Edging

Jacob's Birthday Celebration continued As pretty as it was Saturday morning and afternoon, it clouded up late into the evening. Sunday’s forecast called for cooler temps and rain showers virtually all day long. Imagine then my surprise when I woke Sunday morning to completely blue skies and sunshine. I began the day just a few minutes after 7:30am. I started some coffee, checked my Blackberry, and completed my exercise routine all before 8am. It was warm, too - about 58 degrees. But as nice as it was, I could see clouds approaching from the southwest. I chose to enjoy the sunshine while it lasted. I checked the forecast, it called for rain starting around 10am and then lasting through the night. That would certainly put a damper on Jacob’s birthday party that was scheduled to begin at 2pm. I checked the weather radar, it didn’t look like any significant rain was anywhere near Columbus. Mindy got up on her own around 8:30am. She poured herself some coffee then started decorating for Jacob’s party. I dressed and left for a run before 9am. I didn’t wear a jacket of any kind for the first time in weeks. Like I often do on Sunday’s, I shortened my run to three miles. I ran along Trabue and Hague. Meanwhile, the sky was overcast but not threatening rain. I could deal with that. Back at home I snacked on some of Saturday night’s pizza while Mindy toiled with party prep. I asked if there was anything I could do to help before heading out to do more edging. She offered that I do the edging then but help inside later. Cool! That’s what I did. I headed out to pick-up where I left off Saturday afternoon. I noticed almost immediately that the plastic d-handle on my garden spade was cracked all the way through. Not sure how/when that happened. I made do, being careful not to break it any further. I was able to complete the edging out front and along the westside of the house. I knew I had to watch for the irrigation system lines in the narrow channel between my pines and flower bed. I found it only 3 inches or so below the sod line. I dumped all of my edgings along the new retaining wall as well as over the stairs I built last summer that create easy access to the pond for pumping. I felt like I was making good time, but was surprised to find it only 11:30am when I finished for the day. There’s more edging to do out there, but I planned to do that during the week or next weekend. I’m still on schedule. Inside, Mindy asked that I mop the tile floor. Before I could do that, however, I needed to shower. I had lots of mud caked on my bare legs and arms. I returned downstairs fresh and clean and ready to mop. Like I often do, I used a rough textured cloth, hot water and orange scented Pinesol. Instead of a mop, I use my leg as the mop handle and the cloth as the mop head. That works far better than a real mop. I was done in ten minutes or so. Clean and fresh! Next, I readied a cooler with bottled water. I also put six beers in the fridge, although knowing this party wouldn’t be a beer fest. After all, most of Jacob’s friends don’t drink beer. J We had lots of pop, but Mindy prefers the 2-litre thing with cups and an ice tub. No need to cooler all of that. Time flew by after that. Soon guests began to show up. Her mother was first. We had a house full by 2:15pm. Just about the right amount of kids to have fun. Lucky for us, the weather (rain) held off for the better part of the afternoon. The kids played outdoors for most of the party. I got some of the piñata event on video. In fact, it’s now on Youtube. Jacob cleaned up gift-wise. Lots of cool toys, clothes, cash, and shopping cards. Almost like Xmas. We provided oodles of snack food and even ordered pizza for our guests that decided to stay around. I was full even before the pizza was ordered. We ordered four. I went to pick them up. While there, I caught the first two outs of the ninth inning of the Reds/Astros game. The Reds won. The counter help seemed more interested in the Reds game than getting my order. I didn’t mind, though. Back home, I was largely detached from the guests as my on-call duties begged attention. I had my laptop setting side-by-side with my desktop. Everyone left by 6:30pm. Gloria was the last to leave. Mindy and I spent an hour or so getting the house back to normal. It took some doing. The kids got ready for bed before 8pm. Where had the weekend gone? Mindy poured me a Hop Devil IPA after the dust settled. It tasted really good. I was disappointed in myself for eating so darn much. I was stuffed, something I don’t often do. Mindy headed to bed even before 10pm. I stayed up working until 11pm. By then I was ready for some good sleep.