There's Always Something Going On in the Heinisch Home
A Day in Our Life
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Volunteering Isn't All That It's Cracked Up To Be
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Moustaches
At about nineteen years of age, each one of my sons decided to try and grow a moustache. I was not surprised as I knew from hanging out with guys in college that growing a moustache, beard or goatee was a rite of passage at that age. I also knew that my boys had grown up around my dad and that he had had facial hair for as long as they could all remember. None of them ever said it to me, but I always figured that maybe they tried to grow one because Grandpa had one. No matter why they decided, I didn't say much about it until they asked me my opinion.
Brett tried growing a moustache the earliest. He was a freshman and out of all of our sons I really thought that he had the best chance of growing facial hair. It wasn't because of my dad, however, it was because Brett looked a lot like Doug's Uncle Maury who had a moustache and beard for as long as Doug and I had been married. Unfortunately, Brett's facial hair grew a lot more like Doug's. I remembered back to when Doug lost a bet after his freshmen year and couldn't shave for three weeks. Except for the "neck beard" that he grew, nothing else really developed and he was thankful to be able to shave it off as soon as the time period was over. At 18 Brett also had a nice "neck beard" going and gave up on the idea of a moustache after a month.
Cal tried growing a moustache during his senior year. He waited until interviews were over in October, thinking that "No-Shave November" would be the best time to try. Not much happened, so he started shaving again by Christmas. He tried one more time in the fall of 2021. The moustache was a little bit thicker and darker, but not enough to make him continue growing it.
Thus, when Cameron called to tell me that he was going to grow a moustache, I wasn't surprised at all. I knew that it was about the right time in his life to give it a try. I also had no hope that it would look any different than either Doug's, Brett's or Cal's. Cameron was more hopeful because he had "a lot of Musser in him." Before we went to see him in September, he sent me pictures and said that he had gotten a lot of positive feedback on it. When he asked my opinion, I told him the truth. "I'm just not really that excited about moustaches on anyone. I thought the only people who looked better with a moustache were my dad and Tom Selleck. If it was up to me, I would have him shave it." He just laughed and called me a "hater."
I think that my mom believes that I really hate Cameron's moustache, but I don't. Even if it grows in thicker and darker, I know that it is more than likely a phase. It's just fun to give him a hard time about it. I also know that no matter what, he will have to shave it before he has any job interviews. Fortunately, that won't be this semester. I also realize that moustaches, painting nails and even earrings aren't forever. Thankfully, none of the boys have talked about getting tattoos yet. I would be very concerned about as they would be permanent.
Monday, October 14, 2024
What Did You Do Today?
Doug asked me tonight what I did today. At first, I said not too much. Then I started to list off everything that I had done during his time at work. I spent an hour working on CCW items. I talked to Cameron about his upcoming interview. I helped Meg with an issue that she was having. I did four loads of laundry and put everything away. I wrote my blog. I washed Doug's bedding. I filled out a missing mail report for the package that I sent Cal two weeks ago that was never delivered. I ran to the gastroenterologist to update Doug's insurance information for his upcoming colonoscopy. I sprayed the weeds along the side of the house. I took care of the grass that was growing into the road by the mailbox. I checked in with Brett about the weekend of October 26th and I watered the plants.
Once I said it out loud, it made sense why I was tired this evening. It didn't seem like much in the grand scheme of things, but it was a lot to accomplish. I started thinking about how families with two full time working parents handled the stress of working and running a household. It was overwhelming when Doug and I tried it and even though all of our children have "grown and flown" I could still find enough to do every day to keep myself busy. I also appreciated that by still being at home that I could offer help when any of my children or their significant others needed it. I know that this isn't the life for everyone, but it has been a good one for our family.
Sunday, October 13, 2024
A Poignant Homily
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." Matthew 6:24
"For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." 1 Timothy 6:10
Doug and I went to mass on Saturday night and found the homily given by the deacon to be extremely relevant. He talked of greed, misery and idolizing one's money over everything else including God. We both walked away from the sermon touched, but with different thoughts. I felt that the deacon was affirming our decision to help our children start their lives by paying for their college educations. The stress of Doug's job and the decommitment of his family to help with that expense had really taken a toll on us these past few years and my mind had started to drift away from what was important and focused instead on wealth and hoarding money for "someday." I had even started to wonder if we should have had them be partially financially responsible for their expenses as well. I was afraid that we had robbed from our retirement to support them. We hadn't and I was glad that the deacon reminded us today that Jesus asked us to forgo riches and to let go of earthly idolatry. He was right and I knew that. Doug and I were able to help our children start their lives and still live comfortably ourselves. The most important part of raising them wasn't money, but to give them richness in faith. This summer, I realized that we had done exactly that, and we had reaped the benefits of following the Jesus' teachings.
Doug completely agreed with my thoughts, but he had never doubted that we had made the right decision all along. His thoughts were deeper than mine as he contemplated his family's legacy, the promises that had been made to him years ago and what that meant for our future. He brought up legitimate concerns, but did not have a solution for any of them. The nice reminder for him Saturday was that we had learned long ago to only rely on each other. We had weathered many storms together through God's help and the hardships of the past two years were slowly becoming a memory.
I appreciated Doug's opinion today. He doesn't talk as much as I do, so it was nice to hear that we were on the same page with our own decisions. When he went to bed tonight, I thought a lot about our upbringings. They were so different from each other. My grandparents lived on a fixed income and worked commodities to bring home government peanut butter and cheese. They had nothing to leave me but a case of Halloween Miller Lite beer and some knickknacks that I absolutely cherished. His grandparents owned farmland that was now worth millions of dollars that they wanted their grandsons to inherit. I hope that one day the boys are allowed to be owners of something that was so precious to their family. The nice part is that no matter what happens, Doug and I both loved our respective grandparents dearly and had wonderful memories of them. That's enough for me.
Saturday, October 12, 2024
Oktoberfest
Last year we went to Oktoberfest at the World Equestrian Center and really enjoyed it. Thus, when they were hosting the same event this year, I put it on our calendar. They offered two dates for the festival, but Doug and I were busy last weekend, so we bought tickets for today. Phil joined us for the event, and we all had a fantastic time.
This year we decided to arrive at Oktoberfest right when it opened at 11 a.m. Last year, we waited until noon, and it was already standing room only when we arrived. I knew that I couldn’t stay very long if I wasn’t able to sit for part of the event. Thankfully, it wasn’t quite as crowded this year and there were more tables available. The first thing on our agenda was to try all of the authentic German foods. We sampled knockwurst, bratwurst, beef and cabbage, German pretzels, apple strudel, ginger snap cookies, and German chocolate cake. Everything was delicious, but the bratwurst and German chocolate cake were my favorites. I did not sample any beer, but the guys tried several of the Oktoberfest offerings. Doug even scored a German Oktoberfest hat when a Sam Adams representative walked by handing them out to those of us who arrived early.