Wateree Retreat

Was up at 610am and promptly downstairs to start coffee. Our stated departure time was 8am, though I expected it to be somewhat later.

Left for a 3 mile run at 650am. Gorgeous morning.

Mindy was already in the shower when I got back home. I asked that she leave the shower running.

I was showered and dressed by 745am. We weren’t taking a whole lot, each of us was taking a large shoulder bag and then I had my golf clubs. Oh, we packed a small cooler with water and Gatorade and had a couple gifts for David & Anita, too.

It was nice leaving a clean house so our return would be to a clean, pristine, pleasant environment. We backed out the drive at 825am. Mindy sent David a text sharing that we were on the road. Stopped for a fill-up at Circle K but all their pumps were disabled. Dammit! That happens there too much. Filled up across the street at the UDF.

270/23/35E/64/77. That’s the route we took. 100 miles on 35E 90 miles on 64, then about 300 miles on 77 winding through Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, N.C., and finally S.C. Took 8.25hrs to get there with next to no traffic slowdowns or back-ups. We stopped for gas once, two pee breaks and then went through a drive thru for food once in S.C. Easy drive. Only 14 miles off 77.

A little worried winding our way down the back country roads surrounding Lake Wateree. Listening closely, I was certain I could hear banjos playing. :) With the help of Google maps and GPS we made it there without any troubles. The clouds and cool weather we left behind in Ohio seemed a distant memory. At Lake Wateree it was sunny and warm (near 90).

Knock-knock! David & Antia greeted us at the door. Nice house – even nicer than the few pictures told, and definitely great for entertaining overnight guests. Gave us a grand tour straight up. Gorgeous lakeside home, walkout basement, private dock, boat, jet skis. What more could one want in a summer home?

Good, healthy snacks: veggies, cheese, Triscuits, nuts, etc. David shared some home brew, both IPA and a Lager, I believe. Presented me with a Mr Beer kit to take home. Cool!

Visited for an hour or two before David suggested we go to dinner at a Lakeside restaurant, The Retreat via boat. Awesome! Lake much large than I imagined. Lake Wateree, a manmade lake created by damming the Catawba River in two places – one to the north, the other to the south. Reminds me of a small Lake Cumberland but with an abundance of Lake houses lining its shores. About 25 miles long tip to tail with numerous coves adding up to about 225 miles of shoreline.

We parked the boat at the complementary dock, and then waited a short while for a table at The Retreat. David & Anita seemed to know the servers/greeters fairly well.

Menu looked fabulous. They didn’t have the crab legs David wanted us to try. He gave them a little crap for being out. I opted for their beef tips and grits, something you don’t find on too many menus back home. Last summer when they visited us, we took them to 229 where Anita ordered shrimp & grits. In no uncertain terms, David told the waiter that they weren’t prepared correctly. I wanted to try the ‘real thing’.

Must admit, my tips &grits were to die for delicious, and the serving size enough for two. Mindy ordered shrimp &girts. It was good too, but not as good as mine. Even she said so. We had a nice time. Sipped a couple different beers too. I had a Fat Tire Belgium Ale and then a Ranger IPA. We left somewhat abruptly so not to miss the sunset that awaited. Actually, though, we probably should’ve left dinner at least 10 minutes sooner. Mindy & I didn’t care. We were already lovin’ the life style and having a grand time. David, however, was very eager to share the sunset that he gets to enjoy everyday. Gorgeous! Pictures speak volumes – see attached.

Back at the Lake house David queued up a movie he purchased from Amazon movie streaming service – Identity Theft. Technical difficulties. About every 10-15 minutes the movie would stop. Seemed to be a RAM issue. Still not sure. David called the Amazon help number numerous times evilly requesting a refund. Seems it would restart after each call picking up where we last left off. However, once he requested the full refund they removed the entire movie from his collection thus ending it for good. We got to see about 60-70 minutes of the movie. Funny but with lots of unexpected interruptions.
Somewhat out of character, Mindy ducked off to bed without telling any of us. She was zonked. I joined her around 11-1130pm.

Week in My Briefs

This was the first full week of summer for Mindy & the kids. Well, sort of. Mindy had to go into school on Monday to shut down her classroom. Took the kids with her.

5 day work week- In the office Monday, Tuesday, Thursday. Worked at customer location on Wednesday and then home on Friday. I cut the lawn at lunch Friday along with packing for our S.C. trip.

Cool start to the week – reached only 65 degrees on Monday, June 3 and then barely 70 on Thursday & Friday. In between, there were two really nice days. In fact ,Tuesday was a BM’er day, and Wednesday was even warmer but eventually segued into rain.

Mindy, Bella and I visited CBC for dinner on Monday while Jacob attended fall soccer tryouts.

Dental appointment for crown prep on Thursday at lunch (1pm) Took about an hour. Not as bad as I expected.

Ashley called early Friday to share that she was in a car accident downtown – rear ended. She’s OK but her car severely damaged. Not her fault. Fought the insured for a rental.

The kids left for the Outer Banks 130pm Friday afternoon.

At 5pm I set my out of office. Wasn’t expecting to be back until the following Wednesday (June 12).

Mindy and I headed to Lake Chaktaw Friday near 6pm for Tara Windle’s retirement open house. We took a cooler of beer (6-pack Southern Tier XXIPA). Drank only one. Food was good. Weather cool and mostly cloudy. Event held outside on their enormous deck – nearly a 1000 sq ft. Left at 730pm and headed to Ashley’s house to drop off a bottle of Advil. Hugged Olivia bunches!

Headed to Barley’s for a beer or two. Mindy didn’t want to stay out late though in preparation for our long drive Saturday morning. Steve Wonn was there. Hung with him, mostly. Also talked with Little Bob, grandpa Tom and Steve. Had two beers, a Hoptopus and a Centennial.

Bug Smegma

Even though he couldn’t play, the plan was to attend Jacob’s first soccer tournament game at 1030am. He needed to be there 15 minutes earlier than us so Jimaken agreed to swing by pick him up and take him. For our part, I was out of bed by 745am. I started coffee then played on the internet. Enjoyed coffee both inside and then out on the deck once Mindy was up. It was approaching 9am when she headed up for a shower and I headed off on my run.

As for the weather, it was partly sunny and 70 degrees. We were expecting it to hit the upper 70s by late afternoon. Looking ahead, they're calling for much cooler temps come Monday with a daytime high of only 71 degrees.

Like most weekend days, I ran only 3 miles. It was pretty easy. Back from my run by 940am, I double checked on our departure time with Mindy. She wanted to leave by 1010am. I decided to skip a shower and stay in my running clothes. I made a rare to-go cup of coffee in a Viking coffee tumbler and we headed out near 1010am.

We parked in a tree shaded lot in between the two soccer field parking lots. Very close to the road. All we knew for certain was that his game was on field #7. Finding field #7 was the trick. The soccer complex was near capacity, games and people all over the place. Quite a long walk to field #7, but I didn't mind. It was a gorgeous morning.

Most of the Hilliard parents were huddled still talking about yesterday's horrible game. I opted to not participate and instead sought out the coach to give him some words of encouragement. I didn't want him to think we were angry with him for giving Jacob and earful. We talked for short while. His point was this: the kids need to control what they can control, and yesterday they lost sight of that and allowed the other team to get in their heads and therefore beat them. I like the way he thinks.

We were facing Grove City. Word had it that we had to win and the team that beat us Saturday needed to lose. If that happened, Hilliard would still make the championship game against Worthington, a team we've always played close but have never beat. Meanwhile, Jacob and his team mate Easa were serving their one game suspension in the morning game. Jacob's job as we told it was to cheer and encourage his teammates.

Long story short, Jacobs team won the game something like 4-1. The Grove City team was smaller but a little faster and scrapy. We could see the other game two fields over. The crowd erupted when the Olentangy team was defeated putting Hilliard into the finals against their dreaded foe, Worthington. We soon learned that the game would start at 3pm on the same field, #7. We headed for home with plans to come back a couple hours later.

Lindsey and the boys were already at the house working on their laundry. I decided to spend most of my time outside. The first thing I did was get our bikes down from the garage ceiling. Next, I put away the camping gear that Mindy took to school a couple weeks prior. I put air in our bike tires, too. I eventually decided to wash my car. While I washed my car, Mindy left to run errands. her errand list included a stop for a couple more steaks to grill for dinner.

Landon asked if he could help. Of course. I let him wash and rinse. As expected, I had to go over the his areas of responsibility a 2nd time. :) Took a while to get the Accord clean. In fact, I even polished the hood, hoping to get rid of some if not all of the pesky bug smegma stuck there. It worked only marginally, but wasn't all for not. The entire car could really use a coat of polish. wiping it dry is so much easier after a good polishing.

Once the Accord was clean I decided to wash Lindsey's Civic parked along the curb. Right away I noticed several new dings as well as scratches and mars. That got my blood boiling. There were inexplicable dings and scratches on all sides and then even a few on the hood in clusters. Almost looks like someone was wrestling on the hood. And given that I am the one paying for the car, I was furious. If it wasn't my wallet, I wouldn't have a say. I went inside to fetch Lindsey to get her excuses but she wasn't to be found. I guessed out back somewhere smoking. Grrrr!

Out front I cleaned up my car washing mess but decided not to put away the car wash supplies. I figured I would wash Mindy's Pilot as soon as she got back home. She was home soon enough but initially parked on the curb behind Lindsey. I motioned for her to pull in the drive. She did so reluctantly. Still not sure why.

Just as I got started on the Pilot, Jimaken stopped by to pick-up Jacob for the championship game. Somehow, I had lost all track of time. It was already well passed 2pm. Mind said we needed to leave in 15 minutes for the game. I hurried to finish washing the Pilot. Bella and Landon helped with it too. Having shown Mindy all the dings on Lindsey's car, Mindy soon asked Lindsey about it. She came out acting completely oblivious, just as I expected she would. Frankly, it pissed me off even more.

She finally admitted to Landon putting the ding with scratches on mars down the side. I tried using polish to see if the paint mars would come off but they didn't. The others she tried telling me it had to be hail. No. Sorry. Not buying what you're selling. Aside from keeping her job, Lindsey hasn't lived up to her end of the bargain. The 10-15 minutes wasn't pretty. I yelled. She yelled. At the time I felt like a fool for being gullible enough to do the deal and buy her the damn car. Feel like I am throwing good money at bad.

It was time to leave. What I didn't realize until it was too late, Bella was lying on the sofa watching TV the entire time that Lindsey and I were bickering. I think it scared her. Later, she shared with Mindy that she was afraid that she was going to disappoint me too. She also confided in Mindy the fact that she felt it was my fault since I raised Lindsey. I suppose partially true. I love Bella!

