Giving Thanks for my New Deep Fryer

My body trained to be up for work, I woke sometime near 530am. Thank Goodness that wasn’t the case. I didn’t feel that great after perhaps one too many beers the night before. Instead I was able to seek out that sweet spot between my pillow and the mattress and sleep for another couple hours. I probably woke a few more times before finally getting up for good around 830am. I was still sleepy but it was TG day. Sleeping longer was not an option.

I heard Mindy up earlier choking down some Advil. I didn’t expect her up for good anytime soon. The way I see it, there’s a direct correlation between her counter top dancing and hangovers.

I started a pot of coffee while I continued to assess my well being. By the time I completed my sit-ups I had determined that I’d be fine. Once the coffee was ready I poured a cup and played around online for about 15 minutes. I turned on the Macy’s TG Day parade a little after 9am.

As recent as the night before, the weather forecast was calling for sunny skies. As it was, we were completely socked in under cloud cover with a temperature of 39 degrees. However, the forecast was still calling for clearing skies and referred to the cloud cover as fog. Uh, I don’t think so.

It was just before 10am when I headed out for a run. I ran just three miles, once again treating my day off much like a weekend. There were several couples out on morning walks, something I've come accustom to seeing on this particular holiday. I was back at home around 1030am. I grabbed my camera and headed out to snap some pictures of the dredging and bank work along the waterway.

Back inside, I charged the batteries for both of my cameras, and then figured I’d better get started on those sauerkraut balls if I were to stay on plan. The first thing I did was retrieve the new deep fryer that Mindy bought for me around last Xmas. It was still in the Macy’s bag. I unpacked it from the box, washed it well, then read the simple instructions.

I set up a mini-production line of sorts comprised of 4 bowls, two cookie sheets, and bakers rack. One bowl contained the cooled sauerkraut mixture that I concocted the day before while the remaining 3 bowls held either the egg and water mixture, the flour, and bread crumbs. I rolled the mixture into 46 balls and sat them on the 1^st cookie sheet. I sat the second cookie sheet at the end of the production line where it would hold the ready to be deep fried balls. I prepped all 46 before deep frying even one. I find that works a lot better.

Mindy was finally up just as I was rolling the last of the 46 balls into shape. She said she was feeling a whole lot better than she did earlier when she went for some Advil. Still felt a little queasy though, but said she had a fun time with the neighbors. While I continued the sauerkraut ball preparation, she sat at the kitchen table cutting up blocks of cheese to take to her mother’s feast.

I turned on the new deep fryer about 10 minutes prior to dipping the first batch into the hot oil.  About the same time, the Macy’s TG parade was wrapping up with its customary arrival of Santa. Somehow they’ve morphed Mrs Santa Claus into the picture. I’m sure it won’t be too many decades from now when the legend will be further altered to give her, Mrs Santa Claus, a much more prominent role in delivering Xmas.

Once the parade was over, I let some Xmas music (Sarah McLachlan & Mannheim) whirl from my PC. Systematically, I deep fried the 46 sauerkraut balls about five at a time. The new deep fryer cooks slower than my old Fry Pappy, but then again, I didn’t have the temperature control set on its highest setting either. My old Fry Pappy had only one temperature (on) whereas the new one has a variable temperature control. 

I left the balls on the cooling rack while I cleaned up the unavoidable mess created by the production process. Once clean-up was completed, I stowed the balls in a pyrex baking dish, covered it in foil, then placed it in the oven. Mindy suggested we turn the oven on low about 20 minutes before setting out for her mother’s. Made since to me. We’d then transport them in an insulated cover.

The balls now complete, I whipped up a tasty dip comprised of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing, Texas Pete’s buffalo sauce, and creamy horseradish. Mindy and I taste tested the dip. It was delicious but also cleared the ol’ sinuses.

Mindy headed off to the shower. We were supposed to be at her mom’s near 2pm. Time was flying by. I called Lindsey & the boys who were having TG dinner at Rosemary’s. Also there were Ashley, Stephen and Olivia. Oh, and Kelly too.

I frosted the cheesecake with chocolate icing then sprinkled some Hershey’s chocolate chunks on top of that. I had some chocolate and toffee bits to add too, but because they’re almond based, I didn’t sprinkle them on. Instead, I stowed them in a plastic storage container that folks could add as they saw fit. That way those allergic to nuts can enjoy some cheesecake too.

Once again, I had a little kitchen clean-up to do. It was 115pm when I considered myself completely done. Before heading off to the shower, I organized four beers for the trip and placed them in the kitchen freezer to get them really cold. Among the four were two Great Lakes Xmas Ales leftover from last year. In fact, I still have about 8 more Xmas ales in the garage from the year before (Great Lakes, CBC, and Bell’s).

Of to the shower. Mindy mentioned that the folding handle on our blow dryer broke. Still blows hot air though. Actually, I was happy to hear that. I’ve never cared much for that particular blow dryer. I was showered and dressed still ahead of 2pm.

Back downstairs, I readied a cooler while Mindy packed a laundry basket with all the other ‘take withs’. Eiknarf was going too. I’m thinking that it was 2pm when we loaded up the Pilot and headed to Gloria’s. Eiknarf cried from the back seat through the entire drive.

Despite arriving 15 minutes after the stated start time, Craig & Jeff were the only others there before us. They brought all the meat (ham, smoked turkey, and roasted turkey). They were in the kitchen unpacking the honey baked ham shortly after we arrived. It was probably 30 minutes before any of the others showed. Over the next hour, most everyone else arrived. Missing was b-in-law Larry, who was on-duty at the firehouse. Todd was on duty too, but was able to get away long enough to pay a brief visit and have some of his mother’s prized stuffing. Also missing were Pat & Mel, family friends, who unless I’m mistaken, have been at every TG dinner celebration since I’ve been part of the family (2006 and counting). Never did hear why they weren’t in attendance.

Before dinner, I enjoyed a couple Xmas ales. Despite being a year old, they were as good as ever. Watched the end of the Packer/Lions game (Packers won), and then the beginning of the Cowboys/Dolphins.

Jimaken dropped off Bella and Jacob around 4pm. This would be their second TG dinner of the day. Jacob headed immediately to the basketball court out back while Bella came in with all of us. At some point before dinner I received a panicked call from Lindsey stating that her check engine light was on and that the car smelt like burning rubber. She was worried and wanted me to come look at it immediately. Really? Can’t I have just one day of peace? I could only shake me head in disbelief.

Ten minutes hadn't passed when she called again, this time sharing that the rpms were up around 3500. She was sure that the transmission was going out. Likely not, I insisted. 3500 rpms is normal. In the red is abnormal. She pleaded once again that I stop by to look at the car and reminded me that she can’t afford to miss or be late for work on Black Friday. I shared that we hadn’t yet enjoyed our TG dinner but once we did, I would stop by on the way home to look at the car. Truthfully, the whole idea left a rock in my stomach. I’ve already spent almost $4000 on this damn car. What now? I wanted to scream … or move! J

At some point I headed out to play some basketball with Jacob. He insisted we play one on one. We agreed to play to ten with each basket counting as one point. Though much improved over the last year, I crushed him 10-3. J Next, he wanted to play PIG. Why not? I beat him at PIG too. I was done. Wanted to head inside. Of course, my heading inside prompted Jacob to ask if I was afraid to lose. Hardly. Didn’t I just whip you in one on one and now PIG?

Soon we were called to dinner.  It occurred to me that we hadn’t been there for Sunday dinner in an awfully long time. In fact, I can’t recall the last time but I’m guessing it last spring. My assigned seat was at the far end by the screen door and under the ceiling fan. It was quite warm. I turned on the fan and slid open the storm door exposing the screen. Much better!

I’m thinking that there were 17 of us seated for dinner. I was careful not to over eat having only one plate full. I had a little of both types of turkey, stuffing, corn pudding, cooked carrots, green beans, and a roll. That’s it. At some point during dinner, Mindy espoused that she was there for the pumpkin pie. Then Bella quickly chimed in that she was there because she had to. Everybody at the table burst into laughter. It was as much her tone as it was the verbiage. Too funny!

We learned during dinner that there was a misunderstanding regarding the prep of the TG turkey. It seems Craig called Gloria to ask about TG dinner plans and whether she was planning to host. Gloria shared that she was willing to host but wasn’t really able to cook a turkey having dropped last year’s bird while pulling it from the oven. Craig apparently shared that he could take care of that to which Gloria agreed without any further confirmation.

What Gloria heard was that Craig was bringing the turkey, but what Craig apparently meant was that he would help get the bird cooked and out of the oven. I didn’t quite get when they finally realized the oversight, but got the idea that it was just in the last couple days. Craig fixed the dilemma by simply ordering honey baked ham and turkey. Voila! Thanks Craig!

After dinner, I headed to the lower level where I watched more football and took a brief, but much needed nap. Felt terrific. Still whirling in my head was Lindsey’s latest car troubles. In my mind, I would’ve far better off buying a new car for her. But as it was, I simply wanted to put it out of my mind for at least one day.

Mindy woke me a while later to share that we were starting the lottery ticket game. Sister-in-law Jodi brought 16 lottery tickets. She also brought a pair of dice and a timer. The rules of the game were simple. Set the timer to an agreed amount of time while everyone around the table takes a turn rolling the dice. The first person to roll doubles takes possession of the lottery ticket. They hold the ticket until the next person rolls doubles. Then, the person who has the ticket when the timer expires, gets to keep it.

