Cumulative Lassitude

As any regular reader of this blog will undoubtedly testify I am a huge fan of Fridays in all of its weekend heralding glory. That is why I am so intensely disappointed in myself for yesterday My wife went out for a movie and some pizza with her brother down in Panama and when she returned shortly after 10PM she found a text from me that I had already gone to bed. I cannot remember the last time in my life I was in bed on a Friday night (or any night for that matter) before 11PM.  I attribute this to something I’ve noticed over the last few years as I rush pell-mell into my sixtieth year – the week has a tendency to catch up with me progressively culminating with a deep weariness on Fridays. I’m nothing if not stubborn so I’ve tried to resist this seemingly long delayed coming of age but I was helpless last night.

The long week began with some intense partying in the tropics and then reached a nadir with my four hour tete-a-tete with the driveway from hell. Returning to work but still facing two a day sessions on the driveway even on the days it didn’t snow certainly contributed to the cumulated malaise which was exacerbated by the polar quality temperatures which only drove in the point that at this point last week I was body surfing in the lukewarm Pacific Ocean. At any rate I did go through the motions of First Friday with an all too fun couple of hours at Brew City with co-workers and then a solitary dinner at Zorba’s. I then made a real attempt at clearing out the DVR which had built up over the vacation absence. I was only a couple shows into Justified when even Raylan Givens couldn’t keep my eyelids from descending and I declared defeat and headed upstairs. I awoke to find a very pointed return message from my wife who said I never went to bed that early when she was around. It was a richly deserved rebuke for my lack of intestinal fortitude last evening.

California Cat Trying to Look Villainous With my Daughter

These Guys Next Weekend - Whoop, Whoop

In the good news department I will have some very welcome assistance next Friday that should decisively prevent a repeat failure. My son will be joining me to mark Frist Friday and will be joined by the ABFA on Saturday. It could be the jig I was dancing after hearing this news contributed to my fatigue level but I am very psyched to spend some time with these two superb humans. Yesterday was a day for good phone calls. I spoke with my younger sister who’s recovering from a very nasty fall and she reported a steady recovery as well as continuing the family tradition of being a poor patient in that she was having trouble letting other people do things for her. I also spent some time talking with Keene Friend who was finishing his second week at his new job and marveling at actually experiencing a third weekend in a row with no work for the first time in a couple years.

The New Faucet

Earlier in the day I had to juggle a couple of appointments. The plumbers showed up early (who saw that coming) but we agreed that repairing a faucet that had failed three times in the last ten years was not as good an option as replacing the whole thing which they did in fairly timely fashion. This freed me up to squire Buddy to his annual Veterinarian’s appointment. He was a little confused why no kennel was involved when he mounted the car but was enthusiastically checking out the hundreds of different scents in the parking lot as I tried to drag him into the vet’s office. He checked out completely healthy and got his shots without complaint. There was a funny moment when the young aide took the leash and asked Buddy if he would accompany her down the hall. A microsecond later I saw the bottoms of her shoes as she desperately tried to keep up with the enthusiastically accompanying Buddy. The only bad news was I was supposed to show up with a stool sample from Buddy. This is normally not a problem since he has always been a very generous donor but now all his “treasures” are strewn across multiple layers of really deep snow. I’ve also got to figure out how to get a sample into the very small bottle they gave me – oh the joy of dog ownership!

Buddy Waiting to See What Comes Through the Door

I've Got to get it Into That Small a Bottle! This Will Be Fun!

Finally today is the birthday of a very special person – my wife’s niece, who lives in Panama City. I was unable to link up with her during my abbreviated visit last week but she remains one of my favorite people. It doesn’t hurt that she’s also the New England Patriots’ #1 fan in Central America! Happy Birthday!!!!!

Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday