Mom for the Weekend

I think I woke once during the night sometime around 3am, the first time in a while that I had done so. I didn't wake again until it was well past time to get up. I rolled out of bed and headed downstairs near 555am. Coffee was already done brewing . Of course, I wouldn't enjoy any until I pushed through sit-ups and push-ups. Both went fairly easily.

Out back I could see that the skies were cloudy, but of the broken variety. There didn't appear to be any chance of rain in the immediate future. I settled in front of my PC near 610am where I spent a good 20 minutes reading all the headlines.
It was 72 degrees with humidity levels nearly the same. The expected high was forecasted to reach well into the 90s, yet another sultry day in the offing. As I left my PC behind and headed in to meditate and stretch I still hadn't decided whether or not I would work from home, but in the end I pretty much decided against it. No offense to my lovely wife, but trying to work from home with both she and the kids ther makes it rough to stay focused.

It was trash day. I heard the truck come by during meditation. By the time meditation and stretching were done, it was after 645am. I dressed and left for a run around 7am. I ran the full 4.1 mile track working up a good lather along the way. Back around 745am I started some eggs and packed a light lunch. And while I decided to head into the office, I figured I'd be coming home early afternoon. That being the case, I wouldn't need a lot of lunch food.

I woofed down my eggs in a hurry. The fruit in the tray wasn't very good. The cantaloupe, in particular, tasted as if it was fermenting. The strawberries weren't that good either. Eiknarf joined me downstairs much like she often does, right before I was set on heading up for a shower. By the time she and I were back from the walk it was 830am.

I delivered Mindy's coffee and let her know that I was running behind. I didn't take long in the shower, finding myself downstairs again by 850am. I planned to drive the BM'er. To that end, I backed the Accord out of the way and parked it along the curb. I couldn't remember the last time I drove the BM'er but don't think I drove it even once during July. Shoot, I wondered if it would even start. Enjoyed a cup of coffee with Mindy while we discussed how the day might unfold. She and the kids were heading out to run errands that included picking up her new eye glasses at Dr Julie's office and then heading to see brother Craig, and lastly taking the kids shopping for new school clothes. We were expecting my mom to arrived between 3-4pm. She would be staying the weekend. I left for work around 905am.

It was a fun drive in under mostly sunny skies. Walking into the building I felt terrific, excited that it was Friday. I love the weekends! The halls felt almost deserted. me and another guy laughed about it being just he and on our floor. I took care of a few things then headed down a floor to chat with a couple former co-workers, Ryan & Ken. I must've spent almost an hour with the two of them.

Back in my office I had to finish and send out two fairly simple reports. I also spent considerable time fooling around with my files trying to free up more hard drive space. I was in a bit of a panic when I discovered that I deleted the file my psts were pointing to in Outlook. I had a back-up elsewhere, but it didn't have anything I had saved since Monday. I was able to get most of those files from my sent folder. I won't make that mistake again.

I took care of all my necessary tasks by 130pm and decided it was time to head for home where I planned to work the rest of the afternoon. I didn't bother calling Mindy since I was driving the BM'er. Again, I don't care to talk on the phone while I drive a standard shift. Arrived home before 2pm. Mindy and the kids were gone. I got my work laptop situated and logged on then headed to the kitchen for a snack. After satisfying my belly I sat at my laptop and PC for the better part of the afternoon.

From a reactive standpoint work remained quiet all afternoon. That was nice. I was able to complete several small, administrative tasks as well as getting caught up on my blog. My mom showed up around 330pm. Mindy and the kids got home not 10 minutes later. The kids were excited to show me their new school clothes and shoes. Mindy was equally excited to show me her new eye glasses.

I wrapped up my work day around 5pm, my out-of-office on after that. We hung out aimlessly for an hour or so, eventually deciding on dinner at Barleys for around 630pm. Mindy called my dad to see if he was up for joining us. Somewhat surprisingly he said yes. Mindy suggested we return the pig but not before printing off a collage of the pig pictures we took. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise, but the printer was pretty much out of ink, which seems to be the case anytime I go to print anything. Printers are cheap, the ink is the big cost. What a racket. Mindy agreed to make a run to Targhetto to pick-up the ink we needed. I pulled together a collage of 11 pig photos

Once dad arrived we all piled into the Pilot and headed for Barley's. Heading east on Trabue I noticed a pair of sunglasses resting on the bumper of the car in front of us at the traffic light at McKinnley. I rolled down the window and shouted out to the driver. He acknowledged me with a nod but I don't think he understand what I said as he pulled on away. Hey, I tried.

At Barley's we parked in the back 40. I carried in the iron pig while Mindy carried in the photo collage. As soon as we were in the door Mindy began explaining the missing pig to the hostess who said they'd been wondering where it went. She asked for Zach so she could present the photo collage. At the same time, Mindy requested a booth for the six of us. I meandered into the bar where I chatted it up with the twins, Kent & Kurt. Haven't seen them since the Thursday evening before we left for the Outer Banks. Asked how their yard party went. They hosted that the Saturday after we left. It was 100 degrees that day.

I eventually moseyed on over to the booth only to learn that Mindy, my mom and dad and the kids had already placed drink orders. I went looking for Sarah our server who handed me the ZIPA she was carrying away originally intended for someone else. After everyone had their drinks we placed food orders, everybody but me that is. I wasn't that hungry after snacking earlier on party leftovers. As I explained once again, I go to Barley's first and foremost to have a couple beers and see my peeps. Eating is always down on the list. Besides, I figured I'd be snacking on the kids leftovers, which is almost always the case.

While the others ate their dinners I enjoyed a 2nd ZIPA. Bella commented numerous times through the evening that I was drunk, including the minutes leading up to our departure. In reality, I was just in a goofy, happy it's the weekend, kind of mood. Zach came by our table to show off the picture collage we brought him now in a frame. He hadn't yet decided where to place it. We left Barley's for the house around 8-830pm. Mindy drove.

Dad stuck around for at least another hour back at our house. We sat around the kitchen table telling stories and yucking it up. I'm guessing it was near 9pm when the neighbor girls stopped down to play with Bella. Prior, Bella hadn't seen them all week even though they'd been home from their Disney vacation since Monday. We could tell it was bothering Bella, but she wasn't about to got looking for them. Too proud, I guess. Soon after the girls stopped down, Teri came over for a visit. She took a seat at the table with us. She eventually took our offer for a beer, one of the Shock Tops we've had on hand since Glenn's visit. She hung out for at least an hour.

I'm thinking it was near 10pm when dad headed home and not too much longer before mom headed for bed. Mindy and I were up for another 30 minutes or so, but no later than 11pm.