Frost Warning

Triglycerides: 46
Glucose: 90
Blood Pressure 118/80
Total Cholesterol: 136 (LDL-37 - HDL-90)
PSA: .62
EKG: good

I was up close to 530am after another really good night of sleep. I could've slept longer but didn't. I was quickly downstairs and about my routine, completing sit-ups then curls in a hurry. My timing with the coffee maker was dead on. Soon I was at the PC enjoying my first cup of coffee.

It was opening day for the Reds, but the game didn't start until about 4pm. I reminded myself to follow via Yahoo. Outside it was cloudy and cool - only 41 degrees. Wasn't expected to get out of the mid 50s. Not any 70 degrees or warmer weather in the 10 day forecast. Lots of 50s and 60s. I played around online until 605am when I headed in to meditate.

Mindy asked that I bring her coffee closer to 615am so I headed up soon after meditation. She asked that I turn  up the heat, but I already had. She had the ceiling fan going and the window open when we headed to bed, but both of those were addressed in the middle of the night. Back downstairs I readied for a run this time wearing hand covers and a toboggan. Headed out just after 630am.

I ran the full 4.1 mile track encountering daybreak just ahead of the halfway point. It was chilly but I was dressed for it, essentially making it a non issue. Mindy was in the kitchen when I returned and called for Bella to make Eiknarf available for a walk. We walked across the street where aside from barking at another dog, she quickly took care of her business and we headed back home.

Bella seemed a bit out of sorts and spent a ridiculous amount of time in the bathroom brushing her hair. Mindy called her on it a couple of times. And what's sad, it was still a mess when she finally came out. She looked tired. She complained to me about her toast being cold. Little wonder. It had been sitting there for five minutes. Mindy reminded both kids to bus home as normal. We had nothing on the agenda which was nice.

I was off to the shower around 735am and ready by 755am. It didn't take me long. I was a little concerned about all I needed to accomplish that day at work, but reminded myself not to make it worse by worrying. That helped. I threw together my lunch quickly adding cut cheese, a banana and fruit to the veggies Mindy already had packed in a to-go tub. The kids and I headed out at 808am. This was essentially their Friday (no school on Good Friday). The bus arrived on time and after a brief chat with Chrissy I headed back to the house to drop off the pug and gather my things for work.

I left for the office at 825am. I thought about stopping for gas on the way in but didn't. Mindy mentioned that I should use her Kroger card at the Shell to receive her discount. With gas being near $4 a gallon, I planned to do just that. I'd have to remember to ask for her card that evening. Arrived at work near 840am and was quickly situated. We had a 930am team meeting that seemed to come around quick. Not a lot of surprises, and still awaiting word on a reorg headed our way.

I had a reporting dilemma. I had to use two sources for my monthly report and because one source has detailed information the other lacks, I needed to run what's called a VLookup against the two sources but wasn't sure how after several failed attempts. A peer whose expertise with Excel far exceeds mine was supposed to help me.  I looked for him online after our meeting but he had gone dark in IM. I walked down to his office. Looked like he was gone. Crap! Feeling under pressure to get my reports done, I Googled VLookup instead of using the Microsoft tutorial which proved useless. I reviewed two or three Google provided examples and then tried applying what I gleaned to my own situation. After about an hour of fooling around I figured it out. That made me very happy. I felt as though my entire day was a success. That allowed me to proceed with putting together the rest of my monthly report without fail. I worked on reports for the rest of the day, stopping only briefly to fetch my packed lunch.

I called it a day sometime after 5pm. Thinking it was like 510pm when I headed for the Accord. At least it was sunny but still chilly - only 54 degrees. Called Mindy, who shared that we'd be having chicken for dinner. Sounded like she was hammering it while we talked, a cooking tip she got from neighbor Pat to make the chicken more tender.

Both kids were in surprisingly good moods and were even pleasant to one another. Not having school n Friday was having a positive effect. Perhaps we should consider keeping them out of school every Friday. Mindy shared that she was thinking of having the boys spend the night since she planned on watching them Friday anyway. The alternative was having Lindsey drop them off at 7am on her way to work. The only drawback was Landon's propensity to get up at the butt crack of dawn and then wake others.

Mindy prepared the chicken breast on the stove in a grill pan buffalo or blazin' style (Pete's hot sauce and cheddar cheese). She made prepackaged chicken rice dish  and a fresh garden salad too. We sat for dinner near 6pm. It was quite good. Both kids continued with their good manners at dinner. And Bella ended up having a spinach based garden salad, which I am almost certain was a first.

Clean-up went quickly too. Done by 630pm. Both kids headed out to play with their friends after dinner while Mindy and I chatted about the coming weekend as well as a host of other things. Lindsey dropped the boys near 7pm. When I heard her car pull up I dashed upstairs to avoid any confrontation. How sad is that? Mindy, meanwhile, was down in the basement presumably working on Easter baskets. I heard Mindy ask the boys not to come down. Rocky quickly ran off outside in search of Jacob while Landon bopped around the house. As soon as I heard Lindsey leave I headed back downstairs to play with Landon. We chased each other around the downstairs for a few minutes, me hiding anywhere I could three or four times.

Landon kept asking if he could head outside and play with all the others. I eventually let him once they came into full view. All the kids played outback until about 810pm when darkness set in. Mindy & I settled in the family room to watch Idol elimination night. But I was multitasking, doing some reading as well. The boys seemed to have no interest in watching Idol. They dashed up to Jacob's room, presumably to play video games. Bella joined Mindy and I. While watching Idol, we had Bella correct some math mistakes with her home work. DeAndre was sent home. After Idol (9pm) we stayed tuned to FOX watching Touch.

Before heading to bed I covered the hydrangea west side of our deck with an old Garfield bed sheet. It was expected to dip below freezing overnight.