Happy Halloween

Cam left this morning dressed as a hamburger.  The SGA at Bethany had decided to have a Halloween costume contest today and he was more than willing to participate.  He was definitely not the only one either as the majority of students walking out of school at the end of the day had gotten into the holiday spirit.  One group took it a little further than I would have suggested by spraying silly string all over several cars in the parking lot.  I was thankful to have missed that activity as I wasn't sure how to get it off of the paint.  Cam got in the car and announced that Sam was one of the contest winners for the Freshmen class.  We both laughed at that as Samuel had worn Meg's hot dog costume.  Cam played Madden when he got home and I walked around the house.  With the miserable weather I didn't want to walk outside.  Even with my altered path I had close to 8000 steps by the time we left for Goshen.  

Avery had invited several friends over to trick or treat with him this evening.  It was snowing when we left, but that didn't deter their group.  Cam did take an umbrella, hat and gloves to help combat the cold.  While he was getting candy in the Black Squirrel neighborhood, Doug and I watched Halloween.  It had always been Doug's favorite horror movie and was still just as scary as when he first watched it thirty years ago.  We did take a break for him to pick up Cam at 8:45.  He had had a great time and came home with a full basket of candy.  I was glad that the weather didn't ruin their evening and thankful that he changed into dry clothes once they were done.  Doug and I did get to finish the movie when he got back.  I was glad as I believe that we have watched it every Halloween night since we were first married.  We also got a lot done on our puzzle as well making it a fun night for all.  

Scream

These past three days I talked Cam into watching all of my favorite animated Halloween specials plus the Heinisch children's favorite Disney thriller, Something Wicked This Way Comes.  I appreciated that he agreed as it was a lot more fun than viewing them by myself.  After last night's Charlie Brown and the Headless Horseman, we chose Toy Story Tower of Terror this evening.  It was a lot shorter than either of us remembered, but still just as funny especially the vintage commercials and the porcupine's commentary on scary movies.

Once Toy Story was over Cam decided to take a break from Halloween specials and movies.  Doug offered to continue the Halloween theme by watching Scream with me and working on the Great Pumpkin puzzle.  Scream has become one of our favorite horror movies.  In saying that, however, the genre has become harder and harder for us to watch.  Therefore, working on the puzzle makes viewing gory movies a lot easier.  In the end I was glad that we watched it.  The movie makes light of slasher films providing humor during some extremely intense scenes.  The bonus was that we finished quite a bit of the puzzle by the end of it as well.  

Pumpkin Carving

Several weeks ago I asked Cam if he would go to Fashion Farm with me this fall.  He agreed and once we got there he asked me if we were even going to carve pumpkins this year.  I knew that he probably wouldn't do it if he was the only one participating.  It had been years since I had actually carved one, but decided that it was a Heinisch tradition that I wasn't ready to see end.  Thus, tonight we turned on "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" and got started.

It was a lot harder to cut the hole at the top than I remembered.  I don't have a lot of wrist strength and I assumed that I'd have to have Doug help me, but once I got into the sawing rhythm that Cameron suggested I found success.  I've never been a fan of scooping out the guts, but that was a lot easier  than I remembered.  Doug came in from raking leaves in time to help finish out the insides of both Cam and mine.  We decided to make traditional Jack O'Lanterns this year and were both pleased with the results.  By the time Ichabod Crane lost his head in Disney's Legend of Sleepy Hollow we had two pumpkins ready for trick or treaters and had a lot of fun along the way.

 

Two Rooms for One

For the past year or so I have wanted to paint and reorganize Cam's sanctuary.  I had suggested several times that he move into the second bedroom so that he would have more room, but he was never interested.  He liked the room that he had had for the past seven years and I decided to come up with a different plan.  I would move the majority of Cam's keepsakes, books and furniture into the second bedroom and leave his bed, dresser, television, clothes and most prized possessions in his smaller room.  Cam agreed to this idea with the thought that I would get everything organized by the weekend of November 9th so that Doug could easily paint it.

