Physically Metaphorically Stuck in the Mud

I woke somewhere close to midnight thinking it had to be time to get up. Imagine my surprise when I learned otherwise. I happily went right back to sleep waking a couple more times guilty of clock watching. I finally got up for good around 535am after approximately 10 hours of sleep. Now, you might think that after ten hours of sleep I would’ve been rearing to go right out of bed, but to the contrary. Instead, I was dragging rear. Whatever the reason, that happens more often than you might think.

By the time I got downstairs the coffee brew cycle was all but finished. I glanced out back at the weather. It looked cold. This I assessed by the thick coating of frost covering everything in sight. I quickly headed to the living room where I whipped out the day’s sit-ups. By then I was already beginning to shake off the sleepies. And then, after slurping down a little coffee I was awake as ever.

Meditation was way too brief, but I had little choice given that I’d need to leave the house around 735am to get Bella and Makayla to Beacon singers practice by 8am. I delivered Mindy’s coffee near 605am. She asked how I was feeling after finding me in bed so early the evening before. Told her I was still a little tired but otherwise fine. I needed to get moving. I headed downstairs to stretch and then head out for my run.

I made sure to wear the winter weather extras: a toboggan, ear muffs, hand covers, and perhaps just as important, an extra layer of shorts to keep my private parts warm. It was near 27 degrees out the door and already after 630am. I decided early on that I would trim my run to 3 miles so I wouldn’t be pushed for time after the run. I ran the entire three miles comfortably and also feeling much better about things.

At home, it was trash day and they had already been by to empty our can. I drug the empty can back to its resting place then headed in for the dog. Mindy coaxed Eiknarf out of bed and downstairs to her waiting leash. We headed out near 705am. I walked her eastward so to avoid the dredging guys already congregating at the bridge. She took care of her business rather quickly. We headed back home for breakfast.

Mindy made omelet style scrambled eggs again, my most recent preference. I warmed Eiknarf’s leftover eggs still in the fridge from the day before. I didn’t need any lunch since I still had Tuesday’s in the fridge at work. All I needed to take was a banana. Mindy left for work about ten minutes early. I headed off to the shower soon after, once again needing/wanting to be out the door no later than 740am. As such, I reminded both kids.

My shower was quick. I was downstairs and ready by 733am. Told Bella we needed to leave by 740am. Jacob was already heading out the door for Chrissy’s in his new shoes, new jacket, and his blown dry. I headed out to warm/defrost the Accord, which was covered in a thick coat of frost.

I enjoyed a little more of my coffee before picking up my bag and heading out. Bella ran down to get Makayla who wasn’t yet with us. Before I could finish squeegeeing the car windows clear, they both came running. Off we went. It was 742am as we buzzed by the dredgers already getting busy. We made good time heading up the freeway into Hilliard. I dropped the girls at the school just before 8am. As before, I waited until I saw them head inside before pulling away.

I haven’t arrived at the office this early in a really long time. I pulled in the lot at 805am and parked up front. It was a gorgeous sunny morning, by the way.  I was settled in my office a little while later, where I quickly discovered that I was one of just a handful of folks actually working from the office. By 9am several others were online and working, but they must’ve been doing so from home. That just meant I could work with less chance of interruption. I accomplished a lot, including getting a quick jump on the November monthly reports, by downloading all the necessary raw data.

A couple times I tinkered with the idea of simply heading home and finishing my work day there. But in the end I stuck it out at the office. As a rule of thumb, I am much more focused from the office than I am at home. As you might expect, it was crazy quiet.

I didn’t get that hungry either. The only thing I ate from my packed lunch was the cheese and banana. I left my salad and fruit in the fridge.

As 3pm neared once again I kicked around the idea of heading home, but again opted not. Then, as luck would have it, my boss called me from Cleveland asking me to get involved in a rather ugly problem. I didn’t feel that comfortable with the limited information I had to go on, but started plugging away anyway. Suddenly, my afternoon got a little crazy. I had my boss calling me, a customer, and then another customer. Oh boy! It’s funny how that can work Quiet all day, then bam, everybody wants a piece of me.

I worked my way through those issues as far as I could. Mindy called a couple times, too. I missed both. Worried that something was wrong, I called back at my earliest convenience. I was no big deal. Just shared that she was on her way from having her hair done, visiting niece Lindey, and picking up the boys. Said Lindey’s doing really well, all things considered. I shared how busy I was and that I’d call again once in route for home.

I worked until near 530pm making for a 10.5 hour day with few if any real breaks. The time went incredibly fast, though. No complaints. I called Mindy once I was near 270. Among other things, she shared that the dredgers got their excavator stuck in the pond, sunk in the mud at least three feet deep. Said there were all sorts of heavy equipment on site to try and get it out. She also shared that my dad opted out of sticking around for dinner after seeing the kids off the bus. She wasn’t sure why, but if memory serves, I think it had something to do with the mannequins. We ended the call as I turned onto Wilson off Roberts.