As luck would have it, I rolled doubles (snake eyes) just as the timer expired on the first lottery ticket. It was mine for keeps. I set it aside to scratch off later. There were 16 tickets so 16 rounds. It was a lot of fun. We let all the kids play too. Without question, there were a handful (Missy, Ryan, and Josh) that rolled more than their fair share of doubles. Ryan ended up with 4 lottery tickets, or 25% of the bounty.

At the games conclusion we scratched off our tickets. Mine was a loser. In fact, most were losers. I think there were three winning tickets in all, a $1 & $2 winner, and then a $14 winner on one of Ryan’s four tickets. We’ll have to do that again.

We hung in the kitchen until about 7pm when Gloria suggested we go to the lower level for dessert. I was very much looking forward to some cheesecake. Mindy, on the other hand, was very much looking forward to some of her mom’s famous pumpkin pie. She boasts of it to everyone who’ll listen. J

There were at least three choices: Boston cream cake, cheese cake, and pumpkin pie. I topped my cheesecake with toffee bits. It was good, though I think I need to add at least twice as much vanilla and perhaps a bit more sugar the next go round. Note to self. It was 745pm when I suggested we ready to leave. By then, you have to know that Lindsey had texted both Mindy and I a couple of times wondering if we were still coming by.  I was still bewildered by the notion that her car was falling apart after driving it only two days. Geesh!

We said our goodbyes then hit the road for home around 8pm. Mindy gave Lindsey a heads up call forewarning our arrival. She shared that her neighbor said it was leaking transmission fluid or oil. Hearing that put my stomach was in knots. We arrived a few minutes later and parked so we could use the Pilot’s headlights to see the car. Lindsey and Rocky were waiting for us outside. Rocky was playing on his skateboard. Landon was apparently asleep inside. Lindsey immediately pointed out a large dried puddle of oil or some other automotive fluid in the parking spot she originally occupied. Said she moved it to see if the leak continued.

But if memory served, I distinctly remembered that dried puddle being there even the day I moved her furniture in. It wasn’t from the Hyundai. I looked and felt around underneath the car. Lighting was sketchy at best. There were no leasks readily apparent. I started the car and sure enough the check engine light was on. I turned it off. I told Mindy and Lindsey that I wanted to drive it home to see how it performed and where I could get a better look & see in the garage with a trouble light. I saw Lindsey go over and talk with and hug Mindy. Wasn’t sure what that was about. Lindsey then asked if I would at least make sure she got to work in the morning. Yes. Mindy then shared that she would keep the boys.

Mindy was off well in front of me while I drove the Hyundai home. She considerately had the Pilot parked on the street and the garage opened ready to receive the Hyundai. The funny thing is, we hadn’t even discussed it, but that’s exactly what I wanted.  

I pulled the Hyundai inside. By the way, the car drove fine from Lindsey’s place to home and the check engine light was never on. Hmmm? I threw the trouble light under the car and took a gander. Nothing. No relevant leaks. I then checked all the fluids: engine oil, transmission, antifreeze, brake, and power steering. All full. I ran the car for about five minutes. Perfect. Mindy suggested I take it for a drive on the freeway. Agreed. Jacob went with.

I drove it hard, lots of quick acceleration so the transmission would have to work. It performed great. I got it up to 75 mph a couple of times. All totaled, I think we drove just under 20 miles. Nothing unusual. Ran fine. Back at the house I checked for any unusual smells. Just a slight hint of coolant, but that’s it. Mindy and I both wondered if she might’ve driven it with the emergency brake engaged. I know it was engaged in her parking spot which is unnecessary. I called Lindsey to let her know what I found. I jokingly told her that the transmission fell out while driving it hard. She bit immediately telling me that she knew something was wrong. I couldn’t get a word in to tell her I was kidding for at least 30 seconds.

However, she eventually quieted down and I shared that the car performed well, no check engine light, no leaking, no transmission failures, no nothing. She was dumfounded. I called her back to let her know that we were bringing it back so she could go to work on her own come morning. At Mindy’s prompting, I suggested she go ahead and take the kids to Big Rocky’s tomorrow as originally planned. She all but cried stating that she had already called telling him that Mindy agreed to watch them. Mindy acquiesced and said she’d go ahead and keep them.

We let the kids stay home by themselves while we ran the Hyundai back to Lindsey. We weren't gone but five minutes. Lindsey was waiting for us outside. She couldn’t believe what I told her about the car. Said she’d bring the boys over around 815am. We headed for home.

At home, I suggested we knock at the door to see how the kids reacted. Mindy told them not to answer the door if someone knocked. Sure enough, Bella came running, but Mindy had me let us in via the key before she could get there. I heard Bella giving Jacob holy hell on her way back down the basement stairs. If it were a test she would’ve failed. She blamed Jacob for telling her to go see who it was.

Once settled in at home, I had to spend almost an hour taking care of a work related matter. It was already after 10pm when I finished. I could hardly believe it. Mindy rubbed the knot that’s been building in my back for the last couple of days. Now more than ever I am convinced that it’s has as much to do with stress as it does with anything physical.

It was a work night for me. Come 1027pm I declared it bed time. Good night moon!

Saving My Sanity @ Barley's & CBC

I agreed to take the boys to school because Lindsey’s car was in the shop. I planned to leave the house after exercise and coffee. To that end, I was up near 7am. I started some coffee then completed both sit-ups and push-ups.

I saw that Lindsey sent me a text reminding not to forget to take the boys to school. Believe it or not, I remembered my commitment. J I spent a little time on the internet enjoying some coffee before leaving to fetch the boys. I tooted my horn just outside of Lindsey’s apartment.

Lindsey had them ready and out the door a minute or two later. She verified once more that I would pick them up from school at 130pm and then take her and them to Rocky’s doctor’s appointment. Yes. I headed to Magdalene to drop the boys. Both kids seemed happy and eager to be at school. Makes it all worth it.

It was a lovely morning, sunny and about 45 degrees. I headed back home, arriving near 815am. I enjoyed a little more coffee, did a brief meditation and then a stretch before readying myself for a run. Everyone else remained asleep. I headed out the door around 830am. Aside from the already busy dredging team, the subdivision was eerily quiet.

I ran only three miles treating it much like a weekend day. It was an enjoyable easy run. The trash truck came by while I was off on my run. I dragged the empty can back to the side of the house before heading inside.

I spent time writing in my blog while enjoying coffee. Mindy must’ve gotten up somewhere close to 930am. And it wasn’t too long before the three girls (Bella, Makayla, and Emily) were up, too. Mindy agreed to make them a batch of waffles. She asked if I wanted any. No.

Around 10am I placed a call to Hatfield Hyundai to make sure that they were working on Lindsey’s car. I had to leave a VM for Rich. He called me back a few minutes later sharing the details of the necessary repairs. Said the rear brake pads were falling apart and the drums needed turned. Said it would be another $284. I wasn’t too happy and asked that they deduct what I already spent on the brakes four days prior. He insisted he did. Said he hoped to have it ready later that day.

Lindsey called within the hour giving me her version of the car’s repairs. Against my will, she had called Hatfield too. She thought the work should be free. I knew better. She once again verified that I would pick up the boys at 130pm. Shoot me … please!

Mindy & Jacob left between 1030-11am to pick-up the food Chrissy ordered for her brother-in-laws wake from the Sawmill Olive Garden. Mindy agreed to pick-up and set-up the food while Chrissy was off at the funeral. That was nice.

While they were gone, I began making sauerkraut balls. It’s quite a production. I used the Pampered Chef chopper to dice a red onion, apple, bell and jalapeño peppers, and then sauerkraut. I tried using it to cut up a block of pepper jack cheese too, but it was too gummy. I had to use another tool to dice up the cheese. Next, I browned a pound of sausage adding half of all the chopped stuff. I saved the rest in plastic storage containers for another batch on Saturday.

Mindy & Jacob were back after about 30 minutes. They took the food down to Chrissy’s and were gone for another 20 minutes. By the time they were back the sauerkraut ball concoction was in the fridge and the clean-up process underway.

It was about 12noon when Mindy headed back to the neighbors as a guest. She asked if I planned to stop down before heading off to pick-up the boys. Yes, but I needed a shower first. I was showered and ready in short order. I walked down to the neighbors around 1220pm where I greeted Julie M. who was sitting on the deck having a smoke. After a brief chat we headed inside.

Still a good crowd, and most enjoying the Olive Garden bounty. I decided not to eat anything and instead only visited with a few familiar faces. I couldn’t stay long. Meanwhile, Lindsey was texting both Mindy & I reminding me/us that we needed to get the boys and then asking what time I would be by to pick her up. I also agreed to take her to the post office to pickup her mailbox key. Toying with her incessant texting, I responded with a ‘yes’, which only prompted more texts. Mindy, Kenny, and Mike M. laughed at the prank and then kept it up even after I left.

I pulled up at Lindsey’s apartment around 1240pm. I had to call her cell to get her attention. She went on about the confusing texts. Said she’d be down in a minute. We headed off to the post office first, the entire time me thinking it was still at Westland Mall behind the Huntington Bank. It wasn’t until we exited I-270 at

West Broad St

that Lindsey pointed out that it moved to the old Central Hardware building. I think I knew that but had forgotten. Not too big of a deal, though.

