Play it Again Ski Poles

Slept soundly from 945pm until about 2am. Woke wide awake. I knew I wasn't going to fall asleep again anytime soon, so I headed downstairs to my PC for about an hour. Read a few headlines and messed around with my photo collection. At 247am I felt sleepy enough that I thought sleep was once again within my grasp. Back up in bed and asleep before 3am. Woke again around 10am. Told myself that there wasn't a need to be up any sooner than 6am. To that end, I went back to sleep until 6am.

Downstairs, I hadn't yet made coffee, so I got on that right away. While coffee brewed, I whipped out Thursday calisthenics: sit-ups, windmills, and curls. Coffee was ready by 620am. Delivered Mindy's coffee. Predictably, she asked that I turn up the heat. Yes dear. She also shared that Jacob wasn't going to school. Not feeling well, and had an upset stomach. Oh boy!

Back downstairs, I was determined to get my run in ahead of Bella's school bus time and arrive to work at the main office before 9am. To that end, I left the PC behind near 630am and moved on to meditation and stretching. Checked the temperature. It was 18 degrees. After overheating the morning before, I was a bit more careful with how I layered up. Decided to skip the extra fleece and toboggan. That worked out just fine. I could feel just a slight hint of chilly air against my upper body, which was what I wanted. Faired far better than I did a day earlier. Ran the full 4.1 miles. Back home ahead of Mindy's departure, though she had the Pilot warming in the driveway.

She was on her way out while I was leashing up the pug. It was 735am. Always happiest when I have my run in before 8am. Eiknarf and I were back from our walk by 745am. Two fried eggs were waiting for me in the microwave. Bella was just finishing up her breakfast and then on her way upstairs. After breakfast, I headed up for a shower, once again allowing Bella to police her own ready. From the master bath window, I could see her bus rumble by. I heard her head out at that very second.

I was ready to go by 815am. Warmed the Accord then enjoyed another cup of coffee. Left the house at 825am. Felt good to be on my way into the office. Arrived before 845am.Couldn't help but notice that my boss wasn't in. Must've been working from home. He was online. Had plenty of reporting stuff to work on. Stayed busy with that all morning. Called Darwin around 1030am. We talked for about 15 minutes. As I suspected he might, he moved his Oregon flights to Friday to Friday, just like us. Far cheaper.

I thought I might make the drive up to Aspen Ski & Board at lunch time, but as I was contemplating it and the time I might leave, no less than 4 different meeting requests came in pretty much blocking out my afternoon from 1-330pm. That never happens. Could only chuckle at the coincidence. The main reason I wanted to visit ASBCO was to get Bella new ski poles. Dawned on me last minute that I could check Play It Again Sports just down from the local Kroger. Not sure why I didn't think of that earlier.

I left to run over there around 1140am. It still chill but brilliantly sunny. By the temp was near 32 degrees, which felt like a heatwave. Found skis and such at the very back of the store on my own. Noticed a ratty looking pile of ski poles off in a corner. Amongst them I found just one pair of kids poles. And as luck would have it, not only were they brand new, but they were Bella's size, too. Priced at only $10. Perfect!

The store manager joked and asked if I wanted to buy a treadmill to go along with the ski poles. Nope, not today. the world is my treadmill, and the best thing about it is that it never needs any maintenance. Back to the office. Gone just about 25 minutes. The Pitables food truck was out front of our building serving lunch to many employees. Big hit! Long line.

Back at my desk I fetched my lunch and dug back into the reporting I was working on. Joined those four calls/meetings on my calendar. By the time the last was over it was 330pm. Stuck around the office until 450pm. Wished a peer well, sharing that I would see her Monday since I 'd be working from home on Friday. Sunny & in the mid 40s, felt awfully nice outside. Gone was that winter chill that usually pushed me to walk a little faster to the car. The large piles of plowed snow all had rivers of water leading away from them. Finally, winter's demise.

I tried calling Mindy shortly before leaving the office. The call went to VM. On the drive I called David. We talked about some of the details of our Oregon ski trip. Sounds like he and Glenn will be skiing the day we fly in. I was home by 515pm. I'd temporarily forgotten that Jacob stayed home sick from school. Still in bed and still not feeling well. Greeted Mindy & Bella. Mindy was hustling through making a quick dinner for Bella ahead of gymnastics class. Figured she and I would eat our leftover Dragon Palace fried rice once she was back from the drop-off. They must've left the house around 545pm. She was back by 610pm and quickly reheated the leftover fried rice. It's good, but really needed soy sauce. We had just a few drops left in the bottle. Mindy let me have what little there was.

After our impromptu dinner, Mindy was off to run a couple errands. Planned a stop at the Hilliard Target and then Payless shoes before returning home. I asked if she would simply pick-up Bella too. Nope. Didn't plan to be gone that long or over that way. Drats!

While Mindy was away. I read the afterword to my book. Between both the afterword and appendix, it's an additional 50 pages. They're as thought provoking as the main body of the book itself, so I figured to read them both. It must've been about 655pm when I fell asleep. I didn't wake until 712pm, or about 3 minutes before I needed to scoot out the door after the peanut.

Arrived with 5 minutes to spare. The girls were simply lying on the gym mats. No flipping, jumping or tumbling going on of any sort. Soon practice was over and Bella and I on our way home. As she often does, Bella asked about a fast food stop. Not tonight. She took control of the car stereo, tuning in to WNCI. Two songs later we were home. I've learned just to go with it - endure the pain. :) Just as we turned into the subdivision, Bella asked that I make some nachos and cheese once home. While I did that, Bella went for a shower. Mindy was still shopping, by the way. She didn't get home until a little bit after 8pm. By then Bella was already out of the shower and finished with her nachos.

I spent more time reading from a living room recliner. Just before 9pm, I felt adequately tired enough that an early bedtime sounded fantastic. I quietly turned off my office and slipped off to our bedroom and under the covers. I tuned the TV to Two & a Half Men, but watched only half heartedly. I remember Mindy joining me in bed a bit later. I'm guessing around 930pm but can't be sure.