Since it was a rare weekend at home for us and the forecast was miserable, I asked Doug if we could move up our plan and work on Cam's bedroom while watching football.  He thought it was a good idea and Friday night we let Cam pick out the colors for his new room.  I was not surprised with his choice of orange and blue, but others probably were.  Those have been his two favorite colors for as long as I could remember.

Doug started Saturday morning and quickly got the first coat on the orange walls.  It actually looked better than I thought it would.  We had tried the color in the downstairs bathroom last fall and didn't like it there, but it was the perfect fit for Cameron.  The blue took a lot more work as it did not cover as well.  Doug wasn't able to finish it until Sunday.

While Doug painted, I worked on reorganizing Cam's possessions.  He helped sort through what he wanted and what he wanted to purge.  He had a lot of keepsake items from his siblings and his grandparents.  It was fun looking though everything and finally having room to display and store it all.  By the end we did have two boxes for a garage sale and one large bag of trash to take out of the rooms.

We didn't quite finish everything over the weekend, but I was able to get both rooms back in order today, paint the trees and take him chair shopping.  It took longer than we thought it would, but we finally found the perfect hammock chair to finish our redecorating project.  It was more work than I thought it would be, but definitely worth it in the end.  Both rooms looked fantastic and gave Cam the space he needed.

Hoosier Awakening

Meg spent her weekend with fellow IU Catholic students on a retreat at St. Charles church in Bloomington.  She didn't have her phone so I wasn't able to ask her about it until this evening.  When she finally called I was thrilled to hear that she absolutely loved it.  She met a lot of other Hoosier Catholic students and thoroughly enjoyed all of the activities.  She loved the letter of support that her family members sent to her as well as those from other Hoosier Catholic students that were praying for her on this retreat.  Meg said that she had never experienced Adoration in such a wonderful way and felt renewed in her Catholic Faith.  Doug and I both were extremely happy that she chose to attend this experience and look forward to hearing about more of her adventures with the Hoosier Catholic organization.

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Doug and Cam had made plans to go to the Illinois vs. Purdue football game today.  Unfortunately, the weather changed their minds.  The forecast called for temperatures in the forties and over an inch of rain.  They definitely made the right call as the clouds opened up right at kickoff.  Neither one of them really minded as there were some great games on television today and they were able to catch all of them.  Cal had the same idea as he texted me that he wasn't moving off of the couch all day.

It ended up being a great weekend for the Heinisch football crowd as everyone of their teams won.  Illinois beat Purdue soundly, IU bested Nebraska by a touchdown and Michigan embarrassed Notre Dame.  Cam couldn't stop talking about how excited he was that IU was now bowl eligible by winning their sixth game so early in the season.  He also enjoyed calling Grandma every time Michigan found the end zone making sure that Grandpa knew the score.  Doug asked me at the end of the day if I ever thought that I would watch as much football as I have this season.  The answer to that was an obvious, no.  Even though I have never been a fan of the sport or planned to spend my Saturdays at Memorial stadium, I have enjoyed listing to Cameron's enthusiasm for it.  It has been even more fun now that the Hoosiers have been doing so well.

Short But Productive

I didn't have a lot of time in Bloomington these past two days, but I did pack in a lot.  I was busy yesterday from the time Meg and I left for the orthodontist until I picked Brett up from work late last night.  With all of the activity I had no problem falling asleep last night.

Brett had to work this morning, but was home by the time I left for a walk.  I appreciated his company as we walked through his neighborhood.  Our conversation revolved a lot of different topics, but the dominant theme was Disney.  Once I got ready we had time to go to breakfast before his interview with the IU athletic department.  We talked about prospective interview questions as we enjoyed the Village Deli special.  We finished with enough time for Brett to walk to the comic book store before heading to Memorial Stadium.  He called while I was on my way to Bethany to let me know that the meeting went well and he felt positive that he would get a callback for a second interview.  That was great to hear.  He's been a lot more comfortable going into interviews lately as he has had a lot of experience with them and knows that he has two jobs that he already enjoys.

