I should’ve known better. Anytime I exceed the three beer threshold at Barleys I typically get a headache. This occasion was no different. I woke around 5am not only with a headache but also clogged sinuses and a very dry throat. I took two Advil and blew my nose. I felt poorly. I needed more sleep. Back in bed I slept until 7:30am when I woke feeling as close to 100% as I could’ve hoped for. For this I was pleased!
I left Mindy sleeping knowing that she would want to sleep a while longer. I went about my usual Saturday morning routine of making coffee and then exercising. I was surprised at how cold it was once Ykraps and I stepped outdoors. It was 18 degrees! The sun was just creeping up & over the horizon. I had enough foresight to grab my camera before setting out having not snapped a single pic since last Sunday. I got a couple of cool shot of the pond/sun and then one or two of Ykraps.
Back home I coffee’d and then spent time on the internet. I set out for a run around 9:15am. I had to return to our room to get my running pants. Mindy woke and asked for 2 Advil. I took care of her request and then dashed off on my run. The run went very well. It was cool and crisp but I was dressed appropriately. Mindy was still asleep when I returned home. Hearing her stir, I moved to make her first cup of coffee so it would be ready. It must’ve been about 10:30am or so when she finally made her way down stairs.
Mindy & I spent the next hour or so enjoying the quiet house. She worked on a grocery list, too. Soon after I got off the PC she took over trying hopelessly to solve a numeric puzzle I presented her last evening. We had tickets for the Holiday Pops for 3pm at the Ohio Theatre. We hoped to leave around 2:30pm. Before then we would run to the Dublin Wal-Mart to pick-up our holiday cards and then retreat to the Hilliard Wal-Mart for groceries (they don’t sell groceries at the Dublin store). We left the house at 12:15pm or so. Our stop at the Dublin Wal-Mart was brief. We grabbed our cards and split. That wasn’t the case once we arrived at the Hilliard Wal-Mart. In between Wal-Marts we called the Imber’s to see if they were up for meeting us after the Holiday Pops for dinner. We talked about doing the Gallery Hop, too. We were at Wal-Mart for a good 1.25 hours. We spilt up though, in part to speed the process. After all, we were on a tight schedule. We bought a few Xmas items but mostly groceries. And in true Wal-Mart fashion, there was a hold-up in our short line. A lady knowingly brought a pair of shoes to the register that were the wrong size. She made the clerk page someone to go see if they could find them in her size while everyone else in line waited. Surprisingly, she didn’t have a beard. :)
It was just after 2:15pm by the time that we arrived home. Mindy quickly processed the groceries while I made turkey sandwiches for both of us. We woofed those down and departed for the symphony.
We arrived at the Ohio Theatre with little time to spare. Our tickets were waiting in will-call and that line was short. From the time we left the house until we were in our seats couldn’t have been more than about 15 minutes. Our seats were mid-balcony just right of center. The show was carved into two halves, the first being more classical. They played four winter celebration pieces from the 17th & 18th centuries. They were very good. Mindy thought I was sleeping but I simply chose to rest my eyes and allow the music to seep into my soul. It was uplifting. After intermission CSO played a vast array of your more traditional Xmas carols and even encouraged the audience to sing along with the large chorus. That was very Xmas like but also very good. To end the performance they had members of BalletMet perform a fast rendition of “The Night before Xmas” along with a visit from Santa himself. We were walking out at 4:59pm.
The exit from the parking garage was slower than the ascent. We were on the 6th floor and there was only one line to pay the auto toll taker. We made it to the short north area by 5:30 and eventually found a parking spot at a meter. Mindy was crabbing at me for being a cheap parker. I’ve always been one to try hard to park cheaply if at all possible. We were just 100 yards from the Barley’s Ale House #1 back door! We arrived before the Imber’s and latched on to two available barstools. I was disappointed that they didn’t have an IPA offering on tap. They have some of the same offerings as the Smokehouse but also others. I had a Xmas Ale to start. Mindy had a Russian Imperial Stout.
