Fixin to Leave

I woke near 530am and despite feeling no where close to fully rested I rolled out of bed anyway. I wisely prepped coffee the night before so I was able to start calisthenics right away, or just after glancing out back at the weather. Looked clear and warm.

I completed 50 sit-ups then 50 push-ups. Felt good. I remembered to take a Naproxen before pouring some coffee. I read a few headlines but there wasn’t much going on in the world worthy of my undivided attention. I walked away for meditation near 605am. I did meditation from the livingroom for the first time ever. I finished up near 615am and moved directly to stretching. Stretching took little more than 5 minutes. I was dressed and ready for my run well ahead of 630am for the first time in a few weeks. I checked the temperature before heading out, it was a balmy 73 degrees. I was a little surprised that it was so warm since the day’s high wasn’t expected to leave the 70’s.

I ran the full 4.1 miles without incident and felt good head to toe. I finished the run and was back inside by 708am. David & Anita were already sitting on the deck enjoying coffee and tea while surfing the internet. I greeted them with a good morning but promptly headed back inside to start breakfast. Without asking I whipped up cheese omelets and whole wheat toast for all. They were both appreciative of the breakfast. They planned to head for home about the time I’d be leaving for the office.

I took Mindy some coffee after finishing breakfast asking if she planned to get up and see David & Anita off on their journey home. She looked exhausted, and I later learned that she’d been up most of the night feeling sick. It was near 8am when I returned downstairs after a shower. Mindy wasn’t too far behind.

We exchanged pleasantries & then goodbyes before seeing David & Anita off for home. We walked out to their car a few seconds behind them taking Eiknarf along intending to walk her immediately after they pulled away. We had a very enjoyable time but were both exhausted. We didn’t spend much if any of our time together simply relaxing. It was go-go-go Friday through Sunday.

Mindy talked about going back to bed as soon as I left for work. Said she didn’t fall asleep until 4am and was battling diarrhea. She blamed the raw tuna wrap she ate at the Rusty Bucket the evening before. Lovely! We figured to have a quiet house until Thursday when Glenn gets in town, but we’ll be prepping for vacation most of the week too. I enjoyed a little more coffee before heading off for work at 830am.

I stayed busy all day joining what seemed like endless conference calls. And when I wasn’t on a call I was dealing with escalations. I was really sleepy for some reason. At lunch time, instead of heading somewhere, I closed my door and took a 10-15 nap. The brief nap was good but I felt like I could’ve slept all afternoon.

I talked with Mindy near 1pm. She shared that she slept most of the morning away and still didn’t feel well. Said she’d likely nap some more. I reminded her about making an appointment to have the brakes and tires done at the dealership. Said she’d call later that afternoon.

I stayed busy at the office until 515pm when I finally left for home. In the back of my mind was the fact that the grass really needed cut. I was kicking myself for not finding time to get it done over the weekend. What’s more, I’ll most likely be cutting it again Thursday evening. I contemplated holding out until then, but it’s too long now. The one bright spot was that the temperature was only around 76 degrees with low humidity.

I arrived home around 540pm. Mindy was fresh out of the shower after sleeping much of the afternoon away. The house wasn’t a mess by any stretch, but I could tell Mindy hadn’t picked up. Looked pretty much like it did when I left that morning, the lone exception being the hand prints all over the back door glass, which is something that drives me through the wall. Almost on queue, Bella let the neighbors’ two Jack Russell’s in to play with Eiknarf. I wasn’t in the mood for the doggie chaos and opened the door to shew them as quickly as they dashed inside. Chester wasn’t happy about leaving. He was enjoying a doggie treat by the table. When I picked him to put him on the deck he proceeded to pee all over me and the tile floor. According ot Mindy, this is something he does frequently. Oh boy!

Both kids headed out to play while Mindy worked on wrestling something up for dinner. I opted for the other half of my leftover reuben. She shared that she received a text from David indicating that they were already home. I checked my phone and saw that I had a similar text. Both kids were back from play to have dinner. I noticed that Bella was wearing Jacob’s flip-flops. When asked why she shared that she left hers at Chrissy’s place, which is a habit that’s getting out of hand. I told her to stop eating and go get them. She then shared that she couldn’t because they weren’t home. We told her she’d be buying her next pair with her own money.

