Adding Flare

Before I was out of bed, Jimaken dropped Bella by the house so she wouldn’t have to endure Jacob’s early soccer tournament game. That had to be somewhere around 8-830am. I slept soundly and didn’t wake until almost 9am. I had a small headache but nothing a couple Advil wouldn’t cure. I started coffee then took a couple. By the time the coffee was finished brewing the headache was gone.

The weather was a mixed bag, periods of both clouds and sun, but the clouds prevailed. The temperature, meanwhile, was a chilly 41 degrees. I played around online for more than an hour before finally heading out on a run. Like most weekends, I ran just 3 miles. Mindy still wasn’t up when I got back home. I think she slept until almost 11am.

I didn’t bother moving my new desk into place. Figured I would do it later. Instead, I left it in the middle of the livingroom floor. Mindy, Bella and I made plans to go shopping at the Lane Avenue Pier 1 and then Bed Bath & Beyond. Talked about stopping at Giant Eagle too. Initially, the idea was to drop Bella at Jimaken’s around 2pm before the start of Jacob’s 2nd soccer game that day.

I showered around noon. Mindy made arrangements to stop by Lindsey’s and pick-up her dirty laundry sometime that afternoon. We left the house around 1230pm and stopped at Pier 1 first. There, Mindy picked up a couple knick-knacks. She showed me a couple pillows she liked. I asked what she’d been smoking and then accused her of horrid taste. Bella concurred. 

We drove to the other end of the lot to the Bed, Bath & Beyond. There we had a much more fruitful shopping experience. We picked up valances, rod, pillows, as well as new bedding for Bella. There were a few other items too. Our color and texture choices relative to the pillows and valances were a bit daring but we also understood that we could always return them if they looked hideous put together. It was after 2pm. I was starving having not eaten anything all day. I suggested a stop for lunch at El Vaquero. Bella quickly chimed in that she needed to be at her dad’s place. Mindy had Bella call about us simply bringing her to the soccer field later. That worked for Jimaken. We made a beeline for the Vaq.

We were quickly seated at a table in the main dining area. And as it turned out, we were seated right next to the McVey clan, who were there celebrating Lane’s confirmation. Darwin was noticeably missing having just left for work. I was hungry and immediately made a pig of myself with the chips and salsa. Bella soon shared that she wasn’t hungry. I ordered a full powered Coke for my drink. Can’t remember the last time I had a real Coke. Anyway, it was good. Ordered a #132, which consisted of a burrito, taco, and rice – beef. Mindy ordered something similar. And just like most Vaq visits, our food was served in a jiffy.

I woofed down very last bite of mine. Perhaps because I was so hungry, it’s never tasted better. Connie offered us some of Lane’s cake. Mindy and Bella partook. I did not. I’m guessing that we there for no more than 35 minutes. Mindy wanted to run to Giant Eagle. I asked if I could simply go home. Now with a full belly, I was incredibly sleepy. As soon as we arrived home and carried in all of our goodies, I rushed upstairs and jumped into bed. I tuned the TV to a cooking show then drifted off to sleep. Felt heavenly.

I slept for 30-40 minutes then woke feeling refreshed. I watched about 20 minutes of another cooking program before getting up and heading downstairs. Mindy wanted me to hang the new valances, but before doing that I needed to move my desk into place. I took my time swapping desks being extra careful not to take down my PC by mistake. Probably took upwards of 45 minutes. Looks really nice.

Just about the time I finished with the desks, Mindy was ready to run Bella to the soccer field to meet up with Jimaken and Jacob. I started hanging the valance as soon as she left. I had to move the new chairs and the end table out of the way. But even still, it didn’t take too long. Good call buying three valances to cover 72”. They seemed to blend well with the chair pattern, which I think was a concern for both Mindy and I.

Nephew Joe came in the door while I was finishing with the valances. Startled me since I wasn’t expecting anybody. Said he talked with Mindy and agreed to go shopping with her. She dropped Bella at soccer then came back to the house. She liked the look of the new valance so much that she immediately suggested she buy two more for the dining room window. I was OK with that. She planned to stop at the Hilliard Bed, Bath & Beyond while out shopping with Joe. There were a few other things she wanted to pick-up, too.

I played at my new desk while Mindy & Joe were off shopping. Spent more than an hour working on my blog and listening to Pandora. Had a nice relaxing time. Mindy dropped Joe by the house so he could make a date with a friend. She went on to run another errand though I am not sure where or what. Joe was gone less than five minutes later.

Mindy was home around 5pm. She made stops at Target, Giant Eagle, and Bed Bath & Beyond. They only had one valance matching our existing ones. Said she’d have to run back to the Lane Avenue store to get the other one we needed. After 10 minutes or so she decided to go ahead and run back to Bed Bath and Beyond. While she was away, I hung the rod for the dining room valance. Mindy also picked up some new knobs for my desk to replace the ones that came with it. I didn’t care for them because they were square and sharp. She said Joe picked the new ones out. Looked like coke bottle glass. I wasn’t sure about them at first but they grew on me in a hurry. I installed those while Mindy was away, too.
Mindy was gone no more than 30 minutes, and probably less. As soon as she was home I put the dining room valance up. It looks nice. As evening set in, we talked about whether or not to go out for dinner. At first, Mindy was in favor of staying home. Our late night Friday took its toll on her. But after another hour or so, she offered that we make a quick run to CBC. I wasn’t too surprised that she changed her mind.
We brushed up and left the house around 810pm.

CBC was fairly crowded, but like most weekend nights the crowd thinned shortly after our arrival. 9pm seems to be the hour. We were there at 835p. Vince and Emily were bartending. No Kate. We both ordered a Bodhi. And Vince saw to it that we had some bread and risotto balls too. Yum! Mindy was already tired, and I think the Bodhi only made it worse. She was fading fast and made it known to our CBC peeps. I followed up with a 2nd Bodhi while considering ordering dinner. I vacillated between the steak, artichoke dip, and wings, eventually settling on some wings. I thought Vince was joking when he shared that they were all out. Really? Dang it! I ended up ordering these chicken skewers. They were just OK.

Vince shared the new brunch menu with the two of us. Apparently that begins the first weekend in May, which means they’ll now be opened on Sunday’s from 11am to 9pm. It couldn’t have been much after 10pm when we paid our tab and headed for home. Mindy said she was ridiculously sleepy. IN fact, she rushed off to bed the second we got into the house. I opened a Southern Tier XXIPA that she picked up earlier while getting Jacob b-day party food. I made it through three or four sips before becoming extra sleepy myself. I corked my beer and headed for bed.

New Desk, Barley's, a Bob sighting, & Hot Tub w/ Neighbors

Decided to sleep in for a while so I wasn’t up and out of bed until 610am. I planned on working from home so I didn’t wake feeling behind the eight ball. Downstairs I completed calisthenics then poured and delivered Mindy’s coffee. Back downstairs I enjoyed my own coffee then logged onto my new laptop for the first time from home. That went without a hitch.

Watched Jacob head off for school just before 7am. Mindy was soon downstairs and headed off to school near 730am. I hung out with Bella, worked, stretched and meditated over the course of the next 45 minutes. She and I headed to the bus stop at 810a. It was Eiknarf’s first opportunity to be outside. I walked her across the street from the bus stop.

Chrissy hobbled out for the first time in eons. The new kids were there again too. I got two of their names: Dominic and Camden. Seem like nice boys. They were all about Eiknarf. Once the kids were on the bus I headed back home to make final preparations for a run, essentially making sure work was quiet. It was.

I ran the full 4.1 miles. It was chilly and 40 some degrees. Temps expected to drop through the afternoon but then warm up nicely over the weekend. Was back from my run at 915am. Instead of frying eggs I ate two slices of peanut butter toast. It was good.

Stayed busy all morning working on weekly reports and escalations. Was still covering a large customer for a peer. He’ll be back on Monday. Wahoo! I’m thinking it was near noon when I headed up for a shower. I wasn’t downstairs again for 10 minutes when the UPS driver showed up with my new desk. He was struggling with it on a dolly. I went out and helped him navigate up our driveway. Wasn’t sure he would help me get it in the house but he did. We let it rest just inside the door. I didn’t have time to fool with it right then. Back to work.

Had a very productive afternoon accomplishing everything on my to-do list. Started on Friday’s administrative tasks around 230pm. Knocked them out by 3pm. My plan was to end my work day at 3pm since I put in too many hours earlier in the week. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make that happen. Ended up drug into an escalation that kept me busy until almost 5pm. By then, the kids and Mindy were home from school.

It was a Jimaken weekend and Mindy spent several minutes helping the kids get everything they’d need for a weekend away. Mindy said she was going to tackle the desk after they left. Nice! We also discussed our evening plans. Decided to visit Barley’s.

Kids were gone by 520pm and Mindy soon got started on the desk. Once I put work aside I gave her a hand. Turns out, the desk only needed the legs and a support piece installed. The drawers and the top were already completely assembled. Took us until about 6p to get it completely together. It was missing one f the rubber shoes on a leg. Shoot! I tried calling the 800 number to ask them to ship me another but their office hours are only 8-5pm M-F. I suggested we visit Lowes on our way to Barley’s.

It was 640pm by the time we left for Lowes and Barley’s after both of us took time to freshen up. In the hardware/fastener aisle Mindy showed an associate the part we were hoping to match. While they toiled in the specialty fastener aisle, I ventured elsewhere looking for plastic/felt leg bumpers. They were one aisle over. I found what we needed but had to buy a set of four so they matched. No problem. Only $2.49. We looked very briefly at valances but didn’t come close to agreeing on a pattern, color or texture. Agreed to disagree.