One of the post office doors is boarded up. Looks pretty scary. Lindsey was inside for just a few minutes while I waited outside in the Accord. We headed off to fetch the boys at Magdalene. We were ahead of schedule. It was 105pm. I took advantage of the alone time to talk with Lindsey about a few things. One, being the rude comments she made about Mindy the night before when dropping the car. I told her that speaking ill of Mindy was the same as speaking ill of me. I went on to calmly tell her that I was willing to write her off and move on with my life if she continues as such. I also reminded her that Mindy treats her and the boys better than even her own mother. She agreed and apologized. I told her the apology needs to be spoken to Mindy more so than I. She went on to share how hard all of this has been for her. While I understand, this is the life she’s forged. We touched on a few other things too.

Arrived at the school 15 minutes early. Landon’s class was just making their way from the preschool building across the street to the main school building when Lindsey intercepted him. She then headed inside the school building to get Rocky. She was gone for almost 15 minutes.

All three finally emerged from the school near 130pm. Rocky was extremely quiet and somber – a dramatic change from the norm.  I couldn’t help but wonder if it was the new meds. He had a creepy, far away look in his eyes, too. Funny thing is, his teacher told Lindsey that this was his best behavior day in the last two weeks. Hmmm?

His doctor’s appointment wasn’t for a while yet – 315pm. I suggested I drop them there early to see if he could be seen sooner. Lindsey agreed, but said they’d most likely make them wait. So that’s what we did. I dropped them at the Pediatric Physicians building in Mill Run near 2pm. Meanwhile, Landon wanted to go with me to Home Depot and Jack’s Aquarium. Told Lindsey to text me when they were done.

Landon and I headed over to Home Depot to look at Xmas lights. In the door he asked if we could get a cart. Sure, why not? He then asked if we could get one that looked like a car and had a steering wheel. Sure, why not? He ate it up, driving the cart around however briefly. The Xmas lights are right around the corner from the entrance.

I thought I might buy a string of the new color changing 9” icicle lights. However, the sets I saw a week or two earlier were already gone. I stewed over other options but ended up nixing the whole idea. Instead, I thought we’d head next door to Target where I wanted to get 2 more sets of the large C9 colored LED lights. Landon asked if he could get a pretzel with cheese there, too. Yes.

In Target, Landon opted not to ride in a cart. We found the light sets we came for fairly quickly and headed to checkout.  Heading over to get a pretzel, I presented the McDonald’s/Burger King option instead. He liked that way better. No problem. Told him we’d stop there after our last stop at Jack’s Pets to get crickets for the lizard.

Landon loved Jack’s. I let him check out all the animals (fish, guinea pigs, hamsters, and snakes). He insisted that the large python was fake when it didn’t move after we knocked on the glass. We bought a dozen medium-sized crickets. Landon alerted the clerk that a big one was loose on the floor. Cute!

As we walked out of Jack’s Lindsey texted that they were already done with their appointment and ready to be picked up. I explained this to Landon. We headed around the corner to get Lindsey and Rocky, who were outside waiting. Lindsey shared that Hatfield called too, to say that the car was ready. She promised the boys that she would take them to McDonald’s after getting her car.

It was 3pm. We headed directly to Hatfield. Evening traffic was already starting to build, but happily we were able to take 270 without any snarls or abrupt stops. I headed in to settle up for the 2nd brake repairs. Talked with Rich. He went on and on about what they did this time and why they didn’t catch it the first time. Blah blah blah. He also shared that the auto door locks I asked about would be a $300 repair. No thanks.

I headed out to test the brakes myself before handing the car back to Lindsey. Seemed OK. Lindsey and the boys headed off in front of me. I was eager to get back home. Lindsey called me from her cell to let me know that the gas gauge was already on a half tank. Really? Was it that important that you call me while driving? Lindsey trusts no one. I explained that I don’t think the gas gauge is that accurate, having filled it up only 30-40 miles prior with it just above “E”, yet it took only 8 gallons.

When I arrived home, Mindy was in the basement sorting through all the kids toys with the idea being to purge ourselves of the stuff the kids no longer play with. Jacob already said there was nothing down there he wanted. Bella, on the other hand, wants to keep a few things. Mindy had  already made plenty of progress. There were 2 or 3 trash bags full of stuff for the trash, but even more to be given away to charity.

While Mindy continued her basement purging project, I fetched the existing LED Xmas light sets from the attic over the garage in preparation for hanging. It was 420pm. With a hour or so of daylight remaining I figured it a good time to give the Accord a bath. I went to Mindy asking if she had a couple $1 bills I could borrow to get my car washed. She gave me three.

I gathered my wash bucket and headed off to the

Wilson Rd

carwash. Every bay was full. I was a little surprised because it was a week day. But then again, it was the day before a major holiday and still quite sunny.  Everybody had the same idea as me. I was fortunate. The bay I pulled into was quickly vacated. I changed $2 into quarters and proceeded to wash my car. I used the hot soapy wash cycle and the hot rinse. Polishing the

Accord after the previous washing, I was hopeful that it would clean much easier this time, and then many times forward. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. Out in the sunshine, I used my shami to dry it off. I could see that despite the hot soapy power wash, a film of dirt remained. I had to wipe hard to get the grime off the car. A black car in the sunshine shows everything.

I was back at the house just after 5pm wiping away the few spots I missed at the car wash. Chrissy and Julie stopped by in the SUV on their way back from picking up beer and wine. We were chatting curbside when Jimaken pulled up behind them to pick-up the kids.

Jimaken was there just long enough to scoop up the kids. The plan called for him to keep the kids through midday Thanksgiving. Mindy and I would have a kidless evening. To that end, I suggested Barley’s or CBC, but leaned more heavily towards Barley’s. Mindy was leaning the other way.

It was about 530pm. Mindy headed back to the basement for more cleaning, organizing, and purging. I got busy making a cheesecake to take to her mom’s. I figured it could be done baking near 7pm, or just about the time we usually like to head out. Perfect! I methodically went about making my cheesecake opting to keep it fairly simple and plain to meet the tastes of many. It took about 30 minutes to prepare both the graham cracker crust and  filling. I decided to employ a trick I got from the Food Channel years back to help prevent the cake from cracking and collapsing after baking. The trick is to set the springform pan in a pool of water while it bakes. I used a deep baking sheet as the ‘water pan’. I also cranked the temperature down from 350 to 325 degrees. I set the timer to one hour.

While the cheese cake baked, I tested the Xmas light I got out earlier. The 3 LED sets worked fine. However, despite being brand new last season, the white lights on the 3’ wreath were not - not even one. Because not a single bulb was lit,  that lead me to check the fuse which appeared good. In the end, I removed the entire 100 light strand visually inspecting each bulb. After spending 15 minutes dissecting the light set, I determined them to be trash. I'd need to pick-up a new set, perhaps on Friday.

The cheesecake had about 15 minutes remaining on the timer, but I could tell by looks alone that it would need even longer. I figured I’d readjust the timer once the initial hour expired. I headed upstairs to freshen up for out night out. It didn’t’ take me long. I was back downstairs with five minutes remaining on the timer. I went ahead and added another 15 minutes.

Mindy was finally done in the basement for the night. She made a lot of progress. She poured herself a glass of wine to celebrate. It was closing in on 7pm. She headed upstairs to freshen up for our date. I checked the cheese cake after 72 minutes of baking. Satisfied, I turned the oven off, but left the cake inside with the door cracked to let most of the heat out. I planned to leave it set in the oven for a gradual cool down (recommended). So far, it hadn’t cracked and remained flat. If it held, it would mark the first time ever. I noticed that more than half the water in the baking sheet had evaporated.

Mindy & I agreed to pay a visit to both Barley’s and CBC, stopping at Barley’s first for one beer. Our thinking was that we might see a lot of our peeps there. However, there wasn’t too big a crowd at all. We ended up sitting with Calvin who was there by himself. He insisted on buying our beers. I tried their winter warmer but settled on a Centennial. Mindy opted for a glass of wine. Jim B. was there too. I chatted briefly with him, mostly about the OSU football coaching rumors. Lots of talk about it being Urban Meyer, the former Florida Gators coach.

We weren’t at Barley’s for too long, 45 minutes tops. We settled our smallish tab and headed off for CBC. CBC wasn’t busy at all. Might’ve been 20 cars in the lot and only a handful of those folks at the bar. Kate was working the bar. Jamie was serving tables. Don’t know that we’ve known Jamie to serve tables any time prior.

I knew what I wanted. I ordered a Bodhi. Mindy went with a barley wine. Talked quite a bit with Kate since there was only one other couple in the entire bar. Mindy eventually ordered a bowl of their soup of the day – a crab bisque - and a loaf of their freshly baked bread. I ordered nothing. I wasn’t that hungry having shared a basket of fries earlier at Barley’s.

Mindy didn’t care for the soup at all. It wasn’t what she expected. I tried it and liked it enough to enjoy a few more bites. Kate was quick to pick-up on Mindy’s disappointment and offered to comp us an order of the spinach artichoke dip, something she knows we both like. We accepted. I ordered a 2^nd Bodhi as well. We brought two empty growlers to have filled with Bodhi and Barley Wine. We waited until just before we left to get the growlers filled.

