Leg in Door DQ

I slept great but woke feeling extra lazy. I let myself sleep-in until almost 6am. The smell of fresh coffee was almost overwhelming. I hurried through exercises then poured a cup of coffee for me and Mindy. I delivered Mindy’s before enjoying any of my own.

Downstairs again, I checked the weather and read the headlines. North Korea making all sorts of threats against the US. Yikes! The Reds won. The weather forecast was only fair. Headed towards 50 with sunshine. Supposed to get a little warmer heading into the weekend but those 70 degree temps under sunny skies forecasted for all of next week were now the low 60s with clouds and rain. Why did I fall for that?

Still draggin’ rear, I decided that I was gonna stick around the house for a while and wouldn’t likely run until after seeing Bella onto the bus. That gave me plenty of time to relax & enjoy myself, which is something I’ve been craving to the extreme of late. I work hard. Why not? To compensate, I logged onto work email form my home PC. Followed up on a couple hot issues.

Saw Jacob off to school then Mindy and Bella. I was in the middle of my stretch routine when Mindy came down. Funny listening to her cajoling Bella to get up and moving. Mindy left around 730am. Asked if I was working at home. I explained that I was simply taking my time and likely heading in around 930am.

Headed out with Bella at 810am, but not before getting into my running clothes. That way I could leave for my run only minutes after she was safely on the bus. Despite being sunny, it was still chilly – only 30 degrees. Where’s are spring weather? Kenny was at the bus stop with Makayla. Shared their toilet issues brought about Sunday during a family Easter celebration when their niece Mattie flushed something not meant to be flushed. Kenny was determined to replace the toilet after removing and snaking the old but still having troubles. I only suggested he consider snaking it from the bottom up since he planned to pull it anyway. Why spend unnecessary money? I even offered to delay my run and help him. He declined my help citing the need to run to a job site to check on his crew. Kenny reminds me a lot of my dad in that he will help anybody with their projects but more often than not refuses help with his own.

Headed back home with the pug then headed out for a run. I was dressed in full winter attire. Can’t wait to shed the under layers, let alone getting into shorts. Ran the full 4.1 miles. Legs a little tired again but not enough to slow me down. Instead, just a minor inconvenience.

Back home shortly after 9am, I peeled off a couple sweaty layers then checked my work email. Fairly quiet. I started breakfast and threw together a quick lunch. Headed for a shower a few minutes later. Ready to go just before 930am. Spent a few more minutes online paying bills and then responding to a couple work related emails. Left the house around 945am. Almost forgot, wore my new brown leather Rockport slip-ons. Very comfortable.

Arrived at the office somewhere close to 10am. I blocked out my calendar so I could spend time working on monthly reporting, something I had no choice but to ignore while chasing several reactive issues all week for the customer I am covering in the absence of a peer. Had a 130pm call I needed to join. Thankfully, the call was brief and fruitful. Issue resolved.

Spent almost all afternoon working on reporting save for an hour I set aside to complete a document for my boss. Mindy sent a text midafternoon asking if I wanted her to invite my dad for dinner. I didn’t respond until closer to the end of my workday when I finally felt like I had a few minutes. Too late. She had already extended the invite. He wasn’t coming. Apparently pinched a nerve in his back.
Felt good about all I accomplished at the office. I left for home around 515pm. Called Mindy once I was safely on the road. She was busy preparing dinner and also preparing to take Bella to gymnastics. Said she planned to contact the McVey’s to remind them that we planned to take Lane when we pick-up Bella.
I got home just after 530pm. Looked like we were having pasta – linguine and red sauce. The red sauce, I later learned, contained the leftover hot Italian brats from Wednesday’s dinner. Yum! She asked that I put the pasta on while she ran Bella to gymnastics. Jacob was going with her. I was left at home alone. I used the time to my advantage editing photos and adding them to recently published blog entries. Finally got around to adding to photos to our HV postings. Still haven’t added any for the Utah ski trip. Man! What a slacker I am.

Mindy & Jacob were back home before I knew it. I was still editing (shrinking) photos. I didn’t even get a chance to put the pasta on. Mindy didn’t’ give me any grief about it. At least I had the water boiling and ready. Dinner was ready within the next ten minutes. Along with the pasta, we had a fresh garden salad and rolls. Dinner was scrumptious!

