Big Fish Story

I woke initially at 445am. Prior to that I slept like a rock. After that I woke every 5-10 minutes until I finally rolled out of bed for good at 545am. I was disappointed to find cloudy skies overhead. Definitely he defining feature for the past 3+ weeks. It was warm, though, already about 70 degrees.

I prepped coffee then completed Tuesday calisthenics. Headed to my PC with coffee in hand near 6am. Ummm good! Spent a good while playing around online. Other than having fun, can’t say that I accomplished much. Meh!

By the time I peeled the mouse from the clutches of my right hand and headed to the family room to meditate it was just after 7am. Meditation and stretching went well. Left for a run near 725am. The sky looked threatening directly to the west but a bit brighter further away. It was like that for the duration of my run, but never once was there enough of a break to allow the sun to shine through.

Home near 8am, I quickly got busy making breakfast and packing my lunch. Opted for fried eggs, toast, juice and fruit. I even enjoyed some of the cut up watermelon Mindy had in the fridge. Delivered Mindy’s coffee bedside on my way to the shower. She hardly budged, but did manage the energy to share that she didn’t sleep that well again. That’s been her mantra of late. She’s struggling to fall asleep.

This time she didn’t bother getting up to join me downstairs. Man, she really must’ve been sleepy. I spent a few more minutes enjoying coffee and preparing an envelope for my WV speeding ticket. I planned to stop at a bank branch on my way to the office to get a certified check. Get this, they don’t accept personal checks or credit cards.

Left for work at 850am. I was hopeful that my path to work would be clearer than the morning prior. This time traffic heading north on Wilson to Roberts was only moderate. Made it to the bank in all of about 10 minutes. There were two customers in front of me, and both took a while. It appeared that both were doing business deposits.

Finally my turn. I asked for a certified check for the exact amount. Wasn’t sure if they’d need the payee information or not. Yep, she finally asked. I gave her the info then volunteered why. She rolled her eyes then shared her most recent speeding ticket story too. As much as I feel that mine was unjust, I was just happy to be putting it behind me. But sending what amounts to $200 into the abyss is difficult. Could do so many things with that money.

However, before mailing it off, I wanted to make a photo copy of the ticket. Figured I would mail it at lunch or on my way home. I headed into work arriving near 920am. Hadn’t seen my boss for about 10 days. After getting booted up and taking care of my lunch and water, I headed to his office for a brief visit. Unfortunately, he was on a call. I waved and walked on. He pinged me a few minutes later asking me to stop by. We talked for about 30 minutes. He reminded me that we had a call scheduled for 2pm with a peer in N.C. We both had forgotten some of the details since it had been almost two weeks since the call was arranged. It quickly came back.

Near 1245pm I headed to Home Depot to pick-up a new toilet valve for the guest bath. It didn’t take even a day for it to start acting up again. While there, I checked out their bath vanities, still gathering ideas for our basement finishing project. I found the replacement valve easy enough. Decided to buy a new flexible water inlet line for the toilet, too. I darn near bought a new dehumidifier as well, but decided I would get one at a later date. We definitely will need one for the basement.

I wasn’t gone that long, and kicked myself for not bringing my speeding ticket because I could’ve mailed it at lunch. Shoot! Oh well, I’d just have to remember to stop by the post office on my drive home later. I was back at the office with plenty of time to spare before our 2pm call. Before then I ate my veggies, cheese, and tuna. The call was brief.

Joined another lengthier call at 4pm. Ended up at the office until 550pm. And even then I knew I’d have to work a little from home later that evening. Is what it is. By the time I left the office the cloudy skies were a thing of the past. It was sunny and seemingly a bit drier and cooler. Called Mindy, who shared how her day went with the kids, including G.D. Olivia. Said the day went well. Had to take Olivia to Target to get new flip-flops after the neighbor’s dog at the pair she wore to our house. Oops! She also shared that Bella did a great job keeping Olivia entertained. Said they fished and played all day long.
Jacob didn’t get picked up from his overnight with a friend until about 1pm. She didn’t share what was for dinner.

At home near 610pm, dinner was just about ready. We were having inferno chicken, salad, and macaroni. Everything looked delicious. Bella excitedly shared her fishing stories. Sounded like they had a lot of fun. Caught two fish, Of course the bigger of the two got away. ;) Dinner was as good as it looked. It marked the first week night sit down dinner the four of us have had together for about two weeks.

Jacob headed off to play with friends after dinner. Emily & Makayla came over to our house to play with Bella. They disappeared into Bella’s room not to be heard from for quite a while. Once dinner clean-up was complete, Mindy and I headed out on the deck for some R & R. It was noticeably cooler than it was just an hour earlier. We spent about 20 minutes together before I headed in to change into comfy lounging clothes and also to take care of that work I needed to get done. Mindy was sad that I needed to end our deck time. I knew if I waited that I might get too sleepy.

As expected, I spent about an hour taking care of business. Around 830pm Mindy and I tuned into Big Bang Theory in the family room. That’s always good for some laughs. Mindy headed up to Bella’s room just after 9pm to have Bella and friends wrap up their play time. Mindy and I headed up for bed just after 930pm. I heard Bella giving Mindy a hard time about something. I later learned that she wanted to go outside and play with the rest of her friends. She cited it being summer and then added that she wished we were more like the other parents that let their kids stay out late.

Mindy and I watched a little more Big Bang from bed. We welcomed Bella in for a little snuggle time even though she’s grounded from screens for two weeks. It didn’t take long for me to fall asleep. I was out before the 930pm episode was over.