Boating, Babies, Burgers, & Beer

I didn’t sleep too well through the night. I heard Olivia up several times though the night fussing, too. Just the same, I got out of bed and got going by 7:30am. The kids were already up helping Ashley with Olivia. I took to the living room to complete my exercises. Mindy asked to sleep in for an undefined amount of time.
I got the kids squared away with their food requests and had coffee brewing too. Ykraps and I headed out the door by 7:50am. It was another gorgeous morning. The forecast called for sun & clouds with highs approaching 80. Right now it was nothing but blue skies and 55 degrees.

I enjoyed some coffee and got my laptop fired up. I spent the next hour or so focused on cleaning up a couple work related matters. I readied and left for my run while Mindy continued sleeping. I enjoyed my morning run. I listened to music for the first time in a long while.

I was home by 10am. Ashley was already preparing to head home and Mindy was up and in shower. Mindy was taking Ashley home and then heading to the grocery with Bella. Jacob and I would be heading to pick-up the boat from the storage. After mindy left I continued doing some work related stuff before heading out. We were back with the boat by 11am. While there, I met the owner in the warehouse. I showed him the damage to my trailer taillight. He was very apologetic and agreed to pay for the repair. That made me happy.

We headed home with the boat. We got busy right away. Jacob was excited to be helping with the boat. I had forgotten how clean it was before storing it. It didn’t need much cleaning at all. But I still wanted to wax it so I would wash the exterior anyway. We hooked up the battery and tried starting her. Not only wouldn’t she start, she wouldn’t even allow the horn to beep. The battery was DEAD. I am not sure how old this battery is as it’s been in it since I bought it back from Tommy. I had been figuring on needing a new battery. Last year I charged it at Dad’s and it worked fine all season long.

I decided to wait for Mindy to come home and try jumping it before committing to buying a battery. In the meantime, I unpacked Mindy’s fountain and set it up on the deck. It looked awesome! Mindy arrived home around noon. By now it felt like 80 degrees and despite calling for clouds and sun, the sky was completely blue. After carrying in the groceries I put the minivan into position to jump start the boat. It fired right up! I let it run for about thirty minutes. While the boat ran, I went across the street to visit with neighbor Carl. He just put in a fountain for his wife. I was admiring his handy work.

After returning home, my dad pulled up out front. He stayed about thirty minutes visiting the family. He talked about his recent bout of arthritis and how it’s gotten so much worse of late. He’s got a doctor’s appointment slated for Monday. I asked about his ability to watch our house and tend to Ykraps while we’re out. He said he would. He left after not long after. I got busy washing the boat.

Jacob helped wash the boat. He was even willing to do the underside, which required crawling under the boat on his back. He was a big help, although he sprayed me with the hose a couple of times. As the afternoon sun continued heating things up, Jacob and Bella played with the hose out front while I began waxing the boat. I made a couple of rules: no going into the street, no spraying me or the boat, and asked that they keep the water in the yard so not to waste it. Before applying the wax, I decided to try super gluing the broken taillight until I can get a new one. That seemed to go OK but had to let it set for a while to see if it would hold. It took about two hours to wax the boat. Mindy commented a couple of times how nice it was looking. She was inside preparing the house for guests. Our friends Teri & Scott were expected some time after 3pm along with their son Massamo. They arrived just as I was applying wax to the outboard under carriage. I finished up the waxing after a quick greeting. They soon headed in & onto the deck for some relaxation while I finished up.

It was about 4:00pm by the time I went inside. I checked in with work and then headed off for a much needed shower. I stunk! The shower was refreshing. After returning downstairs I sat at my PC and took care of another hour’s worth of work related matters (comes with the territory). Ashley and Brittany dropped the kids (Olivia and Lil’ Rocky) around 4:40pm. The kids were spending the night while they go to the Funny Bone Comedy Club.

Everyone came in around 5pm. I poured myself a Honey Raspberry Ale. Mindy bought me another six pack while at Giant Eagle today. It went down smoothly! I fired up the grill next. Just as I was putting the meat on the grill, Scott had to depart for his dental gathering where he would be meeting his new intern. Mindy planned to give Teri and Massamo a ride home later. The food was delicious – burgers and hot dogs. Mindy whipped up a nice garden salad, too.

After dinner I took Ykraps on his evening walk. For this he was grateful. Olivia was very fussy again this evening. It was painfully obvious that she was not feeling well. We figured she was cutting teeth or had gas. What ever she did, she just couldn’t get comfy for any length of time at all. Mindy gave her some gas drops while she had a bottle. That seemed to help a little. Still, she returned to her fussy ways ten minutes later. Come 7pm, Mindy left to take Massamo and Teri home. She took Bella along too. Jacob & Lil’ Rocky played kick ball at the neighbors. Olivia I held in my arms. I put her in the pap-paw hold that always has put her to sleep. She quieted for short bursts but each time returned to her fussy ways. Carrying around was taking its toll on my back. She fussed until Mindy returned and gave her some infant Ibuprofen that she and Teri picked up along the way.

Fifteen minutes after taking the medicine and having a bottle she seemed to turn the proverbial corner. We finally put her to bed at 9:30pm, and she went right to sleep. We stayed up for another hour. I had another beer and a Jack and Coke. A smidge after 10:30pm we headed to bed both of us weary from a long hard working day.