Finished dinner and clean-up near 650pm. I spent a few more minutes on my blog before Mindy called my attention to the time. It was 710pm. As I prepared to depart, Mindy offered to ride along. Sure. I suggested we stop at Lowes to look at lamps after picking up Bella and dropping Lane. Mindy agreed.
We stopped to pick-up lane first. Of course Mindy got out and chatted with Connie for a few. She was in her work out attire and in her driveway with young son Collin. Darwin, by the way, sent me a text earlier that evening letting me know that he was out of pocket for the entire weekend attending a required class, an outcome from his Oct 2012 incident.

We had Lane and were on our way to the gym by 718pm. Traffic was kind to us and we arrived just ahead of 730pm. Bella was still practicing her runs. Kelly came over to chat with Mindy & I after practice. Shared that her car was broken into I believe on Monday evening while at her daughters’ soccer practice. Stole her wallet, work laptop, and more. Had it all in a large gym bag on the front seat with the door and windows locked. The crook brazenly busted out her window to get the stuff. Started using the credit cards within the first hour. What a nightmare!

We left Lane and picked up Bella. I more than expected Bella to throw a fit about stopping at Lowes but she didn’t. At some point Mindy shared that Bella loves Lowes. I thought she was only kidding. I didn’t think about it again until we were in Lowes and couldn’t find Bella. We split up going aisle by aisle looking for her. We looked for maybe 5 minutes before I was ready to hit the panic button. I ended up finding her near the lighting aisle. Said she was over looking at toilets. I’m guessing she was trying one out.  Went on and on about how much she loves playing house in Lowes. Is that cute or what?

We soon ran into Mindy who didn’t seem as panicked as me. We all headed out to the car. By the way, we didn’t find any lamps that we both liked, and I was in no mood to settle for something so plain Jane.
As we loaded into the car, I mistakenly closed Bella’s leg in the back door while helping her in. She let out an extraordinarily loud yelp! I certainly didn’t mean to, but she was crying as well as pissed! With the deep window tint, one can’t see the passenger. And Bella is a lollygagger. She wouldn’t talk to me. I felt bad, but could only apologize.

Mindy asked that I drop her off at the nearby Kroger so she could run in and get bananas. Meanwhile, Bella suggested I could make up smashing her leg by taking for ice cream. Fair enough. While Mindy was in Kroger, Bella and I headed across the way to the DQ. Empty when we pulled in, the place started filling up as soon as we walked in. What the ….?

Finally got to the counter and ordered Bella’s vanilla ice cream in a waffle cone. Her leg was suddenly all better.  Asked how I expected her to eat it since we don’t typically allow such things in our cars. I gave her a hall pass asking only that she be extra careful. But we are talking about Bella. Thankfully, she never did spill any, at least from what I can tell. I guess I could find a giant clump of ice cream under my driver’s seat in the next couple of days. 

Headed back across the street to pick-up Mindy. Had to circle two times, and I was in fear that she would be out there walking around looking for us. Nope! Finally, there she came. Good timing. Picked up right outside the exit door. The car behind seemed disgruntled with my very brief stop. Too bad!

She got a few more things besides bananas, but still only one bag. We headed for home. Didn’t get home until after 8pm. Jacob was there waiting our arrival. He was at Evan’s playing basketball when we left. We told him where we were going, so he wasn’t concerned.

Quickly changed into my PJs then poured a Jack & Coke. Mindy and I looked at lamps online. For some reason, I am drawn towards tiffany lamps. Case and point, the three new fixtures we bought a couple springs ago. Mindy nixed my first choice, though she likes tiffany too. Just didn’t like the predominant color – blue.

We talked in the kitchen until 920pm when Mind declared it time for her to head up to read in bed. Asked if I was coming soon. Yes, but not before finishing my drink and catching a little knowledge TV. Mindy came down seconds after Mindy headed up to ask for help with her dead Kindle. We got it figured out. Dead battery. 

I watched a short bit of How It’s Made before falling asleep. I woke at 1010pm and headed up to bed. I was very surprised that Mindy was still awake and reading or doing a puzzle. She laid on my chest as we fell asleep. Good night moon!