Grand Boys

I was up and out of bed somewhere near 730am. My stomach bothered me most of the night, nothing major, just that dull gnawing feeling. I quietly headed downstairs and started a pot of coffee. I left Frankie in her pen while I headed off to the PC. I was very anxious to read about the Vikings 3rd preseason game results after purposefully avoiding the score/stats before heading to bed the night before. They won, and from reading the storyline, it sounded like Brett Favre had a decent game. It was Sunday so I skipped the calisthenics. Mindy got up around 830am. She and I headed outside with Frankie. It was a lovely summer morning, and another cloudless start to the day. However, our September-like weather was a thing of the past. It was predicted to make it into the 90’s with high humidity. That’s summer. Expect it! While relaxing on the deck, I refilled the bird feeder and snapped a few pictures, including a macro zoom of a spider in his web. It was closing in on 10am. The kids were still asleep. I readied and left for my run. I ran along Trabue and south on Hague doing the typical Sunday three mile path. It was already starting to warm up but I wasn’t anywhere close to feeling uncomfortable. Mindy had bacon and French toast cooking by the time I returned home. The kids were up too. I played on the PC until the food was ready. I had one piece of French toast and three slices of bacon. Mindy and I agreed to have the boys over for the afternoon and evening. During clean-up, I suggested we call Lindsey early to discuss transportation arrangements. Basically, we asked that she and/or Kelly drop them off and we’d see them home just like the week before. Kelly agreed. I suggested 130pm – enough time for Mindy & I to run some errands. Mindy took a call from friend Rene soon after I hung up from talking with Lindsey. I headed off to the shower. I wanted to make a trip to Home Depot and Golf Galaxy. Mindy & I agreed that I would head out first. I figured to be gone between 1-1.5 hours. I left the house near 11am – drove the BM’er. I decided to stop at Golf Galaxy first. I remembered my $50 off coupon but not my gift card. Dang it! Oh well. It’s not like I can’t use it another time. I was determined to buy that new Taylormade 3-wood and 3 Rescue I’ve been looking at. Today’s the last day to use that coupon. I had my choice of the ’07 model or the ’08 model. They were the same price. I went with the ’08 model – duh! I picked up some new balls, a glove, and tees, too. Can’t wait to hit the new clubs. I drove by my office in route to Home Depot from Golf Galaxy. I wasn’t in Home Depot long, knowing exactly what I needed. First and foremost, I wanted to replace the dual water diverter/spigot that broke last week, and two, I wanted some more Miracle Grow and Weed Be-Gone with crab grass killer. It was 12:08pm when I started the BM’er for home. The kids were out in the driveway with their skateboards, rip-stik, and ramps when I got back home. Looked like they were having fun. I wasted no time at all installing the new water diverter. I put my new clubs in my bag then headed inside. It was starting to heat up and get humid. Mindy left shortly after my arrival. Had a few stops to make, including picking up a prescription and then Sam’s Club for steaks. I thought I might nap and read before the boys arrived, but didn’t get around to it. Instead, I used the time to download a bunch of pictures and then did some writing in my blog. For whatever reason, it seems like I’ve taken a boat load of photos this month. It was 130pm before I knew it, and the boys arrived right on queue. I headed out to intercept them. They both brought their skate boards, which worked out well, especially given that Jacob and Evan were out front riding theirs at that very moment. Rocky was stoked! Landon’s skate board might be the smallest board I’ve ever seen. Couldn’t be but about 16” inches long.  Very beat up, too. He rode it on his belly. At some point, Jacob did his best to ditch Rocky running off with Evan. I wasn’t too pleased. I hung out with Landon, eventually getting him set-up with Bella’s bike (training wheels) and helmet. I was surprised to see him go over the small ramp a number of times. Heck, he’s only 3. At some point, bless his heart, Kenny put up the bounce house. All the kids dashed over to play in it. Mindy got home around 2-230pm. She picked up some really nice lookin’ steaks and a cheesecake at Sam’s Club. She bought me some new razor blades for my Schick Quattro, too. With the kids off in the bounce house, I thought I’d take full advantage and do some light reading and possibly even steal a nap. Mindy thought otherwise. She asked for my help with a few chores, including unloading the dishwasher. I didn’t push back. While Mindy prepped a salad for dinner, I unloaded the dishwasher. Jacob helped as well. I did a couple other things too, although just what I can't readily recall. At some point I was finally able to do some reading while Woody was over playing with Frankie. Next thing I saw was Frankie sliding under the dining room table and squatting to pee – something we haven’t seen her do for a few of weeks. I rubbed her nose in it. Although, in her defense, I don’t think anyone had taken her out since mid-morning. Aside from the pugs, the house was quiet. I was all alone. Mindy headed down to the neighbors to deliver all the fixins’ for our cookout. I joined them about 10-15 minutes later after shaking off a case of the sleepies. Kenny started grilling soon after I showed up. While Kenny grilled, I sunk deep into their leather sectional and watched the end of the golf tournament. The color on their TV is absolutely incredible. It was an exciting finish to the Barclay’s with two mostly unknowns heading to a playoff. Mindy shared that Rene was supposed to join us. She had a steak grilled for her. We haven’t seen Rene all summer long. Yep, she showed up just before dinner. We chatted while Mindy prepped our dinner plates. On two separate occasions, Mindy asked if I wanted a present. Eventually she slipped me a card. I quickly searched my mental calendar curious what event I had apparently forgotten. Let’s see, it wasn’t our anniversary, her b-day, or even the anniversary of the day we met. What could it be??? It was a an early birthday card that contained two tickets to the Buckeye/Miami game September 11th at the Shoe – my birthday. I was thankful and surprised, but equally curious why she presented them to me now. Mindy shared that she caught wind of me discussing the game and possibly looking for tickets with Tom C. Didn’t want me to spend money unnecessarily. Made sense. Chrissy chimed in that she and Kenny would be joining us. Cool! We’ll make a day of it. Kenny grilled a Ribeye for me. It was very good. I ate every bite along with a baked potato, fresh green beans and salad. Like I often do, I did the dishes and cleaned up their kitchen afterwards. Mindy served me a piece of the cheesecake while I took care of the clean-up. To be fair, Mindy helped with the clean-up too. After dinner. I headed out with the kids and pugs. By then Kenny and the older boys were busy playing a game of football in Dave and Becky’s yard. I took Landon over to the tree swing. He had been bugging me to swing him all day – well, that and taking him boating.  Rene came down and said her goodbyes. Promised to hook-up with us again soon. A few minutes later, we corralled the boys and prepared to take them home. It was apparently my turn to drive ‘em home. I didn’t mind. I had been drinking nothing but water. We sent the boys home with a mini-care package containing a 7-up and Suzi-Q cake. We had a big bag of gently used clothing for Rocky, too. I dropped the boys just before 8pm. By the time that I was back at home Mindy had our kids in the house and in the shower. I plopped down on the sofa and tuned into the SNF game – Pittsburgh and Denver. Steelers couldn’t get out of their own way. They were losing when I headed for bed, which was just after 10pm.