Whewww.  10 pm, another day that just took off and never landed.  First stop at 9 am bakery, helped Christian bag the bread.  He wasn't ready for me so I helped. Talked business and weather, it's supposed to snow tonight.  it's already down to 45, I should bring in the flowers, cover the garden, but I'm tired.  I could ask for help, I have 3  12 year old boys at the house, Micah, Cooper and Mike Galli. Howie's at Jackson's.  How does all this happen? one minute at a time.  At the store at around 9:30, trying to get my deposit done, help with a wine delivery, I want to get to the gym by 10:30 so I can ride a bike and work out a little bit before my last appointment.  Today is my official release day, but -

My dad is sitting down with me playing solitaire as I write on the computer,

"So the kids get out of the hot tub and then run into the house?

So Micah has 2 friends sleeping over? and they slept over last night?"

"Mike showed up today at the store, remember his little brothers David and Joe?  You met his mom at the store today. He didn't sleep over last night.  Cooper did."

"I used to have sleepovers as a kid, Wally Thompson, son of the butcher on Rockaway Avenue in Valley Stream.  He used to come in the store, he was a salesmen. It's not that cold in the house, Where is the thermostat downstairs?

every generation has it better than the one before"

"want a cookie?"

my knee hurts, but I'm only 3 months out and it takes at least 6 months. So I went to the gym and got evaluated and John told me to take it easy on the squats - no kneecap pain.

then back to the store, for my 11:30 meeting with our financial advisors to go over that behavioral study, to show me what makes me tick, we talked for a good hour and a half about how the study works, what it tells you, and how you can use it as a managing tool.  

Then it was time to head home and pick up Micah and Cooper and Dad and Howie and Murray and Buddy.  

I had a whole conversation today with a customer who was missing his black cat who he is very attached to while he was picking out his wine and I was restocking wine.  He was telling me his girlfriend let the cat out and now it's gone and I was trying to figure out a way to tell him he might never see his cat again, but he was very attached to his cat and worried - it had been about 24 hours.  

Anyhow, we had to wait for Dad to put on his shoes, - we got to the store maybe 10 minutes before Teresa showed up with Mike - it was beginning to rain, I was trying to fix up the cherries on display -  she came in with her 3 boys, Micah and Cooper were excited to see Mike and went straight to the deli and ordered lunch.  Howie too.  I made ice creams for Teresa and her younger boys.  And then the customers streamed in as the sky opened up with a downpour.  Lots of hot chocolate orders, espressos, soups, sandwiches, one after the other, so I took over the deli register and directed traffic - I only had 2 people working in the deli so it was good timing I was there, no more socializing, but actually that's what I do while I run a register, a lot of talking.

Boys are getting out the ice cream.  Grandpa's laughing and then heads downstairs to sleep.  Mike's allergic to peanuts so he's making sure all the flavors they have out are O.K.  fighting over the ice cream. They're having fun, "holy crap dude."

Howie comes up to me and tells me Katie M is in the store.   So do you want to see if you can have a playdate?  So I go over to Katie M's mom and ask her if she wants to take Howie with her or leave Katie M at the store.  They want to stay at the store and work - so they help Lauren put the Nature's Best order.  Later Lauren tells me they are doing an awesome job.  

The Kids:

"You're going to get cancer in one night.  If you eat a bunch of candy in one night you can get it.  Who says. Says me."

Lauren and Chelsea were talking about the customer today who insisted that we never had fresh meat before.  She saw Chelsea putting meat in the freezer and told her you shouldn't refreeze meat that had been thawed.  Chelsea told her that the meat had never been frozen.  She didn't believe her at first.  I had seen this customer shopping in the store, it was someone I knew (but whose name I wasn't sure of), when I walked by her I gave her a big hello, asked her how she was, she told me all about her kids and her husband and how she never knew we sold fresh meat.  I was telling this to Lauren and Chelsea and Lauren was saying all the customers love Mark, they all want to say hello to him, and get to know him.  And I said they all want a piece of me.  But I was touched by how Lauren said that.  It was really sweet.  I always tease her about buying the store from me, she doesn't think she could ever afford it.  And that too is a sweet thought.  

