Amish Acres Part 2

This afternoon my parents, Meg, Cam and I went to Amish Acres to see Happy Days.  I don't remember ever going two days in a row before to the Round Barn, but with out schedule this fall that was the way it worked out.  I didn't mind at all as the musical was a lot better than I had thought it would be.  Meg and Cam really liked it.  They didn't remember a lot from the original television show, but they really didn't need to in order to enjoy it.  Fonzi and Ralph stole the show as I would have expected.  There was a interesting scene with James Dean and Elvis, but overall it was well worth seeing.

While we were there Doug ran in to work for the afternoon.  He spent his morning with his Dad and at church for mass and a confirmation meeting.  He has to travel this week so he wanted to get as caught up as possible.  He felt pretty good about the amount of work that he accomplished today.  Grandpa Cutes and Cam played golf after Amish Aces as the weather was beautiful.  I worked around the house.  Meg invited Liam over for awhile.  Doug grilled out again tonight and made Cam and Meg's favorite - chicken curry.  We were able to eat outside as it was a gorgeous night.  The leftover cakes from Friday were almost finished tonight.  The white was devoured first as that seemed to be the family favorite, but we still had a little bit of chocolate left.  After we cleaned up we played a tense game of "Oh Hell!"  Cam had quite the lead, but with three hands left I finally overtook him and won by a couple of points.

Plain & Fancy

Since Carl and Marina were coming out for Meg's senior night, we thought we'd take them to see Plain & Fancy today at Amish Acres.  They had never seen it and we had extra tickets since Cam, Meg and my parents opted out this year.  We had gone to it a lot over the years, so I could understand their decision.  I had hoped that Brett would be able to come home this weekend since he really enjoyed that musical, but he had too much to do in Bloomington.

Before we went to the matinee Doug and his Dad spent time running errands.  They dropped the CR-V off for an oil change.  They then picked up Cameron from Conner's birthday party/sleep over.  While in Goshen they also took down Meg's senior banner.  Last year all of the girls signed them and Meg didn't want that to happen to hers.  We had a nice lunch at home.  Doug grilled out and my parents stopped by as well before heading to the cemetery.

During the musical Meg stayed home and worked on a few items.  Cameron watched the IU vs. Rutgers football game before playing nine holes with my Dad.  He was pleased that the Hoosiers won, but it wasn't the blow out that he thought it would be.  Carl and Marina enjoyed the musical as did Doug.  I always like Plain & Fancy and this year I even enjoyed the cast more than previous ones.  Once we got home we took everyone to Oakwood for dinner.  Jackie had joined us as well and we all though the food was delicious.  Afterward we went back home so that Cam could play Carl in checkers and Doug could start a bonfire.  Jackie and Meg went to Columbia City to a haunted house.  They had a great time and screamed the entire time.  Our end to the evening was quieter than theirs, but equally fun.

Senior Night Success

This week was a stressful one in the Heinisch home.  We were in charge of the festivities for senior night and weren't quite sure what that all entailed.  The two that we saw last year seemed over the top complete with a Kona Ice truck.  Fortunately, we had help as Kassy's mom was a veteran of senior nights and did not have over the top plans in mind.  The other item causing anxiety in our family was Meg's concerns about senior night on the field.  She had not been starting and was fearful that her coach wouldn't start her on senior night.

Thankfully, everything went even better than we could have ever planned.  The after school dinner was a success.  We had it at Kassy's home and the girls appreciated the Lasagna and Chicken Alfredo.      Once I dropped the players back off at Bethany, I met up with Doug.  Carl and Marina drove out for the night so we visited with them before the game started.  My parents were there as well and we all sat up chairs along the sidelines.  With ten minutes to go before the game started Doug and I were called out on the field for senior recognition.  We appreciated all of the positive comments that were read about Meg and thoroughly enjoyed listening to her favorite memories of soccer season.  Once the starters lined up and I saw Meg running out on the field, I could finally relax and watch the game.

It was a cold night, but I made it through the first half and part of the second.  Once it started to drizzle I decided to watch from the van.  Meg played very well and was in the game more than she had been which pleased her immensely.  It was a touch game and the girls ended up losing to Argos 3-1.  I was impressed that the students stayed as long as they did.  They even made a tunnel for the girls to run through at the end.  Meg was thrilled to be the lead player.

After the game everyone met in the school lobby.  Doug and I had two cakes ready for the festivities. I had ordered them from Lance's and they looked fantastic.  Before we ate, the seniors were honored once again.  First their teammates had speeches and gifts for the girls.  That was the only hitch in the evening as Jackie drew a complete blank while giving Meg's speech.  It turned into a laugh fest instead.  We didn't mind as we all enjoy their relationship and somehow it seemed like the most appropriate way for Jackie to memorialize Meg's time with her on the soccer team.  Meg gave a beautiful speech herself and then both coaches had words of praise for the girls.  Once the speeches concluded we started serving the cake.  Both were big hits and we were happy to see the majority of them devoured before the cleanup process began.

A Fun Way to End the Season

Cameron's game tonight will not be one long to remember.  In fact it was quickly forgotten within a couple minutes of its end.  They had played Concord earlier in the season and the outcome was pretty much the same.  Instead of losing 8-0, the score tonight was 7-0.  In saying that the boys played well and tried their best, they just couldn't keep up with Concord's offense.  Cameron sat out the last ten minutes or so.  He had taken a hard shot at point blank to his stomach.  He went down immediately with the air knocked out of him.  It was still sore when we got home, but thankfully it was not his head as we originally thought.

The game almost felt secondary to the festivities that occurred later in the evening.  As soon as the game was over the boys, parents, coaches and fans met in the pavilion to celebrate a fantastic season - one in which they finished a lot better than we would have ever dreamed considering who graduated from last year's team.  The food was quickly devoured, followed by the coaches awards.  Cam was pleased that Joey won MVP.  

