Daunte Culpepper, Target, Snubbed by Ashley

I slept in Sunday morning until 8am. I wasn’t up for more than fifteen minutes when Mindy surprisingly came downstairs. She’s rarely up early on a weekend day, especially when the kids aren’t home. She wasn’t sleeping well and decided to get up. She offered to pour my coffee but I wasn’t done working out. I like to wait until my exercises are finished and I’m back from walking Ykraps. We hung out together until I decided to dress for a run. I didn’t head out until almost 10:30am. That’s rather late as compared to most weekend days. I ran along Trabue & Hague. Traffic was light. I didn’t have to dodge many cars at all. I was back home before 11:15am. After another cup of coffee Mindy & I got busy hanging our new metal artwork. We did the easy one first – the coffee piece, which we hung on the soffit above the kitchen sink. Both required an exact measurement & leveling since there were two brackets a given distance apart on each. The larger piece in the family room proved more difficult because any variation from exact level would easily be discernable since the piece is rectangular. Furthermore, it rubbed the wall before the brackets reached the screws. That took some finagling, but I got it done with Mindy’s help. The piece has some sharp edges, too, that were digging into the wall. Mindy suggested we remedy the problem by placing a towel over the edge until it was firmly in place. That worked well. Both pieces were hung in no more than 45 minutes. Mindy soon headed for a shower. I asked her to stomp a couple of times once she was out so that I could jump in. We left for another afternoon of Xmas shopping just before 1pm. We had to be efficient because the kids would be back between 3-3:30pm. We headed to the Grove City Wal-Mart & Target. Our goal was to get the grand kids completely done. We wanted to find more toys. The reason we chose Grove City was due to our plan to stop and pay daughter Courtney a quick visit at my ex-in-laws home. And while we were in Grove City, we planned an unannounced stop at Ashley’s since we haven’t been able to reach her for the last few days. It’s about 12 miles from our house to the Grove City Wal-Mart. This Wal-Mart is much nicer than the one in Hilliard. We checked out some Xmas decorations first but bought nothing – never planned to. Wait – no – Mindy picked up some Xmas ornaments for the kids. We finally headed back to the toy department where we found a few things we wanted/needed for the grandkids. After an hour or so we decided to check out and head to the Target directly across the street. The Target is relatively new and is set up like most newer Targets. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to know which one you’re in once inside. However, we both agreed that the selection seemed better – less picked over. While Mindy browsed the toys I went to fetch two additional sets of icicle lights. Somehow I had miscalculated the number sets we needed. No biggie. By the time we left we had the grandkids done. We found a few more things for our kids too. For example, we picked up a soccer net for Jacob. We also bought ourselves the new Mannheim Xmas CD even after reading a couple very negative reviews. Mindy had card troubles at check-out once again. I had to come to the rescue. Geesh! It was 2:30pm by the time we left Target.

