Outta Wire

The entire household was up and cranking by 615am. I took solace in the fact that within the hour I’d have the house all to myself. However, before everybody departed, I completed Friday calisthenics, including sit-ups, windmills and push-ups.

Expecting another warm, summery day with highs in the upper 80s under partly cloudy skies. Despite the warm forecast, it was a pleasant morning temp wise – only 62 degrees. Like most work at home Friday’s, I dug into work beginning around 7am and worked until almost 830am before setting out in a run. By then everybody was long off to school.

It was a good 3 mile run. I gave the germinating grass seed a once over before heading back inside. Coming up ahead of schedule. The package called for a 7-10 day germination period. Conditions have been ideal – damp and steamy.

Made breakfast and then engaged in work. Stayed busy until late morning. Around 11am I headed out to tractor mow the lawn. Took no more than 30 minutes. I was happy to get most of the mowing done before the real heat kicked in. I worked another hour or so before heading out again to complete the push mowing. That took no more than 15 minutes with over 90% of the lawn cut with the tractor. I didn’t bother trimming/edging. I’m trying to make that an every other week task.

Stayed busy on and off through the afternoon. Not a whole lot going on. Later afternoon, but ahead of the kids’ returning from school, I headed to the basement to run more wiring. I was careful not to spend too much time away from work, periodically running upstairs to check email and IM. Of course I had my iPhone with me in case anyone really needed to reach me. Jimaken came by to pick-up Bella sometime between 4-5pm. Jacob was still at school and soccer practice. Jimaken would pick him up from there. Bella made sure to take his already packed and ready weekend suitcase.

I wasn’t expecting Mindy home until 6pm or so. They were having a meet the principal event at her new school – an opportunity for parents and students to not only meet the new principal, but to also see the new digs. Shortly before she got home I headed for a shower. Up to that point, we hadn’t many any plans whatsoever for our Friday night. However, having said that, I assumed we’d be going out for some beers.

As expected, Mindy was home between 6-630pm. And it wasn’t too long before she was changed and ready for an evening out. Even though we were there on Wednesday, we settled on another evening at Barley’s. We hadn’t been in on a Friday for a few weeks.

Guessing it was near 7pm when we arrived. Parking lot only about 2/3s attended, but we noticed that throngs were leaving as we were heading in – the happy hour crowd. Generally speaking, this time of year - football season – marks their busy season. Sitting at one of the two community tables were Calvin and Rick C. We cozied up next to the two of them. Mindy let me know that she sent a text and FB invites to handful of folks, including John & Carolyn Rich, as well as Kelly, their daughter. She also invited Tom W., Tom C., as well as her sister and brother-in-law, who we dining at Level. Haven’t heard from Tom C. all summer.

Enjoyed a Barley’s pale ale while Mindy enjoyed another of those Southern Tier Warlock’s. She claimed to have a buzz after just a few sips.  Pretty sure that Kelly showed up before her parents. I haven’t seen Kelly since perhaps Memorial Day week, or the last time Bella was at gymnastics. And speaking of gymnastics, Bella starts that routine again next Tuesday, except this year she’s in a later class – 730-9pm. I think we’ll dread that late pick-up. Ugh!

John and Carolyn joined us no more than 15 minutes later. Been a while since we’ve seen the two of them also, but more recent that Kelly. We last were with then at CBC, I think. Always fun to hang with the two of them. A short while later Jodie and Larry stopped in. And I’m pretty sure that they enjoyed only soft drinks. They stuck around for about an hour. Aside from our community table, the bar was largely empty, which is very unusual for a Friday night. Perhaps times are changing and the crowds are going elsewhere.

I’ve been feeling like we need to find another “favorite” spot, but these things one can’t force. Instead, I just need to make sure that I’m not turning my back on the proverbial opened door. And it’s not like I’ve lost my liking for Barley’s and CBC, but rather just feeling the need to branch out.

Mindy eventually ordered food – brisket wrap. We snacked on fries and buffalo sauce earlier, and that proved good enough for me. I wasn’t there to eat. I was there to be merry – you know, celebrate Friday night and hang with peeps.:)

Through our 3 hour visit, I enjoyed three more beers, each of those ZIPAs. I had a nice warm beer buzz. Mindy agreed to drive and hadn’t been drinking for the last couple hours. Left for home just after 10pm.
At home I ate a little of Mindy’s leftover brisket wrap but then headed for bed, where Mindy already was asleep.