School Girls

Slept in until almost 6am. Didn’t prep coffee the night before so that became priority 1. Quickly completed sit-ups, windmills, and push-ups. Push-ups were tough. Already 615am when I finished calisthenics and delivered a cup of coffee to Mindy. Downstairs, I poured my own coffee then played around online for a while. It wasn’t too long before I logged on my laptop and got my work day started.

Jacob headed out the door to catch the bus for the last time this school year without his book bag. Mindy was downstairs a few minutes later. I didn’t feel like rushing off on my run. Decided to hold off on my run until after seeing Bella off to school. I used the next 45 minutes to take care of a few work tasks. Eiknarf was finally out of bed and downstairs near 755am. I went ahead and took her on a short walk.

I could see the excitement in Bella’s eyes as we prepared to head out to the bus stop for the final time this school year. I told that they next time we did this exercise, she’d be at the top of the food chain relative to her class seating at the school. Hard to believe. Made sure to take my camera and snap a couple photos. Kenny was out with Makayla. Said he planned to golf across the street. Lucky you! The bus arrived a couple minutes early. Wished Mrs. Vanorder well.

I checked in with work then headed off on a run. It was 822am when I headed out. I had to hurry since I needed to join a 9am conference call. With little choice, I trimmed my run to only three miles. It was gorgeous – sunny and close to 70 degrees. Fairly easy run.

Even with trimming my run to three miles, I had little time to spare before joining my 9am conference call. I grabbed a beach towel from the laundry room to wipe away the heavy sweat. I joined the call a minute late. As it turned out, we spent most of the time we set aside for the call talking about another more pressing issue. The call went well passed the allotted half hour, but it was time well spent.

Spent the rest of my morning configuring a new online work tool. Took care of a couple month end administrative tasks, too. Late morning it rained pretty hard but it was so brief that one could hardly tell an hour later. In fact, by 1230pm, it was all blue skies and sunshine. My plan all along was to cut the lawn at lunch. I headed out a few minutes later determined to get the entire lawn done as fast as possible.

As a change of pace, I did the tractor piece first, which generally translates into more of the lawn getting cut with it rather than the push mower. In addition to the back, I cut about 2/3s of the front with the tractor saving myself maybe 15 minutes and lots & lots of sweat. Had all the mowing completed in about 50 minutes – near record time. After checking work email & a water break, I headed out again to trim, edge and blow. Finished the lawn chores in its entirety in about 75 minutes. Headed in to shower.

After a shower and fresh clothes, I spent the next couple hours wrapping up the work week. Jacoby, Bella and Mindy were home from school between 3 & 415pm. As you might expect, all of them in a good mood. Mindy picked up where she left off the evening before, prepping for her school’s out party, which was set to begin around 5pm.

Her friend Phyllis showed up first, and unless I’m mistaken, still before 5pm. I was still in my office working while the two of them hung out. According to Mindy, several teachers stayed late at school for a meeting, something to do with filing a formal complaint against their principal. Not exactly a good way to end the school year.

I called Tom Clark around 515pm, or just after I wrapped up my work day. Invited Tom to stop by for Mindy’s teacher gathering. Mindy invited the school psychologist that she wants Tom to meet. I wanted Tom to look at our basement roughed in drain configuration to help me decided whether we should or shouldn’t put in a shower. Said he’d be over in about an hour. Cool!

Mindy was a little surprised when her principal called sharing that he was coming to her party despite the heated disagreement with most of the teachers. I give him props for having the fortitude to make an appearance. And actually, he’s a very nice guy.

Some teachers I am most familiar with showed around6-630pm: Kerriane, Shelly, and Kim. Kerriane and Kim brought a bottle of grocery store rum. Asked me to mix their drinks. I did my best to keep their glass full.  Tom showed around 630pm too. At the time, Mindy was giving her principal, Bryan, a tour of our home and yard. They were still out back having a lengthy conversation. Many of Mindy’s teacher pals joked that they were putting their money on Mindy.
Tom and I eventually made our way to the basement to check out the roughed in drains. Tom shared a few clearance minimums that would be a struggle to meet should we choose to put a shower beside the toilet. Apparently there needs to be a minimum of 15” from the center of the toilet drain to the edge of a shower stall. He also identified where we’d have to bust up the concrete and a couple potential problems, none of which were show stoppers, but still needed to be considered. I appreciated the advice. To be fair, the drain rough in that I paid the builder to install 19 years ago was intended for a vanity sink and toilet.

Rejoined the others upstairs. Nearly half of Mindy’s teacher pals departed before 8pm. Jodi and Larry showed up shortly thereafter. I didn’t realize that Mindy sent them the invite but was happy to see them just the same. Bella and all of her neighborhood peeps were in and out all evening. The plan as I understood it was that all of them were staying the night at Kenny & Chrissy’s. Tom, Jodi & Larry were the last to depart. They were gone by 10pm.

Mindy and I started clean-up right as soon as all of our guests were gone. Took care of the low hanging fruit first, tossing half full cups and plates, and then putting away leftover food. At roughly the same time the girls were preparing to head down to Kenny & Chrissy’s. Bella left her room an absolute mess, so Mindy and I insisted she take care of that before leaving. For some reason, Makayla felt compelled to mock my curt instructions to Bella, which was to follow through without lip service. I sent Makayla home for mocking me. She wasn’t pleased but I didn’t care. We don’t do that at our house.

The rest of the girls helped Bella get her room tidied up. Took about 10 minutes. The entire gang headed next door for their sleepover. Once the clean-up was completed, Mindy & I slipped out on the deck to enjoy a beer and some quiet conversation. It had rained significantly earlier, so we sat on outdoor pillows that do a remarkable job of not absorbing water. I’m thinking we were out there until 11-1130pm or so.