There were only four of us patrons in the bar when Robert, a fella we met previously at Barley’s, stumbled in. I quickly recognized his face but was slow to put the relationship together. It came to me while he slipped into the men’s room. He recognized Mindy and I too, and asked if he could join us. Kate must’ve known that he was drunk because while she offered to serve him the beer he ordered, she insisted he eat some food, too. Mindy and I were both very impressed with the tact she used to get him to agree.

Robert sat next to Mindy telling us a story about being on a ‘watch list’ at Barley’s for drinking too much. Went on to tell us a story about Dan, the manager calling the cops on him one night. After sharing his story, he pleaded that we not say anything to Dan about it. We assured him we would not.

We left CBC around 1030pm. Our tab was more than favorable. We tipped Kate extremely well. We left knowing that we’d be heading to the neighbors who were still up partying. Mindy had been exchanging texts with Kenny over the last 45 minutes. Mindy drove us home.

We were home long enough to fridge our growlers and leash up our pug. I grabbed two White Rajahs from the garage fridge and headed out. Mindy poured a glass of wine. We insisted that Eiknarf pee before heading inside the neighbors place. Mike & Teri were over as were Mike & Julie. Julie, however, was sound asleep on the sofa. The kids were playing upstairs or in the basement.

Mindy & I quickly polished off our beer & wine. I headed home to get more for both of us. We were having a good time with the neighbors. Soon we had the music cranking and Mindy was up on the counter top dancing. Suddenly, and seemingly out of nowhere, here came Julie from her slumber joining the others dancing. Now that was funny! We partied with the neighbors until after midnight. We left for home soon after Kenny begged off for bed even with the music still blaring.

We probably didn’t get to sleep until 1am.

Night Car Drop

I slept well and was up for work at 520am. I noticed right away that the house was much warmer than usual. I turned the heat up the evening before and didn't turn it back down before bed like we generally do. I started the coffee maker manually, its auto start still set to 530am.

I glanced out back seeing more cloudy skies and a wet deck, though it wasn't raining at the time. I was hoping for a dry run. I completed sit-ups and then waited for coffee to finish brewing. I spent the next 15 minutes online. It was 47 degrees with an expected high in the upper 50s.

I started meditation at 550am and went for about 15 minutes. That time always flies by. Soon it was time to wake Mindy and deliver coffee. Mindy shared that she was still very tired. I headed back to the family room to stretch. Felt great. I dressed for my run next. It was 621am when I headed out the door.

Once again, I wore hand covers but nothing over the ears. I was comfortable from the outset. The streets were wet but other than a few spurts of light drizzle now and again it remained fairly dry. I ran the full 4.1 miles. During the course of the run there might've been 5 or 6 flashes of lightning. Never once did I hear a clap of thunder, however. At the house I waited just inside the door for Mindy to coordinate the walk with Eiknarf. I rang the door bell just like the morning before. It roused her from bed and produced a few barks, but she didn't come running down the stairs this time. Apparently she's smarter than we sometimes give her credit.

We walked over the bridge to the west. One of the contracts working on the dredging project had just pulled up and was milling around the parked excavator. Eiknarf barked/growled incessantly. I pulled back hard on her leash and steered her gaze elsewhere. She eventually lost interest and took care of her business.

Mindy was in the kitchen making my breakfast for the first time in two or three weeks, or ever since she began running the boys to school. Lindsey now has her car so Mindy's off the hook. Sadly though, the plan is to get her car in as soon as Tuesday evening to have the brakes looked at once again. We must endure!

My eggs were already to go. I exchanged the English muffin Mindy had in the toaster for Catherine Clark whole wheat bread.  I love that stuff. It tastes like grape nuts. Mindy prepared to depart giving Bella and I hugs and kisses. Mindy was in a far better mood than the previous ten or so mornings. She had some alone time ahead and this would be her last work day for five straight days.

Bella wasn't immediately sure what she wanted for breakfast. She eventually opted for two of the baby cinnamon rolls Mindy picked up over the weekend. I snapped one down real quick too. Couldn't resist. My saving grace is that they're ridiculously small. I headed off to the shower just after 730am. I had little to no lunch prep having not touched my packed lunch from the day before after leaving work just 15 minutes after I arrived to fetch Rocky.

I was ready to go somewhere close to 745am. Although just Tuesday, I was treating it like a Friday wearing blue jeans and a long-sleeved black t-shirt. I used the pre-bus time to tinker and play. The kids and I headed out at 810am. I took my umbrella. By then it was raining hard enough to matter. Bella used hers too. Jacob relied on the hood of his hoodie.

The bus arrived a couple minutes early for a change. That was refreshing. Eiknarf and I were back inside by 815am. I tidied up the kitchen then headed out just ahead of 820am. Arrived at the office just after 830am.

Took a few minutes to get settled and logged on. Still had a full pitcher of water from the day before and my lunch was already stowed in the fridge. I spent the early part of my day putting October's monthly report in a powerpoint presentation. That didn't take too long. Called Hatfield Hyundai around 10am to work out a time to drop the Accent to have the brakes checked again. Said they'd be overwhelmed on Friday. Rich suggested I drop it that evening and he'd get to it on Wednesday. Sounded good, but also means more time running Lindsey to and fro.

I sent Lindsey a text sharing the plan. Of course, that prompted a call a few minutes later where I had to  further clarify the plan, which as for her to meet me at Hatfield after she got off work and then I'd take her and boys home. She went on to ask if I would pick up the boys after school and then take Rocky to his doctor's appointment at 330pm on Wednesday. After a long sigh ... yes.

Earlier, before heading into work, I sent myself an email with the necessary ingredients for sauerkraut balls and a cheesecake. I thought I might run to Kroger at lunch but that never materialized. Instead, I planned to stop on my way home. Meanwhile, it rained all day long, and at times really hard with a stiff breeze to boot.

The office cleared out early. Lots of folks done through the following Monday. That was my plan too until one of my customers asked if I would bless them with my presence on Black Friday. I wasn't too thrilled about the idea at first but came to grips with it and decided to pocket the personal day I originally planned for Wednesday. Instead, I would do a holiday swap. I'll hopefully use the personal day sometime in December, before my Xmas vacation.

It was a fairly easy afternoon and early evening. Mindy planned on going to Chrissy's brother-in-law's showing in Grove City. She wouldn't leave until I got home from work. I left the office at 5pm destined first for Kroger where I planned to get the ingredients I spoke of earlier. I called Mindy on the way just to make sure she knew I'd be another 45 minutes or so. She was OK with it.

As expected, Kroger was very busy with TG shoppers. However, despite the throngs of people filling their carts with holiday goodies, the checkout lines were short. In fact, I was able to walk right up and check out. All lanes were open, definitely a welcome change, and one worth paying perhaps a little more for.

Arrived home before 6pm. Mindy was ready to leave as soon as I was in the door. Said we'd be ordering pizza/subs from Sporano's when she got back home.

Her time away seemed short. Was home with Jake and Makayla after about an hour. I left to meet Lindsey at Hatfield around 730pm. I was there ahead of her, and took a few minutes to fill out the night drop service form. Lindsey phoned as she neared the dealership asking where to turn. However, not knowing where she was it was hard to advise her with any degree of certainty. She was a total spaz and difficult to talk with. I told her to turn at the Hyundai sign. She didn't see it and drove right by. Watched her do so. She was very animated once she pulled up. I motioned for her to get out and let me park the car in the dedicated service area.

She was going a mile a minute and espoused a few things that weren't too kind or pleasant. I wanted to smack her, and at one point told her I'd be happy to leave her there. :) I dropped the service form envelope in the door with the keys as outlined on the sign. Lindsey questioned that move too. Of course! Again, I wanted to scream.

This was payday for Lindsey which meant she was supposed to give me the proceeds but not before showing me the paystub to validate the amount. She did so, but reluctantly. Lots of drama as we headed across the street to Kroger where she cashed her check and then handed me all but the agreed allowance. Fairly nice check, and plenty enough to cover her bills. I'll admit it, though, she had me on pin and needles, and I uttered a few things I wished I hadn't, especially in front of my grandsons. I'll admit, I allowed our interaction to crack me like an egg.

Both boys said they were hungry and hadn't eaten dinner while at the their dads. Said he never feeds them. Despite being hungry, Landon fell asleep before we reached Wilson Rd. I pulled in McDonald's to get the boys some dinner. I ordered two happy meals. Landon remained sleeping. Lindsey ordered on his behalf.  

McDonald's is just down the road from their apartment. I dropped them home, me carrying Landon from the car up the stairs to the apartment. Man, is he a load!

It was nice to be alone again. I drove the quarter to our house where Mindy and the kids were already enjoying pizza and subs.

I decompressed by not speaking, my feathers still ruffled from my interaction with Lindsey. I ate some pizza and a small section of the sub before cracking a beer. The neighbors joined us a little later to share some pizza and beer. I finally shared the story of my earlier interaction with Lindsey adding that I was disappointed with the way in which I handled the conflict.

We yucked it up for at least a couple of hours. We got to talking about the Penn St. molestation scandal which I morphed into the 'wanna go camping' joke. And at one point Mindy & I were in stitches with laughter with neighbor Terri's response. In fact,  I literally fell to the floor with laughter. My belly ached from laughing so hard. I'm thinking that we hung out until 11pm or so. Despite not working, Wednesday would be a very busy day.

The 15 Minute Work Day

I think it was around 430am when I first woke. And then, over the next 40 minutes, I woke several more times. My mind racing, I went ahead and got up and out of bed around 515am. I was downstairs not even five minutes later preparing to exercise.

