Cleveland Rocks

This morning we were all up bright and early for our trip to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame.  I had wanted to get my parents to Cleveland since the first time I had visited the Hall and was glad that it worked out for them to go with Cameron, Doug and I.  It was officially their anniversary and Grandpa's birthday gift.

We left at 7:30 so that we could be in Cleveland by 11 a.m.  The trip was pretty uneventful.  We filled it by playing some of our favorite songs over the years.  We stopped first to eat lunch in their food court before heading downstairs to the main exhibits.  The entrance had changed somewhat since we had visited last, but still the main exhibits that we enjoyed including the early influence songs to listen to through headphones.  The next area was my Mom's favorite - Elvis over the years.  She watched the entire video presentation reminiscing about the concert that she saw with Dad many years ago.

 


We walked through the rest of the main level with Doug enjoying the Rolling Stones era, my Dad gravitating toward the early days of Rock, Cam checking out the costumes and I marveling at the different types music that each decade brought.  We all watched the Dick Clark American Bandstand clips in a small theater.  It was a lot of fun remembering all of the artists that he had showcased.

We spent almost two hours on the main level enjoying the vast amount of information and memorabilia on display before heading upstairs.  The exhibits on the next five levels were smaller in size, but just as fun to look through.  The highlights for us were the exhibits on the new inductees including Def Leppard, The Cure and Janet Jackson.  We perused the lists of inductees over the years while listening to their individual ceremonies.  The last area was Cameron's favorite as it displayed individual instruments used by famous artists over the years.  He even noticed that Keith Richards had one that he had taken back to use on tour.  His overall favorite was one from The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

We left Cleveland around 4 p.m. happy with our day.  We listened to more music on the way home including songs from Sam Cooke, Jackie Wilson and Del Shannon.  We stopped at Mad Anthony's in Angola for dinner glad for a break from the drive.  Today was a lot of fun and we were glad to have spent the day sharing our love of the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame with my parents.

End to a Stressful Week for the Heinisch Children

Meg ended what she called the most stressful week of her school life.  She had her biggest test so far this year at IU in K201.  The course has been named the Kelley weed out class because it does just that for Business majors and minors.  Meg knows several students who have dropped out of the school of business based solely on their grade in that class.  Meg also had a project and several assignments due this week to worry about.  She took her studying seriously, finished everything that needed completed and by Thursday night decided that the best course of action for her Friday test was to get a good night's sleep.  The exam went well and she felt good about the outcome.  She celebrated by attending a dance with Yatsiri and friends from her church.  It was a fantastic way for her to end the week.

Cameron was also feeling the stress as the end of the quarter was fast approaching.  He had five tests in two days and several projects to complete.  School has not been extremely challenging for Cameron, but he does take his grades seriously and wanted to finish this eight weeks with all A's.  He was on target for that when he checked Friday and was happy to have a weekend to recover and watch basketball.

Brett felt a little exasperated as well when I talked to him this morning.  He was scheduled to work sixty hours this week and next.  He likes his job a lot, but physically it is extremely demanding.  He's also had to learn a lot which has added to the stress.  Thankfully, he was able to schedule dinner out with Andrew this week and was looking forward to a three day weekend including a trip to Indy with Rachael when his work day ended at 11 p.m. tonight.

Cal had several tests this week, but really didn't feel too stressed about them.  He sounded more worried last weekend when he was studying.  Overall, he said that they went well and wasn't too concerned.  My conversation with him probably left me the most stressed.  He was so incredibly laid back about his week, that I must have decided to take on the stress for him.  Cal and I tend to work well that way, so I wasn't too surprised.  The nice part of our conversation was realizing that every day this spring semester has brought him closer to graduation.  It will be such a wonderful feeling for him when he is officially done.

Best Winter Weather Predictor

Last fall the Farmer's Almanac predicted a harsh winter for all of us in Northern Indiana this year.  Because of this, our local news channel recently named the winter of 2020 as #noshowwinter since in reality it was the second mildest winter on the record books.  Even the snowstorm this week didn't change the fact that this winter was a mild one compared to those of the past few years making both preseason predictions of the Farmer's Almanac and the meteorologists grossly incorrect.

As astonished as though were who followed the Farmer's Almanac and the weathermen last fall, I wasn't even remotely surprised with the mild winter.  I had never put much stock in meteorologists' predictions and hadn't picked up a Farmer's Almanac since high school.  Instead I had learned as a young child that the best predictor of winter weather in our area was the Woolly Bear Caterpillar.  Both of my Grandmothers had taught me well before I started elementary school that the rings on the Woolly Bear would show me exactly the type of winter that we would have and it has never let me down.  The caterpillar pictured below looked exactly like each one that I had seen on my daily walks last autumn.  Thus, I didn't need any more information from the experts after I spotted my first Woolly Bear this past October.  It had already predicted the winter weather for me.  The black section at the front covering the first quarter of the insect, the long section of brown in the middle and the small strip of black at the end told me everything that I would need to know.  Therefore, the harsh start to winter, extremely mild middle of winter, and the small surge at the end of the season didn't surprise me at all.

Ash Wednesday and a New Prayer

It was a snowy Ash Wednesday for all of us in Northern Indiana and for Cameron it provided an unofficial snow day.  Bethany had only called for a delay, but Wawasee cancelled.  Since the weather was not supposed to improve throughout the afternoon, I decided to error on the side of caution and keep him home.  He was bummed to miss some of his classes, but glad to sit out of others.  In the end he said that he was ready for a break and the time at home was well appreciated.  I did keep him busy shoveling as I sent him out twice during the day.  Doug was thankful to have the driveway cleared when he pulled in tonight.  It was not all work for Cam at home.  We did make it out to Penguin Point for lunch and then to Grandma and Grandpa's for a couple of games of Euchre.  Driving a mile and a half was enough for me in today's snowstorm.

