Family Night @ 229

 

 

Up near 7am. Rather warm - a balmy 35 degrees. Made coffee and then enjoyed a little PC time. Spent time editing Xmas pics and editing my HV pack list. Headed out for a run around 930am. Ran three miles. Easy - nice weather.
Wore back-up running gear so not to dirty my better stuff. It was already cleaned and ready for packing.

Checked online banking. Saw where the fraudulent purchase finally posted to my account. As my bank suggested, tried using the online site to file the necessary paperwork but found it ridiculous to follow. Instead, I picked up the phone and called the fraud department again. This time I was on hold for 40 minutes. I kept a timer and record of everything they said. I was passed around to two folks after finding the first persons answer unacceptable. Bottom line, I was insistent that they put the near $400 back in my account immediately. But they insisted that they needed to follow federal protocol and do an investigation. Assured me that it looked good though. We ended the call after about an hour with me still unsatisfied but more educated on the procedure. Good thing I have other cards is all I can say. Enough about that.

Finished my packing throughout the day, and Bella helped me load all the skis into the Thule. Mindy and the kids left to run Eiknarf to Gloria's place midafternoon. Eiknarf seems to sense when she's going on a road trip. She was giddy with excitement when they left. I spent most of the afternoon further refining my pack list making sure I wasn't forgetting something I would later regret. To aid in that process, I build my packing list off of a recent pack list to a similar destination. It's cool looking back and seeing the technological changes. No longer do I need to take DVDs/CDs etc. Didn't plan to take a laptop either. Instead, taking my Kindle HD.

We planned to do dinner as a family as 229. I was pleasantly surprised that both kids were at least somewhat looking forward to it. I think we headed out near 6pm. Wanted to get out early and then back home. Got a parking spot at a meter along Bicentennial Park. Snapped a number of photos of the Xmas lights on the walk to 229. Very nice.

Took us immediately to a table. Keagen was our server. I ordered a Bell's Kalamazoo stout - just one. Mindy went with wine. And just like the time before, we ordered pretzel bread and pork bellies as appetizers. I think Mindy ordered a steak. Jacob and I ordered the buffalo chicken sandwich with vinegar fries. And I think Bella went with steak too. Dinner was good, but I could eat only half of my sandwich. Took the rest home.

Bella asked if she could go down to the neighbors once we arrived home. No big surprise there. She wasn't down there long, however. Apparently something got broke and she quickly came home. I was eager to get into my PJs and get some much needed rest ahead of our big drive on Sunday. I was tired and thought I was going to fall asleep early but once in bed I simply couldn't sleep. In fact, I ended up getting back up and out of bed and going downstairs to play on my computer. Was up until almost 1am. Oh boy! Guess it was nervous energy.