Mindy sent a text message to lots of peeps letting them know that we’d be at Barley’s. I think she said we’d be there at 7pm but didn’t get there until 720pm. No biggie. Steve Wonn was there. First time we’ve seen Steve since Xmas time, I think. Holy Moly! Mindy chatted with a pregnant woman that also happened to be a school teacher. We were both drinking the Left Coast IPA. Good!

Bob Imber and brother Tommy showed up around 830pm. Haven’t seen Bob since our last ski outing at MRM, and haven’t seen Tommy since we landed home from Utah. Good to see them both. Mary Ann was working, and Bob shared that the dogs were waiting in his minivan. Think he stuck around for two quick beers. Mindy attempted to arrange dinner with the two of them for Saturday. Bob promised to circle back with us on Saturday.

Later that evening, Thad & Monica showed up, as did Grandpa Tom and Steve. Mindy’s principal pal Jan and Jeff showed up for a while too. They’re always a good time. We ended up closing the place down, something we haven’t done in a really long time. All totaled, I drank four beers over the span of 3.5-4.5 hours. Our bill was only like $10. April shared that Tommy picked up our main tab. Thanks Tommy!

I drove us home. Could hear the neighbors outside. I guessed they were in the hot tub. Yep, sure enough. Mindy, the pug and I walked over. It was Kenny, Chrissy, Josh & Rachel, and Teri in the hot tub. They invited us in. I declined but apparently Mindy disappeared home to get her swimsuit on. She returned 5-10 minutes later not only in her swimsuit, but with mine too. It was more than chilly outside. I headed inside to change into my trunks. Spent at least an hour in the hot tub. I brought a CBC IPA from home and once it was gone I tapped into Kenny’s bottle of bourbon again.

Mindy disappeared at some point. I headed home a few minutes later to find her just about to hop into bed. She told me the following morning that we didn’t get to sleep until 3am. Wow! Been a while since we were both up that late.

TheTrombone That Matters Most

I was up and downstairs by 540am. It rained some over night but not nearly as hard or as much as predicted. The lion's share of the storm tracked just to our north. But more rain was forecasted for the day. And our unseasonably warm temperatures were gone, too. It was 60 degrees shortly after I was up, but the day's high wasn't supposed to go far from there - low 60s.

After calisthenics, I played around online. I sent an email to my boss and peers sharing that I would be out of pocket again that day while they attempted to recover and move my data from my old laptop to the new. With that out of the way, I delivered Mindy's coffee near 620am. Ended up running a little behind. I guess I spent too much time playing around online. Didn't leave for a run until almost 7am. Said goodbye to Mindy before heading out the door. I knew she'd be gone by the time I was back.

I ran the full 4.1 miles and was back at home near 740am. Bella was already done with her breakfast and up playing in her room. Asked that she feed the pug while I fried a few eggs. Was done with my breakfast near 8am. Obviously, I wouldn't have time to shower until after bus stop time. Bella and I headed out at 810a. This time I met the mom of the new bus riders. Can't recall her name, though she seemed nice enough. Said they recently moved around the corner. Something about that didn't make a lot of since though, as Hilliard Schools have very little of our subdivision. I wondered if they were actually scamming the district. ???

Once the kids were on the bus I headed home and ultimately upstairs for a shower. Felt incredible. I was eager to get to work and learn the fate of my old data. Left the house just ahead of 9am and arrived shortly after the hour. Got set up in my office quickly. My boss poked his head in and was very happy to see that I got the new laptop. Wondered why I even bothered to hook-up to the network given that I needed to take the new machine to the PC refresh guy to have my data transferred. I reiterated that it was still a maybe. I planned to check email and then walk down and talk with Rob to see if he was able to recover my data.

Must've been about 10am when I headed down to the refresh room. Just as there were the day before, there were others there to see him too. He noted my presence right away and happily shared that my data was indeed recoverable. Said he would need until noon or so to get it all moved to another hard drive. Suggested I bring my new laptop down before lunch. Asked that I plan to be without my machine for 2-3 hours. Cool! That was music to my ears.

I did my best to catch up on the things I could do without the benefit of having all of my data. Was actually able to take care of several things. Noon came fast. I took my new laptop down to Rob then headed back to my office. It was raining. I didn't plan to leave the building. Instead, I went and visited a couple peers, happily sharing that my data was recovered. Let my boss know too. I'm thinking it was near 130pm when Rob called me back to let me know that he was done and that I could come get. Even offered to bring it to me, but I walked down to his office.

Said everything transferred easily. Offered to move my email files for me. That's not a very intuitive process and seems to change version to version. I accepted his offer to transfer my email data. He struggled mightily. Having done this last summer after migrating to Windows 7 and Office 2010, I was sure he was doing it incorrectly. While he was doing something else. I offered that I would try. Bingo! He showed me where the rest of my old data resided, and I headed back to my office to work on configuring/organizing my old data files on my new laptop. I was tickled pink to have a new machine with all of my data.

I spent most of the afternoon moving folders around and then double checking that all of my really important stuff was where I expected. By 4pm I was pretty much set. Felt fantastic. I made sure to connect and configure my external HD with the new laptop. The plan is to leave it connected all the time. The new machine had enough memory to allow that without compromising speed.

We had our regular Thursday afternoon staff call at 415pm. The call lasted about 20-25 minutes. Talked with Mindy just after 515pm to let her know that I was still busy at work. Jacob had a band concert at Hilliard Davidson HS which was slated to begin at 7pm. Mindy needed to have him there by 630p. I suggested that I would simply meet then there. That way I could focus on getting caught up on the many things that backed up during my laptop crisis. She was OK with that. Agreed to meet her at the HS, which is right around the corner from my office. Mindy had to run Bella to gymnastics before taking Jacob to the HS.

I stayed busy at work until 635pm then left for the nearby high school where Jacob was set to perform. Didn't take long to get to there - five minutes tops. The lot was darn near full. Mindy warned me as much via text five minutes before I left the office. I found Mindy sitting in the bleachers on the west side of the gymnasium. She quickly pointed out Jacob then shared how they just left Target where she bought him a pair of dress shoes for the occasion. He actually looked nice in a pair of black dress slacks, a white polo and black dress shoes similar to my favorite pair.

Mindy shared that his girlfriend was amongst the 200 hundred or so Tharp musicians, and she believes she plays the trombone. Jimaken soon joined us in the stands. We had a seat saved for him. I didn't really want to work, but I was getting emails via blackberry for an issue that I'd been involved with most of the day. I did my best to help. Mindy also shared that our second tiffany lamp arrived that day and that she had already put it together. Said it looked really nice. As promised, the performance started around 7pm. The Hilliard Station 6thr graders performed 4 songs first. Wow, they were really good. Tharp, Jacob's school, was next. They were good too. Amazing how nice they sound after just 8 months, and none of them had played prior to this school year. The show finished with both schools playing Hang on Sloopy. Nice job! The show was over by 735pm - short program.

After the show, I walked down to find Jacob. Just in front of me was the girl Mindy suspected of being Lauren, Jacobs girl friend. Just as I neared one of her peeps walked up and called to her by name. Yep, it was her, Lauren. After their brief conversation ended I called out to Lauren too. She turned around and I introduced myself as Jacob's step dad. I shook her hand then called to Mindy who was about ten paces behind me. I introduced Mindy to Lauren next. I would've introduced Jimaken to Lauren as well, but when I turned around to find him he was already gone.

By then Jacob managed to escape the gymnasium. I eventually found him just outside the gymnasium doors. While waiting, I ran into a former work peep also there to see his kids play. Soon, we were all reunited. Turns out, while we were talking with Lauren, Jacob was introduced to Lauren's parents.

By the way, Connie McVey agreed to pick-up Bella from gymnastics and keep her until we got home. Mindy went after Bella while I headed straight home. Having not eaten anything but veggies and cheese all day, I was really hungry. It was after 8pm by the time I got home. Dinner consisted of a ham and cheese sandwich on Brownberry wheat bread. I wasn't sure of my Friday plans, but thought I might work from home. Wouldn't decide until the AM.

After a sandwich, I poured a Jack & Coke which I enjoyed while watching TV. Stayed up until 1030pm. Mindy was in bed at least an hour ahead of me.

Crash & Break

I was up reasonably close to 530a and once again woke rested and ready for another day. We slept with the window opened and birds were singing and chirping away from about 4am on. Downstairs, I glanced out back into a mostly clear sky. Looked like another decent day in the offing. Finished sit-ups, windmills and push-ups. Headed to my PC with coffee near 550am. Right away I noticed that my laptop was powered down, and I knew it was up and running when I went to bed. That said, it's done that more than once. I powered it up and waited to log on. Uh-oh! Blue screen of death! That's been happening with regularity over the last few months. However, a reboot and it's up and fine. This time, however, no matter what I did it wouldn't come up. My stomach sunk as the thought of the data that could possibly be lost should the hard drive be the problem. I must've tried rebooting 5 or 6 times, including trying ot boot in safe mode. I made note of the Windows error.

Setting my laptop issue aside for a few minutes, I headed up stairs to wake Mindy. I shared my dilemma with Mindy. She wished me well. I did my best to look beyond my computer issue through meditation and stretching. I then dressed and headed off on my run. I was out the door no later than 640am. It was very nice- 61 degrees. I opted for a thinner wicking shirt. I ran the full 4.1 miles. Day break was apparent from the outset. It won't but another week and I'll be running in daylight start to finish. As one might expect, I thought through my laptop problem during my run and how that would alter my day and week. For starters, it wouldn't make any sense to head to my customer's campus that morning with a crashed laptop. To make matters worse, it was monthly service review day. I decided during my run that I would send them an email sharing my dilemma and plan, which was to head into the office and then do our monthly service review via conference call. That way I could work with our HD in an attempt to repair my laptop.

