the 59th week

Monday. I slept in till about 9:30, since I was up until about 3 AM last night reading N.T. Wright's The Challenge of Jesus. I swung by The Anchor to do some writing, and then I went up to West Chester to hang out with Ashley and the girls. Chloe and I worked on Layla the Cupcake Monster, her first "professional" book. "You're going to be my first-ever co-author!" I exclaimed, and she beamed ear-to-ear. I showed her my new car by taking her on a trip to Wal-Greens; it took her ten minutes to decide which candy she wanted to get. Ashley took the girls to her sister's, and I headed south and did some more writing at The Anchor before rendezvousing with Ashley at my place. We lit oil lanterns and candles and stayed up late talking about nothing and everything before falling asleep in each other's arms.

Tuesday. Ashley and I went to The Anchor for coffee. "I wanted so badly to come here last week when you broke up with me," she said, "just so I could be close to you." After coffee and conversation we headed into the western hills for lunch at Applebee's; she had a $50 gift card, and we spent every penny on appetizers and entrees. We felt more than bloated as we went across the parking lot to Hobby Lobby. She'd never been there before, and she loves it as much as I do. We took a nap back at my place before she went to get the girls from Rachel's and I headed up to Blue Ash for my 2-8:00. I was going to go see a bunch of good people at Winton Ridge, but I'd been feeling under-the-weather so after work I just headed home to do some reading before calling it a night early. Ashley told me, "Chloe can't stop talking about the book you two are writing, all her hopes and aspirations for it! She's so excited to be doing this with you, you have no idea! Thanks for being such a great man in her life!"

New Year's Eve. The morning began with coffee and writing at The Anchor. I spent the late morning and early afternoon with Ashley and the girls in West Chester. Ashley told me about a pertinent dream she had last night: "You and I had gone to The Anchor one morning, and when we got there it was gone, like the whole building got up and walked away. The only thing that was left was a big pole in the middle of the parking lot that said 'Come Visit Us at our New Location.' You were so upset because you didn't know where it was, and they didn't give an address. No one told you they were moving to a new place. You were pacing around this empty parking lot smoking a cigarette, and you looked up at me and said, 'Get the kids packed up, we're gonna find this place no matter how long it takes.' You were so upset and determined to find where they moved The Anchor to, it became almost an emergency situation. You took complete control of the situation! You were in this panic, you didn't eat or sleep until we found it. When we did find it they'd moved to a little shack in the middle of nowhere covered in these neon signs and blinking lights, and you were upset because it didn't feel like being at The Anchor at all." I told her the dream sounded fairly accurate. Jobst and I met up at the Blue Ash Starbucks to catch up before my 2:30-7:00 shift with the guys. Ashley came by the Hobbit Hole around 8:00 and we hung out for a while. She headed to her sister's to celebrate the New Year, and I did some reading and was in bed by 10 PM. That's how I celebrate on New Year's Eve.

New Year's Day. I broke in 2015 with coffee and writing at The Anchor. I worked 8:30-4:00 and let the guys sleep in till about noon, since they were out until about 3 AM last night partying hard. I spent the morning finishing up my revision of Dwellers of the Night: The Church of 89 Steps. It clocks in around 300 pages. The third (and final) installment of the trilogy is around 550 pages. Yikes! I'll have to trim that down. I headed to Ashley's after work to hang out with her and the girls. I took Chloe on a trip to Wal-Greens, and naked Zoey started screaming because she wanted to go, too. "It's cold outside, and you're not even dressed!" Ashley said. So the little hellion threw on gloves and mittens and ran otherwise naked out to my car, totally ready to go. I wanted to take her for laughs. 

Friday. I went to The Anchor for coffee and writing. "You're not a customer, you're family." Heart-warming words from the classiest waitresses in the Cincinnati metro. Ashley and I spent the afternoon together, watching The West Wing and cuddling on the sofa. She scratched my head and I almost fell asleep. I left come evening, picked up Subway for lunch, and spent the rest of the night watching Band of Brothers; Ashley found the whole collection, it used to be her ex-husbands, and she gave it to me. "It's yours."

Saturday. Another morning at The Anchor led to another afternoon with Ashley and the girls. Ashley, Chloe, and I ran to Aldi's for groceries. Chloe was told to be on strict behavior and to act like an adult, so when she grabbed the cart and started running down the aisles yelling that we had to catch her if we wanted to put anything in the basket, she was grounded to her room for the rest of the day and banished from her tablet for two days. She moped around the rest of the trip, and I told her how Ams and I used to get in trouble at stores all the time. I left Ashley's in time for my overnight shift in Blue Ash. I weighed-in on Ben's scale: 160 pounds, two pounds lost since Christmas. #nailedit

Sunday. I woke in Blue Ash and went to The Anchor to do some writing and then headed up to Ashley's. We hung out with her mom while Zoey slept, and come evening we headed up to Mom & Dad's for a delicious dinner. Mom gave Chloe some craft kits, and Zoey loved playing fetch with "foof-foof" ("baby ffoof-foof" is Grandma's dog Tanner). Mom and Dad fixed steak, baked potatoes, macaroni-&-cheese, asparagus, oriental salad, dinner rolls, and a host of desserts. (Great news: I was still under my daily caloric allowance!) Both Zoey and Chloe have really warmed up to Mom & Dad, are very interactive, and Mom was overjoyed when Zoey climbed into her lap to play "boo" from the "bees." Ashley said, "They have amazing intuition, they can tell your parents are good people." Mom got the girls a Disney Princess-themed tent, and both of them were in it for half the evening, pretending to be camping. At one point, Dad said, "Aren't you going to get drinks for the girls and your wife?" I told him matter-of-factly that I don't have a wife. "Your girlfriend," he stammered, trying to play it cool. But he had a wry smile in his eyes.