My Golf Game - anything but Japanese poetry - Haiku/Hack-ewh

I was up near 715am and as I expected, David & Anita were already up. David was at the kitchen table playing around on his iPad and Anita was off on her morning walk. David had already brewed fresh coffee, too. I enjoyed a cup of coffee, chatted a bit with David then headed off on my own run. I ran shirtless since it was so warm and sticky. Logged three miles. Happened upon Anita doing her loops too.

By the time I was back from my run it was 830am. David & I had an 1120 tee time, and I know that doesn't sound early but we planned on leaving somewhere close to 10am. The plan was for Tom C. to meet at my house and ride with us. Tom Wright planned to meet us there. Tom C. sent a text near 930am sharing that he would have to meet us there since he was on-call for the weekend. Made sense. Enjoyed an egg sandwich and then went for a shower.

David offered that we take the Lexus SUV leaving the girls with the Pilot. They discussed lots of options for their day but committed to none. Left the house near 10am and arrived around 1030am. David wanted to hit a bucket of balls, which is something I rarely do before a round of golf. I covered our fees, a birthday gift of sorts.

Probably a good thing we hit balls. My swing was a disaster initially, but after about a dozen shots it seemed to come back. I was careful not to hit too many. After 20 minutes on the range, we headed to the putting green. Tommy & Tom arrived within 5 minutes of one another. Started informed us that no one had gone off hole #1 Player's Club since 1030am. Cool! But right about 1105am a individual walker launched in front of us. Didn't bother me. Figured he'd quickly separate from us - a foursome.

The starter let us tee off early. Somewhat out of character, I topped my first tee shot. David offered that I hit another but I declined. Declared a rule, if topping off the tee, we were free to hit another ball - no stroke play. After all, none of us had been out beyond nine holes all year. Was on in three and two putted.

Played the first seven holes well, paring 3,4. 6, & 7. I was sitting at 29 after seven holes. Not bad at all. After that, however, I am afraid I completely lost any game I might've had in me. I had a 10 on #8 and then 8 on #9. It went from bad to worse. I still didn't let it get to me much. Chalked it up to no action for the better part of two years with the exception of two rounds last year and nine holes in SC this summer. It got so bad that I simply picked up on hole #16. Screw it. As bad as I was playing, Tommy was even worse, though in his defense, this might've maybe his tenth time golfing ever. I stopped recording scores on the back nine. David was striking the ball well, his old self coming back. Used the rest of the round to practice.

We finished up 18 holes 5 hours later. We kept track of the Buckeye score throughout most of the afternoon. They apparently started on fire but cooled after that. 23-0 after 1 quarter. Won 40-20 over a much less opponent. Bidded farewell to the Tom's from the parking lot. I drove us home. And while I had low expectations from a scoring perspective, I was more than a little disappointed in my swing. Lost my ability to drive well. Didn't hit one solid drive all day.

Mindy & Anita were home kicking back. Said they spent the afternoon in German Village, including a stop at the ever popular Book Loft. Not long after we arrived home, David & Anita headed off to see his half sister, Kendra, who lives in Hilliard near Davidson HS. We had loosely discussed the possibility of us going along, but I felt like we might be out of place. Besides, David hasn't seen Kendra but one other time and that was 20 years prior.

While they were away, I relaxed and even tried to nap. The plan was to hook-up again about an hour later and then head to dinner - Sushi to be exact. They were actually gone for closer to 90 minutes. We didn't mind. We were off walking Eiknarf when they returned. The Sushi venue changed more than once. Originally David suggest one way up off Sawmill and 161. We opted instead for Haikou in the short north. Figured that way we'd be near other things to do too.

Our sunny, hot steamy day quietly turned a bit stormy. Thunderstorms were suddenly forming all around us. But even after arriving at Haikou not a drop of rain had fallen. It wasn't long, however, before all that changed and the sky broke loose. And unfortunately for us, we opted for patio seating. Good thing they had a canopy across the top. During appetizers, David complained of getting wet, as his seat was on the patios edge and far more prone to any residual rain fall. We tried moving inward a but that still didn't stop him from getting wet. We ended up moving out table about 4 or 5' inward. That did the trick.

As for the sushi, I went with fried rice with beef. The thought of eating raw fish does nothing for me. The others seemed to enjoy their gooey treats. Hey, they looked pretty - like a piece of art. For me, that's where it ended.
David insisted on getting the tab since sushi was his idea. And since being a gracious receiver is just as important as being a good giver we simply thanked him for the kind gesture.

When we left Haikou, I had designs on walking the strip and possibly stopping in one of the many pubs for a really good beer. The others, however, especially Mindy and Anita, weren't too keen on the idea. They were tired from their German Village tour earlier in the day. I was a little tired and didn't push my own agenda. We simply returned to our car and headed back home. It was near 830pm when we got home.

I poured a Jack & Cokes to cut through the day's food. Watched a little college football, too. David and I talked a big game. We were gonna party like rock stars. But after another hour or so we gave up on that idea and instead headed to bed.

Wateree Stool

It was Friday and because I'd be working from home I didn't bother getting up and out of bed until almost 630am. I felt nice sleeping that extra hour. By the time I finished calisthenics it was 715am. Bella asked why I made grunting sounds while doing push-ups. I logged onto work shortly thereafter all the while enjoying coffee.

Bus time came around quickly. Headed out at 755am. Surprisingly, the bus showed up pretty much on schedule, or real close to 757am. All the parents parted ways soon after. Not long after the bus was gone, i headed out on my Friday run. It was sunny and 70 something. It was definitely going to be a hot one. Ran only three miles.

Back at the house I checked in with work then headed out on the deck to water flowers. Back inside near 915am, I took care of a weekly report as well as a couple other work matters. I didn't plan to work much if at all past noon. Been given clear orders not to log any OT.

David & Anita were on their way. Got a text from David around 810am revealing that they were on the road. He sent updates through the morning and afternoon, or whenever they crossed into a new state (NC, VA, WVA, OH). Had a pretty easy work day. Unlike lots of other Friday's, I made sure to take care of my administrative tasks early on so not to extend my day any longer than necessary.

With the Edward Sharpe convert still fresh in my head, I downloaded all three of their CDs including their new, self-titled CD. Headed out to cut the lawn shortly after 12noon. It was hot & sunny. Did the tractor first and was able to cut more of the lawn than ever thanks in no small part to the recent dry weather. Finished all the mowing in record time - less than an hour - though I didn't stop there. No sir! Without the benefit of a break, I went ahead and pushed through trimming, edging and blowing.

Now about 130pm, I checked in with work finding nothing pressing. I didn't plan to do any more work unless absolutely necessary. I soon found my way to the shower and then off to Targehetto & Kroghetto to pick-up a few things for our weekend. At Targhetto, I picked up birthday cards for David and Anita (Sept 2 & August 29 respectively), rechargeable AA batteries, and chewing gum for work. At Kroghetto I picked up some Corona, CBC IPA, orange juice, and ice. Back at home by 230pm. Jacob was home from school a few minutes after my return.

Let my new ES&MZs music whirl in the background. All of it sounds good. Loaded up our deck cooler with Corona & CBC. Threw in a few Budweiser strawberryarita things too. Took care of all the chores Mindy asked that I try and accomplish before she got home. And speaking of Mindy, she was home near 3pm. She asked to leave a little early to help get the house ready for our guests. Because I took care of most of the prep chores already, Mindy spent her time preparing a plate of crackers and cheese.

Mindy kept saying she was heading up to get a shower, but with each passing minute she found something else needing/wanting done. Finally, around 4pm she said she would just wait until after David & Anita arrived. David called Mindy's cell around 350 to let us know that they were about 20 minutes out. They actually arrived near 420pm. After some hugs and greetings we spent the next couple hours catching up on the last 6 weeks or so. Jimaken picked the kids up around 5pm.

Our plan all along was to pay a visit to Barley's - David & Anita's maiden voyage. Mindy got a shower squeezed in there somewhere. And I think we left for Barley's somewhere close to 630pm. We drove the Lexus SUV. David suggested that Anita could be our DD. later since she doesn't drink but only minuscule. Made since to everyone, including Anita, bless her heart! :)

Mindy requested we sit at a community table and we did. Right away said hello to a few regulars sitting at the bar, including long time regulars Steve W., Banker Dan, and Paul. I opted for a firkin to start, which was a special hopped Centennial. It was good. Ordered David a Red Molly. He shared his displeasure with their not having any Corona. Despite going through a home brew phase, he doesn't care for anything other than a Corona. He tried the firkin but hated it. Grapefruity! After my finishing my firkin, I talked David into getting two flights of Barley's beer and trying them all. Of his taste buds were already tainted by two different IPAs so to use his words, it all tasted like grapefruit. In my world that's never a bad thing. However, in David's, that's not so good.

Brother Tommy showed up an hour or so into our visit. Mike and Colleen, John and Carolyn showed up too. As the evening would down we were blessed with the presence of Grandpa Tom and Steve. They're always fun. John & Carolynn were celebrating their 40th anniversary. Said they were leaving bright and early for a northern destination, though they weren't really sure just where. Turned David and Anita on to their first sauerkraut balls ever. They were a big hit. We also shared a bowl of muscles. David & Anita shared a turkey club too. I opted for hops!!!

Invited Tommy to join us at Fox Fire for 18 holes the following day. He accepting completed our foursome (me, David, Tom C, and Tommy). We hung at Barley's until 10pm or so. Without question, I had one heck of a buzz. The four of us walked the pug as soon as we got home. Then, during our walk, David and I planned on lighting off one measly little firework once back at home. But when we went to get it, they were gone - hidden from our access. Mindy & Anita headed off to bed without sharing their whereabouts. Probably not a bad thing. They're definitely noisy. By 11pm David and I declared it bedtime, too.

