Both pics above as well as yesterday's were an experimentation with no-flash photography
Slowly, I am learning how to make adjustments to my camera's versatile settings.
You see, the way it works at Mindy’s house is a little different than mine. At my house I get up when I want to get up. It’s as simple as that. At Mindy’s you get up when the kids press you into getting up. Your state of restfulness has nothing to do with it.
Well at least the sunshine part of the equation was in order. We woke again Sunday morning to a gloriously bright sunrise. One would have been mistaken, however if they simply judged the book by its cover. A check of the air temperature revealed that winter was still firmly in charge. It was only 24 degrees.
Mindy had already prepped the morning’s coffee and threw her tasty breakfast casserole in the oven while I attempted but failed to sneak a few extra winks. I jumped to my feet sometime around 7:30am, brushed my teeth, then headed downstairs for some coffee. I thought for a moment about pushing hard to get my run in before eating anything as usual but opted instead to wait. By the time I had snapped a few pics and had drank two cups of coffee the breakfast casserole was ready and I knew that Mindy would prefer to have a breakfast buddy over the age of five.
I enjoyed but tempered my appetite all the while knowing I had yet to run. Before settling down to my plate I whipped out a set of sit-ups, push-ups and curls – all of which are very doable at Mindy’s or anywhere else for that matter, save for the availability of dumbbells.
When done I sat at the table and enjoyed Mindy’s scrumptious casserole along with some fruit and orange juice. Before caving to a second helping I rose from the table to declare my readiness to run. I went to Mindy’s bedroom to dawn my running costume and perhaps to save the world from a meteorite said to be heading directly towards a major metropolitan area (kidding - that’s superman).
Before hading out the door I had Mindy check the temperature, which was still below freezing – a balmy 28 degrees. But I was dressed for the cold and excited about running through the luxurious Heritage Lakes Golf Club. The homes, the lushness, the tranquility are all top notch! The run itself is a bit longer than my usual weekend route. It’s estimated to be some where around six miles judging solely by the amount of time it generally takes.
Oh what a joyful run! The sites were just beautiful. There wasn’t a soul on the course leaving wide open vistas, still ponds, and nothing but nature in front of me. This is the life, I remember thinking. How I can arrange life so that I might spend the next fifty years living like this? One would have an entirely different outlook on life with a jaded view like this each day. I need to check the prices of homes in such a setting.
Upon my return to Mindy’s home I found everyone busy doing something constructive. I found my way to more casserole and coffee. Mindy was busy building the internet, her and Al Gore. Oh! No. Sorry. She was surfing the internet, not building it. For the next hour we sat around like most families probably do on Sunday mornings. Jacob came in and asked me to wiggle his loose front tooth that we’re all dying to pull. I even coaxed him into allowing me to use pliers on it. I didn’t have the guts to yank it out. I remember what that felt like. You see, my dad pulled several of my baby teeth with pliers before they were even loose simply for getting an Algebra problem wrong when I was in kindergarten. Ahhh – that’s not true either! I was in 9th grade. No, that’s not true either. My baby teeth were gone by then. Honestly, we all remember the tentativeness we felt even when the tooth remained in place by the tinniest piece of flesh. We never did get it out and moved on to other things.
By 11am I left for home. I had agreed to meet Mindy sometime around 1pm at her mother’s where I would pick her up and take her apartment hunting. After arriving at home I walked Ykraps, played some guitar, and read a little bit. I even stole a short nap. At a little after noon I flew upstairs to ready for our afternoon date. Long story short, I was at Mindy’s mom’s by 1:10pm.
In route I called Ashley back who had attempted to reach me twice while I showered. She informed me that she had apparently failed one of her three winter quarter classes. Tisk, tisk, tisk. What’s a father to do? To say I struggle with this would be a serious understatement. What kills me is that she had no idea that her grade was even in jeopardy. Isn’t that almost like saying I had no idea I didn’t have any money in the bank? Hmmm? She claims she was carrying a ‘B’ into the final. College isn’t hard. Instead, it’s about preparation and setting oneself up to be successful. Success breads success. Blah, blah, blah. I think I’ll be sick!
After exchanging some pleasantries with Mindy’s mother and the kids, Mindy and I were off on our way to Grove-tucky. Once in the car I unloaded my recent conversation with Ashley. I was hurt, sad, and mad all at the same time. I just don’t’ know what else I can do. We arrived at our planned destination in short order. I hadn’t been apartment shopping since my days in Florida & California (circa 1980 – ouch!). Mindy wants it all, of course - three rooms, basement, attached garage, eat-in kitchen, etc… The two floor plans we looked at were cute but somewhat less than she really wants/needs. Needs? Hmmm? What does someone really need? Nah- another time! We left there and moseyed over to Pinnacle, a new M/I homes sub-division surrounding a new elite golf course. The part we saw was not impressive.