My drive home was an easy one and I made it to Bethany right at dismissal time.  I was definitely glad to be out of the Pilot.  I had sat more than enough these past two days and was ready for a break.  We took it easy tonight.  Doug and I went to dinner and then invited my parents up to play cards.  Cam joined us for Trumpet, but sat out of Oh Hell.  It was nice to have some down time after such a busy couple of days.

Dennis James Halloween

It was a rough morning for Meg.  She had quite a bit of work done at her orthodontist appointment today.  They put in a stronger wire, trimmed her bite plate, and started her on rubber bands.  Needless to say, her mouth was very sore on the trip back to IU.  Thankfully, it was thirty minutes shorter since we were leaving from Warsaw.  There was also very little traffic to slow us down.  We did stop so that she could get something to drink, but otherwise we made very good time.

Meg and I first stopped at her dorm to unload her items.  She hadn't had time to do her laundry this week, so I offered to do it at Brett's while she was in class.  Brett had been at a SPEA meeting earlier in the morning and arrived just as we got back to the car.  We headed to his apartment to get Meg's three loads of laundry started and then had lunch at McAllister's Deli.  Thankfully, they had a soup that Meg really liked so she could eat something.  After lunch we switched Meg's clothes to the dryer before I dropped her at Read and Brett at the Union.  The rest of the afternoon was a busy one.  Meg had class, Brett had to work and I folded laundry and did some shopping for both of them.  By the time I picked up Chick-Fil-A for Meg's dinner and met her at her dorm, I was wiped out.  We had just enough time to get her room cleaned before leaving for the night.

I bought tickets for Meg and I to see Dennis James' Halloween at the IU auditorium this evening.  Brett had been several times and highly recommended it to us.  It was an unique experience.  Dennis James played the organ while the 1925 silent movie "The Lost World" played on the big screen.  He spent about fifteen minutes explaining his connection to the IU auditorium and setting up the movie, but once it started we almost forgot he was there.  The movie was not a comedy, but Meg and I did laugh at certain parts, especially the dinosaur scenes.  Although I probably would not go next year, I was glad that I got to be a part of this evening's performance.  It was nice to spend time with Meg as well.  We ended our time together with a smoothie for her and breadsticks for me.

A Quick Trip

My parents left yesterday for Bloomington to visit Brett, Cal and Meg.  They arrived in time to take Brett to BJ's for lunch.  They enjoyed their visit and then hung out in his apartment while he attended mandatory safety training at Bell Trace.  He said that it was the first time that he had gone to a meeting where he actually felt that it was well worth his time.  Once Brett finished, they picked up Cal for dinner at Bub's Burgers.  My parents had not seen him since he left for Bloomington in August.  Everyone had a wonderful meal and they got to see Cal's picture on Bub's wall of fame.  Cal had a test in the morning and work to do for another class, so they were glad that he was able to make time for them before heading to the library.  The rest of the night was spent playing Yahtzee and Sequence at Brett's apartment.

Brett had to work this morning, but they still had time to go to Chick-Fil-A and to see the movie The Joker before picking up Meg for the return trip home.  She had a big presentation today in her business class.  She was excited to have finished it before she left and called to tell me that it went very well.  They stopped for breadsticks before they left as she hadn't had time for lunch.  It was a longer trip home than normal due to traffic, construction and some errant directions, but they made it safely.  Meg was happy to be home and my parents were glad to have so much time to catch up with her on the ride.  Overall, it was a great two days in Bloomington.

