Grout, Golf & Grillin'

I was up at 715am and felt really good. I could tell right away that it was gonna be a good vision day. I could see clear both long and short. That was welcome news. After exercise I checked the weather. There had to be an error, I thought. The temperature was only 28 degrees. Wow, hasn’t been that cold in a while. It was cold, but the skies clear. It was supposed to warm to near 70 later in the day. Before pouring my coffee, I started my Prevacid dosage. Supposed to take one everyday for 14 days. I sipped coffee at the PC, but spent comparatively little time doing as much. I didn’t want to ruin a good vision day. At 830am I took Mindy coffee and gathered my running clothes. I was determined to get my run in sooner rather than later. I bundled warmly given the current temperature then stretched before heading out. If it was below freezing, it sure didn’t feel like. The sunshine was warm. I ran four miles comfortably, although a tad warm through the final ½ mile or so. I left the door lock behind me banking on Mindy and/or the kids being up when I returned. Nope, still in bed. No one heeded my knocks. I ended up going in through the garage. I checked the temperature after getting out of my winter running gear. It was already 11 degrees warmer – 39. The sunshine made a big difference. I poured more coffee then played on the PC again briefly. Soon Mindy and the kids joined me downstairs. It was still before 930am. Mindy started preparing breakfast burritos, a favorite of Jacob’s. I shared my plan to grout this morning before going to neighbor Kapil & Peobena’s daughter’s b-day party, which started at noon. While Mindy made the burritos while I updated the anti-virus software on the kids laptop. The trial subscription recently lapsed. Good thing I checked. My existing license was good for three PC’s. I almost paid for a second. I’ve come to find that I like Norton way better than McAfee. Jacob wasn’t too pleased that I overtook his machine, but I didn’t want to risk a virus. Plus, it needed done while I had the idle time. Soon the burritos were ready. They were extra good. I ate only one, being careful not to over stuff myself. Mindy cleaned up while I prepared to grout the new tile. We agreed to work as a team, me grout and Mindy wipe clean. We started in the back corner behind the stove just in case there was any learning to do. I applied the grout to an area about 1 sq foot before turning the wiping over to Mindy. Thought we might kill each other at the outset, but we eventually agreed to switch roles. That seemed to help, especially once we got a system down. The Sears dryer repairman showed up around 1100am to install our new heating coil. It didn’t take him more than 15 minutes. Before leaving, he shared that the heating coil went out for one reason only – a clogged dryer vent hose. He also shared that the metal vent I bought to replace the plastic hose wouldn’t work – too much bend. We finished the grouting after about 1.5 hours. By then the kids were chomping at the bit to head over to Isha’s b-day party. I released Mindy to shower while I cleaned up the daunting mess. All that was left was to caulk, reinstall the electrical wall plates, and rehang the kitchen window valance. But that would wait for at least another day. The grout needed 24 hours to dry. After clean-up I stepped back to admire my work. Looks nice! I then headed up for a shower. We left for the neighbor’s party at 1245pm. It was a gorgeous day – about 65 under nothing but blue skies. There must’ve been about 20 cars parked along the street. Quite a turn out. Kapil rented a jump house for all the kids. They really seemed to enjoy it. I had to ask Jacob to exit after catching him bullying Bella and her friends while inside. He stomped off acting innocent. The thing is, I asked him nicely once. He did it again. Loves to bully his sister. Not sure why. The food was good, catered by City Barbeque. Mindy & I shared a couple of plates. It was such a lovely afternoon. I suggested golf to Kenny. He bit right away. Both wives were agreeable to he & I escaping for 18 holes. Mindy asked if I would be home to grill steaks afterwards. Yes dear. I hurried home to change into attire more suitable for golf. Kenny met me at our house and we left, but not before dropping the house keys off to Mindy. We left uncertain where we might play. We figured we’d scope out Raymond since it’s right across the street. But just as we expected, it was backed up like nobody’s business. Next stop, Phoenix. Took about 15 minutes to get there, but it was crowded too. We decided to head on down to Split Rock in Commercial Point. We knew we could walk on there. Sure enough, we were able to get right on. 18 holes and a cart for $25. Not bad! Like the past Wednesday, I started out OK, bogey, bogey, par, but started to struggle from there onward. Only this time my struggles were worse than never. I couldn’t strike the ball solidly at all. I tried maintaining a positive attitude, but believe me, it was hard. Everything I hit was a low, weak slice – every club short of my woods, that is. AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Finally, on the 15th hole I found my groove again and started making some damn good golf shots. By then, however, my score was through the roof. But believe it or not, I pulled a lot of positives from the experience. One, my eye sight was next to perfect, both long, middle and short. For that reason alone, I was grateful. And two, the inconsistent golf reaffirmed my determination to contact JR Able next week for a private lesson. I will fix what’s ailing my swing. We had to wait on the twosome in front of us a couple of times, but by no means was the course backed up. In fact, we finished our 18 holes in just over 3.5 hours. We arrived home around 7pm. I already knew that Mindy had fetched a boat load of steaks from Sam’s Club after talking to her from the 16th tee box. She’d made homemade potato salad too. The plan was to grill at Kenny’s. I took a quick shower that felt really good. I was sweaty and dirty from golf. Mindy and I walked down at 725pm. As usual, Kenny & Chrissy had a house full. This time we supplied all the steaks, something Kenny’s done more than once. Most of the little kids ate hot dogs. Jacob and Jake ate steak. Chrissy seemed a little overwhelmed. To help her out a little, I hand washed all the dirty dishes. Sometime around 9 or 10pm nephew Joe and Jerry showed up at Chrissy & Kenny’s back door. They livened things up a little. We hung out drinking beer until 11pm or so, and then headed back to our house. Joe and Jerry wanted to see my handy tile work. We ended up drinking more and even did a couple of shots – buttery nipples. Joe & Jerry left at close to 1am. Mindy & I headed to bed.