Winning, Chiptole & Hubble

Somewhat out of character, I tossed and turned during the night and had a difficult time sleeping after say, 3am. I woke stressing over a work issue. I stayed in bed as long as I could without jeopardizing my routine. I pulled myself from bed around 550am. The room was too chilly for me. I turned the ceiling fan off on my way downstairs. I could tell right away that this was going to be one of those days where I’d be tired all day long.

I whizzed through sit-ups, windmills and curls. I was out of breath after push-ups. They take a lot of out me, especially when I’m tired. I felt a bit more awake though. It was already after 6am. Before enjoying any coffee of my own, I headed upstairs to deliver Mindy’s. I startled her when I woke her, which is highly unusual. Her alarm didn’t go off. She thought she overslept. She asked me to bump up the heat but I already had.

I headed back downstairs to enjoy some coffee and internet. Ended up playing around online for about 20 minutes. And by the way, this was my first extended sit in my new leather office chair. Nice and comfy! In fact, so comfy that it was hard to peel away. Tick-tick.

I somewhat hurriedly did a meditation and stretch so not to get too far behind in my routine. Getting out the door for my run before 650am wasn’t going to happen. It was only 37 degrees and partly cloudy. Jacob came down dressed in shorts and a t-shirt with his light weight jacket. I warned him of the chilly temps. What’s more, his class was headed to Darby Creek on a field trip that afternoon. They’d be ‘creeking’ (actually in the water). I suggested he take long sweat pants and a hoodie in his back pack. Nope. He said he didn’t want to. OK Jacob (bozo). I left for my run at 650am.

As I completed my warm-up lap, a peer of Jacob’s was waiting at the bus stop. He asked me if Jacob was ill. As I ran by I shared that he should be on his way out any second. I ran the full 4.1 miles and was comfortable throughout. It gets any colder I’m gonna have to don my ear muffs. By the time I completed my run and was back at home Mindy was already gone. I thought that might happen. It was just after 730am.
Bella helped me get the pug out the door. We headed across the street on a brief but fruitful walk. I zapped my eggs for 12 seconds in microwave. Bella took care of feeding the pug. By the time I finished my breakfast and sat out a few items for my lunch, it was already 750am. I hustled off to the shower. By the time I put the finishing touches on my ready, Bella was hollering up that it was almost time to go. Can anyone say role reversal?

Bella and I headed out at 810am. Chrissy was out with Makayla. Said she’d be taking Makayla to the doctor to have her burn checked out that afternoon. Not sure about letting her playing soccer despite Makayla wanting to. The bus was on time, and perhaps even a few minutes early. I let Eiknarf hang outside a while longer before heading to make last minute preparations.

It was Wednesday and monthly service review day for one of my customer’s in New Albany. I made sure I had all the necessary electronics and peripherals then headed out just ahead of 830am. I made good time getting across town. No traffic snarls. I was in the customer’s lot by 850am.

Took a while to get situated and logged on. I was a little surprised when my boss and a peer showed up. I knew they were planning to sit in on the presentation but expected them a bit later. Turns out, they had a meeting set up with one of the directors. We talked for a good 45 minutes or up until 10am, the start of their other meeting.
I had my usual 10am call but with a 15 minute delay due to a planned fire drill. However, the fire drill got postponed until the following day. The call was brief and efficient. The customer asked if we could push the monthly service review meeting out from 11am until 2pm to facilitate a special lunch meeting they were having for a peer who was leaving the company. Sure.

I used the time between then and 2pm to work on yet another monthly report for another customer. For the next 3+ hours I did some serious data crunching. Made significant progress. I decided to postpone eating my packed lunch until after the service review presentation. Those that know my work habits know that that is typical of me. The monthly service review meeting went even better than expected. Received lots of accolades for the quality of the report. I like hearing that.

It was already 3pm by the time I was back at my desk. I ate my packed veggies, cheese and fruit all the while continuing with my work. 5pm came around in a hurry. Took me another 15 minutes to wrap up what I was doing and pack for home. I called Mindy as soon as I was on the Accord. I remembered Jacob had a soccer game but I wasn’t certain where and what time.

Mindy was already on her way to the soccer game since Jacob needed to be there 30 minutes early. The game was at Spindler field, their home field and at 6pm. It was chilly – only about 52 degrees with a few scattered clouds and a brisk breeze. I made excellent time barreling around 270 with only a brief traffic snarl near the Cemetery Rd exit. I arrived at Spindler field near 545pm.

