Friday, February 21 2020

Dear Journal,

Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining me for this Friday's journal entry. Just wanted you to know that this journal entry is best enjoyed with a hot, fresh cup of coffee, and maybe even a little breakfast. I'm feeling good today - happy to be here at the end of the week. This morning I woke up at 2 AM again, this time at the conclusion of a very action packed dream wherein I crashed landed a prop plane on a frozen lake, then had to set a wooden ship on fire from the inside and escape the streets of a flooded city. Sure - dreams themselves don't matter. The actual events that unfold in a dream didn't happen, and truth be told they're probably fabricated from half formed thoughts in the few seconds it takes you to wake up, but the feelings were real. And I gotta say, I felt pretty cool, and it's a great way to start the day.

Some thrilling action, even in a silly dream, is a welcomed change. Yesterday, work was slow. I worked through the morning, then heated up a bowl of tomato soup and toasted a few pieces of sourdough bread, eating it at my desk for lunch. I watched a video of the best mic'd up moments from the Bears' 2019 season. "I love you, but I'm probably not going to watch that," said Marissa after I slacked her the link. I don't blame her - it wasn't my best video recommendation of the day. "And it was like seven minutes long," she later defended herself.

I continued working through the afternoon, went for a walk around the square, then took a little bowl of pistachios up to the ninth floor and ate them while staring out the window. It was a cold day yesterday, and as people were avoiding the outdoors, the capital square looked serene, and even a little creepy.

At quitting time, I jumped on a bus and headed home. Rodney greeted me at the door, already ready to deliver the good news and highlights of the day. "Dada, look! Motorcycle. Ahaghghgablahga UNDER THE COUCH." Translated - he had finally found his prized toy motorcycle, which was misplaced all day yesterday. It was under the couch.

As Rodney led me by the hand into the living room, Marissa remained on the couch. After chatting with everyone, I ushered Rodney upstairs to grab a new pair of socks. While in the kitchen getting our coats on, I noticed a new wall mounted magnetic strip on the wall. "AH! AHHHH!" I shrieked. Rodney looked alarmed. "It's OK, dada," he said patting my leg.

"No dude," I chuckled. "That was a good shriek. Look! Did you guys work on that today?"

"It's a thank you gift for helping with the basement floor," Marissa explained joining us in the kitchen. "I figured you'd notice when you started cooking, or just before you left."

Prior to the new magnetic strip Marissa mounted to the wall, we kept all of our spatulas, spoons, whisks, and utensils packed in one metal container on the counter. It got a little hard to find things in the container - I practically had to take everything out whenever I wanted to find something small like a serving fork. With the metal items now hung on the wall, the container on the counter was much easier to search - not to mention the metal spoons and my new fish spatula look pretty cool mounted on the wall.

"I also did a load of wash for you, and I saw the kitchen mats were on your chores list, so I washed those," Marissa added. My mouth hung open in amazement. "I can be domestic too sometimes," laughed Marissa. I felt grateful. It didn't feel like I had a busy enough day to warrant all this new found free time. After thanking Marissa, Rodney and I left for the grocery store.

At Hy-Vee, Rodney was a ball of boy energy. He darted around the produce, picking up a stalk of rhubarb and swinging it around like a sword. He plucked a decorative balloon off of the fruit stand. As we navigated the aisles, he stood on the highest lip of the cart, shouting YIPEEE. WAHOO. HOORAY. As we waited in line to buy a bus pass, he busily clambered onto the counter, trying to pull himself up. "It's been a long winter," I said approaching the front of the line. "He's got lots of energy these days."

The lady at the counter laughed, then turned to Rodney. "Hey buddy," she said. "Did you see the security camera?" She knelt beside him and pointed up at the monitor, waving at herself from a different angle. Rodney, suddenly gripped with shyness, followed her gaze and quietly nodded, squeaking out a "see ya later" before we left for home.

Back at home, Marissa joined me in the kitchen while I chopped the vegetables for fried rice. I was doing an all green thing, picking up bok choy, green onions, a green bell pepper, and adding in a dab of green Los Calientes hot sauce. Not unlike every other meal featuring my new nonstick pan, it was remarkably simple. I stood at the stove, lightly tossing the rice while Marissa continued chatting about the day. I added in some seared offcuts of cod from yesterdays dinner and a fist full of fresh, chopped cilantro. The meal came out just a bit spicy, but as we explained to Rodney, it was the good kind of spicy. After going through two glasses of milk, we let him chase it down with a bowl of apple sauce and some fruit snacks.

After dinner, I put Rod to bed. We read a story in the dark, and he held a flashlight to illuminate the pages of his alphabet book. I bid him goodnight, then crashed on the couch with a beer, scooping up Ziggy into my lap. It was a great night.

We have a big Friday planned today. I have a busy morning at work, with meetings and a demo in the morning, followed by some meetings in the afternoon. After work, we're heading to the movie theater to see the new Sonic movie. From what I heard, the new Sonic movie is solid. That would be a welcome surprised, but as we all know, a movie is just an excuse to get out of the house and eat popcorn.

Happy Friday, everyone. Hope you have a great day. I'll see you tomorrow.