After the party everyone headed back out to the field to watch Bethany's girls play Concord.  It was 0-0 late in the second half when we arrived.  With less than seven minutes left Bethany scored and soon thereafter Concord followed suit.  It looked as it would go to PK's, but Bethany got a shot off with less than a minute left ending the night with a victory and the right to play on Saturday morning in the semi-finals of the conference tournament.  Once the buzzer blew Cam and his friends were first on the field, screaming, jumping up and down and chest bumping.  We weren't surprised as we had heard them earlier in the evening cheering loudly from the bleachers.  

The highlight of the evening for me was what occurred next - the parent/player game.  Cameron and Doug were both excited to be a part of it and I had so much fun watching them.  Doug hadn't played since he quit coach the Wawasee girls two years ago.  He said that he was rusty, but he didn't look like it to me.  I definitely was impressed when he put a left-footed shot in the back of the net.  The "old people" did end up winning 3-0, but the boys didn't seem to mind too much.  For our family it was the perfect way to end a decade of soccer for Cameron.  He has grown in skill, met a lot of friends, found success on the field and had fun along the way.  Couldn't ask for anything more than that.

"It's Gotta End Sometime."

When Cal quit basketball his junior year it was a tough on all of us.  We didn't blame him for ending his high school career early, we were just so disappointed in his coach and his treatment of Cal that forced that decision.  When I went to school the next day, Mr. Voirol came to find me.  He was supportive of Cal and said to me, "It's gotta end sometime, and very few athletes have it end on a positive note."  I thought about his words many times over the years.  He was correct, very few athletes even professional ones end under the perfect circumstances.  Peyton Manning exiting football winning the Super Bowl was not the norm.  A career ending injury, a loss in the first round of sectionals, a missed putt or an unsupportive coach was what most athletes faced at the end of their time on field.

Thus, Cal's last game was not the one that I chose to remember him playing.  It was instead the last game of his freshmen year when he played considerable minutes in the junior varsity game against Tippy Valley.  They were running plays for him and he was an important member of the team.  His one shining moment happened that day and I wished for him that it could have been his last memory of a beloved sport.

Brett did no participate in sports after his fifth grade year, but he was part of the Academic Super Bowl team and drama club in middle and high school.  When I try to think back on his last role in a high school production I really don't remember much about it.  Instead I tend to focus on his earlier role as Joe Scales in "Cheaper by The Dozen." The part seemed to be written for him and he completely stole the show that night.  It would have been the perfect way to end his drama career just as winning state his sophomore year on the social studies team would have been as well.

Meg and Cam will soon end their time as soccer players.  In the past couple of weeks I realized that I wished that Meg's season would have ended earlier this month at the South Bend Riley game.  Meg played very well scoring the first goal of that game on a beautiful fifteen yard shot.  She had been part of a celebration before the game honoring her favorite teacher at Bethany.  There was such a positivity about that night that it would have made for the perfect ending to a fourteen year career.  I felt the same on Tuesday night at Goshen.  During that game Cam contained their best player well and even got a turn in goal.  I could hear his coach yelling from the sidelines, "Cameron Heinisch that was awesome!"  Even though it was a loss, it felt like a win and would have been an fantastic way to end his career on the field.  Regardless of how it does happen, however, both will finish their time as soccer players soon.  I hope that it will be the ending that they have dreamed of and not just something to endure the way that Cal had to in his.  Either way, I know that "it's gotta end sometime."

Decorating for Fall

As much as I enjoy the summer sun, I was ready for the fall temperatures that arrived this weekend with the actual start date of the season.  With the change I decided to start my fall decorating a little earlier than normal.  Fall has always been my favorite time of the year with Halloween at the top of my holiday list.  I began my decorating on Monday morning and finally finished up this afternoon.  I have accumulated quite a bit of decorations over the year and had fun sorting through a lot of memories in those tubs.  I couldn't believe how much I had considering all that I sold at the garage sale a year and a half ago.  Generally, I hate dusting, but it wasn't such a chore as I could put out my witches, skeletons and jack o'lanterns at the same time.  

It wasn't only the cooler weather, pumpkin spice candles or the decorations that I had been looking forward to, but lately I had been interested in watching scary movies.  Thus, I appreciated the boys viewing Halloween with me over the weekend.  I told Doug that he can have a pass until James Bond month was over, then I will be renting some good ones for us.  Freeform even has a month of children's Halloween movies starting October 1st that I might catch.  In the end those will probably be more my speed.  

I was able to enjoy some more of the fall weather tonight at Cameron's game.  Originally, he wasn't looking forward to it as Goshen was rumored to be very good.  The gossip was correct, but the game was so much more fun than Cam expected as both he and Breece got to spend some time in goal in the A game.  It definitely brought me back to his LYC days.  He was proud of his three saves.  He did let in one goal, but in an 8-1 loss, that wasn't too bad.  Cam decided to play in the B game as well tonight.  The coach put him in at sweeper.  He liked the position a lot and it gave him a chance to chat with Breece who was in goal once again.  Just like Cameron, I was sort of dreading the game.  In the end I was incredibly happy to watch him play.  He has really enjoyed soccer season this year which has been awesome to see.

Pretty Intense

Tonight was the game that Cam had been waiting for since it was cancelled in early September, Wawasee vs. Bethany.  When Mom and I arrived we were pleased to see that Cade Beer was on the Warrior team.  He hadn't played the past two years and I hadn't seen him since last May.  He and Cam were just the best of friends and the last time they played together they were actually on the same team during their LYC days.  There were other Milford 8th graders that Cam knew as well which added to his excitement in playing in the game.

