Karen's Shower

Meg and I attended Karen’s shower this afternoon in New Albany and had a fantastic time.  It was hosted by her maid of honor, Evonne, at the home of the mentor couple for Brett and Karen.  We also met Karen’s mother, Jean, and several of her other bridesmaids.  Everyone was very nice and extremely supportive of Karen.  

Besides meeting everyone, Meg and I also enjoyed the theme of the shower - a Jane Austen tea.  It was beautifully decorated and the games were a lot of fun.  Meg finished second place in the “Do you know Karen game” with a little help from Brett, and our team won the Jane Austen trivia game.  

Karen received a lot of wonderful gifts that were on her register and a few that weren’t.  Grandma Jane sent a waffle maker for the couple as Brett had really wanted one, and the Barnhart family gave them a gift card to Target as well.  I was extremely proud of the “Showering Karen with Advice” book that our family put together for Karen.  It provided her with the answer to “How do you know Brett?” plus date night suggestions, Marriage Advice, and a favorite memory of Brett along with a recipe to try.  Meg made Karen a memory box that she also enjoyed very much.  Overall, it was a wonderful day and Meg and I were extremely happy to be a part of it.  

Bloomington

I was at the airport more than two hours early this morning but almost missed my flight anyway. Normally, we do not bring checked bags on our trip, but this time I had to as I had several items for Brett, Karen, Meg and Cameron.  I was absolutely floored when I saw the Southwest check-in line for flights to Indianapolis.  There were at least a hundred people in front of me with only two people working.  If I would have been flying to Chicago, I could have walked right up to the counter, but the one I was in was ridiculously long.  The woman helping at the front of the line kept calling for more workers, but from what I overheard there weren't any coming anytime soon.  I called Doug to see if I should have him come back and get my bag or if I should pay $200 more to go on a later flight as I knew that I wouldn't make my 7:30 a.m. take off time if I had to wait.  

As soon as I told Doug my story, I heard a man telling the crowd that there was no waiting outside for curbside check-in service.  All it would cost was a tip.  I couldn't believe that only four of us got out of the long line.  Within five minutes I was on the way to security, bypassing the long wait for only $5.  I was relieved when I made it to my gate and wasn't surprised to hear Southwest paging other customers that were late for their flight.

Thankfully, the rest of my day went very well.  The flight was an easy one and my luggage was the first on to the conveyor belt.  Brett picked me up and we made it to Bloomington in time to have lunch with Cora and Cameron at Crazy Horse.  I was glad that they were able to make time for us as they both had classes and SAB commitments today.  

The rest of the afternoon was spent at Brett's apartment.  I first cut his hair.  We then went over wedding plans, worked on a gift for Karen's shower and started talking about the moving process.  Cameron joined us in the evening for breadsticks and a game of Ticket to Ride before heading out to see The Minon movie with friends.  After Cameron left, Brett and I started a movie whose music was produced by his friend Sponge.  I don't know what I expected, but I really liked the film.  We didn't get to finish it but made plans to next weekend.   

Stitches

After a week of caring for Doug's open wound, we were both thrilled to hear from the doctor that the margins of the melanoma had been clear.  Thus, Doug was cancer free, and he could be stitched up.  The wound was big enough to require nine stitches, and Doug would need to take an antibiotic to stave off infection, but overall, the appointment went well, and we were on our way to the pharmacy in less than an hour.  Both of us were extremely relieved and looked forward to May 1st when the stitches would be removed and this would all be behind us.  We hoped that his bought with melanoma was over for good, but if another one was found we decided that we would use a home health nurse to care for the open wound. I don't think that I could handle cleaning out another open wound.

Once Doug picked up his prescription, we headed to Orlando for the evening.  I had an early morning flight, so we chose to stay at a Hampton Inn close to the airport. Before we checked in, we decided to have dinner at Epcot.  The food booths of the Flower and Garden show were still open, and we both enjoyed a variety of dishes.  We arrived at the hotel by 8 p.m. and went straight to bed.  Doug's head was starting to hurt, and I was exhausted from all of the walking.  Even so, it was a nice way to celebrate the end of Doug's scare with cancer.  

