All-in-all it's just another hole in the wall

I woke Saturday morning around 815am. I half expected to have a hangover or at a minimum, a headache but thankfully woke with neither. I felt really good. Mindy asked me to stay in bed but I couldn’t. Once I’m up I’ve got to get moving. I started coffee and then my exercise routine. Soon Ykraps and I were out the door. Weather-wise, it wasn’t half the day it turned out being Friday. It was cloudy, cool, and wet. It rained extra hard overnight. In fact, I recall hearing rain pounding against the windows as if in sheets. The forecast called for clouds and temps in the mid 50’s with only a moderate risk of more rain. Mindy still wasn’t 100% and wasn’t sure if she’d be upping for yoga or not. I left her sleep. I dressed and left for a run around 930am. I ran four miles for the second day in a row. No problems. I called Lindsey after returning home from my run. Mindy & I agreed that we’d pick her and the boys up around 3pm. I communicated as much to Lindsey. Soon the Buckeye game was underway. We were playing a grossly unmatched opponent, New Mexico State, but even then we weren’t able to establish much consistency offensively. I lost interest in the game and allowed my mind to wander. What was bugging me most was the long overdue water seepage repair on the left side of the fireplace. It’s been leaking for well over ten years and probably longer. I had M/I Homes out but to no avail. I ended up caulking the joint where the stucco meets the brick chimney eliminating most of the seepage but by then the damage was already done. I’ve been putting off cutting into the wall to measure the extent of the damage for years. Today was that day. I got out my razor knife and carpenter’s square. I started only about 18” high on the wall and about 12” out from the brick fireplace. The bad news was that I needed to remove the drywall even higher. I cut up another 18”. Between the last stud and the brick was a 3” gap filled, of course, with fiberglass insulation. It was minimally damp, but wet just the same. I kept going higher. I finally made a cut at about the 6’ mark – about on par with the chimney’s exterior transition upwards. It felt dry up there, but I could feel old wood rot from about 5’ down, most of which was dry now, meaning that my caulking years ago stopped most of it. The good news was that there was no mold or anything like that, just water damaged wood. Unfortunately, the water damaged the studs, sill plate, subflooring, joists, and wood trim in the immediate area. Meaning a quality repair will take some work. Years ago, after caulking, I purposefully planted English Ivy along the chimney thinking that would deflect any direct water contact along the brick/stucco seam. However, after seeing that some water is still finding its way in, I knew immediately that I’d have to remove it to find the newest entry point. That would have to wait until Sunday. Mindy seemed shocked when she came down after her shower and saw the hole I cut into the wall. I was covered in drywall dust and insulation. I asked if she would mind fetching Lindsey & the boys. She agreed to after putting the finishing touches on her hairdo. Mindy was back home with the boys and Lindsey around 330pm. Lindsey wanted to do some internet research for school. It was difficult getting the boys to leave her alone but they finally did. We love having the boys over but they require so much interaction and effort. It’s exhausting to say the least. We were planning to attend brother Bobby’s Halloween party sometime between 5-6pm. While everyone else got in their costumes, I went for a much needed shower. I had been torn as to whether or not to wear a costume but decided to do it. When I came down from upstairs Chrissy was over with the girls. They were headed to a family Halloween party too. She and Kenny were going as the two main characters from Grease. Her hairdo was fitting. Jimaken brought Bella home so that she could join us at the party. Jacob didn’t want to go. I got into my old-man mask, Carharts, and cowboy hat. Mindy went as the good witch again. We left for Bobby’s party soon after I walked Ykraps. On the way, we stopped at Ashley’s to pick-up Olivia. Olivia’s costume was as cute as Landon’s. He was an elephant and Olivia a giraffe. Rocky was spiderman and Bella a pirate. We arrived at Bobby’s close to 6pm. Don’t think we’ve seen he or his family since his brief summer gathering when Glenn was home – mid-July. Bobby’s definitely dumped some cash on Halloween decorations. He must’ve had six or seven full-sized animated characters along with countless other Halloween props, and that didn’t include what he had outside in the backyard. The little ones were terrified of the animated ghouls. Don’t think we’d seen Dodie, Randy & kids since last Halloween – Penn State/OSU party. They showed up, and so did Connie. Don’t believe we’ve seen her in nearly two years - Xmas party 2007. There was conversation about Shawn and the suspected break-in at Margie’s place. Lots of circumstantial evidence but nothing damning, at least yet. The food was exceptional. Like the décor, all the food had a Halloween theme or spin. I enjoyed one of the beers I brought but no more. Mindy & I tentatively planned a date after taking all the kids home. We learned that Adam and Hillary are split up. Their two-year old daughter Hailey kept referring to the headless bride as mommy. Very funny! Mindy and I both acknowledged being tired. I suggested that we simply keep Bella for the night in lieu of driving her to Jimaken’s. Mindy agreed. Bella seemed excited about it. We left Bobby’s shortly after 8pm. We dropped Olivia first then the two boys. We were home by 8:40pm. And after all of us got into our PJ’s, we plopped on the sofa to watch the Oregon/USC game. When we joined, it was 3-0 USC, but that didn’t last. Oregon put a whippin’ on ‘em. And for my money, they’re the best team I’ve seen all year, Oregon that is. It wasn’t even close after the second quarter. We all headed to bed soon after the game.

Insync with the Weather - vacation day - 80 & sunny

Because I wasn’t working (vacation day), I slept about as late as I could. Even after Mindy got up I clamored for more sleep, covering my head with blankets and pillows. It was 7:10am when I finally rolled out of bed content with my night’s rest. I joined Mindy and the kids in the kitchen already busy with their own morning routines. It wasn’t too long before Mindy departed. Afterwards, I slipped on my exercise shoes and completed my sit-ups and push-ups, and then walked Ykraps shortly before the kids needed to be at the bus stop. With little time to spare, I joined them there already in progress. The weather forecast still threatened a 40% chance of rain but with warm temperatures. The predicted high was 73 degrees, but for the time being, the sky was simply cloudy. I spent a solid hour working on my blog before leaving for my run. Because it was so warm – about 60 degrees – I didn’t need to wear a jacket. I ran four miles, too - the second time this work week. I felt good. It was near 10am by the time I was back at home. Before doing anything else I cleaned up the kitchen. Afterwards, I spent another hour on the PC finally updating my blog complete with photos dating as far back as our trip to the zoo two weeks prior. Mindy phoned and asked my plans wondering if I might be joining her for lunch. I declined for wanting to use the time to manage the leaves and grass. I knew I could spend a good 3 hours on the lawn as long as the weather held out. And speaking of the weather, the clouds were quickly thinning giving way to filtered sunlight. It felt really nice outside. I headed out to blow leaves around 11am. I started from the deck working my way out. It took a good 45 minutes to blow the leaf cover into manageable piles all the while contending with a varying wind out of the southeast. After hauling the leaf piles to the compost pile I took a brief break. To the west I could see what looked like clear blue skies coming our way. Wow, I wasn’t expecting that. If anything, I was expecting more clouds. I started whacking, edging and cutting. As the afternoon progressed it got absolutely gorgeous – clear skies, sunshine and very warm temps. I later learned that it hit 80 degrees. Leading up to today, we had barely made it to 70 degrees on only two other occasions this October. By the time I finished cutting and blowing it was 2pm. The lawn looked beautiful too. And for a brief period of time, completely void of leaf cover. However, that wouldn’t last. Under mostly clear skies, the southeast wind only stiffened. That brought down more leaves, and a lot of them from other yards/trees. You’ll have that. I was speckled head to toe in yard fleck/debris from the wet whacking. I headed inside for a well-deserved hot shower around 230pm. I thought about making a trip to Dick’s Sporting Goods but decided against it. Instead, I made myself some lunch – a roast beef sandwich, and then afterwards, took a brief nap. I woke a little after 3pm. I spent the rest of my alone time in front of the PC. Mindy called to make sure that I would be home to intercept the kids. I would. In kind, she planned to work a little late. The kids got home just before the clock struck 4pm. And to my surprise, Mindy got home a minute or two later. This was a Jimaken weekend, so the plan called for us to drop the kids at his parents in Hilliard around 7pm. Until then, we hung out and played. Jacob and I went out to throw the football along with neighbor Evan. I’ll bet we played ball of one sort or another for a solid hour. Mindy & Bella came and sat by the pond on Mindy’s patio. It turned out to be a lovely early evening. Without warning, Jacob walked away from me & the football right after missing a catch. When I called his name he ignored me. I felt done, too. I tossed the football his way to put it away. Without warning, he picked it up and purposefully launched it into the pond. Nope! Get in there and get it. He did, but begrudgingly so, and with a lot of attitude. I went inside while his mother and he chatted still out on the deck. Not sure what was said but he eventually stormed off to his room. Mindy soon came inside and started prepping the kids gear for their weekend with Jimaken. I took a call from daughter Lindsey asking if she could come over Saturday afternoon to work on a school project (internet research). I agreed. Mindy reminded me that we were expected to wear costumes to Barley’s. I didn’t really plan to. History says most won’t. That didn’t detour Mindy. She dressed as the “good witch”. We left for Jimaken’s parent’s house at 7pm. It’s a quick drive – about ten minutes. We were on our way to Barley’s by 7:20pm. Mindy & I discussed Jacob’s anger and how we might mange it better. She asked that I refrain from calling him a baby, which I definitely did during his outburst earlier. I knew she was right, but still tried to justify it. We arrived at Barley’s just after 730pm. As expected, there was a fairly big crowd. However, not as many regulars as expected. We bellied up to the bar next to Dan the banker man. I ordered a Green Flash DIPA. Mindy ordered a Russian Stout. Mindy eventually ordered food, too – 12oz. prime-rib. I didn’t order anything but nibbled on hers. Well into the evening Pat & Lisa Shultz showed up. We phoned them earlier to let them know our whereabouts. In addition, Tom Clark and Rick showed up, although not together. Rick asked if we’ve seen the Imber’s. Said we have not. Someone gathered around said to let Bob know that he’s no longer in the regulars club. That drew a brief, yet big laugh. We hung out at Barley’s not later than 11:00pm. Mindy drove. I had four or five beers. I was hungry when we got home and whipped up a burrito-type concoction using what I thought was taco meat, but it turned out being meatloaf. Still not sure how old it was. We hadn’t had meatloaf for about two weeks. Yikes! It tasted good.

