Oil Change, Olivia, & Donuts with Dad

I was up about 30 minutes early to facilitate a departure time of 7:15am. Today was “donuts with dad”, a school event which Bella requested I attend. I was completely rested so I didn’t mind being up a bit early. It wasn’t long before I was headlong into my morning routine. I anticipated much cooler temps but it was actually very warm outside. It was 55 degrees at 5:30am. That made for a very comfortable walk with Ykraps.  However, as nice as it was, it wasn’t expected to last. Instead, rain was coming along with much cooler temperatures. Strong chance we won’t see the 70’s again until next spring.

 The rest of my prerun prep went well. I headed out the door at 6:05am for my Friday run. I skipped gloves and ear covers due to the unusually warm temps. I was very comfortable in my autumn gear. Mindy seemed surprised when I told her how warm it was outside. Granted, it didn’t look real nice. She asked if I still wanted eggs since I’d have lots of donuts available later. I did. We all prepared to leave the house at 7:15am I showered while Mindy made my eggs.

 Since all of us were leaving at 7:15am we asked neighbor Crissy if she would see Jacob on the bus. She willingly agreed. Bella rode with me. Mindy lost us in traffic, but Bella guided us in to her school. We got lost for just a minute or two. She does surprisingly well with directions – always has. I was very impressed that she knew how to navigate the back streets of Grove City.

 The school’s auditorium was temporarily converted into a cafeteria to facilitate donuts with dad. It was packed. Bella and I went through the line to fetch ourselves some treats. She grabbed a maple donut and juice while I mustered enough will power to have only coffee. Mindy stopped by to greet us but soon left to go schmooze with some of her students’ dad’s. 

 After our breakfast, Bella took me to her classroom. She quickly got settled and began her kindergarten routine. Once again I was impressed with the agenda compared to my own at that age. She quickly wrote her name on an assignment sheet, which apparently is a daily thing. Her hand writing is markedly better than even Jacob’s. Impressive! I didn’t stay long. I gave her a kiss and hug before bugging out. 

Before leaving the building, I stopped by Mindy’s classroom to say goodbye. There were several fathers hovering about waiting their turn with Ms. Thompson. J After a short farewell I left for work. 

It was 8:10am when I left the building. I made it to work by 8:35am. I passed my boss just before the Hilliard I-270 exit.

 The bottom fell out of the weather by lunch time. I took the Trooper to Jiffy Lube for its semi-annual oil change. There was no wait at all. Chuck, the shop manager called me out even before I had a chance to be seated. He mentioned that there was no oil showing up on the dip stick. In his opinion (and believe me, he had one) these Isuzu’s are junk. I told him that it may very well be but that I haven’t had any issues with my Trooper burning oil prior to this. I went on about having my last oil change at their Hilliard location last spring and how they left a vacuum hose off. I suspected they never put the correct amount of oil in the block. Instead of focusing on the oil change, they seemed more concerned with upselling. Chuck listened but stuck by his premise that these Isuzu’s burn oil. All I asked was that he show me the dip stick after they were down. He obliged. He still tried the upsell thing. I refused any upgrades. Everything they try to push, I can easily do myself. Just and oil change, please!  Oh, I redeemed my $5 off coupon too.

 The entire oil change process didn’t take 20 minutes. They’re very efficient. With plenty of time on my hands, I stopped at Strader’s on my way back to the office. What caught my eye was their sod signage. I was curious. I walked through Strader’s very quickly checking out their other offerings. It wasn’t until I was pulling away that I finally found where they kept the sod. It’s laid out in the parking lot like a lawn. Very lush and thick – just like it should be. I briefly tinkered with the idea of stopping in tomorrow AM for a trailer load to cut in the area where I raised the elevation in September. The seed in that area hasn’t done so well. In the end, however, I decided against it. Maybe in the spring.

 The afternoon in the office went quickly. I was much looking forward to the weekend. We were expecting GD Olivia to spend the night tonight. I haven’t seen her since her b-day at the zoo. Ashley said she’d bring her over around 7-7:30pm. We were planning on pizza for dinner. By the time I left work for home the weather was miserable. It was chilly, raw, and rainy. I arrived home in the dark. I walked Ykraps in the crappy weather. 

The neighbor kids, Jake& Makayla called and asked if they could come over and play. Of course.  We called and ordered two pizzas at 6:55pm. Since we needed two, I made sure our total surpassed $25 so that we could redeem our $5 off coupon for any $25 order. The original total was $24.50, but I added hot peppers to drive up the price. As usual, they quoted me a 30 minute wait but I left the house after just ten minutes. They were fresh out of the oven and ready by the time I got there and paid. They let me keep the coupon, too. Cool! 

Ashley and Olivia pulled up right behind me. I waited for both of them to get out of the car before going inside. Olivia was excited to visit and just loves playing with Jacob & Bella. After pizza, Crissy & Kenny came over and hung out for a couple of hours. We stayed up chatting with the two of them until 10pm or so. After they left Mindy & I headed for bed.