It's Terminal

Finally Friday, after what had already seemed like a long work week. I was up and out of bed around 535am and quickly downstairs engaged in calisthenics. I did sit-ups, windmills, and push-ups. It was mostly cloudy and somewhere close to 38 degrees. Mindy wanted up a little early since she needed to leave the house early to take the boys to school. Said she wanted to leave around 715am.

While at my PC, I sent my Honda guy an email letting him know that the deal he offered on the new Civic sounded good and that we should plan on it. I was a little apprehensive, but could always back out if it didn’t feel right come time to sign. It was around 640am when I finished my routine and dressed for a run. I remember lying on the familyroom floor stretching thinking that this would be my last run in total darkness for some time. We set the clocks back Sunday AM, so starting Monday I’ll be running in daylight for most of my run.

I ran the full 4.1 miles with any pain or discomfort. I think I can safely say that my hamstrings are fully healed. It only took 3+ months! As anticipated, Mindy was long gone when I returned. It took me a second to remember that Mindy was taking the Accord. She left the Pilot so I could pick-up our boat on my way home from work and have it ready for a Saturday morning winterization appointment.
There was a note on the island counter sharing that since Bella was up and awake, she went ahead and took her to her mom’s. The original plan called for Gloria to come to our house to watch Bella until she woke. That made me happy, took a layer of stress from my morning.

I took Eiknarf on a walk. By then, it was partly to mostly sunny, nice even. Back at the house I made an omelet for myself and a regular fried egg for the pug. Not long after I finished my breakfast, Lindsey showed up at the door. I’d almost forgotten about her walking over for a ride to work. I excused myself and headed up for a shower.

I was ready in relatively short order, but had several small tasks I needed to knock out before I was ready to leave the house. For one, I had to power down and pack-up my laptop and then organize my lunch. We left for Lindsey’s office around 830am. I took the opportunity to talk with Lindsey about taking charge of one’s own destiny. I used her religion, Catholicism, as a spring board. Basically, I shared that it was good to have faith in a higher power and affiliation with social groups, just like at church. But I cautioned her about giving her own power away. I emphasized that all too often members of a religious flock give all their power to their deity, and strip themselves of any power of their own. I reminded her that she’s just as important, strong and powerful as any other being that has walked this earth, and that the power to change anything, accomplish anything is within herself. Be careful not to wait, and ask that of others. Don’t give your power away to anyone or anything!

Furthermore, I emphasized that change and accomplishment rarely comes without hard work and struggle, so just expect it. But never say I can’t, or it’s so hard, etc. Those thoughts will doom you from jump. Expect great things of yourself. In closing, I shared that while she has come miles from where she was a year or so ago, she still has much, much farther to go. I asked that she make her Accent, still parked at the AAA repair shop just down the street from her office, trade-in ready. Told her I wasn’t going to shoulder any of that burden.

I dropped Lindsey then headed to my office, where I hadn’t worked since Monday (Tuesday & Wednesday I worked remote and Thursday I worked from home). Arrived around 915am. The hallways were barren. Just me and a couple others on the entire 6th floor. My boss, it appeared, was working from home.

After getting settled I called boat storage to let them know that I planned to come by and pick-up the boat around 5pm and then return it on Saturday afternoon. Ed answered and said he’d have it outside and ready to pick-up. Felt good to have that arranged. After a couple hours of work I called Chris at the Honda dealership to discuss our deal in more detail. Said he could have the car ready for pick-up in an hour. I asked if they would take Lindsey’s Accent in trade. I only added that we weren’t expecting much, and was brutally honest, sharing that it was broken down across the street. He asked that I send him the VIN number and mileage and then he’d call me back with an offer. Thought that they would take it.

At this point, I was happy just to rid ourselves of the heap of junk. From the exterior it looks nice, but under that darn hood lies the problem. Chris called me back around noon sharing that they’d give us $300 for the Accent. Sounded good to me. He asked what color Civic we wanted – silver. Said he could do the deal that afternoon or Saturday. We went back and forth via email until about 330pm. By then I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to do a deal that afternoon. I emailed back again telling him what time to expect us on Saturday. I suggested 130pm. That, I figured, would give me enough time to take the boat in for a winterization appointment first. If all went as planned, Lindsey would have a brand new car Saturday afternoon.

I wrapped up everything I wanted/needed to get done at the office. My boss and I chatted via IM later afternoon, him confirming that I would need to supply Hurricane Sandy updates periodically over the weekend. I more than expected it, so I wasn’t that disappointed. I left for home shortly after 5pm. I took the back way towards home and boat storage. Wasn’t much traffic at all.

Just as Ed had promised, our boat was outside the storage building waiting for me to pick it up. Was there no more than 5 minutes. Took Old Dublin Rd all the way to Trabue then home. Parked out front and placed two traffic cones alongside the boat to help alert oncoming traffic of the boat’s presence at night.

Inside, Mindy was working on school, presumably report cards. The kids were off playing. She asked about the car deal, and I shared the details. She or I hadn’t heard a peep from Lindsey. We loosely discussed evening plans and dinner but there was no decision. We talked about going to dinner or possibly staying home and ordering in. While Mindy worked on grade cards, I wrote for my blog. After about 15-20 minutes I went to the recliner for some reading and a brief nap.

It must’ve been about 7pm when Mindy decided that we were staying home. She suggested we order Sparano’s subs. Bella was OK with it, but asked for spaghetti & meatballs. Mindy placed the order, getting three subs and Bella’s spaghetti.

An hour passed and still no Sparano’s delivery. Mindy called back to inquire. Said it would be there any minute. The driver arrived five minutes later. Mindy picked up the tab. Bella was mopie all evening since her island peeps went bowling. Mindy wouldn’t let her go since she missed school.
I phoned Lindsey just as we sat to eat our dinner. She was in a meeting. I asked that she call me back when she was done. She called back 15 minutes later. I told her that we were going after the car on Saturday and to ready around 1030am. I guess I wasn’t too clear because she thought I meant the Accent. No, the new Civic. She said she’d be ready. Mindy asked that she bring her laundry so she could work on that while we were doing the car deal. Mindy agreed to keep the boys too.

The Sparano’s sub was really good. Always are. During dinner, Jacob teased Bella incessantly, and easily brought her to tears. She tried to run off to her room a number of times but Mindy wouldn’t allow it. She did, however, threaten Jacob to within an inch of his life.  Eventually, after eating most of her spaghetti, Mindy let Bella go up to her room.

Just as I’ve done for the past few years, I tuned the cable box to the Sounds of the Season channel. And even though it was only the 2nd of November, they already have Xmas music whirling. They typically start playing Xmas music Nov 1 every year. The kids both profess to not like listening to Xmas music. Why, when I was a kid, couldn’t wait to put the Xmas records on.

Mindy, Jacob and I scoured the Movies on Demand menu for a good movie to watch. We couldn’t agree on one. We eventually settled on a DVD, Terminal, starring Tom Hanks -2004. And while I knew I’d watched it when I bought it, I soon realized that I must’ve fallen asleep halfway through it. Jacob lost interest as Hanks developed a love interest with Katherine Zeta-Jones. He went to his room around 930pm. As it turned out, t hat’s about the time that Bella rejoined us downstairs. She seemed to be out of her funk. The movie went longer than expected, 2+ hours. Mindy headed for bed right after the movie. I stayed up a little while longer finishing my 2nd beer.