Trick-or-Treat

I woke a few times after midnight and before 5am, and on one of those occasions I got up to pee. Each time I fell back asleep not waking for good until almost 540am. Finally up, I made my way downstairs and started my exercise regimen, first sit-ups then push-ups. I glanced skyward out the back door but could see nothing but dark cloud cover. I was surprised given a forecast calling for clear, sunny, and 65 degrees. It was supposed to be an excellent day for Trick-or-Treat. It was already 56 degrees. Ykraps and I did our walk following our usual path. We were back right about 6am. I poured coffee for Mindy & I but delivered hers before tasting my own. I spent another ten minutes at the PC before moving on with meditation then stretching. I had to restart my new external hard drive. Something paused it overnight. It was only about halfway done. I took three more Advil too. I took my time doing my stretches in an effort to get the utmost benefit from it. It feels so good! I wore just one thick wicking shirt and skipped hand and ear covers. I was plenty comfy as I was. I ran only three miles despite thinking I would do four. My knee felt fine. At home, Mindy had cheesy scrambled eggs ready. Bella wanted cereal. I prepped it for her. Mindy asked if I could get off early enough to get the kids off the bus so that she could make it to an after school doctor’s appointment. I planned to do it but needed/wanted to confirm it with my boss. Mindy left for school at 730am. Jacob asked if it would be OK if he wore my Scream costume for Trick-or-Treat. Why not? Yes. That seemed to make his morning. I was ready to head out at 7:53am. The kids were already out the door. We greeted Chrissy, Makayla, and Lillian at the bus stop. Still no sunshine or clear skies. Instead, we had thin could cover. I didn’t hang out long at all after the bus came. I left for work at 8:12am. The sky began to brighten some on my drive in. I could even see a faint outline of the sun busting through the thin clouds, but still no blue skies. Work was rather tame, but still a couple issues requiring my direct oversight. I sent an email to my boss, who was at a doctor’s appointment letting him know about my need to leave early today and also Monday for my bi-annual dental appointment. Remotely, he responded that it wouldn’t be a problem. Through the day, I was happy to see the DOW climbing quickly after four straight days of losses. Since I’d be leaving early, I didn’t bother taking a lunch. My boss got in around noon and asked to speak with me. As he knocked, I was on the phone with the XM Radio folks trying to fix our bill. It’s a long story. I won’t go into it, but will say, they’re very slippery folks. Eddie, the guy I was dealing with, really pissed me off. Left me on hold for well over 20 minutes. I eventually hung-up. I went to chat with my boss for a few minutes soon after ending the call. I wasn’t in the best of moods. We had a good chat. It was already nearing 2pm. I planned to leave no later than 3:20pm to be home in time to intercept the kids. I spent the last 30 minutes of my time in the office with my team in the center. I heard a few good Trick-or-Treat stories. I headed back to my office at 3:10pm and left at 3:20pm just as I had planned. I was available via BlackBerry as necessary. I arrived home by 3:35pm. Immediately I grabbed a rake and tarp and started gathering the leaves from the two curbside maples that were blanketing the grass between the walk and street and also gathering in the gutter. I filled the tarp three times. That included a big batch of leaves that were blocking the storm drain. I didn’t expect there to be that much. I used my gas blower to clear the remainder. I worked up quite a sweat. Mindy and the kids were home when I finished. I completely lost track of time. It couldn’t have been that late, however. I checked. It was only 4:10pm. I was in a funky mood after dealing with the leaves, and still steaming over the XM radio guy. The gull of him. I kept largely to myself through the rest of the late afternoon early evening. To top it off, I was also having problems with my PC’s performance. It was almost at a standstill. After running task manager I could see that my new external HD’s processes, along with my anti-virus software, were crippling my machine. When I stopped the process my PC was back to normal. I really need to upgrade soon. Mindy was already busy in the kitchen making dinner, chicken & noodles. She used the remainder of the rotisserie chicken to make stock by boiling down the carcass. She kept asking me if I was OK. I simply wanted to be alone for a while. At 5:35pm I took Ykraps on his evening walk. There were already what appeared to be Trick-or-Treaters preparing for the go. Not sure how I missed him, but Jimaken was at our house when I got back. He was coming over to take the kids out Trick-or-Treating while Mindy & I pass out candy. We’ve done it this way for three or four years now. Works well. Mindy invited Jim to dine with us. We started eating as soon as I was back from walking Ykraps. The chicken & noodles were good. I had two bowls. It was 6pm when we finished. The kids hurried to put the finishing touches to their costumes, Bella as a pirate and Jacob as the Scream dude. Just as they were heading out the door our first batch of Trick-or-Treaters arrived. It was about 7 or 8 of the neighbor kids. Bella left with Chrissy and her kids while Jimaken and Jacob headed off on their own. Mindy stayed outside passing out candy while I cleaned up after dinner. Because it was so comfortable – about 60 degrees, Mindy asked that I fetch the folding chairs from the back of her Honda so we could sit on the driveway passing out candy. That way kids didn’t have to keep knocking on our door. We did the same thing last year and it worked well. I fetched the chairs and a beer. Most of the Trick-or-Treaters, I noticed, were non-subdivision kids. Moreover, lots of them were of Mexican descent. Not that it matters, but instead just an observation. Most of them were very polite. Most of the kids were very young, too. Mindy struck up conversation with almost all of them, even the older kids. The crowd thinned significantly by 7pm, yet the event went on until 8pm. We headed in as the evening chill set in around 7:15pm. We probably had another ten or so Treaters come to the door. No problem. The kids were back before 7:30pm Bella stayed. Jacob and Jimaken went back out. Jacob filled his sack all the way to the top. It was so full that the handles broke. He took Bella’s bag out for the second trip. Noah, Willow, and Bella stopped by too. Deena, they said, stayed home to pass out candy. Tony was with them. I poured myself a second beer and took to the PC. Why not? I didn’t have to work Friday. I scheduled it as another vacation day. I was hoping to golf, but would settle for yard work if that doesn’t work out. The weather forecast is still iffy. After the kids finished their Trick-or-Treating Mindy got them settled into their PJ’s and tucked into bed. Neighbors Kenny called around 830 or 9pm to ask if Mindy & I were interested in OSU tickets for Saturday’s game. He also shared that he couldn’t golf on Friday. Had to travel to Cleveland to complete another job. We declined the OSU tickets. Mindy’s still not feeling too well and wants to do yoga. I want to relax and watch the game on TV. We thanked him anyway. We sat on the sofa watching Thursday night football. Around 915pm I popped some popcorn. Bella sniffed it out like always and was soon back downstairs after asking permission. She watched football and ate popcorn with us. We eventually popped a second bag. She likes it as much as I do. When Mindy headed up to bed, Bella followed. I stayed up to watch more of the football game while also enjoying my third beer. I fell asleep within the next 30 minutes almost by design. I love falling asleep on the sofa. I woke around 1130pm and headed up to bed. I skipped penning Ykraps for begin too tired.

650lb Virgin

There’s little wonder why I woke tired at 530am. I stayed up until 11pm watching The Science Channel with Bella. Despite the shortened slumber, it didn’t take long to shake the sleepies. Once I started my sit-ups I felt fine. A check of the weather revealed that it was 50 degrees under cloudy skies. Before doing push-ups, I released Ykraps from his pen. Unless he gets control of his ‘weak’ bladder, this is going to be the new plan. By the time I completed my push-ups and leashed up Ykraps it was already 6am. We were slightly behind schedule. It felt pretty nice outside. I noticed that the two curbside maples were almost naked, there autumn colored canopies lying helplessly below. We weren’t back form our walk until 610am – already coffee time. Along with my own, I prepared Mindy’s and made the on-time delivery. Mindy asked for her robe. While retrieving her robe, I grabbed a Tagament from the medicine cabinet. I returned downstairs to carry on with my routine. For some reason, I started stretching before meditation. And my first stretch was the towel behind the back thing. It felt great. I felt a slight twinge in my right knee during stretching, making me consider my rehab plan more carefully. After successfully stretching I did a five minute meditation. That was enough. I felt good, and also ready to run. I skipped ear covers but wore two wicking shirts and running gloves. That ended up being a good call. I was comfortable. My legs and knee felt good – no problems at all. I decided to keep my run to three miles fearing a reoccurrence of my knee injury. Again, I need to look at this from a long term perspective. I’ve got to be smart about my rehab. Perhaps because of the cloud cover, today was the first day I noticed that it was, for all intents and purposes, dark at my run’s conclusion. However, dawn was apparent to the east. Just a few more days until we roll the clocks back and I am once again running in full daylight beginning to end. But that won’t last long. I haven’t checked the details, but I know we’ll loose early daylight fast throughout November. It was 711am when I got back home. Jacob was just finishing his waffles and soon headed back upstairs to watch TV. Bella, Mindy & I enjoyed our eggs. Mindy wasn’t feeling too well at all and suggested that we not plan anything for after work (Wednesday Barley’s). She left at her usual time and I headed off for the shower. The kids were beckoning. I figured I must be dragging behind. But like many other days, they were simply eager to head out early. While they headed to the bus stop, I tidied up the kitchen. I joined them a few minutes later, and took Ykraps along too. Good thing I did. He had plenty more pee in that gun! I left for work around 815am. This was going to be a ‘Rachel day’. Mindy left a check for her on the island. I heard her tell Bella to pick-up her room before she left. Pick-up your room because the cleaning lady is coming? I’ll never fully understand. I arrived at work on time. Along the way, gas, I noticed, was up to $2.68 at Thornton’s. I definitely don’t like seeing that. The morning went by in the blink of an eye. We spent the lion’s share of it in a meeting. I left for an overdue haircut at 1pm. I chose Great Clips over Saturday’s in Mill Run. I felt a little guilty going there over Saturday’s, which there’s only about five store fronts separating the two, but they’re about $4 cheaper and the cut’s not much different if at all. You save where you can. Still, I had been going to Saturday’s for 15 years. Andrea cut my hair this afternoon. She was swift but attentive to the details. She shared that her step-father still has wears a mullet. Said her mom’s asked more than once that she sneak in and whack it. But Andrea said she has trouble visualizing him any other way. She went on to say that most male customers tell her that they’ve been wearing the same hairstyle since high school. Don’t fix what ain’t broke mentality. She was done in ten minutes - easy. I tipped her well - $5 on a $13 cut. With plenty of spare time, I decided to roll across the lot to Lowe’s for some aisle browsing. I checked out their Xmas decorations, and more specifically their Xmas lights to see if they had anything new and unusual. LED Xmas lights are definitely becoming more prolific. What’s more, you can connect up to 25 sets in succession. That’s a huge improvement over regular bulbs. I also browsed through the appliance department, and then checked out Sharkbite plumbing connectors to see what I could’ve used in lieu of old school copper and solder connections. Turns out, I would’ve spent about the same money on the Sharkbites. They’re expensive. I headed back to work a bit lighter after my 6-week shearing. The afternoon moved along nicely. Mindy called just as she was arriving home. Said the house looked awesome. Thanks Rachel! Mindy said she felt a little better and would likely be up to going out for dinner after all. She felt better but still made a doctor’s appointment for Thursday after school. I believe the reason her colds/sinus infections hang on so long is from taking antibiotics too regularly over the years. I’m venturing to guess that she takes them on average three or four times per year. Me, I’ve taken them only once since I was ten years old. I left for home at 515pm. I called and talked with Mindy after the busy roundabout. We decided on Barley’s. She asked if we could stop for gas on our way. I let her go just before getting on the freeway. I was home by 540pm. She wasn’t interested in walking Ykraps. I walked him alone. I ran into neighbor Joyce just heading out for a walk (exercise). We talked about her exercise regimen and Ykraps. She suspects he has a weak bladder. Says it happens to older dogs frequently. Back at home, and after freshening up, Mindy & I left for Barleys. We were surprised to find the lot more crowded than even a Friday night. What? Why? We weren’t certain, but I quickly gathered that it was a Blue Jackets pre-game crowd. I stood while Mindy sat at the lone stool remaining at the bar. Mindy ordered hot tea. I ordered Green Flash Imperial DIPA – a guest draft. We ordered food, too, me, Gate of Hell wings, and Mindy two mini-barbeque sandwiches (one pork the other beef) and cheesy fries. I had just one beer. Mindy took care of the check. We left for home just before 730pm. We were home about 10 or 15 minutes before the kids arrived. I was just opening the box to my new external hard drive hoping to get it setup. Once the kids were settled I did just that. It was very easy to set up and begin backing up data files. It’s almost entirely automated. I have 35gig of music, photos, mail, and documents to back-up. Because it’s a USB connection, it’s slower than a SATA connection, of course. It slowed the performance of my PC to an absolute crawl. Heck, it’s already too slow with only 512 mg of RAM. I walked away and let the external HD do its thing. Mindy put the kids to bed earlier than usual. They were in bed by 820pm. I went up for the tuck in then returned to the family room to watch The Learning Channel. We watched a show titled something like, The 650lb Virgin, the story of a grossly obese man’s transformation to a 220lb stud. Interesting story. It was over at 10pm. We headed to bed immediately after the program. I crated Ykraps before heading up

