Ugly Forecast

Happy 74th Birthday, Mom

I was up and out of bed near 530am, on time for all intents and purposes. I glanced out back at the weather. Once again, it was crystal clear and looked frigid. A coating of frost covered everything. After calisthenics I checked the weather forecast in detail. It was only 18 degrees but also expected to climb into the 40’s by mid-afternoon. Our cold snap appears to be gone and looking ahead ten days, it didn’t look like winter weather would be returning anytime soon. High’s expected in the 40’s & 50’s with evening lows barely scraping the freezing mark, putting in serious jeopardy any pre Xmas skiing at MRM.

I actually began to worry a month or so ago when the weather pundits predicted another early winter again this year. Now more than ever, I am convinced that they’re clueless. Must use a magic eight ball to forecast the weather.

The two prior December’s were a boon for early skiing, with early snow storms and hi temps below the freezing mark for most of the month. Admittedly, I was allowing the uncooperative weather to dampen my spirits.

I enjoyed coffee at the PC until roughly 6am when I moved to meditation and stretching. I completed both ahead of delivering coffee to Mindy. Bella complained of feeling under the weather at bedtime the night before, and Mindy took her temp and discovered that she was sporting a fever of 101.5. Mindy asked if I could stay home by any chance. But I could not. Had a couple important meetings I needed to be in. She contacted her principal and prepared sub plans online before returning to bed.

After meditation and stretching I went ahead and delivered Mindy’s coffee. She confirmed that she was staying home with Bella. Planned to get up around 7am to make breakfast and prod Jacob. I left for a run near 635am.

It was cold, but I wore the appropriate attire making it an enjoyable experience. I ran the full 4.1 mile track. Mindy had Eiknarf ready for a walk as soon as I was back from the run. She and I walked west despite the new blanketed concrete and the construction barriers. We walked through the straw & seed.

Back home by 715am, Mindy had my breakfast all ready to go. I questioned whether Bella was really ill citing a quickly bursting temperature at bedtime not being that unusual. She didn’t seem to care much for my opinion. It was my mom’s b-day. I planned to give her a call later in day to wish her well and check her status after a blood clot screening late last week.

Mindy made a plain omelet for Eiknarf and I to share. As usual, Eiknarf cried like a baby at my feet for her share. Mindy was a tad stressed that no sub was available for her class. Her teaching partner acknowledged the problem and agreed to take both classes. Mindy’s shared how difficult that is to do and be effective at the same time. But she had no other alternatives.

I was off to the shower near 730am and back downstairs by 750am. Mindy shared her plan which included a potential trip into school later that day if she could get her mom to help out. She had another professional development day planned for Tuesday. Not of her own doing. As it was, she wouldn’t be in normal mode again until Wednesday.

I headed to the bus stop with Jacob at 810am. The bus was actually early, there as soon as we walked out. Chrissy’s girls had to run out to catch the bus while I held her up. I headed back home with Eiknarf where I chatted some with Mindy. I reminded her of Tuesday’s Kidney Foundation pick-up. We had a gargantuan pile of stuff to give away in the basement. We planned to carry it to the garage later that day, most likely after I got home from work. We were supposed to have the boys after school too. When I left, we still weren’t sure how we’d pull that off. We planned to keep in touch through the day.

Arrived at work near 840am and got situated fairly quickly. Mindy called me mid-morning to let me know that she made arrangements to have her mom come over so she could head into school to prepare for Tuesday’s absence and then grocery shop afterwards. And if things went well, she said she’d pick-up the boys too. Said Bella’s fever was still gone, but was now complaining of a sore throat.

Stayed busy all day long finalizing monthly reports for presentation later in the week. Attended back to back meetings too. The two Monday meetings caused me to work straight through the imaginary lunch hour.

Mindy called later afternoon on her way home from the grocery and with the boys in tow. Said she had taco meat cooking in the crock-pot for dinner. Also shared that her mom would almost certainly bail on dinner for not wanting to drive home in the dark.

I got out of the office just after 530pm. It was completely dark and had warmed considerably. According to the Accord, it was 38 degrees – even warmer earlier when the sun was up. Arrived home near 6pm. Sounded like the kids were having fun. Soon dinner was served. I let everyone else get their tacos prepped before descending on the kitchen.

I opted for two hard shell tacos. And they were way better than the Vaq tacos. Bella wasn’t eating tacos. She was having leftover tortellini. Again, doesn’t care of tacos. Also reiterated that her throat was sore. Landon didn’t eat that well either. Odd.

Unfortunately, I brought a work related issue home with me and needed to dig in soon after dinner. Mindy managed most of the clean-up while I got logged on. I finished the heavy stuff later. I spent a couple hours working that issue and in between worked on a personal xmas project. In other words, I was making good use of my time.

Lindsey showed to get the boys around 745pm. They were soon off for home. And as soon as I had that work related matter under control, Mindy and I carried all the Kidney Foundation donations from the basement to the garage. There were probably 6-8 large trash bags full of toys and then another 6-8 kitchen-sized trash bags full of the same. In addition there was a large artificial plant, a couple large planters, and a couple boxes.

Finally making a dent in the basement, though we still have some stuff to get rid of – the elliptical machine, an old PC, an old door, and the old fluorescent kitchen light fixture.

Getting close to where we could start construction. After getting all the KF stuff carried up to the garage I changed into my PJs, poured myself some ice water, then bounced between my PC and the TV catching some of the MNF game between Seattle & St Louis. Both teams looked bad at least early on. I started to dose and headed to bed near 1030pm. By then, Mindy had already been in bed for almost 90 minutes.