Concrete Deal

In bed and asleep near 8pm Sunday night, I woke rested but my legs (hamstrings) still extremely sore. In fact, stiffer than they’ve ever been. Holy smoke! No doubt the mulching did me in. I wondered if I’d be able to do push-ups because my wrist and arms were sore too, but I was able to push through any pain.

Expecting rain with a high only in the upper 50s. At the time it was cloudy and cool – 45 degrees. Getting past Monday, the weather is expected to improve dramatically – 80’s by Wednesday. Took Mindy coffee then relaxed with internet and coffee until about 635am. Meditated, stretched relatively early. Was out the door for my run by 650am. Early on, I made the decision to curb my run to just three miles. I hated to but knew it was the right thing to do. And actually, my hamstrings loosened considerably during the run.

I was back ahead of Mindy’s departure, and promptly leashed up the pug for a walk. It was definitely chilly, and certainly didn’t feel like May. Back home just in time to see Mindy off to work. Heck, it was like old times. I ate my breakfast then headed off to the shower near 745am. I was quick with my ready. In fact, I was downstairs again shortly after Bella headed out. Rather than rush right off to work, I took the opportunity to enjoy another cup of coffee first. Relaxation!

Left for the office near 830am arriving about 15 minutes later. My boss was on vacation the week prior. We spent a few minutes catching up. I overheard a conversation he was having with Sears regarding a riding mower he bought that’s malfunctioning. It didn’t seem to be going well, though he did a fantastic job of keeping his cool.

I really wanted to make a Strader’s run at lunch, but also needed to work from home from 3pm so I could meet a couple concrete guys to get estimates on driveway extensions and service walk around to the deck. I forgot about a 2pm call on my calendar until it was too late. I ended up blowing off any plans for lunch and instead headed for home at 130pm so I could join both my 2 o’clock and 3 o’clock calls. No sooner did I arrive home when I got a call from one of the concrete guys sharing that he wouldn’t be able to be there until 4pm, which unfortunately was the same time interval that I set aside for the other concrete guy. Oh well, no secret that I was planning to get more than one estimate. Who wouldn’t?

Joined the 2pm work call, which was relatively brief, and then another at 3pm. That call lasted about 35 minutes. Wrapped up well ahead of either concrete guy showing up. King concrete showed up first, right at 4pm. He was very matter of fact. Went over the job then he wheeled it off getting the exact dimensions. I asked a couple questions: When will I get the estimate? And if chosen, when can you do the work. What about the irrigation system? Said I'd have the estimate in a couple of days, and that his team couldn't do the work until mid July. He also shared how the payment works: 20% when contract signed, 30% the day they start, then the last 50% upon completion. Sounded fair given that they need to schedule the resources and concrete delivery.

The next guy, Butch Bando Concrete showed up while King was still there. Actually, I figured it a good thing, see the competition. Lyn was the estimators name, and he was very chatty and a nice guy. He went over the details of the work and took similar measurements. Said I would have the estimate via email by the end of the week and that they could do the work in June.

Mindy wasn't home until much later. She was grocery shopping after school. Both kids had explicit orders to thoroughly clean their rooms when they got home from school. Jacob came down around 415pm asking if he could go outside. Said his room was completely clean. Without checking I granted permission to go play. Bella had Makayla over. They played in her room until Mindy called to let me know that she'd need help carrying in the groceries. I hollered for the two girls to come help. The four of us attacked the task in a hurry.

Mindy soon shared that we'd be having burgers for dinner. While she prepped dinner I did a little more work. She asked me to grill. No problem. Near 545pm she fired up the grill and I took over. The burgers weren't just plain ordinary burgers. Instead, she painstakingly stuffed them with a number of things. They were very large, too, just like I like them.

Blondie (Makayla) was going to stay for dinner, but Kenny soon beckoned her home to clean her room, I guess. Sound familiar? :) The burgers were done in about 10 minutes. I was worried that they might not be done enough in the center given that they were so thick, but in the end, they were perhaps just a tad over cooked, at least to my liking, I like them to be light pink inside.

Mindy out did herself. By far, these were the best grilled burgers we've ever made at home. Even though we toasted the buns, they weren't quite up to the challenge. Aside from the bun, they were dynamite. Surprisingly, Bella ate all but a perhaps a bite or two of hers. It had to be nearly 1/2 a pound, too. The kids is really starting to put the food away. Seemingly eats constantly, and especially in the evenings up until bed.

We weren't up too late. Again, Mindy and I were still tired from a weekend's worth of heavy-duty yard work.

Sore Mulchin' Muscles

Up Sunday morning by 645am. For the first time this season, the dawning daylight playing a part in waking me from bed. Daylight hours are closing in on my sleeping hours from both ends. I like that. Downstairs I enjoyed coffee and internet for an hour or so before Mindy asked me to bring her coffee. We ended up snuggling for a while before we both headed downstairs, and me ultimately out the door for a run. It was pretty much a carbon copy of Saturday with partly cloudy skies and temps expected to warm into the mid 60s. Another good day for a run and mulching.

As it was, I was extremely sore from Saturday’s mulching. It was pushing 10am by the time my run was behind me, and thanks to Mindy, a belly full of scrambled eggs. I headed out to get started on the mulch before 1030am. I had to find a nut and washer for the Deere trailer. Te original apparently worked itself loose and off during Saturday's bulk mulch work. No problem. I had some hardware in the garage. I let Mindy dictate where we'd start mulching. Agreed to begin around front, doing the beds around the walk and steps to the front stoop.

Over the course of the afternoon we spread 74 of 76 bags of mulch (had one bag leftover from 2013). I did most of the place, rip and dump while Mindy did most of the actual spreading. Jacob helped a little with the place, rip and sump but begged off to play early on. Jimaken picked him up for an afternoon soccer game at 3pm.

I was incredibly sore and with each additional bag I moved, ripped and dumped it only got worse. Mindy was sore too, but we kept at it until the job was complete. That’s what successful people do. We cleaned up as we went along so once we were finished spreading the mulch, there wasn’t much clean-up to do. Mindy headed in for a shower while I moved on to mowing the lawn.

Ashley & Olivia stopped over midafternoon to pick-up a check for the DJ deposit as well as some electric yard tools I offered her and Steven: an edger, blower, and hedge trimmers. Steven doesn’t seem to have the “keep the yard nice” bug, but neither does Ashley for that matter. But hey, maybe he/she will get it with these tools in their arsenal. We’ll see. None of the tools would be of much use without a long extension cord. And since I have many, I threw in a 100’ outdoor cord on a reel as well.

Since Saturday afternoon, Bella had been asking, pleading to learn how to mow the lawn with the tractor. How could I turn down such a request? I only wish Jacob would show the same enthusiasm towards such work. Hey, I think it’s in Bella’s blood.  Once Bella heard the tractor fired up, she came out of the house eager to learn. I gave her a quick lesson and then turned the tractor over to her. Yikes!

Granted, my instructions were weak. I guess I failed to accentuate the part about straight lines and then staying FAR back from the slope towards the pond. She scared the daylights out of me more than once. And with the engine running, she couldn’t hear my screams for her to stop. I had to run to catch her a couple of times. By the time she finished, she had the gist of mowing operations down pat. And she was very proud of herself. I was proud of her too. I took over the mowing after Bella finished. Without saying anything, I did my best to hit the spots she missed  and then push mowed the entire front and rear slopes.

You know people often say that they’re stiff as a board? Well, let’s just say that I took that it to a whole new level Sunday afternoon. I wasn’t stiff as a board, I WAS a board. Ugh!!!!

It was after 630pm when my day in the yard was finished. The only thing I didn’t do was trim. Nothing left in the tank. Mindy decided to make pasta and meatballs for dinner. It was easy and fast. The meatballs tasted a little strange, but I didn’t complain. I was pretty hungry. Save for the nuts I snacked on just before dinner, I hadn’t had anything since eggs that morning.

And while I likened myself to a board earlier, after dinner and clean-up I was toast.  I snuck off to bed 8pm.

Small but Mighty Big Help

I woke at 5am needing to take a couple Advil. However, come 715am, which is my usual weekend rise time, I felt just fine and was promptly up and downstairs starting a pot of coffee and tooling on my PC. Hesitantly, I checked work too. Happily, nothing pressing.

It was supposed to be partly cloudy and in the low 60's. Pretty much the same for Sunday. And while I would prefer warmer, sunnier weather, these conditions were well suited for working in the yard, mulching. I played around for a good 80-90 minutes before getting ready for a run. After stretching and getting into my running clothes, Mindy called out asking if I wanted to come snuggle. I shared that I was just heading out for my run.

I moved both cars to the curb before heading out too. That way if the mulch guy showed up while I was away, Mindy wouldn't have to scramble to move them. It was springy enough that I ran in a short sleeved wicking shirt and jacket. And like most Saturday's I ran just three miles. Fairly easy run. Sure enough, the mulch truck was out front when I returned home. Must've been near 930am. It was a large flat bed with a forklift hanging off the back. Only our skid of bagged mulch was aboard. The kind fella said our bulk playground mulch was coming later in a dump truck. OK. He off loaded the pallet pretty quick. Once he left, I counted the skidded bags. To my eyes, only 60 bags. Easy to count, 15 rows of 4.

I called Ohio Mulch talking with Anita, the same woman I talked with Thursday. She said she would have them bring the 10 bags we were short with the bulk mulch. Perfect. Before mulching, I made Mindy and I an egg sandwich. She was getting ready to head into school for a few hours. I mistook the minced garlic for mustard (same style squeeze jar) mixing it with mayo on Mindy's sandwich. Man, was it strong. I probably had a heaping teaspoon of minced garlic on it. Once she pointed out my mistake I checked out the jar. Yep! She scraped it off before eating it. I didn't make the same mistake with my own. Used yellow mustard and mayo. My preference was Poupon, but we didn't have any. My sandwich was terrific.

