The power went out in the middle of the night after some strong thunders storms rolled through the area. That’s right. We had thunder storms in January! That might be a first. I slept well and woke at what I assumed had to be about 5:30am. However, my bedroom clock was flashing hinting of the power failure. I got up, brushed my teeth, grabbed my running attire and headed down stairs. After peeing I decided that I’d be well served checking the cable box clock, which I remembered would have the correct time. I was surprised to find that it was only 3:00am. So, without any fuss I headed back upstairs and leaped back into bed. I made a mental note of the numbers now flashing on the clock – 1:15. If my bleary eyed math was correct, I’d need to be up by the time the clock flashed 3:45. And for what it’s worth, given that the clock sat at 1:15 and that it was actually 3am, I was able to deduce that the power must’ve went off at 1:45am.
I slept soundly for another 2.5 hours and woke precisely at 5:30am or 3:45am by the flashing bedroom clock. I just hoped my sleepy math was correct. It was! The rain, best I could readily tell, had stopped. After exercise Ykraps and I headed out for our morning walk. Honestly, it didn’t appear to have rained too much at all. I do know that we had strong gusty winds, several flashes of lightning and booming thunder. I even recall hearing heavy rain at one point. I guess it must’ve stopped soon after it began. Either way, it was over, and the sky was actually showing signs of clearing. For this I was thankful. I didn’t particularly want to run in a lightning storm.
I took Mindy coffee and shared with her the weather report. She also knew that the power had gone off because it brought Bella to our room in a panic. And when she finally took her back to her own bed she reset her bedside clock. That’s right, we have separate clocks! I recall her telling me that she slept soundly despite the storms and Bella’s visit.
I meditated then dressed and left for a run. It was significantly cooler than the past two mornings. It was only 41 degrees, but still warm for January 9. The only change to my attire was that I wore my new running jacket, which provides greater protection from the wind & cold. My run went very well. Again my hamstrings felt incredibly good for the second day in a row. I am very encouraged, and boy what a difference!
Mindy had already packed my lunch the night before. I was having salad with meat along with nuts & fruit. She prepared scrambled eggs too. Both kids woke in pleasant moods. Jacob was cheery and bright, and Bella was smiling ear to ear. Amazing what a good night’s sleep will do. Bella & Mindy got a late push out the door. Jacob played with his Game Boy while I dashed down the basement to apply a second coat to my second drywall board. I finished that quickly and headed for the shower.
We left for the bus stop at 7:56am. We were running a bit behind schedule. Where’d the time go? Pat was in a much better mood this morning, but still smarting over the Buckeye defeat. You must know that it’s the topic on every talk radio station in the Columbus area. It’s awfully hard to escape it. I arrived at work by 8:25am.
Work was fun. We were busy, but still it was fun. This was staff meeting day so I ended up working straight through not taking a real lunch break of any sort.
I found myself at work until after 5:30pm. Things got dicey there towards the end of the day. I called Mindy. This was a Mindy Wednesday – the kids were with their daddy. She informed me that we were having burgers for dinner and that she had choir practice tonight. I forgot about choir practice Wednesdays. To help me out, she walked Ykraps. I rinsed my spent lunch containers and prepped coffee before customizing my burger, which was all ready for fixins. It was delicious – right up there with Barley burgers.
After a quick clean-up, Mindy readied herself for choir practice. I went to the PC. After she left I headed to the basement to carryout my faux practice. I decided to try five different effects. I cut the second board in half giving me three, but chose to attempt two different techniques on each piece, essentially cutting them in half once more (1’X1’ squares).
1) sea sponging black on top of blackberry
2) coarse brush removal of black off of blackberry
3) coarse brush removal of a thinner black (more faux juice) off of blackberry (allowed more blackberry to show through)
4) translucent silver metallic sponging on top of blackberry
5) translucent silver combing over blackberry
None of the five wowed me, but I favored the black sponging and the coarse brush removal samples. I allowed them to dry & would later get Mindy’s opinion. About then the kids returned home. Because I was already in the basement, Jacob insisted that we play a game of hockey. I agreed to the challenge. Unfortunately, Bella tried using some of our space to play with her dolls. That, I knew, couldn’t end good. I tried to nonchalantly encourage her gear over a bit to protect her from a flying hockey ball. We play pretty rough. But she crept back over and eventually took one or two body shots. Ouch! The one to the ear really set her off. She cried for her momma profusely. And I guess I just made it worse when I told her that I would pretend to be mommy. That seemed to piss her off more! Yikes! Have you ever received the wrath of Bella? It’s not good! But eventually she calmed. Jacob and I agreed to call the game a tie at 2-2 ( I really won but he refused to acknowledge my third goal).
