Mothers Everywhere

Just as I hoped, the sky was clear and the air temp warm. I was downstairs to begin my day by 710am. I started coffee then briefly stepped out onto the deck to drink in some of the early AM, warm spring air. Spent an hour or so online before heading out for a run. Ran three miles.

Mindy was up shortly after my return from a run. Wished her Happy Mother’s Day. Opted to do gifts and cards once the kids were home, which they were expected around noon. We were headed to Mindy’s mother’s for Mother’s Day dinner at 3pm. Ahead of that, I hoped to sink at least two flats of flowers out front and then possibly even get the lawn cut. Before any yard work, I wanted to have a good breakfast. And to that end, I whipped up a 4 egg omelet for Mindy and I to share. The omelet was comprised of cheese, spinach, red onion, and a left over cheese burger. I also whipped up bloody Mary’s using the mix Bob & Mary gifted us for Xmas along with a host of spices. Bottom line, they were delicious.

With a decent buzz, I headed out front to plant flowers. I make it a more pleasurable experience, I streamed Pandora from my phone to my Jambox wireless speaker. Nice! Mindy had some things to do inside but offered that she would be out to help if she could. Didn’t take much more than an hour to sink two flats of begonias out front. The conditions were ideal; the weather superb, and the soil moist but not too wet.

While I got busy taking care of the lawn, Mindy agreed to wash and set-up our patio/deck furniture. The kids were home shortly after I got started. I push-mowed the entire front lawn and then the slope in the back. By then it was getting really warm – sunny and into the 80s.

The kids were home around 1pm. Bella was excited to help Mindy with the washing the deck furniture. I heard Mindy holler at her a couple of times for dousing her with the hose.  It didn’t take but 15-20 minutes before Bella inexplicably dropped one of the glass table top inserts. Mindy and I are still not sure what the heck she was trying to do. Gotta keep an eye on that girl, for certain.

After mowing I took the time to do the extras: trimming, edging and blowing. The lawn looked fantastic once I was finished. While I put the finishing touches on the lawn, Mindy showered and readied for her mother’s. Once I was done outside I headed in for a shower, too. By then it was 220pm.

Mindy hoped to be at her mom’s by 3pm, but it was slightly after 3pm by the time all of us were ready. Rushing around, I asked if she wanted to postpone opening her Mother’s Day cards and gifts until later when we got home from her mom’s. No, she wanted to do them right then. OK!

I gifted Mindy first, a card, some chocolates, and a colorful hummingbird wind chime. The kids were next, gifting Mindy a card, a colorful mosaic gazing ball and stand. I knew she’d love it and she did. Great, Let’s go! We opted to leave Eiknarf at home. Made Bella kind of sad. And even though we were running a little late we still stopped at Targhetto so we could pick up a couple things. Not sure what Mindy needed but I wanted to get another Mother’s Day card and then a new basketball net for Gloria’s hoop. Of course that was at Jacob’s request.

Arrived at Gloria’s near 335pm. We weren’t the last to arrive, which is good. Instead, middle. Perfect.

After a quick greeting, I slipped out back to help Jacob put up the new basketball net. Grabbed the old aluminum ladder from the garage. Stayed outside playing basketball with Jacob after the net was up. Worked up a pretty good sweat. Soon we were joined outside by others. It was a gorgeous Mother’s Day – sunny and in the 80s. We haven’t had too many of those over the last decade.

Soaking of the weather forecast, it was supposed to be even warmer on Monday and Tuesday but then slip back to normal and even below normal temps by the end of the week with lots of rain. May in Ohio, you just never know what you’re going to get. I was hungry having burnt off all of my omelet doing yard work. I was eager for dinner, which Mindy shared would be lasagna. That sounded good, but honestly, by then almost anything sounded good.  I’m thinking that it was near 5pm when we sat for dinner.

Felt bad that Gloria did all the cooking. After all, it was Mother’s Day. Again, the main course was lasagna and roasted chicken. I had some of both. Also had cucumber salad which I haven’t had for quite a while. It was really good. After dinner and before dessert, I headed ot the lower level where the younger girls were playing and Josh was napping. While snapping a pic of Josh napping, he woke sharing how the jet lag from flying home from Hawaii was getting the best of him. We talked for about 30 minutes about his next career move and such. Right now he’s doing landscaping work, spreading mulch, which I know firsthand from spreading our own mulch just how taxing that is on one’s body. Hopefully something will give soon relative to a new career path.

Dessert was served near 645pm. There were two options: lemon cheesecake and ice cream cake. Before enjoying either, we sang happy birthday to brother Todd, his 44th, I believe. To start, I opted for a slice of the lemon cheesecake. Yummy! Later, I helped Mindy finish her ice cream cake and then helped Bella finish her lemon cheesecake. I was full! In between dinner and dessert, Lindey cut Jacob’s hair. Looked good. Mindy paid her $20.

The kids started getting antsy around 7pm and asked when we might be heading for home. The answer was soon. We gathered our things, said goodbyes, then left for home around 720pm. As lovely as the day’s was, strong overnight storms were on the horizon. In fact, we witnessed several distant lightning strikes on our drive home. That didn’t stop us from asking Bella to walk the pug once at home, and she did so without questioning.

I tuned the family room TV to the Cosmos on Fox while Mindy eventually headed off to bed. I felt wired, and definitely not ready for sleep. I’m sure it had everything to do with an overdose of sugary desserts. And as full as I was I found myself still seeking food. Sugar must do that. Despite being wired, at 10pm I still tried to fall asleep in bed. Wired ,warm, and uncomfortable, I got back up and headed downstairs. Sitting up in the kitchen I happened upon Bella sitting in limited lighting playing on Mindy’s phone. Ahh, should you be doing that?

I quietly topped off my water glass then headed to my PC. My eyes were heavy but there wasn’t any way my mind would allow me to sleep. I heard Bella eventually head up to bed. Made sure that she put Mindy’s phone back on charge and then gave her a hug. A few minutes later I poured a bowl of shredded mini-wheat. Yum! More sugar! 

Around 1115pm I headed back to bed, though I still wasn’t ready to fall asleep.