We left for the soccer game around 235pm. We parked in the same lot as we did earlier. Mindy shared that my dad would likely be joining us. We unfolded our camp chairs just as the game was getting under way. Jacob was back in the line-up after serving his one game suspension. Mindy and I both were convinced that he was incented to play extra hard.

The game was evenly matched and nip and tuck for the entire first half. I'm pretty sure that it was 0-0 at the half. Dad showed up just before halftime. Jimaken's dad, Tom, showed up shortly thereafter. We introduced the two. Jacob's team took a hard fought 1-0 lead midway through the 2nd half. We missed a couple other golden opportunities to score more, but they missed one or two, too.

We held our collective breath as the rest of the time ticked off the clock. 3-2-1 ... Jacob's team won the championship game 1-0. It was very exciting.

Dad shared that he had some things in his van for Mindy's classroom - pencils, note pass, etc. which were donations from brother Bobby. Said he was going to pull around to our Pilot while we headed to the trophy ceremony with Jacob and team.

I was most impressed with the Worthington coach. He had some very kind words for Jacob's team: play extremely hard and tough, to the final buzzer. Said he always loves playing Hilliard because he knows his kids will be challenged. The runners-up got trophies too. Jeremy, Jacob's teams coach, isn't one for a lot of words, but he had some nice things to say, too. After passing out the trophies, the team admin declared Dairy Queen for all!

As we made our way to the Pilot, Bella asked if she could ride with Jimaken and Jacob. Why not? Mindy and I soon decided to skip the DQ and instead head straight home to start dinner, which by then it was already 5pm. However, first, we met dad at the Pilot where he handed off three large boxes of supplies. Mindy invited dad to join us for dinner, but he declined favoring instead to dine at home with the mannequins. Understood. After all, he just recently got them into their summer outfits.

Lindsey was already done and gone by the time we arrived home. She apparently sent a text to Mindy advising that Landon went home with her but Rocky was staying with Evan and having dinner with us. He asked about having dinner with us earlier. Not a problem.

We weren't home long before I stepped out on the deck to start grilling. I grilled five steaks (3 ribeye, 2 filet), even though I tried convincing Mindy that 3 was plenty. She countered that we would use the leftovers for wraps on Monday or Tuesday. To go along with the steaks, Mindy baked potatoes all afternoon. I had half a ribeye. It was good, not great.

After dinner and clean-up, Mindy and I went on a bike ride and ended up at Darwin's place. We parked our bikes on the driveway and headed inside to visit briefly with Connie. I wanted to explain why we decided not to do an Outer Banks trip this summer. We sent a text but I felt a face to face explanation was warranted. Darwin was working. Connie was there with Jordan, her brother Danny, and the wee ones. We talked for a while. Connie is a very sweet woman. We visited for 10 minutes or so before continuing on with our Sunday evening bike ride. We did about three miles, that's it. That was enough.

At home, Lindsey had just pulled up coming back to pick-up Rocky. He was still down at Evan's. She drove down there to get him. Mindy headed out on the deck while I took up refuge on the sofa. I might've napped briefly before we all decided to head to bed around 930pm. I was really tired, but once in bed I just couldn't sleep. Around 1015pm I got up again and headed downstairs for at least another hour or more. Watched How It's Made. I headed back to bed before midnight but wasn't asleep until after. Ugh!

Jacob Tossed

I slept in until about 815am. Officially it was partly cloudy, but at the time, more clouds than sunshine. The temp was warm, though – a balmy 70 degrees. I started coffee then played around online. I quickly bored with playing around on the internet and headed out to the deck. Mindy was up around 915am and joined me downstairs and on the deck. We hung outside for a while. Eiknarf was out there with us too.

Mindy shared that Jimaken came to pick-up Jacob around 7am for his morning soccer game. I didn’t hear him leave. It should be obvious that we didn’t plan to attend his early game, but we did plan to head to the afternoon game. This is the final weekend of the spring soccer season and his league is hosting the weekend’s tournament at our home field – Spindler. Though this is the last weekend of spring soccer, get this. Autumn tryouts are scheduled for Monday and Thursday of the upcoming week. 

While Mindy headed for a shower, I headed off on a run. By then it was well past 10am. I did my usual Saturday run of just 3 miles. Was home near 11am. We didn’t have a whole lot planned other than attending Jacob’s afternoon soccer game, and even then we didn’t yet know the actual time. Just before leaving for my run we learned that his team won the early game 4-1 and that his afternoon game would begin at 330pm.

Mindy asked Bella to check in before noon. She came home while Mindy was in the shower. I spent considerable time shopping online for shower pans no more than 32” wide and preferably even smaller so not to violate the distance code between shower and toilet..

I didn’t really do a whole lot other than shower and play on the internet. We left for Jacob’s soccer game around 3pm. Because it was tournament weekend, the lot was expected to be packed. Surprisingly, there wasn’t nearly as many cars as we expected. We actually got a fairly close spot. I guess most of the games were already completed for the day. Still, there were several games going on at the same time.

Jacob’s team was playing a club from Olentangy. And given that his team beat the number one seed earlier, they were assured a spot in the Sunday championship with another win despite the outcome of their Sunday morning game. The game started well with Jacob’s team scoring the first goal just a minute or so into the match. In fact, they just missed adding a 2nd goal not even a minute later. And unless I’m mistaken, they were leading 1-0 at the half. It should be noted, that even though the temperature was 81 degrees, it was a little chilly when the sun went behind the many clouds thanks in part to the stiff wind blowing out of the SW.

The 2nd half started sluggishly with neither team doing much. However, all that changed about 5-10 minutes in. Over the next 10 minutes the referee called as many as 8 yellow card penalties and eventually 2 red cards on Jacob’s team. At that point the game was tied 1-1. Jacob was ejected from the game after a fight ensued. I only saw the fists flying. I didn’t see the impetus. Mindy, however, did. She said the boys got tangled and as Jacob walked away from a boy taunting him, the kid grabbed and punched him. Jacob’s retaliated with a couple punches which earned him the red card and ejection. By then most of the Hilliard parents were going wild with anger and hollering at the ref as well as some of the Olentangy kids, who weren’t very well mannered. More than one of their players ran by the Hilliard parents basically telling them to shut up. It got ugly fast. Soon all the wee kids on the sideline were screaming at the ref and opposing players. As bad or one sided as the calls seemed to be, I was ashamed of the behavior exhibited by most of the parents.

As angry as Mindy was that Jacob was ejected and the other kid not, she still managed to keep her composure. The rules apparently state that any fighters should be ejected even if they hadn’t prior received a yellow card. Most of the parents felt that the ref was blatantly cheating. Later is was mentioned that the Hilliard team filed a grievance of sorts against this same ref for poor refereeing a month or so prior. The logically conclusion was that he was getting even. It did seem somewhat precarious. I’ve never seen anything like it before – the number of yellow card penalties thrown and two Hilliard players ejected.

It should be noted, that when a player or players are ejected, the team must play the remainder of the game down that or those players. Soon Olentangy took a 2-1 lead. Our team lost its mojo. However, despite being down two players and in all the chaos, they still had numerous chances to score the tying and possibly even the winning goal. But in the end, their efforts fell a little short. A very sad, very ugly game.

Once the kids broke their after game huddle, Jacob shared that Jeremy, his coach, was upset with him as well as his team mates for letting the other team get in their heads. Jacob was furious. The rules say that if you’re removed from a game, you’re required to sit out the very next game, which in this case was the semi-final tournament game Sunday morning, and quite possibly their last game of the season. To play in the championship game, not only did they need to win their Sunday AM game, but they also needed help from another team. That didn’t seem likely. Jacob insisted that he wasn’t going to show up for the Sunday AM game despite all of us (me, Mindy & Jimaken) insisting otherwise.

We headed for home trying to downplay any further discussion until things calmed down. The pan was simple. Shortly after Jacob & Bella were out of the shower all of us were heading to Pies & Pints in Worthington for dinner. While Jacob & Bella took their showers, I watered flowers front and back. We were ready to head north by 530pm. We drove the Accord.

We made good time barreling around 270 toward Worthington. I checked their hours of operation as well as their current draught menu before leaving the house. I was excited to see that they had Bodhi as well as another top notch IPA on tap. Jacob shared that it’s common to have a long wait. We were semi-prepared for the wait, but happy to be seated right away on the patio. Mindy suggested the Memorial tournament still going on as the reason for the smaller crowd. We asked for a table on the patio.

Can’t recall our server’s name, but she went through an entire spiel. Mindy and I both asked for a Bodhi. We quickly learned that despite their webpage indicating as much, they were out. I made a 2nd choice only to learn that they were out of it too. And lastly, when I went with the 3rd alternative, a CBC IPA, we learned that they didn’t have it on tap either. Oh boy! Disappointed, I ordered a Coke.

We placed an order for a plate of wings as a shared appetizer. Jacob insisted that they were incredibly good. They apparently use a dry rub spice and seasoning. We ordered three pies, too – a half & half - Cuban/chicken gouda, a small personal pepperoni for Bella, and a small Cuban for Jacob.
The pies were pretty good, but I’ve never really been a huge fan of designer pizzas. I missed the lack of a tomato based sauce. I enjoyed the food but was disappointed with the lack of a good IPA. I won’t be knocking down walls to get back there much the same thing I said about the Pint Room. As agreed, Mindy picked up the tab.

When we left, Mindy suggested we take the back way through the Worthington subdivision she and Jimaken lived in soon after they were married. Jacob & Bella both lived there, too, but Bella was very young – less than 1year old. Nice old houses. Most well-maintained. That’s Worthington. We took 161 to 315 to 670. I suggested we make a quick stop at Barley’s to get a growler of Hopiate. Mindy was game. Jacob wasn’t. He said he had to poop!  We convinced Bella that it was a good idea by promising dessert.

Not a big crowd at all. Jersey was working the bar. Looked very sleepy. Just my luck, out of Hopiate. They did have Hoptopus and Centennial. I opted for a Centennial. Mindy opted for a Fortune Teller, which is an Imperial Porter. We all sat at the bar. We weren’t at Barley’s too long, but long enough to see Kent, who stopped in after a busy day at work and home. We talked about his smoking a brisket at home on Sunday. Yum! We also were there when Thad & Monica stopped in. Mindy chatted teacher talk with Thad. We left for home around 830pm.

At home, Jacob rushed to the bathroom.  Mindy & I headed out on the deck but just for a brief stint. Mindy shared how tired she was. Despite it being a Saturday night, we all were in bed by 10pm. Don’t tell anyone. 

