Day of Play

Despite it being a day off I was up and out of bed just prior to 6am. Funny, I felt like I’d slept in. Mindy told me the night before that she wanted up at 615am to account for the extra few minutes it would take dropping the boys at school on her way to work. After brushing my teeth I headed to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee, something I failed to take care of the evening before.

After I had the coffee going I completed 50 sit-ups then 40 curls. Time flies. It was already time to wake Mindy. By the time I headed upstairs with her coffee she was just about to get into the shower. I sat her coffee on her dresser then gave her a quick hug. Downstairs I made my own coffee then played leisurely on the internet. The day's weather was set to be sunny and near 90. If the day played out as planned I’d be golfing later. Even though I was off work, I still took care of a few things, sending a couple follow-up emails regarding an issue I was involved in up to my neck. No sweat!

Mindy and the boys left for school around 720am. It wasn’t too much later that Eiknarf was downstairs expecting a walk. Yep, her needs don’t change just because I’m off work. I leashed her up and headed out. Saw Pat apparently driving daughter Alana to school. Thought little of it. And as we walked further to the west, we passed two more Hilliard High Schoolers walking back towards their homes, Nick and another girl whose name I don’t know. The cute girl asked if she could pet Eiknarf. Sure, but why are you guys walking the wrong way, I asked? She said the bus didn’t show up. She was walking home to ask her dad to give her a ride. Too bad I hadn’t known a minute sooner, I could’ve flagged Pat down to give her and Nick a ride. Neighbor Kenny went by heading out of the subdivision at the same time. He pulled over so we could talk golf. Said he planned to be back at home around 11-1130am. That would work well for me. That way I wouldn’t feel rushed to run and ready.

Back home I spent more time on the PC ahead of bus-stop time. Once again, Bella asked if she could head out early and scooter with peeps. Sure. A few minutes later Jacob and I headed out, me already fully dressed for my run. We met Chrissy there. She asked if I was golfing, but before I could answer she quickly acknowledged that Kenny had already told her we were. I’m guessing the expression on my face was one of mild trepidation.

The bus was on time. Eiknarf and I scooted back home around 815am. I did a little more work but then headed off on my run near 840am. About five minutes into my run and from a distance, I could see that our irrigation system kicked on as scheduled. Love seeing it throwing water about the lawn. Because I had the day off work I decided to trim my run to just three miles. It was very beautiful, sunny and under cloudless blue skies. The temperature was somewhere near 70.

I was home around 915am. I poured another cup of coffee then puttered around the house and deck for a while. I ate a ham & cheese sandwich then headed for a shower. Near 10am, I headed out back to paint the two new pink flamingos. I decided to spray paint out by the tree house. I installed the long wire legs first then shook the begeezies out of the fluorescent green spray paint can. Made me smile seeing the flamingo turn lime green. Fluorescent orange was next. Both looked good. The paint covered nicely, but still planned a 2nd coat for later.

Planted three more herbs I bought for Mindy next. Was happy to get that out of the way. I still had plenty of time. It was near 1045am. At some point I got a call from Kenny. Said he was out east but expected to be home by 1130am. He only needed to take a quick shower and let the dogs out. Said he'd swing by to pick me up afterwards. I organized my golf gear then headed out back to hit a few chip shots. Afterwards, I gave my clubs a bit of a cleaning with a wet towel and Windex.

I saw Kenny’s dogs out back, a clear indication that he was home. About ten minutes later I gathered my gear and walked down to his house where I sat contemplatively on the front porch until he opened the overhead garage doors. I think he was a little surprised to see me pop my head around the corner as soon as the door opened. It wasn’t a minute or two before we were off to Phoenix Golf Links. Asked Kenny about exterior trim options. He concurred that Hardie board is difficult to handle/ work with.

Arrived at Phoenix just after 12noon. We didn’t have a tee time but rarely if ever do when playing there through the week. No problem, said they could get us off. Set us back $33 each. The clubhouse sits well below the level of the course so we couldn’t see if there was a back-up on the tee or not. As we made our way up the hill we could happily see that there wasn't. It was wide open. After a few practice putts we were on our way.

Hole #1, Kenny took honors and teed off first. A tad nervous, this being only my second time out all season and not at all for almost two months. But, I am happy to report I hit my drive about 250 yards straight down the pipe! Sadly, that’s where the joy on hole #1 ended for me. I struggled mightily near and around the green. I carded a nine. Kenny didn’t do much better, having his problems in the heather. He carded an eight.

Hole #2 is that dreaded par three where I almost always shank my tee shot. The pin sat about 175 yds out. I decided to go with and easy rescue #3 wood. I hit a straight and low shot that landed on the green but rolled just off the back and into a small bank. After hole #1 I played fairly well, pretty much bogey golf save for a 7 on one of the par 5s on the front where it took me two shots to exit the hard pack bunker. I wasn’t at all discouraged. Even better news, we weren’t held up even once on the entire front nine, though we were now just two shots behind the group in front of us.

