Dogs with Dad

As planned, I was up and out of bed at 540am. Still tired? Yes. Feeling under slept? Yes. Did any of that matter? Not really. The house was much warmer than the morning before thanks in no small part to Mike O.’s for fixing our furnace. I had to prep morning coffee since I failed to do so the evening before. I glanced out back. It was clear and cold. There was scattered frost across the island.

Next, I whipped out calisthenics; 50 sit-ups, windmills, & 50 push-ups. I was winded briefly afterwards. My hard work was rewarded with a hot cup of coffee, which I enjoyed at my PC before heading upstairs to wake Mindy. During my first stint at my PC I checked the weather, the Reds final, and the SNF score. The Reds won 9-0 to go up 2-0 in their best of 5 playoff series with the SF Giants, and the Saints came back and beat San Diego. Hmm? As for the weather, it was a chilly 37 degrees.

At 605am I headed upstairs with Mindy’s coffee. She asked that I bump up the furnace. Already did. Made sure Jacob was awake too. Back downstairs I spent another 15 minutes or so fooling around online. I told myself I wasn’t going to log onto my work laptop but did anyway. Happily, there was nothing new, or of importance that would rattle me at 630am.

Meditation and stretching were next, and both went well. Jacob was downstairs tending to his toaster breakfast while I finished my stretch. I dressed warmly for my run, wearing a winter wicking shirt and my new light wicking jacket. And for the first time this season, I wore my tattered running gloves that I’ve had now for 3 years. I headed out the door near 640am. I thought Jacob and company might be at the bus stop as I completed my warm-up lap but that wasn’t the case.

It was Columbus Day and otherwise our trash and recycling day. However, both were pushed out a day due to the holiday. Unless I’m mistaken, the recycling will revert back to Monday. The regular trash day will remain Tuesday until the next holiday, which I believe to T.G. (Don’t think they recognize Veteran’s Day). I ran the full 4.1 miles and was comfortable in my light winter get-up from the outset, though perhaps just a tad chilly right out the door. In another 4-6 weeks 37 degrees will be the warm side of normal. Obviously, my body hasn’t yet adjusted to the 30’s.

Back at the house Bella met me at the front door with the leash. Eiknarf, however, wasn’t yet down the stairs. I jingled the leash and she soon came a calling. We headed out walking across the street where she took care of #1 and #2. Mindy had the Pilot warming in the driveway. She was out the door just as the dog and I were making our way back up the drive.

My eggs were waiting in the microwave. I gave them a 12 second blast before taking them out. That was ideal. Bella had already finished feeding Eiknarf her dog food and egg. She scarfed it down like nobody’s business. I was soon off to the shower. It had to be 740am or after. All that took no more than 20 minutes. I was back downstairs ahead of 8am. I threw together my lunch: a container of fresh veggies, banana, cheese, almonds, and some yogurt.

Bella and I headed out to the bus stop at 810am. I stopped briefly to start/warm the Accord as I walk by. Kenny was at the bus stop with Makayla. Asked Makayla if she would show me her burn. Raised her shirt. Ouch! Most of it was bandaged up but I could see some reddish brown streaks just below. She scolded herself making macaroni & cheese while pouring the boiling mixture into a strainer. Her mistake was pouring it back towards herself. Kenny commented that it was pretty bad. I was surprised they didn’t do the emergency room, but they did have Mike O. look at it. He was a busy guy on Sunday! The bus was there on time, and maybe even a few minutes early. That kid in the beater white car came barreling down the road just as Eiknarf I were about to head back inside. This time he had a friend with him. They motored on by their normal spot. I’m guessing because I was out there.

Inside I organized my lunch and then powered down my laptop and packed for the go. I enjoyed a little more coffee then left for the office. Felt nice to be heading into the office as oppose to working from home. Arrived near 840am. I listened to a little more of ESPN radio before heading inside. Bumped into my boss at the 6th floor elevator. He said he left his glasses in his car. As it turns out, that’s the only time I saw him all day. This was his first day back from vacation. I’d imagine that he was buried in email.

