Call Me Elf One More Time ...

I was up easily and at my usual rise time of 530am. I quickly danced off to bathroom to brush my teeth then grabbed my running clothes from the back of the closet door just before heading downstairs.

I finally remembered to reset the auto start feature on the coffee maker the night before, and it was just kicking on as I made my way into the kitchen. I glanced out back at the sky then slipped into my exercise shoes and headed to the livingroom for sit-ups.

50 sit-ups were in the bag by 540am. While I was thinking about it, I placed my laptop power cord and mouse in my backpack then headed to the family room for 52 push-ups.  I did two extra just because I was feeling so good.

Headed to the PC with coffee in hand near 550am. Checked the weather and the Buckeye basketball final. The Buckeyes lost to Illinois by 4 or 5 points. Too bad. The temperature was 36 degrees under cloudy skies. It was Wednesday, so I wasn’t at all surprised to see rain in the forecast. That’s how we roll here in CMH! I moved on to meditation near 6am. I spent about ten minutes doing it. Went well. Headed upstairs to wake Mindy next.  She woke as I entered the room. Asked that I bump up the heat. Yes dear. Back downstairs for a stretch.

Stretching went really well. Dressed for a run wearing full winter attire. It was above freezing but not enough to consider shedding a layer or any of the extras. I headed out the door by 635am and ran the full 4.1 mile track in about 38 minutes. The cloud cover was thin at the start of my run. I could even see the moon peering through clouds. However, by the run’s conclusion the clouds had thickened and the moon was no longer visible.

Mindy called for the pug when she saw me at the door. She also brought me her Pilot keys. I started the Pilot then headed back inside the door to leash up the dog, who was now waiting impatiently by the door. We walked to the east just past Kenny’s house where Eiknarf took care of her business. We didn’t walk any further because Mike was out with both Jack Russell’s. Didn’t want to get them going. I saw that they’re both wearing lampshades this week. I’m guessing it some weird fashion statement.

Back at the house, Mindy was preparing to head out the door. I retrieved my eggs from the microwave and joined Bella who was already sitting at the breakfast table with her own egg. I noticed she cut around the hardened yoke of her fried egg and cast it aside. I explained that most of the vitamins are in the yoke. She countered that it tasted horrible. I knew Eiknarf would appreciate having it. I had her fill Eiknarf’s bowl with food before I scraped her egg remnants in as well the eggs Mindy scrambled just for her.  Off to the shower by 635am.

It was a customer site day, so I planned to dress a little nicer than I might have otherwise. I’ve been on this exfoliating kick lately, ever since I started having trouble with dry, itchy skin on my right elbow.  I found that exfoliating in the shower everyday provided as much relief as putting anti-itch cream on it. That’s carried over to exfoliating my face now, too. I am amazed at how much smoother my face is since I started.

I was downstairs a few minutes ahead of 8am and quickly threw together a lunch consisting of the salad Mindy prepped for me, a banana, cheese chunks, and a tub of yogurt. I used to eat yogurt almost everyday, but haven’t had even one bite in probably three years. I think the stuff I packed was really intended for Jacob. It’s the new, thick Oikos Greek yogurt by Dannon.

The kids and I headed out at 810am. Bella took over control of Eiknarf at the bus stop allowing me to head back and start the Accord. Kenny was out with the girls. Said he was hunting the day prior with Mike O. at his cabin. Apparently it is or was muzzle loader season. Neither of them got one, but said he saw at least 20. Legs were hurting from all the up and down in the steep hills of Hocking Hills. I shared that at least they had really nice weather. But Kenny said while the weather was nice, it was almost too nice for wrestling up deer. Need it colder. I know next to nothing about hunting.

Headed home for a few more minutes but then quickly off to work. My customer moved up the monthly presentation to 930am to account for another important meeting they needed to attend. That meant I’d have just enough time to get there and get logged on before it would be time to meet. That suited me well. I like that far better than waiting until 1pm like we used to do. I opted to try 670 east again, and it went smoothly. It’s interesting that ever since they changed the traffic pattern through downtown due to the construction, traffic on 670 east seems better. Not sure if it's a flow issue or if folks have found another way.

I arrived in just over 20 minutes, or 5-8 minutes quicker than my typical trek around I-270. I was in my cubical by 850am but it took at least 15 minutes to get set up and logged on the network. I checked with the customer confirming our 930am start time and then the location after noticing that there wasn’t a meeting room on the invite. Said we’d simply congregate in his office. Suited me fine.

We got started promptly at 930am. Several folks joined via conference bridge. We breezed the through the presentation in about 15 minutes. No real questions. They thanked me for continuing to tailor the reporting to their specific needs, then I was on my way back to my office. Sweet. And because they had an internal leadership meeting to attend, we recurring10am call.

The rest of my day was spent taking care of several other miscellaneous to-dos. That made for a pretty easy day. I took a walk around their large center near 11am looking for Max Shultz.  I found him this time. I guess I was looking in the wrong place last week. Hey, it’s a big, big area. We talked for about ten minutes. Said sister Jamie is getting really big. She’s due on leap day – Feb 29.

The day went by quickly. I planned to get out of the office on time and perhaps even a little early. I didn’t bother leaving for a lunch break. I had no errands I needed to run. Come 430pm I packed my gear and headed for the Accord. I was on the freeway for home a few minutes later. I called Mindy around 440pm. She shared that Lindsey and the boys were already there and that she was busy making the inferno chicken. Lindsey, you may recall, planned to be there so I could help with her medical benefits selection.

I got home somewhere very close to 5pm. It was nice to get home so early. Once I got myself situated, I started looking over Lindsey’s benefit information. At the same time, she hit us up for a sub sale that St Mary Magdalene has my 2 grandsons pandering. I hate school sales. The stuff is rarely if ever worthy of the cost. They might as well just ask for a donation. We cowered and bought a pack of subs from each grandson. I could only laugh when Lindsey said she thought we’d have to write two checks instead of one. Really? What would Jesus do?

I looked all through Lindsey's benefit information struggling to find the employee contribution table. I handed it back to Lindsey sharing that she’d need to get that piece from HR before we could make an educated and informed decision. With only limited time to make her choices, she asked if she could come back with those details on Thursday. Yes. A minute or two later she found the information I was looking for on the very last page. Duh!

I gave the figures a careful once over then presented the options to Lindsey. Like most benefit plans these days, she had a menu of coverage to select from including major medical, dental, short-term disability, vision, and life insurance. She also had the option of a Low and High coverage plan. I was surprised with the options she selected. She chose wisely. Maybe we’re actually starting to make some headway.

Lindsey and the boys stayed for dinner. I was happy when dinner was ready because Mindy sent all the neighbor kids home. The boys were being especially rowdy in the basement just prior. The girls, on the other hand, were playing quietly in Bella’s room.

The inferno chicken was good, but tough, at least compared to the tender and moist rotisserie chicken we had on Monday. Along with inferno chicken, we had green beans and crescent rolls. The kids love crescent rolls. Dinner was in the bag by 600pm, early by comparison. Clean-up was a bear. Lots of dirty pans, and because we used our real china instead of paper plates, there were more dishes to rinse and load, too. Clean-up took about 30 minutes. Lindsey and the boys left around 630pm.

This was a gymnastics night for Bella. Mindy left to take her around 650pm or just as I was finishing cleaning up the kitchen. While she was away I worked on editing and updating my blog. She wasn’t gone too long. I continued my blog work even after her return. In fact, that kept me busy until 810pm, or just ten minutes before I needed to leave to pick-up Bella.

 I thought I might take the Pilot, and even shared as much with Mindy, but once I got outside I realized that I had the Accord keys. I drove it instead. Showed up right at 830pm. There were far more girls there than usual, and most of them noticeably older than Bella. Bella was just coming off the trampoline when I walked in. She quickly gathered her things before we headed out.

Once in the car she shared that she felt invisible during practice that night. Said Emily hardly paid her any attention. She also complained a little about not participating in the January gymnastics meet. We consciously decided not to sign her up because of snow ski season. Bella knew this two months ago. Quietly, I wondered if Emily & Rusty – her gymnastics instructors – were ignoring her because of that. On our way home, Bella asked about stopping at Wendy’s. I said no, and cited having a big dinner just 90 minutes prior. Jokingly I added, besides, you’re invisible. She wasn’t pleased and pouted for the rest of the short drive home.

