Teacher Makes House Calls

After waking three or four times in a span of about 20-30 minutes, I got up for good at 805am but still feeling a little sleepy. I brushed my teeth then headed downstairs where I started coffee then headed to my PC.

I checked the weather. It was clear and 32 degrees, quite a bit warmer than expected. I enjoyed the quiet time at the PC until almost 930am when I dressed for a run in full winter gear with the addition of sun glasses. My calves and left hand were a little tight. Not sure why my hand ached but guessed it had something to with unloading the skis from the Thule.

I ran three miles without issue, though I was more than a little dehydrated. Everybody was up by the time I was back at home. I kidded Jacob about heading right back up to MRM. Not too long after I was back from my run, I headed out to the garage to check on my skis, see if they were dry. While out there, I decided to go ahead and take down our wreath above the garage door and also change the bulbs in our coach lights. As it was, they were Xmas colors – green and red. Took about 20 minutes to take care of both tasks. Toyed briefly with taking down the Xmas lights along the roof line but thought better of it in the end. I most likely won’t get to that task now until sometime in late February or early March.

I was done outside by 1045am. Jacob asked if he could head to Zach & Cody’s. Not until 11am – our unwritten rule for disturbing someone’s peace and tranquility. Mindy was busy tidying up the house to receive the company coming over around 4pm to celebrate Bella’s adoption day. I helped by washing all the dishes in and around the sink. Mindy thanked me for the effort after. The downstairs was all shiny when we were done. It was near noon. By then, Makayla was over playing with Bella in her room, and Jacob was out in the backyard playing football with Evan and Cody. Mindy and I snuck upstairs for a brief nap.

I might’ve slept for about 20 minutes while Mindy showered. Afterwards I tuned into the Buckeye basketball against Michigan. First place was at stake. Like with most OSU basketball games, I found I wasn’t really enjoying it at all. Instead, it was causing me stress. With 5 minutes to go in the first half I decided to turn off the TV and get on with my own life. First order of business was taking a shower.

Mindy was heading off to the grocery to pick-up a few items for the party soon after I was out of the shower. While she was away I updated my blog, which sadly was more than a week in arrears. I was written through Thursday Jan 26 but still needed to post. By the time I finished Mindy was already back from the grocery. It was almost 3pm. Where had the day gone? Lindsey called near then asking if we would watch the kids while she went tanning. I advised not citing our anticipation of company. But Mindy overheard and trumped my asnswer asking that I go ahead and say yes. Yes.

Lindsey was there in short order leaving us with the boys and Olivia while she ran off to tan. I tuned into the X-games about the same time that Jodie and Gloria showed up. Lindy showed up a little later. I'm guessing that was around 430pm. Mindy never really clarified who was and wasn’t coming. I just assumed it to be all of her siblings, but that wasn’t the case. Everybody else had plans of some sort. My dad was coming either. Said he was fighting a sore throat. Ashley was coming, but wouldn't be there until 530pm. Mindy invited the neighbors, Kenny & Chrissy as well. In fact, Chrissy picked us up a tray of brownies from Sam’s Club.

A swift moving Alberta Clipper moved through around 430pm dropping a quick ½” of snow. But with the temperature above freezing and sunny skies afterwards, the snow melted within the hour.

Around 5pm, Mindy excitedly shared that Mrs. Anderson (Bella’s teacher) was coming. I knew that she was invited but didn’t think she’d come. Mindy wanted it to be a surprise for Bella, so hadn’t mentioned it to anyone else. She and her husband showed just prior to me leaving to pick-up pizzas from Minelli’s.  We ordered 2 extra-large pepperoni pizzas with extra cheese from Minelli’s, and then four Michael Angelo Italian subs from Sparano’s. Why the two venunes? The best of both worlds.

I was back with the pizzas by 545pm. Minelli’s was crazy busy. I ran into Mr. Pallazo there. He’s been a teacher at Magdalene for many, many years - 30 maybe. I couldn’t wait to tell the girls that I ran into him. They were only talking about him last week. According to Ashley, there was some sort of St Mary Magdalene gathering going on there. The subs had been delivered by the time I got back with the pies. Good timing. It was a little crazy in the kitchen with all the kids. Mindy made sure they were served first. I waited a while before I got myself some food, but when I did I loaded up. J Doesn’t get much better than Minelli’s pizza and Sparano’s subs. There were lots of snacks available too, including, chips, dip, salsa, veggie tray, and a garden salad.

Folks started leaving around 630pm  and most were gone by 730pm. But Mrs. & Mr. Anderson (Mike & Colleen) stuck around for a while. We talked about boating, vacations, etc. They have a jet ski and love to get it out on Alum Creek and Salt Fork. They also love the beaches in Florida and have a time share at the same resort as brother Tommy. I’m thinking they left around 8pm.

After our company was gone, Mindy did most of the clean-up. At the same time,  I was overcome with an incredible case of the sleepies and had no choice but to peal off for a quick nap. I slept for maybe 15 minutes, but long enough to get a second wind. Saturday’s 12 hour skiing marathon put a whoopin’ on me.

Mindy had the kitchen back in order by 830pm. We tuned the TV to Pawn Stars on the History Channel. We watched a couple back to back episodes. Around 915pm and just before the kids and Mindy were heading up to bed, I set both kids up with roadrunner email accounts. Bella had just enough time to try it out via her Kindle Fire. Don’t know that I’ve seen here so giddy. We all headed to bed around 940pm.

Mindy let me keep watchin Pawn Stars from bed, I’m sure she was banking on me falling asleep within a couple minutes like most other nights, but that didn’t happen. Around 1005p  I suggested I get up and head downstairs so she could sleep. She agreed. Downstairs, I tuned into some show called The Real Jesus, a look at what his mortal life would’ve been like. I enjoyed it much. Found it thought provoking. Snacked on Honey Nut Cheerios while watching TV.  Started to dose again around 1130pm so I headed back to bed. It took a little while to fall back asleep.