Island Light Dancing Must End

I slept much better Monday night, aided by the chilly night air. I let myself sleep a few minutes late since I didn’t need to worry about seeing the kids onto the bus. I headed downstairs somewhere close to 550am where I whipped out sit-ups then completed 40 curls. For the first time in a while, the sky was almost completely cloudy. 

With coffee in hand, I headed to my PC near 6am. The first thing I checked was the weather. It was only 52 degrees and expected to remain cloudy and only reach a high of 71 degrees by the afternoon. There was a chance of rain too. The night before, Mindy and I discussed a vehicle swap, so I could take the Pilot to Carter Lumber and pick-up a few 10’ sections of 5/8” z-bar. She had plans to lunch with her friend Phyllis at the Rusty Bucket. She also asked that I wake her at some point during my routine, but I couldn’t recall for certain. It seemed to me she asked that it be right after my run. After meditation and a stretch I set out on a run near 635am.

I ran the full 4.1 miles and felt good doing it. Forsaking the usual black, I wore a red long-sleeved wicking shirt and the new orange Muirfield golf club ball cap that I bought last week at the tournament. I felt a tad out of place. Sometimes change is good.

I was back at home somewhere close to 715am and went ahead and took Mindy some coffee. Before starting my breakfast, I sanded then put another coat of spackling on the two small spots on the kids bathroom wall. For breakfast, I fried three eggs setting one aside for Eiknarf. I sat out a banana, cheese, and yogurt to take with me to work. I wasn’t sure if I would make a salad. Mindy and Eiknarf came down just as I was sitting down to eat my eggs. Before a shower, I took Eiknarf out for her morning walk. While I walked the pug, Mindy put together my lunch salad.

I headed upstairs for a shower next. Mindy came with me. I was ready to go by 815am. With several minutes before I needed to leave, I threw some dirty running clothes in the washer then enjoyed another cup of coffee. I made sure that Mindy had the spare keys to the Accord and also took work gloves to make handling the z-bar easier on the hands. I left the house near 830am. Instead of clearing up, the clouds only thickened during my brief commute into the office. 

I had a lot of to-dos on my agenda, but nothing overwhelming. On a personal matter, I made it a point to try and schedule an appointment with the orthopedic doctor Mindy saw for her torn MCL, but not before making sure that he was considered in-network on my insurance plan. He was. Took three tries to get through. They were very nice but shared that Dr Berasi doesn’t do hands, instead only knees. They recommended Dr Kerr, their resident hand expert (same practice). I agreed. Made an appointment for next Wednesday AM between 815-830am. It’s in Westerville, so I planned it for my New Albany work day. I’ll go their first.

After my 12noon conference call I left for Carter Lumber in Plain City. From the office it doesn’t take that long to get there at all. It was still cloudy and rather cool. It was only in the 60s. Yikes! Made it there in 10-15 minutes. This time I was the only customer in the store. I called ahead Monday to make sure they had what I wanted. However, instead of getting just three lengths, I decided to buy 6, that way I would have enough length when I replace the band boards on the back of the house too. He went after the z-bar in the warehouse while I browsed the small store front. He was back with the good quick. $18 later I was on my way back to the office. The 10’ lengths fit just fine but had to rest them on the dash under a towel.

I was gone no more than 35 minutes door to door. I washed my hands and grabbed my packed lunch before heading back to my office. I enjoyed my packed lunch while also working on monthly reports. Spent most of my afternoon working on that. I didn’t talk with Mindy all day, though I saw that I missed her call sometime during the afternoon. I left for home just before 530pm. As usual, I was one of the last off the 6th floor.

Chose not to call on the drive home, not wanting to drive with one hand. Having the handsfree feature in my Accord has proven to be a God send. Mindy was out on the deck when I arrived home fidgeting with the grill. Wasn’t for sure what we were having for dinner, but remembered her saying something about trying a new twist with flank steak.

Looking around, the house was sparkling clean. That’s right! It was a Rachel day, too. In addition, Mindy put away the last of the kids’ school stuff that was out on the counters giving me heart palpitations. We talked about our days, Mindy sharing about her lunch date with Phyllis. During dinner she shared that her bff Teri had a close friend only 51 years of age pass away unexpectedly on Monday. Sad. For dinner, Mindy grilled the flank steak and asparagus. She served what was left of the Whole Food red skin potato salad too. It was all very good – light.

After dinner, clean-up was quick. While Mindy headed upstairs to do more masking in the bathroom I prepared to hang the new island light fixture. I prepped as much ahead of time as I could. Mindy came down and offered her assistance. I knew all too well not to turn her away. Having three or four hands is almost a necessity when replacing a lighting fixture. The only exception that comes to mind was the recent replacement of the post light fixture. That was a snap.

The new fixture looks much the same as the other but just a bit beefier. And the only reason we’re replacing it is because one of the three threaded sockets that holds a mini-pendant in place is stripped. Before Mindy’ help I pulled the three cords to the desired length. Once Mindy was on hand I went to the basement and the breaker box. Mindy hollered when I got the correct lighting breaker. With a sharpie in hand, I labeled it right then as ‘kitchen’ lighting.

First, we had to take down the old. Had I thought about it, we should’ve turned off the lights 15 minutes ahead of time. As it was, the bulbs, socket nuts, and pendants were excruciatingly hot. Duh! Because the fixtures were made by the same company and very similar, the guts were pretty much the same. That simplified things. The hardest part by far was getting the decorative fixture secured to the mounting strap using the decorative thumb screws. I had to peer through 1/8” holes in the fixture while guiding it upward to the receiving posts. Took some doing, but we got it. Mindy helped hold it in place while I secured it. Took about 30 minutes.

Mindy soon disappeared upstairs. I assumed to finish masking off the bathroom or to start painting. After a very brief nap (maybe 5-10 minutes) I headed up to see. Instead, she was in Jacob’s bedroom closet sorting through all of his clothes. She said 90% no longer fit. He’s grown 4” inches this school year. She plans to give most of it away. Too bad. A lot of clothes barely worn. Thankfully, none of it expensive stuff, though. Jacob’s a very simple dresser. He’s a jeans and t-shirt kind of kid.

I headed back downstairs where I tuned into the Science Channel watching The Wonders of the Universe, with Brian Cox. He’s a bit strange - a former rock n’ roller - but also very much in-the-know. Mindy came down around 9pm and said she was heading back upstairs to read from bed. Geesh, dear! Really? No school and you’re heading to bed at 9pm? She clarified that she was going to read. I popped some popcorn and poured a can of Diet Coke w/Splenda, a little slice of self-indulgence. I was nappy after the popcorn falling in and out of sleep for the next few hours. I didn’t wake and head for bed until almost midnight. BY then, every bone in my body was asleep. It took all the energy I could muster to lift Eiknarf into bed. And then only to realize that I needed to reset my bedroom clock after shutting the power off earlier. Ugh! Mindy woke momentarily to say something about me finally coming to bed.  Good night moon!