A bit more... I bought a WD passport external HD last summer but I only hook it up about once every two weeks. Reason being, whenever it's hooked up it slows my laptop to a crawl. I hadn't backed up for almost two weeks. The thought of losing all the docs an email from the last two weeks left me feeling ill.

Was home from my run around 720am. Mindy had scrambled eggs on the stove. It was the first time that she's cooked my eggs in well over a month. Said she hoped it would brighten my day a bit. Thanks dear! I walked the pug then ate my breakfast. Mindy left while the dog and I were out on our walk. The eggs were delicious. Bella dished up some for the pug.

After breakfast, I sent that email to my customer contacts letting them know that I wouldn't be joining them live and in person that day. I then Googled the Windows blue screen error. According to several help forums, the error was supposedly RAM related. Several years back I upgraded the RAM to 4gig (2 - 2gig RAM sticks). I went ahead and removed one of the RAM sticks then tried rebooting. I felt smart! Nope. Same results. Crap! I wanted to remove the other RAM stick and put the one I removed in, but i was sure how to get to the other. The first was accessible from the bottom hatch. The other looked to require removing the keyboard. Rather than really screw it up, I opted to leave well enough alone until contacting the HD from the office.

All the fooling around burned up all the time we had before bus stop time. Bella and I headed out, me still in my running clothes. New riders were at the stop again, only this time with their daddy. Once Bella was safely on the bus, I headed for home and to the shower. Sent my boss and the boss of the peer I was covering for an email sharing my dilemma. After all, I couldn't be very productive without my laptop.

Showered and dressed by 845am, I left for the office around 855am. I wisely took a couple screw drivers and my eye glasses with me to work so I could work on my laptop again if necessary. I called the HD and opened a ticekt right away. The guy that took my call had me try a couple things that didn't help. Said he'd have someone call me shortly. While waiting, I Googled my laptop model and happily found a You Tube video clip clearly showing how to remove and replace the hidden RAM stick. Cool. It was actually very easy. Loosen the screws, move four keyboard clip, and voila! I pulled that other RAM and replaced with the other. Tried booting. Same error. Dang it!

My boss stopped by to offer moral support. He suggested I walk down and talk with the PC refresh guy who was onsite doing scheduled laptop replacements. I n fact, the only reason I didn't schedule mine for this week was the fact that I had the monthly service review to prepare for as well as covering for my peer. I couldn't afford to be out of the water for the day and a half it typically takes to get refreshed ( a new laptop and then all the data moved). He also offered that he would certainly have tons of RAM sticks from the many laptops already refreshed. I doubted that they would consider moving in front of someone who already scheduled a refresh, but borrowing RAM seemed like a very viable option to try. Of course, that was operating under the assumption that both RAM sticks somehow got fried or went bad. That could happen.

I did the monthly service review via conference call at 11am. Went smoothly. We wrapped it up in all of about 45 minutes. Decided to take my boss' advice and walk down and talk to the PC refresh guy. He was located in an office off the loading dock and was busy with three or four others. I waited for an opportunity then introduced myself and shared my dilemma. He was most kind and quickly offered up two RAM sticks to try but went even further offering to do my PC refresh on Thursday provided new RAM wasn't the answer.

Back in my office I swapped out both RAM sticks and then tried booting again. Same problem. Obviously not the RAM. A few minutes later someone from the HD called me back to troubleshoot the problem remotely. Had me try several things, including interrupting the boot-up process and running diagnostics. According to the HD tech, the hard drive was bad, my worst fears come true. Damn it! But she was quick to point out that a bad hard drive didn't necessarily mean they wouldn't be able to recover my data.

When I shared that the PC refresh guy was onsite she made arrangement for me to get my new machine that afternoon. She could get an image installed but he would have to try and recover my data later that afternoon or Thursday. Sounded like a plan to me. She contacted the PC refresh guy and OK'd him handing me a new machine still in the box. I walked down and got it. Sweet!

Got the new machine hooked up to the network then worked with the HD to get an image installed. Basically let it sit for 2-3 hours. I left and headed for lunch. Went to Saturday's at Mill Run and got a haircut. Had Alicia cut it shorter than the last couple cuts. After the cut, I stopped in Jack's next door to check out their pet supplies. I bought nothing. Thunderstorms were moving in from the west. We could actually use the rain to help the lawn, trees and flowers pop. Headed back to the office.

The plan was to wait for the HD to call me back. She didn't call until almost 4pm. From there, it didn't take her long to complete the imaging process. Within all of about 20-30 minutes I was set, minus my personal data files and minus a handful of programs that aren't part of the standard image. IN the back of my mind I was still worried about getting my hard drive data recovered. The PC refresh guy told me he would know by the end of the day if my data was salvageable. Said he would call. He didn't. Adding to my fears, I couldn't recall the user name and password for my WD Passport external HD. I kept that info on my laptop. Duh!

I walked down to see Rob, the PC refresh guy to see if he had any news about my old hard drive. It was almost 5pm and he was gone for the afternoon. There was a facilities guy down there and let me check out my machine. It was up and running and it looked like Rob had the data accessible. I wouldn't know for certain until Thursday morning. Back in my office I spent another hour getting stuff configured on my new machine. I made a list of things that still needed addressed then left for home near 6pm feeling pretty about what I was able to accomplish, especially given the way the day began.

At home, Mindy was busy grilling sockeye salmon. One of our two tiffany lamps arrived via UPS that evening. It was the table lamp. We wouldn't open it until after dinner. Neither kid had any extra-curricular activities that night. While Mindy, Jacob and I ate salmon, Bella had a hot dog. The Sockeye salmon was just OK. Even Mindy thought so. Different than what she usually buys. After dinner clean-up I pulled up work email from my home PC. I needed to respond to a customer's escalation.

After dinner and clean-up, Mindy and I opened our new table lamp. As pretty as advertised. According to Amazon, the floor lamp would arrive Thursday, and then my new desk on Friday. Mindy headed to bed fairly early. Couldn't have been later than 915pm. I stayed up popping some popcorn and watching TV. Bella joined me briefly. I shared some popcorn with her. She poured us a Diet Coke to share, but I wanted only water. She enjoyed the Coke.
She was off to bed by 945pm. I stayed up until just after 10p. Mentally, I was drained.

New Poop Sack Pouch

Was up near 530am again. That’s two days in a row. Feeling more rested of late. Can’t be certain why. Did my exercise routine then headed to the PC with coffee. Checked work email too, since my work laptop was still fired up from the day/evening before. Followed up on a couple hot issues I was involved with.

Delivered Mindy’s coffee near 610am. Once she was awake I returned downstairs to meditate and stretch. That went well. Dressed for a run next, once again wearing only long running pants and a winter weight wicking shirt. It was 55 degrees. Trash was already at the curb. I heard the trash truck come by to dump our can just before I headed out the door. I ran the full 4.1 miles. What a gorgeous morning.

Back home by 715am. Called for the pug and soon headed out the door. We were out for about 8 minutes. Mindy was soon off to work but not before asking if I was working from home. Nope. I needed to be at one of my customer’s locations early afternoon for a meeting. I toyed with the idea of working from home all morning but nixed that notion. I wanted to work from the office.

As soon as Mindy departed, I whipped up eggs for the pug and I. Made sure to remind Bella of her hygiene responsibilities. Also reminded her to feed the pug. It was after 750am by the time we finished with breakfast so I opted to wait and shower after the bus stop. I took care of a couple more work issues ahead of bus stop time. We headed out at 810am.

There was a new family at the bus stop, a young woman with four little kids that appeared to be from new born to perhaps 8 or 9 yrs of age. She didn’t look older than about 25. Yikes! They kept their distance. I said hello. The bus showed up near 815am. Eiknarf and I headed back to the house.

Headed straight for the shower. Was ready to go by 845am. Stopped to fill my gas tank on the way in. Took 14.1 gallons. First time averaging over 20mpg since last fall. I’m thinking the weather has more of an impact on gas mileage than originally thought. I got 21.25mpg last tank full. Lovely drive in.

I had a lot I wanted to accomplish before heading to New Albany. Planned on leaving around 1145am. Took care of several pressing matters. The time went by extremely fast. It was time to go before I knew it. Holy smoke! It was sunny and already near 80 degrees. Decided to take 270 around. Hit a traffic snarl of Britton Rd nearing Tuttle Crossing Blvd. After that it was smooth sailing. Arrived super early for our 1pm meeting.

I holed up in the dark conference room and worked via blackberry for a while. A peer who was already working on site that day stopped by to chat before our meeting began. We talked for a while. The meeting began at 1pm sharp and lasted about an hour. There will be several follow-up meetings on the same topic, but we finished for the day at 2pm. Stuck around a few more minutes to chat with a couple peers. Headed for my car at 205pm.

Decided to make a quick stop at the Easton Target where I picked up a new poop sack leash tote just like the one Lindsey lost last Saturday. Didn’t take me long. Also, looked at storage containers but bought nothing else. Headed south on 270 to pick-up 670 to head back west. Opted to work from home for the rest of the afternoon arriving there near 245pm, or just a few minutes before Jacob would be home. It was sunny and in the low 80s. Had to run the AC in my car for the first time all year.

Grabbed a quick snack of cheese and Pita chips then dug back into work. Jacob was home from school in a jiffy. I spent the tail end of my work day throwing my monthly report into PowerPoint for Wednesday’s presentation. Bella was home around 4pm. This time when she asked if she could go to Makayla’s I made sure to ask about homework and her room. Said no homework and that her room was clean. She had gymnastics so she needed to be back home around 5pm. Jimaken came over before Mindy got home to pick-up Jacob for soccer practice. Somehow I missed that. Didn’t know he was coming. They left just before Mindy got home.

