Jacoby & Jimmy @ the Vaq

Nei Ho - Cantonese

I woke a couple times during the night but each time fell quickly back to sleep. I woke again shortly after 5am, yet despite feeling well rested, I tried unsuccessfully to get a little more sleep. After a little snuggling with my wife I was up and out of bed somewhere closer to 6am.

Downstairs, I completed calisthenics which consisted of sit-ups, windmills, and curls. After calisthenics, I was back upstairs with Mindy's coffee. She was still in bed but not asleep. I headed back downstairs for some PC and coffee time. I planned on working from the office but didn't plan to head in until about 10am following a late run and shower.

Mindy & Bella were downstairs around 710-715am. Mindy made sure that Bella had her medicine then reminded both of us about her afterschool parent teacher conferences. She didn't expect to be home until 8pm. That meant I'd have to take Bella to gymnastics, but Mindy figured to be out of school early enough that she could pick her up on the drive home. If she could swing it, that would be a big help to me. After thawing the car, she headed out the door for school near 730am.

Bella enjoyed two Krispy Kreme donuts before heading up to finish her ready for school. I was happy to see her eat something - anything before school. She's been on this not eating breakfast kick, at least from home, though she says she eats something once at school. We headed out to the bus stop at 755am. It was the first that the pug and I were out too. We did her full walk after the bus picked up the kids.

Back at the house I did a thorough stretch then headed off for my run. I ran the full 4.1 miles without any problems. It was still cold - only 26 degrees, but the rising sunshine warmed things quickly. I was back at the house by 9am and promptly started breakfast for the pug and I. Off to the shower by 920am. Wasn't long getting ready. I wore jeans and a t-shirt.

Headed out to start and warm the Accord around 940am. Inside I enjoyed my 2nd cup of coffee while listening to some Jack Johnson - his newest CD that I purchased from iTunes the evening before. Left the house near 945am. Easy drive in save for the traffic pattern change at the Wilson Rd/Roberts Rd intersection. Now there are two left turn lanes. In the past one had to be in the center lane to turn left. I haven't been able to break that habit thus find myself having to fight to get over to get on 270N.

Got to the office near 10am. Felt good to be in my regular office. Something cozy about it. After getting settled, my PC was auto-rebooted for some upgrades. While that took place I walked down to chat with some peeps. I met with a peer about a database concern. She sent me a timely invite for an afternoon call where that just happened to be the main topic.

Stopped to see my buddy Chris. too. He shared the latest on his divorce proceedings. It's the divorce that will never end. Now looking like February '14. Been going on now for more than 2 years. Yikes! We also talked skiing, with him showing me the new terrain that Mt. Bachelor's adding to their skiable acres. As I understood, it will grow their total skiable acreage by 33%. That' a bunch!

Stayed busy for the rest of the morning and into early afternoon. Joined a call at 115pm. Spent the rest of my day dealing with a few hotly escalated issues. That kept me hopping for the rest of the day. Jacob called around 330pm to ask if he could head out to play with friends. After confirming that he was done with homework and chores, I agreed. Around 4pm I called Bella to make sure that she was home and OK. She was. I left for home around 445pm.

Both Bella and Jacob called me on my drive home. Bella wanted to know if Makayla could come over. Jacob wanted to report Bella missing. Said she wasn't home when he left to go play, which he's accountable for making sure she's home safe off the bus before heading out. If you ask me, it was a CYA call. I asked that he be back home by 530pm so we could take Bella to gymnastics and then go to dinner together. Bella was home and safe. She called me from the home phone. I was home by 5pm. Bella and Makayla were playing Wii. I made Bella a hot dog - her request - which would serve as her early dinner before gymnastics. She played Wii right up to the time we needed to bolt for the gym. Jacob got home right at 530pm as requested. We left the house a couple minutes later. We hadn't yet discussed a dinner venue.

We made great time taking 70/270 and exiting on Georgesville Rd. Dropped Bella at 545pm. I asked Jacob where he wanted to go for dinner. I didn't say it, but my only no was Barley's since Mindy and I were just there on Wednesday. He didn't offer any suggestions. I offered up El Vaquero. He liked the sound of that. Cool. We had a plan. The drive was the same as if we were returning home except we passed our turn off Wilson and instead took Trabue to Riverside.

We were promptly seated at a table near the inside sunken bar. Familiar faces were soon taking care of us, and in true El Vaquero fashion, they served us chips and salsa even before we were completely seated. Took our drink orders quickly too. We both wanted soft drinks - Jacob lemonade and me Coke. We enjoyed some chips and salsa before perusing the menu. After another 5-10 minutes we ordered our entrees. Jacob ordered #143 - some chicken thing. I ordered two deep-fried beef chimichangas. Both of our entrees came with beans, rice, lettuce, tomato, sour cream and guacamole.

We ate pretty fast, done and out of there just after 630pm. The bill was approximately $30, which seemed high for the Vaq. It used to be that Mindy and I could go there for dinner and get out of there for under $20 if we didn't have any alcoholic beverages. They've raised the prices of their dinner entrees considerably, plus soft drinks are something like $2.39 each these days. And while it's still pretty good food, it's not as good as it used to be.

Home by 640pm, Jacob was soon off to his room presumably to take care of his homework. I passed the time writing for my blog and playing on the internet. Time went fast. Mindy called around 715pm to share that she was just leaving school and headed to pick-up Bella. That worked out well. Told her to be prepared for Bella's fast food request. They were home by 8pm. Sure enough, Bella had a bag of Wendy's in tow. Before she even sat down I told her what was inside. She rarely gets anything other than chicken nuggets, barbq sauce and fries.

Just after 8pm I tuned the family room TV to the Big Bang Theory - a new episode. It was funny and enjoyable. Afterwards, we opted to keep the TV tuned to CBS where we watched The Miller's, then Robin Williams' new sitcom, The Crazy One's, and later Two & a Half Men. All four shows were funny but I have to say The Miller's and Two & a Half Men were by far the funniest. I've never heard Mindy laugh so hard in more than eight years. Two & a Half Men was pee your pants funny! No kidding. I've never watched a prime time episode of 2.5 Men prior. However, I have seen a couple reruns.

Mindy dispatched Bella to bed shortly after Two & a Half Men came on. Definitely too risqué for her young ears. Mindy and I headed to bed at 10pm, or right after prime time TV. One the way up, Mindy checked her phone. Noted a FB posting from my mom sharing something about Lindsey letting her down. Not sure much beyond that.

Once in our room, Mindy dispatched the pug to the bedroom recliner. She seems to like it. We didn't bother turning on the TV. It took me a little while to get sleepy. Mindy scratched my head, which always helps. Was likely asleep before 1030pm.