Olivia's Early Visit, Buckeye Romp, Whole Foods, & Good Food with Great Neighbors

The irrigation system kicking on woke me around 430am. I felt poorly despite taking those 3 Advil before bed. I had a headache. I managed to fall back asleep but it wasn’t good, sound sleep. I upped around 545am to head downstairs in preparation for Olivia’s arrival. Ashley phoned as I made my way downstairs. I called her back to let her know that I was up and ready. I took two more Advil. I laid on the sofa awaiting their arrival. They arrived around 610am. Ashley didn’t stay long – off to work. Olivia and I took Frankie out for her morning walk. She was quick to take care of business. Back inside, I talked Olivia in to snuggling with me on the sofa. It was still dark outside. She was somewhat chatty, but willingly laid down along side me. I don’t think she ever went to sleep though. Me, I managed to sneak in another hour or so. I could hear Olivia roaming and playing with Frankie. I rolled off the sofa to make sure she was OK. She was up and enjoying some fishy crackers. She asked me for some chocolate milk. Sure. It was now 715am. I felt ten times better, and the headache was gone. Olivia shared that she enjoyed some candy corn for breakfast. Yikes – but also funny. Olivia ended up watching Mulan, a Disney DVD, while I checked in on work and sipped coffee. I headed up to fetch my PJ shorts at some point. I tried being quiet but still managed to wake Mindy. Oops! Downstairs, Olivia asked several times if we could wake Mimi. I advised against, knowing that Mindy badly wanted to sleep in. Olivia and I headed out to the tree house around 8am and played outside for half an hour. Sometime around 915am I decided to take Olivia and the pug up to see Mindy. Mindy wasn’t pleased, and about as grumpy as I’ve ever seen her. She was aggravated that I would wake her with a wild pug and noisy g-kid. I took both back downstairs and headed back outside in the sunshine. Mindy got up on her own shortly thereafter. I think she felt a little guilty for snapping at us. I explained that Olivia asked to see her and would be leaving around 10am. Mindy was much happier after a cup of coffee. We all three sat on the deck drinking in the morning sunshine until Ashley showed up to get Olivia. Ashley was disappointed that the cheer center phoned letting her know that they had canceled Olivia’s Saturday morning class. Originally, it was slated for 11am. Sounds like Ashley may enroll Olivia in dance center west, just like Bella. After Ashley & Olivia left, Mindy got a shower and headed into school to catch up on a number of things. Meanwhile, my plan included watching the Buckeye game, keeping an eye on work, taking Frankie to get her stitches out, and then a trip to Target to fill my Dexilant prescription. Ahead of the Buckeye game kick-off, I fertilized all of our houseplants and then all of our outdoor flowers in planters and baskets. I know it’s late in the growing season but they’re all still looking fairly nice, so why not help keep ‘em that way? The Buckeyes made easy work of the Ohio Bobcats, and were sporting a 34-0 lead with 8 minutes left in the first half. I left to take Frankie to the vet at 140pm. We were there less than five minutes and were back home shortly after 2pm. I watched the rest of the Buckeye game before taking off for Target. I spent about 30 minutes in Target. Pharmacy quoted me a 15 minute wait for my prescription. I picked up a few odds and ends while waiting. I was expecting my prescription to run me almost $50, but when I returned she said no charge. Hmm? Excellent news! I headed directly home where I went for a much needed nap on the sofa. It had to be around 4-430pm. I was also keeping a loose eye on the afternoon’s football action. Kenny stopped by to invite Mindy & I over for a cookout. I shared that I would have Mindy call Chrissy once I heard from her. I wasn’t really sure what time she’d be home. Mindy called around 500pm and said she was on her way home. We discussed our evening plans and decided we would in fact join the neighbors for dinner. We agreed to make a quick run to Whole Foods soon after she got home. I headed up for a shower. Once home, Mindy scoped out Frankie’s belly, wanting to see her scar. Looks good. She wasn’t home 10 minutes before we left for Whole Foods. I drove the Honda. Traffic leaving the OSU game heading west on Lane avenue was still pretty heavy even two hours later. Whole Foods is just west of campus on Lane Ave. I complained about the sign identifying the parking spot I picked as being exclusively for expecting mothers. I still moved, however. Our first order of business was picking up some good beer. Whole Foods is noted for having a decent selection of microbrews. We weren’t disappointed, either. I grabbed a couple six-packs and a 22oz bomber. Mindy picked up one six-pack and a 22oz bomber as well. We then moved on to the deli area where we bought some fresh chipotle salsa and chips, some min-pita and hummus – two kinds, roasted red pepper and caramelized onion. We also bought some red skin potatoes, some mushroom concoction, and a bottle of wine. Mindy picked up the tab. Got to be careful shopping at Whole Foods. You can rack up a fairly large bill in a hurry. Lots of delicious looking food. Around 7pm we packed a bag full of goodies and headed down to the neighbors. Leading the way, Mindy stepped in a big pile of dog crap and had to clean off her shoes. Ewh! I headed on in. Ben and Ryan weren’t yet there but were expected. Neighbor Teri was over with her two kids. Chrissy asked for my help getting on 4X6” photos to print on her wireless printer. Easy enough. I worked on that issue for the next hour before finally giving up. Couldn’t get the printer to recognize the 4X6” tray. Kenny came in from grillin’ a couple of times citing that he still could smell dog crap. Later, I acknowledged smelling it too. I headed out to help on the grill only to look down and realize it was me. I had dog crap caked around my shoes, and then on my leg. It was caked and dried, but stunk to high heaven! I excused myself and headed home to wash it off. I headed to the basement sink to do the deed. Because it was nearly dried, it wouldn’t come off with a simple rinse. It took a few minutes to get my shoes and leg cleaned up. The meat was about done by the time I got back. Kenny grilled a variety of big, thick steaks. When asked earlier, I opted for only ½ a steak and quite honestly was pretty satisfied after eating the appetizers we bought and brought from Whole Foods. I ended up eating ½ of a NY strip. It was cooked to perfection, but then again, Kenny always does a fabulous job grillin’ the steaks. In the background, Kenny had the Notre Dame/Michigan State game whirling. The score was close the entire game. At some point after dinner and in the dark, me, Kenny, Jake, and Ben walked out to the tree house. Ben hadn’t yet seen it. It was cool hanging out up there in the dark. Kenny toted a flashlight for safety. We stayed out there for approximately 30 minutes or until our beer ran dry.:) Back in the house, it sounded like Chrissy and Teri were having a fairly serious conversation/debate over religion (Teri is Catholic. Chrissy is non-denominational). My theory: it’s never wise to debate religion when drinking freely. :) We ended up hanging with the neighbors until after 10pm – not too late. Both Mindy & I were excessively tired after a rather raucous Friday night. I did, however, stay a bit longer than Mindy. I wanted to see the end of the Notre Dame/Michigan State game. It was tied with five minutes remaining. The game went to overtime. I left for home after gathering Frankie. Mindy graciously permitted me to turn on the bedroom TV to the overtime football game. Michigan State won. Didn’t see how. We/I fell asleep quickly. I was really sleepy.