Call me Glenn O. one more time ...

Happy 77th, Dad

It was our first morning without the kids. I slept in until about 540am. Once downstairs I quickly moved it into high gear, whipping out sit-ups, windmills, and push-ups. I actually had ten minutes or more to play and drink coffee before heading up to wake Mindy. I checked the local 10-day forecast and wasn't amused. Looks like a high of 50 degrees on Xmas day, and most night's struggling to slip below freezing. Doesn't look like MRM will open any sooner than next year.

I was hesitant to look at the Ellicottville 10-day, though just two days prior it looked pretty favorable. Finally, just before heading upstairs to wake Mindy I gave it a once over. Still looking good. Cold enough for snow making from Saturday on. That gave a small sense of relief. After waking Mindy I played around online for perhaps another 10 minutes before moving on to meditation and stretching. Both went well.

Before heading out on a run I headed upstairs to say goodbye to Mindy. It was near 655am when I dashed off for my run. Leaving the house at that hour, I run into an entirely different group of folks doing their routine, whether that's a run, walk, or simply waiting for the school bus with their kids. I ran the full 4.1 miles. It was trash day. I heard ours being dumped well before I headed out the door. I happened upon the trash truck two or three times during my run.

Mindy was gone when I got back home. Eiknarf was waiting, looking out one of the sidelights of the front door. How cute! I leashed her up and headed out for a walk. We were out for exactly 8 minutes. Mindy left a pan full of cheesy scrambled eggs covered on the stove. I dished up some for both myself and the pug. There was plenty left over for yet another serving. I eventually dumped them into a container and stowed them in the fridge.

I was off to the shower just ahead of 8am, which left me plenty of time given that I wouldn't be getting Bella on the school bus. I was downstairs again by 820am. I threw together a quick lunch consisting of baby carrots, cheese, nuts, and yogurt. Haven't taken yogurt in my lunch for a couple months now. I paid a couple bills online, and then made sure that the first Civic payment processed as designed. Yep, it did. I left for work around 840am. I had about a 1/4 tank of gas after going about 250 miles in the last week. I decided to fill-up then since gas prices were lower than they've been all year - $2.92 at the Circle K. Accord took 12.5 gallons. I got just a smidge over 20mpg last tank full. Mileage seems to have slipped recently. No clue why.

Made good time crossing town via 670 and then north on 270. Arrived at our customer's campus at 905am. Was settled in short order. Forgot to stow my packed lunch until much later. We had our regular 10am call, which went about as well as one could hope. I spent the rest of my morning sorting out the details of a complicated outage impacting my customer.

Got an email from Glenn asking if the HV trip was still ago. Accompanying his email was a screen shot of the Champagne run with mostly green grass showing. It didn't look promising, though the forecast was calling for cold and snow. In my response, I assured him that I would be quick to cancel should there be no quality snow for skiing. After responding to his email I tried calling HV directly to ask about the cancelation policy should that become necessary. I got ring no answer the 1st time and then waited on hold for five minutes on the 2nd attempt. Figured I would try later. The website gave me the impression that I might have to eat my reservation unless someone else jumps on my reserved room after a cancel.

Around 1pm I left for lunch and headed to the Kohl's just up the road. I thought I might buy myself that winter that I looked at over a month ago. I tried HV again while in transit. This time I got right through. The lady I spoke with was very nice and assured me that should we need to cancel due to no snow that we would get a full refund or vouchers, my choice. Cool! She went on to ask when exactly we were supposed to arrive. When I shared the afternoon of the 26th, she immediately shared that they're expecting to have almost 100% of their trails opened and that a big snow storm was barreling their way and expected to dump quite a bit of snow Thursday & Friday nights. She went on to share that they'll be making snow nonstop as of Saturday since the weather is supposed to dive into the freezer both day & night. She closed by assuring me that we don't have anything to worry about. That's exactly what my worried little mind needed to hear. Not only was she friendly, but full of wonderful news, too!!

Kohl's was even more crowded than I expected. Not only were they crowded, but the main walking aisles were clogged with makeshift merchandise displays, obviously aimed at compulsive shoppers. It's doesn't resonate well with me. Think gluttony! It took a while, but i eventually found the winter hat aisle. I had to laugh because there was no rhyme or reason to the inventory - a total wreck. Gloves, scarves, hats, all mixed together in excess. I managed to find the same style hat I tried on and liked a month or so ago, and was going to buy it until I saw the checkout line. Oh heck no! They were employing what I call the "Best Buy" concept - one long, single line where the next customer waits to be called to the next available register. I agree that it's likely the fairest and the fastest but it had to be 50 shoppers deep. I didn't want the hat that bad. I put it back and left.

