Being Seven

Happy 7th Birthday Bella!! Despite having Friday off work as a vacation day, I still planned to get up reasonably early. I woke around 6:15am, or shortly thereafter, about the same time Mindy got up to ready for work. I felt bad that there wasn’t fresh coffee to greet Mindy directly out of bed, but got some started quickly. After exercise and before walking Ykraps, I delivered a cup to Mindy, but she was already in the shower. I walked Ykraps afterwards. Meanwhile, it was raining again and at a pretty good clip. I felt as though I might be wasting a much coveted vacation day. I would’ve run while Mindy showered but since I didn’t have to be anywhere directly, I decided to wait until after the kids were safely on the school bus. Besides, it was Bella’s birthday and I wanted to be present when she woke. As an added bonus, the forecast said the rain would end by 9am. I spent the rest of the early morning puttering around the house and playing on the PC. As expected, Bella was in a good mood, this being her 7th birthday. Mindy sent Bella’s teacher an email to let her know that I would be delivering cookies later in the morning. I’d have to stop at Kroger or Wal-Mart first, however. As nice as the weather was for my birthday just three short weeks ago, it was pouring rain as we made our way to the bus stop. Despite the rain, Bella didn’t allow it to dampen her spirits. She tipped me off that lunch time would be 1130am. While at the bus stop, Kenny and I discussed the thought of golfing later in the day if the weather cleared up as predicted. But I wasn’t going to hold my breath. It was cool and rainy, and the ground saturated. And it was still raining rather steadily as 9am came and went. Valuable time was wasting away. I had to head out for my run, rain or not. It rained lightly but steadily through the first three miles of my run. It all but stopped for the final mile. I was back home good and wet by 1010am. I wasted little time moving on to a hot shower. I left the house at 11am destined for the Hilliard Kroger and Bella’s classroom. At Kroger I picked up two dozen cupcakes, two gallons of juice, cups, and napkins for Bella’s classroom b-day celebration. I also bought two large pumpkins – one for each kid, and a dozen roses for Mindy. It was just before 11:30am as I left Kroger for Bella’s school, which is just around the corner. I pulled up in front directly behind two school buses. I got the impression I wasn’t really supposed to park there. Oh well! Mrs. Valentine was in her classroom by herself. Not sure where all the students were. That pretty much squished my opportunity to embarrass Bella by singing her happy birthday as I had planned. I was gonna ask all of her fellow students to sing along, including the teacher. Ah Shux! I didn’t stick around too long. I was back on the road by 11:45am. I had nothing else planned for the day so I decided to visit Kohl’s and Dick’s sporting goods on Hilliard Rome Rd. It was once again spitting light rain. Any thought of golfing looked bleak. I pretty much wrote off any such plans. I spent probably 30-40 minutes in Kohl’s. I picked up another pair of loose, wicking running pants. I got them on sale for $18. That’s far cheaper than name brands like Under Armor or Nike. Next door at Dick’s I looked at new ski jackets. They must’ve just recently put them out. I was in a couple weeks ago and there were none to be found. I found a couple I like in all black but didn’t buy. Maybe later. It was nearing 1pm. I saw that I missed a call from Kenny as I exited the store. Sky was clearing to our west. I could see some blue skies moving our way. I made a quick stop at my bank branch just a few hundred yards from Dick’s parking lot to get some cash. I called Kenny back right after. He wondered about golf. I declined citing the need to intercept the kids from the bus stop at 4pm. Plus, I wanted to bake Bella some brownies for a brief birthday celebration later on. On my way home I stopped at Burger King in a weak moment. I was starving. It was almost 2pm by the time I arrived home, and by the time I got settled it was after 230pm. Where had the day gone? I started making those brownies next. I made an extra-thick batch which took almost twice as long to bake – 55 minutes. While the brownies cooled, I doctored up a container of cream cheese icing I found in the pantry. I melted chunks of baking chocolate and then added some powered cocoa, too. That did the trick - chocolate-cream cheese frosting. I topped off the iced brownie concoction with dark chocolate M&Ms. It looked yummy. I found a big number ‘7’ candle in the pantry to top it off. Bella and Jacob got off the bus at 4pm. Bella was still on cloud nine, and thanked me for bringing those treats to her classroom earlier in the day. She was excited about the pumpkin and brownies, too, and so was Jacob. Mindy got home near 430pm. Our evening plans called for a brief birthday celebration then dropping the kids off at Jimaken’s parents in Hilliard. This was a Jimaken weekend but he’s teaching a class on Friday evenings this quarter. Mindy made sure the kids were fed. We’d be eating at Barley’s later. Turns out, both kids shared our Thursday leftovers – wings, quesadilla, and sauerkraut balls. Afterwards, we sang happy birthday, ate some brownies, and then watched Bella opened her gifts. We took the kids to Jimaken’s parents at 7pm. They live a few miles due west of us. That might’ve been my first drive down the recently completed, widened version of Roberts Rd. Very nice. We arrived at Barley’s around 730pm. We got a decent parking spot. Typical group of peeps at Barley’s. Beth informed me that they had the West Coast Green Flash IPA on tap. It was an easy decision. I went with one of those. Mindy selected a Founder’s Breakfast Stout. Neither of us was disappointed. I was probably on my second IPA when I spotted a familiar looking character darting by out the corner of my eye. The name hit me quickly. It was Doug H., an old Time Warner cohort. As he disappeared around the corner I hollered out his name almost instinctually. He promptly turned around and walked back out to where I was. I introduced myself quickly hardly giving him enough time to process my face. Not a minute or two later I introduced Doug to Mindy. I consider Doug one of my mentors in my early career – about 25 years ago. Among other things, he taught me about determination, a lot about work ethic and how to separate oneself from the rest of the pack. Without a doubt, I needed someone like him to take me under their wing. Doug’s one of only a few that made such a lasting impression in my life. We worked hard, I learned a lot, and we had oodles of fun. I never formally thanked Doug back then. I guess it just wasn’t the macho thing to do. I didn’t make that mistake Friday. I made sure to tell him how much he meant to me back then, and how much I appreciated what I learned from him. Mindy seemed to enjoy his company as well as his girlfriend Jamie. Jamie ended up leaving, but Doug stayed hanging out with all of us. We told countless stories, many of which I’d forgotten about. Before he left, we exchanged email addresses and agreed to hook up again soon. We left Barley’s and arrived home sometime after 11pm. We headed straight to bed.