ESMZ

By design, I slept in until 6am. I'd be working out of the Hilliard office all day and didn't have any meetings or calls scheduled until 10am. AS such, I was very much looking forward to a quiet, unhurried work day. Completed exercises then delivered Mindy's coffee before enjoying any of my own. Didn't head out on a run until almost 705am. Said goodbye to Mindy before the run. I knew she wouldn't be there when I returned. Mindy wanted to confirm the time we'd be leaving for the Edward Sharpe concert. Tickets say doors open at 7pm. I hoped to be there before that. We'd pretty much be heading out shortly after arriving home. It was sunny and warm and run time - already in the low 70's. Supposed to reach the upper 80s by late afternoon. I ran 4.1 miles.

As expected, Mindy was long gone by my return. It pleased me much to learn that Bella had already walked the pug. Good girl! It was already 745am. I didn't plan to shower until after Bella was on the school bus. We headed out at 755am. The whole gang was there. Ms. Vanorder showed up pretty much on time. Headed home for a shower.

Dressed in khakis and one of my two new polos - the purple one. I look good in it. I tied up a few loose ends then left for the office. I briefly toyed with driving the BM'er but in the end opted for the Accord. Got to the office near 840am. It was very quiet in our wing. It was almost noon before I realized that my boss wasn't on campus. He was working remote. Definitely not too many folks working on campus.

I stayed focused/busy all morning through early afternoon. Decided to completely skip a lunch, planning instead to leave for home around 3pm, make a stop at Kroger to pick-up a few things for David & Anta's visit and then head home in time to join our 415pm weekly staff call. As luck would have it, I got a little busy from 2pm until about 320pm. Now almost 330pm, I wasn't sure if I had enough time to stop at Kroger, get home, and then get online for our 415pm meeting/call. With little hesitation decided to go for it. Packed up and headed out at 335pm. Made quick work of my stop at Kroger, grabbing some limes, a 12-pack of Corona, and then a dozen roses. The flowers were for Mindy. The beer and limes for David.

Arrived home near 4pm getting home about the same time as Mindy and Bella. Told them both I had to hurry to get logged on to work and then join my weekly staff call. No problem. Mindy said she felt crappy and quickly headed up to our bedroom for a nap.

Time for our staff call. It lasted no more than 15 minutes. Over by 430pm. I tied up a few loose ends then called it a day. I woke Mindy around 5pm so she could get in the shower. She said she still wasn't feeling too well. Said she felt like she was over heated. Mindy and I didn't leave for our concert until 610pm, or shortly after dad arrived. Truth be told, I was still in work mode. As usual, I had a hard time letting go. Mindy left $20 for dad and the kids to order pizza. Jacob was at soccer practice and wouldn't be home until about 730pm. Bella wasn't happy about having to wait that long to order dinner. I think she had a snack to tie her over.

We made good time heading to the arena district and the LC. We opted to park in the brand new NW parking garages where the bland lot once stood. Now a plethora of mixed-use brick structures: parking, business, and residential all within eyeshot of NW arena, Hunnington Park, and the Promo West. Only $5 to park. Good deal.
There was a Clipper game going on at the same time. We laughed at the glaring difference between the crowds heading to the baseball and then those headed to the concert.

Only 630pm, the gates to the outdoor amphitheatre weren't yet open. We opted for the Music bar, a beer and food venue right next door. Not many people there. I ordered a 20oz Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and fetched Mindy a bottle of water. She wasn't feeling too swift. Looked tired. Mindy ordered some food: chicken strips and tater tots. We sat on their outdoor patio which overlooks the grassy amphitheatre from the south. We didn't realize it at the time, but the Music Bar has its own special access to the concert venue once the gates open. A couple we invited to share our table let us in on the secret. Cool!

We headed into the concert venue shortly after the gates officially opened just after 7pm. We stopped by the t-shirt/souvenir booth where Mindy bought me an Edward Sharpe t-shirt. We had our pick of anywhere in the lawn seating area. We picked a spot about 50' up the grassy slope center. Ideal! We spread out the green bed sheet we brought to sit on. Good thing, too. Could tell they've been watering the grass. I'm sure they need to keep it from becoming a dirt/mud hill.

Ran into our Barley's friend, Al along with his daughter. We offered that they could sit with us but they declined the invite. Al didn't seem too enthused to be there. Two couples close to our age range took the spots left and right of us. By and large, the crowd was very young - mostly young 20s. We learned from the woman sitting next to me that there would be a warm-up act- Willy Mason. Said she's known him his entire life. Said we were in for a real treat. She and her husband drove 8 hours home from their northern Michigan vacation just to see him. Had only enough time to head in the house, change clothes, then head out to the LC.

Will Mason didn't come on until 8pm. He was decent. I'd liken his sound to a mix of Johnny Cash, Dwight Yokam, and M.Ward. Willy played for just 30 minutes. Then there was a 30 minute break before Edward Shape & the Magnetic Zeros came on. By then the weed was free flowing. Could smell it, see clouds of its smoke floating all around us. Contact buzz for certain. Dude, where's my car?

From the first song, ES&MZs dazzled and entertained us. I was impressed, blown away by their deep sound, incredible vocals and unreal talent. Mindy was loving too, and the mostly young crowd was way into it. Almost all of their tunes were familiar thanks to my Pandora ES&MZs channel. And while I've come to really like these guys through Pandora, they're easily ten times better live! Can't say that about a lot of bands. I was moved, and even changed by the experience - no kidding!

This is the same band that visited the kid of a friend of ours in the hospital when they learned he had leukemia. We also recently heard the story of them inviting the same kid, after recovery up on stage at their Bonnaroo performance this past spring. As the show was wrapping up as the clock neared 11pm, they called for Hayden to come up on stage yet again. Invited he and his roommate up. It was then that we learned his mom was sitting right next to us.
Hayden remained with them on stage for the rest of the show - 3 or 4 songs. How cool is that? Left completely fulfilled and very impressed. Couldn't ask for a better show.

Mindy suggested rather than turn right out of the parking garage heading towards the 670 on ramp, we instead turn left and take Spring St. That's what we did. Bottom line, we avoided all traffic delays. Made it home in a matter of minutes - 12 tops. Good call, dear! Dad was there awake in the big over stuffed family room chair. Jacob was already in bed, and we assumed the same of Bella, However, a few seconds later she came out of the dark dining room to greet us.

Dad didn't hang out long at all. I'm sure he was tired. Then, shortly after dad bolted for home, Mindy and I headed up to bed. I was tired and Friday was a work day, not to mention also the beginning of Labor Day weekend with friends.

2nd ZIPA

Up and downstairs again close to 540am. It was a push-up day, and soon had them and the others in the completed bag. Spent a solid 20 minutes at my PC enjoying coffee and internet before meditation, stretching, and finally a run. Woke Mindy with coffee somewhere between mediation and my run. Headed out the door just ahead of 640am. It was mostly cloudy and very sultry. In fact it was downright hot for 630am - 77 and sticky. Ran 4.1 miles.

Mindy wasn't home long after my return. Reminded me that it was a date night, kids would be going to dinner with Jimaken. She had cheesy scrambled eggs waiting for me on the stove. I dished up some for the pug and I. Save for the blueberries, the fruit tray was spent. I tossed what remained down the sink.

Hustled off to the shower after woofing down some eggs leaving myself just enough time to get back downstairs and out the door with Bella for the bus stop. Headed out at 755am. Bus showed up near 8am. Like most Wednesday's, I planned on working at a customer's location, but not until afternoon. Instead, we had an internal strategy session planned at our Hilliard office that I was supposed to be part of.

I left the house for the Hilliard office near 820am. Didn't take long to get there either. Showed up near 835am. Dropped my stuff by my office then headed off to the conference room. Immediately felt undressed. All the mucky-mucks in town were in shirt & tie. Not me. I wore khakis and a polo. That would have to do. Everybody else brought their laptops or tablets, too. Again, not me. Geesh. I made light of myself to all the others. Interesting session. Went all the way until noon. Order lunch from Panera Bread. I chose to skip food and instead headed to my office where I took care of a couple quick to-dos then left for New Albany. However, instead of going directly to the office, I made a pit-stop at the Easton Macy's where I bought a couple golf polos. Arrived at the office just after 1pm.

Quiet but busy afternoon. I looked for the leadership team but they weren't anywhere to be found all afternoon. Somewhat of a waste driving all the way across town. Oh well. I made the most of it anyway. Got caught up on all sorts of dangling projects and tasks. Left for home around 440pm. Called Mindy once on 270. We chatted only briefly while she was trying to take care of several things before the kids left with Jimaken. Called Tommy next. Among other things, invited him to join us Friday night at Barley's with David & Antia. Sounded eager to do it. Also caught me up on the Scotty situation.

Arrived home around 515pm. I'm pretty sure that Mindy insisted on a shower before we headed to Barleys after spending the entire day in a hot, non-air conditioned classroom. Before heading to Barley's, I made a tee time at Player's Club for Saturday morning. Sent David an email letting him know.

It's likely that we arrived at Barley's somewhere near 615pm, though I wasn't paying close enough attention to the time. Inside we bellied up to the bar where Janet was working. I soon ordered a sample of a guest IPA, which I can't recall the name. I didn't think too highly of it and subsequently went with one more familiar, Barley's ZIPA.I think Mindy had one too.

