Yard Work & Soccer

After staying up until after 1am partying, I wisely took three Advil before going to bed. That did the trick. I didn’t get up until 845am but felt fine when I did. Mindy didn’t budge. I knew she went through an entire bottle of wine. Wasn’t sure if she’d be hung over or not. Because it was Sunday I didn’t do sit-ups or push-ups. I prepped some coffee then took care of my eyes. Speaking of which, it seemed like another banner eye sight day. That’s two in a row. I fooled around on my PC for about an hour then snuck upstairs to snatch my running clothes. I remembered Mindy asking me not to wake her. I was careful not to. She must’ve gotten up somewhere between 10 & 1030am. However, not sure if she woke on her own or if the kids woke her. She made the monkey bread she promised Bella the day before. I had a piece even before heading out on my run. The Prevacid I’m taking recommends eating something within 30 minutes after taking a pill. I skipped a stretch, and instead, headed directly out the door after quickly donning my running attire. I planned to run just three miles, again wanting to get back to my usual 27 miles per week (4 miles M-S and then 3 on Sundays). I had one extra 3 mile day the week before. I ran along Trabue and Hague. As usual, it was a pleasurable run, especially down Hague from Trabue. I felt really strong and full of energy. Back at home, I ate some more of that monkey bread and poured a second cup of coffee. I let some fresh air in the house too. It was warming up nicely. We had to leave for Jacob’s soccer match by 1230pm. But before that, I hoped to get a little yard work done. I did some simple but nagging tasks ahead of my shower. I emptied last season’s dead flowers from the two hanging baskets by the hot tub, and carried the Hibiscus that I left out to freeze over to the compost pile. I also pulled the dead flowers from the large flower pot on the front porch, too. By the time I finished getting cleaned up it was time to go to soccer. It was about 70 and sunny – very nice for early April. We arrived at the Hilliard soccer fields right at 1245pm – 15 minutes before game time as required. Bella complained of being bored minutes after setting up our chairs along the sidelines. But thankfully, one of her Grandma Sharon pals showed up and she played some with him. Jimaken is the head coach of Jacob’s soccer team. It’s essentially the same players from last fall’s team. You wouldn’t know from the results, however. They’re actually good now. Gotta hand it to Jimaken. He knows soccer. Jacob’s team won 7-1. Jacob scored at one goal and narrowly missed another that went just over the net. As Jacob correctly pointed out, that 7 goal total was more than they scored all season last fall. In a somber note, one of the parents shared that last fall’s coach is battling cancer. We headed home after soccer, everyone eager for some lunch. I ate my leftover Chipotle cold. It was good. I was anxious to get outside to do some yard work. Wasn’t sure how much I’d get done, but figured I’d start by edging the front flower beds with a square shovel and see how far I could get. That’s always tough work. I edged the entire front beds along with the two curb trees, white pine, and east side bed. Much more than I thought I might get to. I then fetched the Deere and trailer from the shed to haul away all the edgings. I filled the trailer twice. That’s a lot of edgings! In years past, I’ve used the edgings to fill low spots in the yard, and used the sod to patch bare spots. This year I dumped it all on the compost pile figuring it far more efficient to buy pieces of sod for patching if necessary. I will edge the back and west side beds another day, maybe next weekend. Now it was time to cut the lawn. This being the second cut, the front yard was thick and lush. I whacked and edged first. It looked sweet! This time I raised the blade on the Toro to accommodate the taller, thicker lawn. I cut the entire front lawn with the Toro. As usual, I used the Deere for most of the rear. The girls (Bella and friends) asked if I would give them tractor rides after finishing the lawn. It’s become somewhat of a spring tradition. So, after blowing the drive and walks, I gave all the kids tractor rides on the Deere. The kids loved it! While I was driving the kids around the neighborhood, Mindy started grilling dinner - burgers. We were having baked beans, potato salad, and burgers. Oh, and she made some chocolate pudding for dessert. I was covered in grass bits head to toe. I simply had to get another shower before dinner. By the time I was again clean it was already approaching 7pm. We sat for dinner soon after. Mindy agreed to do clean-up while I started caulking along the tile/granite juncture. The caulk matches the grout perfectly, but its consistency is much more silicone-like. It took a while to get the bead looking professional but I did it. Looking good! All that was left were the wall plates. I planned to buy those on Monday. Mindy suggested stainless steel. We tuned into Life come 8pm. Bella & Mindy watched intently. While they watched Life, I updated my blog with entries from several days past. By 9pm, I was caught up through Thursday the 8th. At 9pm I joined the family watching the second hour of Life, this hour dedicated to insects. The videography was again stunning. I’m certain the program will win awards for that alone. Great show. Mindy insisted the kids be in bed by 9pm. Unfortunately, they missed the insect piece. Mindy and I headed to bed at Life’s conclusion.