Flight Delay

It was quiet when I woke. It was just after 7am. I felt really good after about 9 hours of sleep. I was careful not to wake anyone, especially Olivia. I asked Mindy what time she wanted up. She said in about an hour.

By the time that I was downstairs Bella was up too. She exercised along with me and joined Ykraps and I on our morning walk. It was fun. It was sunny early on but the weather forecast once again called for more rain and clouds. We’ve been in this sunny/rainy pattern for days now. It wasn’t long after we were back home that Olivia was awake. I fetched her from her bed. She was more than excited to be up. I took her in to see Mindy & Jacob before heading back downstairs.

I got all the kids their breakfast just as Mindy made her way downstairs. We had lots of fun playing. I noticed a significant mistake while carefully observing my plasma TV handy work. I did not have the rack and center channel speaker centered on the wall. It was quite easy to observe. How I did that I still wasn’t sure. Rest assured, however, I wasn’t pleased.

Mindy soon left for her scheduled hair appointment in Grove City. She really needed a cut, too. She was beginning to look like Carol Brady with the little shag flip. She was gone for about two hours. Mindy put Olivia down for a nap soon after she returned. Once again, she went right out. Jacob asked if I would take him to the ball diamond next door to my father’s to practice hitting. We’d been talking about doing this for some time, but now it was raining, however, only moderately. I agreed to go thinking it more important to keep my commitment to Jacob.

We headed over at about 2:30pm. As luck would have it, it rained even harder. We sat in the Trooper waiting for it to at least lighten a little before setting out onto the wet field. After ten minutes or so it did just that. I pitched four different baseballs to Jacob for about an hour. He eventually found his timing and was cranking them pretty good for a little guy. During that hour, the sky changed from rain to sun and back a few times. Again, more of the same pattern we’ve been in for a few days running.

We weren’t home long before it was time to leave for Jacob’s tournament game. We didn’t wake Olivia until the last minute. This, we figured, a very good idea. The field was in surprisingly good condition for all the recent rain. Olivia was a handful running around from here to there. Mindy & I took turns chasing her around. The Devil Rays played perhaps their best ball game of the year and won the tournament game. We quipped once again that this was the season that just won’t end! They just qualified to play again on Wednesday evening.

After the game we headed back home for some dinner. We were having the roast Mindy started yesterday and reheated earlier in the afternoon. My Dad pulled up just as we arrived home. It wasn’t long before Ashley arrived too. Even though dad was there at dinner time, he didn’t eat. He said he’d already done so. Olivia acted up a bit, just as she often does when her momma’s around.

After dinner Ash & Olivia departed, as did my Dad. I learned before my dad left that brother Glenn’s flight out of Portland was delayed nearly an hour putting in jeopardy his Atlanta connector to Columbus. Surprisingly, he was slated for a short 45 minute layover in Atlanta. And because his ATL-CMH flight was the last one scheduled out, he’d almost certainly be spending the night in Atlanta. I checked the web and confirmed his dilemma. His flight left Portland 50 minutes late yet his ATL connector was still slated to depart on time – five minutes after his scheduled landing.

Mindy & I got the kids in bed a little after 8pm. Afterwards I made myself a Jack & Coke to enjoy while watching some Comedy Channel TV. I ended up dozing off for about thirty minutes. I woke around 10:30 to see that in all likelihood Glenn missed his connector. Before Mindy headed off to bed, and possibly me too, I called his cell to see what was up. He said he was on stand-by for another flight that was delayed from even earlier in the evening. He’d call back in a few minutes to let us know.

He called back five minutes later to let us know he was on it. Lucky him! He was now slated to land at 12:51am. Mindy went off to bed. She asked me not to bother waking her when we got back so that she could wake refreshed come morning. Made sense to me. I chose to use the time to write a blog entry. I used Mindy’s laptop (rare event). I finished around 12:15am and quickly dashed off for the airport. The drive went quickly due mostly to next to no traffic.

I was surprised to find the airport entry way under heavy construction. It was February the lat time I flew. The new road is very beautiful with some cool LED lighting features. I parked and found my inside by 12:41am. According to the flight board, Glenn’s plane had just touched down. Great timing! The airport was almost empty, at least in the terminal. Baggage claim was a different story. There were a few clusters of people waiting for their bags. I found Glenn in baggage claim at the help desk. After a routine greet we plucked his bag from the carousel and headed for the lot. This was perhaps my shortest trip ever.

We were back at my home before 1:30am. It wasn’t long before we cracked a beer and warmed some cold Minelli’s pizza. I drank two beers. Not sure how many Glenn had – two or three I’d imagine. Come 3am I called it a night (morning) and headed off to bed. Of course, I made sure that Glenn was familiar with his accommodations before heading off.

Olivia & Wally

Sunday was a much sunnier, much brighter day. On those days, I find it easier to get out of bed. I did my usual routine. I exercised, walked Ykraps, and readied for a run. I checked the weather, and while it was expected to be sunny most of the day, there was a chance of afternoon rain. I’d enjoy the pleasant weather while it lasted. I left for my run come about 10:00am. By then, Mindy was just getting up and started with her day. I ran along Trabue & Hague but kept my larger loop in the track so to keep it at 4 miles. It was a good run. I told Mindy that I was going to move swiftly into yard work immediately upon my return, and that is exactly what I did. We were expecting Ashley, Olivia, and Tommy & Wally around noon. I wanted to have my lawn chores completed. I was all but done by the time that everyone started to arrive. I felt a sense of relief. Olivia was happy to see both Mindy & I. Wally was in good spirits too. Mindy began making BLT’s for all of us while Tommy & I started on the TV move project. I was eager to get it going. Within an hour we had four TV’s moved, including carrying the 50” plasma up from the basement. That is one heavy ass TV! I did a lot of cussing. It didn’t take me long to realize that the video cable Mindy had wasn’t going to work. Turns out, it was a DVI to HDMI cable when we actually needed a HDMI to HDMI. Crap! More delay. Even still, I was able to get everything connected. It’s just that we won’t get an optimal HD picture using the RF signal from the CATV box. After getting all the TV’s into place, Tommy and I carried the Armoire downstairs. But that proved easy after carrying that TV up. Tommy & Wally soon left. We offered to keep Olivia so that Ashley could have an entire evening to herself. In fact, we offered to keep her all night. Ashley agreed and eventually left to go play with friends. We readied and headed off to Jacob’s baseball tournament with Olivia in tow around 3:15pm. During our drive the sky darkened and rain clouds formed. Soon it was pouring. Thankfully, we arrived at the game site late, which meant we weren’t yet out in the rain like all the other parents. We phoned Jimaken from the car. He confirmed what our eyes were telling us. It was raining hard yet the kids were still playing. However, that changed in a jiffy. It began to rain even harder. Soon the game was called and everyone scattered for their cars. Bella came first, then Jimaken and Jacob. The plan all along had us taking the kids back home with us, and that’s what we did. We had a roast in the crock pot back home, but it wasn’t as far along as Mindy hoped. Around 6pm we opted instead for a couple Minelli’s pizzas. We’d have the roast on Monday, instead. I bought and flew. The pizza hit the spot. Olivia was a lot of fun. All of us took Ykraps on his evening walk. Olivia wanted to stray and didn’t seem aware of the street. Not good. We did our level best to straighten that out. Mindy allowed the kids to play another hour or so before baths and showers. Olivia was very excited about getting a bubble bath. Soon, the moment of truth was thrust upon us. Mindy allowed me to do the honors. I put Olivia down in her bed. She went out without as much as a peep. Alright! Ten minutes later she was sound asleep. After another 20 minutes Jacob & Bella were asleep. Mindy & I hung out together but went to bed pretty darn early. Mindy was very achy from here Saturday run.

Mindy Runs

I didn’t get up until just after 8am. Mindy asked that I deliver some coffee after an hour or so and then fell back asleep. Downstairs, I went ahead and put on a pot of coffee and started exercising. I took my time moving through my morning routine. I had no pressing deadlines save for Jacob’s 1pm baseball game.

Before leaving on my run I downloaded photos from Friday. While doing so, my Dell Image Expert software reverted to the standard version even though I had paid for the premium upgrade years ago. I am sure it had everything to do with my hard drive crash in December and reloading the bundled package from CD, but what I didn’t quite get was why it took 6 months. Regardless, I knew I couldn’t operate without the organizing features the premium edition afforded me. I had to do something.

I have Adobe Photo Shop IV for serious editing, but it lacks a downloader/organizer. Corel now owns Jasc, the actual make of Dell Image Expert. I’m not a big fan of Corel and their spyware antics but they do have decent organizing software bundles. I eventually decided to download their trial version of Photo Album 6. It’s essentially Dell Image Expert upgraded many times over. I found it very familiar, which was a good thing.

Mindy got up around 10am. We spent some time together relaxing and sipping coffee. She also spent some time reading my last batch of blog postings. Until this AM, I was way behind on my postings. I encouraged her to join me on my run, although left thinking there was little chance of it actually happening. I proposed that she run to my turnaround point except from the opposite way I run it. That way she could run back home with me.

After I hit the three mile marker and turned for home I spotted someone running towards me on the other side of the road. Not having the benefit of my glasses, I could not readily discern that it was Mindy, but as she got closer I realized that it was. We joined up and ran the rest of the way home together. I was proud of Mindy for giving it her all.

By the time we finished our run it was well past 11am. With the time we had left before Jacob’s ballgame we decided to mount the two pieces of art we bought last evening at Comfest. It didn’t take long. We knew where we wanted them.

We showered and left for Jacob’s game around 12:45pm. Just before we showed up a rain shower moved through leaving those there a little wet. Jimaken brought the kids since this was his weekend. Mindy figured that Jimaken wouldn’t have Bella’s hair fixed and brought the tools to address the matter. Like the last few games, Jacob played the field but chose not to bat. This was one of those games where our kids didn’t show up, or at least not during the first few innings. Sadly, this was the final regular game of the season. Not to fret, however. The tournament begins Sunday (tomorrow).

