Dis-Stain

 

Me in my staining shorts (Jams -circa 1982)

Planned to work from home barring anything unforeseen that might require my presence in the office. To that end, I wasn’t out of bed until 550am. It was another gorgeous morning under clear skies and reasonably warm temps – 59 degrees. I had to prep coffee having failed to do so the night before. Once coffee was brewing it was time for calisthenics. I did sit-ups, windmills, and push-ups.

By the time exercise was complete and coffee ready, it was time to wake Mindy. I took her coffee before enjoying any of my own. Nothing in work email that would keep me from working at home, though it was going to be a busy day no matter what. A couple emails got me going bright and early, but I did my best to put it all aside and relax a little, at least through the rest of the early morning pre-work hours.

I didn’t plan to run until Bella was on the bus. Enjoyed coffee, internet, and a little easy work stuff before 8am. Mindy left for school at her usual time. Bella and I headed out at 810am. We met Chrissy, Makayla, and the new kids at the bus stop. Wow, what a lovely morning. Made that Eiknarf’s walk, too, since she hadn’t been out prior.

Once Bella was on the bus I took Eiknarf on longer walk. And once back home I immediately prepared and left on a run. I ran the usual 4.1 miles. It was awesome! Back at home I quickly reengaged in work picking up where I left off just prior to setting out. Once everything was in order, I fried a few eggs, two for me, one for the pug.

Stayed super busy until 1130am/noon, including joining a touchy and impromptu call. Shortly thereafter, I gathered all my deck staining stuff and readied myself for a little staining. I spent about an hour staining the upper level deck surface. The deck surface goes pretty fast with the paint/stain pad. It was an absolutely gorgeous afternoon – sunny and 74.

Spent the mid afternoon following up on a couple escalations and finishing a weekly report. Stayed busy until 3pm or so. I headed back out to start on the lower tier deck surface. With my back to the yard I heard some commotion coming from the pond. Sounded like the baby ducks were scared and peeping. Turned around just in time to see a very large hawk swooping in and away with one of the babies in his clutches. Too bad. I wished it were one of the adult geese. 

Didn’t take long to finish the lower tier – about 50 minutes. Headed inside and back to work. Had two issues needing my attention, and one I would follow into the dark hours of the evening. Ugh! The kids were home from school by then and organizing their things for a weekend trip to Indianapolis with Jimaken for a soccer tournament. Makayla & Chrissy were headed to the same tournament and staying at the same hotel. Bella asked if she could ride with Makayla. I said I didn’t care of her dad didn’t mind.

Didn’t hear from Mindy, and she wasn’t home from work until about 530pm. Jimaken beat her to the house. Word had it that traffic was an absolute mess everywhere. Once Mindy got home she explained that she was at the casino with her teacher pals. She also shared that she called and talked with Jacob who failed to inform me that she was going to be late getting home.

Jimaken and the kids didn’t leave until almost 6pm. Traffic was a disaster in every direction, including just outside of our subdivision. Understandably, he wasn’t in a hurry to hit the road. After the kids left, Mindy and I hung out for a while. I hadn’t yet showered but sorely needed one. I think it was near 645pm when I finally got one. When I was done, Mindy took one, too.

Our evening plans included a trip to Strader’s and then afterwards to CBC. We took the Pilot to Strader’s where I bought two flats of Wave petunias – red and dark purple. We picked out a flat of colorful Zinnias too. Instead of going directly to CBC, we stopped home where we unloaded the flowers then switched cars. We opted to take the BM’er to CBC. I urged Mindy to grab a jacket but she refused. Big mistake. With cloud cover increasing coupled with the fact that the sun was sinking, it was chilly. I was wearing shorts and a long sleeved t-shirt but also my winter fleece. I was comfortable. We lucked out and got the primary parking spot in the CBC lot, but only after struggling to get their due to the Short St detour. There’s only one way to get there, and that’s taking Mound St west of the 70W entrance ramp and then turning under the overpass onto Short St.

Inside, there were only two single stools. Mindy took one. I kidded her about using me for transportation there only. She quickly shared that the two guys beside her were soon leaving. On closer inspection, they were in the process of settling their tab. Kate & Vince were tending bar, and quickly we had Bodhi’s in hand. Also there was Zach, Kate’s boyfriend and former Barley’s manager. He’s now a server at 229 and preparing to start his own business. He was there to have a beer. He sat next to me and we chatted for almost an hour.

Vince brought us bread. It was good, as always. Jennifer stopped by to say hi. Mindy shared that we wanted to make Mother’s Day brunch reservations. Jen said we could come anytime and she would ensure us a table. Sweet!

Since we drove the BM’er, I planned to have just two beers. Mindy ordered the salmon dinner. I ordered their artichoke dip. Haven’t had it for a really long time. Yum! Enjoyed a 2nd Bodhi. We didn’t stay too late. Both of us were really tired. I’m thinking we left for home around 930pm.

Mindy was quick to bed. I stayed up a little while longer playing on the computer but passing on any more alcohol. I joined Mindy in bed near 11pm. She was out cold.