New doubles partner, Plywood, yawn

Last night after we got home, ate dinner, checked our email and did the dishes, I asked Ali if she minded if I played my tennis game. The reason I ask is because I have the xbox hooked to the big screen tv meaning she has to go back to the bedroom if there is something she wants to watch. She surprised me when she asked if I wanted her to play with me! Over the weekend I played against the computer with her a little bit as a doubles team. She had a bit of a hard time initially but picked it up quickly. So last night we went a step beyond and went online as a doubles team. The online competition is much harder than playing the computer. But even so we managed to win quite a few games and even took a couple sets. Ali was stressing out about screwing up but I told her I didn’t care if we won, it was just cool that she was playing with me. Hopefully she will do it some more, it was fun.

The latest NOAA forecast for hurricane Ivan had the middle of the projected path right off the coast of Naples sometime on Monday. Of course these long range predictions are about as accurate as throwing jello at a bullseye but still that image was enough to freak Ali out. This morning she said she really wanted to try to find plywood so we can board up if the prediction comes true. All of the home improvement chains have been out of hurricane supplies for awhile now. So when I got to work I called the local Home Depot just for the hell of it to find out when they were getting more. I was surprised when they said they had some. Evidently they just got it this morning. I asked my boss if I could go grab some and she said “sure”. So I shot over there and was pleased to see there were 2 small stacks of it left. I loaded up 11 sheets and grabbed some concrete screws and anchors. It was a quick 250 dollar bill. In my work clothes I loaded up the sheets into the truck. By the time I was done the back of my shirt was sweated through. At least we got our wood. 🙂 Now I am paranoid some lowlife will try to steal the wood out of the back of my truck during the day.

This morning, after staying up till around 11, Nicki decided to wake me up at 4:30am to go out. Before I went to bed I went to take her out but she acted like she didn’t need to. That is the last time that happens. I’ll slap the leash on her and drag her out the door if need be. This middle of the night bathroom break is killing me. I felt like death getting out of bed since I wasn’t able to really fall back asleep after that.

My volleyball tournament for this weekend has already been cancelled.