Gastro Pub

I have been hyping up Gastro Pub in Baldwin Park since Cameron arrived for Christmas break.  We tried having dinner there on December 23rd when he, Karen and Brett first arrived in Florida, but it was closed for a holiday party.  Once I realized that Doug was staying at Meg's tonight, I suggested to Cameron that we drive up this afternoon and meet them for dinner.  We both joked that Gastro Pub would probably be closed once again, but Cameron was ready to take the risk, and we headed to Orlando right after lunch today.

Before the Doyles left in November, Nancy gave me several tickets for free rounds of miniature golf.  They had come with their room, and their family had not had time to use them.  I told Cameron about them, and he decided that we should try them at Blizzard Beach today since we had plenty of time before Doug and Meg got home from work.  We were very happy to find out that the tickets would work and that the Winter course was open when we arrived.  The round ending up being one of the more memorable ones that we had played recently.  First, our golf balls got stuck in the tube on the first hole.  Then, we got stuck on hole seven with two other groups waiting on one family to play.  Cameron and I finally went around them skipping hole eight.  We played the rest of the round fairly quickly ending up tying on the 17th hole after playing one from the Summer course.  Although, I won on a playoff hole, the best part was getting to our car realizing that the family that held everyone up was still on fourteen.

After mini-golf, Cameron and I drove up to Meg's apartment arriving just as she got home from work.  We had just enough time to catch up on her day at work before Doug walked through the door.  Thankfully, Gastro Pub was open and Cameron finally got to try one of our favorite places to eat in Orlando. We all had a wonderful dinner outside on their patio and I was very glad to hear that Cameron liked it as much as we all do.

Enough

My day started off in tears, but I was all smiles by the end of it.  Just as Cameron and I were heading out for lunch, Doug called to tell me that he had melanoma on his scalp again.  This was a new spot and the biopsy was not able to determine the stage of it.  Thankfully, it was small and caught early, but with everything else going on in our lives, I was instantly overwhelmed.  I got it together, however, so that Doug and I could make plans for his next surgery and that Cameron and I could enjoy our lunch at Miller's Ale House.  It is very hard to get into the new restaurant, and we both enjoyed our meals very much.  

After lunch, Cameron and I went to Publix to pick up some groceries for the next few days.  We then headed to the new Goodwill that Meg told us about yesterday.  It was by far the biggest one that I had ever been to, but unfortunately, it did not have the left-handed club that we were looking to buy.  Thus, our next stop was Play It Again Sports where we found the perfect sand wedge and several discs so that Cameron could play Disc Golf with Nick on his next trip to Florida.  Our last two stops before returning home revolved around lottery tickets.  First, we went to 7-Eleven so that Cameron could get his $4 winning from the card that he got at Christmas.  Then, we stopped at Publix so he could buy a few more including the infamous Lottery Bingo card.  Although that one didn't produce a cash prize, one of the other ones that Cameron scratched off was a $25 winner, putting him up $20 overall this break.  The best part was seeing all of the Indiana football balloons in our local grocery store.  Neither one of us could believe it.

My evening ended very well with my Chex Mix rebate arriving in the mail.  It was even cuter and bigger than I thought it would be and will be a nice addition to our Christmas decorations next year.  After dinner, Doug and I purchased Peach Bowl tickets for Nick, Meg, Doug and I.  They were a lot more expensive than we thought that they would be, but we were now seated behind the IU student section and close to an aisle.  I was very happy that we would be in the second tier, meaning that I should be able to see the majority of the game.

 

Today was a good reminder that one bad moment or some distressing news doesn't have to ruin an entire day.  The past few weeks have been extremely stressful and finding the positives in the moment is the only way that I know how to survive.  I told my friend Robbi that I was no longer going to think that nothing worse could happen.  Instead, I would just be happy when it doesn't.  

All I Can Do Is Pray

The year 2025 was a rough one for my parents.  My mom's stroke in June was a game changer for her as it meant a lot of time in the nursing home and hours of therapy to regain strength in her legs and the ability to speak again.  While my mom was recovering, my dad developed a lump in his bicep.  At first, it was thought to be Popeye arm which occurs when a muscle tears in the upper arm.  We all thought that was funny as his arm definitely looked like the famed cartoon sailor man.  

I had visited my parents monthly after my mom's stroke and on my last stay in November, I realized that my dad's arm had grown.  He agreed and made an appointment with the orthopedic doctor and soon was on a waitlist for an MRI.  Unfortunately, the diagnosis that my dad received wasn't what everyone thought it was.  Instead of something funny, it became extremely serious when he found out that the swelling was actually being caused by a rare form of soft tissue cancer called Sarcoma.  Because of its rarity, there were only two doctors in the state of Indiana that could treat him.  The good news was that one was in Fort Wayne; the bad news was that they wouldn't take my dad's insurance after the first of the year.  

