Le Freak!

I was up around 715am after a more than decent night of sleep. I slipped out of the room and headed downstairs without disturbing the others. Mindy didn’t even budge.

I started some coffee then completed sit-ups and push-ups. The windows were steam up again after Friday evening’s heavy rain and sultry temps. I could see enough to know that it was sunny, however. I checked in with work while enjoying some coffee, first following up on the two issues I was dealing with the evening before and then a fresh one that had just come in.

I ended up much busier than I expected and far more than my new peers alluded. I kept at it until 9am or so, when I decided to take a break and complete my run. Was out the door around 915am. I ran three miles and worked up quite a sweat. Felt good.

I expected to find Mindy on the deck sipping coffee when I got back home but that wasn’t the case. Still asleep. I poured some orange juice and spent a little more time on the PC writing for my blog. I got it updated through Thursday then headed out for a walk around the yard with my camera in hand.

The lawn looked nice and healthy after Friday’s big rain event. We had a good sized branch come down from one of the many walnut trees just off the deck and down along the water. For the time being I left it lie.

Mindy was up around 1030am. Said she didn’t feel that swift. Later, after some coffee and sunshine on the deck she took her blood pressure and learned that it was pretty low, that's especially surprising for her. It was something like 110/70. I asked if she was going to attend yoga. Said she didn’t think so. Her favorite instructor wouldn’t be in. I joked that that was all the more reason to go.

We didn’t have a whole lot planned for the day. Her friend Tara and her visiting niece were supposed to come over later that afternoon and spend the night with us after working the St Margaret festival. Mindy talked about going to Whole Foods or Market District to get some fish and veggies for grilling for dinner.

I spent most of what was left of the morning and then the early afternoon working from home. In between work tasks, I did more writing for my blog. The kids were up before 11am and helped toss all the fallen walnuts either into the water or into the honeysuckle bushes while I carried the large fallen branch to the compost pile. They soon headed off to play with their peeps.

Sometime between 1 & 2pm Mindy & I took about an hour long nap. Waking refreshed, I took a quick shower then suggested that I make the trip to Market District. Mindy was warm to that idea and happy that she didn’t have to go. I thought I might drive the BM’er having not done so since Wednesday, July 6^th.

My short list included Chilean sea bass, orange juice, and bakery fresh bread. I wanted to get some yummy beer too. After all, if we were gonna attend the St Margaret’s festival that night, I wanted to have a stash of good beer in my cooler, which I’d leave in the car next door at dad’s place. Now that’s thinking ahead!

I’d forgotten about the Lane Ave. detour, but in the end it posed little problem. I took Riverside north all the way to Zollinger Rd then across to Tremont Center. Pretty much brings you right out at the mall.

The Market District lot wasn’t jammed full like I expected it might, but I found a spot fairly close. I opted for one of the small carts and headed to the beer section first. Immediately in the door I was served some fresh squeezed pineapple juice. Good stuff! I picked up two 22oz rockets and one six-pack - a rocket of Green Flash Imperial IPA and then one of their newest offerings, Le Freak, a mixture of IPA and Trippel. The six-pack was Victory’s Hop Wallop. Back to the fresh seafood counter.

I scanned the entire seafood case not seeing any sign of Chilean sea bass. I finally asked on of the butchers. They were out. Not expecting anymore in until Monday or Tuesday. I hemmed and hawed over what to get instead. Thought about monk fish after hearing how delicious it is, but in the end opted for some skinless salmon filets from Canada. For the life of me, I had no idea there were actually skinless salmon swimming around out there. J  I bought 2 lbs.

I picked out some freshly baked croissants and then picked up some orange juice too. Just before heading to the checkout I found some chocolate covered pretzels, a favorite treat of mine. They were the big ones, too.

Most of the check-out lines were long. Having only 6 or 7 items, I opted for the 15 items or less line. But directly in front of me was a large woman with about 50 items. Apparently she couldn’t read or count, and judging from her size I guessed that she couldn’t count. Lord knows she's not counting calories! It was either that or she thought the sign said 115 items or less. Yeah, that’s it.

I headed for home the same way I came. It was nice to drive the BM’er. Mindy was a little disappointed that they didn’t have the Chilean sea bass. So was I. I shared the story of the big woman in front of me in the check out line though with embellishment. Shared how I confronted her about the selfish act. I quickly fessed up that I hadn’t said even a word to her face. Heck, I was afraid she might eat me! J

Mindy didn’t know what time to expect Tara and Hannah. I did a little more work and also poured myself a beer – a Hop Wallop - while Mindy started prepping dinner.

I’m thinking that we sat down to dinner around 6-630pm - grilled salmon, fresh green beans, garden salad and croissants. I specifically asked that my salmon be grilled well done. I like it crispy on the outside. It turned out really good. Moist and flaky yet brown on one side. Still no Tara and Hannah. Mindy offered that they may have headed directly to St. Margaret’s.

Tara and Hannah showed up just as we were finishing up dinner. Said they weren’t hungry. Mindy showed them where they’d be sleeping then they left for the festival a few minutes later. Tara was working the food stand.

After dinner clean-up I got involved in yet another work related matter that took some doing to get all squared away. Mindy and the kids were ready to head over to the festival.  I had to request they either wait or go without me. They chose to wait.

I’m thinking it was nearing 8pm when I finally had things where I felt comfortable enough to leave. We threw some drinks in the cooler, including a couple beers and then headed over to dad’s. Year’s past, there would’ve been a few others using his driveway for festival parking. Not this year. We were the only ones. Dad came out briefly to greet and chat.

Next door at the festival, there was a fairly large crowd already in place. A lot more cigarette smoking going on than I expected. Bothersome even.  Mindy paid $12 so Bella could get a ride wrist band. Jacob wanted no part of the festival’s rides, and I can’t say I blamed him. He’s not much of a ride kid anyhow. Gets sick very easily.

Bella did 5 or 6 rides. Funny watching her. Doesn’t seem to be fazed much at all by the spinney rides. A couple times Mindy and I both had to look away to avoid getting dizzy ourselves.

At some point Bella got a large hodge-podge snow cone in a cup, and Mindy and Jacob shared a funnel cake. I had a bite or two as well. We ran into a few people we knew: Connie McVey and kids, Tony & Sarah Palka, and later Tim Dietz and his new wife, Artie.  I expected to run into far more familiar faces. We quickly bored of the event. We were ready to go by 900pm if not a little sooner.

At home we decided to watch a movie. Deciding which one was a painful experience. We flushed through the entire Movie’s on Demand schedule on Time Warner but found nothing we could agree on. Next, we sifted through our own movie collection finally settling on Mr Deeds, an Adam Sandler movie.

I poured a pint of the Green Flash, Le Freak. It was good. Popped some popcorn, too. I’d seen Mr Deeds before but must’ve watched it only passively. It was quite funny. Jacob and Mindy both liked it. It was after 11pm when the movie was over and still no Tara and Hannah. I headed for bed after battling sleep for the last 30 minutes of the movie.

Mindy called Tara’s cell to check on her whereabouts. She was on her way. Mindy waited up for them while I crashed in a hurry.