Cephalopod

I felt really good and got up slightly early (about 7 minutes). That might not seem like much, but it makes a huge difference. It was 540am when I finished exercise and headed outside with Ykraps. The sky was clear and the temperature fairly mild - about 47 degrees. I felt really good both physically and mentally, although my stomach burned a little. So, when delivering Mindy’s coffee, I grabbed myself a Target Tagament from the bedroom medicine cabinet. I had lots of time to play on the web before moving on to meditation and stretching. That was really nice. I used the towel behind the back trick to stretch my back muscles just like Mindy demonstrated Monday night. That felt great. I did my usual stretch routine as well. I dressed and left for a run at 6:40am. Last second I decided to stick with hand and ear covers despite the temperature being somewhat borderline. I was comfy. My knee and hammies felt terrific, so I went ahead and ran four miles for the first time since I tweaked my knee. I was very happy with the results. I didn’t mention the four miles to Mindy or the kids. I still was unsure what I would do in the coming days. However, I do know this; I want to be smart about it. Mindy made cheesy scrambled eggs. I enjoyed my eggs along with some pineapple, raspberries, watermelon and strawberries. Bella felt a lot better about her pumpkin carving this morning. She was a little jealous of Jacob’s last night before bed. Mindy left at 7:30am, and after a brief clean-up I headed up for a shower. Feeling spry, I pulled an oldie but goodie out of the closet – a mustard colored paisley print flannel shirt. Oh yeah! I was going retro! The kids were ready to head out the door earlier than we needed to, but that’s nothing new. I took my time taking care of a few daily chores before meeting them at the bus stop. We chatted with Makayla, Lillian, and Chrissy while waiting on the bus. Jacob teased the girls about going to Dairy Queen after school. Apparently Mindy forgot to tell him that his soccer trophy presentation was canceled until next Tuesday. And when I corrected him, he was certain that I was fibbing. OK, slick! I did some last minute prep before heading off to work. I went back for my golf clubs hoping to hit the range at lunch. It was a sunny drive into work, but clouds loomed just to our west. A threat of rain was in the forecast but not until later. I arrived at work around 830am. Work started off well. Early on, I drafted an email to my golf peeps asking if anyone was interested in golf Friday at Player’s Club. I am scheduled off and the weather, at least for now, is supposed to be in the 70’s with a 40% chance for rain. I am hopeful that chance of ran will diminish. Come lunch time, it had clouded over and was even raining lightly. I decided to skip the driving range idea, but still left the building. Instead, I went to Best Buy where I planned to see and touch the HP & Dell computers models that I am tossing around buying. I also planned to do a little early Xmas shopping for the kids. Best Buy stocks both the Dell & HP PC I am looking at but with limited bells and whistles. After seeing and touching I think I am gonna go with an HP. They also had the newest HP wireless Photosmart printers in stock. I was happy that I got to touch and see them as well. I looked at the newest version of my waterproof Olympus pocket digital camera on display, too. It now comes as 12 megapixels, along with a few other enhancements, but a hefty price tag too - $379. Ouch! And after a quick peek at LED TV’s I headed over to the Wii aisle to look at the Wii Fit Plus along with new games. Rather than wait, I went ahead and picked up the Wii Fit Plus and Wii Resort. Last Xmas everyone was out of the Wii Fit and popular games by TG weekend. That won’t be an issue for us now! And since I was in a buying mood, I went ahead and bought a WD 1TB external hard drive in preparation for a new PC. This way I can back-up all of my important files for easy access later. I headed back to the office after being gone just over an hour. The afternoon flowed smoothly. It was nice to have a somewhat easy day for a change. I left for home at 515pm. I called Mindy soon after hitting the road. She shared that she called my dad to see how he was feeling. Said he was feeling good but was experiencing some discomfort localized to the incision area, but more importantly, no pain whatsoever in his legs or buttocks. She shared that we’d be having Kroger rotisserie chicken for dinner. That sounded delicious. We chatted until I was a mile or two from home. I didn’t figure she would, but I still asked Mindy if she wanted to walk Ykraps with me. She didn’t. He & I walked alone. It was spitting rain and considerably cooler than it was earlier in the day. No big deal. I also carried all the goodies in from the Trooper and hid the Wii gear in the basement. Dinner was served a few minutes later. The rotisserie chicken was absolutely delicious along with the mashed potatoes and gravy. Yum-yum! All of us had two helpings, even Bella. After dinner, Jacob asked me to play Madden ’07 on his Playstation. I hadn’t played that in over a year. I agreed to do so. I was the Vikings and he was the Saints. I accused him of purposefully keeping key functionality tips from me to further his chances of beating me. He won something like 55-35. Geesh! It was darn near 8pm. This is why I don’t like to play video games, big time eaters. The kids were tucked in by 845pm. After the kids were in bed, Mindy and I watched The Science Channel – first a program about the Apollo 11 moon mission, and then one about a moonless Earth and what it would be like without it. Mindy headed off to bed just before 10pm. I stayed up and popped popcorn. Bella smelt it and asked if she could join me. I agreed. We sat on the sofa watching more of the Science Channel, a program about the Octopus. It was very enlightening.

Carving Gourdon

Staying up until almost midnight watching football has its price. I woke for work wishing I’d gone to bed at a more reasonable hour. It was a fun game to watch, though. The Cardinals beat the Giants. I did my sit-ups then checked the temperature. According to Weatherbug, it was 44 degrees. After 53 push-ups, I leashed up Ykraps and headed out under a star-filled autumn sky. I could count the number of clear October mornings on one hand. I was most appreciative of the favorable weather. It was already after 6am when we got back inside. I delivered Mindy’s morning coffee before enjoying any of my own. She asked that I turn off the ceiling fan and turn up the heat. Yes dear. I spent close to 20 minutes on the PC fooling around. It was already 6:25am when I walked away to meditate. On my way to the family room, I choked down three Advil mostly for preventative measures. I didn’t leave myself enough time to meditate properly/thoroughly, but you’ll have that from time to time. I started stretching at 6:35am. The stretching went well. I think it was Saturday evening when Mindy showed me a yoga stretch used to stretch the upper back and shoulder muscles, the epicenter of a lot of my aches and pains. I planned to add it to my routine but my arms were still a little sore from doing it Saturday, not to mention being short on time. I stuck with my usual routine. It was later than usual by the time I headed out the door for my run. It was chilly enough for hand and ear covers. I wore both. My run went well. I kept it at 3 miles, although considered ratcheting it back up to 4. Maybe Tuesday. I was back home sometime between 7-715am. Mindy was in the middle of fixing breakfast. Bella reminded me that we’d be carving pumpkins later that night after dinner. Yep. Sure will! I enjoyed my fried eggs and fruit. I asked Bella not to make a meal of the fresh raspberries, and save some for me. But honestly, they weren’t that good. Mindy left at 730am after reminding the kids to get on Noah’s bus after school. Just as she was departing my dad called. I wasn’t sure what to make of such an early call. He was eager to share that he was on his way home from the hospital after all. Apparently his doctor changed his mind about the rehab after finding dad in such good shape early Monday morning. He was walking steps totally pain free. What’s more, he sounded good, too. That was exciting news. Glad he called. I headed up for a shower a couple minutes later. I was back downstairs showered and dressed by 7:50am. For whatever reason, the kids were more eager than usual to get out to the bus stop. As I do most days, I took Ykraps along on his leash. Makayla was waiting there with her grandma. Chrissy & Kenny were still in Virginia, and weren’t expected home until later in the afternoon. The bus arrived at 8:02am. I was surprised to find a thin coating of ice on my windshield. It wasn’t that cold. But it came off easily with wiper fluid. Off to work. I arrived at work at 830am. It was a lovely morning with oodles of sunshine and crisp blue skies. It would’ve been a great day to hike Old Man’s Cave. Work went well. I spent an hour or so with my boss after he was out all last week on vacation. He invited me to Chipotle for lunch but I declined wanting instead to adhere to my plan – tuna, vegetables and fruit. I drafted a quick email to my brothers sharing dad’s good news. I ended up sticking around all day without taking a formal lunch break. I ate my tuna, veggies, and fruit around 130pm. I didn’t hear from Mindy all day long, and don’t believe I called her during my commute home either. She was busy prepping dinner and chatting on the phone when I finally arrived sometime near 530pm. Bella was quick to greet me at the door and again wanted to remind me of my promise to carve pumpkins. Yep, but after dinner. She understood. And speaking of dinner, it looked like spaghetti judging by the pans. Mindy and Jacob joined me walking Ykraps. I teased Mindy about making spaghetti on a day when my stomach burned. She apologized. I planned to take another Tagament when we got back home. Mindy said I had enough time to sneak a nap before dinner. That made me happy. I haven’t taken a before dinner nap in a long, long time. It took a few minutes but I was finally able to get some sleep. I’ll bet I slept no more than 5-10 minutes but that was all I needed. I woke feeling refreshed. The Tagament I took did the trick. I was able to eat the spaghetti without the burn often associated with the sauce. I ate a plateful. As I finished clean-up, Mindy gathered the pumpkin carving gear (disposable table cloth and plastic cutting gear). I’m a firm believer in a plan. To that end, I asked that both kids draw out their ideas on paper first. Bella had hers ready last and drawn out last night. However, Jacob didn’t. He and I surfed the internet looking for ideas. He quickly found one he liked. I liked his selection too. Mindy helped Bella while I helped Jacob. We drew the features on the pumpkin with indelible markers (red/orange). The kids did much more of the work than years past. Jacob’s design featured a barfing cucurbita, so we gathered the scrapings in a handy container for later use. Jacob’s design included removing the orange skin from the teeth and eyes. I had never done that before and wasn’t certain how best to accomplish it. I guessed using a zester, and that worked perfectly – easy too. Bella liked Jacob’s so much that she whimpered and pouted about her own. Said it looked stupid, and not like her picture. Jacob offered to trade her. There was no comforting her. I must admit, Jacob’s looked far cooler. Like we have for the past few years, we did a ceremonial lighting of the pumpkins after we cleaned up the mess and then took photos. Bella was still not too happy with her design. However, after getting into her pajamas and returning for a snack, she began to warm a little to her pumpkin. Jacob and I added some ears and named his Gourdon. :)