Upstairs the kids wanted to play Wii. And just like Mindy and I joked around Xmas, I used it as leverage to get them to do what I wanted. They willing hurried up to get their PJ’s on and brush their teeth. They were very cooperative, although Bella insisted on me actually brushing her teeth. I did.it.
Back downstairs it was 7:50pm. The kids played Wii and snacked on Cheez-its until Mindy arrived home around 8:25pm. Mindy finished processing the kids – Jacob reading and taking his allergy meds. I went up for the final tuck. Both kids were in fantastic moods. Afterwards Mindy and I went to the basement to view the faux painting samples. She didn’t care for any and even threw out a real zinger – something about looking 70’s-ish – my era! What??? But truthfully, I agreed. None of them wowed me either. Mindy really want the purple (blackberry) to show. In each case, save for the sponging, the black was more prevalent. I offered up a couple more ideas. I mean that’s why we do these trial boards – right?
Up stairs Mindy read my blog while I played Wii golf, taking over where the kids left off prior to bed. I ended up playing four 9-hole rounds. I am getting much better but still have yet to shoot par or better. I am averaging about +4 or +5. Mindy headed to bed early – must’ve been about 9:30pm. I joined her at 10pm, but quickly realized that I wasn’t going to fall asleep. My body felt tired but my mind was wired. I wasn’t sure why but it felt like a caffeine buzz. Hmmm?
I excused myself from bed and headed back downstairs. I decided to use the time constructively and drank myself into oblivion – kidding! I chose to reload my MP3 collection to my new hard drive. Thankfully I had the wherewithal to back my collection up almost 3 years ago when my PC was still relatively new. That took about 45 minutes all totaled. Afterwards, I upgraded my Windows Media Player to version 11.** and also downloaded Quicktime Player.
By then it was just after 11pm. My eyes felt like sand and my mind much tireder, but still wasn’t sure that I could go right to sleep. I did.
I slept soundly for another 2.5 hours and woke precisely at 5:30am or 3:45am by the flashing bedroom clock. I just hoped my sleepy math was correct. It was! The rain, best I could readily tell, had stopped. After exercise Ykraps and I headed out for our morning walk. Honestly, it didn’t appear to have rained too much at all. I do know that we had strong gusty winds, several flashes of lightning and booming thunder. I even recall hearing heavy rain at one point. I guess it must’ve stopped soon after it began. Either way, it was over, and the sky was actually showing signs of clearing. For this I was thankful. I didn’t particularly want to run in a lightning storm.
I took Mindy coffee and shared with her the weather report. She also knew that the power had gone off because it brought Bella to our room in a panic. And when she finally took her back to her own bed she reset her bedside clock. That’s right, we have separate clocks! I recall her telling me that she slept soundly despite the storms and Bella’s visit.
I meditated then dressed and left for a run. It was significantly cooler than the past two mornings. It was only 41 degrees, but still warm for January 9. The only change to my attire was that I wore my new running jacket, which provides greater protection from the wind & cold. My run went very well. Again my hamstrings felt incredibly good for the second day in a row. I am very encouraged, and boy what a difference!
Mindy had already packed my lunch the night before. I was having salad with meat along with nuts & fruit. She prepared scrambled eggs too. Both kids woke in pleasant moods. Jacob was cheery and bright, and Bella was smiling ear to ear. Amazing what a good night’s sleep will do. Bella & Mindy got a late push out the door. Jacob played with his Game Boy while I dashed down the basement to apply a second coat to my second drywall board. I finished that quickly and headed for the shower.