The Zodiac Killer

Last night Doug and I sat down after dinner hoping to find something to watch on television.  He needed to work and I wanted to start the Great Pumpkin puzzle.  We talked about finding a thriller since it was so close to Halloween, but nothing really jumped out at us until I started searching through our free streaming channels on Roku.  I realized that there was a movie called Zodiac that we had never seen before.  I started reading the reviews and I couldn't believe that we had never heard of it as the ratings were extremely high and it starred Robert Downey Jr.  Thus, we thought we'd give it a try and soon we were hooked.

The movie was based on the Zodiac Killer who terrorized California during the late 1960s until the mid 1970s.  He committed heinous crimes and sent chilling messages to the local newspapers.  The reviews said that it would be intense from start to finish and we completely agreed.  We hated turning it off last night and couldn't wait to finish it this evening.  The reporter that wrote the book that the movie was based on felt that he solved the crime implicating a top suspect.  As the case was never solved and there were other men who fit the profile, the murderer may never be known.  Even without a resolution, we were extremely happy with our find.

Pet Peeves

Everyone has a pet peeve, something that bothers them, gets under their skin or drives them crazy.  I am no different as I definitely have one.  It may not be high on other people's lists, but the action that bothers me the most is unsolicited advice.  In fact I absolutely hate it when someone tells me what they think I should do without me first asking for their opinion.  I usually listen politely while biting my lip as they start, "You really ought to . . . ", "If it were me I would . . .", "I think that you should . . .", etc.  I didn't ask for their advice and they unwillingly gave it to me without knowing the issues that went into my decision making process, such as how it would effect my family, if I had the time, my husband's thoughts, just to name a few.

Not only do I find this behavior annoying, in all honesty, I actually find it offensive when someone gives me their unwanted opinion.  Over the years I have come to realize that the givers of unsolicited advice care more about their needs than the receivers.  It must give them a sense of superiority to think that they had more insight into someone else's lives than that person does.  This couldn't be further from the truth as the giver has no accountability and no understanding of someone else's needs.  An unwanted opinion is the lowest form of human knowledge and I truly believe that the world would be a better place if everyone practiced empathy instead and just kept their thoughts to themselves.  

Last Day of Fall Break

It felt great to sleep in this morning as we had pushed it pretty hard the past three days.  Brett had to work breakfast, but was home by ten.  Doug had the Ticket to Ride board set up for him when he arrived.  Doug wanted to avenge his loss from last week and was successful in his quest with one of the highest scores recored by our family so far.  While we were playing, I texted Meg and Cal to see if they wanted to join us for lunch on Kirkwood.  Cal had to study, so he declined, but Meg was ready for Chipotle.

We picked Meg up and met Brett at People's Park.  He drove separately so that he could walk to work afterward and maybe the comic book store if he had time.  Brett, Cam and I chose Noodles & Co for lunch while Doug walked down to Chipotle with Meg.  Once everyone had their lunch, we picnicked in People's Park.  It was a gorgeous day to eat outside.  Before Brett left for work we talked him into trying a Bourbon Ball.  He liked it as much as he did the bourbon he tried when he was an intern for Larry Bucshon.  We then dropped Meg at Read and headed for Syracuse.  The trip home was a little stressful as I became sick, but we made it with only a few stops.

The three of us were happy to be home.  Our fall break trip was a lot of fun, but exhausting at the same time.  It was nice to have an afternoon to relax.  Cam used his time to finish a presentation on LSD for health and watch the Bears game.  It was as disappointing as the Lions game he watched on the ride home.  Doug mowed the yard before exercising.  He finished just before the Bears kickoff with the Vikings.  I unpacked and started the laundry.  We went to dinner at Huntington St. and then called my parents up to play Oh Hell.  It was a nice way to end a wonderful fall break.

Frankfort, Kentucky

We had debated for most of the drive down to Asheville on what we would do on Saturday.  We knew that we would prefer to stay in Bloomington Saturday night, so our choices were to stay in Asheville and drive straight back, stop in Tennessee or to visit Kentucky.  Meg and I voted for Dollywood, but Doug and Cal quickly shot that idea down.  It was too much like a country fair for them.  Nowhere else in Tennessee sounded appealing, so Doug started researching Frankfort as it was about halfway back.  We were glad that he did as our stop in Kentucky’s capitol was a lot of fun.

