The Terrible Catsafterme

As we segued from April to May, it finally became apparent that it was going to warm up. My previous weekend in New York had seen nice weather, both there and at home – but upon my return, we went back to the crumminess of cold. However, almost miraculously by the end of the week, we had shot up into the eighties. I was excited to get out and enjoy the weather and with Briana coming down from Columbus and Christi and Creed coming over to visit, this presented a nice opportunity.

Friday night, April 24, 2009, no matter how warm it was, didn’t end up so great though when the car that Christi had just bought two days earlier ended up with a dead battery at the Fairborn store as we made a run for some evening supplies. I ended up having to use my AAA to come and tow the car to my house. This killed a portion of the evening. Ashleigh having some her friends over nearly ruined the rest. Far too many spent the night and were strewn across my couches. Still it was fun to hang out with everyone and get and bit wild.

The next day the weather was absolutely gorgeous. We finally got motivated and got the grass cut for the first time (just on the heels of the deconstruction of the Christmas tree). Even cutting grass was fun in the warm sunshine. Since it was so nice and since Briana was in town, I talked my Mom into having us over for a cookout. She agreed and even convinced Denise to make a trek down with the kids since Aaron was away on business.

The day couldn’t have ended up nicer. Great burgers and hot dogs and chips and salsa. Some ridiculously good cheesy potatoes. Brownies to die for. Cornhole and pool (and I beat Christi at both, which is always nice). A few beers. A walk to the lake. The next door neighbor with a water slide set up, which Creed quickly took the opportunity to get in on. And especially some real quality time with Adam as we played outside. Not to sell Megan short as she was adorable as well -even though she sometimes cries after I’ve held her for a while and my Mom has to smugly get her quieted down. It was quite the lovely day.

Briana and Denise square off against each other

Christi was Briana’s partner, and Mom was Denise’s. However Mom got called away and I had to step in and school everyone. Luck was truly with me as I threw several right in the hole and won the game in two turns.

Creed had a blast at the neighbor’s house

Denise takes Adam for a stroll in his wagon

Not sure which Adam enjoys more, riding in the wagon…

…or pulling the wagon

Mom gets cocky about being able to console Megan

Briana and me, still pals after all these years

Brittany and Briana

Bob, the primo chef, and Mom, the outstanding cook, enjoy the fruits of their labor

Although it was nice out, the wind was a bit forceful that afternoon, rendering my hair unstable

Megan finally gets to enjoy some barefoot weather

Adam is such a good boy when he is asked to kiss his sister, but her reaction pose is even more priceless

Do they make babies any cuter than this?

Unfortunately, I didn’t even get to see Ashleigh there as she rode down a bit earlier because she had to work that afternoon. Briana stayed on though. We went home that evening, and while the girls did their thing, Christi and I enjoyed a repeat viewing of Mulholland Dr. It gets better every time. Naturally, thanks to Ashleigh, we ended up with kids strewn about in the house again and I vowed that this would be the last time for that.

After everyone had cleared out on Sunday morning the 26th, I had the chance to further enjoy the weekend by meeting my old grade school / junior high / high school friend Missy Fodor Raisch at Panera for a nice lunch. See more details of this reunion here. The rest of the day, I worked on the website and continued on my quest to view all of the All in the Family DVDs.

After the weekend ended, as if on cue, it began to rain. Such a disappointment after the false start of the early summer. I became sluggish again, and although I dropped a few pounds in anticipation of my next trip, I certainly didn’t do too much except avoid the rain.

As the next weekend rolled around, it was still raining as the April showers seeped their way into May. On Friday the 1st, I ventured out anyway to my friend Jennifer Young’s house. I had never been to her place before and found that she had a great condo in Centerville. I was a bit nervous about being introduced to three – count ‘em, three – dogs. One of the little ones named Rosie was a bit of a nut, but I got along swimmingly with little Tinkerbell and big old Maddie.

Jen herself was an amazing hostess and prepared an unbelievable spread of snacks, far too much for just two (we had invited our old work friends Jon and Larry over, but neither made it). I took a bottle of my Dancing Bull cab, which we followed with her Robert Modavi Pinot Noir. In that light, the salsa, spinach and artichokes wontons, sausages, strawberries, and fabulous cheeses Boursin, Havarti, and Colby really hit the spot. And of course, the night wouldn’t be complete without the traditional phone call to Jon Petering. Jen has certainly earned the rank as my favorite wine tasting partner.

 Hedonism awaits

Not shy one bit about transfering these goodies to my stomach

Jen, whose tan was returning to normal, digs into the Boursin

Tinkerbell, my favorite of the dogs. She took a nap with her head in my lap.

On Saturday the 2nd, Heidi had me and a few others over for a bonfire. Even though the weather was still rather wet, it had finally stopped raining. Her friends (and now mine) Megan and Jason came over, and Jason was able to build a great fire despite the dampness. Only problem was that he apparently burned some poison ivy, which Heidi is highly allergic to and she ended up with it all over whatever skin was exposed. Must be HHH day!

Heidi, me, my hotdog, and a stray marshmallow ready to put an eye out

Jason and Megan

Jason spreads fire, smoke, ghosts, and poison ivy everywhere

Heidi was interested in the potato salad, but not really interested in walking back inside to get a spoon

But the real treat of the night (even better than Heidi’s poison ivy) was that our old BHS high school friend John Marshall finally made it over. Heidi and I had both been friends with him on Facebook for the past year or more, and had several times attempted a meet-up. Finally all the stars aligned and he was able to join us for some beer-drinking and hot dog and marshmallow roasting. He is one of the elite who actually appreciates my sense of humor, and can dish out some nuggets of equally wild and inappropriate remarks.

Johm Narshall and Heidi

John and I had both gone to Ankeney Junior high and Beavercreek high school although I don’t think we ever had many classes together. I don’t believe I had seen John since the end of our senior year when we had art class together in Mrs. McCullough’s room.

John in his senior year at BHS. He wrote on the back of my picture: “Brad, I really don’t know you that well. But you seem O.K. and you’re an excellent artist. This is it, the last year! Good luck in the future. John 90″

I guess he got his chance to know me better - some 19 years later…

The weather still hasn’t returned to the level it reached the first weekend, so what I’m going to do is fly off to Italy and hope it is better when and if I come back. And I’ve already started warming up for the Italian food by having dinner with some work colleagues at the Macaroni Grill on Tuesday, May 5. So much for those few pounds I dropped.

2009 will continue in a country far, far away…

This entry was posted on Saturday, May 9th, 2009 at 6:45 am and is filed under 2000's - Late, Family Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.