At home, it was almost completely dark. I walked over to the bridge to get a peak at the excavator still embedded in the pond. Wow! I was surprised how deeply entrenched it was. Mindy wasn’t kidding. It was leaning a bit too. Looks like they’re using the boulders originally planned for the shore line to make a peninsula out to the stuck excavator. Have two others on site now, too, and one of them really big. Me and another guy checking it out from the bridge could only laugh. The workers were long gone. Knocked off before dark. According to Mindy, they didn’t seem too concerned about it. Said it’s happened before, and it was even worse. She said they also complained freely about neighbor Carl’s constant fault finding with their work. Eventually told him that they were working to their contract and that’s that. J

I headed in to see the family, unload my stuff, and prepare for dinner. We had Rocky and Landon again. Mindy said they’d both been pretty good. The house seemed a little small with everyone gathered around the kitchen with lots of stuff scattered about. That always makes me crazy. There’s no denying that I prefer coming home to a quiet, tranquil, and exceptionally clean home. But it is what it is. This has become my life.

Soon dinner was served. Everybody loves beef & noodles. Mindy gave me the leftover Gloria mashed potatoes. The kids all had Bob Evans brand while Mindy was the only one having mashed sweet potatoes. It was all really good. I had a second helping of noodles. Landon and Bella did too. Landon is a good eater, and very entertaining. He has a sweet soul as well. Mindy and Ashley both think he’s likely to be gay. Come what may.

Mindy promised the kids a science experiment and fresh baked cookies after dinner. They were essentially slice and bakes. The experiment came first, however, and while I did clean-up. She dropped Mentos into an old  2 liter bottle filled with about 12 ounces of soda. She had the kids guessing what might happen. She did it twice. Both times, nothing. I had to laugh. Bewildered by the results, she eventually scrapped the experiment. She went on about having done the same thing with her class earlier in the day and seeing an eruption of sorts. Bad Mentos? J

Next, she got out the cookie dough. The kids actually like eating the raw dough as much or more than the finished product. It was comical listening to them beg for more of the raw stuff. They played in the basement while the cookies baked. They got to playing a little rough at times where I had to interject with a few mostly idol threats.

I had my laptop fired up and logged into work since dinner time. I was stuck following up on that issue my boss asked me to run with earlier. I sent an update to those that needed to be involved and then called the customer.  I was done, at least temporarily, by 745pm, or about the same time that Lindsey arrived to get the boys. Mindy had me leave the leftover beef & noodles out for Lindsey, who texted her earlier, stating that she’d be hungry for dinner.

Imagine my surprise when I caught a glimpse of Lindsey with her left jaw all swollen, almost as if she had a golf ball in there. Said it was an old root canal gone bad. Blamed her old dentist.  I couldn’t help but chime in asking what she planning to do about it. As it was, she was on antibiotics. I also reiterated why it’s so important that we take care of ourselves. But as always, she missed the intended point. She went on and on about how she brushes her teeth all the time. My point wasn’t necessarily about brushing regularly, though that’s good, but instead that this was why we wisely subscribe to our medical/dental insurance plans at work, to cover such things. These things happen to everyone. The difference is how well we prepared ourselves for such a crisis. She’s in somewhat of a pickle. Her government provided insurance apparently won’t do a crown. Instead, they will only pull it. 

She’s 27 and turned down her company’s insurance even against my recommendation that she not. My advice: you can’t afford NOT to get it. And besides, you’ll only miss the money for a short burst of time until you get used to it not being there. Not to mention that it comes out pretax. This falls into the category, you’ve gotta care more about yourself than anyone else. Otherwise, I am not gonna feel sorry for you and bail you out of trouble once it comes. Duh! I was annoyed as she sat there in obvious discomfort and pain. Stupid is as stupid does (Sally Fields, Forest Gump ’94). J

Before she and the boys left, I asked her how the car’s doing, noticing that she hadn’t said a word about if for two days. I had plans for its repairs in my back pocket. She said the check engine light is no longer on since Wednesday morning and that it’s performing well, but in the same breath shared that it will happen again.  I shook my head in agreement.

Lastly, Lindsey shared that she had no one to get and watch the boys Friday evening either. Mindy and I agreed to offer our services. Not sure what she’s going to do about Saturday. To say that I was tense, stressed, or crabby after she departed would be an understatement. Unfortunately, Bella was the first one to feel the affects. She was fooling around on the banister until I made her stop. Seconds later she knocked over the doggie gate which slammed loudly onto the tile floor, and enough to make us all jump. I gave her an earful and the stink eye. She was sad. Instantly, I felt bad for snapping at her. And while her antics were uncalled for, the impetus for my anger was not her silliness. Rather, it was rooted in my not so bright daughter’s choices.  I felt really bad when Bella weepingly asked if she should head to her room. No.

What I needed was a diversion, and then maybe some peace, stillness, and a beer! I changed into my PJs then returned to the kitchen where I tapped into my jug of Bodhi I had stashed in the fridge since last Wednesday night still untapped. Ahhh! Now that’s what I’m talking about. Jacob and I watched a college football game even though his preference was watching the rest of the Harry Potter movie he and his mother recently bought. It was already near 830pm anyway. Mindy suggested that both kids needed to plan to be in bed by 9pm – no exceptions. She stuck to her guns, too. Jacob figured what the heck, and headed up much earlier than that. Apparently the Southern Florida/ West Virginia game interested him little.

I didn’t care who won either, but still wanted to watch just for the diversion factor. A couple of times I checked my laptop to see if there was any further feedback on that pesky work issue. There was none. I watched more of the game until my pint was gone and I started to dose from the sofa. Heavenly, I tell you. Heavenly!