Last year Bethany beat Wawasee 8-1.  Cam was hopeful that they could produce another win.  Unfortunately, Wawasee had improved greatly and Bethany lost 4-2.  As much as Cam was anxious to play in the game, his teammates and coach must have been as well.  It was definitely the most intense game of the season with one Bruin player being pulled after earning a yellow card for saying "What the . . ." (He later told my Dad that he did not finish the question.)  Then after watching a Warrior playing continually pull on the Bethany strikers' jerseys, Cam's coach had had enough and yelled at the ref, prompting a red card and an ejection from the game.  The players on the bench let everyone know that the coach said "Gees, oh peeps!"  My guess was that it was the intensity of how it was said and not the actual words that got him the card.  It definitely was the highlight of the game, especially since the assistant coach was not there tonight.  For awhile it looked like Cam or Beck were going to have to finish out the game, but in the end Hank came over to coach the boys and the team calmed down.

I enjoyed tonight's game as I got a chance to catch up with Pam Beer.  I really haven't talked to anyone from Milford since I quit last June.  I also got a chance to talk with Wawasee's coach who was a former Milford student and star soccer player from the time that Doug coached the high school boys.  Fernando was such a good kid.  I was glad to hear that he had graduated from college and was going to grad school to be a social worker.  He had a message of thanks for me to give to Mrs. Fiscus that made her day.

While we were at Bethany, Doug was at Meg's game at Lakeland.  She had a great game earning the only assist on the night in a 3-1 loss.  She also had several shots on goal that the goalie made great stops on, preventing her tenth goal of the season.  Lakeland's third goal of the night brought out the intensity on their field.  While the girl drove in to shoot, Jackie went down.  Kassy and Jackie instantly let the ref know that the girl pulled her down, but he would not call the foul.  This brought loud protests from the Bethany parents.  In the end it did not change the outcome.  Regardless, Meg was happy with her play tonight and she and Doug arrived home just after Cam and I.  He decided to stay for the girls middle school games.  I used the extra time to get more reading done in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity, Jig

We were up early and home before lunch today.  Doug had to work this afternoon.  Thankfully, he could do so from home.  He has being working more lately to finish several projects before his return trip to Toronto in November.  Next week he will have to travel, so we definitely see him less than we did before.  He has been able to rearrange his schedule to be at all of the Meg and Cam's soccer games that he can.

While he was working I did the laundry, picked up and took a walk.  Cam was able to get in eighteen homes with Grandma Jane.  He even met the new owner at Maxwelton.  Meg went to Liam's for the afternoon.  Meg had to walk today for soccer which they were able to accomplish along the Pumpkinvine Trail.  Doug was able to finish his work and mow the yard in time for us to go to dinner and have a bonfire.  We were both exhausted, but pleased with how well the weekend went.

A Fantastic Day

The weather in Bloomington was dreary today, but our moods did not match.  We had a fantastic time hanging out with Cal, Brett and Cam.  The day started with Doug and Cam trying out the Taylor Par 3 course.  Cascades had an outing, so they couldn't play golf there.  They said that the course conditions were pretty poor, but they had a lot of fun ending the nine holes with a tie score.

While they were there Brett and I worked on his SPEA jobs board site.  We have been pleased with the amount of information SPEA has given to him, but have been a little overwhelmed with the job search process.  Today we were able to work together to come up with an organized plan that should benefit Brett greatly.  Once Doug got back he was also able to help him trim his resume to one page.

After we helped Brett the four of us headed to Barnes & Noble.  Both Meg and Cam wanted books to read and thankfully both were in stock.  We stopped at Kroger next to buy Brett's groceries and pick up food for a picnic at Oliver Winery.  The weather must have scared a lot of people away as the winery was sparse compared to normal.  We had a great time at lunch highlighted by Cam trying an anchovy for the first time and several games of washer toss with his new set.  He definitely enjoyed the games more than the anchovy.

We had time to finish the movie Halloween before walking over to Parce's tailgate.  Cameron looked awesome in his fedora with his candy striped jacket and pants.  He had several people stop him along the way and one family even took pictures with him.  When we got to Chokey's parking spot only Parce, Cal and Mark were there.  Chokey had stopped to pick up the wings at Buffalouie's and they were way behind in their orders.  Thankfully, Doug had brought Mother Bear's for everyone to have as an appetizer.  Chokey did finally make it by six and by then several of Cal's other friends had arrived.  We had fun visiting with everyone and tossing Cam's new IU frisbee.  Hannah-Marie stopped by as well and Robyn and Mike joined us just before game time.  HM had bought them IU gear to wear which was a first for both of them.

Parce gave Cal one of his tickets, so he went in with him.  Doug, Cam, Mike and Robyn all sat together at the game close to the Michigan State section.  The game was a good one with MSU dominating at first, but then IU came roaring back to get within a touchdown in the fourth quarter.  Unfortunately, Michigan State scored quickly and the game ended at 35-21.  Cam wasn't too disappointed.  He had hyped the game at school all week.  He said that he just wouldn't go to school until after next Friday's win against Rutgers.

While they were at the game I went shopping at the mall.  I bought a few items at Target and stocked up on more fall candles at Yankee Candle.  Brett ushered at the auditorium for Steve Martin and Martin Short.  He thought the show was hilarious and I was glad that he got to go.  He brought breadsticks back on his way home which we enjoyed while talking about the state of Disney.  Doug and Cam made it back by 11:45.  They had had a great time and were happy with how IU played.

Bloomington

Doug picked Cam up from soccer practice tonight at 5 p.m.  I had encouraged him to try it as his leg was feeling better.  He said that he made it without any pain.  That was great to hear.  It also was a fun practice filled with a lot of games, which made it even better.  As soon as they got home we headed to Bloomington.  I had spent the day packing, so we only had to worry about remembering Cam's book before we left.  The trip down was pretty easy.  Cam read about the Donner party while Doug and I planned our next few months activities.  We were pleased to see that there were two lanes open on 37 which really help with congestion.

