Could We Just Start Over

If we could go back to January 15th and start all over, I would be all for it.  I remember how incredibly shocked and sad everyone was when Kobe Bryant died on the 26th of that month.  I thought that that would be the worst news of the year.  Since that time period it has felt that every day has brought another piece of bad news.  COVID-19, 100,000 deaths, political divide over our "freedoms" during the stay at home order, protests over masks, graduations cancelled, and unemployment at all time highs have been just a few of the negative stories surrounding those living in the United States these past three months.

With all of that said, these last few days, however, may have been the most depressing of all.  During an arrest on Memorial Day weekend in Minneapolis, an African American male was killed by a police officer in an inhumane matter.  The death was caught on video and although I would not watch it, I know from the outrage that followed that it was very hard to watch.  Due to the nature of the incident many protests were organized around the Minnesota capital.  Unfortunately, several of the gatherings drew the attention of those looking for a more violent way to express their feelings on the matter.  Soon rioting and looting started.  This started six days of violent protests across the nation in multiple cities with looting, shootings, rioting, and burning of businesses all leading to a call for the national guard to step in to help.  It has been extremely unsettling with reports this evening of small riots even in Dekalb, Illinois.

I just wish that all of this would stop.  The stress of the past three months has been too much.  Now we even have news that the number of positive COVID-19 tests in Elkhart and Kosciusko counties is on the rise due to reduced diligence on social distancing.  I wish that we had political leaders that brought about a sense of ease during this tumultuous time period.  Instead all we do is hear them bicker back and forth while pointing the finger at one another.  Every day I get up and hope for this to all end and a return to normalcy to ensue.   I realize that this is an impossible request, but hopefully one day there will be an answer to my prayers.

I Just Love Saturdays

Saturdays have easily become my favorite day of the week.  Everyone is usually home and we spend the majority of our time outside.  Doug and I typically have a couple of projects to work on, but nothing that dampens the mood of the day.  This Saturday was no expection to my favorite day declaration.  Doug and I worked outside, took a walk, had a bonfire and enjoyed the Heinisch children when they were home.  Doug even tried something new for dinner, grilling chicken for club sandwiches.  They were a bit hit with everyone.

I do believe that Cal, Meg and Cam had a wonderful day as well.  Cal hung out with HM.  It was a little too cold for the sandbar today, so they saved that for tomorrow's actitivy.  Meg went over to Gabby's yesterday and spent time on the lake with her and Kaitlin.  She hadn't done that in quite some time and really enjoyed it.  Today Nick came over for a little while.  They were able to take a bike ride around Syracuse Lake before dinner.  For the third time this week, Cam got together with friends.  Bailee invited him over to hang out in their backyard.  He hadn't seen her since March and had a lot of fun visiting with her and her brothers.  Cam also had time to go to the driving range with Grandpa before leaving.  Overall, it was an almost perfect day in the Heinisch home.  All we needed was a game of Ticket to Ride with Brett to make it complete.  

Girls Night Out . . . Side

Last week Paula invited Mary, Wendy, Betsy and I to spend an evening at her house oustide on the back deck for a social distancing girls night out.  I was happy for the invitation, but a little anxious about it as I hadn't left our home to do much of anything since March 20th.  For awhile it looked as though the evening would be all for nought as the rain started at 6 p.m. and the weather cooled off quite a bit.  Thankfully, it was only a brief shower, the sun came out and our night continued as planned.

It was very nice to see everyone.  They all had a lot to say about the end of the year at school with elearning challenges and successes.  We talked about our children and how they were coping with all of the changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  The evening passed rather quickly with the amount of conversation and catching up that we had to do.  Even though I worried attending a girls night out all day, I was so very glad that we had a chance to be together even if it was only for a few hours.  Can't wait to do it again.

Feed the Birds

Our yard has definitely attracted more birds this year than any other that I can remember.  The new Oriole feeder has been a great addition as we now have a pair of them living in our backyard.  We have also spotted a pair of Cardinals and too many Blue Jays to count.  There are a pair of  Woodpeckers nesting in our front tree and a Dove or two underneath the feeders every morning.  We put a Hummingbird feeder out front, but have only seen one so far.  All of those birds along with the robins, wrens and occasional blackbird have made the Heinisch home feel more like the Heinisch bird sanctuary.  None of us mind, however, and Meg and Cam have enjoyed giving me a hard time about being the crazy bird lady.  Our next project will be getting an owl or two into our back woods.  Maybe that will solve the biggest problem we have right now, too many chipmunks.

Golf, Golf and More Golf

Since school officially ended for Cameron last week he has made the most of his free time by playing golf.  We purchased a junior membership for him at the beginning of the month and we believe that he has already played enough to have paid for it already.  He has also been able to play at Wawasee Golf Club a lot this year as they are letting those eighteen and under golf for free.  He and Joey took advantage of that today meeting at 1 p.m. for a round of nine.  Cameron had a great time playing with one of his friends.

Cal has also played a lot of golf since he returned home.  He and his friends usually play at Wawasee since the cost is only $6 for a round of nine.  Rozella has a discout on Mondays and they may end up playing there as well.  Cal put his name in to be a bag boy at Tippy this summer for a few days a week which will allow him to play at the country club as well.  He, Grandpa and Cameron made plans to play at Maxwelton tomorrow, so Cal decided to take advantage of their junior golf membership program as well by signing up for that before he played with his friends tonight.  I was glad to hear that.  Cal will be in Syracuse until December and will have quite a bit of time to play.  Golf has been one of the few sport actitivities that has been easy to participate in while social distancing.  It will be a great way for both of the boys to spend their summer days.

