Gyros & Heros

I slept well and woke feeling rested after about 7.5 hours of sleep. I didn't get out of bed until 540am after playing cat & mouse with the clock for the last 30 minutes. It was Thursday which is routinely a non-push-up day. Downstairs, I quickly whizzed through sit-ups, windmills and curls then headed to the PC with coffee. I enjoyed about 15 minutes of quiet time before heading upstairs to wake Mindy.

I needed to be at the office earlier than normal since my boss and I were riding together to New Albany for a quarterly presentation. I kept that in the back of my mind throughout my entire morning routine. I did meditation and stretching then dressed for a run. It was again pretty cold so I dressed warmly. Yahoo said it was 18 degrees, but later I learned it was closer to 14 degrees and still snowing ever so lightly. But there was little more than a half inch of snow on the ground. The snow was light and fluffy and nice to run on. Provided a little extra cushion for my tired old feet.

Finished my run and was back home before Mindy needed to depart. I started the Pilot then scraped/brushed the snow off all the windows. Because it was light and fluffy, it came off easily. Inside, I immediately leashed up the pug and headed out again on our morning walk.

Mindy noticed me nuking my eggs then shared that she had just pulled them from the frying pan. I stopped the microwave and checked. Yep, still piping hot. Headed for a shower near 740am, which is about as early as I've been able to manage since the holiday break. In kind, I was downstairs afterwards by 757am.

I used the time efficiently, managing to pack my lunch, start the Accord, and start the dishwasher all before heading out to the bus stop with Bella. My plan was to leave as soon as she was on the bus. I set the security system as we headed out. The bus was there near 815am. I walked home to the waiting and warm Accord and left for the office. Having less than a quarter tank of gas, I stopped at Thornton's for a fill-up. My low tire indicator was illuminated and has been since the cold snap Monday. I checked the pressure in my driver's side front. It was at 26 psi. I suspect it has a small nail in it as the same thing happened in the early autumn during our first appreciable cold snap. I planned to address the air pressure issue later after work.

Accord took 13.9 gallons after traveling 270 miles for an average of 19.4 mpg. Considering I let the car warm on average of 10 minutes each morning, I'm not too surprised that my mileage is down. Despite the stop for fuel, I was still at the office earlier than every other day in the last quarter or so. I was there near 830am. AFter setting up in my office I sought out my boss to discuss our departure time and then which one of us was driving. He wanted to leave at 9am and offered to drive. Cool!

I logged onto my laptop but didn't get much accomplished in what amounted to little more than 15 minutes. We headed out to his Jeep Cherokee at 855am. We jumped on 270north/east at Tuttle mall. Arrived early but missed out on any one of the 20 or so guest parking spots up close to the building. We had to park in the deepest lot - at least a 300 yard walk. It was colder than anticipated being dressed in casual work attire. Burr!

The boss wanted coffee so he stopped at the resident Starbucks cafe on the lower level. I had a bottle of water in tow and was good with that. I rarely if ever drink coffee after leaving home. It was just me, my boss, and a couple peers for the first 10 minutes or so. While a peer got set-up for the presentation the rest of us talked a little shop until the first customer rep showed up. Got the presentation started pretty much on time - 10am.

I was the fourth presenter - about 15 slides in. I don't particularly like being sandwiched in the middle but have gotten somewhat used to it. My piece went well (usually does), just a couple simple questions. Presentation was over after about 40 minutes. Spent another 5 minutes talking with one of the mangers about a problem we've been working on together over the last week. Expressed gratitude for my diligence. Always nice to hear.

My boss and I headed for our car just before 11am. Another long, cold walk. We talked a little more shop on the drive back and then debated where we might stop for lunch. Knowing how much he loves gyros. I suggested that. We stopped at the gyro shop off Britton well north of Tuttle mall and just past the Century Link campus. It's been nearly a year since I was last there.

I ordered a gyro platter, which comes with fries and a drink. My boss did the same, except he ordered the platter with two mini gyros. It was good. We were there no more than 25 minutes and soon on our way back to the office. He's never one to take too long a long lunch break.

I'm think we were back in the office by 1215pm. Seemed odd to be in my office with a full belly around noon. As I dug into my work routine I was overcome with the sleepies, no doubt a result of eating a filling, fast food style lunch. I battled it all afternoon. No longer able to fight it, near 130pm I closed my door and took about a 10 minute nap. Woke feeling refreshed.

The rest of my day went well. I followed up on a couple escalations as well as a couple administrative tasks. The only text I received all day was from Tommy sharing his SW air rapid rewards number. Wants it added to his SLC flight coming up in February. Not sure I can add it, but offered to try. I know for certain he can during flight check-in.

