Hankerin 4 Hop Slam

I allowed myself to sleep in a few extra minutes, which resulted in me staying bed until about 540am. Certainly not enough to feel the need to alter my routine. Downstairs I quickly engaged in exercise, whipping out sit-ups, windmills, and curls. Any leftover sleepiness was gone – a thing of the past. I moved on to coffee at 555am, enjoying about 15 minutes on line before heading up to wake Mindy.

Checked the weather. It was 27 degrees, perhaps a degree or two warmer than the morning before. Expecting a high near 38 later. Every night this week is expected to sink into the mid to upper 20s meaning that MRM should be able to continue making snow leading into the weekend, when it’s expected to reach 50 with sunshine.

After waking Mindy I moved on to meditation and stretching. I shared about 20 minutes between the two. I dressed for a run, once again employing long johns under my running pants. Joined by Jacob around 638am. Headed out the door near 640am.

I was comfortable throughout the 4.1 mile run, my upper perhaps a tad chilly for the first mile or so. I decided not to add an extra upper layer so not to get too hot towards the run’s middle and end. I was fine. Nice to run on clear roads and walks. Finished my run near 720am. Bella was just coming down for the morning. She brought Eiknarf down with her.

Eiknarf and I walked for about 8 minutes. Mindy was just on her way out upon our return. Bella and I both enjoyed some eggs. I like when she eats something other than carbs. I wasn’t at all stiff from Monday night’s skiing but was a little tired, but I guess that’s to be expected.

Did much of my lunch prep before heading up for a shower. Had to be near 750am. Wasn’t back downstairs until 806am. Bella was already prepping for departure. We met Chrissy and Makayla at the bus stop. Asked how the skiing went. Chrissy shared that they have new family room furniture coming on Wednesday. Their three dogs pretty much ruined the leather sectional there now. I joked about the dogs eating the new one too. Chrissy thinks they won’t. Said Kenny will kill them. 

Bus arrived near 815am as expected. I allowed Eiknarf some extra sniff time. That’s all she did, sniff. Inside, I unloaded the dishwasher from the day before then put the morning’s new dirty dishes inside. The only thing I didn’t wash was the empty crock-pot Mindy brought home from school Monday afternoon. Otherwise, the house looked in order when I left for work at 835am.

I didn’t bother warming the Accord. I was a minor inconvenience at best. Warmed quickly. Arrived at the office near 855am. Spent the lion’s share of my day working on a reactive escalation and then some follow up action items as a result. Didn’t see much of my boss, but he did stop by briefly in the morning while I was watching a clip of our CEO giving the keynote at the CES show from Vegas.

Made a Home Depot/market District run at lunch. At Home Depot I picked up furnace filters and felt cabinet door bumpers. At Market District I bought a six pack of Hop Slam, which was just released locally the day before. A few years back when I first found Hop Slam, I considered it the holy grail of IPAs. However, nowadays, it’s not as special given the year round availability of White Rajah and Bodhi. Of course Bell’s only brews Hop Slam for about 6 weeks out of the year (mid-Jan/Feb). I suppose in part to justify the significant premium pricing ($17.99 for a six pack). I thought about buying an entire case, but its shelf life isn’t that long. I learned that the hard way.

Gone just about an hour. Was good to get away for a while. Felt reenergized upon my return to the office. Ate my packed lunch all the while digging back into work. Mindy sent a text confirming that nephew Joe can play nanny for the kids while we’re in Utah next month. The only catch being that he’ll have to bring his two dogs. Wanted to know how I felt about that. My only concern is that they’re potty trained.
In return, I sent Mindy a text asking if she could plan on being home on Wednesday afternoon by 4pm in time to meet the Alarm Force guy, who is coming to change out our panel. Yes. Great! That will help a bunch, me not worrying about trying to get home by 4pm from New Albany.

I left for home around 515pm. I didn’t bother calling anyone on my drive home. Had to be about 535pm when I pulled up. Entered through the garage carrying the day’s haul – Hop Slam, furnace filters, and felt bumpers (tiny bag). Noticed Bella looking somewhat mopie right away. A few minutes later Mindy shared that she wasn’t going to gymnastics – feeling under the weather. I asked if my Viking jersey and/or memory card arrived in the mail. Nope! Crap. Taking forever.

Mindy was busy making dinner, left over Hawaiian sea bass, baked potatoes, and rice. Just as good the second time around. I told Mindy that my running shirt smelt like sea bass Tuesday morning. Not only are you what you eat, but I guess I sweat what I eat too! 

Bella’s mood improved significantly through dinner. Mindy drew her a hot bath while I managed kitchen clean-up. After getting the kitchen in order I checked the status of my Amazon shipment (64gb SDHX micro memory card) online. Still showing shipped, but with an expected delivery date of 1/14 – past Monday. Fooled around online until just before 7pm. At that point I went for my book and new reading glasses. Bella had the family room TV tuned to her Disney teenie bop sit-coms. Volume was a bit excessive too. Yikes. I went back to the living room to read and nap. Didn’t even open the book. As soon as I leaned back in the recliner I knew I was going to fall asleep fast. What I didn’t realize is that I was for all intents and purposes done for the night.

I woke around 8pm and headed for bed, still taking my book along just in case I got a 2nd wind. I turned the TV to the History Channel to use as a sleep aid. Worked like a charm. Right back asleep. Mindy joined me around 830pm. Sounded as if everyone was heading to bed early. Mindy left her reading light on. I slept right through it. Woke a couple of times but only for a second. Good night Irene!