Rather than head anywhere else, I simply headed back to work. Surprisingly, I got my same prime parking spot. I spent most of the afternoon finalizing my research into that outage and then drafting a thorough explanation for my customer. Talked with Mindy soon after she left school. She reminded me about taking the Pilot in for brake work at 330pm. I may not have shared this earlier in the week, but she had them look at the brakes Monday during an oil change and they determined that the shaking we feel was due to slightly warped front brakes. Said there remains some useful life in the pads, but the only way to fix the problem is to replace the pad and turn the rotors. With 50K+ miles, we were more than happy to have the work done, especially before he winter driving season. She planned to wait while they completed the work. Said it would take about 90 minutes.

I worked until 5pm then headed for home. We made plans to have dinner at CBC. I called Mindy once I was safely merged onto 270NW. She was sitting, waiting on the Pilot. Said Jason, the service writer, gave her a 15% off coupon to use. They've been more than fair to us at Hugh White Honda. Said they were just finishing up the front brake job. Hoped to get home about the same time as me. At the time, I was just coming up on 315 but hitting a slow down. With rush hour traffic, it could take 20 minutes, or an hour. Just can't be sure. Turned out. I was fortunate. The slowdown evaporated almost as quickly as it formed. Made decent time the rest of the way home, arriving just after 530pm. Mindy wasn't yet home.

The house looked and smelt clean. Nephew Joe was there cleaning earlier. It really needed it. But perhaps the best part was that it would stay that way for more than a minute since we wouldn't have the kids for several days. Mindy got home about 10-15 minutes later. We discussed our evening plans. I suggested we drop off the Imber's Xmas gift on our way to CBC since they'd were leaving town Friday evening for Xmas in Wadsworth. We put the finishing touches on their gift basket then brushed up for an evening out.

It was raining a little when we left the house, but it's been doing so almost every day for the last week or more. Arrived at the Imber's around 630-645pm. The house was dark and no answer at the door. We stowed the gift basket on their front porch then sent a text sharing as much. We headed on to CBC via Goodale Blvd to High St to Mound St to Short St. Nice drive down High St. Lovely! The Columbus Commons is all lit up for Xmas. Talked about taking a walk through the park before the Mannheim show Saturday night.

Arrived at CBC around 710pm. Lot was near capacity but we still got a decent spot. There were plenty of stools available at the bar, too. Vince and Kate were working. We both ordered Bodhi's, but not before Mindy sampled their Winter Warmer. Vince soon served us some bread and risotto balls. yum-yum! Joe celled Mindy and quickly shared that he was coming to join us. Cool! I was anxious to hear all about their NYC trip.

Joe showed up about 20 minutes later. Joe and I talked at length about both the NYC trip as well as gun control. I am not foolish enough to think that I have the best solution. In fact, I have no idea what to do about it. I very much enjoy hearing the opinion of others. Sounds like NYC was a good time. But then again, how could it not be? Joe had me laughing about a couple situations. Family!!! Can't live with 'em, and can't live with 'em. :)

We eventually ordered food. Joe and I both ordered wings with extra sauce, though I ordered mine extra well-done. Mindy ordered the crab cakes dinner entree. Opted for a 2nd Bodhi. Man, is it good! Asked about their holiday hours. I guessed they'd be closed Sun-Tuesday. Happily, though, they'll be opened Monday, Xmas eve for lunch hours only, serving appetizers and filling growlers. We'll likely stop in to have a couple growlers filled.

My wings were decent. More than once, Kate and Vince offered up a 3rd Bodhi, but each time I refused each for having a greater yes burning deep inside, namely work early Thursday, not to mention the fact that I was driving. I drank ice water for the remainder of the night.

We talked at length about my reclusive, disconnected behavior, more common when all the kids come over. I'm self-aware, and recognize the pattern, but at the same time unfamiliar with its roots. And when it strikes it feels almost debilitating. I also know it angers and frustrates Mindy, but it's really hard to alter once I'm in that state of mind.

Dad called back around 915pm and Mindy took the call. She wished him happy b-day and shared that we had a ticket to see Mannheim for him. He agreed to go. We left for home around 10pm. Said goodbye to Joe in the lot. Traffic came to standstill as we approached the Hague and Wilson Rd exits on I-70W. Not sure what happened but people were driving crazy. We opted to exit on Hague avoiding further delays and took the back way north to our subdivision. Eiknarf was over the top happy to see us. Mindy quickly headed off for bed. I played on the computer for a few minutes working on a Xmas gift. I didn't get completed but did get a good start. It was 1045pm when I crawled into bed. I laid there for a while, and even drifted off to sleep for a few minutes until something woke me. I was sure that I wasn't going to fall back asleep anytime soon so I got back up.

I don't believe Mindy knew I left the bed. I headed downstairs where I spent another 30 minutes finalizing a homemade gift card. Nice! Headed back to bed somewhere close to midnight.