Pretend Halloween

Up near 630am, or once I heard the shower beating against the enclosure.
It was raining but only lightly. The forecast promised and end to the rain and clearing skies by evening.
Expecting a high in the low 60s. At the time it was in the low 50s.
Bella was out the door for school around 645am. Mindy a half an hour later.
Before she left we briefly discussed the evening’s logistics – picking up Olivia then meeting at her school for the fall festival.
I walked the pug around 720am.
Meditation, stretching and run were next

Just before heading out on a run around 745am, I checked my work calendar. Glad I did. Crap! I knew I had an early call but thought it was set for 9am. I was wrong. It was set to begin at 830am. I could either trim my run to three miles or wait and run after my call. However, waiting would mean not running until 915am at the earliest and then most likely not getting into the office until 1030am or later. I opted to trim the run to three miles.

Easy run. Back home by 810am.
Ahead of my 830a call, I sent Kurt, the drywall guy, an email letting him know that I signed the contract and then asked our next steps. I also whipped up a quick breakfast. I made a wrap with leftover roast beef. Man, was it tasty!

Call lasted about 45 minutes. Off to the shower near 925am after throwing together a lunch for later.
Out the door near 950am. Arrived at the office near 10am.

Immediately attacked an aggressive to-do list. Since I was scheduled off on Friday, I had a few other items on my list that would otherwise be completed on Friday.

Kurt the drywall guy phoned around 1130am to discuss scheduling the drywall work. Explained that I still have some work to do, most notably, cutting in the plumbing feeds for the bath and kitchen. Kurt understood. Said he needs about 5 days lead time. Hoping to be ready for the last week in October.

Near 1pm I took a real lunch break and made a Target/Home Depot run.
At Target, I picked up a handful of birthday presents for Olivia. That’s always fun!
Next door at Home Depot, I picked up something, but right now can’t recall what it was.:)
Back to the office near 2pm.

Really busy afternoon knocking out everything on my to-do list. Just before leaving for the day, set my out of office and pointed my customer to a peer.

Agreed to meet Mindy at her school around 620pm after picking up Olivia at Al and Rosemary’s. They picked Olivia up from school and were having for a birthday dinner. They live within a mile of Mindy’s school so I didn’t have to drive too far out of my way.

Mindy, Bella and Josie (Bella’s friend) left the house shortly after I got home.

Checked email and played on the internet until 6pm, which is when I left for Grove City.

Passed Mindy’s school on my way to Al and Rosemary’s. Big crowd outside. Hmm?

Arrived at Al and Rosemary’s near 620pm. I waited because Ashley stated that Rosemary didn’t want to feel rushed through dinner. I totally understood. I don’t like that either. Hadn’t seen the two of them for about a year, and most likely Olivia’s b-day party last October. Gave both hugs and complimented Rosemary for how lovely their house is. Asked to check out some of her recent paintings, too. She‘s really good. While sharing, she said that she’s no longer painting. I guess she’s lost interest. While we visited, Olivia got changed into the witch costume I brought for her to wear.

Headed out near 630pm.
Parking was at a premium. Ended up making a parking spot in the north lot.
The event was inside and out. We stopped briefly at the petting zoo on our way inside where they had two or three lamas. Can’t help but think a lama is a cross between a goat and a camel.

We found Mindy just outside her classroom passing out candy to kids. Sort of like inside trick-or-treat. Olivia quickly bonded with Josie, Bella’s friend. The three of them palled around for the duration of the event.

I took the opportunity to try and familiarize myself with Mindy’s technology (smart board, projector, computer, etc), which hasn’t been working properly since the beginning of school. Based on her description of the symptoms, thought I might be able to correct it. Pretty much a wiring nightmare and one I wasn’t able to solve in the short amount of time I had to spend in her class room.

Mindy called my attention to Wonder Woman, who was hanging in the hall way with her. It was none other than Rene. Mindy extended an invite for she and her BF Vaughn to meet us afterwards at Barleys.

The kids took in a few of the indoor fall festival activities in the main auditorium. Meanwhile, Mindy was chatting it up with a couple older women and soon called me over and introduced me to the “lunch ladies”, Phyllis and Teresa. I didn’t immediately recognize her, but Phyllis was my Aunt Char’s bff from childhood. Hadn’t seen her for 40+ years. She told me that I looked like my dad.

We wrapped up at the festival near 745pm, agreeing to meet Rene & Vaughn at Barley’s. However, Mindy was headed first to Jacob’s school to pick him up from his D.C. trip. Expected him to arrive near 830pm. All three girls opted to ride with me (Bella, Josie, Olivia).

Arrived at Barley’s near 815pm. Rene and Vaughn had the long table along the south wall and Marisa was our server.
Ordered the kids soft drinks while I ordered a beer – a Three Floyd’s Pale Ale. Ordered two baskets of fries along with buffalo sauce for dipping. It was another 30-40 minutes before Mindy and Jacob showed up. While awaiting their arrival, I asked Vaughn to share the story of how he and Rene hooked up. Cute story!

Once Mindy and Jacob arrived, I ordered a 2nd beer – this time a Barley’s pale ale. Mindy couldn’t decide what to order, so I offered that she try the Three Floyd’s even though she’s typically not a pale ale fan. And just as I expected, she liked it. We ordered food soon after she and Jacob were settled, me being the lone exception. Figured I might snack off the other’s plates.

By the time we wrapped up dinner and conversation the servers had most of the stools and chairs on top of the tables in preparation for closing. Like the ride there, all three girls rode home with me. Mindy and Jacob were a minimum of 20 minutes behind us. I have no idea what they were doing, though they were chatting with Rene and Vaughn in the parking lot when we departed.

Olivia had a mini meltdown over wanting to open her birthday gifts. Originally, I told her she needed to wait until Mindy and Jacob got home but once they arrived, Mindy said she needed to wait until Friday morning once her momma arrived. She pouted for a good 10 minutes and even delivered a steady stream of tears. Proud of myself on two fronts, holding firm and supporting Mindy so she didn’t look like the goat.

The girls soon headed for Bella’s room, and I headed for bed near midnight.