Xmas Shopping - CBC - Barley's - Snow

I slept really well, hardly budging until Mindy returned to the bedroom for a shower. This was the second day of my holiday vacation. It must've been near 715am when I finally rolled out of bed and headed downstairs for coffee and exercise. Just before leaving for work, Mindy asked if I wanted to meet her for lunch. I left it open ended but didn't think I would. I really wanted to do some more Xmas shopping and I was already getting a relatively late start. She left for work at 730am. With bus stop time fast approaching, I walked Ykraps while the kids toiled in their rooms. Before I knew it, it was 755am and time to head to the bus stop. On our way out, Bella mailed her letter to Santa in the north pole (see pic below). The kids were very upbeat given this their last day of school for two whole weeks. The kids had gifts for all their teachers crammed into their book bags. It hadn't crossed my mind until that moment that my sinuses were a non-issue giving rise once more to the allergy theory. Who knows? Back home, alone, I decided not to rush around. After all, those that know me well, know I hate feeling hurried, late, or under the gun. I spent my time blogging, catching up through Wednesday but capturing only each day's highlights instead of the full details. I threw in some photos too. Come 1030am I dressed and headed out for a four mile run. For mid-December, the weather was nice - about 30 degrees and partly cloudy. The run went well, suffering no ill-effects from Thursday evening's skiing. I finished my run around 1110am. Before doing anything else I phoned Mindy to let her know that I wouldn't be coming her way for lunch, which for her begins at something like 1130am. Sounded as though she was mid-lesson. I could hear lots of small voices in the background. She understood and said she didn't expect I would be coming. I didn't want to assume anything, feeling as though I hadn't closed the loop earlier. Soon after hanging up the phone, I hit the shower. I was ready to head out by 1215pm. As I gathered my gear for departure, I realized that the day was already half over. I hate that! I remember thinking this must be what the unemployed feel like- each day flying by faster and faster. What a terrible feeling - a loss of control. My first planned stop was Tuttle mall - Macy's. The mall parking lot was quite full, but I've certainly seen it worse. However, it was a weekday. I was a little bummed that I didn't have any coupons. The last sale mailer I received expired Wednesday. Crap! My goal was to pick-up gifts for my girls - necklaces and possibly the traditional Xmas PJs. I've been buying the girls PJs for several years running dating back 10-15 years. I was disappointed to find their style/patterns the same as last year and their selection picked over. All that remained of the more appealing styles were the 'big' sizes. Determined not to buy just to buy, I decided to forego PJs. I moseyed over to the jewelry aisle. The jewelry counters were crowded and busy. I did my best to remain patient. Finally helped, I selected three sterling silver necklaces with varying pendants. They were 50% off, plus, the young lady working the counter gave me another 20% coupon. In effect, I got all three for a smidge more than the regular price of one. Great! I ventured the lower level Men's department just as I often do. I needed nothing but still wanted to look. However, I do need/want a new pair of black dress shoes but none caught my eye. While there, I checked out kitchen wares too. After leaving Macy's I made a quick stop at the Finish Line to look at running shoes. Already near 2 pm, I left the mall and headed for the Hilliard-Rome Target & Dick's. I stopped at Dick's first. There I picked up a number of items, a couple gifts and a few skiing accessories for myself. I was shocked to look at my phone and see that it was 315pm. Crap! Mindy asked if I would be home to intercept the kids from the bus at 4pm. If I stopped at Target, I knew that I'd be rushed. I nixed Target for the time being. Then, just as I was battling my way down Hilliard Rome Rd towards Trabue, Mindy phoned. She shared that she was on her way home and really didn't need me to be there to greet the kids off the bus. Cool. I circled back around to make that Target stop after all. Mindy asked that I pick-up some more gift tissue. Target is a great store. One can take care of so many gifts there. I picked up the gift wrapping supplies Mindy wanted along with a couple toys for Wally, stocking stuffers, a couple new DVDs for us (Inglorious Basterds & Hangover) and four pair of gloves and two hats for Bella. Now, well after 4pm, I headed for home. At the entrance to our