Long Day for All

I slept soundly and didn’t get up until just before 530am. I attribute the sound sleep to taking three Advil just before bed. I definitely don’t toss and turn as much when I take Advil just before bed.

I glanced out back to a crystal clear sky. Checked the weather soon after sit-ups. It was 40 degrees. Expecting a high near 50 degrees. Read that Penn State decided to fire Joe Paterno during the overnight. Can’t say that I was too surprised. I played around online while enjoying coffee until just after 6am when I delivered Mindy’s coffee.

Back downstairs for meditation and stretching. Finished both of those around 625am, and it was already after 630am when I made it out the door for my run. It was clear and chilly, but I warmed quickly. I ran the full 4.1 miles. Mindy was still at the house when I got back, but also on her way out. Said she planned to remind Lindsey to bring her paystub when she arrived later. She also reminded me that she had parent conferences until at least 8pm, and that I needed to pick-up the boys at Magdalene’s after school care. Our kids would be with Jimaken after school.

I preheated a skillet with olive oil then headed out with Eiknarf. Our walk was brief, but plenty enough time for her to take care of business.  I fried four eggs, two for me, and one each for Eiknarf and Bella. Bella needed to hurry along. She had to be at Beacon singers practice at 8am and needed to be at Chrissy’s by 740am to leave with Makayla. In turn, I’d be seeing Lillian onto the bus.

Lillian showed up just as I was getting ready to shower. Let her know that Jacob was off in his room playing. Not sure what she did while I was away, but I was ready in short order. By then, she was downstairs talking with Lindsey, who was there for a ride to work. She pulled out an old wrinkled pay stub for me to see. It wasn’t the one I wanted. Promised to bring it Friday.

We headed out to the bus stop early - 805am. The bus showed at her usual time – 815am. Lindsey & I headed back to the house. I already had the Honda warming. All I had to do was unleash Eiknarf and secure the home. We were off to work before 820am. It was a fast drive up and around 270. Dropped Lindsey at 837am. Made it to work before 850am.

Spent my morning crunching numbers. Left for Home Depot at lunch to have extra keys made to Lindsey’s apartment. Took the guy two or three tries to get it right. While he toiled with the keys, I looked at Xmas lights and then picked up some CFL bulbs – both 60 and 100watt equivalents.  I planned to put the 100watt equivalents in the garage.

It was 150pm when I got back to the office. I ate my Monday salad. It was getting a little gamey, but I ate it anyway. I spent the rest of my afternoon working on a project I had procrastinated over for almost two weeks running. Felt good to get that nearly completed. Left the finishing touches for the following day. Headed out just after 5pm. I needed to pick-up the boys before 6pm. Glad I left when I did. There’s no easy way to get to Magdalene from Hilliard. I took the freeway as if I was going home. Traffic was extremely heavy from my house to the Magdalene. Got there with time to spare, however, but it took almost 35 minutes. The boys were excited to be heading out. Calmer than usual, which was a good thing.  Without making mention of it, I pulled into the McDonald’s nearest our house. That made the boys happy. They each asked for happy meals, of course, though Landon wanted a side of chicken nuggets, too. J I didn’t get myself anything. Figured I’d eat leftovers.

It was dark by the time we got to the house. Rocky more so than Landon, was visibly nervous after I set them up with their food and then took Eiknarf out on a walk. He doesn’t like being left alone – abandonment issues.  I noticed them watching me from the front door. They scattered as I made my return up the driveway.

After dinner I let the boys play Wii. Rocky kept asking when his momma was gonna be there. At least an hour longer, I shared. He wasn’t amused when I shared that I would simply role play as his mother to help ease his mind. I found it funny.

We watched Sponge Bob until the kids got home. That had to be around 745pm. I actually dosed off during the cartoon. Both boys were staring at me when I woke up. Creepy! Jacob and Bella interacted well. Lindsey showed up a few minutes later, and Mindy called a few minutes after that to let us know that she was finally on her way home. Lindsey warmed and ate some leftover pork roast. Lindsey practiced spelling words with Rocky while I listened on. He did surprisingly well, and certainly better than I expected.

Mindy agreed to run Lindsey and the boys home. She only asked that I have them ready once she got there, and then have a glass of wine poured for her once she got back. Sounded more than fair to me.  Mindy came inside briefly, but quickly headed out the door again with Lindsey and the boys.

While she was away, I poured her a glass of wine and me a Hop Wallop. I tuned the TV to the Thursday night college football game between Virginia and Georgia Tech. We watched only passively.

While Mindy was away, Jacob headed off to the shower. He stunk to high heaven. Said it was the practice soccer jersey he was wearing. Had been in his soccer bag unwashed. Baaaaaaaad! What would compel him to pull it out and wear it, I asked myself. Mindy was back after just 5-10 minutes. Doesn’t take long. It was already 845pm, however. Mindy and the kids headed off to bed around 920pm. I elected to remain up watching more of the football game. I fell asleep at some point and didn’t wake until 1015pm. Mindy was already asleep when I hopped into bed. Good night full moon!