A cold slap in the face

I didn’t find my way into bed until just before 11pm the night before. Still, I woke this morning before 5:30am. And as my new routine dictates, I was careful about making excessive noise getting out of bed, peeing, and brushing my teeth. As I left the room and headed downstairs I pulled the bedroom door almost closed. I am still getting used to the family room without the six poinsettia plants surrounding me as I lay for my sit-ups. For whatever reason, it seemed to take a bit longer than usual and they hurt a bit more this morning, too. Once I got to my push-ups, I whipped out an extra 5 on top of the routine 50 just because. I was feeling strong but stiff. Lastly, I breezed through my 40 curls then leashed up Ykraps for our early morning walk. Outside it was very sultry again, and it certainly didn’t feel like early morning unless of course you’re used to spending it in a blast furnace. As clear as it was the sky was still dark, but was only 5:45am. Even still, I could detect an approaching sunrise on the eastern horizon. Too, sitting at about 45 degrees above the morning horizon was a single bright star - the only one that I could readily see in the entire sky. Our temperature today is expected to flirt with 100 degrees and it will be accompanied by extremely high humidity. It will be a hot run for sure. After finishing my entire routine I made the decision to drive the BM’er. Since it was a Monday, I would have to put my laptop in the trunk and my bulging gym bag on the passenger seat. I was a fun ride into work, just as one might’ve expected. Once at work I got right down to business and began catching up on all of my to-do’s. I had a one-on-one scheduled with my boss at 10am thus I had little time to get involved in anything else. After my one-on-one I returned to my office and began making preparations for a big launch tomorrow. My cell phone rang and I saw right away that it was brother Tommy. I expected he was simply returning my calling albeit late – from Friday afternoon. Instead, he had some dreadfully bad news to deliver, which caught me completely off guard. He said that it was about Tiffany, and that she had off’d herself, or something like that. I was stunned and sad all at once. After asking, he went on to tell me how. Instantly, my heart began ache for her and those closest to her. And I would be lying if I said that I didn’t feel just a little guilty. I mean, could I have intervened somehow? Could I have been the ‘white night’ so to speak. Is there something I could said, given, or did that would’ve helped turn her otherwise bleak outlook on life around? These and a million other thoughts raced through my head. In an instant my thoughts turned to my own three daughters. I asked myself such things as how sure I was that they feel loved, cherished, and appreciated, and then I asked myself what I could be doing that I am not. I thought about how I might intervene in their lives no matter how dark or how complicated their problems seem, because when they’re gone, they’re gone. Certainly don’t ever want to face woulda, coulda, shoulda. Honestly, looking back, Tiffany barely stood a chance at escaping the poverty and hard life style that she had been raised in and had become so accustom to. And, yes, we hear stories all the time of people escaping such turmoil and becoming free of their pasts and moving on to accomplish great things. Could she have? Absolutely, but she needed a few breaks that she either wouldn’t take or never got. Under that brash exterior laid a very tender heart. She’ll be missed. I struggled through the rest of my morning but didn’t share what I had learned with anyone. I said a silent prayer, and took her memory with me on my run. All I can do now is try to find something in her short life to use as a positive lesson. As expected, my run was a hot one. It was about 95 degrees with the humidity topping 60%. That put the heat index at 107. The final mile was grueling. I could feel no breeze and the sun baked on my neck and shoulders. My body was covered in a thick sweaty glaze. The two ponds along Davidson Rd. were tempting targets, but I didn’t partake. I toughed out the final mile and made it back in one piece. And just as one might imagine, it took a few extra minutes to cool down. As I showered I promised myself an early morning run on Tuesday so to avoid the extreme heat. I was a little down but wouldn’t allow the day’s dreadful news to destroy me. I kept telling myself to be strong and find something valuable and life sustaining from the entire situation. I took the final minutes of the day to catch up on my weekend writings. The next thing I knew, it was 5:15pm. I quickly wrapped up for the day and made my way to the BM’er and home. I had left the top down in the BM’er and the leather seats were hot. Even with the A/C on full blast, it couldn’t overcome the extreme heat. Truly, I would’ve been much better off with the top up. But … that’s a sin! I arrived home to an empty house. Since it was a Monday, Mindy had taken the kids to her old home and to her ex. From there she was going to the grocery. I would have an hour or so completely alone! After doing my normal chores, I decided to spend my time updating my blog by adding some pics to some of the past week’s entries. Just as I was finishing, Mindy arrived home with groceries and more stuff. After carrying everything in and helping her put things away, I retired for a short nap in my reading chair. I slept, I think, for about 15 minutes. When I got up it was almost 7:30pm. Mindy was enjoying some California rolls and wanted share. I had two but didn’t particularly care for them. I watered up and headed for the garage to begin my yard chores. I figured if I stayed at it I could finish tonight. After wacking and edging I began to mow the sides and easement with the push mower. Just then Jim pulled up with the kids. After a little meet & greet I got back to business. I worked hard to finish what I had started. Surprisingly, the grass and flowers are drying out even after the torrential rains we had as recent as Thursday night. But that’s what temps in the 90’s will do. After I finished mowing and blowing, I drug out the sprinkler to water the front yard flowers that almost never get manually watered anymore. The impatiens in particular needed a drink badly. Just as I set the sprinkler for optimum coverage, my old neighbors, Daryl and Jennifer, pulled up with their two boys, Cullen and Holden. Caitlin was at camp Jennifer reported. I hadn’t talked with the two of them for a long, long time. Daryl, I hadn’t seen in almost two years, and Jennifer, last spring for just a minute at Straders. It was good to catch up. They were in awe of the changes to the landscape. But don’t feel sorry for them,. They have a beautiful mansion between Mill Run and the river. They are both successful doctors. They stayed for about 20 minutes talking and walking around the yard. It was completely dark when they left and all of us were being eaten by tenacious mosquitoes. Once Inside, I took a very quick shower to wash away the yard debris. When done, I helped Mindy put the kids back to bed. They were up unusually late – 9:45pm. After they were out, we went back downstairs where I popped some popcorn and Mindy had a bowl of cereal and a glass of wine – ewh! We found our own way to bed around 11pm.

Powerwash

New light! I woke again at 7:30am. How odd is it that I typically wake at 7:30am, or there abouts, each weekend day without consciously trying. I wouldn’t think it so odd if I woke at the same time during the week, but of course, I don’t. I wake during the work week at 5:30am each day. After giving Mindy a long hug I leaped to my feet, brushed my teeth, peed, and headed downstairs. I whipped out he exercises in short order and leashed up Ykraps for a hot & steamy morning walk. It was already 74 degrees and very humid. To use a friend’s term, it was close! Mindy joined us on our morning walk for a change. We took our time and enjoyed the essence of summer, trying to drink in all the tell tale signs of the dog days. Back at home I made us some coffee then stepped out onto the deck to survey the almost dried power wash job and to further enjoy the sunny summer morning. I took my guitar and Mindy came along too. We enjoyed the morning air until about 9:30am again when I went inside to ready for a run. Mindy received a call from her ex that Jacob was weezing so she called her brother in hopes of him calling in a prescription. He did. She was also heading home to get another load while I ran. I didn’t run the Hague/Trabue route. Instead, I took ‘old trusty’. I worked up one heck of a sweat. When I got back I toweled off best I could and then sat down for a rare bowl of cereal. I had fruit loops (or their generic brother). Mindy was still at the house so I spent some quiet time editing pictures form the camera since I hadn’t done so over the past week (rare). By 11:15am Mindy returned with another van load. This time it was mostly dishes and such. All were pretty heavy too. After carrying in all the boxes, I left her to the task of organizing. She does an absolutely wonderful job of it. I went out to power was the drive and walkway. Since my house faces north/northwest the façade of the home and about 12 feet out gets little sun, even in the summer. Tat promotes mildew or moss on the concrete where it rarely gets a chance to dry out in all but the driest of spells. I power washed the stoop and steps first. They were by far the worst (dirtiest). I forgot just how white the porch is. Wow! The power washer is awesome. It didn’t take too long so I moved on to the upper half of the driveway. It gets little sun too. It came equally clean. I got two of the six ‘squares” cleaned. All I have left after the rest of the drive is the garage floor, which needs it bad too. After I was through, Mindy and I headed back to Lowes to get that light that we liked. While there, we also got a new front door mat, more shelf liner, a hanging rack for the back of the linen closet door, and some light bulbs for the new light. By the time we got home, the kids we well on their way home from spending the weekend with their dad. I began tinkering with the new light thinking that if all went well, I could have it up in a matter of minutes. We all know that things don’t work like that, though. This time was no exception, either. I won’t bore you to tears with details but will just say this… More to come

