Long Lost Reuben

I was up a little late and quickly downstairs staring my routine. And while it wasn’t raining initially, it started in earnest just few minutes later. The one bright spot was that Thursday was really my Friday. That felt good. I completed sit-ups and push-ups then enjoyed coffee at the PC.  

Sadly, it didn’t appear that the rain would let up anytime soon, but the temperature was far and away warmer than any other morning in the recent past. It was a balmy 59 degrees. However, it wasn’t expected to get any warmer. In fact, they were predicting a slow drop to about 50 by midday. 

As it worked out, I was finished with everything else I needed/wanted to get done until well after 630am. And it was 645am by the time I left for a run.  About the halfway point I decided to be a slacker and curb my run to just 3 miles. Between the time and the rain, I didn’t feel even an ounce of guilt. Actually, though, the rain wasn’t too heavy after the initial drenching.  

I walked the dog in the rain once I was back home. The warm temps must’ve helped Eiknarf. She relieved herself in a hurry. Smelt like spring outside. By the time we were back at home Mindy was ready to leave. As I recall, there was nothing special on the agenda after work, except for Jacob going to a hockey game with his dad. I kidded Bella about it being family night.  

Off to the shower near 735am and ready a short while later. The kids and I waited for the bus from the garage. We weren’t there long, however, because the bus once again showed early.  

Before leaving for work I made sure I had the Sherwin Williams paint chip # for Tea Chest. I planned to visit Sherwin-Williams at lunch if everything went well at work. I spent the entire morning working on monthly reports. That under control, I took my lunch near 1230pm and headed to the Hilliard-Rome Sherwin-Williams store.  

I was a little surprised at how dark the actual paint chip color looked compared to that online via my monitor. After mulling it over I decided to stick with what we chose and ordered a gallon of the Tea Chest in an eggshell finish. The kid working the counter advised that due to the dark color, our only option was their low quality or highest quality paint. Wasn’t available in Super Paint. I about choked when he shared that the Duration (highest quality) was $58 per gallon. I quizzed in more detail then offered that he give me credit for the $10 off coupon available online. He wasn’t going to do it until I shared that I could pull up the coupon on my smart phone. Bottomline, I paid $47.XX for one gallon of their best paint. Yikes!  

Back to the office. I took Hilliard-Rome north where it actually becomes Avery Rd to Davidson Rd. There was a train moving at a snails pace at the Davidson Rd RR crossing. It looked like it might stop at any second. L Thankfully, it just kept chugging along and soon  the end was near. After waiting patiently for about ten minutes it cleared the crossing.

The afternoon went fairly smooth with me spending most of my time tying up loose ends in preparation for a three-day weekend. I left for home around 515pm.

Everybody was home, including Jacob who was waiting for his dad to arrive for the hockey game. Mindy, Bella and I made plans to visit Barley’s for dinner, a rare Thursday night visit, which likely meant I could get the smoked Reuben, one of my favorite sandwich, and only available on Thursdays.

Jimaken arrived around 545pm and left before 6pm. Wasn’t sure what time they’d leave the game for home. We headed off to Barley’s shortly thereafter. It was still spitting rain and had been all day long. The good news was that the forecast for the next three days called for nothing but sunshine with highs near 50 but warming to the mid 60’s by Sunday.  

As expected, it was Reuben special night. Mindy, Bella and I quickly grabbed the first barside table. Janet immediately greeted us and took our drink orders. I went with a Fortune Teller imperial porter and Mindy went with a Loose Cannon IPA. Bella opted for a Dr Pepper. As is tradition, I held off on any food order until my first beer was history. We did, however, order some fries to tie Bella over. Mindy, meanwhile, abandoned Bella and I to talk with Jersey and Sarah sitting at the table next to us.  

We eventually ordered food, me the special, Mindy KC wings. Bella ordered wings, too, buffalo-style. I had a 2^nd beer, the Loose Cannon IPA. I’d compare it to White Rajah but just not quite as good. Wasn’t long before our food orders arrived. My Reuben was really good. I ate only half. Figured to take the rest home for later. Bella complained that her wings were over done. More than once Mindy and I had to ask her not to play with them. Both she and Bella ate no more than half their wings. We got two to-go boxes for home. Jacob would be more than pleased with the leftover wings.  

We left for home around 740pm. Mindy paid and drove. Arrived home ahead of Idol elimination night. Jacob wasn’t home from the Blue Jackets game until almost 9pm. He predictably enjoyed some wings immediately in the door. Mindy peeled off to bed after Idol ended at 9pm. Because I wasn’t working on Friday, I planned to stay up for a while yet and was happily enjoying a couple more beers – White Rajahs.  Both kids stayed up to watch the Finder after Idol. I fell asleep on the sofa near 945pm effectively missing the end of the show. Both kids saw themselves off to bed at its conclusion. I woke and headed up to bed covering about half a pint glass of White Rajah with a baggie.

I fell asleep fairly quickly.