After the game, the kids left with Jimaken. Mindy & I stopped at the Trueman Rd Target. I got an ICEE while Mindy got a Starbucks even before doing any shopping. However, our main purpose for being there was to get a birthday card for daughter Courtney, who we’d be dining with later that evening. In addition to the card, Mindy picked up a couple other items. Total damage … about $21. Not bad! Headed home.

The sky changed from sunny to threatening rain a number of times through the afternoon. Despite the threatening weather, I really wanted to get the lawn cut before heading out for dinner. But once we were home, the urge for a short nap was by far the most important item on my agenda. After a brief nap I headed out to cut the lawn. By then, the sun was shining brightly and the temperature really heated up. But by the time that I whacked and edged, dark clouds moved back in. Soon rain began to fall. I wasn’t too pleased, but what could I do? Nothing.
Courtney was slated to arrive around 6pm. We had tentatively made plans to dine at CBC, although we’d leave the final decision to Courtney. After all, it was her b-day. She must’ve arrived near 6-6:15pm. We already knew she’d need to take a shower after spending the afternoon at Zoombezi Bay. Mindy got Courtney all set up in the kids’ bathroom while I waited/hung out in the family room.

We left for dinner around 7:00pm. Along our drive we talked with Tommy. He was just leaving Marysville so we invited him to join us. He accepted, although figured to be 30-60 minutes behind us. We’d wait in the bar. We each ordered a drink; me a CBC IPA, Mindy a water, and Courtney a martini. We ordered some calamari too. Tommy arrived about 20 minutes later.
We eventually asked for a table on the patio. It afforded us a lovely view of the Brewery district. We each ordered an entrée and another drink. Mindy had scallops, me a quesadilla and soup, and Tommy, I can’t recall. Courtney ordered a salad. Dinner was good. We had a lovely young waitress, Sarah, I think. Courtney ordered a Crème Brule for dessert. Unbeknownst to me, they ended up comping it. After all, it was her b-day.

Because Tommy lives near Courtney, he agreed to give her a ride home. That saved us a good 30 miles of driving. Mindy & I did the hot tub after arriving home. After 20 minutes of that we headed off to bed.

Craving Comfest

Well, it was finally Friday, and boy was I ever happy. Actually, the week went pretty fast. I was up at 5:30am, which afforded me an opportunity to follow through with my routine without clock watching. That was nice.

The exercise, walk with Ykraps, PC, meditation, and run all went off without a hitch. And yes, I ran four miles (3 days in a row). I left for work around 8:15am and drove the Trooper. It felt good to drive it. It’s so comfortable.

Work was moderately busy. I didn’t take a lunch, but thought all day long that I might. Things got really dicey towards the end of the day but given that I was staring a four day weekend in the eyes I wasn’t fetting it. Mindy phoned a couple of times through the day, once after her lunch date with Jane, her principal, and Rene. Rene asked if she could crack my new bottle of Jack Daniels.

This was a kidless weekend, so I wouldn’t see the Jacob & Bella until Sunday. I finally left work for home around 5:20pm. It was a long work day.

At home Mindy was in an exceptional mood. The weather was equal to the task. It was sunny, warm, and humid, even though the forecast called for something less. We were planning to attend Barley’s like most other kidless Friday’s but this week we were going to Comfest first. My friend and former guitar instructor’s band was playing at 6:30pm. We left the house soon after walking and changing into comfy clothes.

We must’ve drove around Goodale Park for 20 minutes trying to find a parking spot. We couldn’t find one close so we finally bit the bullet and moved further away. That move paid off and we found a spot. That left us with about a one mile walk. No biggie! Rene was meeting us so Mindy phoned her to let her know where we parked. She ended up parking right behind us.
We met in the park around 6:45pm. We never did make it to the Solar stage to see josh’s band. We ran into a school teacher friend of Mindy’s, a co-worker friend of mine, and my cousin, Bunky. He said the same thing to me that Mindy’s school teacher friend said to her. “Never thought that I’d see you here!” Hmm?

Besides wanting to see Josh’s band, I was really looking forward to this year’s Comfest to find/buy some original art work for our freshly decorated family room. With that in mind, we walked the street fair portion of the festival checking out the wares. Low & behold, we found some work we both really liked. It’s not that easy finding art that both Mindy & I like enough to hang in our family room, but it seemed as though we had. Like any wise purchase, we walked away from it for a while ot collect our thought and possibly even see/find something we like more.

An hour passed, we decide dot find our way back to the art we both liked. The pieces we liked were $150 each. I had already decided and told Mindy that we’d offer him $200 for two. She didn’t want any part of bartering. She’d leave it to me. Rene liked their stuff too. We asked a few questions about the work and then clarified which pieces we liked most. I firmly offered him $200 for both but was mentally prepared to pay as much as $250. However, he agreed to the $200 for two. Cool! Mindy, I think, was surprised!

The works were actually prints of his original paintings but on canvas. The two pieces were perfect for our family room. Mindy & I were both excited. Rene ended up buying a piece there, too.

We left the festival after making our purchases. The long walk back to the vehicles seemed even longer with the art work. We managed. It must’ve been about 8:30pm by the time we found our vehicles. We left the short north and headed towards Barley’s.
Barley’s wasn’t very crowded., but it never is this time of year. I drank a few Bells’ Two Hearted IPA’s. They were good. Mindy & I shared our food order: ten Gates of Hell, ten Kansas City, and a beef brisket quesadilla. Rene joined us, as did brother Tommy and nephew Joe, Chris, and Shane. This was Joe’s B-Day celebration. He turned 21 at midnight. We had a hoot of a good time.

Mindy & I left for home around 11:30pm. Rene gave Joe and his buddies a ride to the Rusty Bucket, where he planned to drink in his birthday come midnight. Too funny! Mindy & I each gave him some extra cash to make sure he had fun.

At home Mindy & I were quick to head for bed.

Now That Was a Storm

Man, did it ever storm over night. Mindy must’ve woken me some time just before midnight. No rain, but lots and lots of lightning & thunder. The tornado sirens were blaring too. She asked if we should get the kids and head to the basement. While still wiping sleep from my tired eyes, I fumbled for the TV remote in an effort to tune in into the weather radar. It appeared that a major thunderstorm was taking dead aim on our area. And this one was beyond red. It was Prince purple! Initially, I discouraged the thought of heading downstairs, but once the kids woke to the loud, clapping thunder I suggested that we might. Just as we all made our way through the kitchen the front moved through bringing with it extreme winds and heavy, heavy rains. Mindy & the kids went immediately to the basement. I stayed back searching desperately for the downstairs TV remote. Of course, any other time it would’ve been right there on the arm of the family room chair. Not tonight. However, I stayed diligent and eventually found it tucked between the sofa cushion and frame. The storm was giving us a pounding. There was even popcorn size hail thrown in, and the rain was pouring off the roof like a water fall. I soon switched from the local radar to the local TV stations. They were on full alert doing their usual sensationalizing. Cutting through the crap I could see that the scary part of the storm was just moving past us even though we were still in the red, which is still pretty significant in its own right. A few minutes later, Mindy & the kids returned upstairs where we all sat and watched the weather news for 20 minutes or so. Mindy eventually coaxed the kids back to bed even though we knew there was more on the way, as evidenced by the radar. We’d at least have a 30 minute break. I must’ve woken another three or four times through the night as wave after wave passed through our area. With each incident, we were joined in bed by the children. The last storm passed through just before dawn, or about 5am. I crawled from bed at 5:40am. I was exhausted after waking so many times. I eagerly flipped on the radar all the while I began my calisthenics. It looked as if the rough stuff was now history. Furthermore, the forecast called for a quick clearing. That made me happy. After all, this was the perfect summer storm. Storm over night – sunshine in the morning! Though, I must admit, that storm was a bit more intense than what I typically like. The pond was up really high. This I noticed as Ykraps and I walked by on our usual morning stroll. Other than wet walks and streets, there was no evidence of storm damage anywhere to be seen. Good! Back at home I sipped my first cup of coffee in front of the PC. I must’ve sat there for a good 20 minutes – a little longer than maybe I should have. I didn’t finish meditating until 6:35am. And by the time I dressed and stretched for my run it was nearly 6:45am. The good news was that the sky was clearing. I ran simply in shorts. It was 72 degrees and extremely balmy. It felt terrific. I ran four miles snubbing any worry about the time. It was a great run, and I felt really good beginning to end. Back inside I immediately began prepping lunch and breakfast. Lunch was easy. Mindy already had a garden salad resting in the fridge and my nuts were already to go. All I had to do was add salad dressing and some turkey slices, and then prep my fruit medley. After frying a couple of eggs I was drawn to the backyard. I slipped on my shoes and headed out the rear door and into the steamy sunshine. Just as I was picking up some fallen begonia flower heads to place in the bird bath, I remembered that I had left my sprinkler pump out for a second night. Crap! Not only did it get rained on, but there was a remote chance that it was swept away by the high water. All my fears were abated when I saw it resting safely in its spot. It was wet, though, something I shouldn’t have allowed. I quickly disconnected it and toted it into the garage. I decided to let it dry before checking it. It should be OK. I took Mindy her coffee before getting into the shower. I made quick work of my prep. I was ready to go by 8:05am. Given the weather forecast, I elected to drive the BM’er again today. There were strong storms projected for late afternoon but I figured what the heck. It would be sunny and hot most of the day. Work was exceptionally busy. I stayed after it until 1:15pm or so. At that point I left for lunch with a mission. I wanted to make two stops – Play It Again Sports & Kroger. Meanwhile, it was the first steamy day in quite a while. The temperature hovered just below 90 and the humidity was noticeably high. It felt great! I stopped at Play It Again first. I went in and fetched a Hilliard Youth Football sign-up form. I was surprised to see that the regular sign-up period had already expired. Now, if we sign Jacob up, we’ll have to pay a $25 late fee in addition to the $105 required for all players. However, I snapped off an email to the Youth Football commissioner yesterday. He asked that I call him on his cell. I planned to do that later this afternoon. Application in hand, I headed just a few store fronts down and into Kroger. I went to Kroger to p/u a couple of my favorite libations – Jack Daniels and Raspberry Vodka - to have on hand for brother Glenn’s visit. I was gone only about 25 minutes max. I ate my packed lunch soon after I returned to the office. I was really hungry. The afternoon went by in a flash. Mindy let me know that we were hosting a cookout with the neighbors at 6:30pm after seeking their interest in a possible Lake Norris trip. There was a big back-up on I-270, so I took the back way home. It was slow, too, but at least we weren’t sitting still. By the time I got home from work it was after 6pm. I was totally overcome with sleepiness. That happens many times on my drive home. I went straight for a nap. Mindy seconded that. Bless her! I knew that if I didn’t get a quick nap that I wouldn’t be much fun for the cookout. She walked Ykraps and grilled the meat – two things I’m sure she had in mind for me. I appreciated the assist. That’s another reason why we work. I slept for about 20 minutes and felt 10 times better afterwards. Mindy had the kids settled at a fold-up table out on the deck. Soon Mike & Teri arrived with their contribution – beans and cake. We each fixed our plates and met up on the deck. The food was delicious and the company outstanding. We had fun! Meanwhile, those late afternoon storms looked like they were heading our way again. A look at the radar confirmed it. 10 minutes later we moved everything indoors and cleaned up our outdoor mess. Neighbor Crissy came over and joined us as well. Kenny would come over later. He was at an appointment with his daughter. He arrived 5 minutes later. We sat around inside eating cake and talking about this and that. Mike & Teri were still up in the air about the Lake Norris trip. We told them we’d like to know their status within one week so we can plan accordingly. The once eminent storm seemed to pull one of those I-270 splits with some going north while the rest went south of us. Unbelievable! No one was sad, however. We’ve had more than our share of rainfall lately. As darkness approached, we ended up back out on the deck, where neighbor Teri gave all the kids sparklers. She had six boxes. They burned through them quickly. Mindy went for the safer glow stix next. That kept the kids entertained until dark, that and the lightning bugs. Meanwhile, the mosquitoes were terrible. I was getting eaten alive, and so were most others. We bagged it just before 10pm. A few of us had to work in the morning. That’s the trouble with weekday cookouts. Mindy gave the kids a “Tippler” bath before tucking them safely into bed. Afterwards, I edited some of the last week’s writing but didn’t get anything posted. I’m caught up in one respect but behind in another. We chatted as we so often due before the two of us headed off for bed. I was sleepier than I’ve been at bed time in a long, long while.

