Sleep Interuptus

Even though I went to bed early, I didn't fall asleep until after 10pm again. And then around midnight Bella came rushing into our room again hysterical that our home alarm was going off. Really? Dang it!!!! Mindy and I could hear nothing, but like any other night, Mindy had the bathroom exhaust fan going as well as the mini window fan running on high. Between the two, they drowned out most noises.

Sure enough, after turning off the fan I could the alarm loudly blaring "alarm, phone line cut". To be certain, I grabbed the ball bat then asked both Mindy and Bella to get into our agreed positions which included Mindy having a phone in hand ready to call 911. One problem, it would have to be the cell if indeed our phone line was cut. Duh!!! I told her to check on Jacob too. I didn't want to club somebody in the kitchen only to learn that it was Jacob and or one of his two overnight guests.

I had my cell phone in my pajama pocket too. And as soon as I cleared the downstairs of any criminal activity my phone rang. It was the security company inquiring about the alarm and asking if everything was OK and if we wanted them to pursue or cancel the dispatch. Cancel, We're good. Via my PC, I confirmed that the cable was out, which caused the alarm to go off. Lucky for us we have cell back-up, so we're never without security.

Shortly after hanging up I decided I wanted to sweep the garage of any criminal intent too, forgetting to disable the alarm. Sure enough, as soon as I opened the door to the garage the alarm went off again. Mindy disabled the alarm but it was too late. By design the full intrusion alarm sounded and was followed again by a call from the security company. Same guy too. I shared what I had done, choosing to make double sure the coast was clear before returning to bed. He understood and took me on face value. I'd talked with him only two minutes earlier. We reset the alarm then headed for bed. By then it was closing in on 1am. I lad there for what must've been half an hour before I gave up any hope of falling back asleep and headed downstairs to read. I read until 240am. It still took another 15-20 minutes to get back to sleep. Oh boy! Another botched night of sleep.

Feeling sleep deprived, I allowed myself to sleep in until 630am or slightly after. While brushing my teeth I heard the security announce that the phone line was restored, which most likely meant that Time Warner's maintenance window ended. Downstairs I proceeded with my usual routine of calisthenics. coffee, internet, meditation and a stretch. Hit the road for a 4.1 mile run around 740am. The skies were partly cloudy and the temperature in the mid 50s, again, well below normal. Felt nice, though. Wore a short sleeved wicking shirt, same one as the day before. Back home after run near 820am.

Fairly quickly I whipped up breakfast and packed a lunch, setting aside an extra fried egg for Eiknarf. I was already logged into work and saw something needing my attention fairly soon. I jumped on it right away. I also got an email canceling our standing 1pm meeting across town. That and the fact that I was already working from home lead to an eventual decision to work from home all day.

Mindy was up near 9am and soon out on the deck enjoying her first cup of coffee. While she did that, I joined two conference calls with my boss, one at 930a and then another at 1015a. The second call wrapped up around 1045am. I spent the rest of the work day preparing my piece of a customer facing quarterly presentation. Mindy left for her lunch date with teacher pals around noon. The kids were home with me but of little bother. Both were of playing with their pals. Bella had a dental appointment to address a tooth that’s been giving her fits arranged for 4pm in Westerville with Dr Scott. Mindy asked that Bella be ready to go by 330pm.

I took a break around 1pm and carried Jacob’s bedroom rug from the garage back to the deck so it could dry out a bit more in the sunshine. Still damp from our scrubbing it last Friday or Saturday. I sprayed it down with a heavy dose of Lysol too. As it was, it smelt similar to a pair of Jacob’s stinky tennis shoes.

For lunch, I enjoyed some of Gloria’s tuna salad. I must admit, it was scrumptious! I’m thinking that Mindy was home from lunch around 3pm. She and Bella soon left for the dental appointment. Before she left, Mindy thanked me for putting Jacob’s rug out. Said that was on her list of things to do too. She also pulled some frozen cod from the freezer for dinner.

I stayed busy with work until sometime after 5pm when Mindy and Bella returned. Sandwiched somewhere in there was a much needed shower. All fresh and clean by the time the two of them were back home.

Early evening I watered all the deck flowers then cleaned both large coolers, the one we leave on the deck pretty much year round and then the new travel cooler. Both were overdue for a cleaning. While Mindy prepared dinner I wrote for my blog. At Jacob’s prompting, Mindy set the deck table up for dinner. Why not? The conditions were ideal for dining outside – sunny and in the 70s.

Bella was having a hot dog in lieu of fish. It was a Ball Park, not the Hebrew National she prefers. Despite Dr. Scott filling a cavity in the molar that was bothering her, she continued to complain of localized tooth pain. The cod was really good – not at all fishy and nice and flaky. Along with the cod, Mindy prepped corn-on-the-cob and brown rice. All good. After dinner, I jokingly asked for chocolate pie fully anticipating that she would tell me that it was gone. But one piece remained and she gave it to me. Yum!

After dinner and clean-up I did read from a living room recliner. While did that, Mindy was out front. At the time I wasn’t sure why or just what she was doing, but later learned she was pulling weeds and topping the blue salvia for the third time. If one dead heads the spent flowers they’ll continue to bloom. Such a task is right up Mindy’s alley. She’s far more patient than I.

When she came in she shared with Bella that she talked with Teri, Dr. Scott’s wife. They weren’t surprised that she was still feeling a little pain since the cavity they filled was fairly deep. Expected it to subside in a day or two. I read until 915p or so. Once again, I headed for bed before the others, again very much looking forward to a solid night of sleep.