We arrived at Brett's a couple of minutes after nine.  Cal was already there waiting on us.  I had texted the boys all day about possible places to eat dinner at this evening.  We finally settled on Crazy Horse.  Cal didn't remember ever eating there and it had been quite some time since Brett had been.  We were seated right away and even though they were packed, we got our dinner fairly quickly.  Brett said that his fish was a little dry, but other than that the food was delicious especially Cal and Doug's salmon BLTs.  I thoroughly enjoyed the boys' conversation.  I had been missing that.

Meg called while we were eating.  She had just gotten home from senior night for the boys' soccer team.  It went well and she was heading over to Grandma's for the evening.  We had hoped to bring Meg too, but with her soccer commitments we knew it was best that she stayed in Syracuse.  We ended the evening by starting the movie Halloween.  Cameron had never seen it and I was in the mood for a scary movie.  It was good as we remembered.

One Long Day

I decided to increase the amount that I walk this week.  The weather has been nice and I wanted to continue to have success on my weight loss journey.  Therefore, I walked seven miles a day instead of five.  My legs definitely felt the difference, but I was happy to see that I have doubled my steps total from last year when I was working.

The only down part about the increase in exercise was that I had been pretty tired.  Thus, when I decided to also completely clean the main two levels of the house I could really feel the exhaustion in my legs.  It probably hasn't helped that Doug has been extremely busy at work and on non-soccer nights has been getting home at 7:30.  That has made the days feel even longer.  Tonight Meg had a game at Culver Military Academy that started  at 7 making our return time home close to 10 p.m.  It was a tough game to watch, which made the trip back seem even longer.  I was definitely more than thankful to crawl into my bed this evening knowing that tomorrow would start a weekend in Bloomington.

MedStat

Cameron hurt his leg last week when he ran into a bench running at full speed.  He had a large knot on his shin with a dark bruise.  It was extremely sore to touch, but he could walk on it.  When it first happened we put ice on it and gave him Ibuprofen.  It seemed to get better over the weekend.  Last night's soccer game must have aggravated it, however, as it was once again inflamed and sore to the touch.  We decided that we would take him in today just to make sure that it was healing and there wasn't damage to the bone.

Since Dr. Clouse has been hard to get an appointment with and their office doesn't have an x-ray technician, we decided to go to MedStat.  We had had success with them in the past and were glad to get in right away.  The doctor diagnosed Cam with a bone contusion, but wanted to x-ray it just to make sure there was no indentation or chip in the shin.  Unfortunately, the software on the x-ray machine was down, so we had to then go to Nappanee for the pictures.  It took a little longer to get in then we expected, but it was a quick trip to Bethany afterward and by 9:40 Cam was back in school.

We heard back from the Syracuse office before I got home from dropping Cam off at school.  The
x-ray confirmed a bone contusion and soft tissue damage, but no break or chip.  Cam will have to take three Ibuprofen three times a day and put a warm compress on it when it hurts.  He will also have to sit out of sports for the next three days.  After that he should start feeling better.  That will be just in time for the Wawasee game on Monday.  He's been looking forward to that all season.

0-2 on the Night

Cam and Meg both had games this evening.  Since Meg's game was away and Cam's was home we had to split up.  It was easier for Doug to get to Trinity, so he took that game.  Mom and I then were available for Cameron's against Westview.  Both Cam and Meg's teams played hard, but just couldn't find the net.  Cam's team looked as though they were going to pull off the upset at first when they quickly found themselves with a 2-0 lead.  Unfortunately, Westview woke up and preceded to dominate the rest of the game winning 5-2.  Cam took the loss pretty hard as two of the shots deflected off of him and through the goalie's hands.  It was tough to convince him that those were good, hard shots and it would have been hard to stop either of them.  We also realized that when the ball was continually in front of their goal, it probably didn't matter much.  Thankfully, there was a volleyball game afterward so he had time to hang out with his friends before we took him home.

Although Meg's team lost 2-0, she felt very good about how she played.  She said that she was aggressive to the ball and played hard.  Many of Meg's teammates were upset afterward, but Meg didn't take the loss personally.  Trinity had already beaten LaVille, so she knew it would be difficult to pull of the victory.  She and Sarah called me on the way home to check-in.  Meg gave me the highlights and then was happy to find out that we had brought back Little Caesar's for her.  Doug was afraid that she would be upset that he didn't stay afterward to talk to her.  With two games ending at the same time he wasn't sure that he would be able to get out of the parking lot.  When Meg saw him leave, she knew that he was "trying to make good time by beating the traffic!"

Save the Drama for the Llama

One year in high school or middle school Brett's drama club all bought shirts that said "Save the Drama for Llama."  It was an interesting shirt and the quote stuck in my mind over the years.  Today would have been the perfect one to bring that shirt back out as Meg needed it.  Navigating high school can definitely be challenging especially for girls.  Drama seems to find groups of them from time to time and when it does it can be all consuming.  Doug was proud of the way Meg handled it today.  I know that these experience will help prepare her for life after high school.  I will be happy, however, when this situation has been resolved.  For now I will remain thankful that Meg has a supportive friend group to help her through this situation.

IU Football & Soccer

Yesterday Cam texted me from his retreat.  Nothing was wrong, he just needed me to tape the IU vs. Ball State football game.  As I was on a walk and Doug was jogging I wasn't sure at first how I was going to make that happen.  Thankfully, the DirectTv app allowed me to record even though I wasn't at home and Cam was able to catch every minute of the game once he returned from the retreat.

It wasn't much of a game as IU destroyed Ball State.  That left Cameron and Cal talking non-stop about IU football.  By the end of today Cam had predicted that they would finish the season at 10-2.  Parce had even texted about the game.  I gave him Cam's thoughts about the season.  He wondered if Cam meant IU soccer instead.  That definitely could be the case as they are ranked in the top five in the nation and dominated the game against Wisconsin today.