We decided to leave at 8:30 a.m. to get an early start to the day.  Although it was hard getting up and around after such a busy day yesterday, we were thankful that we did as I-75 was closed for a portion of our trip.  We found an alternate route that only took ten minutes longer and gave us all insight into the life of a rural Kentuckian.  Our first stop of the day was the grave of Daniel Boone.  We did some reading on our trip up the state and found out that this was one of two Boone graves as there was fighting between the states of Missouri and Kentucky as to where he was to be buried and controversy as to who was really buried in the grave in Kentucky.  Since we had already visited the one in the Show Me State, we had to add this stop to our Frankfort agenda.  Thus, no matter which grave housed the body of the most well known pioneer of the Blue Grass State we had definitely paid our respects.

After our trek through the cemetery we had lunch along the Kentucky River at Bourbon on Main.  We enjoyed their highly rated cocktails while watching Cal attempt the Quit Your Bitchin' burger.  Although it brought tears to his eyes, he was able to finish it all and made Cam's spicy burger seem like nothing.  Next, we toured the Rebecca Ruth candy shop next.  It was definitely a local favorite with a century of history tied to the town.  The shop could have used a deep cleaning, but we didn't mind as the free Bourbon Balls were excellent.  We stopped at the Buffalo Trace Distillery next.  It was absolutely packed.  We bought some bourbon and walked through the grounds.  It would be worth a tour on another day.  Our last visit in Frankfort was Cove Springs Park.  It had also gotten five star reviews on Trip Advisor and we could see why as the views were spectacular on our hike.  After pictures by the waterfall we piled back in the Pilot with Bloomington as our next destination.  We had all enjoyed our fall break road trip, but everyone was ready to get back and rest.  Doug and I were extremely thankful that Cal, Meg, Cam and Hannah-Marie could join us.  

             

                     

The Biltmore

This fall we gave Cal, Cam and Meg several choices for our Fall Break destination including Nashville, St. Louis and Memphis.  In the end they unanimously chose The Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina.   We completely supported their choice as we had visited seven years ago and loved it. 

We had stayed in Tennessee last night so we could enjoy the Smoky Mountains in the daylight.  Although the leaves had not changed completely the view added quite a bit of enjoyment to our hour long drive to the Biltmore Estate.  We arrived about 45 minutes before our scheduled tour, so we had plenty of time to take pictures, walk around the grounds and shop.  It was absolutely beautiful.  

Our tour started on the main level.  We rented audio guides for everyone which gave us a lot of information on the mansion, it's owners and each room.  Everything was incredibly impressive, from the detail in the woodwork to the design of the decor.  There were early Renoir paintings, gorgeous views, beautiful decorations, an indoor pool, a bowling alley and so much.  As a bonus they were decorating for the holidays and almost every room on the main floor had a Christmas tree as well as several bedrooms on the second floor.  My favorite room was the library.  It was stacked from floor to ceiling with books and had a staircase to reach the top shelves.  I could have spent hours hanging out in that room alone.  HM had never visited the Biltmore and we had forgotten a lot of what we had seen years ago, so we all really enjoyed the two hour tour.  

               

           

Once our tour of the home was finished, we headed to the outdoor cafe for sandwiches and Biltmore beer and wine.  Cam and I both enjoyed a Caronlina dog topped with cole slaw and onions.  Once everyone had enough to eat we did a walking tour of the gardens.  The mountain views and variety of flowers were breathtaking.  In total we spent about four hours at the mansion before moving on to Antler Hill Village home to the Biltmore farms, winery and shops.  We got a bottle of Riesling to share and then the girls went shopping while the guys played corn hole.  Meg, HM and I found the best store on the property called Traditions.  It had jewelry, purses, blankets, soap, clocks and Christmas decorations.  Meg found a cute pair of earrings and she and I both purses that we liked.  Our last stop at the Biltmore was the farm area.  We saw the machinery from the turn of the century and played a few old fashioned outdoor games before checking out the petting farm.

