A Wonderful Day in Bloomington

After driving all afternoon and most of the evening yesterday, Doug and I were extremely thankful for a relaxing day in Southern Indiana.  Since both Karen and Brett had to work, we decided to leave as soon as we got up to stay out of their way.  Our first stop was Walmart where we picked up supplies for the tomorrow's tailgate and then were off to Bloomington.  Doug and I spent our morning walking around campus, checking out the shops on Kirkwood, buying a few vinyls at the record store and having an early lunch at Uptown Cafe.  We had never been and all of our children raved about it.  I was expecting breakfast food since it was a cafe, but instead found a menu filled with jambalaya type dishes.  Doug chose red beans and rice while I picked the hummus plater.  Both were delicious.  We found a friend to enjoy our day with us, and everyone loved the picture of Doug's new lunch buddy, Hoosier the Bison.

After lunch, we picked up Meg and Nick at The Graduate.  They had arrived earlier in the day and were looking forward to an afternoon at Oliver Winery.  Cameron got off work early so that he and Cora could join us as well.  The five of them had a lot of fun trying different wines while I enjoyed my chocolate torte dessert. We had a few bees join our table but kept them away from the wine with coasters on the glasses.  The funniest part was the stink bug that seemed to love Nick.  While we were there, we listed to the trivia questions and got some great pictures of Hoosier before it rained.

Doug and I returned to Columbus after we dropped everyone off in Bloomington.  Gabrielle arrived shortly after we left and joined Nick, Meg and Cameron at the bars this evening.  While Cal and Meg were debating Social Cantina vs. Hacienda in the group chat again tonight, Brett, Karen, Doug and I went to Chicago Pizza for dinner.  The food was good and we enjoyed the conversation.  We spent the rest of the night playing Ticket to Ride Germany before heading to bed in anticipation of our early morning wake up call.  

A Surprise Visit

On my way to Charlotte yesterday, it dawned on me that the majority of the drive was through South Carolina. I had just assumed it was through North Carolina before I left. Once I realize this, I thought to myself, "Why didn’t I contact my cousin Billy to see if he could meet up?" I hadn’t even considered seeing him because I was focused on going to North Carolina and knew that my cousin LaMarr was too far away in Raleigh. At one of my stops, I even looked up my cousin Billy’s address. I couldn’t believe he was only 45 minutes from Doug‘s hotel. I started panic texting him right away to let him know that I had screwed up. I hadn’t given him much lead time, but that I was really hoping to see him. I heard back from Billy right away that he was busy last night with class. I was bummed but said "Hey, if you’re free for breakfast, I’ll be there."

Thankfully, Billy was free this morning. He even drove the 45 minutes to Charlotte to meet me at First Watch near our hotel. He brought his girlfriend so I could meet her for the first time as well, and we spent the next two hours catching up just like we had seen each other last week. It was so much fun, and I was so thankful for his visit. They really wanted to see Doug, but we had to get on the road as soon as the conference was over so that we can make it to Brett‘s tonight. They understood and since I found out how easy it was to drive up to see him or meet him halfway in Savannah, we made plans to do it again sooner rather than later.

On the drive to Indiana, I sent this picture to my mom, Aunt Jan, and Aunt Vicky along with the message "I hope that your breakfast partner was as awesome as mine." They were absolutely flabbergasted. They couldn’t believe it and were so happy that the two of us could meet. Billy never had any siblings and I was an only child after the age of eight. The time we spent together in our youth is so precious to both of us. I don't know if I appreciated it then, but I am incredibly thankful for that relationship now.

A Business Trip

Doug has not traveled overnight for work since he started at SI Goldman almost two years ago.  I have really appreciated that since he regularly stays two nights a week in Orlando to shorten his daily commute.  In saying that, however, I was excited for him that he got to go to Charlotte this week for the annual Comfort Systems accounting conference.  Doug has been a controller or CFO for most of his career but has never worked for a construction company before this position.  The conference this week not only allowed him to network with other controllers from CSU, but to also learn even more about the construction industry.  He has spoken highly of the conference since he arrived on Monday.

When Doug originally found out that he was going to Charlotte, he invited me to tag along.  I had never been to Charlotte but knew that I would miss the first Bible study and CCW meeting if I left for the week.  Because of this, I decided that I would drive up today and meet Doug in North Carolina for the last two days.  Once he was finished with his conference, we would then drive to Indiana for the rest of the weekend.  I left early this morning and arrived well before Doug's dinner.  His hotel was very nice, and the surrounding area was beautiful.  Doug had enough time to check out the restaurants and shops behind his hotel with me before he left.  I then enjoyed a quiet night relaxing in his room.  Doug arrived back just as Dancing with the Stars began and we enjoyed a few drinks from the hotel bar while watching the second night of this season's premiers.  It was a wonderful way to spending an evening.

