Room with a View

I slept a little later Tuesday slipping further into vacation mode. In fact, I wasn't even out of bed by the time that Mindy was leaving for school. She came to the side of the bed for a goodbye smooch and to see if I still wanted to swap cars for the day. Yes. She took the Accord so I could see about taking the boat in for winterization. Another 5-10 minutes passed before I finally rolled out of bed and headed downstairs for some exercise and coffee. The later start left me little time to do much else before walking Bella to the bus stop. I barely had any coffee in me when it was time to head out. I checked my phone. Got a text back from Denise sharing that my mom's surgery went fine. Was still at Adena.

It was sunny, cool, and breezy - only about 40 degrees. Chrissy was at the bus stop with Makayla. I must've looked really tired. Chrissy commented on my ragged/rugged look. Once the bus was there and gone I headed off with the pug, her first opportunity to relieve herself. I headed back inside where I spent about 30 minutes enjoying coffee and internet before heading out for a run. It had to be close to 9am.

I ran the planned three miles with ease. It was nice morning for a run. Back at the house I poured another cup of coffee then spent a little more time on my PC. I called Paul's Marine to see if I could bring the boat up for winterization. Unfortunately, they said they were booked solid through the end of the month. I went ahead and reserved a time for Saturday, November 3rd - winterization and oil change.

My plans included a trip to the hospital to see my mom. I called brother Tommy to see if he wanted to join me. We talked only briefly. He couldn't get away, needed to pick-up Wally after school. I called and left my dad a voice mail next, letting him know my intentions. I headed for a shower.

I'm thinking that it was near 11am when I cleared the shower. After my full ready I checked my phone. Had a missed call from dad. I called him back. This time he answered. Said he'd just passed the house and noticed that Mindy's car was there. I let him know that we swapped vehicles. I also let him know that my plan was to head down to Adena in Chillicothe to see mom. Asked if he wanted to join me. Yes. Said he'd circle back and ride down with me. He showed at the door not five minutes later. We hung out at the house for no more than 10 minutes before heading out.

We took 270S all the way around to 23 south. Once we got about a mile north of Scioto Downs traffic came to standstill and remained that way for about a mile or 15-20 minutes. They had two lanes merging into one for about a 200 yards so they could work on the berm. During the drive to Chillicothe, dad shared the details of his sister Ruth's weekend visit. He, Ruth, Kenny and Char all went to dinner Friday evening. They spent Saturday at a Central high school all class reunion bean dinner at Bolton Field. Took in a drive around the city afterwards.

Dad shared that cousin Elizabeth was back home living with Ruth, and he believes she's unemployed. Last I knew she had moved west, to New Mexico, I think, to be near her dad. Hope things work out for Elizabeth. Arrived at Adena somewhere just after 1230pm. We parked at the far extremity of the front lot and had one heck of a hike back to the main entrance. Had I thought it through, I would've dropped dad at the entrance and then parked. He commented a time or two about my pace. I must've been walking a little fast and the terrain was slightly uphill.

The young woman at the counter had to be 70 something. :) She gave me mom's room number and rough instruction how to get there. It was another decent hike through the hospital. She was in room 3NE-324. We found it without needing further assistance. I half expected her to be out cold or drugged to a point where she wouldn't be able to communicate. That wasn't the case. She was up and out of her bed sitting on the chair next to her bed. I didn't realize it at the time but it was a potty chair. Ronald was there and actually looked about as good as he has in several years.

Mom shared that she was feeling ill after eating, Not sure if she got sick or not before we arrived. Didn't seem to be feeling any pain, but later said that she was still on some medication to block the pain in her leg. I turned to take a photo then realized that she was in a backless gown with her rear end exposed. She didn't seem to care.

Ronald headed out for a smoke shortly after our arrival. While he was out several nurses/nurses aids came in for various causes. Let's see, there was a nurse, a social worker, and the rehab facility liaison. Ronald was back after about ten minutes but soon left for the day. Said he'd be back on Wednesday. Soon after Ronald left another nurse came in to go over knee exercises with mom. Dad and I left the room heading to the nearby restroom and then to a visitors lobby where I tuned the TV to ESPN and watched the past weekend's NFL highlights. After about ten minutes we headed back to her room.

We visited with mom until about 320pm. Mindy called just before we left for home. She asked me to invite my dad for dinner. Mom seemed a lot better off than I imagined, which was great to see. Getting back home didn't take nearly as long - no traffic snarls. I extended the dinner invite to dad. He accepted. I called Mindy back to let her know that he was planning to join us.

We had a busy evening planned, Not only did we need to get both kids to their extracurricular activities, but we agreed to watch the boys for Lindsey so she could attend Courtney's baby shower. Mindy was making inferno chicken. I'm thinking that we arrived home near 420pm.