         
We stayed in Fletcher, North Carolina tonight in a two room suite.  We made an awesome discovery nearby for dinner - the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company.  It was by far the largest brewery that we had ever eaten in, and there was plenty to do while we waited for a table with beer tasting, shuffle board, fire pits and Zoltar.  We ordered plenty of shareable plates including pretzels and beer cheese, flat breads, a hamburger, eggs and hash, beet steak, and sausages.  We all enjoyed trying the different dishes and soon were full and ready to relax in the hotel.  It was the perfect way to end our time in western North Carolina.

Road Trip

We left last night for Bloomington once again.  As Meg and Cal had the same fall break as Cameron, we had decided that we would take a road trip to the Biltmore.  Brett wasn’t able to get the time off of work, but he didn’t mind as he was in Asheville in August for a wedding.  As Meg and Cal were busy studying when we arrived, only Brett, Doug, Cam and I were available for dinner.  We let Brett pick and enjoyed a fun dinner at Big Woods Brewery.  As soon as we got back to the apartment, Ticket to Ride was set up.  Brett, Cam and I were ready to dethrone Doug as the past two time champion.  It was tough, but Cam did end up winning by one point.  

               

We all slept in this morning as Brett did not have to work at Bell Trace.  The game board was once again set up and we had time for one more round before heading to the winery for lunch.  It was a little cool at Oliver’s, but they had enclosed their back patio this year which made it the perfect picnic spot.  Cam gave us his predictions for the upcoming Big Ten Football games, while Brett filled us in on the news on from last week’s Democratic Presidential debate.  We dropped him off at work after lunch.  Doug and Cam spent the afternoon golfing at Cascades.  While they were gone, I walked to Target to get a few items for Brett’s apartment and snacks for the trip.  I had just finished setting up the timer for Brett's Halloween lights on the patio when Cam and Doug arrived.  Neither had played in quite some time, but had fun anyway.  

We picked up Meg first and then stopped at Cal’s.  Hannah-Marie was still driving back from her dive at Lake Monroe when we arrived at her apartment, but by 5:45 we were all on the road for North Carolina.  We had talked about stopping for dinner, but with heavy traffic for the first half of our trip, we opted for Wendy’s instead.  We made it to Newport, Tennessee just after midnight.  It was the perfect stopping point as it was just short of the Smoky Mountains and only left us with an hour trip for tomorrow morning.  With two rooms everyone had plenty of sleeping space and we were all soon in bed resting up for our next adventure.  

Breaking Bad - The Movie

After our card game last night, Doug and I finally finished El Camino, the Breaking Bad movie.  I remembered when Cal first tried to talk us into watching Breaking Bad.  We had started it, but just couldn't get past season two.  I was glad this fall that we finally completed all five seasons and was even more thankful for that last night as El Camino was fantastic.  Jesse Pinkman was our favorite character throughout Breaking Bad and it answered so many questions on what happened to Jesse once Walt broke him out of the "meth prison" that he was tortured in the last six episodes of the series.  Several of the minor characters also played a role in last night's movie which made it even more entertaining.  At the end of El Camino I thought a lot about Cal and Jayce's question over the weekend - which series was the best Game of Thrones, Sopranos and Breaking Bad.  After last night, I might have to say that I agree with them and move Breaking Bad to the top of the list.  

Moe's, Moe's, Moe's . . .

