New Shoes New Skis Look at Me

Even after a good night’s sleep I was feeling a little lazy, so come 530am I decided to sleep in another ten minutes or so, and justified my actions with the kid’s scheduled 2-hour late start. In other words, I wouldn’t need to have the kids at the bus stop at 810am. I’d only need to send them down to Kenny’s when I was ready to leave for work.

My plan worked. I slept for an additional 10 minutes and woke feeling great. I was downstairs prepping coffee by 545am, and at 550am I started 50 sit-ups & 50 push-ups. My calisthenics were done by 6am, which was about on par with the coffee coming ready.

I headed to the PC with coffee in hand where I checked the gloomy weather forecast. I couldn’t get a good sense of the temperature simply by glancing out back since there wasn’t any water on the deck to give off clues. The only thing I knew was that it was cloudy. Turns out, it was below freezing, only 27 degrees. It wouldn’t stay that way for long, however. We were expecting a high in the 40s. And looking ahead, it didn’t look like any freezing temps again until Saturday night. That’s a bummer since we really want to ski Saturday. Saturday’s high is expected to reach the mid to upper 30s, which is suppose is skiable, but with a week's worth of warmth and forecasted rain, the snow pack will be jeopardized. L So much for trying out my new skis.

It was 615am in a hurry and time to deliver Mindy’s coffee. I snuck in 5 minutes of meditation before hand. It was 620a-something by the time I placed her coffee bedside. She asked me to turn up the heat but I’d already beat her to the punch. I headed back downstairs to stretch. That went well. It was 635am when I dressed for my run. With a temperature of 27 degrees I dressed in my full winter attire and headed out the door somewhere close to 645am.

I ran the full 4.1 miles without any problems. Felt great. It was one of those runs where I found myself so deep in thought that it was over seemingly just as it had begun. I like that feeling a lot. I could see that Mindy had the Pilot warming as I walked up the drive. She was actually on her way out as I headed in to get the pug. As she passed, she shared that Jacob was preparing to take Eiknarf out. Frankly, I was surprised that either kid was even up given the scheduled late start. Cool! That saved me some valuable time. It was 632am when I sat down to my fried eggs.

Jacob and Eiknarf were back in a hurry. Jacob said she went right away. Must’ve been cold. She whined for her eggs, but I wouldn’t give her any until Bella filled her bowl with dry dog food first. I headed up for a shower sometime after 640am. It was a customer site day, so I dressed accordingly. Actually, though, the customer has a fairly lax dress code, and definitely far more lax than our unspoken dress code. I was ready to go by roughly 8am. The kids asked what time they needed to head to Kenny’s. When I left for work, was my answer.

After prepping a lunch, I played on the computer until just before 830am. I sent the kids down to the neighbors and then headed off to work. Once again, I took 670E to 270N. That shaves at least 5 miles off the drive, and maybe more. I arrived after about 22 minutes and was in my office by 9am. Took a few to get set-up and logged on. Their director joined our regularly scheduled 10am call. We stretched the agenda to cover more issues than usual. Not a problem. It was a busy morning as I had a number of ancillary tasks I was hoping to get completed. I hoped to take a lunch and head over to Dick’s to look for new ski gloves/mittens for Mindy & Bella. Both could use them. Mindy likes to get them at Target or Kohl’s but said both were all but out of stock already. Not unusual. Already seeing their spring stuff out.

I left for lunch just after 1pm and headed to the Easton Dick’s. Having been there at Xmas time, I knew right where to go – 2^nd floor, just beyond the escalators. I exhaustively perused their glove selection looking first for mittens (Mindy’s preference) with a pocket for hand warmers. That proved difficult, especially at a reasonable price.  I refuse to pay $100 for a pair of gloves, but they have ‘em. I looked in all three glove aisles twice. I could’ve settled for some really warm mittens but without a hand warming sipper pocket but didn’t think that would help Mindy . Me, I’ve never needed to use hand or feet warmers.

After about 20 minutes I was just about ready to throw in the towel, but instead thought I’d look at some of their other ski/board stuff. Well, right around the corner they had a kids ski glove aisle. There I found some real nice purple North Face ski gloves with a zippered pocket for hand warmers. What’s more, they were on sale, which is rare at Dick’s. Marked down to $30. I found a pair in kids medium. Mindy has tiny hands. I knew they’d fit.

Bella could use some too. I found a pair of raspberry North Face mittens with a hand warmer pocket in a kids small. Perfect for her. They’ll even match her raspberry ski jacket. Glad I found them. All totaled, I was in Dick’s a while – about 30 minutes.

When I was walking in, I noticed a DSW next door. What the heck. I thought I might check out their shoe selection. Haven’t been in a DSW in over ten years. I’ve bought a couple pair of shoes from them. They usually have top quality shoes at great prices. Just not that convenient to us. I was one of just a few customers. I like the way their selection is laid out. It makes it easy to serve oneself. First, I perused all of their dress hoe offerings noting the few I liked. The once requirement I have these days is the soft sole and extra comfortable insole. Used to be that was impossible to find in real dress shoes, but not so anymore.

I tried on 2 or 3 styles eventually settling on a really comfortable, nice looking black slip-on Bostonian that met all my criteria – no compromise. Even better, the price was on target too. They’re normally $100 but the everyday DSW price was $69. I bought a pair in a size 10.5. Sweet! It was a tad past 2pm when I found my car and was headed back to the office.

