KF Take All

Up on time again and I am happy to report without a lingering case of the sleepies. I took a quick glance out back noticing once again a coating of frost albeit light compared to the past few mornings. After sit-ups I went for coffee. My timing was just about right. It had just finished brewing. I checked the weather first thing. It was 27 degrees and cloudy. Expecting a big warm up over the next few days, and they’re now predicting 60 degrees by Thursday with rain. One would think that would all but destroy the little bit of snow MRM managed to make over the past few days. I looked across the nation, too. It’s not really snowing anywhere but in relatively few pockets in the Colorado Rockies.

Disgusted with the weather, I did my best to focus my attention elsewhere. It worked only marginally. Without a doubt, I am feeling a little stressed. No snow either here or in NY; I am nowhere close to ready for Xmas; and the stock market's tanking. I just needed to scream!

As you might guess, I had a hard time with meditation and just when I needed it most. Couldn’t really stop the chatter. It was more like the 10-15 minutes before upping from bed. Mulling lots of stuff/situations. At 612am I stopped to deliver Mindy’s coffee. I headed immediately to the family room to stretch and then ready for a run.

Stretching went really well and I am once again happy to report that my shoulders, neck and upper back are feeling as good as I can remember. I’d like to think that moving push-ups to every other day has made a big difference.

I dressed in the same running layers as the previous few days. And I could tell right away that it was a bit warmer. It doesn’t take long for 27 degrees to feel almost warm after spending time in the teens. Likewise, the teens will feel similar to the 20’s once we spend a few days in the single digits. I am sure that’s coming, but when?

I ran the full 4.1 miles after getting out the door a few minutes ahead of 630am.  The run passed quickly. Home in the blink of an eye. Leashed the dog for a walk as soon as I was home and in the door. We walked to the west over the new concrete now exposed and open to foot traffic. She was slow to go but eventually did. I was patient.

Inside, Mindy had breakfast well underway, and I was really hungry. While feeding Eiknarf I was reminded that we needed to move all the KF stuff just outside the garage door so it could be picked up. I made a cardboard sign that said, “KF - Take All”. I placed it by the front door so I wouldn’t forget to move it all. I planned to enlist the help of Jacob before heading to the bus stop.

Breakfast was good. Mindy made enough eggs for Eiknarf. I can tell that’s she’s expecting them now. Won’t touch her regular food until she’s had some eggs. Bella complained of her throat hurting. She had cereal for breakfast, Cocoa Krispies. She ate it all but didn’t drink the milk. Said she doesn’t care for chocolate milk.

Mindy headed off to school, actually professional development, near 730am. At about the same time, I headed to the shower. I was downstairs again by 750am. Somewhere along the line, I remembered to quiz Bella on her hair, teeth, and socks. Good thing I did, because once again, she’d neglected to address them. This time, though,  she still had ten minutes to get it all done.

I asked for Jacob’s help in the garage moving the KF stuff just outside the overhead door, but by the time he got into his shoes and joined me, I had it all but done. Bella watched from the laundry room door steps. I placed the homemade placard in front of the pile hoping that would do. They actually request that every bag, box be marked with a KF. I supposed to avoid any misunderstandings.

That part done, now we just had to hope that they would take it all. Bella took Eiknarf while I fired up the Accord. We were at the bus stop right on time. Only Lillian joined us. Makayla was sick, throwing up.  Probably the same bug as Bella.  The kids were soon off to school and me off to work.

Had a couple key meetings taking place during the day.  The first, an internal meeting, was meant to serve as a planning meeting for the two other meetings later in the day with a large customer. The initial meeting was set to begin at 930am. That came upon me fast.

We talked through several potential issues. Glad we did. It’s important that we’re all on the same page in front of the customer. My boss offered that we all go to lunch on the way to the customer’s location. Agreed to meet in the lobby at 1115am. That gave me roughly 45 minutes to tie up loose ends. I figured that we wouldn’t be back until 330-400pm.

Headed to the lobby at 1110am. My boss pulled his car to the door where we loaded in. Just as we were heading off I got a call from Bella’s school office sharing that she was sick and needed to go home. I apologized for my inability to get away, but suggested she try Mindy if she hadn’t already. She hadn’t and thanked me just the same. I agreed to check with Mindy my first opportunity.

We arrived at On the Border near Easton at roughly 1145am. I called Mindy while the others headed to the table. By then, Mindy had a plan to get Bella. She was out to lunch with her teacher peeps but would head back to the class and then go after Bella. She had forgotten that I was in these important meetings all day. Agreed to touch base later. I put my phone on silence.

I hadn’t eaten at On the Border before. Pretty good stuff (Mexican). I’d have to say, their salsa is better than the Vaqs. The chips weren’t as good, though. The entrees, just so, so. We were there for about 30-40 minutes. Not too long. We headed down the road to the customer’s campus with about 10-15 minutes to spare. I knew we’d have a tough time parking. Their lots are always packed. Sure enough, we had to park way out. No worries. It occurred to me was we made our way to the building that I didn’t bring my access badge. I had to get a visitor badge just like the others.

Found the meeting room with relative ease. It was an executive type briefing. I assured our guest director that it wouldn’t be a beat up session and it wasn’t. These guys are always first class. And that’s just how the meeting went. Talked through several concerns and developed a game plan for moving forward. The first meeting went long. From there, we drove to the second meeting located in the same building that I spend each Wednesday.

The second customer meeting went equally as well. While there, we happened upon their Santa passing out scrumptious looking baked goods. He was perhaps the most authentic looking natural Santa I’d ever seen. Nice touch. I skipped the treat, though others partook. I didn’t have anything smaller than a $1. I know, cheap!

The 2^nd meeting took place in the director’s office. All in all, it was a very positive meeting. Lasted upwards of an hour. We left for our home office near 330pm arriving right around 4pm, or pretty much when I thought. I had a lot of to-do’s build up while we were out. As a result, I was very busy for the last 1.5+ hours of the day.

Talked with Mindy late afternoon. Advised that she took Bella to see Dr George (Craig’s partner). He gave her a strep test which came back negative. Said he was surprised given how red her throat was. Said she could return to school the following day. Because of her absence, Bella wasn’t doing her Xmas concert at school. Mindy said we could have a date night if we wanted.  Neither one of us were very hungry, though. Agreed to simply stay home.

I didn’t get out of the office until 550pm. Traffic was still fairly heavy. I arrived home just after 6pm. The kids were gone with Jimaken. The house quiet and neat. Mindy was on her laptop, presumably Xmas shopping. We chatted for a while, her providing an updated status on our Xmas shopping, and me sharing details from my work meetings. Near 630pm, in a rare moment of weakness, I decided to pour the last pint of Cousin Eddie. It was too much longer before Mindy left to run a couple more Xmas shopping errands.

I was left alone for about an hour. Sadly, I can't recall what I did with the time. I think that I spent most of it writing in my blog. I ordered the Xmas gift for Jacob from Amazon. Hopefully it will arrive before Xmas.

The kids were home from an evening with Jimaken before Mindy returned from the Flower Factory. Once Mindy was home I pulled myself away from the PC. I'm thinking it was close to 830pm when I took a dive on the family room sofa and promptly fell asleep. I didn't wake again until about 1030pm. By then, Mindy & the kids were off to bed and sound asleep. I shut down the house, including all the indoor Xmas lights then headed for bed.