It was between 1030-11am before I got started with the mulch. Shortly after Mindy left, they showed up with the bulk mulch. Had 'em drop it mid drive. Bella came home from her overnight just as he finished dumping. Said he knew nothing about the ten bags I was shorted, but promised to bring 'em by on his way home, in his personal truck if that was OK by me. Sure thing! Thanks. Bella was stoked when I offered her the opportunity to help spread mulch. I mean she was very, very excited. Too cute!

To help hold her interest I opted to teach her to operate tractor. She was far more help than I imagined. Not only did she help shovel each load into the Deere trailer, but she drove it, dumped it and spread it. She moved the entire 4 cubic yards with me. We broke briefly for lunch. Mindy brought home McDonalds around 2 or 3pm. I woofed down several chicken nuggets and water. Bella was excited to demonstrate her working knowledge of the tractor operation and then loading/unloading mulch. I think Mindy got a big kick out of watching her, listening to how excited she was. Did my heart good. Mindy got changed and helped in the yard too. Asked her to go around all the beds and pull the weeds and grass we killed over the last week with Round-Up. She spent a good hour or two doing just that. She did a good, thorough job.

Jacob was finally up and out of bed after spending the last 64 hours in bed. He was showered and full of energy (piss and vinegar). He came out to help deliver/distribute the bagged mulch around the yard. We dropped all 60 bags. Based on the drop plan, I worried that we'd need an additional 10-15 bags even after they brought the 10 they shorted me. I had just put the tractor and trailer away in the shed when the mulch guy showed up with our shorted mulch. It wasn't the dump truck guy. Instead, it was the same guy that dropped the palette of 60 bags earlier. He apologized profusely sharing how they changed their skid stacking from 5 in a row to 4 without telling anyone. To make up for their faux pas, he brought us 15 bags instead of just the 10 they owed us. He was a kind gentleman. Shared that we should call back once both skids were emptied and they'd come back for them Said he gets $10 for every pick-up.

All of us were tired after several hours of grueling yard work, and since we wouldn't be spreading bagged mulch until Sunday, we opted to leave the 15 new bags alone until then. Me, Mindy and Bella headed in and got showers over the next hour. Collectively, we decided to make homemade pizzas for dinner. Bella was excited about helping again. Jacob was off playing with friends, something he hadn't been able to do for the past three days due to being ill.
Made two pizzas, one with thin crust, the other with deep dish crust. Bella pretty much did the thin crust by herself with only verbal instruction from me. She topped hers with pepperoni & cheese. I topped the thick crusted pie with cheese, hard salami, spinach, and hot pepper rings. This time we added Italian seasoning and garlic salt to the crust which made a big difference in overall flavor. I'll do that again.

Thinking it was near 8pm by the time the pies were ready. Along with pizza, I enjoyed a couple Jack & Cokes. Incredibly worn out and tired, all of us were in bed really early, especially for a Saturday.

Edging Pie

Since I planned to work from home, I allowed myself to sleep in a few extra minutes. Was up and out of bed by 615am. Still a little stiff from all the recent yard work, decided to skip calisthenics. Slacker, I know! I still planned to run, of course, but not until after seeing Bella off to school. So instead of exercise, I went right to coffee and internet, enjoying that until 7am when I got busy with work.

Weather-wise, it was another cool, cloudy day, but no rain in the immediate forecast. Like the day before, the high wasn't expected to top 55 degrees. I walked the pug before Bella left for school and then meditated and stretched shortly thereafter. Headed out for a run around 830am. Like most Friday's, I ran just three miles. I felt decent, though my hamstrings noticeably tight.

I had an easy morning of work. The biggest contributor, no surprises. Jacob was home again ill and Mindy asked that I check on him from time to time and see that he eats and drinks. It must've been around 11am when I took a break and headed outside for a little yard work. Before heading out, however, I checked on Jacob. He was sound asleep. Didn't budge. Outside, I grabbed my square shovel and started spring edging the flower beds. The past two years I've rented a large commercial power edger which does the work in less than hour leaving only a trail of top soil needing blended in to the existing beds, but in each of the past years, sprinkler heads have been damaged (thanks Kenny). :) This year I decided to employ the square shovel routine. And with all the cool wet weather, the edging was easy as pie, not to mention keeping a fairly decent edge on all the beds already thanks to the string trimmer and blade edger. It took no more than an hour to edge all the way around the house. I didn't bother picking up any of the dings. I'd do that later.

Back to work. Things remained calm & quiet for most of the afternoon despite covering for a couple of my peers. I was even able to take a 2 hour online technical training class. Also during the afternoon, I contacted three concrete companies (two by phone, one by email) to get estimates on having extensions on both sides of the driveway and then a walk from the east extension back to the deck. It's a feature I've wanted to add for years.

Once I wrapped up my work day I headed back outside to collect the edgings. I must've filled a 5 gallon Home Depot pail 6 or 7 times, dumping the contents against the front foundation to further accentuate the slope away from the house.

Mindy & Bella were home within 30-40 minutes of one another. Jacob still wasn't feeling well and opted to remain in bed. Bella was soon off to play with Makayla. Funny, shortly after getting home from school she shared that the two of them had been distant of late. Had some catching up to do. :) Mindy and discussed out evening. Thought we'd visit Barley's. Bella opted out, asking instead if she could go with Makayla to watch Lillian play soccer. And since Jacob was ill, it would be just Mindy and I. Dandy!
We agreed to bring home food for Jacob.

Mindy and I headed off to Barley's just ahead of 6pm. Shared that we'd be mulching on Saturday, of course provided they deliver as promised. Mindy reminded me that she planned to go into school and start packing up her classroom, not only for the summer, but for the move into the new building. I remembered. Told her that Jacob and Bella could help, and then she could later, once she got home.

At Barley's a little earlier than usual, As a result, not many regulars when we arrived. New server this time. I am pretty sure that Ashley was her name. Cute! Mindy ordered a sampler of four. I ordered a Hoptopus, which is their wheat IPA. Very good! We ordered spinach artichoke dip for an appetizer. Don't thinks we've had theirs before. It was good.

David the manager stopped by to chat. Shared that they'll be unveiling their new menu next Wednesday. He couldn't give away all the details but did share a few things, namely that the Thursday Reuben will become a regular menu item as will the Saturday brisket special.

Rick C. showed maybe 15-20 minutes after us. And just about the time we were asking if he'd seen Steve W. of late, in walked the devil. Always good to see those two. Like me, they're longtime regulars. Mindy eventually ordered a burger. I went with just another beer only this time a Centennial. Actually, though, I planned to order some wings to-go. As usual, Barley's served the intended purpose handsomely. I relaxed with friends and had a lot of fun. I enjoyed a third beer (2nd Centennial) before we placed our to-go order. I ordered K.C wings. Mindy ordered chicken tenders for Jacob. Mindy drove home.

At home, I woofed down 7 or 8 of my wings while Jacob woofed down his chicken tenders. I poured a White Rajah to wash my wings down. Yum! It still before 10pm when Mindy said she was going to bed. Bella called and asked if she could have a sleepover at Makayla's. We said yes. I joined Mindy in bed where we watched a couple episodes of Modern Family. I told Mindy that we must be getting old as evidenced by finding ourselves in bed before 10pm.

Suck Out the Featherhead

I was up near 6am and promptly engaged in calisthenics. It was cloudy and expected to remain that way for much of the day. The high wasn’t expected to get any warmer than the mid 50’s, and then not much different come Friday. Jacob shared that his throat was sore and that he was sick. Mindy and I weren’t too surprised as he said as much the night before too. Looked as if he wasn’t going to school. Mindy said she would most likely come home from school at noon and take him to the doctor.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to work from home or the office. However, none of my peers would be in the office so there wasn’t much incentive to drive in and do what I can do just as easily and effectively from home. Still, it wasn’t until I dug into work while enjoying coffee and internet that I made my decision. I figured to work all day from home. Heck, I was fully engaged in work related matters starting at 7am.

As such, I didn’t meditate, stretch, and walk the pug until Mindy was gone. And then it was after 830am before I got out for a run. Work had my undivided attention until then. I ran the full 4.1 miles. By all accounts, an easy run.

Stayed busy all morning. Come 1030am or so, I headed out to do a little flower bed prep. I spent roughly half an hour digging the composted mulch away from the edge of the sidewalks leading up to the stoop so once new mulch is laid it won’t spill over onto the walk when it rains. I liken it to building natural gutters. Works well, too. Once back at my desk, I ordered mulch online from Ohio Mulch, choosing a next-day, Friday delivery. Frankly, was a little surprised that the day was still available. I ordered 70 bags of Absolute Black and then 4 cubic yards of playground mulch for the treehouse and behind the shed, both quantities more than last year. We need more bagged mulch this year since we have to fill in where the Ivy died back, which all totaled is a fairly significant area.

I’ve never paid for delivery before, but they were having a special $49 delivery rate through next week, and that would save me from going after dad’s trailer and then making 6 or 7 trips to their closest location, which is only about 2 miles up the road. Simply the convenience seemed like a heck of a deal.

Within the hour, I got a call from Ohio Mulch. A young woman told me that while Friday delivery showed available online, that wasn’t really the case. Said they were totally booked. She said she could make the delivery the following Friday. No, that wouldn’t work for me. I quickly asked for early Saturday but before she could answer we got disconnected. Not wanting the issue left up in the air, I quickly called back. Anita answered and apologized for the disconnection. I wasn’t sure she heard my Saturday ask. But she quickly shared that Saturday delivery was booked already too. She asked if Monday would work. No. It would sit all week. After a brief pause, I asked if today (Thursday) would work. Nope. She soon acquiesced, sharing that she would just force in the delivery for Saturday. She went on to share that the driver would likely be angry with her but he’d just have to suck it up.  I thanked her for the flexibility.

Getting mulch down this coming weekend would get us where I wanted to be schedule-wise for our annual outdoor beautification project.

Despite me working from home, Mindy came home from school early to be with Jacob arriving just after noon. She brought him fast food. Man is he spoiled! She delivered it to his room. Around 2 or 3pm she took him to Craig’s office to have him tested for strep.

