Jumping

I woke around 515am only to realize that it wasn’t a work day. Hooray! I fell right back asleep, not waking again until about 710am. I laid there for a few minutes thinking I might get some more sleep, but after a couple minutes it became clear that I was ready to get moving.

I tip-toed to the guest bedroom where the boys were sleeping planning so I could close the bedroom door. The TV was going and Landon was awake. He glanced my way as I pulled the door closed anyway but made no effort to get out of bed. I headed to the kitchen where I happily started a pot of coffee. Before I could finish, I was joined by Landon. Just like he did Saturday morning, he asked for some coffee.

I played around on the computer until the coffee finished brewing. Once finished, I poured a cup for myself and Landon, though his was mostly chocolate milk with just a shot or two of coffee. He drank it down in a hurry. I stopped him from heading back upstairs. Said he wanted to watch TV in the guest room where Rocky was sleeping. I quickly nixed that notion in favor of cartoons on the family room TV. I definitely didn’t want him waking the others.

Mindy was up a short time later. I am guessing around 830am. Once she made a cup of coffee, she joined me in the living room sitting in the recliner while I played around online. I think she quickly bored of the silence and headed to her laptop in the other room. I very much like my alone time early mornings to enjoy coffee, read headlines and play on the computer.

I readied and left for a run around 910am, but not before doing a thorough stretch on the livingroom floor. It was frightfully warm, already in the low 50s. Felt like springtime. I ran three miles like I do most other Saturdays & Sundays. Back home around 945am. By then everyone was up and Mindy was starting to make breakfast omelets. Courtney Jump called around 1030am to plan their visit for later that afternoon. Sounded like they’d be coming over around 1pm. We’ve been looking forward to seeing them. It’s been a really long time. Mindy also confirmed the time Lindsey was coming to get the boys. I was much looking forward to getting our house back in order. While Mindy toiled in the kitchen, I headed up for a shower. But when I passed our old tube TV still resting in our bedroom on the floor by our bed since TG, I decided to beckon Jacob’s help and carry it to the curb. It weighs a ton!

Our plan was to slide it down the stairs only having to control its speed without any lifting. Smart! Once by the front door we carried it the rest of the way to the curb. Jacob did fine, but looked to be struggling. Inside, I had Bella draft a sign to put on the screen that said TV works – Free! After my shower, I carried the remote control out and say atop the TV hoping someone would stop and pick it up.

Inside again, Mindy gave me the choice of cheese and bacon or another omelet with even more stuff. I went with the cheese and bacon. It was good. Earlier than expected, Lindsey showed up a few minutes later to pick-up the boys. They were gone by 11am. After breakfast, Mindy was off to the shower. While she was away, Jacob and I cleaned the downstairs. He vacuumed the tile and carpets while I swept and mopped the tile floor.

It felt good to have the house back in order along with some peace and quiet. I spent an hour or so writing in my blog and fooling around online. At some point the Jump’s called to share that they were running behind. Would be over closer to 130pm. I tuned into Sunday NFL action switching back and forth between the FOX and CBS games. The Vikings game wasn’t televised, but I saw that they scored on their opening drive against the Rams.

Before the Jump’s arrived, Mindy laid out a few simple snacks. As planned, our guests showed up around 130pm. The kids have grown quite a bit, and both are very articulate. Courtney & Jeremy both seem to be doing good, too. Even though they’re in the Boston suburbs, it sounds like they get to see most OSU games. Courtney shared that she’s back to working after taking the last four or five off to raise the little ones. I suspect it mostly for the adult interaction and perhaps even a feeling of contribution as Jeremy does pretty well in his career.

We shared exterminator stores, Mindy sharing our piss ant invasion; Jeremy & Courtney battling bats in their attic. In each case, we had to call our exterminators back for repeat treatments. I was surprised to hear that bats are protected, thus can’t simply be eradicated. Instead, they have to be trapped and removed. The key is preventing access. Their bat story morphed into a story about the bane of my existence, Canada geese.