Mindy wasn’t home until 5pm or after. She stopped at the grocery after work. She asked if I would agree to take Bella to and from gymnastics, that way she could focus on dinner. Mindy started grilling burgers and Bella and I soon left. Bella had a little bit of an attitude on the drive to the gym. First, she kept lowering the window even after I asked that she not. Then she was putting her feet high atop my back seat. Both are clear no-no’s. Lastly, she removed her seatbelt when we turned off Georgesville but were still a couple blocks from the gym. I stopped the car until she rebuckled.

Was back at home by 545pm. By then dinner was ready. It was just the three of us, me, Mindy & Jacob. The burgers were delicious. Clean-up was a snap. Jacob headed back outside to play. Unfortunately, I spent all the time between dinner and leaving for Bella working. As a result, the time moved fast. Before I knew it was time to go after Lane and then pick-up Bella. Mindy texted with Connie, who for a while couldn’t locate Lane. Texted back just before I left to say she found him and that he was ready.

Lane was pretty quiet on the drive to the gym. Arrived a few minutes early. Got to see Bella go through a couple of her routines. Huge improvements since last competition. Her backflips on the trampoline are now straight as an arrow, and her flips on the double-mini look incredible too. Very nice!

We headed for home. Bella was in a much better frame of mind for the drive home. Arrived by 745pm. Mindy warmed her burger, which Bella claimed to be craving. I spent more time following up on the work issue from earlier. I let it frustrate me a bit. Walked away from my laptop around 9pm. Ugh!

Watched a little TV from the familyroom until I fell asleep. Mindy headed for bed around 920pm. I joined her around 1020pm.

Ladies & Gentlemen ... Spring

It was Monday and time to return to work. I woke chilly during the overnight, a result of sleeping with the bedroom window open – Mindy’s idea. In fact, I’m pretty sure that she got up and closed it at least part way during the wee hours. I was out of bed and downstairs just a couple minutes after 530am. Felt good to be up at my old regular time.

Felt good and breezed through calisthenics. Headed to my PC with coffee at 549am. Ahhh. Looked like a decent day in the offing. There were a few sprinkles around early on but it wasn’t expected to rain much during the day. Instead they were calling for partly cloudy and 80. At the time it was about 56 degrees.

I delivered Mindy’s coffee at 610am. Headed back downstairs for meditation and stretch. Finished both of those before 630am for the first time in a long time. Dressed in spring running attire – long running pants and a winter wicking shirt (no jacket or ear covers). I headed out the door near 635am.

There were rain drops on the cars but the sky was beginning to clear and I could see daybreak on the eastern horizon. Nice temp for a run. Ran the full 4.1 miles and was back at home near 715a. It was then that I solidified my decision to work from home. Mindy was busy in the kitchen. And for the first time in a while, not on her way out the door. After calling for the pug, we headed out for our morning walk. We were back by 725am. Mindy left a couple minutes ahead of 730am. I began preparing breakfast - fried eggs - for the pug and I.

Eiknarf and I enjoyed our eggs then I got my laptop online and started doing a little work. Responded to a few emails then headed out to the bus stop at 810am. Lovely morning! Bella was in shorts, and I believe for the first time all year. Once Bella was on the bus, Eiknarf and I took our time heading back to the house. I poured a 2nd cup of coffee then dug further into work.

Sadly, I pretty much forgot about the weather as I had an awful lot on my plate to try and accomplish. Ended up being a very busy day – conference calls, meetings, reports and customer escalations. Stayed busy pretty much all day. I did take a 20 minute break and took advantage of the lovely weather walking the pug around the back yard. It was very pretty out.

Around 330pm I was finally got some breathing room and called my mortgage company about a possible refinance, which is something I’ve been wanting to follow through on for some time now, especially since the economy is recovering and interest rates are likely on their way up again. I inquired just before we left for our Utah ski trip but hadn’t pulled the trigger.

Turns out, the loan officer assigned to my inquiry was out on vacation. I was referred to his back-up, who I seemed to gel with more so than the other guy. What’s more, he was able to quote me an even better deal than his predecessor 6 weeks prior. This time I agreed to formally start the process and locked in at 2.875% for 15 years. And the beauty is this, the mortgage payment will go down yet we will pay-off the mortgage 56 months sooner, which is where the real saving’s will be recognized (about $60K in interest).
Getting that going was a significant load off my .

By the time I got off the phone with the lender, Mindy and the kids were home from school. It was a Jimaken night, and he picked up the kids shortly after 5pm. Mindy and I didn’t plan on going anywhere. Instead, we decided to stay home and enjoy leftover Chilean sea bass. She reheated it on the pizza stone. There was plenty of it, too, and it was delicious.

Clean-up was a snap. After dinner we took the pug on a walk. It was in the mid 70s and mostly sunny, a lovely evening for a leisurely stroll. Sat out back on the deck for a while, too. The kids got home around 805pm. Watched a little TV though I can’t recall exactly what. Headed to bed at a very reasonable hour. Once again, we slept with the windows opened.

Bella on a Tractor

Was up Sunday morning at 720am and quickly downstairs making coffee. Remembered that the boys spent the night so from then on I was extra quiet in an effort not to wake the boys. Landon was awake and downstairs but only after I had time to enjoy two cups of coffee. I was in the middle of my stretch when he came down. He didn’t hang out long, and soon headed back upstairs.

I headed out for a run with everyone else still asleep. I ran three miles. It was mild for a change, about 56 degrees under partly cloudy skies. Mindy was up by the time I got back and soon up making bacon and pancakes for all the kids.

I played around on my PC until Mindy let me know that the pancakes were ready. Iate two pancakes and three or four slices of bacon. Lindsey came by to pick-up the boys at 11am as promised. I asked about her tax return again. Offered that she could use my PC to check on her TurboTax refund. She gave me some song and dance about using her supervisors account to do it. WHAT? Honestly, at that point I hoped she was lying because I didn’t think she was that stupid. Mindy had to calm me down.

After Lindsey left I headed out to the yard for more early spring yard work. My plan was to clear out a lot of the honey suckle bushes behind the shed to allow room to store a 14’ canoe should we end up buying one. Frankly, I was surprised with how much brush all that amounted to when on the ground. Holy smoke! I also had Jacob and his friend Josh help me carry old rotted logs that had been resting behind the shed since our home was built. M/I Homes trimmed all the dead from the trees as part of our closing deal and left the logs stacked out back. Nineteen years has passed since then. Now they’re mostly mulch.

God bless Bella. She willingly agreed to help me cut up t he large honeysuckle branches sprawled out over the lawn. She used both the folding tree pruning saw as well as the giant prunners. She got a real work out. She worked with me for about an hour, which was far longer than I ever dreamt she would last. Thanks Bella!

Before she ran off with friends, I let her drive the John Deere tractor around the yard all by herself. She seemed to get a kick out of that. By then, Mindy was off to the grocery store. Josh’s mom came to pick him up while Mindy was away and I was busy out back with yard work. Spent 2 or 3 hours on the honeysuckle, again, far more work than I imagined at the outset.

After picking up as much of the debris as I could and then hauling it the compost pile, I drove over the rest with my tractor effectively mulching it up. By mid afternoon, it was downright warm and sunny. Actually got up to 74 degrees. Ended my yard work around 330-4pm.

Mindy picked up some sea bass from Whole Foods but bagged the notion of full-on grocery shopping. She invited my dad for dinner too, and he accepted. I let Mindy know that Ashley was supposed to come over too with Olivia so we could give her the Easter basket we made. They weren’t staying for dinner. Instead, they’d have to leave for girl scouts before 530pm.

By the time Olivia and Ashley arrived I was showered and downstairs relaxing in our new recliners. Ashley shred stories from their recent Florida vacation. Sounds like they had lovely weather and lots of fun. She’s very excited to be getting her braces off in a week or so. Her smile looks amazing. It’s been a long road.

Ashley & Olivia stayed long enough to see dad, but left before we ate our dinner. Mindy was already in the middle of grilling when they left. Dad shared a little about the pinched nerve in his back. Been a problem for a couple of weeks but finally getting better.

I’m thinking it was 530pm when dinner was served, sea bass, grilled zucchini, & pasta salad. Mindy grilled up a wildly decorated salmon patty too. The three of us shared it. I didn’t care for it. The sea bass, however, was delicious.

We visited with dad until just after 7pm when he headed for home. Mindy and I took Eiknarf on a walk around the subdivision. It was an absolutely gorgeous evening for a family stroll. And as you might imagine, a lot of other folks were out doing the same thing.

Later that evening, the kids got showers while I relaxed & read from one of our new recliners. We headed for bed well ahead of 10pm sleeping with the bedroom window open for the first time all year. It's that time of year. The latest weather forecast was calling for even warmer temperatures through Wednesday.

By Lamp Light

I wasn't out of bed until somewhere close to 820am. I had a mild headache too, no doubt brought on by the three beers and then two bourbons. I took three Advil even before starting coffee and the headache was gone within 15 minutes. I played around online for about an hour before heading out for a run. It was chillier than expected - only 30 degrees - but still fairly nice sky-wise. Anticipating a high in the low 60s.

Headed out for a run around 945am. By then it was sunny and warm enough to skip hand and ear covers. I ran the usual 3 miles without incident. Mindy was still in bed upon my return, though it wasn't too long before she was up and downstairs. Even though it was chilly, we headed out on the deck for coffee. There was a chilly breeze coming at us from the east. Brrr!