I spent the afternoon working from my desk. Mindy & Jacob were gone for about an hour. He didn't have strep but did have some virus. Told him to stay home from school again Friday. Bella was home before they got back. Can’t recall what we did for dinner. Mindy took Bella to gymnastics and I agreed to do the pick-up. However, those plans changed when Mindy reminded me that the dryer vent needs cleaning as evidenced by moisture dripping down the front and by how long it’s taking for a load to dry. I’ve seen evidence of water dripping from the vent pipe in the basement recently too. It’s a job that needs done every year or so, and I am pretty certain that it’s been over a year since the last cleaning.

I offered that I would address the dryer vent project if she would agree to go after the peanut. She reluctantly agreed. I figured this a great time to clean under and behind bot the washer and dryer and then also replace the aging washer hoses with the new metal mesh hoses I bought a few weeks back.

Our laundry is small (tight). Not a lot of room for even one person once the machines are pulled away from the wall. I cleaned under the dryer first and then used the shopvac to suck all the bulk lint from the upper portion of the vent pipe and then the dryer itself. I cleaned under the dryer maybe 6 months ago, but not the washer. Believe me, I could tell it, too. Very dirty, sticky – dryer lint and detergent. Once the mess was cleaned up I removed the 20 year old washer hoses. Cleaned up the faucet housing before installing new hoses. Mindy was home just as I was them up. Before moving the washer back into place I gave it a test run. Good thing I did because the anti-flooding hoses were in ‘block’ mode, and I suspect because I turned the water supply back on too quick. The only way to reset the water flow was to remove the hoses from the supply end. That did the trick.

Once the washer and dryer were back in position, I headed to the basement to clean the vent pipes from the floor out. Mindy took care of the final clean-up upstairs as well as cleaning the laundry caddy. I use the shopvac and a telescoping feather duster to clean out the vent ducting. Having done this a time or two, this is the best solution I’ve come up with before. This time however, the feather duster head came off the telescoping handle leaving it out near the exterior vent. Great. I hollered for Mindy’s assistance. She held the shopvac while I put the extensions on the hose and sucked the feather head out. Crisis avoided.

Seemed to get most of the lint but worried that there might be a clog right at the exterior vent which is not readily accessible from the outside since building the deck some 20 years ago. Lastly, I took the vent duct apart just after the floor elbow and cleaned up and then towards the exterior. Satisfied that I had it as clean as I could get it, Mindy headed back upstairs while I reattached and taped the joints. I’d have to check the exterior vent from under the deck on some dry afternoon. We finished up near 9pm.

Not much else. Off to bed before 10pm.

Coveted Cleaner

It rained through most of the night. In fact, it was still raining, though only lightly, when I woke for work near 6am. From the outset, my plan was to run early, or before Bella left for school. To that end, I exercised, enjoyed coffee and internet, meditated and stretched, and headed out for a run all before 7am. I ran the full 4.1 miles, too.

Mindy was gone by the time I got back from the run. I grabbed the pug's leash then beckoned her presence from the bottom of the stairs. She and I headed out near 750am. By then the other bus stop parents arrived in their cars. I waved as we walked by. Inside, I ate my breakfast while Bella dashed out for the bus. Off to the shower by 815am. It didn't take me long. I was ready and left the house by 840am. I had about a 1/4 tank of gas, which was probably plenty, but then again, I didn't want to put myself in a predicament I could easily avoid. I stopped for a fill-up at Circle-K. Excellent mileage last tank full, almost 28 mpg. Arrived cross town near 9am. I looked for a close parking spot but there were none. It was raining again so I used my umbrella for the long walk to the entrance.

Stayed busy through the AM hours knocking out a number of to-do's. Amongst them was a personal to-do, reaching out to the two doctors I found by using our benefits resources page to see about making an appointment. My first choice was not accepting new patients. Dang it! My second choice was and has excellent ratings. Made a get-to-know-you appointment for Monday, May 12 at 330pm. That made far more sense. Already more personable than Dr. Coyle. Come 1230pm I left for a lunch break and a trip to the Easton Macy's. It was the first day of their Friends & Family sale, everything in the store 25% off, which also included items already on sale. I tried on a few things but bought just the lavender Polo shirt I'd been waiting to go on sale. I tried on a pair of cargo shorts but looked like a total dork in them with my short, stocky legs. I headed back to the office near 130pm.

Stayed busy through the afternoon, leaving for home near 410pm. By then the rain had stopped but the sky still mostly cloudy. I tried calling Mindy but she didn't answer. However, she called back about 10 minutes later sharing that she was just leaving school. By then I was only a few miles from home and beat her there by several minutes.

We had the house cleaned professionally for the first time in something like a year. The woman, Debbie, is the mother of a teaching partner of Mindy’s whom we met a couple weeks ago. She did a decent job, especially for the first time. I am confident that Mindy will work with her to address the areas that need more attention moving forward.

It was a Jimaken night, though with Jacob not feeling well, it was just he and Bella. Jacob said his throat hurt and he was ridiculously tired, essentially his bimonthly illness. Mindy and I planned an impromptu run to CBC even though we strongly considered staying home. Arrived at CBC near 545pm. The parking lot was full so we took our favorite spot in the ancillary lot across the street, our car within eyeshot. Standing room only in the bar, a company having an organized happy hour. Soon, however, some folks offered up stools they were standing by. Sweet.

They had Bodhi on tap, but both of us decided to try one of their guest drafts instead, the Mad Tree, PsycHOPathy. Not sure why but it left me in a very antisocial way. :) As usual, Mindy chatted it up with the staff, especially, Jen, the general manager, who is expecting a baby along with her wife, Keri. She also talked with Aubrey who is due in something like 6 or 7 weeks. Seems only last week that she shared that she was pregnant. Said she was inviting Mindy and I to her baby shower at her fiancée, Matt's house. And by the way, men are welcome too.

Enjoyed some fresh CBC bread along with our beer. Later, Jen comp'd us some fried asparagus shortly before we ordered dinner. Mindy went with the salmon and I with wings. Ordered a Bodhi as well. Haven't had one in quite a while. And boy was it ever tasty. It was approaching 8pm when we wrapped up our CBC visit and headed for home. Jim and Molly were still there with Bella. Mindy insisted I show the two of them some of the wedding photos.

Off to bed fairly early, and definitely before 10pm.

More Calling Hours

Was up near 6am again, this time it was raining immediately out of bed. As such, I took my time with exercise, internet and coffee figuring that I wouldn't run until after Bella was on the bus. Around 7am I got busy with work, too. Mindy left for school at 730am, and shortly thereafter I put work aside for meditation, a stretch, and pug walking duty. Bella was out the door for school at 8am.

Didn't leave for my run until; 835am. By then the rain was reduced to a light sprinkle, but it picked up again sometime into the 4.1 mile run. When I got back home I immediately tossed all of my clothes into the dryer and put my running shoes on the heating vent. I was soaked. Made breakfast for the pug and I.

Worked a little before heading up for a shower. Thinking it was near 1015am when I left the house for New Albany. Just before that, Mindy sent a text sharing details surround the calling hours for one of her students grandpa's. She wanted me to go with her that evening.

Had to park in the deepest part of the customer's parking lot. Good thing I had my umbrella with me otherwise I would've been soaked after the long, rainy walk in. Stayed busy leading up to our standing 1pm meeting. The meeting was brief, only about 30 minutes. Some of us stuck around after for another impromptu discussion. I stuck around until 2pm and then left for the day, my plan being to make a quick trip by the New Albany Oakland Nursery and the home where I would finish my work day.

I hadn't been to the New Albany Oakland Nursery before, but it was easy to get to, and only 3.7 miles from the office. I hoped to find healthy cannas bulbs with bronze foliage and orange flowers if possible. Nice place. Smaller than their Columbus location, but quaint. I liked it. I looked at some of the annuals they had out, and quickly catching my eye were these lovely orange begonias. A little pricey, though. I could only find red cannas, which I already have a ton of. Before leaving, I stopped by the desk to ask. The woman working was very helpful and guided me back to the greenhouse, and to a different area other than where I found the red cannas. Yep, they had more, but she said they only had bronze/orange. Really? Awesome! Moreover, they looked healthy and the price was great. They came in a 5-pack for $6.99. I bought two. I also picked up a bag of 8 multicolored Asian Lillie bulbs too.

Home James! Arrived home near 3pm and quick got back to work. It was an relatively easy finish to the work day. The kids and Mindy were soon home. Somewhat surprisingly, Jacob had soccer practice. With all the recent rain I was sure it would be canceled. Our plan was to take Bella to gymnastics and then go to the calling hours in the short north. Can't remember what we ate for dinner. I think I only snacked.

We dropped Bella at gymnastics just before 6pm and then took 270 to 670 exiting on Neil Ave. into the short north, arriving at the Shaw Davis funeral home around 615pm. All the immediate parking was taken. We paid to park at a nearby meter. Interesting decor - 40's/50's era. Mindy led the way eventually finding her student, Caylee, who once she laid eyes on Mindy came up and gave her a big, long hug. Cute and sad all at once. As Mindy shared, this same woman lost her first husband the same way, to cancer, and both were relatively young. Mindy's helped them through difficult times past. Seems, too, that Mindy's had a few of the family's children in her class over the years. She hugged several of them. Caylee walked us up to see her grandpa. Noticed small handwritten love notes in the casket from grandchildren. Very touching.

We didn't stay too long. Talked with the wife and kids and then left. Probably there no more than 15 minutes. Just a few blocks from North High Brewing, Mindy suggested we stop in for one beer. Why not? Been a couple months since we were last in. Not too many cars in the lot. Met David, a new bartender. Interesting character originally from New York City. The owners, Tim and Gavin weren't in. According to David, out on deliveries. I opted for one of their IPAs while Mindy enjoyed their stout. Talked with David the entire time. We couldn't stay too long. We had to pick-up Bella from gymnastics at 730pm. It was 725pm and we weren't even on 670W. Mindy sent a text to Kelly, Bella's gymnastics instructor sharing that we would be a little late. No problem.

