Cockadoodledoo - White Rajah and Roosters too!

Mindy was up sometime near 630am and made far less noise and with less light than she might've otherwise had I not been still sleeping around the corner. I rolled out of bed around 710am or about the same time the kids were woken.

I headed downstairs where I promptly whipped out 50 sit-ups. I didn't plan to do any push-ups, sticking closely to my new exercise plan. It was raining and perhaps a little harder than it was the evening before. It wasn't long before Mindy was out the door and off to work. Before leaving, she confirmed that I'd be home to intercept the kids from the school bus while she stopped and picked up the boys at Magdalene's after school care.

The kids and I headed to the bus stop at 810am. Thankfully, the bus was along in short order. Didn't hang out much if at all. Walked Eiknarf out front in the drizzly rain just before heading in to ready for my run. I had another quick cup of coffee and then did a little writing before ultimately dressing and leaving for a run. I'm thinking it was close to 9am when I headed out.

I ran the full 4.1 mile track. It rained through the entire run. Back at home I got out of my wet running clothes and hung out for a while longer still playing catch-up with my blog. I'm thinking it was near 1030am when I headed for a shower. My plan was to make a trip to Gentiles and possibly Giant Eagle to get the couple things Glenn asked we have on hand for his stay. I also thought I'd go to Roosters for lunch, having not eaten there for 12 or more years.

It was still before noon and raining when I headed out the door. I thought about calling Gentiles first to ask if they might had some White Rajah in, but nixed the call and headed there on a whim. It's not far. I arrived no more than 10 minutes later. I looked along the window wall first where they often have new beers and bombers. I didn't see any White Rajah, but did see a Hoppin' Frog triple IPA. Thought about buying it but it was $16! No way. I headed back to the refrigerated cases where I perused all their offerings. No White Rajah. :( Empty handed, I turned to exit when I happened upon several cases of beer stacked in the aisle. Much to my surprise, at least three were White Rajah. Nearby was an employee.  I asked if they were yet for sale. Said they were and that they had just come in. In fact, the distributor was still in the parking lot bringing in more inventory.

I asked if I could buy an entire case. Sure, but he didn't know the price. Didn't even have the distributors invoice yet. I carried a case to the counter while he went out to get the invoice. Was something like $43. Cool! You have to know I was smiling ear to ear as I left. The one thing they didn't have was any pumpkin ale, one of the items on Glenn's list. I decided to try the Giant Eagle at the corner of Grandview and 5th Ave. Surely they'd have some.

Not a mile or so down the road at Giant Eagle, I picked up some cilantro jalapeño & roasted red pepper hummus, half & half, and then a couple six packs of beer. The only pumpkin ale they had left was the Dog Fish Head, Punk. I hear it's good. I picked up some Yeungling Black & Tan too.

After leaving Giant Eagle, I headed to Roosters on West Broad St. As expected, the lot was full and the place crowded. It was raining steadily, too. I parked at a distance protecting my car as best I could. Took one of the few empty seats at the bar where I ordered a coke and ten wings - donkey. The wings were big and tasty, just as I remember them being. I ate all ten. By the time I was done, the place had cleared out considerably. It was still raining when I headed for home. I'm thinking it was near 1pm.

I had no plans for the rest of the afternoon. I did little more than play guitar and then on the computer. A nap was sounding awfully good, and I was sure that I would take one. But as the afternoon wore on it became apparent that wasn't going to happen. Instead of a nap I did more writing. Before I knew it, it was time for the kids to be getting off the bus.

Mindy called sometime near 4pm to let me know that she stopped at Applebees with work friends for a drink. She still planned to pick-up Rocky & Landon on her way home.

I'm thinking it was near 5pm when Mindy and the boys got home. Jacob & Bella soon left with Jimaken for Thursday dinner, something that hasn't happened in a long, long time due to soccer practice. We were left with Rocky & Landon. Earlier in the day we had kicked around the idea of going to Barley's but that no longer seemed rationale given that I had eaten wings earlier and Mindy had been to Applebees. We opted to get the boys McDonald's instead.

It might've been around 730pm when Mindy received a text from Lindsey sharing that she didn't have a ride home from work and wanted us to come get her. The other option was her waiting there until 845pm for a co-worker to get off, who apparently agreed to give her a ride. But that would mean we'd be taking she and the boys home around 10pm. For a few minutes I thought I might blow a gasket.

Choosing the lesser of two evils, Mindy agreed to go get her from work. I would then take them home once back at our place. Mindy was gone about 25-30 minutes. Once they were back, I didn't waste much time preparing for phase two - the journey home. I'm thinking it was between 8-30pm when I dropped them at the YWCA.

Once back at home, I cracked open a White Rajah. Mindy, the kids and I sat in the living room chatting/playing as a family. Occasionally the conversation turned serious as to how we might best continue to help Lindsey and the boys without enabling.  Two things need to happen in a hurry. One, she needs to find housing, and two, she needs to get a car.

For the first time all week, Mindy and I headed to bed together. It couldn't have been much later than 10pm.