subdivision, there was what appeared to be a truckless UPS man standing with a push cart overflowing with packages. The packages kept falling off the cart as he attempted to push it down the sidewalk. Finding that very odd, I kept my eye on him as I drove to our driveway just down the way. I was troubled with the thought that some of those packages might be mine, and that he might be scamming folks -stealing packages after the real UPS driver leaves them unattended on the front porch. It doesn't take much to look like a UPS guy - brown shirt, pants and hat. I told Mindy about the experience as soon as I got home. She found it odd too. I decided to drive back down to the corner to investigate further. Sure enough, he was still there fumbling with packages. I pulled up alongside the guy and asked if he needed some help. No, he replied. Said the driver left him to deliver by foot while he made neighborhood pick-ups. I kept direct eye contact with the fellow through our brief conversation in an attempt to read any possible contempt looming in his eyes. Finding his story believable, but at the same time hokey, I decided to move on. Before heading home I tried to deliver a Xmas card that was left in our mailbox in error about a week ago. It didn't take long to figure out why. The address on the card didn't exist. Apparently the postman tried to guess and chose our address as a close second. As soon as I got back home I went to the county's property search website and pulled up the last name written on the Xmas card looking for a parcel on our street or in our subdivision. There it was. The sender was off by one digit. We'd deliver it later. It wasn't long before Jimaken was over to pick-up the kids. Must've been just after 5pm. While Mindy got the kids weekend gear in order, I hung Jacob's homemade pinecone bird feeders from the two red maples out back. I assumed he made them at school. The kids soon left with Jimaken. We wouldn't have them again until Sunday afternoon. We didn't hang that long at home. Mindy did Xmas inventory, but then readied for an evening out. As a change of pace, we planned a visit to CBC, and then maybe, a stop at Barley's on our way home. We hadn't been to CBC in quite a longtime. I reminded Mindy how crowded it might be given the happy hour time frame and being the last Friday before Xmas. We didn't care. To our dismay, it wasn't that crowded at all. The lot was only half full and there was plenty of seating at the bar. Hmm? And for the first time in nearly a year, Kevin was bartending on a night that we were in. In fact, all of our favorite CBC servers were in: Stella, Kate, Jamie, and Kevin. We met Stella in June of '08. She might have the prettiest eyes in the world. Last we knew, she was pregnant. Hadn't heard how that all turned out. We called her over to chat. She shared how well she and the baby are doing. She was glowing with happiness - easy to see. That did our hearts good. We also briefly chatted with Jamie, niece Julie's old gal pal from years ago. Kevin shared that he's got just one quarter left of school and has secured a fulltime teaching job for after. Excellent! I spotted a cute young lesbian couple sitting at the end of the bar. One of the two looked a little like Zach Efron from High School Musical. I dared Mindy to walk over and take their photo. Game on! Mindy walked over, asked and snapped. They were most gracious. Mindy and I both had a Xmas Ale to start, then I switched to their IPA. It might be my favorite bottled IPA, but it's even better on draft. We ordered a plate of calamari too. I wasn't hungry at all. Haven't been since Tuesday. Mindy cited extreme hunger. After confirming my soberness, she ordered their 1859 Porter next. I can't say with any certainty, but don't think we were there 2 hours. We agreed to stop at Barley's on our way home. Mindy wouldn't do any more drinking there and agreed to drive home. We both expected Barley's to be packed to the hilt. It wasn't. In fact, the bar was 1/3 full at best. It appeared we arrived just after the early crowd departed. Not long after we arrived, so did others. Much to my pleasure, they had a new batch of Centennial on tap. Of course I ordered one. Mindy went with water. Soon a handful of our peeps arrived: Rick C, Tom C, Bob & Carol, & neighbors David and Becky. During our brief visit, I probably had three Centennials. They were delicious. Mindy drove home just as we planned much earlier. It was snowing at a fairly good clip and accumulating too. Very pretty. We talked about visiting the neighbors, but Mindy nixed it in favor of alone time. I took Ykraps on a brief walk out back in the snow once we arrived home. I took a few snow pics too. We headed for bed around 11pm.