Do it early
I decided to do the four day blog recap before the four days are over for better retention and future time constraints. Our Thanksgiving started bright and early since I was running the four mile Gobbler Gobbler. We packed both Cindy’s Minipro and my new Mten3 in the car. Cindy was going to help marshal the race while riding her Segway and I hoped to ride the EUC around pre/post race. That’s exactly what happened.
The race itself went smoothly. The run for me was tough but I put minimal pressure on myself since I opted for the fun run event this year instead of the chip timed race. Early on I felt like I was on the verge of a hamstring pull. My lower body still had some soreness/stiffness from the lower body work I did at the gym on Tuesday. Eventually the sensation lessened and I was able to run more or less normally, for me. I followed my normal pattern of getting passed early during the race but then almost be exclusively the one doing the passing during the latter stages of the race. I have no idea exactly how long it took me since I didn’t wear a GPS. All I know it was somewhere less than 40 minutes.
After the race Cindy and I hung around for awhile. I spent most of my time hanging with my timer buddy John who was once again timing the race this year. Even though I haven’t timed a race in over two years, the bond between race timers never fades. Cindy must have showed at least 10 people how easy the Minipro is to ride. She just loves to do that.
Once we got home I went out and tended to chicken clean up so Cindy could turn her attention to Thanksgiving meal prep. She had already done a lot of work on Wednesday. Her mom, mom’s friend, Katie and Cindy’s niece came to join us for the meal. Katie came a little early and I let her try out the new tiny Mten3. She instantly loved the way the wheel felt and reacted. Before she was done she was able to do back and forth pendulums without much issue.
The meal itself was great. Cindy catered to everyone’s dietary preferences, preparing a Tofurkey for me while preparing conventional turkey for everyone else. The feedback on the meal was universally positive. Cindy’s mom’s friend was funny as she told funny stories about her previous husbands and asked matter of the fact and awkward questions of others that seemed to come out of left field. Between four and five o’clock everyone had headed out with very full bellies.
In some ways my Thanksgiving was very unconventional. I basically watched none of the Macy’s parade and did not see a single snap of the three football games that took place. I just had other things that had my attention including YouTube, 3D printing and riding around my Mten.
On Black Friday the unconventional feel continued as I did absolutely no shopping in a brick and mortar or cyber fashion. Instead I dug into a work heavy day where I tried to do most of my conventional chores, hopefully clearing the deck for the weekend. I also picked up Sadie for a long weekend visit, something Elsa was very excited about. During the afternoon Cindy helped me get the exterior Christmas decorations up.
I actually scaled back the extent of the lights outside. We only wrapped the front two palm trees in lights instead of including the other set of four in the front. We took those extra lights and extended them both down each fence lines which looked nice and was a lot less difficult. I wrapped up the work adorning the roof line of the coop/run with the big LED bulbs as I have the last couple years. On Sunday we added a large 16 foot inflatable Saanta sled to the mix. Hopefully this inflatable lasts longer than most. We have yet to have an Xmas inflatable that actually lasted more than one year.
On Saturday, despite my efforts up to that point there was still plenty to keep me busy. Cindy taught a class in the morning. While she was gone I again cleaned up the chicken mess and then did some more work in rusty pool cage screw replacement. This is a long term job that is proving to be more of a pain in the ass than I anticipated. So many of the existing screws are in such poor condition that as soon as I try to back one out the head snaps off. It’s really annoying.
We also took on part two of the long Xmas decorating process, doing all of the inside work Saturday afternoon. Once again we set up my mom’s tree in the great room. Once again the top set of lights did not want to illuminate after showing a few flashes. Instead of fighting with it like I did last year I decided to just bring in a couple sets of spare white LED lights from the shed and using those instead. The LEDs looked better and use less power than the pre-strung incandescent lights the tree came with me. I was happy with the decision as it extends my ability to keep mom’s tree in service indefinitely, not that I would ever dispose of it.
Last night we watched my Netflix blu-ray Kong Skull Island. The movie had more graphic representations of people getting eaten/killed by horrific monsters than anything I can recall seeing. It made Jurassic Park look like Sesame Street. Despite this unsettling/graphic violence we both found the movie entertaining and good overall. I’d give it a B+, Cindy actually said it was an A in her opinion.
Today I woke up to the hope of having a clean slate, devoid of must do’s. I pretty much have it outside of my doing the chicken and pool maintenance early on. Cindy and I went to North Collier Park to ride a little bit and I am in the process of watching the Eagles put a hurting on the Bears.
It seems odd that as much effort as I put into getting stuff done, it just never really feels done, ever. Of course this is no surprise as it is the way it always has been. This feeling is both my curse and my advantage, it just depends on the situation. Even as I punch in these last few words I have thought of double digit things that need my attention, effort, or energy, at some point.