88 & sunny - New Bike reprised

I woke briefly three or four times after 4am but didn’t get up for keeps until 535am. I really wanted more sleep but that wasn’t cards. I brushed my teeth then headed downstairs to begin exercise. Ahead of sit-ups and curls I glanced out back. Another partly cloudy start. This time I popped my head out the door revealing another steamy one too.

Exercise behind me a few minutes later I poured some coffee and headed to my PC. It was a balmy 65 degrees with the high expected to reach into the mid to upper 80s with a chance of storms – summery. I played around online until 610am when I headed to the family room for meditation. That went well. Finished just ahead of 620am. Decided to go ahead and stretch before waking Mindy. That went well, too.

Woke Mindy close to 625am. She was in a much better mood than she was Wednesday morning. Headed back downstairs to dress for a run. Wore the same attire as the prior day. And yes, the shirt was starting to smell “like running’ to use Bella’s verbiage. 

Out the door just after 630am. Iran the full 4.1 miles spending most of my thoughts on work and yard projects. The run was over in an instant. Headed in to leash up the pug, who was more than eager to get outside. Must’ve had to pee really bad. Our walk was efficient and quick, though I had to tug on her hard two or three times to get her back to the house. The steamy weather brings out all the scents.

During breakfast Mindy asked what we wanted for dinner. I suggested the Velveeta nacho cheese skillet dinner. Mindy said she’d make that along with a skillet of plain taco meat. Cool! Being a Thursday, this would be our family night, the one night each week when nobody has practice or any other commitment. But it may very well end up being my golf night each week. Still up in the air. Mindy left for school near 730am after reminding the kids that she had a haircut scheduled right after school and that she might be a few minutes late. Advised the children to wait under the bridge if that happened.  OK, just kidding.

I finished my eggs, fed Eiknarf, then headed for a shower. Didn’t take me long to ready. I was back downstairs prepping my lunch by 756am. Like every morning this week, by the time bus time rolled around it was gorgeous. The sky was cloudless. It looked like the perfect late spring day. Jacob asked if we could go after his airsoft gun after school. I was noncommittal. We headed to the bus stop at 808am. Kenny was there with the girls. Said he thought he might go after flowers to keep up with the Wright’s. Bus arrived on time. Kidded with the boy with the Mohawk haircut.

Back home, I paid my credit bill balance in full then loaded up for work. Left the house near 825am. Made the decision to drive the BM’er. It was just too nice to not. Moved the Accord to the curb then headed off. BM’ers collected quite a bit of dust and dirt for sitting in the garage, but it was still fun to drive. Arrived at the office near 840am. The front lot was uncharacteristically full. Had to park in the main lot. No biggie. More time to enjoy the scenery.

Spent most of my day compiling monthly reports but handled a few escalations too. Near 1pm I left for lunch making a quick trip to the bank to cash the check from my mortgage company. I thought I might stop in Home Depot too, but decided against after the bank stop and headed right back to the office. The rest of the day went pretty smoothly. Headed for home earlier than I have all week. Left the office right at 5pm. I called Mindy just before letting her know that I was leaving. I don’t like to talk on the phone from the BM’er – too dangerous.

Sitting at the traffic light at Wilson and Trabue, woman hollered over to me complimenting my ride. Turns out, it was a woman from our subdivision who also had a Z3, though she was driving her Lexus at the time. Her Z3 is a V6. I’ve seen her whiz by more than once over the years.

Lots of kids, including Bella, were playing by the pond when I pulled in at home. Inside, Mindy was putting the finishing touches on dinner while also talking on the phone. I later learned that she was talking to Mrs. Anderson, Bella’s teacher. Like we discussed that morning, Mindy made the Velveeta nacho casserole along with taco meat just in case the casserole was crappy.

Dinner was ready a few minutes later. Mindy insisted that both kids at least try the casserole. She gave them each the smallest of portions. Jacob took one small bite and acted as if her were about to be sick. Bella followed in kind, but after trying it a second time decided that she really liked it. She said it looked bad but tasted good. She even requested seconds. Jacob, on the other hand, had a regular burrito instead. I enjoyed the casserole. It wasn’t anything special, but it was fast and easy. Three of us voted to make it again.