Think it was 740pm when we finally arrived. Mindy was inside for 15-20 minutes. I was just about to call her cell when they finally came out. As soon as she was in the car Mindy said she had something to share with me later. Storms were rolling into the area again, and this thunderstorms. The skies looked impressively wicked. I suggested a stop at Dairy Queen for ice cream. Bella was game. It's just down the road but by the time we got there the thunderstorms were pretty much overtop of us. Strong wind, lightning, thunder and rain. We ran inside DQ.

I haven't had a DQ ice cream cone for myself for two years. Ordered a chocolate cone dipped in chocolate. Bella had a giant waffle cone filled with vanilla ice cream while Mindy had a Reece's blizzard. Yuck! Before we left, Mindy got something to take home for Jacob. Not sure what it was. The brunt of the thunder storm was now just to our north and east. There were several incredible lightning strikes visible from the freeway. Haven't seen lightning like that for some time.

Home just after 8pm, the rest of the evening was a bit of a blur. I'm sure that we were in bed by 10pm.

Rain in the Offing

I was up for work near 6am and moved swiftly through my pre-run routine of exercise, meditation, stretching, coffee and internet. I stopped upstairs to see Mindy before I left on my run fairly certain that she'd be gone by my return. I asked that she make Bella aware that I might not be back before she needed to catch the bus. What helped motivate me out the door was the threat of rain baring down on the CMH metropolitan area. Of course my preference was to stay dry.

For a couple reasons, I ended up curbing my run to only three miles. One, that would get me back home with plenty of time to make sure Bella was prepared to leave for school. And two, I managed to avoid the coming rain. At the time, I still wasn't sure if I was going to work from home or office. Mindy was already gone when I got back home, but that I expected. It was about 745am. I enjoyed breakfast and then walked the pug. By the time we were back it was time for Bella to leave for school.

Ultimately I decided to work from home. I'd already dug into a couple issues via email and none of my immediate team members would be in the office that day, either. The rains came, and I was happy about it. In fact, the forecast called for three straight days of rain. We really needed it.

Working in my running clothes, I stayed busy all day long. During what I'll call my lunch break, I edited Lindey's wedding photos. I planned to finish the rest after work. The kids and Mindy were home before I knew it. I didn't get a shower until almost 4pm. Mindy was excited that we didn't have any extracurricular activities on the Monday evening calendar, a welcome sight after such a busy weekend.

For dinner we had leftovers. Mindy and I had spaghetti warehouse leftovers - lasagna. Good stuff. After dinner I spent more time editing wedding photos, in all more than 300 photos.

The 911 on the 911

Woke fully rested ahead of 7am. In fact, I was downstairs by 645am. That’s got to be the earliest I’ve been up on a weekend day in quite some time. The sky was clearer than the morning before but also chillier. It was only 40 degrees at 7am. Burr!

I spent the first hour enjoying coffee and catching up on that work issue from Saturday. In fact, by the end of the day, I invested a couple more hours helping get it squared away. The sunshine warmed things quickly. I left for a run around 830am. Like most Sunday’s, I ran only three miles. Felt pretty good.

I prepared Mindy and I a Mexican omelet using leftover taco meat and black beans. I also added fresh spinach and cheese. Yum! Mindy errands to run, including returning Jacob’s tux, grocery shopping, and stopping by her sister’s. I planned to get more yard work completed including mowing the lawn. However, my first yard task was finishing up the ivy clean-up. I had only the westside of the house to complete.

Before heading out, I made Jacob a Mexican omelet too, even though he was still sleeping at the time. Mindy said he’d appreciate it. Had to be near 10am when I headed out to get started. As always, getting started raking the English Ivy is the toughest, but once I got going I found my rhythm. Mindy and I talked about it on Friday. We agreed it a good idea to remove the 6 or 7 barberry bushes under the spread of the green spruce tree. No longer do they serve a purpose to our lovely landscape. I opted to use my chain saw to easily cut them out. And once they were removed, that made raking the dead ivy from under the spruce so much easier.

Took a hell of a lot longer to finish raking out all the dead Ivy than I ever imagined. Probably two more hours. Was very happy to have that out of the way. Next on the list, mowing the lawn. And this time I decided to trim and edge first. Struggled with the trimmer. Not sure why I didn’t install the new head I bought a couple weeks ago. The edging was tough too, but then again, the season’s first edging always is. Looked nice though.

Decided to cut the entire front lawn with the push mower. It always looks so much neater, tighter lines. By then Mindy had left to run her errands leaving Bella home with me. Earlier, while I was still raking out the ivy, Jimaken and Molly came by to pick-up Jacob for the final leg of his weekend soccer tournament.

Finished up the mowing around 2-3pm. Bella came out at some point asking if it was OK if the boys came over for dinner. Sure, but also asked that their arrival be an hour out still. I needed time to accomplish a few more chores. Over the next hour I got the two backyard hoses installed and ready to go. I also transplanted two cone flowers that were a little too close to the beds edge. I didn’t think I’d have time to get to it, but managed to spray both a gallon of Round-Up on the weeds growing along the gutter of our flower beds and then some Weed-Be-Gone on the lawn weeds.

It was while I was spraying lawns weeds with Weed-Be-Gone that Bella came out showing unusual interest in what I was doing. Actually wanted to help. OK. I let her spray while I found the weeds. Soon it was clear why. While out near the shed, I looked up to see Jacob and a CMH policeman standing on our deck. I asked how I might help him. He walked out to me asking if I called 911. Nope! Been out her working all afternoon. Said they definitely received a 911 all from my home. Odd, especially since we don’t use the home phone for anything but security. I turned to Bella and asked if she made an accidental call to 911. Nope. The officer was friendly and insisted he go confirm the number from which the call was placed.

Sure enough, it was our TW home phone number, which I would never remember the number unless someone quoted it to me. I had Bella go in and fetch the phone and do a history of number’s dialed. Took her a long while, but she eventually brought it down showing us that no such number had bee ndialed. By then my suspicions were increasing. I can read her like a book. The office made it clear that no one was in trouble but instead that he only wanted to make sure everyone was OK. Still, no confession.

The officer left, and as soon as he did, Jacob insisted that it was Bella. Said he could tell. Asked Bella to check the other phone. Mysteriously, it was dead. Not a big deal, I guess. I headed out back to finish the work I’d started. Bella came along too. Soon enough the boys were over but just as quickly off with Jacob to Evan’s house to play basketball and baseball. And then not 10 minutes later Mindy was home. By the time I headed inside Mindy already knew about the cops being at our house, and apparently had a confession from Bella that she had mistakenly called 911. I understood that she was afraid but insisted that she should’ve told the officer the full truth. Still not sure how or if she was able to make the dialed number disappear from history, but then again, I let her do all the checking. Oh boy!

I needed a shower. As it was, I was filthy dirty and smelly. A shower felt terrific. And more than it has in the last ten years, my lower back was aching to high heaven from all yard work, bending over and such. Mindy promised to rub it later. Ouch!!! I eventually took a few Advil needing some relief as fast as I could get it.

Before Mindy left for the grocery we talked about grilling dinner, either salmon or steak. In the end, I left it up to her. She chose steak, and bought six filets from the Kroger butcher shop. Before any grilling, Mindy whipped up a lovely garden salad, corn-on-the-cob, baked potatoes, and fruit. First time we’ve had a hand cut fruit tray in a really long time. Thinking it was near 630pm when I grilled the steaks. Even though I didn’t plan to eat an entire steak, Mindy insisted we cook all six. Out of practice, I was a little worried that I might over cook them. But that wasn’t at all the case. To the contrary. They were grilled to perfection, at least the way Mindy and I like them, which is medium rare. Just before the steaks were done, Landon came bouncing home from Evan’s holding his belly. Once he was on the deck he showed me an ugly scratch he got from a trampoline spring. Yikes! It was bleeding pretty good, but not deep. Thankfully. Mindy took care of cleaning and bandaging him up.

To Mindy’s credit, we ended up earing all but about half of one steak, due mostly to Landon and Jacob eating more than their fair share. But that’s OK. Just don’t want it going to waste. During dinner, Lindsey sent a text asking what time she needed to return for the boys. They asked that it be 8pm. Wanted more time to play baseball. 8pm it was. Dinner clean-up took some time, as there were lots of trays, pans, etc to wash. I had just finished wheeling our two trash cans to the curb (recycling and regular) when Lindsey pulled up. Of course she didn’t come in, and neither did the boys. Just left without as much as a hello/goodbye. OK!

Spent the remainder of my evening reading from my Kindle. Mindy finally got around to rubbing my lower back and hamstrings around 845pm. Felt terrific. We headed for bed around 910pm. I didn’t think I was ready to fall asleep that early but that proved to be incorrect. I was asleep before 10pm.

Exchanging Bows

I was up around 720am. And instead of the sunny skies they forecasted, it was cloudy and 50 degrees. Bummer! I enjoyed coffee and internet and work for the next hour or two before heading out on a run. I really wasn’t anticipating having to work, but received a number of emails overnight all centered around one problem. As much as I hated to, I dug in.

During my run I contemplated how I might further address that pesky work related issue. By my run’s end the sky had cleared giving way to oodles of sunshine. Mindy was walking the pug out front as I wrapped up my run. I spent another hour or so with work before declaring it time to get on some yard work. Jacob had an early AM soccer game that Jimaken was taking him to. Mindy and Bella needed to be at the union hall to prep for the wedding by 1pm. Mindy tasked me with getting Jacob there by 230pm and also seeing that he got into his tux without incident.

My plan was to rake more dead ivy leaves from the flower beds, having gotten the two large front beds the weekend prior, we still had the sides and back. In other words, lots still to go. Tough sledding, especially at first. I used the metal tined rake which tears and catches more so that the plastic tined rake. I got the entire east side done in about an hour. That included raking all the debris onto the tarp and then blowing any remaining loose impediments out from the beds and into the lawn. Still only about noon, I went ahead and started around back. There we don’t have that much ivy save for one bed on the west side of the deck. However, there was a lot of fall foliage needing raked out from under the shrubs and first deck tier. Clearing out under the shrubs and then under the deck is a job I disdain. Needs done, though, and the only things that produces the end result is persistence. And I can’t bare to employ the out of site out of mind card. I know they’re there. I can’t simply leave them.