Cam and I spent the morning shopping in Warsaw.  He and I both needed new shoes, his for indoor tennis and mine for walking.  We each found what we wanted at Shoe Carnival and got a good deal on them as well.  Our next stop was Kohl's.  Cam had decided that he wanted to try jeans.  We found three pairs that fit him and that he liked.  With our shopping trip complete we decided to eat lunch at Moe's Southwest Grill.  I actually planned on grabbing food from McAllister Deli and meeting him on the patio.  The long line and complaints about wait time quickly made me change my mind.  Thus, I enjoyed a chicken quesadilla instead and we ate inside at Moe's.  Cam filled me in on Big Ten Football news while we ate.  He also decided that he liked Moe's better than Chipotle because of the free chips, salsa bar and Coke machine.  

The worst part of the day happened next - flu shots.  Cam wasn't excited about it, but took the news that he needed one pretty well.  He doesn't really remember getting the flu several years ago, but it was awful.  He was out of school for a week.  The shot was a lot easier than that.  The rest of the afternoon was spent playing Swap Meet on the Wii and Madden on the PS4.  Doug took us to Mad Anthony's for dinner.  We actually had a great waitress which has not been the norm there.  We invited my parents up for a game of Oh Hell once we got home.  Cam wasn't sure that he wanted to play, but was glad he did in the end as he was the big winner on the night.  

Fall Break

I decided to sleep in this morning as it was the first official day of Fall Break.  Of course I was up wide awake at 7:30 a.m.  I didn't mind as I used the time to search through housing choices for Meg.  Thus, when she got ready to apply at 9 a.m. we both had a good idea of where she wanted to live next year.  Doug and I thought that it was ridiculous that they had to make housing choices this early in the school year, but at least Meg was happy with what she chose and by the end of the day was glad to report that one of her friends was going to live with her.

After helping Meg, I started laundry and headed out the door to take a walk.  It was cold, but not unbearable.  Cam was up playing Madden before I left.  Bailee had texted him in the middle of the night as she thought her baby brother was going to be born, but it was a false alarm.  I let Cam pick our lunch spot.  He had hoped for the root beer stand, but it was closed.  Thus, we settled for Peterson's, so he could get AYCE fish.

We picked my parents up at 2 to go see IT Chapter Two.  Brett and Cal had both seen the movie when it came out several weeks ago and highly recommended it.  The first forty-five minutes were extremely intense. I spent the majority of that time with my hands over my eyes at it was too scary for me.  It either settled down or I got used to the movie as the rest of it was definitely easier to watch.  The film had more humor in it than the 1980s version and even poked fun at Stephen King.  In the end Cam and I were glad that we went to see the movie in theaters.  We also appreciated that we watched it in the middle of the afternoon.  It would have been a lot scarier driving home in the dark.

A Fun Sunday Morning

Brett texted me last night to let me know how much he enjoyed playing Ticket to Ride this morning and going to lunch with the three of us plus Meg afterward.  I was really happy to receive his text as we all did have a lot of fun before leaving Bloomington.  We have stayed with Brett a lot this past summer and fall, so it meant even more that he enjoyed what has become our normal Sunday morning routine in Bloomington.  Ticket to Ride has risen in status lately as one of our favorite family games and having several restaurants to chose from on Kirkwood makes it easy for all of us to order lunch and meet in people's park for a picnic of sorts.  Cal hasn't been able to join us as much due to the large amount of homework he has had in addition to the vast number of interviews he's been involved in these past few weeks.  Thankfully, he did get an offer from Greenwalt, so his life should return to normal soon.

Brett left from lunch to walk to the comic bookstore before he had to work.  We then dropped Meg off at Read before leaving for home.  We appreciated how easy the ride home was compared to the trip down on Friday night.  Once we unloaded the Pilot, Cam started a new game on Madden 19.  Doug got the mower out and I unpacked.  Doug and I then went to dinner at Huntington St once we were finished.  We pretty much had the place to ourselves, which was nice after such a busy weekend.  Grandma and Grandpa came up to play Oh Hell once we got back.  Cam even joined us, but after the hands that he kept getting, decided that he would wait another three weeks before he played again.  At least he walked away with an ugly bird to display in his room until someone else becomes the big loser.

