Firkin Friday

 

Slept in until almost 6am. Woke feeling well rested and ready to get after my routine. Completed sit-ups, windmills, and push-ups. Took Mindy some coffee then returned to the downstairs to enjoy some of my own along with playing on the internet. Much like the morning before, it was partly cloudy and chilly - only 30 degrees. Expecting a warm-up into the mid to upper 50s by later afternoon.

Once again, decided to enjoy a leisurely morning. Didn't plan to run until after seeing Bella onto the bus. To that end, fooled around online until 7am or so. Did my stretch and meditation between 7-730am. Played around on the PC again until bus stop time. Spent most of my online time lamp shopping. 8am came around fast. Bella and I headed out at 810am. Just the evening before, Bella talked about wearing shorts. She was convinced that it was going to be in the mid 60s. But given the morning chill, she opted instead for long pants. Smart.

I wore running clothes to the bus stop. Once the kids were safely on the bus I headed back home just long enough to unleash the pug and then headed out for a run. By then the sun was out and the temperature felt a whole lot warmer. It was warm enough to skip hand and ear covers. I ran the full 4.1 miles.

Back home near 9am, I opted to shower before making eggs and packing a lunch. Didn't take me long, though I struggled to find a specific pair of jeans. Once again, I found them wadded up in Jacob's closet. Went full denim, wearing an old long sleeved button-up denim shirt. Wore my new brown shoes, too.

Fried three eggs, one for the pug and two for me. Packed carrots, cheese, and almonds for my lunch. Baggied up half of a banana too. I ate the other half ahead of my run, which is something I am trying to do more of - eat a little something before heading out. Had a 10am call on my calendar, and it was already 940a. Decided to join the call from home so I wouldn't be rushed. The call lasted almost 20 minutes. Left for the office around 1030a.

Still chilly, but quite the lovely morning. Got to the office by 1045am. Had a meeting set-up with a peer for 11am. Come 1105am headed to her office. She was busy on a call. She came looking for me once her call was over. Didn't take us too long to work through our issue. Free again by 1145am. To fill the gaps, I started working on my monthly report. In fact, I spent most of my day on monthly reporting of one kind or another. A friend stopped by to share that Hood and Bachelor were expecting more snow.

At lunch time I went to the Mill Run Lowes to look at lamps again thinking they might have a better selection than the Georgesville Rd store. And as it turned out, they had pretty much the same selection albeit a bit more organized. Nothing tickled my fancy. On my way back, I stopped at Home Depot. Their lamp selection wasn't that varied either. I took a few minutes to browse the outdoor departments. By then it was sunny and trying to warm up. Spring is in the air.

Was gone from the office for about 50 minutes. Back at the office I enjoyed my packed lunch while spending more time on monthly reporting. Joined an internal conference call at 230pm that lasted about 30 minutes. Finished a section of my monthly report while participating on that call. Multitasking!!

Still needed to take care of my Friday afternoon administrative tasks. Didn't get started until 330pm, which is about 90 minutes later than usual. Took about an hour to wrap them up. By then it was 430pm and the place was like a morgue. I might've been the only person on my floor still in the office. I left for home at 5pm. Felt great walking out the door with a weekend ahead.

Called Mindy. She shared that Jimaken not only agreed to take Jacob to soccer practice but agreed to bring him home, too. Cool! Mindy, Bella and I made plans earlier that morning to go to Barley's for dinner. I got home around 520-525pm. Jacob was already off to soccer and Bella off playing with friends. Mindy and I looked at lamps online, including several I found on Home Depot's website that you can't get in store. I am very attracted to Tiffany-style lamps. I think it's the vibrant blast of color along with that old fashioned feel. Mindy likes it too, but probably not as much as me. She pooh-poohed the first one I showed her. I had others, however. She was OK with some of them.

We didn't plan to leave for Barley's until 630p or so. Bella called around 6pm to ask me if Makayla could join us for dinner at Barley's. I anticipated that she would ask, and willingly agreed. That made Bella happy. At some point Mindy mentioned that Saturday evening was gallery hop (1st Saturday). Suggested we take it in. I was game, and added that we could even look for lamps in the many local shops. Mindy planned to ask Lindsey to watch the kids.

The four of us left for Barley's around 640pm. It wasn't much of surprise that we had to park in the back 40. I headed inside with the girls while Mindy chatted with a few friends on the patio. The girls took a seat on the bench just inside the door. I headed to the bar where I ordered a beer from April. She put the beers on our table tab and we were soon seated in a booth in Justin's section.

Justin took drink orders from the girls, both asking for Dr Pepper. And I'm pretty sure that Mindy ordered a glass of wine. We were expecting nephew Joe to meet us any minute. He was coming from work. He showed up 5-10 minutes later. We ordered a couple appetizers - a basket of french fries and one of their new flat breads - chicken and avocado. Originally we planned to order more food, but after eating a couple slices of the flat bread I was fine. I was more interested in having a few beers.

My 2nd beer was the Left Coast IPA from the firkin. Used to be that I would have a firkin every Friday. However, that's not been the case for several years now. It was good. Nice change of pace. Joe left about 10-15 minutes ahead of us. He was meeting some friends elsewhere to see a punk rock band. Mindy placed a to-go order for Jacob - chicken tenders with buffalo sauce and gates of hell on the side.

Mindy picked up the tab and drove us home. I suggested we pay a rare visit to Chrissy & Kenny. Sadly, we haven't been down to see them for more than a couple months. Mindy was warm to the idea. Mindy poured a glass of wine. I poured a Jack & Coke. We walked to the neighbors with the pug. Bella and Makayla were already there. Kenny & Chrissy were quietly relaxing on the sofa. Chrissy was enjoying a beer. Kenny wasn't. Said he was leaving shortly to go after Lillian and her friends who were ice skating at the Chiller in Dublin. First time I've talked with Chrissy since well before her skiing accident. She's still in a brace and recovering from ACL surgery.

Kenny departed to fetch Lillian and friends about 15 minutes after we got there. Mindy and I stuck around visiting with Chrissy. Finished my drink and was going to run home to make another but poured some bourbon Kenny had on hand. Kenny was gone for about 30 minutes. Lillian had two school friends staying overnight. It wasn't five minutes until there was a problem between all the girls. More specifically, Makayla & Bella were fighting with Lillian and her peeps. Cat fight! Kenny & Chrissy had to intervene.

We stuck around for another 45 minutes or so before stumbling home. Was good to hang with the neighbors. Mindy, the pug and I headed directly to bed.