Meat Cache

For the first time in a while, I was up and downstairs prior to 530am. Felt good. The coffee maker was set to auto-on at 530am, but I went ahead and manually started the brew process at 529am. I glanced out back unable to see any stars – cloudy.

I headed to the livingroom where in the matter of about 2 minutes I whipped out 50 sit-ups. Loosening my neck, arms, and shoulders along the way, I headed to the familyroom/kitchen to complete 50 push-ups. Done by 540am. I had to wait a few minutes for the coffee to finish brewing.

I checked the current temperature then the forecast. It was 48 degrees with an expected high of 52 degrees under partly cloudy skies. Nice! Supposed to hit 50 each day through Friday with an abundance of sunshine. And looking ten days out there isn’t a spec of winter weather on the way, either. I zeroed in on Saturday’s weather, both here at home and then in Chicago. Both venues will be sporting the upper 30s around our scheduled flight time. That means no flight delays, at least on account of the weather.

Checked email, read headlines, and then bought a pair of running shoes from Finishline online. Hope they arrive before Saturday, but not going to sweat it if they don’t. Redeemed my $20-off coupon.

Delivered Mindy’s coffee near 615-620am. She asked that I bump up the heat. I cranked it up a couple degrees on my way in to meditate and stretch. Despite being up on time, I managed to get behind thanks in part to ordering new running shoes. I didn’t finish meditation and a stretch until 640am. And then it was almost 650am before I headed out the door for my run.

I ran the usual 4.1 miles, once again wearing early spring attire (no hand or ear cover). It was a good run and went really quick. My thoughts turned to our fast approaching ski trip and then how quickly the work week was moving. I promised myself that I would start the packing process later that evening, not allow myself to get complacent. My goal will be to relax Friday night.

I figured there a good chance that Mindy would be gone by the time I got home, but she was still there. I stated the Pilot then leashed up the pug.  We walked across the street where she spent about 5 minutes sniffing before finally doing her business. Mindy was backing out the drive as we made our way back to the house. She rolled down the window so we could exchange farewells and a kiss.

Inside, Mindy had fried eggs waiting in the microwave. Bella was still sitting at the breakfast table enjoying some peanut butter toast while Jacob was already off to his room. I finished my breakfast and fed the pug before heading up for a shower around 740am.

It was Wednesday and the sky was pretty much clear. What? Yeah, no rain! I would typically be spending Wednesday at a customer’s location, but our director was in town to go over our ’12 team strategy. I hadn’t met her prior and was looking forward to it. I dressed handsomely in black dress slacks and a purple button up dress shirt. Was back downstairs near 800am. Over the next few minutes I threw together a lunch then headed out to the bus stop with the kids at 810am. It was quite pleasant – sunny and mild, about 50 degrees. We met Kenny and the girls there. Kenny shared that his knee is now black & blue, but the swelling on the decline. Gave a full description of how it happened. Sounds like the tip of his board got caught in the snow after a small jump and threw him to the ground before he had much time to think. The inside of his left knee hit first. Said he thought it was bleeding immediately after the fall. Used adrenaline to board quickly to the lodge. Ouch!

Bus arrived on time. Kenny & I headed our separate ways. I was fairly quick to gather my things and head off to work leaving by 825am. I arrived at the office by 845am and was settled in ahead of 9am. Our all-day meeting wouldn’t start until 10am, so I made the most of the hour in front of me, pulling together all my monthly report data.

At 955am I headed to the large conference room where the regional team was already gathered. I saw introductions on the agenda, which made me cringe, but that never happened. I abhor that whole process. Our director got started around 1010am and spent the better part of 2 hours reviewing our organizational strategy and then road mapping how we’ll get there. She’s very passionate about the direction of our company as well as the role our team plays in achieving the desired results. That’s a very good thing!

We ordered lunch in, pizza and salad. We took about 30 minutes to eat before diving into some new tools and greater details for our road map. The entire session went until 345pm including closing concerns and questions. I was back in my office just ahead of 4pm where I worked through a couple issues I felt most important. It was 530pm before I knew it. I joined my boss and a peer in the hallway for an impromptu follow-up meeting to our earlier session. I ended up at the office until 6pm. Those two were still talking as I left for home. Told them my dinner was waiting.