They hung out for a couple hours. They had a busy agenda, only planning to be in town for two days (leaving Monday morning). They were meeting Jeremy’s family at Barley’s for dinner. Mindy shared that perhaps we would dine there too. We promised to try and get up to Boston for a visit soon.

The Jump’s weren’t gone 10 minutes before Mindy prepared to leave for grocery shopping. However, before she left, I suggested we do our family Xmas picture. To pique the kids’ interests, I suggested it be a fun setting, make a silly face, wear silly Xmas attire. Jacob bought in right away. Call me genius! We took about nine different shots, the first, a no emotion pose. Jacob was by far the most eccentric. We took turns wearing the Santa shorts David Waters sent us, as well as passing around many other Xmas props.

While Mindy was away at the grocery, I edited our Xmas shots. I was a little disappointed with the framing. I simply didn’t do a good job making sure we were all situated properly. Oh well. I cropped several of my faves to 4”X6” then modified color, lighting, etc – making some black & white, too. I figured to let Mindy choose the one for holiday distribution. IN the back of my mind, I knew Mindy is much the traditionalist and might not go for the humorous element. But doing so made the kids happy and participative, which is important.

In addition to editing our Xmas photos, I also kept a loose eye on the day’s NFL action. The Vikings and Adrian Peterson had a banner day against the Rams, winning 36-22. In fact, AP racked up over 200 yards rushing for the 2nd time in three weeks, and is closing in on the single season rushing record.

I sent Mindy a text asking her to pick-up stamps. She was gone a little more than an hour. Bella and I helped her carry in the groceries. It was near 5pm. Mindy confirmed that she wanted to do Barley’s for dinner. Sounded good to me too, especially given that we didn’t get out Friday or Saturday night. By the time the dog was walked and all four of us were ready it was 540pm. A we loaded into the car, I noticed that the 32” TV that Jacob and I carried to the curb earlier was gone. Yippee!

Arrived just ahead of 6pm. Mindy confirmed that the idea wasn’t to dine with the Jump’s, but rather to simply be there having dinner, too. Far bigger crowd than I expected. We had to park in the back 40, which is almost unheard of on a Sunday. We guessed Xmas parties. We had to wait for a booth in Justin’s section. While waiting, he fetched the kids soft drinks and Mindy and I a beer, me a Centennial, and Mindy a Fortune Teller.

We let Bella bring the iPhone. As one might expect, she played on it for most of our visit. The kids both ordered chicken tenders. Mindy ordered muscles, and I ordered a Cuban with bacon. Justin confirmed that they had the Southern Tier 2Xmas ale on tap, but insisted that the Twelve Dogs Xmas ale was even better. Having heard the same from others, I opted to give it a try. Not close. I didn’t care for it at all. I let Mindy give it a try too. She agreed. We asked Justin if we could exchange it, or perhaps even buy it for him. He brought us the Southern Tier 2Xmas in its place. Much better! Mindy & I shared it.

I ate only half my sandwich, taking the rest home as leftovers. The Jump’s stopped by on their way out for one last goodbye. I’m thinking it was near 730pm when we settled our tab and left for home. I drove.

At home, I quickly changed into my PJs and then showed Mindy our Xmas photos in several edits. We both liked the same photo, the only difference being she preferred the color version. I liked the B&W a little more. We ended up watching Barack live from CT from my PC.

Around 8-830pm we headed to the family room and tuned into SNF. I all but muted the volume so I could read, too. Got through 15-20 pages while football whirled in the background. The 49ers were hammering the Patriots early on, building up a 31-3 lead in cold, rainy conditions. Everybody was off to bed before halftime except for me. I watched football until mid-3rd quarter. I finally called it a night near 11pm with the Patriots trying to mount a comeback. It was 31-17 when I headed for bed.