Dragon Ass

 

 

Was out of bed and downstairs at 715am, which until recently was what I considered my natural time of wake. I felt surprisingly good, even had a little bounce in my step. Downstairs I started coffee the n checked in with work to see if there were any further developments overnight. Some, but not much.

The sun was out on a day that was forecasted to be cloudy, fairly and with a chance of rain late in the afternoon. At the time it was right around freezing. Enjoyed coffee and internet for about 45 minutes. It was nice knowing that we didn’t have anything specific planned and nobody coming over. The only downer was I was already committed to managing a work issue. I planned to call my boss later than morning to discuss the details.

I stretched, dressed and left for a run around 815am. And like most Sunday’s, I ran three miles on a lovely mid-winter morning. Back at the house, I texted Mike O. who texted me the night before asking if he could borrow our Thule for their ski trip. Told him to being his Pilot down. He showed up at 920am.

It didn’t take long to transfer the Thule from our Pilot to theirs. We chatted for a while, though too. Right after Mike left, I backed the Pilot up the drive and unloaded our ski gear from Saturday. My ski pants and jacket had quite a bit of mud of them from the parking lot. I planned to launder them before our Utah trip anyway.

Mindy and the kids were up by the time I was back inside. Mindy was busy working on a grocery list. The kids were going to a Blue Jacket’s game with their dad later that afternoon/evening. Mindy suggested that she and I go out for dinner. We didn’t discuss a venue.

I spent the next half hour carrying all the ski bags and boots to the basement, freeing them of mud before stowing them. Actually took a few minutes to adjust the buckle on Mindy’s left boot per her request. Found the tool that came with the boots and stowed it in my ski pack for our Utah trip.

Just before Mindy headed up for a shower I called my boss to discuss the game plan for the day/night’s work. Sounded simple enough but I knew all too well that it would take some doing to get the support we’d need for other teams. Still, I took it in stride and immediately began preparing and coordinating the activities.

Pretty much spent the entire afternoon and evening working, though with a handful of meaningful breaks sprinkled in for good measure. Bella claimed being bored out of her mind soon after Mindy left for the grocery. I offered all kinds of things she could do but she bit on none of them.

At some point midafternoon I offered that the two of us head out and throw the Frisbee. She jumped at that. Having thrown it with her only one other time I wasn’t sure what to expect. She was just OK at it the first time, but far better than Jacob and Mindy. We used the 160 gram purple Frisbee.

Wow! Bella was amazing. Not only could she toss it like a seasoned veteran, but she could catch it single handed too. I even showed her how to catch it on her finger tip, which she also quickly mastered. We tossed the Frisbee for quite a while and with a good distance between us. I was amazed with her natural ability and told her as much. She was proud of herself.

I hadn’t yet taken the time to get a shower, so once back inside I took one. Felt great. Spent more time with work too. Mindy was home from the grocery between 3-4pm. In between work tasks, I tuned the TV to the women’s Super G downhill ski race from Austria. Several wipeouts in the span of about 20 minutes. Course looked treacherous, the same course where Lindsey Vonn tore her ACL last week.

It took some doing, but by early evening, I had all the parties lined up for the night’s work that was scheduled to begin at midnight. The kids left for the hockey game with their dad around 5pm. Mindy suggested that she and I dine at the Original Ding Ho, though it’s no longer called that. Now it’s the Dragon Palace. As we understand it, there was a divorce and the family split the business. The name went with one party while the original restaurant with the other. We tried the new Ding Ho and weren’t at all impressed. We don’t expect we’ll be returning. Dragon palace seemed worth trying.

I’m thinking that it was just after 6pm when we left for dinner. I took my Blackberry, expecting I might get work related calls. I also took my personal cell and camera. I was disappointed when I went to snap a photo of the new signage and realized I left my battery at home on charge. Not to worry, my Galaxy III camera takes fairly decent photos. I used it instead. Took a couple of the restaurant signage as well as the neighboring Motel 40, both westside landmarks.

Inside, the set up remains the same only cleaner and with updated furniture and décor. Nice! We were the only customers in the entire place. That seemed a little weird. We could hear someone in the back hacking up a lung, presumably with no idea that a customer was there. It was gross sounding.

The female server was kind and efficient. We ordered what we typically order. Mindy went with General Taos’s chicken while I ordered War Sue Gai. We each order some won-ton soup and an egg roll, too. Everything was really good, plentiful, too. The entrée was definitely better than China Dynasty, which is considered one of the city’s best. Hmm?

A guy we run into from time to time both at Barley’s and then at CBC, who is a little bit crazy (also scary) came in and placed a carryout order. Mindy and I did our best to not be noticed. We finished something less than half of our orders then asked for to-go boxes for the rest. The bill was more than reasonable. We drank only water. That makes a big difference.

I said hello to the guy referenced above as we exited. We headed for home, now about 7pm. Once settled at home, I got into my comfy clothes and found my book. Took it and my Blackberry to the family room to so some reading all the while Mindy worked on that dang jig-saw puzzle. As expected, I received at least two calls regarding the night’s scheduled work from involved parties needing information. I could only laugh because I predicted as much.

I read as much as I could between what I’ll call interruptions. Even before the kids got home at 9pm I gave up on any more reading and planted myself in front of my laptop and PC to get the work stuff prepped and ready. Except for going after water, I didn’t get up for the next 5 hours. After several calls, conferences, calls, emails and effort, we finally wrapped up the work around 140am. By then Mindy and the kids were sound asleep in bed. Of course, I was all cranked up having focused like a laser beam on the task at hand.

The work having been a success, I celebrated privately by enjoying what was left of the Victory’s Ranch double IPA (just short of a full pint), and then a Southern Tier double IPA. Both tasted really good and left me quite the buzz.