Called Mindy as soon as I was on the road for home and out of the deadzone.  Mindy had only recently arrived home after parent conferences at school. Kenny got our kids off the bus. Mindy said dinner was leftovers, and we had a plethora of them: spaghetti & meatballs, pork roast, pizza, etc. I was craving cream of chicken over rice. Offered to make it myself. Mindy had a lot of school work to get completed before Friday. This was a gymnastics night for Bella. I agreed to do both the drop and pick-up.

Arrived home around 620pm. Mindy was prepping leftovers as well as making my cream of chicken over rice.  I thanked her, but also shared that I fully expected to make it. While she took care of warming dinner, I went ahead and packed our skis and ski boots for our trip. That took about 20 minutes. By the way, I decided to take just one pair of skis, my new ones.

It was almost 645pm and already time to run Bella to gymnastics. I planned to drop her off before having any dinner. We left the house near 650pm in the Pilot. Bella was pouting for most of the short drive. When I quizzed her why, she didn’t’ have an immediate response, but as we neared our destination she came clean. She told me that she was going to be 'dead meat'. Told her mom that she didn’t have any homework but just remembered that she had three math problems assigned that needed done along with reading a chapter in her book. First and foremost, I told her that she’d need to stay up until it was completed once we got back home later. And given Bella’s propensity to lie about such things, I let her know that she owned her behavior and would have to suffer any consequence. She repeated that she simply forgot. Oh boy!

DCW is located in a Hilliard strip mall. The place was completely dark when we pulled up. I was concerned that perhaps class was canceled. But Bella insisted this happens often. Said they’d show up soon. I glanced at the clock, it was still a couple minutes in front of 7pm. Sure enough, Emily, her instructor, pulled up in a pick-up along with another student. A pizza delivery guy pulled up at the same time. Apparently Emily ordered a pizza to be delivered to the studio. I confirmed everything was good then headed home.

Mindy was already finished eating and already sitting at her laptop busy making sub plans. My cream of chicken and rice was ready on the stove.  I had two small bowls, and it was delicious! I asked her to use brown rice. It was a little dry, but more flavorful than the white Minute rice. After dinner, I cleaned the entire kitchen and then some. The clutter was driving me crazy.

I had the kitchen/familyroom in order near 745pm. I went to my PC where I updated my blog from the day before and then responded to a couple emails. It was after 8pm and time to go after Bella in the blink of an eye. Mindy & Jacob were in the family room watching Idol. I’ve already bored of it. Don’t plan to get too involved in it this season. I left the house around 825pm. Bella was on the trampoline practicing her first ever front flip and being coached by Shelly. When the moment was right I told Shelly how good a job she did delivering a eulogy at her grandma Lucy’s funeral. I went on to share how it might’ve been the happiest funeral I’ve ever attended. It truly felt like a celebration of one’s life rather than a sad experience. I gave her a hug, too.

Bella was in a far better place after gymnastics. I only shared that I had her math problems laid out on the kitchen table for her to complete once we got back home. That was my way of helping ease a difficult situation. She sucked it up and headed in still very concerned what her mom might say, or worse yet, what punishment she might dole out. I made sure she got started on her work then left the two alone. I don’t think Mindy made too big a deal of it.

Come 9pm, I poured Mindy and I each a beer from the growler we bought two weeks ago from CBC. It had been opened only once, so it was still reasonably fresh. Glad we didn’t have to dump it. I soon found my way to the sofa and the remote hoping to find The Universe on the History Channel. It’s usually on Wednesdays. To my surprise, it wasn’t on. Crap! I ended up watching a program about wolly mammoth fossils they found near Snow Mass, Colorado. The interesting part was that they believed it to be a ‘meat cache’ from the native people. The controversy is that the bones and ground around were dated to be as much as 45,000 years old, far earlier than any other remnants of humans in America. As for now, it’s just a hypothesis. Time and testing will tell.

Mindy and the kid headed to bed around 920pm. After getting the kids settled and tucked in, I returned to the family room to watch a little more TV. This time I watched a program about Great White sharks. A group of scientists actually dissected one on the shore. It was very detailed, and very interesting. Learned quite a bit. I stayed up until near 1040pm. By then my eyes were heavy enough for sleep. Good night half moon.