Cries of Joy

I was up around 545am and downstairs a few minutes later. No longer is there any site of daylight at that hour. Instead, it was dark, but also cloudy. After calisthenics I checked the weather. It was 67 degrees with clouds and sun forecasted for the day and highs in the low 80s. I played online until almost 620am when I broke away to meditate and stretch. Both of those activities went well.

I headed out for a run around 640am, or fairly close to my usual run time. I ran the full 4.1 miles and felt good doing so, though my hamstrings were stiff at least for the first ¼ mile or so. Home near 720am, I got busy making breakfast and packing my lunch. Eiknarf joined me downstairs after I finished eating. I took the time to walk her just ahead of a shower.

Headed upstairs with Mindy’s coffee around 755am. I was showered and ready to go by 815am and spent another 10 minutes enjoying a 2nd cup of coffee before heading off to the office. Mindy reminded me that she had a dental appointment around 11am. She planned to let the kids stay home while she went. I think she planned on grocery shopping too. I left for work near 830am.

I had a busy day planned, among other things still needing to finalize a monthly report in presentation format before Wednesday. I had another report due as well, and was covering for a peer on vacation to boot. Once again, I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with all I needed to get done. Turned out, one of my peer’s customers needed a lot of attention, which pulled me away from anything proactive for a large portion of the day. I had an escalation or two of my own to contend with as well.
I stayed focused, however, and managed to get the most important proactive tasks completed. By the end of the work day, I only killed about half my daily to-do list but I figured to be OK. If everything went as planned, I’d be working from home on Tuesday. Mindy had another dental appointment and also needed to be at school for a little while. I left for home near 535pm.

I called Mindy in route for home. Traffic was at a crawl the entire drive along 270 south. Got home near 6pm. I could’ve sworn she said we’d be having leftovers for dinner, but instead she made a beef roast. She asked if I would be willing to take and pick-up Bella for gymnastics. Yes. I had to prod Bella along at 650pm. More often than not, she’s chomping at the bit to get there. Dropped her off at 7pm and was home in less than 5 minutes.

Changed into comfy clothes as soon as I got back home. I played around online for a while and headed to the family to steal a quick nap before heading to pick-up Bella. It had to be near 745pm when I did that. I slept hard and well. Next thing I knew I heard Mindy heading out the door. I upped and checked. Hmm? She must’ve left to get Bella.

They were home about 20 minutes later or somewhere close to 845pm. By then it was dark. Mindy shared that I was snoring so rather than wake me, she just decided to go after her. Just before my nap while I was busy playing on my PC, Mindy logged on Bella’s school’s website and learned who her teacher was. It was Mrs. Leighee, a woman that has a reputation for being mean. Mindy planned to break the news to her that night. I assumed she’d come home already knowing. Sure enough, Bella cam in the house crying hysterically and went right to her room. She was balling her head off. I knew she’d be disappointed but definitely wasn’t expecting that. Apparently she hunkered down under her bed. Even Jacob tried to console her telling her that most of the reputation was unwarranted. As adults, I am certain that all of us can remember hearing similar things about certain teachers, but only to learn that they weren’t so bad after all. Still, Bella cried for at least an hour. According to Mindy, even Eiknarf tried to console her by curling up beside under her bed.

Mindy headed to bed close to 930pm. I stayed up a little while longer watching the NFL Monday Night football preseason game between the Cowboys and Raiders. It wasn’t much of a game. It was 3-0 when I shut it down and headed for bed somewhere near 10pm. I got to see Terrell Pryor play a couple series. He did nothing worthy of special mention. I fell asleep with Mindy lying on my chest.