Partying for Bella's Sake

I was out of bed and downstairs at 7:30am. Once again, it was cloudy and 50 degrees. Because it was Sunday, I planned to skip my exercise routine, so after starting some coffee I headed immediately outside with Ykraps. Back inside, I spent a quiet morning reading college football results and catching up on Glenn’s blog. I didn’t head out for my run until 9:30am. Mindy was up and downstairs when I got back from my run. I suggested she make some of that thick maple bacon she bought at Sam’s Club the day before. She agreed. While the bacon baked, I went out to whack and edge the lawn trying to get a jump on the busy day ahead. Mindy did more party decorating while I worked outside. The bacon was ready when I came back in. I offered to fry both of us eggs. Mindy wanted only one. I sampled the bacon while the eggs cooked. Not as mapley as the Black Label stuff we typically buy but very good and very, very thick. After woofing down my breakfast I headed back outside to mow the lawn. It wasn’t over grown but knew that if it didn’t get cut today, it might not get cut until next weekend. And by then it would be way too long. Mindy didn’t seem overly excited about me cutting the lawn. Even though the lawn wasn’t that long, it still proved to be more of a challenge than I assumed. It was incredibly thick. It took until 1215pm to cut and blow the lawn. Mindy came out and asked if we could alter our plans slightly. She was heading off to Wal-Mart to pick-up Bella’s birthday cake and then onto soccer. She wanted me to shower then go fetch the boys, Rocky & Landon, and then meet her at the soccer field. I could tell that Mindy was stressed. She took the Trooper. After hearing the time, I hurried with the last tasks needing done. I was in the shower minutes later. Mindy phoned ten minutes later with another change of plans. The Wal-Mart bakery screwed up her cake so much that Mindy insisted on another. It wouldn’t be ready for a couple more hours. Mindy came back home and rode with me to pick up the boys and then onto soccer. I didn’t question her reasoning at the time, but now, as I’m writing this, I don’t understand why she didn’t simply go onto the soccer field as planned. No biggie. We had the boys and were in route to the Hilliard soccer complex by 1:05pm. We were late. The game had already begun by the time we arrived. Jimaken was there with the kids. Although I was prepared for it, it was much cooler at the soccer fields with the thick clouds and chilly autumn breeze. I played with Bella, Rocky, and Landon through much of the game. Jacob’s team just isn’t that good, or that fun to watch. The game was over around 2:00pm. We headed towards Wal-Mart to once again pick-up Bella’s cake. This was Mindy’s third try. This time she emerged with a cake. The boys and I waited in the Honda. As soon as we got home Mindy directed both Jimaken and I through final party preparations. She had Jimaken hanging spider webbing outside on the deck, and me hanging the piñata. She asked Jacob & Bella to clean up the playroom in the basement. I decided to help them out, although Bella was soon beckoned from the basement to get her hair done and costume on. Jacob wasn’t pleased. Being the defiant one he often is, he decided he wasn’t going to finish the job he was asked to do and ran off upstairs even while I asked that he not. I wasn’t pleased. I went looking for him. He was out on the deck with his daddy. He glanced at me defiantly. He knew he’d done wrong. Instead of going after him, I waited and let his mother deal with it. And being the lucky one that I am, at roughly the same instant, Gloria arrived for the party. I greeted her politely and then went about more party preparations. Mindy had me fill the bobbin’ for apples bucket. I let her know about Jacob’s antics. She sent him to the basement to finish. I went down to help. Guests started to arrive around 3pm. In no time at all, our house was full of big ones and little ones. It was hard to find a spot to just sit, stand or otherwise breathe. Mindy purposefully toned down the food offerings this go round. She usually sets out a ridiculous spread of finger type foods. This time it was chips, dip, and store bought veggie & cheese platters. She also pre-ordered 6 pizzas for a 4:30pm delivery. The party went on as planned. Mindy had the kids bobbin’ for apples then whacking the piñata. Most kids gripped the stem of the bobbin apples with their teeth making for an easy catch. After watching all those kids snort and dunk, let’s just say I won’t be bobbin’ for apples anytime soon. The piñata plastic tie-wrap broke after the first good whack. We had to alter the game a little by simply leaving it standing on the ground. One of the bigger kids split it open quickly. We really should’ve let all of Bella’s friends get a whack first. Once it was split open, Mindy snatched it up and made the kids gather around in a big circle before she scattered its contents all over the ground. Bedlam ensued. After the piñata and before the pizzas, Mindy took Bella and her friends out to the deck to watch Bella open all of her gifts. Some of us stayed inside to watch the end of the Bengals/Browns game. It went to OT and still almost ended in a tie. The Bengals prevailed, however – 23-20. We enjoyed pizza & cake for the next hour or so. Most friends and family began to depart around 6-630pm. Chris, Mindy’s bff from college, stayed later than the others. He helped with clean-up while also serving as a sounding board for Mindy. She’s been the same for him many times past. After Chris departed, Mindy agreed to run the boys home while I agreed to mop the tile floor. And believe me, it was a mess! Jacob went with Mindy. Bella stayed home with me. She really wanted to do the mopping, but I needed/wanted to get to get it done in a hurry. I successfully swept and mopped the floor before Mindy made it back home. Once she was back we continued the clean-up effort while also getting the kids ready for bed. It was already after 8pm. I tuned the TV to SNF on NBC which pitted San Diego against Pittsburgh. I stayed up watching the game until late into the third quarter. I headed to bed around 1015pm.