The Imber’s arrived not long after we started into our brews. By that time a few additional seats opened. We hadn’t yet decided of we were eating at Barleys or perhaps one of the other dozen or so quality restaurants nearby. Ultimately we opted to dine there. Their menu is much different than the Smokehouse. Eventually we got a table in the back half of the pub. Mindy and I ordered the NY strip steak special, which was topped with shrimp. Bob ordered pierogies, and M.A. ravioli. We enjoyed a couple more beers too. We had a nice dinner and a nice time. I picked up the tab since I owed Bob for a bet we made at the beginning of the baseball season. Basically, whose ever team had the better record won. The Indians squeaked one out over the surging Reds. :) Loser buys dinner. We have the same bet for football season. I’ve won that one 2 years in a row.
It was just approaching 8pm. We decided to snuff the Gallery Hop and head our respective ways. All of us were tired. Besides, there was nothing more important to the Buckeye nation than the two football games being played this evening and starting in a matter of minutes. Lying on the sofa at home in jammies watching football sounded awfully good.
We arrived home by 8:10pm. We both changed into our comfy PJ’s. I opened a cold Xmas Ale. We did the picture-in-picture thing, flipping between the two throughout the evening’s entirety. If either West Virginia or Missouri lost, we’d more than likely vault into the BCS national championship game. West Virginia seemingly had the easiest road to the championship game playing Pitt who was sporting a losing record. Missouri was playing Oklahoma, a formidable opponent by any measure. Pitt held a thin lead over W.V. through the entire game. And handful of bad calls made by the refs made it apparent that they themselves hailed from Appalachia. However, despite their attempt, Pitt still won in dramatic fashion. We were in! The icing on the cake was that Missouri was getting blown out by Oklahoma leaving open the possibility that we’d enter the BCS championship game as the #1 team in the country. Go Bucks!
I was juiced. Mindy headed to bed before the Missouri game ended. I stayed up to watch post game interviews and then tuned into the Hawaii game against Washington. When I headed to bed the Huskies were up 14-0.
I left Mindy sleeping knowing that she would want to sleep a while longer. I went about my usual Saturday morning routine of making coffee and then exercising. I was surprised at how cold it was once Ykraps and I stepped outdoors. It was 18 degrees! The sun was just creeping up & over the horizon. I had enough foresight to grab my camera before setting out having not snapped a single pic since last Sunday. I got a couple of cool shot of the pond/sun and then one or two of Ykraps.
Back home I coffee’d and then spent time on the internet. I set out for a run around 9:15am. I had to return to our room to get my running pants. Mindy woke and asked for 2 Advil. I took care of her request and then dashed off on my run. The run went very well. It was cool and crisp but I was dressed appropriately. Mindy was still asleep when I returned home. Hearing her stir, I moved to make her first cup of coffee so it would be ready. It must’ve been about 10:30am or so when she finally made her way down stairs.
Mindy & I spent the next hour or so enjoying the quiet house. She worked on a grocery list, too. Soon after I got off the PC she took over trying hopelessly to solve a numeric puzzle I presented her last evening. We had tickets for the Holiday Pops for 3pm at the Ohio Theatre. We hoped to leave around 2:30pm. Before then we would run to the Dublin Wal-Mart to pick-up our holiday cards and then retreat to the Hilliard Wal-Mart for groceries (they don’t sell groceries at the Dublin store). We left the house at 12:15pm or so. Our stop at the Dublin Wal-Mart was brief. We grabbed our cards and split. That wasn’t the case once we arrived at the Hilliard Wal-Mart. In between Wal-Marts we called the Imber’s to see if they were up for meeting us after the Holiday Pops for dinner. We talked about doing the Gallery Hop, too. We were at Wal-Mart for a good 1.25 hours. We spilt up though, in part to speed the process. After all, we were on a tight schedule. We bought a few Xmas items but mostly groceries. And in true Wal-Mart fashion, there was a hold-up in our short line. A lady knowingly brought a pair of shoes to the register that were the wrong size. She made the clerk page someone to go see if they could find them in her size while everyone else in line waited. Surprisingly, she didn’t have a beard. :)
It was just after 2:15pm by the time that we arrived home. Mindy quickly processed the groceries while I made turkey sandwiches for both of us. We woofed those down and departed for the symphony.