I Figure the Odds be 50-50 ...

Happy Fiftieth Birthday, Glennie! After a restful night’s sleep, I was pretty much up on time and ready to get after my morning calisthenics. Meanwhile, the morning’s coffee was already brewing and the sun was just about to rise over the roof tops. Ahh – summer! Ykraps and I took our walk towards the west. As we walked over the pond I remembered that I needed to fetch my sprinkler pump from the water’s edge (never did fetch it). I don’t really like leaving it out overnight. I was back from our walk by 6:01am pouring the day’s first cup of coffee. The taste was sweet, decadent, & very satisfying. From my PC I spent the next 15 minutes reading the Daily OM and checking the morning’s headlines. I’m beginning to worry about the stock market. It’s lost more than 1400 points over the last month and more than 2500 points from its early summer 2007 highs. From a market stand point, the news seems bad on almost every front. That and the price of gas are killing me! My prescription for tolerance? Don’t think about it or look at my retirement fund too often. After ten minutes of meditation, I readied and left for a run. It was after 6:40pm by the time I stepped off the front stoop. I felt really good, but there was little wonder. I took an 800mg Ibuprofen the night before. I ran four miles. I was back at home just after 7:20am. I returned the trash can to its proper stowage spot prior to going in. I had no need to prep any lunch since we were having a potluck at the office. I just focused my attention on making eggs. I made a cheese omelet and warmed two leftover sausage links from last Friday. Breakfast was good. I was heading up for a shower at 7:45am. I had to turn around and head back down to fetch Mindy’s coffee. I remembered once I saw her still snoozing away in bed. Although a rare event, I chose to wear shorts today. This was golf league Wednesday so I saw no reason why not. After all, my team does all the time. I wished Mindy well from bed. Before leaving the house I had to load my clubs into the BM’er. I knew there was a risk of afternoon/evening rain but I didn’t care. I was driving the BM’er regardless. Why wouldn’t I? It was a lovely morning. Work was busy, but tolerable. We didn’t have our usual Wednesday staff meeting. I skipped a formal lunch to offset my expected early departure. We had our potluck. This month’s theme was “cookout”. We grilled burgers and brats. I gave $20 towards the meat. As usual, the food was terrific. Lots of good eats! I was practically comatose after eating much more food than I typically do at lunch. Sometime near 3pm I gazed out the window and noticed dark purplish clouds looming just to the west/northwest. I immediately set out to put the top up on the BM’er. Just as I was heading out, my buddy Bill asked if I would be so kind to help place his gas grill back into his pick-up truck. I did, of course. I wasn’t back in my office fifteen minutes before the sky let loose. It rained so hard we couldn’t see five feet in front of us. It was blowin’ sideways too. According to the radar, most of the inclement weather would track along and north of I-70. That left our regular golf outing intact. I emailed Bob I. just the same to make sure. But as expected, we were still on. There were a few small cells still coming our way but again, most appeared headed towards the NE. I left for golf at 4:30pm sharp. We were slated to play Split Rock which is well south of town in Orient off of RT 762. Traffic looked heavy heading out but I ran into few if any major slow downs. Still, it took a good 35-40 minutes to get there. Bob was waiting with cart as I pulled up. By then, the sky was looking iffy. We tee’d off on the back nine. Hole #10 is a short par 5. I was 25 yards out in two, but chunked a chip shot just short of the green. Making matters worse, once on I ended up three putting. Not pretty. I got a seven when I easily could’ve pared or even birdied the hole. Hole number #13 is a par 3. I had the tee box. But just as I was preparing to tee off, lightning struck nearby prompting all of us to duck for cover. Minutes earlier, it started to rain. We waited for about ten minutes and even allowed two crazy teenagers to play through. It got worse so we figured we’d clubhouse it for a few and see what the weather would do. But while we were carting back the sky began to clear. We stopped and returned to the tee box. But low & behold, by the time we got back, it began to rain and lightning again. Geesh! We waited patiently for another 15 minutes before finally teeing off. Along hole #16 the sky broke loose again and it rained really hard. Lucky for us it was brief. It was beautiful, too. At the same time, the sun busted out even though it was pouring rain. Liquid sunshine! We spotted a vivid rainbow just to the east. Should’ve brought my camera. Shux! We finished at 8:10pm. I shot a less than respectable 50. Bob & Bob shot a 44 & 45. I called mindy from the lot. She was already home from visiting her ailing aunt in Springfield. She’s 83 years old and was slated to have a triple bypass surgery on Thursday. Mindy and her Mom wanted to see her ahead of the procedure for fear they might never see her alive again. Apparently she’s having lots of health related issues. I figured a 30 minute drive home. The drive home always goes smoother – less traffic. And because the sky threatened more rain, I kept the top up. That rarely happens! I made it home in 30 minutes. Mindy was in the kitchen. She’d had the house sparkling clean and Ykraps already walked. Cool! The kids were still out playing at 8:45pm. I was surprised. However, it wasn’t long before she called them in. I helped Jacob with his shower and we tucked both into bed by 9:20pm. We spent about 40 minutes talking about the coming weekend’s plans, our next vacation, and a few household matters. We headed to bed before 10:30pm.

Going Back In

For the second time this week, I woke late – 5:50am. This time was different, however. I slept quite soundly and just didn’t wake up at my usual time. Once again, I didn’t allow it to alter my behavior much. I still followed my usual pattern of exercise, walking Ykraps, PC time, meditation, and a run. The one significant difference was how stiff I was. There’s definitely a direct correlation between my morning stiffness and whether or not I’ve taken any Ibuprofen the prior day. I’m not 30 anymore! I left for a run around 6:45am. And because I kept it to 3 miles I recovered much of the time lost by oversleeping. I was back preparing my daily food by 7:15am. There was little prep involved. Mindy had prepped my fruit & nuts the night before, and I planned on taking my leftover Chipotle as well. Most of my time was spent making breakfast, which consisted of two farm fresh chicken eggs- fried. I double checked the day’s weather forecast before heading up for a shower. It looked great – sunny and low 80’s. This would be a BM’er day! I dropped Mindy’s coffee bedside and topped it off with a hug. This was a big day for Mindy. She’d been aiming towards this day for sometime coming. She was going in to see her gynecologist to hopefully get her ‘restrictions’ lifted. It’s been six weeks. I was ready to head out the door by 8:15am. After moving the Trooper and loading the BM’er I was heading down the road. I had to stop at Thornton’s for gas. The price - $3.86 per gallon. $40 later I was off again. Work was busy. I didn’t take a formal lunch break all day long. Furthermore, I wasn’t able to get out at the end of the day until 5:45pm. Things got really dicey during my last hour there. Mindy let me know that we were having dinner guests – her Mom & my Dad. She also indicated that we were having spaghetti & meatballs. She had phoned earlier in the day as well to let me know that she was in fact given the green light - all restrictions lifted. We were free to return to normalcy. My dad was walking Ykraps last we spoke. I arrived home just after 6pm. Dinner was just about ready to be served. We sat to eat soon after I washed work from my hands. The spaghetti hit the spot. I ate a full plate. We sat and chatted for a while after eating, but my relaxation was short lived after being beckoned outdoors to help rescue Jacob’s new remote control airplane from a neighbor’s tree. We had to use the extending feather duster to reach it. He subsequently flew it into one tree or another at least ten more times. I wasn’t happy with him when it became apparent that he was trying to do so. By then, the neighbor kids were over (Makayla, Emily & Evan). They asked that I push them from the tree swing. I must’ve swung that thing 50 times. Jacob got a little rough with the smaller kids. I had to lecture him a time or two. That seems to happen often. While I entertained the kids, my Dad headed home and Mindy left to drop her mother. Before she got back, the kids all ran down to Emily & Evans to play on the trampoline. I went back inside and read some email during my short reprieve. Mindy returned home shortly thereafter. She elected to allow the children to skip a bath in part because the two of us were tired. Mindy had to have a heart to heart with Jacob about not hitting girls. He is way too rough with them. He basically stated that the golden rule was absurd. After all, they’re hittin’ him! :) The kids were in bed a short time later. We didn’t stay up too late ourselves. We headed upstairs even before 10pm. We didn’t get to sleep until roughly 11pm, however. Good night moon!