Remembered that the slacks I wanted to wear were needing laundered. Before Mindy & Bella left, I asked that she put a couple of my dress slacks in the washer. She did that as well as getting them into the dryer. Thanks dear!

Mindy & Bella left around 1230pm. Wished her well. Mindy was already made up for the wedding wearing a purple dress she recently purchased. She looked nice. Only me at the house, I woofed down a small snack then returned to working in the yard, knowing that the more I got done on Saturday the easier Sunday would got. Turned out, I got all the way around to the SW corner of the house, which was further than I imagined getting to. That’s always a good feeling. I needed to keep an eye on the time and left myself plenty of time to drag and dump the tarp full of debris as well as to put all of my tools away. By then it was 115pm. I figured I better head inside.

Jacob was home from his soccer game, which his team lost. He wasn’t too thrilled. He double checked to make sure that I planned to help him get into his tuxedo. Sure! He had already showered. While he got started, I took a quick shower and then preheated the iron so I could press my slacks and shirt. Got Jacob and I both dressed over the next 30 minutes. We left the house at 210pm. By then it was a gorgeous afternoon, clear skies and 70 some degrees.

Arrived at the wedding venue at 230pm, which was the time our presence was requested. I called Mindy, who was already inside to confirm parking arrangements. I ended up parking in the Spaghetti Warehouse lot. I headed inside to the groom’s room with my camera gear. As expected, Josh’s uncle was still in the hospital and as a result unable to shoot the wedding. However, he sent his gear. And along with his camera gear, his wife and daughter agreed to shoot the wedding. Larry asked that I shoot some photos too. At some point I introduced myself to Alyssa and her mom and discussed how we might best utilize the fact that we had 4 cameras to shoot the wedding. I recommended that I set up my small Canon on a tripod on the balcony and use it to video the wedding while Alyssa and he mom would shoot photos from the front of the wedding. That’s where some of the best photo ops would come from.

I shot from the balcony as all the guest arrived. I did manage a decent shot of bride and father (Larry & Lindey) exiting the bride’s room which was located off the same balcony. The wedding started about 15 minutes late, which I think is fairly standard. Didn’t last more than 8 minutes. Done!

After the formal ceremony Lindey & Josh moved to the outdoor patio area to greet all the guests as they exited the wedding venue. With the sun shining, I knew I could get some nice shots out there. And because the reception was being held in the same venue, the catering staff began serving drinks right away. For the time being, I opted only for a Coke.

After an hour or so outside, the reception finally moved into the more formal reception hall, which was done up real nice. And because it’s the CFD union hall, the DJ stage is a replica fire engine grill. Neato! The DJ – didn’t get his name – was a very big man. In fact, he was even bigger than Terry W., Larry’s older brother. I kidded the fella about spinnin’ some tunes to which he quickly corrected me that he’s all point and click! 

Mindy, Jacob, and I were seated at table 5 along with her college pal, Chris, his wife Tamara and their two boys, Jack and Nathan. Earlier, I asked Mindy to fetch a handful of my mini bottle of Jack. I had three in my pocket and she stashed another in her mini purse. I then enjoyed a couple Jack and Cokes.

The reception was nice and very traditional. There was the father’s welcome and toast, the best man’s toast, (Josh’s younger though bigger brother) and the bride’s maid speech (Brittany). Oh boy! That part was a bit of a train wreck but still sweet/cute. Then there was the father/daughter dance, which was also nice. Dinner was served about an hour in. The meal consisted of pasta and chicken. It was good, but I ate relatively little. Just wasn’t that hungry.

Dancing ensued for the next half hour until the big DJ declared it time to cut the cake. He came to me asking for the maid of honor and the best man. I did my due diligence to locate both but with little success. I passed word along to others to help locate them. Soon enough, they were found and organized. I positioned myself upfront to capture some of the cake cutting with my camera. Cute!

After cake and cupcakes, more dancing ensued. I danced with Mindy for three or four slow songs but that’s it. The time went pretty fast, and soon it was 8-830pm. By then about half the guests had departed. The reception was slated to run until 10pm. We convinced Mindy that it made sense to pack up for home around 830pm. Jacob said he was riding with Mindy. He’s such a momma’s boy. Once we were all set, I headed for home ahead of Mindy and the kids arriving 5-10 minute before them. Eiknarf was beside herself and really wanted/needed to go out. I quickly obliged her request and walked her out front. Mindy and the kids got home while we were still in front of the house. At Mindy’s requested, I waited for her to join me.

We walked into Pat’s court and then back home. Pat, along with his friends Joe & Peggy were just heading out and stopped the car to chat with us briefly. Said Lisa was at some work even downtown. They, in turn, were headed for the Trabue Tavern. Trabue Tavern? OK.

Kenny and company were out on their deck, too. It was a lovely spring evening. Why not? Mindy suggested we walk down and say hello, and she wanted to do so in our dress-up clothes. Jacob made only the briefest of an appearance before running back home to change. Funny, he’s the one that was so gungho about showing off his tux.

Chatted with Kenny, Ivan, Mike & Teri for a few minutes before headin back to the house to change into clothes more suited for hanging out. Promised to rejoin the neighbors in a few minutes. It was the end of the 2nd period of the Blue Jackets playoff game. At the time, the score was tied 1-1.

After getting into to our comfy clothes, I poured a Jack & Coke and we walked back to the neighbors. Haven’t hung out with all of them for a really long time. Ended up doing a shot – a red hot, which is aptly named. Tastes exactly like red hot candy, but with a slightly different outcome. 

Finished my drink fairly quick and slipped off back home for another. We hung with the neighbors for a little more than an hour before heading home. It had to be near 1030pm when we headed for bed.

Let's Rehearse

Up at 615am for exercise and coffee

Worked from home

Ran three miles after seeing Bella onto the school bus

Mostly cloudy with a few scattered showers – about 56 degrees at noontime.

And for what I’ll call my lunch, I spent about an hour working in the yard. It was too wet for mowing so instead, I prepped and seeded the two large areas where we had the ash trees vacated last fall. There was a fairly deep depression needing filled there as well from where I moved three large boulders. I used composted top soil that I had stashed along the stream. Filled three, 5 gallon pales to fill the void. Before spreading fresh grass seed, I topped both areas with a mix of store bought topsoil and leaf compost. And before wrapping up and heading back to work, I seeded a couple nagging bare spots in the lawn, too.

The afternoon moved swiftly. The kids and Mindy home from school between 3-4pm.

Lindey’s wedding rehearsal was set to start at 5pm. And since both of our kids are in the wedding, we needed to have them at the firehouse union hall. I told Mindy earlier in the day that my participation, at least getting there at 5pm, was iffy and based on work activity. As it turned out, things were well under control, so I was able to shower and leave with the family near 445pm.

And while it had been cloudy and rainy for most of the day, the sky was showing suns of clearing as we headed to the wedding rehearsal. Probably more important was the Saturday wedding day weather forecast. Early in the week they were calling for rain and chilly temps but now they were calling for 72 and sunshine. Ideal, really.

Arrived at the union hall near 5pm – right on time. Most others were already there. Larry let me know that there was beer available in the kitchen fridge. I took him up on the offer, enjoying a Yeungling Lager. I brought along my new Canon 70D hoping to put it through a few paces. Soon after our arrival Josh (the groom) asked if I would be on standby just in case his uncle, who was set to be their wedding photographer, couldn’t make it. As of the evening before, he was in the hospital. Of course I agreed to help however I could, but also pointed out that my camera is brand new thus my skill using it really nonexistent.

I took a number of shots of the rehearsal at the same time trying to familiarize myself with my new camera. Rehearsal took about 30 minutes, nothing more. The plan was to do the rehearsal dinner at the spaghetti warehouse, which is located right behind the union hall. In fact, we could’ve left our cars at the union hall and walked it was so close, but we didn’t.

We were seated in the loft, apparently a special area just for such occasions. There was a prepared menu of food and drinks. The only booze on the menu was sangria. I opted to purchase a beer separately and ordered a Sam Adams on draft. I didn’t mind springing for it at all, but was a little disappointed that it wasn’t fresh. I didn’t complain, however.

Unless I’m mistaken, haven’t been to the spaghetti warehouse since the day of Grandma Lantz’s funeral, which thinking back also marked the first day of my current running streak. Wow! Pretty sure that Mindy and Bella were there the day they dropped me at the airport for NYC.

Bella asked for some cash so she could play games in the mini-arcade. I gave her three $1 bills. In kind, Jacob soon asked and Mindy gave him an equal amount. I think he ended up giving all of his dollars to Bella. I guess they didn’t have any of the games he expected.

They brought giant bowls of salad and baskets of bread to the table. A few trays of appetizers were provided too. The salad and bread were especially tasty. I would’ve been fine with just that. For my entrée, like many others, I went with the lasagna. The lasagna came with meatballs and Italian sausage links. Yum! It was really good, too. I couldn’t finish mine, nor could Mindy and Bella. We boxed up our leftovers for home. I tipped the waiter well for my beer. I think it was near 715pm when we left for home.

Home and quickly out of my clothes and into comfy lounging attire. Opted to pour a Jack & Coke. Before the evening was over I had two. We headed to bed near 10pm.

Cracking Jack

Needed to be across town no later than 930am for a presentation, and while that doesn't sound that early, working backwards from my desire arrival, that meant I would need to be up no later than 6am and on task until departure. No fooling around. To that end I was strict with my agenda: exercise, coffee, internet, stretch, meditate, and out the door for a run, all before 7am.

Ran 4.1 miles

Cloudy, expecting a little rain and temps in the low 60s.

Arrived across town near 930am and headed directly to the conference room. First one there.

Others soon arrived.

As usual, I was a little nervous, but the presentation went well.

Finished up around 1130am. Opted to head home to finish my workday.

Enjoyed a Jack and Coke before bed.

Coyled up like a Snake

Run 4.1 miles

Partly cloudy, but more sun than Tuesday. Chillier, though, the daytime high only in the mid 50's

Work across town - lunch with customer at Bar Louie's Easton

Stop at Lowes afterwards pick-up 4 bags of top soil, 1 bag of composted leaves, and then fresh grass seed, a rye, fescue, bluegrass mix.

