Feeling a Draft and an Itch!

 

 

 

Woke having to pee around 5am. No longer willing to hold it for the love of sleep, I got up and took care of business. I jumped back in bed and under the covers but sound sleep wasn't in the cards. I got up for keeps near 525a.

Downstairs, I quickly noticed the clear skies and scattered frost about the ground. Looked cold. After exercise I learned that it was a chilly 33 degrees. The day's forecast called for sunny skies and a high near 54 - not too warm. Supposed to get progressively warmer over the next several days, however. During PC playtime, it dawned on me that this was NFL draft day, a day I always look forward to with much anticipation.

I woke Mindy near 615am with a cup of coffee. Temporarily forgot that it was late start day for the kids. Popped in Jacob's room and woke him up. As soon as we began a dialogue, I realized my mistake. Sorry, Jacob! Did a thorough meditation and a good stretch. It was just after 635am when I dressed for a run. Headed out the door near 650am. I wore winter attire and for the first time in many weeks, hand and ear covers. While running, I thought about the presentation I'd be delivering later that morning. I also laughed at myself a little thinking that I just completed a deal to buy my house for the 3rd time. Man, I must really like it! :)

I ran the full 4.1 miles. My timing was perfect. Mindy was just walking out the front door as I made my way up the steps. She had her back turned at that instant thus was startled as she turned and found my face nearly pressed against hers. She kissed my sweaty wet face then headed off to school in her Pilot. She uttered something just before backing out the drive.

Before moving on to breakfast and lunch duties, I thought through my routine making a mental note of the time each kid needed to be up. Jacob would need to be up near 8am and Bella near 815-830a. I packed my lunch and fried a few eggs then headed upstairs to wake Jacob. Turned out, he was already in the shower. I popped in on Bella, who was already awake and watching TV in her room.

Checked work email from my home PC. Headed for a shower near 815am. All three of us planned to head out near 9am - Jacob to catch the bus. Bella heading to the neighbors, and me off to work. Executed the plan flawlessly. Bella walked down to Kayla's at 855a and I headed out a couple minutes later. Meanwhile, Jacob volunteered to set the security system and lock up once he saw his bus coming. While clearing the dew from the Accord windows, Jacob's bus came barreling down the street. He followed through with his duties and I headed off to work.

It was quarterly service review day for my customer in New Albany. I headed that way for the like the 8th time this month. Checked for an up close parking spot but there were none to be had. Has to park far removed from the entrance. I didn't mind. It was a lovely morning, albeit still a tad chilly. Was about 30 minutes early to the conference room. One of my peers was already there getting set-up. We chatted for a few. Soon my boss showed up.

The customer and the formal quarterly review didn't start until 1005a. My section was 2nd on the agenda. Got lots of questions which generate healthy debate. With each slide there were more questions. At least I know they care and pay attention. Lasted longer than most past. Finished near 1130am. I hung out for a few minutes talking with a couple peers but soon headed to my car. Was on the road by 1145am.

While near, decided to stop at the Easton Target. And there I bought two large picture frames that I plan to place on the two walls over my new desk. After Target I ventured across the street to Wal-Mart where I bought a new Crossman air rifle. I think one of the kids might have sat on the one I have now. I have it for about ten years. The design and price hasn't much at all. Felt complete. Headed for the main office via 270N.

Arrived back at the office near 1pm. I spent most of the afternoon creating an adhoc report that our customer requested in the quarterly service review earlier that same day. We had our regularly scheduled staff call, too. That lasted about 20-25 minutes. I stuck around until 515pm making edits to the new report I created based on some feedback from a couple peers. I headed for home feeling that I accomplished quite a bit.

Called Mindy in route to home. She was in the process of warming dinner and dealing with the kids. We didn't talk long. I tried calling brother Tommy on my drive home too. No answer. Went to VM. Arrived home near 535p. It took two trips to carry in my work backpack, new air rifle and picture frames. Mindy was busy warming leftover pork chops and Barley's food. I was good with all that. After arriving home, we ate dinner pretty quickly.

During dinner, Mindy encouraged Bella to confront Makayla about the things she does that hurt her feelings.
Bella bought in and said she planned to talk with her about it. In addition, Mindy had Jacob share how he got in trouble in class supposedly for asking his teacher to move him to a new work group. If his story was in fact true, it sure sounded like the teacher was the one out of line. But then again, we only had Jacob's side of the story. Mindy insisted that she was gonna contact the teacher Friday and get to the bottom of the deal.

I chased the geese out of the backyard. And in so doing, I came upon a mallard out at the very back of our property lying on a flush of baby ducks. She didn't move despite my being extremely close. I let her know that I wasn't to be feared. I told Bella about it when I headed iside. She headed out to check them out on her own. She soon returned sharing that she couldn't find them. Later, she and I walked out to look. Humm? She was right. The flush of ducks were gone. Bella insisted on heading into woods and around the pond's edge to see if she could see them. She was gone for a while. I was a tad concerned, and certainly more so than Mindy. But just about the time I was asking Mindy if we should go looking for her. Bella came out of the woods with a large walking stick. She found them. Said there were as many as 10 babies.

A few minutes later she headed to Makayla's. And it was just a couple minutes later when the two of them headed into the woods. I guessed Bella was taking to see the baby ducks. While Bella was off with Makayla, I think Jacob headed out to hook up with Evan. Meanwhile, I tuned into the ESPN pre-draft festivities. Once the actual draft started, I went for a Southern Tier XXIPA. Yum! The Vikings wouldn't be up for a couple hours with the 23 & 25th picks in the first round. Those players picked in the first round are essentially instant millionaires.

Mindy watched the draft with me for about an hour but then headed up to read and work a puzzle from bed around 9pm. I popped two bags of popcorn to go along with my beer. Bella came down and marveled at the full moon rising in the east. She headed out on the deck to get a better look. Makes me happy to see her exhibit such interest.

I might've dosed off for 5-10 minutes shortly before the Vikings were up. I think it was 1030 or so when the Vikings were on the clock. They took a defensive tackle from Florida who many assumed would go in the top five. Then, two picks later they got a top notch corner back, which was the pick they got from Seattle for Percy Harvin.

I cracked a 2nd beer a bit earlier, a Hop Slam. Yum! I skept watching, determined to see the entire first round of the draft. The Patriots were on the clock for the 29th pick when ESPN announced that the Vikings had given their 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 7th round pick to for their 1st round pick. The Vikings then took a top notch wide receiver from Tennessee who many say is a can't miss. Exciting night to be a Viking fan. It was after 11pm and there was only one more pick remaining when I headed to bed. Good night full moon!