Knuckle Under

 I slept like a rock, and didn’t get up until 545am. I needed a good night of sleep. It felt terrific. And the truth is, I could’ve slept for another hour easily. The coffee was finished brewing, but I didn’t pour any until my calisthenics were completed (sit-ups & curls). Was finally pouring coffee just before 6am. Yum-yum! 

I was a tad stressed over the prospect of the quarterly presentation I’d be delivering to my biggest customer. Was anticipating an audience of about 25-30. I did my best to relax during coffee and then get in the zone during meditation. That always helps put things in their proper perspective. After sleeping late, I was running behind, so I figured I’d better wake Mindy ahead of a stretch.  

Had to be near 625am when I delivered her coffee. For the first time, I noticed that daybreak was upon us ahead of 630am. After mindy was awake I headed back downstairs to stretch and then ready for a run. Got out the door near 640am. It was again in the upper 40s, still cool enough that it required a pullover fleece but then again warm enough to not need hand and ear covers. Pretty comfy actually.  

I ran the full 4.1 miles thinking through my presentation, and probably over thinking it too much. I am always happy once my piece is done and over. Feels so good. The run went well. I consider myself blessed one to be able to pull of a 4.1 mile run every day, and then two, to do it completely pain free. The only ache anywhere on my body right now is my left hand that I somehow injured the last week of January, when we took nephew Joe-Joe skiing with us at MRM. I think I over stretched a ligament/tendon in my hand loading/unloading skis from the Thule. It hurts almost as much today as it did the following morning. It’s been 2.5 months. One thing is for sure, I don’t heal as fast as I used to.  

As usual, I was home from my run around 720am and headed inside to leash up the pug. She came as soon as I turned my back to her and sat at the foot of the stairs. Works like a charm. She took care of business in a timely, efficiently manner. Good girl! We headed home for eggs. By the way, the morning was unfolding beautifully. It was sunny and warming quickly. It was expected to reach into the mid 70s later in the day. 

Mindy made a plain omelet. She’s done a fantastic job mixing it up each morning just as  I requested a couple months prior. However brief, all of us were at the breakfast table together before Mindy needed to depart for work. She asked the kids to bus home as normal but also shared that if by some slim chance she wasn’t home when they got off to the bus, to start on their homework. She would be home as soon as she picked up the boys from after school care at Magdalene. Soon after Mindy left, I was off to the shower. It had to be near 740am.  

I was downstairs again by 8am putting together a lunch. Aside from getting the kids on the bus, I wasn’t in any hurry. The quarterly presentation wasn’t until 10am, and I didn’t plan to leave the house until 9am. I saw the kids onto the bus. Chrissy was there and reminded me that it was their 4^th wedding anniversary. Said that Kenny was mad about something. Bummer! I wished her well. 

Back at the house I made sure I had the revised copy of the quarterly presentation, which meant I had to log on to intranet and download the Power Point to my laptop. That took a few minutes. I didn’t want to get too comfortable. I ended up leaving the house at 855am. It was a gorgeous drive through downtown and north again to New Albany. Was there by 915am.  

After a little doing, I found the elusive conference room where I met up with one of my peers. She and I joined our weekly staff call at 930am. That lasted only about 10 minutes. We chatted casually while awaiting the arrival of others. We got started a tad late thanks in part to one of our folks having to make his way in from their deep parking lot on crutches.  

My piece was fourth, which I absolutely hate. I always prefer going first, getting my stuff out of the way so I can relax. Instead, the tension mounts as each participant before presents. And then a slide or two in front of me I get really nervous. I quickly employ the ‘everybody is naked’ thing, but that really doesn’t work. What does calm me, though, is a quick meditative moment where I remind myself how smart, well-prepared and valuable I am.  

I had 5 or 6 slides to present and they went without much questioning. I felt a huge sense of relief after. I wouldn’t call it my best by any stretch. But more importantly it was over. At the end some customer survey results were shared with the entire group. I was embarrassed for all the written praise bestowed upon me. That was nice! 

I hung out afterwards to meet a few key folks I’d be working with over the next few weeks. I’m guessing that I was there for another 30 minutes or so. I left for the office around 1145pm. Where had the morning gone? 

