COSI & Barley's

Mindy and I slept until 8:00am - actually, me a little later. For some reason, even after 9 hours of sleep I felt a little short slept. I had already prepped coffee the evening before just out of habit. I could smell it from our bedroom. Mindy headed downstairs first; I wasn’t far behind and was downstairs even before Mindy had her coffee ready. I completed my exercises before walking Ykraps. He was anxious to head out – must’ve been 8:30 or so when we finally did.

I played on the PC before giving into my urge to run. I think that it was 9:30am when I headed out. As a change of pace, I listened to music on my MP3 player. Like always, it seemed to make the time go by much faster. It was a good run. I smelt to high heaven afterwards. I’ve been wearing the same heavy running shirt all week. After my return Mindy added more clarity to our day. I didn’t know it prior, but Teri, her BFF, was coming over to join us for our COSI adventure. I headed up to shower so that I would be presentable upon her and Massimo’s arrival.

Mindy showered immediately after me, and like often happens, Teri arrived while Mindy toiled about. But thankfully, she was downstairs a few moments later. We visited for several minutes before I left to pick-up Kaileigh. I joked with Teri about her pregnant belly and the fact that he boobs were getting ever bigger. I got a couple pics of her baby belly. Truthfully, though, she hasn’t gotten big yet. I suspect that’ll change soon as she heads into her fifth month.

I left to fetch Kaileigh around 11am. It doesn’t take long at all to get to Hoover Crossing’s in Grove City from here. I’ll bet I was there in 15 minutes. Rosemary escorted Kaileigh out to the car. She doesn’t ask me in these days. As I often do, I greeted her with a hug and kiss just the same. Al, for whatever reason, harbors some bitterness towards me. I understand, but don’t let it impact my perception of them/him.
They’re good people, and a blessing for not only my daughters, but also for Kaileigh, as well as the other grandchildren.

Kaileigh and I had a nice chat on our drive home. She shared her plans for a trip to Florida leaving this Sunday morning at 1am with her Grandma Pam, Shellie’s mom. She seemed excited. She also asked about spending more time with us. I often wonder if she really enjoys her time with us. Apparently she does. That made my heart happy!

Bella was especially happy to see Kaileigh. They get along so well. For the next couple of hours the kids played and colored Easter eggs. That was a bit stressful but all in all went without incident. Time was ticking away. Teri, at first, intimated that she & Massimo might just as well skip COSI and instead head home, citing a tight evening agenda. Massimo wasn’t too pleased. In the end, however, they decided to go. We packed up and headed off to COSI. It cost $4 to park – not too bad.

This was my first visit to the new COSI – sadly. A few years back, Glenn & I tried visiting on one occasion but it was closed. Once inside we checked out the gift shop and some spurious exhibits while Mindy went for our admission tickets. She gets in free simply for being a teacher. Turned out, one of her good friend’s father was working the admission counter and comp’d all of our passes. Cool!

We visited the weather, ocean, goose bumps (fear), and space exhibits collectively. I tended to stray off on my own a few times. Further, I found myself very sleepy and in need of a nap. I never did close my eyes but did find comfort in a few exhibit theatres. The kids seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. Teri and Massimo needed to depart earlier than us. They left about 30-45 minutes before us. Afterwards, Mindy took Jacob, Bella, and Kaileigh to the flying bicycle exhibit where guests can ride a bike on a high wire some 25ft above the floor. I went off on my own checking out 2 third floor exhibits that followed from their old downtown location – Life & Streets of Yesteryear. I find myself drawn to the yesteryear exhibit. Lots of interesting nostalgia.

After getting my fill, I sought out Mindy & the kids. They were downstairs waiting close to the entrance snacking on popcorn. Jacob was frustrated for not getting a turn on the high wire bike. Apparently they closed off the line just in front of him as closing time neared. He held Mindy accountable for not taking him there earlier. Sometimes the best laid plans just doesn’t work out.

