Heavy Rain, Midas, Tortilla Soup

I slept about as soundly as humanly possible, not waking for work until 540am. I felt refreshed as I proceeded to brush my teeth, grab my running clothes, and head downstairs. I slipped into my exercise shoes, glanced out back, then headed to the living room to whip out sit-ups. After 50 of those I headed to the kitchen where I completed both windmills and push-ups.

My exercises behind me, it was time for coffee, perhaps my favorite time of the morning. It was around 555am, so I gave myself about ten minutes before heading upstairs to wake Mindy. She said she hadn’t slept well at all. I kind of felt awkward then, sharing how well I had slept. I checked the weather. It was comparatively warm, about 64 degrees but with rain in the forecast. It had rained overnight but at the time only threatening. I also checked the Reds score from Tuesday night. They won. Still dominating the headlines was the bad call in the Seahawks/Packers game that supposedly cost the packers the game. Again, probably was a bad call, but putting themselves in that situation was of their own doing.

I walked away from my PC at 615am to ensure I had plenty of time for meditation and stretching before my run. Both went reasonably well. I dressed for my run and was out of the house somewhere between 635-640am – about normal these days. I opted to skip wearing a jacket. That proved a wise decision. I was plenty warm dressed as I was with a thin long sleeved shirt and long running pants. The mostly cloudy skies only prolonged daybreak’s arrival. Was dark for most of my run. I happened upon a former co-worker who volunteered for a RIF a couple years ago and bought then reopened the Drexel theatre in Grandview. He pulled over on his way to work to chat. Said that while the theatre is doing well, he’s since gone back to work as a contractor for a wireless provider developing/writing Java based apps. Wished him well then ran on.
Ran the full 4.1 miles with my legs feeling good for pretty much the entire run. I’m guessing the 4 Advil I took when I got home from work the evening before to stave off a rare throbbing headache helped with my legs some too. As soon as I was back at home I leashed up the pug and headed out for a walk. She took care of all her business.

Mindy was just leaving when the two of us got back home. Inside I noticed that Mindy had a concoction in the crock-pot. Wasn’t sure what it was. I opened the lid for a look and sniff. Smelt of cilantro and cumin. Looked like soup. I left it at that but turned the heat down from high to low, just as I would with any other crock-pot recipe that’s going to cook all day while we’re at work.

I quickly woofed down my eggs then headed off to the shower. Bella was having eggs too, but as often happens, she was only playing with it and not eating it. Since she wasn’t going to eat it, I suggested we stow it and save for Eiknarf. Bella headed upstairs about the same time as me. Because of my somewhat late start, I wasn’t back downstairs until almost 805am. Bella was already down prepping for her departure. I tossed together a few things for my lunch and then headed out to the bus stop where Bella, Kenny and Makayla already were waiting.

The bus pulled up right on time. After the kids were boarded I turned for home, but walked the pug for a few more minutes. Once again she was giving other dog walkers passing by an earful. I really didn’t mind. One was the women whose dog pees and burns up my grass. She used to leave the crap behind too, but has since gotten with the program.

Inside, I made last minute preparations then enjoyed another cup of coffee at my PC before heading out. I left the house near 845am. Headed to new Easton/Albany, I took 670. Traffic moved along fine without much if any trouble. Arrived around 910am. Took me a while to get situated and logged on. The customer sent a note that they didn’t have any issues to discuss on our 10am call. We still planned to have it, though. After the brief call, I spent the rest of my morning tweaking a support document. Lindsey sent me a text mid-morning sharing that her brakes went out completely again and that she needed help getting them fixed. These are the same brakes, mind you, that have been fixed three other times in less than a year, once at the dealership and another time at Midas. What the %^^&&!

She eventually called me already at Midas. Took it back to the last place that supposedly did a complete front brake job for $330 just 7 months ago. She said they agreed to look at it even after she shared that she had no money, but gave her song and dance about having only fixed one side – the left I think. What? You don’t fix one side. Besides, I reminded her that she paid for a complete front brake job. I asked if she had the receipt. Said she did but it was in the glove box and they had the car up on rack. I only followed that she should maintain a positive and professional demeanor while also being insistent that they fix their faulty work. Said she would. I didn’t hear back from her again.

I had already concluded that come lunch time, I was going to pay a visit to Macy’s at Easton. Been a while since I’ve been there. Headed there near 1240pm. As usual, got a parking spot in the small lot just outside the east entrance to the Men’s Department. Convenient! I looked a number of items, including leather jackets, dress shirts, shoes, and suits. They were having a good sale. I probably spent an entire hour there. If not, close to it. I ended up buying a new dark purple dress shirt that was marked down 65%. What a deal!

