The Dynamic Duo

Halloween went pretty much as I had planned with a few minor variations. UltraDad’s work schedule has changed; he now goes to work an hour earlier, so this necessitates an earlier wake-up. It will be nice to have him home an hour earlier as well, but there is somehow something obscene about getting up at 4:30 A.M. I don’t think my eyes are fully open until long after UDad hugs me goodbye and bravely goes out to face his 14 hour day, despite having given him breakfast and packing his lunch.
The sun comes out after a bit, and it seems so warm I decide to take my “boys” on a bike ride. I had had them in the bike basket together only one other time, but, being a fair, nondiscriminatory parent, I hate the idea of leaving one home. In retrospect, that may have been safer for all concerned. Murphy, who is supposed to be the big brother dog here, is alternately lunging about, crowding Rowdy into a corner of the carrier and climbing partially out pretending that he intends to jump. Plus, once I start riding, I find it isn’t all that warm out after all. My hands are feezing. Stopping once to rearrange and cram Murphy back inside, we ride to the City Park and stop at our favorite section, the Little League Football Field. This is a mostly-fenced in grassy area, and usually we are the only ones there. When it is occupied, even if only by caretakers mowing the lawn, I always feel a bit grumpy and (irrationally, I know) as if someone is trespassing on MY property. Today all is as it should be, and I park the bike near an entrance and unclip and extricate the dogs from their confinement. In the field I can allow them to run unleashed as I walk around the perimeter. They generally romp about in my vacinity, tackling each other and checking out all the unfamiliar smells. We also practice our “Come” command, and I find if I squat and hold my arms out in a welcoming gesture they are usually quick to run into them for praise and hugs. The ride back home goes a bit better as “we” are a bit more settled, though Rowdy does take a brief turn at trying to climb over the edge. My bike basket is actually a specially made nylon box that attaches to my handlebars. There is a clip to attach to your pet’s collar to insure that, indeed, he cannot jump, and handy pockets on the outside for leash, waterbottle and included raincover. With two dogs, I tie their leashes onto the frame giving them, hopefully, room to move around, but not room enough to leap out. I have sometimes wondered if this is very safe; if one didjump out, he would be left dangling from the basket, probably causing me to wreck the bike and kill us all, but I think the fact that they know they are tethered theoretically discourages this type of rash behavior
Back home again I put a pork roast in the crockpot for dinner (a large part of my day seems to revolve around food, either planning, preparing or cleaning up after!) and plan my costume for the day.
This is actually less a costume, and more an excuse to dress down for Weight Watchers. As mentioned before, I decide to go with a “Survivor” motiff, trying to emulate some of the participants who do wear clothes. I end up with white jeans, a white nylon undershirt with my tie-dyed blue shirt on top, beaded necklace with huge beaded earrings and a blue scarf (or ‘buff’) tied over my head.
Of course I also wear this ensemble to work at the prison, as I leave directly from there for my WW meeting. Noone remarks on my slightly strange attire until a bit later, and in a way I could not have anticipated. Joe was having a problem with the new Vellux blanket he had recently purchased and I walk down the wing to his “house” to take a look. When I get back to the store, I found that my blue head scarf had caused an amused buzz. “The guys want to know if you are now gang affiliatedr,” Travis informed me. It seems that the blue I was wearing was a color associated with the “Crips” or the “Southsiders.” “No gangs,” I say shaking my head. “Just clueless.”
It is a slow day at the store, as most of the inmates are inbetween pay cycles, so I have time to catch up on a little paperwork. At home I had not had time to carve my pumpkin, so had bring it along. At my request, Travis soon has the plain little pumpkin transformed into a happily grinning jack-o-lantern. I place a small, scented candle inside, and we turn the lights off for a few moments to enjoy the effect.
Ricky informs me that, as usual, there is a new type of illness circulating around the camp. Ever since catching double pneumonia years earlier, Ricky has been especially suseptible to viruses and has only recently recovered from the last bad bug going around. “I’m trying to spend a lot of time away from my cube,” he tells me. “Everyone there is sick. I hope we can get flu shots soon.” I hope so too. I get one every year, and have received this year’s a couple of weeks ago at a Health Fair. I really think they help.
At WeightWatchers that night, I have three member stay for the meeting. I had anticipated a low turnout, but had hoped for a few more than this! But we have a nice, informal discussion on Holiday “potholes” looming up ahead that can cause “detours” and “flat tires”. Such a clever analagy, don’t you think?
Arriving back home, I find my candy bowl still full to the brim. Either no trick or treaters had come, or they had scorned my little suckers. Great.
It is nice to have UDad home so early, but he seems even more exhausted than usual. My day, it seems has been nothing compared to his.
Fist of all, the busdriver had somehow not been informed of the change in schedule and had not arrived to take him and the others to work. When they finally do get them there, UDad is assigned to a truck at the South Area (he usually works in the North Area), but the van they were going to use to transport him has a flat tire. No tools are in the van to replace the tire, so they have to round up all that, and after waiting for maintenance for a while, he and his boss end up replacing the tire themselves. About lunchtime, he is called in to train on the “Simulator” for the newest, biggest trucks. Sounds like he got an amazinly high score, considering the terrain simulated was from the unfamiliar-to-him South Area. Finally he gets to eat his lunch in the truck while completing the rest of his work day. A stressful sounding day.
Well, November is here. In a few days, UltraDad and UltraMom head back to Idaho for one more round of Moving Sale/clearing out junk. In less than two weeks, UltraMom heads to Twin Falls for the big annual WeightWatcher Innovation Meeting. In about three weeks, everyone will be in UltraMom’s home for a scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner, and in less than a month UMom and Heather will be heading for Japan and the social event of the season, Bob and Tomoko’s wedding. So why am I sitting here writing a post? Because I’ve got stuff to do, what’s why!
UltraMom