Before heading back we stopped at Wal-Mart and Home Depot for me. Mindy, though, bought more than me at each venue. Almost home and before exiting 270 at Georgesville Rd., I asked if we could make one more stop at Lowes to try to find the illusive spark plug my weed trimmer takes. Secretly I prayed that she wouldn’t want to come in so that she wouldn’t shop more, but she did. Once again, they couldn’t find my spark plug or its equivalent. I am miffed! How could this be? It’s a frikin’ 2003 Toro weed eater for God’s sake. Unbelievable! This time, however, the gentlemen at least tipped me off to a mower repair shop in Grovetucky that might carry the plug. We’ll see!
We made it back to Mindy’s mothers by 3:40pm. We were gone a bit longer than we had intended to be. Even still, we were the only one’s there despite the promise of 15 for dinner, everyone included. It wasn’t long, however. Soon, all of Mindy’s family trickled in. Even one of Mindy’s handsome high school boy friend’s stopped by for a visit. His name was Steve. And honestly, while he was very pleasant and very nice, he didn’t seem quite her type given her highnesses elite social status. :) By 4:30pm everyone was present and the house was full. It was time for dinner. Tonight we were having one of my favorites, lasagna! To complement the lasagna, there was salad, garlic bread, and a few other miscellaneous sides. For dessert, Gloria made Flan cake and her famous Chocolate pie. I opted for the chocolate pie. As usual, the meal was very satisfying and no one left hungry.
We gathered up the kids and headed out sometime around 7pm. Bella rode with me and Jacob with his mother. We headed back to Mindy's. Mindy had planned ahead and dressed her children in their pajamas while still at her mom's. That made bedtime that much easier tis night at home. They were both fast asleep by 8pm, right on cue! I hung out with Mindy alone for about an hour and left before 9:10pm. Once home I walked Ykraps, batoned down the hatches and headed to bed with book in tow. I was out no later than 10:15pm.
Both pics above as well as yesterday's were an experimentation with no-flash photography
Slowly, I am learning how to make adjustments to my camera's versatile settings.
You see, the way it works at Mindy’s house is a little different than mine. At my house I get up when I want to get up. It’s as simple as that. At Mindy’s you get up when the kids press you into getting up. Your state of restfulness has nothing to do with it.
Well at least the sunshine part of the equation was in order. We woke again Sunday morning to a gloriously bright sunrise. One would have been mistaken, however if they simply judged the book by its cover. A check of the air temperature revealed that winter was still firmly in charge. It was only 24 degrees.
Mindy had already prepped the morning’s coffee and threw her tasty breakfast casserole in the oven while I attempted but failed to sneak a few extra winks. I jumped to my feet sometime around 7:30am, brushed my teeth, then headed downstairs for some coffee. I thought for a moment about pushing hard to get my run in before eating anything as usual but opted instead to wait. By the time I had snapped a few pics and had drank two cups of coffee the breakfast casserole was ready and I knew that Mindy would prefer to have a breakfast buddy over the age of five.
I enjoyed but tempered my appetite all the while knowing I had yet to run. Before settling down to my plate I whipped out a set of sit-ups, push-ups and curls – all of which are very doable at Mindy’s or anywhere else for that matter, save for the availability of dumbbells.
When done I sat at the table and enjoyed Mindy’s scrumptious casserole along with some fruit and orange juice. Before caving to a second helping I rose from the table to declare my readiness to run. I went to Mindy’s bedroom to dawn my running costume and perhaps to save the world from a meteorite said to be heading directly towards a major metropolitan area (kidding - that’s superman).
Before hading out the door I had Mindy check the temperature, which was still below freezing – a balmy 28 degrees. But I was dressed for the cold and excited about running through the luxurious Heritage Lakes Golf Club. The homes, the lushness, the tranquility are all top notch! The run itself is a bit longer than my usual weekend route. It’s estimated to be some where around six miles judging solely by the amount of time it generally takes.
Oh what a joyful run! The sites were just beautiful. There wasn’t a soul on the course leaving wide open vistas, still ponds, and nothing but nature in front of me. This is the life, I remember thinking. How I can arrange life so that I might spend the next fifty years living like this? One would have an entirely different outlook on life with a jaded view like this each day. I need to check the prices of homes in such a setting.
