Spinny & Spittin'

 

Anytime I sleep past 8am I consider that late. As such, I wasn’t up and out of bed until 810am on Sunday morning. I quietly slipped out of bed and headed downstairs where I started some coffee to the pitter-patter of rain drops slamming against the skylights. It’s rained every day for the last week. Gettin’ old quick. Again, we’re seemingly stuck in this spinny weather pattern where the same rainy weather system is rotating around the upper Midwest.

I sipped coffee and played on the internet, taking time to add photos to the blog entries I posted the day prior. I didn’t head out on a run until almost 10am. Even then, everybody else remained sleeping. I ran three miles in spittin’ rain. The rain actually kept me cool, but at this point I would gladly exchange the rain for bright sunny skies.

Bella slept on the sofa all night and remained there even after my return. Mindy was finally up around 1045-11am. Said she slept well for the 2nd night in a row. I suggested we use the time before going to Jodi & Larry’s house to clean the pond. She agreed, but reminded me that she had a teacher’s retirement party to attend first. Figured she’d be home with plenty of time to spare. I am sure she told me about it at some point but didn’t really recall any such event.

Mindy left sometime around noon. By then Bella was awake. Mindy offered Bella the chance to go along. She declined. While Mindy was away, I puttered around the yard and inside the house. I played the guitar for a while too. At some point I headed out back with my sand wedge to hit golf balls. Bella soon came out and initiated a water toy fight. We had a good time.

By the time Mindy got home from the retirement party it was far too late to work in the pond. In fact, it was already near 330pm. We were supposed to be there at 4-430pm. I gave up and took a shower around 3pm. Bella was tasked with tracking down Jacob, who we hadn’t seen since about 11am shortly after he got up and said he was heading off to Lane’s.

Bella finally got a hold of him at 345pm. Said he was next door having a jalapeño eating contest with Jake. Insisted he needed to stay longer. Through Bella, Mindy relayed the message that he needed to be home instantly. He came running with his mouth apparently still ablaze. He was gasping for air, and quickly poured himself a cup of chocolate milk. Said he ate 30 peppers. We clarified, that was 30 slices, but still. Assured him that the following morning would likely not be too pleasant.  Somewhat hurriedly, Mindy cut up about 6 or 7 types of cheese for a platter and then a water melon she bought while she was out. She would’ve cut it later but she dropped it carrying it in the house.

We left for Jodi & Larry’s near 410pm. It started raining fairly hard just as we were leaving, but by the time we crossed West Broad at 270 the rain was completely nonexistent, again, the pattern we’ve been in for several days running. Arrived at our destination near 430pm. We arrived at the same time as nephew Joe and Rick. Already a house full, we quickly blended in on their lovely patio.

I hadn’t eaten much of anything all day. I was hungry and there were lots of snacks and grillin's to be had. I had a couple chips but waited for Jodi to declare it time to eat before digging into the main courses. For the 2ns afternoon in a row, I enjoyed a cup of lemonade. Yum!

I filled my plate full of the picnic type goodies. Opted for a brat as my meat of choice. I consumed my food from the comfort of a rocking chair on the covered patio. I must be getting old to appreciate a rocking chair so much 

We were celebrating four birthday’s: Lindy (May ??), Joe (6/28), Maw-maw (6/11), and Jeff (6/??). As a result, there were lots of cards and gifts. After the card sharing ceremony birthday treats were served – maw-maws chocolate peanut butter fudge and chocolate chip sheet cookie. Of course I don’t care for peanut butter fudge and opted for the chocolate chip sheet cookie instead. It was scrumptious!

We hung out with the family until 730 or so. Jacob quietly and sheepishly informed me that he needed to poop. Didn’t want to use his aunt’s guest bathroom. I thanked him for being considerate.  As usual, Mindy took forever saying goodbye and walking the car. Jacob was in pain! Just as I was walking towards the Pilot another SUV stopped and rolled its windows down. It was none other than Dan & Mary Elswick, my old friends from way back. They live just around the corner. I gave Mary a hug and took their picture. We need to hook-up and catch-up soon. Told them quickly about Jacob’s dilemma. That brought a laugh to everyone. We hustled home.

Jacob ran inside, disabled the security system then ran up to his bathroom. The rest of us unwound for the evening. When Mindy and I walked the pug, we rain into the island girls fishing form the bridge. Said they spent the afternoon at Alum Creek on Mike’s boat. Unfortunately, had some technical difficulties and had to be towed in. Bummer! Apparently the engine was smoking/overheating. Evan shared that the water intake wasn’t working.

One Bella caught wind of the girls being out front, she ran out to join them. She hasn’t spent a whole lot of time with them recently, but shared how much she was missing Makayla. I spent the rest of the evening playing on the computer and hanging out with my wife. I looked for available rooms at HV for our fast approaching Niagara Falls weekend getaway and was sad to see that the Tamarack no longer has availability.  Still a room or two at the Inn, however.

Bella somehow convinced Mindy to let her spend the night with Makayla even though Chrissy leaves for work early AMs. In the past that’s been taboo. But this time Bella promised to come home when Chrissy leaves for work. After she left for Makayla’s, Mindy, Jacob and I talked about all sorts of stuff. We had fun hanging out together. Somewhat out of character for me, I ended up drinking three beers before bed. Two of those were Founder’s Session IPA’s that aren’t very strong – only 4.7% Still very tasty, though. Headed to bed near 1030pm.