Celebrating Cal's Birthday

Last night Doug and I stayed at my parents so that we could get up early and meet Cal and Maggie in South Bend.  We arrived before they did which gave us some time to stop at Target to purchase a few things that my mom needed and to return an order from Amazon.  While we were at Kohl's, Doug found some great deals on shorts which was an added bonus to our shopping trip.

Cal and Maggie met us at Putt-Putt for a friendly game of miniature golf.  There were a lot of families there celebrating Memorial Day together.  I laughed as I realized that we were just as excited arriving with our twenty-eight-year-old son as many were with their seven-year-olds.  The match was very close between Cal and I, but he pulled away at the end to win.  In the end, it didn't matter as the four of us enjoyed it very much.

Cal picked Evil Czech for lunch which was perfect as it was in the same parking lot as Putt-Putt.  It had always been one of our family's favorite restaurants and we enjoyed our meal very much.  Cal opened his birthday gifts from Doug, Cameron and I, appreciating the two new vinyls and vintage Cubs shirt.  While we were together, they told us all about their weekend in Michigan celebrating Maggie's dad's 60th birthday.  It sounded like a blast complete with a game of Amazing Race.  Cal and Maggie invited us to stay with them Thursday night on our way to Wisconsin which we really appreciated.  Saying goodbye wasn't as sad knowing that we would see the both of them very soon.   

The Art Museum and More

I got up several times last night and watched the grounds crew work to get the Mudhens field ready for their next game.  I thought a lot about all of the times that I had watched Mash with my dad and had heard Klinger talk about his beloved hometown baseball team.  I was a little in awe of the fact that I was sleeping in a room just feet from the stadium.  What a fun way to commemorate my favorite television show growing up. 

Doug and I checked out of the hotel by ten this morning so that we could pick Cameron up for today's adventure.  Our first stop was the Toledo Art Museum.  I couldn't believe how big it was.  Not all of the exhibits were open due to remodeling, but we really enjoyed those that were.  We learned a lot about the art on display and about the family that started the museum almost one hundred years ago.  It was very impressive.  

The guys wanted to find a brewery for lunch.  It took some investigating, but we finally settled on Inside the Five in a suburb of Toledo named Perrysburg.  The city of Toledo reminded us of a larger version of South Bend - industrial, several neglected neighborhoods and a renovated downtown.  Perrysburg was the exact opposite of that with lots of quaint houses, a downtown with antique shops and new apartment complexes.  It even had a disc golf course nearby.  It looked exactly like where Doug and I would have wanted to live if he had gotten a job in the Toledo area after college.  The three of us had fun exploring the town while waiting for our table at Inside the Five.  

Lunch was very good and we really enjoyed listening to Cameron talk about his thoughts on Toledo, the internship, and his senior year at IU.  It was hard to believe that next fall he would begin his final year in Bloomington.  So much has changed since we dropped him off three years ago, but it all seemed to happen very quickly. What an exciting time in his life.  I can't wait to see what he wants to do next.

Toledo

Doug and I left yesterday once he got off work to start our Midwest summer vacation. We didn’t quite get as far as we had hoped as there was a lot of traffic and rain south of Atlanta. We did make it to Tennessee, however, and this afternoon pulled into the University of Toledo parking lot around 4 PM. We were very happy to see Cameron, and he definitely seemed happy to see the both of us as well. The three of us spent the rest of the afternoon and evening catching up on the past few months, buying a few supplies for Cameron‘s apartment, meeting his roommate, touring his dorm and checking out downtown Toledo.  I was impressed by how well Cameron had adjusted to internship life in such a short time and by how many people he already knew. 

Cameron picked the Maumee River Brewing Company for dinner, which was walkable from our hotel. On the way, we passed by Owens Corning.  I loved that it was situation right in the middle of all of the downtown action.  The food and the drinks at the brewery were fantastic. Klinger's beloved Toledo Mudhens were playing just across the street from our hotel and our room had the perfect view of the game. We watched a few innings from our hotel and then walked around the stadium to check out the action. There were also a few microbreweries for us to try, and we ended our evening in the hotel bar with a snack before Cameron headed back to his apartment. I couldn’t believe all that there was to do in downtown Toledo and sharing that with Cameron made it even more special. We have one more day to explore in the Glass City and I can’t wait to see what we find.

Hemingway's Boat

This week I finished the biography Hemingway’s Boat. This was officially, my 18th biography that I had read about the author. Because of this I wasn't surprised to see that there were several biographies referenced that I had already read, including ones by his oldest sister and youngest brother. Those excerpts made all of the new information that I gained from this particular biography even more interesting.

