On This Harvest Moon

 

 

 

 

I was up and out of bed somewhere close to 545am. Glanced out back. Nothing but cloudy skies overhead. I did calisthenics next, sit-ups, windmills, and push-ups. Coffee time! Poured two cups of coffee, one for me and one for Mindy. Delivered hers before enjoying even a sip of my own. She was still in bed. Asked for a hug before I headed back downstairs.

Spent a good 20-25 minutes or more online while also enjoying coffee. Walked away at near 730am to meditate, stretch, and dress for a run. Jacob and I were in the kitchen together, me getting into my running clothes, he getting his lunch from the fridge and woofing down some breakfast. I headed out just ahead of him again. It was nice - 60 degrees and cloudy. Passed Jacob and his bus stop pals on my warm-up lap. Kept any awkward comments to myself.

Did the full 4.1 mile run. While getting the pug leashed up for our morning walk, I noticed Bella was in tears. Apparently Mindy gave her an earful for her messy room and insisted that there would be no after school privileges until it was fully addressed. Bella was not happy. I did my best to console her while still supporting Mindy's law. Bella thanked me by calling me an idiot. Nice! She was very emotional at the time so I chose to head out on the walk with the dog without saying anything more, realizing immediately that it best to allow cooler heads to prevail while determined not to let such a transgression pass unpunished.

Mindy headed off to school before the pug and I were back. Bella was much calmer upon my return, but noticeably somber and quiet. I decided that if she apologized on her own without provocation then I would let her words pass. I wasn't going to ask for it though. It just needed to happen before she got on the bus. I ate my breakfast while Bella did her hair and teeth. We headed out at 752am, me planning not to shower until after bus time.

Camden, one of the other kids at the bus stop, asked if he could hold Eiknarf's leash. Sure. Why not? He was very happy and careful. Cute kid. Loves Eiknarf. Bus arrived several minutes late. Had to be near 805am. Bella ran up before boarding the bus to give me a hug, tell me she loved me, but also to apologize for calling me an idiot earlier. She was very sincere and grown up about it. Looked me straight in the eyes and told me what she was sorry for. She said she was so frustrated that it just took over and she couldn't help herself. Apology accepted. Have a great day at school.

Back home, I raced off to the shower and was downstairs showered, dressed and ready to go even before 830am. I made sure I had everything I needed then headed out the door. Without giving it much thought I took 670 again, only this time I paid closer attention to the road signage as I approached downtown. My heart sunk for moment when I remembered that 670 was closed off the day prior, or so I thought. In reality, they changed the lanes and entrance to 670. They just opened the new ramp. Now one must be to the extreme left to get on 670 E after downtown whereas in the past it was the far right. Those lanes now merge directly onto 71N. Oh! So that's where I went wrong the day before.

I made decent time, arriving just around 855am. Got a primo parking spot but still a sizeable walk into the building. By the time I was settled and getting logged on it was 902am. I was invited to a 9am call but opted not to join. I had a greater yes burning inside. I needed to prepare for my standing 930am call. The call didn't go as well as I wanted but there are days like that in all of our lives. In the end, all shall be well.

For the first time in a while, I was able to get away for lunch at 1pm heading to Macy's at Easton. There I planned to try on a couple long sleeved button ups shirts. I looked at jackets immediately in the door. I eventually made my way to the Men's shirts. Tried on three print button ups. Sadly for me, fitting into the standard small, medium, large, extra-large just doesn't cut it for my body-type. And these print dress shirts only come sized that way. They're not like dress button-ups with neck and sleeve sizes. As pricey as they were, I wasn't about to compromise. Decided not to buy any. Sad because I really like the style and print. I had to laugh when I noticed lots of paisley coming back. And that's after Mindy pleading with me to toss out the paisley button-up I have in my closet today. It's got to be 20 years old. She apparently hates it. :)

It was 140pm when I headed back to the office. With a $400 million jackpot, I toyed briefly with stopping at the Speedway for a Powerball ticket but didn't. Figured Mindy and I could stop later while out for date night. Was back at my desk by 155pm. Joined a call or two and took care of couple other lingering tasks. Stayed busy until 445pm. By then my brain was fried. It was time to call it day and head for home. By then the weather had improved considerably. The sky mostly clear with a temp near 80. Nice!
Called Mindy once I was safely merged onto 270. She was driving but almost home after a dental appointment. Said Jimaken and the kids were pulling away just as she arrived home.