Of course she played up the upset card once we arrived home, heading straight upstairs to her room.  I quickly filled in Mindy on her triggers – the no to Wendy’s, and then the invisible thing. Mindy headed up to have a chat with after a few minutes passed. In the meantime, I poured myself a Jack & Coke, tapping into the big bottle Mindy got me for Xmas.

Mindy & Jacob were watching Elf, and had been since even before I left to get Bella. I joined them for the last 30-40 minutes or so. Elf’s one of those movies we never get tired of. Makes all of us laugh every time. The movie was over around 930pm. Mindy dispatched the kids to bed and said she was heading there too. Asked when I might be coming up. Just before Bella headed up, she checked the weather forecast via her Kindle Fire. Supposed to get an inch of snow Thursday night and then another inch or two on Friday. Expecting a cold weekend with highs only in the mid 20s. We plan to ski both Saturday & Sunday. That should be fun.

 I hung downstairs maybe another 5 minutes or so, but that’s it. I was in bed by 950pm. We ended up watching a little TV before I finally fell asleep. Not sure of the time.

Multiverse

That incredibly sleepy feeling that followed me to bed was still there with me when I woke near 530am. While brushing my teeth I decided not to fight it and instead, I jumped right  back in bed hoping to get a little more shut eye. I thought I might sleep as much as another hour. It felt great slipping back under the covers and closing my tired eyes.

I woke three or four times over the next 50 minutes, eventually pulling myself from bed just ahead of 630am. Though still a little tired, I felt much better. I grabbed my running clothes and tip-toed out of the room. I hit the got button on the coffee maker, glanced out back, then slipped into my exercise shoes. I then headed to the livingroom where I completed 50 sit-ups.

It was 645am when I poured some coffee. I didn’t need to wake Mindy since she was staying home with Jacob. However, she did need to be up sometime soon to help Bella along. I spent time on the PC checking headlines and the weather. I saw that Alabama won the BCS championship game shutting out LSU 21-0. The forecast called for more clear skies and above normal temps, though the high a bit lower than Monday's. Was only expected to reach the mid 40s.

Meditation and stretching were next, and both went well. I heard Mindy getting up about the time I started my stretch routine. In fact, she was downstairs pouring coffee and starting breakfast during my stretch event. It had to be about 715am. And by the time I was dressed and out the door for my run it was 720am. I wasn’t immediately sure, but thought that I might peel my run back to just three miles. That’s exactly what I ended up doing.

I found it a bit odd to be starting my run about the time I’m usually heading back inside the house. After three miles and just as I was passing Kenny’s place for home, I happened upon Mindy out walking Eiknarf in her PJs and boots. Nice look, dear! I did the rest of the walk with her.

It was close to 8am. Mindy had my eggs in the microwave. I woofed them down in a hurry then headed off to the shower. It was 807am when I was out of the shower, so I went to the railing to ask Mindy if she planned on seeing Bella on the bus. Said she would. I was just putting the finishing touches on my ready when I saw the bus come rumbling down the road. Thanks to Mindy’s help, I had myself darn near back on schedule.

I wasn’t too concerned with rushing out the door for work. Instead, I took the time to organize my gear and then chat a little while with Mindy, mostly about her friend Laura, who we saw at Grandma Lucy’s funeral on Sunday.  I’m thinking that it was 835am when I headed out the door for the office. Mindy said she planned on rearranging Bella’s room during the day. She didn’t expect Jacob up until 10am or so.

I spent the morning working on some miscellaneous stuff that my boss asked me to handle. It was actually a pretty easy day. I was able to get caught up on several fronts. At friend Darwin’s request, I sent him more information about our coming ski trip, including a breakdown of the total shared expenses and then what a share would likely cost him. Of course, I threw in a note about the individual expenses he needs to consider, too, like the cost of lift tickets and such. I got the impression that he might be on a tight budget when he later asked for the ski park names so he could investigate the cost of lift tickets.

Speaking of money, I was happy to see that the stock market was doing well and actually closed at a 5-month high. Here’s hoping for many happy returns in 2012!

I was a little surprised that Mindy hadn’t called all day. After all, she was at home with Jacob. But I figured she was deep into her projects. I ended up leaving the office just after 530pm, and gave Mindy a call once I was on the road for home. Bella answered, but when I acted as if I thought it was Mindy and just started a normal conversation, she quickly let me know that it was Bella I was talking to and quickly handed the phone to her mom.

As expected, Mindy shared how busy she’d been all day long with rearranging Bella’s bedroom. Said she washed all of our bedding too. She also shared that Jacob was feeling a whole lot better and would be returning to school on Wednesday. At the time of our call, she was busy making chicken and noodles for dinner. That sounded terrific. We ended our conversation about halfway home. I pulled in the drive near 6pm.

I did my usual stuff, like rinsing my lunch containers and then putting away my gear. Makayla came knocking at our door a couple minutes later, or just as we were about to sit for dinner. We invited her to stay, and she accepted. Mindy shared that Lindsey stopped by for gas money and asked if we could help her with choosing insurance benefits from work. We settled on Wednesday evening. Mindy would invite she and the boys for dinner.

Speaking of dinner, the chicken and noodles were as good as ever. One of my favorite winter time dishes. Jacob, Makayla, and Bella ran off to play after dinner while Mindy put the finishing touches on her room. While they did that, I managed the clean-up. We later learned that Kenny was out of town hunting and that Chrissy was home alone. We had Makayla call her momma and invite her down for some chicken and noodles.

She thanked us for the invite but declined citing the need to focus on homework and chores.

I kept talking about taking a nap but never did. Instead, I spent some time at my PC looking back through several months of blog entries from winter 2006, the winter I wrote about earlier when we got next to no snow. I wanted to validate my memory. Sure enough, we got next to zero snow fall, or at least not until darn near spring time. But what we found even more interesting were all the pictures. The kids looked so young and little. Jacob was five and Bella was 3. Jacob was mortified when he saw some of the photos I had posted of him in costume (think pirate, Indian, etc). Mindy looked impressively young, as well.

That winter also marked the first time Mindy skied. We went to MRM one Sunday and then out to Oregon two or three weeks later. She ended up with a black eye after skiing and subsequently falling face first on the Magic Mile. I guess it wasn’t so magic after all!

We all got a kick from the throw back. Just think how those pictures and memories will be perceived in another 6 years when Jacob will be 17 and Bella 15. Ouch!

Mindy insisted Jacob head up for a shower at 8pm. He was giving his mom a hard way to go but in a joking way. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop when she’d finally had enough. Lucky for him, that never happened. We planned to watch at least part of the Buckeye basketball game against Illinois, but it didn’t start until 9pm. Until then, I tuned to the History Channel 2 watching back to back episodes of The Universe.  What we’ve learned about the universe in the last decade truly amazes me. I eat the stuff up. As 9pm neared, Jacob insisted we change the channel. I found it comforting to hear Bella complain that she was getting into The Universe. That’s my girl!

We switched to the game right at 9pm. But as it turned out, tip-off didn’t happen until about 910pm. We looked rusty out of the gate but still managed to hold a slim lead. Mindy made the kids go to bed by 930pm and with less than ten minutes gone from the game. After returning from tucking Bella in, I decided to change the channel away from the game and back to The Universe. After all, watching basketball causes me stress, whereas watching The Universe relaxes me. Smart move!

Mindy headed to bed near 940pm while I stayed up. I switched the TV back to the game just to check the score. The Buckeyes were up at the half 39-34. I watched The Universe until I fell asleep. I woke near 1015pm and headed up to bed.

A Winter Amiss

I woke near 520am but then laid there for about five minutes before finally getting out of bed. It was still before 530am when I glanced out back at the star filled sky and then went and slipped into my exercise shoes. I felt pretty good after about 7.5 hours of uninterrupted sleep. I was well into my sit-ups before I realized I hadn’t hit the go button on the coffee maker. After sit-ups I headed to the kitchen to get the coffee going.

I might’ve waited about three or four minutes before engaging in push-ups. I completed 50 of them easily. Not bad for an old man. The coffee still needed a few minutes. I headed to the PC still without coffee where I played around online until it was done brewing.

