Perhaps My Game's Better Suited for Galaxy Golf & Games

Up at 5:30am and back to my standard routine. If nothing else there’s comfort in the idea of a “routine”. Generally, it means that all’s right with the world. After all, in the absence of routine we’re left with chaos. I realize that’s a broad and sweeping statement, but for the most part it’s true - at least in my world.

I put myself through the usual paces, vitamin, coffee check, exercise, and then a brisk walk with Ykraps. It was a cool but comfortable morning. I was a bit spunkier than usual despite it being a Monday. My spunk was aided, I’m sure, by the fact that my on-call was behind me, and the knowing of a free weekend ahead. Wahoo! I thought about driving the BM’er but the weather forecast called for a chance of afternoon showers. I didn’t want to risk it, especially after just bathing her yesterday. Besides, looking ahead to the rest of the week there should plenty of quality BM’er days coming my way. In fact, looks like we’ll be back in the mid to upper 80’s by weeks end.

I did a short meditation before readying for my run. I delivered Mindy’s first cup of coffee, too. She was already showering when delivered. I stretched well before setting out. It makes a real difference. The run went well. I was back by 7:05am doing my cool down stretches. Mindy made scrambled eggs with cheese for breakfast. They looked really good. She & Bella set out for the day just a few minutes after I returned. Jacob was already up and dressed before his mother left. Hmmm?

After my shower, we had a few minutes to kill before heading down to the bus stop. That time went quickly, however. We greeted the Shultz’s (Pat & Alena) at the corner. After the kids boarded their bus, Pat and I chatted only briefly before heading our separate ways. Looking down the sidewalk towards home, it looked to me that Jacob might’ve dropped something from his book bag. I decided to check it out before driving off. It was his fleece toboggan. I picked it up and threw it in the Trooper and then drove off to work.

Gas was only $2.62 at Thornton’s and I needed gas. I decided to buy now rather than risk it going up during the business day. It took 18.5 gallons to fill ‘er up. Work went well. It was an eventful morning. I received an email from my friend Jill begging out of our Tuesday lunch plans. We rescheduled for two weeks out. Around 1pm I set out to run my afternoon errands. My first stop was Kroger to get Bella some flowers and a birthday card. Next, I stopped in Colonial Music to get a couple more guitar picks. Making good time, I decided to hit Lowe’s to get more tool shelf liner and some peg board hooks. I ran into a fellow employee there doing some shopping of his own. I made good time. I was back at work in just short of an hour.

I wasn’t that hungry when I returned. Not running at lunch has changed my appetite significantly. I could almost skip lunch entirely. It’ll be interesting to see what impact, if any, it has on my weight. So far I am forcing myself to eat something during the midday as I recognize the importance of maintaining a high metabolism.

Lindsey left a voice mail asking me to call. I could only guess what it referenced. I chose not to return her call until leaving work. Ashley called as well to let me know that she got the job at the Columbus Credit Bureau. She’s really excited. Meanwhile, my after work plans entailed heading directly to Galaxy Golf & Games to meet Mindy, Jacob, and Bella. Mindy’s nephew Joe was going to meet us there too. This was the venue selected by Bella to celebrate her birthday. As I departed work I returned Lindsey’s call. She wanted cash. Geesh! She managed to chastise me a little too for not inviting her and Rocky to Galaxy Game & Golf.. I phoned Mindy to let her know that I was on my way. She let me know that she’d already ordered our pizza and paid for our putt-putt. Also, she let me know that Bella’s friend Emily was there too. Very good!

I arrived ten minutes later. It didn’t take long. I hadn’t been to Galaxy Golf & Games in quite a while – probably 15 years. It occurred to me that it was with Dad, Sheila, & Kelly. I can’t remember any other details. The place is a small child’s paradise complete with an enormous indoor play center. It looks a little dated, however. The kids played in the labyrinth until our pizza was ready. The pizza definitely wasn’t Minelli’s but it wasn’t terrible either. After a couple slices of pizza, Joe, Jacob, and I headed out to play a round of putt-putt.

Much like the play center, the putt-putt course looked a bit worn, but still very playable. We had fun going from hole to hole. A new twist was the white shag carpet added to replicate sand traps around a few of the holes. Clever, but also seedy! The game moved along swiftly. We were probably done in no more than 30 minutes. Good! I was still hungry and ready to head home. Lucky for us, home was literally a mile away. Joe headed home, too while the rest of us headed towards Newell Dr. Mindy had already walked Ykraps saving me the trouble. Our immediate goal was to prep Bella’s birthday cake for a small but enthusiastic celebration. Mindy got the cake ready while I tinkered with Bella’s flowers. I presented them and a card right away. She was a gracious receiver. We sang H.B. and then ripped into the cake. I opted out of cake due in part to my persistent hunger. I wanted something meatier than cake. I decided to devour my leftover Barley’s food.

I snapped a few pictures while Bella blew out candles and the opened her gifts. They turned out OK save for the finger smudge I found on my lens a bit later. Hey, we still captured the moment. While the kids played, I headed out to the garage to complete some more of my organization project. I didn’t have the time necessary to cut more of the shelf liner, but did have time to hang some of the peg board hooks. The space I have is limited, so the exercise was experimental. I had to move them around a few times to maximize the space. My goal’s to hang only a few routine, run of mill tools. The rest will be stored in the new cabinets or roll around chest. I spent about thirty minutes, tops, out there. Soon Mindy and the kids walked Emily home and then returned to ready themselves for bed.

While they readied for bed I tuned into MNF. It had already begun and the Patriots were up – of course! I decided to download the pics I took earlier. There were some good ones. After checking out the pics I went up to tuck in the kids. Bella was already out, and Jacob was all but there. Back down stairs I poured myself a 3D IPA in a wine glass. We both watched a little of the Bengals game. I failed to mention that it poured rain earlier in the evening, albeit briefly. For that I was pleased given that we aren’t expected to get anymore for quite some time.

Mindy asked if I wanted to watch the game from bed. I agreed. We headed up just after 9pm. She developed a terrible cough through the day so she took a cough suppressant. She was asleep in short order. I, on the other hand, stayed awake for almost the entire game.