Cameron had talked about staying at home this afternoon to watch IU soccer, but instead joined my Dad at Maxwelton for his third nine holes of the weekend making the most of the Big Cup.  Our DirectTv app came in handy for IU soccer as well as Cam could watch the game in between shots.  He caught the end of the game at home and immediately predicted another run for the Hoosiers as national champion as soon as it was over.  No matter how IU soccer or football finish their seasons this fall, it has been exciting start for both.  Cam and Doug even made plans to see the football team in action next Saturday against Michigan State - Cam has already started counting the days.

A Soccer Free Weekend

For the first time since Labor Day weekend we had a soccer free weekend scheduled.  Doug, Meg and I appreciated the down time as it had been a busy time for us all.  Meg filled her time by spending the night at Jackie's, hosting a movie night at our house and mini-golfing with Liam.  She did join Doug and I for mass on Saturday night and finished several different projects for school and home as well.

Cameron had a soccer game at Lakeland Christian Academy this morning, but was unable to play in it.  Instead he spent his day at a confirmation retreat in Fort Wayne with five hundred other students from the diocese.  It actually went a lot better than I would have guessed when we first signed up.  Cam was only one of two students from his class that went to the retreat.  He really enjoys his teacher, so that was no problem for him as it gave him more time to talk about IU football with him on the way.  He told me that he appreciated listening to the Catholic speakers and having mass with Bishop Rhodes.  Our favorite moment of the day was listening his story of seeing a former classmate from Milford at the retreat.  The boy had another student in a headlock while they were leaving.  It ended when a teacher got involved, but not before glasses were broken and the boy from Milford got a serious tongue lashing.  None of us were surprised as we all knew well this boy's behavior patterns from Cam's early elementary days. We laughed about it over dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings as we were sure that the goal of the confirmation retreat was to build unity among the students, not to leave fighting on the way out.

Jackson Park & Camp Amigo

Earlier this week Meg headed to Chicago with her AP English class.  On their agenda was a tour of Jackson Park.  They had read Devil in the White City over the summer and their teacher wanted to show them what structures were left from the Chicago's Worlds Fair.  The infamous hotel of death that Holmes built over a hundred years ago was demolished decades earlier, but they were able to see many of the buildings that were still in use today.  The most well known of these was the Museum of Science & Industry.  Although Meg had been to this area with our family before, she enjoyed the day away with her classmates especially their lunch destination - Giordano's Pizza.

Cam also had an awesome experience through Bethany this week.  Yesterday he and his eighth grade classmates left for Camp Amigo in Sturgis, Michigan.  When I picked him up today he had many stories to share especially about the fun that he had with his friends.  He spent the evening tent hoping and telling stories around the campfire.  He learned how to pitch a tent, build a fire with flint, and to cook pancakes over an open flame.  The food was definitely a highlight for him with dessert burritos, grilled hamburgers and sandwich pizza.  Thankfully, he wasn't in the canoe that capsized during orienteering, but I did have some wet laundry from the canoe rescue training to get to as soon as he got home

As Doug and I spent time reflecting tonight over dinner about the busy week we had just completed, both us were extremely appreciative of the opportunities that Bethany has provided for Meg and Cam.  They have grown not only in their education while students there, but also in their life skill set as well.  What a wonderful opportunity they have been given.  I know that they both appreciate it as much as Doug and I do.

Career Fairs

Brett went to his second career fair of the week today.  He has one more meeting tomorrow and already a dozen or so jobs to apply for over weekend.  He has gotten a lot of positive feedback about his resume.  He definitely has quite a bit of experience and education for his age.  He's excited about all of the possibilities.  Between the career fairs and the SPEA jobs board there were a lot of pIaces for him to find open positions. Although not all of the positions fit his interest I was impressed by the salaries for a starting SPEA graduate student.

In saying that I was also overwhelmed by the amount of work it will take for him to find a position.  After starting this process with him I could see how job searching was daunting to Brett when he graduated with his undergrad degree three years ago.  It would be easy to spend hours and hours daily weeding through all of the information and job links.  Next week he will meet with a not-for-profit recruiter.   Hopefully, that will help him in narrowing the job search.  Thankfully, I will have more time to help him navigate the search for a career as well.  

A Year of Pictures

I had a lot of projects that I wanted to catch up on when I resigned from my teaching position.  This summer I was able to cross many of those items off of my to-do list.  This week I started the last of those projects - completing our family's 2016 and 2017 photo albums.

Generally, I do not wait this long to work on this yearly project, but with the hours I was putting in at school and our busy family schedule I just didn't have time.  At first I was upset with myself for waiting so long especially since 2016 was a big year in the Heinisch family with Cal's senior year and Brett graduating college.  Those two events coupled with our trips to Texas, New Hampshire and Florida there were a lot pictures to sort through.

After starting the process I was actually glad that I waited.  It has been a lot of fun looking through all of the memories.  Plus, I have time to invest in making it a beautiful book.  So far I have spent seven hours on it and have only finished the months of January, February, March and April.  I have set a goal to finish the 2016 book by Sunday night.  It will take some work, but I believe I can do it.

Surviving

There are times in life that you just have to survive a tough situation.  Meg is in the middle of one of those circumstances that is difficult to deal with and unfortunately she cannot change it.  The best she can do is to survive it.  She and I have talked about it a lot these past few months.  My true feeling is that this situation will end and when it does the hope is that this will be the worst that she will ever have to survive, but if not, it will have helped her prepare for an even bigger problem to come.   It is not fair, and I hate that she feels horrible about it right now, but thankfully fall break will be here in a short time and we'll have a week to regroup in her favorite place.  I will chose to think about that instead of dwelling on the negative.  As I watched the news updates from Ground Zero today, I realized that surviving is actually what life is about.  I do not believe that time heals all wounds, but it does help with perspective.  Eventually, Meg will be able to see that.

