Rough Day for Mittens

 

 

where the magic happens.

 

I slept well again and woke for good just ahead of 530am. Fully rested, I headed downstairs moments after brushing my teeth and gathering up my running attire. The sky was completely clear. A waning half- moon hung almost directly overhead. I slipped into my exercise shoes then began calisthenics. I noticed right away that the nagging muscle ache in my neck and shoulders was all but gone, and certainly not bothersome. That made me happy.

After sit-ups I completed windmills, curls, and neck/back stretches. It was close to 545am when I headed to my computer with coffee. It was election day, and as such, many of the headlines had something to do with the election. Apparently both candidates, Obama & Mittens had already cast their votes, sometime in the wee hours of the morning. I checked the MNF final. The Eagles were soundly defeated by the Saints. Things aren’t going too well for the Eagles.

For some reason, all too often, our election day her in CMH is rainy. That wouldn’t be the case this go round. Expecting sunshine and a high near 50 degrees. At the time, however, it was cold – only 30 degrees. As the week progresses, it’s expected to get a little warmer each day with sunshine every day save for tomorrow (Wednesday). It should be in the mid 60s by the weekend. As we progress through November, everybody in our house is hoping for cold and snow.

I didn’t bother waking Mindy. Her school district declared election day a no-school day this year. I could hear Jacob up and stirring just after 6am. For he and Bella, no such luck. They both had school as usual. I played around online until 615am when I headed to the livingroom for meditation and stretching. Both went really well.

I dressed for a run beginning at 628am and got out the door around 635am. It was cold, only 30 degrees. Frost covered darn near everything. I quickly drug the regular trash can to the curb, this being our pick-up day. I warmed quickly and was very comfortable a mile or so into the run. I ran the full 4.1 miles, the majority of it in daylight.

I wasn’t entirely sure of Mindy’s plans. Did she plan to get up with Bella or stay in bed? That question was answered once back from my run. She was up and had already made my eggs. I walked the dog before digging into my breakfast. Bella reminded me that it was election day. Said she was worried that Romney might win. Too cute!

I was off to the shower by 740am. Mindy was tooling around in the kitchen and already on her laptop. She headed for a shower just as soon as I was back downstairs. She planned to vote. I’m not too sure what else she had planned for her day off. Before heading to the bus stop, I finished packing my lunch. Mindy didn’t prep a salad, so I packed tuna, which I haven’t had in a long time, some cheese, nuts, and fruit.
I headed out with Bella at 810am. Chrissy asked why Mindy’s car was home. Asked if she was sick. Nope, off. Schools are closed. She thought I was joking. She also shared that she was up early and had already voted. Said the line wasn’t too long, only 40 minutes. Yikes! I have voted after work for the last 5 or 6 years and I never have to wait in line even for a minute. Rather, I walk right up, give them my name and ID, sign, vote. Bang!

The bus was on time. Eiknarf and I headed back to the house. Mindy was upstairs blow drying her hair. I played around online while also enjoying a 2nd cup of coffee. Mindy was downstairs before I left for work. Said she didn’t feel that good. For whatever the reason, Mindy, more often than not, turns up ill on her scheduled no school days. I headed out to start and defrost my car before leaving. I let it warm for about 10 minutes. By then, the windows were fully defrosted and the inside nice and toasty. It was a pleasurable drive into the office.

Arrived at the office around 845am and was settled and busy at work by 9am. Spent the morning working on monthly/quarterly reporting. Walked down to chat with my boss around 10am. A new account executive stopped by and introduced himself mid-morning – nice enough guy. Kept at it until about 1230pm at which point I left for a Home Depot run.

There, I picked up some long overdue filter masks and clear safety glasses. I also restocked our mouse bait trays. It’s that time of the year when they come in our garage for warmth and shelter. Only last week we found one all but dead at the foot of the stairs by the dog food storage container. I set out a bait tray and the following day it was empty, which leads me to believe that there are others lurking.
Browsed several other aisles too but picked up nothing else. Was gone about 40 minutes. Headed back to the office hungry. Off the elevator, I went immediately to the fridge, grabbed my lunch, and washed my hands. Got busy again with reporting all the while enjoying my lunch. Joined a call to learn about a new automated reporting tool. This one seems promising. The call lasted 30-40 minutes.

