Bella's Adoption Day - Mozart's 250th B-Day

Happy Adoption Day Bella and Happy Birthday Wolfgang! I got up this morning at 5:30am feeling refreshed and ready for just about anything. It’s amazing how good one can feel after a solid eight hours of sleep. For whatever reason, I seem to need it more these days. It might have something to do with the elimination of my evening power naps. That’s largely been replaced with Mindy time. I still sneak one in every now and then but certainly not every night like in the past. The beauty of expressing myself in this journal often reveals things even to me! I hadn'tgiven that much thought till now. Not only was I rested, but I was feeling chipper too! But how could I not? After all, it's Friday, I am well rested, I work for a thriving entity, I have a beautiful girlfriend, and my granddaughter is spending Friday night with me. I went methodically about my morning routine. I exercised, walked Ykraps, coffee'd, meditated, cooked, and packed my lunch. As usual, I spent extra time on "me" things leaving little time to frolic in the bathroom getting ready for work, but that's OK. I've seen myself a time or two. No reason to spend additional precious minutes staring at my handsome face in the mirror. Instead, I think I'll go show it to the world! :) By 7:35am I was headed out the door on my way to work. Mindy called just a I backed out of the drive. We talked most of the way to work, which typically works out pretty well since we're both driving at the same time. We had the pleasure of another fabulous sunrise this morning. This time it was unabated. I reaffirmed the need to bring my camera to work. I need to have the balls to pull off over to the burm along 270 at the Scioto Darby Rd. overpass and take some pics of the sun rising over downtown. I arrived to work at 7:55am The morning in the office was slow in comparison to many Friday's, but there was definitely no complaining. Often we're so far behind before we even begin. I took advantage and got caught up on several fronts. Before I knew it, it was run time. The temperature was hovering around 42 degrees with brilliant sunshine. This would be yet another banner running day. Funny thing, I worried (if worry's the right word) whether or not I'd have the opportunity to run in shorts in January. To eliminate the worry, I completed the task on Jan 01 & 02 unknowing that I could have ran every single day in shorts. It's been balmy! I couldn't enjoy the accompaniment of music because my battery gave out before I even started. Troubling? Yes, but we must all overcome obstacles large and small. I did! After my run I hung in the gym long enough to complete a full round of dumbbells despite my aching shoulders and back. After a warm shower I returned to my office where I woofed down my packed lunch. Today was tuna day! The afternoon went fast. I took care of several work related tasks and buttoned down weekend plans including confirming my Granddaughter's whereabouts so that I could pick her up right after work. I also confirmed plans for Mindy and I to hook up with Lindsey tomorrow. Mindy is going to take Lindsey to get her haircut at Saturday's. I'll be watching Lil' Rocky along with GD Kaileigh. Lastly, I prepared a grocery list. I left he office at 4:55pm hoping to get a headstart on the Friday evening rush hour traffic. I would be traversing the back roads of Hilliard to get to Kaileigh's grandmother's home in west Hilliard. I met no obstructions. Good move! I was there by 5:23pm. Kaileigh and I headed directly to Wal-Mart where I would be purchasing my bi-weekly groceries. We were on somewhat of a tight schedule, as we were expected to be showing at Mindy's for Bella's Adoption Day celebration early evening. And as many of you know, I don't do well with deadlines looming and tasks stacked tightly against those very deadlines. I repeated to myself many times, relax, nothing breaks or no one dies if I am not there at some given time. Too, I hadn't even committed to a specific time. We were efficient in our shopping but still took our time. One thing I didn't account for was the Kaileigh element. She definitely added to the amount of time it took to shop. She had many things she wanted to look at and conned me into buying her this over priced "Kate and Ashley" outfit. It was cute and she wanted it. What's a grandpa to do? Buy it, of course! I did hold fir firm on the boots, however. Once we were in the grocery section, she insisted we go back and get some boots. She tried her hand at bartering, but I held firm. No boots! We grabbed our groceries and headed to the checkout sometime around 6:25pm. I'd say we were in there for an hour. By the time we were home and unloaded, it was 6:41pm. We called Mindy to confirm final arrangements. Mindy and her children were anxiously awaiting our arrival. The plan also called for me to pick-up pizzas on the way. They were hungry! I felt a little stressed but repeated to myself that there was no sense in stressing, hurrying, worrying. I took my time. I had several small tasks yet to complete: putting groceries away, walking Ykraps, wrapping Bella's gift, changing Kaileigh's clothes, ordering pizzas, and gathering cameras. We left for Minelli's at 7:10pm. I had told Mindy that we'd be there sometime between 7:41 and 8:00pm. It appeared we'd be on the early side of that. Cool! Stress level declining! Minelli's had a crowd and the wait for our pizzas was about 5 minutes. No biggie! Be forewarned! There's a bar in the Minelli's strip mall. you don't want to get out of your car staring at your feet. You just might get ran over by someone less that sober! It almost happened to Kaileigh and I. Kaileigh held the two pizzas on her lap on the last leg of our journey. She enjoyed the warmth, at least at first. We arrived to Mindy's at 7:40pmish. By then, Kaileigh's legs were too warm from holding the hot pizzas! We arrived to a rambunctious affair. Mindy's kids were excited to see Kaileigh and she was happy to see them. Mindy's mother, Gloria was there too. As the kids played noisily, we readied the pizza for chowing. Everyone was hungry! After some salad and pizza, Mindy corralled the children around the table where we sang Happy Adoption Day to Bella! It's probably a good time to share some thoughts on that. Mindy made the conscious decision a while ago to be out front with the whole adoption thing with Bella. Wisely, now, the event is embraced and celebrated rather than quieted. We all had fun. Mindy made it fun for all three kids by having fun gifts for all. It was a good lesson in what works for kids. She bought some inexpensive gifts like wall walkers, Barbie's, and recorders. The kids loved them and played with them for over an hour solid. And just I didn't feel left out, Mindy bought me a toy too! I got a disco ball that doubles as an FM radio. Coo! It's for 5 and ups! I think I'm there. As the night grew older, Mindy left to take her mother home. I stayed back with the kids while Madagascar whirled in the DVD player on the big screen. We all relaxed for a spell while she was gone. When she returned home it was almost 10:00pm. Way late for Mindy's kids to be up. Despite the late hour, they were still full of energy. They played for another 15 or 20 minutes before Mindy put them to bed. Kaileigh and I helped get them tucked in and then left ourselves. Mindy threw us out! We were home by 10:40pm. Kaileigh fell asleep on the ride. She was out cold. I carried her in and eventually to my bed. It was lights out before 11:00pm. No Barley's tonight!