Too Mulch Work

I was up early, especially for a weekend. I was downstairs by 645a. I was careful not to wake the grand kids. Once they’re up, it can get a little chaotic. It was Sunday so I didn’t plan to do sit-ups or push-ups. It was partly sunny & warm – already 65 degrees.

After starting some coffee I played on the PC, and might’ve enjoyed about 45 minutes of leisure time before Landon and Olivia joined me downstairs. Of course they wanted to play Wii. I declined their request asking that they wait until everyone else was up. They both had a donut then asked to watch a movie. Of course Olivia wanted to watch HS Musical 3 & Landon something different – Shreck, I think. He eventually agreed to let Olivia have her way. He’s very sweet.

Their attention span is about a minute long. That’s it. Around 8am the three of us headed out with Eiknarf, all of us in our barefeet. We had fun. Olivia was intimidated by the geese, but Landon exhibited next to no fear and actually went after them. They quickly retreated to the pond.

After our walk with Eiknarf, we headed back to the house. The kids watched a little more of the movie then asked me to push them on the tree swing. Why not? We headed out back to the tree house where we played for about 30 minutes. I did my best to keep the kids quietly entertained so Mindy could get the sleep she craved. I’m thinking she finally got up around 930a.

She wasn’t up long before I prepared for a run. I was out the door by 10a. I ran three miles without incident. Easy run. All the kids were up by the time I was back. The house was rocking. Mindy planned to attend an Eagle scout graduation at Holton Park near 2p. And I planned on car shopping. To help us out, Jimaken agreed to take Jacob to this season’s last soccer game. Mindy planned to drop the grandkids at home on her way. Bella planned to stay home with me after Mindy told her she’d have to wear a sun dress to the scout graduation.

Before Mindy left I made another quick trip to Ohio Mulch for a 3^rd cubic yard. That way I could do some more yard work after car shopping. I took the gkids down to jump on the trampoline just before Mindy made them all lunch. We readied all three to leave for home near 1230-1p.

Suddenly the house was quiet again. Jacob was off to his room for a nap before soccer, and Bella was off to Makayla’s. I took a quick shower while waiting on Jimaken to come get Jacob. He arrived around 1-130p. I asked Jim about the 24 hour race he ran in Illinois Saturday. Said he made it for 18 hours and ran about 62 miles best guesstimate. Hard to fathom such a feat.  Last second, Bella decided she wanted to go to the soccer game with Jacob and her daddy after all. Never was super keen on car shopping.

I pulled all my numbers together (trade-in, car costs, discounts, financing) in a spreadsheet then readied for a trip to Hugh White Honda. Honestly, I was feeling a little unprepared to be negotiating for a car. Too, I was a tad nervous driving the Trooper for the first time since filling her full of transmission fluid. Still not sure if the leak was gradual or sudden.

It must’ve been near 2pm when I headed off for Hugh White. The only thing I did to the Trooper was top off the oil. It was down about a quart, but I hadn’t added any for at least 6-8 weeks. I decided not to go overboard and make it too clean and pretty.

Trooper drove fine. Honda dealership looked closed despite all the other surrounding dealerships bustling with activity. Hmm? Closed on Sunday’s? Go figure! I took the opportunity to peruse the lot without the bother of a salesperson. Although I must admit, Honda is pretty good about not harassing the casual patron. They only had three or four of the new 2012 Civics, and none fully loaded like I wanted to see. Before leaving, I looked over several Accords, too. Still not sure what direction I’ll be going.

I headed for home feeling good that at least I had tried. As I headed north on I-270, I started hearing a loud and constant clinking sound. My heart dropped into my stomach. Could it be my transmission? Oh no! At some point I gazed up and out the large sunroof only to see one of the roof rack rails clanking against the roof top. Came up and out of its mount. I thought it might fly away as I continued down the road. I drove more carefully but decided not to pullover.

Thankfully, I made it home with the rail flapping in the wind the entire way. Once home, I opened the sun roof and straddled the two front seats to see if I could fix the issue. What I didn’t realize was that the rack wasn’t installed perfectly square. It was about an inch wider at the front. I only moved the rail there a month or two ago when I helped one of my guys with his roof repairs and needed to haul my extension ladder. When I moved the rail back to its original position, it fit perfectly. Ah-hah!

I went inside where I changed back into my yard work grubbies preparing to move more mulch. I talked with Mindy at some point letting her know that I was home and that the dealership was closed. She figured to be home shortly. Kids still weren’t back from soccer either.

I retrieved the tractor and trailer then started placing mulch in the west side flower bed. I was about ¾’s done with that side when Mindy arrived home. After a brief chat, she headed in to change into her yard work grubbies so she could help out again. The kids arrived home minutes later. Jacob was noticeably upset. Didn’t speak a word as he headed inside. He didn’t look mad. Instead, he looked sad. Bella confirmed. Said not only did they lose, but one of the opposing kids said some mean swear words directed at Jacob. She said he blamed himself for their losing effort. Oh boy!

Mindy came outside about ten minutes later and we finished placing the 3^rd cubic yard of mulch in the front flower beds. Looked like we’d need another cubic yard to finish, which is what I figured all along. I wasn’t really planning on taking care of it then, but after giving it a little thought and confirming that Ohio Mulch was still open, I figured why not. We were already dirty and had everything out to finish the job. I rushed off to Ohio Mulch with 20 minutes before closing.

I made all the lights and was there and back in no more than 15 minutes. That’s got to be a record. It was still before 5p by the time I got home. Mindy, I could see, was down at Chrissy & Kenny’s with Eiknarf in tow. Kenny was busy spreading mulch, too. Mindy meandered home once she saw I was back. I pointed out that the sky was dark to the SW. Looked like a storm moving in. We got busy moving the final cubic yard of mulch.

End up being just the right amount. Finished the front flower beds and then the two curb trees. With what little remained we put a light coat of fresh mulch under the two blue spruce trees at the west side of the house. Mindy headed in for a shower while I cleaned and stowed the lawn tools and tractor. It must’ve been about 6pm when I headed inside and took my second shower in less than a 5 hour span. Felt good. After moving 4 cubic yards of black mulch, my finger tips were dark as coal. Couldn’t get the dye out from underneath my nails this time, either.

Mindy declared it leftover night. I was cool with that. We had a lot, including steak, spaghetti, chicken and rice, hot dogs and brats. I asked for the week old t-bone. She had cream of chicken and rice. The steak was still good, but not as tasty as it was last Sunday. I shared a little with Eiknarf. She loved it.

As expected, it started to pour rain around 7 or 8p. I didn’t mind. I got the mulching 100% done, and that was more than I expected I might.

While the kids readied for bed, I spent another 30-40 minutes dressing up the new car spreadsheet I built earlier that afternoon. I had lots of scenarios, including various discounts off the list price, trade-in values, and monthly payments. Obviously, I want to get the biggest discount possible along with the highest trade-in value for my Trooper.

Mindy headed to bed very early. I’m thinking it was 910p. I stayed up a little while longer, but not later than 930p.