Doug was home from work early so that we could all attend Ash Wednesday services.  He was a lot more comfortable traveling on the snow than I was, so I was glad that he could take us.  Mass was nice, but a little long as it started late and then Father's homily was over fifteen minutes.  It was great to learn about the history of Ash Wednesday, but the length must have thrown me off.  As we started the ending prayer to Saint Michael, instead saying "Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle . . ." I said "Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us against the dark arts . . ."  I actually laughed out loud when I realized what I had done.  I told everyone that I must be watching and reading too much Harry Potter.  Brett said that shouldn't surprise anyone. Cal agreed wholeheartedly.  Meg said that she was sure that she had heard me say that before.   My new prayer did make for some fun conversation during dinner at Sleepy Owl after mass.

"Loser Teacher" Wait, What?

Over the weekend it was reported that Donald Trump, Jr. stated in a speech to a group of Conservative students "You don't have to be indoctrinated by these loser teachers that are trying to sell you on socialism."  The attention surrounding those words, "loser teachers" brought out the critics and rightfully so.  No matter his thoughts, taking a stab at a profession that is overpaid and underworked seemed extremely negative and a little bit arrogant.  Yes, we have all had bad teachers in our lifetime.  In fact one of the the reasons that I chose education as a profession was because of a terrible social studies teacher that I had in high school.  He was the typical football coach that only cared about his sport and one who multiple times turned a blind eye to mass cheating in his classroom.  Brett even had to deal with one of those teachers that tried to "sell everyone on socialism" with a strong push towards liberalism in all of her lessons.  As much as it upset him when she told him that "he would never understand anything about the real world since he was a white, privileged male who worshiped Reagan," we never once referred to her as a "loser teacher."  We knew her opinion was incorrect, but instead of arguing with her, we encouraged Brett to take the high road and remain quite in her class while working hard on the material.  It was a good life lesson for him on how to deal with authority that was blatantly biased.  After reading Trump Jr's comments, I wish that during his speech that he would have encouraged students to take the high road and had offered ideas on how to work together to solve problems without reverting to name calling.  It would have meant more to his audience and sent a positive message out into the world.

Even though I know that the President's son was wrong in using the phrase "Loser Teacher", I couldn't really get it out of my head.  No one had ever called me a loser in my professional life, but that was exactly how I felt when I left teaching almost two years ago.  I wasn't a loser teacher for lack of effort, but for lack of control over my situation.  I was a loser teacher because I was given thirty-two students in a classroom without resources or help to teach them all.  I was a loser teacher because my math text books were taken away in lieu of computers that were not equipped with a math curriculum for students to complete.  I was a loser teacher because I followed the steps of discipline for students outlined in the handbook, but received no help once it called for a referral to the office.  I was a loser teacher because I was asked to teach writing lab even though I was not certified to do so.  I was a loser teacher when a student threw an object at my so hard that it left a welt and was told by the person in charge of discipline that it was "no big deal."  I was a loser teacher when I was informed that I would have to increase the number of classes that I would teach by one even though I was already at the maximum and would receive no help in writing the curriculum.  I was a loser teacher when I was asked to write "depth of knowledge" questions for students to solve even though I knew that they did not have the basic knowledge to solve the problems in the first place.  I was a loser teacher when I was asked to give standardized tests five times a year (three by the state and two by the district) to better help me understand what my students needed to learn.  I was pretty sure that I could tell them what skills my classes were lacking without over testing them.  I was a loser teacher when I had to teach two different classes during the same class period.  I was a loser teacher when I was told that the demands of teaching had increased greatly and that I would just have to get used to it.  I was not a loser teacher because Donald Trump Jr said that I was, but because of the way that I was treated by the education mandates of the state and federal governments as well as our own district.

In the end I probably could have remained a loser teacher even with all of the issues listed above.  I loved helping students grow and learn in an enriching classroom.  It was the last reason that I was a loser teacher that ultimately pushed me out of the profession.  I was a loser teacher because I was spending more time educating other students than I was being a mom and wife to the Heinisch family.  Being named a loser teacher was one thing, but being a loser mom and wife was something that I just couldn't bear to be called.

A Year Removed and It's Still Hard to Comprehend

I pulled this memory up on my phone several times today and alternated between smiling at the pictures and tearing up at the memories.  A year ago this week was one of the most difficult times in Meg's life.  She and her classmates had to say goodbye to one of their friends.  It wasn't just anyone that they were finishing their senior year without, but someone who was the life of the party, the glue that held them all together, the one who everyone was friends with, the face of the Bethany Class of 2019.  It was a life changing experience that each and everyone of them would have preferred not to have endured, but one that provided growth and strength in ways that many would have never thought possible.  So many moments that they missed sharing with KeShawn - the senior class trip, college acceptance letters, Prom, senior faith statements, and graduation - made that time period even more difficult to endure.    

Meg's experiences last winter led to some great conversations this past year between the two of us about life and death.  I was able to tell her that after losing my brother I had never truly felt closure.  Not even time had healed the pain of his death.  It had gotten easier over the years, but a certain situation or a picture or even a song would bring back a flood of memories that made that time period feel like yesterday.  What I had learned most from Meg and my talks,  however, was that the past forty+ years taught me to focus on the happy times that Bunk and I had shared and to never dwell on what could have been.  

