It was Saturday and I was up around 730am. Mindy woke briefly when I slipped out of bed but rolled over and went back to sleep. I brushed my teeth then headed downstairs to start some coffee and play on the internet.
It was a sunny start and still somewhat cool. According to Yahoo, it was 40 degrees. My first order of business was ordering the carfax for the Hyundai I test drove Friday evening. I bought a package of 5 for $44.95. The carfax came back clean, showing two owners and only 77K miles. No accidents or major repairs. In kind, I sent the owner an offer via email taking the average stated value from the two most popular car value websites.
I enjoyed some coffee and internet until about 930am when I readied for my Saturday run. At the same time, Mindy was up and in the shower preparing to leave for Bella’s gymnastics meet at Pleasantview Middle School
I planned to meet her there just before Bella’s first event. And because it was a Jimaken weekend, he’d be taking Bella around 1130am.
I did my run shortly after 930am. It was warming quickly, almost 50 by the time I set out. Ran three miles. It would’ve been a great day for leaf management, but that just wasn’t in the cards. Instead, I planned to do it Sunday if the forecast, which was calling for wind and rain, was incorrect. Before a shower I made myself a Cuban sandwich with what was left of Monday’s pork roast. It was good.
I made plans to leave the house around 1145am giving myself plenty of time to get to Pleasantview. Mindy called at some point to let me know that I-270 south was backed up for miles due to paving. Suggested I choose and alternative route. Thanks for the heads up, dear. After a shower and before leaving the house, I called Lindsey to let her know that I planned to stop by sometime after Bella’s gymnastics meet to drop-off the twin box springs Chrissy had for her and also put together her bed frame. She said she’d most likely be at her mom’s.
Heeding Mindy’s advice, I avoided 270, choosing instead to take West Broad Stto Georgesville to Norton Rd. Traffic on West Broad was slow. And when I got close to Georgesville, I could see that it was at a complete stand still due to road construction. I opted for plan ‘C’, which was to take West Broad St all the way to Norton Rd. Again, traffic was slow but at least it was moving. Once I got on Norton Rd it was smooth sailing and lovely drive south all the way to Kropp Rd.Pleasantview middle school is about a mile or so west of Norton Rd out in the middle of corn fields. Tommy & Charles attended there way back in the early/mid 70’s. Don’t think I was ever in it, but had been past it before. It was the first SW school district high school before Westland
The Buckeye/Purdue game was just getting underway on my drive out. The Buckeyes were behind 3-0 in a hurry. The lot was fairly full, but I managed to find a parking spot in the far away row. I headed inside where I was quickly amongst throngs of people milling in every direction possible. No one stopped me for admission money. Spotted Grandma Sharon right away. She pointed me Mindy’s direction, who was in the process of presenting awards. Approaching 1230pm, I headed inside the gym to watch Bella.
I spotted Jimaken and Jacob in the stands and joined the two of them. Spotted Bella, too, who was just getting warmed up for her first routine – trampoline. Shared the early Buckeye score with Jim and Jacob. Jacob moaned about how bored he was. Must’ve told me that at least 5 times over the next ten minutes. Gloria showed up just before Bella’s first event. She joined us in the stands. Said she hadn’t considered that we’d be sitting in the stands. Doesn’t care for them. That makes two of us. They’re awfully tough on the buttocks. Mindy came inside the gym long enough to see Bella perform.
Bella appeared to do reasonably well, but we wouldn’t know her score for some time. Her 2nd event was soon to follow at 1pm – tumbling. We sat through that event too. Bella did OK. Her next event not until 3pm, there was about a 2 hour gap. Jimaken and Jacob were leaving for lunch at BW3s and to catch some of the Buckeye game. Jimaken asked me to join them, and when I declined, he offered to bring me back some food. I thanked him for both, but declined again. Instead, I did a little people watching and then headed out for the awards ceremony. Bella got 2nd place in trampoline. Yeah, Bella!
I kept a close eye on the Buckeye game via my Droid. They were trailing 10-0 and then 17-7 at halftime. After a little more people watching, I decided to head outside for some farm fresh air. Immediately amused by the stillness of the country setting, I decided to walk about the lonely football field. I walked the perimeter of the track and football field eventually ending up at the school property’s edge by an adjoining corn field. The weather was ideal and it was very peaceful. I sat alone on a bench with only my thoughts for a good five minutes. It felt good, almost meditative.
