Summer Break

Cameron arrived this afternoon and he couldn't have been happier to have a week in Florida before school started.  He talked non-stop all the way to Ocala from the airport filling me in on his two days at Grandma and Grandpa's beforehand and his weekend in Southern Indiana.  The biggest topic of conversation, however, was Owens Corning and Cameron's job offer.  He still hadn't come off of cloud nine from that and wanted to go over the benefits with me while we were driving.  I was impressed with the company's bonus structure, relocation stipend, employee stock opportunities and their 401k employer contribution match program.  Although he didn't have to choose his insurance plan yet, we still went over it and talked about what made sense for him.

When Doug got home, the topic continued and Cameron had his dad read his contract.  Once we all agreed that it looked great, we picked Hiatus to celebrate.  I hadn't been there in months, and we enjoyed a beer there before heading to Taco Tuesday at Tijuana Flats.  It was a fun night of hanging out, talking about careers, predicting IU football's success and listening to Cameron's plans for his senior year.  I was glad that the pressure was off this week and we could just focus on having fun and relaxing.  Cameron hadn't been in Ocala since March and Doug and I were definitely looking forward to spending time with him.

Vitamin D

Last week at my biweekly appointment, my therapist asked me to take a quiz on depression.  She felt that my weepiness was caused from a mental health issue and not just from being overwhelmed by the events of the summer.  I had never been diagnosed with depression before but definitely understood her concerns.  I had been very weepy.  In fact, I cried for an hour after I cut Doug's hair and realized that the scar from his last bought with skin cancer would be noticeable.  For some reason, I couldn't focus on the fact that Doug was healthy and that he honestly didn't care about his hair.  I just kept thinking about that scar.  Maybe my therapist was right.  

After the scar incident, I told Doug what my therapist said.  He listened but didn't really feel that I was depressed.  He felt that I still enjoyed life too much.  He also thought that I had other issues going on that I hadn't mentioned to my therapist. He suggested I should talk to Dr. Aich instead.  After Doug said that, I realized that he was right.  I had been having a lot of joint and muscle pain.  I started getting headaches and I was physically exhausted.  Even my morning walks had become too much.  He also pointed out that my weepiness could have been from the news that we received from Syracuse last week.  Our long-time insurance agent whom I had known since I was fourteen had died unexpectedly from pneumonia.  It was hard not to think about as he had children Cal, Meg and Cameron's ages.  

I took Doug's advice and had bloodwork done in anticipation of my appointment with Dr. Aich at the end of the month.  As soon as I read the report, I knew exactly what was wrong.  My Vitamin D was very low.  That had happened one other time in my life and I had the exact same symptoms that I was having now - fatigue, joint pain, nerve issues, weepiness, and more.  I messaged my doctor right away and she increased my Vitamin D to every other day instead of every other week.  I know that it will take a while for it to make a difference, but just finding out that there was something medically wrong and that I could do something about it made all the difference.

Windchimes Instead of Bird Feeders

When I was living in Indiana, I loved to feed the birds.  With the woods behind us and a big Maple tree in the front yard, we attracted hundreds of birds each week.  I not only fed sparrows, but gold finches, hummingbirds, cardinals and even orioles.  Out of all of the feeders that I set up in our yard, and there were many, my favorite was my peanut feeder.  I loved watching all of the blue jays flock around it when ever I filled it with peanuts.  They would fly up into our front tree and start cracking the shells with their beaks hitting the peanuts repeatedly against the branches.  When I couldn't see the blue jays through the leaves, I could hear them working on the shells.  The peanuts rarely lasted an hour or so before they were gone.  

Unfortunately, I haven't had any luck here feeding the birds and I am not sure why.  I researched what would be native to our area and set up several different kinds of feeders to accommodate those birds, but none ever came to our backyard.  I didn't know if the huge black crows that were hanging out in the oak tree across the street scared them off or if the birds in Florida had plenty of food and didn't need feeders.  Either way, my bird feeding days were over, and it was one of the few things that I missed about our home in Syracuse.  

Recently, Doug and I decided to give it one more try.  I set up the pole, filled up a regular birdfeeder and the one for peanuts, but nothing happened.  I waited a month and never saw one bird in our backyard.  I finally gave up.  Instead of being sad about losing all of my birds, I decided to try something else on my shepherd's hook.  I found a beautiful solar lighted hummingbird windchime on Amazon to hang in our backyard and decided that would be the best way to remember my fun days of being "the crazy bird lady" in our family.

New Furniture Shopping

I noticed a few weeks ago that Doug's armchair was getting pretty dirty.  The main section was fine, but the arms looked downright filthy.  I tried to clean them, but it didn't help very much.  I asked him what he thought about getting a new chair.  He still liked the one that I got him when we bought the house but agreed that it was probably time to start looking.  Once Meg saw the chair, she was all in for us replacing it.  I definitely was ready.  Doug's chair had served a nice purpose these past few years but had outlived its lifespan.  