Mindy phone Shellie along our way home. Shellie still needed to run some Easter errands, so the two of them worked out a deal for us to take Kaileigh home a bit later. She’d call once home. Finally back home, all of us, I think, were a little tired and hungry. Me, I was way more tired than hungry, but still snacked on some chips. I ended up lounging in the recliner using Mindy’s massage pillow. All of my joints were stiff, including my neck and shoulders. For the first time in many, many days, I didn’t take an anti-inflammatory this morning. I noted the exception. I don’t think that I ever quite fell asleep but did relax peacefully for a good 20-25 minutes. Jimaken arrived to pick up the kids around 5:30pm. I got up from the chair and joined everyone in the kitchen. Among other things, Mindy shared Jacob’s aggressive behavior issues with his dad. They left a short time later leaving only Kaileigh home with us.

Kaileigh didn’t seem to mind being there alone with us. She played Wii while we waited on Shellie’s call. Around 6:15pm Mindy checked her phone and saw she had a message from Shellie event though her phone never rang. Hmmm? She called Shellie, who was at home waiting on Kaileigh to return. We left not five minutes later. We gathered all the grand kids’ Easter baskets thinking that we’d drop them at Kelly’s since we would be right by there. Knowing that, Kaileigh expressed an interest in seeing Lil’ Rocky as well as Kelly, so we stopped there first.


We knocked on Kelly’s door but no one answered even though her car was in the drive. I told Mindy that she might not answer. She doesn’t like unexpected guests, especially me. Kaileigh didn’t seem too disappointed. But just as we started to back away she came out inquiring to our presence. We got back out of the Trooper and handed off the Easter baskets. Kaileigh ran up & gave her a hug and talked with her some. We left after a very short visit.

Next, we dropped Kaileigh at home. Shellie looked very pregnant. Only seven weeks to go. We didn’t stay too long. Before leaving we made loose arrangements to have Kaileigh spend the night in three weeks. We were happy that Kaileigh suggested as much. Finally, we were heading back home. We walked Ykraps together then began getting ready for an evening at Barley’s. The Jump’s called to see if we were going. Mindy seemed happy that they called. She also left a VM for Joe, her nephew, seeing if he and Camilla still planned to join us. Once on our way, around 7:45pm, Mindy called Tom Clark to check on his Friday night status. He answered but spoke of not feeling too well. He mentioned there being about at 70% chance he’d show up at Barley’s.

We arrived to a moderately full lot. Actually it was a little less packed than the most recent Friday’s. Inside, there were several familiar faces, but no Imber’s. I guessed them to be out of town Eastering with family. Right away, Mindy went to the back half seating area to see the Jump’s who she learned were dining there. She had a couple of things for Porter. I fetched myself a beer, a regular Pale Ale. It wasn’t long before Katy sought me out to see if I had already ordered Mindy a beer. When she realized I hadn’t she got her a Russian – Mindy’s request form the back. Joe & Camilla arrived while I was chatting with Mark, Scott, & Josh. They asked of Mindy’s whereabouts. You should have seen their eyebrows raise when I told them she was off delivering a baby. Actually, she had just walked back to return Porter to the Jump’s. :)

Joe & Camilla checked out the brewery behind glass. And when Mindy returned, she helped them select a beer suitable to their tastes. They blended nicely with our group of friends. We talked about all sorts of stuff, often teasing Camilla about her Danish heritage. Many of my friends had either been to Denmark, or close by in a neighboring country. As the night unfolded, Tom Clark eventually arrived as did brother Tommy. Some of the regulars, Rick, Thad, & Monica, all arrived later as well. Speaking for myself, I had a great time. Since Mindy had only two beers, she agreed to drive allowing me to beer a bit more celebratively. I must’ve had five or six beers all totaled, but only one was a double IPA. I managed to eat half of a chicken quesadilla too. We all headed our separate ways around 11pm. Again, Mindy drove us home. We went straight to bed. In a slightly embarrassing moment, I fell out of bed cutting/puncturing my chest/neck on the corner of Mindy’s night stand. And yes, I was bleeding. Don’t ask!