It was a cloudy rainy start. I hit the go button on the coffee maker then whipped out sit-ups and push-ups. The coffee wasn’t quite ready when I finished. Waiting … waiting … waiting. Finally, the coffee was ready. I poured myself a cup then headed to my PC. I checked the weather forecast and the SNF results. It was currently 46 degrees with light rain. Expected to continue for most of the day. Tuesday was forecasted to much the same. The Eagles beat the Giants in SNF.

I got up from my PC at 545am and headed off to the family room to meditate. That went just OK. Finished abruptly at 605am and headed upstairs to wake Mindy and deliver some coffee. My time there was brief. Soon I was back downstairs to stretch and ready for a run.

The mid 40s and light rain was enough to convince me to wear hand covers, though a tad too warm for ear covers. I left them exposed. It was about 620am when I headed out the door. I ran 4.1 miles thinking through the day ahead, including the need to drop Lindsey at work. Thankfully, that would be far less cumbersome given that her office is now right around the corner. I also needed to contact the insurance agent to finalize all that. And then, still in the back of my mind was the less than impressive brake repairs done by Hatfield. I tossed around how best to handle that. At the time I wasn’t yet sure.

The run went by quickly. I was back home around 710am. Mindy brought Eiknarf’s leash and a bag. I called for Eiknarf but she didn’t come. I knew how to fix that. I rang the door bell a couple of times and she came running, barking. That got a laugh out of Mindy.

As usual, our walk was brief but fruitful. Took care of business and were back inside in a hurry. Mindy met us at the bridge to hug goodbye before heading off to pick-up the boys for what she hoped would be the last time.

I headed inside to start my breakfast and finish packing my lunch. Mindy had a fresh salad waiting for me in the fridge. I cut up some cheese and pineapple and threw in some strawberries, too. My lunch was ready in no time. Both kids asked for leftover homemade waffles. Jacob asked for his toasted. Bella the same. She requested a 2^nd but this time microwaved. I fried eggs for Eiknarf and I. I burnt my toast but ate it anyway.

Off to the shower around 730am. I opened the blinds that Mindy closes every morning. I can’t stand to not have outdoors indoors. The backhoe crew was already getting into place for the days work on the pond. There supposedly dredging and then adding boulders along the shore both sides of the bridge. If done right, should be much more pleasing to the eye.

I was out of the shower and back downstairs by 750am. Lindsey was there seated at the island. Asked if I planned to finalize her insurance during the day. Yes. I don’t recall if I said anything about the less than stellar brake repairs or not. We headed out to the bus stop at 808am. The bus was routinely late. Didn’t arrive until almost 822am. Lindsey hung outside while I took care of a few last minute things inside. This was a Rachel day, by the way.

Lindsey’s new work digs are literally a half mile down the road, far more convenient not only for her, but also for us. I dropped her off by 831am. Onto work. I arrived at the office near 840am and was booting up a few minutes later. I had just gotten my laptop fully logged on and my to-do list completed when my cell phone rang. It was St Mary

Magdalene calling to report Rocky being ill and their inability to reach Lindsey. Asked if I would come get him. Yes. Told them it might take upwards of an hour. Oh boy!

I walked immediately to my boss’ office around the corner and let him know that I needed to leave and work from home due to a sick kid. He understood. I hustled back to my office where I quickly gathered up my things and headed back out. Short day in the office.

There is no quick path to Magdalene from Hilliard. I got off the freeway at Wilson and headed south to Fremont and then by Westgate Park. It had to be near 945am when I arrived. In the office I ran into Leslie Dent, Rocky kindergarten and 1^st grade teacher (our neighbor too). She and I chatted briefly while the nurse went for Rocky. Leslie’s lost a bunch of weight. Perhaps even too much.

A gentleman who I assumed to be the principal walked into the main office and looked at me without uttering even a hello. He appeared to be looking down his nose at me. I was going to introduce myself, but vibes were strongly negative. I opted not to speak and instead turned my attention to Rocky who was just coming into the office. I signed him out and we left.

As we made our way to the Accord he pointed out Landon crossing the street with the rest of his preschool class.  I insisted he not call any attention to us so not to get Landon upset. We headed to the house.

Right away, Rocky asked if the kids were home. No. Also asked if he could play Wii. No. I explained that I needed to work and that he needed to rest. According to the school nurse, he had thrown up more than once. He started his new meds that morning too. I wondered if Lindsey gave it to him on an empty stomach.

Rocky took the hint and went to the sofa in the family room while I got busy logging in from home. He came asking questions a couple of times, each time I repeated my earlier mantra. Only rest for the next hour or so. We’d see how he was doing after that. He either took a nap or laid quietly for the next couple hours.

Before getting too involved in work, I called the Progressive insurance agent returned via their webpage. He was most pleasant and eager to help. He also added that he responded to me Saturday. Hmm? Didn’t see it. He asked me to check spam. Sure enough, there it was. Took all of about 15 minutes to get Lindsey fully insured. All I needed to do was print the documents from their online site. Cool!

Rachel showed up to clean the house sometime around 11am, best guess. I know she doesn't like to clean with us there. To that end, I sent a text to Mindy asking her to give Rachel a heads up before hand. Rachel didn't hear from Mindy who was probably busy with her class. Rachel hung out chatting for a while, but then said she'd come back on Friday to clean that way we wouldn't be in each other's way.

Outside, the city was busy working on the pond project. Each time they dumped a truck load of boulders into the street it startled me. Very loud knocking and banging. I had to join a conference call at 1pm. By then, Rocky was again alert and bothering me about playing Wii. I asked that he remain still and quiet while I joined the call. He did. The call lasted about 30 minutes. Afterwards, I hooked Rocky up with a movie – Star Wars, but as I suspected, he never fully engaged.

After hearing another thunderous boom from the truck dumping another load of boulders, I glanced out front and spotted Carl out talking to the city crew working the pond. I decided to be nosey too and headed out to chat. I joined Carl on the bridge while a back hoe dredged the much and moved the boulders all along the bank. Never once did any one of them move a single stone by hand. Interesting. It was closing in on 3pm. I heard the workers pretty much calling it a day.

I headed back to the house. Rocky was in the livingroom, no doubt keeping a watchful eye on me out the window. He was bored. I offered to make him lunch but he declined. I fixed some tuna fish over lettuce for myself. It was quite good.

I spent the rest of my afternoon at my PC working. Rocky hounded me about every 10 minutes to when the kids might be home. Really? Kept telling me he was bored. My canned response became this … you came home from school sick. You’re not supposed to have fun. You should be resting. He wasn’t thrilled with my answer, but too bad.

The kids got home at 401pm – pretty much right on time. Jacob was stoked that he didn’t have homework and wouldn’t on Tuesday either. He was quickly off to play with friends. Rocky went into overdrive bouncing off the walls to get out and play too. I had to rain on his parade. No school. No play. Bella tinkered around the house. Mindy called around 420pm to let me know that she forgot to stop and pick-up Landon. Had to turn around and head back to Magdalene. She knew I picked up Rocky from school earlier.

Mindy was excited to see that we had all the ducks lined up to get Lindsey on the road in her new car finally. For Mindy that meant the end of leaving 20 minutes early for school to pick-up the boys and drop them at school. The only issue still gnawing at me about the whole Hyundai thing are the less than stellar brakes. They work OK but not as good as they should.

Mindy reheated leftover pasta and chicken for dinner. Took longer than I expected. I kept working until just before it was all ready. It was just 530pm when she called us all to the table. Rocky didn’t want any dinner. Landon, however, ate well. He ate some tortellini, chicken, and mashed potatoes.

I told Mindy that I wanted to move Lindsey’s car behind mine that way she could easily pull away once she arrived later to get the kids and the car. Mindy offered to move the Accord while I back the Hyundai out. I checked the brakes again just to sanity check myself. Yep, still need work. Mindy shuttled Bella off to gymnastics just before 7pm. By then I was taking a much needed nap. Came over me like nobody’s business. I woke before she was home and started work on the contract we planned to have Lindsey sign before taking the car. The contract essentially spells out the repayment plan as well as the financial management plan we all agreed to. No surprises. We planned to have the signing witnessed and officially notarized by Chrissy.

Lindsey showed up just before 8pm as expected. Me exchanged pleasantries then got to business. I showed her that her car is now insured and handed her the registration and temporary insurance card. She asked that I keep the title is a safe place. Good. That was my plan anyway.

I then showed her the contract. I thought Mindy might come unglued when she challenged what I paid for the car, as if I might be ripping her off. I could only chuckle. She went on unreasonably about the financial management stuff too. And I still have no idea what her point was about her money. It’s apparent that she had no idea how to budget, save, and pay bills.

She complained but started to pen her signature anyway. I stopped her and said we needed to walk down and have Chrissy witness and then notarize our signatures. She agreed, and we headed down to the neighbors. Rocky went along too.

Chrissy witnessed our signatures all the while Lindsey fussed about me managing her money. Again, she just doesn’t get it. It all comes off as being so ungrateful. I could easily turn my back. Chrissy tried reasoning with her some but don’t think it made much difference.

