Who Kneeds me?

           Generally costing an arm and a leg, dad got this salmon dinner for only a knee.

By day's end, I had made a complete loop around I-270.

I woke just ahead of 530am, and without hesitation rolled out of bed and headed to the master bath where I brushed my teeth then snatched my running clothes off the back of our closet door.

Downstairs, I glanced outside. It was raining yet again, albeit only lightly. After letting out a sigh in disgust, I gathered my exercise shoes then headed to the livingroom where I whipped out 55 sit-ups. Back to my old ways, I got online before doing my push-ups. I checked the weather forecast first thing. It was presently 57 degrees with light rain coming at us from the NE. Wasn’t expected to get out of the 60’s with rain all day. Hoping this gloomy pattern ends soon.

Did meditation next since it was still too early to wake Mindy. I took her some coffee at 610am. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, I headed back to the family room for a stretch. That felt terrific. Dressed in long running gear, I headed out the door just after 630am. It was raining steadily, but still very lightly. Any other time I might appreciate this type of rain, but now sitting at four days in a row, I am so done with it. Seems we went right from the dead of summer to the core of autumn just like that. I want my lovely September weather!

I ran the full 4.1 miles without incident. Because it was Wednesday, I’d be working remote from my customer’s location. I wrapped my head around those logistics during my run. I was back at home by 710am. Mindy had scrambled eggs cooking on the stove. While waiting, I fed Eiknarf and got myself some orange juice. I also made double sure that I had everything I needed for a day of offsite day of work.

Soon my cheesy scrambled eggs were ready. I topped them with green hot sauce. I checked the pan on the stove and saw that there were next to none leftover for Eiknarf. I planned to save some of my own for her. She waited impatiently while I feasted.

Mindy asked Bella to address her own hair for the lack of time. Asked Jacob to do his homework while at Noah’s. She then left for school. I headed up for a shower around 735am, and it didn’t take me too long. I was back downstairs all but ready to go by 755am.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Bella did an excellent job with her hair. And both kids were much more on top of things than they were the morning before. We headed out the door at 810am. For the time being, it had stopped raining. Hooray! The bus was just rolling up to the curb when Chrissy & Makayla came dashing out of their house. Said they lost track of time watching TV – some morning show. Chrissy expressed excitement over finishing her summer quarter class later that evening. Only one more quarter to go. Also shared that her bff Julie is P.O’d after learning that they found her Myrtle Beach arrest photo online. Have no idea why Chrissy told her. We were gonna make posters with it.

Walked Eiknarf out front before heading back inside.  I wasn’t sure if anybody walked her otherwise. She took a dump and peed. Back inside, I checked my gear then headed off to the work. Sitting at about a ¼ tank of gas, I stopped at Thornton’s for a fill-up. Gas was something like $3.56 per gallon. The Accord took just over 13 gallons. Unless I’m mistaken, this was only the 2^nd time I’ve put gas in it. Germain Honda filled it initially, and Mindy filled it once while I was gone.

Took I-270 around without any traffic snarls. Though, as expected, things got a little tight near the I-71 interchange. I arrived just before 9am and quickly made my way to the building and my once-per-week cubial. I greeted my hosts straight up while I got organized and settled. I easily found the fridge this time after making a concerted effort to mark the trail last week.

We had our normal Wednesday 10am meeting/call. Went without a hitch. However, the topic of a subsequent meeting kind of caught me off guard. I took a to-do to gather more information and get back with them with an answer.

Talked with Mindy mid morning asking for dad’s hospital room number. She sent it via text along with the phone number. She already talked with him and said he was doing really good. I planned to stop by the hospital after work on my way home. At lunch time I decided to get a haircut. Just before heading off, I Googled Saturday’s to find the closest one. Found one a couple miles up the road. Everything up that way is fairly new, and certainly new to me. I found it with little trouble. I was happy to find no customers in queue. They were waiting for me. I joked that I’d come back when they weren’t so busy. Neither of the two girls working found that too funny.

Sonny, I think, was the girl’s name cutting my hair. She had a couple facial piercings as well as a couple visible arm tattoos. She was quick and efficient doing an exceptional job. She didn’t wash my hair, which I appreciated. She simply sprayed it down. I’ll bet I was done in less than ten minutes. Cool! I tipped her $5.

Once in the Accord, I pulled the Tea Tree gel from my backpack and lubed back my new do. I noticed a Home Depot right across the street. Before heading back to the office, I made an unscheduled stop there, more than anything to kill what was left of about an hour break. I wasn’t there too long. Walked the length of the store taking in only a few aisles. After about ten minutes I headed back to my car and back to the office.

