Head Start

I woke up an hour before my alarm went off this morning. Since I went to bed incredibly early last night, I am not sure why I find that so surprising. Yesterday was a really good day, but wore my out to my core. I got up and puttered around the house in the morning and then took off for a drive around the lake and then into the city. The day was cloudy and cool and made for a good drive with the top down and tunes cranked up. I am pretty sure the smile on my face from such simple pleasure could be spotted from at least a mile away.

Morning found me at my coffee shop, reading my new National Geographic magazine and studiously ignoring the incredibly attractive guy sitting next to be who kept feeling compelled to cough, sneeze, stretch out and generally call for some admiring attention, albeit unselfconsciously. I am pretty sure he was as lost in his book as I was in my music and reading. The city woke up slowly for a Friday and it was good to be back in familiar haunts, seeing new and familiar faces. The constants and predictable in life can be so comforting at times. There was an entire plethora of people on the patio and out front that I had never seen before, so the people watching was both amusing and enjoyable.

After a few iced coffees and giving my new magazine a fair shot at holding my attention, I grew up bit restless and drove over to a friends restaurant. Some of the guys I haven't seen this month were in so I grabbed a drink, talked over new and old news and relaxed for another hour. The more things change, the more they stay the same I suppose. Nick shot me a text and asked me to beat feet to his place a half hour early and I was happy to oblige.

It was moving day for him, of sorts, or at least the heavy lifting and packing. We drove over to pick up his U-Haul truck and had to wait a bit for it to be readied and for all the paperwork to be sorted. We sat out front and talked about random crap, dreams and such, and enjoyed watching the cute guys go about their work on a slower morning. Our tastes in guys are pretty divergent but we both agreed that the HR manager at that particular location had done a fine job in employee selection. It is hard to believe we met 12 years ago and that such an easy and comfortable friendship has been built between us after we stopped dating.

The truck was finally ready and we headed back to his place to play a reverse game of Tetris with his larger furniture and a 10 foot truck. Give or take 2-3 hours and the doors were closed and we were both pretty soaked with sweat and grime but happy that it all fit. It took some creative wrangling on both our parts and there we not really a cubic foot to be spared. That was a job well done! After a few bottles of water we headed up North to park the truck at his friends house for an early morning departure. Panera for lunch sounded good, so we grabbed sandwiches and simply talked and enjoyed each others company, reminiscing about old times, trips and adventures shared and his new hopes and plans for the move. He will be relocating to Denver, CO in November, both for his job as well as joining more of his immediate family and boyfriend. They have been dating now for almost two years and it is so good to see him happy, settled and growing into his position and person. After some wild and crazy years, he has truly found himself and I like the light in his eyes and smile on his face. Funny how time changes us all.

I took off, after dropping him at his place to say his goodbyes to his roomie of three years and headed back out on the highway. I decided to swing by my Dad's shop and found him outside, with a captive audience of a neighbor, Jesse,  who was getting an earful about whatever Dad was worked up about today. I swear as I pulled in he was wrapping up a "lecture" on recombinant DNA and interspecies cloning and breeding? You never know what is going to be on his mind on any given day! I could tell from the tools, engine hoist and stands that he had decided to swap the engine and transmission out of one of his hot rods to the other, so I set to on making myself useful. I am glad I showed up because, even with two of us, it was quite the task. Give or take a few hours, a lot of sweat and shared effort and we had the drive train swapped from one 1939 Chevy Coupe to the other 1939 Chevy Coupe. (Yes, he has two of the same cars and no, I don't know why!) It was good to be back in the shop wrenching with him. It has been a while since we got to work on cars together and catch up, father and son style. At the end of our efforts, the swap was done and the engine and tranny we pulled was on the stands ready for a rebuild and the one we switched out was mechanically assembled and bolted down to the mounts. We slapped on the heads and intake and called it good. Whew!

Needless to say, after that day of work, I was beat. After a quick bite to eat and talking to my Mom for a bit, I decided to call it a day and head out. A quick shower and I crashed into bed at the early hour of 8 pm! Kind of a far cry from the olden days, I suppose, but we all change and adapt to what life throws at us. I knew morning would come early, as it has, and today is going to be a whirlwind in the kitchen. My team and I will be cooking for three wedding receptions today and it is going to be quite the culinary job! I am sipping my coffee and going over my to do list as I write this and it is just about time for me to get my whites on and head to work. Looks like rain today, so  I will leave the top on the car. I do hope today goes smoothly, not only for my sake, but for the families that are gathering to celebrate the weddings and rites of passage of their kids. My head is in a good space, so hopefully I won't get over emotional or tripped out like I did at the last wedding. I have three awesome menus prepped and we are going to have a great time! :P

I think I am done here. You all enjoy your weekend and I will catch up with ya later. Ciao!

daemon

Note: I just realized today that this was my 700th post. I never thought I would stick with this for so long. I guess you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. :)