Like most visits, we waited a while before ordering food. When we finally did, I went with the Wednesday special - a brisket three-way chili, and Mindy went with a quesadilla. I then ordered a 2nd ZIPA about halfway through my chili. Talked briefly with Josh T., a Barley's regular, friend, and musician. We left for home just ahead of 8pm. We were a little surprised that the kids were already home when we pulled up. Jacob woofed down Mindy's leftovers.

For the remainder of the evening, I did little more than puttering around the house. Mindy brought to light that we wouldn't have much more time to prep for our busy weekend since we were going to a concert Thursday night immediately after work. Prior, I hadn't given too much thought to the fast approaching weekend, but she was right.

Early Bus

Woke near my desired rise time of 530am. Brushed my teeth and gathered running clothes then headed downstairs. By then it was 542am. Glanced out back, slipped into my exercise shoes then completed Tuesday calisthenics. Soon it was coffee and internet, perhaps my favorite time of the day. Supposed to be hot & sunny - around 90 degrees. Haven't had much if any rain for two weeks. The green things are really drying out and the early autumn trees are already turning.

Pretty stuck to my plan. Was out the door for a run before 640am. Ran without a shirt and did 4.1 miles. Finished and was home around 720am. Walked the pug. Mindy departed for work near 730am. My eggs were waiting in the microwave. Poured some OJ and picked over the over ripe fruit tray. Reminded Bella that we needed to be at the bus stop at 752am.

It was 735am when I finished breakfast and was faced with a decision. Did I have enough time to shower and dress before bus time? Decided to give it a go. I hustle through a shave and a shower. Had to hustle blow drying my hair but was downstairs with a minute to go. We headed out where the others were already gathered. We joked about taking bets on Ms Vanorder's on time arrival. Turns out, she was late but there by 802am (said 757am).

The earlier bus time should help push me out the door a bit earlier, too, so definitely not a bad thing. I returned home where I wrapped up a few things then made sure I was ready for a work day across town. Left the house at 820am. Made decent time after running into no major traffic snarls. Arrived near 845am. Still had to park near the back of the third lot. Long walk into the building. My cube as available. Logged in and at it just after 9am.

Stayed busy until an 1130am conference call with another customer of mine which went well. Didn't bother with a formal lunch break. Had to make a standing 1pm Tuesday meeting on site. The meeting went a full hour. The afternoon went really fast. Time to head for home before I knew it. Packed up for home around 505pm. There was supposed to be an executive level meeting with our company and theirs. I wasn't invited. A couple of my folks stopped by just before the end of my work day to say hey.

After a long walk to my car I headed for home. Called Mindy. She was on her way to drop Jacob at soccer practice since Jimaken was out of town on a pleasure trip and wouldn't be in until later that night. I figured she'd be asking me to do the pick-up duty near 7pm. Mindy asked that I turn the stove burners back to medium one I arrived home where Bella was waiting with Makayla. Actually, they weren't waiting. They were watching TV and playing on their Kindles.

As requested, I turned the stove burners up to medium. Looked like inferno chicken, macaroni, and peas. Mindy was home about 10 minutes after me and quickly took over dinner prep while I played on my PC. Dinner was ready faster than I expected. Had to be close to 615pm. Makayla stayed through dinner though didn't want to eat with us since it was taco night at their place. By the time clean-up was finished it was 655pm. I thought I might take a little rest on the sofa, but Mindy asked if I shouldn't be leaving to fetch Jacob. Huh? What time am I supposed to be there? 715pm! I popped up , grabbed my keys and phone and headed off.

Same crap with the traffic light at Trabue and Hilliard-Rome. Lucky for me, I only had to wait only two cycles of the traffic light. Arrived to what appeared to be a practice that had already ended. The kids were just sitting around shootin' the bull. Jacob took his dear old time walking to the car. I don't really like his lack of care when he tosses his filthy soccer bag in my car scraping it against my lovely clean dash and door. Once we arrived home I asked that he exercise caution when exiting the car with his gear. I still heard it clunk around between the cars. Ugh!

Spent the rest of my evening reading, blogging, playing a little guitar. I was determined not to watch any TV. Mindy was already in bed when Jacob arrived home. I joined her in bed near 10pm.

Kirk, Crunch & Kanagaroo

As planned, I woke for work at 1145am Sunday night just before Mindy's alarm sounded. As expected, I wanted nothing more than to roll back over and return to sleep but couldn't. Instead, I drug myself from bed, brushed my teeth, then headed downstairs. This time I decided to skip coffee for wanting to sleep once back home.

Bella got up after hearing her downstairs. She packed me a to-go snack - Cap'n Crunch. :) I sent her back to bed and offered that she snuggle up with her momma. She liked that idea. I left the house at 1210am. Aside from being incredibly sleepy, it was an easy drive across town with next to no traffic on 670E and 270N. Arrived at 1230am on the nose.

One of the customer's engineers was there in the parking spot next to me. We headed in together. This time we had a conference room where we could log into a bridge and actually hear all the participating parties talk. The actual work was to be carried out remotely this time.

Took a while not only to get logged on, but to also get all parties on the bridge. I actually had to call one of the groups responsible for the work and it was a good thing I did. Apparently they didn't have it on their calendar. Hmmm? Work was ready to begin shortly after 1am. Must've had a dozen folks on the bridge. Unfortunately, the failover couldn't go off as planned due in part to a lack of preparedness. Won't go into the details. Had to bag it for another date/time. As much as I hated to have to reschedule, it was definitely the right and only thing to do. Wrapped up and left for home near 215am.

Again there was little to no other traffic to contend with on my drive home. I was still tired but my mind whirling with work. I think that's called being/feeling wired. Got home around 240am. And there wasn't any way I was going to go right to sleep. Instead, I made a bowl of Cap'n Crunch and played on the internet until about 315am.

Slid into bed beside Bella & Mindy, neither of whom budged. Still a little wired, I couldn't fall gracefully to sleep. I laid there thinking about our failed maintenance window. Dang it! Next thing I knew it was something like 630am and Mindy was rolling out of bed. I guess I fell asleep but never that deeply. I woke again when she was ready to leave the house. By then Bella was up and getting ready too. Jacob, of course, was already gone.

The last thing I wanted to do was exercises but did so anyway. Couldn't justify skipping. After all, that would be a sign of weakness and nothing more than an excuse. Felt a bit better after exercise, especially push-ups. Given the hour - then about 745am - I didn't' plan to run until after Bella was on the school bus. Between then and bus stop time, I check in on work. We headed out at 805am.Bus didn't show up until 812am. Confirmed that she'd be by as close to 757am as possible starting Tuesday. OK. Believe it when I see it. :)

With Bella safely off to school, I dug right back into work. Felt worn out and drained, much Like I did the prior two Monday's after similar maintenance window events. Ugh! My body just isn't designed for a shaken/disrupted schedule. Headed out for a run around 945am. Ran the full 4.1 miles almost exclusively on pure determination because I had no energy. Joined a weekly conference call at 11am. Went the full hour, or possibly even a couple minutes over. No biggie.

After the call ended I made Eiknarf and I some eggs. Woofed 'em down in a hurry too. Meanwhile, was a real nice day outside, but I just didn't have the energy to do anything in it. I had another call scheduled for 330pm. Around 145pm I slipped away from my laptop and up to our bed where I grabbed a little more than a hour of solid sleep. It was ridiculously hard, but somehow managed to pull myself away from blissful sleep just ahead of 3pm. I spent the next 30 minutes prepping for my important 330 call/meeting.

I was the only one on my call for a while so I pinged my boss, who planned to join. He asked me if I was planning to join. OK, what? Turns out, I called into the wrong bridge. Sleepy, I guess. Oops! Call went surprisingly well. Internally we talked about rescheduling of our MW gone bad. By then it was 4pm. Both kids were home from school. Mindy was soon home, too. She made tacos for dinner and they really hit the spot.

Still feeling mightily under slept, I declared it my bedtime at 7pm and headed up to our room. I watched a little football from bed but it wasn't long at all before I was out cold. Remember waking briefly when Mindy joined me but didn't wake again until about 1am. That time I felt wide awake, so I got up , headed downstairs where I peaked in on work and played on the internet for nearly an hour. By then I was tired enough to try getting back to sleep.

Prunning

I was up Sunday somewhere close to 7am. I tried slipping out of the room quietly and without waking Mindy but she woke just as I was opening the door. I returned to her side for a quick hug then headed downstairs where I started some coffee then played around on my PC. I checked in with work too. Nothing going on worthy of my attention.

At my PC I remained for 90 minutes or so before heading out for a run around 830am. It was sunny, warm, and much stickier than it 's been in quite some time. I ran in my newest bright yellow running shirt. Predictably, it felt almost like an extra layer of skin. Ugh! I ran just three miles, just as I do almost any other Sunday. Felt good, but couldn't wait to remove my shirt once at home.

Mindy wasn't up when I got back, but it too wasn't long before she was. Had to be around 930am when she blessed me with her presence. While hanging out, I offered that we could/should do more pond clean-up but she quickly nixed any such notion. Her wrist was still bothering her from last week's yard work. Plus, she said she had school work that she needed to get done.

I headed out to install my new vanity plates on the Accord and the new sticker on the BM'er. Checked and topped the air in all of our cars tires too. My front passenger tire was low again, and that's after Germain Honda installed a new valve stem.

Just as well. It was expected to be sunny, hot and humid. Just the thought of donning those hip waders made me feel nauseous. I spent the rest of my morning watering flowers and trimming back the dead. Tied up the volunteer cherry tomato plant as well as one of our purple dahlias. Took the pug on a decent walk somewhere in there too.