Upon my return to Mindy’s home I found everyone busy doing something constructive. I found my way to more casserole and coffee. Mindy was busy building the internet, her and Al Gore. Oh! No. Sorry. She was surfing the internet, not building it. For the next hour we sat around like most families probably do on Sunday mornings. Jacob came in and asked me to wiggle his loose front tooth that we’re all dying to pull. I even coaxed him into allowing me to use pliers on it. I didn’t have the guts to yank it out. I remember what that felt like. You see, my dad pulled several of my baby teeth with pliers before they were even loose simply for getting an Algebra problem wrong when I was in kindergarten. Ahhh – that’s not true either! I was in 9th grade. No, that’s not true either. My baby teeth were gone by then. Honestly, we all remember the tentativeness we felt even when the tooth remained in place by the tinniest piece of flesh. We never did get it out and moved on to other things.
By 11am I left for home. I had agreed to meet Mindy sometime around 1pm at her mother’s where I would pick her up and take her apartment hunting. After arriving at home I walked Ykraps, played some guitar, and read a little bit. I even stole a short nap. At a little after noon I flew upstairs to ready for our afternoon date. Long story short, I was at Mindy’s mom’s by 1:10pm.
In route I called Ashley back who had attempted to reach me twice while I showered. She informed me that she had apparently failed one of her three winter quarter classes. Tisk, tisk, tisk. What’s a father to do? To say I struggle with this would be a serious understatement. What kills me is that she had no idea that her grade was even in jeopardy. Isn’t that almost like saying I had no idea I didn’t have any money in the bank? Hmmm? She claims she was carrying a ‘B’ into the final. College isn’t hard. Instead, it’s about preparation and setting oneself up to be successful. Success breads success. Blah, blah, blah. I think I’ll be sick!
After exchanging some pleasantries with Mindy’s mother and the kids, Mindy and I were off on our way to Grove-tucky. Once in the car I unloaded my recent conversation with Ashley. I was hurt, sad, and mad all at the same time. I just don’t’ know what else I can do. We arrived at our planned destination in short order. I hadn’t been apartment shopping since my days in Florida & California (circa 1980 – ouch!). Mindy wants it all, of course - three rooms, basement, attached garage, eat-in kitchen, etc… The two floor plans we looked at were cute but somewhat less than she really wants/needs. Needs? Hmmm? What does someone really need? Nah- another time! We left there and moseyed over to Pinnacle, a new M/I homes sub-division surrounding a new elite golf course. The part we saw was not impressive.
Before heading back we stopped at Wal-Mart and Home Depot for me. Mindy, though, bought more than me at each venue. Almost home and before exiting 270 at Georgesville Rd., I asked if we could make one more stop at Lowes to try to find the illusive spark plug my weed trimmer takes. Secretly I prayed that she wouldn’t want to come in so that she wouldn’t shop more, but she did. Once again, they couldn’t find my spark plug or its equivalent. I am miffed! How could this be? It’s a frikin’ 2003 Toro weed eater for God’s sake. Unbelievable! This time, however, the gentlemen at least tipped me off to a mower repair shop in Grovetucky that might carry the plug. We’ll see!
We made it back to Mindy’s mothers by 3:40pm. We were gone a bit longer than we had intended to be. Even still, we were the only one’s there despite the promise of 15 for dinner, everyone included. It wasn’t long, however. Soon, all of Mindy’s family trickled in. Even one of Mindy’s handsome high school boy friend’s stopped by for a visit. His name was Steve. And honestly, while he was very pleasant and very nice, he didn’t seem quite her type given her highnesses elite social status. :) By 4:30pm everyone was present and the house was full. It was time for dinner. Tonight we were having one of my favorites, lasagna! To complement the lasagna, there was salad, garlic bread, and a few other miscellaneous sides. For dessert, Gloria made Flan cake and her famous Chocolate pie. I opted for the chocolate pie. As usual, the meal was very satisfying and no one left hungry.
We gathered up the kids and headed out sometime around 7pm. Bella rode with me and Jacob with his mother. We headed back to Mindy's. Mindy had planned ahead and dressed her children in their pajamas while still at her mom's. That made bedtime that much easier tis night at home. They were both fast asleep by 8pm, right on cue! I hung out with Mindy alone for about an hour and left before 9:10pm. Once home I walked Ykraps, batoned down the hatches and headed to bed with book in tow. I was out no later than 10:15pm.
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