3rd Day of Baseball

Yikes! I overslept. I didn’t pop out of bed until 5:50am. I don’t like to oversleep unless, of course, it is planned. This one wasn’t. I hadn’t prepped coffee the night before either. If I would’ve allowed it, the morning’s dysfunction could’ve torn me apart. I kept it in perspective and went about my morning as usual with my mantra being that I’m worth it! So, after making coffee, exercising, and walking Ykraps, it was already 6:25am. At that point I could’ve chosen to skip PC & meditation and instead go right for my run, but I didn’t. Instead, I went about my routine. After all, it’s a refined & meaningful routine. J I didn’t dress and leave for a run until just before 7:00am. I ran with a thin, long sleeved running shirt. It was borderline chilly – mid 50’s. I ran four miles even though it would’ve been easy to shorten it for times sake. But shortening a run for times sake has never been a good excuse. If it were, soon I would be finding other excuses. I was back from my run at 7:30am. I went ahead and started prepping my food with precision and speed. I had my food packed & breakfast eaten by 7:55am. I admittedly hurried along with my shower. However, I didn’t forget to take Mindy her bedside coffee. She appreciated it. I was ready to depart the house by 8:20am. Mindy didn’t bother getting out of bed like usual. Just as well, she needed the rest. I know that it sounds like a broken record but work was busy. I stayed focused and on task until such time that I deemed it lunch. This time I drove to the Mill Run Saturday’s to get a haircut. In a perfect world, I would’ve taken Jacob along, too. But we all know it’s not. They got me right in – just the way I like it. Stacey cut my hair. She asked about any coming trips. She knows my pattern, a haircut before travel. This time, however, the trip’s still out there a few weeks. She made quick work of my mop. I’ll bet I wasn’t there for 15 minutes. I thought about getting crickets next door, but opted not. We still need to clean the terrarium. I decided to head on back to work. I didn’t need an hour. I was back to work by 1:40pm. The afternoon sped along just like most others. I was in no special hurry to leave since Jacob had a 6:00pm ballgame just around the corner – the third in three days. I got caught up on a work related matters until 5:50pm. After getting that addressed I hustled over to the ball diamond. My Dad was just getting out of his minivan when I pulled up. He waited for me. Mindy, I could see, was already there. She was sitting next to Jimaken in the stands. I found that humorous. She joined my Dad and I once we arrived diamond-side. Jacob asked coach Rob for the same deal as Sunday. Play the outfield but no batting. The team is really beginning to gel as the season winds down. It’s truly remarkable how much they’ve improved. They’re now performing largely on instinct. Not perfect by any measure, but well just the same. Come the third inning Jacob moved to first base. The third baseman retrieved a hot grounder and then made a high throw to first base, which required Jacob to leap into the air in an attempt to catch it. Uh-oh! There he was on the ground again wincing in pain clutching at the back of his right knee. And once again, Coach Paul carried him off the field. Mindy went to his aid on the bench. Jimaken soon followed. It’s really just too bad. He rode the bench the rest of the way. Something worthy of mentioning, several of us parents have noted how differently the coaches react to and treat their own sons on the team. In almost every case, they ride them extremely hard, and in many cases deservedly so. But more often than not, it’s down right comical. There have only been a few that I would describe as embarrassing. The game ended at 7:30pm. There’s only one more regular season game, and that’s this coming Saturday. However, we learned tonight that the single elimination tournament begins Sunday. That means at least two more games. It’s a bit surprising that we don’t keep score or play players in any one position all season long but once the tournament begins we do. Not sure what’s in play there. No biggie! And just as I suspected, Jacob told his mother and I that he was through playing baseball for the year. Doesn’t want to attend the final two games. Of course, I won’t allow that to be if it’s my decision. We started and we’ll finish, even if it is from the bench resting his knee. Quitting is not a viable option. But I also understand that he’s feeling a bit dejected. Dad went his own way while Jimaken agreed to drop Jacob off at the house. Bella rode with me. Mindy was stopping at Chipotle to get dinner for all of us. She wasn’t too far behind us. We were home just five minutes before her. She had already walked Ykraps, which made my evening that much easier. Once Mindy arrived home we sat for dinner on the deck. The Chipotle was delicious but I couldn’t finish mine. That is unless I wanted to go comatose. I ate just about half of my burrito. Mindy agreed to clean-up while I watered backyard flowers. I was surprised to find all of them, pots included, dry as a bone. But come to think of it, I hadn’t watered them since Friday evening, and that was a fast watering, not a soaker. I hadn’t let anything dry out yet this year. I was disappointed that I had done so. I took a good 30 minutes watering/soaking everything. Mindy actually came out and helped drag the hose around the yard. Then, after soaking everything good, I drug out the sprinkler pump and started watering the back lawn. Of course the beds would benefit from that as well. The grass was still looking lush, and I intended to keep it that way. Mindy had the kids in bed by the time I made it back inside. I went up for the tuck. Mindy was chatting with Jacob presumably about a disparaging comment he made to me in front of his father when we got home from the game. I heard him telling Mindy that his Mamaw said something similar to him on Sunday. Geesh! After the kids were down, Mindy and I looked at photos from Sunday. While doing so, Jacob weaseled his way out of bed and downstairs. We allowed him to look at photos, too. Before heading off to bed, Mindy and I sat in the family room chatting. Come 10:30pm I pulled the plug on the sprinkler pump. Together, we headed up to bed.

HDMI Oh My!

The house stood quiet even after 8am. I quietly slipped out of bed and then downstairs to begin coffee and exercising. It was another lovely morning with oodles of sunshine and nothing but blue skies overhead. I felt really good as I pushed through my calisthenics and headed out the door with Ykraps. We took a more leisurely walk then we normally do. Why not? It was Sunday morning. The house remained quiet upon our return. I enjoyed a cup of coffee in silence before delivering Mindy’s. She wanted to be up early as her and the kids were heading off to church at 10:15am. While upstairs with Mindy, Bella & Kaileigh came in our room. Bella mentioned that Olivia was awake. She knew this because she went in and checked on her. Mindy wasn’t pleased that she’d gone in. We both suspected that she actually woke her. Not a peep, however. I decided it best to peek in on her before heading back downstairs. Not only was she awake, but she was standing peering over the top edge of the bed with her face all smiles. I went ahead and lifted her out. We stopped by the room to see Mindy before heading downstairs. Soon everyone was up. I got everyone juice, chocolate milk, fruit, & donuts. And since it was so lovely, we headed out into the yard and back to the tree swing. All the kids swung, even Olivia. She was in a very cheery mood. That makes me happy. She enjoys being around the other kids. Mindy eventually joined us downstairs. We briefly discussed the morning’s logistics, which included when I would run and who was going to church. I offered to stay home with Olivia, but also hoped to run before they left. Mindy agreed. Come 9:30am she asked that I give her enough time to shower before leaving on my run. I left for my run at 9:40am. I kept my run to three miles in part to avoid holding Mindy up at home. I felt good. I could’ve gone four. By the time I got back everyone was dressed and ready for church. Even Olivia was dressed in her church clothes. Olivia seemed to want to go, so Mindy went ahead and took her. That left me a couple hours of alone time. Cool! I immediately knew what I would do with the time. First, I would start the sprinkler pump, and then work on the surround sound/TV project. There were still a few wires to relocate and fish. I had the lawn sprinkler going in short order and was back on the TV project. I decided to relocate the left surround speaker first. That required fishing the speaker wire down a wall cavity and into the basement and then tie wrapping it along with a wire bundle already in place. Lastly, I had to fish it back up at the other end of the family room along with its sister speaker. That went better than expected, but still took a good 45 minutes. Next, I fished the Plasma bundle up the wall cavity from the TV/stereo cabinet. That included the TV’s power cord, the HDMI cable, component video, composite video, CATV, and an RCA audio cable. That was some bundle! The last thing I did was remove an extra inch of slack at the center channel speaker that Mindy & I fished Saturday evening. Perfect! Mindy & the kids got back from church just as I was finishing up. We had a good couple of hours before we were set to depart for Jacob’s ball game. Mindy made the kids lunch and let them play with the neighbors. Olivia hung out with us until daughter Ashley came to fetch her around 130pm. For perhaps the first time ever, Olivia didn’t run/lunge for her momma as soon as she came in the house. We viewed that as a wonderful sign. She had fun with her Pappaw & MiMi. We left for Jacob’s ballgame at 2:15pm since we needed to be there 30 minutes early. Jacob didn’t really want to go since he wouldn’t be able to play, but we insisted. Plus, it was our snack day. The weather was ideal for baseball – sunny and 80. There were threatening skies just to our north but it never got close to us. The game ended around 4:25pm. We were soon on our way to Jodie & Larry’s for Joe’s 21st B-Day party. We took GD Kaileigh along with us. We’d drop her at home afterwards. The party was just family save for one of Joe’s good friends, Chris. Mindy and I were most pleased that Chris would be there. As a gag gift, we framed a picture of Chris sporting his chest-wide “Mom” tattoo. We stayed at the party until 6:30pm. It was a long day and we still needed to drop off Kaileigh and take care of some things at home. Mindy called Shelly, who asked that we drop Kaileigh off at Joey’s Mom’s in Hilliard. That worked for us. It’s not too far from our house. We arrived home just after 7pm. The kids dashed out the door to play with Emily & Evan who were fresh back from the Florida beaches. Mindy & I walked Ykraps. Meanwhile, the temperature had dropped off significantly. It was only in the 60’s. We stopped and chatted with fireman Mike (Emily & Evan’s dad). He said it rained everyday on the beach. Ewh! Seemed a little miffed. But I can’t say I blame him, although, daily afternoon rain is almost guaranteed in Florida during the summer. We’re expecting better fortune when we go down next month. Mindy called the kids inside around 8:30pm to ready them for bed. They were soon tucked in and asleep. Mindy & I spent some quiet time sitting in the living room talking about us. It was a good talk.