School Girls

Slept in until almost 6am. Didn’t prep coffee the night before so that became priority 1. Quickly completed sit-ups, windmills, and push-ups. Push-ups were tough. Already 615am when I finished calisthenics and delivered a cup of coffee to Mindy. Downstairs, I poured my own coffee then played around online for a while. It wasn’t too long before I logged on my laptop and got my work day started.

Jacob headed out the door to catch the bus for the last time this school year without his book bag. Mindy was downstairs a few minutes later. I didn’t feel like rushing off on my run. Decided to hold off on my run until after seeing Bella off to school. I used the next 45 minutes to take care of a few work tasks. Eiknarf was finally out of bed and downstairs near 755am. I went ahead and took her on a short walk.

I could see the excitement in Bella’s eyes as we prepared to head out to the bus stop for the final time this school year. I told that they next time we did this exercise, she’d be at the top of the food chain relative to her class seating at the school. Hard to believe. Made sure to take my camera and snap a couple photos. Kenny was out with Makayla. Said he planned to golf across the street. Lucky you! The bus arrived a couple minutes early. Wished Mrs. Vanorder well.

I checked in with work then headed off on a run. It was 822am when I headed out. I had to hurry since I needed to join a 9am conference call. With little choice, I trimmed my run to only three miles. It was gorgeous – sunny and close to 70 degrees. Fairly easy run.

Even with trimming my run to three miles, I had little time to spare before joining my 9am conference call. I grabbed a beach towel from the laundry room to wipe away the heavy sweat. I joined the call a minute late. As it turned out, we spent most of the time we set aside for the call talking about another more pressing issue. The call went well passed the allotted half hour, but it was time well spent.

Spent the rest of my morning configuring a new online work tool. Took care of a couple month end administrative tasks, too. Late morning it rained pretty hard but it was so brief that one could hardly tell an hour later. In fact, by 1230pm, it was all blue skies and sunshine. My plan all along was to cut the lawn at lunch. I headed out a few minutes later determined to get the entire lawn done as fast as possible.

As a change of pace, I did the tractor piece first, which generally translates into more of the lawn getting cut with it rather than the push mower. In addition to the back, I cut about 2/3s of the front with the tractor saving myself maybe 15 minutes and lots & lots of sweat. Had all the mowing completed in about 50 minutes – near record time. After checking work email & a water break, I headed out again to trim, edge and blow. Finished the lawn chores in its entirety in about 75 minutes. Headed in to shower.

After a shower and fresh clothes, I spent the next couple hours wrapping up the work week. Jacoby, Bella and Mindy were home from school between 3 & 415pm. As you might expect, all of them in a good mood. Mindy picked up where she left off the evening before, prepping for her school’s out party, which was set to begin around 5pm.

Her friend Phyllis showed up first, and unless I’m mistaken, still before 5pm. I was still in my office working while the two of them hung out. According to Mindy, several teachers stayed late at school for a meeting, something to do with filing a formal complaint against their principal. Not exactly a good way to end the school year.

I called Tom Clark around 515pm, or just after I wrapped up my work day. Invited Tom to stop by for Mindy’s teacher gathering. Mindy invited the school psychologist that she wants Tom to meet. I wanted Tom to look at our basement roughed in drain configuration to help me decided whether we should or shouldn’t put in a shower. Said he’d be over in about an hour. Cool!

Mindy was a little surprised when her principal called sharing that he was coming to her party despite the heated disagreement with most of the teachers. I give him props for having the fortitude to make an appearance. And actually, he’s a very nice guy.

Some teachers I am most familiar with showed around6-630pm: Kerriane, Shelly, and Kim. Kerriane and Kim brought a bottle of grocery store rum. Asked me to mix their drinks. I did my best to keep their glass full.  Tom showed around 630pm too. At the time, Mindy was giving her principal, Bryan, a tour of our home and yard. They were still out back having a lengthy conversation. Many of Mindy’s teacher pals joked that they were putting their money on Mindy.
Tom and I eventually made our way to the basement to check out the roughed in drains. Tom shared a few clearance minimums that would be a struggle to meet should we choose to put a shower beside the toilet. Apparently there needs to be a minimum of 15” from the center of the toilet drain to the edge of a shower stall. He also identified where we’d have to bust up the concrete and a couple potential problems, none of which were show stoppers, but still needed to be considered. I appreciated the advice. To be fair, the drain rough in that I paid the builder to install 19 years ago was intended for a vanity sink and toilet.

Rejoined the others upstairs. Nearly half of Mindy’s teacher pals departed before 8pm. Jodi and Larry showed up shortly thereafter. I didn’t realize that Mindy sent them the invite but was happy to see them just the same. Bella and all of her neighborhood peeps were in and out all evening. The plan as I understood it was that all of them were staying the night at Kenny & Chrissy’s. Tom, Jodi & Larry were the last to depart. They were gone by 10pm.

Mindy and I started clean-up right as soon as all of our guests were gone. Took care of the low hanging fruit first, tossing half full cups and plates, and then putting away leftover food. At roughly the same time the girls were preparing to head down to Kenny & Chrissy’s. Bella left her room an absolute mess, so Mindy and I insisted she take care of that before leaving. For some reason, Makayla felt compelled to mock my curt instructions to Bella, which was to follow through without lip service. I sent Makayla home for mocking me. She wasn’t pleased but I didn’t care. We don’t do that at our house.

The rest of the girls helped Bella get her room tidied up. Took about 10 minutes. The entire gang headed next door for their sleepover. Once the clean-up was completed, Mindy & I slipped out on the deck to enjoy a beer and some quiet conversation. It had rained significantly earlier, so we sat on outdoor pillows that do a remarkable job of not absorbing water. I’m thinking we were out there until 11-1130pm or so.

With Myself

Was up and downstairs by 535am.

Exercise, coffee, & internet

Expecting it to be sunny & hot – near 90

Delivered Mindy’s coffee near 615am

Meditate & stretch

Left for a run near 635am. Ran 4.1 miles.

Saw Bella off to school at 810am – counting Thursday, only 2 more school days!

Moved the Accord curbside so I could drive the BM’er to work.

Left for the office by 830am. Busy work day.

Headed to Saturday’s for a haircut at lunch time. Gone about 40 minutes.

Left for home near 5pm. Jimaken & Jacob leaving for soccer practice just as I arrived home.

Mindy & Bella left to shop for last day of school party food and supplies minutes later.

Sent Darwin and Bob a text letting them know that I was heading to Barley’s. Drove the BM’er. Arrived before 6pm.

Enjoyed a Centennial and Hopiate. Ordered the Thursday special, a Reuben. I haven’t had one of those for a while. Talked with the twins, Kent & Kurt. Katie and Janet were working the bar, but Katie eventually joined me on the customer side of the bar. Bob I. sent a text asking if I was still there. Yep! Just as Katie was departing, Bob I. showed up. Bob & I hung out for 30-40 minutes. I asked Janet to put Bob’s beer on my tab.

First day of the Memorial golf tournament. The leader finishes -7. Tiger finished -1.

Headed home near 8pm. Mindy already had the kitchen decorated for her Friday end of school year party. She asked if I was working from home on Friday. I wasn’t certain. Other than that, we didn’t interact much. I spent most of the next hour or so on the internet, and Mindy headed to bed shortly after 9pm. I headed to bed near 1030pm.

Careless UPS Drivers

I heard the irrigation system kick on at 5am sharp. It was hardly detectible, but I knew what to listen for. It’s certainly not as loud as it used to be before we had the primary water meter replaced. I didn’t get up for good until 545am. By then the irrigation system was in the middle backyard. Good to see it going through its paces. The coffee had just finished its brew cycle as I slipped into my exercise shoes. I whipped out sit-ups, windmills, and push-ups.

Headed to my PC with coffee and remained there until 615am when I headed upstairs to wake Mindy. Back downstairs I immediately transitioned to meditation and stretching. And once again, both went extremely well. I finished both by 628am and without hesitation dressed and left for a run getting out the door by 635am.

Sun had only recently cracked the horizon and was quickly rising between houses. I absolutely love that time of day - stunningly long shadows and dappled sunlight kissing all the landscapes. Our front walk was nearly dry after it’s the season’s maiden full irrigation cycle. I ran the full 4.1 miles without any issues. The trash truck was by while I was away. Our can was lying on its side. I picked it up and rolled it back to its resting place before heading inside.

Asked for help getting the pug since I had grass clippings dangling from my wet shoes. Mindy went up after the pug, who sat looking for atop the stairs. We headed out for our usual 8 minute walk. Mindy was still inside getting ready to depart when we got back. Mindy left near 725a.

I quickly started breakfast and packed my lunch. Mindy had a tub of fresh veggies already setting on the island counter. I added fruit, nuts, and cheese. Decided to make a plain omelet. It was good for a change. I was off to the shower even before 745am. I had a dental appointment at 9am, so I was a little more deliberate with my flossing, though I do so every work day anyhow. I was downstairs ready to go by 803am. As soon as Bella was on the bus, I planned to leave the house.

The bus was a few minutes early.In fact, so early that the nw family had to run to make the bus. I asked Mrs. Vanorder if she planned to drive again next school year. Said she would be driving but was unsure of her route since they’re apparently closing the Roberts Rd & 270 bridge for quite a while. Yikes! That was news to me.

I left for my dental appointment at 832am and planned to take Trabue to Riverside to Fishinger. However, the turn lane from Trabue to Riverside was backed up for about a quarter mile. I opted to go straight through Arlington taking Cambridge all the way to Tremont then north. That proved wise. I arrived by 845am.

While waiting to be called back, I perused a Home Decorating magazine geared to the greater Columbus metro area and highlighting the upcoming parade of homes. Neat stuff! Called me back just before 9am. First thing, Heather, my regular hygienist, asked me about the broken molar. I shared what happened. Before beginning the cleaning, she took a look. Her opinion was that it would need crowned since the lingual corner broke off. Said no filling would hold against biting, chewing. I figured as much. In the end, she said Dr March was the expert and would take a look after my cleaning. They actually had me down for chair time to begin whatever repair would be necessary. I shared that as concerned as I was with the issue, I wasn’t in any pain and really needed to be across town for work by 1030am. She understood.

The cleaning went well. I asked Heather about their Zoom whitening treatment on daughter Ashley’s behalf. She reviewed the whole process, including the in chair process as well as the take home touch up kit. She also added that she’ll need to stop smoking for at least 48 after otherwise the treatment will fail. Really, she emphasized that she needs to stop permanently. Duh, for sure! She also shared that the new swabbing products being marketed on XM radio simply do not work as advertised. Lastly, she recommended a thorough cleaning before any bleaching, especially since she just had her braces removed. It all made sense to me.

