Starmaker

Why stop now? That was my thinking relative to my streak of early rises. I’ve pretty much risen early every work day since the time change. I saw no reason to end that today. I was up at 5:20am. It was a warm start to an otherwise cloudy day. I completed a full complement of exercises before heading out with Ykraps. Once again, it was close to 50 degrees outside. It felt nice. However, I wouldn’t allow myself to get too carried away because the weather was expected to turn ugly over the weekend. I had plenty of time to play on the internet ahead of meditation and my run. It’s nice not being rushed. Come 6:30am it was time to dress for a run. I wore my thinnest wicking shirt and the lighter of my two running jackets. I left my hand and ear covers behind too. It was a comfortable run. I noticed for the first time since the time change that darkness is slowly but surely stealing daylight during my run. It won’t be long before the entire run will be shrouded in total darkness. After referring to my sunrise calendar, I saw that the sun rose this morning at 7:15am. It won’t rise again that early until February 22nd of 2009 (that’s 3 months away!). Mindy made scrambled eggs this morning. I was hoping that she would. Today’s were covered in mozzarella cheese. They were yummy. I didn’t need much of a lunch – just nuts. I still had Lasagna & vegetables in the fridge at work. Mindy & Bella left for school at their usual time. Jacob and I followed our routines as well. I returned from a shower ready to head out the door by 7:50am. With the few minutes remaining, I printed our Mannheim tickets and then stashed them away. Jacob & I headed towards the bus stop at 7:58am. Kenny & Lillian walked Jake to the bus stop and were already there throwing their own football. I tossed Jacob’s with Lillian. She didn’t have school today. Not sure why. Soon the bus arrived and the boys quickly boarded. It wasn’t long before I was on my way to work. Gas was down to $1.77 a gallon. I hope it continues to drop. I arrived to work around 8:25am. The sun was trying to break out and it felt really warm. However, it was obvious that the sunshine wouldn’t last. There were thick clouds moving in from the west. I worked straight through the day never taking a real lunch break. After eating my mid morning snack (nuts and cheese) I never again got hungry. Why eat then? Mindy emailed a couple of times through the day. She was planning on grocery shopping immediately after Jimaken picked up the kids. I left work a few minutes early after seeing that everything was well in-hand. On my way home I stopped at the Hilliard Cemetery Kroger to get some Jack Daniels for me and some roses for Mindy. The place was packed. Each check-out aisle must’ve had ten customers waiting. Lucky for me, the liquor counter attendant kindly allowed me to pay for the roses back there. That saved me tons of time. Home I headed. Mindy wasn’t home. She was grocery shopping. I chatted with her briefly just before getting off I-270. She thought that she’d be an hour or so. During that hour, I got a few chores done, including walking Ykraps. I also sent an email off to the Money/Muffs broadcast letting everyone know of the Steve Sines sighting. I got several responses, including one from the band’s drummer, John. He was eager to connect with Steve and hopeful that he would make the Newport reunion show. With that information now in hand, I would pass it along to my buddy, who routinely sees him back in his hometown of Wadsworth. It would suit me just fine simply knowing that I was the one that helped get Steve back up on stage with the Muffs. Mindy arrived home right on queue. I helped her carry in the grocs. It was still just before 7pm. We hung out for a short while before heading off to Barley’s. We must’ve arrived there at about 7:30pm. Mindy really needed the night out without kids. She went as far as to make it clear that she wanted me to drive home. I was Ok with that. Meanwhile, the parking lot was crammed full of guests. We expected the bar area to be overflowing with guests. It wasn’t. Most folks must’ve been dining. That suited us well. We mingled amongst our peeps for a good 30 minutes before taking a seat. Bob & Mary Ann were. It was very nice to see them out. In addition, Steve & Tim were in as well. Later, brother Tommy, Tom Clark, and nephew Joe showed up. Through the first two hours, I had only two beers, keeping in mind Mindy’s request that I drive. After another hour, some sauerkraut balls, and a couple glasses of water I had one more. We didn’t bail until almost 11:30pm. We had fun. I picked up the tab. Mindy toyed with the idea of paying Kenny & Crissy a late night visit, but by the time we got inside it never came up again. I got myself a cold IPA from the fridge. We sat on the sofa talking for about 30 minutes prior to bed.