A Freshly Cut Lawn

All it took was a glimpse of blue sky and sunshine to motivate me out of bed before 7:30am. Quietly I headed downstairs to officially launch my Saturday. The first thing I did was choke down a One-A-Day and then made a pot of coffee. After finishing up my sit-ups, push-ups, and curls I took Ykraps on his morning walk. The morning air was chillier than expected but the abundant sunshine was warm on the skin.

The urge for a fresh cup of coffee was strong. It was still just before 8am when I sat down at the PC to enjoy the morning’s first cup. I spent the next half hour updating my blog, however careful not to spend too much time on inside entertainment. After all, the forecast called for 75 and sunny and there was a lot to do out of doors today.

Mindy got up around 8:30am. We spent the next 45 minutes enjoying our coffee and the sunshine from the deck. I took my guitar out, too. I was very surprised how quickly it warmed up. By 9:15am it had warmed to almost 60 degrees. While enjoying the weather we planned our day. I planned to cut grass and do more yard work. Mindy planned to grocery shop. In addition, we planned to visit the Anderson’s together later in the afternoon to pick-up a couple of steaks for grilling later this evening.

At 9:30am I got ready and left for a run. I ran along Trabue and down Hague. It was an enjoyable, invigorating run. Before getting going on our larger goals, Mindy and I both did a few miscellaneous household chores. Mindy was vacuuming upstairs while I watered houseplants and used the shop-vac to vacuum up house plant debris downstairs. Once again my new shop-vac let me down. It just stopped working. It’s been used for all of about ten minutes since Mindy bought it the day before my birthday. Today I decided that it needed to be returned despite being 6 months old. It has a five year manufacturer’s warranty, but I was certain that Lowe’s would be difficult about returning it there.

We finished up our brief indoor chores and got started on our stated goals. Mindy left for the grocery and I headed out to cut grass. It felt great to get out the edger and give the lawn a manicure. I spent the next two hours grooming the entire lawn. As is typical for this time of year, the grass growth is spotty & uneven. It looked about as good as could be expected when I finished. I was all about being efficient. Next, I grabbed the Clorox cleaner and took to the deck to scrub the back-up plastic deck chairs. They cleaned up a lot quicker than last year because they weren’t nearly as dirty. After I finished scrubbing I coated them with some armor-all, which restored their original luster. That took less than thirty minutes.

On top of things, I decided to spray some weed killer. I loaded the pump sprayer and started on the front yard. Despite a consistent lawn care program, each spring my lawn gets infested with this creeping weed that looks a little like clover but is much more aggressive. It usually dies back with the onset of late spring heat and vigorous grass growth but it drives me crazy just the same. I sprayed the entire front yard for weeds before Mindy returned from the grocery. I took a break and helped her carry in the haul. I spent another fifteen minutes or so spraying weeds out back then went in to shower and ready for our trip to Lowe’s and the Anderson’s.

We left together around 2pm. I drove by my dad’s hoping to catch him at home so we could borrow his cornhole game for Jacob’s B-day party tomorrow. He wasn’t home. We cut through the Glen in route to Lowe’s. We stopped at Mindy’s friend Tara’s who had agreed to let us borrow her cornhole game. Despite talking with her minutes earlier, they weren’t home either. Hmmm? Mindy called her cell only to learn she didn’t expect us so soon and left for Garden Ridge. Mindy told her that we’d stop by later. We headed on to Lowes.

Mindy and I already discussed our strategy for returning the shop-vac. She would use her charm to convince the return desk to do an exchange even though it’s been 6 months. I was afraid that I would loose such a battle. There was a crazy woman in front of us returning some carpet remnants. She proved to be disorganized and aloof. I didn’t like standing around waiting. I excused myself to peruse the nearby aisles. A check back minutes later netted a similar view. Mindy was still waiting behind this woman. I shopped some more.

Finally, as I approached the return desk once more I could see that Mindy was addressing our situation. She looked a little perturbed and gave me a nod in frustration. As I approached she went on about how she had requested a manager since they were giving her trouble about the exchange. As she talked, the gentleman kindly interrupted trying to explain his side. It turns out he was all for granting the return but insisted that the acquisition of the replacement take place at a checkout aisle. A manager joined the discussion and eventually righted the situation. We left Lowe’s with what we had intended to leave with – a new shop-vac just like the one we had entered with.

Before departing Mill Run we made a rare visit to Burger King where I ordered a combo meal. I was very hungry. Mindy ordered a diet soda only. We arrived that the Anderson’s fifteen minutes later. We parked by the garden center where there was quite a crowd. Given the nice weather we weren’t too surprised. We checked out some cool fountains and lots of plants before heading inside.
While I waited in line at the meat counter Mindy searched for some wine. I had to wait about ten minutes. I decided to get two thick center-cut filets. They were on sale for $4.99 each –what a great price!

After getting the meat we checked out the deli. Mindy ordered two pounds of potato salad that came to about $8.00. But after seeing how little that was, I encouraged her to put it down and insisted that I’d make some homemade potato salad that would net far more and would be far better. She concurred. We shopped the entire store then headed for the check-out. It was already 4:45pm. I couldn’t believe that it was so late. After getting everything carried in and put away, I decided it would be wise to make sure the shop-vac worked properly rather than wait four months like I did with the first. It worked fine. It was after 5pm. I decided to pour myself a pint of my DDD IPA and go out back and hit some golf balls. It’s a great way to relax on a Saturday evening. I hit balls for almost an hour. In between rounds I walked Ykraps about the yard. He seemed to enjoy the leisurely pace and change of venue.

Around 6pm I went in and grabbed nine large potatoes and took them onto the deck where I peeled them in preparation for the potato salad. I left them swim in a pot of seasoned water, hoping they’d soak up the flavoring before boiling. In the meantime, Mindy phoned my dad and asked if we could borrow his cornhole game. He said he was at Bobby’s but would bring it by later that evening. She invited him to Jacob’s party, too.

Dad arrived around 8pm with the cornhole game. I carried the boards from his van because they’re so awkwardly heavy. Dad joined us on the deck. Eventually daylight gave way to darkness. Around 8:30pm Pat & Lisa joined us, too. They had just returned from dinner at Tommy’s where they reported running into Jimaken, Jacob, and Bella. We sat on the deck telling stories for a long while. Dad soon left – probably around 9:30pm. Not too long after dad left, Renee showed up. We hung out even longer. If I had to guess, Pat & Lisa left around 10:30pm. At the same time, I had reached the bottom of my Barley’s growler. L Mindy asked if I was going to make those filets and boil those potatoes. I got busy with both. I boiled the potatoes and fired up the grill. I poured the three of us shots of Goldschlager, too. I grilled filet mignon and shrimp, cooking up a scrumptious late night dinner for three.

We enjoyed our late dinner. Although I can’t be certain of the exact time, Renee departed around midnight, and not long after, Mindy went to bed. I chose to stay up to clean the kitchen and finish making the potato salad. It was 1am before I headed up to bed.