I spent the next hour or more shaping/trimming the two red maples that provide shade for our deck. Left to themselves, they have a propensity to grow wider than taller. I've been eyeballing just where to prune for weeks now. In other words, I had a plan! Not only did they look 10 times better afterwards, but they allow a bit more sunshine onto the hibiscus on the lower tier. The one on the left facing out could use a bit more trimming. Better not enough than too much.

Mindy asked if I would volunteer to pick-up Jacob from soccer practice. His buddies mom was dropping he and the others off there after the sleepover. I thought I might stop at Dick's either before hand or afterwards to look and possibly buy a volleyball set. I left to fetch Jacob around 1240pm. As usual, there was the typical traffic snarl at Trabue and Hilliard-Rome. Lucky to get three cars through each light heading west at that intersection. It flat out sucks!

Still arrived a few minutes early. Appeared only about half the team was there. Jacob acted as if he didn't recognize my car. I didn't think much of it at the time, but when he finally did come, he said he didn't recognize the license plate. He also shared that his soccer coach was a no show. The kids that showed had a mini scrimmage with some of the parents.

I opted not to stop at Dick's. Didn't even mention it to Jacob. Headed straight home. As nice a day as it was, my mood was somewhat tempered by the fact that I needed to do another DR test with a customer come 1am at their site. That meant I needed to be up by 1145pm and then out of the house by 1210am. Double Ugh!!! The thought puts a damper on my Sunday's.

Mindy soon headed off to a jewelry-type party that her friend Kerianne was hosting. While she was gone I did a number of small chores including washing my running clothes and then loosening the compacted soil around the three new rose of sharon I planted this past spring. After all that I got a shower and then did some reading and relaxing from the deck. Ahh!

Watched some of the Barclay's golf championship, too. Great shots of downtown Manhattan from just across the Hudson in Jersey. Mindy was home just after 4pm. Said she talked with my dad and he would be joining us for steak dinner. He also agreed to keep an eye on the kids this coming Thursday while Mindy and I see Edward Sharpe. Cool!

I'm thinking it was near 530pm when we fired up the grill. That's about the same time that dad arrived. Threw the steaks on the grill 5 minutes later then stayed out there watching over the process. Closely imitated a steak grilling technique I watched on Yahoo last weekend. Worked well. Grilled to perfection.

Along with the filets, Mindy baked potatoes, prepared a garden salad, and boiled corn on the cob. Dinner was delicious. After dinner, Mindy ran Jacob back to the soccer field for what he called a 'technical practice'. She was back 15 minutes later. While she was away, I pretty much shared the Lindsey drama with dad.

Dad stuck around until about 715pm. By then I was already clock watching since I needed to be up at 1145pm. Before any of that, however, I planned to watch he Vikings Sunday night preseason match-up against the 49ers. I figured to watch until halftime and then get some shut eye.

The game kicked off at 8pm. 49ers looked far superior. Took an early 3-0 lead and never really looked back. Per the usual, the Vikings made a number of silly mistakes that only widened the chasm. I was a little irritated at their level of play. The saving grace being that it's still preseason. Hopefully they'll fix some of the problems before September 8th.

Watched most of the game from bed. Mindy joined me near 9pm. Turned the TV off about 1/2 way through the 3rd quarter. But just as I feared, I couldn't readily fall asleep. Great! Finally fell asleep around 1015pm, or just 90 minutes before I needed to be up again.

No Pollard's Opus

I woke rather easily around 730am rearing to go. Having consumed just two beers the evening before there were no ill effects. It was sunny and warm and by all accounts, supposed to be a lovely summer day with highs in the mid 80s. Bring it on!

I started coffee then stepped out onto the deck for a few minutes just so I could get a sniff of the gorgeous morning sunshine. Ahhh! Back inside for coffee and internet. Spent about 75 minutes online before finally heading out for a run. I ran 3 miles like most Saturdays. A neighbor about a 1/4 mile down the road was having some serious tree removal work done still before 9am. I'm guessing their immediate neighbors were none to happy with the noise from the chainsaws and the giant chipper running out front. I took note of the company name and number. Will likely give then a call to get estimates on having our ash trees removed. Sweaty run. Felt good, though.

Back at the house, Mindy still wasn't up. At some point she let Eiknarf who soon joined me downstairs. I took her on a walk out back and then out front on a more formal walk. I don't think that Mindy was up until almost 10am. She needed to go after Jacob at 11am. Made herself presentable before heading off.

My plan was to take Jacob to the Arlington ASBCO annual summer sale that afternoon to get new snow board boots. He's far grown out of his others that are two years old. I didn't bother showering. Instead, I just cleaned up a little. Had to be about 1145am when he and I left. I took our ski folder complete with all of our receipts thinking we may be able to trade in since we bought his last stuff on the junior trade-in plan. We also took his board just in case they had a good deal on the easy entry bindings he wants.

Took Riverside to Henderson then across. Not nearly as crowded as the Polaris ASBCO summer sale two weeks prior. Immediately were assisted by a couple cute ski bunnies, which is standard fare at ASBCO. Nina worked with Jacob. Told her we wanted to get him in some new board boots, and told her that we were interested in getting some that were part of the summer sale (last year's gear). No prob! While she worked with Jacob, I looked over their entire ski inventory old and brand new ('14 models). Was still hoping I might find a pair of '13 Pollard's Opus. Nope. All out!

Nina fitted Jacob with two pair of boots, both a size 9 or 27.5cm. The 1st pair were K2s that have a knob rather than laces for tightening. They were marked down about half off. the regular price, but still pricey - $115. The other were much like the old ones and on sale for $69. Jacob loved the 1st pair. Felt really good. Fine! I then asked about the trade-in program. Nina wasn't so sure given that we had to upgrade his package to men's two years prior when he was 11. She needed to ask Eric, the store manager. Eric talked with me, sharing that the equipment we bought two years ago didn't fall into the trade-in program since it was men's equipment. I wondered, but shared that they didn't really make that very clear at the time. Said he would give us $10 for the old boots given how worn they were.
OK.

Asked about the easy on bindings next. Nina showed us two models. Far more pricier than the others and only in brand new '14 stuff. No '13 stuff. Offered us 25% off if we bought then. Well, that lead to determining that his board, while a men's board, was too small for the new bindings. He really needed a new, wider board. Long story short, we ended up buying him a complete new package: board, boots, bindings. Spent far more than I originally intended. He is a good kid, though, and we want him to have nice equipment. Said they'd have it ready by the 3rd.

Oh, almost forgot. I found someone's camera in the parking lot. I turned it in at the front desk. We stopped at the Big Fat Greek on the way home where we picked up a couple gyros. Didn't eat them until we got home. I shared my gyro with Mindy, who was darn near in shock when she learned what we spent at ASBCO.

I didn't have anything planned for the remainder of the afternoon. lounged and napped on the sofa until about 5pm. When I got up from the sofa I decided to call ASBCO to make sure they realized that we didn't bring the new board boots home with us. Typically you can bring the boots home while leaving them the board and bindings to set-up and tune. They agreed that they still had the boots. No prob!

Earlier in the day we laid out filets to defrost. But come dinner time I shared that I just wasn't hungry enough to have a full fledged dinner. Mindy agreed, and decided to fridge them bad boys until Sunday. We headed to the deck where I drank a few beers and Mindy drank wine.

Neihgbors Chrissy & Kenny were having a shindig with her work peeps. We were invited down but didn't ever make it down. Instead, we enjoyed the quiet of our own deck and Pandora. Awesome evening. We hung out on the deck long enough to enjoy the summer sounds (insects and critters) as well as the ambiance of the tiki torches. Mosquitoes got hungry around 9-930pm. We headed inside as soon as they became unbearable. Forgot to mention, Jacob had another overnight with soccer friends. Mindy agreed to that shortly after she told Bella to plan on staying at home for once. :) Bella didn't bring it up as we thought she might. She did, however, come storming home from playing with friends around 8pm crying and saying that they were being mean. She was over tired from Friday's sleepover.

Mindy was off to bed before me. I stayed up watching NFL preseason football, but not too late. I joined Mindy in bed by 1030pm.