We arrived at the Ohio Theatre with little time to spare. Our tickets were waiting in will-call and that line was short. From the time we left the house until we were in our seats couldn’t have been more than about 15 minutes. Our seats were mid-balcony just right of center. The show was carved into two halves, the first being more classical. They played four winter celebration pieces from the 17th & 18th centuries. They were very good. Mindy thought I was sleeping but I simply chose to rest my eyes and allow the music to seep into my soul. It was uplifting. After intermission CSO played a vast array of your more traditional Xmas carols and even encouraged the audience to sing along with the large chorus. That was very Xmas like but also very good. To end the performance they had members of BalletMet perform a fast rendition of “The Night before Xmas” along with a visit from Santa himself. We were walking out at 4:59pm.
The exit from the parking garage was slower than the ascent. We were on the 6th floor and there was only one line to pay the auto toll taker. We made it to the short north area by 5:30 and eventually found a parking spot at a meter. Mindy was crabbing at me for being a cheap parker. I’ve always been one to try hard to park cheaply if at all possible. We were just 100 yards from the Barley’s Ale House #1 back door! We arrived before the Imber’s and latched on to two available barstools. I was disappointed that they didn’t have an IPA offering on tap. They have some of the same offerings as the Smokehouse but also others. I had a Xmas Ale to start. Mindy had a Russian Imperial Stout.
The Imber’s arrived not long after we started into our brews. By that time a few additional seats opened. We hadn’t yet decided of we were eating at Barleys or perhaps one of the other dozen or so quality restaurants nearby. Ultimately we opted to dine there. Their menu is much different than the Smokehouse. Eventually we got a table in the back half of the pub. Mindy and I ordered the NY strip steak special, which was topped with shrimp. Bob ordered pierogies, and M.A. ravioli. We enjoyed a couple more beers too. We had a nice dinner and a nice time. I picked up the tab since I owed Bob for a bet we made at the beginning of the baseball season. Basically, whose ever team had the better record won. The Indians squeaked one out over the surging Reds. :) Loser buys dinner. We have the same bet for football season. I’ve won that one 2 years in a row.
It was just approaching 8pm. We decided to snuff the Gallery Hop and head our respective ways. All of us were tired. Besides, there was nothing more important to the Buckeye nation than the two football games being played this evening and starting in a matter of minutes. Lying on the sofa at home in jammies watching football sounded awfully good.
We arrived home by 8:10pm. We both changed into our comfy PJ’s. I opened a cold Xmas Ale. We did the picture-in-picture thing, flipping between the two throughout the evening’s entirety. If either West Virginia or Missouri lost, we’d more than likely vault into the BCS national championship game. West Virginia seemingly had the easiest road to the championship game playing Pitt who was sporting a losing record. Missouri was playing Oklahoma, a formidable opponent by any measure. Pitt held a thin lead over W.V. through the entire game. And handful of bad calls made by the refs made it apparent that they themselves hailed from Appalachia. However, despite their attempt, Pitt still won in dramatic fashion. We were in! The icing on the cake was that Missouri was getting blown out by Oklahoma leaving open the possibility that we’d enter the BCS championship game as the #1 team in the country. Go Bucks!
I was juiced. Mindy headed to bed before the Missouri game ended. I stayed up to watch post game interviews and then tuned into the Hawaii game against Washington. When I headed to bed the Huskies were up 14-0.
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