Unusually Warm Morning

I was up at 530a ready to face the new work week ahead. I was downstairs a few minutes later with stale running clothes in hand glancing out the deck door towards the sky. Cloudy. I slipped into my exercise tennies then headed to the living room where I quickly whipped out 55 sit-ups. I mistakenly wore my exercise tennies to cut the lawn on Sunday. This I didn’t realize until I was done. I was reminded again this morning as I left a trail of yard debris behind as I tromped through the house. I played around online for about ten minutes checking the weather and reading some headlines. The temperature was a whopping 71 degrees with an expected high of 77 degrees along with a serious chance of storms. Unfortunately, much cooler weather on the horizon. Completed 55 push-ups then enjoyed a cup of coffee. It was 6a in a hurry. Leashed up Frankie next and then headed out for our morning walk. We walked exclusively out front and to the west. Frankie spent a lot of time sniffing, but little time doing. After a long walk she only peed. I was a little frustrated with her but what could I do short of giving her a squeeze.  It was 615a by the time we were back inside and I was settled down for meditation. I am ashamed to admit that I have allowed my meditation habits to slide over the last month, not dedicating the time necessary for a thorough exercise. I moved onto stretching at 625a. That went well, though my shoulders, especially the right, were very stiff. I headed upstairs with coffee and Frankie for the first time in more than a week. Mindy was mid-shower. I dropped off the coffee and let her know that Frankie would likely need to go out again before I returned. I then headed back downstairs to ready quickly for a run. I headed out the door at 640a. I wore long running pants and a thin wicking shirt. Given the 71 degree temp, I was on the warm side. I ran the full 4.1 miles without any problems. It was daybreak one mile into the run. Not only that, but the sky was clearing up some too. Mindy and the kids were up and preparing to sit for breakfast. My eggs were ready. Bella was tired and snippy. Mindy didn’t allow that to continue long at all. Asked Bella to present a better attitude. She quickly complied. Mindy briefly outlined our evening plans. She planned on grocery shopping after school but expected to be home in time to intercept the kids. She was banking on leaving school early since it was a work day without students (order day). Thought we might have rotisserie chicken for dinner. Mindy left at 730a. I soon headed up to shower while the kids played Wii and took care of their teeth and rooms. I was back downstairs and ready by 750a. I spent the next five minutes preparing my lunch. For the first time ever, I packed tuna in a foil pack. Just before bus time, it started to rain. Jacob headed out first while Bella and I lagged behind. By the time we got to the door it started to pour buckets of rain. Bella and I both grabbed our umbrellas. Poor Jacob. He was out in the rain. It was raining so hard that we opted to wait in the garage. Jacob saw our move and came running for cover, too.  He was soaked. The bus pulled up at 804a. The kids hustled out to the waiting bus. Chrissy and I exchanged brief pleasantries then headed our separate ways. It was still raining but not nearly as hard. I took care of a few odds and ends then headed off to work. Gas gauge was low. I really needed to stop for gas soon. I opted to stop then. Gas was $3.76 per gallon. Trooper took roughly 18.5 gallons and the total was about $61. Yikes! It was sprinkling throughout the commute into work. I arrived near 830a. I was in a good mood in the door, but that quickly changed after an unexpected confrontation. Sometimes work is just that – work! I did my best to get beyond the the conflict and refocus my energy towards the positive. Worked so-so.  I worked diligently all morning long and took a lunch break some time near 1p. I headed to Home Depot bent on picking up a few yard work related items. I grabbed a cart immediately in the door and headed to the lawn and garden department where I carted a telescoping pruning saw, 22” electric hedge trimmers, and two cans of spray paint – purple for the flamingos and textured black for our patio table. I picked up a bag of Ortho lawn insect killer too. Got to hit those damn ants now. I was back at the office by 150p. Thankfully, the afternoon went along much smoother than the morning. It started raining fairly heavily again and kept up for most of the afternoon. In fact, it was still raining when I left the office at 530p. I knew my dad would be there for dinner after receiving a call from him while I was in Home Depot earlier. Apparently I butt dialed him while shopping prompting him to call me back. Oops! I decided to leave my new purchases in the Trooper. Greeted everyone inside. Saw right away that Jacob’s airsoft rifle arrived. He already had it unpacked and asked about shooting it that night. It was raining, so we all agreed that it was a bad idea. Mindy was busy dishing up dinner while we all talked. Bella was busy playing Wii but was quickly prompted to shut it down and ready for dinner. Soon we were all seated and enjoying rotisserie chicken. Everybody raved about the dinner. Bella asked to be excused and wanted to head to Makayla’s. We made her finish her 15 minutes of reading first. After Mindy checked Jacob’s homework and he corrected it, he headed off to play too, but only after taking Frankie out for a brief walk. I wondered how beneficial it was as he quickly returned with muddy paws and no joy. He headed off to play with Evan. Mindy, dad, and I enjoyed more of Jacob’s b-day brownies. Frankie scratched at the door again. Mindy hollered for Jacob to come home and walk her again. Surprisingly, he came without much pushback. I think it was the third call back that he started spouting off to Mindy and she promptly sent him to his room for the evening. That was roughly the same time that dad excused himself and headed for home. Mindy transferred dog duty to Bella, who willingly complied. Jacob cried from his room. Mindy eventually allowed Jacob to rejoin us downstairs for family time. We tuned into one of the knowledge channels, but for the life of me I can’t recall anything about the program. Sometime during the hour I fell asleep on the family room floor. I woke around 1045p to a dark house and headed up to bed.