Rain - Cut the Lawn - Pork

I slept better than I have in days. I was up on time and downstairs by 532am. A quick glance out the back door revealed more rain. Oh boy! I slipped into my exercise shoes then hit the ‘go’ button on the coffee maker.

Before heading to bed the night before, I took 4 Advil and also found a new way to stretch out my back by lying back first over the arm of the sofa. That single act cleared the lingering discomfort that had been plaguing me for days, weeks even. That painful kink in my left wrist was gone too.

I whizzed through sit-ups and push-ups. Frankie waited patiently nearby as if she was ready for our morning walk. I enjoyed a cup of coffee before hand. It was raining when we finally headed out but not enough to warrant an umbrella, though it picked up a bit as we walked along the sidewalk. She took care of business as expected. We hurried back home so to avoid the ever increasing rainfall.

I checked the radar. We looked to be teetering right on the edge of a big blob of rain. My hope was that it would quickly pass. Meditation and stretching went well. I delivered coffee and the pug to Mindy who was already mid-shower. It was still raining as I dressed for a run. I went with fresh running clothes after trashing others working in the wet and muddy yard Sunday afternoon. Since it was 57 degrees and rainy, I wore long running pants and a light weight wicking shirt along with a pullover fleece.

The rain continued through the run’s entirety, though the amount light. I ran the full 4.1 miles without any problems. I was good and wet by its end. Inside I stripped out of my wet clothes and tossed my shirt and fleece in an empty clothes basket. Jacob had just come inside from walking Frankie a second time. Said she did both again. Hmmm?

Mindy had plain scrambled eggs waiting. I knew instantly that I wouldn’t be able to finish mine. Too much. Mindy shared that there were some already set aside for Frankie too. Mindy reminded the kids to bus home with Noah since she had an after school staff meeting planned. Bella cheered. With an expected high near 70 degrees, we permitted the kids to wear shorts despite a forecast of rain. Mindy left for work after putting a frozen pork roast in the crock pot. She asked that I season it more thoroughly before departing for work. As it was, the lid wouldn’t close.

I headed for the shower at 733a and was back downstairs prepping my lunch at 750a. I packed a fresh lettuce-based salad, fruit medley, cheese chunks and a banana. The kids and I headed to the bus stop at 758a. It wasn’t raining as we walked out the door but started up again once at the stop. Kenny was out with the girls. Bella had her umbrella but wasn’t using it. I opened it up to use just as the bus pulled up. Bella wanted to take it to school. Kenny and I both scurried back to our homes as soon as the kids pulled away. I didn’t bother giving Frankie a chance to walk again. She’d already gone twice.

Inside, I packed up my work gear then tended to the pork roast. I still couldn’t get the lid to close, needed to thaw more.  I left the crock pot on high when I departed for work. It was 812a.

Not exactly a pretty drive into work. Spit rain most of the way. In my office by 830a. Not a bad start to the work week. The morning moved along at a good clip. Mindy called mid-morning just to chat. At the time I was in the middle of researching some data. Our conversation was brief.

It was a crappy day weather-wise. I didn’t bother leaving for lunch, but did close my door for a while to relax, write, and eat my packed lunch. Like the morning, the afternoon moved swiftly. A couple brief storms moved through the area mid-afternoon. It rained really hard during one of them. The sky began to show signs of brightening around 330p. If it stayed that way, I was hoped to cut the lawn after dinner.  The front could really use it. I left for home at 520p. The sky maintained its benign look. It wasn’t sunny by any stretch, but it wasn’t threatening rain anymore, either.

I pulled up at home at 535p. The family was gathered in the kitchen, Mindy tending to dinner, the kids doing their homework. I rinsed my lunch containers and prepped Tuesday’s coffee while interacting with the family. I went to check email while waiting on Mindy to put the finishing touches on dinner.

We had pork roast and Bob Evans mashed potatoes and gravy along with leftover cooked carrots and macaroni salad. Mindy said the roast didn’t get fall apart tender like it usually does. Probably because the crock-pot lid never closed all the way even after the roast fell in. however, it was still delicious. Both kids asked to be excused from the table. Jacob teased Bella to the point of frustration. He does that a lot. Somehow he avoided punishment.

Mindy agreed to manage dinner clean-up thus affording me the opportunity to cut the lawn. It was near 630p when the sun peaked out a time or two. I headed upstairs where I quickly changed into the running clothes I wore working in the yard on Sunday. No sense dirtying more.

I whacked and edged first. Glad I fixed the weedwacker head Sunday. Worked like a champ. Edging went about as well as could be expected. Really need the ground to dry out a bit more, though. Jacob & Evan were out back playing with their airsoft guns when neighbor Jake and 4 or 5 of his friends dashed out back to the tree house in close proximity to where Jacob and Evan were playing. I overheard one of Jake’s friends saying something about shooting out our windows with a BB gun. I stopped what I was doing and called the kid out. Point blank told the kid that I’d kick his behind. He got polite in a hurry.

Jake quickly assured me that he’d keep his friends in check. I wasn’t pleased that Jacob and Evan had to move their play to appease those boys. Jacob needs to learn to defend himself and resolve conflict with kids his own size.

I headed around front to mow. I set the mower blade extra high to start off, but quickly lowered it a notch after realizing that I’d be cutting again in 2 or 3 days at that high of a setting. Still had it set higher than normal. The lawn was thicker than it was last week, although there are still a few areas that haven’t taken off like the rest of the front lawn. I took my time out front. Glad I got it when I did.

I headed around back to hit some of the high spots. The growth in the back is still very spotty. And there was no way that I was gonna get the tractor out. The middle back yard is a giant mud puddle. I push mowed the entire upper half of the back yard. I noticed that Makayla and Bella were out in the tree house with all those boys. At one point I stopped the mower and asked them if they were OK. Said they were fine. After the boys left, the girls shared that they were ‘good’ boys.

Approaching 8p, I headed inside to get a much needed shower. I heard Bella bawling her head off to Mindy about something. She was coming up to shower immediately after me. I asked what was wrong. Said all her friends were still out riding their bikes. But because her own bike was still stowed on the garage ceiling, she felt left out. I promised to get it down on Tuesday. That did little to make her feel better at the time. Thing is, she still doesn’t know how to ride it as a two-wheeler. Still has training wheels on it. I might ask dad to work with her just like he did Jacob. That proved to be a game changing experience for him.

I headed downstairs to the family room and tuned to the knowledge channels looking for something interesting to watch. I happened upon a program about the texts not chosen to be part of  the Bible. I’ve seen most of it before, but still found it captivating. Mindy liked it too. Around 845p my eyes felt so heavy I could no longer keep sleep at bay. I dosed off for about 15 minutes. I woke just after the kids headed up for bed. Mindy did an early bedtime too. No later than 915p. I headed up to tuck the kids in to bed then headed back to the sofa where I watched more History Channel. I headed up to bed at 1010p. As I slipped into bed I noticed that the sky was clear. Hmmm? A fluke? Strong storms were forecasted for the overnight and again Tuesday and Wednesday.