I had purchased Doug's chair on Amazon but didn't really want to use them again.  We got lucky with his as it was the perfect firmness for Doug, but I thought it was too big of a risk to try buying online again.  I also thought that we might get better quality from a furniture store.  Doug and I spent this afternoon shopping for chairs.  We stopped at Ashley Furniture first.  It had the perfect set of barrel chairs complete with a marble table, but I was worried about the color matching our couch.  I was more than ok with getting rid of my armchair but really didn't want to buy a couch as well.  Our next stop was Rooms to Go.  They had a lot more chairs to choose from, but the prices were more expensive, and I didn't like any of their chairs better than the set at Ashley.  

In the end, Doug and I decided to wait.  We used Google Gemini to place the green chairs in our living room and liked how they looked.  We just weren't sold on the color.  Maybe we will go and look after Cameron visits.  Either way, it was fun to window shop today and start thinking about new furniture.  

A Job Offer

Last week, Cameron gave his final presentation to the Supply Chain Department at Owens Corning. He was very happy with how well it went and was pleased with all of the compliments that he received. This week, he interviewed for a position with their development program. He had met with several members of the steering team for help and had spent a lot of time over the weekend preparing for the interview. By Tuesday, the stress level was at an all-time high. There were seven interns vying for four positions in the Supply Chain Department. He felt that he had a good chance of receiving an offer but wasn’t 100% sure. 

This morning at 8:30, Cameron had an appointment with his intern coordinator. I had told him last night that no matter what he heard at this meeting, we were extremely proud of him and that the skills he had learned at his internship with Owens Corning would serve him well wherever he ended up getting a job. Thankfully, Cameron no longer needs to search for a job. Owens Corning made him a fantastic offer that he plans to accept once he reads through the contract with his dad next week. I was extremely pleased for him. The job market is tight right now with a lot of layoffs. Cameron doesn't have to worry about that and knows that for the next three years he will be employed with a company that has made a commitment to develop him. At the end of that time period, he will be able to apply for a position within Owens Corning that would suit his talents. He doesn’t know yet where he’ll be for the first year as they take tow 6-month rotations at a plant somewhere in the US. I secretly hope it’s Ocala or Tampa but realize that that’s a longshot. No matter where he ends up next June, we are absolutely thrilled for him and very happy that he took advantage of all that Owens Corning had to offer this summer. It proved to be the difference in getting hired or not. 

A Helpful Surprise

When Doug visited with his dad a couple of weeks ago, he mentioned to him that he may have to retire earlier than planned because of his Parkinson’s diagnosis. His dad asked if Doug was still able to stay with Meg a few days a week and if overall, he was feeling healthy.  Carl was relieved to hear yes to both of those questions. At the end of the conversation, Doug talked to his dad about taking some of his inheritance early, so we could pay off the Pilot and our house in the next couple of years. That would really help Doug's new retirement plan.  Since the Pilot had a larger interest rate on its loan as compared to our mortgage, Doug asked about help with that first. I was a little surprised to hear that Doug‘s dad was very receptive to it. In the past this topic had led to hurt feelings. I was glad that they were able to talk about it rationally and that Doug’s dad was prioritizing Doug’s health. 

Even though Carl had told Doug that he was going to help, I was still a little surprised today when the wire transfer came through. I know that Carl worries about his own long-term health expenses and wasn’t sure if he would be able to come up with the funds needed to help Doug. Needless to say, I was incredibly happy for Doug. He’s a dedicate employee and bread winner for our family.  Although I know he likes working for now, this money lowers Doug's stress levels tremendously as he starts planning his retirement. 

Today, I paid a good portion of the Pilot's loan and re-organized our budget with the knowledge that Carl has offered another payment in January to finish the loan. I do not take any of this lightly. Doug and I have worked very hard to help our own children start their life debt free. I feel blessed to now receive some help for Doug and I.  

Agathe Von Trapp

Several Christmases ago I gave Meg a memoir that Agathe Von Trapp wrote in the early 2000s. She was the oldest of the Von Trapp siblings and her book shared memories of her life with the famous singing family. Once Meg was done with the book, I put it on my reading shelf.  I wasn’t sure how interested I was in it, but I didn’t want to get rid of it just yet. I normally don’t read two non-fiction books back-to-back, but I knew that her memoir would be a lot different than Mike Campbell’s autobiography, so I decided a few weeks ago to pick it up and at least giving it a try. It was also short and small, so I could easily take it along with me on my trip to the Midwest in July.

Last week, I finished the book and was absolutely surprised with how much I enjoyed it.  Although I liked the musical, Sound of Music, I didn’t quite share the love of it that Doug and Meg did. Because of that I never dreamed I would find the book fascinating, but I definitely did. Her memoir was a lot different than the movie. Even the names of the Von Trapp siblings were changed for the film. Agathe wrote about her time with her real mother and life during World War I that was not a focus in the movie. It was obvious from the memoir that the personalities of Maria and Colonel Von Trapp were swapped in the movie, but that probably made sense since Maria wrote the book that inspired the movie and wanted herself to be seen as the positive parent. I already knew that the family did not walk out of Austria as is portrayed in the last scene of the movie but didn't realize that the Von Trapp Family Singers were famous throughout the world. It was fun to learn about their travels, their summer singing camp and their family lodge in Vermont. Overall, I really enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone who loved the movie.