Grilled Burgers & Corn on the Cob

Stuck somewhere between a dream and reality, I was convinced that it was time to get up, so I rolled out of bed, brushed my teeth and headed down to the kitchen. I remember finding it odd that I couldn’t smell coffee brewing. After all, I knew I had the coffee maker set to auto-brew on at 530am. When I glanced at the stove clock the answer was clear. It was 437am. What? How could that be? I checked the CATV box clock too. It said the same. Shoot!  I woke an hour early. Having already shaken the sleepies, I was briefly conflicted with what to do. But it only took a few seconds for me to decide. I opted for another hour of sleep. I headed back to bed.

I fell back asleep fairly quickly and slept hard. Come 530am I didn’t feel like getting up. Instead, I wanted even more sleep. I worried that might happen. Still, I drug myself from bed and headed downstairs to exercise. This time I could smell the brewing coffee. That helped snap me out of the sleepy funk.

I proceeded to complete my exercises, both sit-ups and push-ups. Next, I headed to the PC with coffee where   I spent the next 15 minutes. By then it was 610am. Feeling sleepy again, I decided to deliver Mindy’s coffee before mediation and stretching. And once at her bedside, I knew what I was going to do. I grabbed my pillow and headed back downstairs for the couch where I slept for another 20 minutes or so before waking to ready for a stretch and a run.

The extra rest felt nice, but I don’t think I went fully out. Instead, I laid there with my eyes closed the entire time. And by the time I leaped to my feet, stretched and dressed for a run it was already 650am. I knew heading out the door that I would most likely miss Mindy’s departure, especially if I ran the usual 4.1 miles. I didn’t feel like cutting the run short, either. I ended up running the full 4.1 miles. And because of the late start, it was daybreak almost from the outset and full daylight by the time I got back home. By then it was 735am, and Mindy was already gone.

Bella was busy at the stove putting eggs in Eiknarf’s bowl. She shared that here mother left for school and Jacob had already walked the dog. Thanks! I ate my eggs then scooted off to the shower. Jacob came down and asked why my run took so much longer. I explained my later than usual start. Off to the shower by 745am.  I had to hustle but knew that I could be ready well ahead of bus time. I was downstairs again by 802am.

The kids and I headed out at 808am. It was really nice outside. We greeted Chrissy and the girls at the bus stop. Chrissy shared that they intend to get a third puppy on Tuesday, an English bulldog from her sister. OK! The bus arrived closer to 815am. Eikanrf and I headed home where I took my time doing final prep before leaving for the office. Among my pre-departure tasks were carrying up my golf clubs from the basement then packing a pair of shorts and ankle socks in my back pack. My buddy Tom C. sent an email Friday afternoon asking me to meet him at Indian Springs after work Monday for a round of golf. I planned to join him if at all possible.

Lots of dew on the Accords windows which I scraped off with a squeegee just before backing out. Quick drive in. Arrived at the office near 840am, and it was closer to 9am by the time I was fully settled and logged in. I took a few minutes to plan out my day knowing full well that it might change. Still, nothing gets accomplished without a plan. I had a brief visit with my boss then a chat with a peer, both taking place before 10am. There were four meetings on my calendar taking place between 11am and 230pm. That pretty much sealed the deal for any thought of taking a real lunch break. It just wasn’t gonna happen.

Sometime mid-afternoon Tom C. emailed again only this time canceling our Monday evening golf plans but also rescheduling for Tuesday same time. Wasn’t sure about that. I didn’t want to respond until I checked with Mindy later. Lately, we’ve had oodles of after work events planned pretty much preventing me from giving an immediate thumbs up.  Late afternoon I asked my boss how he wanted to handle the missed comp day last week, OT or taking a day off this week. My preference was taking another day this week, but he asked that I claim the OT.  

I finished my work day around 510pm and gleefully headed out of the office into the lovely 78 degree weather. It was sunny, but had apparently just recently rained made obvious by the wet lot, walks, and puddles. One on 270 south it was dry. Must’ve been a very small rain cell. I celled mindy but Bella answered. She was in good spirits and started telling me about her day. As she often does, she hung up on me by accident. She called back quickly and handed the phone to her mom. We talked only briefly so Mindy could return to grilling dinner, burgers I presumed, at least based on conversation Sunday night.  

Arrived home around 530pm. Jacob was off to soccer practice and Bella was out riding her scooter with friends. Carl was across the street mowing his lawn. This might be the earliest full tilt spring that I can ever recall. Everything is in bloom and we’re still in the teens of March. Some trees are a full 6 weeks earlier than normal. And heck, we’ve had spring flowers, like daffodils and crocus, sprouting since late January. The daffodils flowered 1^st week of March. I’ve warned many that we could easily get a cold winter blast that kills the early bussing flowers and trees. That very thing happened 5 or 6 years ago. But even then we didn’t bloom this early and weren’t nearly as sunny and warm. This year we’ve literally gone from snow skiing to late spring in seemingly the snap of my fingers. 

Mindy continued grilling the burgers while I took care of emptying my back pack of lunch containers. We talked about our days and how well Bella’s doing with her Focalin. Seems to be making a significant difference in her overall performance. In fact, so much so that it’s almost hard to believe. 

Dinner was served around 545pm. I put together my own burger with the usual fixins. I got out what was left of Sunday’s guacamole, too, along with Rita’s pita chips. Mindy made tater tots and corn-on-the-cob as well. I had just a few tater tots and an ear of corn. It was good. Bella loves corn-on-the-cob. She’s recently learned how to attack the ear like a typewriter register. J 

Makayla stopped over mid-way through dinner. We offered to feed her too. She accepted the offer.  Once the heavy food hit my belly I was overcome with a case of the sleepies. As soon as clean-up was completed I went horizontal on the sofa falling asleep quickly, and well before Mindy left to take Bella to gymnastics. I woke before Mindy got back home and headed to the livingroom and my PC, though I was still a little groggy. 

Mindy joined me in the livingroom sitting in the recliner with the pug. Somehow or another, my Internet Explorer was upgraded to their newest version, 9.0. And for some reason Flash wasn’t working. I messed with that for about 15 minutes before giving up and resorting to reading my book. Mindy and I were sitting doing our own thing when Jacob returned home from soccer practice. He wasn’t very polite to his mother’s questions and requests upon his entrance and left the usual trail of soccer gear as he made his way to the fridge. I wasn’t happy about either. 

When I asked Mindy if she was gonna make him follow through on her request to put his soccer stuff away she chose instead to go off on me. Really? I, on the other hand, chose to bite my tongue. Mindy soon upped and headed into the kitchen after Jacob. I returned to my PC and continued efforts to correct my I.E. issue. It dawned on me that I was tinkering with the internet options on Sunday and clicked on the compatibility tab ‘designed for older browsers’. After disabling it, Flash started working again. Hooray for me! 

Mindy asked if I planned on going after Bella. Yes. Though already in my PJs, I headed out at 822pm. Took 7 minutes to get there. Bella was just wrapping up. As we made our way to the Accord, she asked if we could stop at Wendy’s. No. She commented that she’ll keep asking until the one day when I say yes. 

We weren’t home long at all before Mindy dispatched Bella to the shower and then declared that she was heading to bed early. I stayed up for another couple hours watching American Pickers with Bella until 10pm and then by myself for and hour napping again from the sofa. I headed up to bed near 11pm.