We made a quick stop at an Anytime machine before making our way to Al & Rosemary’s. We gave them a call first to make sure our visit was welcomed. Like most visits, we weren’t invited in. Instead, Courtney greeted us at the front door. She came out to talk even though it was really chilly. My gut tells me that Rosemary feels especially awkward with me in her house – almost as if she’s betraying her daughter (my-ex). Regardless, I appreciate everything they’re doing for Courtney. Without them I don’t know that she’d stand much of a chance. Time was slipping away. It was already 2:50pm. I still wanted, at a minimum, to make a brief stop at Ashley’s to say hello. Mindy guided us in the back way. She’s not but a couple miles from Al & Rosemary. We knocked on the front door but nobody came. We went around back and saw that her car was there, as well as another car we believed to be Stephen’s. We assumed her home but not answering the door. Sad! We both feel that something’s not right. Ashley typically avoids interaction when things aren’t going well. And ever since Stephen’s been back in her life we’ve had very limited access to her and Olivia. And in our minds, it‘s no coincidence that Stephen being back in her life is the cause of her financial troubles. Good grief! What’s a dad to do? We headed on home. Both of us were extremely hungry. I hadn’t eaten anything all day long. Mindy had a small container of yogurt early this AM. We arrived home around 3:10pm. Jimaken was already there and inside with the kids. We waited until Jimaken left and the kids rushed out to play with their friends before carrying in all the Xmas presents. Mindy took care of storing the presents strategically once they were all carried to the basement. After getting the gifts settled, we each prepped a snack. I warmed five of the ten wings I brought home Saturday night from Barley’s. They were goooood! After my snack I decided it was time to check in on the Vikings game. Mid-way through the 3rd quarter it was tied at 13. The Vikings were up, I saw, at the half but let the Bucs back in the game. Next update I saw they were behind 16-13 heading into the 4th quarter. I joined the Yahoo Gamecast only to see the Vikings fumbled the ensuing kick-off and gave the ball right back. Damn! They lost 19-13. A win would’ve put us in first alone. Instead, we’re tied with Green Bay & Chicago at 5-5. I’d seen enough. It was 4:00pm and time to head to Gloria’s for Sunday dinner. Our contribution was salad. Craig & Jeff were already there when we arrived. They were taking care of a few odd jobs around the house. I hadn’t seen the two of them since Bella’s birthday party at our place. They’ve aged! :) I went to the basement anxious to check for water penetration in the back room. The good news was that both corners were dry as a bone. After sharing that news with Gloria she pointed out that it was in fact wet much further back along the eastern most wall. I returned to scope it out. Sure enough, it was. Shux! What to do? I went outside to the approximate the location of the water entry. I couldn’t be sure but it looked like the makings of the perfect storm, so to speak. There’s valley flashing converging two large areas of roofing which meet at a gutter which is protected by gutter guards. I suspect that in heavy rains the water runs right over the guard. Essentially, the gutter guards are “guarding” water from getting in the gutter and instead allowing water to run down the side of the house saturating the block wall and eventually seeping into the foundation. Later, when Larry arrived, we went out to revisit the problem. We agreed that we need some decent weather to check the roof more carefully. I’d also like to see it under duress (heavy rain). Dinner was served around 5pm. We had burgers and fried potatoes, reportedly Larry’s favorite. We were, after all, celebrating his 50th b-day. There were other dishes as well. I did a good job of intake management – something I don’t always do at Sunday dinner. Apparently, while I was down watching football last Sunday, Julie & Katie made a deal with Jacob. The deal was similar to one that I might’ve been offered a time or two when I was his age. Keep quiet for 20 minutes and earn a prize. Somehow he managed to keep quiet and earned the prize. Allegedly, they agreed to bring the prize this week. Jacob talked about getting his prize all week long. Never wanting to disappoint, they brought him a prize just like they promised. It was a #11 Daunte Culpepper – Minnesota Viking doll. Very cool! Only trouble was, Jacob didn’t think so. Instead of euphoria, he was crushed. He claims to hate the Vikings, probably because I like them so much. Their good deed suddenly seemed like the end of the world to Jacob. Putting it nicely, he demonstrated a total lack of gratitude. I was embarrassed with his reaction. Meanwhile, Katie & Julie’s feelings were noticeably hurt after thinking they had done something nice. Several of us tried to console Jacob who holed up in the spare room crying and muttering not so gracious comments. After Joe-Joe visited he finally came out and hugged both Katie and Julie and offered his thanks. By then, though, the damage had been done. It’s apparent that we have some work to do there.

We had Boston Cream pie for dessert. I had just one piece. By the time we finished dessert, it was already 7:15pm. We left for home in a hurry. Like always, Jacob asked if he could walk Ykraps with me once we got home. I agreed. During our walk, we talked about manners. By then he had truly warmed to his prize. But regardless of whether he liked it or not, it was important that he demonstrated appreciation. Not sure that he got the message fully. Mindy got the kids into their pajamas. They were allowed to skip a bath after saying that they had one at their dad’s earlier in the day. They were in bed by 8:30pm. Mindy & I watched a little of Sunday Night football until Family Guy came on. It was funny, but not one of their best. Mindy headed for bed at 9:30pm. She complained of begin excessively tired. I was just a few minutes behind her. But after lying in bed wide awake for several minutes, I decided to head back downstairs to watch more football and eat a bowl of popcorn. I went back up to bed at 11:30pm.