Meg did have a fun night tonight.  She stayed for the boys game against Goshen, which turned out to be an extremely close one with the final score of 2-1.  Cam stayed for the game as well and had a lot of fun with his friends.  He had had a game first that Mom, Dad and I were able to attend.  Doug, unfortunately, had month end to complete and stayed at work late.  Cam played very well especially since he was extremely sick last night.  Thankfully, ten hours of sleep and Mucinex seemed to have helped out immensely.  The game was closer than he expected with Elkhart Christian Academy up at half 1-0.  Bethany rebounded well in the second half scoring 4 goals with the help of a yellow card on the goalie.  Originally, Cam thought he would play very  little as he expected the Bruins to dominate the entire game.  He did end up sitting out the last eight minutes of the game which game the B team time to play.  We were proud of how well Cam played and glad to have his team put another win in the books.

Catching Up

Today was a day for catching up with others.  It started at Milford school where Meg and I met Mr. Larson.  She has to job shadow two different people this fall and decided that she wanted to make a priority of being in his classroom.  She had actually talked about it since she was in 8th grade, so it was fun to see it come to fruition.  There were some hoops to jump through since she was no longer a student at Wawasee, but he and I were able to get her approved.  It was a lot of fun talking with him and listening to Meg catch him up on her life as a senior.  The more she talked, the more I couldn't believe how fast the past six years had flown by.  Mr. Larson has been an important part of her educational life.  It will be strange when she will no longer be able to pop in and visit with him.

Tonight Doug and I had dinner with Ron and Sara at Mad Anthony's.  They had texted us in July and asked if we would like to get together as it had been quite some time since we had gone out with them.  As we talked I realized that they were in a different place in life then we were as all of the children have finished their degrees and were looking to enter the workforce.  Everyone in their family was twenty-one and their sons will all be married by mid-October.   They even have grandchildren already.  Although Doug and I weren't quite ready for that phase of life, we enjoyed listening to their stories and looking at the pictures on their summer trip down Route 66.  Overall, it was a nice way to spend a Monday night.

Happy Grandparents Day

Grandparents Day was made a national holiday forty years ago.  I didn't need a holiday to remember my grandparents as I made them an important party of my life on a daily basis.  I did appreciate, however, the fact that the day also fell on my CrapPa's birthday, September 9th.  I always thought that it was the perfect way to honor him.  He was an awesome grandfather.  He was supportive of me, listened to me, took an interest in me and made a difference in my life.  He had a story for every circumstance and I never grew tired of hearing him talk.  I have missed him more these past few months than I have in the past few years.  With the extra time in my schedule I have wished on many days that I could walk over to his house and visit with him.

Although I am sad that PawPaw is no longer with us, I am happy that the Heinisch children have supportive grandparents that play an important part in their life.  Each one of them has spent quite a bit of time with them and has expressed gratitude for all that they do for us.  Tonight we invited Grandma Jane and Grandpa Cutes up for dinner.  Although it wasn't specifically to celebrate Grandparents Day, we did have a card, candy and pictures for them to honor the day.  My Dad brought his own gifts for us - Leinenkugel to fill Doug's fridge and roses to fill my favorite vase.  We had a nice dinner together and spent the rest of the evening playing "Oh, Hell!"  Grandpa was the big winner on the night with Grandma following closely behind.  It was fitting that they finished one and two this evening even though Cameron and I grumbled loudly about it.

A Change in Weather

The storm in the south last week turned into a tropical depression that moved all the way up to northern Indiana.  It brought a much needed cool down to our area, but unfortunately a lot of rain to the Bloomington area.  In fact Brett posted on Facebook that there was a flash flood warning in their county.  Thankfully, the rain here was much lighter and we were able to watch both Cam and Meg's games without getting wet.

We started at Cam's games first.   It was scheduled as an A and B game, but so many of Cam's teammates were out sick that the majority of the boys played both.  In the B game Cam was subbed in at midfield.  He played well and had several shots on goal trying his best to score.  Although he didn't get one in the net, one of his teammates did and they won 1-0.  Cam was tired after the first game, but that didn't slow him down in the second one.  He played the entire 60 minutes at fullback and did a fantastic job.  He did say that a couple of times he did a little shoving as he couldn't catch the offense, but only ended up with one foul on the day.  Trinity dominated the first half of the game, but never scored.  In the second half JJ was able to find the net on an awesome move around the defense and scored the game winning goal.  Trinity had a chance to tie with a penalty kick on the strangest call of the day - a delay of game.  Luckily, time ran out before they got a foot on the ball.

My parents went to Meg's first game of the day since she and Cam played at the same time.  It was a close one with Bethany losing 0-2 to LaVille.  They had two shots that hit the crossbar and just missed.  We made it in time for the consolation game against Blackhawk Christian.  It was a lot different than last year when they steam rolled us.  This time we controlled the ball and had double the amount of shots on goal winning 2-0.  Meg just missed putting them up by three with a shot that once again hit the crossbar and bounced out.

After the games we took Meg, Jackie and Cameron to Mishawaka.  Everyone wanted to play miniature golf.  It was a lot of fun and very competitive.  They chose Pap Vino's for dinner.  Jackie had never been there before.  Everything was delicious and we were home in plenty of time to watch IU beat Virginia.

A Trip Out of the Country

Doug left yesterday morning for Toronto.  He had a board meeting tomorrow and needed to be there for a dinner with the equity firm tonight.  It was the first time he had traveled out of the country in over ten years.  He went to Mexico quite a bit when he worked for Group Dekko, but traveled little when he was at Grabill and Renegade.  His last trip to Canada was with me about twenty years ago when we drove through the country on our way to Niagara Falls.  That was before US citizens needed passports to visit Canada.

