Winter's On!

 

 

 

Talk about slackin'! This time I wasn't out of bed until 6am, and even then I was still wasn't fully ready to get up. However, the sleepies quickly abated soon after 50 sit-ups, 40 windmills, and 50 push-ups. And the coffee really hit the spot. I didn't wake Mindy until about 620am. She asked if there was any appreciable snow fall overnight after heading to bed the night before hoping for a dumping, which in turn would cancel school. There were flurries flying, but nothing on the ground. Too bad, dear!

Over the next 30 minutes I did PC, meditation and stretching. I left for a run around 650am but not before saying goodbye to Mindy who was still getting ready in our bedroom. The snow flurries, meanwhile, increased in strength, and even began to cover the ground. It was really windy, too, with gusts around 40 mph. Took my breath away when running directly into the wind. It was around 30 degrees, but felt much, much colder due to wind chill.

I ran four miles and felt good doing so. At times the front of me was covered in snow. Fun! Mindy was gone by the time I got back home. She left eggs two fried eggs in the microwave and another scrambled in the pan. I didn't eat my breakfast until after walking the pug. I then readied for work at a leisurely pace. Headed up for a shower around 8am.

Turned on the bedroom TV through my shower. The local forecast, while wintry, now called for no more than an inch of snow accumulation, whereas just the night before they were calling for as much as 2-4". I took my time making final preparations. I took only some almonds and a banana for my lunch. I warmed the Accord for a good ten minutes before leaving. Nice & toasty as I headed out. The neighbor hollered across the street "it's here!". I returned, "Wahoo!" I, of course, assumed her was referring to the weather.

I started out of the subdivision noticing that the traffic was at a standstill on Wilson Rd. both directions. What? As I got the exit, I could see that it was stopped heading north as far as the eye could see. I opted for the right hand turn lane onto Trabue. That was free. I planned to take the back way into work - Trabue, Old Dublin, etc. But as soon as I turned onto Trabue, I saw that it was backed up as far as the eye could see, too. What?
I had no interest spending an hour or more in traffic. Made absolutely zero sense. Instead, I turned back into our subdivision at the first opportunity and headed back home. I could work from home just as easily as my office. The only thing I would miss would be presenting our boss with our gift.

Eiknarf looked at me with confusion in her eyes as I unpacked my work gear after just packing it up minutes prior. Do you suppose she has the capacity to reason that I am nuts?

Once I was fully logged on I sent a note to my boss sharing my dilemma. I felt a bit sheepish, having worked from home just the day before. Still, I believed it the most sensible thing to do given the traffic and weather. I checked the FOX28 traffic report and learned the reason for the back-ups. Several accidents on 270 & Wilson Rd due to black ice. That only reaffirmed my decision to work from home.

I added to a to-do list I started the day before, making sure I had my bases covered heading into a stretch of 11 days in a row off work. Most of the action items were administrative in nature. Only one customer report needing work. Something told me to check Glenn's flight status. But before I could do it, I had to find the flight itinerary he sent a couple months back.

Once I had the flight numbers, I went to United's website. His flight from Portland to Newark had already landed. Good! I then checked the status of his Newark to CMH flight. Uh-oh! It showed cancelled. I gave Glenn a call, hoping he'd have his cell phone on. He did. Said the last half hour into Newark was pure hell, barfing-type turbulence. The airline canceled the CMH leg because the plane scheduled to fly was too small to fly into such winds, which were up to 50 mph. Had him on standby for a noon flight, and if that didn't pan out, they had him booked on a 420pm flight into Dayton. I asked that he keep us posted so we could coordinate his pick-up as necessary.

I called dad, who was planning to pick Glenn up at the airport around 1030am, to give him the flight status. I then carried on with my work agenda stopping periodically to check out the weather. The snow kept falling and the wind kept blowing. At times the snowfall was borderline heavy. Big flakes too. Soon we had some appreciable accumulation on the ground. Called Glenn back around 1140am asking if he had any word on his standby status. No, not yet. But he called back 10 minutes later to share that he in fact did make the cut. Would be home around 145pm. Called Dad again to let him know when Glenn would need picked up. Said he'd bring him by my place.

Around 1230pm and with things quiet on the work front, I made a Targhetto run. I hoped to pick up a few last minute items on our Xmas list, which included some Buckeye stuff for Rocky, more scotch tape, and some sports pants for Jacob, to be used as his 2nd base layer for snow skiing. By then traffic was fine, but the weather still a little treacherous. I was careful. I get to Targhetto maybe once a year. My last visit was early October 2011. It's kept nice but it's not the more modern Target format, and the crowd always looks a bit rougher. I found everything on my list save for the faux Buckeye uniform.

