In Tune with Her Earth

I was up and downstairs by 535am, one of the few times I was up on time over the past few weeks. However, It’s not so much that I was fully rested, no sir! In fact, I slept rather poorly all night long. I just woke around 515am and never fully fell back asleep.

The coffee was still brewing when I stepped out back onto the deck to gauge the day’s weather. It was warm and clear. I topped off my water glass then headed to the livingroom to exercise. I shipped out 50 sit-ups in no time at all. I then headed to the family room where I whipped out 50 push-ups. It was 550am when I poured my first cup of coffee and headed to my PC. There I remained until 605-610am. The forecast called for mostly clear skies and a high near 90. It was almost 70 degrees. I didn’t expect to wear a shirt during my run.

It was 635am by the time meditation and a stretch were behind me and I was dressed and ready for a run. My left hamstring was really achy for the first mile and bothersome for some time after that. I’m having difficulty finding a stretch that helps there are where it aches. I still ran the full 4.1 miles with little trouble. The ache is more of annoyance, but it does slow me down a tick.

I finished the run and was back at home near 720am. I spent a minute or two glancing out over the pond from the bridge before heading inside. I wondered if the boys might wake to my kitchen racket, but they didn’t. However, it wasn’t too long before I heard Eiknarf crying from upstairs, and presumably from the spare room where the boys were sleeping. From the familyroom I could see that the door was pulled closed. I quietly headed upstairs to free her. She seemed grateful for her release. The boys didn’t move a muscle.

I temporarily turned off the stove and headed out to walk the pug. We were out for 8 minutes. Back at home I cooked three fried eggs, two for me, one for Eiknarf. I checked the fruit tray and was surprised that it was full of fresh fruit. Yeah!I I enjoyed some pineapple, strawberries, raspberries, and watermelon with my eggs. I left Eiknarf’s eggs cool while I enjoyed my own hot. She’s learned to approach eggs directly from the frying pan with extreme caution. In other words she’s using reason.

I headed up for a shower around 750am. I took Mindy a cup of coffee on my way to the shower. She was somewhat cool to my presence, obviously still a little sore with me for not heading to bed with her at 930pm the night before. I was quick with my shower. Mindy was up and out of bed just as I was finishing my ready. She had a dental appointment scheduled for 11am, but also needed to drop the boys a daycare beforehand. She planned to do so while Jacob remained sleeping. Bella, you might remember, spent the night with Makayla.

I was downstairs by 815am and quickly checked to make sure I had everything I’d need to work remote in my backpack. I enjoyed a half a 2nd cup of coffee while Mindy played on her laptop. She explained that she needs more touching. Feeling stressed. I left for New Albany near 830am. Mindy reminded me that we’d be having leftovers for dinner, which suited me just fine. Once again, we had a lot to eat up.

It was an easy drive to the NE corner of the city. Arrived in my office by 855am. Noticed that my laptop boots up and gets me on the network a whole lot faster now that I was reimaged to Windows 7. Nice! We had our usual 10am where we reviewed a few issues of concern. One of those issues would end up consuming most of my day. Sandwiched in between follow-up, I squeezed in some proactive monthly report tasks. I decided not to bother taking a formal lunch break and ruining my momentum. I didn’t have any pressing errands needing ran. I barreled straight through the day, which went incredibly fast.

Near the end of the business day I sent an email to a couple customers as well as a few select internal folks letting them know that I’d be out of pocket on Thursday traveling for work. I’d be flying to Chicago for the day to meet with another customer for a couple hours.

The reactive issue I’d been on top of all day was still an issue at day’s end. I ended up taking it home with me, committed to keeping the customer informed of our progress, if any. I called Mindy once I was on 270 and heading NW. I didn’t get out of there until 545pm, which is about 30 minutes later than usual. We talked for a while, she sharing how her day unfolded. She sounded in much better spirits. I figured to get home around 610pm provided there were no back-ups. She asked if I would pick-up Bella from gymnastics. She planned to drop her off and also pick-up Jacob from soccer practice. Jimaken came by after work and took him there.

Somewhat surprisingly, there were no traffic back-ups on 270S through Hilliard. Nice for a change. As it was, I arrived home at 610pm. Mindy was busy in the kitchen prepping leftovers – fried chicken and the fixins. She shared a little more detail about her day, including how her dentist appointment went. She changed dentists, going to see the wife of a guy we met in Barley’s about a year ago. Needs to go back two times – next Monday & Tuesday. Has her mammogram follow-up appointment on Wednesday. Detected some stress in her voice when she reviewed all she has going on next week, including needing to finish prepping her school classroom.

We sat for dinner around 620pm. Bella was a bit scatter brained. I gave Mindy the look. She inferred that Bella hadn’t taken her meds that day. I wasn’t surprised. Finished eating dinner around 640pm. It was time for Mindy to run Bella to gymnastics before I knew it. I’d have about an hour to myself since Mindy would be heading to the Hilliard soccer field after dropping Bella to pick-up Jacob.
I was a tad stressed, trying to remember everything I’d need to take with me to Chicago come morning. I decided to fetch my traveling backpack and have it ready for loading then. I transferred much of my work stuff that I would need right away. That was a load off my mind. To be at the airport for an 830am flight meant I’d need to be up by 430am to allow myself enough time to do my routine, run, and then leave the house at 630am.

To relax, I curled up in the family room chair and did some reading. I didn’t get through more than about 2 pages before I fell asleep. Though I slept for no more than 10 minutes, it felt heavenly. Napped and read on and off until Mindy was home from picking up Jacob. By then I was changed into my sleeping clothes even though I planned to go after Bella at 820pm. They were back around 750pm. Between then and leaving for Bella, I headed out to water the deck flowers despite having next to no energy. Being outside in the air I finally got my 2nd wind. I took my time watering all the pots and baskets. By the time that I finished it was time to leave. Mike O. and his kids were fishing from the bridge as I departed for Bella. The sun was just about to set as I headed to the west and it was only 830pm. Days are getting shorter and shorter, indeed.

Bella was eager to show me her back flip on the trampoline when I arrived. Emily, her coach, spotted her carefully since it’s a new move in her repertoire. She did it twice. Good job, Bella! We headed for home. Bella noticed the diminishing daylight too. Commented that the days are getting shorter. That’s my girl. She’s very in tune with her Earth. The O’Connell’s were still out front fishing as we pulled up. Bella asked me to carry in her gym bag so she could run to the bridge. Jacob was out there too with Evan. Mindy complimented my nice gym bag. 
I tuned the TV to the Olympics the snuggled up again with my book and some ice water. While the kids played, we watched some track & field and then the women’s beach volleyball finals – two American teams vying for the gold medal. I already knew the outcome having read a brief snippet on Yahoo earlier. Was still exciting the watch. The kids were inside by 9pm. Mindy headed for bed at 915pm. I expected to head to bed early, too, but not before seeing the volleyball finals. Mindy asked if I was coming to bed with her. No, but not too far behind you.

Jacob and I watched until 930pm. The outcome appeared still a bit In doubt when I declared it my bedtime (930p). He headed up for bed too. Mindy graciously allowed me to watch the rest from our bed. She was happy to lay on my chest. I fell asleep sometime near 10pm.