And just like that it was Friday ... The Weekend

The first Friday of the new year, and subsequently the first weekend, were already upon us after just one day. That felt nice. I was up just before 6:00am – late - feeling tired but really no worse for the wear. It wasn’t too long at all before I was finished with exercises, but instead of hurrying out the door with Ykraps, I chose to sleep more, only this time from the sofa. I slept for another 25 minutes, not waking until almost 6:30am. I upped and walked Ykraps, who by then, was more than eager to walk. It was about 26 degrees and again a little windy. After our return, I read the morning headlines, which included an upbeat outlook for the start of the 2009 trading year. In kind, I saw that the Asian and European markets were up overnight. The Daily OM’s message was good. It talked about isolation and how it can serve as both friend and foe. I whole-heartedly agree. After some coffee I readied for a run. I didn’t head out the door until almost 7:05am. It was a good, strong run. I might’ve come in contact with one other runner, but like most mornings the past couple of weeks the streets were largely desolate. Back at home, the house was beginning to stir, but after all, it was 30 minutes later than usual. It was 7:50am. I went ahead and made breakfast and lunch. Mindy was still sleeping. Mindy was already dealing with Landon when I headed up for shower. By the time that I headed downstairs to leave for work everyone was up and preparing to have their breakfasts. I left for work at 8:30am. Gas prices were up this AM. $1.85. Not sure why. I didn’t need any. Work was quiet, especially for a Friday and the day after a holiday. A lot of businesses were likely on extended holiday. Even though it was slow, there was plenty for me to accomplish. In fact, it got a bit dicey late morning, but quickly calmed. I went to Best Buy at lunch to look at new PCs and printers. Best Buy sells prepackaged Dell, HP, and Gateway PCs at a really nice price. The only trouble is that you can’t customize them there like you can via the web. From my vantage point, there always seems to be a preferred option or two missing. Still, it’s a great way to see, feel and touch the merchandise before buying. I was back at the office by 2:00pm I was ready to finish off the second half of my day. Things went smoothly for the duration. Mindy informed me during a later afternoon conversation that our baby sitter canceled. She was still in Cleveland visiting a friend. Meanwhile, we had plans to meet several friends at Barley’s. Mindy was bent on finding someone else to watch the four kids. I didn’t worry too much about it. I think Mindy assumed that I would go alone if push came to shove. And truth be told, I probably would’ve since Tom Clark was planning to join us, this being his last day in Columbus. I left the office around 5:10pm. There was a lovely sunset throwing off lots of orange, pink, and purple hues. One of the finest in recent memory. Of particular interest was the pretty freeway pond between Hilliard Cemetery & Roberts Rd. It’s always lovely at sunset. Today, however, it was absolutely gorgeous. I arrived home just as darkness was setting in. I waited a few before walking Ykraps, not wanting to throw off his schedule much from normal. Mindy still didn’t have another sitter lined up but had a couple of calls out. Come about 6pm, a friend from church called back informing Mindy that she’d take the job. She’s a hungry college student. Even though she has her own car, she’s afraid of driving. Mindy agreed to fetch her and take her home afterwards. She left to get her around 7pm. Mindy & Elizabeth returned 20 minutes later. The kids were a little wild during the meet & greet, and certainly didn’t show any fear or reluctance to hang with her. That’s a good sign. Mindy reviewed all the necessary stuff like where their rooms were, bedtime, snacks, and how to work the TV and cable. We left both of our cell numbers for her convenience. If not mistaken, this marked the first time driving the new Honda. Although it was a short drive, I was impressed with the softness of the leather seats, the handling, and quietness. Very nice! I purposefully parked on an end spot to remove any chance of at least one side of our car getting dinged. This is something I still do to this day with all of my cars. I’m one of those that will park well away from the crowd just to reduce my exposure/risk. Walking never hurt anyone. Mindy mentioned, and I thought she was joking, that she always parks her new Honda out far and by a cart coral to protect one side. I asked at least twice if she were kidding. She wasn’t. I didn’t berate her, but I did complain. I just couldn’t imagine that anyone would think that was protecting anything. Probably the two best chances of getting your car dinged in parking lot are parking in between to older vehicles and parking by the cart coral. Geesh woman! I let it go once we were inside Barley’s. Many of our peeps were there, Bob & Mary Ann, Tim, Steve, Rick, Calvin, Tom Clark, and Rene. We had a really nice time. Bob covered my tab settling up on our annual football bet – better record, Browns or Vikings. Thanks Bob! We also bet each year on baseball – better record, Reds or Indians. I still owe Bob for this past season. By the way, I avoided any house brew, already knowing that the Double Dog IPA was not up to snuff. Rene insisted that we stop at the Rack before going home. It’s a bar on 5th Ave. that she works part time. Used to be Marco Pollo’s back in the day. It’s been several other places over the years. Anyway, we convinced others to join us there as well. As expected, it was a younger crowd – lots of 20 somethings. I had two beers and a shot. The shot compliments of Rene. Because of Rene, our tab was nearly zilch. Her brother George was working the bar. Mindy was ready to leave around 11:45pm. We had told Elizabeth to expect us home around 11pm or so. It was looking a lot more like“so”. :) Mindy paid Elizabeth then ran her home. She asked me to stay awake. I played on the PC listening to the Muffs. She was back home 20 minutes later. We headed to bed, both of us exhausted.