As Doug had never been to Toronto before he decided to walk around the downtown area before their dinner.  There were quite a few craft breweries close to his hotel and the hockey hall of fame was in walking distance as well.  Their dinner last night was very nice although he found out later that two people had been murdered there while eating in the past few months.  The theory was that they were mob hits.  Thankfully, everyone survived and Doug enjoyed his fish dinner.

This morning's board meeting went well.  He had a presentation to give that last fifteen to twenty minutes during it.  He was pleased with it and felt he was well prepared.  He received high marks from his boss which I would have expected, but it was nice to hear that he was happy with how it went.  The trip home was an easy one.  They flew out of Toronto's small airport which was only a mile from their meeting.  The plane was a smaller one, but was a direct flight.  Therefore, in a little less than two hours they were back in the states.  He will have to go back again in November for a couple of days.  I am hoping to one day go with him.  That would make for a fun adventure.

It Just Keeps Getting Better!

Tonight both Meg and Cam had soccer games.  Thankfully, they were at Bethany and started an hour apart, so Mom, Dad and I could sit in-between and catch all of the action.  Cam's team was pitted against Stanley Clark.  Bethany dominated the field and scored four goals easily.  Cam played extremely well and even got two shots on goal.  Both were high and wide, but there were nice ones from his right fullback position.  The eighth graders played less than their normal amount in the second half to give some of the B players a chance to participate in the game as well.  As Cam had started every A game this season and sits out very little, that seemed appropriate to us.

Tonight was educator appreciation night for the Bethany soccer girls.  When Meg found out the date, she instantly invited Brent.  He was not only her law/history teacher these past two years, but also her junior varsity basketball coach.  She has thoroughly enjoyed his class and finds his personality to mesh well with hers.  She was excited that he could be there to support her.  As an teacher myself I was pleased with the ceremony honoring educators and their importance to student athletes.

Meg played exceptionally well tonight once again scoring Bethany's first goal.  It was a beautiful turn around shot from about twelve yards out that the goalie did not even have a chance to stop.  With the pressure off to score early, Bethany once again dominated the game.  The starters played very well controlling ball the entire first half.  They only played about ten minutes in the second half, but Meg didn't mind.  South Bend Riley's defense had become frustrated with the Bethany forwards and started tripping the girls.  Meg had no interest in getting hurt in such an easy game.  The girls went on to win 5-0, moving their record to 6-1-1.  We found out tonight that they were ranked 14th in the state in this week's 1A polls.  It should make their game against #13 LaVille on Saturday morning extremely interesting.

A Productive Day at Home

Last night Meg's basketball coach, KP, asked me how I was enjoying my time off from teaching.  I answered her honestly that I love it.  I've been able to exercise everyday and help out the Heinisch family as well.  Today was one of those days where it really paid off to have me here.  It started early in the morning when I registered Meg for the October SAT two days before the deadline.  I picked up Cam mid-morning to order his passport.  County Road 29 was closed for paving, but that didn't matter as I did not have to rush back for work.

At lunchtime Cal texted me.  He needed his unofficial transcript converted to a pdf and emailed to him for an application.  After a little bit of research I had one ready for him.  Brett then emailed with a question that I was able to answer immediately.  Meg had given me the information for her accounts from IU and Purdue's admissions department which I set up for her.  Doug then called as he needed information on his passport for his flight tomorrow to Toronto.

The rest of the afternoon was spent finding recipes for the butternut squash and eggplant we bought at  the farmer's market in Bloomington.  I found two that I decided to try and by the time everyone got home there was fettuccini, baked eggplant and butternut squash ready for them.  The recipes turned out perfectly and everyone enjoyed dinner.  As I told Doug of all that I was able to accomplish today, I kept thinking to myself, how would I have done all of this and worked all day.  I was incredibly thankful to be able to help the Heinisch family.

Problem Solved, Finally!!

For the past year Doug and I have been talking about finding a new primary care physician.  Since Dr. Mulry retired we have had a challenging time getting in to see any doctors at Syracuse Family Practice.  Dr. Clouse was technically listed as our primary care physician when he left, but she has been very hard to get an appointment with in a timely manner.  I had called several physicians in Goshen this Spring, but no one was accepting new patients then.  Thus, we thought we'd wait and look more into this issue once fall arrived.

Our motivation to find a new practice grew immensely this past week.  Dr. Clouse told me at my check up that she was leaving in November and that they did not have a physician to replace her.  I asked about the nurse practitioner that we saw this summer, but she had left already.  The physician's assistant that we had gone to several times in the past planned to retire in January, therefore, finding a new doctor became my number one priority this week.  Dr. Clouse had told me that we would receive a note in the mail about physicians excepting new patients, but I didn't want to wait.  Thankfully, my search quickly ended this afternoon.  I found the website listing the information that Dr. Clouse talked about and did some research on the doctors listed.  One stood out to me and I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to set up appointments for the entire family.  The best part was that it was only a mile from Bethany and the office staff was helpful and friendly.  My Mom planned to call tomorrow and switch as well.

With the chore of finding a new doctor behind us, we all got to enjoy a close game between the Bethany girls and rival Elkhart Christian Academy.  It started off fantastic with Meg scoring a beautiful goal within the first two minutes.  The lead quickly disappeared, however, as ECA rebounded and scored two goals themselves.  Bethany tied it and then went ahead 3-2.  ECA score two more goals and looked to take a 4-3 lead into the half.  Thankfully, Bethany tied it up and had ten minutes to rest and talk about strategies to mark on defense.  They did a lot better in the second half, holding ECA scoreless.  Bethany scored two more goals to win once again, making their record to 5-1-1.

