Late Start - Hair Cut

I slept in until 605am. It was a late start day for the kids so I’d be working from home until approximately 1030am. I didn’t plant to run until after seeing Bella on the bus. That left me plenty of time to exercise, enjoy coffee and computer. It was Wednesday which meant it was a push-up day. Exercise was done by 620am. I took Mindy coffee near 630am.

I returned to my PC where I bounced back and forth between work and pleasure for the next 90 minutes. Mindy was downstairs at 720am. Still wasn’t sure if Jacob was going back to school or not, though I think she assumed he was. She left at her usual time of 730am. After she left I did a thorough meditation and stretch and then prepared for my run. Before heading out I went to wake Jacob. Said he was still sick and not going to school. I sent Mindy a text sharing as much. I also sent Chrissy a text letting her know that it was OK to send Makayla down for late start. No sense in her being late into work when I was already working from home. I headed out for my run at 8am sharp.

It was rather mild and seasonably warm – 45 degrees. Expecting a high in the low 60s by afternoon. I ran the full 4.1 miles thoroughly enjoying the mild weather and fair skies. No sooner was I back from my run when Makayla came knocking. Chrissy was just backing out of our driveway. I waved to let her know that I had her. Bella wasn’t up yet, so I sent Makayla up to wake her. The two of them played for the next hour before Bella needed to focus on her ready. Mindy left Bella’s meds waiting on the island. I made sure that she took them. I asked Makayla what caused the facial abrasions he was sporting. There were two of them, one on each cheek. She asked which story I wanted to hear. Uh, the true one. She laughed then shared that she tried washing the OSU face paint off using a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Oh boy! Around 930am I headed up for a shower, my goal was to be ready to walk out the door with the girls at 955am. I made it, but just barely. The girls and I headed out together. The pug went along too, though I’d walked her earlier. All the kids at the bus stop were noticeably more chatty and energetic, especially Daniel’s two boys. It brought to mind the question of whether we're pushing kids out of bed too early for school.

Back inside the house, I quickly prepared for a 1030am customer call. The call went well, lasted about 20 minutes. Near 11am, I made final preparation for departure then headed off to work taking 670 east. It was an easy commute across town. The lot was as full as I've ever seen it. I parked far east of the walking bridge to the building.

Inside, I was quickly settled into work and busy. I spent most of the next couple hours on monthly reports. At 110pm I left for lunch. And my lunch plans included a stop at Saturday’s for an overdue haircut and then a stop at Macy’s. I failed to call ahead but figured I would give a walkin a try. Just as I hoped, there was no wait. Kim cut my hair for the first time. She was good at the small talk. We talked about the holidays and gift giving and such. She looks no older than 25 but already had 3 kids ages 8, 3, and 1. Said she and her husband live pay check to paycheck but that she made it a point to take her kids to the giving tree at the mall to teach them to give. I was impressed with her outlook on things. That kids in general have far too many ‘things’. Her values, at least verbally, were in the right place. I was impressed enough with the haircut and wrap, it give her a $10 cash tip.

Left Saturday’s and headed to Macy’s at Easton. I knew exactly what I wanted and resisted the urge to impulse shop for myself. I found what I went there for, paid and was on my way. Voila! Decided to make one more stop before heading back to the office. That stop was at Target at the other end of the mall. There I picked up a couple greeting cards and some coffee. Looked for photo albums too but they didn’t have what I was looking for. For many years Target placed photo albums at endcaps along the main store aisle. However, as of last year, and now this one, they’ve apparently bagged the practice. Dang it!

Back to work. Arrived back at the office just ahead of 245pm. I got a parking spot in the lower lot close to the entrance, which is unheard of, at least at the times I come and go. I guess by late afternoon more folks leaving than arriving. Back on my monthly reports. Focused like a laser beam for the next couple hours. Talked with Mindy sometime around 4pm. She was at Craig’s office with Jacob, who was home sick for the 2nd day in a row complaining mostly about a sore throat and tired. Said they’d just completed measuring his height and weight. He’s 5’11.5”. That means he's grown 1.5” since the start of school. I can still recall the day I hit 6’. What a day. 

I told Mindy that I thought I might leave work around 430pm. However. that wasn’t to be. Instead, I got stuck on a problem that kept me there until just after 5pm. I was a little surprised that it was dusk and darn near dark as I headed to my car. Of course it didn’t help that it was mostly cloudy, but we are just two weeks or so shy of the winter solstice.

