Gravel, Hose Connectors, and a New Cooler

Woken initially by the daylight coming in the windows near 530am, I was up for keeps a couple minutes ahead of 6am. Was downstairs for calisthenics a few minutes later, once again opting out of push-ups, which is an attempt to soothe aching muscles. Seems to be working.

Because I was up about 10 minutes earlier than usual, I had more time to enjoy coffee and internet. Felt like I had my fill already by 615am when I delivered Mindy's coffee. Back downstairs I enjoyed a little more coffee and internet before moving on to meditation, stretching and ultimately a run. It was near 7am when I headed out the door. It was already 70 degrees and really humid. Strong thunderstorms were forecasted, which I was happy about, but they were also forecasted for Tuesday but never materialized over top of us. I ran the full 4.1 miles and was home by 740am. Mindy was long gone and Bella already upstairs putting the finishing touches on her ready. I walked the pug before digging into the scrambled eggs Mindy left in the microwave. There were some for Eiknarf too.

We walked west for the first time in a really long time, at least for our morning walk. It's a path Ykraps and I must've taken thousands of times. Despite a fairly lengthy walk, she didn't poop. I even hovered out front of the house giving her a little extra time. Back home I woofed down my eggs then headed out to water a few of the flower pots on the deck. Suddenly we're finding ourselves in need of a soaking rain, having not had any for the last 10 or 11 days.

Time was starting to get away from me. I headed off to the shower around 840am. It took me about 20 minutes to ready. I was concerned about Debbie, the new cleaning lady showing up while I was still there. This would be her third time cleaning our house. I saw that Mindy scrawled out another note with a few pointers. I think it's fair to say that we're not too impressed with the results the previous two times. However, we both agreed that you have to share your expectations - give her time to acclimate.

I left the house around 910am taking 670 across town. Mostly sunny warm and steamy, already approaching 80 by the time I parked and walked in. Long walk but I didn't mind. Uneventful morning. I sought out a couple of the managers but none were around. I had plenty to do, however, including some online training and then a mandatory conference call at 230pm.Those two items alone accounted for half my day. Whipped out the training before taking a lunch break and driving to the nearby Home Depot. When I set out, the sky was mostly sunny but a lone storm cloud loomed just to the NE. By the time I got inside Home Depot the sky let loose. I could hear the rain pounding against the roof. I wished it were raining at our house but judging by the sky, it didn't appear as such. Looked bright and sunny far west.

While at Home Depot, I picked up some male and female hose repair connectors and then three bags of gravel, two bags of pond gravel that I planned to place between the larger boulders we have spilling into the pond and then a bag of pea gravel to add to the stone patio filler. Lastly, I picked up a new 45qt cooler to complement our one larger. The two other large coolers need to be pitched. This one should be perfect for the boat. I got a great price - $29 and it came with another small 10qt cooler inside.

Gone for about 40 minutes, I needed to hurry back in order to join that mandatory conference call at 230pm. I made it back with almost 20 minutes to spare. The call lasted a full hour wrapping up near 330pm. Not too big a deal. Spent another 45 minutes on campus before heading home. Left near 415pm. Sunny and hot, and while there were scattered storms cells around central Ohio, none immediately impacting us. Made it home somewhere close to 5pm.

It was a Jimaken night and Mindy and I talked about visiting Ken in Grove City. However, he hadn't yet responded to a text I sent asking if he was up for visitors.