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.

A Day with Meg

I went to work with Doug this morning as Meg wanted to spend the day with me.  I arrived at her apartment before she got up and decided to take a nap as I hadn't slept very well last night.  When I woke up, I noticed that her bedroom vent did not look right.  Upon closer inspection, I could see dirt and mold coming out of the vent and on to the wall.  Last week, Meg and I had talked about her furnace filter as the apartment smelled a little musty, now we knew why.  Meg changed the filter right away and our suspicions were correct.  The filter was wet and had mold growing at the bottom of it. Maintenance was on their way to check the AC shortly after we left for the day.

Meg and I got smoothies for breakfast and then dropped off the Pilot to Doug.  She and I then went to Epcot for the rest of the day.  The Food and Wine Festival was our main focus, but we did ride Figment, Spaceship Earth and Soarin' while we waited for Doug to arrive.  Once he got to the park, we started our journey around the countries trying foods that we hadn't had the last time.  My favorite was the pumpkin ravioli.  I also made sure to get a piece of chocolate cake from the US booth which has become my favorite festival food of all time.  Doug and Meg each got a margarita after we rode Gran Fiesta Tour, and then we did some shopping in Germany and England as well.  Doug was thankful for the light rain as it seemed to keep the crowds low.  Overall, it was a great day, and I was really glad that the three of us were able to enjoy a fun day together.  As an added bonus, the maintenance men were able to completely clean Meg's vent before she got back home.

Why Does My Brother Look Like George Harrison?

Last week, Meg posted this picture on her story and asked the question, "Why does my brother look like George Harrison?"  I do not know what type of responses she received back, but I almost had to do a double take when I saw the picture.  It is amazing how much Cameron really does look like the famous musician.  Meg pointed it out several years ago when she was taking a History of the Beatles class at IU, and I haven't been unable to see it ever since then.

Cameron used to get really mad whenever Meg called him George, but now he seems to embrace his doppelganger.  He has had several people over the years tell him that he looks like other celebrities including an airport custodian who swore he was the dead ringer to Tom Cruise.  None have stuck as long as George Harrison, however, and as I always tell Cameron, "At least no one is saying you look like Ringo."  

The Ups and Downs of Steroid Use

Last week, my dentist put me on a steroid to help the ligaments surrounding my tooth heal quicker.  It definitely helped as within two days of taking them, I felt a lot better.  Before I started them, I couldn't even brush my teeth without wincing in pain.  By the end of last week, I was almost pain free.  I still remained on a soft food diet to give my tooth even more time to heal and to make sure not to reinjure it.  By the time I went in this morning to receive my permanent crown, I felt almost 100%.  

The downside to taking the steroid was the side effects.  It was by far the most wired that I had ever felt in my entire life.  I only slept four to five hours a night but wasn't tired at all.  I resisted the urge to get up in the middle of the night and work on projects as I read that it was better to read or find a quite activity in bed instead. The worst part was that my brain was incredibly scattered.  It was like I had random thoughts flipping through my head at all times, and if I thought of a task, I had to complete it.  

Thankfully, I read all of this was normal and since I was on a small dose for a short period of time, there was no reason to call the doctor about it.  I had a lot more respect for those with ADHD or who were just naturally hyper after taking the steroid and was glad to return to my normal frame of mind this week.  Hopefully, this will end my use of steroids for a while and my tooth pain will all soon be a bad memory.  

A Weekend in Door County

Brett, Karen, Doug and I weren't the only ones who visited Green Bay this year. Cal and Maggie were there this past weekend for a wedding.  Because it was also the same weekend as the Notre Dame versus Wisconsin game at Lambeau Field, there was nowhere for them to stay in Green Bay that was affordable. Instead, Cal and a group of his friends booked an Airbnb in Door County. 

Over the weekend we heard from Cal multiple times about how much they loved upper Wisconsin.  They thought the views were beautiful. They loved all of the shopping spots and even bought some cherry beer to bring to our tailgate in a couple weeks.  He also was impressed with all of the restaurants for them to try and David even posted a picture of Cal at Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant complete with a goat on top of the roof.  Doug and I especially loved that one as we had been there years ago.

Cal called today and was surprised to hear that we knew all about Door County. It was one of our favorite places to visit we lived in Illinois, especially since Doug’s cousin, Jenny, lived near Green Bay. We had even taken Cal and Brett camping there with the Budde family when Cal was a baby.  He didn't love camping back, but Cal sure did enjoy Wisconsin this weekend.  I love it when my children visit places that they do not remember, but we know well.  It makes my heart smile and brings back so many fond memories.

Field Hockey Fun

I woke up early this morning and asked Doug if he would like to try and fly out early so that we could get back before dark.  I should have looked at the flight schedule before I did, because every one of them was fully booked even the flight that we were on this afternoon.  Doug wasn't interested in changing anyway as we had plans to meet Cameron and Cora for breakfast and to go to the field hockey game at noon.  In the end, I was very glad that we stayed as I really enjoyed it.

After we checked out of our hotel, we met Cameron and Cora at Bloomington Bagel right behind our hotel.  I had a blueberry smoothy and a peanut butter bagel.  It was too much food for me, but it definitely tasted delicious. Our next stop was the field hockey game.  Doug and I have enjoyed going to them over the past few years.  We do not know a lot about the sport, but it's fun to watch and the fans are enthusiastic.  Today, Hoosier the Bison even showed up to support the girls.  The best part of going, however, is knowing how much Cameron enjoys being a director of field hockey.  They had a great crowd this afternoon and even the wasps hanging out near the student section didn't detour anyone from cheering on the team.  

Doug and I left at halftime so that we could return our car before catching our flight.  It had been a great weekend, and I was sad to leave.  The best part was knowing that we would all be together when we came back to Bloomington in two weeks.