Barley's on a Monday

Not sure the time when I finally fell asleep but I’m guessing near midnight. As a consequence, I woke tired around 550am and drug myself downstairs and through calisthenics. The sweet smell of coffee served as motivation. Little did I know that minutes later I would be swearing at it.

Once again, our coffee maker is leaking freshly brewed coffee all over the counter and ultimately dripping into the drawer and cupboard just below. Had quite the mess on my hands. And with black granite, it wasn’t visually discernible. I worked on that mess for 10-15 minutes before pouring Mindy’s coffee and heading upstairs. Short slept and agitated with the coffee maker, let’s just say that I wasn’t in the best frame of mind

I poured my own coffee then took even more time to pull everything from the cupboard drawers to rinse it fee of coffee. I pulled the drawer liner out too. There was coffee underneath it, which was slowly but surely dripping down below. Ugh!!!!!

Finally, around 645am I was able to sit down at my PC and enjoy a cup of coffee. Ahh! I did my best to perk up. Worked marginally. Left for a run minutes after Mindy was downstairs. Had to be around 705am. Said goodbye to Mindy then headed out. It was recycling day. They were there before I left for my run. Sadly, we had half a can more still in the garage. We really need to recycling ick-up weekly – not biweekly.

I ran 4.1 miles. Running does me a world of good, but it really made a difference Monday morning when everything seemed to be caving in on me. The lovely weather was helpful, too. Felt summer-like, and we were expecting a high near 90.

Of course, Mindy was gone by the time I got home. And Bella was already upstairs after breakfast. Somewhat hurriedly, I leashed up the pug and headed out for our walk. It was darn near 8am by the time we were back at home.

Decided to wait and fry eggs after taking Bella to the bus stop. Smart move. We headed out at 810am. Gorgeous! Only nine more school days. The kids are excited. Heck, even though I have to work all summer, I still get excited about the last day of school. Hustled on back home after the bus picked up the kids. Decided to knock out a shower before making breakfast. It didn’t take that long, maybe 15minutes. I checked some work emails from home but tried not to get too involved.

Took my time making and enjoying breakfast. With dad’s trailer still attached to the Pilot, Mindy and I switched vehicles again I planned to drop off the trailer at his place on my way to the office. Left the house near 9am. Dad wasn’t home. I backed the trailer into its usual spot then sped off to work.

It was an extremely busy day at the office. Hardly enough time to breath, let alone take a lunch. I worked straight through the day. It was one of those days when once 5pm rolled around I was stunned at the time. I didn’t leave the office until 525pm. It was still, warm, and sunny. The temperature gauge in the Pilot read 90 degrees. I didn’t bother calling home since I was in the Pilot. Don’t like driving with a phone in my hand.

Mindy asked if we could do Barley’s for dinner. Why not? Jacob was at a soccer game. It would be just me, Mindy & Bella. I shared David’s text offering to fly us down for the Memorial Day weekend. We wouldn’t allow that, but do want to get down for a visit soon. We talked about it over dinner. Thought it might make more sense for them to come to CMH over Memorial Day. In turn, we might be able to head there the second weekend in June.

We left for Barley’s around 545pm arriving 15 minutes later. It was Monday and the parking lot showed it. Only about half full. Monday is wing night at Barley's($.60 each). It's something I've taken part in few times over the years. We opted for a barside table, which is serviced by the bartender who happened to be April. April was quick to fetch us beers. We both ordered a Hoptopus. Bella went with Dr. Pepper and a basket of fries as an appetizer. April brought over the newest bartender. Rachel, I think, to introduce us.

Thirty minutes later we all ordered dinner. Bella went with the kids chicken tenders while Mindy went with a shrimp & pasta dish. I settled on K.C. wings - all protein. I ordered a 2nd beer, too, only this time a Hopiate IPA. Yum!

Didn't take long for our order to show up. The wings were crazy good, even better than usual. Little Bob stopped in with Banker Dan. We chatted with them for a short short. Before leaving for home, we placed a to-o order for Jacob - his usual, chicken tenders soaked in buffalo sauce with gates of hell on the side and blue cheese. The to-go order was ready in a hurry. We left for home around 730pm.

We weren't home long before I stretched out on the family room floor to stretch and possibly even take a brief nap. My brief nap turned into more than an hour of blissful sleep. I woke to everyone else already in bed. Unfortunately, by the time I slipped into bed falling back asleep wasn't in the cards. As hard as I tried I just couldn't fall asleep. After tossing and turning for 30 minutes, I told Mindy I was going back downstairs.

Downstairs I checked work email, which depending on how you look it, could have been a mistake. I ended up working for two solid hours. Ugh! On one hand, I resolved two ugly issues that would've surely been waiting for me Tuesday morning, and already with too much on my plate, it was wise to knock it out then. Nature of the beast.

I rejoined Mindy in bed around 1245am. Still took a few for my mind to settle and fall asleep.