Mowin, Grillin, G-Kids & Vikings

I slept until just after 7am. Feeling well rested, I pulled myself from bed and headed downstairs to begin my Sunday. Without hesitation, I started coffee then freed Frankie from her pen. Because it was Sunday, I didn’t plan to do any push-ups or sit-ups. After taking Frankie out and with coffee in hand, I sat down at my two PCs to deal with work and play. Much to my surprise, I heard Mindy up and milling about around 8am. No way did I guess that she would be up for good, but she was. She came downstairs to get her day going early. I probably shouldn’t say it but I will. I felt a little put out that I didn’t get my usual 1-2 hours of alone time. She started printing school related documents while I was busy working away. The sound of printer running annoyed me. Mindy took Frankie out again around 9am. At about the same time I readied for my run. I’m thinking it was 915am when I headed out. I ran four miles and out along Trabue and Hague. I was home before 10am. It was a good run. Mindy cooked sausage and pancakes while I was out. The pancakes were still frying when I returned. Seeing the raw pancakes swimming in a puddle of cooking oil left me feeling unsettled. I made mention of it and it apparently offended Mindy. She gave me the dickens for being so negative. I apologized. You see, there’s more to cooking than simply following a recipe. Timing, temperature, and the pan type can make a big difference, too. The sausage patties smelt terrific, and we haven’t had them in months. I was craving eggs too. I offered to fry one or two for Mindy as well. She declined my offer. I promised to eat at least one pancake, simply to keep the peace. Breakfast was very good. It was 11am by the time we had finished eating and had the kitchen was cleaned up. Mindy planned on grocery shopping while I cut the lawn. I was excited that the forecast called for highs only in the low 80’s under partly cloudy skies. With those conditions, the chance of over heating while working on the lawn was dramatically diminished. Over the next hour or two, I whacked, edged, cut, and mowed. I had the lawn looking pretty good. Before blowing away all the clippings, neighbor Carl came over to chat. Asked me if I was interested in sharing the cost/labor of dethatching our lawns. I was not. I don’t have deep thick thatch like Carl does. We talked lawns and grass seed for about 30 minutes. During our conversation I asked him for advice on eradicating the ground hog digging three holes along our foundation. In fact, the other day, Mindy came home to find him nesting in the weeping mulberry tree right outside our front door. Yikes! Carl suggested dumping a small amount of used motor oil around the hole an along the foundation in and around the immediate area. Said they will avoid it like the plague. I liked his idea better than Kenny’s, which was to use gasoline.  Know this, the holes are massive and obviously destructive. He needs to go but i don't want to kill him! After blowing off the drive and walk, I did the used motor oil thing being careful not to use too much. As for the environmental damage, I figure it no worse than the tar-like substance they used to seal the block foundation of our home from water seepage. After taking care of the ground hog problem I turned my attention to the tomato thief. And for all I knew, it could be the ground hog taking off with all of our tomatoes too. The chicken wire I had in front of them obviously wasn’t full proof enough. What ever it is, it was still getting to them. I could see where or how it was getting in, pushing the chicken wire away from the deck steps. I took the time to secure it more effectively, this time with stainless-steel staples. Sometimes I feel like I am living in the wild fending off critters at every stinkin’ turn – flower beds, pots, bird feeder, tomatoes, and now the house. Geez-o’-pete! After taking care of the lawn and critters, I watered all the flowers then took Frankie out for a walk. Mindy returned from the grocery while I had Frankie out back. Most of the groceries were carried in by the time she and I got back inside. It was about 2pm. We were talking when my cell phone rang. It was Rocky asking if he could come over. Mindy gave an approving nod. That made me happy, but it made Rocky even happier. All we asked was that he have Kelly bring them over. We’d get them back home later. Lindsey called back letting us know that Kelly agreed. She also let us know that Kelly just bought a new car – a Nissan Armada. Lindsey spoke of it as a young teenager might. Kind of funny. Kind of sad. Our kids were still with Jimaken but due home within the hour. We planned on grilling steaks for dinner. After Mindy got the groceries put away, she and I took Frankie on a relatively short walk on her leash, never letting the house out of our site since we knew the kids and grandkids were due anytime. We were almost back home when Kelly, Lindsey and the boys pulled up at the house. Jimaken pulled up behind her no more than a minute later. The kids quickly rushed off to play five minutes after their arrival. Landon ended up odd man out. My heart ached for the way the other kids shewed him back home – too little. He didn’t complain, however. We did our best to keep him busy back at the house. He listens to Mindy & I pretty well. We’re very happy to report that Lindsey’s letting his hair grow out again. Looks good – curly. Mindy asked that I light the grill around 5pm so that we could eat by 6pm. The whole time she was thinking backwards from the Vikings kick-off, which was slated for 8pm. Our plan was to have the boys back home ahead of kick-off so we could watch our beloved Vikings as family. Just before grill lighting time, the boys, Jacob, Rocky, and Evan asked me to come out and help them get their bikes and ramps out. Landon wanted to go too. I set him up for Bella’s bike still equipped with training wheels. It was very cute. Mindy agreed to light the grill while I entertained the boys out front. I got some cool photos. Landon and I headed in to prepare for grilling by 515pm. He asked if he could help. Of course! We had three really thick steaks and 5 or 6 hot dogs to grill. I had the grill really hot by design - almost 700 degrees. The steaks cooked up fast – slightly crunchy on the outside but nice and pink inside. Everything was ready by 535pm. Mindy made green beans and a handful of baked potatoes and sweet potatoes too. She helped the kids get their plates together. The O’Connell’s kids ate dinner with us as well. Chrissy & Kenny, who we typically grill with on Sunday’s, were off to Tommy’s pizza for Makayla’s b-day dinner. They were nice enough to put up the inflatable bounce house before leaving, The kids love it! Dinner was delicious. I ate only half my steak. It was huge. Mindy made one of my faves, chocolate pudding, for dessert. She started dishing it out soon after clean-up. Makayla stopped over at just the right time - dessert time. She had some chocolate pudding with the other kids. Actually, though, a few of them had ice cream in lieu of pudding. After everyone was done we took the pug down to see Woody, her brother. The boys, Jacob, Evan, and Rocky started playing baseball while the rest of the kids played in the bounce house. I ended up being all-time pitcher for the boys’ ball game. Mindy was all-time catcher for a brief stint. Mindy had a hard stop time in mind to allow her enough time to take the boys home and make it back before kick-off. That was 715pm. She held strict to that deadline. The deal was that she’d drive the boys home if I’d see Jacob and Bella through their showers and PJs. I lived up to my end of the bargain, but not without a minor hiccup. After Bella was out of the shower, Jacob was no where to be found. Took off on his bike. Lucky for me, I tracked him down at Emily & Evans jumping on the trampoline. He gave me a little push-back until I asserted my will.  He came quickly. Both kids were showered and downstairs for kick-off before Mindy returned. Mindy was home with 5-10 minutes to spare. Mindy & Bella wore their Viking jerseys. I decided to skip it for being too warm. The Vikings elected to kick-off to the 49ers. That back fired. The 49ers marched down the filed and scored making it 7-0. Brett Favre lead the Vikings opening drive, and completed his first and only pass to Adrian Peterson. Unfortunately, he took a big ol’ sack a couple plays later. He never saw the field again. Not worth the risk. Hey, it’s preseason. The Vikings struggled for the game’s entirety. They lost 15-10. No biggie. I watched the entire game, however. Mindy and the kids were off to bed before the end of the 3rd quarter. Despite the loss, and the fact that I hate to lose, it was a fun game to watch.