Before pressing onward, Kenny wanted to stop in the clubhouse and pick-up a couple of beers for the back nine. While he fetched himself a couple beers I peed. By the time we got to the #10 tee box there was a threesome about 100 yards out meandering around in the heather and looked to be in no hurry whatsoever. Great! We waited about five minutes before deciding to move on and play around them. Not sure where they came from. They weren’t behind us. We wondered if they self started on hole #10. Kenny wanted to call them out as we passed by. I suggested we just blow by them and play on. That’s what we did. We gave ourselves a par on the skipped hole. 

I played more consistently on the back nine, finally getting into a somewhat of a groove with my iron shots. I played bogey and par golf for the remainder of the afternoon carding a 43 on the back. And more impressively, I finally par’d the challenging #18. That made my day. We finished at 345pm or about 3.5 hours in. Not bad time. As we made our way down the hill to the lot we passed that threesome that somehow managed to get in front of us on hole #10. They were just pulling up to the 17th tee box. Kenny asked if they started on hole #10. Yep, said they were part of a league that started on hole #10 this week.

With Mindy at school likely until 8pm and the kids scheduled to be home at 4pm, we made a beeline for home arriving around 410pm. The kids were already home kicking back watching TV. Right away Jacob asked if he could head to Kyle and Cody's and then added that he didn't have any home work. Yes. Meanwhile, Bella lounged on the sofa watching kiddie TV. After wetting my whistle I headed out back to put another coat of paint on the flamingos. This time I did the painting behind the shed. After a 2nd coat of fluorescent orange and green, I fetched the two existing purple flamingos from the nearby Sparky bed and gave them a fresh coat of purple paint. However, I cleaned them first with water and a green scrubbie. I carefully carried all four back to the flower beds in sun where they'd remain.

Next, I watered all the flowers front and back. That took about 20-25 minutes. Now about 530pm Bella shared that she had two homework assignments due on May 30th, and both required reading a book and then completing a writing assignment afterwards. She was in tears over not having any non-fiction animal books as a source. And when I suggested she simply get a book from the school library on Friday she fussed even more sharing that the library is effectively closed for the school year. I suggested we use e-books online and went on a quest to find some.

By the time I found a handful of options, Bella had found a book on great white sharks she had hidden away somewhere. Said she was going to use that as her source. Fine! Jacob was in and out with his friends. Neighbor Jake came over too. And sometime around 7pm I got a call from Lindsey's number. I couldn't make out the conversation but could hear Lindsey in the background. I tried calling back but no one answered. I ended up sending a text letting her know she could bring the boys by anytime.

The kids asked about dinner. Originally we talked about going out, but as the evening waned I decided to make tacos instead. I defrosted 2lbs of ground sirloin then slowly simmered the beef on the stove. Lindsey dropped off the boys around 730pm. Landon was crying as Lindsey brought him to the door. He didn't want to stay. Of course Rocky busted in and without even as much as a hello asked where he might find Jacob. Landon got over his sadness in a hurry. He and I eventually headed out to feed the ducks, although it ended up being geese and their babies. I only did it for Landon's sake. I hate those geeses to pieces. :)

While Landon and I fed the geese from the bridge, Lillian and Emily came from behind our house asking if I'd seen Bella and Makayla. Nope. Not long after, Bella and Makayla came along asking if I'd seen Emily & Lillian. Yes, I pointed them towards Pat & Lisa's cul-de-sac, which was total BS. They bit on the data and went looking. I forgot about it until 10 minutes passed and I saw them standing at the corner looking in wonderment. The eventually spotted the girls coming from the opposite direction that I pointed them. They weren't pleased with me.

The taco meat was ready but the kids didn't want to eat until Mindy got home. We waited. She arrived home around 810pm. I made me, Rocky, and Landon tacos. Jacob opted for Krave cereal instead. Bella, meanwhile, was AWOL, still off playing with her friends. When 9pm rolled around and Bella still wasn't home we got a little worried. Mindy asked what time I told her to be home. I didn't. She headed out to play around 6pm. I never thought of issuing a curfew then. But now it was getting dark and still no Bella. Mindy texted the O'Connell's and then called Chrissy. No kids! Mindy and I separately went looking on foot. I crossed the street giving myself a better view of the sidewalks 5-6 houses down each way. Bella was off on her scooter, that we knew.

Then, all the sudden, I heard them. They were riding their scooters in Pat's cul-de-sac, the same place we let Bella ride it last Saturday night. It was now 920pm. We didn't scold Bella, but Mindy made clear that she was setting a standing curfew unless otherwise told of 830pm.

I fixed Bella a taco while Mindy tucked Rocky & Landon into bed. Bella was sent to the shower right after dinner. This time both boys went right to sleep. I stayed up long enough to watch the Reds close out a four game sweep against the Atlanta Braves and extend their winning streak to 6 games. Exciting finish. I headed up to bed just after 10pm. Mindy was already in bed but reading with her night stand light.