Dependants Day

In celebration of dependants Day, I called each of my girls to see what was up. Ash was fine but going to Kentucky. Lindsey was thinking of going to the Hilliard fireworks, just her and lil' Rock. Courtney never came to the phone. We woke early on the 4th to the sound of driving rain once again. It was early – about 7:20am. Bella had woken early which was good since her daddy was picking them up at 7:50am to take them to the Upper Arlington 4th of July parade. I squeezed in my exercises and made coffee all before 7:35am. Just as Mindy was readying the kids for their dad’s early arrival, she informed me that Ykraps had left a pile and puddle in Jacob’s room. Great – the day’s off to a fantastic start! While Jim showed up right on time, I got busy cleaning up Ykraps mess. After the initial pick-up I took Ykraps on a now meaningless walk around 7:55am. I wanted to strangle him. During our walk the sky let loose and drenched the two of us. Today was going to be challenging day it appeared. Upon our soggy return we dried off and I got back on the shitty job he had left me earlier. When I finished I decided to toss all the dirty cups that Mindy discovered under Lindsey’s old bathroom cabinet in the kitchen sink for a good soaking. Unfortunately, I threw in an empty wine glass too. It broke prompting me to reach in after it, but when I did I cut my middle finger rather nicely. You might say that my day wasn’t beginning starting out so well. So far I had dealt with rain, shit, and blood and it wasn’t even 10am. But there was a lot more positive than negative going on. It was a holiday, I wasn’t working, I’m healthy as horse, I’ve got some fabulous new yard art, and it’s summer time. Plus, I just might have the best girlfriend in town! After my run I returned to work even more on the pee stain Ykraps left on the white carpet. Mindy and I decided not to cook breakfast and instead go out for an early lunch. We decided on the new Mill Run Carrabbas. While out, we thought we’d make stops at Home Depot, Target, and Garden Ridge. As we approached Carrabbas we could see that it was closed. So, since we were so hungry, we went right next door to Cheese Burger in Paradise. We thought that they might be closed too, but they weren’t. Instead, they just hadn’t opened yet. It was 11:30am and they weren’t opening until 12 noon. So, we went on to Garden Ridge where we spent a good hour looking at everything under the sun. I really wanted some Pink Flamingos to place in my yard in an attempt to scare away the geese. They didn’t have them. We managed still to drop about $60 dollars on a sheet set and a two new pieces of yard art. To lunch! It should come as no surprise that Cheese Burger in Paradise is owned by Jimmy Buffet, or at least the concept. Many folks around town are raving about the food, but perhaps more importantly the drinks. I ordered a key lime martini. Mindy ordered a pina colada. To eat, I ordered Cuban sandwich and Mindy some tilapia. Our drinks were creative and tasty but seemed to lack any real punch. The food was OK but certainly nothing to write home about. Bottom line, the food is over priced and the restaurant gimmicky. After lunch we went to Home Depot (right next door) for a spell. Mindy wanted to look at wallpaper borders. I thought that I might bite the bullet and buy my new blower today too, but, unfortunately, I already knew that they didn’t have anymore at the Hilliard location. However, they do have six of them at the West Broad St store. We looked for border but found they no longer carry it. I guess it’s not profitable. No worries, we’ll look at Sherwin Williams. I picked up a quart of alkyd primer for back door project and Mindy picked up a few night lights. On our way towards the register she convinced me to look at ceiling fans to possibly replace the stale looking light fixture hanging over my kitchen table. We found one we both really liked so we bought it, too. We got a really attractive brushed steel fan w/ remote control, black acrylic blades, and 4 brushed steel canned light fixtures fan for $99. We moved right next door to Target where we planned to look at a few household goods. There we looked at their picked over lawn furniture and patio fireplaces as well as bed sets, DVDs, and some underwear for Jacob. I was tiring of the whole shopping thing by now. We spent another $20. Nothing too drastic. Homeward. Back at my house we immediately went on a walkabout the yard to select a location for the new yard art. We placed one piece in the front yard under my Sweet Gum tree and another on the deck. I really like both additions. After wards, we filled the hummingbird feeder with nectar and hung it from one of my red maples by the deck. We also sunk Mindy’s two dressier lawn torches just off the lower level deck. They look really good. For the next hour, Mindy and I looked at some paint samples. She has some ideas how she’d like to decorate my home. It began to rain again so Mindy and I puttered around inside the house. I decided not to waste valuable project time that I’d kill for come tomorrow. So, I proceeded to begin spackling the drywall where the interior door trim was attached and even tore away when I removed the trim board. After I finished, we began working on the ceiling fan assuming it would be a difficult job. They often are. After a piece of key lime pie, we got down to business. My first task was to remove the old light. That was easy but did require both of us. Next, I broke out the instructions for the fan not wanting to leave anything to guess work. After all, there’s nothing worse that putting everything together only to find you forgot to put one necessary piece in place and then you have to tear it all down and redo it. We realized quickly that we didn’t have the extension bar that we felt we needed to create the proper hanging distance from the ceiling. Instead of fooling around, we jumped back in the car and drove to Home Depot to look for it. After about ten minutes, we found the kiosk holding all the fan extensions and then the right one for our particular fan. Finally, back at home, I began reviewing the instructions and that’s when I realized that we were in trouble. The installation instructions were about as poorly written as they could possibly be. Plus, the pictures were horrible. To complicate matters further, we had purchased a fan with a remote control and it needed installed, somehow, into the junction box along with the AC wiring. I read then reread the instructions making sure I understood everything I was doing and why. I told Mindy that we’d be experts once we were done and had figured out what all those crappy pictures were. And just as usual, things didn’t quite match up for an easy install. Long story short, two hours later we had completed a thorough install that both of us felt confident would work. The moment of truth had finally arrived. It was time to throw the power back on. I reset the breaker and then flipped on the light switch and… no dice! Our hearts sunk, but only for a moment. We decided that we needed to use the remote since we had hard wired the receiving device into the circuit. We didn’t have spare 9-volt so we borrowed one from a smoke detector. Attempt number two… it worked perfectly and looked rather handsome too. We spent the next several minutes cleaning up and putting away. Somewhere along the way Mindy talked with her ex who was taking the kids to the Hilliard fireworks. He informed her that two houses had been struck by lightning in her subdivision and were burning. Ouch! That can’t be good. Lucky for all the burbs, the weather cleared out just after 9:30pm giving them just the opportunity they needed to light off their fireworks. I could hear them going off in seemingly every direction around town (Hilliard, Arlington, Dublin, and Clintonville). Mindy left just as they were beginning to shoot off. I did a little surfing but then went straight to bed. I was eager to get a good night’s sleep ahead of a three day work week.