Playin' Cowboys & Indians

I was up on time and just a tick before the coffee maker kicked into gear. And I know I sound like a broken record when I say this, but it was raining again. Early on, at least, it was raining only lightly. The good news was that it was quite warm and almost 70 degrees.

I completed sit-ups and push-ups then spent time on the internet. Saw that the Colts lost their hard fought battle against the Steelers. Woke Mindy near 615am with coffee. Asked if she was going to work. She was coughing all night. She was even though she sounded bad – croupy even.

I completed meditation and a stretch ahead of my run. I wore long running pants but with a short sleeved wicking shirt. Thankfully, the rain was reduced to a mere spit during most of my run. It would pour buckets later. I ran the full 4.1 miles without cause for concern. In the back of my mind I was a tad worried about possible lightning at every turn. It was forecasted but never materialized.

Back at the house, Mindy shared that she placed a beach towel by the door. I walked right past it on my way to fill the front porch watering pail. While thinking about it, I wanted to water both flower pots still in full bloom on the front porch. I toweled off after taking care of the flowers. Thanks dear.

As soon as Bella was downstairs I started the birthday/birthday party count down. She’s very excited about this one (#9) in particular. Six days and counting! Mindy reminded Bella that she put the bday party invitations for her school mates in her book bag and to give them to her teacher. Apparently her teacher was willing to discretely stuff them into the proper homework folders to help avoid certain kids from feeling left out.

Jacob walked Eiknarf during egg time. She always looks sad and confused when Jacob comes a calling with the leash about then. But I made sure to save some for her. She was happy about that. Mindy left at her usual time after reminding Bella repeatedly to bus home with Noah. Jacob wouldn’t be there to remind her. He had a Beacon Ambassadors meeting planned for after school. He would have the pleasure of attending the school board meeting which was being hosted at his school. As I understood it, a lot of fun activities planned too.

The kids and I were ready for the bus stop at 805am. I waited as long as possible due to the moderate but steady rainfall. I headed out with my umbrella. Bella took cover under it too. Jacob did as well initially, but he must’ve gotten uncomfortable with the closeness. Once the neighbors headed out he left himself out in the rain. What a goof ball! Kenny was out with the girls for what seems like the first time this school year, at least while I’ve been on bus duty.

Kenny had the day off and said he hoped to continue power washing if the weather cooperated. It was raining at the time but expected it to stop sometime soon. Kids were on the bus by 815am. Eiknarf and I walked back towards home where she took a dump in the rain. Lucky for me, I had a plastic grocery bag in tow.

I gathered all my gear, secured the home, then headed off to work at 825am. Rained through the entire commute as well as the walk into the building. It was raining hard, too. Deployed my umbrella for the walk from the car to the building.

Dealt with the remnants of an on-call weekend issue first thing in the AM.  My day got a little dicey as the morning progressed. All of the sudden I was feeling overwhelmed with issues needing my urgent attention.  Happily, I was able to get most of them under control quickly leaving me the time to focus my energy on a couple other areas of concern.

I started another Home Depot list but wasn’t planning to head there that afternoon, or for that matter, leave for lunch at all. For one, I had a 1pm conference I needed to join, which only netted me more to-dos.   

After eating my packed lunch my outlook was much improved. Funny how that works. Food is king! Stayed real busy all afternoon - one of my busiest days in recent weeks.

I didn’t talk with Mindy until I was headed home. That was sometime after 530pm. She was busy making burgers for dinner. She wasn’t grilling them, though. I know because I asked. Mindy sounded bad/ill still.

 Jacob wasn’t home. He was at school doing the Beacon Ambassador thing. It would be a busy shuttle night. Jacob needed picked up at school near 8pm and Bella would need a ride to and from gymnastics.

I wasn’t at home long before dinner was on the table – burgers and tater tots. Dinner wasn’t fancy, but very tasty. Mindy and I worked out the shuttle plans. She’d take Bella and then retrieve Jacob. I’d pick-up Bella.

After dinner and clean-up, I took a nap on the living room floor, at first laying flat on my back but then flipping completely over and onto my belly. That actually felt so much better this time. Jacob called around 725pm to alert Mindy that he was finished and ready to be picked up. I woke about the same time he called.

While Mindy headed out after him, I did some work on my blog. They were home before 8pm. I talked with Mindy while Jacob played in his room. I left to fetch Bella at 818pm. It didn’t take long at all. Arrived at DCW at 825pm. Hadn’t seen grandma Sharon in a long time. Gave her a hug. Headed back to gym to catch a few minutes of Bella doing her thing on the trampoline.  

We headed for home by 830pm. As I guessed she might, Bella asked if we could stop at Wendy’s on the drive home. I agreed, but reminded her that she didn’t even finish her dinner earlier. She gave me some excuse about not wanting to be too full for gymnastics. J We stopped at the drive-thru and got her some chicken nuggets and fries.

Jacob was in the shower while Bella ate her snack. Jacob had pizza for dinner at school. I tuned the TV to MNF – Washington vs. Dallas already in progress. It was something like 3-0. Can’t recall who was ahead. Mindy and the kids weren’t up much longer. Mindy cited feeling under the weather and headed for bed shortly after 9pm. She asked that I make sure the kids were in bed by 915pm. They both did a good job of heading up to bed when the time came without being asked.

It had to be just after 930pm when my eyes started getting heavy. Out of the blue my blackberry rang (figures!) I ended up getting pulled into a work related matter until almost midnight. I was really sleepy by the time I headed to bed. I am a creature of habit. Up past 1030pm and I am really draggin’. There were stars visible overhead at the time, but the forecast called for cloudy skies again overnight with a chance of rain, of course.