It was date night but we hadn't nailed down where we might be going. I was eager to try something new, and perhaps even Betty's since we haven't been there and everybody raves about it. Figured we'd decide once I was home. I knew didn't want to do CBC.

Arrived home around 515pm. While Mindy talked n the phone to someone, I freshened up, brushing my teeth and hair. She headed upstairs to freshen up a few minutes later. And while she was upstairs, I made some additional tweaks to my blog. We left for Barley's around 540pm. We headed out of the subdivision planning to take Trabue to Riverside, but Trabue was backed up all the way to Wilson and barely moving. Mindy commented that Fisher Rd was closed which was the likely culprit. We made a u-turn at the subdivision's entrance and headed out the back way south on Hague figuring we would catch 70/670 from Hague and Fisher. But once we go to Fisher it was closed to east bound traffic at Hague. Not getting on the freeway there. Crap!

Our next option was Harrison Rd to McKinnley. And once we were there. Mindy suggested we simply follow McKinnley south and then east to the Grandview Ave ramp. Made since to me, though I was going to go north to 5th Ave. That worked perfectly. Arrived at Barley's near 6pm. We parked in the main lot towards the back. We laughed that a Worthington Schools school bus was parked in the lot. I took a picture with the Barley's logo in the background.

Inside, the bar was about half attended. We grabbed two stools along the door side. Janet was tending bar. We each tried samples of the Epic Pumpkin porter. Yum! Mindy was so sure. She asked for a 2nd sample, only this time the Pumpking. She didn't care much for it either and ordered a Red Molly. I went with the Epic Pumpkin Porter. Talked with Justin, who was waiting tables. Ordered a basket of fries for a snack/appetizer. Asked for a side of buffalo sauce for dipping. Try it!

While enjoying our beer, two ESPN stories caught our eye. The first were two butt plays, one in the NFL and one in MLB. The NFL was Mark Sanchez running into the ass of one of his lineman and falling down. The MLB was a player sliding into 2nd base, but with his face slamming into the ass of the second baseman. Too funny. The other big story was the Browns trading away last year's 1st round draft pick, running back Trent Richardson, who was the 3rd overall pick. Traded him to the Colts for a 2014 1st round pick. That caused a lot of fans present at the bar to freak out. Soon FB was rampant with complaints too. Kind of funny from my vantage point. Mindy showed me one from Bob Imber who is a big Browns fan. I sent a text sharing that there's still time to join the purple bus - be a Viking fan. He didn't respond.

Ashley sent a text as promised reminding me of my lunch with Olivia the following day at noon. Sent me her Taco Bell order too, a Doritos loco taco without lettuce, cinnamon twists, and a Pepsi. Very much looking forward to it.
We finished our first beers then ordered food and then both of us 2nd beers. Decided to share the carnivore sampler with brisket, a 1/4 chicken, and pulled pork. Went with green & baked beans as our sides. Mindy went with a 2nd Red Molly. My 2nd beer was a Centennial, which hasn't been on tap for a while. Delicious!! Food was good too.

Talked with Janet at length about her pregnancy. Believe she said she is 21 weeks along. Before we left Mindy asked to rub/pat her belly. Oh boy! Mindy picked up our tab and I drove home. It was just after 740pm. Arrived home 10 minutes later. For all intents and purposes it was already dark. Here comes autumn! Mindy placed our leftovers on the island, certain that Jacob would tear into them once home. Speaking of the kids, they came marching in less than five minutes later. And just like Mindy said, Jacob woofed down our leftovers.

I spent a little time writing my Tuesday blog entry but then moved to the recliner to do some reading. Unfortunately, I did as much dosing as I did reading. Felt great, though. Mindy headed up to bed shortly after I pulled myself up from the recliner. I'm thinking that was near 9pm. I stayed up playing around online. And then around 10pm I headed to bed but couldn't fall asleep. I didn't wait more than five minutes before getting back up, heading downstairs, and making a bowl of cereal, Cap'n Crunch to be exact. It's like crack!

Stayed up until 11pm when my eyes felt heavy again. Headed back upstairs to try and fall asleep. This time, thankfully, it worked pretty well. Good night full harvest moon!