Edmund Fitzgerald

 

I didn’t roll out of bed until 620am which is about as late as I’ve slept on a work day for some time. In the end, however, I knew it wouldn’t impact the day’s plan much if at all. Downstairs, I pushed through Friday calisthenics which included 50 push-ups. I headed upstairs with Mindy’s coffee near 635am. She was slow to wake & motivate too. Mindy & I were both a little concerned about Jacob and the way he responded to being cut from the school basketball team. She asked if he was up and in the shower, which he was. That was a good sign.

I planned to work from home and would run until after Bella was on the bus. Back downstairs, I started working on a weekly report while also taking care of some personal stuff on my home PC. At the time it was cloudy and wet though the steady rain from the overnight had moved out of the area. It was about 50 degrees, which is still far warmer than it was the week prior.

Jacob headed out around 650am and Mindy was downstairs about 15 minutes later. As usual, she had to call out to Bella a few times, but she was up and moving by 715am. Mindy left for school around 730am. Between then and bus time I got an even bigger jump on my work day, knocking out a weekly report and then gathering data for a monthly report.

Bella and I headed out at 756am. I hadn’t yet walked the pug, so after the bus picked up the kids, she and I did our morning walk. The sun was out by then though there were still plenty of benign clouds in the sky too. Back to the house by 810am, I stretched, meditated, then left for a run. Ran just three miles like I do most Friday’s anymore. During my run I contemplated my Hocking Hills packing list. But since it was only going to be one night, I would have to take too much.

After my run, I gave the lawn a quick once over. It hasn’t been cut since Monday, Oct 21. But even though it’s been 12 days, it wasn’t really out of control. I suppose I can thank the recent freezing temperatures for that. Good thing, too. The lawn was more than saturated after Thursday’s steady rain. Even if I wanted to cut it, it would’ve been sloppy.

Before digging back into work, I took a few minutes to set out clothes for my overnight trip to Hocking Hills. I got out my overnight kit, backpack, and charged all of my personal electronics (Kindle, camera, and phones). I tossed my running clothes in washer too. Felt pretty good about my preparedness. Instead of eggs, I heated a bowl of chicken & noodles for breakfast, Sorry Eiknarf. 
I spent the rest of the morning and all of the afternoon working on my monthly report. Like most work at home days, the time seemed to fly by, especially from 10am-230pm. Jacob was home in what seemed like the blink of an eye. He was in pretty good spirits. I opted not to ask about basketball, though he offered that the kid they kept for center approached him and shared his surprise that he was the one chosen over Jacob. He went on a little bit more. I had a few things I thought about suggesting but chose only to listen. I snuck in a shower around 3pm. Felt great.

If I recall correctly, Mindy & Bella were both home before 4pm. That’s common for Bella, not so much for Mindy. I tried putting the wraps on my work day a little earlier than usual but forgot about a couple dangling administrative tasks needing addressed. I was still able to knock off ahead of 5pm. My boss sent me a message late afternoon reminding me to point my out of office to a peer since his H.H. cabin is out of cell range. That was one of the last things I took care of.

Mindy asked for the address of the cabin. As far as I know, there isn’t one. She wasn’t too thrilled that she wouldn’t be able to contact me should the need arise. I understood the thinking. I heard Bella asking Mindy if her friend Ema could spend the night. That of course meant she would be joining us at Barley’s or wherever our dinner plans took us. Not a big deal.

We left for Barley’s around 630pm. During our drive there, Mindy clarified hers and the kids plans for Saturday while I was off in the woods with my work peeps. She and the kids were heading to her sister Jodie’s to watch the OSU game. Jacob and Bella went back and forth about who would be joining their dad for the Saturday night hockey game. Jacob was conflicted because one of his friends invited him over to hang out for a few hours. They didn’t have it settled by the time we arrived. As for Mindy, she never really said what she was going to do.

As usual, Mindy negotiated a table in Justin’s area after presenting the entire bar staff with a big bowl of Halloween candy. She made a special bowl just for Justin. I noticed that they had Edmund Fitzgerald on tap, which is rare. I ordered a pint of that. Mindy went with a rebranded Punkt with additional spices and served nitro. When I joined Mindy & the kids at the booth, Mike, formerly from CBC was there chatting with Mindy. I guess he’s working at Barley’s now. Said he just started. His girlfriend is Emily at CBC. Too funny.

Mindy ordered the kids some fries to hold them over until we finished our initial beers. When it came time to order food, I went with the night’s special – brisket tacos. Mindy ordered a burger. I also ordered a 2nd Edmund. Mindy switched to water, sharing that she was feeling cold-like symptoms coming on. Great! Bella and Ema split an order of loaded fries. Jacob went with his usual order – Buffalo chicken tenders, gates on the side, fries. All the kids were drinking Centennial, uh … I mean Dr. Peppers.

I managed to eat only one of my two brisket tacos. Didn’t want to stuff myself. I’m thinking we were there no longer than 90 minutes, the last 20 minutes of our visit we were joined by Rick C., a longtime Barley’s regular. Earlier he and I were talking about good old Martin Luther and his rub with the Catholic Church for selling indulgences. Can’t recall what sparked that conversation. Mindy picked up the tab and also drove us home.

Bella and Ema headed up to her room, and then Jacob up to his. Mindy & I changed into comfy clothes then sat together on the sofa watching the rest of Anchor Man, which was already about 20 minutes underway. I poured and enjoyed a Jack & Coke. Not sure why, but I just wasn’t carving anymore beer.

The movie was over by 945pm. Mindy wanted to go to bed, one again citing cold symptoms and feeling overtly tired. At the time, I was feeling tired too, so I headed upstairs with her. I laid there for maybe 20 minutes before realizing there wasn’t any way in the world that I was going to fall asleep. Mindy woke as I rolled out of bed. Not really sure what she said. She was half asleep. I headed to the family room where I watched college football – USC vs. Oregon St. USC was dominating from the outset. I watched until almost 1130pm when I once again headed up to bed.