Rakin' Blowin' Draggin'

I slept until almost 845am, a very good night’s sleep indeed. I was only a little disappointed for sleeping so late. I must’ve needed the rest. I was excited to see blue skies out the window and just as eager to experience it first hand. After starting coffee, I headed out with Ykraps. I took my pocket camera along hoping to get some scenic autumn photos. The nearby trees look absolutely incredible drenched in the early morning sunshine. Friday’s rain and Saturday’s wind brought down lots of foliage. In fact, some trees are already barren. October has flown by. Next week this day will be November. Yikes! I wasn’t home long before everyone else was up. First Bella then Mindy. Mindy scrapped church for sleeping so late. I heard her share as much with the kids. I dressed and left for a run sometime before 10am. I ran along Trabue with the goal of stopping in on Archie, my dad’s dog. As anticipated, he growled as if he wanted to eat me. I noticed his two stainless steel bowls were empty, although he did have a large plastic tub full of water off to the side. I gathered he had another food supply inside. I didn’t try letting him out though, again figuring he’d bite me. I carried on with my run. I was home at 1043am. Mindy was showering and planning to take Bella to visit her mother. She also planned a trip to Target with Jacob. Later, we’d be going to Jacob’s last soccer game. I called my dad soon after arriving home. First time I was able to talk with him since his surgery. Said he was in some pain but feeling lots better. He sounded better than ever. Said he didn’t want any company. Good thing I called. I was going to stop up. Didn’t want to risk getting germs. He also shared his decision to heed his doctor’s advice and spend a week at the rehab center beginning Monday. I shared the details of my stop in to see Archie. Dad seemed surprised that he was out of food. Asked that I not try to feed him. Like me, afraid he might attack. Said he’d send Uncle Kenny instead. Good plan, I guess he needs bit! :) Since I wouldn’t be hospitaling, I decided to manage the heavy leaf fall out back. And why not? It was a good day for it. It was sunny and dry with only a light breeze. I headed out with my new Echo gas powered blower. I cleared the newly sodded area first then the deck and surrounding area, eventually working my way all the way out back. I blew the leaves into a pile about 6 feet wide covering the entire length of the back yard. That took no more than 45 minutes. Mindy came out to let me know that she and the kids were heading out. I still planned on going to the soccer game with them later. Next, I got out a 9X12’ tarp and drug it along the long skinny pile raking all the leaves aboard. Once at capacity, I drug it back to the compost pile for unloading. It took four or five trips. By far, the heaviest pile included all the walnut leaves and switches. That took its toll on me. I was in a cold sweat, thirsty, and feeling weak. Before going in, I blew the yard one more time. I’ll have to do another big raking in a few weeks. Hopefully after all the honeysuckle bushes drop. The leaves are still falling. I was anxious to get inside. I didn’t feel well at all. In fact, felt like I could throw-up. Earlier, I ate two slices pizza and a small ham & cheese sandwich. I wished I hadn’t. I went horizontal on the sofa with a big glass of ice water. I also caught a glimpse of the Vikings/Steelers score. Vikings were up 7-3 with a couple minutes remaining in the first half. The game wasn’t on locally. Instead, we got to see the hapless Browns. Mindy & Jacob got home around 215pm. I told Mindy that I wasn’t going to go to soccer. I felt like crap and needed a nap. She understood. I fell asleep soon after they left and didn’t wake again until almost 4pm. I felt a lot better. I went to my PC to check the Viking/Steelers score. It was 20-17 Steelers, but the Vikings had the ball and were driving with 2 minutes to go. At about the same time I could hear the TV announcer saying that they would be switching their coverage from the Browns blowout to the Vikings/Steelers game in progress. Excited, I ran into the family room. The Vikings had the ball 1st and 10 at the Steelers 19 yard line. I was elated and sure we’d score the go ahead TD. Hike! Brett Favre takes the hand-off and quickly dumps off a screen pass in the left flat to Chester Taylor. What? Oh-no! It flies right through his hands and into the waiting mits of a Steelers LB. He returns it for a TD. Game over. Crap! I’d seen all I needed to see. Moving on, I went to the basement and grabbed my bucket of ‘butt crack’ plumbing tools. I took them to the garage and stowed them in their proper place. I returned to the sofa where I tuned into the Bengals game just getting underway. In a snap, they were up 21-0 over the Bears. Wow! I was surprised and impressed. Mindy & Jacob got home around 445pm. Mindy asked how I felt and if I still wanted steaks for dinner. I did but wasn’t yet hungry. I promised to start the grill in about an hour. I remained on the sofa for the next hour. Mindy commented that she heard the Vikings score. I noticed she was showing her team spirit by wearing her bejeweled Viking shirt. I appreciated that. Meanwhile, the Bengals kept pouring it on the Bears. It was 31-3 at halftime. Again, wow! I lit the grill and then took Ykraps on an evening walk. He seemed to appreciate it. The grill was resting at 550 degrees when we got back. I started the steaks. Mindy chunked, seasoned, and baked redskin potatoes as a side. She made garden salads, too. While the steaks grilled, I topped off the hot tub. It was down about 5-6 inches. It leaks via the siphoning effect after frequent use. Design flaw. The steaks were ready by 615pm. Jacob had steak for the first time. He usually requests something else – chicken breast or even cereal. Said he liked it. The three of us enjoyed a quiet dinner while continuing to watch the Bengals lambaste the Bears. Mindy was soon leaving to pick-up Bella from her mother’s. She asked if I wanted to tag along. I declined the invite, choosing instead to stay at home and shove sewing needles under my finger nails. :) I finished cleaning up the kitchen while Mindy and the kids were out. They weren’t gone long. They were home by 7:30pm. Bella asked if we could carve pumpkins as we discussed Saturday. But both Mindy & I agreed that it was too late. Bella wasn’t pleased. I assured her that we’d do it Monday after dinner. At the time, she wanted nothing to do with that answer. She felt betrayed. While Mindy worked with the kids on baths, showers and PJ’s, I read about the NFL’s final scores. After the kids were in bed, Mindy and I watched the first half of the SNF game – Arizona vs.NY Giants. She went to bed at the half. I stayed up for the game’s entirety. Cardinals won.

G-kids, Buckeyes, and Homemade Pizza

I headed to bed before 11pm Friday night and didn’t wake Saturday morning until sometime after 8am. That’s the most sleep I’ve gotten in one sitting in quite a while. It was 815am before I got downstairs and started some coffee. And even though the sky cleared last night after 9pm, we were once again socked in under cloud cover. It was about 53 degrees, too. By the time that Ykraps and I were back from our walk, Jacob and Bella were up. After some donuts and juice, they wisely headed to the basement to clean the playroom – a chore Mindy assigned them on Friday. They asked me to come look around 9am. They did a good job. Mindy was up around 9am. She reported having a headache, wasn’t sure about yoga class. I readied and left for a run just after 10:00am. I wore my new prescription sunglasses even though it wasn’t sunny. Mindy decided to go to yoga class after all. She let me know as much when I got back from my run. She also indicated that Lindsey wanted to visit and use our computer for a school project/paper. Kelly agreed to bring her and boys over. They (Lindsey & the boys) arrived some time after Mindy left for yoga. Rocky hung out with Jacob and Landon clung by his mother’s side. After almost an hour he warmed to Bella and I. I kept him as entertained as I could. Come noon, I tuned to the Buckeye game against Minnesota. We started slow, and lead by just a touchdown at the half. Can’t recall if Mindy came home before running off to the grocery, but think not. The Buckeyes went on a bit of a scoring spree in the second half and took a commanding lead. We were up 38-0 for a while. We put in our scrubs late and gave up a touchdown. I helped Mindy carry in the groceries late afternoon. Nothing draws the kids’ attention like a fresh load of groceries. They all hung out in the kitchen while Mindy tried putting everything away. That would drive me nuts. Lindsey finished her paper around 3 or 4pm. She decided to stay for dinner – homemade pizzas. We bought a 3-pizza kit from GD Kaileigh a month or so ago. While Mindy started the pizzas, Landon, Jacob, and I walked Ykraps. Mindy made both a pepperoni and cheese pizza. I asked if I could do the third. For starters, I got out the wooden rolling pin to flatten the prepackaged dough disc. It was way too thick for my liking. In addition to the kit contents, I added some sharp cheddar cheese and hot pepper rings. Jacob and Mindy wanted some of mine. And why not? There was plenty. After dinner I agreed to run Lindsey and the boys’ home. Rocky was being a little unruly towards the end. I think he was over tired. I had to demonstrate parental power a couple of times when I saw him taking advantage of his mother. Like a lot of young mothers, she offers up a lot of idle threats, but rarely if ever doles out discipline with any consistency, which every kid needs and wants. It was after 8pm when I got back from dropping Lindsey and the boys. I was eager to get into my PJ’s and crack open a beer. We sat and watched the late Iowa/Michigan State game on ESPN. It was an exciting game and an even more exciting finish. Iowa won on the final play of the game. Mindy & I headed to bed together after the game ended.

