Summeruponus

My plan was to work from home. And with that decision I was able to sleep in until 650am without too much damage to my well-established morning routine. Outside, it was plenty sunny again and presumably warm. I could see that the irrigation ran a bit earlier by design. Haven't readjusted the watering schedule since setting it to every other day a couple weeks back. As such, I've lost track of which days it does and doesn't water.

I completed sit-ups, push-ups, and windmills then headed to my office with coffee. There I powered up my laptop and played on my personal computer. In all, I spent about half an hour plating around and setting up for work. I headed to the family room for meditation and a stretch near 750am. I dressed for a run shortly after 8am and then was promptly out the door.

Though really warm, I ran the full 4.1 miles without issue. I let my mind wonder pondering the fact that this was the first day of summer and the 172nd day of the year. It was a really good run. It was about 845am when I got back home. The first thing I did was pour more coffee and water and then settled down in front of my laptop and got busy with work.

Mindy wasn't up for a while yet. Think it was near 10am when she finally came downstairs. Said she slept a whole lot better than she has since coming home from S.C. She slept soundly for about 11 hours! She asked if I'd already run and walked the pug. Yes and yes. Like a lot of mornings, we spent a little time enjoying each other's company and coffee from the deck. I headed back to work after 10-15 minutes.

The rest of the morning flew by. Before I knew it was after 1230pm. By then Mindy & Bella left to run errands, including a stop at Mindy's school to look through her files to see if she might've stowed our '07 tax return there. As for the rest of their plan, I wasn't really sure what they were doing. I didn't see Jacob all morning or afternoon. It wasn't until much later that I went to his bedroom to check and see if he might still be asleep. Nope. He was gone, too. I only guessed he might be with Mindy and Bella and I just missed it.

Like a lot of Friday's, I headed out to cut the lawn near 1pm. It was hot, already about 90 degrees under completely sunny skies. Thankfully, though, the humidity wasn't as high as it could've been. Just the same, I opted to mow the lawn shirtless. I was a little frustrated when I realized that I was dangerously low on mower gas. I really didn't want to go fill-up my 5 gallon container. Turns out, I had enough to get the job done. I did the tractor piece first and a consequence, cut far more with it than usual. Between the two, the push and ride, I finished the cutting in about 45 minutes.

After toweling off the sweat I heated a piece of Wal-Mart sub in the oven while reengaging with work. Stayed busy through the rest of the afternoon leading up to a 4pm conference call. Jacob came in the back door around 3pm. Said he'd been down at Evan's for most of the day. Mindy &Bella got home just before my 4pm call was slated to start. I reminded them of the approaching call. Meanwhile, Bella was very excited to show off her just pierced ears. This was a big day for Bella. Not only did she get her ears pierced, but she got her first training bras too. Our little girl is quickly becoming a woman. :) Didn't finish up with work until after 530pm.

Jimaken showed up to pick-up the kids around 540pm. He shared that a new brew-pub is going in in Grandview at the corner of Olentangy and 3rd Ave, which at one point was a bank. Mindy and I planned to go to Barley’s after they left. I headed up for a shower around 6pm. Mindy sent a broadcast Barley’s invite to our peeps. We left for Barley’s around 630pm.

Pretty decent crowd. As expected, we had to park in the back 40. I spotted a couple familiar faces at the first corner of the bar. I stopped there to chat with Kent while Mindy walked on to talk with others. Ordered a ZIPA, Barley’s new zesty IPA. Not much different than Centennial to my taster. Good though.

While hanging out talking with Kent, a gentleman sitting at the barside table just behind me shared that I looked familiar. I echoed the same sentiments. It was Craig Coe, an old Valleyview Viking peer. He was actually a couple years older than me and was an assistant coach for the junior team that I that I played on. I always liked Craig and often wondered what ever came of him. We chatted for a few. He’s now a grandfather, step father, etc. Career-wise, I believe he said he was an electrical contractor. I remembered his father, too. He helped coach as well. Very animated. Craig shared that he passed away 35 years prior. Yikes! I wanted to introduce Mindy but she was busy talking with others.

A fella named Don walked by. I asked how his buddy Al’s doing. He pointed around the bar. There he sat. I walked over to say hello. Last he and I talked, he had just learned that his daughter was pregnant. He was distraught. Happily, he and his wife are handling it far better now, though he’s still very concerned with how his daughter and her beau will handle being parents.

While still chatting with Al, friends Ben & Ryan showed up. Haven’t hung with the two of them at Barley’s for a really long time, though we attended their crawfish boil a few weeks back. Good to hang out with them. Not long after Ben & Ryan showed up, Doug & Jamie (A.K.A. Doomie) came in. Jamie looks great. Said Doug has her running. They used to be Barley’s regulars but we haven’t seen the two of them in for months. We later learned that they had been boycotting the place after falling ill after a visit on wing night.

We hung out for couple more hours, Mindy I sharing a pita and hummus plate. Doug & Jamie left around 9pm. We made plans with Ben & Ryan to head back to our place. Must’ve got there around 1015p. I sent a text to Darwin as soon as we got home. He was still at work but scheduled to get off at 11pm. Invited him to stop by on his way home.

Mindy & Ryan took up refuge in the living room. Ben and I hung in the kitchen and plowed through several beers. Darwin showed up around 1130pm with a six-pack of his own. Sometime after midnight Ryan fell asleep in one of the recliners. Mindy covered her then joined us in the kitchen. Mindy lasted maybe another 30 minutes before heading up to bed around 1am. Darwin, Ben and I stayed up even later listening to some tunes, having some beers, and telling all sorts of lies. 

Before I knew it, it was 230am. We offered the guest room to Ben &Ryan, but they opted to drive home. Of course Ryan drove and said she was fine after sleeping for about 2.5 hours. Darwin hung out long enough to finish his beer. Thinking it was 245am when he departed – walked home. By then, I was crazy sleepy. I collapsed in bed around 3am. Boom boom, out go the lights!