Big, Heavy Snow

 

More than once, I woke extremely thirsty during the overnight and had the wherewithal to get up momentarily to quench it. Out the window I could see that we got quite the snow fall. I heard Mindy fumbling with her phone during the wee hours, presumably receiving texts about school cancelations. Up for good near 540am, Mindy rolled over and shared that school was cancelled for both her and the kids. I headed downstairs to exercise.

Over the next ten minutes I whipped out sit-ups, windmills, and push-ups. Before pouring coffee, I gazed out the windows at the snow fall. It was about as gorgeous as it gets. All the trees were covered in heavy snow making for a very picturesque winter scene. I headed to my PC with coffee around 555am. According to the weather reports we got almost 8” of snow overnight. It was currently near freezing with clearing and warmer temperatures on the way. Got a text and a call from Lindsey. She wanted to know if Mindy could keep the boys so she could go to work. Their school was canceled too. I headed upstairs to consult with Mindy before responding.

Surprisingly, she asked my opinion, even while knowing that I planned to go to work. I only offered that Lindsey has no one else to turn to, or at least no one willing to step up to the plate. She asked that I keep the boys quiet while she and kids continued sleeping. I responded to Lindsey via text. Said she’d drop the boys within the next 30-40 minutes. I played around online for about the same amount of time.

As soon as the boys showed up I asked that they stay quiet and watch TV. I got them set-up in the family room with the Cartoon Network. There they say quietly for almost an hour. As daylight set in, the winter scene became even more fascinating. I took a handful of photos. Kenny and Carl were both out running their snow blowers early.

With the boys settled and watching TV, I dressed and headed off on a run. The roads were an absolute mess, and the snow fall very wet and heavy. I kept my run mostly in the road, relaying almost exclusively on tire tracks for my path. Lucky for me, there were tire tracks/ruts at all the twists and turns. It was a challenging run, at times having to keep both feet in a single tire rut (not easy). I cut the run to just three miles, but the work out was probably more like 5 miles given the wintry conditions.

I happened upon Kenny & Carl both working on Trena’s driveway upon my return. There were standing talking while watching the boy across the street attempting to pull away from the drive in his mid-sized pick-up. He wasn’t having much luck. I watched with them for a few seconds then offered that we go give him a push. The three of us were able to get the kid going.

At home, I went directly to the garage for the snow shovel and cleared both the drive and walk. The snow was very heavy. Took a little while. By then I figured I would go ahead and work from home. I didn’t want to drive in this crap. Inside I sent a quick note to one of my customers letting them know that I wouldn’t be onsite but would come on Friday instead.

Mindy was soon up and out of bed. Complained that the boys woke everybody up while I was outside shoveling snow. Meanwhile, the kids were eager to have some food and then head outside to play in the snow. I helped minimally as I was tied to my laptop working. Jacob asked me if he could use his snow board. He planned to build a ramp, much like Lane McVey did over Xmas break.

Mindy and I watched their efforts from the deck door. They had the right idea but lacked the ingenuity necessary to build a functional ramp that didn’t dump them into the bushes. Mindy eventually geared up and headed out to assist. Soon I noticed she was the one building the ramp while the kids played. It didn’t take long until all the neighbor kids were out there too. Mindy built the ramp starting from the upper tier of the deck finishing well into the backyard. The natural slope then carried the kids on their saucers down towards the pond. They stayed at it for well over an hour, and even after Mindy came back inside. At some point Mindy shared that she was in a grumpy mood. She headed upstairs for a shower sometime still before noon.

Meanwhile, I stayed very busy with work and even joined a couple calls. As usual, the work day from home went quickly. I didn’t get a shower until much later in the afternoon. By then I was itching to get out of my tight running clothes.

Around 4pm I began to feel queasy and tired. The only way I could remedy the ugly feeling was to plop down on the carpet next to my desk and close my eyes. I did my best to take a brief nap. I might’ve slept for 10 minutes. During my brief nap, Lindsey showed up to pick-up the boys. Once awake, Mindy asked if I was still game for date night given that it was a Jimaken night. I thought so, but wasn’t 100% sure.

Jimaken showed up earlier than expected. I’m pretty sure that he showed up near 445pm. Mindy asked what time she and I could leave for our dinner date. I shared that I needed to work until at least 515pm. She walked down to check on Chrissy, who had ACL knee surgery the day before.

Mindy and I left for North High Brewing around 540pm. We drove the Pilot since the Accord was extremely low on fuel. As usual, we took 5th avenue through Grandview all the way to high street. And for the first time, we parked in their private lot, which looks like it should belong to Kroger, next door.

We were greeted warmly by both owners, Tim and Gavin. Talked a little business and then a little skiing. We took two seats at the bar and ordered beers. Didn’t have Mindy’s porter on tap so she tried and liked their oyster stout. She ordered one of those. With no IPAs on tap, I opted for their Pale Ale. It was decent. Like a lot of microbreweries, most of their line of beers carry a familiar undertone.

Gavin shared that they were expecting a large crowd helped along by a group of 20 coming in from OSU’s Fisher Business College for a tour. Both he and Tim got their MBA’s from Fisher. We noticed they’ve grown the appetizer menu a bit. After downing our first beer, we ordered four appetizers: the devil’s on horseback, deviled eggs, bread and pub cheese, and buttered almonds in tarragon.

All the appetizers were good. Gone in a hurry. Meanwhile, the place was filling up, a larger crowd than they’re used to. Gavin called in another bartender, Garrett, who we met a few weeks back. Mindy and I both ordered 2nd beers. Mindy went with the same stout while I went with a guest IPA, Smuttynose Imperial IPA. Decent. We ordered more appetizers, too, this time a sausage roll. It was really good.

Mindy struck up a conversation with a lovely young Asian woman that was there with the Fisher Business College group. I believe she’s currently pursuing her MBA. Her husband was there too. Soon she and Mindy exchanged Facebook contact info. I later learned she plans to invite us to a brew party at their Clintonville home. Sweet!

We left North High Brewing for home around 740pm. We to take the same way home – across 5th avenue. Jimaken was sitting out front with the kids when we pulled up at the house. Jacob was disappointed that we didn’t have any leftovers.

Soon the four of us were in our PJs. While Mindy & Bella tuned into American Idol, I popped some popcorn then did some reading from the livingroom. They tried luring me in to watch Idol unsuccessfully. Just not gonna do it. I read until 9pm or so. At some point I quietly slipped upstairs and into bed tuning the TV to the History Channel. Mindy soon discovered me already in bed and followed suit. I must’ve started to fall asleep, because she soon wrestled the remote from my hand and turned off the TV. Good night moon!