our deck. I praised her for her willingness to help. Chrissy teased Jacob about his unbrushed hair. It did look out of control. The bus soon swooped up the kids. Had to be about 804a. Frankie gave the bus driver the dickens.

We headed back home with Frankie getting the opportunity to relieve herself again out front where she ultimately peed. Mindy had a beef roast in the crock-pot and asked me to peel off the frozen cardboard and then season it before heading out. I followed her directions. Afterwards, and just before heading out, I paid monthly bills online. I was very happy to have that stressful task completed.

I didn’t pull away from the house until 823a. In kind, I didn’t arrive at work until 839a. It wasn’t long before I was on our weekly staff meeting call. That lasted about 60 minutes. That call rolled right into another call, which lasted yet another hour. It was after 11a in what seemed like the blink of an eye.

After those two calls, I spent the lion’s share of the day running reports and analyzing some data. The data consumed me. Spawned all sorts of ideas. I stayed at it until well after 530p. I chatted with my boss until 545p and didn’t get out of the office until it was almost 555p. I called Mindy as soon as I was off the elevator.

I already knew that Jacob’s soccer practice was canceled. She emailed earlier. It had been snowing hard for the last couple of hours. There was about 2” inches on the ground. At times, I couldn’t even see out my office window. Mindy reminded me that we were having roast and that my dad was there for dinner. They were waiting on me.

I arrived home near 610p. Thankfully, the streets were only wet. It was 34 degrees. I met Jacob & Frankie at the side of the house. I was there to roll the trashcan to the curb for Thursday’s pick-up.

Inside, I greeted dad & Mindy. In an email sent by Mindy earlier, I learned that Bella would be grounded yet again. This time for getting in some trouble at school for talking too much. The nerve of that girl! :) Talking too much was my Achilles heel in elementary school too. I am on the fence with that one. Not sure that it’s such a bad thing, as long as it’s not couple with defiance. Still, I questioned Bella as if I talked with her teacher. I wanted to hear her side. Jacob, of course, always feels compelled to add his two cents.

Soon dinner was served. The roast looked and smelt terrific. And after the first bite, really tender too. During dinner conversation, dad shared news of his recent acquisition of four cemetery plots, and how he intended on dispersing them. I didn’t once let on that I already knew he sold one to Glenn, having read about it on his blog earlier. Little does dad realize that Glenn's having a little buyer’s remorse, thinking instead that his final resting place should be in Portland. Another of the plots will be set aside for my mom, certainly a kind gesture on behalf of dad. I think he said one of the other two was offered to Bobby. Not sure about the last one. Perhaps Vicki, I don’t know. :))

We talked about my kitchen faucet dilemma too. And after dinner and clean-up, dad offered that we simply try snugging up the ring shrouding the seat springs, something I recently contemplated as well. I wrapped the stainless steel ring in a rubber jar removing pad and took my channel locks to it. It snugged a little. I could tell by the loss of side to side movement. But unfortunately, turning the water back on revealed the same pesky drip. Earlier in the day I called Ferguson Plumbing Supply and learned that I can buy a new handle, screw, and plug for about $35. But how much more time, effort, and money do I want to invest in this drippy faucet? I am leaning towards simply replacing it, effectively kissing $200 good bye, but also the constant drip, drip, drip.

Jacob played Wii while we hung out talking. Dad stayed around until 740p. Mindy was laughing profusely on the phone just before he left. I forgot to share that there was a young raccoon on our deck all through dinner. At one point he rose to his hind legs and peeked in the deck door. Bella let out one heck of a yelp.

After dad left, I sat down at my computer to work on my blog. I heard Mindy and the kids talking about it being Idol night. Almost forgot. They hollered for me as the program got underway.

Another interesting week – Elton John night. For my money, five folks separated themselves from the pack: Haley (my fave), Casey, Lauren, Pia, & Jacob. Close behind were Stefano & Naimi. The others are OK but not at the same level. My prediction? Scotty and Thia will be sent packing Thursday night. We all headed to bed right after idol.