Cut, Zauber, & Chipotle

I was out of bed near 610am. It was Wednesday, which is a push-up day. Whipped out 50 of those along with 50 sit-ups and 40 windmills. Headed upstairs with coffee shortly thereafter. Mindy asked that I crank up the heat and close the cracked bedroom window. Yes dear.

By the time i was back downstairs it was 630am. And then before i knew it, Jacob was heading out to catch the bus. Once again, I didn't have the motivation to rush myself out the door for an early run. Instead, I decided to wait and run just after 8am, or once Bella was off to school.

Stretched and meditated in the half hour between Mindy leaving and Bella heading out. Walked the pug in there somewhere too. Left for a run near 810am. It was 45 degrees and run time under partly cloudy skies. The forecast for most of the clouds to move out later in the afternoon. Ran the full 4.1 miles and felt pretty good.

Fried a few eggs, two for me, one for Eiknarf. Enjoyed the eggs with toast, strawberries and orange juice. Off to the shower near 920am. Didn't take long to ready. Left for work near 945am. Didn't realize at the time, but I left my packed lunch in the fridge. Because I packed it early, I put it in the fridge in lieu of leaving it out on the counter for more than an hour. 670E traffic wasn't an issue. Rarely is anymore.

Arrived near 10am. And it was during my unpacking that I realized that I forgot my lunch/snack. Speaking of 10am, I already knew that our 10am call was canceled. That allowed me to dig further into my monthly report without interruption. Stayed busy with that until near 1pm when I left for Saturday's and a much needed haircut. I was a walk-in so I wasn't sure if that was going to work. If the wait was too long I was prepared to bag it until another day.

I must be living right. Another stylist showed up for work just about the time I walked in the door. She took me right away. Cool! I hadn't seen her there before but she claimed having worked there for 3+ years. She did a decent job, though I almost said something with how rough she was with the clippers. Pushed too hard against my head. No other issues/complaints. Tipped her fairly well - $5 on an otherwise $18.95 haircut.

Left Saturday's and headed directly across the street to the Home Depot. For the first time all year, they had the garden center entrance opened. It's official, the spring/summer growing season in is the air. There I perused many aisles looking a number of products. And even though their website says they no longer carry Echo gas-powered hedge trimmers in the store (only available online) they one in stock. I found it somewhat awkward and unbalanced (heavy feeling). Still leaning heavily towards buying them but not that day. I did pick-up a few things from my list: charcoal lighter fluid, ear plugs for summer lawn work, mesh metal washer hoses, and specialty peg board brackets.

I was really hungry and without any food or snacks. I can easily go without lunch but even then I usually have almonds and a banana as a mid morning snack. Not this time. I caved and stopped in the local McDs where I peed then bought two regular cheeseburgers. They hit the spot but left me still hungry. Back to work.

Stuck around the office until 430pm. Mindy and I planned on visiting my friend Ken at Dodd Hall OSU hospital after work. We'd be meeting my boss there too. Talked with Mindy twice on the drive home. IN between she was seeing the kids off with Jimaken. Got home near 5pm. Checked mail and email then freshened up. We left for the hospital near 540pm, our plan being to cut through Grandview across 5th Ave. Trabue was backed up at McKinnley headed est. No problem. We took McKinnley to 5th ave. and we planned to go straight through the light but that lane wasn't moving at all. Instead, we opted to turn right on Dublin Rd and go past the post office towards 315. Much to my dismay, no way to enter 315N. Took it to Neil Ave and then north to King. Definitely the long was but at least we kept moving. Arrived just before 6pm. Parked in the adjacent garage. And completely by chance, we ended up right next to my boss's Jeep. My boss sent a text earlier indicating that they'd be in the cafeteria. Well, there wasn't any signage pointing to its location and it certainly wasn't obvious. Not proud, I asked a nurse for help. She pointed out that it was on the 2nd floor just off the elevator. We found them, Ken, Lori and my boss, just outside the elevator sitting at a table, Ken in a wheel chair.

My boss left shortly after Mindy and I sat down. He'd already been there for an hour or so. Ken with in fairly good spirits though he looked really tired. Shared how his physical therapy has been going and also talked about how they've been testing his mind, memory, etc. We visited for about half an hour before Ken's uncle John and aunt Doreen showed up for a visit. Now I'd heard Ken speak of uncle John a time or two past but had never met him. Uncle John is quite the character, from his floppy hat, the toothpick hanging loosely in his mouth, to hilarious stories he told. He had all of us laughing in no time. His best story was of his heart attack, which evidently happened a few years prior. In tongue and cheek fashion, he blamed his wife's Spanish rice and their new hot tub.

In all, we visited for about an hour. Near 7pm Mindy and I bid Ken and family farewell then headed to the parking garage. Instead of stopping at Barley's, I suggested we try Zauber's, the newest Grandview brewpub, located on 5th Ave. near the McDonald's. We had trouble finding parking but then found a sign pointing out that the Goodwill Industries lot next door was available for Zauber customers after hours. Sweet! Still, once inside I asked the bartender if parking there was cool, since there were several signs posted in the lot warning of towing at owner's expense. Yep, we were good. He also pointed out that it wasn't necessarily a kind gesture, that instead, they pay them a fee for the parking lot's use.

Somewhat surprised to learn that they didn't have any of their own beers on tap. They're a start-up and still in the process of having their larger, mass production kettles built and shipped. Until then, they're stuck with small batch brewing which typically doesn't last through the week. He explained that they tap each Thursday and serve it until it's gone. And since it was Wednesday, they were all out. They did have a nice selection of guest drafts on tap. I went with Elevator's Big Vic Wheat IPA while ordered a Seventh Son - Lost Sparrow Black IPA. We were going to do food from the onsite food truck, which is the latest local craze in dining, but Mindy wasn't too keen on the menu options. Further discussing our dining options, we opted for a stop at Chipotle on the way home instead.

More often than not, the Grandview Chipotle is packed, and this day was no exception. With no parking spots available, I dropped Mindy at the door then drive around the block eventually parking along the street, sending her a text, then waiting for her to return. I was within eyeshot of the Chipotle parking lot, and once I saw a spot free, I cruised up and took it. Mindy came out with a bag full of food after a few more minutes.

Arrived home near 830pm. By then it was dark. Just saying. We got something for everyone and sat down at the kitchen table for dinner. The Chipotle chips were delicious. We had two bags of those. My burrito was pretty good too. I ate all but maybe a fourth, wrapping it up in foil and stowing it in the fridge for another day. Off to be bed before 10pm.