Mindy phoned again as I was making my way around 270. She and Jacob were on their way home. Said my dad was at the house with Bella. I asked about Jimaken's grandma. She fell the day before and broke her hip. It's not looking good. She's 95-96. As I understood it, he was taking the kids that evening to see her at the nursing home in Arlington. As for Mindy & I, it was date night, so we had plans to visit CBC, Mindy's choice.

My dad was already gone by the time that I arrived home, which was somewhere close to 540pm. Jimaken was already there to get the kids. They were walking out just as I was walking in. Mindy and I took a few minutes to freshen up. Well, Mindy actually changed clothes. While she primped, I scoured the double sink in our masterbath. It was looking grungy - a couple weeks worth of Mindy's hairspray residue. We left for CBC near 6pm driving the Pilot. Simple drive. Mindy commented on the beauty of the Leveque tower drenched in Xmas colored accent lighting.

Parked in the rear Kroger lot in the spot most visible from the bar. I like that one the best. Not a huge crowd, but the bar was near full. Still, we had two options for bar seating. I chose the two stools that offered the best view out. Kate was working the bar. Before Mindy was fully settled I agreed with Kate when she suggested two Bodhi's.

Enjoyed our beers while exchanging several texts with David. Mindy ordered some deep-fried asparagus as well as some bread. Kate recommended we wait for fresh bread. Apparent what they had ready then was up for a while. I like the fact that our CBC peeps look out for us. Like many visits to CBC, we eventually took up conversation with the group sitting next to us who were talking microbrews and such. Interesting crew - two guys and a gal. One of the guys is a construction manager currently building condos there in the brewery district. Travels city to city, or wherever his company's projects take him. Been in CMH for going on three years. The other two were a couple, and while I can't recall their names, she's of Korean descent, he red blooded American. He had a few funny stories about meeting her Korean family.

I don't know that I mentioned Eugene, a CBC patron we met a few years back. He was an older gentleman and always in alone, and generally speaking kept mostly to himself. But those that know Mindy, know that wouldn't detour her from striking up conversation. It got to be where Mindy would even give him a hug. We learned that he was a local attorney. He even bought our anniversary dinner last March. Well, we'd see Eugene about every two weeks. He was probably at CBC more than us though. The two week thing was more about our CBC rotation than his.

Anyway, we hadn't seen him for a couple months, and had asked our CBC peeps if he'd been in. Nope, they hadn't seen him either. Vince, however, said he had other server friends from another venue that knew Eugene, too, and planned to ask them of his whereabouts. Last time we were in Vince shared the sad news of his passing. Here's to you, Eugene. Glad we had the opportunity to meet and enjoy you.

We eventually ordered food. Mindy ordered the barrel cut sirloin and I went with wings. Kate talked me into trying their new barbeque sauce instead of Buffalo. And like most times, I ordered them extra crispy.
Ordered a 2nd Bodhi too, one for both of us. The wings were just OK, and Mindy said her steak was a tad cool. We didn't complain. The glazed carrots served with her steak were delicious. Instead of sliced carrots like usual, these were whole, tiny carrots. Yum!

Earlier, Mindy ordered some take-home bread for Jacob. What's surprising is that Kate remembered. :) We settled our tab and left for home around 730pm. I paid and drove. Because we arrived home ahead of 8pm, fully expected to have a few minutes before the kids showed up. And that was indeed the case. We didn't have long, however. Soon the kids, Jimaken and Molly were at the door.

Mindy immediately invited Molly to her soon to come Ava Anderson open house. Believe it'll be Sunday the 15th. I may take the kids and go skiing that day. We also asked Jimaken about his grandma. They went to see her that evening. Guess she's heavily sedated/medicated. Once Jimaken and Molly left, we chatted with the kids. Bella and Mindy were eager to open the box of Cheryl's cookies gifted to me by my boss. Last year I made them wait until Xmas. This year I opened them then and we all had one. Yum!

Jacob would likely be missing another day of school again on Thursday. Has a virus of some sort. He was tested for strep. He doesn't have that. Craig suggested he rest/sleep until he feels better. Gave him a miss school slip.

I didn't mention it earlier, but Mindy put up the Xmas tree apparently after school and before running Jacob to see Craig - no ornaments, just the tree. The decorating will come later. Busy, busy! We didn't stay up too late. Headed to bed shortly after 9pm.