Pigeon Wings @ BW3

I woke late. It was 545am by the time I made it downstairs. Not wanting to fall too far behind schedule, I flew through my exercise routine. After a quick check of the temperature, I headed out with Ykraps. It was again close to 60 degrees, although this time with a threat of rain. We were back home by 6:07am. I moved instantly to coffee prep and delivered Mindy’s before enjoying any of my own. I played around on the PC a little too long. It was almost 6:30am when I stopped and moved onto stretching and meditation. I didn’t head out for my run until 6:45am. It started spitting rain almost immediately, but it never became the hindrance I thought it might. Mindy & the kids were up and about by the time I got back home. Mindy didn’t pack me a lunch by design since she worked so late the day prior. I figured I’d run out for food if necessary. She left the house around 7:30am. The kids and I headed out to the bus stop at or near 7:55am. It was raining so I grabbed the purple umbrella. Bella brought her own. I did my best to shelter Jacob but he kept ducking away from its shelter. Chrissy shared that she, Kenny, and Lilly were heading to Virginia early Saturday to watch a NASCAR race on Sunday. Mindy made loose plans to have them keep an eye on Jacob if she and I headed to the hospital to see dad after work. I left the house at 8:15am. I remember thinking that Dad should be arriving at the hospital about that same time. I planned to call brother Bobby once I got settled to get more of the details. It was Friday and the workload was a bit overwhelming. I hardly had a moment to breathe. I finally managed a call to Bobby. It must’ve been close to 10am. He said that they had just taken dad back for pre-op. Bob was leaving for work. Uncle Kenny was going to stay at the hospital with Dad. Bob shared Dad’s wishes regarding visitors. He didn’t really want any fearing the risk of infection. I understood, but still hadn’t ruled out going up later in the day. He also gave me Uncle Kenny’s contact numbers just in case I needed to get a hold of him. He promised to call back once he got word from UK regarding the surgery’s success. The day got busy, and I never left for lunch. I was hungry but not starving. I ate some nuts and fruit. Bobby phoned around 2pm to let me know that the surgery was a success. I eventually relayed the same information to Glenn and Tommy via email. Glenn responded that he didn’t even know of the pending surgery. He’s got to find a way to remain more connected. After all, the parents are getting older. I left work at 515pm. It was raining lightly through my commute home. The plan all along was to drop Bella at a friends in Hilliard, while sending Jacob to Kenny & Chrissy’s then go visit my dad. However, since he requested no visitors, we scrapped that idea. Instead, we dropped Bella at her friends, and then Jacob, Mindy & I headed to dinner at BW3s in Hilliard. Traffic was a snarl for the entire trip to Bella’s friend’s house and then to BW3s. I hadn’t had wings anywhere other than Barley’s in a long time. And since theirs are smoked, I’d almost forgotten what deep fried wings were like. Jacob ordered 12 Wild. I ordered 12 Mango Habanera. Mindy ordered a chicken wrap. We shared some buffalo chips and onion rings. And to wash it all down, I ordered a Bell’s Oberon. The wings were small and chewy – like they’d been sitting for a while. I wasn’t impressed. On the other hand, the onion rings were exceptionally good. I picked up the check. After dinner, we headed a few store fronts north to Great Clips so Jacob could get a long overdue haircut. I explained how we wanted it cut (short back and sides, take the sideburns, leave the bangs, thin it on the top). It ended up being one of his best cuts ever. The cut took no more than15 minutes soup to nuts. After the haircut, we walked down to Target. There, Mindy bought Jacob some football cards and an outfit for Bella. We stopped in Kirkland's for a quick browse on our way back to the Honda. It was closing in on 9pm. We needed to retrieve Bella from her school friend’s place. We arrived just after 915pm. According to Mindy, there was a little Bella inside (4 year old Guatemalan girl). Bella was in a great mood. Said they made pizza and smores – two of her favorites. We headed home. Forgot to mention that I took a wrong turn on the way there. I let out a big ol’ F bomb in doing so. Mindy wasn’t pleased with me. We arrived home around 9:40pm. I changed clothes then fetched a cold beer from the garage fridge. I tuned the TV to the Friday night college football game. Can’t even remember who was playing. Jacob headed to his room to organize his new football cards. Bella and I shared some popcorn before everyone headed to bed.

Sunglasses & Alone Time

It was already Thursday. We were once again expecting better than average weather, but this was to be the end of it. Friday and beyond promised to bring back the gray & chill we’ve become so accustom to this autumn. But for the time being it was clear and warm. It was 60 degrees when I walked Ykraps. It hasn’t been that warm that early for weeks. I carried on with my usual routine. Before delivering Mindy’s morning coffee I choked down three Advil to continue with my plan to ward off any swelling and stiffness both in my shoulders, neck, and knee. I’ve been doing it since Monday and it’s helped significantly. It wasn’t long before I moved on to meditation and stretching, then readied for a run. Because of the warmer than usual temps, I wore just one wicking shirt, albeit a thick one. I was perfectly comfortable. Of course I passed on hand and ear covers. As I hoped, my run went well. My knee feels more comfortable every single day. That’s fantastic news. I’m still doing just three miles. I’ve been considering keeping my run at three miles but thus far remain undecided long term. I helped fry the eggs at breakfast. Mindy was busy preparing for perhaps her longest school day of the year. She figured to be at school from 8am until 9pm, doing parent conferences from 3-9pm. She didn’t seem motivated about it. In kind, we traded nights with Jimaken, so he would be getting the kids off the bus meaning that I’d have some alone time after work until 8pm. Mindy departed around 7:30am. After breakfast and a quick kitchen clean-up, I headed off for a shower. I probably could’ve driven the BM’er again today but didn’t. The weather, while nice in the early AM, threatened to turn for the worse later in the day. I didn’t want to deal with it. Work went well. It was a fairly tame day. My new prescription sun glasses were ready so I left the office to pick them up around 1245pm. I was surprised to find my gas gauge approaching empty. Not wanting to push the envelope, I stopped for gas at Sawmill and Bethel. Gas was $2.65 per gallon. Yikes! I arrived at Dr Julie’s office just after 1pm. Nancy remembered me and quickly fetched my glasses and had me give them a try with a hand held reading chart. Honestly, I could see out of them better than with my regular glasses. However, they’re not a transitional lens so they have a defined line for reading (a bifocal). That’s dizzying to say the least. Nancy recommended that I not drive with them right away – give myself time to adjust. And again, no charge. The entire expense covered by my two VSP plans. Cool! I wasn’t there but five minutes. I put on my news lenses and drove off. I was careful not to try and use the lower portion of the lens – the reading part. I must admit, JP was right. The reading portion comprises a very small sliver of the lens at the bottom. I suggested that may prove too small an area for effective reading but he insisted not. At a traffic light I experimented. Worked perfectly. I stopped at Strader’s on Riverside and Bethel Rd on my way back to work. I went directly to the mower repair department and requested two Toro recycler mower keys. He asked me the model number. What? You didn’t ask that when I called. He fetched me two keys and shared that the actual key is the same. The only difference is the handle portion. Who cares? I was happy to have two new keys ($5.76). Back to work. The afternoon slugged along. I had a customer conference call at 4pm that lasted until roughly 430pm. Not that long. Afterwards I headed down to my center to chat with the team for a while. Just before leaving the office I checked the Hilliard police report website to see if my new accident report was ready. It was. I printed a copy for my own records then emailed one to my insurance company. I left for home around 5:15pm. As expected, no one was home. Mindy was at school doing conferences and the kids off with Jimaken. I rinsed lunch containers, walked Ykraps, and played on the PC. Because I was so behind on my blog, I decided to dedicate most of my alone time to catching up. Most will agree, times flies when you’re busy on the computer. It was almost 8pm before I knew it. Just before the kids got home I received a call from MetLife, the other driver’s Insurer, wanting to discuss the particulars from last week’s car accident. She seemed somewhat unprofessional but I saw no harm in sharing the facts. However, I wondered as I was telling the story if my insurance company would want me to be doing that. She said she was going to do some research on roundabouts then asked if she could call me back again and get a formal statement of the events. I agreed. After I we hung up I Googled the number just to make sure she was legit. She was. The kids arrived home somewhere close to 8pm as expected. Both quickly readied for bed – Jacob took a shower. Bella and I studied her spelling words then watched TV from the sofa even though Mindy said only from their beds. Mindy got home around 915pm. By then, Bella was sound asleep on the sofa. She woke when I tried carrying her up asking for her momma. Both were in bed within minutes of Mindy’s arrival. Mindy returned downstairs and made herself some cereal. I started dosing on the sofa. We headed to bed just after 10pm.

Day of Vindication

I woke two or three times in advance of 5:30am but managed to sneak in a little more shut eye. At 530am, I was up on queue. I felt well rested and eager to begin a new day despite the realization that my 5-day break was over. I remembered instantly the Orionid meteor shower that was scheduled to occur. I hurried through my exercise routine and headed out to see if I could spot any meteors. There was a clear sky but some wispy moisture scattered here and there. But there were enough clear pockets to leave and unbridled view into the heavens. I watched intently for the duration of our walk not seeing a single meteor. Undaunted, I planned to enjoy my coffee from the deck once back at home. I did just that. Back at home I poured some coffee then went to the deck. Out back provided a much clearer view into the heavens since there were no street lights to polute an otherwise clear dark sky. Still no joy, I decided to do a 10 second countdown before heading in somewhat disappointed. “Five-four-three” - there went one! Wahoo! Awesome. I went inside glad I was able to see part of Haley’s comet’s remnants. I delivered Mindy’s coffee. I can’t recall if I shared the stellar experience with her or not, but don’t think I did. I was quick returning to my usual morning ritual of PC time, meditation, and stretching. That part of each work day morning is priceless. I headed out on my run around 6:35am. I felt really good, too. My knee seems to be getting stronger by the day. Mindy and the kids were up preparing for a typical school day. Mindy had my lunch ready for the go and our eggs cooking on the stove. I poured juice for Bella and me. I kidded everyone about taking another day off. The weather was supposed to superb – 75 & sunny. Instead, I planned to drive the BM’er for the first time since mid-September. I was looking forward to it. After getting the kids onto the bus I loaded my gear into the BM’er and drove off to work. As you might expect, I was careful proceeding through the roundabout. The work day seemed a little over whelming after begin off for five days. I felt like I was behind on everything. Checking my VM, I had a message from my ophthalmologist’s office indicating that my sunglasses were in. I couldn’t make it in today, however. Instead, I used my lunch period to drive home for lunch. I left my access badge at home and wanted to get it. Felt naked without it. While there, I wrote in my blog. I spent just under an hour at home. It was very relaxing and good to get away from the office. Around 330pm, officer O’Connor finally returned my call from Monday. He explained that he simply needed a tad more clarification as to my car’s whereabouts when the actual collision occurred. He then went on to share that my ticket had been rescinded and that a new accident report would be forthcoming showing the other driver at fault. He apologized. I thanked him for his patience, honesty, and time. He said that the new report would be available online in about a day or two. Cool! I was very pleased with that news! Shortly thereafter my insurance company called to discuss the claim. They informed me that the other driver had already tried to file a claim against my insurance but that they declined it. She asked that I forward the new accident report once it became available. I agreed to do so promptly. I also talked with Mindy, who expressed a strong desire to go out for dinner. She and the kids wanted Barley’s. I caved. It took me a while to get out of work. I didn’t leave until 540pm, and it was 605pm before I arrived home. I was very excited to share the news about my ticket being rescinded. That’s a huge weight lifted from my shoulders. Mindy had already walked Ykraps making our escape to Barley’s that much easier. We loaded into the Honda and left the house at 6:30pm. Mindy asked for our favorite table just south of the bar. She & Jacob played paper football while waiting on our food. I sipped a Bitter Dan IPA and Mindy sipped a Founder’s. The kids enjoyed pink lemonade. Mindy ordered her favorite southwestern salad. The kid ordered wings, onion straws, and fries. I ordered a Cuban with a cup cheese burger soup. Yummy! We weren’t at Barley’s that long. Guessing, but believe we were on our way home by 7:30pm. The kids were quickly ushered to the shower and tub. While the kids bathed, Kenny and I carried the two old hot water tanks up from the basement and placed them in the garage. I planned to set them out at the curb Thursday night. I threw a pillow on the floor, and the rest as they say is history. I was all but gone for the night. I don’t believe that Mindy even tried to wake me. Can’t recall. That’s how tired I was.

