Bengay & Pot Roast

I was up and out of bed at 545am after what I thought was a good night of sleep. I was still tired, however, as I made my way downstairs to the kitchen. I had to prep coffee having failed to do so the evening before. I looked outside as I slipped into my exercise shoes. It was partly cloudy and cool. I wasn’t very motivated but pushed through my calisthenics anyway. The push-ups took my breath away.

I played on the internet while the coffee brewed, among other things checking the score from the SNF game. Eagles beat the Giants. I was mildly surprised. The forecast called for mostly sunny skies early on but with clouds moving in with rain by midafternoon, and it was currently 53 degrees.

I prepped Mindy’s coffee alongside of my own. I took hers upstairs first. She asked how I was feeling. Tired! I grabbed my bed pillow on my way back downstairs thinking I might sofa dive for a few. I checked on Jacob on my way back downstairs, too. He was already up. I felt a tad queasy. My plan was to work from home so I had some flexibility in my schedule. I decided to try and get a little more sleep from the sofa. It was 615am when I first laid down. Often times I fail to fall fully asleep when I sofa dive like that. But this time I fell asleep without issue. I vaguely remember hearing Jacob toiling for his breakfast then later hearing Mindy leave for school and planting a kiss on my head. I woke for good at 740am feeling ten times better.

I warmed my coffee then headed to my desk where I checked in with work. I had a couple items needing my attention right away. No real surprise. I fooled around with work until it was time to head to the bus with Bella. We headed out at 810am. Of course Eiknarf came along too, this being her first walk of the day. Instead of standing around the bus stop, I walked her on one of our many paths where she quickly took care of business. Met Bella, Makayla, and Chrissy at the bus stop a few minutes later.
Chrissy and I chatted briefly after the bus pulled away. She commented about how sleepy I looked. She was right. I could feel it. I headed back home and immediately dug back into work. Once I had the two biggest issues needing my attention underway, I took that as my queue to head out for my run. While I was dressing for my run, Chrissy phoned on her way out of the subdivision letting me know that that strange white car was again out front parked on the bridge. I planned to talk to the guy on my way out. See what/why he’s stopping there each morning.

It was gorgeous - sunny and cool – about 57 degrees. The white car was gone once I headed out the door. It was a quiet, contemplative run. I did my usual 4.1 mile run reminding myself how fortunate and blessed I am. After all, an awful lot has gone right for me. I returned home in a positive frame of mind. After toweling off the sweat I poured another cup of coffee then dug back into work. I spent about an hour or so pulling monthly report data then took a break to make some eggs for me and Eiknarf. By then I was really hungry.

Had three scheduled calls, one for each of my main customers, although just internal folks. All three meetings went fine. The day flew by even faster than it does at the office. I couldn’t believe it when I looked up and saw that it was 130pm. Holy smoke! I took a few very short breaks, no more than 5 minutes each time.
The afternoon went as fast, or even faster than the morning. And Jacob was home around 250pm. He went about his own business completing his homework and then out to play. I confirmed that his dad was coming by to pick him up ahead of 530pm to take him to soccer practice. Bella was home just ahead of 4pm. Hardly seemed possible that the school day was over. At some point that afternoon I headed up for a shower. Felt good – refreshing!

I spent the last couple hours of my day starting my most detailed monthly report. I was so absorbed into the details that the time flew by. I ended up working until 6pm. In those last two hours, Jimaken came by and picked up Jacob and Makayla came over to play with Bella. Those two were playing on the laptop in the kitchen. Mindy called at some point after school letting me know that she was on her way to the funeral home in Lancaster to attend the calling hours for her former church minister. We were expecting her home until about 630-7pm.

Mindy had a beef roast in the crock-pot and it smelt terrific. The plan, I assumed, was to eat a late dinner once she was home later that evening. I walked away from my desk just after 6pm. Bella & Makayla played nicely all evening long. If they weren’t on the computer, they were playing with the new tea set that Bella got from Maw-Maw on Sunday.

Mindy called around 620pm to let me know that she was leaving the funeral home in Lancaster and expected to be about 45 minutes. She threw me a curve ball when she asked how dinner went. Uh, what do you mean? We haven’t eaten! She seemed surprised. Said she made the roast so we could eat in her absence. I never quite got that part, but thinking back, I wondered why she was telling me where the mashed potatoes and rolls were. Duh! I told her we would just eat when she got home. She seemed concerned that Jacob didn’t eat before soccer. Trust me I am sure he ate something. He’s very self-sufficient when it comes to eating. We laughed it off.

Mindy actually got home sooner than she predicted. I’m thinking it was 650pm. She quickly started organizing dinner but asked if I would be kind enough to pick Jacob up from soccer practice. Sure, dear. I Practice ends at 730pm. I left the house at 710pm. It didn’t take but 10 minutes to get there. Even still, for all intents and purposes, it was already dark. Can’t believe they’re out there playing soccer without the benefit of lights. Jacob was in good spirits. Said they scrimmaged the 14 year old team. Of course they lost, but said they expected to.

We were home by 735pm. By then it was completely dark- night time. It was one of those nights when the realization that summer is gone really hit home. As predicted, it clouded over sometime around 12 noon. But up until that point it hadn’t yet rained, though the sky looked at least somewhat threatening since about 2pm. We all sat down for dinner at 745pm, Makayla included. The pot roast was especially good. And save for some scant bits and pieces, we polished off the whole thing. By the time clean-up was in the bag it was 820pm. Where in the heck had the day gone? Working from home requires quite an adjustment.

At 830pm we tuned into MNF – Bears/Cowboys. Wasn’t sure who I would root for but likely the Cowboys since the Bears are in the Vikings division. If nothing else, two very entertaining quarterbacks – Romo & Cutler. Unless you’re a Bears fan, it’s really hard to like Cutler. He’s the poster child for NFL crybabies. Mindy and the kids were upstairs to read and for bed near 9pm. Before Mindy headed up, however, I asked her to rub my stiff left neck and shoulder. Had her rub in some Bengay too. I watched football until about 1015pm. By then I was sufficiently tired and ready for bed. And unless I’m mistaken it was the 3rd quarter of the game and the Bears had just gone ahead 17-7. I made the mistake of checking work email just before heading up to bed. Had a couple emails from folks apparently expecting me to be online. I chose to ignore both until the AM. I need my rest too.