The coffee was ready by 550am. I made a cup then returned to the PC where I spent an additional 10+ minutes. Next up was meditation. I spent about ten minutes doing that, and was fairly successful at silencing the incessant mind chatter. It was just after 610am and time to wake Mindy. I delivered coffee being careful as I kicked the decorative bed pillows aside making my way to her night stand. She asked how I was feeling. Good.

I didn’t visit long. I headed back downstairs where I cranked up the heat a few notches then headed back to the family room for a thorough stretch. Felt terrific. I probably went a little longer than normal but it felt so good. It was worth burning the few extra minutes.

I checked the temperature before deciding my attire. It was about 30 degrees so I opted for the full winter stuff. I was out the door by 635am where I ran the full 4.1 mile track with relative ease. I realized that we’re one of maybe five houses in the entire subdivision still burning Xmas lights. I planned to pull the power cords once back at home. For some reason that also made me think about the hose reel at the west side of the house. I couldn’t remember if I disconnected it from the bib. I knew for certain that I left the reel out. I planned to check that too, and disconnect it from the bib if it was indeed still connected.

After my run and while waiting on Mindy & Bella to corral the pug for our walk, I pulled the timer and extension cord feeding our Xmas lights. Done for another year. I then popped over the flower beds and around to the hose bib to check the hose connections. I was glad to see that I had in fact disconnected the hose reel from the spigot. By the time I was back inside, Mindy had the pug ready for a walk.

She and I walked over the bridge and to the west where she ultimately relieved herself, but not before giving a blowing grocery bag a careful once over. :) Back at the house and before digging in to breakfast, I gathered up my stuff for the Kidney Foundation. Mindy had some stuff out too. Collectively, we had three bags and an old Coleman water jug.

Felt like I accomplished a morning’s worth of chores in all of about ten minutes. Heck, my day was done. J NOT!

Mindy was out the door for work just as I was sitting down at the table for breakfast. Bella was having an egg, too only hers was the fried/dippy variety. Jacob, as you may recall, spent the night at his dad’s. It was pretty quiet, just me, Bella, and Eiknarf.  I wasn’t to the shower until 740am, or about five minutes later than usual. I planned to wear the same clothes I wore to the funeral on Sunday – all black.

I was downstairs and ready to go by 800am.Before heading out to the bus I pulled together a lunch in a hurry consisting of cheese, fruit, and banana. I also planned to eat a package of tuna that I already had in my desk at work. Bella and I headed out at 810am. She handled Eiknarf while I started the Accord. Thanks Bella! Kenny was out with the girls. That hasn’t happened in a while. Not sure where Chrissy was. Talked about the crazy weather. Expecting it to reach 50 degrees with sunshine for the next couple of days. Cold again by the weekend though. I hope that forecast sticks so we can ski. The bus pulled up near 815am. Eiknarf I headed back home.

I took care of a few last minute tasks then hit the road by 822am. It was a nice drive into the office. Looks more like spring than midwinter. Here we are on January the 9^th and so far we’ve had just a trace of snow for the season. I’m sure that could all change on a dime, but looking at the 10 day forecast doesn’t show it changing anytime soon. We might very well get through winter without any significant snow fall.

The first winter that Mindy and I were together (‘05/’06) we got one big snow fall in early December but then it didn’t snow again until February. In fact, I think we had a 6 week stretch where the daily high never went below freezing. But if memory serves, we had a cold, wet spring and didn’t get any really nice weather until late May.

I had one of the burnt out bulbs from the curio cabinet in my jacket pocket. I decided to stop at Home Depot on my way in rather than wait until my lunch break, which more often than not never happens. Heck, I drive right past the Home Depot anyway. The place is deserted that early in the AM. It took a little while to find the right bulbs – medium base. They were $3.50 each. I bought two since both appear to be burnt out. That’s all I bought. I was back in the Accord still well ahead of 9am and at the office a couple minutes later.

My goal for the work day was to have one of my monthly reports fully completed and in a PowerPoint.  I completed that goal by mid day. Talked with Mindy for a few minutes just before noon.  I believe she had her observation that morning. I had other things I needed to address, like joining two regularly scheduled calls. Both of those were in the bag by 230pm. The day was soaring by. Got a text from Darwin asking for our Oregon flight information. I sent it via email.

Didn’t leave the office until 540pm. It was nearly dark, though the sky was absolutely gorgeous on the western horizon. Called Mindy. Said Jacob tested positive for Strep. Dr Craig gave him the option of a shot or ten days of antibiotics. He opted for the antibiotics. What a wuss! Both Mindy &I agreed that we wouldn’t have given him the option. It would’ve been the shot.  Mindy said that she would be staying home with Jacob on Tuesday since he was still sporting a fever. She also shared that we’d be having rotisserie chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner. Sounded good to me.

 Arrived home near 6pm. Jacob picked on Bella all through dinner. He must’ve been feeling better. The chicken was delicious. We all love that stuff. If you haven’t ever tried one, next time you have the urge for KFC, pop in the grocery and pick-up a rotisserie chicken instead. Yum-yum!

It was Monday and a gymnastics night for Bella. Mindy planned to do the drop and asked that I do the pick-up. OK. They left while I was still dealing with dinner clean-up. I played around online a little, and once Mindy got back home we headed to the family room where Jacob and I tuned the TV to the BCS national championship pregame festivities. I dosed from the sofa in a hurry. In fact, come pick-up time, I was still effectively out. And since Mindy was staying home with Jacob on Tuesday, she opted to run after Bella after all, leaving me to my much needed slumber.

The BCS championship game kicked off at 830pm. I was awake again by then but still incredibly tired. Mindy headed to bed around 9pm and sent the kids there early too. However, she let Jacob watch a little more of the game from his room. I fell asleep again from the sofa while watching the boring game. I woke at halftime and saw a score of 9-0 LSU. I was still half asleep and thought nothing of it. I headed up for bed, my body almost numb from being so sleepy. Good night moon!

Lucy's in the Sky With Diamonds

It was Sunday morning and I wasn’t out of bed again until almost 8am. And that was after drinking only two beers at dinner the evening before. I must’ve been really tired. Mindy & Eiknarf remained sleeping while I headed downstairs to get my day started. I put on a pot of coffee then headed to my PC.

That familiar beep from the coffee maker was music to my ears. There was only one problem. Once again, the carafe only filled about halfway and the rest was stuck in the filter and leaking out over the edge of the carafe making a big mess. This is happening more frequently, and at the time I wasn’t entirely sure why.

On closer inspection, it appears that the spring loaded mechanism that allows the freshly brewed coffee to pass from the filter to the carafe was clogged with small coffee grounds. There are small holes around this button-like spring that allows the coffee’s passage. In the past I’ve only rinsed it clear. This time I decided to use a sewing needle to clear each of the 7 or 8 tiny holes. Seemed like a good idea to me.

To minimize any mess, I did it over the sink. And wouldn’t you know it, I dropped the sewing needle into the sink where it rolled round and round until it eventually fell into the disposal. Great! Now I had a sewing needle stuck down in the garbage disposal. Thinking, Thinking. I tried reaching my hand in there to fetch it, albeit carefully, but couldn’t feel it. I decided to go to the garage looking for those two really strong cylindrical magnets I found in the sofa a few weeks back. I grabbed some needle nose pliers, too.

My hope was that, one, the needle was made of steel and would therefore be attracted to the magnet. I tried it first on another needle to verify. It worked. Secondly, I hoped that by dangling the strong magnet in the disposal that it would leap to it. On my second plunge it worked. Yes! I carried on with my original plan of piercing the spring loaded mechanism clean, only this time with the stopper in the sink drain. I then rinsed it with scolding hot water. My hope was that all was now good.

It occurred to me that this only seems to happen when we use Starbucks coffee, which for some reason is often an extra fine ground, almost like a powder. I think some of the finest grounds are slipping through the filter and clogging the spring.

The crisis took about 15 minutes to resolve, and I still hadn’t any coffee in my belly. I added more water reusing the same grounds from earlier. It worked well, and the coffee was tasty. Voila!