Mindy & Bella were already set up and bundled warmly. I already knew it was breezy but it’s always a while lot breezier at the soccer field. They didn’t have a chair set-up for me, but I didn’t really want to sit. In fact, I wanted to nap. The drive made me overwhelmingly sleepy. I begged off to the Pilot, which was parked within easy eyeshot of the game. Mindy said she was cold too, and came with me. Bella came running too. They hung out with me in the Pilot until just after the game started. While conversing, they shared that they saw a ground hog on the deck eating our sweet potato vine again. Said Jacob wanted to go out after it but Mindy insisted he not for fear of rabies. Damn, just when I thought I eradicated our yard of that pesky critter. A couple minutes after she headed back to their camp chairs on the sideline I managed to get a few winks. I’ll bet I didn’t sleep any more than 5-10 minutes, but it was enough and exactly what the doctor ordered.

I rejoined Mindy and Bella on the sideline. But no sooner had I walked up when the referee blew the halftime whistle. All three of us headed back to the Pilot. Both Bella and Mindy went on about how hungry they were. Mindy suggested we get Chipotle on the way home. Bella suggested I leave to get it right then and meet them at home. I was game. Mindy wrote the family order on a piece of paper and I was soon on my way. You can’t go to Chipotle without everybody’s order written down.

Chipotle is located across the street from the Hilliard-Rome Rd Target. I haven’t been to that one in a few years. In fact, I think the last time was when Mindy flew to DC to see her friend Tara’s sister before she passed of breast cancer. There was a small line but they served me as soon as I stepped up the line. Most of the help has trouble speaking English and as a result are difficult to understand. And because Chipotle build your order in assembly line fashion in front of your eyes, it’s always difficult when you have multiple burritos orders. At the same time, multiple people are asking what you want on the burritos. I was very matter of fact and succinct in my instruction. They seem to appreciate the clarity. When it was all said and done I’d dropped $28 (two burritos, two burrito bowls, two chips, two salsas, one guacamole). I carefully placed the bag on the front floor board, remember that the last time the salsa containers exploded in the bag and everything fell out when I lifted it at home. I’ve talked to others that same thing happened to as well. They should really put the salsa in a separate small bag. Thankfully, no such problems this time.

Save for snagging a few chips on the drive home, I left the bag untouched on the island until Mindy and the kids were home. I’m guessing I had about 20 minutes. During that time I rinsed my lunch containers, prepped Thursday’s coffee, and changed out of my work clothes and into my PJs. I surveyed the ground hog damage to our sweet potato vines. Pretty much decimated the vine in the tomato pot.

Mindy and the kids were home by 735pm. After both kids put their stuff away we sat for dinner. Bella’s burrito was comparatively small given that she only wanted chicken and cheese. It’s not like they’ll double up on the meat if you pass on the ten other ingredients. Even still, she couldn’t finish barely half of it, and gave what remained to Jacob, who quickly polished off his burrito bowl. Mindy polished off hers too. Me, I ate about 3/4s of my burrito then stashed what remained in the fridge for another day. Jacob, keep away!

By the way, the Reds lost again on Wednesday. Now the best of 5 playoff is tied at 2 games each. Thursday’s game will be for all the marbles! After dinner I tuned into the Science Channel watching a program about the Earth’s magnetic field and how over extended periods of time it’s prone to change, throwing off our sense of directions and what not. Interesting. That was over at 8pm, but another episode immediately after. This one concerned the big bang and an ever expanding universe and how it first came about in the astronomical community. Major credit is given to Edwin Hubble, perhaps more widely known in our current day for the space telescope named in his honor - the Hubble space telescope. He discovered and proved that the universe was expanding, and expanding even faster at its outer edges. From this he deduced then that if it’s ever expanding, it must have begun from a finite point. I eat this stuff up!

Come 835pm, Mindy headed up to read from bed. She insisted the kids be in bed by 9pm. Jacob headed up right then, too. He needed a shower. It wasn’t long before I fell asleep on the sofa while watching the Science Channel. I woke a time or two hearing Bella poking away at her laptop, but didn’t wake and head to bed until 1005pm. Of course, Mindy was already out cold when I slipped into bed. Good night moon!