A Very Rusty Bucket

Rudebeckia I woke just before 7:30am Saturday and laid in bed until about 7:45am. By the time I had exercised and walked Ykraps it was just after 8:00am. Mindy had told me that she’d be down stairs shortly but she must have fallen back asleep. I enjoyed a couple of cups of coffee, did some blogging, and played guitar on the deck before she showed up downstairs. We hung out until 9:40am when I decided it was time to run. Mindy asked if I wanted breakfast and if so, what. We decided on bacon and eggs. She vowed to cook while I ran. It was significantly overcast, humid, but not excessively hot, at least not yet. However, the temperature was expected to surpass 90 degrees at some point. I worked up a real sweat during my run. In addition to the sweat, I worked up an appetite too. I devoured my eggs and bacon in short order. During our meal we roughed out our day’s plans which included a trip to Lowes to look at and hopefully purchase some pull-out shelves for the cabinets. Last minute we decided not to shower since we would be working up a sweat with moving/organizing later. We did freshen up, however. We left the house around noon headed towards the Georgesville Square Lowes. I inadvertently got of at West Broad as if we were going to Home Depot. Rather than turn around, we did stop at Home Depot just to peruse their isles first. They didn’t have the cabinet shelving we wanted but did have a few other items that weren’t on our list. We bought some potted sunflowers and another type which I can’t readily recall. In addition, we bought a new plant stand and a couple other miscellaneous items. Onto Lowes. We arrived at Lowes minutes later – one exit south on 270. We passed Kroger first where we saw Mindy’s mother loading her groceries in her car. We chatted for a few, but then moved on with our plans. At Lowes we came to realization that what we wanted to achieve with pull out shelving would be too problematic and ultimately scrapped the idea. We did, however, find the ‘perfect’ light to replace the fluorescent albatross currently hanging over the island counter. We didn’t buy it since we needed to take the old fixture down to see what lies beneath first. We left Lowes empty handed. We noted that that rarely happens. Back at home we got cracking on unloading all the pots and pans form the cabinets. Just then Lindsey arrived just as planned but didn’t have lil’ Rocky in tow. She left with Mindy to help move more stuff from the old (kitchen stuff). I remained back with clear directions for which cabinets to clear. After clearing five cabinets I cleared two additional drawers and further organized two other cabinets – more than Mindy had asked. Since I was done with my ‘to-do’s’, it was time to try out my power washer. I drug it around to the deck, grabbed the directions and read them carefully once more before putting it to the test. Once I felt confident that I had it down, I gassed it up, turned on the water and began power washing the deck. The first thing I noticed was that the low pressure was almost no-pressure. The high pressure was awesome, however and did a very nice job of cleaning with just the right amount of power. In fact, if I narrowed the spray too much, it would cut into the otherwise hard, brittle wood. I had to be careful. I only filled the gas tank about half full. I went through that in about 20 minutes. Too, I managed to allow the high pressure hose to twist into a big mess. After it ran out of gas I disconnected the hose and straightened it out. After refueling I tried to restart but flooded the damn thing right out of the shoot. I wasn’t happy and was ready to box it up and take it back. After removing the air filter I could see that I had flooded it, though. I waited about ten minutes then tried starting it again. By then Mindy & Lindsey were back. I helped carry in more stuff then went out to try starting it again. It started right up. I power washed for another half hour until I ran out of gas gain. I refilled it once more then finished the deck. It looks great. And except for a few areas on the outside edge, it’s ready for stain. After I finished power washing, I helped Mindy inside. We worked hard right up until about 7pm when we headed for the shower. I stunk so bad that I could smell myself!!! You figure 90 + degrees and humid, a run, hard work, and no bath, Pugh-ie! After the shower I walked Ykraps and then readied for our night out. We took the BM’er since it was so nice outdoors. We were headed to the Rusty Bucket at the Lane Avenue mall where Mindy’s nephew just started working. There we ordered some fired pickles, and me a Rogue Dead Guy Ale. Mindy had a margarita. For dinner we both ordered fish and chips. All good. We left R.B. at about 9:30pm and headed to Gentiles to get some more of that new Raspberry Ale. There were still open too. I bought two six packs and then headed home. Back at home we each enjoyed a drink on the deck and were thinking about hot tubbing. The mosquitoes were bad, though, so we opted instead to go in and work on the fluorescent light project. We took the old light completely down after we were convinced that the ceiling was textured underneath allowing for a more modern, less obtrusive light fixture. It came down systematically but left some undesirable holes exposed. The idiots who mounted it took no care in the technique they used installing it. By all accounts, I was quite sure I could patch the holes and match the texture with little to know visible trace. As soon as the light fixture was down, I began patching the four half dollar sized holes that the ‘butterfly’ bolts left behind. After removing the light, patching the holes, and two beers, It was time for bed. We were both exhausted from another long hot day and plenty of chores.

Firkin Friday: heading back into the closet

I was up at 5:30am, just as planned, and going about my daily process. It was Friday (yeehaw) and for that I was pleased. When Monday's come I usually dread the work week ahead, seeing only a full slate of work, sleep, and chores. It seems like an eternity looking ahead to Friday. In fact, I try to avoid it for not wanting to tease myself so. Then, suddenly, as if entering some time warp, I find myself at Friday again. I did my exercises and walked Ykraps all before 6:00am. The sky was delightfully pretty with puffy clouds and brightening sky. Rain, however, would continue at least through morning giving way to clearing skies and steamy hot weather for the weekend and the early part of next week. There's even talk that we might flirt with 100 degrees Monday or Tuesday. We'll see. The weekend won't likely include any boating, hiking, or other form of play. Mindy has asked that we reserve these two days for moving the rest of her stuff minus the 'big' stuff which we'll move with a rented truck in a couple of weeks. Mindy's beginning to panic a little with the new school year already looming on the horizon. The start is just over three weeks away and the classroom prep is even closer. To the rest of us lowly laborers, however, this still seems like a good deal. After all, what seemingly small morsel of time remaining to her summer equals or even surpasses the vacation allotment that a lot of folks get for an entire year. I did my routine prep with little variance and before I knew it, I was heading upstairs to shower and groom. Bella had waken and made her way downstairs only to play a game of hide and seek with me. I gave her a hug and asked if she wanted anything to drink/eat. She didn't. Instead she hurried along upstairs to her mother's side and bed. I followed with a cup of coffee for Mindy. After my shower, my bed was filled with Mindy and both kids just as I've come to expect. I dressed for work then ventured downstairs to begin my predeparture routine. After loading the Trooper I returned for some guitar playing and a couple of group hugs. Off to work. Mindy would be watching Lil' Rocky again today as Lindsey wraps up her first week on the job. Additionally, she was planning to finish organizing our closet after the major purge - a big job! Work went as planned. We were busy. I worked hard right up until 12:30pm when I left for my daily run. It was warm, but not nearly as warm as it’s been. It was only 84 degrees. Still the humidity was high making the outdoors into a sweat box of sorts. Back at the office after 55 minutes, I grabbed my Trooper keys a left for Tuttle mall. I needed to replace my worn running shoes after about 645 miles. I was gone only about thirty minutes. When I returned, I saw that the pizza that was promised to our team had arrived. But I had packed my lunch purposely wanting to avoid eating pizza. I did have one very small piece of veggie pizza around 3pm. It was cold and not very good. One of my engineers found and shared a url for a beer distributor that ships beers that we can’t typically buy in these parts. I visited and discovered that they handle my favorite, Spanish Peaks Honey Raspberry Ale. The shipping charges are a bit exorbitant, but, if you want the beer… The rest of the day flew by and before I knew it, it was time to have a weekend. I left for home around 5:15pm By the time I arrived at home, Mindy was there with a car load of boxes needing carried in. I carried a couple then took a break to walk Ykraps who was waiting as patiently as one could expect from a dog. After our steamy walk, we finished carrying in the many boxes from Mindy’s mini van. After, Mindy showed me what she had accomplished in the master closet. It looked fantastic. It’s more organized than ever and definitely more orderly. Soon Mindy went up to take a shower. I took the opportunity to grab a quick nap. I slept for just a short time and woke feeling especially groggy, but instead of muddling in my funk, I got up and got moving. Instead of showering I simply put on some fresh shorts, brushed my teeth, and groomed. In hindsight, I probably would’ve felt much better if I had showered. We drove the BM’er to Barley’s. It was a hot, steamy evening with no rain in the foreseeable forecast. We arrived shortly after 8:00pm where we promptly ordered some drinks (me a firkin) and some food. I had wings and Mindy pulled pork – no bun. We chatted with all of our friends and had a typical good time. We all stayed until about 11pm then headed for home. We talked about hot tubbing but didn’t since we both were a little tired. Instead we went to bed and did some snuggling.

Coming out of the Closet

I woke at 5:30am after yet another full night’s sleep. Certainly one of the benefits of cohabitating has been a longer, more restful night’s sleep. No more driving home at 11pm or simply staying up late blogging, surfing, etc. Again, I am still trying to be extra quiet when I rise to prevent waking Mindy and the kids. I paid attention to the noise I made peeing and brushing my teeth. After heading down stairs and before starting my workout, I turned on the television initially planning to tune into Digital Cable Music, but when I turned it on, the weather radar was on. I took notice of an approaching storm and the current temperature. It was a balmy 76 degrees at 5:30am. Now that’s warm! I failed to mention that just before heading to bed the night before a nice sized thunder storm rumbled through a bit unexpectedly. We had about an hour of rain and most of it heavy along with thunder and lightning. And once again, we got some rain just when the lawn was beginning to show signs of stress. We’ve been very fortunate this summer. After finishing my exercises Ykraps and I took to the streets. It was just beginning to lighten and the sky was beginning to spit some rain. I knew from looking at the radar that a decent looking storm was approaching just west of us. Because of this, I rushed Ykraps along but not enough to impair him doing what he needed to do. We arrived back at home at 5:49am. I remember taking notice of the clock. After pouring some coffee and drinking about half, I went to my indoor meditation spot and spent about 15 minutes in peace. After meditation, I found myself at the PC reading an email that Mindy recommended that I read. When done I read the Daily OM and then caught up on the Reds and Vikings via Yahoo. Before I knew it, it was time to cook and prep my lunch. I made the usual lunch and usual breakfast. I couldn’t really eat on the deck, at least not comfortably, since it was raining steadily albeit lightly. Instead, I enjoyed breakfast from the kitchen table. When I was through, I made Mindy a cup of coffee then took it to her in bed. When I arrived Bella was already up and snuggling with her momma. I got promptly into the shower and dressed for work. I had plenty of extra time to play guitar and shoot the shit with Mindy before leaving. I didn’t end up leaving the house until 7:40am. I drove the Trooper for obvious reasons. It was raining and expected to do so pretty much all day. Once at work I had to remember to get the master key to access my office since I surmised that I had left my primary key chain locked in my office. Sure enough, when I opened the door, there sat my keys. The morning was busy right in the door. One of my peers joked that I might just want to turn around and go back home. We had multiple escalated issues needing attention, but as always, everything was being handled professionally. After getting briefed on all that had transpired thru the night, my peer and I went for coffee in the break room. I left for my run around 1pm and the temperature was barely 80 degrees because of all the rain. However, it had stopped during the lunch hour and there were even some patches of blue in the sky but not close to the sun itself. So, a good description of the sky/weather was mild and cloudy, but very humid. After my run I was showered and back to my office with 1 minute to spare before my 2pm meeting. I was the first one to the meeting that I was worried about making. After the meeting the rest of the afternoon flew by. I left he office at 5:10pm and stopped and both Target and Lowes on my way home. I wanted to look at shelving & stock up on gum. I got home sometime close to 6:30pm. As promised, soon after soaking my lunch containers and making coffee, I got on the removal of old clothes project Mindy asked me to do. In short order, I was able to amass quite a pile of clothes that I know I'll never where again. The list is mind boggling. I had several articles of clothing still with new tags. But in addition to clothes, there was a lot of other junk/stuff lurking in my closet too. Along the walls dust bunnies were making my eyes itchy. I really needed a deep cleaning. Mindy promised to that part before inserting all of her goods tomorrow. I took a break to help read the kids a bedtime story then got back on it. After we finished Mindy went after a pizza from Minelli's It was delicious! We talked for a while and ended up going to bed later than we have all week, but still early my most accounts. We were in bed by 10:20pm. I was asleep by 10:30pm.