Grand Kids Come Callin'

At my own choosing, I slept on the sofa. However, I didn’t sleep particularly well at all. Through the night I got a couple of times and played on the internet and worked a little on the plasma wiring project. I hooked up the composite feed from the receiver to the old TV to at least confirm the functionality. And just as I guessed, any component video feed still didn’t work. I wouldn’t be able to confirm that connection until such a time that I have the plasma TV upstairs and attached (our old TV doesn’t have component video inputs). I was up early. Must’ve been about 6am. My head was very fuzzy, but I needed to be up because Jacob had an 8:00am ball game. Once I made a pot of coffee and got my exercises underway, I felt a lot better. I was very deliberate in my actions. I couldn’t waste any time at all. I had to remain on task. After a quick cup of coffee I readied for a run. Mindy & I had a brief conversation just before I left. I think that we both felt better after. I took the Trabue/Hague route, and trimmed that back to the three mile version. I did it solely for the time savings. My arse felt terrific. It was lovely – about 65 and sunny. I chose not to shower after my run to save even more time. I still cleaned up a little though not wanting to reek at the ball game. These days, I smell similar to a dead fish after a run. Before leaving the house I poured both Mindy and I to-go coffee’s and then grabbed the dozen Hostess donuts from the counter. I also grabbed my small digital camera. We were on our way by 8:00am. The game wasn’t slated to start until 8:30am, but coach Rob wanted the boys there at least 20 minutes early for warm-ups. We arrived by 8:12am. We had to walk to the far diamond in the Southwest corner of the park. Bella was still in her PJs. The morning sun felt terrific, unlike last Tuesday evening’s game. Lots of folks asked about Jacob’s injury. Mindy shared that it was nonexistent by Thursday. He was back in action and with his full motion. Mindy & I wondered if enough kids would show for the extremely early game. Surprisingly they did. The games started on time. Not long into the game my Dad showed up, as did Jimaken. During Jacob’s first at bat he hit into a force play at second leaving him as a runner at first. With the next ball hit it up the middle, Jacob dug towards second. He got about 2/3s the way when he suddenly buckled and began clinching at the back of his knee once more. The players and coaches rushed to his aid. We knew what was up. Coach Paul carried Jacob off the field to a round of applause. I went to his side on the bench in an attempt to cheer him up. Back in my chair, I mentioned to Mindy that she might want to give her brother Craig a call to discuss his injury. She agreed and walked off to the side to make the call. Despite Jacob’s injury, we stayed for the entire game. But then again, why wouldn’t we? The game went 1.5 hrs. The best thing about the early game was that the lion’s share of the day remained in front of us. I was most happy for that. My plan called for cutting the lawn for starters. Mindy mentioned the desire to go shopping. What we already knew was that we were going to have Kaileigh and Olivia overnight. I took a short nap before getting started. I must’ve slept for about 45 minutes. It felt terrific. I got started on the lawn around 11:30am. I moved swiftly through each phase of lawn care. Meanwhile, it was getting warmer and warmer. The sun felt great. The kids stopped me while I was about halfway through with the backyard to ask if the neighbor kids, Makayla and Jake, could stay down at our place while Mindy left for shopping. I agreed. After finishing the lawn I moved immediately to washing the BM’er which was about as filthy as it’s ever been. Most of the filth was dust & tree pollen. I wanted it sparkling. At the same time, I got the sprinkler pump going so I could water the lawn and cut it again in a couple of days. J Truthfully, I’m trying to stay on top of the watering. If the lawn looks like it needs water then it’s probably too late! To keep it lush, well, you’ve got to keep it lush! Once the sprinkler was going I spent the next hour or so washing the BM’er. It looked pretty darn good when I finished. Mindy arrived home from her min-shopping spree around 4pm. I continued on with a few more chores. I found Mindy napping in bed when I went up to finally grab a shower. By then we had made plans to grill out with the neighbors. They were kind enough to pick-up t-bone steaks for Mindy & I. We’d be taking the grandkids along with us. I laid in bed with Mindy for a few just ahead of my shower. It wasn’t too long after my shower that Ashley dropped Olivia off. After a brief visit we all walked Ykraps together. Olivia still sometimes struggles to allow her momma out of her sight. But minutes after Ashley leaves, she’s back to her usual happy self. Saturday was no exception. While were walking Ykraps some weather moved in. It got freakishly cold, windy, and dark in a matter of minutes. The temperature dropped almost 20 degrees just like that! We hustled back home to safety. It rained for a brief minute or two but that’s it. We missed the brunt of the storm – thankfully! While waiting on Kaileigh to arrive I took to fishing the center channel speaker wire up the wall. It went rather easily. Easily that is until I went to mount the bracket. I had to switch gears from plastic mollies to the metal spring anchors. Using the metal spring anchors meant I had to make four ½” holes just to fit the spring anchor through. Geesh! The holes were as big as the entire bracket, or so it appeared. While I was tightening up the bracket the wire slipped back down into the hole. Crap! I was not a happy camper! What was seemingly a very simple task that I could knock out in minutes was turning into a mini crisis. Mindy came and gave me an assist. We got it pretty much knocked out in ten minutes. Shelly showed up with Kaileigh a short time later. The brief storm slowed down the start of the neighbor’s cookout, but petered out quickly. Mindy used the time to visit with Shelly, Kai’s step mommy, and her new baby Sienna. At the same time, Mindy fed all of our kids and neighbor Jake. Crissy phoned 30 minutes later to let us know that the steaks were on! Shelly departed and a few minutes later we headed down to Crissy & Kenny’s. Mike & Julie were over at Crissy’s. They’re always a real hoot! By the time we arrived the steaks were all but ready. I spent a lot of time chasing Olivia around the yard and through the house. She’s a handful and always very curious. I eventually found time to eat thanks in no small part to Mindy. She’s always so good with the grand kids. We hung out at the neighbor’s until after 10pm. Neighbor Becky came over for a while, too. The older kids have a taken a real liking towards her. She’s a Wii aficionado. Speaking of Wii, we headed home with all the kids at 10:30pm. Mindy got them all a quick bath while I blew up the air mattress in Bella’s room. By 11pm we had all the kids in bed. A miracle? Probably not, but an achievement just the same.

