Chasing Bubbles

Before heading to bed the night before, I wisely choked down a Naproxen. Otherwise, I am pretty sure the four big beers I consumed at Barley's would've left an indelible imprint on my Saturday morning. As it was, I woke near 745am feeling just fine.

At the first glimpse of sunlight, I slipped out of bed, brushed my teeth, gathered my running clothes and headed downstairs. The house was wickedly chilly since we left a number of the windows opened. Soon I would learn that it was only 45 degrees outdoors. I don't think that it's been that chilly since maybe last April. Burrr!

I started a pot of coffee then logged onto my work laptop picking up where we left off with Friday's Colorado crisis. I was pleased to discover that most of the problems were resolved. Via IM I chatted a little bit with my boss, who was supposed to be starting his week's vacation at 5pm the evening before.

Between work and pleasure, I played around online until almost 930am when I finally set work aside and headed out for a run. By then it had warmed to the low 50's, warm enough to run in shorts and a short sleeved wicking shirt. I wore sunglasses too. I ran the usual weekend route of just 3 miles. Was back at home somewhere near 10am. By then, Mindy and the pug were out on the deck enjoying coffee. I topped off my own coffee then joined the two of them.

Mindy shared that the pug had already made use of the neighbors yard as her personal bathroom. We hung out on the deck for a quite a while, me eventually fetching my new Jambox and phone and then listening to music. We didn't have anything planned during the day, or at least that is what I thought. Somehow or another, I missed the fact that Mindy was going to see Christa for a massage. And I think she said she needed to leave around noon. Didn't plan to shower until after her massage.
Had I been aware of those plans, I would've sought a golf partner. and spent the late morning earl afternoon on the course. Dang it! Mindy said she expected to be gone for a couple hours since Christa's place is all the way out in Gahanna. I figured I would simply hang out and then possibly cut the lawn, which is something I didn't have time to address on Friday.

Before Mindy left the house, she spent time doing some school work on her laptop. While she did that, I watered and toiled with deck plants. After I finished the watering I spent about 30 minutes blowing then chasing bubbles around the back yard with my camera. Got a couple cool shots and had a lot of fun. During my work and toil, I somehow lost the sunglasses that were previously affixed to my ballcap. And I knew I had them after my return from a run. Remembered raising them to my ballcap as I entered the house. I couldn't let it go. Had to find them, though I didn't panic or freak out like I might otherwise have done. Instead, I calmly back tracked all my morning steps.

I retraced my steps two or three times until I finally found them embedded in one of the deck's hibiscus plants. I'm guessing they flew off when I swatted at a lone swarming yellow jacket while watering earlier. Felt a huge sense of accomplishment. Just before Mindy left, Rachel stopped over to borrow some cleaning supplies. She was cleaning Chrissy & Kenny's place.

After Mindy left I cleaned the outside facing glass on the lower sash of the bay windows that Mindy didn't get to earlier. Used the Ava Anderson window cleaner. Worked pretty well, and surprisingly, better than Windex. It must've been around 1 or 2pm when nephew Joe and partner Rick stopped by. Joe was disappointed that Mindy wasn't here. We visited for a few, maybe 10-15 minutes before they departed. And then, not 10 minutes after they left I decided I should be more productive so I headed out to mow the lawn.

Used the tractor first, doing as much as I possibly could with it. Again, with it being as dry as it's been I can get a lot more of the lawn cut with the tractor than I would otherwise. Left myself with no more than 10 minutes of push mowing to do afterwards. And ever since I upgraded the diameter of string in the trimmer to .105mm I am able to effectively trim and edge without changing the head. That saves time, too, though I must admit, the line isn't as smooth as it is with the edger guide in use. Was done mowing, trimming, edging and blowing in a little more than an hour. Mindy got home just as I was finishing up. I let her know that Joe & Rick stopped by.

And while we didn't have plans during the day, we did plan to watch the Buckeye game with neighbors Pat & Lisa. I'd almost forgotten that we talked about doing dinner at CBC beforehand. And since the game started at 7pm, I figured we needed to leave for CBC sometime around 5pm. I showered soon after Mindy was out. By the time that I was out of the shower and dressed. Joe & Rick had stopped over again.

We hung out with the two of them for about half an hour. They each enjoyed a beer through our visit. We left for CBC near 515pm. Just as we were leaving the house, neighbor Pat sent a text wanting to discuss game watching options. Suggested Mindy give him a call during our drive to CBC. Pat presented two options, one option was us heading over to their place to watch the game as originally planned. The other was to meet at Bill & Lori's where they were showing the game on a large backyard TV screen while hosting a party. That sounded like fun. We also invited them to join us at CBC, but Pat said he had ribs ready to grill and take along. Needed to attend to that. We agreed to meet them at Bill & Lori's. Considering that it was already near 530pm and kick off at 7pm, I wondered if we would actually have time to enjoy dinner and make it there before kickoff.

Arrived at CBC near 530pm. And just as we have since late July, we parked across the street in the Kroger parking lot where we can see our car from the bar. Vince & Emily were tending bar. Mindy & I both went with a Bodhi. Yum! We first day facing east, but Mindy must've felt too cramped and asked that we move to the NE corner when that space came free.

In typical Vince fashion, he fetched us some bread and risotto balls without us asking. I sipped my beer slow. Eventually ordered a 2nd Bodhi about the time that we met a group of four who came inside from the patio. It was already 7pm and time for the Buckeye game kickoff and we were just ordering food. Mindy ordered steak and I ordered wings. We watched the early part of the Buckeye game from CBC. The Buckeyes took a fast 21-0 lead.

Like often happens at CBC, we made friends with the four who came in off the patio. Before we knew it was after 8pm. I suggested Mindy text Pat to let him know we most likely wouldn't make it to Lori's place for the football party.

I stopped drinking beer after two so Mindy could have another and enjoy herself. I drank water for the duration of our visit. I think we left for home around 845pm or during halftime. Arrived home just in time for the 2nd half kickoff. Mindy headed up to bed shortly after our arrival home. Between the glass of wine before we left the house and then two Bodhi's I think she was feeling no pain.

I watched the 2nd half of the Buckeye game from the sofa by myself. The Buckeyes picked up right where they left off in the first half, continuing their scoring barrage. The only downside was that Cal kept scoring too. We couldn't seem to stop them, but with an 18 to 25 point cushion, the end result was really never in doubt.

I drank Jack & Cokes during the 2nd half of the game. The Buckeyes won 52-34. Instead of rushing off to bed, I walked the pug and then watched the start of the Arizona St/Wisconsin game. I tried closing all three of the bay windows since it was expected once again to dip down to near 44 degrees overnight. However, with all the plants in the window sills, that's never an easy task. I ended up knocking one of the mini yuccas over throwing potting soil everywhere. Dang it! I did my best to pick up the biggest part of the mess but opted to leave the detailed clean-up until morning. I didn't even bother trying to close the large center window that houses three other plants. I headed to bed near midnight.