She finished up in all of about 30 minutes and then sent me over to see Dr. March and Lora, his assistant. Lora and I chatted about kids and vacations before Dr. March joined us. One look at my broken molar both were adamant that it will need crowned. Dr March was ready to start. Also said he spotted a tiny cavity in an existing filling he thought we should fix. I shared my lack of time, so we scheduled another appointment for next Thursday at 1pm. It was just after 10am and I was on my way.

Outside and to my car, it smelt and felt like mid-summer – warm, steamy, with a handful of landscapers taking care of the grounds. I wasn’t real sure the best way to get to new Albany from mid-Arlington but quickly opted to take Tremont to Kenny to Henderson and then to 315 and 270. Bam! I arrived in New Albany at 1027am, pretty much on par with the expectations I set with the customer the night before.

What was left of the morning went by quickly. I left for lunch near 1pm and headed to the nearest Home Depot. I wanted to look at their canned lighting options. Turns out, H.D's. lighting department is far more organized than Lowes. Got a much better understanding of the options available. I'm now leaning more towards 4" cans. I learned ,too, how the eyeball style works in the same base can, which until then remained a mystery. Essentially there's a supplemental piveting socket that comes with the eyeball trim. I'm thinking we may use those near the walls and then over the island. Walked away with some good ideas.

Did a little browsing afterwards. Somewhat impulsively, I picked up three very colorful deck (outdoor) pillows. Figured if Mindy didn't like them then I could easily return them. We've been wanting to add several more to our horseshoe benches. Out for nearly an hour, I headed back to the office near 2pm.

Stayed busy through the afternoon which in kind help ensure it moved swiftly. Soon it was after 5pm and time to head for home. Like most commutes across town, I tried calling Mindy once I was safely merged onto 270. I knew Jacob had a soccer game but wasn't exactly sure where and what time. No answer.
Traffic was intermittently heavy in the prone zones but never too bad. Never did hear from Mindy so I opted to head for home. Because of all the freeway work taking place on 270 near Roberts and 70, as well as the Roberts Rd bridge itself, traffic on Roberts and then north on Wilson has been an absolute nightmare. And word has it that it's only going to get worse before getting better as they close the Roberts Rd. 270 bridge. Traffic on Wilson Rd N was backed up and at a standstill all the way from Roberts down to I-70. Glad I was going the opposite direction.

Just an observation, UPS has long held a reputation for safe drivers unwilling to take unnecessary chances in traffic, and typically very courteous drivers. And given that there's a terminal on Trabue near Wal-Mart I get to see lots and lots of their trucks in rush hour traffic. I've noticed much more aggressive driving style in the past year or so. That's something - if I were UPS brass - that I'd want to pay close attention to and would go to great lengths to restore/protect.

As expected, Mindy's Pilot was missing from the driveway. Home was all mine. Inside, I did my usual after work chores then snacked on nuts while checking email. I played a little guitar then headed out on the deck with my book and a glass of ice water. Although it was summerlike steamy, the chaise lounge looked like an incredibly inviting spot under the shade of the nearby maple.. I was out there for a while reading and napping.

Mindy and the kids were finally home around 745pm. I soon headed inside. Mindy was already off to the shower while Bella was in the kitchen eating. Who had Applebees? After her shower, Mindy was briefly downstairs where she greeted me as sleepy head. I asked about dinner. Looked to me that their hunger had already been satiated. I was on my own. Thanks!

It was an early evening and bedtime for all. Mindy and the kids were in bed shortly after 9pm. I had a bowl of cereal or two and stayed up watching How It's Made until just after 10pm.

Charitable Bella

Was up shortly after 530am feeling OK but also like I never got the deep, nourishing sleep my body craved. Had some strange dreams just before waking, too. That usually doesn’t bode well. I had to remind myself that it was in fact Tuesday – not Monday. As such, it wasn’t a push-up day. After calisthenics I retreated to my PC with coffee. It was only 550am. I had plenty of time to myself.

The weather, meanwhile, was cloudy with light rain, but warm – already 66 degrees. I stuck my head out the door. I felt like a summer morning. Muggy & sticky. Apparently our less than desirable weather was gone. Nothing but mid 80s and higher looking ahead.

Woke Mindy at 610am with a fresh cup of coffee. She asked that I turn off the ceiling fan. I did as much then headed downstairs for meditation and stretching. I am determined to get back on track with my routine which leaves me feeling more centered. Both meditation and stretching went well. Found myself slipping into my running clothes by 635am. Yippie! Headed out the door a few minutes later.

I ran the usual 4.1 miles working up one heck of a lather. Felt great. Got back home near 715am. Requested help leashing up the pug, who was dragging tail coming downstairs. My shoes were a tad wet so I didn’t want to tromp throughout the house if I could help it.

The pug and I were out the door a few minutes later and out for about 8 minutes. Mindy was just getting ready to head out when the pug and I got back. It was very near 730am, and I quickly got started making my breakfast and packing my lunch. Proudly, for the first time in a long while, I finished eating and was on my way to the shower by 745am.

Ready and downstairs by 8am. Had time to organize myself for my ultimate departure for work. Headed to the bus stop at 810am. Asked Bella how many more school days. 4! The bus pulled up on time. Headed for home with the pug. Still cloudy but appeared to be clearing. I was hopeful. Headed out the door for the office near 830am.

Got a blackberry call just as I was pulling up at the office. It was a customer needing help, and one I was taking care of for a peer, who was serving his first day of jury duty. Last he and I talked, he was unsure how long his duty might go on. As a consequence, I felt behind from jump, which is never a good feeling. My boss stopped by shortly after 9am. I was busy multitasking and could only muster a grunt or two. He laughed and shared that one should return with a smile after a three day weekend. Yeah, that is how life SHOULD be. 

Once I got over the initial hump, the day wasn’t so bad after all. Just seemed that way at the start. At 1pm I left for lunch and visited Lowes where I looked at their canned lighting options. Now that the basement is framed, the electrical stuff is next. Way more options than one might think. Different housing types, different sizes, different reflectors/baffles. Yikes! It became quickly apparent that I need to bone up on lighting design so we don’t under light, or for that matter, over light. And of course, we want it to look great, too.

Looked for vinca vines and algaecide, too. Couldn’t find either. Used the last few drops of algaecide that we had on hand for Mindy’s fountain on Sunday. Figured I would stop at Home Depot on my way back to the office to see if they had any.

Whipped into Home Depot and headed in through the nursery. Found some vinca vines right away. Cool. I bought 6 more. Also found algaecide. This time I bought a much bigger bottle. It should last for many years. Without it, the fountain water grows algae and turns green in a hurry.

Was back at the office by 205pm. Had to park in the far lot. Not used to the lot being so full. Stayed busy all afternoon, both with my customer base as well as with my peers. Left for home around 515pm. Failed to share that the sky cleared well before noon. Summer was back! According to my car, it was 84 degrees.

Talked with Mindy on my drive home. She was busy prepping dinner so our call was short. Arrived home around 540pm. By then Mindy was gone driving Bella to gymnastics. She was home again by 610pm. Our grilled salmon wasn’t ready until almost 640pm. It was delicious, though. As sides, Mindy reheated Sunday’s corn on the cob and made a fresh garden salad. By the time dinner was complete and clean-up started, it was time for me to go after Bella. During dinner, I sent Darwin a text asking if he wanted us to take Lane when picking up Bella. Unfortunately, he didn’t respond until I was on the road and near the Georgesville Rd. exit.

Made great time arriving at 725pm. Got to watch about 5 minutes of Bella’s practice. Once again, it smelt like a sweat shop. Ugh! Bella, bless her heart, told me that she donated the cash Mindy gave her for snacks to the tornado victims in Oklahoma. She was worried that Mindy might be upset and agreed to pay her back with her own money. 

She complained of being thirsty and asked if we could stop for ice cream. Uh, no! Ice cream will not cure your thirst. I did grant her wish to listen to 97.9 FM. Grueling!  Arrived home before 8pm. I headed out to water flowers front and back. Probably spent a solid half hour out there. Mindy took Eiknarf on a walk while I was watering out front. It’s somewhat surprising how quickly things were drying out after just one warm day. I soaked everything well.

None of us were up too much longer. Mindy headed to bed just after 9pm, but I could hear that she was watching TV. I stayed up and downstairs for another 30 minutes or so.

A Rainy Memorial Day

I heard Mindy get up to greet the boys, who Lindsey dropped off on her way to work. She came back to bed a minute or two later. I never did return to sleep, and a few minutes later when I decided it was time to roll out of bed, I was concerned that I might pay a heavy price – think horrible hangover - for all the beer and Jack Daniels shots consumed the night before. It was 820am, and surprisingly, I felt fine, though perhaps just a tad sleepy. Not wanting to risk jostling one loose, I moved slowly while brushing my teeth and gathering up my running clothes.

The boys were watching TV quietly from the sofa while I prepped coffee. I knew the question was coming. “Papa, can we have some coffee? “ I didn’t immediately promise them any, but ended up making them some the same way I typically do, with far more chocolate milk, whipped cream and caramel than actual coffee. Landon asked for peanut butter toast, too. Rocky wanted nothing else.

Not only was the weather gloomy, but it started raining lightly too. The day wasn’t supposed to be a wash. The rain was expected to diminish as the day wore on. The high was forecasted to only reach a balmy 70 degrees. At the time it was still in the low 50s, and with a chilly, light rain. A little later when Landon and I walked Eiknarf, we both were cold.

Mindy slept in until almost 10am. Once she was up, I readied and left for a run. It was raining when I left the house and rained on and off through the entire run. It brought back memories of Memorial Day’s past, when it seemed we couldn’t buy a summery forecast for the holiday. The last few, however, have been quite pleasant.

Shortly after returning from my 3 mile Sunday run, I lengthened the chain on our front porch hanging basket and bent the brace hook as far away from the garage wall as possible. Looked a lot more pleasing to the eye after I finished, but still not perfect. Inside, both boys wanted more peanut butter toast. I suggested that we head out and toss the baseball, something I knew Rocky likes. By then the sky was showing signs of brightening.

I think it was near noon when Jimaken dropped Jacob off at home. That surprised me a little. Rocky invited Jacob out to throw the baseball with us. Jacob was still in a funk and only told Rocky that he was annoying. The three of us, me, Rocky, Landon headed out in the neighbors back yard to throw the baseball. It was fun. Soon the sun broke through the clouds and mostly blue skies appeared. Hoorah!

Rocky soon ran off to see if Evan was home. Those two play well together. Landon and I kept tossing the baseball. We kept throwing it back and forth until Landon caught one with his head. I think it’s the first time I’ve seen him cry. The crying didn’t last long, and there didn’t appear to be a bump or contusion of any sort.