This past year Meg has started her own journey.  She has her own thoughts on death and God's purpose that bring her comfort.  Meg has continually shared stories of the time that she and Shawn spent together both the good and the bad.  She had so many wonderful memories show up on her phone from pictures that they took, selfies that he added to her photo collection, posts on Instagram and moments on SnapChat.  There were times, however, when it was too much to bare and she had to put her phone away, such as the one year anniversary of his car accident.  She learned from a grief specialist that many times arguments would arise among friends after a death on who was the closest to the person.  He explained that it was a way for individuals to feel that they had control in a situation in which they did not.  His words relieved a lot of anxiety in the weeks and months after the death as she realized that everyone could mourn and remember Shawn in their own way.  Much as our family, Meg recognized the happiness of remembering a birthday instead of the last day.  Thus, she joined in his celebration of life in December honoring Shawn's special day.  In all of our conversations this past year, I was most proud of her display of empathy when she said to me, "If you can still hear him call 'Mama Heidi' at the games and I can tear up thinking about him, I can't even imagine what his girlfriend and family must feel."  Shawn had been Meg's first friend at Bethany and a true friend to the end. 

The start of Meg's senior year was an extremely challenging time period in her life.  Difficulty with a coach and a bad end to a relationship had left Meg completely drained.  Shawn was there for her every step of the way, encouraging her through words and bringing her to laughter by annoying her in every way possible.  I remember telling her that fall that all of those difficulties were preparing her for an even bigger challenge she would have to face later in life.  Meg repeated that statement to me after Shawn died and said, "Mom, you were right.  I just didn't think that it would be this hard."  

Another IU Win

Doug and Cam talked about going to the Penn State vs IU game today at Assembly Hall.  Tickets were actually pretty reasonable compared to previous games, but in the end they decided that they would enjoy it more watching it from Brett's apartment.  Since it was a noon game we invited Meg and Nick over to join us for Pizza X breadsticks.  Everyone agreed that those were by far the saltiest 'sticks that we have ever eaten.

After lunch the three of us headed to the mall while Doug and Cam watched the second half.  I was able to pick up some candles and several items from Target while we were there.  Meg found a few things as well and we made it back to Brett's before the game ended.  IU had dominated the first half, but went through a large scoring drought once again.  Penn State regained the lead for awhile, but eventually the Hoosiers rallied and took control.  IU ended up winning by eight and it was a joyous ride back for Cam.

Tonight Doug and I went to dinner at Sleepy Owl.  Cam stayed home as he had had enough time with  us this weekend.  Last night we had him watch Miracle after Brett went to bed.  He liked it a lot, but wanted to just relax this evening.  At dinner we overheard a couple talking about an IU football player that had gotten arrested for domestic battery over the weekend.  I couldn't resist asking them if they were big Hoosier football fans.  They definitely were and we enjoyed getting to know them.  They had just moved to town permanently and were members of our church as well.  Cam thought that was great when I told him.  At least someone else agreed with him that IU would be 8-0 heading into Columbus next fall.

A Beautiful Day in Bloomington

It definitely felt like spring today in Bloomington.  We took full advantage of the beautiful weather by  enjoying a picnic at Oliver Winery.  Nick and Meg were able to join the four of us.  Afterward Doug and Cam headed out into the sunshine to play nine holes at Rolling Meadows Golf Club in Gosport.  They had never played there before and really liked it.  The price was right as well as it only cost them $8 each.  Brett and I noticed a lot of people wearing shorts while we were driving to see The Call of the Wild.  The movie was almost as wonderful as the sunshine of the afternoon.  Nick and Meg also took advantage of the Spring-like weather to go hiking at Brown County State Park.

Cal was the only one that spent the day inside.  He had quite a bit of styling to do.  He was able to meet us at Cafe Pizzeria for dinner and brought HM along to join us as well.  It was great seeing both of them and hearing about their upcoming Spring Break trips.  It was al little too cool for me to hang out outside tonight, so we spent the rest of the evening playing Ticket to Ride, The Donner Dinner Party, Exploding Kittens and Sequence at Brett's.  Even though Doug continued his domination in the first game, we still had a lot of fun together.

Off to B-Town

We left at four this afternoon for Bloomington.  My parents had just arrived back as we were heading out.  They had greatly enjoyed visiting with Meg and Brett.  Cal was in West Lafayette while they were in town, but they didn't mind missing him since they spent time with him last weekend when he was home.  I was happy to be going today as I wasn't sure on Wednesday that I'd be able to handle the drive.  Thankfully, traffic was light and we were in B-town by 7:30.

Doug, Cam and I headed to Mother Bear's for dinner.  Meg was busy with Nick and her friends tonight, Brett had to work, and Cal was studying, so it was just the three of us.  That didn't bother us as we've always told them that they were invited to all that we do when we're here, but shouldn't feel obligated to join us if they had other plans.  We were seated fairly quickly and ordered our favorite pizza, Polly Pine Nuts, named after Cal's favorite Soprano's character.  We were able to enjoy our food and stop by Kroger before Brett got home from work.  He had had a busy day and was glad to unwind tonight.  We first played Ticket to Ride and then watched some Law & Order making it a relaxing night for all.