A Week of Yuck

I have been following a low purine diet since last Tuesday as too many purines in the system cause a buildup of uric acid in the body which leads to gout.  It has been very hard to do as most of the foods that I eat are high on the purine list.  Besides cutting out tuna, watermelon and turkey, I have also had to eliminate mangos, asparagus and okra leaving only chicken, pasta, potatoes and Greek yogurt as foods that I can eat.  I don't mind chicken, and I loved Greek yogurt and Doug's potatoes, but pasta is not one of my favorites.  The worst part is that I have not seen any improvement in my toe pain.  

Since I never really was convinced that this was gout and the pain has not subsided, I have officially decided that I will try one more week of this diet and then move on to a different plan.  I have really been wondering if this is athlete's foot anyway as I have had problems with that since I played golf in high school.  I know that my foot doesn't itch and isn't red, but the nail on my toe had some discoloration and was curved for a while before the pain started making me think that an infection is much more likely.  Either way keeping my fingers crossed that something works as the pain in my toe makes it really hard to walk long distances.  

Funeral DeJaVu

Today I went to a funeral for one of the guys at Bible study.  I had only known him for a few months, but our group was small, and I wanted to support the members as they said goodbye to one of their friends.  I had liked Bob.  He was always funny and had a lot of knowledge to share with the group.  As he was at every meeting since I started in September, I was concerned last week when our group leader said that he couldn't get a hold of him and was sad to learn of his death.

Although I had planned on going to the funeral to support others, in the end I found the funeral to be one of the best church services that I had attended this spring.  Not only had our Bible study member shared the same name as my grandpa, he was also the same age when he died.  He shared so many of my grandfathers beloved traits as well.  He served his country in the Navy, had a dry sense of humor, was a devoted husband, loved his children and was adored by his grandchildren.  His service reminded me so much of my grandfather's that it brought back many wonderful memories of him that I hadn't thought about in years.  It even ended in Taps being played outside of the church just like CrapPa's did at the cemetery.  It was absolutely beautiful, and I was thankful to have been a small part of it today. 

March Madness Comes to an End

Although the Big Ten did not fare well in the NCAA men's basketball tournament this year, Doug and I still enjoyed March Madness.  It really helped that Florida did so well in the tourney.  We had spent enough time in Gainesville the past year that we had no problem adopting them as our team to root for, especially once they made it to the Final Four.  The best part about watching their games was that almost each one of them had come down to the last possession with an exciting last second win.

After this weekend's games, Doug and I both completely expected the Gators to beat Houston as they were the weakest of the number one teams.  By halftime, Florida was down by 3 and it was looking as though all of the momentum was going Houston's way.  Since it was already after ten by the break, Doug decided to go to bed so he could get up early for work tomorrow.  For a while I thought that it was a really good idea as Florida fell behind by twelve points with less than ten minutes to go in the game.  

Even though they were down by double digits, I fully expected Florida to come back.  They had in every game that they had played in the tournament and there wasn't any real reason to think that they wouldn't tonight as well.  Thankfully, I was right and soon it was a tie game.  Two poor offensive possessions by Houston put Florida in the lead for less than thirty seconds, but that was all they needed to clinch the win and the national title.  I silently cheered in my new orange shirt hoping not to wake Doug up and looking forward to telling him all about it tomorrow.  

SAB Director Decisions

This past week Cameron received some fantastic news.  He was chosen to be one of the directors of Student Athletic Board next year.  I wasn't surprised at all when he told me.  I knew that he had worked hard all year with the hope of achieving this status.  I also knew that he would make a wonderful leader as his love for IU sports was not easily equaled.

Although I was very happy, Cameron was bittersweet about the position.  He was thrilled to hear his news, but sad that neither Cora nor Tyler was chosen as directors.  There were a lot of girls applying, so Cora not being selected wasn't quite as shocking, but Tyler had been Cameron's right-hand man all year.  The were Chairs together and everyone called them twins.  They both worked hard to improve attendance at field hockey, and they were at all the SAB events that they could attend.  

Cameron talked to me for a long time about how his opinion regarding the situation.  I felt sorry that he was so conflicted but knew that dealing with politics were a part of any group.  I encouraged him to take some time, hang out with his friends and come up with a plan for how he wanted to participate next year as a director.  I knew that it would take a few days but was positive that it would be alright in the end.  Thus, I was happy to see this post as I knew that meant he was already feeling better about it.  I can't wait to see what he has planned for next fall.