Moving to EDT

I was up and out of bed by what would’ve been 740am, but because of daylight saving time, it was really 840am. I instinctively felt behind the eight ball. It’s worthy of mention if for no other reason than the humor value, Landon came in our room somewhere ear 4am asking Mindy to button his pajama shirt. Mindy abruptly dispatched him back to bed citing that no reason to be up and waking her that early.

Mindy asked for a hug just before I slipped out of the room. Downstairs I started coffee then took to the internet. It was much warmer than Saturday morning, already in the low 40s. Expected it to reach 65 degrees with sunny skies. It was already 9am by the time coffee was ready. And it must’ve been around 930am when Landon joined me downstairs. He asked if he could play Wii, Jacob’s Xbox, or Bella’s Kindle. I, of course, told him no to all the above. Instead, I offered that he join me walking Eiknarf. He liked the idea. We headed out with the dog around 945am.

We took a longer walk than usual. Why not? It was really nice outside. We stopped on the bridge so Landon could gaze at the ducks. We snapped a few pictures, too. Back at the house, the others began to stir shortly after 10am. Landon headed up where he was shunned from Jacob’s room. I later learned the reason. Apparently, he woke Jacob in the middle of the night asking to play with his Kindle. J

Mindy and the kids were all up by 1045am. She asked if I adjusted the clocks. Yes, the CATV box and my PC. I was joking. Both of those time sources update themselves. She was convinced that it was only 945am. She was mistaken. Once everybody was up and under control, I dressed and left for a run. By then it was after 11am. Holy smoke, where had my morning gone?

I was really stiff, especially my legs. For one reason or another, painting does that to me every time. You’d think with all the running and exercise I do that that would be impossible. I ran through the stiffness, and by run’s end I felt great. It was around 1130am by the time I finished the run.

Mindy finished Lindsey’s laundry then started some of our own. I helped a little bit too. She prepared for a trip to the grocery as well, where after much deliberation, she planned to pick-up steaks for grilling later that afternoon. While Mindy hit the shower, I headed out to wash and vacuum the Accord, something long overdue. I had to prep the hose for the season too. Used WD-40 on all the connections before letting her rip.

The Accord was extra grimy having not been washed since mid-November. I’m thinking it was near 1pm when she headed out. Took a lot of elbow grease, even after a thorough washing with Dawn and water, to get to the shine. Mindy had asked earlier if I planned to vacuum the Pilot too. Jokingly, I said no because what would be her incentive to keep it clean.

I was still working on the Accord when Mindy came out and shared that she was going to McDonald’s to get all the kids some lunch. She wasn’t gone long and when she returned I offered that she pull the Pilot up in the drive so I could vacuum. It took a while. She was ready to leave for the grocery about halfway through. I went ahead and finished while she waited. She loaded in the recycling then departed.

Once I finished the cars, I jumped the BM’er. That went without a hitch. Drove it around the block to help charge the battery. Saw Jacob and Rocky playing basketball at Cody & Kyle’s place just down the road on my short drive. I honked as I passed.

We were expecting Lindsey to get the boys near 230pm. I am not certain if she arrived before or after Mindy got home. I’m thinking before. I still hadn’t showered and figured I might skip one all together. Once the boys were gone I headed to the deck with book in hand and did some reading nestled comfortably in the corner under the pergola. Very cozy and comfortable. By then it was somewhere in the mid 60s, but felt even warmer with the brilliant spring sunshine. I thoroughly enjoyed the deck time for the first time this season, which is far earlier than we were able to do last year.

I headed inside after about 30-40 minutes and started to dose on the sofa while watching some golf. When Mindy came in I promptly leaped to my feet and headed out to help her carry in the haul. Said she got meat from the Giant Eagle Market District, but the rest of our groceries from Kroger. Said she bought their new prime beef, which is far pricier than choice. The cuts I saw looked incredible, but grillin’ and eatin’ would tell the tale.

I returned to the sofa and watched more golf, including Tiger Woods disqualifying himself due to a foot/achilles injury. I knew the Buckeye basketball game was set to start around 4pm but planned to avoid it. They were playing Michigan State again, only this time for the Big Ten tournament championship.  I eventually headed back outside with my book. Mindy came out too, only she headed to her patio and later asked that I join her. I did. We sat together for about 30 minutes. Eiknarf was with us too.

We headed in near 430-5pm to begin dinner. I fired up the grill shortly after 5pm and started grilling about 20 minutes later. She had me grilling five steaks, which I questioned. After all, it was just the four of us. As big as the steaks were, we easily could’ve grilled and shared just two. Four were big filets and the fifth, actually a buffalo strip steak. She was eager to give that a try. Mindy had potatoes baking in the oven for about an hour prior, and made a fresh garden salad, too.

The steaks grilled quickly. Dinner was ready just before 6pm. Mindy & I were anxious to give both types a try. The filet was incredible and about as tender as one could ever hope for. The buffalo strip was good too, but honestly, one would be hard pressed to tell the difference between it and cattle beef. We ended up eating 2.5 steaks, saving the rest as leftovers for later in the week.

The kids wanted to head back outside to play after dinner, but we insisted Jacob do his math homework first. He wasn’t too pleased but them’s the breaks. And as it turned out, he put forth very little effort in working through the division word problems. I wanted to knock his block off with his flippant attitude.

Bella headed down to Makayla’s. Mindy told her to be home by 8pm. We watched some rare network TV – Dateline, an episode about lottery fraud. Bella got home at 802pm. No questions were asked. Come 8pm, we briefly tuned into the NCAA tournament selection show where we surmised that the Buckeyes lost the game earlier due to the 2^nd seed they earned in the East region. Michigan State garnered a #1 seeding.

Come 9pm all of us were sleepy even though it was really just 8pm not counting the recent switch to daylight saving time. The kids asked permission to wear shorts to school on Monday given that the forecast called for a high of 70 with sunshine. Mindy agreed. We all headed for bed early. Good night half moon.