Playin' in the Rain

I woke around 7:15am and headed downstairs. I feared that I might wake feeling hungover but did not. Perhaps the 2 Advil I took prior to leaving the house for Barley’s combined with adequate amounts of food and water protected me. I felt fine. However, I do admit feeling a little overwhelmed with everything I intended/wanted to accomplish Saturday morning and early afternoon. We were planning to attend brother Bobby’s cookout at 3pm. Before that, I wanted to fix the Trooper passenger window, cut the lawn, and prep our food contribution for the cookout. Adding to my apprehension was the fact that big rain was forecasted. I did my exercises, walked Ykraps, and sipped coffee until 8:30am. I left for a run soon after. It was sunny when I walked Ykraps but clouded over in a hurry. It was cloudy, warm and humid when I left for my run. Still, the four miles went well. I was soaked in sweat at run’s end. Mindy was still sleeping after my return. I didn’t bother waking her given her inability to get any good sleep of late. I checked the weather radar to help me determine my action plan. There was rain moving in alright, but still off to our immediate NW. I decided that I would work on the Trooper window, which I figured I could fix in 30 minutes or so. I gathered the tools I needed to remove the Trooper’s interior passenger door trim exposing the window track and glass. The biggest problem is the limited access one still has after removing all of that. Thankfully, I’ve taken it off a number of times past so I knew what did and didn’t need to be removed. But what I didn’t anticipate was just how boogered up it was after Glenn lowered it. Not only was it off the track, but now the track itself was broken. It took a while for me to figure out a means of getting it back to where it was. To make matters worse, the sky continued to darken and there were even a few lightning flashes and distant thunder. I worried that I might get caught in a storm with the window completely down and the door skin off. I did my level best to remain focused and not worry about the weather. While working away, a woman walking by with her dog greeted me by name. I didn’t recognize her until she identified herself as being Pat from Dr Monfort’s office. Dr Monfort is/was mine and Ashley’s orthodontist. After some idle chit-chat I asked her advice regarding Ashley’s misaligned bite. She offered that I should call Dr Monfort, but also said it’s not that uncommon for the lower jaw to keep growing, as does the nose, especially for girls. Of course Ashley and Kelly have dubbed Dr Monfort as a quack. Good grief! I managed to get the Trooper put back together by 11am. It was still threatening rain but at least for the time being still dry. I found Mindy sitting on the deck. I joined her after washing my hands. We chatted quietly for few, but I eventually got up to tinker/adjust the new gas grill. I was certain that I installed the grease drawer upside down and also wanted to look at the gas flow. For whatever the reason, the back of the burners get much hotter than the front. And for such a short period of duty, it was incredibly dirty. Just as I finished putting the grill back together, the rain started coming down, albeit only lightly. But a few minutes later it was raining cats and dogs. I checked the radar and was convinced that the rain would end before 1230pm. I still held out hope that I might get an hour to work on the already over grown lawn. That never materialized. It rained, and rained, and rained. We eventually resigned ourselves to an afternoon of rain. More rain seemingly came from nowhere. After a rainy afternoon nap, Mindy and I got busy making the food for Bobby’s cookout. We phoned him around 2pm to status the schedule. We agreed to delay the start hopefully after the rain moved out. Mindy ran to fetch ice and the kids from Jimaken’s around 3:30pm. While she was out I finished the chocolate chip cookie cake. Also while Mindy was out, Lindsey and the boys arrived. We were taking them to Bobby’s party. Kelly kindly agreed to drop them off at our place to save us the trip. Thanks Kelly! We left for Bobby’s at 4:30pm. Everyone was gathered indoors. Even though the lion’s share of the rain had stopped, it was still spitting and cloudy. However, all hope wasn’t lost. Over the next hour the sun began to break out for brief periods. All of us migrated outdoors for some fresh summer air. The wee ones even got in the pool. I spent most of my time playing with the grandkids, Olivia, Landon, Rocky, and Kaileigh. As Glenn pointed out, there were nine wee ones running around, and if our math was correct, six of them were born over a six month span from Oct ’06 thru Apr ’07. Bobby showed off his new-old boat which he currently has stowed in his garage. It’s a small red, runabout with an open bow. I think it’s a Chrysler. It appears to be in great shape even though it’s a 1979 model. As I understand it, it’s been garaged for most of it is life. The kids swam for most of the early evening taking time out to eat some of the summery food. After eating I headed inside and took a brief nap on the sofa. We left Bobby’s around 8pm, first to drop off Lindsey & the boys, and then to drop Jacob & Bella at Jimaken’s. It was almost 9pm by the time we had all the kids dropped off. By then the clouds had moved out entirely revealing a lovely sunset. I offered up a stop at Barley’s but Mindy claimed she was too tired. Truthfully, I was too. Last minute, we stopped at Tom Clark’s place just west of the river off Old Dublin Rd. He was kicking back watching a movie. He gave us the nickel tour. I’d seen it only from the outside prior. He got one heck of a deal when compared to the caliber of homes dotting the rest of the subdivision, not to mention the low price he paid. It needs a lot of work, however. We departed just as darkness set in. I’d be back at 8am to pick Tom up for golf. We were home just before 10pm. After changing into my comfy summer sleeping clothes I mixed up a Jack & Coke. I sipped that down over a twenty minute period and then headed to bed.