Edward Sharpe & Zappa tickets

Since I was working from home, purposefully slept in until 620am. Mindy got up about the same time as me.
Completed calisthenics: sit-ups, windmills, push-ups.
Enjoyed coffee while getting busy with work near 7am.
Took care of a weekly report first thing.
Mindy left for school near 730am
Bella and I headed to the bus stop at 802am.
Ms Vanorder sent a notice home with Bella on Thursday sharing that her arrival time will be moved up by 10 minutes. My question was 10 minutes earlier than her written arrival of 807am, or 10 minutes earlier than her 'real' arrival which has been more like 812am.
Other parents had the same question. I let Chrissy ask. She said starting next Tuesday, she'll be there at 757am. Uh-huh. We'll see.
Walked the pug after the bus picked up the kids.
Back home where I poured more coffee, checked in again with work, then prepared and left for a run.
Ran just 3 miles. Lovely morning. Partly/mostly cloudy and 70 degrees. Actually rained a little over night. Expecting it to clear later.
Back home made some eggs for the pug and I. Got busy with work.
Stayed focused on work until 1230pm when I headed out to take care of the lawn.
Did the tractor first. Because it was so warm and dry, I was able to tractor cut more than any other time in recent memory.
Took just over an hour to complete all the mowing. Really wasn't necessary to trim and edge. Next week. Didn't blow of the drive and walks until later that afternoon.
Headed back inside to finish off my work day. Worked steadily until 3pm or so. However, stayed engaged until well past 5pm.
Even though it was a kid weekend, Jacob was off to sleepover with a school pal where they planned to attend the H.D. HS football scrimmage. At the same time, Bella planned to spend the night with Lillian and was attending the St Cecilia festival.
By default, we had an unscheduled date night.
Mindy wanted another shower after a hot day in the class room. I showered, too.
Our plan was to run down to the arena district and buy Edward Sharpe & Zappa tickets and then find our way over to CBC.
I dropped Mindy off out front of the LC Pavilion then circled twice. Traffic was tight due in part to a home Clipper game right next door. But we managed to pull off our plan without parking unnecessarily.
Arrived at CBC near 630pm. Once again, parked across the street where I could keep an eye on our car from the bar windows.
Grabbed two available stools with a view outside. Kate & Vince tending bar. Haven't seen Vince for a few weeks.
Kevin, who is also a bartender, was on the patron side of the bar after being cut early ended up snuggling up next to Mindy and I. We chatted for an hour or so. In addition to working at CBC, he's also a school teacher and plays in a local band.
Talked about the Troy festival & Edward Sharpe. Kevin's from Troy and plans to enjoy the festival with family. Sounds like a lot of fun. Only five venues in all of North America. Expecting upwards of 60K people.
Enjoyed some risotto balls and bread before sharing a dinner special - steak and lump crab. Yum!
After texting back and forth, Darwin soon joined us. He drove Jordan's Camaro but Jordan was expected to have a family member drop him off their later so he could drive his dad home.
Darwin talked with a biker dude who was in town from Wisconsin. Loves CBC. He was an odd bird.
I stopped drinking after two beers - a Grasshopper and a Bodhi so Mindy could enjoy. I drank water for the last hour or so.
I'm thinking it was around 10pm when we bolted for home. As expected. Jordan showed up to drive Darwin. Darwin asked if we planned to stay up longer at home. Didn't think so. Both of us were tired. Headed to bed soon after getting home.

Visiting the BMV Every Fourth Spin around the Sun

Slept in until almost 6am. My plan was to head in and work from my Hilliard office for the first time since the Thursday before. But happily, I didn't have a meeting scheduled until 10am and I planned on joining that via conference call.
I quickly pushed through calisthenics and shortened my internet time in order to recapture some of that time.
Bottom line, headed out on my run around 650am.
Ran 4.1 miles. Partly cloudy 66 degrees. Nice.
Mindy gone by the time I got back home.
Eggs ready and in the microwave.
Walked the pug.
Already 745am, decided I better not try and shower before bus stop time.
Prepped lunch while Bella readied.
Headed to the bus stop at 802am still in my running clothes.
Chrissy asked if I was working from home. Nope.
Bus arrived near 812am. Bella shared that the bell rings as soon as they show up at school each day.
Headed home and to the shower.
Ready to go by 845am.
Rather than waiting until lunch, decided to stop at the Hilliard BMV and renew my driver's license on my way in.
Arrived there shortly after 9am. About 5 people in front of me in line. Anyone who's been to the BMV knows that that can be a really long wait. No sense of urgency.
A little surprised to read that it's $25.75 for license renewal these days. Only accept cash or check too. Felt like we were back in the 80s.
Finally, after waiting patiently for about 20 minutes, one of the bearded ladies shouted "Next"!
After a quick eye exam , signing some docs, and forking over $25.75 in cash, I was on my way to work with my new driver's license which is good for another 4 years.
Spent the first hour or two of my day organizing my new temporary office. May recall, I moved all my crap in last Thursday but didn't have time to organize anything.
Sandwiched in amongst the office chaos, I joined a fairly brief 10am conference call.
Another very busy day where I did not take a formal lunch break.
Did take time to call Promo West - LC Pavilion asking about ticket window hours.
Could stop in Friday anytime after 530pm and before 9pm to buy concert tickets without using T.M. saving all sorts of money.
The plan was to meet Mindy at curriculum night at Bella's school at 6pm. To that end, I left the office near 545pm figuring that I wouldn't see my new office again until the following Thursday.
Mindy was already at the school and in the gym. Took about an hour for all the 5th grade teachers to review the year's curriculum.
Mindy said she had a rotisserie chicken in the oven at home awaiting our arrival. Good. I was starving.
Didn't get home until after 7pm.
Dinner was good. Clean-up fairly quick.
Watched preseason NFL football at 8pm. Headed for bed around 1030pm.

Keri & Kevin

Up at 540am, coffee already to go.
Exercise: sit-ups, windmills, push-ups.
Like clockwork, Jacob up and in the shower minutes later.
coffee, internet, meditation and stretching.
Delivered Mindy's coffee near 620am. By then she was already mid-shower.
Readied and left for a run at 637am.Clear and 65 degrees - full moon in the NW sky.
Ran 4.1 miles.
This time encountered Bella walking Eiknarf out front of the neighbors. Stopped and walked back with she and the pug. Thanked for doing the deed.
Mindy had my eggs in the microwave.
She soon left for school.
Bella headed upstairs shortly thereafter, me reminding her to take care of teeth and hair. Also reminded her that we needed to head out at 802am.
I was showered and downstairs by 8am. Not a lot of wiggle room. Bella was already downstairs and ready. We headed out the door.
Met the same group at the bus stop.
Bus was even later than the day before - about 815am. Said traffic was a bear.
Walked Eiknarf out front for a few minutes then headed in to quickly wrap up a few things then headed off to work.
Heading across town again. This time, however, traffic was an absolute nightmare. It was backed up from Grandview all the way there. On a positive note, we never came to a complete stop. We simply crawled across town. It took more than 40 minutes.
Had to hustle to get inside and settled in time for our 930am weekly Wednesday call. A lot of hurry for nothing. Call got canceled by the customer.
Customer requested an impromptu meeting around 11am, but I was booked for the next 4 hours. Agreed to meet at 330pm instead.
Joined a 10am call t hen headed over to another campus building near 11am for a 3 hour meeting. Ended up there until 230pm. Headed back to my regular Wednesday office by 3pm. The day was literally flying by.
Met with the customer leaders at 330pm, went until 4pm or so. Good stuff.
Stuck around until just after 430pm when I begged off for home.
Called Mindy along drive home. Said her day went well. Also reminded me that it was a Jimaken night and shared her preference was to visit CBC. My choice was Barley's. She caved and agreed with me.
Got home just after 5pm. Kids were already off with Jimaken.
Mindy & I freshened up a bit before we left for Barley's.
Mindy chatted with her friend Kerianne on our drive there. Invited her to join us but she declined.
Grabbed two stools at the corner of the bar. Janet bartending. No sooner had we ordered beers when Kerianne called back and shared that she, Kevin and the boys were coming to join us for dinner, after all.
Mindy quickly alerted Justin that we'd need a table. He took care of us. We got a booth.
Mindy and I darn near polished off a basket of fries and hot sauce before Kevin & Keri showed up.
Kevin ordered another basket as soon as they got settled. He ordered a Red Molly, too.
Their two boys, Garrett and Sawyer were very well behaved.
We ordered dinners soon after. I ordered 20 wings, fully anticipating taking half or more home for Jacob.
I had two beers: a Galaxy 500 & a ZIPA.
Had a nice time. Again, the boys were well-behaved start to finish.
We left for home around 8pm.
We beat the kids home, but not by too much, maybe 5-10 minutes.
Jacob immediately began to devour the wings.
Bella headed off to play with Makayla. She didn't have much time, though.
Started to dose around 9pm. Headed to be around 930pm.

