Old Queen

I was awake just ahead of 530am but made the conscious decision to steal a few more minutes of sleep. I felt good after almost nine hours of sleep counting the time I spent sleeping the chair before heading up to bed.

I was mostly clear overhead. I whipped out push-ups and sit-ups in all of about 10 minutes. Headed to the PC with coffee next. It was 46 degrees with an expected high approaching 70 under sunny skies early one. And after two days with a strong, chilly wind, it was finally gone. Read about Thursday’s NFL draft and who the Vikings might take with the 3rd pick. Lots of options and lots of BS’ng going on. I love following the NFL draft.

Meditation and stretching were next, both were completed by 625am and before I headed up to wake Mindy. I reached out and closed the bedroom window Mindy opened before bed with my foot. She didn’t realize it, but I turned the heat up a few degrees before I headed up to bed the evening before.

I headed downstairs to prepare for a run getting out the door near 635am. I skipped hand and ear covers but otherwise was in winter-weight attire. I ran the full 4.1 miles. The trash truck picked up our can just as I passed by the house after my initial warm-up loop.
It was a lovely sunrise. The run went quickly. I drug the trash can back to its resting place before heading in after the pug.

My feet were wet from walking the grass. Mindy brought me the leash. I waited at the bottom of the steps. She and I walked to the east and past Kenny’s house. She took care of business fairly quickly.

It was OAA testing day for the kids. Mindy insisted that both have eggs (brain food) for breakfast. Bella had a well-done dippy egg. Jacob had his scrambled and topped with salsa. I had two regular fried eggs. Mindy left for work near 730am. Reminded the kids that grandpa (my dad) would be there to greet them off the bus. She had a beef roast in the crock-pot for dinner. She reminded Jacob to dump the gravy over it when he got home from school.

I headed to the shower around 735am. Was downstairs and ready by 750am. Spent a few minutes throwing together my lunch. Keeping in my mind that I’d be working in New Albany, Mindy prepped cut veggies. That way I wouldn’t have to deal with salad dressing. Checked email before heading to the bus with the kids .Had an email announcing Lindsey’s car insurance policy renewal as well as an email from Rain Bird sharing that yesterday’s order has shipped. Cool!

Kids and I headed out at 808am. Met Kenny and the girls at the bus stop. Kids were all abuzz over the OAA testing, and what they were and weren’t allowed to do. Wished them well. It was a gorgeous start to the day, clear blue skies, no breeze, and warming quickly. Headed for home and any last minute preparations.

Left for New Albany just ahead of 825am taking 670 east. Traffic wasn’t an issue at all, though it did congest a bit as I approached the heart of downtown. Loosened up quickly and it was smooth sailing the rest of the way in. Made excellent time, arriving by 845am.

Was settled and logged in by 905am. Chatted with my main customer contacts then had our regular Wednesday call at 10am. That went well. Originally, I planned to help some of their folks located in another building across campus use some of our online tools. However, there was a credential issue still unresolved so we had to postpone the meeting for a few more days.

I was crazy busy all day taking care of numerous escalations, including some for my other customers as well. The day flew by without me taking a formal lunch break. Imagine how surprised I was near 4pm when I glanced at the weather expecting to find 70 and sunshine but found that it was only in the mid 50s and raining steadily. What happened? I left the campus just ahead of 5pm. First time I’ve gotten out of there that early in a while.

Called Mindy on my drive home. She was just pulling in the subdivision after seeing the orthopedic surgeon who was looking after her MCL tear. The news on that front was all good. She’s healed up nicely. Fitting her for a sports brace that she can use for both water and snow skiing. I took 270 around unwilling to chance taking 670, especially in the light rain.

After talking with Mindy I spent the rest of my commute home programming my mom and Ashley into my ‘handsfree’ feature. That way all I have to do is say their name and it auto dials. Took some doing to figure it out fully, but eventually did. Traffic was at a crawl from Tuttle to Roberts Rd. I used that to my advantage and barely noticed the inconvenience. I listened to XM 68 - SPA for the entire drive home. A song played by Ray Lynch that caught my attention. I quickly sent a text to myself with the artist’s name and title. It was incredibly pleasing music to my ear.

Arrived home near 545pm. Dad was already sitting at the dinner table, Bella was lounging on the sofa, and Mindy was putting the finishing touches on our dinner. As I organized myself for dinner, dad was sharing a story about brother Bob taking on the task of installing a new furnace. That’s a daunting task I wouldn’t dream of taking on myself.

Dinner was served near 6pm. Mindy dished up everyone’s plates. We had roast beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, salad, and rolls. Both Mindy and I had second helpings of meat. It was very good. Mindy planned to drop Bella at gymnastics then tend to a few errands including a stop at Kroger and dropping off our recycling. I was still managing clean-up when she and Bella departed. She said goodbye to my dad and wished him luck on his gambling boat trip Thursday.

Dad and I talked for another 20 minutes or so after the two of them left. I asked how the iPad is coming along. He’s used it, but sparingly. Doesn’t really know what or how to use it, or even do the basics. I suppose that it will take some time for him to recognize its true worth. Dad left around 7pm.

I finished tidying up the kitchen then headed upstairs to change into my PJs. I then spent some time on the PC. I made the mistake of checking work email and ended up getting involved in a work matter for the next couple of hours. I wasn’t happy about it but definitely didn’t want to disappoint the customer.

Mindy got home around 740pm. By then Jacob was back from soccer practice. Mindy saw that I was busy with work and made plans to go after Bella. I ended up working until almost 9pm, but took time out to catch most of the Idol contestants do their Queen songs. None of them were that good. Two of the surviving members, Brain May and Roger Taylor, opened the show performing with all six of the remaining Idol contestants singing. They’re looking pretty old these days. But then again, Queen was red hot in the mid 70s. Geesh, that was 37 years ago.

While Mindy was off getting Bella, Jacob enjoyed almost an entire box of cereal in one sitting. Once Bella was home from gymnastics we all watched the rest of Idol together. Bella wanted to vote after the show, so for the first time all season, we went to my PC and voted four times, twice for Holly, once each for Elyesse and Joshua. We all headed to bed immediately after the voting.