Cackling Hens

I woke near 530am but opted to steal a few more winks before finally getting up and moving near 545am. Downstairs, the coffee had already completed its brewing cycle. I checked just to make sure before starting my calisthenics. It didn't take me long to whip out sit-ups and push-ups. Headed to my PC with coffee in hand around 6am. There I spent the next 25 minutes reading the headlines and reviewing the weather forecast.

It was relatively cool, only 67 degrees but with 81% humidity. The high was forecasted to reach the mid to upper 80's with plenty of sunshine. I planned to work from home so I had a little leeway with the clock. I didn't walk away for meditation and stretching until after 630am. I took my time with both, making sure I stretched my hamstrings well. Despite those efforts, they ached for the first mile or so of my run.

Speaking of my run, I ran the full 4.1 miles wearing only shorts, shoes and a hat after getting out the door somewhere close to 650am. The air felt a little cool at the outset but I quickly warmed. It was 730am by the time I was back at the house.

While the frying pan heated up, I emptied the dehumidifier. Eiknarf joined me downstairs while I was getting logged onto to my work laptop. I decided to go ahead and walk her before making the eggs. I turned the frying pan so I wouldn't have to worry about while we were out. Certainly didn't want to risk a fire. We were back from our walk after about 8 minutes. I made a cheese omelet for Mindy and I, then a smaller plain omelet for the pug. I let it cool on the stove while I enjoyed my own. Eiknarf waited patiently.

After enjoying my breakfast I checked in with work then delivered a cup of coffee to Mindy. She was heading into work to get her room ready for the school year. She shared that she had a hard time sleeping through the night. Saw each hour pass. Ugh! I headed right back down to get bust with work. I wouldn't shower until much later in the day.

Working from home saves me lots of time and actually makes me much more efficient, at least time wise. I expected to be really productive since I'd have the house all to myself. I heard Mindy get up and shower around 830am. She was dragging after a her miserable night of sleep. She asked for my help loading a number of supplies and items into the Pilot. I'm thinking it was near 9am when she left for school.

I dug into work, at first planning to spend most of my day on monthly reports. However, I had a number of reactive escalations requiring my undivided time. I couldn't get to the monthly report stuff until sometime after 12 noon. Around noon I took a much deserved break and headed out in the yard to pull some weeds from the front flower beds and then trimmed the ivy back from along the walk up to the front stoop from the driveway. All that took about 20 minutes, but it was time well spent. Helped reframe my day. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed with everything that was going on with work. There are days like that.

I worked hard for another 90 minutes before taking an hour or so for lunch. This time I spent about 45 minutes in the basement sorting through a couple old boxes of crap, mostly old tools/hardware. I was able to get rid of a lot of crap. Some of the stuff I have seen since my Valleyview Dr. days. There's more to go through, but I find if I do it in small chunks it doesn't seem as insurmountable as it does when viewing the whole.

I found another steel rod that would make an excellent support for our deck umbrella. I took it to the deck and added it to one of the two previously repaired struts. Adding the second steel rod did the trick. Straight as an arrow now. Yeah! Back to work. I took the last 2.5 hours of my work day to work on monthly reports. To do so I pretty much had to ignore a handful of reactive requests for my time. I knew if I stopped and looked at even one my day would be shot. I forged onward getting done as much as I could on the monthly reports without going completely overboard.

Mindy got home around 4pm from a day at school. She reminded me that we had plans to go to a teacher potluck gathering in Muirfield. Mindy got a letter from the James Cancer Center at OSU sharing that they want her to come back for a more detailed look at her recent breast cancer screening. I heard her make a call to schedule that appointment for sometime next week. She was understandably concerned, as was I. She headed up for a shower around 430pm. And speaking of a shower, I still needed one too.

I stayed busy with work until a little after 5pm. I had all I could handle for one day. I was ready to head up for a shower just as Mindy was on her way down the stairs. I didn't take me long to ready. I'm thinking that it was ready to go near 535pm. Mindy started writing down directions to her teacher pal Andrea's house in Muirfield when I suggested we simply use our GPS. I programmed the address into my Droid. Voila! Instant map and directions.

I knew heading up 270N and then west on 161/33 would be messy in rush hour traffic. And as soon as we near Hilliard Cemetery Rd exit there was a car far up ahead that was blowing off so much steam that it was hard to see beyond it. Not wanting to risk a complete slowdown, I got off 270 on Cemetery Rd and took Britton Rd all the way up to Dublin and Avery Muirfield Rd. Wasn't a bad drive at all. Nice even.

Andrea lives in a nice Muirfield subdivision with homes 20+ years old. The house was easy to find thanks to the GPS which even presented a photo of the house as we cruised down their street. That was unnecessary since it was quite obvious which house was theirs. I was the one with all the cars and then oodles of school teachers sitting in the back yard. As we walked up it became painfully obvious that I was one of only two or three men amongst twenty or so women. The only other guy I saw was Andrea's husband who was busy manning the grill.

Mindy headed inside to put down our food contribution while unfolded our camp chairs. I recognized a few faces but none of their names. I struck up a conversation with Kim, though at the time hadn't a clue of her name. After 10-15 minutes Mindy came back out and asked me to come inside and meet her new principal, who was inside with so many others. I think his name is Brian, Looks to be in his early 30s. Also met his wife and his new baby daughter, Rian. Mindy held the baby for about 10 minutes. After snacking on a few Sun chips and carrots, I headed back to the yard and my chair.

Soon Dennis, Andrea's husband came out and told everyone to dig in. I was one of only a few who didn't partake in any of the grilled fare. Mindy mentioned heading to CBC after a relatively short visit. That being the case, I was looking forward to having something to eat there. for the time being I stuck with water and carrots.

Somewhat late, Mindy's teacher friend Jenifer C. showed up. Much to my surprise, she was sporting an engagement ring. She's been single for as long as I've known her, but a great gal. Good for Jenifer! Mindy caught wind that he old principal from many, many years ago was set to show. She didn't want to leave until she got a chance to see him - Al. He showed up about 20-30 minutes before we left. He seems like a really nice guy. Mindy says he's the best principal that she's had during her 19 years of teaching.

We packed our chairs for departure somewhere near 730pm. I told all Mindy's teacher pals that it was especially nice meeting their husbands. That garnered a lot of laughs. We left Muirfield heading straight to CBC. Didn't take long, though probably a good 20 mile drive. There was next to no traffic. CBC had a pretty good crowd for a Monday but there were still several seats available at the bar. Stella and Mike were in, but as customers, and Kate was working the bar. She brought me a Bodhi and Mindy a glass of wine. She reviewed the dinner special before Mindy had a chance to share that she had already eaten at the potluck. I quickly shared that I saved my appetite fo CBC and would be eating something in a little while.

After enjoying about half of my Bodhi we ordered some bread. Later I ordered a plate of wings and a plate of eel for Mindy. While enjoying my beer I kept a close eye on the USA women's soccer match against Canada. It was tied 3-3 after regulation and went to several minutes of extra time. The USA women won a hard fought game. I ended up having a 2nd Bodhi and Mindy a 2nd glass of wine. We hung out at CBC until almost 10pm. Mindy picked up the check and I drove us home.

Eiknarf was very happy to have us back at home. I could tell she wanted to go out. We both walked her. After a brief walk we were quickly off to bed. I fell asleep with relative ease, especially after talking Mindy into watching some Olympic coverage.