Left customer location near 415pm. Before calling Mindy, decided to call doctor's office since I hadn't yet received a call from Dr Coyle. Got a different office person this time, who after introducing myself immediately put me on hold. She returned a minute or so later advising that Dr Coyle would NOT be calling me. And the reason being that I wasn't formally her patient since I hadn't been in to see her yet. She would only discuss my lab results after the fact. That's it. I was Dumfounded, What do you mean not a patient? She went on to say that because I haven't been in in the last year (it's been two years) that she wouldn't talk to me. Flabbergasted, I shared my mind. I have been a patient of Dr Broyles for 20+ years and never, ever was he rude - cold. She quickly interrupted me saying that she only showed me being there three times and then only a patient since 2008. Oh now I was pissed, and was certain that I didn't want to be a patient of their practice any longer. I asked how I might get my medical records. Should I come in? She quickly answered, no! You need to go online, and blah, blah, blah! I was very angry and told her that they were asses. I quickly asked if Dr May was still part of the practice, my thinking being that he would be a much better option. After all, Dr Coyle's online ratings are not impressive.

I terminated the call by sharing how rude, uncaring, and inflexible they seemed. I knew then that my best recourse was to simply find a new doctor.

Bad Blog Day

Run 4.1 miles

Partly cloudy and mid 60s - weather turning chillier

Work across town

On afternoon drive home Talk with Tommy for the first time in several weeks

Calling Hours in McArthur

Up near 6am. Exercise, coffee, internet, meditate, stretch and run.

Ronald's father, Guy, passed away, I believe Thursday evening, April 17th. Calling hours were 5-7pm in McArthur, Ohio. He died of a heart attack while watching TV with Ronald. He was 87 years old. I might have met him 20 years prior when Mom and Ronald married, but don't think I had an opportunity to talk with him since. Even still, Mindy and I made arrangements to attend. We reached out to dad to see if he wanted to join us as well. He did. Also left a VM for Tommy, but never did hear back.

When I arrived at work near 9am, I let my boss know that I needed to leave near 3pm in order to make the calling hours in McArthur. Mindy expected to leave school right after the students were dismissed. Dad planned to meet us at the house near 330pm. To help out, Jimaken agreed to make Monday his evening with the kids.

Sadly, my long time family doctor retired at the end of 2013. And in his farewell letter to all patients, he emphasized that we would be in good hands with Dr Coyle, a recent addition to the practice. I was a bit nervous about the idea of having a young female doctor, but willing to give it a go. Approximately 2-3 weeks prior I made an appointment to see Dr Coyle, and as per the usual, requested an early AM appointment so I could avoid fasting all morning long. The office agreed that a physical was best since Dr Coyle wasn't familiar with me and gave me an 8am appointment. Perfect! Or so I thought.

Mid-morning I phoned my doctor's office to inquire about the possibility of pushing out my appointment by only 10 minutes Tuesday morning so I wouldn't have to worry about finding someone to watch Bella. Instead of 8am, I asked if me arriving at 810am would be fine. You'd think I ask for $1000. They were adamant that I be there at 8am, and early if possible. No flexibility. Said the doctor has another appointment at 830am. Frustrated, I told them I would find a way to be there.

I left for a lunch run to Strader's near 1230pm, my first such visit this season. I always look forward to it, and typically plan to buy noting. Rather, just look at all the pretties. As I was exiting the office parking lot I got a call from my doctor's office. At first I thought perhaps they might've had a change of heart and would acquiesce to my 10 minute appointment delay request. Nope. This was an appointment confirmation call, and if you ask me sneaky. Sneaky because first, the young woman asked if I still planned to make my 8am Tuesday appointment. 'Sigh' - Yes, I do. Only after I confirmed my attendance did she proceed to tell me that the appointment was made in error and that the doctor isn't even in at 8am. LOL! O.K. ... The obvious question then was, great, then what time does she get in? 830am? I will be there then, and actually, that works better for me anyway. Well, no, because the doctor has other appointments at that time. OK. She hemmed and hawed, eventually telling me that she would check with the sdoctor and call me right back. OK. Onto to Strader's.

Strader's was gorgeous, fragrant and therapeutic. Certainly not all their annuals out but still plenty. Might've browsed for a solid 25-30 minutes before feeling satisfied. I headed back to the office, Oh, and no call back from the doctor's office.

As planned, I left work at 320pm after sharing that I wouldn't be able to make the standing Monday afternoon team call. Still no word from the doctor's office, I decided I would call them. The woman on the other end of the phone was pleasant but also a bit condescending. She matter of factly shared that the doctor would not be able to see me on Tuesday after all and that I would simply have to reschedule. And, if I wanted an early AM appointment it wouldn't be until July! Needless to say, I was incensed. Do you mean that you screwed up and now you want to move my appointment to July? Really? I asked to speak with the doctor, and then reminded them that Dr Broyles would never treat me, his patient, so poorly. She said she would relay my request for a call back to the doctor, but then offered a June 12th appointment but at 130pm, meaning I would have to fast well into the afternoon. She did concede that another more viable option would be to go separately to the lab and have blood work done before the appointment at my convenience. That made more since then fasting all day, but by then I was aggravated by their seeming lack of flexibility and patient care. I asked that she send me the info for the lab option but wasn't fully committed, though did keep the June 12th appointment she offered, just in case.

At home, I quickly logged into work. And while I was working, dad showed up. Shortly thereafter so did Mindy, and minutes later, Bella, Both kids were home from school before we left for McArthur. They'd be home for 30-60 minutes alone before Jimaken would get there to pick them up.

We had options relative to which route to take. Both I felt were subject to rush hour issues. In the end I chose to take route 33, my thinking being far fewer traffic lights than route 23. Mileage wise it's shorter too. As expected, we hit some traffic congestion as we merged onto 33 off of 270 but it didn't last too long. It was gorgeous, by the way, mid 70s and sunny. All of us were hungry. We planned to stop for dinner at some point. We never really discussed it, but I figured we would stop on our way back. Took about 90 minutes to make the 84 mile trip. Found the funeral home without any problems.

Lots of folks gathered outside smoking cigarettes and many in attire fitting for the area. We headed directly inside where we soon spotted my mom sitting in a chair next to Ronald. Once mom spotted us, she came to the entrance to greet us. She then introduced the three of us to some of Ronald's family, including his mother and several of his sisters, many of which I met some 15-20 years ago when she married Ronald. Been a while, for sure.

Mom took us up to see Guy. Looked good. He was dressed in denim overalls much like he might be wearing any other day. I'm told he wore them every day. He loved to wheel, deal, and trade, and often with tractors. It's little wonder then that there were a few matchbox-sized tractors in the casket.

We hung outside for a while, too. The cigarette smoke was a bit overwhelming, but that's what a lot folks down there do, I guess. I gave Ronald and mom hugs, once again expressing my condolences. We then left for home. We wound our way north on route 93 to route 33. Decided to stop at the Wendy's located near the route 33 entrance ramp. I'm pretty sure that the town is Logan. The Wendy's was a little down trodden but the food really good. In fact, it might've been the best baconator's that I've ever had.

Thinking it was near 7pm when we left Wendy's for home. Not too much conversation on the drive home. With a full stomach, I got really sleepy and had a case of the yawns that I couldn't shake. Got home near 8pm. Rather than come inside, Dad went straight to his minivan. He said he was tired too.

Hippity-Hoppity

I got up for good near 740am and once again to completely clear skies. Like the morning before, it was cool until the sun got a little higher in the sky. I enjoyed coffee and internet until about 845am when I left for a run. By then it was in the low 50s but felt great with the sunshine. Ran into Brad, who was out taking care of his lawn. Wished me Happy Easter. Oh yeah! A little later into my run, I ran into Pat out doing his morning walk.

Mindy and the pug were up by the time I was back from my run. I told Mindy that the Russian neighbors had an HER for sale sign in their front yard. Hooray! I was eager to learn how much they might be asking. The sign had a number to call to get details. I called the number but didn't know the code or the specific address. Without it, I couldn't get too far. Decided to leash up the pug and take her on a walk and at the same time get the address.

Happened upon neighbor Kenny while walking the pug. Said he called the day before but there weren't any details. Don't want to sound mean, spiteful but these neighbors have only tried causing trouble for all of us on the island. Happy to see them move on. We've been nothing but nice to them. Back home with their address, I called the property lot line again. Holy Smoke. They're asking almost 10K less than they purchased it for, and that was at the beginning of the down market. They've also dumped an easy 5-10K into to it. Wow, they must want out bad! I sent Kenny a text sharing the asking price.

At home, Mindy made breakfast, scrambled eggs with feta, tomato and spinach. It was good. We planned to have Easter dinner at her mom's and we were supposed to be there around 3pm. Before any of that, however, I wanted to get some yard chores done, namely raking out the front flower beds. And if nothing else, clearing out the dead English Ivy leaves. The plants aren't dead but the foliage is. Our extended bitter cold winter killed almost all the leaves, which more often than not survive midwest winters. It's happened two other times over the last 20 years. And about the only way to rid the dead is to rake it vigorously, which is no easy task since it's so dang viny.

After a hearty breakfast I headed out front with rakes and a tarp. Mindy indicated that she'd be out to help in a little bit. I got started by myself. Yikes, the raking was even more difficult than I remembered, but once I got warmed up it got a bit easier. Once Mindy joined me, we created a little system. I raked and she cut and trimmed the barren ivy cines back and also raked the piles onto the tarp. We spent about two hours on the front beds. It was more work than I imagined. For the first time ever, it killed the foliage on the stucco wall that's been completely covered in ivy for at least 18 years. I raked the dead from the wall too, again leaving the barren vines, which some are as much as 2" in diameter.

Mindy headed in to get cleaned up while I finished up. But at least she helped me lug the tarp back to the compost pile. That took some doing. Talk about exhausting! Jimkaken dropped the kids at home around 1pm. And shortly after their arrival we had an Easter egg hunt in the back yard where a little earlier we hid plastic eggs filled with candy. However, two of the eggs contained money. It took them a while to find all the eggs but with a little help they eventually found all of them. Inside they ravaged their Easter baskets, especially Bella. She was very excited.

