Excavator Out & Having Pizza In

I was up close to 530am and downstairs a few minutes later.  Once again, frost coated the ground and deck surfaces. Looked fairly cold. I finished both sit-ups and push-ups by 542am. The coffee brewing cycle was just wrapping up when I poured a cup. I didn't wait for the beep.

I sat in front of the PC for maybe 10-15 minutes all the while enjoying coffee. It was a chilly 30 degrees. Expecting a fairly nice early December day with partly sunny skies and temps in the low 40s. Saturday was forecasted to be even warmer with partly sunny skies and temps in the low 50s.

I headed upstairs to wake Mindy near 610am. I placed her coffee on the night stand, said good morning then headed back downstairs to finish my pre-run routine. I did a brief meditation and a stretch then readied for a run. Once again I wore my ear covers and a toboggan along with handcovers. I was plenty comfy immediately out the door.  I was in good spirits simply because it was Friday. That always feels good, especially after a full work week. I ran 4.1 miles without much effort. I was back at home near 710am to get the dog and warm Mindy's Pilot. She had her keys waiting by the door. I started the car while Mindy ran down the pug. Once again, she carried her down the stairs to where I stood waiting with her leash.

Eiknarf and I walked to the east again because the dredging team was already congregating on the bridge likely discussing the next steps in recovering their mud sunken excavator. I really wanted to get a picture but didn't want to bother them either. Eiknarf took care of business fairly quickly. We walked just past Chrissy's house and back.

I was happy to see that Mindy made omelet style eggs, and already had a plate waiting in my usual spot. I poured an accompanying glass of juice and sat to eat. Bella was moving slow and wasn't sure what she wanted to eat. She didn't want eggs. I offered some of mine. There were still plenty left in the pan, presumably for Eiknarf. Mindy left near 730am, just as she always does.

I headed off to the shower by 735am. It didn't take me long. I dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt, my old familiar uniform. After all, it was Friday. I was downstairs by 755am. Bella and Jacob were busy playing and asked if it was time to go. Nope. Told them we had almost 15 minutes still. With a little idle time on my hands, I decided to play on the internet. I Googled Trans Siberian Orchestra checking on their CMH concert date as well as the ticket prices. Turns out, their show is the same day as Mannheim (Dec 18). The problem is that Mannheim is in Akron and I'm now on-call that weekend. Contemplating seeing TSO instead. Still tickets available but they're pricier than I hoped, the least expensive $58 + handling.

It was 808am and time to go. I hollered for the kids who were quick to ready for our walk to the bus stop. It was cold but sunny. Felt nice. Met Chrissy and the girls. Commented that one more week of school for Chrissy before graduation. She's very excited.

Bus arrived pretty much on time, or 815am. Walked right home not giving Eiknarf the opportunity to bark at the workers already busy working on freeing up their stuck excavator. They had a couple more piles of boulders dropped already that morning too. Busy dropping them over the bridge railing and into the water. Using them to build and island out to the stuck implement.

I listened to a song or two all the while the Accord warmed in the driveway. It was 821am when I headed out the door. Arrived at work and was in my office by 845am. I spent most of my day crunching numbers for monthly reports. Got involved in a couple urgent customer matters too, but all in all it was a fairly easy work day. Ate only a banana and some chunks of cheese all day long. I left my salad in the fridge. It had already been there since Monday. It’ll need pitched. I was happy to see that the stock market finished the week up over 12K after two really bad weeks leading up to TG. Here’s hoping for a yearend rally!

Talked with Mindy late afternoon. Among other things, she shared that the dredgers finally freed the excavator from the pond but that they made quite a mess in so doing. Said they’d be back next week to continue their work. When asked, I told Mindy that I hoped to leave for home near 5pm. That didn’t happen. Once again, I got stuck dealing with a problem near the day’s end. It was more like 535pm when I shut down and headed for home. Mindy planned to order Sporano’s for dinner, but wanted to wait until she knew I was on my way before placing the order. I called her as soon as I was on the road. I’m guessing it was near 540pm.

Arrived home around 6pm. Before heading inside, I walked to the bridge overlooking the pond. Yep, what a mess. There were piles of mud and rocks everywhere.  I’d wait and get a better look and see in the AM. We had a house full, our two kids, Rocky & Landon, as well as most of the island kids. Oh boy!  Mindy reviewed what she ordered for dinner: 1 large pepperoni pizza and 3 subs. I suggested that she call back and order a 2^nd pizza, especially if the island kids were staying for dinner. She agreed and called back and added a 2^nd large pizza.

Mindy invited the island parents down too, but wasn’t sure what time they’d show up. She also whipped up a big bowl of salad to complement the pizza and subs. It had to be around 630pm when the delivery guy showed up. Mindy, all the kids and I went ahead and ate. The food was good, but I was careful not to eat too much since I planned to make a healthy dent in my CBC growler.

Chrissy showed up by herself but said Kenny would be down a while later. Sure enough, he was about 20 minutes behind her. Around 8pm Mike & Terri showed up. We let the PAC 12 championship game – Oregon/UCLA - whirl in the background. Lindsey showed up after work to get the boys. Immediately went on about not having anyone to watch the kids on Saturday. Said her mother told her to tell us to take them with us to Bella’s all-day gymnastics meet in Gallipolis. We held our tongues.

Both neighbors chimed in that they would be more than willing to keep an eye on the boys while we were away. Lindsey, of course, jumped all over that offer. Planned to drop the boys at our house around 830am where they’d remain until we needed to leave at 1030am at which time they’d head to Chrissy and Terri’s for the rest of the day, or until 530pm when Lindsey got off work. Lindsey and the boys left around 830pm.

Jacob and Evan headed off to his room to play video games and/or watch a movie. The girls, meanwhile, were having a good time in the livingroom dancing and listening to music from my iTunes collection.

As the evening wore on Terri unwisely quizzed Mindy about our relationship & family dysfunction. She first asked Mindy if she thought our rather young marriage could withstand the baggage from my first marriage (I.E. my grown kids). And then at some point Terri really hit a nerve with Mindy, suggesting that she might want to work harder at blending our families. Mindy wasn't humored or amused. Without hesitation she lit her up. There was no mistaking how she felt. Everybody got quiet as Mindy went off on Terri for speaking about issues she really knew little about. As you might guess, it was very uncomfortable for the next few minutes. Mindy & Terri did their best to patch things up, but the tension was still present. We eventually change the subject and ended up hanging out for another 45-60 minutes before calling it a night. By the time everybody left for home it was near 11pm. We really needed to get to bed with a long drive and a busy day ahead of us on Saturday. However, before everybody headed out we once again confirmed plans for the neighbors to watch the boys, and also planned a cookout for Sunday to celebrate Mike O.s 47^th birthday.