Xmas Errands Galore ... and more fun with Cousin Eddie

I slept in until 550am figuring I’d have plenty of time to complete my routine and still make it to work on time. I glanced out back seeing a wet deck and cloudy skies. It was spitting rain, but hardly noticeable. I completed 50 sit-ups then went for coffee. It was already 6am. Geesh, how time flies when I sleep in.

I played around online until 615am and then did a brief but decent meditation just ahead of waking Mindy. Once she was up and awake I headed back down stair to stretch and ready for a run. It was already 630am when I plopped down on the floor for my stretch routine. I took my time, not wanting to sell myself short.

I dressed in the usual winter garb despite the slightly warmer temps. The way I saw it, the light rain countered any added warmth. I ran the full 4.1 miles, the entire time in a light rain. I half expected to find Mindy already gone once I was back at home but she wasn’t. However, she was making last minute preparations.

I asked if she still planned to have the Pilot tire repaired after school. For me, that’s a big deal. She said she did. She also had an appointment to have the oil changed in the Pilot. I asked what Xmas errands I was expected to address that day. I was already hoping to make stops at Dick’s and Wal-Mart. She reminded me that I needed to stop at Victoria’s Secret (Pink) for Kaileigh. At the time I was still mulling over my options, whether or not to hit a stop or two before going into the office.

Mindy left work about the time I sat down to eat my breakfast that was waiting in the microwave. It was a Rachel day, and we had her check and a gift card waiting on the island counter. Mindy prepared a tub of cut veggies for my lunch. I didn’t say anything then, but I still had two other containers at work in the fridge. I put the newest batch back in our fridge just before heading up for a shower. Oh yeah, I fed Eiknarf her share of the omelet too.

I opted to wear jeans again. I didn’t have any customer visits planned. Why not? The office would be half empty anyway. I was showered and dressed by 8am. However, instead of heading immediately off to work, I played around online for a while. I left for work, Wal-Mart and Dick’s at 830am. I decided to stop at the Hilliard Wal-Mart first. There I planned on getting Rocky an airsoft gun if they had the one Jacob recommended. Turns out, they did not. I left there buying nothing.

Next, I headed across the street to Dick’s where I planned to pick-up a gift card for Steven, but thought I’d look at their airsoft offerings as well. However, I already knew that they tend to be a bit pricier than most other places. It was 850am and their posted hours were 9am to 10pm. To my surprise, the automatic door opened and I went ahead and walked in. Two guys in the store greeted me and said I was the day’s first customer. What do I win? :)

I walked to the airsoft stuff way in the back first. They had a decent selection, but nothing close to the one I wanted. I noticed that the exact same container of 10,000 airsoft pellets was $22.99, whereas it was only $14.99 at Wal-Mart. I bought only the gift card. I took Hilliard Rome Rd all the way to Davidson Rd
then to work arriving near 915am.

I had an 11am meeting that wasn’t on my calendar. A peer pinged me asking if I planned to join. Not sure what happened. The meeting was an informative one. Glad I attended. And yes, another meeting related to reporting. I had a 2pm meeting on my calendar too, but before that, I planned to make a run to the Dublin Wal-Mart and then Victoria’s Secret.

It was raining lightly when I left the building. The Dublin Wal-Mart is just up the road. I had to park at the far reaches of the lot, but I didn’t mind. At least I could take comfort knowing that few others would bother parking so far away thus protecting my car.

Inside, I went right to the airsoft aisle. Cool beans! They had the gun Jacob recommended, and it also came with a second, smaller pistol. I knew Rocky would love that. I got him a pair of goggles and a jar of 10,000 airsoft pellets too. Before heading to the checkout, I picked up a new image projecting night light for Bella. Her princess night light is fading. I got one similar, only this time one that projects stars and planets. Cool! She’ll love it.

Next, I headed to Tuttle Mall, just down the road a spit. I parked and entered through JC Penney’s. That might be a first. I was a bit disoriented entering the mall from that vantage point but quickly got my bearings and made my way to V.S., and more specifically, Pink. The line wasn’t too long, but customers at each register. I didn’t mind the brief wait.  The line moved quickly. I picked up a $50 gift card for Kaileigh. I also asked the store associate if she could change my $20 bill for two $10 bills. Said she couldn’t open the register. No biggie. I really needed a $10 to contribute to my boss’ Xmas gift from the team. I’d have to get change elsewhere.

I made one other stop before heading back to the office. It was a fruitless stop, however. I was back by 130pm. I spent the 30 minutes before the planned 2pm call/meeting eating my packed veggies and cheese. I ate both tubs of veggies.