First Day of School Jacobella 2013 / Mom @ Adena

First day of school for Jacob & Bella. That meant everyone was up early, me at 530am, Jacob at 545am, Mindy just after 6am, and Bella near 7am.
Exercise: sit-ups, windmills, and curls
Coffee, internet, meditation and stretching. All completed by 630am.
Dressed and left for a run at 638am. Jacob was sitting on the steps waiting to see his bus whiz by before heading out.
Ran 4.1 miles on a gorgeous morning. 64 and clear at departure.
Back home at 720am. Nice to return to a completely alive home, breakfast ready, and Eiknarf ready to be walked.
Sat down for breakfast at 727am. Bella was just finishing up her own.
Mindy was granted an hour bye so she could see both kids off to school. She shared that she snapped a few photos of Jacob before he left.
With the bus coming about 10 minutes earlier this year - 807am, I rushed off to the shower already forgetting that Mindy was there to see Bella off too.
Out of the shower and back downstairs by 758am.
Headed out at 802am. Bella was stoked. We took 1st day of school pics on the deck with flowers in the background. Of course I took my camera to the stop as well where I got plenty more. I also measured Bella and Jacob.
Jacob 70" tall.
Bella 54" tall - 56lbs (grew 1.5" over the summer!)
Planned to weigh both later.
Quite the crowd at the bus stop, but only four actually waiting on the bus. But the other mom's had their entire broods in tow.
Bus didn't show until 812am. I made note for future reference.
Mindy was quickly out and off to school herself. And I wasn't far behind either. I needed to be across town.
Rough drive across town. Traffic slow all the way through downtown. Would've been better off taking 270.
Happy that no one else at my desk.
Stayed busy all morning long until our 1pm meeting. My plan was to head down to see my mom in the hospital as soon as the Tuesday meeting was in the books.
Meeting went until 205pm. Lots of stuff to cover.
Had a few things to wrap up before I could depart. Left the office at 220pm.
As planned, made a quick stop at the New Albany/Gahanna Kohl's to see if they had twin sized memory foam mattress pads in stock. Hard to find item.
Not only were they out of the model we wanted to get for Jacob, but they were no longer 50% off. I left disappointed.
Called Tommy, just as I agreed the day before. We talked about riding down together. No answer. Left a VM.
Took 270S all the way around to route 23 south. Nice drive - lovely late afternoon.
Arrived at Adena in Chillicothe near 4pm. Parked in the NE lot. Easily found my way to mom's room - 2NE - 30.
By herself. Swollen due to pumping her full of liquids. Voice still very raspy.
We talked for a while, her once again bringing up the Lindsey thing.
Without too much detail I shared the basic facts.
Also joked about her penchants for exhibiting same symptoms as dad only two months behind. As expected, she denied any such doings. But the facts are facts. Eerie how it's unfolding - back, knee, stones, heart attack. She summed up by saying their sole mates. I think dad might take exception to that. :)
I wasn't there long before being joined by mom's bff Denise and adopted daughter April, who is 3 months pregnant.
In my opinion, another good example of someone who should not be having a baby. No education, no job, etc....
While the three of them bantered about I listened only passively and kept any opinion I might have regarding their conversation to myself. Believe me, that was best.
More than once both April and Denise felt it their duty, apparently, to remind me that I'll be sorry when mom's gone.
If memory serves, most of that centered around my reluctance to volunteer my home as a residence for mom to convalesce in her latter years. Yikes!
Instead. I recommended Tommy's ranch. :)
A male nurse came in to install a blood pressure patch on mom's arm. At the time her BP was about 177/102.
He joined in their conversation for a good while. And while he was pleasant and cordial, he was badly misinformed on a number of topics they were discussing. Again, though, I didn't say a word. But Inside I was rolling my eyes!
I left for home around 605pm. Gave everybody hugs goodbye. Wished April good luck with that baby.
Was difficult to figure out how to leave the parking lot and regain 23 N.
Once on the road, I was determined to stop at the first Wendy's I passed for some dinner. I was really hungry.
Stopped in Circleville at the local Wendy's out front of the Wal-Mart. Ordered a #1 combo: single w/cheese, fries, Coke.
Ate while driving. Might've been the freshest, juiciest, plumpest Wendy burger in decades, though I frequent there so seldom.
Arrived home near 7pm. Mindy and the kids weren't yet home. Wasn't expecting them to be either. Mindy had meet the teacher night at her school and Jacob had soccer practice.
Jacob got home around 730pm. Mindy & Bella about 30 minutes later.
Tired. Headed to bed near 9pm.

Successful MW

Up at 1219am on my own accord. Mindy's set her alarm for 1215am but it didn't go off.
Spent the next 40 minutes preparing for the maintenance window, including reaching out to peer teams that would be involved remotely.
Customer joined at 1am sharp. MW went flawlessly. Finished up by 205am. Stayed up until 230am tying up loose ends. Back to bed.
Slept soundly until Mindy got up for school near 630am. This was her first official day of school, though without students. Apparently an all day staff meeting.
She planned to leave early to attend a meet the teacher gathering at Bella's school around 3pm.
I got up before she left and sluggishly proceeded to exercise completing sit-ups, windmills and push-ups.
Headed off on a run near 830am. Lovely morning, partly cloudy and warm - 70 degrees at run time.
Ran 4.1 miles.
Kids were happy Ii was working from home. Saved them from having to spend the day at Mindy's school or at maw-
maws.
Made bacon & eggs for Bella and I around 10am. Yum! Jacob was already off playing with friends, this their last day of summer break.
Joined weekly account team call at 11am. Took the entire hour covering several topics.
Despite getting plenty of sleep before and after the 1am MW work, still took a nap mid day. Funny how my body responds to getting up that early. Makes me tired all day long.
Mindy was home around 4-415pm. Wrapped up work around 5pm.
Jacob wanted to go to Barley's for dinner. Not me. I was too tired. Didn't feel like going anywhere.
Instead, as a family we agreed on Chipotle. Mindy and Jacob flew after it.
Watched preseason MNF. Can't recall the teams.
Headed to bed around 10pm.

Mimicking Father

Up around 730am. Was supposed to be clear and sunny but mostly cloudy.
Enjoyed coffee and internet for more than 90 minutes before heading off on a run.
Ran 3 miles. By then it was mostly sunny and 70 degrees.
Mindy was up by the time I made my return.
Spent time together on the deck. Agreed to work in the pond, hopefully finishing the edge clean-up project once and for all.
Bella home at 11am. Changed clothes, grabbed some cash, and then went shopping with the neighbor girls.
Had to be around 1130am when we got started in the pond.
Was extra careful this time with the poison ivy, which there was plenty of.
The last stretch wasn't nearly as woody as the previous four events. Had three or four honeysuckle bushes needing trimmed out of the water.
Also used the stiff garden rake to pull branches that were submerged in the muck. In fact, most of what we tarped was stuff that was previously submerged. And because we were at the rear of our property, we didn't have far to drag the trimmings.
Probably only spent an hour in the water then another 30 minutes cutting it up and stacking it in the compost pile along the property line.
Mindy headed in for a shower while I did all the clean-up. That took 30 minutes alone.
I asked that she bring cotton balls and rubbing alcohol to the deck so I could bathe myself in it, hopefully removing any poison ivy oil that might've found its way onto my skin. Definitely didn't want to go through another bout of ivy. Ugh!
Finished clean-up near 2pm.
Headed in for a shower.
Mindy had to call for both kids. They each got home minutes later. Bella from shopping and Jacob from spending the weekend with his dad.
We left for Julie's b-day party around 335pm. Her house is up near Sawmill and Hard Rd.
We'd been there only one other time, and unless I am mistaken, a full year prior.
Despite only being there one other time, we found her house easily.
It was unusual for us to be the first guests to arrive. Thought we might've had the wrong date/time.
Nephew Joe pulled up just as we were beginning to question ourselves. :)
Others arrived minutes after us.
Nice house - nothing out of place (DINKs)
The backyard was set-up for a party complete with a volleyball net. Cool! We headed out.
Remembered the last time we were there - heavy thunderstorms roared through. Not this time - lovely weather.
Got two successive calls from my mom's bff, Denise. Didn't take the calls, though listened to the VM a bit later.
Learned my mom was in the hospital again, though she didn't elaborate as to why.
Not wanting to spoil the day, I decided to keep it to myself until we left the party around 7pm.
Played volleyball for more than an hour. Jacob and Bella played almost the entire time we were there.
Had Jet's Pizza for dinner.
Cheese cake and bismark cake for dessert. I had cheese cake.
Craig & Jeff brought cantaloupe, tomatoes from their garden. Mindy grabbed a bag full.
Left for home around 7pm. Mindy declared it her first official school night. Not only that, but I needed to work that maintenance window beginning at 1am, though I didn't share that with anyone.
Called Denise back on our drive home via the handsfree bluetooth.
Learned that mom had kidney stones blasted out on Friday but then had to return to the hospital on Saturday for feeling like death.
Ended up keeping her, and according to Denise, might've had a mild heart attack.
Oh my god! Really? Are you kidding me? Whatever befalls my dad, befalls my mom a couple months later.
Told Denise I would follow-up on Monday. Got mom's room number, etc.
Arrived home around 8pm. Soon tuned into SNF.
Called brother Glenn to inform of mom's condition.
Like me, he could only laugh at the coincidence of mom having dad-like symptoms. Talked for about 20 minutes, which included catching up on summer activities and then briefly discussing our potential winter ski trip to Lake Tahoe. Says he in. On his bucket list.
I head to bed shortly after our call with plans to be up again shortly after midnight. I was happy that this week's MW work would be manageable from home.

Visiting Tom C., Lowes & Daily Growler in the BM'er

Up around 8am.
Headed downstairs, started coffee then played on the internet.
comfortable, but cloudy start to the morning. Expecting sunshine later.. 64 degrees at wake time.
Enjoyed coffee and internet until almost 930am when I finally headed out for a run.
Ran 3 miles.
Mindy wasn't up until 1030am.
Near noon I headed off on a Lowes run in the BM'er. By then, it was sunny and lovely.
Stopped by Tom Clark's place on the way.
Haven't been by his home in more than a year.
Greeted me at the door but didn't want me to come inside - 'under construction'.
Walked around his yard then eventually headed inside. As he shared, more than half the house stripped to the studs, including the ceiling.
Redoing the entire layout of the interior.
He did the same thing at his old place in Marion Village.
Showed me all of his work.
Tom does good work, though via his own admission, he seems to have lost his motivation on this rehab job. He's been in it for more than two years now.
While visiting and chatting we casually watched a show called the Wildman, I think on Discovery Channel. This guy is called to remove critters of all sorts and does it with his bare hands - no traps. Yikes!!! Crazy!!!
Left for Lowes around 1pm.
At Lowes I struggled to pull up my list on my smart phone. Couldn't get my gmail to update. Finally got it. Good thing, too, because like a lot of Lowes/Home Depot trips without a list, forgot everything on my list.
Picked up a new bulb for our deck fountain, a gift card for niece Julie, and a plant hook for the front stoop.
Left Lowes and headed to the Daily Growler. Filled a growler with Bodhi. Thought I might stop in the Big Fat for a gyro, too but decided against it last minute. I knew we had a ton of party food still in the fridge at home.
Mindy was gone when I got home. Can't recall what errand she was running.
In any case, I quickly replaced the burnt out fountain bulb then turned my attention to installing the new plant hook on the front porch to pull the hanging basket of new guinea impatiens away from the ivy wall. Worked perfectly.
Next, I watered all the flowers front and back. Haven't had any appreciable rain in almost 10 days. Finally starting to dry out after a very wet summer.
Jimaken dropped off Bella sometime during the day so she could attend Makayla and Lillian's birthday sleepover party.
We planned to make a showing too, but not until much later in the evening.
Mindy and I headed over to the neighbors around 8pm. Got to visit with Guy & Missy, Chrissy's sister and husband. Good people.
Talked with Kenny's ex-wife some, too, Michelle. We hung out for a while.
Michelle's new husband smoke two or three large briskets and brought them over. Man was it good!
Mindy & I hung out until about 10pm, or when the mosquitoes became too much to handle.
Just before we left, neighbor Teri was sharing her displeasure with a neighbor for calling the dog pound on her two Jack Russell's for harassment. She wasn't exactly sure who it was that called, but asked if it was us. No, of course not.

