Celebrating Lindsey

Happy 28th Lindsey

I slept soundly not waking even once, at least from what I can remember, until it was time to get up.  I was soon downstairs to the sounds of the coffee maker going through its brewing cycle. I glanced out back at the frozen tundra then completed calisthenics. Both sit-ups and push-ups were done by 545am.

It seemed that there would be no chance of this Wednesday becoming a rainy one like 90% of them have been since summer. Not only was it currently below freezing, but it was expected to stay that way throughout the entire day. In fact, the day’s high wasn’t expected to top 30 degrees. That suited me just fine.

I played around online until just after 6am when I headed to the familyroom for meditation. That went well. Near 615am I woke Mindy and delivered her morning coffee. Don’t think she said anything about cranking up the heat. Hmm?

Back downstairs for stretching by 620am. That went well, too. I dressed warmly in full winter running attire not getting out the door until 641am. I ran the full 4.1 miles without issue. Was actually a pretty easy run. I started Mindy’s Pilot and walked the pug after my return. Wasn’t back in the house until it was time for Mindy to leave for school. She asked the kids to bus to Noah’s after school in light of a meeting she needed to be part of after work. Jacob complained.

Enjoyed my eggs and then was off to the shower by 740am. And since I’d be spending my day at a customer’s site, I dressed up a bit wearing black dress slacks, a black t-shirt, and my new purple cashmere sweater. I looked handsome. Just ask me!

After grooming, I packed a lunch consisting of a salad, fruit, cheese and a banana. The kids and I headed out at 810am. Started the Accord while also managing Eiknarf from her leash. Met Kenny at the bus stop. Said he’d be spending the day at his shop putting down a new tile floor. Bus arrived right on time – 815am. After the bus pulled away, me & Eiknarf walked back home where I spent another 5-10 minutes before heading off to work. Before leaving, I made sure I had my badge, laptop mouse, and power cord. Don’t want to make that mistake ever again.

It was a cold, but mostly sunny, commute across 670 to I-270 north. Made great time arriving after just 22 minutes. No real traffic snarls whatsoever. I wish I could say the same for my work day, but I can’t. It was a tough day from the outset. I was extremely busy from the moment I sat down dealing with numerous customer escalations.

Amongst all that, I had to join three scheduled calls between 10am and 1pm. I was busy!

Come 130pm I needed a break, so I decided to take a lunch and head to both Target and Macy’s. I stopped in Target first, where I picked up a birthday card for Lindsey. I was there for only about ten minutes. My next stop was Macy’s Easton. There, I checked out dress shoes. I could use a pair of black ones and I have a 25% savings pass that starts on the 19^th (Thursday), but figured I could scout the selection early. Turns out, though, they didn’t have any that jumped out at me. While there, I looked at a couple wool jackets too, but not seriously.

It was 215pm when I was in the Accord and headed back to the customer’s campus. Immediately in the door, I went for my packed lunch. I’d just gotten settled when two of their managers approached for updates on an extremely hot issue. That issue consumed my time and energy pretty much for the rest of the day. Even had to get my boss involved, which is rare. I talked with Mindy around 510pm advising that I might be leaving late again. We had plans for dinner at Barley’s celebrating Lindsey’s birthday. Mindy was understanding and suggested that I simply meet them there if it got too late.

Turns out, I wasn’t able to get out of the customer’s office until 545pm. I called Mindy once I was on the road and arranged to meet at Barley’s just as we had outlined a bit earlier. Lindsey and the boys were already at the house waiting. This marked the first time that I took 270 south to 670 for the trip home. Turned out to be good move. I made it to Barley’s in record time. I was there in 20 minutes, which was far sooner than I expected, and a few minutes ahead of Mindy and company.

I ordered a beer from the bar, a Centennial, but not before sampling their latest new offering, Roggen-Cascade – a rye beer brewed with Cascade hops. It was OK, but I opted for a pint of my old stand-by instead.

Mindy and the kids arrived before I could enjoy more than a sip or two. Mindy arranged for all of us to be seated in a booth near the bar. Blonde Sarah was out server. Both Mindy and I got our beers from the bar. Mindy was having the Russian nitro. Unless I’m mistaken, all four kids ordered Dr Pepper. Mindy ordered two baskets of fries as appetizers, one plain, while the other smothered in brisket and cheese for all of us to enjoy while we perused the menu.

I opted to try their special, a chicken gyro. Mindy ordered a Barley burger; Jacob ordered a brisket sandwich; Bella, Rocky, and Landon each ordered the mini cheeseburger. Lastly, Lindsey ordered naked boneless wings. I stuck with just the one beer. The chicken gyro was just OK. Not a whole lot of flavor. Still hungry after I finished, I ate the last of Mindy’s burger.

We skipped dessert since we had a b-day cake for Lindsey waiting at home. I paid the dinner tab with Mindy agreeing to pay our two beer bar tab. She returned sharing that Janet simply transferred it to our table. She tipped her $5 anyway. After the kids got gumballs, we headed for home. Jacob and Rocky opted to ride with me.

We wasted no time setting up Lindsey’s chocolate birthday cake with candles and then singing the happy birthday song. Still hungry, I had a piece of the birthday cake, which for me is rare. Mindy made arrangements to take Lindsey shopping to Kohl’s Thursday evening after work and school to get the new shoes she wants. That would be her birthday present. She and the boys didn’t stay long after cake. I’m guessing they were gone by 750pm.

After Lindsey left I changed into my PJs. Mindy did the same about 15 minutes later. Now 8pm, we tuned into night #1 of American Idol season 11. This being the drawn out audition phase, the program went until 10pm. We watched it all as a family. The auditions were taped in Savannah, Georgia. It was good entertainment, but not sure that I’m willing to invest myself in the entire season. We’ll see.

We pretty much headed to bed as a family as soon as Idol was history. I started getting really tired around 940pm. I was more than ready to get some sleep.