Slicing into the Silence

I hoped to be leaving for the lake by no later than 10:30am. Working backwards from there, I needed to be up before 7:00am to comfortably carry-on with my routine without feeling rushed. Still a little tired, I pulled myself from bed at 6:45am. But once I had coffee going and my exercises underway I felt terrific. The weather looked as good as I could’ve hoped for. The sky was sunny and blue and the temperature heading for the low 80s. I fooled around the house a little longer than I should’ve before heading out for my run. I didn’t head out until almost 9:30am. And while I was out, Mindy made a big breakfast. You might say we were taking our dear old time. I went ahead and ran four miles. It was a gorgeous morning for it. By the time that breakfast was behind us, and everything was packed and ready for the lake, it was nearly 11am. Now, being on the lake by noon was in jeopardy. We phoned my Dad while in route to the Boat Storage. Dad opted out. No reason given. By the time we attached the boat and gassed it up at Mill Run it was 11:35am. We arrived at the lake by 12:10pm. It was a lovely early afternoon with next to no dock traffic. For that we were thankful. Friday’s are often busy. The put-in went smoothly. We were off and running in no time at all. As we often do, we took a relaxing lap around the south lake before moving forward with an agenda. I thought we were going to tube first but the kids asked to go to the swim cove before tubing. I agreed, but wondered quietly if they had both chickened out. We were one of only three or four boats in the cove. As we often do, we cruised to the even more secluded back half. The kids were very excited about getting out of the boat and into the tube and ultimately into the water. While they began having fun, I began to worry that we might be making a bit too much noise for the others setting quietly back in the cove. When it’s empty, or darn near, every word, every noise echoes through the gorge loudly. In fact, Mindy & I have left the cove times past to avoid the noise from reveling boaters. I must’ve asked the kids four or five times to keep it down, especially the unnecessary exchanges, complaints, and tattling. I sensed that Mindy felt I was a bit over the top. Now I ask you, when am I ever over the top? For sure, kids are going to make noise, and I understand that. Bur from my perspective, they were way over the top noisy. The louder they were the more I wanted peace and quiet. More importantly, I didn’t want to be viewed as an inconsiderate boater to the others that were already back there enjoying the quiet, much like Mindy and I had the prior week. We pulled out of the cove around 2:30pm and headed out to the main lake for some tubing. Bella steered for a while (scary). Jacob went first as soon as we exited the swim cove. I was careful not to give him to rough a ride right out of the shoot. Last year we might’ve been too quick to goose it causing him to stop tubing early summer. This year he did amazingly better. We drug him around for a good 10-15 minutes before he leaped off from being tired. Mindy & Bella were next. Bella didn’t want to go alone. Bella was essentially riding under Mindy. We had just gotten underway when Bella asked for me to cut. Both kids have the cut sign down pat! Bella got out crying that she was gonna fly away. Much to my surprise, Mindy chose to stay in wanting to tube on her own. Her only request was that I take it somewhat easy. Sure honey! I took it as easy as practical, but even still, we hit a few choppy spots where she got bounced around pretty good. After five minutes or so she gave the cut signal. What? You want to go that way – faster? J Jacob chose to go once more now that he was in the groove. This time we added a few quick zig-zags to throw him from side to side. Unlike last year, he seemed to dig it. He even tried standing on his knees. He wore down somewhat quickly. After tubing we headed back under the Cheshire Rd bridge and to the south end of the lake. We must’ve did another 30 minutes of casual boating. Around 4pm we decided to call it a day and headed back towards the dock. There were a few boats getting in or out causing a little problem but nothing we hadn’t managed through past. Mindy dropped me at the dock and went back out until it was my turn in line with the trailer. The pull-out went fairly smooth. We took about 20 minutes to towel it down and prep it for travel up in the lot. Unlike last week, there didn’t appear to be any immediate threat of rain moving in. Despite it being the beginning of Friday rush hour, the drive home went pretty well. We were back at storage by 5:15pm and home by 5:45pm. We decided on the drive home that we would visit Barley’s for dinner, but only after showers. By the time that we unloaded our gear, walked Ykraps, showered and dressed, it was 6:30pm. Last second, I grabbed an empty growler in hopes of some take-out Droughtfire. There were a handful of familiar faces barside when we arrived – Scott, Linda, & Mark. It wasn’t all that crowded. The kids settled in at one of the nearby barside tables while I bellied up to the bar to order a Droughtfire. Imagine my response when Diedra said they were all out. What! I was stumbling for another selection after having my heart set on a Droughtfire. I just couldn’t decide and even moaned a little bit. Some unfamiliar customer next to me quipped that perhaps I should go elsewhere. Diedra, apparently joking, seconded the motion. I wasn’t pleased – at all! I ended up ordering a guest IPA. It was just OK. As usual, Mindy was quick to want to order food. Me, I wanted to savor my first beer before ordering food. She went ahead and ordered right away anyhow. No matter what I did, said, or thought, didn’t seem to matter. I was truly out of sync with the universe. Suddenly, I didn’t want to be there. I would’ve been better served staying home. Jacob and I planned to share 20 wings – 10 Gates of Hell & 10 K.C. barbeque. We also planned to share some plain fries, but somebody ordered them with cheese even against my suggestion not. After our food arrived Mindy disappeared somewhere up near or at the bar. I stood close by the kids eating wings. The wings were well below par. And the Gates of Hell weren’t Gates of Hell at all. I eventually let them know of the mistake. They promptly corrected the problem and brought another 10 Gates of Hell. This time they weren’t cooked like I like them. Geesh! This wasn’t a banner Barley’s visit. And truth be told, I really didn’t want to be there. To add insult to injury, Mindy was acting a little distant too. Mindy picked up the check after getting some of our food comp’d. Had I picked up the check, this might’ve been the first time I left without leaving a tip. Not sure if Mindy did or not. I didn’t bother filling my growler. Let’s Recap, shall we? Out of my favorite beer, eating before ready, wife chilly, wrong food, and not cooked to order. The drive home was quick, chilly, and quiet. No one was in a particularly good mood. However, the kids were eager to get home and seek out the neighbors for some backyard playtime. Once at home everyone went the separate ways. Not a good night.

Monster Cables ... please

It was Thursday and I was up within a couple of minutes of 5:30am. I was excited to get the day underway since this was, in affect, my Friday. After completing my exercise routine I dashed off with Ykraps. Meanwhile, it was a much more pleasant morning temperature-wise, in fact, so much so that I skipped wearing a jacket. After a little coffee, internet, and meditation I prepared for my run. I felt good so that I decided to go the full four miles. I finished strong and with plenty left in the tank. For lunch I packed the rest of my tuna fish and then made fried eggs for breakfast. I was ready to leave for work by 8:15am. After hugs and kisses I was out the door. I drove the Trooper. Work was busy thus helping the day go by very quickly. I ended up working straight thru eating my packed lunch all the while I worked. I let Mindy know late afternoon that my Friday comp day was formally approved and so was the week in August I requested off. Meanwhile, the Friday weather forecast kept getting better. It was expected to be sunny and in the low 80’s. We made plans to go boating. I left work just after 5:00pm. I phoned Mindy to let her know that I was stopping at Circuit City to pick-up a wall-mount bracket for our center channel Bose speaker. I also wanted/needed a long (12’) composite video cable to support the VCR and Wii. Mindy reminded me that we were having English roast and mashed potatoes – one of my favorite meals. This was my first stop in the new Hilliard Circuit City. There might have been two or three other customers, but that’s it. Of course that left me vulnerable to a hoard of sales folks. I quickly spurned their offer to assist. I went right to the video cables section first. Holy Smoke! I couldn’t believe the price for video cables – HDMI, Composite, component. & coax. They’re ripping people off. One could easily spend $300 to $400 on cables alone just to complete a video surround sound system. The cheapest composite video cable they had was $40, ands it was only 6’ long. No! I must admit, they have really dressed these cables up to help with the marketing. They look awesome! But folks, they’re just cables!!! Right next to the cables were the speaker brackets. I already knew how much the bracket would be. I priced it online. It was $30. Everything for Bose is expensive. The bracket looks like about $3 worth of parts – tops! Still, I needed it so I bought it. I thought I remembered there being a Radio Shack just around the corner from the Hilliard Wal-Mart. And what’s more, it was on my way home. I’d stop there for the composite video cable. I’ve probably been in a Radio Shack shopping three times in my entire adult life. Behind the counter was your stereotypical Radio Shack rep (geeky, overweight, pocket protector-wearing goomba). He offered an assist right away. I declined for wanting to browse on my own. The place reeked of geek. I eventually found their wall of wires/cables. Like elsewhere, they had a substantial selection of the new cables that were equally over priced. But right next to them, they stocked some of the older, simpler reasonably priced cables. I struggled to find a 12” composite video cable. I asked for an assist. He found one quickly. It was $6.99. More like it. I headed home satisfied with the evening’s hunt. Mindy walked Ykraps with me as soon as we arrived home. Bella went along with us too. We chatted briefly about our day. I shared my video cable story and how the Circuit City clerk tried to stop me to look at my receipt as I was exiting the store. I never stop for those people. I figure if they don’t trust me – tough, and if they don’t trust their own employees, even tougher! We chose to dine on the deck. It was a lovely evening for it. It must’ve been in the mid 70’s. The roast was delicious! Between the four of us, we ate the entire thing. After dinner, Jacob and I went out to practice some hitting and catching. Jacob took an errant throw to the chest and dropped to the ground just as Mindy was joining us. He eventually recovered and our practice continued. We worked on hitting mostly. He did OK. Mindy wanted to bat some too. Jacob teased her the entire time. But Mindy proved to be a formidable hitter. She never missed and cracked a few nice ones. That didn’t stop Jacob, however. He kept up with the badgering. After baseball, everyone wanted to ride bikes. I got Jacob’s bike down from the garage storage hooks and put much needed air in the tires. Mindy & Bella rode off. But poor Jacob, he still doesn’t know how to ride a bike. I opted to assist once again. For whatever reason, riding a bike is not coming naturally. Long story short, he ended up frustrated and angry. He threw and kicked his helmet as he ran back to the house. Of course he blamed me for his failure. Because of his outburst, I recommended he go to his room. Mindy supported my decision. Later, I promised him I’d take him to the church lot next to my Dad’s place where he can ride without worry of oncoming traffic, sidewalks, or pedestrians. That might help. I enjoyed a couple of beers after the kids were in bed. I drank a St Peter’s Pale Ale that I’ve had in the fridge since Xmas - a gift from Jeremy. It was good. We talked about inviting my Dad to the lake with us but also considered it too late to call. It was 9:45pm. Mindy figured she’d call him in the morning. We went to bed fairly early, especially considering it was the beginning of my weekend.

