Thank God for Kara & IPA

Happy 71st Mom!! You Couldn't have done it without me. Er, uh maybe it's the other way... Friday again, and so soon! I was up at my normal early rise time and ready to get after my exercise routine. I wasn’t looking forward to the weekend like I might if I weren’t on-call, but then again, this would be my last on-call until early February ‘09. For the first time in a number of years, I wouldn’t carry the burden over the Xmas holiday. That made this weekend’s sacrifice easier to swallow. Like always, I walked Ykraps and then returned for some delicious coffee and internet. Mindy offered to buy me the new Canon camera I’ve been eyeing for a couple months as my Xmas gift. To that end, she gave me her debit card last night so I could make the purchase. Sadly, all of the sudden, there was a 1-3 month wait on Amazon. Damn! I’ve had it in my shopping cart since its launch in early October watching the price drop almost weekly. It was down from $400 to $329. Originally, $350 was my trigger point. Even now, there were other vendors selling it for slightly more but I figured I’d wait and see if Amazon got more before selecting another vendor. I didn’t pull the trigger. A short time later I was delivering Mindy’s coffee. She’s still under the weather but on the mend. She mentioned more than once how much she was looking forward to our night out at Barley’s. We haven’t had any alone time since the Saturday after TG. My run went as good as could be expected. It was cold but I was adequately dressed for the chill. Plus, I felt good. I returned to a busy morning in the kitchen. All four kids were up & scurrying about. Sanity was just around the corner. Mindy soon departed with the smaller three. Thirty minutes later Jacob and I were at the bus stop tossing the football with Jake. A short time later I was in route to work. For some reason, gas was all the way up to $1.79 after hitting a neighborhood low of $1.41 only yesterday. I had just over a half tank, so I moved on without filling up. The work day was a busy one. It was crazy busy all day long. There was little time to relax. In fact, it was so busy that I was certain that my on-call weekend was going to consume me. That stressed me a bit. But as luck would have it, things began to calm down a bit after 5pm. I left just after 5:30pm hoping that my evening peer would clean things up before leaving at his usual 10pm. I left the office focused on the weekend ahead. After walking Ykraps, Mindy mentioned that Kara, our new baby sitter, would be over around 7pm. I was insistent on getting the house returned to its former self prior to her arrival. Our house hasn’t quite been as neat & tidy since our family expanded. It’s not terrible, but still somewhat concerning. I’m not bitching by any means. Rather, just expressing my feelings. My once seemingly large home now seemed entirely too small. I prefer wide open, clean spaces with everything in its proper place. However, having four kids ranging in ages from 2 to 8 makes that nearly impossible. I’m sure over time we’ll adapt. And by adapt I don’t mean that I’ll numb to it. Instead, we’ll get better at managing everyone/everything. Again, Jacob & Bella were spending the weekend with their daddy and were already gone once I got home. I played with Landon while Mindy prettied up for our ‘date’. I don’t know that she’s ever been so excited about a Barley’s night, at least not in the past year. On the surface, anyways, her life has been altered more than mine. She has no time, accept while sleeping, away from kids. Whereas I get up an hour before anyone else, I run, and drive to and from work alone. Sadly, Mindy’s escape is at school with 25 other little brats. J Kara knocked on the door just before 7pm. Mindy was still upstairs getting ready. Kara and I had not yet met so there was a little bit of discomfort on both parts. Mindy hurried down to greet her, however. The boys were calm and shy, but well behaved. I wasn’t sure how they’d react to Kara. Rocky seemed excited about it, having talked about it a time or two. They both warmed to Kara quickly. To my knowledge, there wasn’t any fussing as we left the house. The scenario brought memories to mind of when I first met Mindy, and would hire a sitter to watch Jacob & Bella while we went out. Mindy typically had to perform what’s known as the peel and dash. Both would be crying profusely. Mindy would be torn up for the first few minutes after departure. However, in every case, a quick call home proved her fears unfounded. They were already calm and having fun with their sitter. Mindy didn’t bother to make that call tonight. Barley’s was packed to the trusses. A few of our peeps were there, but no Bob & Mary Ann. I enjoyed an IPA while Mindy enjoyed a stout after trying a couple guest drafts. I wasn’t as eager to eat as Mindy. I needed to drink! She ordered a brisket quesadilla. I ordered another IPA. I asked Steve Won if he was interested in Amy Flowers, a friend of mine who is looking for a good man. He is/was. I’ll see what I can do to make that a reality. Through the evening Calvin made a showing as did Rick. There were definitely more unfamiliar faces than familiar ones. And for Barley’s that’s rare. We stayed until 9:45pm – just a little over 2 hours. We took an empty jug to have it filled with IPA before leaving. I picked up the tab. Mindy drove home. We arrived home just before 10pm. We paid Kara $30. Soon she was on her way home. Hopefully she’ll want to do this again. Mindy was exhausted and headed up to bed almost immediately after Kara departed. I, on the other hand, stayed up and enjoyed a Jack & Fresca.