Bloggin' & Loggin'

 I slept late again by about ten minutes. I wasn’t downstairs until 845am. The coffee was prepped. I simply had to hit the go button. I glanced outside. It was cloudy.

Being Tuesday, I complete only 50 sit-ups. Without thinking, I did them in my slippers. It was already 555am by the time I poured some coffee and headed to my PC. Checked the temperature. It was a balmy 47 degrees. Expecting a high near 62 under partly cloudy skies. Very spring-like. I was online until 605am when I stopped to deliver Mindy’s coffee. She asked to be woken a little early to accommodate leaving the house early. Before heading back downstairs, I grabbed my pillow thinking I might try and get a bit more shut eye. Not sure why I’m feeling like I need more sleep lately.

I laid down on the sofa but for no more than five minutes. I was tired, but my mind was racing with work related issues. I got up to meditate and stretch around 625am. Completed both over the next 15 minutes. While stretching, I could hear the trash truck out front. I placed our can at the curb early the evening before. Given the unexpected warmth, I knew I needed to alter my running attire. I ended up sticking with the same layers but skipped hand and ear covers, opting instead for just a ball cap. I was out the door late – about 750am.

I still ran the full 4.1 miles and did so easily. Felt terrific. During my run I decided that I was going to work from home for the first hour or so of my day, and not because I was running behind, but because I had a couple to-do’s that I needed to knock out even before 8am. Mindy had already left for work by the time I got back home. That I expected given that she needed to leave early. The kids were fine and just finishing their breakfasts. I finished mine then logged onto my laptop.

I took care of those work related tasks around 8am, just as I planned. I headed out with the kids at 810a still in my sweaty running clothes. Chrissy asked if I was playing hooky. Nope! She also asked if we could keep Kayla later that evening while she got her hair done. Of course. Send her down. Said her ex-father-in-law would bring her by. The bus was a couple minutes early. Soon Eiknarf and I were on our way back home. It was a lovely morning, already 50 degrees with dappled sunlight shining through the thin cloud cover. Given the ideal weather conditions, I thought about taking down the Xmas lights, but decided against it when I weighed the amount of time it would take to do it start to finish – about an hour . That was time I really didn’t have.

Got done everything I wanted. I worked until about 9am before heading up for a shower. Back downstairs dressed and ready around 930am. I decided to take my time and drink in the lovely spring-like day. I didn’t leave for the office until almost 10am. With that 30 extra minutes, I took my freshly laundered ski pants outside and gave them a coat of waterproofing spray that’s made specifically for such items and was gifted to me last year from Bob I. Thanks Bob!

It was a lovely drive into the office. During the drive, my boss called to ask that I follow-up on an important issue he and I had been working on for the last couple of days. No problem. Advised that it was already on my radar screen.  He shared that he'd be out of pocket for the better part of the day, but expected to be back in the office around 4pm.

My day went fairly well, especially after I took care of the two biggest work issues weighing on my mind. I was surprised when I checked the clock and saw that it was 1215pm. But considering that I spent the first couple hours of the day working from home, it made sense.

I forced myself to take a lunch break near 115pm when I headed to Tuttle Mall and Finishline to check out new running shoes. I printed off a $20 off coupon before leaving the house. As I typically do, I cut through Macy’s in route to Finishline. I was disappointed to see they a scant selection of Asics, and far less than before. They might’ve had about 6 choices. On the other hand, they had about 50 varieties of Nike running shoes. I found the model I wanted to try on, but not in the color scheme I preferred. But like I always say, the fit and comfort is far more important than the color.  I asked to try on the mostly black Gel Nimbus 13 in a size 11. The kid returned a few minutes later with the size 11s. They fit well enough but felt a tad long in the toe. I asked to try a10.5. He returned a few minutes later with a 10.5 but in another color (black/red). The 10.5 fit perfectly. I knew then that I needed a 10.5 in this particular model but wasn’t prepared to settle for the color scheme in stock knowing full well that I can buy the ones I really want from their website and get free shipping. That’s what I opted to do.

I cut back through Macy’s in route to my car. And you can’t cut through Macy’s without doing a little shopping. I looked at dress shirts but bought nothing. Gone from work no more than 40 minutes, I decided to head back to the office.

I grabbed may packed lunch which I ate from the comfort of my desk while also digging in to a couple issues. The afternoon went along smoothly. As expected, my boss was back in the house late afternoon. We chatted briefly, me providing a status on the issue he and I had been working together.

The early evening went smoothly too. In kind, I was able to leave the office around 520pm. It was still warm but awfully breezy from the south. In fact, I was worried when I popped open my trunk to accept my backpack thinking it might come of its beefy hinges from the gusty wind. I called Mindy once I cleared the dead cell zone that ironically seems to surround our building. And once again, Bella answered. She and I chatted for a couple minutes, her sharing that she had a really good day. Eventually handed the phone to Mindy who was busy making dinner – salmon. I asked if she was grilling it. Nope – bake/broil.

I arrived home around 545pm. And since dinner was still several minutes off, I rinsed my lunch containers and prepped the following day’s coffee. I checked email too. Earlier in the day, while at work, I finally took a little time to program my Droid to receive my RR email. That should help me stay more connected to my personal life while on the road and at work. I double checked to make sure I still received a copy at home even after getting a copy via my Droid. I did. It wasn’t always like that years past. I took my ski pants back outside where I sprayed on a second coat (recommended) of waterproofing.

Dinner was ready shortly after 6pm. Mindy asked that I help by prepping drinks. Kayla’s grandpa dropped her off just before we sat down to dinner. She would be dining with us. Both she and Bella declined any salmon, opting instead for hotdogs. My salmon was cooked perfectly, pink, juicy, and tender inside, yet a tad crispy on the surface.

Mindy warmed sweet peas and French bread as well. I poured a dab of green Tabasco and peach mango salsa on my plate for dipping. Dinner was a delicious. Good job dear!

Clean-up took a little while, but not so much because there were a lot of dishes. Instead, I washed the drip pans for the stove burners. Every time Mindy makes chicken & noodles it boils over and gunks up the drip pans. I had to let ‘em soak for a while before I washed off the crud. I’m guessing that it was 7pm by the time I was done. By then, Mindy was busy working on sub plans for the following week while we're on our ski vacation.

I went to my PC where I responded to an email from Glenn about the pros and cons of skiing Sunday night at SkiBowl. He shared only that they typically have limited mountain access to which I reminded him that SkiBowl professes the largest night skiing area in America! Figured we can play it by ear, and if some want to watch the Super Bowl then fine.

I updated my blog through Monday. By then it had to be 730pm. Mindy soon joined me in the living room in the recliner. Eiknarf jumped up in her lap like she often does. At the same time, I plopped down on the floor lying flat on my back and my arms stretched wide. Felt terrific. I fell asleep in no time at all. Not really sure how long I slept, but I'm guessing about 20-30 minutes.

We all headed to bed early. In fact, I was in bed before anybody else. I turned on the TV because I was starting to get an unwelcomed second wind. Nothing puts me to sleep like watching TV from bed. We watched the end of Pawn Stars then a Larry the Cable Guy traveling around America. Once we realized it was recent rerun, I tuned to another knowledge channel watching a show about the logging industry. More to it than one might guess. Who knew? Watched that until I fell asleep.