Before heading back inside the school building, I took a few pictures doing my best to capture the essence of the country-type school setting. It was 240pm by the time I was back inside. Jimaken and Jacob were soon back too. They watched Bella’s final event from the doorway. I headed back to the stands. It was just after 3pm when Bella finished her mini-tramp event. By then the gymnasium had cleared out considerably, with most other kids already completely finished.
I headed to the lobby for more awards and to see Mindy. Mindy made it pretty clear that she expected all of us to remain through the awards ceremony. They were slow with the final scores due in part to their computers being down. They were scoring everything manually. Mindy later shared that it was completely disorganized. We waited patiently for the last events to be scored and the standings posted. During that same time, the Buckeye game was drawing to a close. As they had all game long, the Buckeyes were trailing 20-14 with just over a minute to go. However, they had the ball and were marching towards the go ahead touchdown. With just under a minute to go they scored a touchdown to make it 20-20 before the clinching extra point. But don’t you know, they missed it. It was blocked. The game went into overtime. I knew they’d lose, and they ultimately did. Despite getting the ball first and taking their first actual lead 23-20, they let Purdue score a touchdown on their OT possession sealing their fate. We lost 26-23.
We stuck around long enough for Mindy to finish her volunteer effort. The others were still there moving the gear out into trucks. Jim left with Jacob & Bella. Mindy and I headed for home in separate vehicles.
Mindy asked about stopping on our way home for an early dinner or late lunch, but I had other thoughts. Figured we’d head home, eat a light lunch, and then take Lindsey the box springs. Mindy agreed. By the time we arrived home I was really hungry. I snacked on Tostitos while Mindy walked Eiknarf. She made herself some sort of wrap when she got back. I checked my email to see if Tom, the Hyundai dude responded to my offer. He had. As expected, he counter offered. Essentially, he said he really wanted $3200, or $350 more than I offered but would take $3000. Rather than quickly respond, I decided to think about it for the next couple/few hours.
Mindy and I loaded the bed rails and some tools into the Pilot then drove down to Chrissy’s to get the box springs. Chrissy was busy cleaning while Kenny and neighbor Mike were off hunting. After putting the two rows of seats down, we were just able to get the box springs in the Pilot while still closing the rear hatch. We had to leave a roll around cart for another trip. We already had the seats scrunched far forward to make enough room. We headed off to Lindsey’s place.
As expected, Lindsey wasn’t home, and it was probably for the best. We carried in the box springs, bed frame/rails, and tools, and then got to work. We put the twin box springs from Chrissy on the boys bed frames first. Next, we put Lindsey’s queen bed frame/rails together. It became quickly apparent that the mattresses Lindsey had weren’t Queen sized after all. Instead, they were full/double.
We could make the frame work but it would require me drilling a new hole in the frame to shrink it another 6". Only problem was I forgot to bring my drill. %^%&&**! I wasn’t pleased. Mindy agreed to run home and get the drill, and then bring the rolling around cart we had to leave behind while at it. She was gone only 5 minutes. While she was gone I tightened all the screws on the end tables.
We were moving things around in the boys room when we heard the kids outside and on their way in. We braced ourselves for the raucous. Lindsey and the boys were home with groceries and Olivia. The three kids were wild and loud. It was a little more than I bargained for. We played with the grand kids for short while but also took care of a few more odds and ends, like mounting the mirror to Lindsey’s dresser. Mindy also hung a wall clock at Lindsey’s request. The place is looking nice. Mindy asked if we could take our air mattress back. Lindsey asked that we leave it a while longer, for one, so Olivia could use it.
Kelly popped her head in long enough to set down a big laundry basket stuffed full of clean but wrinkled clothes. Who wash and dries their clothes but leaves them in a twisted heap in a basket? Lindsey! I greeted Kelly with a big smile. She uttered no words and instead abruptly turned to leave. Is it something i said? :)
I did my best to calm the kids. It didn’t seem like Lindsey was going to even try. Mindy and I were on our way out a couple minutes later. We headed home where we planned to make a quick change of clothes and then head to CBC for dinner and drinks.