We spent a little time looking at lamps online again. The two we seemed to agree on on the Home Depot site were out of stock. I decided to search Amazon using their part name. Sure enough, they were both available on Amazon. However, while there, we actually found another dragonfly torchiere lamp we liked even better. I placed both in my shopping cart but opted to hold off on hitting the buy button until we had a chance to take in the gallery hop later that evening.

We didn't have any significant plans, which felt really nice. I thought I might take care of some yard chores, including installing my sharpened mower blades. While Mindy messed with her grocery list, I headed out to get busy. After putting the blade on the push mower, I tried starting it. Same trouble as before. Couldn't get it to fire. I could get it to start after pushing the primer a dozen times but it would soon stall. I hit it with carb cleaner and eventually it kept running. I let it run until it was almost out of gas. I then added carburetor/injector cleaner to the gas tank along with fresh gas. I primed it several times only this time leaning it back so the fuel would flow deep into the carb. That seemed to do the trick. I let it run for about 15 minutes. While the mower ran, I tried starting the BM'er. Dead again. No more fooling around. I plan to replace the battery. It's at least 9 years old.

Next up, I went to the shed to fetch the Deere. After driving it all over the yard, I pulled it up near the garage where I could drive it onto my tire ramps to make installing the blades that much easier. Uh-oh! The damn bolts that hold the blades on fell off somewhere in the yard. Great! I retraced my tracks for 15 minutes before beckoning Mindy's help. She soon joined me, finding one of the bolts after about 5 minutes. I found the other one far removed from the first. They were really hard to spot with their dark coloring.

The blades installed easily. I drove around the backyard to help charge the battery. After messing with both mowers, I got out my chain saw to address the mulberry tree/bush stumps that have begun to bloom again. Cut them down 6-10" above the ground. Next, I chain sawed the honeysuckle bush stumps that I cut down by hand last fall. I toted all the mini-logs to the compost pile.

After finishing the chainsaw work I started both mowers again just to make sure they were in working order. Yep, they both started easily. I spent the rest of the afternoon raking out the rear flowerbeds. As usual, that was far more work than it appeared. Worked on that for about two hours. Mindy left to run errands. Can't remember exactly what, though. After an afternoon of yard work I headed inside for a snack, drink, and a shower. I was dirty and stunk.
Gatorade never tasted so good.

A shower felt incredible. After my shower I opted to spend some time giving the fern in the masterbath a badly needed haircut. Filled the kitchen trashcan with leaves and stems. I also cleaned the surface in and around the planter. What a mess. Mindy got home about the time I was finishing the chore.

We didn't have a master plan for our evening but quickly put one together. Thought we would leave for the gallery hop around 5-530pm. We figured to do the hop then beer at North High Brewing and then do dinner at CBC. Had about an hour to kill prior to departing. Lindsey and the boys showed up around 5-530pm. She was there to take care of her laundry as well as watching our kids. The dog needed walked. Lindsey volunteered to do it. I reloaded the poop sack holder then handed over the leash.

Lindsey and Landon walked the pug. They got back just as Mindy and I were heading out the door. Lindsey asked where the poop sacks were. She was holding the leash void of the bag holder. I really thought she was joking given that I just reloaded it before handing it to her before they walked out. Nope! She was serious and I was furious. Really? You lost the poop sack holder in the span of three minutes. She went looking for it retracing her recent steps. No joy. Mindy and I followed looking too. Nowhere to be hound. Weird! It's not the money. Instead, it's the accountability factor. Swore it wasn't there. :)

Mindy asked if I had a $20 to leave for pizza. Mindy threw in a $10. The sunny afternoon skies started clouding up about the time we left the house. The Sunday forecast called for even warmer temperatures but with rain all day long. The way the sky looked to the west, I guessed it was going to arrive and start early. We got caught up in the gallery hop traffic on S.High St. We quickly bailed and decided to park in the North High Brewing lot and walk all the way down. Mindy went inside to let them know so our car wouldn't get towed. They were cool with our plan, which involved us stopping back later for a beer.

We stopped in several galleries including at least three antique shops. That was fun. Saw several cool lamps but none that we liked more than the two Tiffany lamps we found online, and none that would go with our decor. We walked south for about a 1/2 mile before turning around and walking back to North High Brewing. They had a decent crowd gathered watching the early NCAA final match-up of Wichita St vs. Louisville. Wichita St was leading rather handily 0 by 9 points. I didn't figure it would last and I t didn't.

Mindy predictably ordered their porter while I went with their IPA. This time the IPA didn't rest well on my palette. Honestly, it was hard to drink, and I don't say that very often. I didn't complain. We ordered some appetizers too, deviled eggs and bread and pub cheese. Mindy ate both eggs. We shared the bread and cheese though I had most of it. The basketball game had me on edge. Not sure why. It's not like I am a big fan. We settled out tab and headed for CBC around 830pm. Because of the hop traffic on High St, we opted for Summit instead. That was a good call. Not only was there next to no traffic, but we got all the lights too. :)

Arrived at CBC near 850pm and got perhaps the best parking spot in the house - first spot front row. Cool! Inside, they had a decent dinner crowd, but the bar crowd was tame. We got two stools right away sitting next to Eugene.
While Mindy was busy chatting with Jen, the manager, I ordered both of us Bodhi's. Yum! Now that's quality beer.

Soon Vince placed bread and some of their irresistible garlic butter in front of us, and then he brought risotto balls a few minutes later. Double yum! Watched most of the 2nd NCAA final four game pitting Michigan against Syracuse. Michigan won. Mindy and I opted to share a dinner entree', their barrel cut sirloin. It was delicious and just about the right amount.

We headed home around 1030pm where Lindsey was watching our kids. Apparently she sent a text to Mindy earlier letting her know that there were three other wee ones at the house, her neighbors babies who was rushed off to the hospital due to complications with her 4th pregnancy. She also asked if we would keep the boys so she could go on a date with an old friend of hers. Mindy agreed. Yeah, I was looking forward to heading home. :)

Arrived home around 1045pm. Lindsey quickly loaded her laundry and her neighbor's babies into the Civic. I feasted on a slice of the pepperoni pizza from Poppa John's. Lindsey wasn't out the door for 5 minutes when Mindy realized that Lindsey left the diaper bag at our house. Mindy was preparing to run it over to her when Lindsey called to let her know she was coming back to get it.

Mindy got the boys tucked into bed in a hurry. And soon she and I were off to bed. What a day!!!

Firkin Friday

 

Slept in until almost 6am. Woke feeling well rested and ready to get after my routine. Completed sit-ups, windmills, and push-ups. Took Mindy some coffee then returned to the downstairs to enjoy some of my own along with playing on the internet. Much like the morning before, it was partly cloudy and chilly - only 30 degrees. Expecting a warm-up into the mid to upper 50s by later afternoon.

Once again, decided to enjoy a leisurely morning. Didn't plan to run until after seeing Bella onto the bus. To that end, fooled around online until 7am or so. Did my stretch and meditation between 7-730am. Played around on the PC again until bus stop time. Spent most of my online time lamp shopping. 8am came around fast. Bella and I headed out at 810am. Just the evening before, Bella talked about wearing shorts. She was convinced that it was going to be in the mid 60s. But given the morning chill, she opted instead for long pants. Smart.

I wore running clothes to the bus stop. Once the kids were safely on the bus I headed back home just long enough to unleash the pug and then headed out for a run. By then the sun was out and the temperature felt a whole lot warmer. It was warm enough to skip hand and ear covers. I ran the full 4.1 miles.

Back home near 9am, I opted to shower before making eggs and packing a lunch. Didn't take me long, though I struggled to find a specific pair of jeans. Once again, I found them wadded up in Jacob's closet. Went full denim, wearing an old long sleeved button-up denim shirt. Wore my new brown shoes, too.

Fried three eggs, one for the pug and two for me. Packed carrots, cheese, and almonds for my lunch. Baggied up half of a banana too. I ate the other half ahead of my run, which is something I am trying to do more of - eat a little something before heading out. Had a 10am call on my calendar, and it was already 940a. Decided to join the call from home so I wouldn't be rushed. The call lasted almost 20 minutes. Left for the office around 1030a.

Still chilly, but quite the lovely morning. Got to the office by 1045am. Had a meeting set-up with a peer for 11am. Come 1105am headed to her office. She was busy on a call. She came looking for me once her call was over. Didn't take us too long to work through our issue. Free again by 1145am. To fill the gaps, I started working on my monthly report. In fact, I spent most of my day on monthly reporting of one kind or another. A friend stopped by to share that Hood and Bachelor were expecting more snow.

At lunch time I went to the Mill Run Lowes to look at lamps again thinking they might have a better selection than the Georgesville Rd store. And as it turned out, they had pretty much the same selection albeit a bit more organized. Nothing tickled my fancy. On my way back, I stopped at Home Depot. Their lamp selection wasn't that varied either. I took a few minutes to browse the outdoor departments. By then it was sunny and trying to warm up. Spring is in the air.

Was gone from the office for about 50 minutes. Back at the office I enjoyed my packed lunch while spending more time on monthly reporting. Joined an internal conference call at 230pm that lasted about 30 minutes. Finished a section of my monthly report while participating on that call. Multitasking!!

Still needed to take care of my Friday afternoon administrative tasks. Didn't get started until 330pm, which is about 90 minutes later than usual. Took about an hour to wrap them up. By then it was 430pm and the place was like a morgue. I might've been the only person on my floor still in the office. I left for home at 5pm. Felt great walking out the door with a weekend ahead.