We readied and left for Gloria's near 245pm. We had a lot to going with us. Our haul included Lindey's wedding gift, a cheese and pickle tray, and Eiknarf. The weather, by the way, was ideal, mid 70s and sunny. Can't remember a prettier Easter. In fact, the last really nice Easter I can recall was 1994, the same year we moved into my current house. It was 80 and sunny that day but then got cold and rainy the following day.

Arrived at Gloria's near 3pm. About half the family was there ahead of us. I asked Bella to walk Eiknarf before heading in. I know all too well that the excitement of being somewhere special makes her have to poop and pee regardless of going prior to leaving the house. Inside, I helped Mindy get the pickle/olive tray in order, and then after a few hellos I headed out back to play basketball with Jacob. I was fairly stiff from the earlier yard work but well enough to play a little. I didn't have much if any spring in my giddiup, though.

Soon the others arrived and joined us out back. By then I was in a full on sweat from the basketball and warmth. Took a while to cool off, stop sweating. Mindy's entire immediate family was on hand for Easter dinner, along with long time family friends, Pat & Mel. Including kids, there were 21 of us. Dinner was served around 430-5pm, best guess. On the menu was ham, chicken, a couple varieties of pasta salad, and much more. Mindy made up my plate while I washed up. Once one gets around to their seat, it's awfully hard to navigate back down the chow line to get more food. Everything was delicious.

After dinner, most trickled outside. And why not? It was lovely. A short time later, however, a small contingent headed over to see Lindey & Josh's new condo in Hardesty. Decided to make myself useful by raking and bagging up the leaves in Gloria's flower beds. Filled two lawn debris bags. Must've been around 630pm when dessert was served. I had two helpings of icebox cookies. Unfortunately, no chocolate pie. :( Headed for home near 715pm.

Still lovely as the evening turned to night. For some reason, I was still hungry even after two desserts at Gloria's. Tuned into the Cosmos on the NatGeo channel. Great stuff! Mindy and the kids headed to bed early. Mindy wanted me to come to bed then too. We made a deal, that I could watch the Cosmos from bed. I started to dose off but then woke abruptly after an hour or so. I couldn't get back to sleep so I got up and headed downstairs where I played on the internet while also enjoying a bowl of Fruit Loops. Back to bed near 11130pm.

Car Wash times 3

With the promise of gorgeous spring weather in the offing, I couldn't wait to get up. I was downstairs by 720am where I quickly started coffee then stared out the windows to the backyard while awaiting its completion. With nothing but clear blue skies it looked lovely, but temp was still somewhat cool, only 46 degrees. Expecting a high near 65 on Saturday and then 75 Sunday. No real chance of rain until Tuesday.

Enjoyed coffee until 845am or so when Mindy called for me to join her for a little snuggle time ahead of my run. Somewhat reluctant to head back to bed before a run, but did. It must've been around 930am when we both got up and I headed out for a run. Ran three miles in brilliant sunshine. Very nice! Back from my run a little after 10am, Mindy, the pug and I hung out on the deck and in the yard for a while. The skies were so clear and the sunshine so brilliant that it felt a lot warmer than it actually was. By then it was in the mid 50s but felt at least 10 degrees warmer.

We puttered around the yard and house for the next hour or so eventually deciding to spend our afternoon washing all three cars. I told Mindy that I'd need some time to get the hose ready. Each year rather than simply hook it up to the spigot, I replaced the rubber washers in the females end of the hoses and sprayers as well as lubricating all the threads, diverters, and sprayer handles. All that took about 25-30 minutes.

While I washed the accord. Mindy vacuumed and cleaned the inside of the Pilot, which took her at least 90 minutes. It was plenty filthy, but not as bad as it's been times past. Bella's side is always the messiest, hands down, but at least she's getting out of the trinket and bubble gum stage. Mindy likes to point out that the Pilot is dirty because we use it as the travel/vacation vehicle, which is true.

Even though I took the Accord through a carwash the Friday prior, it was still in need of a good hand scrubbing. And even then, I wasn't able to get all the crud off of it. As usual, a good washing reveals all the imperfections that have stacked up over the last 6 months or so. For some reason, lots of minor scratches and mars, and with a black car, everything shows when it's clean and in the sunshine. I used the black car polish on several of the mars, and most came out. I really need to polish the entire car, but that requires another hour or two in and of itself. I wasn't mentally ready to give that much time to it on this occasion. I should probably ask future son-in-law, Steven to detail it for me. Aside from his new job at Marzetti's, he still details cars a day each week. I may look into that.

Once the Accord was clean I moved it to the curb then backed the BM'er from the garage. Mindy was still busy working on the interior of the Pilot. She naturally works at a much slower speed that me. The BM'er washes up quick. Not a lot to it. I took the extra time to wash the top too. Otherwise, it smells musty. And even though I drive the BM'er so little, the front rims are always caked in brake dust. I've learned that Fantastik gets them clean. The inside of the BM'er was dirty, too, but not as bad as years past. This winter I put and left the top up.

Once the BM'er was clean we worked together to wash the Pilot. It's silver, which is probably the best color for not showing dirt. I am always amazed, however, how much nicer it looks after a bath. Shiny is the word. AS soon as the Pilot was washed, Mindy headed in to get a shower. We planned to make the second of Jacob's two soccer games, which started at 4pm. I'm guessing that it was near 230pm when she headed in. It was probably another half hour before I had everything wrapped up and put away outside and then headed inside for a shower of my own.

In addition to going to Jacob's 4pm soccer game, we planned stops at Macy's to get a wedding gift for Lindey, and then stops at Target and Home Depot. We left for Jacob's game near 335pm and by the time we arrived, parked, and found field #6 at the Spindler Soccer facility, the game was just about to start. Until then, we didn't know if Bella & Molly would be there or not. They weren't, but Jimaken was. Said Those two went to see a movie, the new Muppet movie. Even though it was bright and sunny, like always, it was a lot cooler at the soccer complex than it is at home. We always say that's it's 10 degrees cooler. These days were come prepared. I had my running jacket and glad I wore it too. Chilly breeze blowing from the NE, which is rare.

Soccer game ended in a tie. Jimaken and I both noticed that Jacob didn't seem to playing with the intensity that he usually employs. He injured his groin a week or so prior. We think that was bothering him. He won't take any Ibuprofen for it. After the game was over Mindy gave Jqacob and hug goodbye and the two of us headed off to Macy's at the Tuttle Mall taking Avery Rd to Hayden Run and then to the mall from the back entrance. While Mindy went to find the restroom in Macy's, I headed briefly to the Men's department. I wasn't there long. Met Mindy in the crystal, china department where we agreed to meet. It didn't take us long to pick out a gift. Mindy knew she wanted to get them some real crystal, which wasn't even on her registry, but something Mindy knew she'd love. I was surprised that Mindy listened to my opinion on the style and pattern. We dropped a couple hundo on the two pieces.

We wasted little time getting back to the car and onto Target and Home Depot. They're side-by-side on Trueman Rd near my office. Mindy suggested I drop her at Target and then head over to Home Depot by myself. Sure. She headed in Target to get gift wrap and cards while I headed in Home Depot to get can lighting for the basement. I bought three boxes of six for a total of 18 cans. I also bought 250' of 14/2 wire. I also did a propane tank exchange and purchased a new hose nozzle. By the time I got back to Target, Mindy was just coming out. Perfect timing!

By then both of us were hungry and I'm guessing that it was near 630-645pm. We dropped our purchases off at home and then headed to Barley's for some dinner and beers. Barley's is often very low-key on Saturday's. And this occasion was no different. Not too many patrons at all. Jersey was tending bar. David, the manager was there as always. We chatted with him while he changed the labels in the new beer taps. Looked like a tedious process.
I enjoyed a regular Pale Ale to begin while Mindy enjoyed a Fortune Teller at my recommendation. On her own she simply couldn't choose.

We both ordered burgers, each of us craving one when discussing our dinner options earlier. She had a regular Barley burger, while I went with the Texas, Pile it On burger. Double yum! I had a second beer, a Centennial. I am pretty sure that Mindy had just the one. We weren't there too long, 90 minutes tops. The Blue Jackets playoff game was on but they were losing 3-1. It didn't look good. I told Mindy they were done. Just a handful of diehard fans gathered at the bar watching. Arrived home near 9pm. Took a gander towards Pat & Lisa's but didn't see any sign of life on their patio. Looked down toward Kenny & Chrissy's too, but it looked dead down there as well. Just as well. I was happy to get into my PJs and relax. Once in my PJ's, I poured a beer, a Uinta Dubhe black IPA. At the same time, Mindy headed up to bed. It wasn't even 10pm on a Saturday. I drank about half my beer then wrapped it in saran wrap and joined Mindy in bed watching TV. I was asleep within minutes.

Rolling Boulders

From the outset, I knew I was working from home so afforded myself the opportunity to sleep in for a while. The net result was me sleeping in until 640am. Felt great to get the extra 40 minutes of sleep. Downstairs, I completed calisthenics then enjoyed coffee and internet until about 715am when I got busy with work. Because there was no school, I didn’t bother taking Mindy coffee. Let her sleep in.

The peace lasted until about 815am or so. At that point I was joined downstairs by the boys. A short while I later I went ahead and took Mindy some coffee since I needed to head out for a run and didn’t want to leave the boys unattended. Mindy agreed to get up shortly thereafter.

Once she was downstairs I headed off on my run. Just before I left, I asked that she make sure and have Bella walk the pug. It was 52 degrees and partly sunny at the outset of my run. Like most Friday’s, I ran just three miles.

By my return to the house, all the kids were up and having breakfast in the kitchen. Mindy made a number of pancakes – some plain and some with chocolate chips. I had a few small, plain pancakes. Mindy had a number of Easter related crafts to keep the kids occupied while was busy with work. They colored Easter eggs, baked cookies and later decorated/iced them.