Winterizing Day

Just like the morning before, I slept until Mindy got up and started making all sorts of racket. I headed downstairs and started my calisthenics. It was still dark and the sky was filled with stars yet again. It promised to be another gorgeous autumn day. I walked Ykraps without any worry of the time. The only thing I had planned besides my run was the boat’s winterization, which wasn’t scheduled until 10:20am. While enjoying coffee time at the PC I read a story about Wednesday’s Orionid meteor shower. Should be able to see 12-15 meteors per hour with the peak happening around 6am EDT. Perfect timing relative to my morning routine. Mindy & the kids readied for school like any other morning. I participated with a casual, passive attitude. I absolutely love being off work on nice days. Ykraps and I took the kids to the bus stop at 7:55am. Soon it was just he and I. At the house, I checked the hot water tank connections to make sure there were no leaks. I was disappointed to find a very slow drip on the cold water input. I wrenched the compression fitting even tighter than before. That seemed to stem the drip. I set out for my run at 830am. It was almost 50 degrees and sunny. It was a lovely morning for a run. I was a little worried that the stiffness I experienced Monday afternoon/evening might inhibit my run, but that wasn’t the case. The 600mg of ibuprofen and 20 minutes in the hot tub did the trick. I ran comfortably. After my run I headed up for my first shower since replacing the water tank. All went well save for a noticeable difference in the water temp with the shower dial in a given spot. I set the water tank temperature to low when I fired it up and hadn’t adjusted it since. I figured I would crank it up a notch or two later in the day. Our old tanks were cranked to their maximum for the last 8 or 9 years. I thought through the boat winterization process carefully before leaving the house. I didn’t want to forget anything. They left a VM reminding me to bring the keys, have a charged battery, and enough gas to run for at least 20 minutes. In addition, I remembered to grab the new license plate sticker. I was ready to head out by 915am. Over the years, it has been pouring rain, snowing, but rarely sunny and nice the day I take the boat in for winterization. Today was a banner day. Getting to the storage and attaching up went without incident. I was happy to be getting this annual chore out of the way. The folks at Paul’s marine in Powell were quick to point out the lovely weather, too, but saying it as though I might regret not being out on the lake one more day. But that was like the furthest thing from my mind. Like that all season, really. Just wasn’t that into it this year. We’ll see how the next couple boating seasons go. If the desire wanes, I may sell it. The drive-thru winterization process takes no more than 25 minutes. I was on my way home before 11am. After dropping the boat at storage and saying goodbye until next May, I headed to Lowe’s in Mill Run. There I picked up some large wood screws to better anchor/hold our front storm door shock in the jam. It came loose last summer requiring some rework. The current screws are starting to work themselves loose once more. Looking at them, there’s little wonder why. They’re really metal screws. I also picked up a can of high-temperature flat black spray paint marketed for gas grills to try painting our fireplace tools to match the new black firescreen. I figured it worth a shot. I paid about $20 for the tools a couple years ago on close-out. If it ruins them, no biggie. I arrived home around 1pm. The first thing I did was make a big ham and cheese sandwich. I was starving. Meanwhile, the afternoon was shaping up nicely. It was about 72 degrees and sunny – by far the nicest weather we’ve had thus far this October. I cleaned then carried my fireplace tools out behind the shed where I’ve done some spray painting past. The paint adhered nicely and left a beautiful black finish on the tools. I was very happy. I planned to let them dry for about an hour then spray a second coat. While the paint dried, I replaced a couple of those door jam screws with the longer wood screws. That worked OK. While thinking about it. I checked the hot water tank again. And again found the cold water input to have a very minor drip. But even the smallest of drips is not good enough for me. I wrenched it as tight as I could get it without risking breaking it. I’ll bet it didn’t turn but another 1/8-1/4inch. I’d check it again later. I headed out back to apply the second coat of paint to the fireplace tools. That went well. Next, I opened the shed and put away Mindy’s fountain and the chaise lounger frame. I was going to throw away the cushion after just two seasons since the top surface already appeared to be dry rotting. But being creative and having nothing to lose, I successfully tried cutting two tiny slivers in the material and pulled the Velcro loops thru so we can reverse it, using the backside and likely get one more year out of it. Hey, you save where you can. I then stowed the cushion in a large hefty bag I reuse every year just for that purpose. While outside, I rechecked the hot tub and added more PH-up to further balance the PH and alkalinity. Worked perfectly. It was already after 3pm. Where had the day gone? I rechecked the hot water tank. No drip!!!! Wahoo! Still not done, I logged onto the City’s refuge website to schedule bulk pick-up for our two old hot water tanks. They promised to send a follow-up confirming email with the date. I hoped it would be this coming Friday, our normal pick-up day. About that same time, my auto insurance company stopped by as planned to check out the damage on my Trooper and to take pictures. He was a really nice guy. Said he’d been by once before on a hail damage claim a few years back. He seemed to know the blame was being contended and encouraged me to get it fixed, especially if it was in fact found to be the other driver’s fault. I thought he wanted pictures of the vehicle but as it turned out, he wanted pictures of he and I posing by our pretty flowers. J kidding, of course. I tried getting a little rest before the kids arrived home at 4pm. But it was already 345pm. It was a short nap. The kids were home right at 4pm. Mindy wasn’t far behind either. She arrived home around 410pm. We did homework with the kids and then Jacob & I played paper football at the kitchen table. He’s just now learning how to play. Mindy made tacos and Mexican rice for dinner despite not feeling that well. I had a couple tacos and a big helping of the rice. After dinner I fell asleep on the family room floor for a while. That felt terrific. I was a little sad about returning to work on Wednesday but also felt very relaxed and satisfied with all I had accomplished on my five days off. I spent time with my grandchildren, got firewood, replaced my hot water tank, winterized the boat, and even got some yard winterization completed. Not bad.

Demonstrating my 'Butt Crack' Skills

It felt good to crack an eye somewhere near 530am and realize that I could go back to sleep without guilt. That extra sleep lasted just 45 minutes, or until Mindy got up for work around 6:20am. Once she turned on the bathroom lights and started running water I could no longer sleep. But that was fine, I needed to get up and going. I was downstairs and engaged in morning exercise by 6:30am. And by 6:50am I was back home after walking Ykraps. It was a star filled morning sky, something we haven’t had a lot of lately. I was most appreciative. But with the clear skies came frosty temperatures. It was about 35 degrees with lots of scattered frost. Because of my parental duties, I couldn’t squeeze in a run until after the kids were safely on the bus. I knew that early on, however, and planned my morning as such. Instead, I used the time between 7-8am to play on the computer. It felt good. Mindy left at her usual time of 730am. She advised that the kids were going to Noah’s after school so evening golf wouldn’t be a problem. I appreciated that. But as much as I wanted to golf, replacing the hot water tank was my top priority. Mindy asked how long I expected that project to take. I guessed as little as 2.5 hours provided everything went smoothly, but most likely longer. After all, there were a number of obstacles I had to overcome. I was in a great mood at the bus stop. How could I not? It was sunny and I had the day off work. After the kids were gone I returned home and readied and left for a run. It was a good run. I wore hand and ear covers to combat the chill. Even though the temperature was expected to reach into the 60’s it was a cold morning. I was home by 850am. Before getting started on the water tank project, I placed another call to officer O’Connor of the Hilliard police department in an attempt to close the loop on the accident report debacle. I also sent an email to my insurance company keeping them in the loop. That didn’t take long. It was just after 930am when I got started on my project. I reviewed everything that needed done. There are three main areas of focus: water, gas, and venting. The first thing I did was turn off the water and natural gas. I had to turn the gas off outside at the meter due to the configuration M/I Homes used when they installed the original dual water tanks. No biggie, just something I hadn’t done before. Next, I drained the old tanks. To do so, I had to remove the venting and detach the gas lines first. I had to unscrew/remove the drain valves entirely since both were seized up. That took some elbow grease. I wasn’t sure how fast the water would drain out doing it that way. Lucky for me, the floor drain is just 8-10ft away. They drained fairly quickly creating quite a big puddle. I kept the area clear to avoid damage to anything nearby. I figured out that I could control the water flow by placing my thumbs over the now exposed ¾” copper water inlets on the tank’s top. Draining and detaching the old tanks took about 75 minutes. The calcium build-up that comes out last is nasty. I would liken it’s consistency to vomit, although it didn’t stink. I spent the next hour reconfiguring the gas line for one tank and then carefully visualizing how much of the old copper plumbing to leave in tact for the new tank. I spent another hour waiting for all the water to drain from the feed pipes since I planned to sweat on new shut-off valves. Because those pipes were at the lowest point in the house, I had no choice but to wait. There was no where else I could open up a valve to encourage the flow away. Anyone who’s ever done this knows what I am talking about. The water just keeps dripping. And you can’t sweat copper properly with any water in the lines lest you risk leaks. Suddenly, it was approaching 1pm. Where had the time gone? For a bit, I felt in a little over my head. While waiting for the pipes to stop dripping, I readied the gas line for the final connection and then sweated the two new on/off valves to the adjoining plumbing config. But still, the hot and cold water feeds were still dripping/draining at a slow methodical clip. I used the extra time to double check my measurements where I planned to sweat the final connections and to finish plumbing in the gas feed. Kenny showed up around 2pm. He was ready to golf. I shared that I had to wait for the pipes to fully drain before I could proceed any further. After considering my dilemma, Kenny offered that we try sucking the remaining water out with a shop-vac. Good idea, or so it seemed. I configured my shop-vac to suck water. I removed the filter & bag. It took about 15 minutes but that idea worked. At the same time, we used a combination of opening and closing all the water valves upstairs to help with the suction. I’m quite sure the water would’ve dripped for hours longer had we not used the shop-vac. We probably sucked out another 2 gallons. Having Kenny there to hold the copper pipes in place while I sweated the final connections was a huge help. After sweating both sides, we attached the mesh tank hoses and then turned the water back on. No leaks!!! Kenny headed home for a spell while I turned the gas back on and lit the water tank’s pilot. I also made sure the furnace came back on without any assistance. At the time I wasn’t certain if I had to light its pilot manually. I didn’t. It took a few tries to get the water tank’s pilot to ignite but it finally did. I double checked the gas line for leaks with soapy water, rechecked the water feed – no leaks, and made sure the 3” venting was secured. Check! Around 3:10pm the work was completed. I still had a mess to contend with but that could wait. Kenny and I were determined to take full advantage of the nice weather and time-off to get in some golf. I agreed to meet him at his place in 10 minutes. I skipped a shower and instead went with a “Brian Tippler” bath - splash some water here, and splash some water there. I picked-up Kenny just before 330pm and we drove over to Raymond. Lucky fur us, there didn’t appear to be anyone immediately in front of us for at least three holes. To boot, the guy in the clubhouse gave us the after 5pm rate - $21.50ea. w/cart. I paid for Kenny’s golf out of gratitude for all of his help. I didn’t golf that well but was hitting my driver good. We finished the front nine in record time – just over one hour. As we moved to the back nine, some thin clouds moved in and cooled things down considerably. There were a couple groups out there holding us up on the back. However, one group let us play through, which helped tremendously. We finished the back in record time too. Probably my most notable hole was the 550 yard par 5 #16. I was 20 yards short of the hole in two after a long straight drive and an absolutely perfect 3-wood. Sadly, I chunked my SW and ended up with a bogey. What a train wreck! But I wasn’t too worried about it. We had fun! We finished at 5:40pm and headed across the street for home. Mindy warmed leftover meatloaf for dinner. I was eager to show off my handy work in the basement. While showing her, I noticed that the cold water input was dripping ever so slightly at the compression fitting connecting the copper to the mesh hose. I wrenched it more securely temporarily stopping the drip. This is not an uncommon occurrence as the temperature regulates. The evening was largely uneventful. I hadn’t yet showered, but didn’t know that I even would. So, while the kids were upstairs hogging all the new hot water, I decided to put my stiff rear in the hot tub. And believe me, my legs were about as stiff as they’ve ever been. It started even before golf. Likely due to all the climbing I did up and down the step ladder. Mindy & the kids had no idea that I was in the hot tub. It felt terrific. I used the therapy jet to massage my right hamstring. That was amazing! By the time the kids and Mindy came back downstairs I was in my comfy PJs and had an IPA in hand. Mindy eventually asked why my hair was wet. The hot tub, honey. She wasn’t up much longer than the kids. She and the kids were still recovering from their recent illness. I stayed up watching Monday Night Football.