Called Mindy. She shared that Jimaken not only agreed to take Jacob to soccer practice but agreed to bring him home, too. Cool! Mindy, Bella and I made plans earlier that morning to go to Barley's for dinner. I got home around 520-525pm. Jacob was already off to soccer and Bella off playing with friends. Mindy and I looked at lamps online, including several I found on Home Depot's website that you can't get in store. I am very attracted to Tiffany-style lamps. I think it's the vibrant blast of color along with that old fashioned feel. Mindy likes it too, but probably not as much as me. She pooh-poohed the first one I showed her. I had others, however. She was OK with some of them.

We didn't plan to leave for Barley's until 630p or so. Bella called around 6pm to ask me if Makayla could join us for dinner at Barley's. I anticipated that she would ask, and willingly agreed. That made Bella happy. At some point Mindy mentioned that Saturday evening was gallery hop (1st Saturday). Suggested we take it in. I was game, and added that we could even look for lamps in the many local shops. Mindy planned to ask Lindsey to watch the kids.

The four of us left for Barley's around 640pm. It wasn't much of surprise that we had to park in the back 40. I headed inside with the girls while Mindy chatted with a few friends on the patio. The girls took a seat on the bench just inside the door. I headed to the bar where I ordered a beer from April. She put the beers on our table tab and we were soon seated in a booth in Justin's section.

Justin took drink orders from the girls, both asking for Dr Pepper. And I'm pretty sure that Mindy ordered a glass of wine. We were expecting nephew Joe to meet us any minute. He was coming from work. He showed up 5-10 minutes later. We ordered a couple appetizers - a basket of french fries and one of their new flat breads - chicken and avocado. Originally we planned to order more food, but after eating a couple slices of the flat bread I was fine. I was more interested in having a few beers.

My 2nd beer was the Left Coast IPA from the firkin. Used to be that I would have a firkin every Friday. However, that's not been the case for several years now. It was good. Nice change of pace. Joe left about 10-15 minutes ahead of us. He was meeting some friends elsewhere to see a punk rock band. Mindy placed a to-go order for Jacob - chicken tenders with buffalo sauce and gates of hell on the side.

Mindy picked up the tab and drove us home. I suggested we pay a rare visit to Chrissy & Kenny. Sadly, we haven't been down to see them for more than a couple months. Mindy was warm to the idea. Mindy poured a glass of wine. I poured a Jack & Coke. We walked to the neighbors with the pug. Bella and Makayla were already there. Kenny & Chrissy were quietly relaxing on the sofa. Chrissy was enjoying a beer. Kenny wasn't. Said he was leaving shortly to go after Lillian and her friends who were ice skating at the Chiller in Dublin. First time I've talked with Chrissy since well before her skiing accident. She's still in a brace and recovering from ACL surgery.

Kenny departed to fetch Lillian and friends about 15 minutes after we got there. Mindy and I stuck around visiting with Chrissy. Finished my drink and was going to run home to make another but poured some bourbon Kenny had on hand. Kenny was gone for about 30 minutes. Lillian had two school friends staying overnight. It wasn't five minutes until there was a problem between all the girls. More specifically, Makayla & Bella were fighting with Lillian and her peeps. Cat fight! Kenny & Chrissy had to intervene.

We stuck around for another 45 minutes or so before stumbling home. Was good to hang with the neighbors. Mindy, the pug and I headed directly to bed.

Leg in Door DQ

I slept great but woke feeling extra lazy. I let myself sleep-in until almost 6am. The smell of fresh coffee was almost overwhelming. I hurried through exercises then poured a cup of coffee for me and Mindy. I delivered Mindy’s before enjoying any of my own.

Downstairs again, I checked the weather and read the headlines. North Korea making all sorts of threats against the US. Yikes! The Reds won. The weather forecast was only fair. Headed towards 50 with sunshine. Supposed to get a little warmer heading into the weekend but those 70 degree temps under sunny skies forecasted for all of next week were now the low 60s with clouds and rain. Why did I fall for that?

Still draggin’ rear, I decided that I was gonna stick around the house for a while and wouldn’t likely run until after seeing Bella onto the bus. That gave me plenty of time to relax & enjoy myself, which is something I’ve been craving to the extreme of late. I work hard. Why not? To compensate, I logged onto work email form my home PC. Followed up on a couple hot issues.

Saw Jacob off to school then Mindy and Bella. I was in the middle of my stretch routine when Mindy came down. Funny listening to her cajoling Bella to get up and moving. Mindy left around 730am. Asked if I was working at home. I explained that I was simply taking my time and likely heading in around 930am.

Headed out with Bella at 810am, but not before getting into my running clothes. That way I could leave for my run only minutes after she was safely on the bus. Despite being sunny, it was still chilly – only 30 degrees. Where’s are spring weather? Kenny was at the bus stop with Makayla. Shared their toilet issues brought about Sunday during a family Easter celebration when their niece Mattie flushed something not meant to be flushed. Kenny was determined to replace the toilet after removing and snaking the old but still having troubles. I only suggested he consider snaking it from the bottom up since he planned to pull it anyway. Why spend unnecessary money? I even offered to delay my run and help him. He declined my help citing the need to run to a job site to check on his crew. Kenny reminds me a lot of my dad in that he will help anybody with their projects but more often than not refuses help with his own.

Headed back home with the pug then headed out for a run. I was dressed in full winter attire. Can’t wait to shed the under layers, let alone getting into shorts. Ran the full 4.1 miles. Legs a little tired again but not enough to slow me down. Instead, just a minor inconvenience.

Back home shortly after 9am, I peeled off a couple sweaty layers then checked my work email. Fairly quiet. I started breakfast and threw together a quick lunch. Headed for a shower a few minutes later. Ready to go just before 930am. Spent a few more minutes online paying bills and then responding to a couple work related emails. Left the house around 945am. Almost forgot, wore my new brown leather Rockport slip-ons. Very comfortable.

Arrived at the office somewhere close to 10am. I blocked out my calendar so I could spend time working on monthly reporting, something I had no choice but to ignore while chasing several reactive issues all week for the customer I am covering in the absence of a peer. Had a 130pm call I needed to join. Thankfully, the call was brief and fruitful. Issue resolved.

Spent almost all afternoon working on reporting save for an hour I set aside to complete a document for my boss. Mindy sent a text midafternoon asking if I wanted her to invite my dad for dinner. I didn’t respond until closer to the end of my workday when I finally felt like I had a few minutes. Too late. She had already extended the invite. He wasn’t coming. Apparently pinched a nerve in his back.
Felt good about all I accomplished at the office. I left for home around 515pm. Called Mindy once I was safely on the road. She was busy preparing dinner and also preparing to take Bella to gymnastics. Said she planned to contact the McVey’s to remind them that we planned to take Lane when we pick-up Bella.
I got home just after 530pm. Looked like we were having pasta – linguine and red sauce. The red sauce, I later learned, contained the leftover hot Italian brats from Wednesday’s dinner. Yum! She asked that I put the pasta on while she ran Bella to gymnastics. Jacob was going with her. I was left at home alone. I used the time to my advantage editing photos and adding them to recently published blog entries. Finally got around to adding to photos to our HV postings. Still haven’t added any for the Utah ski trip. Man! What a slacker I am.

Mindy & Jacob were back home before I knew it. I was still editing (shrinking) photos. I didn’t even get a chance to put the pasta on. Mindy didn’t’ give me any grief about it. At least I had the water boiling and ready. Dinner was ready within the next ten minutes. Along with the pasta, we had a fresh garden salad and rolls. Dinner was scrumptious!

Finished dinner and clean-up near 650pm. I spent a few more minutes on my blog before Mindy called my attention to the time. It was 710pm. As I prepared to depart, Mindy offered to ride along. Sure. I suggested we stop at Lowes to look at lamps after picking up Bella and dropping Lane. Mindy agreed.
We stopped to pick-up lane first. Of course Mindy got out and chatted with Connie for a few. She was in her work out attire and in her driveway with young son Collin. Darwin, by the way, sent me a text earlier that evening letting me know that he was out of pocket for the entire weekend attending a required class, an outcome from his Oct 2012 incident.

We had Lane and were on our way to the gym by 718pm. Traffic was kind to us and we arrived just ahead of 730pm. Bella was still practicing her runs. Kelly came over to chat with Mindy & I after practice. Shared that her car was broken into I believe on Monday evening while at her daughters’ soccer practice. Stole her wallet, work laptop, and more. Had it all in a large gym bag on the front seat with the door and windows locked. The crook brazenly busted out her window to get the stuff. Started using the credit cards within the first hour. What a nightmare!

We left Lane and picked up Bella. I more than expected Bella to throw a fit about stopping at Lowes but she didn’t. At some point Mindy shared that Bella loves Lowes. I thought she was only kidding. I didn’t think about it again until we were in Lowes and couldn’t find Bella. We split up going aisle by aisle looking for her. We looked for maybe 5 minutes before I was ready to hit the panic button. I ended up finding her near the lighting aisle. Said she was over looking at toilets. I’m guessing she was trying one out.  Went on and on about how much she loves playing house in Lowes. Is that cute or what?

We soon ran into Mindy who didn’t seem as panicked as me. We all headed out to the car. By the way, we didn’t find any lamps that we both liked, and I was in no mood to settle for something so plain Jane.
As we loaded into the car, I mistakenly closed Bella’s leg in the back door while helping her in. She let out an extraordinarily loud yelp! I certainly didn’t mean to, but she was crying as well as pissed! With the deep window tint, one can’t see the passenger. And Bella is a lollygagger. She wouldn’t talk to me. I felt bad, but could only apologize.

Mindy asked that I drop her off at the nearby Kroger so she could run in and get bananas. Meanwhile, Bella suggested I could make up smashing her leg by taking for ice cream. Fair enough. While Mindy was in Kroger, Bella and I headed across the way to the DQ. Empty when we pulled in, the place started filling up as soon as we walked in. What the ….?