Like a broken record, I spent the lion’s share of my day working on monthly reports. I found time to squeeze in a real lunch break around 1230pm and drove to the two nearby furniture show rooms across the street from the Dublin Wal-Mart – Frontroom Furnishings and Rooms Express. I was eager to see what they had in the way of Queen Anne recliners. My hope was that they would have the style similar to Macy’s but with custom covering options. Yep, they do. I was a little annoyed when the over eager sales woman kept appearing, almost like magic, around every other corner. Yikes! She was tailing me. I eventually made a game of it. I purposefully went upstairs to the deep back corner. Sure enough, her she came. And just as she went out of view momentarily I scooted to the escalator and headed back down to the main floor. I turned to see if she was behind. Yikes! She was running in full stride with blood dripping from her vampirish teeth. OK, maybe a little exaggeration there. I figure Mindy and I can come back and look together. I realize first, however, that we need to agree on living room paint color, which we haven’t as of yet.

I went right next door to Rooms Express. I think they’re owned by Kittles, which is also right down the road. Their selection was much more limited. I wasn’t impressed. Most of their stuff looked cheaply made. I wasn’t in there long. Surprisingly, none of the sales associates bothered me. Gone only about 40 minutes, I headed back to the office.

Back at work I enjoyed my lunch while also putting the finishing touches on a monthly report. I wanted to chat with my boss, but when I walked by his office I could hear that he was on a call. It wasn’t something that couldn’t wait. I figured I could track him down on Tuesday morning. I stayed at the office until 515pm. I called Mindy once I cleared the local deadzone. She was busy grilling brats and dogs. We didn’t talk for long.

The Pilot was inexplicably pulled along the curb instead of in the driveway. I figured there an explanation but was baffled until I asked. Mindy said that Jimaken took Jacob to soccer practice and had the driveway blocked when she got home just ahead of 5pm. While rinsing my lunch containers dad came to the front door. Mindy quickly shared that she invited him over for dinner. Cool!

We weren’t having anything special, again, just brats, dogs, and peas. Asked dad if he’d been to the new casino that day - opening day. Causing quite the buzz. He didn’t visit, but did drive by to check out the traffic/crowd. He did, however, visit last Wednesday on a special preview day through invite only. He and Pete had invitations (frequent flyers). Said it was nice but too open and loud for his liking and compared to what he’s used to. Didn’t win anything either.

We also chatted about mom’s recent cataract surgery. He hadn’t heard how it turned out. Said he’ll likely need the same procedure very soon. Seems to exhibit some of the telltale signs. Mindy joked that he and mom do tend to have the same procedures, though usually mom after dad.
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During dinner dad shared that his sister, and my aunt Ruth will be flying in for a weekend visit this Friday. They (dad, Kenny & Char) have plans to do dinner and possibly attend a Central HS reunion type event. She’s 79 now, and having difficulty getting around. I’d like to try and hook up with all of them too but Mindy and I will be out of town most of the weekend.

Bella ran off to play with Makayla, and Mindy soon left to pick-up Jacob from soccer. Dad stuck around for another hour or so. He was still there when Mindy & Jacob got back. I’m thinking he was there until 745pm or so. No sooner had dad departed, that I dashed upstairs to change out of my work clothes and into my PJs. I played around online briefly but then decided to do some reading instead.

While I read, Mindy worked on her sub plans for Tuesday since she’d be off school to take Bella to an eye exam. We’re anticipating that Bella will be prescribed glasses this year. At the same time, Jacob was struggling with his math homework - addition/subtraction of whole numbers with mixed fractions. More pointed, he was struggling with the lowest common denominator and improper fraction concept. Mindy was busy so I helped. His biggest struggle seemed to be converting a whole number to fraction. Baffling, I know! He finally got it and without much fuss.

The MNF game kicked off at 830pm – Texans/Jets. Jacob fussed as he muddled through the numerous fraction problems. More than anything, I think he was tired from staying up too late the night before. He headed directly to bed as soon as he was done. I’m thinking that was near 9pm. Mindy and I stayed up until 940pm. We were both under slept from the night before too. Even though I hate to go to bed too early. Once Mindy offered that we could watch the game from bed I was sold. Bella was still wide awake and toiling in her room even as we headed to bed. That’s not too unusual at all. We watched until halftime, which had to be near 1015pm, and then killed the TV.