And Old Pal, the White King, and Cousn Eddie at the Smoke House.

It was Friday and I was up on time and very eager to put the last day of the work week behind me. To that end, I had to complete calisthenics first. I did 50 sit-ups and then 50 push-ups. It was clear over head and the day’s high expected to come close to 50 degrees. I’d say like early spring, but I’m guessing that it’ll be crazy cold come early spring. J

Enjoyed coffee at the PC and did my best to break away by 6am so not to disrupt the usual morning flow. I was pretty good at managing my time completing meditation before it was time to deliver Mindy’s coffee. I was a tad aggravated with having to navigate a maze of show pillows and Mindy’s slippers lying on the floor on her side of the bed. And then, once I got to the night stand, I had to make sure there was enough room for the coffee cup. Too much stuff!

Predictably, she asked that I crank up the heat a little. Sure dear!  I headed back downstairs to stretch and then ready for my run. And I am very happy to report that my flexibility hasn’t been this good in years, and my neck, back, and shoulder has been almost nonexistent since cutting back my push-ups. Listen to your body.

It was 40 degrees so I thought about backing down my running attire a little. In the end, however, I stayed with the tried and true winter gear but headed out with the fleece partially unzipped. I ran the full 4.1 miles remaining fairly comfortable throughout.

Mindy helped corral Eiknarf for our morning walk. She and I walked to the west to the next corner and back. She took care of business on the walk back. Mindy had scrambled eggs ready and waiting and was quickly out the door and off to work soon after return.

I was off to the shower around 735am and very happy to dress in blue jeans. I was back downstairs with plenty of time to prep a lunch. I took a salad, cheese, and fruit. There weren’t any bananas left. L

The kids knew that they’d be going to their dad’s place for the weekend, and they also knew that we’d be picking them up around 1230pm Sunday afternoon to make it to a funeral in Powell for Grandma Sharon’s mom. Both complained that Jimaken was getting cheated out of time. This coming from the girl that cries almost every time about having to spend the weekend at her dad’s. I tried to reason with them by asking what they thought was more important, going to the funeral, or spending one more hour with their dad. It was quickly clear that I wasn’t getting through. I also told the kids that Mindy & I would be skiing on Saturday. I probably shouldn’t have. Bella wasn’t pleased to learn that either.

We headed for the bus stop at 810am as usual. I kidded Makayla about playing sick the day before. Chrissy shared that she took her to school about ten minutes later. Oh boy! Chrissy shared that they would likely be skiing Saturday, too, though she had to get her nails done first. A girl’s gotta have her priorities! Meanwhile, I joked about driving the BM’er in to the office. If it would’ve been a tad warmer and if I didn’t have to jockey the cars around I would’ve. It was sunny and expected to hit 50 degrees.

I left for work at 825am arriving around 840am. It was a pretty easy day all things considered. And old peer from my NOC days, Ken, stopped up to chat mid morning. He was excited to talk about his new car. I shared my used Hyundai story. Around 1130am my boss popped in and asked if we wanted to join him for lunch at the new Dublin Gyro Shoppe. Keeping in my mind that I say no so often, I agreed to go along. Ken did too. He wanted to leave in five minutes. We met in the lobby.

My new peer, Lance, went along too. There weren’t many folks in line when we got there but shortly after we got our food the place got crowded in a hurry. Now we know why he wanted to head to lunch so early. To beat the rush! I ordered the two mini-gyros and drink combo. That was plenty.

We were back to the office even before 1230pm. I spent the remainder of the afternoon working on my monthly reports. The time went faster than I thought it might. I really wanted to run to Home Depot to get replacement bulbs for Mindy’s curio cabinet but never did. Mindy sent a text around 3pm asking if she should agree to pick-up the boys for Lindsey, who apparently asked both of us. I hadn’t seen her text until I read Mindy’s. We agreed to do it. This should be one of the last times we’ll need to do it since Lindsey’s hours are changing on Monday. We still planned to go to Barley’s. We’d just have to wait until Lindsey got off work, which would be about the time we typically head out anyway – 730pm.