After baseball I relaxed inside for a while. I was feeling a little sleepy, no doubt a byproduct of Sunday evening’s antics. Sometime near 1pm, Mindy ran to pick-up Joe and Rick so they could get their car. Said she was going to stop at McDonalds for some chicken nuggets on the way back, too. While she was away, I napped on the sofa. Felt heavenly.

I woke 45 minutes later to a rush of noise. Not only was Mindy back home with Joe & Rick, but all the kids were in the kitchen for some chicken nuggets 9our kids, the neighbors kids). Joe and Rick suggested I was faking my nap. I got up and joined the others for some banter. Those two looked no worse for the wear whereas I looked like crap. Oh to be in my 20s again!

I nibbled on a few nuggets and fries and then had a bite of Mindy’s Big Mac before heading upstairs for a shower. Joe & Rick left to go complete Joe’s home move.

A shower was just what the doctor ordered. Felt fantastic. After a shower I headed out back again, only this time to hot a few golf balls. Sadly, given the ugly start to the day’s weather, that would be the extent of my golfing for the weekend. Haven’t been out even once yet this season. Shame shame!

Unbeknownst to me, Kenny had the same idea, and was practicing his swing, too, only he was hitting light weight (felt like Styrofoam) balls. We joked around a little. Mindy soon came out and walked over to chat with Chrissy. Landon wanted to hit some golf balls, and eventually walked over to Kenny’s where he fetched him another club. He played over there for at least an hour while I rested on the deck. Some grandpa I am.

Mindy kept working on Lindsey’s laundry. And at some point asked how I felt about burgers, brats and dogs for dinner. Fine with me. I was feeling a bit blue. I am sure it was a combination of too much partying, the less than favorable weather, and the end of the three-day weekend. Late afternoon I headed to the livingroom where I strummed the guitar then napped from the recliner. Mindy had earlier asked me to grill, but when I woke, she was already doing it. About the time all the fixins were ready she asked if I was ready to head to the neighbors. What? That’s right! Mindy strikes again. Apparently she made arrangements for all of us to cookout and eat with the neighbors but failed to share the plan with me.
I wasn’t happy that she didn’t bother asking/sharing her idea with me, but was feeling too lethargic to press the issue. I walked down to the neighbors carrying a tray full of con on the cob.

Kenny grilled burgers and steaks. The O’Connell’s brought twice baked potatoes that looked incredible, and Chrissy made green bean casserole. Dinner was delicious. I had a thick burger. And unlike the week before, this one was grilled to perfection (pink inside). While finishing the last bite or two of my burger, I bit into something incredibly hard with my right, lower molar. Eventually pulled a piece of bone from the burger. I did a quick check of the area with my tongue. No apparent damage. A few seconds later, I felt a corner from that molar come loose. Not good, a broken tooth. Dammit! I went to the bathroom to inspect. Yep, one of the lingual busted off the furthest molar. The good news was twofold. It didn’t hurt and I had a dental appointment already set-up for Wednesday AM.

We didn’t stay around too long after dinner. I apologized then excused myself for becoming really sleepy after eating then headed for home. Mindy and the kids followed.

Lindsey was at the house gathering her laundry. Apologized for not bringing her insurance money. Said she’d bring it the following day. Mindy helped her carry the laundry out. I took another nap from the recliner sleeping for as much as an hour. I wasn’t up from my nap for more than 15 minutes when Mindy said she was heading to bed. I joined her a few minutes later, but by then my mind was racing with work stuff and I just couldn’t sleep. I ended up getting up from bed and heading back downstairs for a few. Stayed up until 1015pm.

Jack Daniels

I was up fairly early, somewhere between 7 & 8am. I quickly started coffee on what was a brilliantly sunny morning. However, not trying to fool anyone, I was really chilly again – only 43 degrees. I enjoyed coffee at my PC for nearly an hour before heading out on a run. I ran the typical weekend route of 3 miles.

After my run, Mindy and I enjoyed coffee on the deck. It was warming nicely – already near 60 degrees by 10am. However, as good as it felt, it wasn’t expected to get warmer than 70 degrees all day. Mindy and I agreed to keep the boys on Monday while Lindsey worked. At the time, there was still a chance that I might be golfing. Mindy sent Lindsey a text letting her know that we would keep them and to bring her laundry then, too. I suggested we spend some time planting the flowers we bought the day before.

We headed upstairs to change into attire more suitable for yard work. We headed out about a half hour later. Mindy’s job was to sink the flowers she picked out for the tree stump planter. My job was to do the patio pot. We finished that in a hurry. Next up, Mindy asked if I was going to plant the althea (rose of Sharon) that I bought two weeks ago. Once those were in the ground, all of our flowers would be in the ground.

The spot where we wanted to plant the rose of Sharon is severely sloped, so it was a challenge digging the holes and cutting a quick bed. The Idea being to eliminate having to cut the grass there in the future. Took about30 minutes to get them fully planted. I used the sod I dug up to fill a couple bare spots in neighbor Trena’s lawn. I planted a few more cannas bulbs there, too.

Watered everything we planted really well. Mindy headed for a shower and then out to run errands. I think she had planned stops at Target & Kroger. I suggested she pick-up some more beer, too. Though, beyond heading to her brother’s place around 430pm, we didn’t have any other plans solidified.

While Mindy was away, I played around online looking for available vacation homes in the Outer Banks, just as Connie and I talked about the night before. Geesh! All the houses I liked were several thousand dollars for one week. One in particular was $12K. Hell no! It was gorgeous though.

I spent a little time catching up with my blog, too. I hadn’t published or posted anything for more than a week. I had written everything through Wednesday, May 22nd. Mindy called to ask me what beers I wanted her to get. We agreed on some CBC IPA and some more Southern Tier XXIPA. Took a shower before Mindy got back home.

We heard from the kids. Jacob’s soccer team won the early game. Had another one coming up later in the afternoon. If his team won that game, then they’d be heading back again on Monday for the championship game. We left for Todd’s place near 415pm and arrived about 20 minutes later. He lives all way out near where Jennifer Eickel lived as a teenager – out near Norton & Grove City Rd. Nice place.

Several family members already there. Met Joe’s new interest, Rick, for the first time. Seems nice and a good match. At last year’s Memorial Day birthday event it was scorching hot – about 95 degrees. Todd had the misters running that day. This year was a different story. It was sunny but mild – close to 70 degrees. It felt really nice until a line of clouds moved in and blanketed the sun pretty much for the rest of the afternoon/early evening. Suddenly the mid-60s felt cool.

Food was good: hot dogs, pizza, chips galore, cookies, and pasta salad. I was ravenously hungry, just as I was pretty much all weekend long. I ate a lot. We visited, ate, sang happy birthday, and watched the girls open their gifts. We left for home near 7pm. Mindy talked with Jimaken. Jacob’s soccer team lost in the semi-finals. No Monday game. They were heading home. Planned to drop the kids by the house. Mindy made a pit stop at Lowes, wanting to look quickly for a hanging basket for our front porch. It’s a touch we’ve gone without the past couple seasons, but also one we wanted to reintroduce. I found what I deemed the perfect colors, a New Guinea Impatiens with dark purple foliage and pink flowers. In and gone.

I hung the new basket promptly, though wasn’t real pleased with how close it hangs to the garage wall. Not a lot we can do about, however, since we’re limited by the cedar supports just above. Thought I might lower it some the following day, but left it alone. Watered the front yard flowers while Mindy walked the pug. The kids arrived home while I was out front watering. They both seemed tired. Jacob still wasn’t speaking to Mindy. I guess he was still torqued about losing his phone. In fact, he ended up heading right back out with Jimaken. Only Bella was staying home with us.

Before we left Todd’s, Joe and Rick said they might be stopping by. Bella soon headed off to play with her peeps, something she’d been jonsing to do since she left on Friday. Mindy & I headed out on the deck in jackets and cracked opened a couple beers. By then the sun was out from behind the clouds that covered it for the past couple hours. It was still a little chilly, though.

Joe & Rick showed up a little while later. I heard Mindy inside greeting them while I remained on the deck listening to Pandora via my Kindle Fire HD through my Bose box. Joe snuck up behind m, completing startling me. Said it was paybacks for a few weeks ago when I did the same to him while he was cleaning with headphones on. Meanwhile, Mindy was still inside giving Rick the home tour.

They eventually joined us on the deck where we resumed the beer fest and tunes. Neighbor Chrissy & Teri had been partying all afternoon. And as a result, Chrissy apparently headed to bed pretty early. It was only 9pm when we saw Teri leave and pay a visit to Trena. Thirty minutes later she walked over to our place, to which we welcomed her with open arms and then learned that Chrissy was already in bed.
Bella, meanwhile, asked to have a sleepover with Kayla – big surprise.

Things were going swimmingly until I took Joe and Teri to see the framing work Kenny did in our basement. At first it was what I would deem as friendly banter, but soon it escalated into a curt exchange centering around Joe’s preferences and Teri’s inability to come to grips with it. Joe could take it no more and soon shared his not so polite opinion of Teri directly to her face. I did my best to mediate as we headed up and back out on the deck, but it only continued. Soon Teri up and walked away towards home. I talked with Joe about it some, but not for too long.

We cranked the music up a notch, and once the guys came off with their keys, I broke out the Jack Daniels. Rick was a bit more eager than Joe, but we all ended up doing our fair share. Mindy didn’t drink any Jack, but drank buttery nipples instead. Neared, our mini-fest ended up turning into a dance party. Aside from a couple buttery nipples, Mindy drank very little. I think she had just one beer.

Around 1am the guys asked if we would call them a cab or drive them home. Mindy agreed to drive them home. There wasn’t any way they were getting the keys, nor did they even ask. We all piled in the Pilot for Joe’s place leaving Rick’s SUV parked safely in front of our home. Agreed to come fetch them in the morning, too, since Joe’s car was back at Rick’s place. I fell asleep on the drive home waking just before we pulled into our subdivision. Now near 2am, we were immediately off to bed. Well, only after choking down three Advil to help ward off any potential headache come morning.

Orkin, Crawl Fish & Darwinian Fire

Our bedroom clock was flashing so I didn’t have a good pulse on the actual time. Downstairs I soon learned that it was 720am. Without checking, I knew it was chilly. There was light frost covering a few neighboring rooftops. I started coffee then went to my PC. Cold alright, only 38 degrees. It was sunny, though. Thing is, it wasn’t expected to warm much beyond 67 degrees. And there weren’t any summery conditions expected until possibly Tuesday. Oh well.