Girls Night Out

Today was the last of my doctors appointments for the week.  I had chipped a tooth two weeks ago and wanted Dr. Mayden to check it for me.  It didn't hurt unless I bit into something hard, but I knew from past experience that it would probably get worse.  I was a little surprised when the hygienist said that the x-ray showed infection in the root.  I had broken at least eight different teeth over the years from clenching them too hard while sleeping and this one by far hurt the least.  Dr. Mayden checked it as well and told me that besides the infection I had also cracked it in half and would need to be on an antibiotic for a week before he could try to save it from a root canal.  I had to laugh when I walked out of the dentist as I thought about all of the appointments that I had had these past few weeks - a mammogram, uterine biopsy, a blood draw and now a broken, infected tooth, but still nothing bothered me as much as having my eyes dilated.

Thankfully, I felt better today and was well enough to meet Paula, Mary and Wendy for dinner at Huntington St.  I had not seen any of them since December and was glad to catch up.  Paula and Mary had quite a bit of personal news to share and Wendy kept me abreast of happenings at Milford.   Since they met early in the evening, I was also able to spend the rest of the night at home with Cameron and Doug.  It was a fun way to end a daunting week.

I HATE Going to the Eye Doctor

I know that a lot of people hate going to the dentist or even the doctor.  That is not the case for me.  The yearly appointment that I dread more than any other is the eye doctor.  I am not scared of the optometrist and appreciate the help I have received over the years in improving my eyesight.  My loathing of that particular doctor revolves solely around having my eyes dilated.  I have always struggled with this procedure, but in the last few  years it has gotten worse.  The distortion to my vision instantly makes me nauseous.  In general that is followed up by a headache and light-headedness.  Therefore, I spend the rest of the day in bed or resting with the hope that the malady will end soon.

Unfortunately, today was one of the worst experiences I have had with dilation of the eyes.  It was compounded by the fact that I was sent to the wrong optometrist's room upon having my eyes dilated and spent an extra hour waiting to have my eye exam.  I didn't think I'd be able to make it as I felt completely awful, but once I found out that my eyesight had changed drastically I knew that I should try.  The bad news was that it took two hours to complete the exam because of the receptionist's error.  The good news was that my eyesight had actually greatly improved.  I was very glad to hear that and extremely appreciative of my Mom for coming with me.  I could not see well enough to drive home even with sunglasses on to block out the bright lights.

I spend the rest of the day taking it easy, but it didn't seem to help much.  I was able to pick Cameron up, but by the time Doug got home from work I was a wreck.  I felt miserable and nothing much helped.  I tried Tylenol, Ibuprofen and lying down, but I just felt awful.  Doug said that he had expected as much and was glad to pitch in for the rest of the night.  I was so thankful that he wasn't busy this evening.  He had time to make dinner, pick up our prescriptions and even run to the grocery store to get me some ice cream.  We spent the rest of the night with Cameron in front of the television watching IU defeat Minnesota.  My eyes were better, but they still weren't able to completely focus.  Therefore, I couldn't tell the numbers of the IU players.  I was glad to have Cameron around to keep me abreast of the happenings.  IU had not won a rode game in quite some time and their victory at least brought a little happiness into a very frustrating day.

Doctors, Doctors and More Doctors

This week has turned out to be doctor week for me.  It started with my first appointment this morning at Dr. Freeze's office to have my blood drawn.  I absolutely hate having this procedure done.  I am not afraid of needles or weary of pain, but my veins are small and tend to move once they are found.  They had to try three times in December to fill enough vials for testing leaving multiple bruises up and down my arm.  I was worried that today would be a repeat of that.  Thankfully, it only took one stick and the nurse was able to get plenty of blood.  She told me that she couldn't actually feel the vein when she started, but could tell where it was from the scar tissue of previous pokes.  I didn't care how she did it; I was just glad to be done.  There was one time where it actually took nine tries to find a vein and even then they were only able to draw blood from the inside of my wrist.  I vowed to never let that happen again as that was extremely painful.

The afternoon was filled with more uncomfortableness as I had scheduled my yearly mammogram.  I doubt that it was any women's favorite test, but the importance of it blocked out the awkwardness or pain of it.  I didn't feel like doing too much afterward after spending a day away from the house.  Thankfully, I had finished my time on the elliptical before I left.  Doug offered to take us to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner tonight which Cam and I enjoyed very much.  Not only was it a nice meal, but we also got to watch several Big Ten games on the big screens.  

Another Blog Writer in the Family

Cameron had been reading quite a few blogs online lately and since he joined Twitter, he's been keeping us up-to-date on his favorite Tweets.  All of the posts that he has found interest in have related to one topic, IU athletics.  Considering the time of year, most have revolved around IU men's basketball, but there still have been a few focusing on IU football.

I had noticed that Cam had also started to write responses to what he had read online either in text messages, through Instagram or on Google Docs.  Therefore, I asked him last week if he would like to start a blog of his own.  By doing so, he could keep track of his thoughts in one place and could share his posts with his family or friends.  After giving it a lot of consideration, he decided to try blogging.

I have thoroughly enjoyed  reading Cam's writings and gaining more insight into his thoughts on IU athletics.  I mentioned the blog to Brett yesterday as he also has a blog that he posts at from time to time.  Brett instantly asked me to send him the link as he wanted to read it.  I thought that he was just being nice, but he followed up his request with the comment, "That would be perfect for my work." I had never considered that, but he was right.  Although sports had never been a huge part of Brett's life in the past, working for IU athletics had changed that.  He had had more sports conversations with the Heinisch family in the past three months than he had had since he was in elementary school.  Reading Cam's blog would give him an insight that he wouldn't have otherwise and increase his knowledge when talking with others.  Not only would it be the perfect way to enhance his work environment, it would also increase his bond with his youngest sibling.  Brett still has a long way to go to catch up with Doug, Cal or Cameron's knowledge on the IU athletics, but at least now he can be part of the conversation.