I didn’t leave for home until about 515pm. I was on-call for the weekend but wasn’t too worried about it. In fact, I felt good knowing it would be my last on-call until the first week of March thanks to some swapping. I still hoped to get in a little skiing on Saturday if the weather head out. I’d be taking my laptop just in case. The weather forecast for Saturday at mad River was calling for clear skies and a high of 41. And they made as much as two feet of snow earlier in the week when we had three days of winter cold.

Our kids were already off to their dad’s when I got home. Rocky & Landon were busy playing Wii. Rocky was wound up and talking a mile a minute. Near 6pm they asked for dinner. Rocky wanted leftover tortellini & Landon wanted leftover pork roast. As usual, Rocky couldn’t finish, but Landon wanted more. I have Landon a 2^nd helping. He then asked if he could take some home. That made me laugh. How many four year olds ask to take pork roast home?

I called David Water’s at the number he sent in his email hoping to arrange meeting for dinner at Barley’s. He answered right away, but shared that he didn’t come into town after all. Said the plans changed last minute but that they’d likely be in CMH sometime in February and wondered if we could do it then. Absolutely.

Bella called apparently hysterical sharing that their new bunny, Snowflake had died. I guess they came home from dinner to find it dead in the cage. Mindy did a good job consoling her.

Lindsey arrived to pick-up the boys somewhere near 715pm. Mindy and I had already taken the time individually to brush up so we could leave right after them. They didn’t hang out too long. We did ask if she planned on starting Rocky on his new ADHD meds this weekend, and then asked who’d be watching them on Saturday, her last weekend work day. Said she would start him on the meds Saturday night and that their dad would watch them on Saturday. Mindy and I heard Landon say that he wouldn’t get out of bed. He hates going to his dad’s place. Honestly, the sooner he no longer has to have that interaction the better. We don’t think he gets any attention there at all. And after they left I told Mindy that we can only hope that’s all it is. You just never know.

We left for Barley’s around 730pm. Felt good to be heading out, just Mindy & I. Mindy probably needed the time out more so than I. She’d also invited all of our peeps and said that four or five responded favorably.

As we’ve come to expect, the parking lot was packed and spilled over into the adjacent lots. We got lucky, however, and got a spot recently vacated in the main lot. Inside, we encountered Jack & Leslie right away. They’re in about once a month, and a lot a fun. While chatting with Jack & Leslie, I spotted Tom C. at the very end of the bar near some other peeps. I walked over to say hello. When asked, I ordered a Centennial. Tom C. was in with his nephew, who we later learned has had a troubled youth and Tom was helping him out. I think he was 22 or 23.

Mindy’s pal Phyllis showed about 30 minutes later, or about the same time as Darwin. It’s rare for Darwin to show up so early, me still sipping on my first beer.  An hour or so later, brother Tommy showed up. Didn’t think he was coming. We also ran into Lori, neighbor Pat’s former sister-in-law. She introduced us to her new fiancé, Bill. Lori seems really happy these days.

Grandpa Tom & Steve were in late. Grandpa Tom and I chatted about Xmas and more precisely, the commercialism that goes along with it. He shared that he doesn’t play the gift exchange game any longer. Finds it ridiculous, though he does put money into each of his grand kids’ college funds at Xmas.

I was elated to find that Barley’s still has a keg of CBC’s Cousin Eddie. But being an IPA veteran, I knew that one needs to work their way towards such a big beer. I also noticed that they have White Rajah on the tower now too. What? Was it Xmas? I felt blessed by the beer gods. So, with that in mind, I ordered a White Rajah as my 2^nd beer, and then a Cousin Eddie next.  We stayed until 1030pm or so, and over the course of our 3 hour visit, I drank a total of five beers, the last three all being Cousin Eddie’s. I was feeling great.

Mindy & I headed for home after I picked up the tab. I never did order any food, but ate some of the chicken off of Mindy’s salad. That was good enough for me. At home, we quickly readied for bed and headed there still just ahead of 11pm. Eiknarf was more than excited to get to sleep with us.