229 Puttin' up Fences

I was out of bed and downstairs near 6am on what was yet another cloudy start. I completed calisthenics then took to my PC with coffee in hand. There I spent the next 30 minutes.
As bleak as it initially looked, the forecast promised at least partial sunshine later in the day with temps in the low 80s. A look ahead foretold of more rain showers all day on the 4th. Please no! Can’t take it anymore.

Completed meditation and stretching next. Dressed and headed out for a run near 7am. Again, it was mostly cloudy and humid with a temperature of 68. There were, however, a couple brief stints of sunshine during the 40 minute/4.1 mile run.

Certain I had pulled the front door closed when I left, I wondered if Mindy might be up when I got back to the house as the front door was opened. Of course the glass storm door was closed. Yep, Mindy was up and in the kitchen. Had my breakfast cooked and my lunch packed. Hmmm? Not sure what prompted that, though she later reminded me that she had an early hair appointment. She planned to leave the kids sleeping.

We walked the pug together. I’m pretty sure that was after I ate my breakfast and right before a shower. I was showered and ready to leave for work by 830am. I left for the office around 845am. Gas was as cheap as it’s been since early spring - $3.07 per gallon. I had more than half a tank. I didn’t bother filling up. Lots of ongoing construction on Roberts near 270. Among other things, looks like their widening the intersection at Wilson Rd, which is long overdue.

Arrived to work near 9am. Still mostly cloudy. I had an aggressive to-do list, including making a serious dent in my June monthly report. My hope is to have it completed by Friday afternoon so I can send it off before leaving on vacation. But that was the least of my stressors. I had two major projects I needed to get under control too, and both of those had dependencies outside of myself, which I hate. In other words, I needed others to deliver the goods!

What’s been more the norm, I didn’t stop for any type of break all day long. Instead, I plowed straight through my day tackling as much of my to-do list as humanly possible. My incentive was to have a calm, low impact Friday before my vacation. I made significant progress on all fronts. Accomplished more than I even hoped to. That’s always a good feeling. Mindy sent a text mid-day with pictures of herself at the hair salon. She was having purple streaks put in her do. One of the pics was her with a foil-looking bonnet.

I wrapped up my work day just after 5pm, which felt early after working until at least 530pm for the past couple weeks. In addition, it was mostly sunny. Still some scattered clouds about, though. It was date night. Jimaken was taking the kids to dinner. Mindy was in the process of installing make-up when I celled home. We already agreed that we’d be going to 229 weather permitting. I was eager to bask in the available sunshine.

Got home around 535pm. Mindy was just putting the wraps on her ready. We left for 229 before 6pm. We hadn’t given it much thought, but most of the downtown streets in and around the river front were already closed to traffic in preparation for Wednesday’s Red, White & Boom. As such, all the surrounding parking meters at Bicentennial Park were bagged off and closed. We had to park in a nearby pay lot - $5.

Our pal Zach was tending the inside bar, but with the brilliant sunshine, we weren’t about to sit inside. We said hello and headed out onto the sun soaked patio and grabbed two stools at the outdoor bar with our backs to the sunshine. Natasha was our bartender and quickly fetched us drinks. Mindy ordered wine. I ordered an Oskar Blue Red IPA. It was just OK. We ordered appetizers too, pretzel bread and the four snacks. A guy who was splashing around in the fountains with his kids and grandkids popped up to the outdoor between us and two girls beside me to order a drink. He was very chatty and somewhat naïve. Asked first for the price of a long island ice tea. The girls next to me had some fruity drinks with mint leaves in them. He asked if that was lettuce. Mindy & I got a big kick out of that comment.

Natasha served him the long island iced tea, which he proceeded to take down to the fountains. She had to chase after home because patrons are not permitted to take drinks off the property. He returned to finish his drink and then proceeded to ask if he could smoke on the bar’s patio. Nope! Nice guy, but naïve.

The appetizers were all I needed to eat. Mindy wasn’t so sure. We both opted for 2nd drinks, this time a CBC IPA for me. Mindy repeated the same wine order. When the shady side of the bar cleared, we moved over there. That permitted us a view of the lovely river and setting sun. I signed into the free Time Warner WIFI then let Pandora stream on my Galaxy3. Could barely hear it do to the fountain’s music system blaring.

We called it an evening at 229 near 730pm and headed for home. We needed to intercept the kids by 8pm. Arrived home around 740pm. The island girls were fishing from the bridge and our newest neighbors were out there talking with them. Mindy insisted we go out and be social. She headed out first. I soon followed with the pug. Kids had a whole bunch of blue gills in a water trap. We chatted with the new neighbor and one of his old neighbors for 10-15 minutes. He shared that his brother works for the city and is going to have the creek dredged again. We’ll see. If they do, I hope they do a more thorough job than the last time.

Mindy pointed out the duck she believed was the one that swallowed the fishing hook a few days ago. We tried to lure it to the shore to see if the hook might be protruding from its neck. You can see a mark on its neck and it is still a little swollen. Otherwise, it seemed to be holding up well. Was swimming, eating and drinking.

Headed back to the house near 815pm. Still no kids. In fact, they didn’t get home from dinner with dad until 850pm or so. By then Mindy and I were tuned into Big Bang from the sofa. Bella wasted little dashing off to play with Makayla. Mindy gave her a 930pm curfew. Jacob headed off to his room.