Idol Thoughts

I was up and out of bed a few minutes after 530am. As a result, the coffee making process was well underway as I whipped out 50 sit-ups.  I could see that the sky was cloudy, but I had no idea what the temperature was, though I expected it to be near freezing. I was at my PC with coffee by 550am. The temperature was 37 degrees with an expected high near 40. The rest of the week looks similar to Tuesday’s forecast – partly cloudy with highs near 40 but overnight lows in the mid to upper 20s. We’re hoping for the night time lows to drop to 28 or below, which is the magic number for making snow at MRM.

I didn’t spend too much time online beyond reading a few headlines. At 605am I moved on to meditation, which went fairly well. It must’ve been about 615am when I woke Mindy. She asked that I crank up the heat, but I had already done so. Stretching was next. Did the usual routine. Felt good.

Dressed for a run wearing full winter attire, which given a temperature in the mid 30s that was pretty much the upper edge of the comfort zone. I didn’t get out the door until almost 640am after confirming that it was a ‘ruby’ trash pick-up day - our day. I wished I was out sooner but it is what it is. I pulled our trash can to the curb before taking off. I wasn’t certain whether he’d been by yet or not, though I hadn’t heard him.

I ran the full 4.1 miles remaining fairly comfortable throughout. I happened upon the trash truck near the half way point. Unless he started at the back of the subdivision it was likely that we missed him. I confirmed that our can was still waiting pick-up when I got back. Kenny had already pulled his can back into the garage, a good indication that he came by early. I wasn’t sweating it. It was only half full anyways.

Because I headed out for my run through the garage, the front door remained fully secured. I had to knock on the door for reentry. I could see Mindy looking right at me from the kitchen. However, instead of coming to let me in, she just kept doing whatever she was doing. I knocked and rang the door bell again. Really? She finally came insisting she thought I was knocking and ringing for the sole benefit of rustling up the pug. I guess that makes sense given that any other day I would have the door unlocked.

I leashed up the dog asking Mindy if she’d started my eggs. She hadn’t. I asked if she would make fried eggs this time. Yes. I headed out with Eiknarf stopping to start the Pilot as we walked by. We weren’t out for more than five minutes.

Mindy was about ready to leave the house as we were reentering. Bella was enjoying a batch of strawberries dipped in Truvia for breakfast, and Jacob was already off to his room. The fried eggs were a welcome change of pace. Mindy fried one for Eiknarf too, though she purposely fried the yoke hard. She was fidgeting for hers as I finished mine. Off to the shower by 740am.

I was fairly efficient, finding my way back downstairs by 8am. I quickly threw together a lunch choosing to skip making a salad. Instead, I packed the sandwich leftover from Saturday’s ski outing at MRM. Can’t remember the last time I took a real sandwich to work for lunch. Several years to be sure.

The kids and I headed out to the bus stop at 810am. We met Kenny and the girls there. I confirmed that his trash got emptied earlier. Said that it did. I shared that I put ours out late, but would simply drag our can across the street next to Carl’s. They always do the opposite side of the street last and on their way out. Also confirmed that Kenny planned to manage Wednesday’s late start. Said he did. Thanked him for doing so.

The bus was on time. And just like she does most days, Mrs. Vanorder teasingly provoked Eiknarf into barking. It’s become a daily ritual. Eiknarf and I headed back home. After putting her inside, I drug our trash can across the street parking it near Carl’s. Not knowing if he was watching or aware, I gave him a wave. He does the same at our place when he’s too impatient to wait for his scheduled pick-up.

Inside, I took care of a few last minute to-dos then headed out the door for work near 830am. It was a leisurely drive into the office, arriving somewhere near 845am. I parked in the front lot and was in my office by 850am.

I spent the first hour of the morning finalizing my 2011 performance assessment. It wasn’t required, but I completed it in a separate document and attached it to the provided online link. Hey, sometimes you’ve got to toot your own horn.

I spent the middle part of my day helping a peer with a rather cumbersome task. Took me about 4 hours to knock out the work. He expressed a great deal of gratitude when it was done. Guess you could say that I was paying it forward, so to speak. The last portion of my day was spent editing my quarterly presentation for Thursday adding a blurb or two recommended by a peer. Had to deal with a challenging escalation near the day’s end, but collectively we managed to get it on track. I definitely earned my money Tuesday!

During my busiest streak, I missed a call from daughter Ashley. I managed to take a call from Mindy, however, where we discussed our evening plans. Once again, this was a date night and it looked like I might be getting out of the office late. I suggested we have a  relaxing evening at home. Tuesday really isn’t a good date night for us, but with Bella having gymnastics on Mon & Wed, and then Jimaken teaching on Thursday’s, it’s the only day that works. In the end, however, it’s not really about Mindy and I having a date night. Instead, it’s about the kids getting to spend an evening each week with their dad.

I was able to wrap things up at work and leave for home at 525pm. I called Mindy. She was lounging/napping on the sofa. She shared that she hadn’t whipped up anything for dinner. I didn’t mind. I wasn’t that hungry anyways. She also shared a couple Jacob stories. For starters, she shared that his ping-pong catapult broke during a trial run at school earlier that evening. They’d need to go back to the drawing board for design modifications. She also shared a funny story. Apparently Jacob’s music teacher thought it was a good idea to ask the class to hold hands and skip while they sang. Jacob adamantly refused. She apparently became angry and went and told his primary teacher, Mr Godwin, about his obstinate behavior. Mindy & I couldn’t stop laughing.

Arrived home at 550pm. Mindy was still on the sofa relaxing, which is very unusual. I took care of rinsing my lunch containers and then snacked on peanuts and cashews. Mindy asked if I would warm her some double-noodle chicken soup while she went up and changed into her lounging clothes. Yep! I had it ready and waiting when she returned. I headed up to change too. It felt good not to have to run anywhere.

I ended up warming the five leftover CBC chicken wings on the pizza stone. They were good. Mindy and I were done eating by 630-640pm and sat relaxing in the family room. Mindy suggested we watch TV, but was struggling to find something worthy of watching, so I took over the remote and found The Universe on History Channel 2. Looked like a The Universe bonanza – several episodes running back-to-back. Nothing delights me more! I was thrilled. Mindy, not so much. She said she really wanted to laugh. I guess you could say that I won. We watched The Universe. Unfortunately, I fell asleep at some point and remained out until 740pm or so. Next thing I knew, the kids were home.

At 8pm Mindy and the kids wanted to watch Idol, but I was certain that it was rerun of Sunday’s program. They didn’t seem to care or believe me, but it was. I got up and headed to my PC. I like Idol, but wasn’t in the mood for a rerun. Really? I was still tired and too lazy to work on my blog or do anything constructive. I simply surfed/played until the kids and Mindy were no longer watching the Idol rerun. I tuned the TV back to the H2 channel watching more episodes of The Universe. All of them were captivatingly good. If you haven’t caught the program, you should. Typically on Wednesday nights. Great, great stuff.

Mindy and the kids headed to bed a little after 9pm. Once they were all tucked into bed I headed back downstairs where I popped some popcorn and cracked open a Diet Coke. A little indulgence. Bella sniffed out the popcorn and eventually joined me downstairs just as I knew she would. She didn’t hang long, however. She was back in bed before 945pm.

I stayed up until 1030pm when my eyes were getting crazy heavy. Once in bed, I got a second wind but managed to fight it off and fell asleep somewhere near 11pm.