Won't You Be My Dixie Chicken

I didn’t sleep very well after upping from the sofa and heading to bed.  I slept good until say 130am, but after that it was a lot of tossing and turning. In fact, I found myself so restless at 230am that I got up and headed downstairs to the compute hoping that some online reading might make me sleepy again. It worked, but only marginally.

I returned to bed at 3am and slept slightly until 445am when I got up for good. I exercised and then started the coffee maker early. I spent a lot of time online doing who knows what. I read a lot of articles and reviewed NFL results. I found myself retting going to work. I was feeling a little overwhelmed with all I need to get done, let along the whole Lindsey car thing. That’s proving to be daunting task.

Since we agreed to help Lindsey this week, Mindy asked to be up near 6am. I took her coffee at 605am. Mindy wants to leave the house at 710am to ensure she has enough time to pick-p the boys, drop ‘em at school, and then get to Monterey before 8am.  I, in turn, will be taking Lindsey to work, leaving as soon as the bus picks up the kids. Lindsey agreed to walk over after Mindy leaves with the boys.

To that end, I hurried through a meditation and stretch routine and dressed for a run by 615am. I was out the door a minute or tow later. It was supposedly 46 degrees under partly cloudy skies, but it felt much cooler. I should’ve worn hand covers.  I ran the full 4.1 miles using my shirt sleeves to cover my hand for the first mile or so. It was a good run – invigorating. For some reason, works been eating at me a lot lately. Not entirely sure why. I think it’s more my disposition than the work itself. Stress!

I was back at the house ahead of 7am. That doesn’t happen too often. Mindy was already hurrying around. Both of us were a bit out of sorts altering our routine. I took Eiknarf out for a walk before she left for work and while her car warmed. I was back inside by 710am, about the time Mindy left to first fetch the boys. I started cooking eggs right away. Bella shared that she wanted one too. We enjoyed our eggs together, sharing our leftovers with Eiknarf as usual.

As I headed off to the shower, I reminded Bella that Lindsey should be along before long. And as I was reopening the masterbath blinds to the sunlight, I could see Lindsey walking towards the house. Wow, she must’ve left right after Mindy picked up the boys. I finished my ready in short order and was back downstairs by 751am. Lindsey was fairly quiet. We didn’t talk much.

I stayed busy tidying up the house and kitchen before we headed out. This was a Rachel cleaning day, too, btw. Mindy had boneless chicken breasts cooking the crock-pot. She didn’t say for certain, but I guessed she’d be making chicken enchiladas for dinner.

Lindsey, Eiknarf, the kids and I headed out at 810am. Kenny met us at the bus stop. Didn’t see much of him over the weekend. He was hunting for the better part of it. Asked if there was any way he could golf Tuesday. Nope. Couldn’t swing it. We didn’t hang long if at all after the bus pulled up. Kenny did teased Jacob about his recent scalping. J

I walked Eiknarf out front another minute or two before zipping off for the Farmer’s building. It was fast, efficient drive up north. Again, not a lot of dialogue. For lots of reasons, it’s hard for me to have a fun loving conversation with Lindsey. Can’t remember what we talked about.

I dropped her at 840am and zoomed off for work. Having taken her to work 5 or 6 times now, I didn’t realize until then that she’s right next door to CarMax. I turned in the lot real quick to see if they had any used cars that tickled my fancy. Looks like they keep the cars in a locked compound. Wasn’t open yet. Off to work.

I made good time heading west/south on I-270 arriving at the office at 851am. I parked in one of the two front lots.

Took a few minutes to get booted up. Had a customer meeting at 9am meeting that I rescheduled for 930am from home. That went fairly well. I had to be reminded by a meeting attendee that I set-up an internal conference call for 11am. Oops! I joined 3 minutes late. The meeting was quick. I had a couple hours before my next meeting. I used the time to work on monthly reports.

I ended up working through my lunch hour. I ate only an apple, banana, and cheese chunks all day long. Wasn't too hungry. Got plenty accomplished but it didn't feel like enough. Sometimes no matter how hard I work there always seems to be something I missed. I called about a couple cars I spotted on Craig's List over the weekend. Not one of them returned my call. Happens a lot I am finding.

Talked with Mindy during my commute home. She asked how the morning drop went with Lindsey. Her picking up the boys went well. Arrived to school a little early even. Shared that we were having enchiladas for dinner. Yum! I was beginning to feel better about things but still a tad overwhelmed. At home, it was already all but dark. Mindy was already dishing up dinner even though she said she didn't arrive home until almost 5pm. Thank goodness for the crock-pot.

The enchiladas were really good. This is the third or fourth time she's made them. They taste different each time. She's still trying different things to enhance/improve them. Before we'd even finished dinner she asked Bella to head upstairs to ready for gymnastics. Jacob headed back to Evan's to play.

I was checking my phone for a missed call from my dad when  I somehow got routed to my Gmail account. Had a new email from Glenn sharing some sad news. Reading further, it was a copy of my good friend Geno McKee's obituary. He passed on July 17th at the tender age of 52. Didn't say how or why. As Glenn pointed out, he went before his older brother Danny, which is definitely a surprise.  I was overcome with sadness. I've thought of Geno more than a few times this past year wondering what he might be up to and how I might find him. I learn now that it's is too late. He was a good friend. A friend who would give you the shirt off his back. A lot of fun too. We had some fantastic times together growing up and then living in Florida and California as 18-19 year olds.

We were roommates & workmates after we moved back home, too. Worked at Time Warner together for several years. I'll never forget his pole dancing at the go-go bar where we had memberships. Too funny. He had an old beater car that he drove to Florida with a 2"X8" for a bumper and a wrecked front fender. He nick named it myrtle the turtle.

With the long hair and beard, Geno was scary to many but inside just a big teddy bear. Always tried to bring peace to our occasional scuffles. The Geno I knew loved Michelob beer, perhaps a doobie or two, the Vikings, and Little Feat. I pray that he passed happy and pain free.

After processing the sobering news, I saw that I missed a call from my dad. I returned the call quickly, worrying that something might have gone awry at the nursing home. That wasn't the case, thankfully. Instead, he was calling to share news of his planned early departure for home I believe Wednesday morning. That's three days sooner than his left knee replacement which went extremely well.  he sounded excited. I was hard for me to focus with the news of Geno's passing still fresh in my psyche. I didn't share the news with my dad, who would surely remember Geno.

I changed into comfy lounging pants and then soon left to pick-up Bella from gymnastics. I think it's fair to say that both Mindy and I were surprised that Lindsey hadn't called for a ride home from work. Surprised, concerned, thankful and grateful all rolled into one. She has no idea how much of an impact this entire ordeal has had on us. Our emotions are taken on a ride almost daily.

Picking up Bella was a great diversion. She was very joyful. Asked if we could stop at Wendy's. Joyful, but no. :) Kidded with her about everybody already asleep in bed back home. She didn't buy it.

At home, Mindy sent her off to the shower. Jacob and Mindy were already tuned to MNF (Bears/Eagles). I quickly warmed to the idea and joined them from the comfort of the big chair. I'll bet it wasn't 15 minutes before I was sawing logs. Felt terrific! I woke around 1015pm to discover everyone else already in bed. The MNF game was in the waning minutes of the 1st half. Can't recall the score. I think the Bears were leading. So long Geno.