To the Moon, Alice!

So tell me, is there wind on the moon?

I woke around 730am and was quickly reminded that the boys would be over by 8am. I popped out of bed, brushed my teeth, then headed to the kitchen. Before starting coffee I stepped out onto the deck. It was warm and sunny. It looked like whatever’s been eating our tomatoes and sweet potato vines was at it again. I headed inside more than a little frustrated. Seems that I am always battling critters of some sort.

Inside I started some coffee then emptied the dehumidifier. I think I forgot to empty it on Friday. I used its contents to water some of the flowers. I played on the PC before and after the coffee was ready. Lindsey dropped off the boys and her laundry near 8am. Said Landon was throwing up earlier, thinks he ate something bad. I asked Landon if he needed to go lay down. Nope! Rocky shared that he wanted to head back to bed and quickly dashed off to the spare room while Landon sat quietly on the sofa. Not five minutes passed before I heard him in the bathroom throwing up. I ran to his aid but the door was locked. Dang it! I asked him to unlock it but he was too busy tossing his breakfast. I tried unsuccessfully to pick the lock with a paper clip. I was scared and angry. Finally, Landon unlocked the door. Said he felt better.

I asked that he not lock the door again because I couldn’t help him if he needed it. I asked if he wanted anything to eat or drink. Nope. I played around online until almost 9am. By then Mindy was getting up. I could hear her upstairs. She was downstairs a few minutes later. Right away Mindy started some laundry. Not sure if it was more of ours or some of Lindsey’s. I left for a run just a few minutes after Mindy was downstairs.
I ran the usual weekend route of 3 miles. It was an easy run. As it was, I didn’t have much of anything planned for the day. Mindy was going to a wedding shower and the boys would be there until 5pm, so it looked like I’d be kid sitting all day. I tinkered with the idea of cutting the lawn but never did. After my run and well before Mindy left, I headed out to water flowers and pull weeds from the front flower beds. Here we are in late August and our petunias are withering inexplicably.

By 11am Landon said he was feeling much better. The kids headed out back to play while headed off to the shower. I think it was around 1pm when she left for the wedding shower in Grove City. Expected to be gone most of the afternoon. Said she’s most likely stop at the grocery on her way home. She asked if there was anything in particular that I wanted to pick-up for grilling later. No. She also asked that I keep up with Lindsey’s laundry while she was out.

While she was away, I ended up processing three or four loads (wash, dry, and fold) until it was all done. I made myself a chicken burrito with leftover rotisserie chicken. It was good. With my belly full, I was overcome with a case of the sleepies and took to the recliner with a book. I might’ve slept for 10 minutes before popping up and deciding to be at least somewhat productive. I whipped up a batch of risotto, this time adding freshly shredded Asiago cheese to the mixture. It took about an hour to cook. Because I planned to make risotto balls with it, I poured the mixture onto a large baking sheet and placed it in the fridge to cool. Then after a quick shower I washed a small load of running clothes.

I’m thinking it was near 430pm when Mindy got home. I went outside to help carry in the groceries but couldn’t figure out where Mindy and the kids were. The Pilot was all locked up but still full of groceries. I went inside to ask Bella, who just minutes prior was lying on the sofa playing with her Kindle. She was gone too. Holy crap! Where did everybody go?

A few minutes passed before Mindy and the kids materialized. Apparently happened upon a stray dog out front when she pulled up and walked it down the street until someone claimed to know its owner. At some point Mindy shared that Lindsey texted wanting to know if we would keep the boys until 615pm so she could work some OT. I can’t remember if it was before or after the shower.

Earlier in the day there was an incident with Jacob’s pocket knife supposedly being used to put scratches on his desk. No one fessed up. Flash forward about 4 hours and Jacob’s pocket knife was setting opened on the kitchen counter. Mindy asked who opened it. Once again, no one fessed up. Jacob, of course, blamed it on Rocky. We went round and round with all the kids, Jacob even going after his iTouch and his lie detecting app. It gives the percentage chance that what you say is true. According to the app, Bella was the most likely fibber. Even Mindy and I played along. We never did get to the bottom of it. Mindy’s recently caught Rocky lying about a number of things. She explained that it’s hard to believe him about anything now. We’ve had similar conversations with Bella. On the other hand, Landon and Jacob are fairly trustworthy.

Lindsey came by around 615pm. Without being prompted, she brought me her car and insurance payment for the month, the first time I haven’t had to ask for it, and the first time it was taken care of before the end of the month. Lindsey carried her clean laundry to her car and left. Minutes later Mindy asked what time I wanted to grill the steaks. I suggested that we skip the grilling all together. I was actually thinking that we could go to Barley’s. I didn’t realize the boys were still over. They apparently asked to stay for dinner. Scrap that idea. I suggested Mindy simply grill the kids’ hot dogs and save the steaks for Sunday. I wasn’t all that hungry anyway.
Mindy texted Lindsey to let her know that our dinner plans changed but that we’d still feed the kids. She planned to put all the laundry away and then return for the boys. Not sure what Rocky ate, but Landon had leftover mashed potatoes. It must’ve been about 7pm when Lindsey picked up the boys. Mindy and I headed out on the deck to relax. It was a gorgeous evening for spending time out back. I poured a White Rajah and hooked up my iTouch and Bose dock.

Around 8pm neighbor Teri called Mindy and invited us down to celebrate Mike & Evan’s return from their Canadian vacation. We figured to head down in about 30 minutes. We hung out on the deck until about 9pm when we walked down to the neighbors. Kenny & Chrissy were there too. By the looks of it, Teri & Chrissy appeared to have been drinking all afternoon. Both were sporting quite the beer buzz. From the looks of it, appeared that Chrissy gave them their old red sofa and love seat. Said they sat the old furniture at the curb earlier that afternoon. The red stuff looks good with their dark hardwood floors.

Must’ve been about 930-10pm when Mike & Evan got home and a mini celebration ensued. And not too long after they got home, a few pizzas showed up. A minivan pulled up out front and was trying to load up all the furniture the neighbors had tossed. The Hispanic family struggled to get it all loaded. They decided to make two trips. They sped away but returned a few minutes later. It’s unclear to me if he needed more room or more help. Mindy later shared that she helped them figure out how to load it so both large pieces would fit. They eventually got it all. One thing’s for sure. If you sit something out front in our subdivision it doesn’t stay long.

At some point Kenny & Chrissy said they were heading off on a bike ride. Teri didn’t believe me when I told her as much. About 20 minutes later they came walking their bikes back down the street. Not sure how that ended. We corralled the children and pug then headed home around 11pm.