Celebrating our Bella / Farewell to the Jump's

Happy 8th Bellabechella Unable to sleep any longer, I pulled myself out of bed just north of 730a. I brushed my teeth, wrestled the eye drops from yesterday’s jean pockets, and grabbed my running garb before heading down the stairs. In short order, I had coffee brewing, eye drops in, and exercises underway. I took my Dexilant, too. And even though the forecast called for clouds and rain, the sky was mostly clear. For that I was grateful. I must’ve fooled around on the PC for about 30 minutes before I heard Mindy stirring. It couldn’t have been any later than 830a – early for her. Mindy started preparing for Bella’s party right away. I headed out for my run around 900a. I ran just three miles. It was chilly – only in the low 40’s. After my run I reviewed the forecast, which was still calling for rain, only now later in the afternoon. For the time being, it was still pretty nice. My first real chore was to water all the flowers and then top off the hot tub. I watered the new sod again, too. I checked the auxiliary water meter as well. Not sure if it was working. Oh dear! After grabbing a quick shower, Mindy kept me pretty busy preparing for the party. I hung the piñata and faux spider webbing from the pergola. Mindy asked me to fetch ice around 1130a. I drove to the Circle K and bought a large 22lb bag. Back home I cleaned the deck cooler before loading it full of bottled water. I tuned the TV to the Buckeye game while piping the audio out back, mainly so Mindy could have Bella’s “pass the pumpkin” music blaring later. The party wasn’t slated to begin until 2p, but Mindy’s mom showed up early – around 1230p. She helped out with some of the preparations. The Buckeyes struggled mightily from the outset and found themselves behind in a hurry. The Illinois game is always a scary one. Guests young and old began to arrive around 2pm. Because the Buckeye’s were struggling, I half expected some guests not to show until perhaps afterwards. That wasn’t the case. Mindy later guesstimated that we had upwards of 40 folks at the party, 22 of which were young children. Mindy fed the guests, serving Domino’s pizza (Bella’s pick). We had a host of other snacks, though, too. Games were next. The kids bobbed for apples and then lined up to take a whack at the candy-filled pumpkin piñata. Because it was her birthday, Mindy let Bella go first. And wouldn’t you know, that first whack is all it took to split the thing right in two. I felt kind of bad for all the kids that were lined up. They tore after the booty in a hurry. It was filled with all sorts of stuff. It looked to me like the girls were rebobbing for ‘used’ apples. Gross! But they were having fun. Although not completely done, Bella took many of her guests out to play in the tree house. By then, the weather took a turn for the worse. The sunny skies from earlier were gone and in their place was a chilly light rain. However, it didn’t seem to faze the kids much at all. The Buckeyes managed to pull out a narrow victory aided by a couple stupid penalties committed by Illinois. We won 24-13. After the party games the kids moved once again indoors for cake and presents. Bella pulled in quite the haul, pretty much getting an entirely new wardrobe. Time was moving right along. It was already pushing 4pm. Most parents who dropped their kids earlier arrived to retrieve them as scheduled. Mindy’s mom was the last to leave save for Landon and Rocky, who we would be taking home on our way to the Jump’s party as soon as our house was in order. The house looked to be turned all but upside down. The white tile floor was a muddy mess. As we typically do, we got to cleaning up as soon as the last guest left. Bella and Jacob left with Jimaken, this being his weekend. It took us about an hour to get the house back in order, but even then, it wasn’t as clean as it was prior. I walked down to the neighbors to fetch Frankie while Mindy ran the vacuum. The boys said they were hungry, so Mindy served them more pizza. Back home I packed a cooler of select beers for the Jump party. We took some hummus and pita chips, too, even though they told us to bring nothing but ourselves. We left the house 545p, first drop the boys and then head to the Jump’s. Mindy called Courtney to let her know we’d be there shortly after dropping the boys. Olivia and Lindsey were playing outside at Kelly’s. She was happy to see the boys back at home. After a quick hug for Olivia we headed off. We both laughed about how good it felt to once again be kidless and free. Wahoo! The party was fun but also a bit trying. But now, finally, we could relax. We arrived in Grandview at the Jump’s sometime after 6p. It was a small intimate gathering, the Jump’s, Imber’s, us, and Lee, our old server pal from Barley’s. Jeremy had a couple different IPA’s on tap that he’d recently brewed, all of which needed drank up before they book town next weekend. Gladly! I tried some of each. Both were quite good. At the same time, Jeremy was preparing to grill a couple large briskets. He also served up some jerk wings that he smoked a little earlier. They were a bit crunchy (overdone) on the outside, but flavorful and juicy on the inside. Hey, kind of like me!  We’ve seen Lee maybe once in the last year or so. He stopped in Barley’s one night. He shared that he and his girlfriend of 12 years, Mandy, recently split up. Sounds like she gave him the boot. I thought he might cry while sharing. But it didn’t take long for him to pull up the facebook profile of a young 19 year old that he has his eye on. She works with him at Texas Roadhouse. Surprisingly, Lee’s 39, but he doesn’t look a day over 29 really. I didn’t bother with a plate figuring that way I wouldn’t over eat. I had a few slivers of the brisket. It was really good. After dinner, we broke into our personal beer stash. Both Bob & I brought a cornucopia of beers. I think I enjoyed the Avery DuganA – a double IPA the most. We hung with the Jump’s I’m guessing until almost 11p. It was a bittersweet event. They’re movin’ to Boston next weekend. They'll be missed, but I’m sure we’ll see ‘em again though. Mindy drove us home. Meanwhile, I was feeling no pain. At home I took Frankie out. There was a light drizzle. Back inside I plopped down on the sofa to catch some late football action while Mindy headed off to bed. I woke around 230a only to find that Frankie had been very naughty. There was debris all over the family room floor. Looked like a greeting card and part of a gift bag. I was too tired to deal with right then. I put Frankie in her pen then headed for bed.