Oh What A Beautiful Morning!

Saturday morning's are always a pleasure, but this Saturday, oh but this Saturday was even more. It was down right exquisite! The sun was already lighting up the morning sky when I cracked the first eye. I rolled out of bed only minutes later than my usual 730am(740am). I was excited for what the day held in store. After all, we had such a beautiful day forecasted. The temps were forecasted to be in the mid 60's under a clear blue sky, which would enable me to complete many, if not all, of the pre-TG vacation tasks that have been weighing heavily on my mind for days. These tasks included: raking leaves, final, final cut of the lawn, washing the BM'er, and digging up and transplanting some annuals for indoor potting. I was wise enough to take a couple of Advil before going to bed the night prior in an effort to ward off a headache from a night at Barleys. I whipped out my exercises, prepped coffee, and took my vitamin all withn about 15 minutes. Before I knew it, Ykraps and I were out the door for our Saturday morning prowl . And prowl we did. Not to be out done by any other pair, we pee'd on every bush, tree, and fire hydrant that we passed. For whatever reason, I got many strange looks from passer by'ers. Ykraps got none! And yes, we took the camera so we could capture the essense of this beautiful morning. Back at the house I quickly made myself a wonderful cup of coffee complete with all the fixins (whipped cream, caramel, and pumpkin pie spice). next, I fired off a good morning email to Mindy. I was careful not to rush myself into the day, although I really wanted to. I was excited not only with the freedom that Saturday morning brings, but also the superbly beautiful weather forecast. After about three cups of coffee I decided I should knock out my run. And as part of my Saturday morning run tradition, I ran with music in my ears. I was back from my run by 1015am. I took a quick walk about the yard to measure the level of effort that would be required to accomplish the task list I had scratched out earlier in the morning. Upon heading back in to the house, I made some sausage and scrambled eggs so that I'd have the energy necessary to work outdoors all day. By 11am I was ready to begin working away. I made the transplanting first priority. I did it first because I knew that if I began to run out of time, it would be the most likely task to get nixed. I was able to salvage and re-pot three regular and one hanging geranium. My next task was to put some decon (sorry animal lovers) in my hot tub cavity. It seems that mice like to nest in amongst the warm foam insulation, and I can't risk them enjoying themselves a little too much and eating through one of my hoses, or worse yet, some of the intricate electrical wiring. Next it was BM'er time! I pulled her out of the garage and gave her a thorough bath. And because the weather was so nice and predicted to remain so through the evening hours, I thought that I'd drive it tonight on my date with Mindy. Cool! Any BM'er days in November must be thought of as blessings! Once the car was done and put away, it was time to rake leaves, one of my least favorite chores. To make it much more enjoyable, I piped the Buckeye game to my outdoor Bose speakers. That made the raking at least marginally fun. The last couple of years I used my gas powered blower to round up the leaves almost exclusively, but by the time it's all said and done, it's not that much tougher to do it with a rake and tarp. I am fortunate enough to have a place to dump yard refuse too. Many of my neighbors have to use those unsightly brown bags. Me, I have a compost pile at the rear of my yard that's very convenient and earth friendly. I raked up until about 320pm. That netted about half the backyard, but more importantly, about 3/4 of the total leaf accumulation since the lion's share were in the top half which is where I started. Sadly, however, I'll have to rake into December even if I finish the rest of the backyard tomorrow. That's because the weeping willow tree never losses it's leaves until the first or second week of December. It takes a couple heavy December freezes/frosts to knock em' all out. I had made arrangements to be at Mindy's sometime around 5pm for our date, so come 330pm it was time to call in the cows. We were planning to go to her nephew's school play, Arsenic and Old Lace. Too, we were planning to have dinner before hand. In fact, we planned on Red Lobster. I was out the door at 430pm in route to Mindy's, and yes, I was in the BM'er. Along the way I stopped and picked up some flowers for my sweetie. Hey, a guy can never have enough points in the emotional bank account (EBA). I arrived at Mindy's right on queue with the Joseppi's Pizza dude. He quipped that I was delivering flowers and he was delivering pizza. Yeah, true, but I was leaving WITH the princess! The children didn't seem to warm to the idea of having a babysitter. In fact, Bella, Mindy's three year old daughter, was in the throws of a fit when I arrived. She did not want to let go of her mommy. Gut wrenching ... and noisy too! :) Mindy told Amy, the babysitter, that they'd be fine in a matter of minutes, once we were down the road. As the sun was setting on the horizon, we were of on our way! And not more than three minutes into our trip, Mindy called home to check and see if the kids were indeed settled. Almost as if she'd been through this fire drill before, they were! Because it was so nice, we took the back way (the country roads) to Red Lobster. And of course we had the top down. My rule is simple. If it's nice enough to drive the BM'er then the top must be down - period! Throw in the heated seats and the a toasty heater, and even the chilliest clear nights are pretty damn comfortable. We were on a fairly tight schedule. We had 1.5 hours to eat and get to Central Crossings High School. Red Lobster was mobbed - as usual. Rather than wait in a seemingly endless line, we opted for O' Charley's. The crowd there was much lighter. To my surprise, the service, food, and atmosphere were all very good. I had steak tips and Mindy had salmon. We were out of there by 640pm and on our way to the play. Once at the school, which was only a few miles from dinner, we met up with Mindy's sister and brother-in-law (Jody & Larry). We pulled in at almost the exact same time. We exchanged greetings then headed indoors to get seated for the play, Arsenic and Old Lace. Mindy's nephew, Joe had a feature role in the dark comedy. Everything about the play was outstanding. I was very impressed with the acting and found myself completely immersed in the hilarious plot.. The play was fairly long. It began at 7pm and didn't end until 940pm. By now the night had cooled considerably. Still, BM'er rules apply. We didn't hesitate for a minute. Top down!!! Mindy's a real trooper. She just cranked up the heater and turned on our seat warmers. We were more than fine! Once back at her place she paid her baby sitter and bidded her a fond farewell. The kids were asleep, so we were able to relax for awhile. I fell asleep but got up to leave at about 2am. Rain was forecasted for the overnight and I didn't want my BM'er to get rained on, especially after just giving her a bath. Same rule applied - top down on the drive home. Once home, I grabbed a quick bowl of cereal, made my bed ( forgot I had washed all my bedding earlier), and brushed my teeth. Good night! Song of the Day: Oh What A Beautiful Morning http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/lyrics/ohwhata.htm Lyrics by OSCAR HAMMERSTEIN II Music by RICHARD RODGERS There's a bright golden haze on the meadow, There's a bright golden haze on the meadow, The corn is as high as an elephant's eye, An' it looks like it's climbin' clear up to the sky. Oh, what a beautiful mornin', Oh, what a beautiful day. I got a beautiful feelin' Ev'rything's goin' my way. All the cattle are standin' like statues, All the cattle are standin' like statues, They don't turn their heads as they see me ride by, But a little brown mav'rick is winkin' her eye. Oh, what a beautiful mornin', Oh, what a beautiful day. I got a beautiful feelin' Ev'rything's goin' my way. All the sounds of the earth are like music, All the sounds of the earth are like music, The breeze is so busy it don't miss a tree, And a ol' weepin' willer is laughin' at me! Oh, what a beautiful mornin', Oh, what a beautiful day, I got a beautiful feelin' Ev'rything's goin' my way. Oh, what a beautiful day.