Thursday Night Family Night

Up on time again. Wow, that’s like three days in a row. I felt pretty good again too. Was quickly downstairs for exercise, but not before gazing out towards the sky. Another star filled morning. Did 50 sit-ups then 20 curls with 15lb dumbbells. Headed to the PC with coffee. By then it was 545am.

Spent 20 minutes online, but beyond checking the weather forecast did nothing too memorable. Moved on to meditation after a quick read of the Daily OM. Completed  meditation and stretching back to back just ahead of delivering Mindy’s coffee. I wasn’t out the door for my run before 630am but it was just a minute or two after. I was doing good on time. I checked the temperature right before heading off on my run. It was 38 degrees. I was dressed in full winter garb.

I ran the full 4.1 miles under daylight skies for most of the run. It didn’t dawn on me right away, but it was March 01 - the month of spring. Winter’s opportunity for bitter cold likely behind us until December. In fact, the ten day forecast has us above freezing every single day and with several in the 50s and 60s.

Inside after my run, I fetched Eiknarf’s leash and a Kroger bag from the pantry. Apparently we’ve already gone through 100 of those doggie bags Lindsey bought for us. We took our usual route but only went to the first corner. She took care of business much quicker than she had previous days this week. I was glad about that.

Mindy had my eggs ready in the microwave – a plain omelet. It was good. There was a small omelet left in the pan for Eiknarf, too. She's so spoiled. I asked Bella to see that her bowl was filled before she sat down for breakfast. Off to the shower shortly after 730am.

Figuring I'd spend the majority of my day holed up in my office, and then the fact that my boss was out of town in Cleveland, I decided to make it a t-shirt and jean day. I was downstairs with the kids by 756am. Like most other days, I finished packing my lunch before we headed out to the bus stop.

It was a sunny morning but much cooler than Wednesday. Wasn't expected to make it out of the upper 40s. The kids and I wore fleece jackets. Met Chrissy at the bus stop for the first time in a while. Kenny's been doing the deed for the past 8 or 9 days. Chrissy shared that he took Jake to an ortho appointment that morning. Chrissy asked what time to be at Mindy's b-day event at Barley's on Friday. I offered 7-730pm. The bus was early again, perhaps a new trend?

Back at home, I played around with Sherwin-Williams online paint simulator tool for a few minutes before taking off for work still trying the find the perfect color to paint our stucco. We're also planning to paint our hallway and possibly the livingroom sometime soon. That'll happen well before the outside. Left for work around 830am.

Arrived at the office near 845am parking in my usual spot. Noticed my boss' car across the way. I figured he must've rode with another up to Cleveland. Because it was the first of the month, I got busy right away pulling February's monthly report data. No reason to procrastinate. Once I had most of my data sources in hand I began the arduous but often fun process of number crunching. It must've been late morning when my boss popped in my office to chat. What are you doing here, I asked. Thought you were in Cleveland. He never did say what happened to his plans. Instead, he asked for my help sourcing an online tool, and one I wasn't too familiar with. I cringed at the thought, but accepted the challenge. I wasn't too happy about it for a couple reasons. One, I'd have to figure out how to make it happen, which would eat lots of time, and two, I was already knee deep in monthly reports. But ...

In addition to what I planned to work on all day, I had a few issues pop up for the guy I was covering for all week. Next week, once things are back to normal, work should be like a walk in the park. As is usually the case, a day chalked full of action goes by in the blink of an eye. And Thursday was no exception. I didn't get out of the office until it was closing in on 6pm.

I called Mindy in route to home. We talked about our day and then about dinner. I asked how the kids were doing, this, as Bella pointed out earlier in the week, family night when no one has to be anywhere other than home. It was after 6pm by the time I pulled in the driveway.

Mindy fried burgers on the stove and boiled corn on the cob that she picked up in the Kroger produce department. I wasn't real excited about the corn on the cob, but Bella sure was. The last time we tried prepackaged corn on the cob it was horrible, though as Mindy shared, that batch was previously frozen. Dinner was ready near 615pm. My burger was real tasty, though a bit greasy, but most fried burgers are. Jacob passed on a burger; he's never been a big burger fan. Instead, he ate leftover chicken and pasta from Wednesday.

Since we used mostly disposable china (paper plates), dinner clean-up was a snap. But I still had to hand wash the frying pan and the pot used to boil the corn. Speaking of the corn, it wasn't too bad. Bella insisted I try a bite of one of the two ears she ate.

It was already after 7pm when dinner was completely put away and the kitchen finally back to normal. Afterwards, Mindy and I walked over to Pat & Lisa's to drop off the baby gifts for Jamie. Lisa was out of town for work. It was only Pat & Max. We visited for about 45 minutes, meeting their new cat for the first time. It's a very unusual (exotic) looking kitty. Looks like a leopard. We left for home soon after a Kirby salesman knocked at their door.

Back at the house, it was already near 8pm. I spent a little time on my PC fooling around with photos while Mindy & the kids tuned into Idol. It was come to Jesus night on  American Idol when 25 would be whittled down to 12 or 13. Mindy and the kids were abuzz about it all evening. I joined the family already tuned in around 820pm. This year the guys are far better than the girls - not even close. And most of the girls are, let's just say, girthy!

Idol played out for 2 hours, which is a lot of time to dedicate to watching TV. However, it was family night, and was nice to relax in the family room with the family. Mindy checked the Friday forecast from her Droid. Once again, expecting a high near 70 but with a chance of strong storms. The kids were quick to ask about wearing shorts. No! Meanwhile, Mindy was much looking forward to her birthday weekend. 10pm was upon us fast. Soon it was time to head to bed. Everyone was in bed by 1005pm and I was fairly quick to fall asleep.