Big Fat Packing

I was up somewhere near 730am. That’s well within the ‘normal’ range for a weekend/vacation wake time. At first glance, it looked like a sunny day was in the offing - a continuation from Friday. Excellent! Just as I headed out the door Mindy asked that I bring her coffee . Even though I was done sleeping, I was still a little groggy. And I remained that way until my calisthenics were in the bag and I had sucked down my first cup of coffee. I must’ve delivered Mindy’s coffee around 8:30am. Back downstairs, I returned to my PC where I played for another hour or so. I also listened to VM left by Bob I. from the night before. That dog! He and Mary Ann were skiing in Brighton, Utah. Left the VM from the ski lift. Glad they were able to work out the trip. It's hard for me to think of anyone more deserving than Mary Ann. Mindy & I talked about the possibility of skiing today, but that would mean throwing away an opportunity to get our gear packed for our own fast approaching ski trip. I thought better of it. Mindy joined me downstairs around 9am. Meanwhile, the kids slept in until almost 10am. That’s about the time that I left for my run. It was a nice winter day for a run – not too cold and sunny. For no good reason, I opted to run just three miles. After my run I called Ashley to measure her interest in celebrating her birthday by going to dinner. She reported having a cold and not feeling well. Took a rain check. Mindy still planned to pick her up a gift card later that afternoon while out at Target. Some bad news, Mindy received a call that brother-in-law Larry’s mother was hospitalized after a severe stroke. Mindy wanted to head to the hospital. Over the next hour, we both took showers. Mindy decided to take Bella along too. Jacob stayed home with me. While Mindy was gone, I tuned our skis by shaving the edges and waxing the bottoms with the rubber stone and wax Bob gave me for Xmas. Was easier than I thought. And the skis really soaked up the wax. After letting them set for 30 minutes, I packed them in our ski duffle. Next, I pulled the liners from our ski boots. They were still damp from last weekend’s outing. I placed the liners on heating vents upside down so they would dry. I then cleaned the boot shells and made sure all the screws were tight. I had a separate suitcase set aside for our boots. I made sure to put our identification on the inside and outside of each. While packing our ski gear, I had my ski pants and jacket in the wash. They both needed it. Sometime mid-afternoon, I headed outside to clear the ice/snow away from the storm drain basin along the curb. It was packed in three feet of ice and snow. The temperature was over freezing for the first time in a while, and that coupled with sunshine made for ideal melt-off conditions. While out there, I chipped away at the iceberg resting at the foot of our driveway, too. I couldn’t get it cleared 100%, but got through more than half of it. To help ensure timely mail delivery, I also carved a clearer path to our mailbox. Mindy & Bella were back before 5pm. We discussed dinner plans and eventually settled on the Big Fat. Because we had the kids, we figured earlier was better than later. We watched a handful of winter Olympics events through the early evening, or until we readied to leave for the Big Fat. We tried reaching Renee to see if she might want to join us for dinner. We got her VM. We headed out just after 6pm. It doesn’t take long to get to the Big Fat Greek from our house. We asked to be seated with Katarina but her tables were 100% booked for a party of 28 arriving around 7pm. We ended up with Alexzandra. We weren’t there five minutes when I had to curtly remind Jacob and Bella about their restaurant manners. Leading up to it, they were each throwing mini tantrums over the food selections. We allowed Jacob to order from the adult menu. All we asked was that he ate it all. Like Mindy, he wanted the salmon. Bella opted for the kids menu spaghetti. And being a creature of habit, I went with the broiled sea scallops cooked in a white wine & garlic sauce. I added a small Greek salad, too. Mindy had a glass of wine. Jacob and I had water. Bella ordered Sierra Mist. Dinner was delicious. Then again, it always is at the Big Fat. Everybody seemed to enjoy their food. We ordered a piece of chocolate cake to share for dessert. I picked up the check. Happy Anniversary dear! We talked earlier about hooking up with the neighbors after dinner. They were kidless and supposedly doing a Cameron Mitchell restaurant with Mike & Julie. Mindy phoned them on our drive home. Turned out, they hadn’t even left for dinner yet. They were waiting on the in-laws to free up to watch the kids. Said they might be doing Barley’s instead. We asked that they call when they were back, but neither Mindy nor I were too sure that we’d make it that long even though it wasn’t quite 8pm. I resisted the urge to get in my PJs thinking that we might be visiting the neighbors, although Mindy changed as soon as we got home. We all settled down in the family room to watch the Olympics. I made a Jack & Coke around 830pm. And then, come 930pm, I caved and went for my PJ’s. I wasn’t going anywhere. I was comfy. The kids weren’t pleased and acted up. Mindy offered bed as a solution to their whining. They wanted to head down to the neighbors. Aside from Mindy & I being tired, the neighbors weren’t home yet. We tucked the kids into bed by 10pm. We stayed up just a short while longer watching the Olympics.