I played around online for quite a while finally heading out for a run around 845am. It was chilly enough that I wore long running pants and my jacket. Even though it was chilly, the late spring sunshine felt terrific. A few houses from home, I encountered Mindy and the pug out on a walk. I stopped and walked back with them.

Mindy and I headed out on the deck with coffee. We loosely discussed the day’s plans, which was to include a 10am visit from the Orkin man. We had plans to attend Ben & Ryan’s crawl fish boil around 3pm. I also suggested we make a run to Strader’s to get more flowers for two additional pots: the one hoisted on the ash tree stump, and then another by Mindy’s stone patio.

While awaiting the Orkin man, I finally got around to sinking several cannas bulbs and then the last two zinnias, which have been sunning on the deck for the last week or so. Keith, our new Orkin guy, showed up a little after 10am. He’s a pleasant fellow, and seemed knowledgeable. Treated inside and out, including the garage. We’ve seen only one ant since Greg was out a few Saturday’s ago. And we believe that one came in on someone’s shoe.

Mindy and I showered and headed out to run errands sometime early afternoon. Out first stop was Strader’s where we bought another $50 worth of flowers. Oh, and Mindy picked up a hanging basket of flowers for Ryan, too. From there, we headed to the Sam’s Club & Giant Eagle on Hilliard-Rome. Traffic was tight. Mindy agreed to pick-up brownies for Connie McVey from Sam’s Club. Only problem was, they had only one tray when she really wanted three. She picked up a giant platter of cookies in lieu of tray’s two and three. Problem solved.

Next, we headed across the street to Giant Eagle where we picked up two six-packs of beer along with a bag of ice. I think we got some Founder’s Session IPA and then some Lagunita’s Sumpin Sumpin. We planned to take that and more to Ben & Ryan’s.

We bypassed our own home and instead drove directly to the McVey’s where Mindy dropped off the brownies and cookies. Finally at home, we changed into attire more suitable for hanging around outside at Ben & Ryan’s. As long as the sun was out it was beautiful. We packed a cooler, walked the dog, then left for Ben & Ryan’s. We took Fisher all the way to Hilliard-Rome. Got stopped by a train at the tracks next 84 Lumber.

Arrived at Ben & Ryan’s near 330-340pm. Haven’t hung with the two of them for quite a while. Maybe four or five others there too, and they were expecting more. Ben suggested I visit his finished basement where he keeps tow beer taps. Said he had Magic Hat #9 and Harpoon IPA on tap. Sweet! Even though we brought two coolers of beer, I took him up on the draught Harpoon. Very good stuff!

It wasn’t too much longer before we headed out to the driveway & garage, which he had set up nicely for a party. It was time to dig into the boiled crawl fish he had shipped directly in from Louisiana. Also had a tub of sweet corn, red skin potatoes, and real andouille sausage. And fittingly, he had some Bayou music playing in the background. My first experience eating crawl fish. They were tasty but also a lot of work. The other fixins were just as tasty. I think I had 6 crawl fish, not a lot compared to a few others who heaped their plates high with a mound of them.

I met one of Ben’s neighbor’s who’s a grandpa. We talked for quite a while. In fact, he talked my ear off about things I cared little about. He reminded me much of Sean Meehan. It must’ve been his mannerisms and dialect. He rambled on and on about golf and Tiger Woods, and then about his daughter marrying a guy from Haiti. If memory serves me well, he was a West HD grad, class of 74 . He followed me around for a while talking about this and that.

I showed Mindy Ben & Ryan’s yard. I was most impressed with the old oak porch swing he hung from a 6X6 treated lumber structure. Told Mindy we need one of those for our backyard. We hung out with Ben & Ryan and friends for quite a while. Mindy talked at length with AJ, who owns a tattoo shop. She’s thinking about getting a new tattoo on her ankle – a poppie. But really, tattoos are so yesterday.

I arrived prepared to stay late into the evening, but Mindy suggested we head home around 8pm. She needed to drive. I’d had several beers and was feeling no pain - instead only shame.  We weren’t home long before Mindy suggested we head to the McVey’s. She suggested we walk, too. Good idea. We walked the pug before we headed that way.

I still had quite the beer buzz when we arrived at the McVey’s. I was a little uncomfortable because most of the guests were colleges aged kids there to watch Jordan’s band perform and not old enough to drink. Still, Darwin and his brother-in-law were drinking. Mindy brought along four or five more beers in Bella’s labeled lunch bag. How cool is that?

We hung with the McVey’s until dark. And Darwin had a rip roarin’ fire going. In fact, their fire ring is really nice. Connie expressed having second thoughts about skipping a beach vacation, and even suggested we each look for a beach house in the Outer Banks and then compare notes. The one we rented last summer wasn’t available the week we all have off, but she seemed convinced we could find one similar and for a reasonable price.

As the evening wore on, Connie suggested that she would drive the two of us home, but we wouldn’t have any of that. We opted to walk instead. It’s not really that far. The only real problem I had was that I needed to pee. I waited until we got home. Yikes! By then I thought I might explode!

Mindy pretty much headed straight to bed while I attacked the fridge looking for something good to eat. I joined her in bed a few minutes later asking if we could watch SNL. I don’t think I lasted any more than 5 minutes.

Diaper Rash

I was up at 550am. The sky was clear but it was chilly. I completed Friday calisthenics then poured coffee. I delivered Mindy’s before enjoying any of my own. I was only 43 degrees and the day’s high wasn’t even expected to get out of the low 60s. Bummer!

I played around on my PC until just before 7am when I logged on my work laptop. And yes, I planned to work from home. I got busy right away, first catching up on anything I might’ve missed being off on Thursday. I sent my peer that covered my day off a message asking if there were any gotchas out there waiting and then also thanked him for the coverage.

Mindy left for school around 725am after confirming that I was working from home. I didn’t plan to run until after Bella was on the bus. Chrissy dropped Makayla by the house around 745am. She must’ve had an early appointment. Later, when I checked my personal cell phone I had a text from Kenny asking if they could drop her off.

I dressed and stretched around 8am then headed to the bus stop with the girls a few minutes later. Kayla was wearing shorty shorts and a t-shirt. I knew she had to be cold, as it was still only in the mid-40s. Bella was dressed more appropriately for the chill and gave Makayla her fleece jacket. Bella was wearing a thick, long sleeved shirt too. In the sunshine, it felt much warmer. The bus arrived around 820am, and I headed off for my run a few minutes later.

I ran the full 4.1 miles wearing shorts, a long sleeved wicking shirt and a light jacket. That proved ideal. I was back at the house by 905am. I had two back-to-back AM conference calls I needed to join. The first call had just started when I saw Chris from nationwide irrigation pull up out front. I wanted to go out and show him the damaged line, say hello, and ask a couple questions, but by the time I was able to excuse myself briefly form the call, he was already gone. Wasn’t even there for 10 minutes. I could see where he had dug and repaired the sod. I planned to check the actual repair and run the zone #5 irrigation as soon as I got another chance. I headed back inside to rejoin call #1.

Joined call #2 right after the first call ended. The 2nd went until noon. My plan was to knock off early again after working a few hours extra earlier in the week. I stayed busy with work until 1:40pm when I took lunch then headed out to mow as much of the lawn as I could in about an hour. In total, I spent 62 minutes outside and was able to complete all the push mowing as well as the tractor cutting. Headed back inside and back to work at 240pm. Actually ended up working a little longer than I wanted, but I had a few things that I absolutely needed to finish heading into the long weekend. I knocked off for good shortly after Mindy & Bella got home.

It was a Jimaken weekend, the first one of those in 3 weeks. Mindy made it pretty clear that she wanted to go to CBC. Jimaken showed up to get the kids around 5pm. Once again, they were heading out of town for a soccer tournament. Dayton, I think. Mindy soon headed up for a shower while I headed to basement to clean-up more of the sawdust left behind after Thursday’s framing event. Filled a shop-vac bag with sawdust.

Around 530pm I headed upstairs to ask Mindy to stomp when she was out of the shower. I planned to get in immediately after her. The stomp came soon. I headed up to get a much needed shower. We left for CBC near 615pm. It was still a little chilly - only 63 degrees – with clear skies but a stiff, chilly breeze.

I knew Mindy sent a text to her peeps, but what she failed to tell me was that her principal pal, Jan and her husband, Jeff were already at CBC. We bellied up next to the two of them, Mindy sitting by Jan, and me at the other end sitting and talking with Jeff. I like them both. Quite interesting. However, what I didn’t appreciate was the element of surprise. I was miffed that Mindy failed to mention that they would be there and we’d be sitting with them. To me, that’s just a common courtesy. I made lemonade out of lemons, talking with Jeff about their recent biking trip to the Florida Keyes. He was very happy to share the stories and some cool photos. We talked about it for most of the evening.

Jennifer, the manager, stopped by to chat briefly about running. Said she had an odd question she wanted to ask. Chaffing, how does one prevent and treat it.  She seemed to recall me sharing once before that I use Vaseline. That’s true. Works like a charm, and I am sure, much like it does on diaper rash. We also talked about the benefits of stretching and hydration, which I believe are paramount to any structured running regimen.

Vince and Kate were working the bar and delivered bread and risotto balls. Later, everybody wanted to order food. Jeff and I both ordered a pizza with sausage, pepperoni, and hot pepper rings. I think Mindy had crab cakes, and Jan had the salmon, I think. I kept a loose eye on the Reds game whirling in the background. They won after trailing early.

I had three beers through the evening and dinner. Had we discussed it ahead of time and I knew I was driving, I most likely would’ve cut myself off at two. When the check came I sent it to Mindy who sent it back down the bar to me. I picked up our tab but felt it was really hers to get, especially since this was her outing with friends. I planned to share my thoughts about the way the evening played out later. I’m guessing it was near 10pm when we got home, though I didn’t really check.

Mindy headed almost immediately off to bed. I could see that the O’Connell’s had a fire going. I poured myself another beer and walked down to see what was going on. It was Mike, Teri, Chrissy & Kenny along with Mike’s niece and nephew-in-law. The kids were around too. Sounds as though Kenny might’ve found the Scotty replacement he’s been looking for. Mike’s nephew is fresh back from Afghanistan and seems eager to join Kenny’s team. Rightfully so, Kenny seemed cautiously optimistic.

I hung with the neighbors for no more than 45-50 minutes before turning for home. Kenny & Chrissy called it a night at the same time. Headed for bed around 11pm. Mindy was already sound asleep.

I've been Framed

Despite having the day off, I was still up around 6am in an attempt to have my exercise routine behind me early as if it were a work day. And really, it was a work day. The only difference being that I would be working on a personal goal, framing my basement.