Back at my PC, I was most curious to see the final score of the Saints/Lions game. As expected, the Saints won easily. I’m thinking that Mindy was up a little bit after 930am. She wasn’t up too long before I headed off on my Sunday run. Meanwhile, it was another sunny day with an expected high in the 40s. The biggest difference between this morning and Saturday was that the temperature dipped well below freezing over night and was still only about 30 when I first headed out.

I was hoping to take down the Xmas lights before we needed to ready for the funeral but unfortunately, our north facing roof was covered in a thick coat of frost. And because it gets no sun in the winter months, it would almost certainly remain that way until late in the day. I wouldn’t be taking any chances crawling out on the roof.

Last year our roof was capped with snow all winter and I didn’t get the lights down until mid March. I hope to get them down sooner this year, but at the same time, I am unwilling to risk life and limb on a slippery roof.

I ran the usual three miles and was back at home around 1045am. By then, Mindy was in the shower getting ready for the funeral. She said she wanted to leave the house at 1215pm. For the time being, work was quiet. For that I was grateful.

I got in the shower around 1130pm, or soon after Mindy was finished. We agreed to let Lindsey come over to the house and do her laundry while we were away. She arrived while I was upstairs getting ready. I wore all black, including my new black cashmere sweater. Felt nice!

We left the house near 1215pm just as we planned. Told Lindsey we’d be home around 3pm. By then, we figured, her laundry would be done, so Mindy could start on ours. We stopped at the Enclave to pick-up the kids from Jim’s place first. Mindy sent their funeral attire with them on Friday. However, we weren't exactly expecting to find them funeral ready, so I made sure that Mindy brought along a grooming kit to spruce them up before leaving Jim’s. Mindy also agreed to transport the kids’ dead bunny back to our place for a proper burial. I only asked that it be wrapped in an airtight bag so not to stink up the Pilot. After all, it had bee n dead now for 2+ days.

Jim had the kids dressed appropriately, but Mindy still needed to contend with Bella’s long locks. I’m guessing we were inside Jim’s place for about five minutes. Jacob hadn’t been feeling well since Saturday but said he was finely feeling a little better Sunday. We loaded their overnight stuff along with the dead bunny in the back of the Pilot and headed up Sawmill to the Rutherford funeral home on Powell Rd. Mindy & I were last there for Mark Adam’s funeral 3 or 4 years ago.

We arrived a few minutes after 1pm. Mindy had mentioned that Lucy donated her body to OSU, but what I didn’t realize was that she wouldn’t be at the wake. Instead, there were only poster boards with photos along with a handful of floral arrangements. I never met Lucy but heard that she was quite a woman. I expressed my condolences to the family members, including Grandma Sharon as well as her daughter Laura (one of Mindy’s bff’s). There weren’t many, if any, tears. Instead, most expressed joy in her memories.

I recognized lots of faces, likely from years on the Westside. However, aside from Dick & Sharon and the two girls, I only knew one other person by name. That turned out being a girl, Lisa Lust-Rector, I worked with for years at CompuServe. I later learned that she married one of Grandma Sharon’s sisters’ sons.

The first hour was an open house and the second an actual funeral service. Probably the most enjoyable funeral I’ve ever attended. For one, she actually knew both speaking pastors well. In fact, one, Mr Davis, was her life long neighbor there in Powell. He was able to give a vivid personal account of her life and memories. But the lion’s share of the ceremony was friends and family stepping to the mike to share their memories and stories. Some of them generated tears while others some laughs. I was genuinely inspired by the number of lives she touched in a positive way.

A common theme in every account of Lucy’s life was her service to others and her unique ability to make those around her feel special. In fact, reminded me much of my Grandma Wright. How will you be remembered? That thought crossed my mind countless times. I’m sure it did in others as well.

The service lasted well past 3pm. We said our goodbyes then headed for home. Agreed that we’d order Minelli’s pizza for dinner, and in all likelihood sharing our dinner table with Lindsey and the boys. The drive home made me really tired. And by the time we pulled up at the house I was ready for only one thing …a nap.

Lindsey and the boys were still there. We could hear Lindsey giving Rocky an earful immediately in the door. I think they were playing video games. I quickly put and end to that, instead, tuning our TV to the NFL playoffs. Lindsey had one more load in the dryer. She asked if we’d mind keeping an eye on the boys while she went tanning. I let Mindy decide. She didn’t care. I got Jacob a shovel and he and the others headed out to bury the rabbit. I wanted a nap, but needed to check in with work. I forgot that I turned off my blackberry at the pastors prompting. Crap! Sure enough, I was beckoned for help just about the time the service would’ve started. I had to play catch-up via my laptop. Turned out not being that big of an issue.

Mindy headed out to assist in the burial while I worked. They were outback for about ten minutes tops. Bella came in bawling first. She was very sad about her dead bunny. Mindy ordered pizzas shortly after everyone was back inside. She ordered two large pizzas. One with pepperoni and the other with pepperoni, sausage, and hot pepper rings. She ordered Jacob a chicken sandwich with onion rings.

She went to pick-up the pies while I hung with the kids and kept an eye on the football game. I threw my running clothes in the washer too. I’m thinking that we were eating pizza by 445pm, or just after the start of the 2^nd playoff game – Pittsburgh and Denver.

Lindsey got back from tanning just as we were wrapping up dinner and consolidating the leftovers to one pizza box. She didn’t want any. She and the boys stuck around to 530pm or so, but not much later. And soon after Lindsey and the boys left, Mindy readied for a trip to the grocery store and the recycling bin.

I’m betting it was 6pm when Mindy left for the store. She wasn’t gone but 5-10 minutes when Lindsey came rushing back in, this time with a dress she wanted to give to Mindy. This she apparently won at work. It was an attractive dress, a size 4. I found it interesting she wanted to give it to Mindy in lieu of her mother. Of course Kelly probably couldn’t fit in a size 8, let alone a size 4 these days. She left the dress and headed back home.

Bella had been down at Makayla’s but was home by 645pm. She asked numerous times when Mindy would be home. She was very snuggly/needy. I spent quite a bit of time with her. Jacob, meanwhile, was back on the sofa citing not feeling well again. Mindy took his temperature a little earlier and it was normal. She took it again when she got home and learned that it was 101.1. After unloading the groceries, she started making plans for him to stay home the following day. She asked Jimaken to stay home this time. He agreed and opted to come get him that night rather than in the morning. That was awfully nice of him. He planned to take him in to see Dr Craig on Monday too.

We watched the surprising end of the Bronco/Steelers game. The Broncos won in overtime on the very first play. We watched 60 minutes next. By its conclusion, it was already near 9pm. Mindy and Bella stayed up until 915pm. I stayed up later knowing full well that I couldn’t fall asleep at 930pm. However, I started to dose from the sofa near 10pm and ended up heading to bed still before 10pm. Good night full moon!

Xmas Tree Down, Spring Ski & CBC

I slept late, not waking until 820am after more than 8 hours of sleep. Honestly, I was still a little tired. I’m sure the five beers the night before were the main culprit. Definitely could’ve slept even longer but the fact that I was on-call helped motivate me out of bed.

I started some coffee still not sure whether I'd be hungover or good to go. But by the time I had the coffee going I knew that I was going to be OK. I wisely took three Advil before going to bed. I’m sure that helped. I logged onto my laptop where I was immediately greeted by an email requesting my involvement in an issue abroad. And not ten minutes passed before the customer called me directly.

Long story short, I ended up spending the first two hours of my morning focusing on the work issue. I still enjoyed some coffee and checked the weather. I was disappointed to see that our Saturday forecaste had been adjusted upward. No longer was the high in Bellefontaine only expected to hit 41 degrees. It was now expected to reach 47 degrees under brilliant sunshine. It was supposed be 50 degrees here at home. Thankfully, Mindy got up and walked Eiknarf so I could focus my attention on work. But I’m thinking that wasn’t until about 945am.

Once I had the work issue well on its way to resolution, Eiknarf and I headed out on the deck and then out into the back yard like we often do spring and/or summer mornings. It was quite lovely, and anything but wintry. Even the birds were chirping. In fact, I noticed several trees about the neighborhood with swollen buds, and it’s only the first week of January. Eiknarf was way excited to get to run around the yard. We played fetch with a stick eventually making our way out by the tree house. The grass is still really green as well.