What a Wonderful Weekend!

Today was the end to a wonderful weekend and I hated to see it go.  Doug and I had spent a lot of it together as it was the first one in quite some time that he didn't have to work both days.  Besides a homemade dinner on Friday night and an afternoon exploring Elkhart yesterday, we also watched several movies and worked on a challenging Snow White puzzle together completing quite a bit of it today.

Cal had a nice weekend at home as well and it was great to have him here.  We talked a lot of basketball and he took back Season on the Brink to read.  It was one of Doug and my favorite books.  Cameron was busy with his chess tournament yesterday and spent today with Avery at Swiss Valley, enjoying skiing and dinner before arriving home late last night.  Brett worked both Saturday and Sunday, but still had time to go out to dinner and catch a few movies.

Meg may have had the biggest weekend of all of us as she spent it as a volunteer at Hoosier Awakening.  This event was hosted at a church in Greenwood and she texted several times to let us know that she was having a wonderful two days.  Her commitment beforehand was extensive, but well worth it in the end.  Yatsiri went with her, but she also met a few new friends as well.  I enjoyed listening to her talk about her adventures and was glad that it went so well.  The church has been an important part of her transition to IU which has made life in college so much better.

A Fun Saturday for All in the Heinisch Home

Cameron was invited to play in the Elkhart County Chess Championship today.  We were proud to find out that he was the rated third in the county.  Since he was going to be busy with his tournament, Doug and I made plans to spend the day together.  Doug had been incredibly busy these past few months with work travel, county council activities, church meetings and year end commitments.  It was nice to have a day to just hang out and enjoy each others' company.  We were going to go to South Bend, but decided on staying closer to home and try a few of the different microbreweries in the Elkhart/Goshen area.  The first one had a name that I couldn't pronounce or spell, but it definitely was our favorite.  We also tried The Vine and Goshen Brewing Company.  They were both good, just not as great as the first one.  We picked Cameron up on the way back home.  He had finished fourth overall and was pleased with his day except for one match where he felt he made a mistake and then compounded it by losing focus and making a bigger one.  No matter the outcome, we were proud of his play and were glad that he had returned to the chess board lately.  

Since we were all busy, Cal invited my parents to go to Four Winds Casino with him.  He had come home for the weekend after he took HM out for dinner in Indy last night for Valentine's Day.  The three of them had a great time playing the slots and eating lunch at the buffet.  No one won big, but they did pretty well overall with just a few minor loses.  Tonight we all watched the three point and dunk contest as it was the NBA all star weekend.  Joey had come home with Cam after chess and hung out here for the night as well.  It was a fun evening for all.

Valentine's Day Times 30

Today Doug and I celebrated our 30th Valentine's Day together.  Our first one was spent in Chicago since Doug was working as an intern for Amoco then.  We walked about a block and a half to Cannelli's for dinner.  It was our favorite restaurant at that time in our life.  I can still remember the big hoop gold earrings that Doug gave me becoming one of my all time favorite gifts from him.  It was cold that weekend, but we didn't mind.  Being together was the most important part of our celebration.

A lot has changed in our lives since 1991, but the sentiment behind the holiday has not.  Tonight we still ate Italian but chose to make it at home instead in order to avoid the crowds.  Doug's gift once again involved jewelry.  In lieu of earrings, my main gift ruby and aquamarine rings to match the emerald and amethyst ones that I already had, thus, completing the birthstone set of all four of the Heinisch children.  Enjoying the activities of the Windy City was not part of our evening.  Instead we spent the evening playing cards with Cameron and my parents before working on the Snow White puzzle for the rest of the night.  The differences from then to now may be many, but the most important part of the celebration has never changed.  Spending time with Doug has always been my favorite part of the holiday.

Happy 25th Birthday Brett!

I was so glad that we made the trip to Bloomington to celebrate Brett's 25th birthday last weekend.  Work and school schedules along with last night's snow storm would have made it pretty challenging to visit him today.   Even though we couldn't be with him we all enjoyed texting him and sharing posts on social media honoring "Brettday!"

It has been an exciting year for Brett with more change occurring during this one than any of his previous twenty-four.  Since February 2019, Brett graduated with his masters, became financially independent, moved into his first apartment, wrote half of a novel, declared his candidacy for Precinct Committeemen and Indiana delegate, penned several political articles for the Herald Times, helped on multiple campaigns, joined the Knights of Columbus, began work at IU athletics, traveled to Florida and started a relationship.  In addition Brett has remained an active member of the Heinisch family by helping Meg transition to college life and hosting Cam, Doug and I during our many trips to Bloomington this year.  We feel incredibly blessed that he chose to stay in B-town and have enjoyed our visits with him immensely.  With all of the excitement that this year has brought we cannot wait to see what lies in store for him during the next one.

The Tax Man Cometh

For the past several years I have taken care of  filing our taxes.  With e-filing and the increase in the amount for a standardized deduction, they have gotten a lot easier to complete.  Cal's were the most challenging this year as he had online income, extra taxes due to his housing situation at Miso and the closure of his Ameritrade account.  It took me an extra week to figure his, but he didn't mind as in the end he received the most money back out of all of us.  Meg and Brett were happy with their returns as well.  It was the first time that Meg had had to file and she didn't realize how much she would be getting as a refund.  This was also the first year that Brett could claim himself on his taxes as he had paid for all of his own expenses since April.  That allowed him to claim the education credit from his graduate tuition costs giving him an extra $300 in his return.