You Know Summer's Over When ...

Up at 615am
Planning to work from home
Didn't exercise until after coffee and computer time, even considered skipping.
Ended up doing my regular Friday stuff: sit-ups, windmills, and push-ups.
Headed out for a run around 8am. Perfect day. About 57 degrees at run time. Supposed to reach 80 with lots of sunshine.
Mindy was home but spent most of the day preparing for her teacher pre-school year party set to begin around 4pm.
My goal was not only to have a short but productive work day, but also to cut the lawn during my lunch break.
Relaxing work day at home.
Headed out to cut the lawn near 1230pm.
Dry, cut with the tractor first and was able to do more than usual with it leaving myself much less to mow with the Toro. Still took about 90 minutes by the time I trimmed, edged and blew. Looked really good. For the first time all summer, the lawn's beginning to show signs of stress for drying out in spots. Might have to reactivate the irrigation system.
Mindy ran a few errands in preparation for her party.
She let me know that Mrs Anderson and Ms. Leahy, both Bella's former teachers were coming to the party. Bella didn't know it and Mindy didn't want me to say anything. Wanted it to be a surprise.
Stopped working around 3pm, though kept my laptop fired up so I could stay engaged if necessary.
Showered about then too.
First party guest showed up around 4pm sharp.
Mindy said she was expecting as many as 30 guests.
I called and invited Tom Clark. Said he would show up later but never did. Too bad.
I spent most of my time hanging with Mrs Anderson, her husband Mike, and Ms Leahy. Had lots of fun.
Mindy's teacher pal, Kerianne stayed way later than everybody else, not leaving until 930pm or so. Most others were gone by 7pm.
While Mindy and Kerianne chatted, I helped clean-up the party mess so we could wake up Saturday with a clean house, which always helps.
Drank a few beers earlier but then switched to Jack & Coke after the crowd left. Had just a small buzz when we finally headed to bed around 1030pm.

BM'er Day

Up at 615am
Was actually excited about the opportunity to work in my regular Hilliard office having not been there since Monday the week prior.
Exercise: sit-ups, windmills, and curls
coffee, computer, meditation, stretching and run - 4.1 miles - chilly, only in the low 50s. Wore a jacket again.
Back home by 730am
Mindy and the kids planning to spend the day working in Mindy's class room
Off to work by 830am. Decided to drive the BMer. Took the back way, Trabue, Old Dublin, etc.
Stopped at train tracks on Trabue but not by a train. Instead, there must've been a convoy of about 20 railroad maintenance vehicles, some looked like they were road/railroad track worthy. Waited about 10 minutes for all of them to pass.
Arrived at the office near 9am.
Turned out being a very busy work day. Accomplished a lot.
Got the key to my new 4th floor office. Turning top floor - my floor - into a cube farm. The move is temporary.
So busy, didn't get a chance to move into my new office during the usual work day. Decided to stick around after 5pm and do it then. Didn't get out of the office until almost 7pm. But even then I only had enough time to move everything. Didn't have time to organize anything. Wasn't sure when I'd be back - wither the following Monday or possibly not until the following Thursday.
Fun cruise home in the BMer. Took the back way again. Old Dublin is so much nicer now that they repaved it.
Can't recall dinner or how the evening ended.

Bodhi, Bread & Wings

Up near 545am
exercise: sit-ups, windmills, push-ups
ran 4.1 miles - chilly, only 53 degrees at run time. wore a jacket
Working in New Albany
Traffic backed up driving across town. Takes about 30 minutes.
Productive day. Accomplished plenty
Jimaken night
CBC
Parked across the street in the Kroger lot where I could see our car from the bar
Kate and Emily - no Vince
Bodhi, bread and wings
Aside from the yummy bread, can't recall what Mindy ate.
Home by 815pm.

Numbers & Charts

Even after 9 hours of sleep I woke feeling as though I needed more. But fortunately, after calisthenics I felt just fine. Probably just needed to get the blood flowing. Needed to be across town again today but not until 930am. I was very deliberate with my early AM routine and found myself heading out for a run by 645am almost like our normal school day routine. Speaking of school day routines, I am pretty sure that Mindy and the kids were heading in to work on her class room again.

I ran 4.1 miles and was surprised to find Mindy up, downstairs and making my breakfast when I got back from my run. She offered that I head to the shower while she finished. Cool! That saved lots of time. It was quarterly presentation day so I dressed a little nicer than usual. Mindy offered to iron my dress shirt but I declined. I was downstairs again and ready to go by 815am, which was far earlier than most days of late. We walked the pug together before I left.

Headed out around 835am. Took a while scooting across town but still made it there with plenty of time to spare. My boss was set up in my cube. We hooked up in the hallway then meandered around just outside of the occupied conference room where our quarterly presentation was set to take place.

Meeting started a few minutes late, or about 1005am. Just as it has during the last couple quarterly presentation, my numbers and charts kicked off all sorts of questions and debate. My piece went 30 minutes or more. Walked away with a few action items. Ugh!

Around noon, I met four of my co-workers including my boss in the cafeteria for lunch. First time in more than two years that I ate in the cafeteria. We had another meeting scheduled for 1pm - our weekly technical meeting. That went a lot smoother than the quarterly presentation. Over near 2pm. Spent the remainder of my day catching up on several other to-dos. Left for home near 5pm.

Tainted Sleep - Tinted Window

Sounds crazy, I know, but I was up at 1145pm Sunday night to start my Monday. And really, saying "up" might lead one to think that I got some sleep, but unfortunately that just wasn't the case, even though I tried. The reason I was up so earl was because I needed to be across town and prepared to carry out disaster recovery testing with a client at 1am. My plan was to be on site at 1230a.

Bella, bless her heart, knew I had to be up super early and had my coffee stuff laid out and ready on the island. She got up and joined me in the kitchen as I prepared for departure. Not to make a big fuss, I opted to drink day old coffee (Sunday's). Packed up and left the house around 1215am.

Arrived as planned near 1230am. Met a peer of mine along with a couple engineers that work for the client. We headed to the data center to prepare for the test. Took us 20-30 minutes to get organized. There were a handful of participants on a conference bridge too. The actual testing was underway by 115am.

We ran 4 tests, all of which went off as planned. Wrapped up around 230am. By the time I was heading out the door for my car it was 245am. By then I was really tired but also thrilled with the success of our testing. Arrived home just after 3am where I played on the computer for a few minutes to unwind.

Headed for bed at 330am. Took a little while to fall asleep but finally did. Unfortunately, I had an 8am appointment at Zeibart to have the replacement window in the Accord tinted to match the others. Said if I got there just before 8am they could have me in and out of there in about 20 minutes. So, as hard as it was, I rolled out of bed at 715am. I started a fresh pot of coffee, jumped into some comfy clothes, then bolted off for Zeibart with a to-go cup of coffee. Just down the road, arrived at 750am. Pulled in just as the store manager was unlocking the door. Said he was expecting me.

Had me in and out of there in about 30 minutes. Didn't take long. Very cordial and friendly. At home again near 840am, I hopped back in bed deliriously tired. I might've slept for another hour before getting up again, having more coffee, and finally heading off on a run. Mindy and the kids had already left the house for school where they'd be spending most of the day working on her class room. I headed off on a run near 10am where I ran 4.1 miles. Felt whole once the run was behind me. Little time to celebrate. Joined an 11am team call shortly after my return.

Still incredibly sleepy, decided to work from home for the remainder of the day. I took care of everything on my daily to-do list and calendar but napped a few times, too. However, no matter what I did, I just couldn't shake the sleepies. More than anything, I needed a full night's sleep. I worked on and off until 7pm.
We didn't have a real dinner. Mindy and the kids ran an errand around 7pm and picked up El Vaquero chips and salsa on their way back home. I got up from the sofa and enjoyed some of those before begging off to bed around 830pm.

From bed I watched NFL network before falling asleep around 9pm.

Take a Sniff

Not getting to bed until after 1am meant that I’d almost certainly sleep past my typical wake time of 715am. Sure enough, I wasn’t up & out of bed until almost 8am. And even then I was still rather tired, but got up anyway.

It was gorgeous outside. Sunny and 70 degrees. I started coffee then played on the internet. Didn’t head out on a run until 945am. Ran three miles. Mindy was up soon after my return. Asked what was new with Darwin. Shared some time together on the deck and then took the pug on a walk out front.

We were expecting Bella home from the neighbors sleepover by 11am. Mindy asked if I wanted to go grocery shopping with her. I agreed to go along but also offered that we make a trip up to the Tuttle Macy’s to look at mattresses for Bella. We were also expecting Lindsey and the boys to come over around 1pm to do laundry. Mindy was supposed to help her with banking/bills too.

As requested, Bella walked in the door right on time. Mindy quickly dispatched her to ready for a trip to Macy’s and the grocery. We left the house sometime around 1145am. We headed to Macy’s Furniture store first. It’s located near Britton & Tuttle Crossing Blvd. – not actually at the mall.