I headed back home. Followed Glenn's flight status from Newark into CMH. Arrived right on time. Kept busy through the afternoon. Sent out-of-office messages to my clients and then completed timesheets for the current and following work weeks. I still needed to create out of office messages on both my desk and blackberry phones too, but couldn't really do that until the work day's end.

Dad & Glenn showed up around 245pm. Still snowing. By then it was looking like a Xmas card outside. Who woulda thunk it? Two days prior it was looking like green/rain for Xmas. After exchanging greetings and pleasantries, we hung out in the kitchen. A knock at the door pulled me away. It was UPS dropping off the final Amazon order I placed Tuesday night - Olivia's doll. Great!

Got so caught up in conversation that I temporarily forgot that I was working. Excused myself from the kitchen, leaving dad &Glenn to converse while I tended to my work related responsibilities. 4 o'clock came and went. I had every reason to expect Mindy home around then but that didn't happen. Instead, she wasn't home until almost 5pm. By then, dad had left for home, and Glenn headed upstairs for a nap. Said he was still nauseous and sleepy from his flight in. When Mindy finally got home, I was in the middle of creating out of office phone messages. Had to give her the quiet sign. Shhh!

Mindy had a ton of stuff to carry in, mostly gifts from fellow teachers and students - a laundry basket full. She went through them one by one as we chatted about the day as well as our holiday weekend preparations. It would be go,go, go from that point forward, starting with a Wright family holiday dinner at El Vaquero. However, who all would be attending was still a bit sketchy. The plan was to meet there at 630pm.

Glenn was up from his nap around 530pm. After Mindy gave Glenn a welcome home hug, I poured the two of them a cup of stale coffee. Mindy then headed to the basement to wrap presents for about 30 minutes. We readied for dinner out around 6pm and left 15 minutes later. Our plan was to make stops at both Barley's and CBC after dinner at the Vaq. so we could bestow gifts upon our favorite servers/bartenders. Due to the wintry weather, we drove the Pilot.

Still snowing, we pulled in the Vaq right about 630pm. We could see aunt Char and others already inside at a table. Cousin Brian, his wife Kim, and their young daughter Avery were there too. Haven't seen those two since an informal impromptu birthday party for dad and Char in December '05 or '06. After hugs and greetings, brother Tommy arrived. And then a few minutes brother Bob, April, Tammy, and Hannah arrived.

Some enjoyed margaritas and some just water or soft drinks. Mindy & I stuck to only water. We planned on brief stops at both Barley's and CBC after dinner. Went through several baskets of chips and salsa. Too many, really, but i love that stuff. Come time to order dinner, I went with a California burrito, something I hadn't tried before. It was supposed to be a steak burrito along with other ingredients. There might have been a bite or two of steak present, but hardly enough to warrant its inclusion on the menu. I didn't care for it at all. I might've eaten a 1/3. The evening wasn't about the food. Instead, it was about the family, and it was good to catch up and visit with all those we don't see very often. With the exception of dad and Tommy, we see the others quite sparingly. I'm guessing we were there for about 90 minutes.

Glenn, Mindy and I headed just down the road for Barley's. Tommy followed. Invited a few others to join us too, but they opted for home. Barley's wasn't too crowded. Our primary intent was to drop gifts for April, Katy, and Justin, three of our favorite Barley servers. We each had just one beer, me a Centennial. After a brief visit we left for CBC. Mindy shared that April took care of our beers. She was leaving for Australia that next morning, and hoping to come home engaged.

Mindy opted to ride with Tommy. Took the scenic route to CBC, much like Mindy and I did on Wednesday. CBC wasn't very busy at all. I am sure it had everything to do with the weather and holiday weekend. At first I thought Kate & Vince were kidding when they shared that they were out of Bodhi. That certainly couldn't happen at Xmas! Sadly, though, it was true. I was bummed. Couldn't help but label it very poor planning on behalf of the brewery. I knew many, many others would be disappointed too. Kevin shared that Jamie would be in on Monday, Xmas eve, for a few hours filling growlers and serving appetizers. Expected to have some then. We hoped so, since we planned to take a couple jugs of the liquid gold along with us to HV.

Instead of Bodhi, I enjoyed a Winter Warmer. We gave Kate & Vince their gifts. They in turn shared some yummy brownies someone gifted them earlier. I had a second beer, a regular IPA. We stayed until about 1115pm. Glenn picked up the check, I added a little extra cash bump to the tip. We parted ways with Tommy then headed for home.