As glad as Brett, Cal and Meg were to find out the amount that they would be getting back, no one was happier than Doug.  Three years ago we were completely blindsided and took a big hit in what we owed.  Thanks to changes in the tax laws during the Trump administration, the last two years were a lot better for us.  Last year we owed money, but considerably less than 2017.  This year we actually netted a refund between the state and the federal returns.  We couldn't believe it and went through everything several times before we pushed e-file.  With all of the money that we had spent these past few years on IU and Bethany tuition, it was such a relief to find out that the tax man would not be collecting from us this year.  

Snow Club

Last December Cameron asked us what we thought about him joining Snow Club at Bethany.  He was worried about the cost, but once we went through the price of lift tickets and ski rentals he realized the value of going with the school.  He would also have friends to ski with which would make it more enjoyable.  Last night was his fifth and final time riding the Bethany bus to Swiss Valley for an evening of skiing and fun.  He was definitely happy with how the season went.  I had told him that I had always wanted to learn how to ski, but never had the opportunity.  Therefore, I was glad that he took advantage of the club's activities.  He said that he had improved during the past two months and was even able to handle a few of the smaller jumps.  Although Cameron finished the season injury free, Samuel was not so lucky tonight as he hurt his knee.  Cam seemed confident that he would be fine.  Either way it didn't deter him from making plans with Avery to go back to Michigan again this coming weekend.

Science Olympiad

On Saturday Cameron participated in Science Olympiad.  This was his third straight year of being part of the program and by far his most successful.  He and Breece were paired together in three different events - Water Quality, GeoMapping and Density Lab.  At the start of the day Cameron felt most confident about Water Quality as they had spent quite a bit of time studying that subject in Environmental Science this fall.   He knew enough about the other two topics to be interested in them, but wasn't quite as sure about how well they would do in those competitions.  Cam's instincts were correct and the boys finished first in Water Quality.  They also did well in Density Lab with a podium finish (third place).  Cameron was extremely happy with the results.  It was the best that he had ever competed, and although he wasn't quite ready to jump on my idea of getting a Science Olympiad trailer for Bethany like the Northridge team had, he was very proud of their accomplishments.

Celebrations in B-Town

I really wanted to get to Bloomington this week to celebrate Brett's birthday.  We talked about a lot of different options.  Cam and I thought about going down on the 13th to see him and to catch IU vs. Iowa, but Brett had to work all day so that was out.  I had gotten an email on Thursday offering me discount tickets to Sunday night's performance of Les Miserable.  That meant that I could head down Sunday afternoon, take everyone out to dinner, see the show and head home Monday.  Doug agreed to that idea at first, but then decided that he would like to go as well.  Thus, we made plans to leave yesterday afternoon once Cam finished Science Olympiad.  I was more than happy with that decision.

We arrived at Brett's around 6:30 last night.  He had to work late, but that gave us time to pick up all of the bedding from Jackie and Sarah's visit with Meg.  Brett picked Crazy Horse for dinner.  Meg was busy with Yatsiri, but Cal was able to join us.  On the way we all talked about the IU game today and the different celebrities that were there besides Coach Knight and former Indiana players.  Brett started into a long story about his experience at work that we weren't quite sure where it was going.  We all enjoyed the ending, however, when he told us that he ran into Mark Cuban as the billionaire tired to leave the stadium without being noticed.

Dinner was a lot of fun and delicious as well.  There was a lot of sports talk, political news and discussion about music.  Cal headed back home afterward as Cameron Adams was in town.  The three of us then went back to Brett's apartment to play Ticket to Ride and do laundry.  Both Brett and Meg had been too busy to get their's done and I didn't mind helping.  We ended up washing seven loads between the two of them.  Thankfully, the laundry room was pretty desolate at that time of night and we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  Meg joined us after her movie, so we got to catch up with her.  She loved "Knives Out" just as much as Doug and I did.  Ticket to Ride was a lot of fun.  Cameron came up with a new strategy which worked very well.  He not only beat us, but he also set an all-time record of 297 points.  It will be tough to top that one.

Today the celebration continued with the six of us having lunch together at Oliver Winery with Pizza X breadsticks.  Brett loved his new shirts from Meg, Cal's strawberry vodka, Jedi Fallen from Cam, Justice by Trial from Doug and birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa.  While we were together we also gave everyone their Valentine's gifts.  My parents had money and candy for everyone.  I was pretty proud of the Baby Yoda, Kuzcotopia and Pacers shirts I found for Cal, Brett and Cam.  Meg loved the copies of Hope Floats and Kate & Leopold that we got her as well.  Those gifts along with some holiday candy and gift certificates for lunch made for a perfect celebration.

 

 

After lunch Meg headed to the library to meet a study group for Econ and Cal went home to prepare for tomorrow's test.  Brett, Cam and I had time for one more game of Ticket to Ride.  The outcome was the same, but we all had fun trying to beat Cameron again.  It was the perfect way to end a fantastic twenty-four hours in Bloomington.

IU Basketball

Last night Cal texted us that he had met Dean Garrett at Kilroy's.  For a fleeting moment I had visions of meeting Garrett and fellow IU star, Keith Smart, at a frat party in 1988 after a weekend game.  I laughed as I thought of Krystal hugging the center while I kept saying over and over to his teammate, "You're Keith Smart!  You're Keith Smart."  Thankfully, Cal and his friends were a lot more composed than my cousin and I were back then.  Later in the evening he sent us a group picture and let us know that one of our favorite Hoosier basketball players had even bought them a round of shots.