Back at the office, the first thing I did was retrieve my packed lunch from the fridge. I decided to skip the salad since I didn’t have any dressing. Forgot about that. I enjoyed the some cheese and Greek yogurt. I was anxious to get out of the office and head to ASBCO to pick-up my new skis. In fact, I’d been anxious all week. However, there were a couple issues going on that required my intervention and attention. I couldn’t just walk out. I stuck around until they were well under control. Earlier, I had talked with Mindy advising that I might be a little late since I had to stop and pick-up my new sis. She’d forgotten about that. I also shared that I might get out of the office late, too. She reminded me that we’d be having pork roast and that Lindsey and the boys would be joining us. Mindy asked that I call once I was on the road so she could plan a time to sit for dinner. Sure dear.

Turned out, I was able to leave at 510pm. Before pulling out of the lot, I thought about the best way to get to ASBCO from New Albany. I decided to do 270S to 670W to 315N. I called Mindy once I was on the freeway. She told me to take my time but guessed me home by 6pm. I wasn’t so sure it would be that soon.

The traffic on 315N slowed to a near crawl at the merge off of 670. Can’t recall the last time I’d come that same way. Happily, the pace picked up the further north I went. Once on 315N, I wasn’t entirely sure which exit I would take to get over to Old Henderson but eventually settled on North Broadway. That was a good choice. I arrived at ASBCO around 545pm.

Kayla was busy with another customer but and guy helped me. Told him I was there to pick-up my new skis. He only asked my last name then disappeared for a bit. Returned a couple minutes late with my new skis and boots. I was a tad concerned that they wouldn’t have my ski boots associated with my new skis, but that worry was all for not. Before handing over the new skis they always have you verify the Din settings. Yep, set at 5.5 on both. In turn, I wouldn’t accept the skis until I did a boot/binding fitting. When Mindy and I bought our first skis in Feb 2009 I had to take my skis back to have the binding set for my boot size, something they later admitted only happens with about 1 pair of skis each season. LOL!  I definitely didn’t want to go through that again. This time they fit snug as a bug!

I called Mindy when I was about halfway down Tremont towards Lane Ave. It was about 6pm. I was actually making better time that I presumed. I pulled in the driveway at 609pm and carried all of my stuff into the garage and house. By the way, I used the small pass through hatch from my trunk to the back seat to transport my new skis. Worked great, and what a great invention!

Mindy was just beginning to dish up dinner while I went through my after work ritual.  I shared that I picked both she and Bella up a gift. After getting settled I showed them their new gloves/mittens. Both were pleased. Jacob asked about him. I didn’t get him anything this time, but it’s not like he’s neglected. Believe me, he’s well taken care of.

Mindy shared that the boys, Rocky & Landon, were tickled pink to learn we were having pork roast & mashed potatoes, which is one of their faves.  I was too, I love pork roast. The roast was delicious. Not only did Mindy make mashed potatoes, but there was a fresh garden salad and rolls too. Yum-yum. I kept my helping to only one. As dinner concluded, Mindy asked Bella to go ready for gymnastics. Lindsey and the boys left for home around 640pm, or while I was busy managing the clean-up. Mindy took Bella to gymnastics at 650pm. Jacob went along too. I had the house to my lonesome for a brief stint. I used the time constructively to edit some of my recent blog entries. I was at my PC doing that for about an hour. By then Mindy and Jacob had been back for a while. They were waiting for American Idol to come on.  Wednesday’s show was taped in Aspen. Nice! I saw very little of the auditions. Even though I was already comfortably donning my PJs, I agreed to go after Bella which pleased Mindy much. I left the house at 820pm in the Accord. Mindy warned me that the roads might be slick. Said it was raining and the temperature was dropping to near freezing. Great! Turns out, it was still 35 degrees so the roads near us were just wet. Felt raw and cold though.

Arrived at DCW a couple minutes early. Headed inside where the girls practice. One of Bella’s peeps alerted her to my presence. We were just about to leave for home when one of the older girls mentioned that Bella must’ve taken her sweat pants home on Monday by accident. I assured her that we would look and bring them in on Monday if that were the case. Bella wasn’t so sure. However, the tell-tale sign was that Bella’s purple sweat pants were still there.

We headed for home. Bella seemed in good spirits, which is good. She’s been up and sown a lot lately. She did express some concern over the less than desirable weather forecast for Saturday at MRM. Mindy’s planned a small adoption celebration there. I did my best to put her mind at ease. As we pulled in the drive she bellyached a little about missing much of American idol.  I simply let that go.

After a greeting, Mindy requested that Bella hit the shower. After all, it was 845pm on a school night. Bella didn’t give any push back. OK Mommy. I caught the last few minutes of Idol with Mindy & Jacob. Always entertaining. After idol we watched the preview episode of Touch as a family. It went for an hour. I was a little surprised that Mindy let the kids stay up for its entirety. It was a good show, though. Mindy and the kids headed to bed immediately following the show. It was 10pm. I stayed up for a while longer but fell asleep fairly quickly watching a program on one of the knowledge channels about the geology of Manhattan. Joined Mindy in bed around 11pm.