Wyoming in my Life

Boy, Friday sure came around fast. Of course it didn’t hurt that my work week didn’t begin until Tuesday. I was up and out of bed by 6am after a than restful night sleep. The moon was shining brightly in our bedroom window. Downstairs I quickly whipped out calisthenics, including 50 push-ups. Was at my PC with coffee a couple minutes later.

I played around online until 650am when I peeled myself away for meditation and a stretch. Landon was awake early and peering at me from the balcony while I went through my stretch routine. He ducked back into the bedroom while I headed off on my run near 710am. It was cold – about 27 degrees but under perfectly clear skies. I ran 4.1 miles without issue.

After my run I made myself a couple eggs. Mindy was up around 8am and Landon was downstairs too. He asked for an eggs, peanut butter toast and kiddie coffee (coffee, chocolate milk, whipped cream). I made his egg while Mindy made him some toast. Before I could head upstairs for a shower, Lane and Rocky were up and downstairs. Mindy offered them the waffles she made a day earlier.

I was downstairs again after a shower by 9am. Mindy’s spirits were as high as they’ve been in some time. I am sure the colonoscopy thing was weighing on her some. Said she planned to make cookies and color eggs with all the kids during the day. She planned to finish Lindsey’s laundry too. All of that would afford us a quiet, uninterrupted kidless weekend. While paying bills online, I was pleasantly surprised to see that our tax return deposited, and that after only one week. Before heading off to work I confirmed what time Mindy expected her college friend Krista to be at our home that evening. 630pm. She asked Landon and Rocky to walk Eiknarf. Landon was more than eager to do it. Rocky, on the other hand, was pushing back. Mindy asserted herself and he jumped into action. 

I let the Accord warm for a couple minutes before heading out. The boys were already on their way back with the pug as I backed down the driveway. Arrived at the office near 935am. Because I worked about 11 hours on Wednesday, I planned to work only 6 or 7 on Friday. The office was really quiet. It seems most folks planned a four day weekend for the Easter holiday. A couple others were working from home. I felt like I had the entire 6th floor to myself.

I did the usual Friday reports as well as taking care of a few urgent escalations, too. The early part of my day was more than challenging. Mindy sent a text and pic near 2pm of all the kids making cut-out cookies. I stayed focused and busy all afternoon, finding time to squeeze in all my administrative tasks starting at around 3pm. As planned, I was able to leave the office for home around 420pm.

Talked with Mindy on my drive home. Lindsey and the boys were already gone as were the other overnight guests. Jacob & Bella were still at home, but Jimaken was on his way. We talked though most of my brief commute. Mindy had the house in ship shape. You’d be hard pressed to believe there were 7 kids there that day.

Jimaken was there in short order to get the kids. He planned to drop the kids off at Gloria’s place near 6pm on Sunday. It was somewhere close to 5pm. After some snacks, I told Mindy that I wanted to take a nap. At the same time, she got changed into clothes more fitting for dinner out with friends. I laid in bed for as long as 30 minutes, but actually slept for no more than 10 minutes. Regardless, I felt refreshed.
I changed into my black cashmere sweater but decided to stay in the jeans I wore to work.

It was 610pm. Mindy and I hung out in the kitchen waiting for Krista and Shane to show up. They showed up real close to 630pm. We haven’t seen Krista since July 2011, the week I bought my Accord. First time meeting her husband Shane. Mindy made dinner reservations for 730pm at 229. Mindy, Krista and Shane enjoyed a glass of wine while chatting. I stuck with water. Mindy walked Shane out back to see the kids treehouse. We left for dinner around 705pm. I drove us in the Accord.
We parked at a meter at the southend of Bicentennial Park. We walked to the waterfront before heading inside the restaurant. We chose 229 so they could get some sense of our downtown renaissance. Natascia was our server. I’d seen her there before but this was her first time taking care of us. We were seated at or close to the same table we sat at the last time we were in with David and Anita.

Mindy and I ordered the 2X Southern Tier Stout they had on tap. Shane selected the Great Lakes seasonal. Krista went with a glass of wine. Mindy ordered appetizers for all of us to share – 4 friends and pretzel bread. They changed up the four friends a little. Now, instead of deviled eggs, it comes with Greek meatballs and sauce to complement the stuffed dates, peppered cashews, pepperoni and spicy pickled veggies.

Entrée-wise, Mindy went with the scallops, Shane the seafood trio, me the blackened mahi, and Krista the fried chicken. I stuck with the one beer since we planned to stop at CBC before heading home. My dinner was delicious. Everybody enjoyed their meal. It must’ve been somewhere close to 9pm when we paid our bill (I picked up the check) and headed around the corner to CBC.

Given the hour, the dinner rush was over at CBC. As a consequence, we got a up close parking spot and four sets next to one another at the bar. Add to that, Kate and Vince were tending bar, our two favorites. After introducing our friends, Vince poured us three Bodhi’s and a fru-fru drink for Krista. She’s not a beer girl.

Talked with Shane at length. I found him interesting, wise, and with varied tastes, a real pleasure to be around. With their only son a junior in high school, they’re in the process of weighing the pro and cons of many different cities to relocate to once he’s off to college. We selfishly campaigned for Salt Lake. 

Passively, we watched the end of both Friday night NCAA tournament games. Michigan won a thriller that with only a few minutes remaining looked like they were going down easily. We ended up closing down the place. I had a total of three Bodhi’s after Mindy shared that she was driving us home.

Krista and Shane came in for a night cap where we talked and polished off the last of a growler of Bodhi from two weeks ago. I think it was close to 2am when they headed for Westerville where they’re staying with her sister and brother-in-law. Mindy and I headed right to bed.