Still really sleepy, as soon as I finished my sandwich and helped clean-up the kitchen I stumbled to the chair for a quick nap. Mindy planned on running Bella to gymnastics and then stopping at Target to pick-up a few things. The verdict was still out on whether or not I’d be cutting the lawn.

Mindy & Bella headed out around 652pm just about the time I was dosing off after reading a few pages. I slept for at least 20 minutes, maybe a little longer. I woke and sat quietly for a few minutes but fell back asleep. I woke again around 740pm and finally mustered the energy to head out and get started on the lawn. I changed into sweat shorts and a t-shirt first. I was surprised at how cool it was. It couldn’t have been much more than 70 degrees with a cool breeze.

I was a little angry with myself when I realized that I was all but out of mower gas. I had enough to do all the push mowing, which I planned to do first. Jacob and Lane were out front playing on their scooters as I got started. I set the blade at the halfway point between the two settings I normally use and cut the entire front. I was further aggravated when I noticed how dry and spindly the front lawn looked despite watering every day. And then there were the numerous piles of goose crap. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

After finishing the front and the steeps out back, I grabbed my wallet, gas can, and Accord keys and headed off for the Circle K, but not before stopping by Alex’s house where Jacob, lane and AJ were hanging out. I asked Jacob to walk down to the pond and get our good football out of the pond. I also asked who/how the weeping willow stump got tossed in the pond. He blamed it on Evan.

I decided to fill the Accord while I was there. Gas was as cheap as it’s been in several months, only $3.25 per gallon. Between the Accord and gas can I bought about 20 gallons. I sat the gas can next to the garage side entry door and went for the tractor. It wouldn’t start. Completely out of gas. I had to go after the gas can and fill-up the Deere while it sat in the shed. I mowed with the tractor in a hurry.

As soon as I was done mowing I watered all the flowers front and back. They all looked thirsty. I soaked them good. Mindy and Bella were home around 840pm. They heard me hollering for Jacob – thought I was angry. I was hollering because I thought he was up in his room. His bike was in the garage. Mindy asked why I wanted him. I explained that I sent him for the football in the pond 20 minutes prior then left for gas. The football was still in the pond but Jacob no where to be found.

About that time along came Jacob. I walked back to point our where the football was in the pond. It was tucked neatly against some large rocks, admittedly hard to see. He fetched it. After the watering was complete and the football safely back home, I reprogrammed the irrigation system with 50% longer run times in almost every zone and then kicked it on for a manual cycle. Since the middle of May we’ve had only about an inch of rain. That’s about 5 to 6 inches below normal.

While the irrigation system ran its course, I decided to take the opportunity to adjust the arc and spray on a number of the heads out front in an effort to cure some dry spots. I spent about 20 minutes doing that. It was almost 930pm by the time I headed inside for the night. As cool as it was, it’s expected to get really hot as the week progresses. By some accounts, Thursday will top 100 degrees, and there isn’t any rain in sight through the 4th of July.

I felt a lot better after getting the lawn mowed and the irrigation system adjusted. I cleaned up a little then poured some ice water and headed to the chair to finish my newest book, The Drunkard’s Walk. Mindy talked with Darwin and agreed to let Jacob spend the night with Lane. She drove Jacob down after a quick shower. She shared that Darwin and family are leaving for the Outer Banks on Wednesday now, opting to spend two nights in a hotel before our house becomes available. Said he’s bringing the pull-behind U-Haul trailer by Tuesday night to get our bikes.

As soon as Mindy was back from dropping off Jacob she headed up for bed. Bella followed, but soon returned for snacks. I finished my book, not realizing how few pages I had left to read (long bibliography). I have two more books to dig into over vacation. I headed up to bed around 1030pm. Bella was lying in my spot snuggling with her momma. She headed for her own bed as soon as I jumped into bed. Good night moon!