Pumped Up Pale Ale

I was up a little early, enough to afford me the opportunity to surf at leisure while enjoying my coffee after exercise. Speaking of exercise, I had both sit-ups and push-ups in the bag before 540a. Meanwhile, it was another cloudy day and the temperature was below freezing – 30 degrees – as cold as it’s been in a couple of weeks. Frankie came calling as I made my way to the family for meditation. I held her at bay until I was through. I took her out ahead of a stretch. We exited via the deck but walked out front. She was slow to relieve herself, instead spending a great deal of time sniffing and chewing. She eventually only peed. We headed back inside where I did a 7 minute stretch routine. By then, it was already 620a. Where had my hour gone? I whipped up a cup of coffee for Mindy and headed upstairs with Frankie. Once again, Mindy was already mid-shower. I fell a bit short in my effort to get out the door for my run by 630a. It was more like 635a. Not a big deal though. For the first time in a while, I was dressed in full winter attire, including hat, hand and ear covers. I was a little worried about going back into winter’s chill but it wasn’t bad at all. Actually felt pretty good. I ran the full 4.1 miles without incident. Run was over in no time at all. Back at home, Mindy already had her Honda warming in the drive. Frankie was waiting patiently for my return by the door. Too cute. Mindy had eggs ready and waiting. It felt odd to be without the children. They spent the night with Jimaken. Mindy left for school around 720a citing an early meeting. Done with breakfast and still well ahead of 730a, I went ahead and packed my lunch before heading up for a shower. After my shower I headed to the basement to look over the running stroller I promised to Mindy’s friend, Karianne. It was covered in dust bunnies and all three tires flat. I wiped away the dust, but didn’t have time to take care of the tires. Hoped to do it later that evening. Still ahead of 8a, I walked Frankie again out front. This time she pooped. Back inside, I prepped and started the dishwasher, penned Frankie, then gathered my work gear and headed off somewhere near 810a. Work was stressful from jump. Got caught up in a personnel matter right away. Not fun. Dealt with the fall out from that until almost 11a. Plenty of talk at the office about the huge Mega Millions jackpot. Up over $300 million. Wow! There was a kitty started to buy tickets. How could I not get in? I mean how I could I face myself if they won and I didn’t play? I put in my $10. Come on baby!!! I also planned to cash in my $7 winning Power Ball ticket from the Dec. 28th drawing and use those funds to buy more tickets of my own. I closed my office door and took a formal lunch break, spending about 50 minutes doing some personal writing. Even with my door closed, I was interrupted to deal with a couple work issues. But that happens all the time. The afternoon went really fast. I spent most of it analyzing work related stats/numbers, something I really enjoy doing. I talked with Mindy late in the afternoon. She wondered if I was up to doing dinner out since we didn’t have the kids. I quickly answered that I wasn’t. After all, we were out to dinner just the night before, and figured we’d almost certainly do something similar Friday night too. However, before hanging up, I changed that to a maybe thinking that it might be important to Mindy. I ended up at the office until 550p holed up talking with my boss. I was happy to be heading home. Traffic was tight but moving the entire time. I was home by 610p. Mindy was out front walking Frankie when I pulled up. Shared that she’d talked with Shelly about having Kaileigh over Saturday night. But turns out, they’re in Myrtle Beach this week. Bella will be disappointed. Said she also talked at length with Lindsey, who is seemingly doing better. Apparently Lindsey shared several negative comments her mother made about Mindy and I. Let’s face it. Kelly’s a very unhappy person. She’s never going to refer to me/us in a positive light. I’m fine with that. Mindy also talked with my dad, thanking him for taking care of the house while we were in NY last weekend, and also expressing our sympathy, this being the fourth anniversary of Sheila’s death. Dad went on and on about the four grave plots available at Greenlawn cemetery. Mindy asked me again about going to dinner. I asked if it was important to her. She shared that it was. We decided to go to CBC. Haven’t been there in a month or so. We freshened up and headed out at 630p. There fairly quickly, the lot about ¾ full. The bar was near capacity. We hovered until two stools freed. Our friend Jamie was working the bar. She poured me their March Hop Odyssey offering, an Arnold: Pumped Up Pale Ale. Because they didn’t have a porter or stout on tap, Mindy went with a glass of wine. We ended up ordering two appetizers: calamari & spinach artichoke dip. I ordered a second Arnold while enjoying my dip. It was quite flavorful. Mindy picked up the tab and we left for home around 745p. We arrived home just in time to tune into American Idol elimination night. Who’d be going home? We had no clue. Tonight’s guests included Stevie Wonder, Hulk Hogan, and Jennifer Hudson. Stevie’s starting to look really old. Had a surprise birthday cake for Steven Tyler, too. He’s 63. When it was all said and done, one of our faves, Casey was sent packing. Haley was safe.  And just as I suspected they might do, the judges used their lone season save to bring Casey back again next week. Didn’t even make him sing for his survival, making for a very dramatic ending. Idol was over at 9p. Like a lot of America, I’m sure, we stayed tuned to Fox and watched Bones. We headed to bed at 10p.