Weedin' with Bella

I woke near 4am with a headache. Not wanting to start my day off like that, I opted to get up and choke down two Advil. Glad I did. When I was finally up & out of bed near 545am, the headache was gone. I headed downstairs to exercise. In short order, I completed sit-ups, windmills and curls. Before enjoying coffee, I rolled the trashcan to the curb. Back inside, I poured coffee then headed to my PC. It was close to 6am. The weather was nicer than I expected, a balmy 63 degrees under mostly clear skies. Expected it to remain that way at least through noon with a high reaching somewhere close to 72. Rain was forecasted to move in that evening and remain through most of the day Wednesday.

Read more Boston bombing headlines. The story lines and angles are seemingly endless. Mindy had a doctor’s appointment and asked that I deliver coffee just before my run. That left me plenty of time to play on my PC. Near 630am I changed gears and moved on to meditation and stretching. That took until 640am, at which point I dressed for a run then delivered Mindy’s coffee. And since it was quite a bit warmer than the past few mornings, I opted for a thin long-sleeved wicking shirt.

I headed out the door shortly after Jacob went out to catch his school bus. It was almost 655am. The trash truck hadn’t been by yet, but I could hear that it was nearby. It’s not a quiet process, though not nearly as loud as it was when I was a kid.

I ran the full 4.1 miles without any issues. Was home near 740am. Mindy greeted me near the door and helped me get the pug ready for a walk. She shared that Bella had a fever to go along with her stuffy nose and sneezing. I was right. She was dealing with something more than spring allergies. Has a full blown cold. I waited a few minutes but then told Mindy that I could arrange my day to where I could work from home. That way she could head to her doctor’s appointment without worry. At the time I wasn’t sure if she was planning to head into school afterwards or not. That made Mindy happy.

Bella, meanwhile, was lying on the sofa with a box of tissues. I took the pug on her walk and was out for no more than 8 minutes. As soon as I was back I poured a 2nd cup of coffee then checked in with work. I got involved with a couple issues right away. Mindy’s doctor’s appointment wasn’t until 11am. At some point she asked if I wanted to join her on the deck for coffee. Sounded fun and relaxing but I was working. I had to decline.

Near 945am I opened a couple windows to let the fresh air inside. It was warming nicely, and looked gorgeous outside. Near 10am I took a break before a planned 1030am call. Bella and I headed out back in the sunshine where we pulled wild grass and weeds from the backyard flower beds. Bella’s very methodical when it comes to gardening. I much enjoy her company. She saved a lot of worms during the 20+ minutes we spent in the sunshine. 

Headed in for my 1030a call. A few minutes into it, Mindy left for her appointment. The call lasted about 20 minutes. I had to join another call at 1130am and then another at 1pm. It was another very busy day. Mindy called the house phone I’m guessing around noon. Bella answered, and soon came to ask if I wanted anything from Wendy’s. No thank you. Apparently Mindy was stopping on her way back home.

I took another break after my 1pm call. Mindy was home and she and Bella enjoyed Wendy’s at the kitchen table. I ended up eating what remained of Bella’s cheese burger, which amounted to roughly a third. Around 230pm I headed outside for another break. This time I cleaned the plant debris from the small flowerbed between the walk and garage. For such a small bed, it always collects lots of plant debris over the winter. I finished about the same time Jacob was getting off the school bus. Man his school days go fast.

I spent the rest of my afternoon working on quarterly reports. I got a call from my refi loan processor to review the numbers one last time before Wednesday’s scheduled closing. They found a couple hundred dollar mistake in my favor. Planned to cut me a check for the difference. Appeared that we are set to close.

Mindy declared that Bella wouldn’t be going to gymnastics due to her fever and cold. She started on dinner around 4-430pm. She planned to grill pork chops that were defrosting on the counter most of the afternoon. I took a shower sometime between 330-430pm. Felt great. And afterwards, since we weren’t going anywhere, I dressed in PJs.

Stayed busy with work until just before 530pm. That’s when Mindy called all three of us for dinner. Jacob wasn’t having anything to do with the chops. Says he doesn’t like them. Loves pulled pork, though. He ate risotto and cereal. Odd! Bella, despite being sick, ate plenty. She even asked to devour the bone leftover from my chop. 

We ate dinner on paper plates. That kept the number of washables down, but it still took a while. I asked Jacob to walk the pug since Bella was ill. He fussed a little but I didn’t have to ask a 2nd time. I appreciated that. Meanwhile, Mindy took Bella’s temperature. It was coming down. In fact, almost normal. Mindy left for a Targhetto run around 7pm, her plan was to pick up some Triaminic strips that Bella could take to school the following day if necessary. That, incidentally, is against school policy. Missing school Tuesday meant Bella would have to make up the English OAA testing she missed on Friday. The math OAA testing takes place on Wednesday. It was looking good for her returning to school.

While Mindy was off to Target, I headed to the living room and a recliner. I played guitar for a few minutes then did some reading and eventually fell asleep. It felt so good. I slept there until almost 9pm. Holy smoke! I didn’t realize how tired I was. I got up at 9pm, topped off my water cup and headed up to bed. Mindy heard me sneaking up the stairs and asked my intentions. Shared that I was going to bed. She joined me some five minutes later. I was awake for maybe 10 more minutes but then right back asleep.