Headed back to the office arriving at my desk just ahead of 2pm. Ended up dealing with a couple escalated issues for the better part of the afternoon. The buzz in the cube farm was the weather. I heard several folks say that it was raining like crazy. Mindy attempted to call my personal cell around 4pm, but I couldn’t answer. I readied to leave around 450pm, and by the time I made to the exit, it was pouring rain, and harder than I’ve witnessed for several months. I got soaked on my walk to the Accord. There was some lightning too.

As I exited their lot Bella called. She was curious to learn what time I might get home. She had a vested interest because she didn’t want to ride with Mindy to drop Jacob at soccer practice. Said they planned to leave the house around 530pm. I shared that was the time I’d likely get home. That made her happy. I confirmed that with Mindy, but also shared that it was storming so badly that it was hard to imagine Jacob’s practice not being canceled. She shared that it stormed wickedly at our place too, but had since passed. Plus, they’re supposed to send an email if it cancels. She hadn’t received one.

I made great time around 270 once the rain cleared. Sure enough, the sky was brightening over Hilliard. There were even a few scant blue spots. However, looking to the far west, it looked like more storms moving in to me. Bella called again just as I was passing Wilson Rd golf course. I shared that I was only a minute or two away. She was happy. Mindy got on the line and shared that she and Jacob were just leaving the house. We’d be having dinner – tortilla soup - as soon as she returned.

I was turning in the subdivision just as they were turning out. At home, the first thing I did was change out of my still damp clothes and into my lounge clothes. I then rinsed my lunch dishes and prepped Thursday’s coffee. Bella shared that she and her mom planned to make another apple pie later that night after dinner. While awaiting Mindy’s return, Bella played on her Kindle and me on my PC. Mindy was home five minutes later. Dinner was essentially ready. All we had to do was dish it into a bowl. Mindy was very proud of her latest rendition of tortilla soup. I think this is the 2nd version. It was quite good, a mix of chicken broth, canned diced tomatoes, black beans, chicken, and seasoning. We added shredded cheese and sour cream along with tortilla chips. Bella would only have broth.

Finished dinner and clean-up near 640pm. I asked what time Jacob needed picked up – 730pm. Mindy reluctantly agreed to fetch him. Mindy got a text from neighbor Mike C. sharing that Jacob tossed Evan’s fishing pliers into the pond. Said Evan was upset. Reserving judgment I was still a little perturbed to hear that. Jacob continues to bully those smaller than him.

I was looking forward to digging into my book. While I did that, Mindy and Bella got started on the apple pie. I must’ve read about ten pages then fell asleep. I slept until just before Mindy left to go after Jacob. By then they had the pie in the oven. I woke hearing Mindy tell Bella that she was adding 20 minutes to the timer. Told her to take it out after that. I got up soon after Mindy left and went to the kitchen where Bella was hanging out. The thought of her working the oven unsupervised terrified me. While waiting on the apple pie to finish up, I did a little work on blog entries. We checked the pie as the additional 20 minutes neared completion. The crust showed signs of burning in a spot or two. I opted to let it complete all the time. Not even a minute passed after I pulled it out of the oven did Mindy arrive home. Just before that, Evan stopped asking if we had seen Shamrock. We had. She was over but left out the back door five minutes prior. I asked Bella if she would go help Evan find Shamrock. She willing did.

In the door I asked Mindy if she’d gotten to the bottom of Evan’s fishing pliers. Said she had, and that Jacob said they were just horsing around, both of them throwing them. It just so happens that one of his throws they ended up in the pond. Mindy said he planned to buy him a new pair. While Bella was still out looking for Shamrock, Jacob headed out to look for Evan’s pliers.

After Jacob returned and had eaten his dinner I asked him why he would be throwing Evan’s pliers in the first place. He immediately turned to his momma sharing that he knew I would chalk it up to bullying. My short and only reply was that he must’ve thought that because that is what it was – another example of bullying.

Mindy dispatched both kids to the shower. On her way up, I challenged Bella to try and set a record for her shower time without denying herself a completely clean body. Until just recently, a shower for Bella would last a full 30 minutes. She’ll often leave the water run for a good 10 minutes before even getting in. She was into the idea of a challenge. I only reiterated that it shouldn’t be at the expense of a thorough shower. She acknowledged and was done in record time. I’m guessing no more than five minutes start to finish.

Mindy headed to bed extra early. It wasn’t even 9pm. It was close to 850pm. Said she was going to read for a while. I planned to stay up until at least 10pm. I did some more reading too, getting through another 25-30 pages in my current book. Before going to bed, I enjoyed a bowl of Life cereal. Bella leaned over the rail and asked that I not forget to tuck her in. She met meat the top of the stairs as I headed to bed just after 10pm. Mindy was already asleep as I slipped into bed. It was raining again outside. The sound was very relaxing.