It was election day, and I was eager to vote. To that end I planned to leave a little earlier than normal to ensure that I had plenty of time to vote, despite there typically being next to no lines. I left work just after 430pm. Traffic was unusually light heading south on 270 towards home. Our polling center is in the Raymond golf course club house. Often times it’s hard to determine if the crowd is there to golf or vote. Either way, this time the lot wasn’t even half full.

Inside, I was able to walk right up and vote after proving that I am who I say I am. I voted on less than half of the races. Didn’t know many of the candidates. I voted for president, US senate, and then both issue #1 & 2 as well as the Franklin County tax issue. Was there and gone after something less than 10 minutes. Very efficient.

Mindy & Bella were in the kitchen. Bella once again expressed her hope that Obama would win reelection. The house smelt good. Mindy made stuffed peppers for dinner. Shared a little about her day. She voted, shopped, and picked up a couple Powerball tickets. Wednesday’s drawing is for more than $140 million! I can feel it! We used our winnings to buy the tickets. In fact, we’re still swimming with winnings ($10) from the scratch-offs Shelly bought me for my birthday.

We wouldn’t be eating our dinner until Mindy was back from dropping Bella at gymnastics. That figured to be around 615pm. Mindy made Bella a plate of stuffed pepper meat just before she left. She spit it back out. Said she didn’t like it. Neither of us were happy that she spit it back onto her plate. She ended up eating cereal. Mindy and Bella left around 550pm.

While Mindy was gone, I did some writing in my blog and also read some headlines. Not a lot of new news regarding the election.

As expected, Mindy was home near 615pm and quickly served up our dinner. The stuffed peppers were very good. I kicked mine up a notch, topping it off with Texas Pete’s hot sauce. Yum! I had only one serving but picked at what Bella didn’t eat, hopefully avoiding what she spit out. Jacob wasn’t too keen on them either, but ate about half. He also had cereal.

Clean-up wasn’t too bad at all. Mindy sounded bad – like she has a cold in her chest. Said she was tired too. I planned to go after Bella but teased her about doing it. I changed into lounging pants and a long sleeved t-shirt after finishing up in the kitchen. Still with about 15 minutes before I needed to go after Bella, I all but completed Monday’s blog entry.

Arrived at the gym near 730pm. Got to see Bella’s work on the double-mini trampoline. She seemed distracted. Said hello to Kelly F., Bella’s coach. We didn’t stick around for long. Bella asked if we could stop at Wendy’s on our way home. I quickly nixed that notion. She wasn’t too pleased. I did, however, agree to tune the stereo to WNCI. That pleased her only marginally. Arrived home around 745pm. Bella was in a mood. Told her mom that she had a bad evening at the gym. I poked a little fun her way, but quickly stopped at Mindy’s prompting. Bella can be a moody one.

I went to my compute to check on election results. There were results trickling in, but relatively few. Romney had a lead – 13 – 3. I finished my Monday blog then headed to the family room and tuned the TV to election coverage. Bella asked what we would do if Mitten won the presidency. I joked that we would have to move. 
We watched election results, flipping between all three major networks and PBS. Interesting spin. Mittens held an electoral lead late into the evening but based on the electorate science, they were already predicting an Obama win. And when Pennsylvania turned blue they were even more staunch in their prediction all the while emphasizing that it was only conjecture. Mindy and the kids headed for bed by 9pm. I stayed up, thoroughly enjoying the election results and all the what ifs. Very interesting how they can predict an outcome that appears to fly in the face of the current count. For example, in Virginia, Mittens held a sizable lead (54% to 45%). However, they speculated that most of the votes already tallied were from the Romney portion of the state. They boldly predicted an Obama win.

Florida, meanwhile, was once again almost a dead heat. With about million votes in, there was less than 10,000 separating the two. I fell asleep on the sofa before 10pm. Most pundits were calling it an Obama win despite several key states not in, including our state, Ohio, which was getting lots of airtime.
It must’ve been around 1030pm when I woke and turned off the TV and headed for bed. I was so sleepy that I didn’t even bother checking the election results further. Figured it would be a great way to start my Wednesday after exercise and with coffee.