Today was filled with more nostalgia for IU basketball as Coach Knight returned to Assembly Hall after a twenty year hiatus to honor the 1980 team.  It was that event that brought Garrett into town as well as dozens of other Hoosier standouts.  We watched the halftime activities unfold on our way to Bloomington, secretly wishing we were in attendance, knowing that the $3000 price tag on the tickets was well beyond our weekly budget.  Even though we couldn't be there, we had fun watching and talked of nothing else the rest of the trip.  IU basketball was a huge part of our life when we were in college.  Back then campus was a ghost town on game days and discussions of winning a national championship were always a topic of choice.  Although that was not in the cards for IU while Doug and I were in Bloomington, the teams did win the Big Ten Championship twice, made it to the Final Four, and produced the all-time leading scorer in Big Ten history during our tenure.

Reminiscing about all of the fun times we had following IU basketball, watching former players reunite, seeing Coach Knight back on the court and hearing how excited Cal was to meet Dean Garrett, made today's loss to Purdue even more disappointing.  The team looked absolutely terrible and the lack of excitement made for a boring two hours.  Even Cameron, who was once Archie Miller's biggest supporter, finally agreed that the Hoosiers lack of success these past three years could only be blamed on his coaching style (or lack their of).  If IU was ever going to be pumped up enough to beat their rival, today was the day.  The history, the excitement in the crowd, the fact that Purdue was an average team at best, all made it nearly impossible for the Hoosiers to lose.  But, lose they did and by double digits.

I decided after today that it is time for something new or someone new to revitalize the program.  I hope that it happens soon as Cameron looked ahead at their schedule and wasn't sure that they would win another game this season.  Cal was right.  He called in it in November when IU basketball was beating a bunch of mediocre teams.  He said that he will be the second class in Indiana University history that would not see their beloved basketball team receive an NCAA tournament bid.  How incredibly disappointing.

A Fun Day Off

After being gone all day yesterday I was glad that Cam was home today.  It was fun spending time with him.  We invited Grandma and Grandpa to lunch at Moe's Southwest Grill.  They had a few errands to  run in Warsaw, so it worked out well for them to go with us.  As a bonus they even paid for our meals.  They had never eaten at Moe's as the menu was a little daunting for them.  Cam and I could see that with menu items like "Joey Bag of Donuts" and "Homewrecker" listed.  Cam explained it to them and showed them his favorites.  In the end we all enjoyed the food and brought home quite a bit of leftovers for Cam to enjoy later.  We spent the afternoon playing Euchre and talking about "spicy" ketchup.

Doug didn't have to work quite as late tonight which gave him time to make a family favorite for dinner - macaroni and cheese.  We not only appreciated his meal, but having home as well.  Grandma and Grandpa came up later in the evening to play cards once again.  Cam destroyed us at Oh Hell much as he did this afternoon at Euchre.  We ended the night watching basketball and working on a Snow White puzzle.  Doug and I decided that it would take quite a bit longer than the previous two we had completed.   That was ok with us as we were up for the challenge.

Sometimes You Just Have to Move On

Cam was happy to sleep in this morning for the start of his four day weekend.  It had snowed quite a bit last night, but thankfully had stopped in time for him to go to snow club.  From there he went to a party at Julia's.  We didn't see him until close to ten o'clock tonight and were glad to hear that he had had fun at both activities.

With Cam busy all day and Doug working late, I decided to clean the house.  It needed it and it also  gave me a lot of time to think.  I've been frustrated lately with someone who used to be close to the Heinisch family, but in the past year or so, just hasn't given us much time.   It has been incredibly disappointing as we spent quite a bit of time with this person as a valued member of the Heinisch inner circle.  I tried to figure out what the problem was, but couldn't come up with a good reason on why we were now getting the cold shoulder.  When I first started to notice the issue, I tried very hard to keep up contact just as I had in the past.  I texted, called, and sent invites to our shared activities.  Sometimes it would work, other times it just led to more frustration and honestly a few tears.  The more I thought about it today, the more that I realized that it was best that I took other's advice and just moved on.  It was not what I would have chosen, but it's what's best.  I usually blame myself in these situations, but this time I know in my heart that I did not burn this bridge.  I'll have to wait for the one who did to rebuild it.  

Les Miserables

Last August I bought four tickets for tonight's performance of Les Miserables at the IU Auditorium with the intention that Cam and I would take Meg and Brett to the show.  Because of the Mennonite educators conference Cam had a four day weekend and I thought it would be fun spending part of it in Bloomington.  That plan changed, however, when we got the Snow Club schedule and we saw that Cam had a trip to Swiss Valley tomorrow.  I knew that I could still travel for the show, but also realized that it would be easier if I stayed home to take Cam to Bethany to catch the bus on Thursday.    Thus, I asked Meg and Brett what they wanted to do and they instantly came up with a great idea - Meg would take Yatsiri and Brett would invite Rachael using both tickets.  As I had already seen the Broadway show, I felt really good about giving up our seats to them so that they could all enjoy it together.

Brett called me as soon as he got home tonight.  He and Rachael had absolutely loved Les Miserables.  Neither had a favorite song, but enjoyed it all.  Brett told me that he knew that Yatsiri had liked it as well as she heard her tell Meg what characteristics made a good Eponine.  As soon as Brett hung up, I called Meg.   I had to laugh when she told me the exact same story.  Meg also let me know how much she loved the show and was so glad that the four of them got to see it together.  I was incredibly happy that it worked out for all of them to go as well and was glad that I could share my love of Broadway musicals with them, even if I couldn't be there in person.