The coffee maker performed well after clearing that clog in the pass thru lid. That made me happy. Completed calisthenics: sit-ups, windmills, and curls. Took Mindy coffee around 620am. Kenny said to expect he and his crew around 9am. To that end, I really needed to do my run before seeing Bella off on the school bus. I did a stretch and then headed out for a run until shortly after 7am.

I thought briefly about curtailing my run to just three miles but ended up doing the full 4.1 miles like any other week day. Glad I did. Was back at the house shortly before 8am. By the time I walked the pug it was darn near time to head out with Bella. Kenny was at the bus stop with Makayla. Shared that I would see him shortly. After the bus swooped up the kids I headed back to the house to get ready for a day of framing.

Mindy picked up four Wal-Mart subs for Kenny’s crew to eat. I picked up a case of Labatt Blue, their favorite beer. I had it chilling in the two fridges. I played around online until 855am. Kenny and crew showed up around 910am.

I helped carry in a few major tools: the air compressor, nail guns, and professional miter saw and stand. We spent the first 90 minutes reviewing the design, marking off the door locations and then chalking lines for the floor plate. Even though I bought Tap Cons for the floor plate, Kenny decided to use Ramset nails instead. And boy are they loud. Sounds like a shotgun blast with each nail. Only one small mishap where we had to pry it loose from the floor and move it. The ramset nails hold well. While Ivan and Scotty mounted the plates, Kenny was marking the ceiling joists for the top plate and figuring out how we were going to box in the two windows.

By noon, we had both the bottom and top plates mounted and just shy of half the basement framed. I was in awe! My role was relegated to gopher, which was fine by me. We took an hour’s lunch near noon. I asked Kenny if beer was appropriate. Nope!

Finished framing all the walls by 230pm. Unbelievable! We still needed to add blocking for the drywall and then box in duct work, which took another hour or so. By the time the kids were home from school the job was done. And not only was it done, but it was done right. Rock solid frame job. I am still very impressed and indebted to Kenny and team. They work well together.

Once we finished and carried all the tools back to the trailer, the beer was fair game. Scotty left to take the trailer back. Ivan and Kenny stayed to drink some beer and have a little more food. Mindy had something going on after school, but just what, I wasn’t sure. Kenny & Ivan hung out until 530-6pm.

Even though Kenny was helping as a friend and neighbor, and also after losing a friendly wager, I felt the need to give he and his crew some cash. The weather took a slight turn for the worse. Not only had it clouded over, but the temperature dropped like a rock. We were expecting rain overnight and then much cooler temperatures through the Memorial Day holiday with highs mostly in the mid 60s.

Talked with Mindy around 630-7pm. Said she was still at school and expected to be there a little while longer. At some point I headed out to the shed to fetch a few irrigation marking flags to mark the mainline cut on the westside of the house. I called and left a message for Nationwide irrigation on Wednesday afternoon. They left me a message earlier sharing that they would come out on Friday to make the repair. Said that I need not be home but to have the cut marked. Cool! I thought about digging back around the cut, but Kenny insisted that was overkill. I ended up simply marking the small hole exposing the cut.

Mindy got home around 730-8pm. I was anxious to show her the basement. She was in awe of their work too. Bella was excited, too, and asked if she could take a box of sawed 2X4s to her room to introduce the smell of Lowes. She later asked if we could actually saw a couple boards in her room over the trashcan to create saw dust and the telltale smell that comes with it. She wasn’t kidding wither. She loves that smell. 

I drank three beers earlier with Kenny. I had a pretty good buzz going until about 8pm when it finally began to wear off. I wasn’t too long for the evening. I fell asleep watching TV on the sofa around 9pm. I woke and headed for bed around 10pm.

Lost Scrolls

I was up a little earlier than the past two mornings and was quickly downstairs engaged in exercise. I purposefully didn't have the coffee auto programmed to start. Instead, I wanted to be there as it brewed to prevent a mess. Sure enough, same as the day before. I had to stop it three times to allow the coffee to settle into the carafe. Here's hoping the new pass-thru lid arrives fast.

I whipped out sit-ups, windmills, and curls, checking the coffee between each exercise. We have a spare coffee maker in our camping gear. I thought I might get it out and use it for a couple days until the new part arrives. I ran Mindy her coffee around 620am. We both laughed at my coffee maker babysitting antics. Back downstairs around 625m, I finally had an opportunity to enjoy a little coffee and internet. I played around until Jacob headed out to snag his school bus then headed to family room for a stretch. Mindy was soon downstairs in a new routine, showering at night before bed. She does that because her schools lack of A/C makes her feel sticky/dirty after a full day, probably not much different than I feel after working in the yard. I skipped meditation but did manage to do a little believe it or not, while running.

Speaking of my run, I ran the full 4.1 miles in warm, sticky conditions, much like the day before. I actually like it. As expected, Mindy was gone by the time I made it home, which was near 745am. I quickly leashed up the pug, took her on a walk, then cooked breakfast for the pug and I. Didn't have a whole lot of time between breakfast and bus time, but that's just fine. We headed out the door at 809am.

... lost scrolls

I finished this blog entry but lost it after an overnight reboot.

Tumbling @ the Sweat Shop

Slept in until 550am. Downstairs, I glanced out back at the weather then started and baby sat the coffee maker determined not to end up with the mess I encountered Monday. Sure enough about 3 or 4 minutes into the brewing process, coffee began to spill out of the carafe and down the sides of the maker. It was finally apparent that the problem had to be with the 'flow thru carafe lid'. I had paper towels lining the sides of the coffee maker to capture any spillage and then hit the off button long enough for the coffee currently in the flow thru lid to pass. Once it cleared I restarted it. Had to do that 3 times. After two mornings spent babysitting the coffee maker I became convinced that we simply need to buy a new one. This can't go on. In between watching coffee brew, I sprinkled in calisthenics. I delivered Mindy's coffee around 615am.

Enjoyed coffee at the PC until almost 645am. I heard the trash truck dumping our can. It was near full after stuffing in a broken kids chair from our basement and then a few stray pieces of wood. Stretched then left for a run shortly after 710am. Ran the full 4.1 miles. It was already warm and steamy - a balmy 69 degrees with humidity levels topping 80%. Expecting a high near 90 again. I would have planned to drive the BM'er if it wasn't so dirty. Looks like someone tossed their soda all down the driver's side. Not sure how or when that happened.

Mindy was long gone by the time I made it back home. The pug was waiting patiently by the door for our walk. I leashed her up and headed out. We were out about 8 minutes. It was much too late to make breakfast, pack a lunch, and shower before bus time. It was already 8am. I postponed food and a shower until after the bus.

We headed out to the bus stop at 810am. There we met Chrissy and the other mom. Can't recall her name. The bus came along after about five minutes of waiting. It was a beautiful morning, so no one was too concerned with the short wait.

I had a 930am meeting I needed to make. I rushed home to shower, cook breakfast, pack lunch. etc. Took a shower first. It was already 845am by the time i was downstairs. I still took the time to make breakfast and pack a lunch. It was well past 9am when I finally left the house for work. It was a gorgeous drive in. I arrived at 932am, a couple minutes late for our meeting, so I rushed straight to the conference room and joined the meeting just getting underway.

It was a technical meeting, and one I appreciated the content. Lasted about 45 minutes. I agreed to cover another weekly call for a peer who had the day. That call started at 1130am. Didn't seem like much time at all between the live meeting and the call. The call went well and wrapped up in no more than 10 minutes. With few gaps, the rest of my day was back to back to back meetings. I barely had time to eat the scant lunch I packed. Of course the benefit of an extremely busy day is the speed in which it moves. The wok day was over in the blink of an eye and it was time to head for home.

Mindy had already left to run Bella to gymnastics by the time I got home. She made steak wraps for dinner. Mine looked small but I was full after finishing it and a little potato salad. I didn't have much time before I needed to go after Bella. And we made arrangements to take Lane while going after her. I asked for Mindy's help moving the few things that have collected in the planned finished area in the basement. It took the two of us no more than 10-15 minutes to get everything cleared out. On my way to the Accord to leave for Bella, I tossed a broken kiddie chair along with a broken mini-basketball backboard in the trash can.

Lane was scootering when I pulled up, but came quickly. We zoomed off to the gym with no traffic issues. We talked about NBA basketball during the drive. Neither of us are too interested in the sport, but as the finals approach there's usually something of interest brewing. Lane shared his disdain for Lebron James. Like Kobe Bryant instead.

Because it was near 90 degrees and the gym had no A/C, it smelt like a sweat shop. Ugh! Kelly had the girls running to the drinking fountain for water between passes. Bella was excited to show me her latest pass on the trampoline - a combination front flip/back flip. Cool! She's doing great, and very proud of herself.

We left the gym and headed for home. And like most rides home., Bella asked if we could stop for fast food. She offered up many alternatives including Chipotle, Wendy's, and McDs. I agreed to stop. And since we had to take 270N all the way to Roberts due to construction, we stopped at the Wendy's just east of the corner of Roberts and Wilson. Same as usual, chicken nuggets, small fries and barbeque sauce. Quick pass through the drive-thru and then home.

I stretched out on the family room floor where I took a little nap. And like many recent night's, I fell asleep and pretty much for the night. I woke around 10pm to discover Mindy and the kids already off to bed. I secured the home then joined Mindy in bed. Good night half moon.

Barley's on a Monday

Not sure the time when I finally fell asleep but I’m guessing near midnight. As a consequence, I woke tired around 550am and drug myself downstairs and through calisthenics. The sweet smell of coffee served as motivation. Little did I know that minutes later I would be swearing at it.

Once again, our coffee maker is leaking freshly brewed coffee all over the counter and ultimately dripping into the drawer and cupboard just below. Had quite the mess on my hands. And with black granite, it wasn’t visually discernible. I worked on that mess for 10-15 minutes before pouring Mindy’s coffee and heading upstairs. Short slept and agitated with the coffee maker, let’s just say that I wasn’t in the best frame of mind

I poured my own coffee then took even more time to pull everything from the cupboard drawers to rinse it fee of coffee. I pulled the drawer liner out too. There was coffee underneath it, which was slowly but surely dripping down below. Ugh!!!!!

Finally, around 645am I was able to sit down at my PC and enjoy a cup of coffee. Ahh! I did my best to perk up. Worked marginally. Left for a run minutes after Mindy was downstairs. Had to be around 705am. Said goodbye to Mindy then headed out. It was recycling day. They were there before I left for my run. Sadly, we had half a can more still in the garage. We really need to recycling ick-up weekly – not biweekly.

I ran 4.1 miles. Running does me a world of good, but it really made a difference Monday morning when everything seemed to be caving in on me. The lovely weather was helpful, too. Felt summer-like, and we were expecting a high near 90.