Must’ve been around 1230pm when I declared it my lunch time and headed out to the backyard where I fetched my spud bar from the shed and attempted to move the two enormous boulders in the middle yard that once looked perfectly in place up against one of the two mature ash trees we had cut down last October. Now they just looked in the way. I wasn’t having much success moving them by myself. It wasn’t until I employed the help of Jacob and his buddy, Caleb. Caleb seemed mechanically inclined, understanding how to use the spud bar and 4X4’s for leverage. Best guess is that the boulders weigh 400lbs each.

Once we got some momentum, we kept the first one moving towards the stone patio along the water, where I wanted to place them. And by the time I returned with two more pair of gloves for Caleb and Jacob, they had the first stone already in place. Now with a system, the 2nd stone went twice as fast, even though it had flatter sides which prevented us from rolling it. That one was more like “flopping”. I was tinkled pink to have both boulders moved in less than an hour’s time.

My plan is to put down some top soil then overseed the area where the boulders and trees were. By mid- summer you won’t even know there were once trees there. After the boys headed in for lunch, I surveyed the area by scratching off the last of the tree mulch. Unknown to me prior was another boulder, but 90+% of it underground. What the heck, I thought it made most sense to get it up now before trying to over seed the area. Well, it ended up being much larger than I ever imagined. After a little digging and prying, I could see that it was about 16” around. After woofing down a sandwich Mindy made for me, I headed back out to free it from the earth and roll it over to the stone patio with the others.

After lunch, I quickly got back to work. Around 2pm, Mindy and Jacob left to run Caleb home leaving me at home with the three wee ones. They weren’t much trouble, spending most of their time outside. Through the afternoon Mindy and the kids colored the eggs, baked and decorated cookies. The boys wanted nothing to do with coloring the eggs or cookie decorating. Most surprising was Landon, who in recent years has always wanted to do what the girls were doing. This year he was out in the back yard playing football with all the other boys.

Ashley had the day off, too, and came to get Olivia late afternoon. She wasn’t real excited about having to go but finally did once she understood that Jacob & Bella were leaving soon, too. And then, around 430pm Lindsey came to get the boys. As it turned out, however, neighbor Evan asked if Rocky could spend the night. Lindsey apparently walked down to discuss those arrangements with Teri. Landon, I noticed, was having a mini-meltdown over the thought of Rocky having another overnight and he having to go home with mom. I felt sorry for him. He was so upset, he wanted nothing to do with taking his Easter basket home. 

Just as Lindsey was outside convincing Landon to get in the car, I was off to shower. Must’ve been around 5pm. One of the habits of working from home is not getting a shower until late in the day. And by the time I was back downstairs all the kids were gone, including our own, who were spending the entire weekend with their dad for the first time in more than a month, though they did spend one night the Saturday after we got home from Oregon.

Mindy & I had plans to have dinner at CBC, though we didn’t leave for there until almost 615pm. Traffic wasn’t an issue. As we pulled in the Kroger lot across the street, we noticed that one of the three up front parking spots was available in the main parking lot. We quickly headed over to snag it. Inside, there were a few bar stools available too. After a brief meet and greet near the door, we took two stools on the patio side of the bar.

Vince and Kevin were working the bar. Because we’re rarely in on Friday’s, we don’t see Kevin that often. He only works one or two shifts a week, and almost always on Friday’s. The beer menu was an IPA lover’s dream. On tap was CBC IPA, CBC Bodhi, White Rajah, and Great Lakes Chillwave. We both had a Bodhi to start, and Vince son brought us bread and risotto balls. Yum! Almost like arriving home!

Mindy wanted a steak and eventually ordered the barrel cut sirloin. Equally predictable, I ordered wings. I know, as I’ve aged my palette has only gotten simpler. For my second beer I ordered up a Chillwave, and I am pretty sure it was my first taste of it ever, though I’d heard lots of scuttle about it.

My wings were terrific. Ate ever last one of them, which is rare. Usually take a few home. After two beers and dinner both of us were ready to head home. I don’t think it was much later than about 830-840pm. And by the time we left for home, the bar area was almost barren.

I poured a third beer at home, a CBC IPA, enjoying it at my PC and then in the kitchen. Mindy and I headed to bed fairly early, again near 10pm. I was eager for a lovely sunny, Saturday working in the yard. Good night moon!

First Mowing

Initially I planned on working from the Hilliard office but that soon changed once I was settled at my desk enjoying coffee, internet, and a little work. Sandwiched in there, too, was a trip upstairs to deliver Mindy’s coffee. At the time it was 40 degrees under cloudy skies.

By 645am I’d pretty much decided that I would go ahead and work from home. After all, I was already engaged in work related activities. Because of the change of plans, I didn’t head out for run until after Bella was on the school bus. Between the time Mindy left, which was near 730am, and 8am, I walked the pug, stretched and meditated.

This, by the way, was the last school day of the week for both Mindy and the kids - Good Friday. As such, we made arrangements to have Rocky & Landon overnight. Tried reaching out to Ashley, too, to see about having Olivia over as well. As of Thursday morning we hadn’t heard back.

Once Bella was safely off to school, I headed off for a run completing the full 4.1 miles in something short of 40 minutes. By then the cloudy skies from earlier were showing signs of clearing. I had two important calls to join, one at 1030am and another at 2pm. Aside from a brief break after my first call, I stayed busy straight through until 230pm when the 2nd call wrapped up.
By then it was mostly sunny and warm – about 66 degrees. I headed to the shed to get the mowers so I could reinstall the freshly sharpened blades. It didn’t take too long to get the tractor blades on, but there was a pretty big problem. As soon as I gave it a practice run loud clanking rang out from the mower deck. Holy moly! I quickly shut down the blades and then the entire mower. Looking underneath, one of the blades had worked its way loose. I was certain that I’d torqued it down well. Hmmm?

I pulled back into the garage without engaging the blades but struggled to roll up the tire ramps. Instead of driving right up the ramps, the tractor would only push the ramps forward across the smooth concrete floor. Funny, I pulled right up just 5 minutes earlier. No matter what I tried, same results. By then it was after 3pm and Jacob home from school. I solicited his assistance. Having him drive the tractor forward while I positioned my feet in front of the ramps to hopefully keep them in place. Worked like a charm.

This time I took a little more care reinstalling the blades, making sure they were secure and tight. I was sure I had them placed correctly – sharp side pointing up. After torqueing down the blades I drove the tractor around back before testing it again. Same results. Loud clanking from the mower deck. I quickly shut down the blades and drove back to the garage. Not only was I at a loss, but also a little pissed! What in the world?

Before dealing with the tractor, I went ahead and put the sharpened blade back on the Toro push mower. I took a couple practice swaths with it, too. That went without a hitch. Back to the tractor. Had the same problem getting it on the ramps. Called for Jacob’s help again, and by then Bella was home from school and was wondering just what in the heck I was doing. Later, she called me out for swearing. Oops!

Once again the blades had worked loose. What in the heck was going on? Before progressing, I went to my PC and Google to see if I might find a video for installing the mower blades on a John Deere. Now, keep in mind, I’ve done this before without any problems. Buy hey …

I found a couple YouTube videos not only for removing and installing the blades, but for my exact model too. Sweet! Both were homemade – definitely not professionally done. Oh boy! The first one turned out being nothing more than a guy trying to sell his tractor. No help whatsoever. The second, the video was blurry at best, and when he got to the blade removal part, the camera was aimed incorrectly completely shielding the viewer from seeing what he was doing. What a goober!

I wasn’t about to give up. Instead, I went for my owner’s manual in the basement file cabinet, something in hindsight, I should’ve earlier. The blade removal/installation section was somewhat vague but pointed to a couple ahh-ha’s. One, there was a bolded warning to avoid lubricating the threads of the blade bolts or risk damage or injury (???). Oops! And I lubricate and clean the washers and bolts before putting the blades back on. It also suggested cleaning the small metal cups protecting the blade shafts.

I headed back to the garage to not only remove and wipe the blade blots clean of any residual lubricating oil but to also clean the blade shaft cups. Both were chalked full of debris. I gathered that while I was able to tighten the blades down securely, one of them never snugged up and over the end of the blade shaft as required. My hunch was correct. After securing the blades for a third time, my problem was finally solved.

I headed back to my desk where I wrapped up my work day. And once my work day was wrapped up, I headed out to cut at least some of the lawn, or so I thought. I did the tractor mowing first, managing to get maybe 90% of the yard with it. What the heck? Once Mindy was home, I decided to head back out and do the rest with the push mower. That went well too. This being my first cut, I didn’t bother trimming or edging. I did, however, take the time to blow the clippings from the drive and walk.

Mindy shared that the boys weren’t coming over until 8pm, that way we’d have enough time to relax, have dinner, and accomplish a few chores. For dinner we had a number of leftovers to choose from. I had wings and a small piece of sub. Shortly after our dinner, Mindy headed off to Target to get Easter stuff for the kids. She reminded me that the boys would be there soon. Somewhere sandwiched in there I finally got a much needed shower. Felt a lot better after that.

Mindy was gone for about 90 minutes. Finally talked with Ashley. She and Olivia were at the grocery store. Made arrangements for Olivia to spend the night, too. Said they had other plans but knew that Olivia would very much prefer to stay with us. Said she’d bring her over after they were done. Cool!

Neighbor Pat gave a call asking if we were up for a visit. Sure. Didn’t know it at the time but he was home alone, the wife out running errands. Hadn’t spent much time with Pat recently. He, Mindy and I sat in the livingroom chatting until all three of the grandkids showed up. The boys arrived first, then Olivia just a few minutes later. Things were a bit wild for a while, the kids all very excited and wound up. Pat didn’t stay all that long. Thinking he headed for home around 830pm.

In addition to having the grandkids, both Jacob & Bella were hosting overnight guests of their own. Jacob had his friend Caleb over, and Bella had Makayla. Yep, we had a house full!

The grandkids played games, snacked, and got baths over the next hour or so. Jacob & Caleb planned on ordering pizza after the wee ones were in bed. Mindy and I weren’t up that late, either. Thinking the two of us were in bed before 1015pm.