Finally got to the counter and ordered Bella’s vanilla ice cream in a waffle cone. Her leg was suddenly all better.  Asked how I expected her to eat it since we don’t typically allow such things in our cars. I gave her a hall pass asking only that she be extra careful. But we are talking about Bella. Thankfully, she never did spill any, at least from what I can tell. I guess I could find a giant clump of ice cream under my driver’s seat in the next couple of days. 

Headed back across the street to pick-up Mindy. Had to circle two times, and I was in fear that she would be out there walking around looking for us. Nope! Finally, there she came. Good timing. Picked up right outside the exit door. The car behind seemed disgruntled with my very brief stop. Too bad!

She got a few more things besides bananas, but still only one bag. We headed for home. Didn’t get home until after 8pm. Jacob was there waiting our arrival. He was at Evan’s playing basketball when we left. We told him where we were going, so he wasn’t concerned.

Quickly changed into my PJs then poured a Jack & Coke. Mindy and I looked at lamps online. For some reason, I am drawn towards tiffany lamps. Case and point, the three new fixtures we bought a couple springs ago. Mindy nixed my first choice, though she likes tiffany too. Just didn’t like the predominant color – blue.

We talked in the kitchen until 920pm when Mind declared it time for her to head up to read in bed. Asked if I was coming soon. Yes, but not before finishing my drink and catching a little knowledge TV. Mindy came down seconds after Mindy headed up to ask for help with her dead Kindle. We got it figured out. Dead battery. 

I watched a short bit of How It’s Made before falling asleep. I woke at 1010pm and headed up to bed. I was very surprised that Mindy was still awake and reading or doing a puzzle. She laid on my chest as we fell asleep. Good night moon!

Brats & Brown Shoes

Was up around 550am satisfied with nearly 8 hours of sleep. It was a push-up day, which meant I'd have to exert a bit more energy to get through my morning exercise regimen. Knocked out the entire routine in 5-10 minutes. Coffee time! Because I slept in, I prepped and delivered Mindy's coffee first. It was already 610am.

It was a partly cloudy morning, the moon clearly visible in the southern sky, with a temperature of 27 degrees. Seems we're struggling to break away from winter's late grip. I got a late start for my run, not heading out the door until 710am after getting dizzy and feeling nauseous during my stretch. More than once i felt like I could earl. I wore full winter attire and ran just three miles in an effort to ensure I was back home well ahead of Bella's bus stop time.

Upon my return, Mindy was long gone. Despite getting back to the house with enough time to make my breakfast & lunch, I opted to shower and then see Bella onto the school bus time. I made my breakfast afterwards. Still wasn't feeling that great but well enough to get on with my day.

Finished breakfast and was ready to leave for work by 845am. Got out the door 5 minutes later. Made decent time cutting across town then north on 270. Arrived in New Albany near 910am. It was deceptively chilly walk into the office building. The sun was out and tons of birds zipping around singing their mating songs - save for the temperature, all the tell-tale signs of spring.

Morning went fairly smooth. For the first time all week, I was able to focus on my primary responsibilities. I left for lunch around 1pm with a planned stop at the Dick's Sporting Goods at Easton. Looked at scanoes and shade canopies. Probably spent about 30 minutes perusing their wares. The 14' scanoe I've had my eye on looks a lot bigger than I remembered.

Left Dick's and ventured next door to DSW where I bought a pair of brown casual shoes that will serve me well both for work and play. Out about an hour, I headed back to the office. Still wasn't feeling a 100% but managed to choke down my lunch which included baby carrots and cheese. Spent the afternoon working on monthly report details.

Stayed busy until just after 5pm when I decided to bail for home. And for the first time in almost a full year, I decided to try taking 670 home, which is a far shorter drive but more prone to traffic jams and back-ups. Talked with Mindy as I made way across town. Made it through downtown unscathed. Mindy suggested that I should exit at Hague due to 270W entrance temporarily down to one lane due to ongoing construction. Decided to play it by ear and eye. Traffic slowed and the 670/70 merge but only for a mile or two. Was able to exit Wilson Rd and made excellent time arriving home by 525pm.

Mindy had dinner started but soon left to run Jacob to soccer practice. We were having brats, dogs, and baked beans. Mindy was home in short order and back on top of dinner. The hot italian brats were quite good as were the baked beans. Suggested that Bella try the beans but she would have nothing to do with them. Bella headed out to play as soon as she was done with her dinner. Mindy and I managed kitchen clean-up.

Mindy willingly agreed to go after Jacob. That made me especially happy since I still wasn't feeling 100%. More than anything, I needed/wanted a good night's sleep. Mindy & Jacob were home before 8pm. Mindy made Jacob some dinner but I can't recall just what. He despises brats and dogs. I am sure it wasn't any of that. Might've been cereal.

Everybody was off to bed early for a change. Lights out for all well ahead of 10pm.

Sharp Blades & Hinge Pins

I slept well but 530am still came around too quick. I rolled out of bed somewhere close to 540am and headed downstairs to exercise. There was a crystal clear sky overhead and it looked cold. After exercise, I checked the weather. Yep, it was cold alright, only 22 degrees. Enjoyed coffee for about 20 minutes. Checked the Reds final. They lost 3-1 in 13 innings. Too bad.

Woke Mindy with a cup of coffee near 610am. After a short visit I was back downstairs for a couple more minutes online and then off to meditate, stretch, then run. All went well. Bundled warmly for a run, including wearing two wicking shirts to battle the early spring chill. The trash truck came by just before I headed out at 640am. I ran the full 4.1 miles.

I got home to Mindy’s Pilot already warming in the driveway. She helped me get Eiknarf ready for a run. She left before we got back home from our short walk. Like most other work days, I immediately started making my breakfast and packing my lunch. I was running late relative to bus stop time and a shower. I decided to wait until after the bus pick-up to shower. Just before Bella and I headed out, nephew Joe showed up to clean. Never known him to show up so early. While Bella, Makayla and I waited for the bus, Joe came out with Bella’s glasses. Thanks Joe!

The bus was a few minutes late. It was cold but also sunny. The sunshine made it feel a whole lot warmer. Back inside, Joe was already busy in the family room. I let him know that I needed to shower and would soon be out of his way. I was showered and out the door by 850am. My personal cell rang as soon as I loaded onto 270N. It was JD Equipment calling to let me know that my mower blades were ready for pick-up. Cool. Told the woman that I’d stop in at lunch.

It was another busy day in the office. Not only was I covering for a peer, but because it was a new month, that meant monthly report time. Comes around fast. Stayed busy until 1pm when I left to run errands, More specifically, to pick-up my mower blades and then to Lowes. The blades are sharp. Good thing I had them wrapped in an old bath towel. The woman at the desk saw me feeling the edge and assured me that while they wouldn’t feel razor sharp, they’ll cut just fine. She also shared, after I paid, that they’re hosting an open house the weekend of April 13 & 14 and will be sharpening mower blades while customers wait and for only $2 each. I could only shake my head having just shelled out $7 each. Oh well!

I headed to Lowes to pick-up fertilizer. They were having a sale – 20% off if you bought the first and second applications together. Saved $21! I also picked up a fresh can of GWD-40 (the G stands for Glenn). :) Was gone only 45 minutes. Enjoyed my packed food upon my return. Spent the afternoon on two conference calls and monthly reports. Had to ignore an incoming call from Mindy due to the conference calls.

We were expecting Front Room Furnishing’s to call around 4pm to let us know what time they would be delivering our two new chairs. 4p came and went. At 430p I called them to make sure we were on the same page. We were. It’s just that they don’t start evening deliveries until 4pm and they call 10 minutes before arriving. The woman said we were 6th on the list. I called Mindy to let her know.

Mindy sent a text around 515pm advising that she would need to leave to take Bella to gymnastics at 535pm. Dang. Forgot about that. I left the office for home a few minutes later. I just knew the delivery guys would be calling and arriving about the time that Mindy needed to leave. That’s just how things work. Sure enough, they called while I was conversing with Mindy. I quickly ended our call and took that one. They said they were 10 minutes out. I explained that I was in route and that my wife had to leave to deliver the kid to gymnastics. I let them know that Jacob was there, but also know most companies won’t honor that unless they’re 18. The gentleman said he would wait 5-10 minutes if neither of us were there.

Even with thick traffic on 270, I made it home in near record time, getting both of the tricky lights which almost never happens (Roberts/270 exit, and then Trabue and Wilson). What do you know. As I neared Trabue, I noticed a Front Room Furnishings truck maybe three car lengths in front of me. Sure enough, it was our truck. Turned into our subdivision just ahead of me. And as it turned out, Mindy hadn’t left yet either. While making my way down our street I called Mindy back again and asked that she move the Pilot to the street making room for the delivery truck. She did so willingly.

She had the old chairs pulled aside too, something we hadn’t even discussed. The guys made quick work of carrying in our two new matching recliners. Signed the paper and they were soon gone. Mindy hung around long enough to try out a chair but then hurried off to gymnastics with Bella. Both kids cringed at our selections. Said they look like old people chairs. Great! That’s exactly the look I was going for. 

While Mindy was away, I asked for Jacob’s help carrying the old recliner to our bedroom. Before I could get back to the livingroom, he had it all the way up the stairs and at our bedroom door. Wow! He’s certainly gotten stronger over the last year or so. The chair wouldn’t fit through the doorway with the door on the hinges. I went to the garage to get tools to remove it. I put a small nick in the hallway wall with the chair leg. Dang it! But that’s what spackling is for, right?

It took a while to get the hinge pins out. Haven’t been removed in years. Once the door was off, the recline just fit inside. Before tucking it neatly into the corner, I turned it onto its back and reattached a nut that fell off and then tightened three others. That left the recliner recline better than it has in years. But that’s not why we replaced it. Truth is, it’s ugly! 