Ah Hah CARRABBA You Are

I woke Wednesday morning at my usual 5:30am and started the day the same way I start every day – brush my teeth & pee. The coffee was already brewing as I made my way down the stairs as quietly as possible trying to avoid waking the kids or Mindy. It was still pretty dark and might as well have been midnight. I did my exercises then found Ykraps waiting patiently by the door for his morning walk. The morning’s weather was top notch as the sky began to lighten. The temperature hovered in the mid 60’s and the sky was clear. The day’s forecast called for mostly sunny skies and temperatures flirting with 90. I spent several quiet minutes on the deck in meditation with a cup of coffee in tow. I could’ve sat there for hours, I thought. But I had a day of work to prepare, so at 6:25am I returned inside to begin making my lunch and breakfast. I made tuna salad for my main lunch entrée, along with my usual salad, fruit, and nuts. For breakfast I made scrambled eggs and a plate of fruit. I enjoyed them both from the deck. It was just after 7:00am when I finished eating. Before heading upstairs, I poured Mindy a cup of coffee and took it to her in bed. She likes that. By the time I was settling into the shower, both children were in my bed with their momma watching cartoons. Mindy came downstairs as I made my final preparations before leaving. And just as I normally do, I played a few riffs on the guitar before finally heading out. I loaded the BM’er for work and opened the garage door only to find Mindy’s van parked on the drive in my path. I retuned inside to get her keys so I could move it. I sat my BM’er keys and cell phone on a moving box just inside the garage as I moved her van. When I returned, I was certain I grabbed both the keys and the phone then headed off to work. I was a beautiful drive. Once at work and settled in my office I realized that I didn’t have my cell phone. I looked through my gym bag and on my person (sometimes I’ll slide it into my front pants pockets). I wasn’t to be found. I grabbed the BM’er keys and headed out to the car to check there. I couldn’t find it still. After heading back to my office I called Mindy and asked for her help by checking the box and around the garage and home. No luck! I was frustrated but needed to head to a meeting. Just as I was leaving for the meeting it occurred to me that I had placed the phone in the console storage of the BM’er, which I rarely if ever do. Duh! I felt much, much better now. The meeting went well and so did the remainder of the morning. But we were very busy. I left from my run shortly after 11:30am since we had a 1PM staff meeting planned. It was only 85 degrees but with 47% humidity when I departed. Lucky for me, there was a stiff breeze coming out of the NW that cooled things a little. The afternoon went fast after my run and the staff meeting. We were involved in a few escalations that kept me at the office until nearly 5:30pm. Sometime during the hectic afternoon I talked with Mindy and made plans to visit Carrabba’s for dinner. Since I was leaving work so late and we’d have to be home by 8pm to greet the kids upon their return, I called Mindy to see if she could just met me there, probably saving us about 45 minutes. She was in favor of that idea given that she was driving and I was about to be. Carrabba’s was just about 2 miles from my office – right next to Home Depot. I arrived there at about 5:45pm and got us a table. By the time I had peed and returned to the table, Mindy arrived. We decided to share some Calamari, and I ordered the soup of the day and a salad. Mindy ordered some chicken dish. Everything was tasty, but nothing that could fairly be described as fantastic. In stead, it was just good. Mindy paid the tab. We had plenty of time so we decided to venture over to Home Depot to look at a few things. We were bent on finding some wire shelving drawer units much like the one I already have. By the look of it, Home Depot is phasing out the wire shelving business. They have relegated it to the back corner of the store in a much smaller space than before. My guess is that the entire craze is fading. We looked at some lighting options as well as a few other things. We left empty handed, however. Homeward! Once home, Mindy and I unloaded several boxes from her van that contained various items from her house. Most of the boxes were heavy and a few contained food items. While I walked Ykraps, Mindy began organizing the pantry, first by removing practically everything. When I returned and while she continued in the kitchen, I watered the backyard flowers. I noticed that the lawn is beginning to show sings of summer stress yet again – a sign that we need some rain. Lucky for us, there’s rain forecasted for tomorrow and early Friday. Jacob and Bella arrived home just after 8:10pm. Immediately they came outside to greet me. Bella asked to be sprayed wit the hose. I refused at first, but she kept insisting and even began walking into the flower beds just to enter the spray of the watering head. I eventually conceded and soaked her to her initial delight. Delight, however, quickly turned to tears. Suddenly she was paralyzed with despair but refused a beach towel brought to her by Jacoby. Nope – she wanted her mommy because she was “freezing”! She insisted that she couldn’t walk. I felt bad but kept watering the flowers just the same. She continued pouted and refused to go in or accept the towel. By then, Jacob wanted in the fray and ask me to soak him. I did. He likes the cold water shower. The difference was when he got cold, he went for a towel and went inside. Bella continued with her trademark stubbornness that only impacted her. After I was finished watering the flowers I wrapped her in a towel despite her insistence otherwise and carried her in to Mindy. She eventually calmed in her mother’s arms. Mindy whisked both kids up stairs for a bath, book, and bed. On queue, I headed upstairs to do the reading. We read another in the Disney series, this time about Dinosaurs and modern day ‘monsters’. When we finished up it was 8:45pm. A good 30 minutes later than their usual for their tuck-in time. After they were taken care of, I headed down stairs to tune into the Reds game on Fox Sports. Meanwhile, Mindy kept working on the kitchen pantry until she was done. When she finished she headed to the computer to check e-mail. Sadly, the Reds fell behind after leading 5–1. I was losing interest and getting sleepy. I dosed in the big chair for a short spell. When I woke up it was 9:59pm. The house was quiet. I checked the doors, lights, and garage then headed upstairs for bed. Mindy was just getting out of the shower when I jumped in bed and covered my head to block the invasive light. Within three minutes, however, Mindy was down and turned down the lights. We snuggled as we both drifted of to sleep.

Five months till Christmas

Gads! Only 153 shopping days till Xmas! I first woke around 4am feeling fully rested, but I also knew that it was much too early to be getting up. So, I closed my eyes and went back to sleep only to wake a couple more times before needing to get up for good. As often happens, I didn’t wake the final time until 5:45am. I got out of bed somewhat matter of factly and began my early morning grooming routine (brush my teeth & pee). Soon, I was down stairs forcing out my sit-ups in a wide open area that seemed all so naked after Mindy moved my six poinsettias out of doors. Shame on her! A couple of them were as big as trees. After my exercise I left with Ykraps in tow in what was shaping up to be a beautiful sunrise. When I returned I made some coffee and went to the deck to meditate and relax. Shortly after making my lunch and beginning my breakfast, Mindy showed up downstairs ready to begin her own day. That was a surprise. She joined me on the deck as I ate my eggs and fruit. At 7:05am I headed up to get in the shower. By then everyone was up. While I dressed, Mindy and the kids laid restfully in the bed watching approved cartoons. Mindy quipped “a year ago I’ll bet you never dreamed you’d see this sight”! Very true! I finished getting ready and decided for no good reason that I would be driving the Trooper today. After loading all my gear I returned with plenty of time to kill to play some guitar in the sunshine on the deck. Bella and Mindy joined me. I left for work after a big group hug. Work was very busy from the minute I arrived and it never really let up much at all. I did manage to sneak away for a run at 1pm. And for the record, it was 86 degrees with 40& humidity. Not a bad typical summer day by any measure. The afternoon was busy too, and I it seemingly flew by. Before I could catch my breath, it was 5:15pm and I was headed out the door. I made no pit stops along the way home but took the back route since 270 was so backed up. As it turned out, that was a superior move. I was home by 5:35pm. Mindy had already walked Ykraps and had everything organized for our evening. She had steaks thawing and a couple of sides already prepped (green beans & cucumber salad). After prepping coffee and washing my lunch containers I prepped the grill for the steaks. Mindy reported another very productive day. She watch Lil’ Rockie and took all three kids to the pool as well s further organizing the house. I granted her permission to destroy all six of the poinsettias I have nurtured for the past five years. By 7pm we had finished our dinner on the deck and cleaning the associated dishes. I had promised Jacoby that he and I could do some fishing after dinner as long as he behaved himself. It would be a bit of stretch saying that he held up his part of the bargain but he wasn’t too mischievous, so I got his new pole ready for fishing. Mindy and Bella decided to take a walk while we fished. We didn’t catch a fish but did manage to gather about twenty mosquito bites between the two of us. We tempted the large carp but in the end, they didn’t seem too interested in the artificial bait we offered. After about thirty minutes we bagged the fishing and Jacob headed in for a bath & bed. Mindy read to the children tonight and gave me a break. I took the opportunity to red in my big chair. It was nice for a change. I read about 20 pages. When I finished the house was dark and quiet. Mindy had already slipped upstairs for a shower and bed. I wasn’t far behind and was in bed by 10pm again