Jacob needed to be at soccer practice by 530pm and Bella at gymnastics at 6pm. Mindy talked about taking both, dropping Jacob first then Bella. I suggested that I would take Jacob so she wouldn't have to wait at the gym for practice to start. Mindy seemed to like that idea. That was she could put the finishing touches on dinner ahead of taking Bella.

Dad hung out at the kitchen table talking with Mindy and the boys. I left to drop Jacob at soccer practice near 510pm. He wanted to leave even sooner. Mindy warned that traffic is always a bear getting to Spindler field near 5pm. She and Jacob both suggested I take Westbelt from Trabue to Roberts avoiding the long Trabue back-up as well as the long light at Roberts & Wilson. However, traffic was backed up to turn left on Trabue as soon as we turned out of our subdivision. I scrapped the Westbelt idea and opted to take Wilson to Roberts to Spindler. And while we had a lengthy wait for the light at Roberts, we still arrived at soccer practice with more than five minutes to spare. I was back home by 540pm.

As I was walking in, Mindy & Bella were heading out. Dad was there with the boys. I'm sure he was happy to hear me come in. The boys can be a bit overwhelming. They're not ill behaved, but full of energy and relentless - a bit much for a 77 year old. Mindy had dinner under control. Thankfully, I had no instructions I needed to follow in her brief absence. She was gone for about 25 minutes. And as soon as she was back dinner was served. In addition to the inferno chicken we had rolls, rice, and potato tots. As usual, Landon ate great and quickly asked for seconds. The boy can do some eating! Everything was good.

While I managed clean-up Mindy headed off to pick-up Jacob from soccer practice which ended at 7pm. While she was away, dad and I agreed to play a game of crazy eights with the boys. Just as we were starting the first game Mindy & Jacob got home. It was 710pm and already time to go after Bella. I wasn't sure if she was going to head there after picking up Jacob or if she wanted me to make the run. Turns out, she wanted me to make the run. I left almost immediately.

Didn't arrived until 728pm and by the time I walked inside Bella was already done and walking towards the gear room to gather her things. She asked if we could stop at DQ. No, you haven't had your dinner and it's waiting at home. She didn't complain. She did, however, ask that I change the station. I put the stereo on FM WNCI. That made her happy for the brief 10 minute drive home.

Lindsey was there to pick-up the boys when we pulled up at the house. She also texted a picture of Courtney and Kaileigh. First I've seen of Courtney in almost a year. Cute pic. Said the shower was nice. She and the boys were on their way out. Dad wasn't too far behind Lindsey. He thanked Mindy for dinner and me for taking him to see mom. Sure, I appreciated having someone to talk with. By the time the house returned to normal it was 8pm. Both kids finished their dinner while I got changed into my PJs.

We planned on watching the town hall presidential debate at 9pm. Before then I did some reading while Mindy played on Facebook. Mindy dispatched both kids to the shower shortly after they finished eating. I poured myself a Jack & Coke around 830pm. Yum! The debate started at 9pm. I like the concept - randomly selected, undecided voters asking questions of the candidates. But let's not be fooled. No matter the question, the candidates always steer the topic off course to suit their own agendas. That was the case this time, too. It's funny how they rarely if ever answer the exact question. They squabbled like children, and at times Mindy and I commented that they might come to blows. If nothing else, it was like watching a good SNL.

Without question, Obama was much more on top of his game in this debate and might very well have won, if there is such a thing. Mittens tripped over himself on a couple of issues. Finally, someone asked the question that I wanted asked, which went something like this. "You often cite Obama's failed policies over the last four years for putting us where we're at today, but most of this is carry over from GW Bush's policies. How are you different from GW Bush? Case and point, Mitten's blames Obama for losing 5 million jobs in the last 4 years. Need I remind anyone how bad off our economy was just before and after the last election? The banking and auto industry were both about to collapse, and mortgage foreclosures were at an all time high. The stock market plummeted to near 6900, or 50% of its August 2007 high. We were on a collision course with economic disaster well before Obama stepped in. Mittens seems to be banking on America's short term memory.

My opinion:

I find Mittens to be a very bright man with a strong business acumen, but I don't trust or believe that he's what our country needs. I also think he's out of touch with middle America.

As for Obama, I genuinely like him. But I think the job is far bigger, tougher than he ever imagined. I also think partisanship in congress has worked him over. That, of course, comes with the territory. He simply needs to do better. He's definitely no Bill Clinton, but I think he'll do much better in round two. Now, 2016 really concerns me.

Mindy and the kids were off to bed well before the debate ended. I fell asleep around 1035pm and didn't wake until almost midnight. I secured the home and headed up to bed.