Speaking of Big Aunts

I was up a couple minutes early. From our bathroom window, I could see that it rained overnight. I wasn’t surprised. I headed downstairs where I slipped into my exercise shoes while glancing briefly out the back door. The sky was partly cloudy and any rain overnight light. It wasn’t raining then.

I completed sit-ups and push-ups. Felt good. Again, no neck and/or shoulder pain. I spent a little time on the PC checking the headlines and weather. Saw that the Reds won the night before. Current temp was near 60 degrees. Expecting it to be in the 70’s and partly sunny. Another nice day. The rain that moved through overnight was only brief and spotty.

Eiknarf and I headed out for a walk at 550a. We were out for about 10 minutes with her taking care of business on our way back. She would’ve stayed out longer had I allowed it. Instead, we headed back inside where I enjoyed some coffee ahead of meditation and stretching. Those two events went well. In fact, I finished up a little earlier than usual. Headed upstairs with the pug and coffee at 620a. Mindy was just getting up and out of bed. Asked that I not put Eiknarf in the bed. Goes spastic.

I decided to wear running shorts in lieu of long pants. Wise choice. Not only was it near 60 degrees, but it was humid too. I still wore a thin long sleeved wicking shirt. I could've went with short sleeves. It was 629a when I headed out the front door. I ran the full 4.1 miles, the first half passing by in the blink of an eye. My mind was elsewhere.

The sky was clear overhead but enough clouds hung in the eastern sky effectively blocking an otherwise lovely sunrise. I could see the sun’s rays shooting over top the clouds. Nice!

I encountered Mindy two houses from home walking Eiknarf for a second time. I walked back with ‘em. Mindy said Eiknarf was scratching at the door frantically. She wondered if she might not have gone when out earlier with me. She ended up peeing again.

We headed inside where Mindy finished making breakfast. I packed my lunch while waiting. Enjoyed fried eggs. The fresh fruit was anything but fresh. The end of last week’s. I had to be very selective fishing through the pineapple and strawberries. Mindy said she planned to cut up the new stuff later that evening.

Mindy left for school at 730a. I headed up for a shower minutes later. I flossed extra good in preparation for my 3p dental appointment. I was back downstairs to put the finishing touches on my lunch by 750a. The kids and I headed out at 757am. I took Eiknarf along. Chrissy was out with Makayla. Said she was looking forward to Wednesday, her last day working in May. Having knee surgery on Thursday, and expects to be out for 3-6 weeks as I understand it.

After the kids were gone on the bus I walked Eiknarf out front for a few. She pooped a second time. We headed back inside where I finished work prep. I thought about driving the BM’er but the threat of a late day shower dampened my enthusiasm.  I drove the Trooper instead.

I arrived at work just after 830a. Things were already flowing along. My peer who typically works 4a – 1p was working hours similar to mine this week. He strolled in just after me. He seemed a little miffed that I called off on Monday. I shared that I would be leaving at 2p for my 6 month dental appointment.

I had to join a call at 9a. It was then that I perused my calendar and found that my dental appointment wasn’t until Wednesday. Hmm? Not sure how I got my wires crossed. It’s been on my calendar since November 3^rd.  Psychologically, I was prepared to go Tuesday.  I got over it.

I worked through the morning hours like usual. Decided to head out for a lunch break around 110p. Headed to Lowes just to look at some flora. Nothing caught my eye, but the break did me some good. I was there for less than 15 minutes. I decided to stop at Home Depot on my way back to the office. Looked at their flora too. Again, nothing caught my eye. I perused a few inside aisles as well, but for no other reason than killing time. I wanted to stay away from the office for a full hour if I could.

I was back at work just after 2p. The weather was really nice. Felt like an early June day. The afternoon was busy. My peer and I got into a heated discussion. I’ll leave it at that.  I stayed busy until my usual quitting time of 530p. By the time I was in the Trooper and heading for home it was 540p. I tried calling Mindy but was directed to her VM. She called back minutes later. She was busy taking Bella to gymnastics. Jacob, she shared, was at the house. We chatted briefly about our day. I talked about my dying Trooper (transmission slipping), and how we might deal with that. Mindy shared that we weren’t having a formal dinner. Fine with me.

For whatever the reason, I was really tired once I got home. The warm, sunny skies from earlier were gone. It was cloudy. I completed all of my after work chores just as Mindy returned from dropping off Bella. I headed out onto the deck to check the newly planted grass seed. Immediately, I noticed several giant ants crawling around the hot tub. Some of them had wings and were about an inch long! I went for my spray and coated them good. It didn’t kill ‘em on contact like the bottle says but it did seem to impact their sense of direction. I sprayed the living daylights out of them. I suspect that they’ve been nesting in the warm hot tub cabinet.

Inside, I went for the ant traps I bought the day before. I had four of them. I placed three of them strategically around the house: one in the kitchen, one upstairs in our bedroom, and one on the steel I-beam in the basement. I placed the fourth trap outside by the hot tub cabinet.

Jacob asked Mindy to check his home work so he could run off to play. I offered to check it since Mindy was busy. Jacob didn’t like that idea. Not sure why. Soon became apparent. Looked to me that the home work was done while riding on the bus. His numbers were completely illegible. I told Jacob that he’d have to redo the math. He tried trumping my direction by whining to his mom. She took one brief look and agreed. He wasn’t’ pleased. I’d be ashamed to turn in work like that.

Mindy was busy making chicken wraps for herself and Jacob. I planned to fend for myself. I ended up making a turkey and cheese sandwich. Jacob gave in and re-did his homework. Smart choice! Mindy left to pick-up Bella from gymnastics around 715p. When Jacob finished his homework he asked me to recheck it. Sure, but with one catch. I asked him to explain each problem to me. He did, and only had to redo one of the problems.

Nearing 730p and still really tired, I went to the sofa for a nap while Jacob headed off to play with Evan. I fell asleep in a hurry. I woke shortly after Mindy and Bella returned. I really needed to water our new hanging baskets, hibiscus, and grass seed. I slipped into my loafers and headed out the back door to do the deed.

I watered the grass seed first. Bella soon joined me out back. Mindy then followed, as did Jacob. Took me about 10-15 minutes to water everything.  We sat out on the deck for a while longer. I topped off the hot tub on Saturday but was already hearing that tell-tale gurgling sound again. I lifted the cover only to find it down about 2 feet. Holy Crap! In disgust, I pulled the external disconnect. Time to put it out to pasture.

We headed inside around 840p where I turned on the TV and went to the guide looking for something  interesting to watch. I saw that Planet Earth and Madagascar were on the Animal Planet. We tuned in. Mindy made the kids go to bed shortly after Planet Earth. I started watching Madagascar even though we’d seen it before. Mindy headed to bed around 920p. I bounced back & forth between the Reds game and Madagascar until 10p. I headed up to bed after securing the house.