Putting Away Xmas

Slept later than the day before. Wasn't up and out of bed until almost 745am. David & Anita were already up and readying for their departure home. After enjoying a little coffee I headed upstairs with coffee for Mindy. Wanted to make sure she didn't miss saying goodbye to our friends. They like to get an early start. I think they left around 830am. We'll hook up again in Tahoe in about 6 weeks.

After our guests left, Mindy and I lounged around. Not once did she mention brunch at CBC. And honestly, I was in favor of skipping it and not going anywhere. A slow, down-day sounded really nice, especially after two weeks of go, go, go. I thanked her for being so gracious to our friends. I went on a run around 930am. By then it was raining lightly and about 34 degrees. And actually, the rain made footing that much more precarious. I was extra careful and as a result survived. The rain was forecasted to turn to snow later that afternoon, and then usher in some of the coldest weather in decades with actual lows in sub teens. Already, Mindy and the kids were talking about having no school on Monday, their first day back after Xmas break.

Like most weekend days, I ran three miles. Upon my return, Mindy was headlong into de-decorating for Xmas. She started in the living room on the leaning shelves. At some point she offered that we go out to dinner to which I quickly rebutted having dined out almost every day for the past two weeks or more. In fact, the last meal she and I ate at home was cream of chicken over rice on Sunday, Dec 22. I suggested that I would make chili. She was agreeable as long as she didn't have to cook. I was good with that and actually excited about making the chili.

I was also looking forward to watching the Bengals playoff game against the Chargers. I tuned into the game near 1pm while also doing some reading from my Kindle. While I watched football, Mindy continued de-decorating. By the end of the afternoon, she had everything down save for the tree. The Bengals lost. Too bad. I started making chili near halftime, then let it simmer on the stove all afternoon. I used Mindy's chili kit but added much more garlic and cumin to taste. As for the meat, I used the two pounds of leftover brisket that I froze the day before we left for HV. To suit my palette, it's hard to put too much cumin in. As the afternoon expired, the rain continued. The forecasted cold and snow was just off to our immediate NW. It must've been around 430pm when I remembered that I still needed to get the skis from the Thule. I had to do it by myself and in the rain. Not fun, but better than waiting for the subzero weather. While outside, I scraped all the snow still piled on the Accord. I hadn't driven it since Dec 26. I also pulled the windshield wipers away from both windshields.

Not exactly sure of the time when Mindy and I sat down to enjoy chili and the fresh garden salad I made. It was delicious. About the only thing I would tweak for next time would be not slicing the brisket chunks so small. The small chunks tend to disintegrate during the simmer process.

As soon as 5 or 6pm, most city school districts had formally declared their schools closed for Monday. Mindy's district, however, still hadn't. Turned out, it was one of the last. Of course, we both received calls and texts from Lindsey looking for someone to watch the boys on Monday since she'd still have to work. Said no one else would help her.

Oh boy! I already planned on working from home regardless of the weather. And since it was going to be subzero, it made absolutely no sense at all going into the office. I soon told Lindsey that I would watch the boys despite not knowing whether Mindy would be home or not. I'm thinking it was near 8pm when her district finally declared themselves closed. She and the kids were stoked that their Xmas break was being extended by at least one more day. And if memory serves, this isn't the first time that school's been canceled on the first day of return. Seems it happened just a couple years ago, too. And more frequently than that, their calamity days often seem to fall on one end of the weekend. Lucky!

Not having school, both Mindy and the kids stayed up a little later than usual. I don't think we all got to bed until 10-1030pm. First evening in more than two weeks that I didn't have a single drop of alcohol, but that's not at all uncommon for holidays and vacation.