Not a Black Friday after all

It was Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. By design, I slept in until almost before 550am. With no one else to care for, wake, or see onto a bus, that left plenty of time to do everything I needed to do before leaving for work.

I started some coffee then whipped out sit-ups and push-ups. After exercise, I enjoyed coffee and internet but for just a few minutes before segueing into meditation. It was 630pm when I started a stretch. I was feeling really good afterwards and eager to get out for my run. It was 38 degrees and clear at 642am when I headed out the door. I wore gloves and a toboggan.

The sunrise was apparent on the horizon making for a gorgeous transition from dark to light. As expected, the roads were even more desolate than usual - a second holiday for many.

It was near 725 when I returned from the run. I fried two eggs for me and then one for Eiknarf. I was off to the shower by 740am. I delivered coffee to Mindy who slowly motivated out of bed all the while I showered and dressed. She was downstairs before 8am in anticipation of the boys arrival. And unless I am mistaken, the boys were there by 805am, or a full 25 minutes before we actually expected them. Immediately in the door, Lindsey shared that her driver's door handle was now broken. Jesus Christ! Are you kidding me? I asked for her keys and that she stay inside while I checked it out.  I didn't want her yapping in my ear while I looked at it.

Yep, sure enough. The door handled was broken. Impossible to open. Need to crawl across the seat to open the driver's door. Just lovely! I was determined to have a good day and cast aside the car troubles that she seems to think are mine. Lindsey left for work at 815am. Mindy got the boys situated while I made last minute preparations for work. I left at 825am.

Given that it was a holiday of sorts, I decided to risk it and take 670. It was a beautiful sunny morning and the traffic light. Just a smidge of congestion crossing through downtown. Good call. I made excellent time cutting across town arriving in New Albany just before 9am. Their parking lot was only about half as  full as it is on a regular work day. Pretty much what I expected. And it was a rare, sunny walk from the parking lot to the building, one that for the most part has been done on rainy days.  I took my time drinking in the cool, sunny morning air.

Inside, it took me a while to get situated and logged on. For one, there wasn't a LAN cable available in my office. Someone must've borrowed it. I had to request one from one of the managers. He had their PC guy bring me one. All in all things were pretty quiet. There were just a couple hot issues requiring my attention, and both of those were being handled nicely by the NOC engineers.

I talked with Mindy around 11am. Said things were going well at home with the boys. She was busy decorating for Xmas. Agreed to call her later that afternoon. Everything quiet on the work front, I decided to head to the Easton Target hoping to get a new light set for our outdoor wreath. There was something else I wanted to get too, but like often happens, I couldn't remember what it was as I was leaving the building. I was a tad concerned that traffic might be a nightmare and that there might be too big a crowd, but any worry was all for not. Traffic was more than manageable and the Target crowd was heavy but nothing close to ridiculous.

Inside Target I quickly found the perfect set of lights for the wreath, a set of 60 cool white C6 LEDs. I made my way to the checkout line only having to endure a quick moving line with two others ahead of me. Now about 130pm, I was hungry and eager to get back to work and eat my packed lunch.

The afternoon turned out being much busier than the first half of the day, and the last hour borderline chaotic. I didn't let it get to me, though, taking solace in knowing the weekend was just about upon us. I set my out of office then headed for home just after 5pm. I opted to take a never before pathway home after finding traffic backed up for about half a mile going the way I typically go.

I talked with Mindy briefly along my drive through the bowels of Gahanna. And while the path was unfamiliar, I knew about where I was. I ended up just north 670 and the airport and picked up 670 as if I were leaving the airport. It was a quick drive home from there.

Must've been about 540pm when I arrived home. It was only Mindy, Rocky & Landon. Rocky shared that Jacob and Bella had already left with Jimaken. The boys were playing nicely. Mindy had the Xmas tree up as well as most of the other home decorations. Rocky fell asleep in one of the livingroom chairs while Landon and Mindy set up the Xmas village on the leaning shelves. While they did that, I did a little writing for my blog.

Mindy asked my thoughts about our evening after Lindsey picked up the boys. Without hesitation I suggested Barley's. The neighbors called around 7pm to invite us down to dine with them. Mindy shared our plans to go out for a while, but kept open the possibility of stopping over later should they still be up and partying.

Lindsey showed up at 740pm. By then both kids were sound asleep. Rocky woke as soon as his momma walked in the door and was quickly ready to go. On the other hand, Landon was slow to wake and resisted all of Lindsey's overtures to up and depart.  Just as I was thinking we might need to carry him to the car,  he finally woke and rose to his feet and walked out on his own.

Lindsey and the boys weren't gone but about 5-10 minutes when Mindy and I headed off to Barley's. Judging by the parking lot, a much bigger crowd than either of us imagined. Several of the Friday regulars were in, including Steve W, Scott & Linda P, and of course Jim B. He's there every time we visit. Darwin showed up shortly after we arrived, too. Darwin shared how his boys recently broke their LCD TV screen. Wasn't sure whether to fix or replace. Based on limited knowledge, I guessed it much more cost effective to replace these days. He asked if Mindy and I would be up for trying ballroom dancing in Grandview. Mindy and I both shook our heads in agreement. Might be willing to give it a try. Who knows, might learn to love it, and then the kids can come to OUR recitals. :)

Didn't really keep track of the my beers, but believe I started with a Fortune Teller and then a Centennial. As for food, Mindy ordered a Carnivore sampler from which I snacked. Later, I ordered some sauerkraut balls. We stayed later than we have in quite some time. Tina showed up around 11pm to see her girlfriend Sarah. We spent a little time with her. Mindy invited Tina over on Saturday for our TG taco bar.

We left around 1130pm. Mindy drove. And just as we often do, we popped in on the neighbors, who were up and partying with neighbors, Mike & Terri. I took one beer and nursed it along during our brief visit. We didn't stay too awfully long. Both of us were tired. home and in bed by 1230am.