Big Melt Off - Booking Utah

Rain+Warmth = Big Melt Off

I slept soundly until 6am, but then woke every 20 minutes or so until getting up for good around 815am, which is considered sleeping late in my world. Not to worry. Downstairs I started some coffee then played on the internet. Bella came down around 920am asking if I would make she and her guests homemade waffles. She returned a few minutes later asking me to simply make scrambled eggs. Apparently, Nicole was leaving at 10am for soccer practice.

I made the girls scrambled eggs and toast as requested. Mindy was up and downstairs just as I was serving the eggs. I didn’t make any for myself since I hadn’t yet completed my run. It was already 61 degrees with light rain. I dressed and headed out for a run just ahead of 10am.

I ran three miles without a jacket, hand or ear covers. Very nice conditions for a run. By the time I was back home, Mindy was in the shower and getting ready to go grocery shopping. Hungry, I took the time to make myself two fried eggs along with warming what was left of Saturday’s bacon (two slices). Threw some cottage cheese on my plate, too. Yum!

After breakfast I did some reading in the living room. Read for an hour or more. Jimaken brought Jacob home shortly after noon. A short while later Mindy left for the grocery, and then Lindsey and the boys showed up to do laundry. I turned the family room TV to the early NFL playoff game featuring Seattle and Atlanta, though didn’t watch much if any of the first half. Saw that it was 20-0 at the half.

While Mindy was away, I decided to go ahead and book our Utah trip. Made sure the flights I picked the day before were still available. Booked the condo/skiing first. Once that was done, went back and booked three flights: me, Tommy, and then Mindy’s. I had to book Mindy’s separate from the others since she’ll be returning three days ahead of us. I was a little nervous getting it all booked then organized. Sent the group an email letting them know it was a done deal. Also let Glenn know our flight arrival/departure times so he book his as close to ours as possible so we can share a resort shuttle. Within the hour he sent back his flight confirmation. Felt good to have it all booked.

Headed up for a shower. After a quick shower I took about 30 minutes to pull a bunch of clothing from my closet for Kidney Services. Quite a big pile. I suppose I could’ve done more, but purging is always a difficult thing for me. Made a detailed list for tax purposes before stuffing it all into a trash bag.

Downstairs, Mindy was home from the grocery. Already had everything carried inside. She called me earlier sharing that she was stopping at Giant Eagle for meat. While there, I asked her to check and see if they had any Bell’s Hop Slam yet. She checked. Nope, not until tomorrow – Monday, Jan.14th.

Mindy spent the rest of her afternoon slicing up vegetables and fruit while I watched football and read. Seattle came back and took the lead in the early playoff game and lead 28-27 with 31 seconds remaining. I guess that was too much time. Took the Flacons two plays and 12 seconds to get into field goal range and kick the winning field goal. Actually, gave Seattle a chance with something like 11 seconds left after the kick-off only went 10 yards. However, a desperate hail Mary failed. Seattle lost 30-28.

Mindy started our dinner while Lindsey finished her laundry. They weren’t staying for dinner. We were having Hawaiian sea bass (a close relative of Chilean sea bass). Apparently Giant Eagle will no longer carry the Chilean version citing it being over fished. Hmm?

Lindsey and the boys left for good around 540pm. Soon after we sat for dinner, just Mindy, Jacob and I. Bella went bowling with the neighbors. The fish was delicious. Mindy baked potatoes and made a fresh garden salad too. Finished dinner and clean-up by 650pm.

After dinner I decided to tackle one more task – cleaning out the dryer vent. Mindy said that the dryer’s been taking much longer recently. Last time we ignored the problem we lost a heating element, and repairman said had we cleaned the dryer vent more regularly we most likely wouldn’t have burnt it up. Noted!

I’ve done the deed only two or three times prior. This time I had a better plan. I used the telescoping feather duster and the shop vac. However, before any of that, I did the back of the dryer itself and then the baffled tube connecting it to the vent. Neither of those two housed too much debris. Still messy, though. Anyone who’s pulled there dryer away from its resting place knows what I’m talking about. I took the time to clean up under and around the dryer too, including the walls.

Down the basement I took the vent apart at the same two places I have in the past. My plan worked well, though I needed Mindy’s help holding the shop-vac up high enough that I could extend the hose well into the vent pipe to suck up all the loose debris broken free with the telescoping feather duster. Took just under an hour beginning to end. Caught the end of the late playoff game. Not really close. Patriots won. Unless I’ mistaken, same two teams in the AFC championship game again this year – Baltimore/new England.

I wisely wore a dust mask while cleaning the dryer vent. My clothes were covered in dryer vent lint. Washed my hands and changed t-shirts. Back downstairs I snuggled up in the chair and did more reading. Mindy and the kids headed to bed shortly after 9pm. Mindy insisted on lights out by 930pm. Bella struggled to comply, but eventually did. I stayed up reading until 1010pm.