The Weekend Ahead

I was up and alert by 530am. Straight up, I freed Frankie from her pen and then took her outside to take care of business. It was a nice morning – warm. I cruised through exercise, PC, and coffee just ahead of mediation and stretching. And after a second outing, I took Frankie to Mindy along with a cup of coffee. It was only 620am. I took my time dressing for a run heading out the door just after 630am. I ran four miles without any drama. My lower back, now almost fully healed, didn’t bark even once. During my run I contemplated the weekend ahead. I was much looking forward to it, still hoping to finish the mulching and begin planting annuals. Before any of that, however, I still needed to cut the lawn, something that’s needed done since Tuesday or Wednesday. The spring rain has prevented me from cutting the lawn earlier in the week. I even toyed with the idea of cutting it after work, but seriously doubted whether I’d be up for that come 6pm. Mindy had my eggs ready and waiting. She was already preparing to depart. Jacob, I noticed, was wearing shorts with the forecast calling for a high of 71 under partly cloudy skies. On the other hand, Mindy had Bella in jeans in preparation for her trip to the zoo. Mindy decided that because the forecast called for a chance of rain, and the fact that the zoo always seems cooler than elsewhere that it just made good sense. She told Bella to take a medium weight jacket too. Mindy left for school and I headed for the shower. The kids and I headed out to the bus stop at 757am. Kenny was out with the kids after taking Chrissy to the airport earlier. Meanwhile, we had Frankie with us on her leash. She did pretty good. Kenny signed up to serve as a chaperone for the zoo trip. He’d be paired up with Makayla and Bella. The sky was slowlyg clearing during my drive into work leaving us under gorgeous sunshine. For the time being, the sunny skies left me in the right frame a mind for a potentially difficult day at the office. The work day was challenging. Through the morning hours I remained hopeful that I might be able to sneak away at lunch at head to Stader’s to get some annuals, but that wasn’t to be. It was crazy busy start to finish. The bright spot was that at day’s end I could look forward to a weekend away. I ended up at the office until just after 630pm, another long work day. It felt incredibly good to get away when I finally did. Mindy was at the grocery when I first arrived home. It wasn’t long before she was home, however. The puppy was in her pen and seemingly happy to stay in it even though I opened the door. I helped Mindy carry in the groceries. Mindy shared that the temp reached into the 80’s earlier in the day. We laughed about poor Bella at the zoo wearing jeans and a jacket. Speaking of her day at the zoo, Mindy said Bella ran into lots of our friends. The first sunshine in a few days, we sat on the deck for a few enjoying the fresh air. Mindy headed in to ready for a night at Barley’s while I tried taking a brief nap from the deck. After Mindy changed, I headed upstairs to switch shirts and freshen up a bit, too. We left for Barley’s at 7:35pm. Mindy called and left Tom C. a VM along our drive hoping he might stop in and have a beer with us. Not a ton of regulars but still a typical crowd. We cozied up to the bar where I ordered an Centennial IPA. Both Diedra and Beth were working. Shared stories about their recent cruise. Said Honduras and Belize were the nicest beaches they’d ever seen. Note to self. We ordered food pretty early, me a brisket quesadilla and Mindy a Barley burger. My food was delicious. Albeit slow, I ate the entire quesadilla. Mindy had only one beer. I drank three. We spent the last hour on the patio with my buddy Doug and a group of his co-workers. Lots of stories. Lots of good laughs. Just before 9pm, Mindy settled the tab and we left for home. Mindy drove. We weren’t at home long before making our way down to Kenny’s. I grabbed two cold beers from the garage mini-fridge, a CBC IPA and a Great Lakes Pale Ale. Not sure f Mindy took one or not. Think she did. Kenny was hanging out with the kids. We stayed for two beers – not too long. Home to bed around 11pm.