Nobody's B-day I know

After going to bed so early the evening before, I was able to wake at 5:30am sharp. When I woke I was eager to get out of bed and get moving with my morning. I was careful to try and not disturb Mindy while she slept. I never know, she might just bite my head off! J kidding!!! I stumbled down the stairs and tried to be extra quiet while going about my exercise. I noticed too that the mornings are growing darker – a disturbing trend that will continue right up until the winter solstice when the tide turns again the other way. For now, though, I’ll just be happy that it’s summer. After working my way through my exercises, I found my boat shoes and leashed up Ykraps for our usual morning walk. We made record time and were back and ready for coffee and milk bones before 6:00am. I enjoyed my coffee outdoors then went in and sent Mindy an email for her reading pleasure later in the day. After that I continued with my usual preparation routine. I headed up stairs just after 6:30 to take Mindy some coffee and ask if she wanted up to shower since she would be entertaining lil’ Rocky in about one hour. I guess it’s fair to say that I forgot what time she said she wanted up. She told me then at 6:30am that she wanted up after my shower which wouldn’t be until just after 7am. Oops! So, when I finally finished making my lunch and eating my breakfast I retuned upstairs to shower. After getting out I summoned Mindy who was already up and waiting to switch places. While she showered I dressed and readied for final departure. The children continued sleeping as I loaded my gear into the BM’er (another BM’er day). Before departing, however, I spent a little time strumming my guitar deckside. I was a perfect morning for it. Just as I was finishing up, Bella woke up and came out with her momma to join me. As I was placing my badge and raspberry on my side, Lindsey showed up with Lil’ Rocky all set for her first day on the job. I gave her a quick hug and wished her well and headed to my car after hugging everyone good bye. The work day was hectic as one might expect, and it was further complicated by having our senior executives in town for meetings. I attended both sessions and left both feeling very upbeat about our future. I didn’t leave for my run until almost 1pm which is becoming my new ‘normal’ time, seemingly. The run went well and temps hovering in the middle 80’s felt mild after what we’d been through last week. I returned to my office and worked hard all afternoon. The second of the two meetings I attended didn’t begin until 4:30 and lasted until about 5:20pm. It was worth sticking around. By the time I returned to my office and loaded my gear and shut down for the day, it was 5:35pm. I made it home by 6:00pm. Mindy is _always_ an amazing woman but today she was super woman. She had already walked Ykraps, had dinner started, finished all of our laundry, and had further organized our living space. All of this while watching lil’ Rocky along with Jacob and Bella and spending quality time at the pool. Wow! While she boiled the Italian sausages, I played with the kids, changed clothes, and fired up the grill. We ate our delicious dinner on the deck. I don’t want to forget about mentioning the superb green beans she shipped up today. They were better than ever – no kidding! After dinner we created a grocery list and I agreed to stay home with Jacob & Bella while Mindy enjoyed some play time. While she was out we played bubbles, tag, and chase. After about 30 minutes of fun we headed in and got ready for bed (light washing, jammies, and teeth brushing). After wards we finished the Peter Pan book we had read over the last four nights together (not all in succession). If I were a betting I would’ve predicted Bella having a melt down since her momma wasn’t there to tuck her in, but she was fine and went right to sleep. Jacob, on the other hand, was just short of out of control. In fact, he was out of control, and certainly defiant. It was all I could do to not retaliate in some fashion. He was shouting, thrashing, and whining. I chose to ignore his rant and went downstairs. He stopped for while then restarted, but I just left him go on. While he melted down, I blogged and organized recent photos. But as time passed he got louder again, so I went up to try and calm him. I was afraid that he’d wake Bella too. This time my presence seemed to help calm him, but he still kept asking for his mommy. Finally, after another five minutes we heard the door open. It was Mindy triumphantly returning from the grocery. I asked that she tend to Jacob while I carried things in. She did. She had him calm and asleep in a mater of minutes. He just needed his mommy. After carrying in all the groceries I retuned to blogging for another twenty minutes – mostly to add pics to recent events. By now it was 9:30 and Mindy and I decided once again to head to bed a little early. And again, we red from bed but turned off the lights at 10pm and went to sleep. I like this getting a full 7.5 hrs sleep thing!

Little Rock

Happy Birthday Rocky! Welcome, Jacob Michael Singleton! Carmen & Mike's new baby boy born today, Sunday ,July 23rd - 8lbs 5oz. A much more graceful waking awaited. I woke at 7:45am eager to press on with my day. This morning the sun was shining brightly which only served as an extra motivator to jump out of bed. As she often does, Mindy insisted on a bit of snuggling before she’d allow me out. I obliged. She stayed in bed. As usual, I put on a pot of coffee having to use our back-up coffee from the freezer since we were out of the usual stuff. I cranked out my exercises then headed out the door with Ykraps. We took our time this morning since it was so damn beautiful out there. When we returned I took to the deck for some guitar and coffee. I was pleased by beautifulness the morning sunshine offered. It wasn’t long before Mindy made her way outdoors and reported feeling much better than the morning before. That was good given the day’s busy agenda. I tried not to fret over the agenda and still soaked in the glory of the beautiful morning. AT 9:30am Mindy went in to ready for church and I readied for my run. As I hit the road, she hit the shower. And once again, I planned to take the Trabue/Hague route. After my opening lap Around the block, my dad pulled up in front of my home. We visited for a spell. I hadn’t spoken with him since he watched the house and Ykraps while we camped. He shared his boating mishap from Wednesday when his boat underperformed and dampened an otherwise blissful day for he and Sheila on the lake. I had to move on with my run. Mindy would be leaving for church and would probably like for me to be back before she then. I had an enjoyable uplifting run. As expected, Mindy was readying to leave when I returned. She let me know that Jim (her ex) would probably be dropping the kids at the house while she was at church. I was OK with that. I asked what I could do to help out in getting ready for the party. She asked that I vacuum. I did – and did the entire home. I finished up around 11:45am, just before Jim arrived with the kids. I invited Jim in and we talked about his trip to Salt Fork with the kids. He left after about five minutes. The kids and I went outside to play while waiting on Mindy to return. She was home about ten minutes later. As soon as she arrived I headed outside to attempt to complete as much yard work as possible before Lindsey and lil’ Rocky arrived. I was able to wack, edge, and even push cut a little before the showed. When they did, I stopped the mowing and went inside to greet. Mindy had the house decorated very cute for the little party. As it turned out, neither Courtney or Ashley came along, and Kaileigh wasn’t home when we called either. But we wouldn’t focus on who wasn’t here. Instead, we’d have fun as a small family. First thing we did was open gifts. Lil’ Rocky seemed excited to open the several gifts Mindy got for him. After gifts, we sang happy birthday (twice) and had cake and ice cream. After cake we blew bubbles and played with play-doh on the deck. After eating two pieces of birthday cake (no breakfast) I got really sleepy. While Mindy took the kids down by the pond, I snuck in a quick nap on the deck in the shade. When everyone returned I woke to find that they had been ‘creeking’ and were covered with pond mud. I hosed each of them off and then proceeded to water my backyard pots and flowers. At 3pm Lindsey packed up Rocky’s haul and headed back to Kelly’s. She’d be back in the morning to drop lil’ Rocky while she begins her brand new job at CallTec. We’re all excited for her. After they left, I got back on my lawn chores in hopes of finishing before needing to ready for dinner at Mindy’s mom’s house. I mowed, rode, and blowed. When I finished it was 4:05pm. I had to hurry to shower and change so that we could be there by 4:30pm. Mindy wasn’t panicked at all. Role reversed, I would’ve been. J We arrived just after 4:30pm. We were not the first one’s there but certainly not the last. We were having taco salad and Heath Bar cake for dinner and dessert. We were celebrating Missy’s b-day. Both were very, very good. It was the first time in a long while that everyone was there on a Sunday. There were sixteen of us. We left around 7:30pm and Mindy insisted the children have a bath before bed. She doubted that they had had one recently being with their daddy. While they bathed, I put together my brand new power washer. It went together rather easily (only about three or four steps). I heard some rumbling (whinning) from upstairs so I stopped my project and went to help out. Jacob was upset with his mommy and was pouting in his room. I promised to read a bedtime story anyhow. I tried to comfort Jacob but with limited success. Ultimately however, he came around and joined Bella and I for story time. We picked up where we left off a week or so ago in the interactive, Disney - Peter Pan story. They were both in bed and asleep within minutes. As Mindy predicted, they were exhausted. Naturally, she knows her children well. I went back to reading all about the operation of my power washer. It’s a novel idea to read the direction first – something I am not accustomed to doing very often. After I finished, Mindy asked me to join her on the deck and if I wanted a beer. I don’t usually drink any alcohol on a school night but tonight I accepted. I enjoyed a raspberry ale on the deck in the frosted Minnesota Viking mug that Jacob and Bella got me for Father’s Day. At 9:30pm we headed in due to a heavy infestation of mosquitoes. We decided to call it a night and head to bed. Before going to sleep, however, both of us did some reading. Very sterile!

