Get To the Pointe

Fearing that I might over sleep, I kept a watchful eye on the clock as the last couple hours of sleep time passed. It got to where it made no sense to lie there, so I got up and started my morning early. It was only 5:20am. By the time I choked down my flu meds (I skipped the cough syrup) and began exercising it was 5:25am. I proceeded with my Blackberry at my side in hopes of quickly intercepting the alarm.

I felt completely energized as I went through the morning’s paces. Instead of feeling beaten down I’d be returning to work feeling renewed. And looking ahead, the weekend was supposed to be gorgeous. I had plenty of time to play after waking so early. Most of my extra time was spent playing on the internet, but I left for my run a little early, too.

It was about 50 degrees so I wore a lighter jacket. Unfortunately, it was raining, but there wasn’t a thing I could do about it, so run in the rain I did. I peeled out of my wet running clothes immediately upon my return. Jacob was up but noticeably unhappy about returning to school. He complained of still not feeling well. Mindy helped him out of his funk by reviewing his spelling words. Bella remained in bed until the last minute. We were most worried about her. Her symptoms were far worse than mine or Jacob’s.

Bella got up on her own while Mindy was in the bathroom. She was in good enough spirits to hide from her momma. Very cute. They left with no trouble leaving me & Jacob alone. We hadn’t been through this fire drill in a couple of weeks. Because of the light but steady rain, I drove Jacob to the bus stop. He waited there in the Trooper until the bus pulled up.

I arrived to work feeling very good, although with guarded my optimism. I wasn’t sure how long I could or would hold up. In the meantime, it rained all day long. In fact, on more than one occasion, it was blowing darn near sideways. I stayed fairly busy, just like any Friday. Fortunately, I maintained that high level of energy all day long.

Around 4 pm Mindy sent me a picture of Bella via her cell phone of her crashed out in the minivan. Mindy had to make another trip to CVS to get more liquid Tamiflu for the kids. They (the pharmacy) shorted her a bottle for each, and one must take ten doses.

By the time I left work to head for home it was 5:35pm. Mindy and the kids were gone when I arrived. I knew the kids would be gone. It was a daddy weekend. And Mindy, I assumed, was at the grocery. However, later, I remembered that she was going to the funeral home to pay respects to friend’s mother. I took care of Ykraps and then played on the PC. I never quite made it to the recliner for the nap I wanted, at least not until Mindy got home. Around 6:55pm I finally found my way to the recliner where I might’ve slept for 5 minutes. Even still, I woke feeling incredibly good and ready to go.

Mindy was tooling around in the kitchen, but can’t recall what exactly she was doing. Nonetheless, she took the hint that I was ready to go. She went and readied herself. We left for Barley’s near 7:30pm. We hit a wall of rain on our drive there. After last weekend and then being sick, we both needed a night out with friends.
I was elated to find Barley’s Centennial IPA back on the tower after about a five or six month absence. I ordered one of those. Too, I told Mindy that I thought the Imber’s would be absent, but they were there. We hadn’t seen them in about three weeks. Meanwhile, we already knew the Jump’s were there dining in the back. Steve Won was there too. The rest of the regulars were either missing or arriving later.

Through the evening, we were privileged to share our favorite pub once again with Joe & Camilla. Later, Rene and a bunch of her peeps showed up as did Rick & brother Tommy. Rebecca, freshly back from the Dominican Republic, gifted me a Dominican cigar, however, not sure when/if I’ll smoke it.

I never did order a meal, and ended up drinking 5 beers – an almost certain hangover. I did sneak a bite or two of Mindy’s sandwich. I don’t think she realized it. :)
We had a lot of fun and ended up agreeing to a stop at the Pointe Tavern on our way home. Mindy, of course, was driving. I was looking forward to seeing ol’ Katy, who tends bar there. The Pointe is a frequent after work hang-out for Barley employees. They were all meeting us there.

Somehow or another, we arrived well after others. It’s just a mile or so down the road. It was pretty full, but our Barley’s peeps had a spot secured for all of us. I think it’s fair to say, Bob & I were both feelin’ no pain even before the Pointe. Soon there were shots flowing, and almost without thinking I did one then another. They were the fruity ones, too. The beer there leaves something to be desired but it was tolerable. Besides, we didn’t go for the beer. Instead, we went more for the camaraderie. We had a good time hootin’ & hollering. And it was awfully good to see Katy.

Sadly, I don’t remember too much about going home. I do, however, remember Mindy urging me up to bed after jumping on the internet to check the Reds final score.