Lollygagger

I was up just after 530am. Once again, it rained hard through the night and wee hours of the morning. When I glanced out back towards the sky I could see scattered clouds but just as much clearing. I whizzed through sit-ups and push-ups then headed to the PC with my coffee.

It was 64 degrees with an expected high of 87 degrees but with a chance of storms throughout the entire day. At time, however, the radar looked squeaky clean. Read the most recent updates on the Vikings pursuit of a new stadium in downtown Minny. They’ve been asking for one for almost ten years now, but with the economic crisis it continues to take a back seat to other more politically pressing matters. But now it’s getting down to the wire. If they don’t get one very soon, The Vikings may leave for greener turf.

Wednesday’s Daily OM was about number patterns, and there meaning. It talked about not ignoring repeated number patterns that show up in our lives as they are there to help guide us in a certain direction. It’s our job to seek out the true meaning. Sort of felt like I was in an episode of Touch. 

Headed for meditation and a stretch at 605am. Enjoyed both. It was 622am when I finished and headed upstairs to wake Mindy. Dressed for a run in the same attire as the day prior. Was out the door just after 630am. The trash truck pulled up just as I was exiting the house. Good timing. I decided not to contend with the empty can until my return. I ran the full 4.1 miles, and it was warm, steamy summery-type run.

Upon my return, I quickly walked the pug then joined Mindy still alone in the kitchen. We discussed how we might best handle Jacob’s poor behavior. Mindy shared that she was personalizing and feeling like a failure. I reminded her that while it’s our job to raise him correctly, that he owns his behavior 100%. I went on to share that we can’t in any way let him think we’re accepting blame for his poor decision making, and ultimately poor sportsmanship. I offered a couple more suggestions on how we handle it. Mindy shared that she felt like a failure. I told her that she was a good mom and wife. Those seemed to be words she needed/wanted to hear.

The kids soon joined us downstairs so we changed the subject. Mindy shared that she might need to take Jacob to soccer practice since Jimaken had an out of town business meeting in the afternoon. Wasn’t sure what time he’d back in town. That left dinner plans up in the air. I was fine with that. Mindy left for school near 730am. I finished breakfast then headed up for a shower.

Ready and downstairs by 755am, I spent the rest of the pre-bus stop time packing my lunch and my laptop gear. It was Wednesday which meant I’d be working at one of my customer’s locations in New Albany. The kids and I headed to the bus stop at 808am. There we met Chrissy and the girls. I asked Chrissy about Annie’s prognosis. Sounds like she has some rare hip disorder and they may do surgery in an attempt to correct it. Will know more in the next day or two.

The bus arrived on time. It was such a lovely morning that I wanted to stay outside and admire the yard for a while longer. But sadly, I didn’t have that luxury. I needed to pack up and leave for work. Before leaving, I enjoyed a 2nd cup of coffee while listening to a couple songs via iTunes. Left the house near 830am.

It was an absolutely gorgeous drive east and north to new Albany. I took 670 and happily ran into no traffic snarls. Made excellent time arriving in the lot at 850am. Although still before 9am, it felt like it was well into the 70s. Nice!

Took me a few minutes to get set-up and situated. It was 915am by the time I was logged on. We had our regular 10am call where we reviewed current status of a few pending issues. I spent the rest of the morning helping my customer use our self-help portal to complete some work. Afterwards, I left for lunch. It had to be near 1245p when I headed to the new Columbus Menard’s. You know the jingle: ‘save big money at Menard’s.’ Menard’s is like a Lowes/Home Depot mixed with the Anderson’s and/or Sam’s Club. They have lots of stuff you can’t get at those other two places. I was curious to check out a few things.

It seemed further than I expected, all the way west on Morse to Tamarack Blvd, the land that time has largely forgotten. 30 years ago, it was the hottest spot in CMH. Menard’s had siding options I wanted to look at to resolve rotting composite wood siding M/I used on the front of my house between the living room and master bedroom windows. I looked at actual wood lap siding as well as their vinyl shake options. The more I think about it, I’ll most likely go totally natural, s our homes exterior is all natural – stone, wood, stucco. I cruised a handful of other aisles as well. I had to chuckle when I happened up leather sofas near the patio furniture. Scary looking crowd, too. I probably spent a solid 30 minutes there before heading back.

It was really gorgeous then, about 80 degrees and sunny. As nice as it was, I had a ton of work to do. I spent most of the afternoon working on monthly reports. Stayed busy right up to 5pm. I missed a couple calls from Mindy midafternoon. I called her back just before I left for home. It didn’t’ dawn on me until we were a few minutes into our conversation that she believed I was already on my way home. Man, what a lovely evening. I headed home taking 270 all the way around. I never did call Mindy back. Traffic got tight near Hilliard. Arrived home at 545pm, or roughly 45 minutes later.

Jacob was off to soccer practice with Jimaken. Much to Mindy’s delight, Jimaken was back in town early enough to pick-up Jacob before heading to practice saving her the trouble of running him there. In kind, she made grilled chicken breast served over a bed of white rice topped with peach mango salsa. It was very good. Once again, she let Bella beat the chicken with the meat tenderizer. She seems to enjoy it.

Dinner was delicious and the clean-up fast and efficient. While Mindy ran Bella to gymnastics and the grocery, I headed out to plant cannas bulbs. I planted them roughly in the same bed as last summer, but added a few to the already crowded Sparky bed too. And since I was at it, I planted the new Frances William hosta as well as the dark pin hooded wink. I was done outside well before Mindy got home. She was out until 8pm, or just about the time that Idol came on. I watched the first 2 or 3 Idol contestants perform but then left to fetch Bella at 822pm. Arrived at 28pm. Didn’t take long to get there at all.

Was inside for just a minute, long enough to say hello to Emily and company. Headed for home. Bella asked if we could listen to Comedy USA. We did. Once home we watched the rest of Idol, though both kids were dispatched for showers in somewhere near 9pm. Mindy often has to chastise Bella for leaving the shower run for countless minutes before she finally gets in. She’s a lollygagger. Come 10pm everybody headed for bed with me lagging behind to secure the home.