I woke several times throughout the night thinking I'd get up and head to bed but never did. As a consequence, I woke stiff as ever. I got up for good around 7am, started some coffee, then headed up to the masterbath to brush my teeth and change into my running clothes. The plan was to drop the Accord at Ziebart as soon as they opened, which was expected to be 8am. I then planned to run back home as part of my daily run.
I enjoyed coffee and internet until about 745am. Sometime before then, I could hear Mindy get up and then get in the shower. I left the house at 750am. It was a bluebird morning with just a slight nip in the morning air. The forecast was calling for something less desirable.
Arrived at Ziebart just ahead of 8am. Dana was already in and was most helpful. He asked me to pick the tinting shade I desired. They had four tints offerings plastered on a window for comparison. The state of Ohio has a law limiting the percentage of tint allowable on both the driver and passenger front windows. All the rest can be as dark as you want them. I went with the darkest tint possible on the rear and back seat windows, and then the darkest allowable by law up front. Said it should be ready around noon. Wondered if I planned to wait. No. Told him I was running home.
I left for home just a couple minutes after 8am running along Wilson Rd for the first time in several years. Once I made into the subdivision I did a couple more miles before turning towards home. Once home I wasted little time getting ready for Bella's gymnastics meet. I showered quickly and then woofed down a breakfast burrito.
Since we'd be there for the better part of the day, I packed a book, laptop, and iTouch in my backpack. I didn't want to find myself with nothing to do between Bella's events. Mindy had said she wanted to leave at 845am since we needed to have Bella there by 10am. We actually left closer to 850am.
It was a lovely drive up route 33 to Bellefontaine passing Mad River Mt. along the way, and just a mile or so before our exit. Strange seeing the mountain all green. It won't be long before we're back up that way skiing - just two months. Neither of us had been in Bellefontaine prior. I expected to find a more economically depressed town. That wasn't the case at all. Most of the old houses are in good repair with a few real beauties scattered in too, especially just as you come into town.
A lot of the streets were unmarked, which made following Mindy's printed directions difficult. The map said to turn left on Ludlow Av. We had to navigate the last couple miles by instinct, which worked surprisingly well. We found the high school with little trouble. Like the town, the high school was nice. We made it there with plenty of time to spare, arriving around 955am.
Mindy and I had to pay $2 each to get in. Bella, of course, didn't have to pay. We found her group at the far end. Many kids were already competing, and had been since 8am. After about 15 minutes we were told that they were running behind schedule - upwards of 90 minutes. Great! While watching older kids compete I put on my iTouch listening to the Turtles and then Pink Floyd's Final Cut.
We were wowed by the teen-aged boys doing their tumbling routine. There were two in particular that were every bit as good as what you'd expect to see in the Olympics. That was a pleasant surprise. Bella finally was called to warm-up for her first competition on the double mini-tramp. There were all sorts of rules that we were unaware of. First, they fussed over Bella's pony tail saying that it needed to be up in a bun-like do. Also, no tennies shoes. Ankle socks or tramp shoes only. We both wondered why they hadn't told us before hand. We made do.
Mindy wasn't pleased that I was absorbed in music, but I would've been bored to tears otherwise. I guess she wanted me to be present with her. She does fine in these setting being the social animal she is. I had a book, my Droid, and a laptop too. However, I never did get out the laptop or the book.
For the first time ever, I used the Word software app for Android, writing my Friday blog entry via my Droid. That was kind of cool. Once it was time for Bella's actual competition I put my toys aside and watched intently. I watched a few of her team mates too. Katlyn, a freshman in HS, is really strong in all her competitions. Bella didn't set the world on fire on the double mini tramp, but then again it was her first competition.
The second competition, tumbling, followed soon after without much of a break. This is the routine for which Bella's earned the nick name "Speedy". She did OK. Immediately following her performance, we headed to the awards ceremony in the high school cafeteria. Bella placed 6th in mini-tramp and 3rd in tumbling. Not a bad start at all. It was about 130pm when we headed back to the gym. I was getting sleepy. We had to wait a while for her third and final competition, the trampoline. I upped and headed to the cafeteria where a bunch of dad's were gathered around a TV watching the Michigan vs. Michigan St. game. I watched only passively using it primarily as a sleep aide. Worked like a charm. Next thing I knew Mindy was waking me to come watch Bella perform.
By then it was now 230pm, and she was just doing warm-ups. I called Ziebart to confirm their close time. They left a VM earlier sharing that my car was done and ready. Close at 4pm, or 90 minutes from then. I told Mindy we weren't leaving my car there until Monday. The original plan was to watch the trampoline routine and then go to the award presentation sometime after. Mindy informed Joannie that we'd need to leave immediately after Bella finished her routine so we could get our car. She finished up at 245pm. We quickly gathered our things and headed for the Pilot. Bella wasn't pleased that she'd have to wait to learn where she placed, but given that the competition was running about 90 minutes behind, we had little choice.