At 4:10 pm the store phone rings,  Chelsea answers, they are asking for me, but she can't really hear them. She hands me the phone, it's Jackson looking for Howie - they are on their way to the library to return books.  "The Library!  It's the magic show! "  Jackson had no idea there was a magic show - they just happened to be going there so I told him we would meet him at the library.  I called Barbara, told her about the magic show and told her I would take Katie - she would meet me there later.  My Dad was on my cell phone with his friend Helena and miraculously just hung up as I went to get him.  Micah and Cooper and Mike were out walking the dogs, but when I looked outside they were at the car putting the dogs in the car so I told my Dad we were leaving and to go get in the car.  I told the boys to get in the car. I made Howie and Katie M to quit working - it was time to go to the magic show.  Miraculously I got Howie and Katie M to the library in time for the magic show, then I took the boys and Dad and the dogs back home.  I took a 15 minute breather, then went back to get Howie from the library.  Miraculously Denise and Jackson asked Howie for a sleepover. Denise and I planned out tomorrow's events, oh shoot I need to e-mail Katie so she knows Howie's going to golf camp tomorrow afternoon. Done.  So I took Howie home to get stuff for a sleepover.  They came right behind us and got him, and I joined Dad on the couch to watch the Mets game, they were losing 1 - 0.  Then the phone rang, it was Lauren, she almost fainted at the cash register, not sure what happened, she went to the clinic and they told her that she was probably dehydrated.  She went home to rest.  She called me because she wanted me to know what was going on, but she was going to go back to do the order.  Oh yeah, the order.  I told her she could do it in the morning or I could do it in the morning.  I haven't done one in awhile, but I could figure it out. I told her to plan on doing it in the morning and if she didn't feel well tomorrow to call me - that I would probably go in early anyway.

I watched another  inning, but the sun was shining, the river was calling my name and I had 3 almost teenagers just playing computer games downstairs so I got dressed to fish and got the boys and the dogs to go down to the river with me.  It was cold, there was a big crash of thunder off in the distance, but the clouds were moving in funny directions - I could see the rain, but it was in the distance going the other way.  Micah and Galli tried there hand at fishing. We waded in the cold water, Buddy at our heels, starting to become a fishing dog.  Murray hung back on the shore, a little nervous by the ominous sky and the wind.   I finally took the rod and cast where I thought the fish were and started seeing some action, finally I watched, waited and caught a small fish.  We released that one, I checked my fly, it was there, but there was a knot in the line, so I started to change the fly and then the wind howled again and the boys were cold and ready to head home, but we had a nice little outing down to the Gallatin with Micah's friends.  Back at the house the boys tried to spray Buddy's feet, but Buddy is very feisty and finally got away.  Murray went and hid under the porch.   Then the boys went down to the trampoline and I went back to the Mets game with Dad.  The Mets were winning 4-2. I sat and watched the game with Dad, the Mets went ahead 5-2.  I went to take a shower in between innings, was about to get into the shower when my phone rang.  It was Alan Kesselheim, back home from his eye surgery, patch gone, doing well, sounding really well, it was really nice of him to call.  I guess he got a call from Sawyer who really wants to talk to his dad so Al was planning on calling him tomorrow morning.  Hope they get to talk to each other... Then I checked in on the Mets game, Mets were still winning, then I jumped into the shower, then back to the Mets game with a towel on, then got dressed and sat with Dad to watch the rest of the game.  It was still only in the 6th inning - The Mets hung onto win 5-4.  Then it was time - it was already past 8:30 - for dinner at Bucks T-4 for $10 steak night - Grandpa treating.  It was a decent meal, the kids liked it, had fun, then back home for a hot tub while I walked the dogs one more time and Grandpa played solitaire.  

I think that almost brings me back up to where I started.  Boys are now watching Superbad, Grandpa is asleep, and I'm writing on my blog.  I guess this blog is really just a lengthy form of twittering?  Oh yeah, Tim Howard called asking if Jack could visit with Micah this weekend.  So we made arrangements for that.  Micah's Non Stop Summer of Fun.

So many things happen everyday.  So much information passes across my brain everyday.  So many faces, so many conversations, so much stuff.  Paul from Cardinal was telling me how much money he was saving me by not stocking single bottles so I got out last week's invoice and showed him that 2 of the wines he sent back I was completely out of when he restocked today.  It was a funny conversation, a battle of friends.  I lead a very full life, it may not be full of meaningful moments, but it is definitely full of moments.  Meaning does exist, but is also arbitrary in some regards. Each individual brings his/her own meaning to every moment.  Every moment is as important as you make it at the time.  Some moments are more meaningful than others, but you can make any moment meaningful by being present in the moment.   

When I caught that little fish it was meaningful to me.  First I saw a splash, Then I saw a fish roll over my fly.  Then I set my hook too quick, then I took a deep breath, cast again, waited, watched, saw the fish come, let it take the fly and then set the hook, it was just this tiny fish, but I caught it, the boys got to touch it, release it and then we were able to go home.