Father's Delight

As late as I was up Saturday night that didn’t seem to stop me from waking 7am feeling pretty good. It was cloudy and expected to stay that way all day. While choking down a Naproxen and prepping some coffee, I noticed that there were geese in the yard again but this time I didn’t run out after them. I did, however, chase them away but at a much safer pace.

I played around online updating my blog for the past two weeks or so. Then after a quick stretch I headed off on a run around 845am. Despite the clouds, it was still a very warm and sticky run. It was already 70 degrees. I was back from my Sunday run by 910am. The night before Mindy asked that I bring her coffee at 930am. Still with 20 minutes burn, I watered all the flower pots and baskets. Now 925am, I used every minute constructively. I headed to the basement where I fetched the exterior trim paint and tarp and put it in the garage by the cut trim boards.

I delivered Mindy’s coffee next. I ended up hanging out with Mindy for about 30-40 minutes after which I took a quick shower before heading out to the garage to paint. I hoped to paint both sides and all the edges of the cut trim board before nailing them up. It took about 45 minutes to get the exposed and all the edges painted. I decided to let them dry for a little while before flipping them over to do the underside.

Mindy and the kids left for the cemetery around 11am. Mindy cut a bouquet of fresh flowers from our yard. She alerted me that someone had been in her car. Apparently I failed to lock it when we got home from the recital the afternoon before. The only thing missing was a bunch of change. I checked the Accord. Didn’t look violated, but oddly enough, my fuel door was opened. All sorts of reports of thievery in our subdivision.

After Mindy left, rather than sit around watching paint dry, I cut the lawn. To make it easier on myself, I cut with the rider first. After completing all I could with the tractor, I headed inside for a brief break cooling off and making myself a burrito with leftover taco meat. Yum! I touched up the trim boards too then headed out to cut the rest of the lawn with the push mower. Took just over an hour to do all the mowing. I didn’t bother edging and trimming.

Now near noon, I badly wanted to get the trim up before everyone arrived to celebrate Father’s Day. Also, there was a strong threat of thunderstorms. Western Ohio was getting heavy downpours. I wasn’t sure how easily the trim would go up given that I would be handling it by myself 12’ up a ladder. But I’m happy to report that it went even smoother than I hoped. Only one tiny problem. That was getting the 45 degree cut edges lined up perfectly from board #1 to board #2. On the second try it went right into place. You can barely see the seam. The third and final board required a cross cut to the desired length, butting into the vertical trim board behind the downspout. It measured something less than 87”. The cut went almost perfectly and it fit in like a puzzle. I was most please with the final results. The one thing that I didn’t account for was the shininess of the new zbar below the trim. In the sunshine it detracted the eye away from the painted wood due to the strong solar glare. I may go back and paint the overlapping edge of the zbar later.

Mindy was home from the cemetery around 2pm. She came around the side of the house and complimented the work. And not long after Mindy got home, Tommy and Wally pulled up. By then I was painting over the nail heads. Tommy came around to chat. Haven’t seen him since we met for beers at CBC more than a month ago. He was talking out the side of his mouth. At first I thought he was being funny, or trying to be dramatic. But it was soon apparent that he was not. When I inquired, he shared that he had a bout of Bell’s Palsy. Scary!

Tommy eventually headed inside with the others while I finished putting away my tools. Dad pulled up minutes later and walked out to see my handy work too. Once inside, my first priority was a shower. I was a hot & sweaty mess.

A shower felt terrific. Soon the girls were over with the grand kids. Courtney, of course, was the exception. Not a word from her, but then again that’s what I’ve come to expect. Because it was Father’s Day, mindy did almost all the prep. I didn’t even have to grill. Like the weekend before, Mindy grilled early and placed the cooked meat and corn in warmers.

The little ones were having a great time until Olivia nearly fell face first down the basement stairs after tripping on a toy they brought up and left lying. I read them all the riot act for pushing, shoving to get up and down the stairs first. I know I scared the ‘tarnation’ out of Landon.

The kids and Mindy bestowed me with card and gifts before dinner. I even got a card from Eiknarf. Ash & Olivia got me a “pug not drugs’ t-shirt. Lindsey and boys got me a nice card. Mindy and the kids got me a super nice 20v drill/driver combo. We gifted dad a Bob Evans gift card.

Dinner was good. Lots of Father’s Day food: burgers, dogs, corn on the cob, beans, etc. During dinner a few storms rolled through dumping appreciable rainfall. Other surrounding areas got far more than us. Clark county (out by Yellowsprings) got as much as 3”. After the heavy rain I was even more happy that I got the new trim up.

Tommy & Wally left first, having a singing engagement to make it to. The others left earlier than usual too, and all by about 630pm. It was nice to have the house picked up and back to normal before 7pm. That was we could relax a little. The kids played in and out for the rest of the evening. At 830pm we tuned into the NBA finals game #3. I watched basketball, read, and iced my hand all at the same time. I enjoyed a pint of CBC IPA too. Mindy and Bella peeled off for bed pretty early. I know for sure that it was before 10pm. Jacob and I watched the entire game. The Heat won taking the series lead 2-1 despite not playing that well, especially in the 4th quarter.