The Brady Bunch

Happy 45th Tommy! Brady & his new bride, Dawnya (pronounced dawn-YA) Ominous sky As morning approached, I could hear what sounded a lot like pounding rain slamming against the roof and windows. And when I jumped out of bed and glanced out the window I could see that it had been raining, but how much I didn’t know. I went through my rigorous exercise routine in the matter of a few minutes. It was still before 8am. I hadn’t done sit-ups or curls since Wednesday morning. Ykraps was anxious to get outside for walk so we somewhat hurriedly headed outdoors. The stream feeding the pond was swollen higher than I’ve seen it yet this year – a tell tale sign that it had rained a significant amount. The ground was squishy and the edges of my flowers beds, especially those in back, were holding water. Once again, we got a considerable amount of rain just when we needed it. The lawn is as lush as one could expect short of having an irrigation system installed. The rain stopped completely shortly after Ykraps and I completed our walk and the sky began showing signs of clearing. After tinkering around the house for a while, I took Mindy some coffee in bed and then I readied for my run. My run took me through the subdivision, but only partially. I exited out onto Trabue Rd. and once again took the Trabue/Hague Ave trail that I have come to love on the weekends. When I returned, Mindy was still sleeping. I decided to begin making breakfast. I made bacon and scrambled eggs topped with cheese. They were good. As we ate we planned our day. Mindy would be going by her house to see her kids, and then go shopping for lil’ Rocky’s birthday presents and party accessories. I would be going by Home Depot to look at some wire shelving for the pantry and laundry room as well as getting mower gas. And because I thought I’d be cutting grass later in the day, I didn’t bother showering after my run. I just threw on some shorts and headed out the door. At Home Depot I grabbed a shopping cart then went looking for my items. I grabbed some ant killer since we seem to have an inordinate number of them crawling freely about the house this summer. Next, in route to the shelving I past the power washers, and long story short, I put one in my cart. I have been contemplating buying one all spring/summer long. This would finally put and end to the ongoing torment and free me to do the jobs needing done when I want to do them. Lastly, I found my way to the shelving where I had the help open a new box of the pantry door shelving. I checked out of Home Depot after dropping $358. On the way home I stopped a fueled both the five gallon mower gas can and the Trooper. Gas was $2.95 a gallon, an then stopped by my Dad’s to see if I could borrow his electric planer. He wasn’t home. Mindy was still out shopping when I got home. I unloaded my haul then readied myself for some outside work. The first thing I did was take the pantry door off of its hinges and out onto the deck where I could sand/plane down the high spot catching on the jamb with each opening and closing. I had planed it two years ago when I had my dad’s planer but apparently not enough. I used my palm sander this time with 60 grit sand paper. It worked rather well. After sanding down the top of the door I proceeded to sand the edge of new decking boards I had installed about a month ago making the lip over the steps much smoother to the touch I also sanded the top of the deck railings giving them a smooth finish again after ten years of service. Back inside I rehung the pantry door and tested it out. Perfect! After a quick snack of cheese chunks I went out doors to complete some yard chores. I thought that I’d wack and edge but once I saw that my English Ivy was growing well into my petunias again I decided I’d be better off taking the time to trim the ivy back first. I ended up trimming the ivy around all of the beds, and that took about an hour. Unfortunately, I managed to severe one of my 100’ extensions along the way since I was using the electric hedge trimmers. I have heard many stories of people doing just that but had never done it myself. It happens before you know it. Luckily I severed it only about 12” from the male plug and can easily repair it and keep it in safe service. They actually make new replacement plug ends for extension cords now. After I finished cutting back the ivy I evened up the shrubs and trimmed the weeping mulberry tree. Before putting the hedge trimmers away, I trimmed the cranberry bush too. By far, it was the one item needing trimmed the most. Just as I was finishing it up, Mindy arrived home. I helped her carry in her bounty before completely putting full closure to my daily lawn chores. It was obvious that I wouldn’t have time to mow this afternoon and still make it to my friend Brady’s wedding reception at a reasonable hour. The invite says it starts at 4pm, we planned to arrive a bit later. Mindy worried whether or not it was such an event that we should be punctual too like the wedding itself. I thought not since it is only the reception (he actually got married in the Islands off of the South Carolina coast two weeks ago). Around 3:45pm we both showered and dressed for the reception. We gathered a few items like the camera and the direction and headed out. The reception was being hosted by Brady’s parents who live way out on Roberts Rd close to Amitty Rd. They have quite a spread out there, I hear. We followed the directions which took us down several jogs. Roberts Road just might jog more than any other road I’ve ever driven. We arrived sometime after 4:30pm and initially thought that we might be one of only a few guests. But as we pulled up we saw signs leading us back behind a pole barn for parking. Once back there we were relieved to see many more cars. The have what appears to be about 4 acres, about a ¼ acre pond, a pretty ranch style home, an inground pool with a real nice patio surrounding it. This was truly the perfect setting for just such an event. We stayed at Brady’s party for about two hours or so. As it turned out, Mindy knew Brady’s grandmother from church, but never had put together the connection despite the same last name. We arrived back home close to 7pm. The first order of business was to walk Ykraps. I couldn’t wait to try one of my new raspberry beers so I took one along during our walk. It was as tasty and full bodied as I had hoped. On our walk, we went up to visit a friend of Mindy’s who’s a fireman. His name is Steve and he’s a captain. Apparently she had dated him some years ago. I am not sure if it was before her marriage or not, but assume so. When we retuned to the house we sat out on the deck and enjoyed the beautiful evening that was unfolding. The temperature was expected to dip into the upper fifties tonight – something we hadn’t experienced in quite awhile. After a couple more raspberry beers and a glass of wine for Mindy, we got in the hot tub. It felt wonderful! After hot tubbing and closing down the deck, we headed inside and up to bed. It was 11pm on the nose. Even though I have been off work since Wednesday, I don’t think we have stayed up any later than tonight except for once- Friday night. The two night’s camping we were asleep before 10:30 - 11pm, I am certain. I must be getting old!

Packing, Stacking, and Slacking

Some serious looking fellows (above) Monika(above) Thad (below) Bob & Mary Ann The lamp from the Christmas Story Mindy at the party A bunny at Alum Creek I woke around 6:30am and immediately dropped and began pounding out 50 push-ups on the pavement of our campsite. Once again, through the night I heard the raccoons rumbling through our gear. This time, however, there was nothing of interest to them, at least anything they could access. Our primary food cooler was in the Trooper and the dry food storage container was in our tent. And while they opened the beer cooler the night before, they couldn’t get in this time because of the brick I had placed on the snap down lid. You could see the paw prints on the boat cooler which contained mostly drinks, but I had wedged a fire log between the lid and picnic table bench preventing anything from ever opening it up. I started some coffee then grabbed my tools and headed for the boat. I was determined to meet my fate head on. Would I be rowing to the dock or enjoying the final day of our camp trip basking once again in the sun on the lake? Realistically, I have had this same problem with the boat for years – even before selling it to Tommy. He had it too. And despite having the battery, belts, alternator, and starter replaced, it still has this intermittent problem turning over at times. I tried to start it but netted the same results as last night. All I could get was the click of the solenoid. The charge on the battery was strong so I knew it wasn’t a battery issue. I proceeded to remover the dog house from around the engine revealing as best I could the starter. Just like with my first car, I tapped the starter a few times with my hammer, turned the key, and the engine turned over and eventually started. I quickly replaced the doghouse and battened down the hatches. Once everything was squared away, I pulled out of the cove into the main lake and misty morning air. I took a short ride around the camp ground area then cruised back into the cove. I was comforted by the fact that it started but still a little concerned about the possibility of being far from the dock and not being able to get it started. I went back to camp happy and made myself a cup of coffee. I made Mindy one too even though she was still sleeping. She joined me shortly after. After relaxing a little with my guitar and a couple cups of coffee, I shared with Mindy that I had been down working on the boat and got it started. She had no idea. She eventually went to the restroom while I stayed back and toyed around camp. When she got back I readied for another camp grounds run. I took the same route I had taken the day before but took in a few more of the cul-de-sacs on the north side of the grounds. I saw a campsite that had actually had a washer and dryer under their dining canopy, and then I saw another with their own portable outhouse. The outhouse looked similar to a tent. I took a short cut back to our site via a path close to the lake. I happened upon Mindy sitting at the beach watching the morning sun rise. When we got back to our camp site we saw a doe and three small fawns down by our boat enjoying some immature apples that have already fallen from their once lofty perch. They were beautiful! They checked us out as much as we checked out them. We decided to take a morning boat ride before moving forward with our days plans, which at the time were still up in the air. We cruised the main lake in what was an absolutely beautiful ride. There were probably three other boats on the entire southern half of the lake. The beach sat completely empty save for a couple of people swimming laps from a boat anchored nearby. It was spectacular. After our ride we made out way back to camp where we put our day’s plan into action. We decided to pack everything up before going boating for the day. Once we were all loaded up, we thought, Mindy would drive the Trooper over to the boat dock where I’d pick her up in the boat. The trick was getting _all_ of our gear in the Trooper except for the boat cooler and tube. We had carried a considerable amount of our gear in the boat on the trip up. But we planned carefully and consolidated enough gear that we were able to make room for everything in the Trooper without too much trouble. By the time we had completely tore down camp and loaded all of our gear, it was approaching noon. Mindy left with the Trooper and I left in the boat. I made my way to the camp dock without incident. Just as I was pulling up, Mindy was walking down the dock. Great timing! She boarded the boat and we were off. We wasted little time and went straight for the swim cove. Again, there was only one other boat back there when we arrived. We worked our way to the very back as always. We dropped anchor and began swimming almost immediately. Mindy took the new raft, and I took the tube. I fell asleep on the water, and according to Mindy, began snoring. I know that I felt really comfy out there. 2:30pm came around quickly. I asked Mindy how she felt about leaving since calculating backwards would have us home no sooner than about 4:00pm. After thinking it through, we decided to head out. We headed south and pulled up to the camp dock. I jumped out while Mindy held the boat securely. There were no other boaters needing in or out. I reattached the trailer and then pulled the boat out of lake. We spent a few minutes securing the cover and the accessories and finally headed for home. We had just spent almost 45 hours at the lake and had a really nice time and decent weather. We felt blessed. We took Cheshire rd to RT. 23 since I wanted to see all the new development going on around the area. It’s hardly recognizable. There’s just so much growth in the area. No longer are there large expanses of land on the trip up. It’s developed all the way up and around the lake. We drove straight home since we had gear in the boat needing to be stowed at home (tube, boat cooler, etc.). Plus, I thought that I might wash the boat. One thing about boating and camping – the boat gets dirty really fast. We were both tired when we got home. We wasted little time, however, and began carrying everything in. Mindy began unloading the food and drink coolers while I carried everything else in to the garage. Honestly, I thought that she was in napping or something. I was dripping with sweat from head to toe from lugging everything else into the garage. It hardly seems worth all the effort to pack and unpack all that gear for two quick nights. We packed a lot of shit! But when you want convenience that equates to lots of gear. Lindsey called once we were home and asked if she could stop by for a few. I gave her $30 to take lil’ Rocky out for his birthday. We also nailed down plans for having his official birthday party on Sunday early afternoon. We would be giving him a cool little party complete with all the fixins! After Lindsey left we finished putting everything else away. I watered all the backyard flowers sine they were already showing signs of stress even though we had had heavy rain earlier in the week. We had a busy night planned so there was little time to rest. We were invited to Monika’s 42nd birthday party and still needed to pick-up her gift and stop at Barley’s. But before doing any of that we had to drop the boat at the storage facility. By the time were showered and ready to go it was after 7pm. We dropped the boat then headed to Gentile’s in Grandview. Monika has a strong appreciation for good beer so we picked her up a couple of six packs – six Belle’s Expedition Stout and six Three Floyd’s Pale Ale. While there, I found a new Wild Raspberry Ale to try. While they don’t carry my favorite, I’ve never tried this one. There are many raspberry beers but few are ales, which is what I like. This one is made in Denver at the “Great Divide” brewery. Next stop – Barley’s. At Barley’s I thought we were only stopping to fill a jug but Mindy wanted food. We ordered dinner and a drink. Courtney and Jeremy were there as was Josh, and soon Rick. Missing were Bob & Mary Ann. I gave Bob a call on his cell where he indicated that he was on his way to Monika’s party. We talked him into stopping by Barley’s even though he had already been in once to fill his jugs. We tried to wrestle up others to head to Monika’s. Josh was a maybe later, and Courtney and Jeremy were a no-go. Off we went. We arrived at Monika’s around 9:00pm. The party was attended by a well behaved group and there was an incredible amount and variety of beer. The hit of the evening was a half & half mixture of the raspberry wheat on tap and Siberian Imperial Stout. It was very good! Monika whipped up and butt load of hors d'oeuvres and they were delicious. Through the might we toured the home and viewed Thad’s art collection (he’s an art teacher for Hilliard Davidson High School). We hung at the party until close to midnight – not really certain what time we left. Mindy drove home because she drank very little throughout the evening. We crashed almost immediately after arriving home. We had a long busy day and the next would be equally busy.