I lubed the hinge pins before putting them back, then put all my tools away. Washed my hands then went in to sit in one of our new chairs. Ahh! Darker than I expected, but still nice. Mindy was home in short order and quickly pulled several leftovers from the fridge. I planned to eat my leftover Dragon Palace. Mindy gave her leftover Barley ribs and brisket to Jacob. We reheated everything on the pizzas stone. Mindy had blazin’ chicken and macaroni salad. Shared that she stopped at Minelli’s to meet her mom and Joe on her way home from gymnastics. I think she said she was picking up some stuff the kids left there on Sunday.

Mindy also shared that she texted with Darwin and he agreed to bring Bella home when dropping off Lane. We’ll return the favor on Thursday by taking lane when we pick-up Bella. The War Sui Gai was good, but not nearly as good as it was on Sunday afternoon. After dinner and clean-up, Mindy and I retired to the livingroom and our new recliners. I wanted to put the recliners through the real test – with my book in hand. I read and napped, although only for 15 minutes tops. Very comfortable.

Bella got home around 750pm. Darwin didn’t come inside. Bella’s return drew Jacob down from his room. Forgot to share that he got himself grounded for being disrespectful to his mother just before I got home. Refused to walk the pug when asked. He came downstairs to slam our taste in chairs. I didn’t mind as long as he wasn’t totally rude. Bella didn’t have anything nice to say about them either, but was more than willing to snuggle up in one with her momma.

I relinquished mine to Jacob and took to the floor where Mindy rubbed my sore neck/shoulder. Felt heavenly. Bella wanted some blazin’ chicken. I headed to the kitchen and reheated her dinner so Mindy could relax. It’s the little things. It couldn’t have been much after 830pm when Mindy said she was heading up to our room to rest in bed. Wanted to know if I would be joining her soon. Soon dear. I tuned to the TV to one of the knowledge channels and watched a program about the universe. I popped some popcorn too. Expected the smell to lure Bella away from her bedroom TV, but it didn’t. Not only that, but Eiknarf didn’t beg for any wither which is really weird.

I started getting sleepy at 930pm and rather than fall asleep on the sofa I headed up to bed, but not before stopping to check in on Bella, who was in her bed playing with her Kindle while watching TV. Ahh, the good life! Mindy wasn’t asleep but was close. We held hands for a while before falling asleep.

No Foolin', Our New Chairs are in!

My sleep can best be described as sketchy. I’m afraid that I ate too much Easter candy an hour or two before bed, and the sugar buzz left my mind much more active than I would otherwise prefer. Not only did I struggle to get to sleep, but woke several times with weird dreams. And each time I woke, I felt like I wasn’t sleeping deep enough.

Despite the poor sleep, I rose from bed near 530am, brushed my teeth, then headed downstairs to exercise. After sit-ups & push-ups, I was wide awake. Headed to my PC with coffee near 550am. I noticed a partly cloudy sky overhead, and a half moon partially obscured by clouds but still plainly visible.

It was 41 degrees, warmer than I expected. Supposed to get pretty chilly during the overnight, dropping into the low 20s. Supposedly headed for a spring-like warm-up with sunshine and the 70s beginning next Sunday. That’ll be nice. We just need to get through this cold snap. Perhaps this will be winter’s last hurrah.

I played around on the internet until 610am when I headed upstairs to wake Mindy with a cup of coffee. Back downstairs by 615am, I moved on to meditation and eventually stretching. Felt great, especially the stretching. Finished both of those by 630am then dressed for a run. I went ahead and wore full winter gear since the temperature was expected to drop through the morning hours, though I did wear my thinnest winter wicking shirt.

I was comfortable from the outset but also a little stiff legged. Bu that didn’t stop me from running the full 4.1 miles. The run took a lot out of me. And when I finished, it took longer than usual for my breathing to return to normal. When my legs are stiff, it takes far more energy to produce the same results.
Mindy was just heading out to load the Pilot when I returned to the house. She asked if I was OK. I was sweating more than normal and still out of breath. I leashed up the pug then headed out.

During our brief walk, my breathing returned to normal. During the morning dog walk is when I typically feel the rush of endorphins streaming through my body, which is always a very calming span of time. Mindy left for school shortly after our return. I quickly went into breakfast and lunch mode while making sure that Bella was heading upstairs to brush her teeth.

While the green frying pan preheated, I threw together a lunch. It was 750am by the time my lunch was packed and I finished eating my two eggs and fruit. And yes, Eiknarf enjoyed one too. I hurried off to the shower after determining I had just enough time to shower before bus stop time. I was very deliberate and back downstairs by 804am pretty much ready to walk out the door with Bella. She seemed a little bummed about returning to school. But I brightened her morning by reminding her that she only has about 8 weeks left of school until summer break, and that you gotta go through tis to get there.

Makayla soon joined us at the bus stop. We observed two large turkey vultures sitting high atop a dead tree that hangs over the road and stream. I’m guessing that use that perch often looking, hoping for road kill.  The bus arrived near 815am and once the kids were boarded, Eiknarf and I walked out front and closer to the two giant birds. They didn’t budge. I briefly toyed with the idea of tossing a rock there way, but opted not. Why? We headed back inside.

Inside, I enjoyed a 2nd cup of coffee then loaded my backpack for work. While on my mind, I placed my three mower blades, an empty five-gallon gas container, and my push mower’s old air filter in the Accord’s trunk. Was out the door by 840am. I planned to address all three at lunch or after work.

My morning was busy. Stopped by to chat with my boss one I was settled and had a handle on any reactive issues I needed to respond to that day. I’m slated to get a new laptop soon, and actually could’ve set myself up an appointment this week, but because I have so much on my plate I thought better of it. It can take days to get everything up and running like it was prior.

I got a call from Front Room furnishings around 1045am to let me know that our new chairs were in and that they could deliver them as soon as Tuesday afternoon. I picked Tuesday evening after 4pm. They promised to call ahead. Sweet!

I sent Ashley a text sometime that morning too, asking how the beach vacation was going. I didn’t hear back until after 1p just after I had left the building for lunch. She actually called me instead of texting. Said they were having a good time, and just got back from an intercostal boat ride. Hot & sunny. She confirmed that they’re there through Thursday, and hope to be back home sometime Friday.

Stopped at JD Power equipment just a mile or two from my office. Dropped off my mower blades to be sharpened. Said they might be able to get them done that afternoon and would call me when they were ready. I looked at Echo trimmers and edgers. Left JD and headed to Home Depot where I picked up a new air filter for my Toro after using the old one to make sure I got the perfect match. Also picked up two new edger blades. I failed to pick-up fertilizer which was also on my list. I didn’t realize that until I was walking out. No biggie. Wasn’t going to put it down that evening anyhow. The only thing left on my to-do list was filling up my mower gas container. Planned to do that on the way home, that way I wouldn’t be leaving five gallons of gas in my car all afternoon.

Back in the office near 2pm. The afternoon was very busy, thanks in part to me covering for a peer who is out on vacation. He’d do the same for me. Took it in stride. Mindy called around 2pm. She was already on her way home from school. This was ordering day, the day after spring break without students when the teachers order next year’s supplies. She happy to be finished early and heading home. I gave the good news about our chairs. Said she would be able to be there to meet the delivery driver. She also shared that because it was a Jimaken Monday, he agreed to take Jacob to his first soccer game.

Wrapped up my work day around 5pm and headed for home, Didn’t bother calling Mindy, or anybody else for that matter. Stopped at Thornton’s to fill-up the gas container. Gas was $3.1 per gallon, or as cheap as it’s been for several weeks. I thought about topping off the Accord’s tank too but didn’t. Should be able to get through the upcoming weekend before needing more fuel in it. Arrived home by 520pm.
Jimaken was in my parking spot in the driveway so I had to park along the curb. I raised the garage door so I could carry in the gas and mower parts. Noticed a nasty scratch in the driver’s door of Jimaken’s new car. Holy smoke! He’s only had it for a couple weeks. I would be sick!

Greeted Mindy who was in the kitchen working on dinner. Jimaken and the kids not readily visible. They were in the living room. I asked Jim what happened to his door. He was aware of the nasty scratch and figured it was a car that parked far too close to him in a lot somewhere. Not sure if he plans to pursue it, but doubt it. He and Jacob soon left for soccer.

Mindy put the finishing touches on dinner then hollered out the back door for Bella. It was only 525pm. She was down at Emily’s jumping on the trampoline. She came running on queue. Mindy made blazin’ chicken. It’s always good, but this batch might very well have been her best. Along with the chicken she made a side of rice and a garden salad. Everything was delicious.

Clean-up took a while, but we were still completely done in the kitchen before 630p. By 7pm I was in my PJs and snuggled up in the family room chair reading. I don’t think I made it through even one page before dosing. Felt heavenly, especially after not sleeping so well the night before. Mindy said I slept sitting up in the chair for an hour. I remember hearing Jacob come in after his soccer game and complaining about the loss. I fell right back asleep though, not getting up out of the chair until around 8pm. Once on my feet declared that I was going to head up to bed. I filled my water glass along the way.

Even before I hopped into bed I was starting to get a 2nd wind, which wasn’t unexpected. I turned on the TV and looked for the Reds game, their first of the season. It wasn’t on, which is a travesty. With nothing of interest on any of the knowledge channels, I tuned to the NFL network and watched a show about the 2009 rookie class, which included then Viking Percy Harvin as well as Mark Sanchez. I watched the program for more than an hour even after Mindy joined me in bed. I didn’t fall asleep again until sometime near 10pm.