Mindy came out on the deck for a while too. There was still a little morning nip in the air, but it definitely didn’t feel like winter. At the time we didn’t think we’d be going skiing at MRM, and even if we did, it wouldn’t be until much later. It was supposed to get down to 25 over night, so once the sun went down I figured the snow would firm up. According to their web site they had a 30” base and 90% of their terrain open after making snow all week. And the webcams confirmed that most trails were opened.

Mindy decided to spend the late morning taking down our Xmas tree while I worked and then went on a run. I’m thinking it was 1040am before I left for my run. I skipped ear covers and gloves opting instead for just a ball cap. It was really quite nice. I planned to run only three miles, much like most other Saturday’s. I ran into Pat Shultz just after the 2 mile marker. He was out on his daily walk. We stopped and talked for a good 10-15 minutes, catching up further after our phone conversation last Thursday.

As I finished the last mile I wondered if Mindy would think I'd gotten lost. She was still busy with the tree, and hadn’t given any thought to my whereabouts. I prepared a ham, cheese, and spinach omelet, and then made mimosa’s using champagne we opened on Xmas eve. Still bubbly, but we could tell it had lost some of its fizz.

Mindy reported having a buzz after less than half a glass. I helped box the tree once all the ornaments were off. We then took it to the basement. While down there, we talked about the basement finishing project and what still needs to go. Hope to get started on that project soon. But realistically, I’m not planning to have it done until next fall. That way I’m not stressing over it.

Texted Bob I. to see if he was still heading up to MRM. He responded that he had just arrived. I asked that he let us know how the snow was. It was one thing to read about the ski conditions on their website, while still another to get an opinion from a close friend. I expected it to be a little while before he responded and it was. In fact, Kenny called around 1230pm to see if we were heading up. Said they had the vehicle loaded and were ready to go. I asked that he text us letting us know the conditions, and then said we might head up around 3pm. As soon as I hung up, Bob texted back that it wasn’t too bad, but a little slushy.

Work stabilized and we had our tree down. I suggested we go ahead and head up. What the heck. The only thing I should’ve done that I didn’t was take the outside Xmas lights down. We weren’t in any hurry. Again, I was happy with the idea of getting there around 3pm. We got ready to go at a fairly slow pace. Mindy asked that I run the vacuum cleaner, which I did. I also mopped the tile floor. I had it looking good while Mindy showered.

I checked a barrage of texts that came in on Mindy’s phone. They were from Connie, Darwin’s wife, asking about our Oregon ski trip. I had offered that he could join us the night before. He must’ve said something to her about it. She was thinking of buying him an airline ticket for his birthday as a surprise. She wanted to know, one, if it was really OK if he went along, and then,  if it was OK, some more of the details. I figured I’d let Mindy respond. At the time, I wasn’t sure if she knew I had offered him to join us.

I organized our miscellaneous ski gear by the front door and placed our skis by the overhead garage door. I packed a cooler with drinks and light snacks, too. It was almost 130pm when I headed up for a shower, or just about the time Mindy was finishing hers. I shared the text from Connie. Mindy was fine with Darwin joining us, and was hoping that Connie might want to go to. We joked about her being the only woman there with four, now maybe five guys. Mindy really wants Mary Ann to go, someone that she enjoys spending time with that doesn’t suck her energy away.

While I showered, Mindy loaded all of our gear into the Pilot. We did a good job working together, and were ready to go by 145pm. I checked my laptop, then logged off and loaded it for the go as well. We laughed when a couple motorcycles went buzzing by just before we backed out the drive. It was that nice of a day. How sad is that? Of course last March when we left for a last minute HV trip it was 70 degrees and sunny here at home. That was really odd.

We made good time barreling up 270 north and then west on route 33 to Bellefontaine. As expected, the temperature dropped about 4 degrees by the time we arrived at 230pm. You can always count on it being a few degrees cooler up there. I believe it was 42 degrees.

We cruised the lot for a few minutes hoping to find an up-close spot recently vacated. While doing so, we spotted the neighbors just walking up to the slopes. Hmm? We figured they would’ve been on the slopes. We ended up parking out in no man’s land, but it wasn’t too big a deal.

They’ve opened up several new windows so getting lift ticket isn’t a problem at all. We were at the base of Four Star a couple minutes later, and there we circled up with the MRM regulars: Bob & Mary Ann, Scott, Tina & Bob2. Didn’t see the neighbors, but Bob apparently did. Said they headed over to Sundowner.

We headed up Four Star with the peeps. The main runs looked a little sloppy and cut up, but the far east side of the main hill was groomed smooth apparently for some racing that had taken place earlier. We took the roller run initially, the last run I made last year, and the one where I racked my shoulder. I ran into a couple work peeps (sales guys) at the top of the hill. They were both in their bright and colorful ski outfits. And truth be told, they looked like they belonged in Aspen, not at MRM. J We chatted briefly, with me introducing them to Bob I. Not sure where Mindy was at the time.

We probably did three runs before those that had been there already wanted to head in for a break while Mindy and I planned to do a few more runs. Tina skied a couple runs with us while her husband headed in with the others. And while we met Tina last January, we really hadn’t talked that much prior. We got to know her pretty well in a short period of time (our rides up the lift). She’s quite chatty, and very animated.

Mindy and I did three or four more runs before heading in. During that time, they opened that run used for racing earlier. We skied it a few more times. Compared to most of the other runs, it was smooth and fast. I really liked it.

We headed in for a break around 415pm. The Buckeye basketball game was going on and the Bengals playoff game was about to start. Everybody was in, including our neighbors. Mindy went to get she and I some sustenance. While we’d both eaten an omelet earlier, we were super hungry. She returned with ravioli, which was good, but probably not something I would’ve picked. I was even more surprised that she thought to get a thing of hot sauce to pour over it. Nice!

Scott & the Bob’s fetched a couple pitchers of beer, both Yeungling, but one regular lager and the other Black & Tan. The Black & Tan is pretty good. We headed back out to slay more snow around 5pm. Kenny & Chrissy wanted to head back to the Sundowner or Momentum, but their girls wanted to ski the blacks with us. They stayed and skied with us. Lillian in particular, loves skiing with Mindy. 

As often happens, our group got separated soon after the break. Mindy really wanted to ski with Mary Ann. As darkness set in, I went to the Pilot to get our clear goggles and Mindy’s gator. But as luck would have it, I forgot the gator. Yikes! While I did that, Mindy waited by the ski check watching my skis. There, Mindy ran into Darwin’s wife, Connie. She was there with her two young boys while Darwin was inside signing up his older  son for the big air competition. After a few runs, I could tell that Mindy was frustrated that she didn’t get to ski much Mary Ann much. Instead, she was skiing with Makayla and Lillian. :)  And later, when she learned that Bob & Mary Ann were about to leave, she was really bummed. We did one more run together before they left for home. They had been there since 1130am. By then Kenny was back over on the blacks. Chrissy was inside the lodge nursing a sore ankle.

We didn’t plan to stay that late either. Mindy suggested we do a few more runs and then head home which would leave us enough time to have dinner at CBC. I was happy about that. That would’ve been my choice too. We skied a few runs with Kenny and the girls then headed for the car around 645pm. We got out of our ski boots and pants then headed in the lodge to say goodbye to Chrissy and get our cooler. We were on the road for home by 7pm.

We arrived home near 745pm just as Mindy predicted we would. We thought about leaving our skis gear in the Pilot but I didn’t like the sound of that. It wouldn’t take that long. I carried all the stuff to the garage and even dried and stowed our skis on the rack. Mindy carried our boots and bags to the basement. She took Eiknarf on a quick walk then we both changed out of our ski attire into casual stuff. We left for CBC near 815pm. We both felt bad leaving Eiknarf home again, but at least she got out for a break.

Arrived at CBC by 825pm, or five minutes sooner than we thought. They had a pretty good crowd on hand, but we still managed to find an up close parking spot that was just recently vacated. We grabbed two of several open stools along the bar, where Jamie was working. She quickly reviewed the beer options. No more Cousin Eddie, but they did have a new Imperial Stout on tap, a beer that is quite rare at CBC. I opted for one of those.  I was very surprised that Mindy went with a winter warmer in lieu of the stout. Said she didn’t care for it. To my palette, it was quite good, though missing any hint of chocolate, which I know Mindy really likes. She said it had a bourbon barrel flavor, which she absolutely arbhors.

