Where the Heck Am I?

I slept rather poorly, especially during the last couple hours. However, I fought off the urge to get up extra early and stayed in bed until 510am. Still was up 20 minutes early, however. After sit-ups and push-ups, I decided to lie back down on the sofa until about 530am. I didn’t fall asleep but managed to relax my racing mind.

I spent a solid 20 minutes on the PC reading headlines and looking at used Hondas, Toyotas, and Hyundai’s. I took note of two in particular. Come 6am I headed up to wake Mindy with a cup of coffee in hand. We hugged and chatted briefly. I turned off the ceiling fan on my way back downstairs. She didn’t request it, but I had already turned up the heat. The house was chilly.

It was rather warm outside – a whopping 54 degrees. Expecting sun, clouds, and rain sometime during the day. Downstairs, I did my stretch and meditation then readied and left for a run. It was 631am when I headed out the front door.

It was trash day, but they hadn’t been by yet. I ran off doing the full 4.1 miles. I was feeling a lot better about things, and subsequently had mostly positive thoughts whirling about my mind for the duration of my run. Mindy was gone by the time I returned home. The trashcan had been emptied too. That was more than apparent by the fact that it was now lying over on its side.

Mindy called as soon as I got in the door and was turning on the stove. Said she left at 713am or two minutes prior. Must’ve just missed her. She also shared that Lindsey called and said she had a ride to work. I had to laugh because of all days NOT to need me, this wasn’t it. I drive right by the place on my way to my customer's site. However, it was nice to have a more leisurely ready.

I fried four eggs. Two for me, and one each for Bella and Eiknarf. It was 732am by the time I headed off to the shower. I was ready rather quickly and downstairs by 755am. I took a few minutes to iron the wrinkles from my new khakis and to press my shirt collar. I was looking good!

The kids and I headed out to the bus at 810am. Kenny met us there. We talked about the Penn St scandal. Both of us agreed that had someone told us five-ten years ago that Michigan, OSU, and now

Penn St

would go through what they have we’d never have believed it. No way!

Walked Eiknarf before heading back inside for final prep. I left for work at 821am. I opted not to try 670. Didn’t want to press my luck. It was a fairly easy drive around i270. Arrived at the customer’s site just ahead of 9am. I got caught up with unrelated work matters and missed an important meeting in another building but on the same campus. That’s just how it goes, I suppose.

I handled our regular 10am customer meeting by myself. I kept busy working on monthly reports after that. At lunch time I planned to go look at the Honda Civic I called about the day before. which was off

Westerville Rd south

of Morse. I also planned to look at a Hyundai listed for the same phone number. It was just posted this AM. I headed out around 1230pm.

It didn’t take long to get near there. Oh my gosh! No way. The entire area is economically depressed with one used car lot after another. I didn’t feel safe or good about buying a car there. I drove by and turned around at my earliest convenience.

So much for that idea. I headed back to the office.

The afternoon was largely uneventful. Still had plenty to keep me busy, though. I stayed true to my plan to leave the office close to 5pm in order to be home near my regular time. On my drive home I called a guy about another Hyundai I found on Craig’s list. He seemed like a nice guy but I quickly learned that he was selling  the car for his buddy in Chicago (Illinois title). Car doesn’t have tags. Uses his own to test drive. He was a fast talker and only wanted to meet me somewhere with the car. Said his wife refused to let him give their Arlington address. Basically, all the warning signs were there. I made loose plans to at least meet him and look at it on Thursday during lunch. However, even before I arrived home I decided I would almost certainly cancel. Again, didn’t feel right. Trust the gut!

I tried calling my dad on the long drive home too. I was leaving a VM when I had an incoming call from him. We talked for a few minutes. He was excited to be home from rehab after only one week removed from his 2nd knee replacement surgery. Said he was doing good. Sounded good too. Shared that he had talked with Mindy earlier, who had offered to bring him dinner. He declined having already eaten.

Called Mindy as I neared Tuttle. By then, traffic was almost at a stand still. She was curious of my ETA. I wasn’t sure given the traffic's crawl. The sky looked rather ominous as I made my way around 270. Dark clouds to the east and west, but clear/sunny directly overhead. The sun was setting fast, however, and it was pretty much dark by the time I finally arrived home.

It sounded like Mindy had her hands full with the kids. Not only were ours home, but Rocky & Landon were there for dinner too. We’d have them until Lindsey gets off work at 7pm or so. Mindy made a pork roast. Let it cook in the crock-pot all day long. The house smelt of the roast when I walked in the door. Yum!

The kids were already seated at the dinner table, and right away someone, I think Bella, shared that Landon scratched our eating table with his fork. He looked afraid. I just smiled at him. It really wasn’t that big of a deal. Mindy dished up everyone’s plates. It looked as good as it smelt – pork roast, mashed potatoes, green beans, peas, rolls. I opted for green beans over the peas.

Dinner was delicious, and it always does my heart good to see my 2 grand babies eating so well. Rocky in particular had two helpings and then a bowl of pasta. Where does he put it all? Following Rocky's lead, Landon asked for some pasta, too.

While I managed the clean-up, Mindy helped the kids get their dessert/treat - Halloween candy. Bella hustled off to ready for gymnastics. Mindy would be dropping her; I'd be picking up. We expected Lindsey around 8pm to pick-up the boys. We planned to nail down the details of the money management plan once she arrived.

Mindy was home from dropping Bella just after 7pm. The boys, Jacob included, played Wii. They were loud. Rocky has one of those excruciatingly loud voices. I made him come sit on the steps for a few minutes after rattling my brain to the core with one of his loud shrills. I made him sit for no more than five minutes and then asked him to share how he might control his loudness moving forward. He was at a loss for words. :)

Lindsey showed up around 810pm. She was hungry so we offered up some pork roast. We planned to discuss the money management thing, but there was only one problem. I had to leave to pick-up Bella. I pulled up the budget Mindy and I constructed for her on an Excel spreadsheet so Mindy could review it with her in my brief absence. We could pick-up the pieces once I returned.

I wasn't gone but maybe 15 minutes tops. Mindy & Lindsey were in the kitchen dealing with the kids. I figured they decided to wait for me to discuss money. That wasn't the case, however. Mindy said they already agreed to the terms but hadn't finalized everything. The three of us headed to the livingroom to nail down all the particulars.

Lindsey had a few questions, most of them centering around how we'd determine her bimonthly allowance. I explained. She also wanted assurance that come Xmas, we'd agree to a larger amount. Yes, but those two questions alone really tell me her head isn't in the right place. Should be most concerned with meeting her necessary fixed and variable expenses on a long term basis, which as we showed her in the budget should be more than doable. In fact, she should be able to save some money each month. In the end she handed over the bulk of her recent paycheck and let Mindy give her the first allowance. She said it was hard to hand over her money to someone else. I told her I was proud of her for making the right choice. Still not convinced she fully gets the bigger picture.

It was getting late. Already after 9pm. I ran Lindsey and the boys home. We didn't stay up too late once I was back at home. All of us were in bed by 10pm. Good night moon.