Friday Curve Ball

Slept in till darn near 625am. I didn’t prep coffee the night before , but it wasn’t such a big deal, at least for me. It did, however, delay Mindy getting hers, which wasn’t until I finished exercises. By then, she was just about to get in the shower.

I was a little surprised that it was 30 degrees. Apparently the temp went up overnight. It was snowing a little bit too. The warmth wasn’t expected to last. In fact, the temps were forecasted to drop all day eventually settling around 10 degrees later that night. A chilly Saturday in the offing, too, which suited me just fine. We planned on skiing MRM with all of our ski peeps.

Once again, Jacob was staying home from school ill, his 4th sick day that week. I opted to delay my run until after bus stop time. Around 7am I logged onto my work laptop. My plan was to crank out my contribution to a quarterly presentation by the end of the day. Mindy left for school at her usual time of 730am. I worked and played until bus stop time. Took Eiknarf out with us, and as soon as the bus pulled away with the kids, the pug and stayed out long enough for her to relieve herself. We were back inside by 806am.

I enjoyed a 2nd cup of coffee and worked a little while longer before heading out on my run around 840am. I ran just three miles. Back at the house, I opted to shovel the drive and walk free of something less than an inch of new fallen snow. Mindy had put down some salt the evening before and I was still working on the new stuff.

Inside, I had to join a 10am conference call. I waited until it was over to fry up a few eggs for the pug and I. It was afternoon in a jiffy. Stayed focused on work through mid-afternoon. I didn’t hear even a peep from Jacob, though I did let Eiknarf in his room after hearing her scratching at his door a bit earlier. Snowed on and off all afternoon. Didn’t add much accumulation but it was awfully pretty. At times it was coming down really hard.

Headed up for a much needed shower around 2pm. Nothing like sitting around all day in my running clothes. Bella and Mindy were home around 4pm. I stayed busy with work until 5pm or so. It was a Jimaken weekend, so Mindy and I made plans to visit both CBC and Barley. It’s rare for us to visit CBC on a Friday. Jacob came downstairs around 430pm, which was the first time I’d laid eyes on him all day. Said he was feeling marginally better. Jimaken was there to get the kids around 530pm. I suggested we leave for CBC around 630pm. Before then, Mindy walked down to talk to neighbor Chrissy. She was down there for almost 30 minutes. While she was away, I did a little more work and play. I even spent a little time writing for my blog, which has been behind all year.

Just as we planned, we left the house for CBC near 630pm. Last minute we opted to drive the Pilot since it was already scrapped and recently warm from Mindy’s commute home from school. We took an empty CBC growler too, just in case they had Bodhi on tap, which I expected they would.

The bar was crowded. No paired stools available immediately in the door. But that didn’t stop Vince from pouring us both a Bodhi. We sat at a small table and chairs at the corner of the bar by the window. We didn’t have to wait long, though. The couple at the corner of the bar was soon called to their dinner table. Sweet!

Working the bar along with Vince was Kevin. Haven’t seen him for a while. Then again, we haven’t been in on a Friday for a long time either, which is his normal work night (school teacher by day). Kevin soon brought us some risotto balls. Mindy doesn’t care for them so much anymore, ever since they added diced carrots along with another crunchy veggie. Says it’s a texture thing.

Mindy ordered a dinner entrée. Shocker, I know. Me, I simply went with spinach artichoke dip. Haven’t had it for a long time. Boy was it good! Enjoyed a 2nd Bodhi and shared it with Mindy, who opted not to order a 2nd. We made plans to meet Ben & Ryan at Barley’s after dinner. It was about 845pm when we settled our CBC tab and headed for home. Unfortunately, the Bodhi keg blew so there wasn’t any filling of the growler. Said they’d have another on by Saturday morning though. Jamie, the manager, talked to Mind and I at length. Shared that there’s ongoing tension between the CBC brewery and the restaurant, which are independently owned and operated. The brewery will only provide the restaurant two kegs of Bodhi per month – no more. Somewhere there’s a rub, which we’ve not been privy to.

I drove to Barley’s. Arriving later than usual, we got a parking spot much closer than we might’ve otherwise. Inside, I immediately happened up a couple regulars, Katie and her husband, Rich. Meanwhile, I saw Ben & Ryan sitting at one of the two community tables. Mindy headed over to their table a few minutes ahead of me.

Steve, I think, is the kids name who served us. I ordered a Double Dog. Ben was a little taken back when mine came served in a real pint glass. His came in a tulip glass, which holds a couple ounces less. We chalked it up to my elevated status as a highly thought-of regular . As usual, enjoyed story telling with Ben & Ryan. They shared the misadventures of their November Puerto Rican vacation while we shared stories of our holidays. Lots of laughs.

I enjoyed a 2nd Double Dog before it was all said and done. Mindy was drinking only water. Before leaving, which we didn’t get out of there until 1115pm, we made tentative dinner plans with Ben & Ryan for a couple weeks out. Ben’s an excellent cook. Mindy drove home.

Once home, I poured a CBC IPA into a pint glass while also enjoying some hand to mouth snacks. I’d eaten the spinach artichoke dip around 7pm but nothing else. I was hungry. Mindy came back downstairs but just long enough to say good night. Said that she needed to get to bed if we were going skiing come morning. You betcha! I stayed up playing on my computer for another 20 minutes or so. I finished maybe 2/3s of my beer before joining Mindy, who was already asleep, in bed.