We ordered some food as I finished my stout. Mindy went with the special, which was some sort of fish and was supposed to come with green beans. I ordered the soup of the day, a crayfish and andouille sausage chowder, which sounded awesome. I ordered their quesadillas as well. However, a couple minutes later, they brought me something that looked more like tomato bisque with crumbled blue cheese. I asked if that was the chowder. She said not. And then after some deliberation they determined that she misquoted the soup of the day.  I opted for their French onion soup instead. There was another mis-step too. They didn’t bring green beans with Mindy’s special. Definitely out of character for CBC. What we had was good, however. Admitting their mistake, they quickly brought her some separately. My food was delicious. I enjoyed my quesadilla with a Bodhi IPA.

We finished our dinner and beers then had Jamie bring us a carryout container for the leftovers. Mindy paid the tab. I’m thinking that it was near 1015pm when we left for home. I drove. We weren’t up too long at all. In fact, Mindy was already in bed while I checked in with work. Things were thankfully quiet. Eiknarf was excited to have us home and to be sleeping once again in our bed. Under a lovely clear sky, I bid the moon a good night!

And Old Pal, the White King, and Cousn Eddie at the Smoke House.

It was Friday and I was up on time and very eager to put the last day of the work week behind me. To that end, I had to complete calisthenics first. I did 50 sit-ups and then 50 push-ups. It was clear over head and the day’s high expected to come close to 50 degrees. I’d say like early spring, but I’m guessing that it’ll be crazy cold come early spring. J

Enjoyed coffee at the PC and did my best to break away by 6am so not to disrupt the usual morning flow. I was pretty good at managing my time completing meditation before it was time to deliver Mindy’s coffee. I was a tad aggravated with having to navigate a maze of show pillows and Mindy’s slippers lying on the floor on her side of the bed. And then, once I got to the night stand, I had to make sure there was enough room for the coffee cup. Too much stuff!

Predictably, she asked that I crank up the heat a little. Sure dear!  I headed back downstairs to stretch and then ready for my run. And I am very happy to report that my flexibility hasn’t been this good in years, and my neck, back, and shoulder has been almost nonexistent since cutting back my push-ups. Listen to your body.

It was 40 degrees so I thought about backing down my running attire a little. In the end, however, I stayed with the tried and true winter gear but headed out with the fleece partially unzipped. I ran the full 4.1 miles remaining fairly comfortable throughout.

Mindy helped corral Eiknarf for our morning walk. She and I walked to the west to the next corner and back. She took care of business on the walk back. Mindy had scrambled eggs ready and waiting and was quickly out the door and off to work soon after return.

I was off to the shower around 735am and very happy to dress in blue jeans. I was back downstairs with plenty of time to prep a lunch. I took a salad, cheese, and fruit. There weren’t any bananas left. L

The kids knew that they’d be going to their dad’s place for the weekend, and they also knew that we’d be picking them up around 1230pm Sunday afternoon to make it to a funeral in Powell for Grandma Sharon’s mom. Both complained that Jimaken was getting cheated out of time. This coming from the girl that cries almost every time about having to spend the weekend at her dad’s. I tried to reason with them by asking what they thought was more important, going to the funeral, or spending one more hour with their dad. It was quickly clear that I wasn’t getting through. I also told the kids that Mindy & I would be skiing on Saturday. I probably shouldn’t have. Bella wasn’t pleased to learn that either.

We headed for the bus stop at 810am as usual. I kidded Makayla about playing sick the day before. Chrissy shared that she took her to school about ten minutes later. Oh boy! Chrissy shared that they would likely be skiing Saturday, too, though she had to get her nails done first. A girl’s gotta have her priorities! Meanwhile, I joked about driving the BM’er in to the office. If it would’ve been a tad warmer and if I didn’t have to jockey the cars around I would’ve. It was sunny and expected to hit 50 degrees.

I left for work at 825am arriving around 840am. It was a pretty easy day all things considered. And old peer from my NOC days, Ken, stopped up to chat mid morning. He was excited to talk about his new car. I shared my used Hyundai story. Around 1130am my boss popped in and asked if we wanted to join him for lunch at the new Dublin Gyro Shoppe. Keeping in my mind that I say no so often, I agreed to go along. Ken did too. He wanted to leave in five minutes. We met in the lobby.

My new peer, Lance, went along too. There weren’t many folks in line when we got there but shortly after we got our food the place got crowded in a hurry. Now we know why he wanted to head to lunch so early. To beat the rush! I ordered the two mini-gyros and drink combo. That was plenty.

We were back to the office even before 1230pm. I spent the remainder of the afternoon working on my monthly reports. The time went faster than I thought it might. I really wanted to run to Home Depot to get replacement bulbs for Mindy’s curio cabinet but never did. Mindy sent a text around 3pm asking if she should agree to pick-up the boys for Lindsey, who apparently asked both of us. I hadn’t seen her text until I read Mindy’s. We agreed to do it. This should be one of the last times we’ll need to do it since Lindsey’s hours are changing on Monday. We still planned to go to Barley’s. We’d just have to wait until Lindsey got off work, which would be about the time we typically head out anyway – 730pm.

I didn’t leave for home until about 515pm. I was on-call for the weekend but wasn’t too worried about it. In fact, I felt good knowing it would be my last on-call until the first week of March thanks to some swapping. I still hoped to get in a little skiing on Saturday if the weather head out. I’d be taking my laptop just in case. The weather forecast for Saturday at mad River was calling for clear skies and a high of 41. And they made as much as two feet of snow earlier in the week when we had three days of winter cold.

Our kids were already off to their dad’s when I got home. Rocky & Landon were busy playing Wii. Rocky was wound up and talking a mile a minute. Near 6pm they asked for dinner. Rocky wanted leftover tortellini & Landon wanted leftover pork roast. As usual, Rocky couldn’t finish, but Landon wanted more. I have Landon a 2^nd helping. He then asked if he could take some home. That made me laugh. How many four year olds ask to take pork roast home?

I called David Water’s at the number he sent in his email hoping to arrange meeting for dinner at Barley’s. He answered right away, but shared that he didn’t come into town after all. Said the plans changed last minute but that they’d likely be in CMH sometime in February and wondered if we could do it then. Absolutely.

Bella called apparently hysterical sharing that their new bunny, Snowflake had died. I guess they came home from dinner to find it dead in the cage. Mindy did a good job consoling her.

Lindsey arrived to pick-up the boys somewhere near 715pm. Mindy and I had already taken the time individually to brush up so we could leave right after them. They didn’t hang out too long. We did ask if she planned on starting Rocky on his new ADHD meds this weekend, and then asked who’d be watching them on Saturday, her last weekend work day. Said she would start him on the meds Saturday night and that their dad would watch them on Saturday. Mindy and I heard Landon say that he wouldn’t get out of bed. He hates going to his dad’s place. Honestly, the sooner he no longer has to have that interaction the better. We don’t think he gets any attention there at all. And after they left I told Mindy that we can only hope that’s all it is. You just never know.

We left for Barley’s around 730pm. Felt good to be heading out, just Mindy & I. Mindy probably needed the time out more so than I. She’d also invited all of our peeps and said that four or five responded favorably.

As we’ve come to expect, the parking lot was packed and spilled over into the adjacent lots. We got lucky, however, and got a spot recently vacated in the main lot. Inside, we encountered Jack & Leslie right away. They’re in about once a month, and a lot a fun. While chatting with Jack & Leslie, I spotted Tom C. at the very end of the bar near some other peeps. I walked over to say hello. When asked, I ordered a Centennial. Tom C. was in with his nephew, who we later learned has had a troubled youth and Tom was helping him out. I think he was 22 or 23.

Mindy’s pal Phyllis showed about 30 minutes later, or about the same time as Darwin. It’s rare for Darwin to show up so early, me still sipping on my first beer.  An hour or so later, brother Tommy showed up. Didn’t think he was coming. We also ran into Lori, neighbor Pat’s former sister-in-law. She introduced us to her new fiancé, Bill. Lori seems really happy these days.