We weren’t home but 15 minutes tops. Mindy walked Eiknarf down to Chrissy’s so she could play with Woody and Annie while we were away. Truth be told, I felt like I needed a nap but didn’t say anything. We hadn’t been out on a Saturday night, just the two of us, for a while.
I let Mindy out at the door and then found a parking spot towards the back of the lot. Given the number of cars, I figured it would be packed to the ceiling. Inside, Mindy was already seated at the bar in one of about 6 or 7 open stools. Hmmm? I joined her. Jamie shared that the reason the lot was fuller was because all the employees are parking there now too. In the past, they were parking along the north side of the building where some construction is currently going on. OK!
Mindy had already ordered a Winter Warmer but also a sample of their new black barley wine. Mindy really liked the barely wine. To help out, I opted to take Mindy’s Winter Warmer so she could enjoy a barley wine. I asked to try it too. I don’t typically like barely wines, but this one is really good. Honestly, though, it’s more like a traditional porter. Jamie shared that it’s 9%. I also noticed that they’ve added their double IPA to the regular beer menu. That had me very excited. I wanted to order one next, but the only trouble was, it won’t be on the taps until next week. Note to self.
Mindy ordered some calamari after perusing the entire menu. There were a few new entrees but still most of the old stuff. I refrained from ordering any food and quickly lost my desire to eat a full meal. We did have some of their fresh baked bread, however. It was very tasty. We talked briefly with our newly single friend Stella. Said she wants to hang with us more often.
After finishing my winter warmer, I ordered the black barley wine. It was very enjoyable. While sipping my 2nd beer we met Rachel, a recent college grad that plays the French horn by trade and is currently auditioning for various symphony orchestras around our great land. She was odd but interesting.
I suggested we leave soon after finishing my beer and head over to T. Murray’s for dinner. We’ve been promising to visit Tina, a former Barley peep, who’s been a server there for many months now. Mindy agreed. I finished my beer and we settled the tab. I paid. Mindy agreed to get our T.Murray’s tab.
We weren’t entirely sure where T.Murray’s was, though we knew on High st. Mindy Googled it and quickly had the address. We parked just down the street at a meter. It was 855pm. I remember that because the parking meter would only register one hour and five minutes. I dumped an additional $.45 before I figured that out. Meters are free after 10pm. Duh!
A gentleman greeted us at the door. We asked if Tina was working, and if so, if we could be seated at one of her tables. Yes. He offered our choice of two. We took the one closest
to the door. He then went to find her. We haven’t seen Tina since Janet’s wedding the last weekend in April. We covered our faces with menus until she was at our table. She jumped up and down and gave both of us lots of happy hugs. Can’t help but like Tina. She’s so sweet. We have three connections to Tina outside of Barley’s. One, her daddy is my ophthalmologist, and two, her grandma is a longtime family friend of Mindy’s family, and lastly, her grandma is Guatemalan.
Tina eventually had the owner come over and chat with us. He sat at our table and talked for a while. He’s a real character. He'd been drinking a bit too! Gave us the whole story of how the restaurant came about and then the story behind the mural painted on north wall. It’s a mural by a local artist, Jeff Smith, who’s recently sold this character, Bone, to Disney, I think he said. Neat!
We eventually ordered some dinner. I went with onion soup and their crab cake sliders topped with a cilantro chutney. Mindy went with a salmon pasta dish. The owner came back around to chat again. Soon shared that the menu is changing the following week. Said lots of really good stuff coming. We met one of the chef’s, too, who is also an owner. She’s very Italian.
It was getting late and Mindy was getting tired. It had to be about 1030pm when Tina brought our tab and our leftovers to-go. She said the owner comp’d our drinks. She toured us the upstairs level before we left. Very quaint and quiet. Time to head for home.
Mindy dashed off to bed almost as soon as we were home. She tasked me with heading down to Chrissy’s to fetch Eiknarf. The house was rocking, but nobody answered my knock. I let myself in announcing myself along the way. TV was on, the music was blaring, but no Chrissy. Eiknarf came to me right away. I then saw the three girls playing up in the loft. I leashed up Eiknarf and headed for home. Hollered good night.
Once home I sent Chrissy a text letting her know that I intercepted Eiknarf just so she wouldn’t worry. I headed for bed. Mindy was already out cold.
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