Fool Day on the Lake

I was up just after 7am eager to get on with our first full day on the lake. We were careful to secure our campsite from critters before retiring. It was a good thing too. We were awaken by raccoons rummaging through our belongings in the middle of the night. Despite our comfy queen size air mattress & home style bedding, I really didn’t sleep that well. I woke with a creek in my neck & a slight headache. But, I took a couple of Advil and began feeling much better almost immediately. Right out of bed I brushed my teeth in the morning air and began wrestling up some coffee. Our coffee was brewed in a stove top percolator and the taste was so much richer than that of a drip maker. After some campside guitar and coffee I prepared for a morning run. The sky wasn’t what you’d call brilliantly blue but it was improving and moving that direction. I ran pretty much the entire campground and was gone about 30 minutes. It’s a lovely run that winds by the lake, beach, and several cul-de-sacs. After the run, I returned to begin making a hearty breakfast. Like at home, we made maple bacon and scrambled eggs. After our breakfast we took a walk around the cove and through the woods – many areas I had not walked ever before. When we got back we began preparing camp for a day out on the lake. The alternator belt was squealing when we pulled into the cove the evening before so while Mindy retrieved ice from the camp office and put together a boat cooler, I went to the boat to tighten the belt. By 11:30am we were shoving off from shore – no earlier than we would’ve had we simply left from home, but it was much more relaxing. One notable difference were the few number of boats scattered about the lake. It was Thursday and most of the boats out were fishing boats clinging closely to the shore. After a romp around the lake, we headed to the swim cove north of Cheshire Rd. We pulled into the cove, sharing it with only one other boat. It was already swelteringly warm and very humid. No sooner did we get anchored and comfortable did we begin hearing what could have been rumbles of thunder off in the distance, but still overhead the sky was mostly clear. I thought the rumbles were trucks or something else. However, storms were predicted for the afternoon, some heavy. Soon the tell tale signs of an approaching storm became much more obvious. The sky/clouds thickened overhead and the wind picked up. We gave serious consideration to vacating the cove and heading back to camp. The ride would be about ten or fifteen minutes and to the west we could see clearing skies, so we altered our thinking and instead waited it out. The move turned out to be a good one. Five minutes later the sky was mostly clear and calm. We never heard another rumble of thunder or fretted at a threatening sky. We hung out in the cove all afternoon. We enjoyed a new we purchased from target that was designed as a recliner that took very little air to inflate and fit inside about a 16” mesh circular case when collapsed. It was very comfortable for casual floating & drifting. We may just buy another. I had Mindy pack me about a liter of Raspberry Vodka in a Dassani Water bottle. I sipped it all afternoon until I had a fantastic little buzz going. Mindy drank some Mike’s Hard Coolers. We stayed in the cove until sometime around 3:30 or 4:00pm when we decided to lift anchor and cruise the lake before returning to camp for dinner. As we parked the boat, we promised ourselves that we’d take a late night boat ride, and we got the ideal parking spot for the boat – directly behind our site and about a stone’s throw away. After some casual activity, Mindy went for a shower. I prepped the grill for cooking and our camp for an enjoyable evening. The front that passed through earlier left in its wake a noticeable change in the weather. Gone was the overly humid air and the stifling temperatures, yet it was still summery. We cooked our meal – hamburgers and green beans on the new little charcoal grill. Again, after our dinner Mindy roasted some marshmallows. For lack of necessity, we once again failed to burn a campfire. Come about 10pm we headed for the boat with a couple of our favorite beverages and a flashlight in tow. As we pushed off from shore and started the boat, it abruptly stalled, which isn’t all that rare. Problem was, however, it wouldn’t restart despite countless tries. We were drifting aimlessly and blindly in the cove. Once Mindy shined the flashlight it attracted what appeared to be a million tiny insects hovering over the still waters of the cove. We were literally breathing those little critters in. After a few more attempts we bagged the boat ride idea and paddled back to our tie off point. Mindy was confident that we’d start just fine tomorrow, but nonetheless, I was very disappointed. I was concerned that we may not be able to start the boat at all and consequently end up stuck paddling back to the camp dock about a mile away. We took a walk around the campground once we returned our light boating load. I was still angry but did all I could to repress the frustration. Once we returned to our site for good, we had another beer and once again decided to hit the hay earlier than usual. We were snuggling in bed before 11pm.

Cramping

I woke on time but a tad later than perhaps I would’ve preferred. I had a busy but exciting day ahead and I was eager to get going. Some exercise, a walk with Ykraps, and a couple rounds of coffee, I was well into the day. The weather was again predicted to sunny and close to 95 degrees. I would have planned to drive the BM’er but in order to stay on task and be at our campsite around 6pm, I didn’t. I would instead drive the Trooper, which was packed with most of our camping gear, and stop to pick-up the boat on my way home from work. While I would be working today, Mindy would be enjoying a busy day herself. She would be meeting a friend for breakfast, visiting her kids before they leave on their own camp trip, and shopping for & packing our camping food. The idea was that I would arrive home between 4-5pm with the boat, load the coolers, personal belongings and firewood and then head to the lake. Work went pretty well but we were very busy. I left for my run around 12noon in order to make a 2pm meeting. It was hot but nothing too ridiculous. After my run I had plenty of time to enjoy my lunch while working through a few miscellaneous issues. As it turned out, I was in meetings from 2pm until the end of my day. My plan to leave work at 4pm was dashed, however. I didn’t leave my last meeting until 4:45pm and I still had many loose ends to tie up. I left the office at 4:57pm destined for home and a four day mini-vacation – the second of three I have scheduled this summer. In talking with Mindy, I learned that she was just wrapping up the packing so my leaving work any sooner would’ve netted little forward progress anyhow. Furthermore, she encouraged me to relax and take my time. I did. My path to the boat storage took me down old Dublin rd. Traffic was favorable since I was a few minutes ahead of the typical rush. I attached the boat and was home by 5:30pm. Mindy was already walking Ykraps when I arrived. After unloading my daily gear, I went into pack mode almost immediately. Forty minutes later we were pulling away in route to Alum Creek. Before jumping on 270, we stopped for boat gas at Thorntons. The boat took only 3.5 gallons. I wanted it topped off, though. We hit the freeway by 6:30pm – avoiding the after work rush hour almost entirely. We arrived at Alum Creek Camp Ground just before 7:00PM and made our way to G-29 – our pre arranged campsite. The site looked ideal. It was heavily shaded and backed right up to the lake where we planned to anchor the boat through the entire trip. We set-up our tent and screen house with no trouble at all. Mindy’s patience makes a big, big difference. By 8:30PM, we had our entire set camp ready and were ready to go dip the boat. I remember looking to the west at a very lovely setting orange sun. I felt somewhat hurried, however, because I didn’t want to be finding our way to our anchoring cove in the dark. There was no wait at the dock – just as we expected. We put the boat, detached the trailer, and left the vehicle (we’d walk back and get the vehicle later). We boated directly to the cove as the sun was sinking fast. I was in a bigger hurry than I really needed to be. We tied off in the cove at a spot convenient, but not as close to our site as possible. As it turned out, someone else had already taken the perfect spot directly behind our campsite. No biggie, though. After vacating the boat, we walked back to get the Trooper at the camp dock. Because of a newer hiking trail, it’s a much shorter walk, and very pristine too. Mindy was a little frustrated with the speed in which I was walking, but I just wanted to be done, back, and relaxed. We made it back to our site with the Trooper – leaving the boat trailer at the camp dock – before the sun went down entirely. I cracked a beer and Mindy cracked a Mike’s Hard Berry. We fired up our new mini-Weber grill and roasted some hotdogs and chili sauce. We spent the next hour enjoying the unforgettable taste of camp food. Incidentally, we just love our new little $9.92 grill. Mindy roasted a couple of marshmallows after the dogs were done. We enjoyed another beverage and then took a short walk to the boat just to check on its security. We were both beat after a long exhaustive day. It was still rather warm and muggy. We didn’t bother lighting a campfire, but did give some firewood to our neighbors who were without any camping luxuries at all. After returning from our walk we decided to hit the hay to live and play another day.