Live, Love, & Laugh

It was 5:30am in a flash. I woke still sleepy after struggling to fall asleep the night before despite feeling really tired. Lately, it seems, I get a second wind once my head hits the pillow. That’s largely uncharted waters. One can usually count on me being sound asleep five minutes into bed. Downstairs I began my exercises in earnest after choking down an 800mg Ibuprofen, more for preventative measures than for actual pain. Also, my sinuses were still draining but I could tell I was finally ridding myself of this nasty, lingering virus. Once it was time to head out with Ykraps I again grabbed a jacket. It was still quite chilly – just over 50 degrees. Later, when preparing for my run, I pulled on a winter running shirt to help shield my body from the chilly air. After a quick stretch I was off. As I approached ‘decision juncture’ I had to quickly decide on three versus four miles. I felt good enough to do four but did only three. But the day’s quickly coming when I just need to do my four and not think. During my 11 plus year streak, I’ve gone as many as five years without altering my mileage for anything. Back at home I got bust with daily food prep. I preheated a skillet while scrambling to pull together a healthful lunch. My world was rocked a bit after finding no cheese cut up, no nuts mixed, and rubbery celery. I later told Mindy that I felt unloved. J I fried eggs for breakfast even though I really wanted an omelet. I needed to cut time somewhere, and that’s where it was. I delivered Mindy’s coffee. She was sound asleep. She woke just as I set it down. I hustled through my shower and prep. I still had some tasks to complete before leaving the house. First, I needed to transfer my golf clubs to the Trooper (chance of afternoon showers). Plus, I planned to make the drive to the new Time Warner building on Olentangy River Rd to swap cable boxes. We wanted one with an HDMI output. I said goodbye to everyone before heading out – group hug. I drove off eastward on Trabue cutting through Upper Arlington in route to Time Warner. I hadn’t yet visited their new digs. They’re located just south of the CPD heliport in a lavish new building. All of my buddies that are still there say it’s incredible –lots and lots of state-of-the-art amenities. Finding the Customer Service entrance was simple. They have a slick new lobby. The young lady working the desk said I looked familiar but didn’t know why. I said it most likely had something to do with working there for 15 years. She looked familiar too, but I couldn’t place her name. Heck, it’s been almost 11 years! I got the box I needed and then headed off to work. Work went well. We didn’t have our usual Wednesday staff meeting. I skipped a formal lunch break since this was a golf Wednesday. However, I never did receive a confirmation email from Bob as I typically do. And as the day wound down I began feeling as though I didn’t really want to go anyhow. The drive is just too taxing, not to mention expensive. Plus, anymore, I’m generally scrambling around like a mad man just to try and leave early. I hate that feeling. It’s one that I try to avoid in all phases of my life. The weather wasn’t that nice either, but it wasn’t raining. Instead, it was cloudy and about 68 degrees. In addition, there was a brisk, chilly breeze kicking up. As the afternoon wore, I got busier and busier. Mindy phoned late in the afternoon to tell me that she was meeting Rene for dinner at Shoku, a sushi place in Grandview. She said if I didn’t golf I could meet them there. Thanks but no thanks. I headed for home come 5:35pm. I made a quick stop at Home Depot where I picked up another wallplate to cover the large rectangular hole I made to fish cables to our plasma TV. I was home by 6:10pm. Mindy had already walked Ykraps after the kids left with their daddy. That made my life incrementally easier. After settling down, I toyed with the idea of napping, but ultimately decided against it. Instead, I started working on the painstaking process of moving my TV/stereo equipment from the armoire to the new stand/cabinet. Mindy phoned around 6:30pm to let me know that she was practically home. She wanted to give me a heads up that Rene was coming with. I appreciated the heads up. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting her for another hour or so. I was very focused on the task at hand. I was hopeful for more alone time. I had the family room turned upside down as I went about rewiring all the equipment. It’s a bit more complicated than one might think. Mindy & Rene got the hint. They left for Target shortly after arriving home. Meanwhile, I continued on with my project. The kids arrived home from dinner with dad night around 7:30pm. Mindy & Rene weren’t far behind. The kids had already dashed out the door to play before the girls got back, however. I got about as far as I could with the equipment transition. I was able to test most connectivity but not all. I still don’t have the plasma TV upstairs and my old 32” doesn’t have component video or an HDMI connection. Plus, I need to buy a couple more cables, as well as a wall mount bracket for my center channel speaker. It never ends! I stopped working around 9pm. That’s when Mindy had the kids bathed and in bed. I went up for the tuck. Everyone went to bed in good spirits. Jacob’s been very well behaved since his return from vacation. Mindy and I spent some quality time together chatting after the kids were asleep. Bella hollered down a time or two citing the inability to sleep. Happens from time to time. We discussed the remaining decorating necessary to complete the ½ bath project. Together, we decided to hang this “Live, Love, and Laugh” picture frame she bought. I really like the idea. It will give us the ability to put interesting photos in the bathroom, and then change them from time to time. Neither one of us are sold on the poppie picture she framed. We may change that later. Plus, we’re going to add a wall shelf to hold tissues and perhaps another piece of 3-D art. It was nearly 10pm. After putting all the tools away, we decided to head for bed. I thought that I might fall right to sleep.

Unusually Cool ... like me!

It was another chilly start to the day. The temperature at 5:30am was barely over 50 degrees – brrr. It was chilly enough that I chose to wear a jacket while walking with Ykraps. He wore only his summer coat. My sinuses were draining after taking my third dose of antibiotics last night. The meds were working. My head felt so much clearer. I felt good enough to run four miles and did so without fail. I mentioned that it was chilly, but it was also sunny and clear. It had all the makings of a BM’er day. I planned accordingly. Again today, I threw together a quick salad for lunch along with nuts and fruit. For breakfast, I whipped up a ham & cheese omelet saving half for Mindy. However, she was having her friend Teri over later in the day. I really wasn’t sure if she’d eat it or not. Teri often brings donuts. I was ready to leave for work by 8:20am and took the BM’er just as I had planned. It’s a little dirtier than I would’ve preferred but I drove it just the same. I’ll need to wash it this weekend. I just feel better driving it when it’s sparkling clean! Work was busy. My peer was off so I was hoppin’ all day. I still managed to escape for lunch. I drove to Lowe’s in Mill Run. The only thing I bought was a new plant digger. I lost my old one the day I took it to Mindy’s mom’s to plant flowers. I’m afraid that I threw it away with the empty plant containers. I bought a real nice one this time. After Lowe’s, I finally remembered to stop at Jack’s to get more crickets for our lizards. I also bought some new bedding mulch for their terrarium. It looks like nothing more than triple shredded pine bark mulch, but they charge $5.50 for a 1lb bag. Yikes! I was back at work by 2:30pm. The remainder of the day went quickly, although I didn’t get out of there until 5:40pm. This was baseball night, so I had just a short drive down the road to the diamond. Mindy mentioned during an earlier call that Jacob developed a strange cramp directly behind his knee and was in severe pain. When he arrived at the ball diamond, he could hardly walk. Couldn’t straighten his right leg, or put much weight on it. There wasn’t any way he could play. Still, I was proud of Mindy for making him dress and attend the game anyway. Coach Rob first suggested he not bat but simply play the field. They placed him at pitcher (behind the coach). But after one inning they took him out completely. He rode the bench the rest of the way. My dad showed up after one inning or so. Again, it was freakishly chilly for mid-June. Plus, the diamond we were assigned was almost completely shaded by large trees. Out of the sunshine made it that much cooler. Lucky for me I brought a jacket. Dad shared that one of the Simsic’s grandchildren drowned last week in the Olentangy River. Apparently happened the same day of Charles’ mishap. Sad, really sad. Meanwhile, back to the baseball game. Jacob’s team played considerably better than they have all year. Their defense was good and their hitting much improved. Because of Jacob’s beach vacation, we haven’t been to a game in two weeks. Truth be told, we couldn’t wait for this game to be over. Not only was it uncomfortably chilly, but Mindy & I were very hungry, too. I actually took a brief nap from my camp chair. Mindy drove the Trooper and agreed to pick-up a pizza on the way home. This pleased me much. The drive home in the BM’er down Old Dublin Rd was invigorating. I addressed some minor chores, including walking Ykraps before Mindy & the kids made it home with the pie. It was trash night so I took care of getting the large can to the curb and all the inside cans emptied into it.. The pizza was very yummy. I was so hungry. After four big pieces I took to the yard to water flowers. I didn’t really want to but knew that they needed it. I was tired. The watering woke me up and raised my spirits. I was a bummed to find that more than half of my day lilies & zebra grass had been eaten out of the weeping willow bed. That irritates me to no end. The most likely culprit, deer. They love the stuff. Happens each year about this time and there’s little you can do to prevent it. Also, as luck would have it, a large doe came strolling into the backyard while I was watering the deck beds. My guess was that she was coming back for more, that is until I she saw me. The neighbor and her young daughter were out watering, too. I alerted her so she could see the deer. I spent about 30 minutes all totaled watering front and back. Mindy was already inside getting the kids ready for and into bed. She said that Jacob wanted me to tuck him in but wanted me to avoid sitting on his bed and hurting his injured leg. J I followed her direction. I was very tired. After updating my blog I suggested that we head to bed. Good night full moon!

