Sunday Dinner

Happy Birthday ???? I woke around 8:30am feeling much better than I did the day before. I glanced over at Mindy who was leering at me with reservation. I could hardly blame her given my mood the day before. I forgave her and told her that I felt a lot better. :) By the time I had pee’d, brushed my teeth, and found my way downstairs, it was 8:55am. Like always, I made a pot of coffee, took a vitamin and then got busy with my exercises. Once again, the kids were already up and playing, but hadn’t made nearly the mess they did the morning prior. Already I knew this would be a better a day. I was certain. Jacob decided to walk Ykraps with me. It was quite chilly. By the time I was back and making my first cup of coffee it was pushing 9:30am. Sometime between then and 10am Mindy got up. I was at the PC still editing the hundreds of pictures from our trip. Mindy and I spent a few minutes chatting about Saturday and more specifically my dismal mood. I explained the source of my frustration. As always, she was a good listener. Just before I readied and left for my run Lindsey called and talked with Mindy. She was coming over with Landon in an hour or so. It was just after 10am. Once again, I took the Trabue Rd trail. My run was a good one. I worked up a good sweat and listened to some good tunes along the way. Back home I set my goals relatively low for the day. I chose to make relaxation a priority. Lindsey showed up not long after I returned from my run. We hung out with her, Landon, and Lil’ Rocky for the next half hour. Bella & Lil’ Rocky were going at each other pretty much the entire time. Kinda funny. I had to give Lindsey some parental advice as I watched her allow Lil’ Rocky to defy her orders a couple of times – something he does with regularity. They left just before Jimaken came to pick-up the kids. They left around 1pm to spend some time with his family. In the meantime, Mindy was going shopping at Target. I would have the house to myself for a little while once again! Soon after I returned from my run I took a homemade pie crust out of the freezer. My plan was to make Mindy a chocolate pie for her birthday. I would make it while she shopped. Just before she left for Target, she put a roast in our new Crock Pot. I had never made a chocolate pie before, but thanks to the internet, recipes were aplenty. The recipes I found looked fairly simple. A little sugar, cocoa, egg yokes, and milk - wahla! I baked the unfilled pie crust first. That went well. I mixed the ingredient then cooked it as directed. I poured the filling into the baked shell, covered, and then chilled. I was hopeful that it would turn out half as good as Gloria’s. I spent the rest of the time that Mindy was away selecting pictures to add/upload to my blog. My goal was to get those pictures uploaded yet tonight. Mindy returned around 3pm and not too much later the kids did too. Based on the status of the roast in the Crock Pot, we figured we’d be eating diner around 6pm. I spent the next hour reading in my chair and taking a little nap. Around 5pm I got up and took Ykraps on his evening walk. Jacob went along with me once again. He seems to enjoy our time alone, and so do I. After we returned Mindy declared that diner would be ready a bit sooner than initially expected. We’d be eating at more like 5:30pm. I was very hungry so that was a good thing. Mindy made salad, green beans, and instant mashed potatoes to go along with the roast beef. Everything was a go by 5:30pm as she predicted. And the meal turned out pretty darn good. Even the instant potatoes were tasty in their own right. I couldn’t wait to try the chocolate pie. After we cleaned up the dinner mess we got the pie out of the fridge. We placed eleven candles about the pie, three representing ten years each while the remaining eight represented single years. After singing Happy Birthday we dug in to the pie. Mindy got the first piece. It was her birthday. A quick bite of my piece told the tale quickly. While the pie was tolerable, it certainly wasn’t anything close to Gloria’s. It was a tad warm, runny, and gritty. Still, it was chocolatety and sweet. And my homemade crust was very good, too. I think that I’ll ask Gloria for her recipe, and maybe watch her make it once – that is if she’ll allow me. After dessert I got busy adding pictures to my blog. That took the next hour or so. After I finished uploading pictures I printed a couple for framing at Mindy’s request. After finishing the pictures I opened Mindy’s MP3 player and downloaded a butt load of songs for her. We ended the evening by spending a good twenty minutes soaking in the hot tub. It was gloriously clear & cold, star-filled night. The hot tub was just what the doctor ordered. It was just after 9pm when we headed up to bed. We didn’t go immediately asleep, however. Instead, we tuned in to Family Guy. After watching Family Guy I couldn’t fall asleep. I figured too much sugar. I left the bed and went down stairs to read a little more. I read for about 30 minutes or until I fell asleep. I was back in bed by 11pm.