The Honda's back!

I went to sleep angry and woke feeling much the same. I don’t really understand it since there’s little in my life to be angry or frustrated about outside of the occasional bump in the road that everyone encounters from time to time. Although, I know myself well and I tend to be susceptible to worry, that worry can often escalates to depression if left unabated. Financial situations are generally at the heart of the matter, and if it’s not money, one can usually track it to one of my daughters, which I have absolutely no control over at this juncture. Just the same, it still causes me angst. I just wanted to brood and be alone. Mindy had to tolerate my cold abrasive nature during this period. For that I am sad. She’s done nothing but be my support system. And while I am aware of what’s going on, it’s not like I can flip a switch and turn it off. It feels like my guts in a vice and I see now way to end the agony. Only time seems to heel such matters, and usually takes no more than a day or so. And even though it can’t be stopped once it starts, I feel that I have much more control in the early stages. That’s when I typically make a decision whether or not I am going to allow something to eat at me enough to launch me into a funk of sorts. Once I am there, it’s “Katy bar the door”. I went about my morning routine all the while carrying around my baggage. It had little if any effect on my physical actions. I reminded and ensured Mindy before I left for work that it wasn’t her. She knew that already though. I drove my BM’er again today since the weather was once again bright and summery. Plus, it couldn’t hurt my mood. At work I did all I could to put my personal angst on the back burner and move on with my day as normal. I did that well. That is something I have always been fairly good at. I called Lindsey to see if she’d heard anymore about her car since she had called Mindy yesterday and indicated that it was almost done. Lindsey said that it was done but that they wanted to do a little more fine tuning of the shifting. She also let me know that Mindy had promised to watch Lil’ Rocky while she begins work next week. That immediately sent a red flag up my flag pole. Did Mindy understand it this way, I wondered. I asked that she contact Mindy to clarify what that was all about since I don’t recall Mindy making such a commitment. Soon Mindy called to confirm that she had talked with Lindsey and that she had agreed to do just that. Too, we discussed what might be eating Gilbert Grape. After about 30 minutes, I finally began feeling a bit more optimistic about things. Sometimes I think there is just so much hard drive space available in my mind and when it’s full, it’s full. Adding more things, issues, and problems causes an overload and puts me on alert. During my run, which was a real hot one, the heat index topped 100 degrees once again. The air temperature was 93 and the humidity was about 44%. Thankfully, there was a slight SW breeze again today. After my run and return to my office, I received a VM from Lindsey indicating that the car was ready for pick-up. I was in no hurry to drop the $1880 after tax, but also knew that because I am off work after today that there would be little opportunity to pick it up until Monday. That would put Lindsey over the edge. J I called Mindy and made arrangements for her to meet me here at my office so that we could ride over to Aarrow together to get the car. Things, it seemed, were falling into place. Come 4:30pm I eagerly began wrapping things up so that I could leave promptly at 5pm. At the same time, a storm was moving in from the west with lots of red on the radar. This meant that my BM’er would get wet, and that I’d be driving it with the to pup – something I rarely do. I left the office right at 4:58pm and was outside in my BM’er at 5:00pm waiting on Mindy and the storm. I decided to pull around to the front lot to meet her. Her friend Joy, who just got married, was dropping her off. They arrived a minute later. Soon Mindy and I were on our way. We had to take a detour since Hayden Run Rd is closed to traffic at Britton due to the construction of a roundabout intersection – one of the few in the central Ohio region. When done, there will be pretty much a straight shot through to Wal-Mart and Best Buy to the north. We took Davidson to Avery then north back to Hayden Run. Aarrow is about five miles west on Hayden Run Rd. It began storming on our way. Good thing we left the top up. It was raining so hard and we were so engrossed in conversation that I drove right past and didn’t realize it until we had about two miles out of our way. We turned around in a private drive and beelined back to Aarrow. Once there, I went in and settled up with the twins, Dean and Dave. I have never in my life spent this much money on car repairs. What a depressing thing. God must have felt that I could shoulder the burden, so I did. Mindy drove the Honda home and I followed close behind in the BM’er. I called her after a couple of miles to ask how it was running. She said flawlessly. Good! The car, she pointed out, was close to empty so she stopped at Thornton’s to fill the tank. Yet another favor for Lindsey. When we got home, Mindy called Lindsey to make arrangements for her to get the car. Mindy decided that she’d drive to pick-up Lindsey in the Honda and then Lindsey could bring her back. While they were gone, I carried all the camping gear up form the basement and began staging it in the garage after checking it for readiness and checking it off the pack list. It’s amazing how much stuff goes camping. It takes a lot of gear to “Jimmy camp”. While bring for the camping gear I took the same opportunity to carry the many tools I have used over the past six weeks on my door & deck projects back to the basement. That, my friends, is efficiency! About a half hour later, Mindy retuned with Lindsey in tow. Before leaving, Mindy asked that I drive the Honda with her to listen to a noise she thought she heard. We left for a ride and I drove it harder than usual. I heard the minute noise coming form the brakes but summed it up as nothing to worry about. It’s 14 years old!

When Depression Drips Down

I was up at 5:55am – much later than I would’ve preferred but still with plenty of time to prepare for work. The house was quiet. No one else was up and stirring. I proceeded to carry-on with my exercise routine as usual and by 6:10am I was out the door with Ykraps. When I returned form my walk I made some coffee and then moved forward with my morning like any other work day. I spent some quiet time on the deck enjoying the morning as it unfolded. Still, the house remained quiet. After making my lunch, breakfast, and a cup of coffee for Mindy, I went for a shower. There, in my place on the bed was Jacoby basking in the glory of his mother’s attention. I kidded him about it before getting in the shower. I was ready minutes later and headed downstairs. Jacob and Mindy got up and went down stairs too. And before I left for the day Bella got up. She tried to climb over the doggie gate but instead knocked it down. In fact, that’s how we knew she was up. I went up and helped her down stairs with the rest of us. Even though I had planned to bolt right then, I didn’t. The kids asked me to go out on the deck and play some guitar first. That was too hard to resist. I took a few minutes to share with them. It was nice! By 7:45am I grabbed all my gear and headed to work in the BM’er. After all, it was the perfect BM’er type day. The high today was expected to hit or top 95 degrees with little to no clouds - a real scorcher of a summer day. The drive in was superb! I love driving the BM’er in the morning. Well, come to think of it, I love driving the BM’er anytime! Monday morning in the office was like most Monday’s. It was busy. Plus, there’s always the weekend catch-up with friends thing. We shared stories of our weekends and the heat. It’s surprising to me how many people bitch about the heat. I love it. I only complain when we don’t get enough rain to take care of lawn and landscape. Some day when I splurge on a sprinkler system, that bitchin’ will cease too. For many reasons, I couldn’t get away for my run until after 1pm. I had my eye in the AOL weather bug too. The temperature kept going up. By the time I left for my run it was 98 degrees with 40% humidity. The heat index was at 106. It was like a furnace out there. Lucky for me, there was a rather nice breeze blowing from the southwest. The only problem with that was that the breeze was a non-factor on the return, probably when I could’ve used it most. I paced myself and planned for the heat. I stayed surprisingly dry until perhaps the final ¾ mile. I maintained my slower than usual pace which ultimately served me well. After my run and shower I made my way back to the office for some food. It was 2:20pm by the time I settled down with my food. All I know is once I ate, I was tired. I fought it off and stayed pretty busy right up until time to go home. I left for the day promptly at 5:05pm. I stopped at Target along the way home to pick-up a card for Mindy since today marked ten months of bliss J. While there, I picked up a high tech raft for some leisure floating at Alum Creek. I would have bought two but I thought that we should make sure that this is the one before buying another. After all, it was fairly expensive for being a stinking raft! By the time I got home, Mindy was just pulling up too. She looked as if she had just come from the pool. The give away was the pool hair and the swim suit. She had just dropped the kids off at to their father and they would be gone until like Sunday. This is his vacation week with them. I was tired and didn’t feel like doing anything organized. After walking Ykraps, I wanted to read and nap. Mindy wanted to go for dinner. While she showered I read in my chair and began to dose. As soon as I began to drift off, her cell phone rang ... MORE TO COME...