Left for home around 520pm. Still cold but no longer in the bitter cold category. Called Mindy once i was safely rolling down the road. She was making dinner. I didn't as what. We talked a little shop talk but about nothing too heavy. Said she'd be leaving to take Bella to gymnastics very soon.

Arrived home around 540pm. Mindy was cooking dinner - chicken and something else. I guess her leftovers suggestion the evening before fell by the wayside. She soon revealed that we were having chicken over rice topped with salsa. She and I opted for the yummy peach mango salsa. Before finishing dinner, Mindy left to run Bella to gymnastics. Jacob opted to ride along.

I was a bit aggravated with all the unnecessary clutter scattered about the house, and I am as guilty as the rest. The house seems to be shrinking around me. Ugh! While the others were away, I pulled the Accord half way in to the garage to air up my tires. As I figured, only the driver's side was low, but I brought them all to 32 psi. While out in the garage, I stowed the large cooler back up on the camping equipment shelf and then removed the garage wreath timer from the electrical outlet. Killed three birds with one stone.

Inside, I went through my pile of junk mail but not thoroughly. I was able to rid my pile of the easy, low hanging fruit before Mindy got back. They were home shortly after 6pm. While she put the finishing touches on our dinner, I showed Jacob how to spot clean the carpet with Resolve since he put his dirty tennis shoes on while sitting on the steps and left three mud prints. He did a decent job. I suggested that we not allow the kids to keep their shoes on the front door drip tray - only for guests or when heading back out quickly as in the case of Bella going to gymnastics. I carried my snow boots from the back drip tray to the basement. Haven't needed since the Xmas snow storm melt off. And even if we got the 2 inches they were predicting for Friday, I wouldn't really need the boots. Declutter was the goal.

Dinner was good, but I could eat only half of what Mindy served me. Not only had I eaten a gyro at 1130am but I ate several almonds just before leaving the office for home. During dinner clean-up Mindy wanted to discuss plans for the coming weekend. The weather's expected to be ideal for skiing. I let Mindy share her thoughts first.
We have Bella's adoption day thing at her mom's Saturday night so that pretty much rules out spending our Saturday at MRM's winterfest. Even Bella was begging for us to find a way to make it up. :) I suggested we ski Friday night and then Sunday. Lindsey asked us to keep the boys one night this weekend. I suggested that be Saturday and then we could take them to Bella's adoption day celebration.

Mindy's said her biggest concern about having the boys on Saturday night was my disposition or temperament, which admittedly more often than not is less than pleasant when they stay over. It's not them, though. Rather, it's the chaos that leaves me unsettled. The older I get the more prevalent that feeling is. To her credit, it was a good call to discuss our plans.

Before I left to fetch Bella, we looked over livingroom paint colors again. The color we chose a week earlier was no longer my preference. Instead, I showed the one that was by using the SW color visualizer. We learned a long time ago that they way colors appear on a computer monitor is more often than not far different than real life. But Mindy's response was that if it wasn't what we liked, worst case is we repaint it. True. In other words, it's not the end of the world. The advantage of the new color I liked, we actually saw it in play at the High Street Brewery. It's called Sawdust - and from the green color family. However, depending on the lighting, it can take on a gray, tans, or green hue.

I left to fetch Bella at 719pm. I darted out in the cold. Didn't take me but 10 minutes drive to parking lot. Arrived right at 730pm. Kelly had the kids doing jumping jacks. First I've seen that. A couple minutes later Bella came running. Practice was over. Predictably, once in the car, Bella asked if we could make a stop for fast food. Not tonight. She begged for a minute or two then turned her attention to the radio station. Asked that I change it to XM - The Pulse. I granted her wish. We were home in short order, arriving by 740pm.

Somewhat uncharacteristic of Bella, she professed just how hungry she was. Went on an on about it. Both Mindy and I suggested chicken over rice, but to that she gave a thumbs down. I knew what she'd like. I offered to make her some nachos and cheese. Yep, that's what she wanted. She actually ate two small plates full. She really was hungry.

Mindy and the kids once again tuned into Idol. Objecting to becoming a loyal follower, I headed to the livingroom to recline and read. I read and napped for about 45 minutes, or until 845pm. I then slipped quietly off to bed but planning to watch a little knowledge TV. Disappointed that there wasn't anything interesting on, I was just about to turn it off when I remembered that this was opening night for the X games. I checked the guide and found that it was coming on in five minutes - 9pm. Cool!

Mindy joined me in bed shortly after the competition started live from Aspen. Bella soon joined us too after taking a shower. The three of us watched half pipe elimination and snow mobiling. The very first snow mobile competitor had his snow mobile land on his head after a flip. Gnarly, dude! We got to see Shaun White and Louie Vito do their thing on the half pipe too. Sweet!!

Not sure the exact time when we turned off the TV but I'm guessing that it was near 10pm. Off to bed.