Grandpa Tom & Steve were in late. Grandpa Tom and I chatted about Xmas and more precisely, the commercialism that goes along with it. He shared that he doesn’t play the gift exchange game any longer. Finds it ridiculous, though he does put money into each of his grand kids’ college funds at Xmas.

I was elated to find that Barley’s still has a keg of CBC’s Cousin Eddie. But being an IPA veteran, I knew that one needs to work their way towards such a big beer. I also noticed that they have White Rajah on the tower now too. What? Was it Xmas? I felt blessed by the beer gods. So, with that in mind, I ordered a White Rajah as my 2^nd beer, and then a Cousin Eddie next.  We stayed until 1030pm or so, and over the course of our 3 hour visit, I drank a total of five beers, the last three all being Cousin Eddie’s. I was feeling great.

Mindy & I headed for home after I picked up the tab. I never did order any food, but ate some of the chicken off of Mindy’s salad. That was good enough for me. At home, we quickly readied for bed and headed there still just ahead of 11pm. Eiknarf was more than excited to get to sleep with us.

Cold Won't Stick

I forced myself back asleep after waking near 4am and feeling completely rested,. I'll bet I woke three or four more times before getting up for good.  However, when I was finally  up for good, I had over slept by about ten minutes. Oh boy!

I quickly brushed my teeth and gathered my running attire. I was downstairs by 545am and engaged in sit-ups. I glanced out back after sit-ups seeing clear skies and plenty of stars. Yeah! I checked the temperature while enjoying coffee. It was 27 degrees but with the promise of the low 40’s by the days end. Expecting sunshine and the low 50’s on Friday. The cold just won’t stick.

It was after 6am in a hurry. I somewhat hurriedly read the Daily OM then got on with the rest of my morning, delivering Mindy’s coffee before doing a meditation. Meditation went well, but I kept it brief – only 8 minutes. Stretching went well too. I was dressing for my run by 630am.

With the current temp still well below freezing, I dressed in full winter garb. I was out the door around 635am. I ran the full 4.1 miles easily. Actually, it was pretty daggone nice out.

Mindy had Bella bring down the pug while I started the Pilot. And while it was still cold, it was far warmer than it was the two days prior. In kind, Eiknarf took a much more lackadaisical approach to our walk. I didn’t mind as long as she took care of her business, which she did.

Back in the house, Mindy had my eggs waiting in the microwave. She was already heading out the door. 730am was upon us fast. I fed Eiknarf some eggs then ran off to the shower. I was back downstairs ready to go by 758am. I spent the next few minutes prepping a light lunch consisting of the salad, cheese, fruit medley, and a banana. Actually, Mindy made the salad.

The kids were downstairs and ready to head out the door by 809am. I asked Bella to take Eiknarf so I could easily start and warm the Accord. She did so willingly. We met Chrissy and the girls at the bus stop. Chrissy shared that Jake was staying home ill. A few minutes later, and right when the bus pulled up, Makayla told her momma that she didn’t feel well, and then wouldn’t board the bus. Said she was dizzy. The bus went on without her. I carried her two book bags back to the house while Chrissy carried Makayla. I offered that if she started feeling better within the next five minutes that I could run her to school. Eiknarf and I headed back home where I made last minute preparations.

I left the house at 822am. It was a lovely drive into the office. I listened to XM clean comedy during my drive in. I parked in the main lot but still fairly close. We had a 9am staff meeting so I moved swiftly to get situated and organized. I was the 2^nd team member to the conference room. My boss joked as if this was my first day back from Xmas break. It was the first time I'd seen him but not my first day back. Perhaps he didn’t realize that I worked off site the day before. I didn’t bother justifying/clarifying.

The meeting went smoothly. No real surprises. Reviewed a couple policy changes and a few 2012 goals/targets. Probably lasted 30 minutes. A couple of us stuck around for a few extra minutes to chat after.

As for the rest of my work day, I planned on reviewing lots of trouble tickets for my monthly report. I had upwards of 25 trouble tickets I needed to read beginning to end. I wasn’t looking forward to it at all. I’m guessing I started around 10am and pretty much read & summarized trouble tickets for the rest of my day. I had to get up and walk around just to get the blood flowing in my legs.

Midday sometime, I called Pat Shultz having not seen or spoken with him for quite a while. We missed not spending New Year’s Eve with them. He was at his daughter’s place doing some work when I called. Said all was good. We talked about his son Max who works as a temp for one of my customers. Said he’s still there. Good. Asked what they did for new Year’s, or if they went back to Manhattan. Nope, went to another friend’s place. We talked for 5-10 minutes, agreeing to get together soon. Asked that he give Lisa our best.

I could hardly see straight after all the reading, and my mind was mush. I managed to plow through it all, choosing not to let it carry over into my Friday. Got to chatting with a peer at day’s end and the next time I looked at the clock it was 545pm. Mindy called to measure my arrival time. She was disappointed to learn that I hadn’t yet left the office. Said she picked up the boys and that dinner was ready.

I left the office near 550pm and made decent time getting home despite a huge traffic snarl on I-270. Traffic was either stopped or at a crawl in both directions a half hour earlier, but as I approached on the ramp it looked like the biggest slowdown was heading north. I could've bailed last second and taken the back through Mill Run and then south on Old Dublin Rd. but I opted for I-270 south, and it turned out fine. Mindy called again as I neared the intersection of Trabue and Wilson. She was pleased to learn that I was only a minute or two from home. I pulled in the drive way at 610pm.

The kids were being a little rowdier than usual, especially Rocky, who really fired up, a sure sign he isn’t yet taking his new meds. He was talking a million miles an hour and bouncing off the walls. Both he and Jacob were being PITAs. Mindy was busy serving up dinner when I complimented her brand new hair cut. Immediately after, Jacob took my compliment and made some rude statement. Add to that, all the others were complaining about their food. Mindy was soon frustrated and took her dinner plate into the dining room to eat alone. I found it somewhat amusing. Bella didn’t like it at all and tried to get up and join. I wouldn’t permit it. Nope!

Jacob & Rocky continued their negative banter all through dinner. And not one of the kids ate well, not even Landon who generally puts it away. He was the only one not having tortellini. Instead, he was having a leftover burger from the night before. He barely touched it, though.

All the kids were eventually excused from the dinner table still with lots of food on their plates. Mindy returned just as I was beginning the arduous clean-up process. And a bit later she shared that she didn’t appreciate the negative comment about her hair cut. What? Really? She clarified by saying that my compliment wasn’t genuine. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and could only muster a laugh. Howin' the heck do I defend that? The answer? You don’t. I opted to simply let it ride.

I forgot to mention that I received an email from longtime friend David Waters sharing that he’d be in town over the weekend and wanted to hook up. I realize now as I am writing this that I forgot to reply to his email. I’ll need to call the number he provided once I am home from work Friday.

Lindsey arrived to pick-up the boys close to 7pm. She received some really good news this week at work. Beginning Monday, her schedule will change from MTTrFSa 1030am-730pm to M-F 730am to 430pm. Add to that, they've decided not to send her back to Sawmill Rd branch anytime soon. Instead, they're leaving her and her team at the Westbelt location, which is only a mile or so from her apartment. Those two things are big.

After the boys left, Mindy relaxed in the recliner. And while she reclined with the pug, I laid flat on my back on the living room floor. Felt great. Bella headed down to play with Makayla at 745pm. Mindy told her to be home by 830pm.  I'll bet it wasn't even 815pm when Mindy decided to head for bed. That's the early!

Just after 830pm she sent Jacob down to tell me to call down to Chrissy's and request Bella's return. Just as I was making my way to my cell phone, Bella entered from the deck. It was close to 845pm. She quickly readied for bed, but was watching TV from her room just like Jacob. I tucked in the kids then headed to bed at 930pm, which is early for me. Mindy was already half asleep. I laid there for a few minutes until it was obvious I wasn't ready to sleep. I got up after about ten minutes and headed down to the family room where I turned on the TV to watch an episode of How It's Made. I might've seen five minutes of programming before dosing off. I woke and headed to bed for good near 1015pm. Clear night and 3/4 moon.

