Deception, Tattling, & Vacation

I slept in until near 8am again, only this time I woke feeling fully rested. While Mindy remained sleeping I made coffee and played on the internet. But like the day before, I limited my time online so not to waste the lovely weather. I headed off on a run by 9am and before Mindy was awake.

It was gorgeous and not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was near 60 degrees with a slight breeze blowing. Mindy was awake by the time I was back. She needed to leave to pick-up the girls from the birthday sleepover at a friend’s in Hilliard by 1030am. We spent a little time together first sitting on the deck and then walking the dog before she left. While she was away I fertilized the lawn.

I was at the side of the house rinsing the spreader for stowage when she and the two girls returned. I saw Bella and Makayla exit the Pilot in a hurry both immediately going their separate ways without as much as word. Odd, I thought. I continued doing my chore until Mindy walked around the back of the house asking me to come inside for a chat. Oh gosh! What? She didn’t share until we got inside.

Bella was sitting at the kitchen table in tears when Mindy asked her to explain what happened. I braced myself for the worst. The mumbled something about her Kindle, but what I couldn’t understand. Too many tears. She repeated herself three times before Mindy clarified. Bottom line, she took her Kindle to the overnight birthday party without asking knowingly breaking our house rules for personal electronics, which is they don’t leave the house without permission.

Mindy was fuming, especially since Makayla is the one who busted her out. Apparently, as soon as they got in the car to come home Makayla asked Bella if she could play with her Kindle prompting Mindy to ask questions. According to Mindy, a ploy to get Bella in trouble. Not only was Bella in a lot of trouble, but Mindy was upset with Makayla for tattling on her bff too. Mindy wanted my suggestions for discipline. It wasn’t so easy given that she was slated to leave for a week’s vacation at the beach in a couple hours. Taking her Kindle over vacation would be punishing Jimaken, too. I was undecided. Bella eventually headed to her room upset with everyone. At that point I shared that I thought we should let her take it on vacation but deal with it when she gets back home. Bella has a problem with being sneaky. It’s not like this was a first offense.

I headed back outdoors to put a 2nd coat of stain on the cedar lap siding. I didn’t expect it to take too long. It went smoothly. However, before starting the staining, I caulked a couple more imperfections in the siding. Probably took about 45 minutes in total. Not long at all. Before putting my ladder away, I measured the width of the trim boards I want to replace on the west side of the house again. Yep, they’re just a hair wider than 7”. That means I’ll need to rip the new 1x8s I buy. Always a quirk.

Lindsey and the boys arrived near noon to do their laundry. Near that same time Mindy & Bella readied and left for Jacob’s early soccer tournament game. Earlier I had plans to go, but wanted badly to complete more yards chores before leaving for Mindy’s sister’s house where we’d be celebrating Gloria’s 78th b-day and Lindy’s 21st. The boys wanted to fish. I prepped one pole for them to share. I knew they’d tire of it in a hurry. I also watered all the flowers front and back.

Next up I washed both the Accord and the BM’er. Both needed it badly. I thought we’d drive the BM’er to the party since we wouldn’t have kids with us. Took about 90 minutes to wash and dry both cars. Mindy got home around 2pm. Said Jacob’s team finally won a tournament game. They still had one more at 4pm. That would be the last of the season, and they planned to hit the road for the Outer Banks immediately following the 2nd game.

With the cars washed, I headed to the side yard down amongst the thick honey suckle bushes to cut away the ever present wild grape vines that at one time had completely over grown everything along that bank. They continue to sprout from buried roots. One can never fully get rid of them. Instead, it becomes a matter of containment.

I made that my last relevant chore of the day. However, before heading in for a shower, the two boys asked me to play football in the backyard after I locked up the shed. Sure. Landon played only briefly before heading inside. Rocky and I played a while longer. He’s getting much better and passing and catching. Plus, he runs like a deer. Mindy called me in for a shower at 320pm. Lindsey, it appeared, had one more load of laundry to complete. We barely talked. I asked about her sister Courtney. Said she’s still pregnant and seemingly doing OK. Not much else.

Like the last few weeks, the plan called for Lindsey and the boys to remain at our house while we headed to Jodie and Larry’s for the b-day party. We left the house near 4pm in the BM’er. The few things we needed to take fit nicely in the trunk. With 270 all torn up, we opted to take Wilson to Demorest instead arriving in Grove City around 415pm.

Haven’t been to Jodie and Larry’s place in at least a year. Admired the newly poured extension on their patio. Looks incredible. Started serving food soon after we arrived. There were lots of choices. They were hot dogs, a case of White Castles, pasta salad, chips, beans, fruit, etc. I was thirsty after working outdoors all day. I drank water and lemonade while Mindy and most others enjoyed a large bowl filled with sangria. Over the next couple hours I bounced between the sun and the shade. The weather, by the way, was ideal for a yard party, sunny but not too warm – about 75 degrees.

Near 630p we sang happy birthday while the two birthday honorees (Gloria and Lindy) opened their gifts. The dessert options were brownies and cheese cake. I opted for cheese cake. As she often does, Gloria couldn’t resist telling me what I needed to do. This week she suggested that I stop on my way home from work the following day and buy Mindy the purple toaster she overheard her talking about. She certainly expends a lot of energy getting all up in my business! I guess it’s because she loves me.

Earlier, Mindy asked me to name the actor that’s Jimaken’s look-alike. I couldn’t readily recall the name but did manage to recall something like Gimanti, which after just a few minutes of Googling I managed to find him – Paul Giamatti.

I wanted to stop at Lowes on the way home and see if they stocked the z-bar we need for drip edging along our house trim. Once again, their website said they have at least 25 pieces, but I’ve learned you can’t count on the web inventory for accuracy. To that end, Mindy and I left the party around 7pm for Lowes. We took Alkire to Holt – a fairly short drive. We parked and entered through the garden department where Mindy quickly spotted some purple Dahlias. They were big and full. We carted three of them figuring we had room in the smallish trunk.

From there we headed separate ways, she to the paint and me to the exterior trim section. It took me a while, but I eventually found the z-bar. The only problem was that it was the 3/8” variety, and not the 5/8” I need/want. I told Mindy that I’ll simply have to call around to other places, like Carter’s to see if they stock it. It can’t be that difficult to find. We headed back to the garden center to pay for the dahlias and then headed for home.

Home by 8pm, we headed out back with Eiknarf who was more than eager to see us. I poured myself a stiff vodka and Fresca and walked down to talk with Kenny, who I saw was out back with neighbor Mike. Figured I’d rub in Tiger’s big win at the Memorial earlier. Mindy followed. Right away, Kenny made a disapproving comment directed towards Mindy for the way she handled the Bella/Makayla Kindle incident. Of course Kenny had only heard Makayla’s version. As I shared with Mindy earlier, we need to leave discipline of the neighbors kids to the neighbors. Our primary concern is/was Bella. Kenny made it a point to say that once again our kids can do no wrong. Needless to say, there was a little tension in the air. Mindy did a good job defusing it, though, but also didn’t back down. The entire time we were talking Kenny was grilling homemade kabobs. Not to delay their dinner, we walked back home near 830pm and sat quietly on the deck, just Mindy & I.

Mindy and I stayed out on the deck until about 930pm. She headed inside and readied for bed even after I gave her a little grief for such early bed times even though she didn’t have to get up for school. I wasn’t tired. I tuned into The Universe watching a program about quantum particle theory until I fell asleep. I woke and headed up to bed near 1030pm.