My Girl Wants to Party All the Time...

I slept about as late as I possibly could without giving up my entire morning. That equated to a rise time of about 8am. Mindy wanted to sleep a while longer, something I already anticipated. I used this quiet time alone to freely to exercise, walk Ykraps, and play on the PC. 

 It had rained a little overnight but not nearly as much as expected. The forecast had changed for the better as well. No longer were we supposed to get dumped on. A check of the radar revealed the lion’s share of the rain was tracking due east but well north of the Columbus area. That rang in as good news. Perhaps I’d be able to get some yard work done today after all. 

The kids were up & playing before Mindy was up. She slept until almost 10am. Mindy made maple bacon and French toast while I ran my four miles. I ran along Trabue & Hague. As I ran by my dad’s place I noticed the road construction was finally done and his front lawn seeded and strawed. 

Breakfast was ready upon my return. The French Toast was especially tasty. Mindy used some fancy, thick Italian bread. We finished breakfast around 11am. Mindy and I had lots to do before our party later in the evening so we wasted no time cleaning up. 

Before starting any yard work, I went out to add air to Mindy’s tires, something she’s been on me to do for some time. Unfortunately, my new compressor was proving more difficult that expected. For starters, the accessory kit included, especially the tire inflation tool, was giving me fits. It was letting more air out than in. “Cheap”! But that wasn’t all. The compressor motor began to seize up, or so it seemed, eventually popping the circuit breaker. I reset it three times before giving up on the piece of crap! I wasn’t pleased. 

I decided to box it up for a later return. I didn’t have any more time to fool with it. From there I moved to the yard restoration. I went across the street to Carl’s to ask if I could borrow his tiller. He agreed and fetched it from his shed. After a back & forth exchange with Ron Wilson, 610 WTVN’s garden expert, I decided to till the dead thatch after all. That would dramatically expedite the preparation for seed. 

The tiller made quick work of not only removing the thick thatch but also turning up the compacted soil. The tiller presented a small challenge on the steepest slope towards the pond, but Carl came over and gave me a hand. The tilling took less than an hour. The raking and removal took at least another hour and kicked my booty! I made good use of all the rakings (dirt, grass, and roots). I used it along the new wall I built to begin the build-up. There was a lot of it. 

I finished the tilling, raking, and smoothing after about 3 hrs. And boy was I ever exhausted. Not only was the work draining, but the heat and humidity were almost unbearable. It was approaching 90 with 80% humidity- very odd for mid-September. After a short break I began cutting the lawn. I finished up around 4:30pm. I was done for the day. 

As Mindy exited the shower, I jumped in. Meanwhile, I was getting nervous about our party knowing that we still had lots to do. Mindy wasn’t as concerned. I was eager to get the coolers stuffed. Mindy ran to get ice after getting dressed. She headed back out by design to fetch a few other last minute party favors while I loaded coolers. 

We were expecting guests to begin arriving around 7pm. We had everything set just about on queue. All that panic for not. Mindy had the place party ready by 7pm. Steve was the first guest to arrive with several others to follow. By kick-off we had about 20 guests – a mixture from our various walks of life. 

Many guests rewarded me with specialty brews, all for simply completing my 49^th year on Earth. I liked that much! The party was a lot of fun. Sadly, the Buckeye game didn’t turn out as planned. We got bullied once more while basking in the national spotlight. But if any coach can turn that around, I like my chances with Tressel. I didn’t let the game’s results ruin an otherwise good time. 

The crowd thinned as the game wound down. We tuned into Saturday Night Live immediately following the game. It was quite entertaining, and in many respects helped resurrect our spirits. All of our guests were gone by midnight. Mindy and I cleaned up most of the party before going to bed. Mindy excels at clean-up when most would leave it for morning. Waking the morning after is much more pleasurable when the house is all put back together.