No More Dishwasher Wobble

Happy 7th Birthday Kaileigh As it turns out, I didn’t sleep all that well, so come rise time Monday morning I was feeling a bit sluggish. However, the feeling didn’t stick. I was up and cooking with gas in no time at all. I was a little surprised that my sinuses were feeling swollen and full again despite the antibiotics. In addition, my arse ached more than it had in the past week or two. It wasn’t a banner morning. I pushed through my exercise routine and then headed out with Ykraps. He was quick to finish his business, and I was eager to be back home for coffee. My coffee in front of the PC was most enjoyable. I read some emails as well as the Daily OM. I also got all caught up reading about Tiger’s spectacular finish at the US Open, which would continue later this afternoon with an eighteen hole playoff. He’s arguably, the most dominant and most consistent athlete I have ever witnessed. There’s never been anyone in all of sports as cool & confident under pressure – no one. I left for my run around 7:00am. I was moving slow. I had a great run even though I was stiff. Again today, I kept it to just three miles. I felt good after the run, certainly better than before. Once I was home I got busy with food prep. I kept it simple, throwing together a salad, nuts and fruit. I fried eggs for breakfast. I had to chuckle when I went upstairs. Bella, Rocky, and Jacob were all three in bed with Mindy watchin’ cartoons. Very cute! I was ready to leave for work by 8:20am. I drove the Trooper. We were running full tilt all day. I didn’t leave for a lunch break until 1:30pm. I went to Home Depot. I bought some specialty screws to mount the dishwasher more securely to the cabinets. It’s been unacceptably loose ever since having our granite counter tops installed. In addition, I bought a couple more push-on hose couplers. I knew there were a few more things I wanted to get but didn’t have my list. I’m terrible about that. I often remember after I leave. Today was no exception. The afternoon went fairly quick. I talked with Mindy who hadn’t yet heard anything from Lindsey. I tried contacting Kelly but kept getting her VM. She never takes my calls. J I left for home around 5:50pm, a little later than what I anticipated. We planned to cook steaks on the grill. The house was abuzz with activity when I arrived. The 3 older kids were outside playing. Landon was already in bed. Mindy commented that he rarely stays awake for more than two hours. After walking Ykraps I lit the grill. The fuel in the grill lasted about five minutes. When I went to turn the steaks I realized that it was out of LP- gas. Daggone it! One of us left the main tank on after its last use. We did turn it off at the grill, however, but that’s always bad news. I suspect that propane leaks out slowly but surely. We had no choice but to finish cooking the steaks under the broiler. While I finished the steaks, Mindy prepped salads and green beans. She also set our places at the outdoor table. The kids got started first. They were having hot dogs and macaroni and cheese – one of Rocky’s favorites. But you can tell that they’re getting older. Both Rocky and Bella asked for some of our steak. And Jacob ate some of Mindy’s sautéed onions and mushrooms. Yuck! As we were finishing up dinner the kids asked me to play baseball. I was encouraged that Jacob wanted to practice the evening before his game. I agreed to play as long as Mindy agreed to manage the clean-up. She did. Jacob, Rocky and I headed out back. We practiced throwing & hitting for more than an hour. We had a lot of fun. I was pleased to see Jacob’s finally taking decent cuts at the ball. Prior, his swing was way too lackadaisical. He’s also throwing with greater accuracy and velocity. What do you know! He’s becoming a real ball player. Hopefully it’ll transfer over into his games. He still dodges the ball when catching, I notice, but that’ll come with time. Right now he handles grounders much better than flies. That’s something I never excelled at – taking grounders. Rocky hit the ball pretty good as well. I was impressed. After ball practice I took to one of the deck chairs where I thought that I might sneak in a quick nap. We were waiting on Lindsey to come get the kids. She phoned an hour or so earlier letting Mindy know that she was on her way. According to her, big Rocky’s brother took her minivan and stole gas. She proclaimed herself innocent. Perhaps, but in my mind, she’s guilty of poor judgment. We’ve advised her time & time again to never let anyone else drive her vehicle. Over the years, most of her cars have been wrecked or ruined by someone else. One of Mindy’s friends who lives around the corner brought her three little ones over to play in our backyard. For a while, there were like eight little ones waiting their turn on the tree swing. Lindsey arrived while everyone was outback playing. She said very little to me other than asking where the kids were. I explained that Rocky was outside with Mindy and Landon asleep upstairs. She went out to greet Rocky first. Of course he came running for his mommy right away. Soon Mindy went to fetch Landon. I heard Lindsey telling Mindy that Landon rarely if ever sleeps through the night at home. Plus, she gives him one or two bottles each night. We haven’t given him a bottle once. We’ve been feeding him regular food, and he’s been eating like a horse! I must say, both Landon and Rocky were well behaved - good eaters and good sleepers, too. I think it has more to do with the environment than anything else. The house was much calmer after Lindsey and the boys were gone. It’s far easier with two than with four. Mindy corralled the kids and herded them upstairs for a shower and a bath. I did a little blogging. I headed upstairs to assist Mindy getting the kids into bed. Afterwards, I decided to knock a small project off of my list. I grabbed my drill and a few hand tools in an effort to mount the dishwasher securely to the side cabinets. But before I could drill the holes and screw it in, I had to do a better job of leveling it. Once the undermount brackets were removed from the underside of the old counter tops it became quite apparent how unlevel it was. I was determined to get it set in the opening perfectly. It took a little work as well as some assistance from Mindy, but we got it level and square. The small plastic screw covers I bought at Home Depot worked well at covering the otherwise unsightly screw heads. In fact, they look like they were designed for the application. If nothing else, Mindy was impressed, although she zinged me for taking two months to correct the issue. The final step was reconnecting the water supply. That took some doing. Not only was difficult to get started, but because of the confined space, it was hard to get a wrench head on the nut. But after a little swearing, I managed. Mindy was ready for bed after I finished up. I was too. I kidded her about finishing the ½ bath. But I couldn’t truly blame her. She’s spent the last two days playing mega-mom!

Dia Padre's

I was particularly quiet getting out of bed early Sunday morning. The last thing I wanted to do was wake Rocky and/or Landon. It was just before 7am but I woke feeling completely refreshed, and better than I had in quite some time. That initial dose of Zithro seemed to make all the difference. In no time at all, I had the coffee brewing and my exercise regiment underway. By 7:15am Ykraps and I were out walking the neighborhood. We took our time and went a little further than usual. It was a lovely morning with temperatures near 60 degrees under clear blue skies. A lovely Father’s Day indeed. Like most other days, I sipped some coffee in front of the PC then spent a little time assessing work. We were looking good. I spent the next hour fooling around on the deck, in the yard, and on one of my PC’s. Both children remained asleep. Mindy got up before I left on a run. She was equally surprised that the kids remained sleeping. We expected both to be up multiple times through the night. Not a peep! I was back from my run by 9:15am. It was a good run – just three miles. I believe that Lil’ Rocky was awake when I got back, but Landon remained sleeping. He went to bed around 8pm and it was now 9:30am. He’d been asleep for over 13 hours! Rocky slept for 12 hours. We surmised that they don’t have such a peaceful environment to sleep in at home. We also doubt they get the nutrition they need. Mindy got the kids ready while I showered. We were meeting the family for Father’s Day breakfast at the Hilliard Bob Evans. Both kids were very well behaved. We were scheduled to meet at Bob Evans for breakfast at 10am. Everyone was already there save for brother Tommy. He was on his way. Mindy called him while I was running to make sure that he was up. The place was packed, but we expected it. Plus, we had a party of 12 so we knew there’d be a lengthy wait. This was our longest ever. We must’ve waited for 30 minutes. The time moved swiftly, however. I didn’t mind at all. It was really beautiful outside. Eventually we were seated at a long row of tables at the far end of the restaurant. We’ve sat there before. The conversation was lively and the food excellent. The service left a little to be desired. Yvonne was our waitress. She was a little snotty, but probably didn’t even realize it. We chose to overlook her less than stellar disposition. We were there until 11am. Both kids ate extremely well, especially Landon. Where had the morning gone? We briefly discussed our afternoon on the drive back home. I wanted to cut the lawn, and Mindy wanted to finish the bathroom. Before cutting grass, I needed to fetch gas for both the Trooper & the mowers. Before going to get gas I went outside to push Lil’ Rocky on the tree swing. I had to force myself to stop what seemed important and spend a little time with him. I doubt very seriously that either of them get much fun time at home. I asked Rocky if he wanted to ride with me to get gas. He did not. I was gone only ten minutes. $90 dollars later I was back. Ouch! For the next 2+ hours I worked on the lawn, wacking, edging, and mowing. Afterwards, I mixed up a batch of Weed-B-Gone in my sprayer and gave the lawn weeds their first spraying of the growing season. I delayed doing any weed control to allow my spring grass seed to take shape. It’s the price you pay for spring seeding. Thankfully, we didn’t have too many dandelions this year. However, we do have lots of other undesirables growing amongst the lawn. It took two batches to spray all of the weeds, front and back. I should really mix up a batch of poison ivy control, too. I spotted some thriving out by the tree swings. After I finished up with weed control I got the hedge trimmers out again. Only this time I worked on the backyard. I trimmed all the honeysuckle growing along the water as well as the shrubs in our back beds and against the house & deck. Ashley & Olivia stopped over around 2:00-2:30pm for a Father’s Day visit. Ashley brought me a nice card. Thanks Ash! I was all the way out back when they arrived. Olivia ran out once she spotted me. That did my heart some good! She loves me! All the kids helped me pick up the hedge trimmings. It was quite comical. Olivia loves chasing the geese and ducks and tries to make her own quack sound. Yet another thing I’ve taught her! J She must’ve had two or three popsicles while visiting. We want to spoil her a little when she’s over. Ashley left around 3:30pm, just about the time I finished up my yard chores. I felt good with all I had accomplished, but the list is still long. I tend to be the type that stresses over my to-do list, but as I reflect on the matter now I realize how blessed I am just to have one. After my yard work I headed up for a much deserved shower. I returned downstairs clean and refreshed. It was time to head to Sunday dinner at Gloria’s. Given my druthers we would have stayed home. After all, it was Father’s Day. But I chose to choose my battles wisely. I talked with Big Rocky just before we left the house. He was irrate that I wasn’t going to deliver the kids or allow him to come pick them up. Nope! My grandkids, and I was entrusted with their care. He doesn’t help put a roof over their heads, doesn’t work, & doesn’t have a car. I told him that he’s nothing more than a sperm donor. He was furious! Five minutes didn’t go by before I got another call only this time from his brother who pleaded his case. I listened and did my utmost best not to go off on him or simply hang up. He made some good points, but in the end, I repeated my earlier mantra. I was asked to take care of the kids and handing them over to him was not showing good judgment. I did tell him that I’d talk it over with Mindy and call him back. He understood. There weren’t many family members at Sunday dinner. Most of the guys were planned no-shows. The two firemen were actually on duty. Still, it was a pleasant time. We had ham, green beans and potatoes, salad and rolls. I’m thinking this was the first time that we’ve taken Rocky & Landon to Sunday dinner. They were very good. We left for home around 7pm. Once at home, Rocky, Landon, Mindy & I took Ykraps on a walk. We were expecting the kids to arrive home anytime. Mindy was much looking forward to their return. She received a call from Jimaken a few hours earlier alerting her that they had run out of gas some where in the mountains of Appalachia. Ewh! Keeping my word to Rocky’s brother, I returned his call. I shared that I had talked it over with Mindy and that we weren’t willing to hand the kids off. He said he didn’t agree but understood my position. Frankly, I was surprised. Still with plenty of daylight, I decided to scrub the boat canopy top that Tommy brought over. He’s had it in his garage attic for several years. He’s never used it. It had lots of mold/mildew growing on it. I decided to try cleaning it with Clorox cleaner. It couldn’t hurt. While I was busy cleaning the top I spotted Jacob in the house hugging his mommy. Must’ve been just after 8pm. Soon the kids came out to give me a big hug. They seemed happy to be home. And Bella, my oh my, was she dark! By the way, the boat top cleaned up real nice. It looked like new by the time I was done. I used it sparingly, too. It’s probably been in place twice. It’s a low profile top which leaves you no standing room. That’s why I really want a Bimini top. We spent the next hour or so playing with all four of the kids. It was quite exhilarating. A little rowdy, too. Once again, Mindy got the kids bathed. She put Landon to bed around 8:30pm. He might’ve fussed for two or three minutes, but no more. While she gave Bella and Lil’ Rocky a bath, I got Jacob going in our shower. Soon we had all the kids in bed. It must’ve been after 930pm. Mindy and I retreated to the deck where we sat under the natural umbrella created by one of our deckside red sunset maples with a citronella candle burning underneath. We talked about our kids, and the grand kids. What to do? Mindy was being attacked by mosquitoes. We went in after only ten or fifteen minutes. By 10pm we were heading up to bed.