It was a gorgeous, but long walk out to the Accord. No kidding, about a quarter mile. OK, maybe that’s a bit exaggerated, but it’s a long walk. I took 270 because I’d be exiting at Tuttle. That’s far quicker regardless of traffic. I arrived at the office near 1215pm. My boss stopped by a couple of times asking how things went. Good! I, in turn, walked to a peers office to see how the meeting went with one of my other customers’, which I had to miss due to the quarterly presentation. That meeting went well to, but there was a question I needed to answer for them. No problem.  

My afternoon was psycho busy. I had an awful lot going on seemingly all at once. It was a bit overwhelming but I managed through it all. And I’ll say this much, I earned my money and did a great job doing it. Just ask me! 

I didn’t get out of the office for the day until close to 530pm. I called Mindy once I was on the road for home. As planned, she picked up the boys and was busy prepping dinner – hodge-podge (leftovers). There was a gyro, blazin’ chicken, and meat loaf. I opted for meatloaf. Said all the kids were out playing with water balloons. Arrived home near 545pm. 

After greeting Mindy, I headed out to the tree house area to hopefully fix the tire swing. You may recall, I bought some chain and a variable link to hopefully reconnect it at the swivel on the tree branch. I took a step ladder and an assortment of wrenches with me. Oops! The variable link wasn’t big enough to fit around the swivel at the tree branch. I wasn’t able to finish the work right then. Crap! I hate that. And by the looks of it I wasn’t sure if the bigger size would even do the trick. I immediately started thinking of a plan ‘B’ as I made my way back to the house and for dinner. 

Everybody was eating inside. I hurried up and dished up my own plate before all the leftovers were gone. I had the rest of the meatloaf and mashed potatoes. It was quite good. The kids ate quick and headed back outside for more play time. Mindy shared that Rocky was now taking his ADD meds as prescribed and that Landon shared that he’s wearing a pull-up at night. So Mindy’s Sunday rant made a lasting or temporary impact.  While happy to hear all that, I reminded Mindy that one of Lindsey’s biggest problems is ongoing follow-thru. Baby steps! 

Speaking of Lindsey, she showed up around 645pm to pick-up the boys. As they often do, they asked to take home snacks much like we did at grandma’s house when we were kids. Lindsey asked when she could do her laundry. Mindy first shared that the boys were welcome to come to Jacob’s bday party on Sunday, but that she didn’t want Lindsey there doing laundry. Too chaotic. She recommended Saturday instead. NO further details discussed.  

Mindy walked down to talk with Chrissy after Lindsey and the boys departed. I shared that I might just nap. But in reality, I played on the PC. Mindy wasn’t gone long, and when she returned acted shocked that I was still vertical. We chatted quietly while the kids played outside. When Jacob finally came home around 745pm I headed out to the garage to fix the handle bars on his new bike. They weren’t tight enough and were all the way forward. Not only did I tighten the handle bars, but also adjust the front brakes as well as giving all the nuts an extra crank. Many were loose.  

Tim for American Idol elimination night. It was Mindy, Jacob and I. Bella was still out playing. She didn’t come home until almost 830pm. Just before she got home I suggested we act upset and share that she was supposed to be home at 815pm. In reality, mindy didn’t give her a curfew. Mindy wanted no part of upsetting Bella, but Jacob did. When she came in and settled on the sofa, both Jacob and I played off one another. First, I asked why she wasn’t home at the agreed upon time of 815pm. And when she said there was no agreed upon time, Jacob quickly chimed in that there was and that he clearly told her more than once. He did so convincingly, I might add. Bella, as you might guess, got upset and even cried. Mindy comforted her and told her that we were only teasing. She wasn’t a bit amused.  

As for American Idol, Colton was sent home much to the surprise of everyone. But at this late stage, anybody can be sent packing. After Idol ended we stayed tuned into FOX catching Touch. It was a very good episode. As usual, I dosed off for a few minutes towards the end but caught the most critical parts. We all headed to bed at 10pm. Mindy had me DVR because she was supposed to join Bella for some reading in bed, but she found herself so wrapped up in the plot that she couldn’t walk away. 

Like the night before, I hopped into bed and under the covers before Mindy made it in. I heard her tell Bella that I was already asleep when Bella asked that I tuck her in. Not wanting to let her down, I upped and headed to her room. She pouted to me about Mindy not spending enough time reading with her and instead watching Touch, though Bella watched too. I calmed her down and offered that she could read the book herself until she was sleepy. She agreed that was a good idea and tuned on her night stand light and settled in with her book. Good night Bella!