Fire Smores & Bodhi

Once again I woke incredibly sleepy, this time sleeping in until almost 7am. Had I not needed to be up for work I could easily have slept for another couple hours. I was so tired that I decided to skip calisthenics at least for the time being. Instead, I poured coffee and logged onto my work laptop. Slowly but surely I managed to ditch the sleepies and decided to squeeze in some windmills and push-ups ahead of a run.

By then Mindy was up and sitting on the deck. It was a gorgeous morning, sunny and 70 degrees. She must’ve heard me grunting through the 50 push-ups and rushed into the kitchen to make sure that I was OK. I appreciate the concern for my wellbeing. She and Bella would be taking Eiknarf to the vet for her annual check-up.

Around 830am and just before my run I walked the pug. Before tossing her bag of crap into the trash can, I asked Mindy if she wanted to take it along. She must’ve thought I was joking until she thought it through. I left it on the front porch. I left for my run around 840am, and like most Friday’s, I ran 3 miles.

It was too long after my return that Mindy and Bella left with the pug. I’m thinking that they were gone for about an hour. Meanwhile, Jacob and one of his buddies that spent the night were just waking up. Didn’t hear too much from either of them.

Had to be near 1115am when Mindy & Bella returned. Said Eiknarf got a couple shots and a clean bill of health. She weighed in at 29.7 lbs. They weren’t home too long before leaving for a Kohl’s run. I stayed busy with work through the noon hour. Sometime around noon Jacob came downstairs to share that LeBron James had just announced that he was returning to Cleveland. Near 1245pm, I took a lunch break to mow the lawn. Just before getting started, I sent a text to Mindy asking that she park out front along the curb when returning.

The lawn was sufficiently dry that I was able cut 90% of it with the tractor, leaving only the heavily sloped areas for the push mower. Skipped trimming and edging too. I can’t recall if it was before they left or if perhaps Jacob asked, but Mindy was stopping for Chipotle on their way home and asked if I wanted some. No. I don’t like to eat like that during the day. Jacob, his buddy, Mindy & Bella enjoyed Chipotle while finished up outside. I had a few Chipotle chips, that’s it, and then got back to work.

Mindy and Jacob left to run his buddy home around 2pm. And then it wasn’t too much later when Mindy left for her annual mammogram. I think that appointment was set for 4pm. A little while later Jacob asked if we were going to Barley’s for dinner. Really? You just had Chipotle and Mindy and I were there on Wednesday. I wasn’t in the mood for Barley’s, or going anywhere for that matter.

In between her appointments, Mindy and I talked in more detail about our fast approaching family vacation plans. We’ve decided to take the opportunity to spend a couple days in Ashville, NC on our way to David and Anita’s. It’s on our bucket list and we kicked ourselves for not stopping on our way down back in June. During a free minute here and there, I started poking around for hotels, brewpubs, and hiking trails.

For the most part, I wrapped up my work day near 430pm and then headed up for a shower. I needed one badly. Afterwards, I took a few minutes to install the new weather shield on the fountain electrical receptacle. Just a couple swear words dropped!  Afterwards, I finally got around to spraying the weeds on Mindy’s stone patio and then spread the three bags of gravel I bought over a month ago. I used the two bags of larger gravel to pour between the small boulders we have flowing into the stream. I then used the single bag of pea gravel to backfill around the flagstones. Mindy helped sweep it in once she was back from her mammogram appointment.

Mindy asked if I wanted to go anywhere for dinner. No. Staying home sounded perfect to me. And just like I had every evening that week, I got really sleepy around 6pm and took a nap on the deck. Felt great. Drank ice water all afternoon and evening. Bella, Mindy & I hung out on the deck for most of the evening. We even played a game of Scrabble. I won.  After Scrabble, Bella asked if we could have a fire. I wasn’t noncommittal until it was nearing dark. Finally caved.

We got a small but comfy fire going in no time at all. Most of the wood I had ready to burn has been there dating back to the end of last summer. All it took was a little charcoal lighter fluid to get it started. I played tunes through my phone and jambox while Mindy & Bella made smores. I enjoyed a couple pints of Bodhi too.

It had to be near 1030pm when Bella doused the coals with water and we headed in for the night. From bed we watched a little TV, Modern Family, I think. I was asleep in a hurry.