We walked back to the house where Lindsey nervously put some of her stuff in the Hyundai. I took a couple minutes to show her where everything is so there won’t be any surprises while she’s driving. She scoffed at my insistence that she make sure the mirrors were adjusted accordingly. Oh boy! And I thought she was going to die when she couldn’t figure out how to turn the wipers on/off and then get the windshield fluid flowing. I really wanted to ring her neck. Somehow I worked through most of it without killing her first. J Next, we went inside to get the boys stuff and Landon, who was sound asleep in the livingroom recliner.  I helped get both boys buckled in then they drove off. I felt a sense of relief seeing the car zoom away.

Mindy left to pick-up Bella from gymnastics during all the craziness. Mindy was incensed when she got back, upset with Lindsey and her apparent lack of gratitude. Mindy sent her a text pointing out some of the negative vibes she often sends. About the same time Lindsey rang my cell to tell me that she thought the brakes were poor. That’s all I needed to hear. I told her I would call Hatfield in the morning and arrange another service appointment. It never ends!

To break the tension, Jacob and I watched the Buckeye basketball game. Mindy joined us too. Mindy was still in a funk from an overdose of Lindsey after four straight days. She needs a break. But sadly, no one else is stepping up to help with issues such as after school care. Instead of a village, it more often feels like a one man show.

I poured myself a Jack & Coke. That and the basketball game was a great diversion from the Lindsey stress. Honestly, I am disappointed in myself for allowing all of this to get under my skin and cause stress. I have the necessary skills to think and live beyond it. However, like all of us, I am human and sometimes forget.  

The outcome of the Buckeye game was never really in question. At times they looked awesome, while at others more passé. They ended up blowing out Northern Florida by 35 points. Like most nights, I stayed up later than everyone else. Bella rejoined me downstairs briefly to eat the slice of pizza Lindsey brought home from work for her. Before heading back to bed, she asked that I stop by and retuck her into bed. OK. That was no more than ten minutes later. Good night.

Exchanging Shovels

 I slept until almost 815am. I noticed immediately that it was cloudy start. I brushed me teeth then headed to the kitchen where I started a pot of coffee then spent a little time online. Still no word on either of the insurance quotes I requested.

I enjoyed coffee and internet until 930am when I decided it was time to do my Sunday run. Mindy and the kids were still sleeping when I headed out the door. It was fairly warm - 57 degrees. I wore two light weight wicking shirts in lieu of a jacket. I ran the usual 3 miles. During my run I tossed around the idea of putting up Xmas lights when I got back home. I ended up nixing the idea. Still not 100% sure I even want to bother this year.

Mindy slept in until after 10am. Once up, she spent a while sipping coffee and playing on the internet. Made a grocery list too. At some point she handed me her credit card to cover our MRM season passes. I took care of ordering those online. Didn't take that long at all.

I didn't have a lot planned for the day, though we did agree to let Lindsey come over to do laundry but not until around 2pm or so. Can't really explain what I did over the next couple hours. Mindy left for the grocery around noon, I'm guessing. While she was out I put the bikes up for the winter, all except for Jacob's that is. I also took two rakes and a track spade to the shed where I grabbed the two snow shovels and put them in the garage. I carried my golf clubs and the canna bulbs to the basement for the winter.

Trena was in her front yard raking the pear tree leaves. I offered the use of my tarp. She declined. She was apparently content stuffing them into plastic trash bags. After a shower, I left to fetch Lindsey and the boys. It was about 140pm. By then it was raining pretty hard. Before coming back to the house, I took Lindsey to Walgreens to pick-up the prescription she dropped off the night before.

We headed home from there. The boys, especially Rocky, asked repeatedly if they could go outside and play. But I wasn't about to let them head out in the rain. No way.  Mindy called as we neared the house. Said she was close to home and would pick-up the recycling and then run to the grocery store. Lindsey asked if she could go along without the kids. Mindy agreed. The kids would stay back at home with me.

Lindsey started a load of laundry then departed with Mindy. I played on the computer and watched NFL football. The Vikings weren't on TV, but at least I could follow the score via their frequent updates. The lead didn't last long. boohoo!  I put Lindsey's next load in the washer and tossed the initial one on the dryer. I didn't plan on doing much more.

They got back from the grocery around 330pm, I'm guessing. Mindy started dinner soon after getting the groceries put away. She planned to make inferno chicken, but would make some non-inferno too. The Vikings and Bengals both lost. The Browns miraculously won. Still not sure how that happened.

Dinner was ready around 530pm - inferno chicken, mashed potatoes, and salad. All pretty darn good. Clean up was next. I took care of all that while the kids played a bit wildly. Took them home around 7pm. Glad it's so close. I helped carry in all of her stuff - laundry and groceries. Apparently a neighbor who was moving left a few bags of groceries at Lindsey's door. Lindsey insisted that she'd be throwing them out.

Lindsey gave back the air mattress we let her borrow. It might as well have been given to me in a ball. It's really not hard to roll it up for storage. Geesh!

 I headed home where I quickly changed into my PJs and started reading about all the day's  NFL action. My phone rang around 730pm. It was Lindsey calling in a panic stating that her range hood collapsed onto the stove. I agreed to drive over and take a look. Gathered a few tools and screws then headed that way. It wasn't as bad as she made it out to be. That I should've banked on. One side was pulled away from the bottom of the cabinet by maybe two or three inches. The other side still attached. Certainly not an emergency. I calmly assessed the problem then pulled out a couple of the screws I brought and reattached the hood to the cabinet's bottom. It's obviously fallen before, and who ever made the half asses repairs used a variety of screw sizes/types. I added a couple new screws too for added strength.

The boys were crowded around me, curious with what I was doing. I was admittedly a little crusty at them not having any elbow room. Sorry boys. After the repair I headed back home. I couldn't have been go20 minutes. I changed into my PJs thinking I might watch SNF but tuned to Fox's cartoon programming instead. I hadn't watched Family Guy in prime time for a couple years. It was exactly what I needed. I watched the next two shows as well. Mindy bailed off for bed around 915pm while I enjoyed the stupid yet funny TV. I'm thinking that I headed for bed around 1030pm.

Zy-Goat

Mindy was up around 6am at the beck and call of Landon, who was hollering for his momma. He peed the bed, so Mindy took the time to get him in fresh clothes and get him off the wet sheets. She was up for at least 20 minutes getting him situated. Completely rested, I was up and downstairs by 715am.

I was up for maybe 20 minutes before being joined by Landon. By then I had started some coffee and was busy playing on the internet. Landon and I took Eiknarf out for a walk. It was a pleasant and sunny Saturday morning - about 40 degrees.

It was just Landon and I for a while. I took Mindy some coffee around 800am. Lindsey showed up a couple minutes later for a ride to work. I was expecting her. We left around 825am, or about the same time we leave through the week. The drive was a bit quicker with next to no traffic. She was hopeful that she'd be able to take her car later that afternoon when she got off work. Still needed to get it insured, though.

I stopped at Tim Horton's on my way home from dropping Lindsey at work. Bought a dozen donuts and 20 Timbits. All the kids, minus Jacob were up when I got back. Kenny called Mindy's phone asking if we would keep Makayla a bit longer while he ran an errand or two. Sure thing. In turn, I asked if he might run me to Hatfield Hyundai in a couple hours to pick-up Lindsey's car. He was more than agreeable. Cool. I headed off on my run around 930am.

I ran an easy three miles. Felt good. Back around 10am, Mindy was soon up. She planned to go to yoga. I called Kenny around 1030am. He was back and said he'd be down in a few minutes. I grabbed the Hyundai paperwork and met him at the foot of the driveway. Off we went. The 270 south traffic was almost nonexistent. Made it to Hatfield in short order. Took about 20 minutes to pay and get the car. Said they said it didn't need pads, drums or rotors. Instead, the brake cables were seized. Said they freed them up with high heat and then greased them really well. Adjusted then too.  Fixed a broken cable preventing the blower diverter from sending air to the defroster. Kenny waited until I had the paper work signed and the vehicle started.

I put the repaired brakes to the test on the drive home. They are far, far better than they were, but still not perfect. However, I am used to driving a brand new vehicle. The defroster works like I would expect. Hooray! I parked street side.

I wasn't back ten minutes before I tried calling the Progressive insurance agent that their site recommended. In fact, I tried two on the northwest side of town. Neither answered. I left a VM for one. Lindsey texted that she had a ride home. Told her the car was back and fixed.

Mindy left for yoga around 1130am. By then, I was already out working in the yard once again blowing all the leaves out of the flower beds in preparation for mowing. The only part of the yard with any appreciable leaf cover was the eastside from Trena's pear tree. I blew them back into her yard so I could mow. I blew the front to the curb and beyond. Landon joined me doing yard work while all the other kids dashed off to play either in the tree house or at the neighbors. He ended up sticking with me for the entire afternoon, too. I was surprised. I let him man the leaf blower a time or two. He thought that was really cool. 

I mowed the entire front and part of the back with the push mower. I set the blade set lower than I have all season for what I expect to be the last cut of the mowing season. After finishing up the back with the tractor, I gave Landon a ride in the trailer. He loved it. We eventually let Bella, Makayla and one of Jacob's little friends get in for a ride too. After the tractor ride, all the other kids dashed off to play once again. But not Landon. He stayed with me doing yard winterization. We transported all the deck flower pots and hanging baskets to the compost pile for dumping. We stowed all the empty pots in the shed.