Big News

Cam crawled in the car today after school with two big pieces of news.  First, he accidentally threw his retainers in the compost pile at lunch today.  Although it wasn't his favorite thing to do, after a little bit of searching, he was able to find them.  He planned to soak them in Efferdent as soon as he got home.  The second part of his announcement was definitely more interesting to him.  He told me that Mark Dantonio retired today.  At first, I couldn't think who that was.  I knew he was a football coach, but where I didn't know, until Cam reminded me of his infamous line at one of the fall press conferences, "Frankly, that's just a dumbass question."  Memories of Michigan State's struggles on the field this fall came flooding back.  After today's press release Cam decided the best way to honor Dantonio was to make his infamous line his new catch phrase.  He laughed at how it would sound at school when a teacher asked him a question and he replied with Dantonio's statement.  Cam even told me that I could borrow it when his principal, Hank, called to ask me about his behavior.

As Cam laughed about the fall press conference and remarked on what a genius Dantonio was for retiring twenty days after he received a 4.3 million dollar bonus, I chuckled to myself about a different thought.  Everyone else in the country was following the big news stories of the day - the impeachment trial, the Coronavirus, the botched Iowa caucus, Jennifer Lopez's halftime show, the death of Kobe Bryant- but not here in the Heinisch home.  Instead we're focused on Big Ten sports, especially football, 24/7.  That's life with Cam and it has made this year a lot of fun.

Disney +

It was a quiet night here in the Heinisch home.  Cam was busy playing Madden and watching the Pacers game.  He had decided to start following them since Oladipo returned last week.  Since we didn't have much going on tonight, Doug picked up the remote after dinner hoping to find something for the two of us to watch on television.  As there wasn't much on the daunting question between the two of us became, "What looks good to you?" It has become one of Doug's least favorite questions as it usually takes me forever to make a decision.  Thanks to our subscription to Disney + that has changed recently.  Now he just turns on the app and we pick something out that we haven't seen in years.  Over the weekend we enjoyed a few old time favorites such as The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again and That Darn Cat.

Tonight's movie choice, however, was one that neither of us had ever heard of before.  It was filed under the nostalgia section and was released in 1977.  Since it had Jodie Foster and David Niven in it, we figured it was worth trying.  Candleshoe was definitely entertaining and fun to watch.  Thus, we were glad to have found it.  Disney + has definitely become one of our family's favorite apps with Disney movies, documentaries and a full slate of Star Wars shows.  Looking forward to seeing what else we can find on it.

Super Bowl

Our Super Bowl Sunday started as it usually had in the past, Doug was a lector while Cam served at mass.  We took a break this year from the Knights party, however.  It had been a busy week for Doug with work and Cam at school and we were ready for a relaxing afternoon at home especially since we were in South Bend all day yesterday.  Cam used his time to play Madden and Doug and I finished up a few small projects.  I really appreciated that the guys helped me dust as well.

My parents joined us for the first half of the Super Bowl.  Doug made quesadillas and broccoli cheese soup for dinner.  Both were delicious.  Mom brought a pumpkin pie and brownies to go along with Doug's chocolate cookies for dessert.  The first half of the game was actually kind of boring.  Not a lot happened and none of the commercials caught my eye.  My parents left at halftime, so they missed the "weird" Jennifer Lopez show as Cam described it.  Doug's Dad texted him later to let him know his opinion about it.  Doug and I didn't think too much about it as we realized that it was typical for her as an artist.  Meg and Brett didn't watch it at all and Cal enjoyed all of the funny Tweets about the dancing.

The second half of the game was a lot more exciting.  The 49ers took a 20-10 lead and it looked like it might become a blowout.  Mahomes found the end zone several times in the fourth quarter and the Chiefs defense took charge in the end giving Kansas City a 31-20 victory.  Cameron was happy with that as he felt that the rest of his teams had lost this weekend.  I definitely liked the second half more as the commercials were a lot better.  My favorite on the day was the one with Bill Murray in Groundhog's Day.  The best part of the evening, however, was finishing the Disney vintage poster puzzle that Brett gave me for Christmas.  Doug and I both really enjoyed working on it.

End of Indoor Tennis

Cameron had team tennis this afternoon in South Bend.  He was a little rusty as he hadn't played since before Christmas.  We had noticed that tennis had been dwindling down after the holidays, and Cameron said that he was alright with that.  A lot of the boys on his team made plans to help with the girls tennis team this Spring, but for Cameron soon it would be time to focus on golf and he was ready for the switch.  

 

After tennis we headed to the University Park Mall.  Cam had a Barnes and Noble gift card that he wanted to use.  He found a murder mystery book that looked very interesting.  Doug used the time to buy something for Brett's birthday and I went to Yankee Candle for more plug-ins.  I was pleased to also find a few items for the boys' Valentine's gift bags that I know they will enjoy.  We stopped at Target to get a few groceries before going to dinner.  Unfortunately, the check-out service was terrible and it took twice as long as normal to get out of the store.  I had been telling Doug that I had almost completely stopped going to Target because of repeated poor service.  He could understand why after today.

We tried Bear Hands Brewery for dinner tonight.  Doug had received a gift certificate for Christmas for it and wanted to check it out.  The three of us really enjoyed the sandwiches that we had ordered and would definitely go back even though it was only a few miles from the Michigan State line.  The rest of the night was spent watching old Disney movies and working on a retro Disney poster puzzle that Brett gave me for Christmas.  Cam decided to pass on those two activities and watched college basketball while playing NBA 2K20 instead.  Thus, we all enjoyed our evening at home.