Kohls & Chipotle

Based on the number of times I woke through the night, I didn’t sleep that well at all. Come 6am however, I popped right out of bed to begin my Tuesday. Downstairs, the coffee was already brewed, so after briefly stepping out onto the deck to get a feel for the weather, I whipped out calisthenics minus the curls. Planned to skip curls and push-ups for the rest of the week in an effort to give my hands, arms, and shoulders a break after some much yard work the past few weeks. Yes, I am in tune with my body. 

I headed back upstairs to deliver Mindy’s coffee. I didn’t hear Jacob up, so I before heading back downstairs I popped in his room to check on him. Sure enough, sound asleep. I woke him with a whisper. Said his alarm must not have gone off. It was darn near 630am. He’d have to hurry through his routine, but I knew he could do it. After all, he’s the fastest shower taker in the world.

It felt like Monday but in fact it was Tuesday, which meant that I’d be working across town at a customer location. And just like most Tuesday’s, I didn’t plan on heading in until 11am or so. I would work from home for the first couple hours of the day and head out for a run after seeing Bella off to school.

Jacob was predictably fast with his ready and out the door at or new 650am to catch the bus. Mindy was downstairs a few minutes later. She reminded me of the evening plans, which included me taking Jacob shopping for a dress shirt and tie, and then picking Bella up from gym. Mindy was heading to a scholarship awards ceremony for a couple former students and then going to dinner afterwards. She didn’t expect to be home until 10pm or so.

She was off to school near 730am and Bella out the door 30 minutes later. I walked out at the same time with the pug and did our usual walk after the bus pulled away. It was after 830am by the time I was ready for a run. It was a very warm start, too – already in the 70s and humid. Expecting a high in the upper 80s. Ran the full 4.1 miles. Felt good. Finished strong – and sweaty!

At home I took the time to whip up some eggs for the pug and me. Afterwards, I headed out to water a few of the deck pots. And speaking of irrigation, I fired up the irrigation system on Sunday and manually ran it in two zones the day before. As a result, the full existing program ran early Monday. I could tell that two of the small pop-ups on the eastside yard didn’t pop-up. Other than that, it appears that all heads are working well. Those small pop-ups get trampled over the winter, and like last year, will likely need to be dug out a bit before they’ll pop-up automatically as designed. I likely won’t get to that until the weekend.

Took care of some work matters and then enjoyed a second cup of coffee before heading off to the shower. It was after 10am by the time I was showered dressed and ready. I packed some veggies, nuts and cheese then left the house around 1030am. Easy crosstown drive. Showed up just before 11am. Parked in the last row of the far lot. As usual, parking was at a premium.

Settled and busy through the start of our standing 1pm meeting. Less than half the usual attendees, only five of us. As such, the meeting was brief. Stuck around their campus until 230pm at which I left to finish my day from home. I stopped briefly at Target where I picked up two new pair of sunglasses (my favorite pair came up broken over the weekend) as well as a package of three sets of reading glasses – 1.25. I broke those last week, too. Hey, when it rains it pours.

Decided to chance taking 670 home and got their at 310pm. No sooner had I sat down at my desk and l logged onto my laptop, Mindy arrived home. She doesn’t typically get home that early. Talked briefly about our day and then how the evening would unfold. I reminded she and Bella that I would be joining a staff call at 415pm. I stayed busy with work until 515pm or so.

Mindy got a shower and then enjoyed a salad before she and Bella needed to depart. Mindy was dropping Bella at gymnastics and then heading to the scholarship awards banquet. She let me know that Jacob was currently out playing but sent him a text letting him know that I wanted him home by 545pm. Thought he and I would leave for Kohl’s by 6pm.

That’s what we did. Jacob and I left the house around 605pm for Kohl’s and Dick’s. Shopped Kohl’s first. My job was to make sure Jacob got in a dress shirt that fit well. I had him pegged pretty close. He wanted a black dress shirt, which made me proud. I figured him a 15.5 X 34/35”. Couldn’t find a 15.5” neck with the 34/35” sleeve but did find a 16” – 34/35” in black. Jacob quickly found a bright blue neck tie, too. I insisted he try on the dress shirt. Of course to do so we had to remove all the pins and packaging, which I view as a huge waste of materials. Hoped it fit, because I would’ve felt bad had we needed to open yet another.  Turned out that it fit fine save for being a little big around neck. But this way he can begin to fill out and it will still fit. Before heading to check-out, he said he really needed a belt, too. OK, let’s go get one. He had no idea how to size a belt. A 32” belt, which was the smallest they had in the Men’s dept. fit OK, but on the 2nd to last hole.

Ran into a work peer there pretty much doing the same thing with her son, except he was picking a shirt, tie and belt for his H.S. graduation. Introduced Jacob. With the coupon Mindy sent me with along with the $10 Kohl’s cash, we saved almost $50.

By design, I parked so the walk was of equal distance between Kohl’s and Dick’s, but Jacob insisted on dropping his bag of clothes in the car before going in Dick’s. At Dick’s we picked up an eight pound medicine ball that Bella wanted (she gave me the money) as well as a large exercise ball for Mindy and me, one that we can arch our backs over. Finished up at Dick’s near 7pm.Agreed to do dinner at Chipotle, which was right there., but since we would be getting Bella’s dinner there too, Jacob suggested it might be wiser to stop at the one near the gym that way it wouldn’t be cold by the time we got home. Good reasoning, Jacob.

I thought we’d take the back roads to the gym perhaps taking a bit longer since we were early. But even taking the back roads (Fisher to Phillipi to Georgesville) was fast. Showed up at 710pm. Jacob stayed in the car in the AC while I headed inside. As usual, the gym was like a sauna. I sat patiently in the mini bleachers watching her do her stuff. Kelly wasn’t there, and as a result, the practice was a tad disorganized, though she did show up right at the end. I made sure to say hello.

We stopped at Chipotle which is right around the corner. All three of us headed in to order our food. I was impressed that both kids did their own orders, especially Jacob, who until just recently seemed to have a phobia about placing his own food order. As usual, Chipotle had a line but it moved fast. They have their model down to a science. And for the first time in a while, they put the right amount of meat on my burrito.

Got home near 8pm and quickly gathered around the table, the three of us. In addition to burritos (tacos for Bella) we got two bags of chips, salsa and guacamole. All excellent! Finished dinner around 830pm and dispatched Bella to the shower. While she showered, I read from my Kindle until I fell asleep. I woke to Bella sitting at my computer looking at old pictures. She was fascinated with her Guatemalan adoption photos. I later learned that Mindy didn’t even know that I had them. Yep!

Around 945pm I headed to bed, and insisted Bella do the same. I certainly wasn’t going to let her remain up and on my computer. Heck no! She could do all sorts of damage!  I watched TV from bed eventually falling asleep watching Modern Family. I heard what sounded like footsteps just outside our bedroom door. Sure enough, it was Bella sneaking back downstairs. When I asked what she was doing she said she was waiting on Mindy to get home. I left her sit there on the bottom step with her new medicine ball. I heard Mindy join me in bed sometime around 11pm.