Back by 115pm, and just enough time to go after my packed lunch before a scheduled 130pm conference call meeting. I did the hour long meeting with a phone receiver in my ear. I didn’t feel comfortable using speaker phone since there were others just over the cube walls. My ear was on fire by the meeting’s end. If that wasn’t enough, I had to join our staff meeting call that same way. By 400pm my ear was on fire. J

The day went fast and it was 5pm in heart beat. I packed up for home just before then. I planned to stop at the hospital on my way home to see my dad. I called Mindy to remind her. The drive to Mt Caramel went even faster than I assumed. All I-270. I was there in about 15 minutes. I had to call brother Bob to determine which building he was in. All Mindy sent was the room and phone number. Bob answered and shared that dad was in the south tower around back. I drove around the entire campus to the back. It was starting to rain again just as I got parked near the helipad.

Found dad’s room easily. He was just starting dinner; salmon, mixed veggies, mashed potatoes, and carrot cake. Daggone! He looked great. Had all his color and was smiling. Shared a few stories about the surgery and his progress. Said the nurses/doctor referred to him as a super star for his ability to get around so well after just one day. He was noticeably proud of himself.

We talked about this and that all the while he enjoyed his yummy looking dinner. He offered me some but I declined. After about an hour, brother Bob showed up. Apparently his office is relatively close to the hospital. We hung out there with dad for another hour or so. I made it a point to ask the nurse to clarify his release info after dad seemed willing to base it only on what he assumed from a brief conversation with a social worker earlier that morning. Expected to be released Thursday AM and then go to a nursing home in Arlington for 2-3 days. I simply wanted to make sure that the arrangements were nailed down. The nurse agreed and went looking for Susan, the social worker that coordinates that stuff.

Susan came to dad’s room a couple minutes later and clarified the details. Dad’s  assumption was correct. Provided his vitals remained good and he was able to get around as well as he was earlier, he would be released on Thursday. Furthermore, the Arlington nursing home was waiting on him. Bobby agreed to see that he got there. Susan also shared that we should plan on caring for him 24X7 from his home or ours for three additional days after he’s fully released. Said he’d need a sponge bath and his meals prepared. As much as Bob loves giving sponge baths, far be it from me to deny him the privilege.? J

 Dad pretty much pooh-poohed the idea of after home care. Went on about how’s he made a food tray to rest on top of his walker. Went on about it for quite a while, in fact, yet Susan didn’t budge with her request.

Bob & I left at the same time laughing all the way out to our vehicles talking about old camping stories. Bob was behind me when we exited the parking lot. It took a while to wind around the labyrinth of buildings and get to a traffic light that allowed a left hand turn onto

E. Broad St

The hospital is right at I-270, so the entrance ramps were right there.  Quickly, I had to decide whether to go north to I-670 or south to I-70. I chose I-70. Big MISTAKE! We didn’t get but about 200 yards before the traffic stood still. And it stood still or crept along for the next 90 minutes traveling not even a full mile. Making it worse was all the rain. I couldn’t even discern the lane markers because it was literally bumper to bumper and side to side. And at several junctures along the way, two lanes merged into one. As you might guess, lots of frustrated drivers aggressively cutting each other off. I did my best to remain calm, but worried that someone might hit my new car.

I talked with Mindy at least twice. She couldn’t believe that I had gone only a ¼ mile in the first hour or so. To make matters worse, they had the only two exits for about ten miles closed due to a tractor trailer accident – the actual cause of the delay. I had no choice but to take I-270 all the way around from the south. Finally opened up just south of the I-70 interchange. That was at 905pm. Finally made it home by 925pm. By then I was starving, but very happy to be home.

Meanwhile, that knot in my back was crazy stiff and had pretty much been that way since late afternoon. I begged for Mindy to rub it out. She graciously did. At the same time, I woofed down numerous Chipotle chips and later half of a burrito. Again, I was ravenously hungry. Bella gave me a big hug. Said she was happy that I was home safe.

Mindy sent the kids off to bed a little while later. But Bella soon was down the stairs saying she couldn’t sleep. At the time, I was lying flat on my back on the living room floor relaxing, resting my back. I encouraged Bella to come join me. Thought it might help usher in sleep. She found it humorous at first, but did as I suggested. A few minutes later she declared that it was working. Mindy sent her back up to bed.

Now after 10pm, Mindy and I headed to bed too. As she often does, Mindy insisted on lying on my chest. I fell asleep in quick fashion. Good night and goodbye rain!