Tossing & Turning

I was up around 745am after waking a time or two earlier. Right away I could see that it was raining gazing out the masterbath window. Gone was the lovely spring-like weather we enjoyed most of Wednesday through Saturday. I started a pot of coffee then took to the internet, first checking the outcome of the Stanford/Notre Dame. Stanford won. Never trailed. Checked weather next. It was 52 degrees with light but steady rain. Wasn’t expected to let up for the next few days, either. Though, they’re saying it will change to snow come Tuesday or Wednesday.

Enjoyed coffee until almost 930am. I casually dressed for a run and left around 940am. It was raining steadily and despite the warmer than normal temps, the rain made it feel much cooler.  I ran the usual 3 miles dealing with stiff leg muscles for the run’s entirety. Once again, I’m guessing myself slightly dehydrated, a combination of drinking beer four nights in a row and a lot less water consumption than normal. Last time it happened it was during my October vacation. (vacation/extended time off = more beer + less water = dehydration).

I was back at home just after 10am and quickly topped off my coffee cup then returned to my PC. Mindy was up shortly thereafter. It was nice having a quiet morning. She started some laundry and worked on a grocery list. I decided I’d better cook the rest of the sauerkraut ball ingredients I had setting in the fridge even though I didn’t plan to deep fry them right then. Mindy gave me a look since we already had a fridge full of leftovers from Saturday’s taco bar.

Lindsey and the boys would be coming over around 1pm to do laundry, and then sticking around through dinner. Before then, I planned to make a quick trip to Wal-Mart to get a new inner tube to fix the flat tire on Jacob's bike. However, I finished frying the sauerkraut ball concoction first.

Once the sauerkraut ball mixture was cooked and stowed in a bowl, I quickly readied for a trip to Wal-Mart. I didn’t bother with a shower choosing instead to stay in my running clothes. Also, I was running low on gas in the Accord, so I planned a fill-up along the way. Had to be nearing noon when I left for gas & Wal-Mart.

My fuel light on, I stopped for gas at DM Mart first. It took 16 gallons at $3.03 per. Last tank netted me only 21 mpg. On to Wal-Mart. I expected a bigger crowd, this the biggest shopping weekend of the year. I found an inner tube for $4.96 in a hurry. Mindy asked that I pick-up some chocolate milk too. I headed over to the grocery department next.  I was surprised that it was so expensive, almost $4 per gallon. I was able to walk up and checkout at the 10 items or less aisle. Cool! Somebody pinch me!

I headed home where I quickly handed the chocolate milk to Mindy then went back to the garage to fix Jacob’s bike tire with out passing ‘Go”. It was as easy as I remember it being when I was a kid. Had the new inner tube in and the tire remounted and inflated in less than 5-10 minutes.  Can’t recall if I got a shower before or after Lindsey and the boys arrived. Thinking it was just before.

At any rate, once they were there I wasted little time having Mindy move the Pilot to the curb so I could pull Lindsey’s Hyundai into the garage where I proceeded to tear off the driver’s side interior door panel. Having been to this rodeo with my Trooper at least ten times, I felt fairly confident with what I was doing. Knew where to look for all the hidden screws. Went well until I got to the removal of the inside door handle. The Trooper’s door handle came off with a simple twist. The Hyundai left me dumbfounded. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure it out. Plan ‘B’ called for me to try squeezing my hand in between the half removed door panel and the frame. I could feel the handle but couldn’t see or feel what might be broken or loose.

Mindy came out to check on me and offered to lend a hand. She held the door panel back and even tried reaching in with her smaller arm. Still no joy.  She offered to Google the car looking for help/instruction on its removal. Good idea dear! She returned a few minutes later with a plan to pivot the door panel 90 degrees at the door handle.

 The last thing I wanted was to snap something off making it worse. She later said those instructions were for a 2002 anyway. I must’ve fiddled with it for another 30 minutes before giving up and putting it all back together. I suggested we contact Westway body shop, where Mindy had the Pilot dent fixed, to see if they might do that type of work. Mindy thought that a good idea too. We plan to avoid Hatfield moving forward if we can help it.

The door went back together easy enough. Soon I was inside washing up and enjoying some of the Browns/Bengals game. Snacked throughout the afternoon while watching football. The Vikings, I saw, were getting beat by the Falcons. Becoming commonplace. Jimaken brought the kids home around 3pm. He hung out long enough to play some with Landon.

For dinner, Mindy reheated leftovers from our Saturday taco bar. And once again we had a house full of kids. Not only did we have ours, we had Rocky, Landon, Evan, Emily, Makayla, & Lillian. Chrissy stopped over too. Kenny was off hunting. Left around 9am and wouldn't be home until Tuesday.

Mindy, Bella and I spent a lot of time late afternoon and early evening searching the house for Bella's DS. It wasn't to be found anywhere. We even called Jimaken asking him to check his car and condo. Called back and said it wasn't in his car.

Lindsey finished up her laundry around 6pm and then left for home around 630pm. She wasn't gone but about 45 minutes when my phone rang. Yep, you guessed it. More car troubles. Said the check engine light was on again and the transmission wasn't shifting. She was in a total panic. Hard to listen to and talk with. I wanted to scream and was feeling sorry that I ever bought that piece of shit car. I told her to drive her car home.

She proceeded to text Mindy two or three times about the car, I guess hoping for a more favorable response. Mindy simply told her to drive home, put the kids to bed, and see how it was in the morning.

We tuned into SNF around 8pm, Steelers and the Chiefs. I wasn't that interested in the result, but it was fun to watch. Lots of penalties and big plays. Pittsburgh was ahead for most of the first half. Bella called her mawmaw around 830pm asking if she might've left her DS there. No such luck. The truth is, she has no idea where she deserted it. I helped her tear her room apart just to be sure. I searched in the Pilot too. Still no joy.

Mindy and the kids headed for bed around 940pm. I tucked Bella in then returned to the downstairs to watch the rest of the 1st half of football. I was starting to dose and headed up to bed at10pm. Mindy was reading or doing a puzzle. I put the game on and used it as a sleep aid. I fell asleep right away. Unfortunately, the sleep didn't stick. For some reason, I woke about 10-15 minutes later and was wide awake. And once my mind got to whirling, there was no stopping it. Dang it! After tossing and turning for about ten minutes, I popped up and headed downstairs where I watched the conclusion of the Steelers/Chiefs game. Steelers won, but not before the Chiefs made a game of it.

Before heading to bed, I spent another 10 minutes or so online. I headed back to bed around 1230am.