We were all impressed with how well Meg played.  Not only was her goal beautiful, but she also passed extremely well. It was hot, but that didn't slow her down.  She was aggressive to the ball and we were proud of how she led her team on the field.  Cam had a role in tonight's game as well.  He was asked to be the ball boy.  Since he had to be there anyhow, it was the perfect way to earn service hours for confirmation.  My parents, Doug and I left after the girls game.  Meg and Cam stayed to watch the boys destroy ECA.  It was after nine before they arrived at home, but they didn't mind as they had had a great time with their friends.

Labor Day Downpour

We were all up early and on the road this morning by 9 a.m.  Brett and Cal had plans to study today and we wanted to get back so Meg could eat and rest before practice at 4 p.m.  Cam was invited to play at Black Squirrel today with the Bethany high school team, so he wanted some time to practice at Maxwelton with Grandpa beforehand.  Getting home early meant that Doug could mow the yard, go grocery shopping and jog as well.  I spent about two hours unpacking and sorting laundry.

I didn't mind being inside for most of the afternoon as it was extremely humid today.  We do not turn our on air conditioning much during the month of September, but I was thankful that we did today.  In the heat of the afternoon Doug left for the store.  As soon as he pulled out of the garage the skies opened up and the rain started.  We have become accustomed to the afternoon showers that this humid weather has brought, but this one seemed even more intense.  Thankfully, it did let up in time for me to take a walk later in the day, but that was about the only time that the skies cleared again.

I left early for Goshen to pick up Meg's photos from Walgreens and to be in town just in case Cam's practice ended early.  According to the cashier it hadn't rained in Goshen at all today.  That soon changed.  I was about a block from the golf course when it started to pour.  Cam was just walking off nine with his coach and an umbrella when I pulled up.  He was very thankful that I arrived early and pleased with his play.  Meg's practice ended before the storms as well.  We found out later that it had rained in Syracuse the entire time we were gone.

Doug and I had dinner reservations at Sleepy Owl at 7:15.  We waited as long as possible for the rain to let up before we left, but no such luck.  We were surprised to see the rain flowing through our drainage pipes in the front yard like a river.  The house west of us already had standing water all around it.  Our satellite was out most of the afternoon, but no problems with the internet.  I was surprised by that, but thankful that I could check the National Weather Service on Twitter.  They stated that we had received 3/4 of an inch of rain in less than twenty minutes!  Thankfully, the weather did not cancel our dinner plans and Doug and I were able to enjoy a nice dinner out.

A Hot Day in B-Town

Today was a hot one in Bloomington.  Thankfully, the guys had an early morning tee time, so they were able to finish nine before it became sweltering.  Cam felt he played well and Cal was once again low medalist.  Doug had fun, but admitted it was his worst round of the summer.  Brett, Meg and I were ready to go shopping once we got back.  Cal needed a haircut first, but it was pretty easy to do and we were out the door by 11:30.  Brett found a sports coat at Kohl's that he needed and Cal bought a pad folio to hold his resume.  Both have career fairs come up this month and wanted to be ready for them.

We ate lunch at Trojan horse.  The food was good, but we were crowded in a booth and had terrible service.  Thus, we will probably cross that off of our list of restaurant choices.  While we were there, Cal found out that he had an assignment due today at 8 p.m.  He had checked several times earlier to make sure that he didn't have any homework this weekend, but his professor put it in Canvas late.  Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult so Cal was able to finish it in plenty of time.

We stopped at the mall this afternoon.  We talked about going to Garlic Fest again, but it was too hot for the majority of us.  Once we finished shopping we dropped Cal at the library and stopped at Brett's.  Meg and Brett both wanted to work on homework as well which gave Cam and Doug time to play tennis.  I took a walk while there were playing.  It was hot, but we seem to have gotten used to it.  

Tonight the six of us went to dinner at BJ's.  It has become one of our favorite places to eat.  Our waiter knew Cal from class.  Brett had mass tonight and Doug, Meg and Cam wanted to go to the IU soccer game which happened to be at the same time.  Cal decided to workout instead of joining us, so we said goodbye to him at Brett's.  The game was a close one, but IU was able to hang on to win 1-0. Once we all got back to Brett's, we played the new Qwirkle game.  I really liked it except for the fact that Cam beat me by one point!!  

One Fantastic Day in B-Town

It was a great day in Bloomington filled with a lot of family time.  First, Brett, Cam, Doug and I checked out the Farmer's Market.  Cam bought an eggplant to try later and Doug found a butternut squash.  Afterward we picked up Meg and headed to Oliver Winery.  Meg wanted her senior pictures taken there, so we started with that while Doug and Brett did some wine tasting.  The pictures looked beautiful and we were done by the time everyone was ready to eat lunch.  Brett and I were beaten by Cam at washer toss before we left.

Our next stop of the day was downtown Bloomington.  We found a Qwirkle game, IU chess and several IU shirts.  Meg and I stopped at Global Gifts to look at the jewelry while the guys walked to Garlic Fest to see Parce.  Soul Street was playing by the time we got there which was one of Doug's favorites.  Brett, Cam and I checked out the art tents while we were there.  Cal tried their garlic bread with real garlic and Cam finally got garlic meatballs.

After Garlic Fest we all went to Elletsville to play miniature golf.  Parce even agreed to go with us.  Cal had the lead after nine, but Doug came roaring back to end up champion of the night.  We had a hard time finding a place to eat as everything was an hour wait or so.  Parce suggested Opie Taylor's which worked out perfectly.  They had a table ready for us and everyone enjoyed their dinner.

Cal left once we finished eating.  He was ready to go home and watch the Notre Dame football game.  We stopped at Parce's so that we could see his new apartment.  Everything in it was brand new and it had a nice front porch.  After visiting for awhile, we headed back to Brett's.  Doug and I walked down to Pizza Express to get breadsticks and we finished the night by watching football.