Flipping Past Mad River - Pizza & Fire

I was up around 735am feeling no worse for the wear. I quietly brushed my teeth and gathered up my running clothes before heading downstairs to prep some coffee. Mindy said something about rising early and getting a jump on the day ahead but I didn’t recall her specifying any particular time.

I started coffee then played on the internet. I spent a considerable chunk of that time (an hour or more) updating my blog. 2 hours went by seemingly in the blink of an eye. Mindy was still in bed when I finally slipped out the door for my run. The plan was to leave for Bellfountaine around 11am. I left for my run around 945am. I ran the usual 3 mile weekend trail in a light rain.

Bella was home by the time I got back and Mindy was just finishing up her shower. I asked Mindy if she would mind making me an egg, bacon and cheese sandwich before we left. Said she would, but she had to finish making Bella competition ready first. I was showered in a jiffy. I opted for casual clean running clothes. I wanted to maximize comfort knowing I’d be sitting in a gym for most of the afternoon.
I was ready to go before Mindy finished with Bella. I opted to make the breakfast sandwiches, and asked Mindy & Bella if they wanted one. Mindy did, but Bella didn’t. I made mine using the thick homemade French toast as the bread. It turned out awesome. Offered Mindy the same but she opted for wheat toast.

Mindy had Bella eat something, even if it was eggs. She needed the fuel for her meet. Not sure what she settled on. Mindy packed a cooler full of healthy snacks that included: carrots, celery, cheese, and craisins. She also packed water and Gatorade. We left the house around 11am. Bella was testy out the door. Turns out, she was concerned that she was going to be late. We did our level best to assure her otherwise. In fact, we figured to arrive early – not late. She wasn’t so sure.
Mindy & I made a big deal out of driving by Mad River Mt, which is only about five miles from the Bellfountain HS gym. Bella wasn’t as amused as we were. The Mt. opens six weeks from last Friday. Wahoo! Arrived at the gym at 1205pm, or 25 minutes early. Everything looked familiar after making the very same trek a year or so ago.

Bella ran into her former DCW team members who embraced her immediately in the door. That was sweet. We exchanged pleasantries with them and the coaches. We certainly didn’t want there to be any hard feelings. We sat right behind the parents of Kelly, Bella’s gymnastics coach. Bella was called for her first event after about 20 minutes of sitting around. She was noticeably nervous despite us advising her not to be. And when Bella is nervous she’s prone to errors. Last year she left out pieces of her routine.

She did good, this her first time as 10 year old novice, and doing a difficult exercise that included a cartwheel into two back handsprings. She was very methodical, but pulled it off. We could see the relief in her eyes to have it behind her. I think she placed 5th.

Her next exercise was double-mini, and only about a 30 minute time gap between. She’s only recently added a front flip to her repertoire. She had numerous warm-up tries, and then two that counted. I thought she did good. She placed 8th and wasn’t happy. We were very proud of her despite the placement. We had a 75 minute wait before her next event. Mindy and Bella disappeared for a while, but when they got back, I headed to the cafeteria to read and relax. I read about 10 pages from my book.

Headed back into the gym at 325pm. Bella was warming up for her trampoline event. Perfect! It was 345pm by the time she finished the event. We had to wait at least another 30-45 minutes for the awards ceremony. It was somewhat painful. I think she placed 4th. We didn’t get out of the gym until just after 430pm. Yikes!
Mindy phoned Jimaken to let him know that we were bringing Bella by his place. They didn’t plan on going anywhere. Would be there watching the Buckeye game. We were about an hour behind where we thought we’d be. We showed up at Jimaken’s place right at 530pm. And by the time we headed inside his condo, the Buckeye game had just kicked off. Sadly, the frightening Halloween decorations Jimaken put up the day before were already down. Apparently Bella was horrified and screamed bloody murder at the site of it.

We watched one defensive series at Jimaken’s but then headed for home. Mindy and I agreed to stop at the Giant Eagle at Sawmill & Bethel for some beer before heading home. And while we tinkered with a couple options, we resigned ourselves to simply hunkering down at home watching football, having fire, eating pizza, and drinking beer.

I was more than pleased to find some White Rajah at Giant Eagle. While perusing more of the broad beer selection, I happened upon an old Time Warner friend and coworker, Greg H.. Haven’t seen or talked with Greg in maybe 15 years. Wow! He was there with his wife Tammy. We talked kids and family. I also introduced to Mindy. We chatted for about 5-10 minutes.

We bought three 6-packs and a rocket of beer. Last second, we went for some dog food too. Eiknarf’s supply was getting precariously low. From the Giant Eagle parking lot, Mindy ordered a Minelli’s pizza for pick-up – extra-large, double cheese, double pepperoni.

We stopped at the Circle K just before Minelli’s where I headed inside and bought one Powerball ticket for Saturday night’s drawing. The jackpot was setting at $100 million. We won $4 on Wednesday’s drawing but I left the winner at the house. I just know that I’m gonna win one of these big jackpots soon. I can feel it in my bones!
Mindy headed inside Minelli’s to get our pie. We arrived home around 6pm. We worked quickly to get settled and organized. It was another 10 minutes before we dug into the pizza. Mmmm, good! I put two White and two Fat Head’s in the freezer as soon as we were inside the house. As soon as I had my fill of the pizza, I cracked a White Rajah. By then it was halftime and tied 7-7.

Near 7pm Mindy, Eiknarf and I headed down to the neighbors. Haven’t hung out with Kenny for several weeks. I took two beers, one freshly poured and another in a bottle. Mindy took wine. We walked in after a cursory knock at the back door. Sitting there watching the game was Mike O. and Scotty, one of Kenny’s employees. Kenny was off picking up Jake after a school band thing. Chrissy was in Dayton at Makayla’s soccer tournament for the weekend. We watched the rest of the game with them. Kenny got home with about 10 minutes remaining in the game.

It was an exciting finish. The Buckeyes scored a flurry of points in the 3rd quarter to put Penn St away, but Penn St kept fighting back but was too far behind to rally. We won 35-23. Mindy and I headed home immediately after the game and reignited the fire then tuned to the Notre Dame /Oklahoma football game. I drank a total of four beers through the evening. I watched the Notre Dame game almost to completion. We headed up to bed around 1115pm and then caught the first half of SNL. Funny.