Homecoming 2019

Cam had talked about today's IU football game for several months.  IU hadn't won a homecoming game since 2010 and he was hopeful that today would be the Hoosiers day.  They were slated against Rutgers who had been having an awful season in and out of the conference.  Doug, Cam and I arrived at the grass lots a little after 9 a.m. and couldn't believe how many tailgaters were already in attendance.  We found a spot, however, and soon had our tent set up and table full of food.  Cal texted for our location right after we arrived.  We tossed the football and frisbee around for awhile before he and his group of friends found us. Everyone appreciated the minestrone Doug made and the Red Stripe he brought.  David was most impressed with Cameron's new apparel - a Detroit Lions shirt.  They hung around eating and talking for about an hour before heading to other tailgates.  Brett arrived from work just in time to debate about season eight of Game of Thrones.

 

After Cal and his friends left, Doug and Cam headed into the game.  They wanted to be in for kickoff and were glad that they made it as IU scored on a recovered fumble on the opening play of the game.  While they were enjoying football, I spent time catching up with Brett.  Meg had just finished a tough Finite midterm and didn't make it to our spot until close to twelve.  She had a migraine, but once she ate and took some Ibuprofen she felt better.  The three of us talked about Disney for well over an hour before packing up.  Brett had to work tonight and Meg wanted to rest before she went to a haunted house with her friends.  

          

I made it into the game by halftime.  Rutgers was as bad as Cameron had been telling me.  IU held them scoreless and ended up winning by 35.  We stayed until the end as everyone else was busy and Cam was enjoying the victory.  We grabbed breadsticks on the way back to Brett's and spent the rest of the afternoon watching college football at his apartment.  Doug had time to put together Brett's new tv stand.  It looked very nice and fit everything that he needed it to with room to spare.  I helped organize a few items that Brett had wanted to get to, clean up our tailgate dishes and set up a carbon monoxide detector.  Once all of the key football games were over, Cam, Doug and I played Yahtzee before leaving for dinner at Upland Brewery.

We were surprised that we were seated almost immediately after we arrived.  It helped to wait until 8 to eat as there were a lot of open tables.  It was a quiet dinner as only the three of us were able to go and we were pretty tired from our day of football.  Meg called once we got back to let us know how much she enjoyed the haunted house with her friends.  It was lame, but they had a good time and went to Texas Roadhouse afterward.  Brett got home at 10:30 from work.  We were going to play Ticket to Ride, but decided to wait until we were more awake in the morning.  He did really appreciate his new tv stand. It fit the space well.

Bloomington Bound

Today was the last day of the quarter for Cameron and the start of Fall Break.  We celebrated by heading straight to Bloomington.  Our plan was to take the 6:30 tour of Memorial Stadium.  Unfortunately, traffic and rain made that a lofty goal and we didn’t get to Bloomington until close to 7 p.m.  Thankfully, they let us forgo our assigned time and join the tour that had just begun.  It was an awesome experience.  We started in the president’s box and moved up to the press boxes above the stadium gaining information along the way.  From there we were lead through the tunnels to the locker room, weight room and team meeting room spending about an hour total on our tour.  We were extremely impressed with the facilities.     Cam especially enjoyed it.

Meg was at a finite review while we were on our tour.  We met up with her afterward.  We brought down a few items that she needed - white converse, gloves, a screen protector, and her wallet.  Meg had left her ID at home last weekend, so she and I hung out at the dorm while she reactivated it.  Doug and Cam put our name in at Mother Bear’s and within thirty minutes we were seated and ordering pizza.  The meal was delicious and it made for a nice study break for Meg.  We picked up breadsticks at Pizza X on the way to Brett’s since he had to work.  He was glad for the snack and headed to bed shortly after we arrived.