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.