Both kids asked to be excused from the dinner table. We sent Bella out with her friends but asked Jacob to stay back so we could close the loop relative to his recent poor behavior. On Wednesday I had asked him to be prepared to discuss how he planned to change his poor behavior. Now was the time. I decided to let Mindy run point. She did a good job recapping the issues and explaining in terms he should’ve understood. Still, he said he was confused, didn’t understand. Didn’t see it as a problem beyond once on the soccer field. At the right time, I opted in explaining it in simpler terms I knew he could understand. Bottom line, after 15-20 minutes of talk we walked away with an understanding. Jacob will self correct, be a good team mate, and maintain a positive attitude even in the face of adversity (losing). If he doesn’t follow through, he won’t be playing soccer.

After kitchen clean-up, I headed out to water flowers. The fact that it was sunny and 88 left the flowers thirsty despite the heavy rain just two days prior. As much as I enjoy keeping a lush lawn and flowery beds, I find it difficult to motivate out in the heat to water after dinner. Always have. However, once I’m out there I find it relaxing, calming, and enjoyable. I watered all the flowers including the two new perennials and bulbs I planted Wednesday evening. At the same time, Bella played in the pond with the boy with the remote control boat. They had me fooling around trying to get it working, but unfortunately, I think the batteries were destroyed by water. Mindy walked Eiknarf and hooked up with a father and his young adopted daughter from China out front. She took them around back to see the tree house and swings. After they left she went to the deck to finish grading school papers all the while I finished the watering.

Once I was done I headed inside and asked Jacob if he wanted to go after his airsoft gun. He did. We left in the Pilot, my thinking being that if we saw a bike he liked, we’d get that too. After all, we took his birthday bike back and haven’t replaced it yet. Didn’t take long to get to Wal-Mart. We parked by the garden center but had to walk to the customer service desk up front to ask where the In-Store- Pick-up was located. Opposite corner of the store, of course.

We waited behind another customer and the service was slow but we got what we were there for soon enough. As we exited, we stopped in the sporting goods department and bought a jar of airsoft bb’s. We looked at bikes next. Jacob gravitated to the black and blue Mongoose that I guessed he would like. With little fanfare, that’s the bike he wanted. Cool. Let’s get it. We checked out in the garden department. A couple minutes later we were on our way home. It was just after 730pm.

Jacob excitedly took off on his new bike as soon as we arrived home. I carried in the airsoft gun and bbs. Mindy headed out to look at Jacob’s bike once he alerted that he got a new one. Hopefully this one is put together far better than the one we bought at Target.
When Jacob came back inside we opened up the airsoft, which came packaged in that airtight hard plastic case that, if you’re not careful, will cut up your hands when opening. I absolutely hate that kind of packaging. We had to install the stock but otherwise it was fully assembled and ready to charge. I insisted Jacob read the instructions fully before charging. His last airsoft battery was ruined from over charging.

We had trouble figuring out where/how to charge it. I found the batter case release but then couldn’t figure out how to put it back together. I have little patience for stuff like that these days. We thought we figured it out when we found the hidden compartment exposing the charging receptacle. We plugged it in. Supposed to charge it for 4 to 6 hours, never longer. I explained that Jacob would have to set his alarm for midnight to wake up and unplug it. He set the alarm on his iTouch.

Now 8pm, we tuned into American Idol elimination night. Just five left. Cold Play and Carrie Underwood performed. Both just OK. Country girl Skylar was sent packing. Plenty of folks had her pegged for the finals. Nope! Hollie survived again. I popped some popcorn to enjoy for the last half of the show and reluctantly shared it some with Bella after her shower. Mindy headed for bed after Idol, or right after 9pm. Bella and I stayed up watching Touch. Bella asked me to pop another bag of popcorn. She barely made dent in it. Another good episode of Touch. We both headed for bed at 10pm. I tucked her in with Eiknarf. Good night bright moon.