Hemingway's Boat focused mainly on his relationship with the Pilar, the famed yacht that he bought while living in Key West. I loved learning about the history of his beloved boat and the countless trips he took on it during the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. He not only went fishing on it but used it as a research vessel for the science museum in New York, hosted parties on it with a multitude of celebrities, moved it with him to Cuba when he divorced from his second wife and even used it to help the US government look for Nazi submarine ships during World War II.

Like all Hemingway biographies there was a dark undertone to it. Besides the Pilar, this boat also featured everything else that he loved and lost from 1934 to 1961 including his own suicide. The last twenty-five percent of the book focused mostly on his son Gigi, who became a woman named Gloria later in life. That part was a lot harder to read as Gigi's life was an even more sad and tragic story than Hemingway's. I was glad, however, to have read the biography.  It reminded me of why I found Hemingway‘s life so incredibly fascinating. I don’t know if this will be my last biography on Hemingway, but I will take a break for a while. Either way, I am super proud of myself for finishing this long, detailed book and was glad that my family at least pretended to be interested in it when I talked non-stop about it.

Celebrating Number 33

Today Doug and I celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary. There wasn’t any fan fair or big presents, but I did have dessert for us and we each gave her each other a beautiful handwritten card. It seemed very fitting for where we are in life right now.

The last five years have by far been some of the most challenging times in our marriage due to no fault of our own. Doug’s health issues, the stress that Champion put him under and his dad’s refusal to fulfill the promises that were made to us so many years ago have made life really hard. Throw in a few other specific incidents that happened to the rest of our family, and I’m surprised that we made it through. But the good news is we did persevere. I wasn’t surprised because we always have. We didn’t need to celebrate our anniversary tonight because every day is a celebration of life. We’ve made it a long way together and God willing we will make it even further.

I hope the next year brings an easier path for both of us, but if it doesn’t, I know that we’ll get through it together. That’s the best part about being married to Doug, his perseverance, strength and optimism make life so much easier. I couldn’t imagine being married to anyone else.

Happy Birthday Cal

Cal turned 28 today and I appreciated his early morning phone call so that I could wish him Happy Birthday first thing.  He was walking back to his apartment from the BMV as he had finally made an appointment to get an Illinois' driver's license.  He was supposed to get one within thirty days of moving to the windy city, but Cal just couldn't bring himself to do it.  His heart was still in Indiana and part of him would always be a Hoosier.  

As Cal talked about how horrible the picture on his license looked, I laughed to myself.  I didn't think it was funny that he hated his photo.  I laughed because I knew that his statement, "I will never show it to anyone" just wasn't true.  Cal had the confidence to show people a "terrible" picture of himself and laugh at it with them.  Deep down he really didn't care.  That was the part that I don't know if everyone understood about him.  He didn't spend a lot of time in deep thought.  He enjoyed the moment too much.  The part of Cal that I knew was obvious to everyone was that he was the most loyal person that most people would ever meet.  When you were part of his inner circle, you were there for life.  I wasn't surprised that he met friends that were just as loyal as he starting with Jacye in seventh grade leading up to his current group of friends, mostly from IU.  It has been fun to watch and to be a small part of it through phone calls and conversations.

So much of Cal's personality reminds me of my own, but I believe that the best part of him came from Doug.  Not just the loyalty, but the hard work ethic as well.  I have enjoyed hearing about his success at work and am proud that he has embraced life in Chicago to the fullest.  I was thankful for the phone call today and am looking forward to celebrating Cal this coming weekend in person.  Until then I will appreciate browsing through all the pictures I have saved from his childhood.  As much as I loved being a mom then, I think that I enjoy being a mom of adult children even more now.

Installation

Tonight, I went to my third CCW meeting of the year.  I had planned on going to more even though I had resigned as treasurer last summer, but the first one in September left a bad taste in my mouth.  The president accused me of being incompetent and screwing up the accounts.  According to her they were so bad that it would take a lot of work to fix it all.  I was taken off guard when she said it so I didn't confront her, but it wouldn't have mattered.  It wasn't the first time that she had lied or bad mouthed someone to the group.  I decided that I just wouldn't have much to do with CCW for the rest of the year.  I didn't have the time or energy to put into a group being led by someone who had treated me poorly and I do not regret that decision. I did attend one more meeting in March.  I was surprised to see that the treasurer's report started with the exact account balance that I have given them in August. Even with that validation of my competence, I still had no desire to be a part of the group until there was a new leader.

Thankfully, tonight there was an installation of officers and Robbi would be taking over as president.  I was happy for her and knew that she would work hard to make the group a positive experience for all members.  It was nice to sit with friends and know that I was valued.  That is what I believe most people want from a philanthropic group.