First Meeting of the Season

Over the past twenty-four hours, I have traveled to Blessed Trinity three times. First, I had a gift shop meeting last night to go over some of the new items in the shop and talk about any concerns that we had while we were working.  I was glad to find out that I wasn't the only one that felt overwhelmed at times after the 11 a.m. mass.  From listening to everyone else's experiences, it was definitely the busiest shift of the week.  I appreciated the solutions that were given and that there was pizza for everyone to share. 

This morning, Bible study began for the first time since May.  Due to an errant DVD player, we didn't have a lesson today, and instead talked about our summers, the Feasts of the Bible that we will be studying this fall and the canonization of Bishop Fulton Sheen next week. We added a new member this year as one of the ladies from CCW decided to switch to our group.  I was sad to see that we lost one as well.  Terri had been a big part of my Tuesday mornings these past three years, and it will definitely not be the same without her this year.

Tonight, CCW kicked off its first meeting of the season.  There were a lot of changes from the last two years.  The meetings were moved back to the Knights of Columbus Hall.  Robbi had taken over as president and the rest of the executive board were new to their positions.  Father Pat joined us for a blessing, and we had several fun "get to know you" activities.  The biggest change was in the tone of the meetings.  It was so much more relaxed, and everyone seemed to be having a great time.  After two years of tense meetings, I am very much looking forward to the change.  

NFL Sunday Promo or Scam

When Cameron upgraded his phone last month, I found out that we could get NFL Sunday Ticket for free if we also upgraded our plan.  Since both Meg and I had been having issues with the service in Florida due to the fact that Verizon was slowing down data to users on old plans, I thought it would be a great idea.  Cal didn't need NFL Sunday Ticket since he could always catch the Bears games, but Doug missed the games here in Florida.  With Sunday Ticket he could watch every weekend.  Cameron also could see every Lions games this year and I could keep up with all of the IU players that were drafted last summer.  

Unfortunately, the promo was not quite as great as it seemed.  The NFL season started yesterday, and we did not have access to Sunday Ticket.  I was extremely frustrated as I spent hours on the phone and in their chat room trying to use the promotion that they promised us.  We have been Verizon customers for almost thirty years, and it was the first time that we had ever contacted them with a complaint.  I was amazed at how poorly I was treated.  

Thankfully, Verizon did finally give me the correct code today and stayed online with me while I verified that it worked.  They also gave me a $70 credit on my bill.  It wasn't what I wanted and I felt that they failed on their end to provide good customer service, but since there isn't another phone provider with as reliable service, I will be happy that it was resolved at all.  I definitely will be leery of any of their promises again, but the good news was that I was able to sign up for Hulu through them, saving me an additional $30 a month which in the end made it a little bit better.

Revelations Since We Moved

After spending the morning at mass and working in the gift shop until 1 p.m., it was very nice just to hand out the rest of the day at home.  I was able to get Doug’s haircut, and he was able to make a delicious homemade dinner of salmon and wild rice.  During the cleanup, my first revelation of the day occurred. The rice had boiled over onto our glass stop stove leaving what looked like a ruined stovetop.  When we first moved to Ocala, I would have cried about the mess.  We had never had a glass top stove in our thirty years of marriage, so I had no idea that spills like these were commonplace and with a little bit of elbow grease, the stove would look good as new.  Thankfully, the appliance store was able to enlighten me about Weiman stove cleaner, and I passed on that knowledge to both Nick and Brett when they had the same issue recently.

The second revelation that has occurred since we moved to Florida is how quickly the sun ruins anything placed outside for long periods of time.  Decorative items that would have lasted for years in Indiana barely make it through a season here.  The sun completely faded my IU cowbell and turned my orange Easter carrot display pink.  I do not put pumpkins or gourds out on the front porch as they will rot quickly.  The latest victim to the sun has been our tiki bar.  Although it is mostly covered under the back porch the chairs and the front section have started to wear from sun exposure.  Thankfully, I was able to find two near chairs online and just recently found the perfect solution to the wear on the front of the bar as well.  The flag not only looks cute, but will be very easy to replace when the sun does its damage.  The tiki bar has become one of our favorite pieces of furniture and I am glad to have come up with a way to protect it for years to come.  

Another IU Victory

Another weekend and another IU victory.  It started out a lot like last Saturday.  The game started at noon, and it was extremely hot once again.  The tailgate field opened at 6 a.m. and Cameron was one of the first to arrive.  Cora's family was there with plenty of food and drinks for everyone and rally towels were handed out to everyone at the game.  

There was one big difference from last Saturday to today, at least for Doug and I.  This weekend, we watched the game from our living room in Florida.  I had sold our tickets on Seat Geek last week as returning to Indiana would be impossible especially since we were all going to be there next Saturday for family weekend.  Neither Doug nor I were sad to miss the game in person.  We had a great watching the blow out at home and enjoyed seeing Cameron on the big screen.  He also took a lot of pictures which almost made us feel like we were there.  No matter where we watch the game, it is nice to have a football team that makes Saturdays in the fall a lot more enjoyable.