"Time for the two o'clock rest period"

This time I couldn’t convince myself to get up any earlier than 7:30am. Truth be told, however, I slept better Saturday than I did Friday. Mindy stayed in bed while got up and began my day. Part of me wanted to be up earlier but yet another part enjoys the extra sleep at least once a week. The sky this morning was already a brilliant blue and the temperature was already in the 70’s. We were expecting highs in the mid 90’s today with clear skies all day. My exercise and walk went well and went fast. Soon I was on the deck enjoying a cup of hot coffee. Mindy joined me just after I returned with Ykraps. We sat on the deck played guitar and simply enjoyed one another’s company. Before leaving for a run, I watered all of my backyard plants as the day continued to heat up. Despite the intense heat, the lawn remains lush and damp form the enormous amount of rain fall we received late last week – even as late as Friday late afternoon. Usually after a couple of days like this we are dry as a bone, but not this year. I left for my run somewhere just after 10am. I would be running in near 90 degree temps already. Not to worry though. I’ve done hundreds of times. I took what has become my weekend route once again. I love running down Hague ave from Trabue. It’s so pristine and summery! When I returned from my run I was hot. Bt after blotting off with a beach towel and a quick drink of water, I was fine. We opted for a light breakfast of fruit in lieu of the usual farm fresh chicken eggs. Mindy suggested we do the Hilltop Pool today and I accepted. After all, today is perfect hilltop pool weather! Before getting ready we surveyed the basement and what it would take to accomplish Mindy’s goal of freeing more space. The thought of digging in to the huge mass of mess disgusted me. Aside from some lovin’ we didn’t’ accomplish much of anything down there this morning. I took a shower and we readied a simple cooler for the pool. I hadn’t been to the pool, I figured, since at least 1995 – eleven years! When we arrived there were still numerous parking spots available. I was surprised. Why, in its hey day, they would’ve been parking at Glenwood on a day like this. It was already 92 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. I signed in as a guest and paid my $5. Good deal for a day of swimming I think. We found our way over to the east side of the pool by the life guard chair and the small adult pool behind. The availability of benches was scant, but that didn’t phase me much. I don’t mind standing. Mindy’s sister and brother-in-law were there along with a few of their friends. No sooner than we got settled did some old friends make there way over to see me. It was Teri Terry and Chris Andrews (Jones). I hadn’t seen Chris in maybe 15 years??? We talked for quite awhile about this and that – mostly old times and old friends. As the heat wore upon us, Mindy and I decided to take a swim. We meandered over to the diving boards where I took a dive off the old high-dive, which is now the medium and swam to the bars. Just like old times. That was cool. While mounting the board, I ran into another old friend of mine, Doug Reed and his pretty young daughter. The entire afternoon was a bit of a throw back to days of old. Missing was the old Coca-Cola clock over the entrance, but its replacement wasn’t working either. Made me laugh! We left around 3:30pm to ensure we had enough time to make it home, get a shower, and get to Mindy’s mother’s. We made it to Gloria’s a bit early. We were there at 4:15pm. Mindy was excited about seeing the kids since she hadn’t seen them since Friday afternoon. Bella came straight to me for a big hug. That was cute! We were the first ones there and for the longest time it seemed the only ones coming. But soon Mindy’s sister, Jody, along with her daughter, Lindi, arrived. Another twenty minutes later, Mindy’s brother, Todd, and his wife, Missy, arrived along with their daughter, Mia. We had baked Cube steak, mashed potatoes & gravy, and an assortment of other goodies. For dessert we had ice cream pie. She made one banana and one chocolate fudge. I had a piece of the chocolate fudge. We gathered our stuff and the kids around 7:15pm and headed home to my house. I think that was the first time that all of us rode in the same car from Mindy’s mom’s. When we got home Jacob insisted on me squirting him with the hose. Of course I was more than happy to oblige him. Bella joined in for a short stint but really didn't care for the cold water. Jacob, however, doesn't ever seem to mind. After their hosing they were off to the tub for their evening bath. We read more from the Disney Peter Pan book fro mwhere we left off Thursday night. Not long after the kids were tucked in bed they were asleep. They must have been exhausted. Mindy and I then went to the basement to see what if anything we could gaccomplish with our consolidation project. At the same time we could organize the camping gear for later in the week. We worked in the basement for about an hour. It's amazing some of the shit I have down there. I found plenty of items and things that could be dubbed as trash and thrown out. We managed in that hour to fill two large boxes with meaningless trash and clear quite a bit of floor space along with sweeping up countless dead spiders and eggs. When we finished in the basement we each took our blood pressure then headed upstairs for bed. It was funny laying their in bed, both of us reading our books. Somewhat sterile, don't you think? After we turned off the lights I could not sleep, which is rare for me. I didn't fight it. Instead, I got up, went down stairs with my book and did some more reading until I felt satisfactorily tired.

Lake Day

I was anxious to get up and get moving early on this fine Saturday morning. To that end, I was up at 6:15am determined to be ran before 9am. Starting out, I treated the morning almost like a work day except for maintaining a superior outlook. By 7:00am I had already exercised, walked Ykraps, and had sucked down the days first cup of coffee. At least during the early hours, clouds were king. However, that didn’t phase me as I knew that they were expected to give way to brilliant sunshine and exceptionally warm temperatures as the morning progressed. I was counting on it. Mindy remained in bed while I blogged Friday and drank even more coffee. Somewhere close to 7:30am Mindy joined me downstairs and on the deck for some coffee and guitar. We decided that Mindy would cook breakfast while ran. I left for my run just after 8am. It was extra steamy but I was full of energy, so the run went extra well. My dad passed me by on Trabue Rd as I ran along the golf course. After turning south on Hague Av. I stopped by his house since I could see him milling about around his boat. He showed me the progress he’s made on his homemade bimini boat top. Looks good. Most notably, he’s finally given in to using aluminum in lieu of plastic PVC for added rigidity. I didn’t stay long for not wanting to keep Mindy waiting. She was home making bacon and eggs. Back at home I could smell the bacon and I was hungry. Everything was just about ready for our consumption. Soon we enjoyed a hot breakfast together, just Mindy and I. After cleaning up the breakfast dishes it was time to ready or boating. It didn’t take long. Mindy chose not to shower since we’d be in the lake in a short bit anyhow. I, however, did since I had the remnants of running about my body. Still, despite showering and readying the gear, we were all ready to roll and out the door by 10:00am. We stopped at the corner AmeriStop Market for a bag of ice then headed to Lee’s RV’s to pick-up the boat. After picking up the boat we filled it up at the Mill Run Shell and finally hit I-270 destined for Alum Creek. We arrived at Alum Creek just before 11am and proceeded to prep the boat for launching. Because of our early preparedness, we were rewarded with a fairly light crowd at the dock. Mindy surmised that because of the haging cloud cover we might be this lucky all day. Although, while readying our boat two or three others arrived pulling in front of us as if they were already ready for the water. Turned out, however, that we were ready before them and we pulled around two of them to put our rig in the water. Mindy’s getting the hang of being dockmate and knows pretty exactly what to do. Plus, she’s pretty good at double checking the critical things like putting in the plug. As I backed it in Mindy grabbed hold and walked the boat to the end of the dock affording others the opportunity to put-in. But apparently that wasn’t good enough for one fellow. He went ahead and backed his boat with a driver already on board. Instead of holding pat at the dock, he attempted to pull around my boat and get over to the guest dock. It appeared to me that he was trying to impress the ladies. However, in doing so, he nearly ripped the lower unit off of his boat as he narrowly missed the concrete steps just beneath the surface water. Several people, including me, were hollering for him to look out. Plus, his boat buddy was giving him hell. His ego was obviously crushed. Luckily, he escaped without incident. All I could do at that point was turn my head and cringe. I thought for certain that the next sound I would hear would be his unit scraping the steps and the propeller being sheared off. Mindy and I pulled away without incident and headed north for boat swim. Even though the lake was sparsely populated, save for the numerous fishing boats scattered on the periphery, the lake was choppy. We bounced our way towards the Cheshire Rd bridge. We arrived at the swim area in a short amount of time. We cruised all the way to the back. By then, there were only a handful of boats there – probably no more than six or seven total. There we anchored and began to relax. Almost on queue, the thick cloud cover began to clear. An hour later, there were no clouds in the sky as far as we could see. It was sunny and hot and getting hotter. There we stayed for 3+ hours soaking up some sun and having fun in the water. We decided while there, that later tonight we would cook a meal at home in lieu of going out. We planned to stop at Giant Eagle and get some of those giant shrimp and hopefully some great big ol’ steaks. We’d mix some pina coladas in the blender too. We left the boat swim area around 3pm and went for a boat ride. After a half hour of riding around the lake Mindy thought it might be good to leave. I could’ve and would’ve stayed a couple more hours, but I also knew that the crowd would only intensify around the dock unless we waited until after 6pm. Plus, from the time you pull up to the dock you can add two hours before you’re home with everything put away. Leaving now did seem like the best option given our evening plans. Getting out took a while but nothing too out of the ordinary. It was 6pm by the time we had the boat back in storage and were home and settled. Before heading off to the grocery I wanted/needed a little nap. I must have rested for nothing more than five minutes. Regardless, it felt really good. After the short rest we took a shower, dressed, and then took Ykraps on his evening walk. At 6:30pm we left for Wal-Mart and Giant Eagle. At Wal-Mart we bought torch parts to restore each of the four we have around the deck. We also bought a cheap small charcoal grill to take camping later this week. By the time we left we had dumped $100. Onto Giant Eagle. At Giant Eagle we bought some veggies, steaks, shrimp, beer, and wine, as well as a few other assorted items. By now we were both really hungry and tired from a day in the sun and on the lake. Finally back at home we unloaded all of our rewards and proceeded to start dinner. I whipped up a marinate for the shrimp (orange/pine apple juice, cumin, lemon juice, garlic, pepper, salt), and Mindy whipped up a salad. After finishing the marinate, I fired up the grill then concocted a pitcher of pina coladas with coconut rum, spiced rum, pine apple chunks and pina colada mix, and ice. After one drink all the day’s little problems went bye-bye. Soon I had the 1-1/2” thick t-bones grilling away along with the giant shrimp. Twenty minutes and another pina colada later everything was ready. In addition to the salads, Mindy made fresh green beans and melted some butter and garlic salt to drizzle on the shrimp. Everything as you might have assumed was delicious and cooked to perfection. After dinner, I poured yet another pina colada. Couldn’t allow that yummy frozen concoction to go to waste! Our tummy’s now full, our eyes getting heavier by the minute, we opted for an early bedtime. We’d have yet another day to play in the sun tomorrow.