We made good time heading home. Arrived at Ziebart near 345pm. Wow! The back and rear sides looked really dark. Almost blends with the black paint. The stated price was $240. I flashed a $30 off coupon. Todd quickly pointed out that the price he quoted me was with the discount already built in. Funny, I never mentioned having a coupon. We haggled back and forth a little until he said he'd be willing to knock another $20 off if that would make me happy. I told him to charge me what he thought was fair. He charged me $220. I was OK with that.
We arrived home around 4pm. Jimaken was on his way to pick-up Bella. She ran down to see Makayla before her dad showed up. I walked down to chat with Kenny & Chrissy after seeing them out working in their yard. Took Eiknarf along too. She peed and pooped.
Back at the house, Jimaken was there to get Bella. Mindy called for her down at Chrissy's. As soon as they left Mindy and I made plans to head to Olivia's birthday party after calling Ashley to see if it was OK to come then. The main event was scheduled from 2-4pm. We needed to stop for her gift first too. We planned a trip to Targhetto.
Wouldn't you know, Kelly, Lindsey and the boys pulled up at the exact same time as us and one row over. We watched them walk in, both Kelly and Lindsey puffing on cigarettes like their lives depended on them. The boys walked loosely ahead. I snapped a photo as they walked in. We waited until they were inside then followed behind. I was eager to get some snap shots.
We surfed the entire store before it was all said and done getting Olivia some candy, clothes and toys. We bought a few things for the house as well as a couple things for Jacob & Bella. I got a picture of Kelly perusing the laundry aisle. Mindy later ran into her in the $1 aisle and stopped to chat. I walked up to say hello briefly too, but then went on to the greeting card section. By the time it was all said and done, we'd dropped almost $300.
We talked with Lindsey & the boys too. After Mindy and I checked out, I spotted the boys again and called them over so I could buy them a treat at the concessions. They both wanted an ICEE and hot pretzel. I got them set up then headed out to meet Mindy at the car. By the time I got to the car Mindy had Olivia's gifts already stuffed into the giant gift bag we brought from home. We headed onto Ashley's.
It was already after 5pm but there were still quite a few folks at Olivia's party, including Courtney & Kaileigh. We haven't seen/talked directly with Courtney since Olivia's last b-day party. We also met her new boyfriend, Zach. Seemed pleasant though we've heard through the vine that he's got a rap sheet a mile long. Two of Steven's sisters were there with their kids and boyfriends. I entertained them all out front for a few while Mindy carried in Olivia's gift bag. In fact, by the time that I headed inside Olivia had already opened all of her gifts.
I had a little fun with her cardboard cutout of heart throb, Justin Bieber. Watched the tail end of the Buckeye game from Champagne, Illinois. The Buckeyes clung to a narrow lead and were pitching a shutout up until the final minutes. Courtney interacted with me a little but pretty much ignored Mindy. The funny thing is, Mindy was one of her strongest advocates when she was really struggling.
We hung at Ashley's until the end of the Buckeye game then headed for home. We wouldn't be there long, however. We planned to do dinner at CBC. We headed to CBC after carrying in what remained of our Target haul. We drove the Accord. As darkness set in I wondered if it was a mistake getting the darkest tint on the rear window. Hard to see much at all.
A few folks had warned that most downtown restaurants would be packed with Columbus Day revelers as well as the marathon crowd. But if CBC was any indication, that notion was misguided. They had a decent crowd, but there were several parking spots still remaining. Jamie & Aaron were working the bar. As she often does, Jamie hinted as to the next stools to clear. As usual, she was dead on. We hovered nearby until those two folks settled and departed.
I went with their hop odyssey entrant. Not sure its name. It was good - familiar even. Mindy had a glass of wine. I ordered their artichoke dip while Mindy ordered a salad. The dip was tasty. When I ordered a 2nd beer, Mindy ordered the salmon dinner entree. I ordered nothing more to eat. We weren't there too long. I'm guessing it was near 830-9pm when we settled our tab and headed for home. Mindy picked up the tab and tip. Said out 2nd round of drinks was comp'd.
We weren't home long when we opted to go down to the neighbors for a few. They were watching the baseball playoffs with Josh, Ben & Ryan. We might've hung for 45 minutes to an hour when Josh & I walked down to our house to get another beer. Ben soon followed. We hung in the garage for about 15 minutes, or until Mindy came home. At that point we were just about to head back to Kenny's. I even had a third beer in hand. Mindy nixed that idea and said I was staying home. Josh & Ben headed out and we headed for bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.