While my dad was having a biopsy scheduled and CT scan of the chest, I started researching doctors in our area that would be able to treat a sarcoma.  I found one in Gainesville and all seemed set for he and my mom to fly down in January to begin treatment there.  Then my mom fell and broke her hip right after Christmas requiring immediate surgery.  Since follow up treatment would have to be at a nursing home rehab, my dad had to decide if he would still come down or not.  In the end, he decided that it would be better to work with the insurance to get treatment in Northern Indiana so he would still be able to check on my mom daily.  From the conversation he had with his doctor last week, it sounds like it will work out, and he will be starting radiation soon.  That was really great to hear.  I wish I could provide more help, but with Doug's health issues I am not going to be able to travel north for all while.  Because of this, I have decided that the best thing that I can do is pray and try to be as supportive as possible via the telephone.  

Flash Back Weekend

Whether it was because I just finished watching Stranger Things or the fact that Cameron, Doug, Meg and I were the only one's home this weekend, the past two days have definitely made me feel like I was living in 2021 again.  I was not the only one who felt that way as Meg mentioned it as well.  Neither one of us were complaining as we all had a great time hanging out, listening to vinyls, playing games including our favorites on the Wii, going shopping and eating Doug's home cooked meals.  The only downside to the weekend was the cooler, wet weather.  I know that weekends like these will happen less and less as our children grow older and add more members to their own family, so for now I will appreciate the days together and not worry about the next time that we will be able to do this again.  

Stranger Things

When Stranger Things came out almost ten years ago, I had never even heard of it.  Now it's all everyone talks about and I just finished the finale after watching every episode of the five-season series.  I am not sure that I would have ever started the science fiction television show if my children hadn't highly recommended it. I was very glad that they did as it was a nice distraction during Covid and a fun walk down memory lane since it was set in the 1980s.  Watching it also kept me connected to modern culture and gave me something fun to talk to my children about during a very stressful time in history.

Although the fourth season that came out in 2022 was probably my favorite, this season was fun to watch, especially the finale.  It tied up most of the characters stories well, and even though Cal and Meg disagreed about how much they liked it, everyone could agree that one part of season five was completely unrealistic to the time period and unnecessary to the show as a whole.  Even with this criticism, Stranger Things was a lot of fun to watch, and I was very glad to have been a part of the hype.  

The Rose Bowl

Today was definitely one of the best New Years Days that I could remember.  For the first time in our lifetime IU was playing in the Rose Bowl and everything that we did today revolved around that.  I didn't want too much downtime as it would leave time for me to worry about the outcome of today's game. Therefore, Doug and I spent the day keeping ourselves busy until kickoff.  After we watched the Rose Parade and went for a walk at Sholom Park, I did laundry and took down the Christmas while waiting for the game.  Doug met Phil at Hiatus and then watched Oregon beat Texas Tech in the first game of the day to keep himself occupied.  

Doug and I weren't the only ones in our family excited for the game.  Cal and his friends all met early at their favorite bar in Chicago to watch the game together.  Karen and Brett made it home from Sean's in time to watch at their apartment.  Meg even texted out proof that she had the pregame on, ready to watch.  Nick called to say that his flight to LA was early, so he thought that he would be able to catch the second half in person.  Cameron had the best seat in the house as he texted that he was ten rows behind the band in the student section at least an hour before kickoff.  

As nervous as I was about the game, in my heart I knew that we had a really good shot at beating Alabama.  They had gotten blown out in their conference championship game and barely won against a poor playing Oklahoma team.  I just didn't want to get my hopes up as I knew that both Doug and I would be really sad if we lost.  Fortunately, we had nothing to worry about.  After the first drive, we were by far the better team and finished the game on top, 38-3.  Doug and I had so much fun watching every play, every interview and the complete championship trophy presentation afterward savoring each moment and all of the pictures that Cameron and Nick sent from the Rose Bowl.  It was definitely an awesome day to be a Hoosier.  

New Year's Eve

For only the second time since we had children, Doug and I spent our New Year's Eve home and alone.  It didn't start out that way as Nick and Meg had planned on coming out for the night. Unfortunately, his flight tomorrow was changed to 6 a.m. making it impossible for them to join us for the evening and get back to Orlando in time for his morning trip.  Thankfully, we did all still have a very enjoyable evening.  Doug and I watched the Twilight Zone and the college football playoffs while playing Ticket to Ride, and Meg and Nick caught the finale of Stranger Things as it premiered. 

The four of us weren't the only ones in our family having fun.  Cameron went to the Rose Bowl fest in Pasadena this afternoon and out to dinner with Cora's family at night to celebrate the holiday.  Cal and Maggie also spent the evening out enjoying a wonderful dinner together after watching the movie, Marty Supreme.  Brett and Karen had a great evening as well attending the Ray family's annual karaoke party.  I enjoyed hearing from all of them and was very happy that each one was able to celebrate in such a fun manner and end 2025 on a high note.