Hand Eye Coordination

I woke around 410am after a less than restful night of sleep. I forced myself back asleep all the while planning to wake again somewhere close to 440am to make sure that Glenn was up for his departure home. I woke again at 430am and then again around 450am. I leaped nervously from bed worried that Glenn might’ve overslept. Mindy woke at the same time and shared that she heard Glenn leaving out the front door a few minutes prior. I went to verify. She was right. He was gone. I headed back to bed where I tossed and turned for another 30 minutes before starting my own ready.

I headed downstairs and hit the go button on the coffee maker. I then started calisthenics, completing both sit-ups and push-ups after a two day reprieve. We had Woody in Eiknarf’s pen through the night. He was whining profusely for his release once he heard me up. I let him out just ahead of push-ups. He kept trying to slip under each thrust to which I never stopped. He finally took the hint and waited for me to finish. I took him out immediately after. The weather was cloudy and mild. I’m thinking it was near 50 degrees.

I enjoyed coffee and internet until just after 6am which seemed to come around fast. Too fast. I then headed to the family room where I did a meditation and then a stretch ahead of waking Mindy with a cup of coffee. Like me, she shared having a poor night’s sleep. I felt as though I never got even a wink of deep, refreshing sleep. Not sure why.

I readied for a run and headed off before 630am. I ran 4.1 miles all the while keeping an ear towards the cloudy sky thinking I might hear Glenn’s plane jetting by overhead. I knew his scheduled take-off was 650am, or somewhere between mile 2 & 3. I heard a couple planes but because of an extra low ceiling, I couldn’t tell where it was in the sky. I got lost in other thoughts along the line too.

I was home and inside by 710am. I went ahead and walked Eiknarf, again saving Jacob the chore. Mindy had breakfast ready upon reentry. She told the kids to come home as normal. Since it was Trick-or-Treat, there wasn’t an after school meeting planned.

As usual, Mindy left for work around 730am, and I soon headed off to the shower. I took the time to iron my new washable wool dress slacks to reestablish a firm pleat. Worked well. I dressed sharply. Not entirely sure why.

I was ready well ahead of bus time and used the few extra minutes I had to fool around online. My laptop was still connected since I was on-call over the weekend. By the way, this might’ve been my easiest on-call in my new role yet.

The kids and I headed out at 810am. Bella took Eiknarf and I took Woody. Bill was at the bus stop with Makayla (her grandpa). She was very excited to see Woody. Bill laughed when the kids told him how much work Woody was. He knows. They kept the puppy, Annie. The bus arrived on time. Soon the kids were off to school and Eiknarf and I on our way back home. Left for the office after a couple minutes inside.

Work was quiet. Had a meeting with the account team for my new customer. I asked what I deemed as important questions, at least from my perspective. We might’ve gone on for 45 minutes. Other than that, it was a relatively calm day. I spent time working on a new project assignment. Not a big deal. Early on, I thought I might leave early afternoon and work from home the rest of the day. That never came to fruition. Just got busy with this and that and before I knew it was after 430pm. Neither Mindy or I had heard a peep from Lindsey. We weren’t sure if that was good or bad news regarding the apartment she applied for on Saturday. We were both hopeful that she’d get it.  Mindy went on record saying she had an awful good feeling about it. Really liked the manager.

I did leave for home about 45 minutes earlier than usual. In fact, I was home just after 5pm. Felt good to get home early for a change. It took a minute or two for me to figure out why Mindy parked along the curb. It was Trick-or-Treat and she didn’t want to block the drive-way. Good thinking, dear.

She was busy making sinner – stove top chili. Smelt terrific. We were expecting Jimaken too. He was coming to take the kids begging. Mindy shared that Jacob’s friend Josh was coming over to Trick-or-Treat too. Still weren’t entirely sure of the logistics. Jimaken was set on taking the boys, but Bella and the girls wanted to go with Chrissy, Mindy, or Teri. Chrissy had class that night, so she was out. By the way, they got home from the NASCAR race mid-afternoon. The kids promptly took Woody home to Kenny.

If Mindy would be taking the girls, that meant I’d have to stay home and pass out candy. Not my favorite thing to do. In fact, I volunteered to take the girls instead. Mindy liked the idea, but Bella didn’t.  Mindy phoned Teri after dinner to see what her plans were. Teri shared that Mike was planning to take the girls. Bella would join them. It sounded like Mindy & I would be home passing out candy together.

Jimaken joined us for dinner and then helped Jacob get his costume together. Both Josh and Evan were dressed as bananas. Mindy looked for a banana costumes for Jacob, but could only find one for $40. She said she wasn’t paying that. She expressed feeling bad after seeing the other boys in theirs. Not quite sure what’s up with the banana thing.

The kids all headed out right at 6pm, the official beginning. We had a few early birds. I think Mindy took care of them. I told her to shew them away. Mindy offered that we open the garage door and sit out there in lieu of continuously going to the front door. I liked the sound of that given that we could listen to music via my iTouch and Bose dock and then simply sit back in a chair and watch. And while there were brief showers rolling through at the start, the sky quickly cleared to a starry Halloween night. It was somewhere near 50 degrees too. Not bad at all.

Mindy and I got set-up in the garage. I let some Roger Waters/ A.K.A.Pink Floyd whirl in the background. Mindy felt it was a little loud, but it was Halloween. Why not? As usual, we had a lot of non-neighborhood kids, mostly of Hispanic origin. We didn’t’ mind. Most were very polite and gracious.

The kids came in waves. We’d have a whole bunch then a brief reprieve before another wave. It’s always been like that. A lot of really good costumes. Mindy texted Lindsey near her quitting time. We both were dying to know what came of the apartment thing. Lindsey finally called her back around 720pm. I listened passively while passing out candy. I wasn’t sure from the tone of the conversation what the verdict was. Mindy expressed some happiness but also some frustration. I had to wait until she hung up.

The news was in. The offered that she could move in as soon as Saturday provided the financial arrangements were followed through on. Lindsey shared that she was unable to get a hold of her advocate to seal the deal, but Mindy and I were confident they’d come through as agreed. And meanwhile, the YWCA agreed to let her stay through the week. The only real drama was that Lindsey found herself stuck on the elevator at work for 6 minutes earlier in the day.

I let out a huge sigh of relief after learning the news. There are other hills to climb, but this was a big one. According to Lindsey, Kelly wasn’t too pleased with the location and even dropped some idol threats. She wanted to her to follow-up on a duplex on Hague ave. 

Trick-or-Treat soon came to an end. I’m thinking it was near 750pm when Mindy and I headed inside. There might’ve another two or three hit the door, but that’s it. Years past, we’ve had stragglers for another 30 minutes. Soon our kids were home too. However, Bella soon headed down to Emily’s to make some Halloween gack – a family tradition. Jacob’s friend Josh phoned his dad to come fetch him. His mother showed up about 20 minutes later.

   By then, I was flat on my back in front of the TV taking a very brief nap. Felt awesome. I woke a couple minutes later and tuned into the MNF game – KC Chiefs and San Diego. The Chiefs took the lead early. None of us stayed up too long, though me longer than the kids and Mindy. I made some popcorn after they were off to bed. But I was off to bed even before 10pm. Good night half Halloween moon!