Non Winning Attitude

Happy 12th B-day Jacob!

It was Monday and I was up and out of bed just after 530am despite not sleeping too well at all. Downstairs I glanced out the back door seeing a slivery crescent moon hanging low in the southeastern sky. Very pretty. The coffee was brewing. I completed sit-ups and push-ups. 

Went to the PC with coffee near 550am. Spent a good 20 minutes online before moving on to meditation. My hands were a tad stiff and nicked up from all the work Sunday removing English ivy and then scraping the wood trim. Ouch! Given the time, I decided that I’d better wake Mindy after meditation and ahead of a stretch. She was appreciative of the coffee. And while Mindy was headed back to work, she wouldn’t have students. It was ordering day, the day set aside each year to order supplies for the next school year. Students return from spring break on Tuesday. 

It was 640am by the time I completed a stretch then dressed for a run and headed out the door. It was a balmy 65 degrees out the door, almost summer like temps. Of course it was daylight for the entire run. It’ll remain that way now until sometime in October. I ran the full 4.1 miles, my legs a little stiff from all the time spent working from a ladder both Saturday and Sunday. 

Not sure the time when I returned to the house but quickly fetched Eiknarf and headed off on our walk. It was Jacob’s birthday. Mindy was whipping up something special to celebrate. Eiknarf and I weren’t out too long. Mindy made crescent rolls stuffed with cheese and had one setting with a single candle at Jacob’s place setting. We sang happy birthday. You probably know the words too. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear (fill in the name here) happy birthday to you! 

Mindy left for school after reminding the kids to bus home after school. Since it was ordering day, she expected to be home early. I enjoyed my eggs then headed off to the shower. Was back downstairs preparing my lunch by 755am. I cut some cheese, made a fruit medley, threw together mixed nuts, and grabbed a banana to go along with the veggies Mindy prepared for me. 

The kids and I headed out near 808am. The neighbors weren’t at the bus stop. They were all going to Kenny’s grandfather’s funeral. The bus arrived around 815am. Eiknarf and I headed back home. It was so nice I really hated that the weekend was over. I would love to have stayed home to get more done around the house. The good news was that I have Tuesday off as a comp day since I’m on call this coming weekend and will be joining an all day conference call on Sunday. 

I left for work near 825am arriving at the office near 840am. I didn’t sleep that well Sunday night so my head was a little foggy. That quickly abated as I dug into the day’s agenda. Had a ton of stuff that I needed/wanted to accomplish to stay on track. I was careful not to let anything or anyone schedule something for my comp day Tuesday. Sure enough, I had to decline more than one meeting request even though the day was already blocked out on my calendar. 

Come mid day I left the office for a rare formal lunch break making my first trip to Strader’s of the new growing season. It always does my heart good to visit a nursery. Not very crowded, but rarely is in April. But as Mother’s Day nears, it gets chaotic. 

They had most annuals out in the giant green house but no where near the inventory they’ll have out in the coming weeks. The quality of the stuff now is the best it gets. Of course the problem is that it’s a big risk buying and planting this early. One needs to balance risk versus the reward of buying early. The Wave petunias were very healthy, and not stemmy like they tend to get y mid-May. I browsed several aisles never intending on buying anything just yet. I may pick-up some hanging baskets though the last weekend of April weather permitting. 

Before leaving, I headed inside to see if they carried any irrigation system components. No, not anymore. The closest thing they carry is drip watering system supplies.  I wandered into their attached bike store too seeing what if any BMX models they carried. They had one, a 2010 model. It was expensive and ugly. It was ‘on sale’ for $240. 

Headed back to the office after being gone for about 45 minutes.  Had to back in the far lot after somebody took my up close spot. I didn’t mind. Two old compadres were outtalking in the lot. I spent about ten minutes chatting with the two of them before heading inside. 

Ate my lunch while finishing up two more monthly reports as well as managing an non-outage issue for one of my customer’s. The work would carry over into Tuesday. I asked a peer to keep an eye on the flow while I was out on Tuesday. Mindy called around 5pm to remind me about meeting her at Jacob’s soccer game at Spindler fields at 6pm. I ened up working until almost 5550pm getting almost everything I hoped to accomplish before heading to the soccer game. It felt good knowing I had Tuesday off but I would far more have liked to take Thursday or Friday but that just wasn’t in the cards this week due to prior commitments. 

I called Mindy on my drive to the soccer field letting her know that I was running behind. It didn’t take nearly as long as I expected it might. I arrived by 610pm. She and Bella were already set-up with camp chairs. And while it was near 70 degrees, we all knew to take jackets because of the stiff chilly breeze blowing in. Glad I did. I put mine on shortly after showing up. Mindy had two snack baggies for me, one with almonds the other with Cheezits.  

Mindy shared that the score was 1-0, Jacob’s team was ahead and he scored the games only goal.  It remained that way until halftime and well into the 2^nd half when Upper Arlington tied it up. But just like that, Jacob scored again regaining the lead 2-1. Mindy and I both held out hope that the time would hurry so Jacob’s team could get the win. U.A. tied the game again with just a few minutes to play. It was 2-2. As fans, we can’t see the official clock, so we could only make an educated guess as to how much time was left. I saw the ref signal 1 minute to both coaches. Yikes! Unfortunately, the unthinkable  happened. U.A. scored with only seconds to go giving their first lead and ultimately the win. Jacob was completely deflated by the loss. He’s not a good sport about losing. Mindy and I weren’t too excited about the prospect of the ride home with Jacob after a loss despite it being his birthday. We could see that he was kicking things across the field by the bench. He doesn’t handle losing well at all. 

The plan all along was for me to drop Bella at gymnastics while Mindy ran Jacob to the Gyro Shoppe to get gyros – his birthday dinner choice. Bella and I bolted after grabbing her gym bag from the Pilot. Dropped Bella ten minutes late or at 710pm. She wasn’t happy about being late but Mindy didn’t want me to leave until the game was over.  

After dropping Bella I headed on home and enjoyed about 20 minutes of solitude. Mindy & Jacob got home around 745pm and we all sat down to eat gyros. Mindy bought me two but I ate only one and a handful of fries. It was time to fetch Bella in a hurry. I headed off to get her. They were practicing a choreographed gymnastic deal when I arrived. Rusty, the head coach, handed me a schedule of events for the upcoming meet in Rio Grande. Bella’s first event is at 830am. Oh dear! 

We didn’t get a quarter mile down the road before Bella said she wished we could go back to DCW. I laughed. A minute later she clarified further telling me that she mistakenly left her Kindle Fire there. We turned around at the first opportunity and headed back, me giving her an earful the entire way. She’s not allowed to take it places like that. We went through this with her handheld game system. She was crying the entire way. Lucky for her, it was still there. We headed home. 

I wasn’t going to say anything of it, at least not immediately, to Mindy, but when Bella entered with a sad face and Mindy inquired as to why, Bella came clean. Mindy shared as I did that she’s not allowed to take it places like that and for that very reason. However, she admitted not saying explicitly gymnastics. That’s a slippery slope. Bella said I scared her when I yelled at her for the faux pas. So be it. 

We turned on the TV watching knowledge TV. I can’t recall which channel or what specific program. Mindy and the kids peeled off for bed around 915pm. But because I wouldn’t be working on Tuesday, I opted to stay up indefinitely. I ended up falling asleep on the sofa while watching TV. I woke a couple of times but couldn’t muster the energy to get up and head upstairs despite feeling cramped for space, which was due in part to Eiknarf’s presence.