Dark @ the Dairy Queen

For the first time in quite a while, I woke two ro three times after 4am before finally getting out of bed at 540am. Not only have I started getting out of bed ten minutes later than before, but I've been sleeping more soundly right up until time to rise.

I was downstairs doing sit-ups a short time later. In between sit-ups and curls I stepped outside onto the deck. It was perfectly clear - a rarity the past handful of days - and gazed towards the stars briefly contemplating when that light I was seeing left the star that generated it. I guessed it to be about 54 degrees. And it turns out I am a very good judge. I was dead on. This I confirmed shortly after finishing my exercise routine and settling in front of my PC with some coffee. I savored the few minutes I had before heading upstairs to wake Mindy and deliver her coffee. The day's forecast was incredible - sunny and 79. Friday not so bad either, but rain moving later that evening then chilly and rainy through the weekend.

I delivered Mindy's coffee around 610am, a couple minutes later than usual. I checked on Jacob, too. He was already awake, only this time I physically confirmed it by stepping briefly into his room. Back downstairs I spent several more minutes online before segueing into work. I'd be working from home so the transition would be a bit more blurred that otherwise.

I logged onto my laptop while also playing around on my home PC. I told Mindy earlier that I planned to delay my run until Bella was off to school. I like doing it that way. It's a nice transition. That left me almost 2 hours to do as I saw fit, be it work or play. Me working from home works well for both me and Mindy. For one, she doesn't need to cook my breakfast. And two, she doesn't necessarily have to hurry home to recover the kids from the school bus.

Jacob was out the door first around 645am. Mindy was out the door for school around 725am. I didn't plan to walk the dog until I headed out with Bella. We did that at our usual time. I was glancing out the front door when Chrissy pulled up and dropped Makayla. That's right. I agreed to see her on the bus that morning so Chrissy could take Jake to and ortho appointment. Me and the girls headed out a couple minutes later. As I anticipated she might, Eiknarf was overly eager to get outside. :)

The bus arrived a little early, just a minute or two after we congregated at the bus stop. Cool. Back home I checked on work and saw that everything was quiet. I headed out for my run very near 830am. It was an excellent morning for a run. I did it without a jacket, but with long sleeves and long running pants. Ideal. I ran the full 4.1 miles with stiff quads.

Home around 910m, I toweled off the sweat, poured a cup of coffee, then got busy with work. Being the first week of the month, my to-do list was still loaded with monthly report activities. I got an email from a peer's customer looking for assistance. I found that odd until I remembered him asking me to cover his absence on this date a couple weeks ago. That made my day that much tougher. I ended up taking care of three different issues for him throughout the day in addition to my own stuff. I was very productive, not only did I complete several proactive tasks but dealt with several reactive ones as well. Sandwiched in between I made Eiknarf and I some eggs.

I'm guessing it was near 2 or 3 pm when I headed up for a shower. That felt great. And just about the time my thoughts turned towards winding down my day, another peer pinged me asking if I would send out some proactive notifications about an outage. I agreed to do it, but begrudgingly so. Long story short, I ended up working until 7pm.

Mindy made chicken & noodles for dinner. I enjoyed those while working. I left to go after Bella at 710pm. Arrived with 5 minutes still remaining in the class. Bella asked if we could stop at the Dairy Queen. She's persistent. This time I didn't say no. Figured a yes was long overdue. I let her lead me there because I wasn't sure where it was. She was right, though, it's back by Lowe's in Georgesville Square. However, there was one big problem. It was closed. Sign out front said under new management reopening soon. Bella got quiet and remained that way until we got home. As we neared the house and passed the UDF just down the road, I offered to stop there for ice cream. She wanted nothing of it. Say for the last two months or so, Bella's been moodier than ever. Body chemistry?

It was already nearing 8pm, and there was an NFL game on TV, the Rams and Cardinals. I checked on work then played on my PC for a few minutes. Thing sere reasonably quiet so I put it aside and headed to the family room where I tuned into the NFL Network. Perfect! The game was just about to kick-off.
The view of the St Louis skyline brought back memories of my two trips there many years back. One, my first ever business trip for CompuServe. The other came a few years later to visit a customer. I stayed at the Adam's Mark, directly across the street from the Arch. We took in the city's culture, including dinner in a predominately Italian neighborhood, lunch in their bustling downtown, river boat casinos, and a tour of the Lewis & Clark museum beneath the arch, and then the arch itself. Fun!

The Rams scored a touchdown on their initial drive, a lead, as it turned out,that they would never relinquish. Mindy headed off to bed around 930pm. I stayed downstairs until about 1030pm but was asleep for the last 15-20 minutes. Good night moon!