We dug up the canna bulbs next. Man, there were a lot of them. I planted about 8, but we ended up with 4 Kroger bags stuffed full. We cut back all the remaining dead flowers and plants, too, but didn't touch the maiden grass. I typically leave it alone until early spring. We disconnected all the hoses and caddies and carted them all off to the shed. Next up was the deck furniture. We stuffed the cushions and patio umbrella into giant trash bags then tied them closed with twist ties. Stored them in the shed too.

Mindy was home around 2pm. She came out to chat. She was in a far better place psychologically than she was before she left. She went on to tell me a little story about her goat. After a short visit with Landon and I outside, she headed back indoors where she stayed busy vacuuming and mopping. Landon and I continued our work outdoors. My goal was to finish all winterization chores in one afternoon. The last thing I did was add fuel stabilizer to both mowers and the 5 gallon gas container still with about one gallon. 3pm we were done. We headed in to get cleaned up and then some lunch.

Ashley was coming to pick-up the boys sometime soon. Landon was filthy from all the yard work, so Mindy gave him a bath shortly after he and I finished our snack. Just as I was about to head up for a shower, Ashley, Olivia, and Kaileigh stopped over to get the boys. Figured I'd hold off on the shower until they left. Ashley let me know how bad I stunk when I gave her a big ol' daddy hug. Showed her Lindsey's car. Said it's nicer than hers.

Olivia was a unruly for through most of their brief visit. It's not too uncommon for Olivia to act out when with her momma. When Ashley's not around, she's generally much better behaved. Chrissy stopped down while Olivia was there. That made Olivia happy. She loves Chrissy. Mindy stepped out on the deck to talk to Chrissy with some privacy, no doubt about her brother-in-law passing. Olivia whined and fussed pretty much until they left around 4pm.

Once the kids were gone I headed up for a much needed shower. There was some talk about going out to dinner but that didn't really sound that good to me. We eventually settled on Mindy phoning in a pick-up order to Barley's and then going after it. She got back around 6pm. And just as we were sitting to eat Lindsey walked in. She asked about the car. I shared the good and bad news. The car was obviously back repaired but it wasn't yet insured, and probably wouldn't be until Monday at the earliest. She wasn't pleased. It's not like insurance agents sit around on the weekend waiting on folks to call.

I took the opportunity to share the information I gleaned from the BMV site regarding her driving record. As she said, it's currently clean but does show 2 violations in the last five years, which at least one insurance site asked for a five year history. She kept trying to justify the violations to both me and Mindy. I had to explain more than once that it's not us she needs to convince. I was just merely sharing what most insurance companies ask of their perspective clients. I understand her disappointment. She arrived thinking she'd be driving her new car home. But I wasn't about to turn the keys over until it's fully insured.

She hung out for another hour or so before Mindy gave her a ride to Walgreen's and then home. She was gone maybe 25 minutes. Mindy, Jacob and I watched the Oregon/USC game live from Eugene. USC took an early and commanding lead. Mindy and the kids headed off to bed around halftime. I chose to keep watching hoping Oregon would mount a comeback. At one point in the 3rd quarter, they trailed by as much as 38-14. It wasn't looking good. I started to dose when it was 38-17. I woke with about 4 minutes left and Oregon had just scored making it 38-35. Wow! Sadly though, USC marched right down the field looking like they were gonna score yet another touchdown. And from about the Oregon 8 yard line USC  fumbled and it was recovered by Oregon. The Ducks drove down the field quickly getting themselves in seemingly easy field goal range just before time was about to expire. Unfortunately, their field goal kicker missed the 37 yarder.

Before heading to bed, I watched the final minutes of the Oklahoma/Baylor game that was every bit as dramatic as the Oregon/USC game earlier. Baylor won in the final minute making Oklahoma the third top five team to lose that weekend. I headed to bed around midnight or after.

Hyundai Ready for Pick-up

I was up at just a few minutes ahead of 530am and quickly downstairs to begin my Friday. It was clear and crisp, perhaps the season's coldest morning yet - only 26 degrees. It was a sit-up/push-up morning. I had both knocked out by 540am. Soon I was enjoying coffee and internet, but only for 10 minutes.

I did meditation for a good fifteen minutes before delivering Mindy's coffee. I headed back to the family afterwards to stretch and ready for a run. Both shoulders were feeling better than they have in a really long time, perhaps a byproduct of the additional rest and Advil.

For the first time all season, I decided to wear running shorts under my running pants. I wore a toboggan too. I was quite comfortable from the outset and never too warm. Ideal. I ran 4.1 miles enjoying the dry streets, clear skies, and crisp air.

Mindy went after Eiknarf as soon as I arrived in the door. The leash was already setting by the door. Like most other mornings, I took a minute to give her some rubs and hugs before rushing her out the door. We walked up the street to the west where she took care of her business in rather short order.

I found myself looking forward to a regular day in the office, something I hadn't enjoyed since Tuesday. Mindy was already about to leave when I got back to the house with Eiknarf. Mindy had the stove preheating for my eggs. I fried three eggs, two for me and one for Eiknarf. Bella had the last donut warmed. Jacob had chocolate milk.

I headed off to the shower just after 730am. Felt good to slip into a pair of clean jeans and a long-sleeved cotton t-shirt - black, of course. Lindsey was there sitting in the kitchen when I made it back downstairs. We chatted about her car letting her know that we had the tags and what work was being done at the shop. I planned to try and get it insured sometime during the day, time permitting.

Hollered for the kids at 805am. We headed out the door at 810am. I started the Accord while holding Eiknarf's leash. Tricky. I also popped the trunk so I could load my gear later without needing to recaccess the interior. The bus was on time, or close to it. Lindsey sat in the Accord while I headed inside for last minute preparations. We headed off to work at 822am.

As I understood things, this was Lindsey's last day at the Farmer's building. Come Monday she'll be working at the Westbelt location, something she volunteered for a couple weeks back. That'll further simplify things. Traffic was light north on I-270 all the way to Sawmill Rd. Lindsey asked if we would keep the kids on Saturday while she worked. I told her we would. Said she'd be getting off at 530pm instead of the usual 730pm. I dropped Lindsey near 835am then headed back to the south around 270 to the Tuttle exit.

I arrived at the office near 850am and made it to my office just ahead of 9am. While stowing my lunch in the community fridge, I was reminded that we had a 9am staff call.  I hustled back to my office to grab my organizer, pen and water. I met the rest of the team in the conference room already on the bridge. My boss was working remote again. I kidded him about not being in the office.

We talked about holiday coverage - who's on vacation and who's covering for who. Our roles are such that we always need a back-up when we're out. I let me boss know that I agreed to work Black Friday to appease my biggest customer. Somehow that morphed into me covering for another retail customer concerned about Black Friday issues too. 

Our meeting went on for about 45 minutes. And after the official call a few of us hung around and chatted for another 15 minutes before heading back to our offices. My Droid rang before the informal meeting ended. It was Hatfield Hyundai calling to explain what the Accent needed.  Bottom line, the brake pads/shoes were good. Instead, the rear brake cables were seized up. Said they could fix the brakes, defroster, a coolant leak and burnt out plate bulbs for $355. Told him to do it.

Back in my office I called my insurance agent asking about insuring Lindsey and her new Hyundai. After providing all the requested details she apologized and said they can't insure Lindsey because she has no established history of any sort (residence, work, or insurance). Offered that I should try Progressive online, who will get quotes from several companies. I thanked her for the advice and immediately went out to Progressive's website. I received a quote but stopped short of making anything official. Lindsey needs to decide if she wants full coverage or only liability. Plus, I wasn't sure about her driving history back five years like the site requested. According to the Ohio BMV site, she has no points on her license. Didn't want to falsify any information.

Spent most of my day following up on escalations and then working on reports again. At 1pm I hooked up with a peer to show her how I go about sorting monthly data and putting together a monthly report. She actually showed me a couple short cuts in Excel that'll help a lot down the road. The day went really fast.  I didn't eat my lunch until sometime after 2pm.

Talked with Mindy late afternoon. She had already picked up the boys and was heading home. Said she was making tortellini for dinner. Because we'd have our kids and the boys, we weren't planning to have dinner out. It would be an unusual Friday. Lucky for me, I had a growler of CBC's Bodhi to enjoy. :) I didn't get confirmation that the Hyundai was ready for pick-up until about 430pm. By then I had already decided that we wouldn't pick it up until sometime Saturday morning. Definitely didn't want to fight that 270 traffic again Friday evening.

I didn't pack up and leave the office until a few after 530pm. The 6th floor was desolate by then. I might've been the last one off our floor. Happens a lot, especially on Friday's. Talked with Mindy on my drive home. I shared that I told Lindsey that we'd keep the boys overnight since we'd be watching them on Saturday anyhow. That was they wouldn't have to be dragged out of the house early. Mindy reminded me that she planned to go to yoga in the morning. Getting to Hatfield would take some coordination then, too. No worries.

Arrived home just ahead of 6pm. Dinner was ready in short order. Mindy served dinner in paper bowls to help expedite clean-up. I ate 1.5 bowls. Mindy stopped at Kroger after school and picked up a birthday cake for neighbor Teri. She made arrangements for she and her kids to come down after dinner. Chrissy was coming down with her kids too. Wasn't expecting Kenny home until near 9pm.

Must've been 7-730pm when the neighbors came down. Sang happy birthday then enjoyed some cake. I passed but the kids made up for my skipping. Mindy and I tapped my CBC growler of Bodhi. After one, Mindy moved on to wine. Annie, Chrissy & Kenny's new pug puppy, pooped twice in our house.

