Franklin & Columbus

Was up near 540am and promptly downstairs ready to begin my day. I completed calisthenics, which included push-ups. I seemed to breeze through them all with relative ease. Enjoyed coffee and internet for a few minutes then headed upstairs to wake Mindy. Back downstairs I played around online until almost 630am. Checked the weather. It was clear and cold, only 29 degrees. Didn’t expect it to be that cold. I checked MRM’s webcams to see if they were making more snow overnight. Nope! Expecting a high near 50 Friday with even warmer temps forecasted for the weekend. Ho-hum!

Still waiting on Amazon to ship our new twin-sized air mattress. Via their tracking page, it’s been sitting at the UPS terminal here in CMH since Monday. By the time I did meditation and a stretch, it was close to 7am. Headed up to bid Mindy farewell ahead of my run. She was off to wake Bella as I was heading out the door.

Decided to curb my run to only three miles in an effort to stay at least somewhat on track time-wise. Iran 4.1 miles every other day that week, so what the heck. It was a relatively easy run without any discomfort whatsoever. Mindy was just backing down the driveway as I round the final stretch for home. She waited for me to get home before moving on. Wished her well, and also reminded her to call Honda about scheduling the Pilot for an oil change and to have them check the shaking we feel when braking.

Bella was helpful in readying the pug for a walk when I headed inside. The pug and I headed out for about 10 minutes where she took care of her business as usual. Enjoyed the two eggs Mindy left in the microwave after zapping them for another 12 seconds. Bella headed upstairs to finish her ready a few minutes ahead of me. I didn’t get upstairs for a shower until 750am. I was quick, though, and back downstairs with a couple minutes to spare before bus stop time.

It was still around freezing, and while it looked to be a sunny day, it wasn’t yet high enough to shine on us. Bus arrived on time. Eiknarf and I headed for home, but not before taking a dump in our own front yard. I took a few minutes to throw together a few snacks: some nuts, a banana, and two cheese sticks. I checked a couple things online before securing the home and heading into work. Made sure that all the blinds were drawn.

I didn’t need gas, but noticed the price was as low as it’s been all year, only $3.06 per gallon. Arrived at work near 910am, several minutes later than normal. Once settled, I spent the first couple hours of my day completing two mandatory online training courses. Immediately after, I worked on a couple weekly reports that carried me up to lunchtime. I had a busy lunch hour planned. I hoped to get my hair cut and then stop at the Market District and possibly even the Krema Nut company.

I stopped at the Mill Run Saturday’s first. There were three customers queued up and only one stylist working, Connie, the manager. When I asked how long the wait she said it would be 30 minutes. She went on about it being 10 days before Xmas. She suggested I sign in and go run errands. No thanks. That wasn’t going to work for me.

I altered my plan. I knew there was a Saturday’s around the corner from the Market District. I figured I’d stop in there and see if they could get me in sooner. Sure enough, there wasn’t a wait there at all. The girl that cut my hair was 6 months pregnant. I didn’t make mention of her bulging belly until she brought it up. I learned several years ago never to assume even when it looks completely obvious. Can’t recall her name but she was fast and efficient. Cut it perhaps a tad shorter than I would’ve preferred, but hey, at least that was now out of the way.

Headed to Market District next, where I picked up several rockets of beer and a couple bottles of wine for gift baskets. I wanted to pick-up some White Rajah, too, but they didn’t have any. Said they’ve ordered it but there seems to be production issue. Headed to Krema Nuts next. Called Tommy while in transit. Asked if he wanted to join us for dinner Friday at El Vaquero. Doesn’t sound like he’ll be able to make it. Said he’s needed at the stores. According to him they’re busier than ever, which is a good thing. We also chatted about Xmas eve. Sounds like he and Wally will make it to our place. We also chatted about winter ski trip venues. Said his RCI time share points are available and need to be used or lost prior to April. Asked him to check for Utah Solitude availability.

Krema Nuts had quite the crowd on hand. It’s a small place, too. I picked up a basket full of Krema goodies (nuts & snacks). The owner was working the register and shared that Nationwide is buying up all the property surrounding them. Sounds like he’d like to sell and retire. Headed back to the office after being out about 75 minutes.

It was a low-key, easy afternoon. Spent about an hour talking with peer – sales guy, Chris, who is an avid skier, and far better than me. In his office, he showed me a couple You Tube videos of last year’s trips to Steamboat & Bachelor. My boss came by to share what he knew about the some shootings in CT. Very sad story developing. Several children and teachers. 

Around 330pm, I dug into a recent escalation. While working through it I got a call from an old peer, Lance, who was down in the lobby and wanted to come up for a visit. I went down and got him. All totaled, we spent about an hour visiting. Took him to visit with the boss too. He left around 445pm. I spent the remainder of my work day wrapping up a weekly report and then taking care of my timesheet. Didn’t get out of the office until almost 530pm. I called Mindy before leaving for home. Said she was just learning about the CT school shootings. I guessed they didn’t tell the teachers so not to cause panic in the school earlier in the day. She reminded me that the Lindsey was bringing the boys over around 6-630pm.
I shared the text Lindsey sent me earlier that morning asking me to buy she and boys Justin Bieber concert tickets for her Xmas & birthday presents.

Arrived home around 550pm. Mindy helped me carry in the beer, wine and nuts. She suggested we order pizzas for dinner after the boys showed up. We’d loosely discussed our evening plans, which were to do fun Xmas things with the kids. Before I could even get settled, Lindsey brought the boys and her laundry over. The boys were staying with us for the weekend, giving Lindsey two days of much needed rest, which is something Lindsey asked for.

Along with the boys, Bella soon entered with all the island girls. We had 7 kids in the house along with all of Lindsey’s laundry. My mood soon soured. Our usually tranquil home was suddenly anything but. Jacob must’ve felt like me, the only difference being he wasn’t afraid to voice his displeasure. He even went as far to ask the girls to leave. Mindy quickly shut him down.

Mindy ordered pizzas and salad from Minelli’s. I agreed to go after the order and took Landon with me. All the neighbor kids were still there when we got back. I wasn’t sure we had enough to feed the entire army. Wasn’t quite my idea of a Friday evening. After pizza, salad, and pop, Mindy organized Xmas crafts for all the kids. While they did crafts, I spent time at my computer and then watching some TV. Mindy made a few disparaging comments about my lack of participation. She was right, but I just wasn’t feeling it.

All the girls ended up heading to Chrissy & Kenny’s for a sleepover leaving just the boys at our place. Rocky asked several times if he could sleep in Jacob’s room. Jacob didn’t want him to. Instead, we set he and Landon up in the guest room. Everybody but me was in bed by 10pm. I stayed up enjoying a Jack & Coke and watching a History Channel program about Christopher Columbus & Ben Franklin. I fell asleep on the sofa near 11pm and slept there until about 1am when I upped and headed for bed.