Of course, Mindy was gone by the time I got home. And Bella was already upstairs after breakfast. Somewhat hurriedly, I leashed up the pug and headed out for our walk. It was darn near 8am by the time we were back at home.

Decided to wait and fry eggs after taking Bella to the bus stop. Smart move. We headed out at 810am. Gorgeous! Only nine more school days. The kids are excited. Heck, even though I have to work all summer, I still get excited about the last day of school. Hustled on back home after the bus picked up the kids. Decided to knock out a shower before making breakfast. It didn’t take that long, maybe 15minutes. I checked some work emails from home but tried not to get too involved.

Took my time making and enjoying breakfast. With dad’s trailer still attached to the Pilot, Mindy and I switched vehicles again I planned to drop off the trailer at his place on my way to the office. Left the house near 9am. Dad wasn’t home. I backed the trailer into its usual spot then sped off to work.

It was an extremely busy day at the office. Hardly enough time to breath, let alone take a lunch. I worked straight through the day. It was one of those days when once 5pm rolled around I was stunned at the time. I didn’t leave the office until 525pm. It was still, warm, and sunny. The temperature gauge in the Pilot read 90 degrees. I didn’t bother calling home since I was in the Pilot. Don’t like driving with a phone in my hand.

Mindy asked if we could do Barley’s for dinner. Why not? Jacob was at a soccer game. It would be just me, Mindy & Bella. I shared David’s text offering to fly us down for the Memorial Day weekend. We wouldn’t allow that, but do want to get down for a visit soon. We talked about it over dinner. Thought it might make more sense for them to come to CMH over Memorial Day. In turn, we might be able to head there the second weekend in June.

We left for Barley’s around 545pm arriving 15 minutes later. It was Monday and the parking lot showed it. Only about half full. Monday is wing night at Barley's($.60 each). It's something I've taken part in few times over the years. We opted for a barside table, which is serviced by the bartender who happened to be April. April was quick to fetch us beers. We both ordered a Hoptopus. Bella went with Dr. Pepper and a basket of fries as an appetizer. April brought over the newest bartender. Rachel, I think, to introduce us.

Thirty minutes later we all ordered dinner. Bella went with the kids chicken tenders while Mindy went with a shrimp & pasta dish. I settled on K.C. wings - all protein. I ordered a 2nd beer, too, only this time a Hopiate IPA. Yum!

Didn't take long for our order to show up. The wings were crazy good, even better than usual. Little Bob stopped in with Banker Dan. We chatted with them for a short short. Before leaving for home, we placed a to-o order for Jacob - his usual, chicken tenders soaked in buffalo sauce with gates of hell on the side and blue cheese. The to-go order was ready in a hurry. We left for home around 730pm.

We weren't home long before I stretched out on the family room floor to stretch and possibly even take a brief nap. My brief nap turned into more than an hour of blissful sleep. I woke to everyone else already in bed. Unfortunately, by the time I slipped into bed falling back asleep wasn't in the cards. As hard as I tried I just couldn't fall asleep. After tossing and turning for 30 minutes, I told Mindy I was going back downstairs.

Downstairs I checked work email, which depending on how you look it, could have been a mistake. I ended up working for two solid hours. Ugh! On one hand, I resolved two ugly issues that would've surely been waiting for me Tuesday morning, and already with too much on my plate, it was wise to knock it out then. Nature of the beast.

I rejoined Mindy in bed around 1245am. Still took a few for my mind to settle and fall asleep.

Camp @ School - Playground Mulch

I was up just ahead of 8am and quickly downstairs to start a pot of coffee. It was cloudy overhead with a forecast calling for partly cloudy skies and a high near 85. Supposed to approach 90 Monday and Tuesday. Played around online for about 45 minutes before being joined by Mindy. She and I sat on the deck enjoying the warm weather and coffee. We weren’t out there longer than 30-40 minutes but the sky transitioned between sunny and mostly cloudy numerous times.

Our plans for the day were still being developed, but Mindy wanted help decorating her school classroom like a campsite. The plan was for all of us to go, me, Jacob, and Bella. She was taking lots of our old camping gear. I, on the other hand, wanted to fetch and spread playground mulch around the treehouse and then also behind the shed. We’d need the Pilot for both tasks.

I headed out for a 3 mile run between 930 &10am. It was very warm and sticky 70 degrees with 80+% humidity. Mindy made everyone breakfast burritos. She got a little upset with me when I suggested that she head to her school alone and I would take care of the mulch. She wanted me to take care of the mulch and then head to her school later that afternoon. We eventually agreed to head to her school first, hoping ot knock out the decorating in about an hour. As it was, she had me in the garage hunting down various items for her camp site display.

She called Bella home around 11am. She came home but brought Makayla with her. She was apparently going with us. I disconnected dad’s trailer from the Pilot after chalking the tires and placing two traffic cones beside it. We loaded all the camp gear then left the house near 1130am. Lindsey was coming over while were away to do laundry.

Mindy had a good plan and put everybody to work in a hurry. My first job was to put up the small dome tent. I hadn’t put it together for a few years. Took twice as long as it should’ve. I remarked how long I’ve had that tent – about 25 years. I’m pretty sure I bought it for about $8. Definitely got my money’s worth out of it. While I put up the tent, Mindy made a camp fire using real wood logs but yellow & orange cellophane for the flames. Jacob, the girls and I made fishing poles out of yard sticks, yarn, and nuts. To make the campsite complete, Mindy set-up camp chairs and unrolled two sleeping bags in the tent. She made a little fishing pool, too.

I don’t think we were there for much more than an hour. Everybody was ready to leave. A couple of Mindy’s teacher pals were there on site too. And because they don’t have A/C in her wing, it was very warm and sticky. But just one more full school year with A/C. They’ll be breaking ground on the new school building on the last day of school next week. I think they’re slated to move in After Xmas break 2015 (1.5 years).
We weren’t home but 10 minutes before I changed gears and left to get the first trailer full of playground mulch. Jacob was supposed to go with me but was being negative about it. Mindy followed me out the door insisting I wait until Jacob had lunch. Not a minute to waste. I left without him.

Ohio Mulch was very busy, but the majority of the traffic and crowd was there to deposit yard waste. Amazing how many cars/trucks come dump their trimmings there. Dad’s trailer will hold about 1.5 cu. Yards of mulch without risking losing any in transport. I’ve learned over the years that I tend to get more by buying one yard at a time. Of course the inconvenience is more trips, but it’s only a couple miles from the house. I don’t really mind. When the kids dumped the first load into the trailer he motioned that that was it – a full yard. Hardly. I gave him a questioning look and without hesitation, he added another half scoop. I headed for home.

Jacob was outside and ready to help move the mulch by the time I was home. Lindsey, he boys and Olivia were there now too. I quickly fetched the tractor and trailer from the shed and headed out front. I had Jacob do all the driving and dumping. And unless I’m mistaken, it was the first time he’s ever driven the tractor by himself. Each big trailer full equals 4-4.5 small trailer loads. I had Jacob using the coal shovel to transfer from one to the other. He’s a lot stronger than he was just a year ago. His help actually made a significant difference. Of course the wee ones were very excited to be out and around the tractor and the trailer. We let them ride in the mulch and then back with it empty. Jacob was very concerned for their safety, several times giving them the dickens for not sitting still. 

As soon as we finished unloading the first trailer load I went for more. I asked Jacob to park the tractor in the back yard then left. Same drill. Paid for just one cu. Yard. Same kid loaded me, only this time I didn’t have to say anything to get the extra dump.

Jacob was waiting and ready when I pulled up. We picked up right where we left off. Jacob pulled the tractor around and I shoveled the first load. Jacob was much more comfortable driving, maneuvering the tractor with the 2nd load. He wasn’t happy about the wee ones hovering around us, but I insisted we tolerate their curiosity and he gave them trailer rides.

After transferring and dumping the entire 2nd load, we spread the several piles over the large play area surrounding the tree house. As expected, we needed a little more to cover the entire area. And I still wanted to put some behind the shed too. I went after load number 3. Same kid loaded me. And just like the two prior loads, he gave me a little extra. Of course, I would argue that he was simply giving me all I paid for.

Jacob helped with only about half the 3rd trailer load. Landon was all about helping, though his help was more of a hindrance to progress. I didn’t mind. The 3rd load was just about perfect. Was able to cover the entire play area, and then provide good cover behind the shed. Not so much an eye sore like it has been years past.

Mindy ran to Sam’s Club earlier to pick-up steaks and potato salad. I suggested we invite the neighbors. Mindy walked over and talked to Chrissy. They were in, and so were the O’Connell’s. We haven’t had an island cookout for a while. As tired as my body was and before heading in for a shower, I planted a few more flowers. At the same time, Landon asked that I turn on the sprinkler in the backyard. I finally succumbed to his constant asking. 

I took a really quick shower around 5-530pm. I think it was 6pm when Mindy asked me to start grilling. The neighbors were grilling their own meat before coming over. Ever since we robbed the ice from the ice maker Saturday evening, our fridge had failed to start making anymore. Too bad, because I wanted a Jack & Coke. Mindy willingly walked next door to borrow some. Thanks dear.

I grilled four steak (2 filets, 2 Ribeyes), and several hot dogs. Didn’t take more than 15 minutes. Our timing was spot on with the neighbors. They walked down a few minutes later.

The women served all the kids before Mindy served me. The salad, steak and potato salad were delicious. Hit the spot. It wasn’t quite as good as Market District prime beef but the price was far cheaper too. We had a good time over dinner, talking about, among other things, the relocated ground hog. After dinner Kenny asked how Wednesday or Thursday sounded for a framing the basement day. Awesome! I couldn’t do Wednesday but could possibly do Thursday. I would either try and work from home or better yet, take the entire day off. Kenny said he would bring his entire crew. Figures we can knock it out in one afternoon. If so, that would be amazing!

The neighbors left by 730p, and soon after the kitchen was cleaned up Mindy and I took the pug on a walk making sure to take a route by the neighbor putting a roof over most of their deck. I was very curious with the design as it’s something we’re considering as well. Probably most surprising is that they’re installing a hipped roof, which by design will bring water down on all sides (I.E. back towards the house). Looks gorgeous but I am not sure it’s the smart way to go.

Back at home we headed to bed early but watched North America, on the Discovery Channel. Bella joined us. She loves watching nature related programming. We watched until I started to dose, It must’ve been around 10pm when Mindy booted Bella from our room. Unfortunately, I woke shortly thereafter and struggled from then on to find my sleep groove. Had a few things on my mind that no matter what I did I couldn’t shake.