No Quadrantids For Me :(

I woke a couple times through the night and once to pee, but not for good until 525am. But that’s not too unusual at all. It was Wednesday and a sit-up/push-up day, so after a quick glance out back and then slipping into my exercise shoes I completed both. The coffee was ready around 545am, and I enjoyed a cup in front of the PC.  I checked the Sugar Bowl results first, seeing that Michigan won their game against Virginia Tech.

I checked the weather next. It was a chilly 17 degrees under completely cloudy skies. So much for viewing the Quadrantid meteor showers.  I played around on the PC until just before 6am when I broke away to meditate. The last thing I read was the Daily OM, a piece on our connectedness to the natural world.

I probably spent a solid a ten minutes in meditation. Now close to 610am, it was time to head upstairs and wake Mindy and officially put her Xmas break to an end. Predictably, she thanked me for the coffee and asked that I turn up the heat. I headed back downstairs to stretch and then ready for a run.

Stretching went well. I finished up around 625am and quickly changed into my running uniform. I wore the same stuff as the day before and headed out the door around 631am. Mindy sewed the hole in my favorite old running gloves the day before giving them new life. I have two other pair, one I’ve worn only three or four times and the other pair not at all.  But I’ve gotten used to this old thin pair. They’re ideal.

The running tights I wore are the thinnest of the three pair I own, but they’re also the newest and in the best condition. I could feel a slight chill on my legs, but that usually goes away after a ½ mile or so.  Otherwise, I was completely comfortable. There was a slight breeze blowing in from seemingly two or three different directions. But it was nowhere near as windy as it was on Monday and Tuesday. I ran the full 4.1 miles without any problems.

At home, Mindy was in the kitchen and donning her kitchen apron. I already had the dog leash waiting by the door. I just needed the dog. Mindy had her keys lying there too. I started her Pilot while waiting for Eiknarf. After a few seconds of rubs, I headed out the door with the dog. We walked to the west and for only about three minutes. After she peed she was quick to turn back towards home. Doesn’t like the cold, especially first thing out of bed.

Mindy had breakfast ready for the kids and I. Bella, Eiknarf, and I were having eggs. Jacob had yogurt. Mindy reminded the kids to come home as normal. She left a few minutes early. I finished up my breakfast, served Eiknarf hers, then headed up for a shower. I don’t do it very often, but I decided to wear the same clothes I wore on Tuesday. Of course I did change underwear. I was working off site at one of my customer’s locations so no one would be the wiser. I wore khakis, a black t-shirt, and a black v-neck cotton sweater. I wore a pair of brown casual dress shoes that I haven’t worn in at least 5 years. They felt heavy and stiff, but looked good with my slacks.

I had plenty of time to prep a lunch after getting downstairs by 753am. I took a few minutes to pay my credit card bills online too. Of course I paid them in full, just as I always do.

It was time to head out to the bus stop in a jiffy.  I reminded the kids to wear a hat and gloves. Both said they misplaced their gloves. Well, actually, Bella tried giving me some song and dance about stowing them in the hallway closet on the upper shelf. What? They weren’t there.  I showed her as much. She just didn’t want to admit that she misplaced them like she does a lot of her things. Jacob admitted leaving his on the bus the day before. I wasn’t pleased with either of them.

As Jacob boarded the bus I reminded him to look for his gloves. Chrissy and I chatted briefly about her course load this quarter: Biology, Anatomy, and Algebra. Said she has to write 7 three-page papers this quarter in Anatomy. I laughed. A three-page paper is nothing. I encouraged her, telling her that it will get easier as she gets in a routine. Three classes is a bit much, though.

Eiknarf and I headed back home but not before I allowed her a little more time to relieve herself. She pooped before we headed in. I had the Accord warming for the last 5-10 minutes. It was toasty warm when I headed off to work. Destined for New Albany, I decided to risk it and take I-670. That worked well. Traffic was a little heavy near downtown but always moving. I made good time arriving near 845am. And I am happy to report that the rainy Wednesday hex has finally been broken. I guess all I had to do to break it was take a week’s vacation in HV. J

The morning was fairly low key. Our weekly 10am call went fine. At some point I went looking for Max Shultz. I couldn’t find him. I’m wondering if they let him go after the holidays.  I thought about leaving for a lunch break but I had no place I needed to go or errands needing run. I ended up working straight through the day and getting a jump on monthly reports for both of my customers.

I took enough time for myself during the afternoon to peruse rental car rates for our Mt Hood ski trip. Glad I waited. I booked a minivan for $175 per week. That’s less than half of the regular price. I was thrilled with the deal

I left for the day just after 5pm. By then the sky was clear and the temperature noticeably warmer than it had been the two days prior. Felt somewhere close to 30 degrees. I took I-270 around to the north and west and called Mindy along the way. She was busy making dinner, hamburgers. Said her first day back was good. Let her go as I passed Cleveland avenue. Figured I was 20-25 minutes out.

Traffic got heavy as I neared Hilliard and Cemetery Rd, but then again, it generally is. I was home at 541pm. Mindy was still working on our dinner while I went through my usual after work routine of rinsing my lunch dishes and putting my gear away. I’m thinking that it was just ahead of 6pm when our dinner was ready. Along with burgers, Mindy made tater tots and a fresh garden salad. And after eating lots of holiday junk for the past couple weeks, I was craving salad.

Mindy toasted the buns, which I very much appreciate. It prevents the bun from soaking up all the juices and falling apart. But one man’s treasure is another’s trash. Bella complained about her toasted bun. J

Everything was delicious. Was nice to have a normal sit-down dinner with the immediate family for a change. That’s been a rarity. I managed the clean-up while Mindy had Bella get ready for gymnastics. She planned on dropping her off, and asked that I handle the pick-up. I was OK with that.

Jacob opted to ride along, and they all three headed out around 650pm. And while they were gone, I updated my blog. I also surfed for lodging accommodations in Government Camp for our coming ski trip, though we still haven’t nailed down the exact night’s we’ll be staying on the mountain. Need to do that very soon. Of course, we can’t make the reservations until that's decided. I noticed that the same exact condo we stayed at in Feb 2010 was available this year too. And unless I am mistaken, the price is a little lower this year. Awesome!

Shortly after Mindy and Jacob got back, I took a brief nap in the recliner. Felt great. I woke and asked for a time check. It was 810pm. I needed to leave to fetch Bella in ten minutes. That time went fast. I stood around waiting for 820pm to arrive. Jacob tuned into the Orange Bowl. I’d watch it with him when we got back.

Even though it was dark and near 830pm, it felt even warmer than it did when I arrived home from work near 6pm. As predicted, the cold’s moving out. Arrived at DCW right at 830pm. Bella and her peeps were still at it. Little wonder, though, practice actually goes until 9pm. We just don’t want Bella out that late. In fact, even getting her at 830pm is much later than Mindy wants her out on a school night.

We arrived home near 845pm. Mindy & Jacob were already settled on the sofa enjoying the game. Mindy sent Bella to the shower right away. Jacob was heckling her from jump. It wasn’t pretty. Mindy whispered that she might put and end to gymnastics if Bella can’t get it together. She was having a mini melt down, about what I wasn’t so sure. Another ten minutes past and we still didn’t hear the shower running. Mindy suggested that I deal with it, because if she did, it wouldn’t end pretty. I headed up to reason with Bella. She was lying on her bed watching TV naked. She’s so easily distracted. I urged her to get a move on or risk penalty. She finally got moving.

After her first early rise, Mindy was tuckered out and excused herself for bed around 920pm. She asked that both kids be in bed by 930pm. At the same time, she told Jacob he could watch a little more of the game from his room. Jacob headed up right at 930pm just like his momma asked. Bella came down a minute or two later freshly showered and in her PJs. She wanted a snack.  I suggested popcorn, but she wanted reheated tater tots instead. I warmed eight of them for her while also popping a bag of popcorn.

Once Jacob realized that Bella was still downstairs, he soon joined us and had some of the popcorn. I’m thinking it was actually closer to 10pm when both kids headed up for bed. And Bella took another snack up with her, this time a tiny bowl of dry Cookie Crisp. She lured Eiknarf upstairs with the promise of a snack. Not sure she actually got any of it, though.

I stayed up until halftime of the Orange Bowl, West Virginia versus Clemson. It was something like 42-20, WV at the half. Fun game to watch. I headed to bed near 1020pm.