Meatloaf - Olivia - Vikings Win

I was up around 7:30am after a rather restful night’s sleep. I felt good and was in a much more pleasant mood. The weather didn’t hurt either. There were blue skies overhead for the first time in a while. It was still fairly chilly, however. I started coffee and walked Ykraps skipping my daily calisthenics. After all, it was Sunday. I played around online before thinking about a run. Mindy was up earlier than I expected. I asked if she was heading to church. Nope. She expressed concern over my Saturday afternoon “cave time”. I shared/insisted that it wasn’t her. I left for a run shortly after our conversation. She was just getting in the shower readying to go grocery shopping. Some time after my run I did a little bit of yard work. I topped off the hot tub and added enough chemicals to get the PH and alkalinity in order. Next, I drained and scrubbed (winterized) Mindy’s fountain. It was covered in algae. I cleaned and winterized the small pump and scrubbed all the shells then stored them both in the garage for the long winter season. As soon as Mindy got home I helped carry in the groceries. I left for Home Depot around 12noon determined to return home with a new hot water tank as well as all the supplies one would need to put it in. I headed to the Hilliard- Mill Run Home Depot. Wouldn’t you know, they were out of the 12 year – 50 gallon natural gas model I wanted. In fact, they were the only Columbus store out of them. I could do nothing but chuckle. They had six at the West Broad St store. I left for there. It didn’t take long to get from one to the other. They’re no more than 5 or 6 miles apart. They had the one I wanted. At my insistence, the attendant brought one down from high above in an unscathed box. While he did that, I shopped for the ancillary materials necessary for a quality install. All totaled, I spent $780 with tax on the tank and materials. The materials were $120+ by the time I bought a propane tank, torch, solder, flux, brush, emery cloth, new shut off valves, and an installation kit. I headed home with the tank in Dad’s trailer. Mindy was willing to help me carry in the new tank, but it proved to big a task for the two of us. Plus, the large clumsy box was difficult to grasp. I decided it best to remove it completely. Mindy went to solicit Kenny’s help. Said he’d be down in a few minutes. Cool! All I cared to accomplish today was to get it in the basement. Since I was scheduled off work both Monday and Tuesday, I planned to do the install on one of those days while Mindy and the kids were away. Kenny and I made quick work of getting the tank to the basement. Once the kids were home from Jimaken’s, we planned to return Dad’s trailer and then deliver Olivia’s birthday gifts. Mindy was busy all afternoon in the kitchen making a meatloaf and baking pumpkin pies. She made two pies after accidentally doubling the filling recipe. But that’s another story. We left to run our two errands near 3:30pm. By the way, I was happy to see just before we left the house that the Vikings were beating the always tough Ravens. I avoided score updates during our travels. I didn’t want my mood to be impacted by the results of football. Dad was out in the garage as we pulled around. He smiled and shared that he didn’t even realize his trailer was missing. He looked tired and frail. He’s probably lost near 30lbs. Little wonder, though. He can hardly get around. He was using/relying heavily on a cane. We briefly discussed his upcoming surgery scheduled for next Friday. He shared the logistical plan as well. Brother Bobby will deliver him and Uncle Kenny will be caring for him after. Mindy & I figured to head up Friday evening provided he’s conscious. Before heading off for Ashley’s, Mindy asked dad if he’d be up for some pumpkin pie later. He said yes. She’d deliver it later. We arrived at Ashley’s new place around 415pm. She gave us the full tour, although I’d already seen most of it on Friday when I picked up Olivia. She keeps a nice home – not perfect, but neat. Olivia had just woken from a nap. She wasn’t her usual jovial self. She dug her gift bag, though. And just as I expected, she seemed to like the big bag of dum-dum suckers the best. We laid her new rug in her bedroom. Looked terrific! The kids really took to Ashley/Olivia’s dog, Benji. Not sure what type of dog it is (little). J We didn’t stay around too long. We left around 440pm. Tommy texted me just as we boarded the Trooper for home. “Whew!”. I took that to mean the Vikings pulled out a squeaker. I immediately tuned the car radio to ESPN and caught the final score. Vikings won 33-31. They were ahead 30-24 last I knew, and lead 27-10 with ten minutes left. Yikes! Turns out, they EVEN got behind with minutes left leaving Brett Favre to do some last minute magic. Hey, a win is a win! SKOL I was in a fabulous mood knowing my team was 6-0. I was eager for some meatloaf and pumpkin pie. Mindy prepped the dinner table while I walked Ykraps. Soon we were seated for dinner. Mindy invited the neighbors down to enjoy dessert with us. She promised to call them back later when we were ready. The meatloaf looked and tasted great. We had homemade mashed potatoes and salad, too. I ate a helping and a half of meatloaf wanting to make sure there was room for pie. While I managed the clean-up, Mindy ran dinner and dessert to my dad. When Mindy got home we called the neighbors who joined us for pumpkin pie. Kenny had two pieces. Before they left, Kenny and I made loose plans to golf Monday afternoon after I finished tackling the water heater and he finished a work project. Night time was upon us. And because I had the next two days off, I was able to snuggle up in front of a fire sipping a couple IPAs while enjoying Sunday Night Football on NBC. Mindy and the kids were off to bed around 9pm. I watched the game in its entirety.

Seasoned Firewood for my Man Cave

I was up around 745am after a pleasant night’s sleep. As expected, it was cloudy and chilly – pretty much a carbon copy of most other October morning’s this year. I started coffee, exercised, and walked Ykraps. It was just after 8am. I enjoyed some quiet time and coffee before even thinking about a run, but there wasn’t too much time to waste if I was to complete the morning’s desired goals. The Buckeye game was slated to kick-off at 12noon, but before that I wanted to fetch a trailer load of firewood from my guy out on the eastside. I left for a run around 930am. No trouble with my knee, although I could tell it still wasn’t 100%. I am very careful making cuts, turns, and quick lateral movements. I ran three miles. I was back home around 10am. I let Mindy know that I was heading out to get firewood and expected to be gone about an hour. I had to stop by Dad’s to get the trailer first. Dad wasn’t home so I helped myself to his trailer. I wisely checked the tire pressure even before attaching it to the Trooper. Both tires were good. Off I went. I was a little paranoid for the duration of the trip after noticing that the trailer lights weren’t working. It’s a fairly long haul out to Alum Creek Dr and Refugee Rd – Brownwood and Supply where I’ve been buying firewood since my early Time Warner days. His product is consistent and the prices are fair. Same guy working there all these years too. That says something. I got a half cord of the 18-24” seasoned hardwood for $95 – tax included. I helped load the trailer. We ended up needing to put 20-30 logs in the back of the Trooper after filling the trailer to more than a comfortable height. Had we stacked it neater, I’m almost certain we could’ve gotten it all in. No biggie! Headed for home. I was a tad nervous driving home worried that a log might bounce out and onto the freeway. That’s never happened, but then again there’s always a first time. It was 1130am. I decided to get as much wood moved and stacked in its usual spot before kick-off. However, before moving the first new log, I pulled the last two rows of old stuff off the bottom so that it could/would be burned first. With the area now ready, I fetched my tractor and trailer to haul about 30 logs at a time. I got about half the load moved before kick-off. I planned to do the rest after the game. We had loose plans to watch the game with the neighbors. I watched the opening kick-off then headed for a much needed shower. We watched the entire first quarter at home then headed down to the neighbors. All of the sudden, I wasn’t feeling that great, so I took only ice water – no beer for me. Kenny & Chrissy’s place was rockin’. They had a house full of guests. And just as you might expect, it was pretty loud, too. I tried getting cozy & comfortable at the end of their leather sofa but no matter what I did, I couldn’t shake the tired, uneasy feeling brewing inside. For a time, I worried that I might be coming down with whatever Mindy & the kids had. And to make matters worse, the Buckeyes were playing poorly and fell behind. I’d seen enough. After the third quarter I excused myself for home. I wanted nothing more than some peace and quiet on the sofa with a pillow. Mindy soon followed checking to see if I was alright. I was fine. I just needed to be alone in peace and quiet. I quickly got comfy and cozy on the sofa, happy to be left alone watching the rest of the Buckeye game in complete solitude. I think Mindy felt that it was something she said or did but that wasn’t the case at all. I just didn’t feel that good, was tired, and wanted to rest. I assured her of as much. She eventually headed back to the neighbors. I watched the end of the Buckeye game. Sadly, we couldn’t get out of our own way and lost to Purdue. Maybe the ugliest, most uninspired performance I’ve witnessed in years. But keeping things in perspective, it’s just a GAME. After an hour on the sofa drifting in and out of sleep I mustered the energy to finish moving/stacking the firewood. It didn’t take but three more trips. After moving all the new wood into place, I put the old, existing wood on top. Around 530pm Jimaken dropped off Bella so he and Jacob could go to a Blue Jackets game. Mindy & Bella headed down to the neighbors. I upped and left for Target to get Olivia’s birthday presents. I got Olivia a couple outfits, an attractive rug for her bedroom, some lollipops, and Play-Doh. I picked up a new, colorful kitchen apron for Mindy after hearing her comment about wanting a more stylish one a week or two ago. That’s me - always thinking of the wife! Before heading back home, I stopped in Giant Eagle for some beer and then Burger King for food. I was hungry. Mindy & Bella were back from the neighbors when I arrived home. Mindy shared that Kenny delivered a T-bone steak while I was out. I ate my Burger King then changed back into my comfy clothes, plopped down on the sofa, and cracked open a CBC IPA. Jimaken stopped by after the hockey game to reclaim Bella. They were soon off. I was content to spend the rest of my evening relaxing on the sofa sipping a beer or two while more college football whirled on the TV.