Not too many customers inside at all. In fact, I am certain that there were far more employees on hand than customers. And who here knows the drill when you enter a furniture store? The sale gerbils were huddled together about 200’ from the entrance and quickly sizing us up for a sale. Makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I felt like a small fish swimming amongst sharks! Mindy felt the same way. We quickly diverted to the right and back towards the mattresses only to be cut-off and engaged by a sales guy, I suppose just trying to earn his keep.

Even if he were to make the sale of a twin mattress combo, I was given the distinct impression that he wasn’t too excited. We looked at a couple of their sale offerings, which were about the price range we were considering. But when he shared that they have to be ordered and delivered, which would tack on an additional $70 charge we quickly soured to the idea. We left after only five minutes. A few of the ten or so other sales gerbils now scattering greeted us as we waltzed out of there.

I suggested we look into the Original Mattress factory just down the street from our subdivision. However, because Roberts Rd exit is closed, we opted to head to the grocery store first. We cut across town – through Hilliard, Arlington, and Grandview in route to the Chambers Rd Kroger. I haven’t been there for a long, long time, but it used to be my favorite Kroger. Mindy loves it, though shared that it’s been under reconstruction much of the summer.

But even knowing that information hadn’t prepared me for how upside down it was inside. Holy smoke! What a train wreck! I am sure it’ll be nice when they’re finally done but for now it’s a mess. It’s been at least a year since I grocery shopped with Mindy. In fact, we’ve probably grocery shopped together just a handful of times in almost 8 years. Bella was a bog help taking directions from Mindy what to get. There was none of that ill behavior one typically sees from young children, though with her advanced years – 10 - I suppose she may be beyond that stage.

Took longer than I remembered, but that had more to do with the havoc the remodel placed on standard placement. Not only did it take forever, but I was also incredibly hungry and sleepy, having not eaten a thing all morning. And by the time we were done there it was close to 2pm. I was eager to get home and get something to eat – perhaps some of the snacks I tossed into the cart with spontaneity. 

Lindsey and the boys were already there. As we pulled into the drive, Lindsey and the boys were walking out to the bridge with a fishing pole. Of course Lindsey was on her cell phone at the same time, which is something that drives me batty, especially when she’s with the kids on a somewhat busy street. Looks trashy!!!! Rather than engage, I simply turned away and carried in groceries. Then, as soon as everything was carried inside I woofed down a quick sandwich then slipped off to our bedroom where I tuned into the NFL network and took a brief nap.

I might’ve hung out there for 30 minutes before heading back downstairs. By then, Lindsey was dealing with her laundry while Mindy talked with her about setting up auto bill pay for her online banking. The exchange was somewhat heated, but at the time I wasn’t sure why. I woofed down a few Triscuits topped with Jarlsberg cheese then slipped out onto the deck with my book in hand. Reading from the chaise lounge would be my escape.

I wasn’t out there long before Mindy beckoned my help. Prior to heading inside, I could tell that there conversation wasn’t going well. Let’s just say there were raised voices. Immediately inside Mindy addressed the issue at hand. Specifically the fact that Lindsey was withholding critical information regarding her delinquent pending bills even after we just bailed her out of financial trouble with more than $1500 earlier in the week. Mindy was furious, believing that there was full disclosure a week prior which was a condition for our help. After all, there can’t be a continuously moving target.

Before I could say anything, and it wasn’t like I had anything of instant value to add, their argument escalated to Mindy asking Lindsey to leave our home. Frankly, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen Mindy so incensed. She even dropped an ‘F’ bomb while she gathered up Lindsey laundry and proceeded to pitch it out the front door. Lindsey then insisted that she wasn’t leaving without her bank card, the entire exchange witnessed my not only me, but Rocky too. He was starting to shake. I felt horrible for him, especially.

A classic and oft repeated Lindsey move, she called her mother while standing in our home to ‘tell on Mindy’ quite humorous really. The fact that she still does that kills me. Any other time she’s running down Kelly. Mindy was so angry that Lindsey had lied to her that she walked out back to blow off steam but not before insisting again that Lindsey get out and never come back. I fully understood her anger but was also deeply saddened after considering the gravity of the situation. After all, Mindy might have been Lindsey’s biggest advocate for the last two years, often reeling in my emotionally charged responses to her 16 year old-like behavior patterns.

While Mindy was outside blowing off steam, Lindsey insisted that she was calling the cops to get her bank card back. A total Jerry Springer event indeed. I went outdoors and called to Mindy. Just give her the card back. Serves us no purpose. Mindy eventually did just to get her out. Meanwhile, Rocky was distraught over the ordeal. Mindy hugged him and told him that she loved him. Unlike Landon, there wasn’t any way he would stay at our house without his momma. Lindsey soon gathered up all of her laundry and presumably blasted off to her mom’s to finish, which on the surface shouldn’t be a bad thing.
Landon, by the way, wanted to stay and have dinner with us. Both Lindsey & Mindy agreed.

Here’s the thing, the behavior Lindsey demonstrated is a pattern I am all too familiar with, not only from her but sadly her sister and mother too – half truths, never all the facts, and always somebody else’s fault. To be clear, not Ashley. She acts like a grown-up and takes full responsibility for her actions. I’m also convinced that Lindsey doesn’t see her behavior as deceptive & self-serving, though that is indeed what it is – manipulative!

Mindy headed off to our bedroom. I could tell without talking to her that she was hurt, disappointed and sad. I’ve been there with Lindsey. Just when you think you’re doing well, helping and making progress she’ll bite. And for some reason, she had the uncanny ability to bring out the worst in folks. Again, not had it happened to me but I’ve seen it happen with her mom, her grandmother, and even my uncle and my dad over the years.

But perhaps the saddest part of all is the impact her mistakes will have on the lives of my grandsons. That hurts. If she’d only listen, learn and repeat, she could turn her life and that of the boys in a jiffy. Why is it that she can’t see that?

I went up and briefly talked with Mindy about 15 minutes later. Both of us were still reeling from the stimulus/response ordeal. We attempted to rationalize but no matter what couldn’t help but feel sorry for the boys, because by us excusing ourselves from any more enablement beyond our current commitment will almost certainly spell doom for them.

Mindy eventually came downstairs and we recouped our day and evening. Our plan all along was to grill burgers and corn on the cob. At some point I reminded Mindy that I was going into work at 1230am. Until then, she had forgotten. Not me. It was in the back of my mind all weekend. I was trying to steal a nap at every opportunity so not to be a vegetable come time to work later.

Given my predicament, Mindy allowed me lounge through most of the early evening hours while she worked on dinner. To pass the time, I watched the final round of the PGA championship from the sofa. Enjoyable watching Jason Duffner win the tournament.

Dinner was ready around 6pm. It was just four of us, me, Mindy, Bella and Landon. After dinner, Bella made everybody dessert – ice cream. Earlier at the grocery store she thought she picked out strawberry ice cream but instead she carted bubblegum. Yuck! Turned out, though, that Landon loved it. Mindy offered that he could take the entire half gallon home.

Lindsey came by to pick-up Landon near 7pm. Of course she sent Ricky in to get him. We enjoyed a quiet Sunday evening, though I spent most of it stressing over my need to be at work by 1230am. I never did get any meaningful sleep ahead of then.

*********************************************************************************

A synopsis of the Lindsey financial problem: How’d we get here?

We agreed to Cosign for $18K car loan on the condition that she pay what she can on the car while first taking care of rent, utilities and insurance (necessities). And if she couldn’t pay monthly, she agreed to payback via tax returns etc. She’s made not even one dollar in repayment. Her tax return confiscated by fed gov. for defaulting on college tuition loan.

Car insurance- She’s behind one full month (July - $140) and soon more. We just forked out another 90 day premium ($450).

Learned she hasn’t paid her July or Aug rent and still owed $200 for June ($1200). Apt. complex sought legal protection and tacked on $277 in legal fees (total $1477).

Learned she’s behind on electric bill $300 (3 months).

Learned she’s in debt to tanning salon for monthly recurring package - $90 per month (???)

(none of this touches on the several thousand dollars we spent on the previous car and repairs, home décor, and other misc. financial help since Aug 2011.) She did pay back about $750 for the first car, most of which came in when we managed her money the first time.

How’d she get into this mess?

Supposedly loaned a friend at work several hundred dollars over several recent paychecks (???)
Over drawn checking account – saddled with hundreds of dollars of over draft fees
Initially withheld the ‘friend loan’ entirely until Mindy began asking questions about her bank balance as opposed to income. It was obvious several hundred dollars seemingly evaporated.
Once it came out, it was supposedly $600, which is an enormous amount when you’re ‘poor’ and already can’t pay your own bills.
Came out Sunday that it was more than a $1000. (???? Is there even more to this?)


Her bring-home income? (not a ton, but certainly workable)

Typically $1200-1600 monthly.
$250 food voucher card
Free medical insurance for the kids

In a nut shell, this equates to paying none of her fixed and necessary monthly expenses since May.
Where’d the money go? Sure, there’s gas money, phone and cable, We insisted she disconnect cable which she supposedly has. We also insisted she look at all of her unnecessary expenses, including cigarettes (has asthma), gum, candy, fast food, and pop. Got to pay your bills first!

We initially agreed to bail her out with certain conditions – full financial disclosure and we help manage her finances until she’s out of debt and learns how to manage her funds (needs versus wants).

… If it looks like a turd, smells like a turd, it’s a turd!!! You take a sniff!!!