Food, Family, and Friends

It was Tuesday morning pretty quickly. And even though I garnered only 5 hours of sleep I woke feeling fairly well rested. It didn’t hurt that it was sunny, either. No one else was immediately up. I started my morning routine in earnest. By the time I was halfway through my calisthenics Bella & Jacob were awake and downstairs. Bella walked Ykraps with me.

It was sunny & warm, so I took my guitar out onto the deck along with my first cup of coffee. Lovely! The weather promised to be spectacular – 80 and sunny with relatively low humidity. Very soon Mindy was up & joined us on the deck. We discussed breakfast and the day’s plans. Thus far, we had nothing organized. Mindy & I decided it a good idea to host a cookout with a few friends and family members. I’d go to the Anderson’s later to fetch some supplies. But for now, it was time to run.

Mindy thought that she might me join me on my run by following last Saturday’s gig – meeting me at my three mile marker and then running back with me. That would net her a two mile run. I headed out on my own. Sure as rain, Mindy was just arriving at my three mile marker when I got there – great timing. We ran back together, although she stopped a time or two. But once again, I was most impressed with her determination.

Back home, Mindy finished up the breakfast burritos – a favorite of ours. Soon Glenn was up & all of us enjoyed breakfast together. Mindy called my dad and invited him over to see Glenn. He stopped by about 30 minutes later. We visited for a couple of hours while we planned in greater detail the day’s events. Glenn, Jacob, and I would head to the Anderson’s while Mindy & Bella hung at home. Dad brought the mini-girls bike he told Jacob about the other day and insisted Jacob give it a try. After first displaying much reservation, he finally did. He did a good job of maintaining his balance, which was the sole purpose of using the tiny bike. That aside, it’s certainly not a bike that any eight year old boy would want his friends to see him on. J It’s very girly!

Soon we were off to the Anderson’s. Glenn said that he’d been there maybe once before with Dad. First, I introduced Glenn and Jacob to my buddy, Art Plantz, a TimeWarner retiree, who now is an Anderson’s greeter. We headed to the hardware area from there. There we picked up a kiddie swing to put out back with the tree swings already in place. Olivia & Landon will appreciate this one! I also got a four-point lug wrench, which I need for the boat trailer. I looked at trailer spare tires, too - $163 for the wheel/tire combo. I didn’t get it.

Off to the food area. We had a lengthy list that Mindy threw together just before we left. We got everything on it, including corn on the cob, potatoes, and buns. Next, we moved to the beer. The Anderson’s is known for having a wonderful beer selection, although there are many smaller, more local venues doing the same these days. I was excited to find 22oz. bottles of Hoppin’ Frog’s, Mean Manalishi and Avery’s, Maharaja. I got one of each. I also picked up a six-pack of Bell’s Kalamazoo Stout for Mindy and some Lagunita’s IPA for me. Glenn picked up some more Little Kings and some Raspberry Hefeweizen. And just so Jacob didn’t feel left out, he picked up a four-pack of root beer and sarsaparilla.

We headed home after dropping a cool hundo. Mindy was anxious to get the potato salad started, and did so right away. While she did that, I watered the backyard flowers and helped the kids get their water guns out and filled all the while Glenn sat on the deck blogging wirelessly. The afternoon moved swiftly. Mindy heard back from the Imber’s. They’d be joining us just as we had hoped, and so would Rene. We called brother Tommy & neighbors Pat & Lisa, too.

We planned to have everything ready by 7pm. By then, Bob & Mary Ann, my dad, and Rene were there. Tommy never did show and Pat & Lisa arrived for drinks after dinner. Neighbor Crissy eventually came down to eat, and fireman Mike came down to enjoy a beer and to fetch his kids, who had been playing with ours all afternoon/evening. The food was exceptional as far as cookout fare goes. Bob & Mary Ann brought some specialty ice cream, which we all enjoyed for dessert. I launched some bottle rockets and let the kids play with sparklers as darkness approached. Soon our guest departed.

In an interesting twist of events, Dad and Mary Ann felt strongly that they recognized one another. We’ve talked about each to both but they’d never met. Well, it turns out, Mary Ann used to work the pharmacy that Dad frequented when he was caring for Grandma Wright. He did, in fact, know her. Too cool! We heard from Mom's friend, Denise that Mom's hernia surgery went well but that they would most likely be keeping her overnight due to poor oxygen numbers. That was arelief to us all. Get well momma!

As much fun as we were having, I had to work the following day. This concerned me enough to curtail my partying a little. After all, I didn’t want to head to work over tired, or what’s worse, with a hangover. After clean-up, Mindy & I were in bed by 10:30pm. I took a couple Advil for safety measures.