We left for the bus stop at 7:56am. We were running a bit behind schedule. Where’d the time go? Pat was in a much better mood this morning, but still smarting over the Buckeye defeat. You must know that it’s the topic on every talk radio station in the Columbus area. It’s awfully hard to escape it. I arrived at work by 8:25am.
Work was fun. We were busy, but still it was fun. This was staff meeting day so I ended up working straight through not taking a real lunch break of any sort.
I found myself at work until after 5:30pm. Things got dicey there towards the end of the day. I called Mindy. This was a Mindy Wednesday – the kids were with their daddy. She informed me that we were having burgers for dinner and that she had choir practice tonight. I forgot about choir practice Wednesdays. To help me out, she walked Ykraps. I rinsed my spent lunch containers and prepped coffee before customizing my burger, which was all ready for fixins. It was delicious – right up there with Barley burgers.
After a quick clean-up, Mindy readied herself for choir practice. I went to the PC. After she left I headed to the basement to carryout my faux practice. I decided to try five different effects. I cut the second board in half giving me three, but chose to attempt two different techniques on each piece, essentially cutting them in half once more (1’X1’ squares).
1) sea sponging black on top of blackberry
2) coarse brush removal of black off of blackberry
3) coarse brush removal of a thinner black (more faux juice) off of blackberry (allowed more blackberry to show through)
4) translucent silver metallic sponging on top of blackberry
5) translucent silver combing over blackberry
None of the five wowed me, but I favored the black sponging and the coarse brush removal samples. I allowed them to dry & would later get Mindy’s opinion. About then the kids returned home. Because I was already in the basement, Jacob insisted that we play a game of hockey. I agreed to the challenge. Unfortunately, Bella tried using some of our space to play with her dolls. That, I knew, couldn’t end good. I tried to nonchalantly encourage her gear over a bit to protect her from a flying hockey ball. We play pretty rough. But she crept back over and eventually took one or two body shots. Ouch! The one to the ear really set her off. She cried for her momma profusely. And I guess I just made it worse when I told her that I would pretend to be mommy. That seemed to piss her off more! Yikes! Have you ever received the wrath of Bella? It’s not good! But eventually she calmed. Jacob and I agreed to call the game a tie at 2-2 ( I really won but he refused to acknowledge my third goal).
Upstairs the kids wanted to play Wii. And just like Mindy and I joked around Xmas, I used it as leverage to get them to do what I wanted. They willing hurried up to get their PJ’s on and brush their teeth. They were very cooperative, although Bella insisted on me actually brushing her teeth. I did.it.
Back downstairs it was 7:50pm. The kids played Wii and snacked on Cheez-its until Mindy arrived home around 8:25pm. Mindy finished processing the kids – Jacob reading and taking his allergy meds. I went up for the final tuck. Both kids were in fantastic moods. Afterwards Mindy and I went to the basement to view the faux painting samples. She didn’t care for any and even threw out a real zinger – something about looking 70’s-ish – my era! What??? But truthfully, I agreed. None of them wowed me either. Mindy really want the purple (blackberry) to show. In each case, save for the sponging, the black was more prevalent. I offered up a couple more ideas. I mean that’s why we do these trial boards – right?
Up stairs Mindy read my blog while I played Wii golf, taking over where the kids left off prior to bed. I ended up playing four 9-hole rounds. I am getting much better but still have yet to shoot par or better. I am averaging about +4 or +5. Mindy headed to bed early – must’ve been about 9:30pm. I joined her at 10pm, but quickly realized that I wasn’t going to fall asleep. My body felt tired but my mind was wired. I wasn’t sure why but it felt like a caffeine buzz. Hmmm?
I excused myself from bed and headed back downstairs. I decided to use the time constructively and drank myself into oblivion – kidding! I chose to reload my MP3 collection to my new hard drive. Thankfully I had the wherewithal to back my collection up almost 3 years ago when my PC was still relatively new. That took about 45 minutes all totaled. Afterwards, I upgraded my Windows Media Player to version 11.** and also downloaded Quicktime Player.
By then it was just after 11pm. My eyes felt like sand and my mind much tireder, but still wasn’t sure that I could go right to sleep. I did.
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