As 2pm neared, I got a message from a peer that we needed to move the meeting out a bit if at all possible. I took that to mean she needed me to try and reschedule it with the leader. What’s more, she couldn’t give me a new definitive start time. I felt like an idiot. I went ahead and asked the leader if we could move the start time to 3pm, but also reiterated that we didn’t have a firm commit yet from the customer. Ehh boy! The leader agreed, but said he had a hard stop time of 4pm. I relayed this back to my peer. At 225pm she let me know the customer was agreeable to a 230pm start. I quickly scrambled to ping the leader to see if we could do 230pm. He agreed.

The call/meeting was another very informative one. Glad I participated. We finished near 330pm. I spent the rest of my time in the office running some new reports. Before wrapping up for the day, I popped in the office of a nearby peer asking if he had two $10 bills for a $20. He had two $5 bills and a $10. That would do just fine. Cool! I taped the $10 bill to a sheet of printer paper and scribbled a note for Lee and left it in her desk just as we discussed. She was the one coordinating the gift but currently working off site. I’d be off site on Wednesday.

At 415pm I left for the day but planned to stay connected and plugged in via my blackberry til l530p. I made a stop at Kroger for Holiday Valley booze. There, I picked up a bottle of Jack Daniels, Sky vodka, and Goldschlager. The cashier in the liquor department tried upselling me to the ‘holiday Jack’.  It was $47 for a fifth. No thanks!

It was about 435pm as I made my way towards home. For the first time in a long, long time, I was the first one home after a Rachel day. That meant I got to be in a virgin-clean home. That made me happy. Ahhh, So nice! I carried in my stuff and then checked in with work. Everything was quiet. Wahoo! Mindy called around 5pm. Said she was at the Honda dealership having the oil changed, the tire plugged, and her transmission fluid changed. Doing it all for $70. Not bad! I didn't think they'd do tire repairs there, though I know they sell them there. Said she planned a stop at Target before coming home. I checked to make sure she still wanted to do CBC for dinner. She did.

While waiting for Mindy to get home, I took the time to edit and publish a handful of blog entries. I even had time to add a few photos. I’m thinking it was near 540pm when she arrived. While she readied for dinner out, I took Eiknarf on a walk. Ran into Mike O’Connell out with his dogs. We chatted briefly.

Back at home, we gathered up some gifts that we planned on dropping off after dinner and then headed out. We took the Accord. Mindy shared a fairly lengthy story from her day at school. While painting Xmas ornaments with all the first graders, it seems one of the boys decided to stick his finger in the hole at the top (Mindy removes the ornament hook apparatus for some reason). In doing so, he got his finger stuck and couldn’t get it out. They tried everything including ice, soap, vegetable oil, etc. Nothing worked. Mindy decided to break the ornament, but all that did was make it worse. The entire ornament shattered save for the ring around his finger, now on there with sharp shards of ornament glass sticking his finger. Mindy called the kid's parents, and his dad came to the school to assist. Still no joy. Mindy eventually called b-in-law Larry (fireman) asking for any advice. He suggested what I was thinking, small scissors or cutters. That eventually worked but not before causing the boy’s finger to bleed. Mindy cut her finger in the process somehow too. Lucky for her and the school, the kid’s parents were really cool about the whole ordeal.

CBC was fairly crowded, but there were still a few stools open at the bar so we pounced on them. We had a jug we hoped to have filled with Cousin Eddie. I was worried that they’d be out. As Kate shared, the week before Christmas is ‘jug fillin’ week.  We had her fill the jug then put it in the fridge just in case they blew the keg while we were there. In the meantime, we both ordered a pint of the delectable treat.

We chatted with Kate through the entirety of our visit. We eventually ordered some food, opting to share a salad, a bowl of their tomato crab bisque, and my favorite, the spinach artichoke dip. Everything was delicious. I had a second Cousin Eddie, too. Bella called while we were enjoying our food. Said her daddy bought her a new pet, a black bunny, to replace her deceased hamster. Hopefully they don’t try to house it in the habitrail. J She named it snowflake. 

Mindy picked up the tab and gave Kate a really nice Xmas tip. She also sought out Stella to give her a little cash, knowing how tight things are for her and Olivia this Xmas.

We headed for home in the rain. Actually, not home. Before home, we planned to drop the Imber's Xmas gift, but we could only find the street and not the address. I didn’t want to guess, so I offered that we simply go home and do it again another day. Mindy reluctantly agreed.

Arrived home around 830pm and both of us quickly changed into our PJs. We each enjoyed a couple of the cookies Rachel left for us. She’s quite the baker. We sat in the family room watching the Buckeye basketball game against Lamar. It wasn’t expected to be much of a game. The Buckeyes trailed 4to 3 early on but quickly took the lead and never looked back. I stopped watching just after halftime and fell asleep on the sofa while Mindy played on her laptop. I think it was 1020pm when I woke and headed for bed. Mindy and Eiknarf followed.