Zoo - Grandkids - Good Cop Calls

No one was working or heading to school. Instead, we were planning a trip to the zoo, something we did on COTA day last year, too. I slept in until roughly 7:30am. By then, both Bella and Olivia were awake but not yet downstairs. I quietly headed downstairs to start some coffee, exercise and walk Ykraps. It was cloudy and cool – about 38 degrees. And while cloudy, the sky didn’t appear to hold much threat of rain. It wasn’t too long before the house was alive with Bella and Olivia scurrying about. Olivia was making most of the noise. Her volume button is stuck on loud. I got them juiced and then put Bolt in the DVD player. But that did little to keep Olivia quiet. Mindy and Jacob were up a short time later. I asked Mindy if she cared to bake some bacon. She agreed, and added that she would be whipping up some pancakes too. Perfect! As the morning progressed, Mindy asked if I still intended on zooing. Yes. I needed to pick-up Rocky from school at 11am but planned to pick-up Landon first. I needed to get moving. I left for my run around 915am. I dressed warmly and then ran off. My run went without incident. My legs and knee held up nicely. I was pleased! Breakfast was ready upon my return. I hurried through breakfast while Mindy headed up for a shower. Secretly, I wondered if I should’ve showered first but didn’t question it. Time was moving swiftly. I didn’t get in the shower until almost 1030am. It was pretty clear to me then that I’d have to alter my plans and pick-up Landon after fetching Rocky from school. I left for Magdalene around 1045am and arrived will five minutes to spare. I called Lindsey along the way to let her know that I’d be picking Landon up after getting Rocky. While waiting, I flashed back to last November when we took in Rocky & Landon. That first week, I was tasked with picking Rocky up from school a few times. Soon it was 11am and Rocky came running out. I greeted Mrs. Dent and asked how Rocky’s been doing this school year. She shared that his progress has been quite favorable. That’s good news! I arrived at Lindsey’s ten minutes later. Landon was raring to go apparently waiting by the door. We headed off for home. In my absence, Mindy contacted neighbor Kenny to invite he and his kids to the zoo along with us. They would be meeting us there. We spent the next 30 minutes readying everyone for a cold day at the zoo. We put Rocky & Landon in a change of clothes to suppress the ‘cat piss’ smell, although we couldn’t do anything about the odor in their new winter jackets. We opted out of taking snacks and a stroller but loaded a backpack full of bottled water. I took both cameras too. We arrived at the zoo between 1230-100pm. Kenny called just as we were entering the lot. All totaled, there were 11 of us – eight kids and three adults. Almost immediately, the older kids whined about being hungry and wanted to buy snacks despite being forewarned before leaving home that we wouldn’t be eating at the zoo. We visited the elephants first, then the tiger, lion, and aviary. Next, we moved on to the reef and aquatic exhibits, which host a multitude of sea life including sharks, manatees, and stingrays. It was chilly but fun. As we made our way to west side and under Riverside Dr and onto the African exhibits, I received a VM from the Hilliard officer who ticketed me for Tuesday’s accident. I missed the initial call ,but quickly dialed up my VM. I was very pleased that he all but admitted making a mistake, and went as far as saying it was the other woman’s fault if his drawing was incorrect, which it was. This, of course, was something I already knew, but wondered how he might respond. After all, it’s his ego. He offered that I should call him back at my convenience to discuss further. That lifted my spirits considerably. We spent the duration of the afternoon at the African exhibits, and most of it observing the apes (gorillas, bonobos, and chimpanzees). The kids love the apes, perhaps because they see in them so much of themselves. It was almost 4pm. The kids were getting cranky, especially Jacob and Rocky who were going at it all afternoon long. At one point I thought Mindy was going to pop ‘em both. We headed for the exits. It seemed like it was getting much cooler as the day wore on. My hands were nearly numb. By the time we made it to the cars, Mindy was more than a little upset with the kids. To raise everyone’s spirits, I agreed to stop for food. And after voting, the choice was Wendy’s. That frustrated Jacob who claimed disdain for Wendy’s and a single vote for McDonald’s. But Mindy quickly silenced his anger. We weren’t stopping twice. We stopped at the Wendy’s on Roberts Rd and I-270. We ordered for six. I didn’t get anything. We toted our food order home. I got the kids together with their lunch while Mindy dashed off upstairs. She and Bella were showing signs of wearing down due to their recent illness. Landon fell asleep on the sofa. Ashley phoned asking me to bring Olivia home within the hour so that dipshit could see her. But I wasn’t about to change our plans so drastically to accommodate him. He’s a poor excuse for a father. Ashley was frustrated with my response and made arrangements to pick her up instead. Ashley arrived 30 minutes later while I was busy downloading editing zoo photos. Between both cameras, I took about 100 photos. Even I was surprised. We said goodbye to Olivia and agreed to bring her birthday presents by on Sunday sometime. We had originally planned to take her birthday shopping after dropping Jacob & Bella later. We left to drop off Rocky & Landon and Jacob & Bella around 615pm. We stopped at Lindsey’s first. Next, we drove to Hilliard to drop Jacob & Bella at their paternal grandparent’s house where Jimaken planned to get them after his Friday night class. It was 715pm by the time we dropped all the kids and were on our way to Barley’s. Mindy asked, in jest I’m sure, if it was bad that she was happy to be without the kids. A break is always good – and for them too. We arrived at Barley’s just after 730pm. We hoped to find Doug Hamon as well as the Vidosh’s there. Nope – neither. Hmm? Oh well, you know what they say, it’s not who isn’t there but instead who is. We bellied up to the bar and ordered a couple beers. Mindy had a Founder’s Breakfast Stout and I had a Bitter Dan IPA. I wasn’t hungry. Mindy ordered some sauerkraut balls. By comparison, it was a low-key Barley’s night. We left for home around 930pm. Mindy promptly phoned the neighbors to measure their willingness for company. They were game. We had invited them to meet us at Barley’s after their earlier dinner date at J.Alexanders but they couldn’t make it because they had Jake. I took two beers – a Sam Adams and a Weyerbacher DIPA. We didn’t stay long – about an hour. Mindy was fading fast still battling her cold or virus. We headed to bed once back home.

Exploring LASIK

It was Thursday. Another cool, gray, and rainy day. I was happy to get the day going knowing that this was my last work day until next Wednesday. Nothing out of the ordinary: exercise, walking Ykraps, coffee, stretching, & running. Worth mentioning, my knee felt really good. I was able to run with a normal stride from jump. Mindy made arrangements to stay home with Bella who was once again too ill to go to school. She was sporting a 103 degree fever. We discussed evening plans before I left for work. As it was, I planned on picking Olivia up at Ashley’s new place on my way home from work. I got the kids on the bus at their usual time. I arrived at work a few minutes after 8:30am. I was excited to get to work to share what I learned about roundabout driving laws/rules with my peer Ken. He was the one that insisted the officer was incorrect and encouraged me to research it more thoroughly. As eager as I was to share my findings, I was also upset that I was wrongfully ticketed. I left a VM for the officer who ticketed me asking him to kindly call me back. Hey, he gave his phone number and encouraged me to call with any questions. We had a lot going on at work. I was very busy until lunch time. Adding to that, I had a 1pm appointment planned with Dr Beran - the LASIK dude. His office is in New Albany. I left my office at 1230pm expecting to gone until almost 3pm. I had a little trouble finding Dr. Beran’s building but ultimately did. I arrived 5 minutes early. I filled out a lengthy questionnaire, then received a full eye exam even though I just had one the month prior. I haven’t allowed my regular ophthalmologist to dilate my eyes for the past two exams, but Dr Beran insisted on it. I agreed. You don’t actually get to meet Dr Beran until the eye exam is over. He came in after two others examined my eyes more thoroughly. He shared what he could and couldn’t do for my vision via LAISK. As I suspected, he was confident that he could free me from wearing eye glasses except for book reading. That would enable me to golf, ski, dive, and drive without the need for glasses. It sounded very appealing. Dr Beran doesn’t discuss costs. Instead, he leaves that to yet another lackey. Because I have VSP vision benefits, they’re willing to reduce their charges by 15%, but even then the cost would still be almost $3800. Dr Julie already warned me that Dr Beran wouldn’t be the cheapest, but also recommended him highly. He’s done tens of thousands of these procedures since 1992. I tried negotiating a little but they made it clear that they wouldn’t consider lowering their cost. In fact, he offered up a couple LASIK centers that are franchised that would likely be $1000 less, but, he added, you get what you pay for. I left with the answers I sought. What can LASIK do for me, and how expensive would it be? I headed back to work arriving just after 3pm. When I got back, I went directly to the center to visit my engineers. Everyone was fixated on CNN watching this silver flying saucer-like balloon floating through the air over Colorado. It was thought to contain a six year old boy. I got sucked into the drama too. How could you not? I left work at 5pm sharp eager to fetch Olivia, who I hadn’t seen for weeks. I arrived at Ashley’s new place on Crescent Av near Bishop Ready HS around 5:30pm. Olivia was anxious to go but showed me her room first. Stephen was there but did his best to avoid any type of real confrontation. He should feel bad. He’s a poor excuse for a father – sperm donor, and that’s about it. We gathered Olivia’s things and headed for home chatting most of the way there. Olivia had lots of questions, just as she usually does. Mindy was just finishing up walking Ykraps when we arrived home. Olivia ran down to see her. She was happy to see Jacob & Bella, and they her. They always show her so much love. The kids played while Mindy heated leftovers (meatloaf). Olivia didn’t eat very well, but then again, we weren’t sure that she hadn’t already eaten. Olivia wanted to watch Bolt, but we wanted to watch the Thursday Night college football game. We won that battle. Mindy bathed the kids and readied them for bed. She was still ill herself and headed to bed soon after tucking in the kids. I stayed up contending with the countless ups of Olivia and Bella. I let them come down stairs for little while and enjoy some popcorn. I sent them back to bed around 1030pm. Finally, I think they went to sleep.