Shrooms

Happy 21st B-Day Katie!

I was up Tuesday morning at my specified time feeling rested and ready to go. It was some of the best sleep I’ve gotten in a handful of days. Once again, the sky was completely clear leaving the nearly full moon in open view. It was lovely. The full moon would arrive later at 4pm EDT.

 Ykraps and I set out on our walk around 5:45am. We took our time as the weather was about as good as it gets. It must’ve been near 60 degrees. For the duration of our walk I just couldn’t take my eyes off the tantalizingly beautiful moon. While making our way back towards our house, I noticed that my new grass is really starting to come on strong. Each day it’s looking thicker and thicker. 

I was back inside pouring coffee before 6AM. I delivered Mindy’s coffee before enjoying any of my own. I didn’t spend but a minute at her bedside. I had things needing tending to. Like most other days, I sipped my coffee all the while surfing the net. I read the headlines as well as the Daily OM. Mindy didn’t begin to stir upstairs until 6:15am. I spent a good ten minutes meditating before dressing for my run. 

Before heading out the door I stretched extra good from the porch. The 800mg of Ibuprofen I took just before bed made a huge difference in how I felt. My run went well. Because I was on time, I saw most of the students waiting at their respective bus stops. As my run drew to a conclusion daybreak was just coming on.  I stretched on the front stoop before heading back inside. 

Mindy had cheese covered scrambled eggs ready for my consumption. They were extra good today. I topped them off with green Tabasco sauce. Yummy! Mindy & Bella were running behind. Mindy wasn’t pleased when she went upstairs to put the finishing touches on Bella only to find her still in her PJs & watching TV in Jacob’s room. She received her mother’s full wrath. Bella is going to be a handful as a teenager, I am sure.

Before they left the house I reminded Mindy to call and wish Katie happy b-day.

 Jacob headed upstairs. I headed to the shower. I was back downstairs making final preparations to leave by 7:51am. I spent the lion’s share of my ‘extra’ time tidying up the kitchen so that it looks neat when Mindy arrives home. I decided to drive the Trooper. After seeing Jacob onto the bus I hustled back home and loaded up the Trooper then departed. I stopped at Thornton’s to fill-up with gas only to discover that their pumps weren’t accepting credit/debit cards They were cash only. Who carries that much cash around these days, I wondered. I still had just under a half tank so I figured I’d gas up later, perhaps after work. The price this AM was $2.69 per gallon. 

Work wasn’t too bad at all. We kept the day nicely under control. I left for a rather late lunch – 1:30pm. I drove to Home Depot curious about the materials necessary to attach my hose bib to the new water line feeding my irrigation system. Attaching it there will reduce my water bill even more by eliminating unnecessary sewage charges, which comprise about 70% of the overall water cost. The irrigation system runs first though a deduct meter.

 After consulting with a specialist, I think that I found everything I would need to do the job. I need to check a few more things first, however. The cost will be minimal – less than $10.  Like most other Home Depot visits, I checked out a bunch of other stuff too. I looked at lights, plants, and fireplace accessories. I bought nothing. I burned nearly an hour calmly perusing the aisles. I was back at work just after 2:30pm. After washing my hands I headed back to my office. For whatever reason, I wasn’t that hungry. Not sure why. Because of that, I grabbed only my salad. I left my lunchmeat & cheese combo, as well as my fruit in the fridge. 

The afternoon flew by – most of them do. Mindy advised late afternoon that both kids chose to go on the hayride with Jimaken. That meant Mindy & I would have a rare Tuesday evening alone. Mindy wanted to dine out. We both decided that a return to Barley’s was in order. We haven’t been there for quite a while. I left the office around 5:15pm. Things were calm. I stopped at Kroger where I fetched 5lbs of ground beef and 5 packets of taco seasoning to make taco meat for tomorrow’s potluck. I also bought a giant pumpkin for home. By the time that I got home Mindy had already walked Ykraps. I still finished prepping the next day’s coffee and rinsed my lunch dishes. After brushing my teeth I was ready to go. 

Barley’s had a good crowd, especially for a Tuesday evening.  Tuesday’s have been dubbed Dirty Old Man Tuesday, since Katie works behind the bar. She’s a very cute young blonde that most guys find attractive. I was reluctant to blindly order a Centennial after the last batch tasted less than Stellar. I saw that they had Stone’s Ruination DIPA as a guest draft and was tempted to have one of those. However, I asked for a sample of the Centennial and found it much better than before. I ordered up a pint. Mindy, in turn, ordered a Pint of Joe (a coffee stout). The bar had a nice crowd initially. Calvin, our psychiatrist friend, joined us bar side. He’s most interesting to chat with. We eventually ordered food – 10 KC wings, 10 Gate of Hell, and a full order of sauerkraut balls. Mindy emphasized extra well-done. Ten minutes later our food was up. All of it, wings and balls were as good as they could possibly be. I was very pleased. Word has it that they have one of their old chefs back. I was encouraged. 

Jimaken called around 7pm to let us know that he was on his way back to our house. They didn’t stay at the hayride for too long. We finished our meal and our lone beers then settled up on our tab. It was a whopping $22. Gotta love Happy hour! We left Katie a very nice tip. We left agreeing that we’d come back in on Friday night most likely. 

We arrived home around 7:30pm. Jimaken and the kids were already home and inside. Jimaken didn’t’ stay long after we returned home. I wasted little time before starting the taco meat and salsa making. Bella went outside with me to pick the fresh tomatoes and peppers for the salsa. She loves picking veggies. It’s in her blood!  Once I got to making salsa, Mindy rushed the kids upstairs for showers. I diced tomatoes and peppers all the while the ground beef browned on the stove. I had to split the meat into two separate frying pans. Five pounds is a lot of meat. Making salsa is rather easy. As I’ve said before, the Pampered Chef chopper makes it so easy. I made a little more than I did last week. This time I planned to scrape off at least a pint to save for home. In the passing of an hour, I had both the taco meat & salsa completed. I stowed both in the fridge. I stored the taco meat in the crock pot bowl. While Mindy watched House I updated my blog. I enjoyed it immensely. I headed to bed before Mindy. She stayed up playing solitaire on her laptop.