We'd been hanging out for more than an hour when I took Woody out back for a walk after finding him scratching at the back door. We were out back for no more than five minutes. Back inside I was a little confused to find Chrissy pouring out a full beer and asking for a soda with a befuddled look on her face. Somebody alerted me to the situation, She received a call that her brother-in-law passed away, found dead at home. Think he was in his mid 50s. She was leaving to meet her sister-in-law. The kids were staying behind with us.

After Chrissy left, I headed down to see/chat with Kenny, who had only recently gotten home from a week working away from home. I took a beer. The girls, Bella, Emily and Makayla, all headed to Teri's place while Jake, Jacob, and Rocky played at our house. Kenny was enjoying some rare quiet time when I popped in. We chatted for about ten minutes when neighbor Teri showed up with about 4 beers. Kenny quickly begged off for a shower just as I was thinking of leaving for home. Didn't want to be rude so I hung with Teri until he was out. Left as soon as he rejoined us. I was getting sleepy. Called for Bella to head home too. Mindy already had Rocky & Landon in the guest room bed. I tucked Bella in then joined Mindy already in bed.

The Enlightened One

I woke a few times earlier but didn’t get out of bed until 520am. I quietly went about brushing my teeth then slipped out the door and down the stairs.

I peered out the door glancing skyward. I was a little surprised that it was cloudy again given all the gleaming stars the night before. I slipped into my exercise shoes, hit the go button on the coffee maker, and completed 50 sit-ups.

Coffee was ready by 535am. I poured a cup then headed to the PC. I checked the weather first. It was 36 degrees – as chilly as it’s been in more than a week. Wasn’t expected to reach much beyond the mid 40s throughout the day. Didn’t spend more than 10 minutes online. Off to meditate at 550am. That time went incredibly fast. It was 605am before I knew it, and time to deliver Mindy’s coffee.

I was back downstairs to stretch and ready for a run by 610am. I needed to be nimble and quick if I were to leave the house with Bella at 735am. To that end, I headed out the door for my run by 620am. And even though I was out the door early, I decided to cut my run to 3 miles to ensure I had enough time to eat, shower and dress appropriately for a customer presentation downtown after dropping the girls at Beacon singer practice. I was back from my run at exactly 650am.

I quickly walked Eiknarf and then started on breakfast. Before Mindy left, I confirmed that the kids were already up and getting ready. They were. Jacob was just getting out of the shower, this the first day taking one in the morning. Bella was up and alert too. Hollered down to let me know.

Mindy left around 710am. I saved a few bites of my eggs for Eiknarf, but didn’t bother frying one just for her. I needed to hustle off to the shower if I were to be out the door in no more than 20-25 minutes.  I was quick and efficient, back downstairs by 730am. Bella and Jacob were ready to go too.

I spent the last few minutes powering down my laptop. I left the kitchen in somewhat disarray at least compared to its usual state when I leave. I thought it very likely that I would stop by the house on my way back to the office after my downtown meeting. Jacob & Bella headed out the door at 734am. Jacob was headed down to Chrissy’s. I planned to drive to Chrissy’s to pick-up Makayla, but when I got to the car they were both already aboard.  Off to school.

The girls giggled form the back seat during the entire drive to Beacon singers practice. I was making even better time than I hoped for. Had them at school by 745am. I verified their entrance before taking off. They got in fine.

I was a tad worried about the traffic on I-270 south with all the construction. It was slow but never at a standstill. It’s a mess though. Not entirely sure what they’re doing. I was on 70/670 in a hurry. In fact, I was downtown at my destination just a couple minutes after 8am – a whopping 45 minutes early. I parked in the adjacent parking garage which is the same garage shared by the Arena Grand theatre.

Walked to the customer’s building only to learn that I needed a badge for access. Crap! I stood outside in the chilly morning air for quite a while. Sent an email to my peer who I was supposed to meet there. Thankfully, a former direct report of mine but who now works for the customer was making his way in for the day and stopped to chat. He took me inside to the security desk. In fact, during the first 15-20 minutes that I was there, I ran into four people I knew.

Three of my peers arrived near 9am and we all headed to the conference room designated for the monthly presentation. While everyone was getting set up I headed to the Men’s room. When I returned they were all heading out. Said wrong room. Dang it! We moved to another conference room down the hall. No biggie. We set up again and then waited. We waited for 20 minutes for the customer representatives to show. They never did show. Around 930am we agreed to head back to the office. I’m still not sure the reason for the disconnect.

After paying $5 for parking, I headed back to the west. Instead of heading back to work, I stopped at home. There, I poured a cup of coffee then grabbed the Hyundai tags and headed out to get them installed.  I started the car and let it run too. I could only get the rear tags on. The old plate bolts were snapped off in the front. I took it for a quick test drive to check the brakes again. During the short drive I was convinced more than ever that the brakes needed looked at sooner than later. Seems like the back brakes are bad. The parking brake doesn’t grab at all.  I also discovered that the defroster wasn’t blowing out properly/ No matter what the setting, most of the warm air was deflected to the floor. Winter approaching, I figure that’ll needs fixed now too.

I was home for about 45 minutes before heading towards the office, but not before two quick stops. I stopped at the auto parts store to buy some license plate screws. While there, I also picked up two blind spot mirrors, one for the Accord and one for the Pilot.

My next stop was Home Depot to have spare keys made for the Hyundai. I picked up a key chain and a new ¼” drill bit, too. The ¼” bit in my Dewalt kit broke over the summer and I’ve needed it more than once recently.

Finally arrived at the office somewhere near 11am. Spent the lion’s share of my day on monthly reports again. Lots of data to comb through. Sometime during the day I had a revelation of sorts. Instead of trying to figure out a plan to get the Hyundai to Aarrow Radiator and Repair, why not simply take it to the Hatfield Hyundai dealership for servicing. That would certainly simplify the drop off, not to mention getting factory authorized work performed. I felt even more comfortable with my decision after I called and they told me that I could bring it in that evening and almost certainly have it back the following day fixed. Just needed to be there before closing at 6pm. It would be $107 just to diagnose the trouble, but that cost would be waived if we have the work done.

I talked with Mindy. She agreed that it made it a lot easier. She would meet me there after work. She even agreed to drive it there and have me pick her up, but the only problem with that idea, I had all the keys. J Instead, I planned to leave the office at 430pm, drive home, get the Hyundai, then drive it to Hatfield.

I left the office as planned right at 430pm. The construction on I-270 south traffic looked especially snarled just south of Roberts. I worried how quickly we might be able to get to the Georgesville exit with the Hyundai. I arrived home just after 5pm. We needed to wait for Jimaken to get there and pick-up the kids, this being dinner with dad night.  I didn't waste even a minute. While waiting on Jimaken, I headed out to install the front plates on the Hyundai. Hoe showed five minutes later.

We left the house near 515pm, me in the Hyundai, Mindy in the Accord. I needed to stop for gas in the Hyundai. I had to chuckle when it took only 8.4 gallons. Just my luck, 270 south traffic was almost at a complete stand-still due to the paving project. Narrowed down to one lane pretty much all the way to the Georgesville exit. This being the first freeway drive in the Hyundai, I was only further convinced that I was doing the right thing. The brakes were poor and need immediate attention.

Despite the snarled traffic, we arrived at Hatfield Hyundai by 550pm. I tooted my horn and they raised the service door. I was soon greeted by a service writer, Jessica. She was most pleasant and helpful. Raved about the condition of the Accent as well as its low mileage. Checked a number of visual stuff without me saying anything. At the computer she pulled up the service history. Shared with me all the warranty work previously performed, most of which I already knew about having glanced through the previous owner’s maintenance records.

Mindy joined me inside just as I was telling the young woman what needed fixed. Mindy got to talking so much with the girl that I had to step on her toe to get her to stop. I wanted to finish and head out. She took the hint. J  Iasked them to check the brakes and the defroster. Explained that all the hot air deflects to the floor regardless of the mode selected. She said they’d call me sometime Friday morning to let me know what they found, and that provided they have all the necessary parts, I could expect to have it back that same evening. Cool!

Mindy and I headed off for CBC. I felt really good about choosing to have it serviced there. Besides, I would be passing along the costs to Lindsey.

Traffic was slowed to crawl again as we approached downtown. Thinking it was just before 630pm when we parked in the CBC lot. We found perhaps the only two stools still open and side-by-side. Jamie was tending bar. Mindy ordered their black barley wine while I ordered a Bodhi, the new double IPA. Both are served in a tulip glass signifying a higher than usual alcohol content. The Bodhi tastes a lot like their regular IPA only stronger.

We didn't have a lot of time so we ordered food pretty quickly. I ordered wings while Mindy ordered a salad and one of their newest wood-fired pizzas. It came topped with pesto, chicken and mushrooms. I eventually ordered a 2nd Bodhi, and Jamie slipped Mindy another half glass of the black barley wine after confirming that I'd be driving home. Just before leaving, Mindy ordered a growler of the Bodhi for me to take home

We left for home at 745pm and made it there just ahead of 8pm, the same time we were expecting the kids. They weren't long behind us. Probably no more than 5 minutes. Spent the rest of the evening editing blog postings while the kids prepared for bed. We headed for bed soon after the kids were tucked in. I'm thinking it was just after 930pm.