What's on the Firkin?

Just like I have for the past couple of weeks, I was up a little early taking full advantage of the time change. I had my calisthenics in the bag and a bead on the weather all before 5:40am. It was significantly warmer than Thursday morning when the low temp flirted with freezing. It was 42 degrees when Ykraps and I headed out for our walk. There was some scattered cloud cover but also plenty of visible stars. It was supposed to be another sunny day with temperatures in the 60’s. I had more than ample alone time, which translated into blog reading and 401k watching. I woke Mindy with coffee at 610am after which I moved immediately to meditation and stretching. I had a hard time letting my mind relax, but not for lack of trying. There will always be days like that. Stretching was great – the best thing ever! I felt great heading out for my run. I ran four miles for the fifth time in the last six, although the truth is, my legs were feeling stiff. Yesterday’s golf, I’m sure.Mindy had breakfast all ready back at home. Soon Mindy left for school and I headed up for a shower. The kids and I headed off to the bus stop at 7:55am. After the kids were off to school I spent a minute or two giving the drywall repair a close-up once over looking for any imperfections now visible in full daylight. No obvious flaws. If all goes as planned, I’ll be applying the blackberry paint tomorrow. I dropped a check in the mail for my mom just before leaving for work. The work day went well, although I was extremely busy. Part of me wanted to leave for a fast food at lunch, but since we’d almost certainly be at Barley’s later I remained loyal to my healthful diet and ate only my veggies, fruit, and tuna. Honestly, I got so busy that the entire day was a blur. I didn’t even know what the weather was doing. I braced for a chill as I left for home at 515pm, but was pleasantly surprised to find spring-like warmth. It must’ve been 60 degrees. Like many Friday’s, I phoned my mom along my drive home. Among other things, she shared her latest medical drama – blood in her stool. I figure it’s from the polyps that she learned about a couple weeks ago. Said to have another doctor’s appointment to address them. Before letting her go I mentioned dropping a check in the mail this morning. Mindy was busy in the kitchen when I arrived home, not with dinner, but organizing the kids school work. I was surprised to see the kids still there, temporarily forgetting about the new Friday evening drill (dropping the kids to Jimaken’s parents at 7pm). Jacob was in a really good mood and was very clingy. He walked Ykraps with me then hung out along side of me while I relaxed on the familyroom floor. At the same time, Mindy organized the kids gear for a weekend with dad. I napped for about 15 minutes then woke around 620pm feeling reenergized. By the way, part of my new PC shipment arrived today. I guessed it my new router. FedEx left a tag stating that they’d return Saturday with two other pieces since we weren’t home. That’s fast! I played around on the PC until it was time to leave to drop the kids and head to Barley’s. It was just after 7pm when we dropped the kids. I shared a rather in-depth work-related story with Mindy along our drive to Barley’s. We arrived there near 730pm. The parking lot might’ve been as packed as I‘ve ever seen it. I didn’t mind. It’s good for the business. I figured the bar would be crowded and it was. In fact, there was hardly any room to stand. We managed, though. We snuggled up close to some of our peeps and soon had beers in hand. I started with a Bitter Dan IPA, and Mindy a Pint-of-Joe. I’m guessing it was just after 8pm when several unfamiliar visitors left clearing out the bar area for us regulars. What a relief! Mindy took that as her queue to order food. She ordered steak and greens. I wasn’t ready to eat. While waiting on her food she went in search of our friends Doug and Jamie, who we expected in for a visit, but often dine in the back section. While she was gone I ordered a firkin – Centennial IPA. It was good, but like a lot of their firkin, it seemed a little flat/watered down. Mindy’s food arrived barside, but she was still off elsewhere. Not for long, however. She must’ve sensed it, because she showed up a few seconds later. She shared a few bites of her steak with me. It was good. I also had a bite or two of her mashed potatoes but that’s about it. The verdict was still out on whether or not I would eat a full meal. Mindy shared that she found Doug and Jamie around back and that they’d be joining us at the bar soon. They must’ve come around about 15 minutes later. We hung with Doug and Jamie for the remainder of the evening. Sprinkled in were many of our other favorite peeps too. Nephew Joe texted that they were hanging out in the Brewery District and invited us down. I suggested we go, but Mindy nixed the idea sighting our single venue rule. Probably smart. While greeting our neighbors, Dave & Becky, I spilled a beer on my lap. Disappointed, I ordered one more before we readied to leave. I had a good buzz to be sure. We left for home just before 11pm. I was feeling little, if any, pain. As luck would have it, I was really hungry once at home. While Mindy readied for bed, I whipped up some eats. I ate Wednesday’s leftover sauerkraut balls. I joined Mindy in bed about 10 minutes later. She was already out.