Memories

As I worked on the May 2019 photo album I was reminded of all that we did last spring.  There were Spring Break trips to Universal Studios and California.  Meg and Cam played on the Bethany tennis teams while Cam also practiced with the high school golf team.  Brett graduated with his MPA from IU and moved into a new apartment in Bloomington.  Meg attended Prom, the senior awards ceremony and held an open house for her graduation.  Cal finished his junior year at IU and started an internship in Carmel.  Cam had his last middle school choir and band concerts while also being honored as an Indiana Academic All Star at a luncheon and had his 8th grade celebration.  All of this including a trip to Phoenix for Doug's board meeting made for an extremly busy March, April and May.

While looking at our pictures I thought a lot about those that recently had to postpone or cancel key events in their lives due to the current pandemic.  I know that it was extremely disappointing to a lot of people to give up these celebrations.  We hated for Cal's graduation from IU to be postponed and were sad to have to cancel Spring Break plans.  We realized, however, that those events could be made up and eventually a return to normal would ensue.  Continually talking about it or posting about it would only make the situation worse.  Thus, we moved on and decided to make the best of it.  That was why we were so impressed with Sarah's open house.  It was very low key, but still a wonderful celebration of her time as a student.  In the end the 2020 class will receive more attention for missing events than they ever would have received in a typical May.  It will be a story to tell to their own children one day and will prepare them for disappointments that occur later in life.  Not everyone gets to go to prom or have a huge high school graduation party.  As a parent I believe that it is our responsibility to support our children in time of misery and not to over exaggerate their dismay.

Memorial Day or 4th of July

This was definitely the hottest Memorial Day weekend that I could ever remember.  None of us were complaining about the sunshine or eighty degree temperatures, our bodies were just in shock as it had been such a cold, wet spring.  Even with the heat we were still able to spend the majority of our weekend outside.  Cal started his off by walking 16.8 miles around Lake Wawasee on Friday with his friends.  By the end of the day he had 40,000 steps.  We were all impressed.  He also had time to play a few rounds of golf and tennis plus go out in the boat with HM during his first three days at home.

Meg took advantage of the nice weather by playing golf for the first time in years, going on multiple walks with Nick, and watching Millie enjoy her wading pool.  Cam played several rounds of golf, worked on his tennis and hung out in his hammock.  Tonight he was finally able to catch up with a few of his classmates with a bonfire at Joey's.  Doug and I took several walks, worked in the yard, watched the birds and enjoyed nighly bonfires.  With all of us outside so much this weekend, Brett had more time in the sunshine than normal.  Today was different for him as he had to work at Bell Trace.  He didn't mind at all as they paid holiday pay to today's employees.  All in all it was a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and I was incredibly glad that Doug took Friday off to enjoy it with us.  We all had spent so much time inside during the stay at home order it almost felt like we were on a mini-vacation these past four days.

Another Awesome Day!

It was a hot one today, so we spent the majority of it inside until late in the afternoon.  No one minded as we got to spend quite a bit of time with Brett before he left at 3 p.m.  Brett and I took time to copy piano music for him to take back.  He also ran over to Grandma's to pick up cookies and food that she had gotten for him.  I had already cut his hair so once we played Ticket to Ride and Swap Meet he had done everything that he set out to do on his three day weekend at home.  We all had really enjoyed seeing him.  Two months was a long time.  Hopefully, the next time we see him we won't have to wait quite so long.  The one benefit for spending so much time away from Brett was that Cameron finally had a chance to surpass him on the Heinisch family height chart!

Doug and I spent the rest of the day watching the Tiger Woods, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Phil Michelson golf match for charity.  We really enjoyed it.  Peyton was extremely funny as was Charles Barkley in the announcers both.  Cal watched the match with Jayce and Cameron at the Boatwrights house.  He texted several times during the match.  We could tell that he really liked it as well.  Cam skipped the event to play his own round.  It was extremely hot, so he only made it eleven holes before deciding to head home.  Meg spent the entire day working on a paper for her business class.  It was a tough assignment, but she made a lot of progress on it.  Brett got back to B-Town around 7 p.m. and headed straight to Andrew's for the evening.  We ended our evening here as we had the past several ones with a bonfire.  It was only Doug and I tonight, but we still enjoyed it.  We were impressed by all of the different birds that we saw in the backyard this evening.  We have definitely had more this year than any other.

         

          

Another Wonderful Day!

Today was absolutely perfect.  The weather was beautiful and everyone was home for part of the day. Cal left to go play golf with Jayce, Harry and Cameron at Wawasee in the morning.  They had a lot of fun with their scramble.  Afterward he hung out with Hannah-Marie on the boat.  Meg left late this morning to go to Portillo's with Jackie and then to Sasha and Sarah's drive by open houses.  Nick picked them and Cameron up for a round of nine at Wawasee as well.  Doug, Cam and I went to Sarah's open house beforehand.  We loved how it was set up.  We were still able to visit with her, see her awards and pictures, and even sign her guest book all while social distancing.  Once we got back. Brett and I got out the Atari so that we could play the new tennis game on it that he had given me this weekend.  It was a lot of fun.  One of my friends had it when I was in middle school.  I hadn't played it since that time period.

Doug made a delicious late dinner of tater tot casserole, meatballs and sweet corn for everyone.  Grandma and Grandpa came up once all of the Heinisch children made it home to visit on the back deck once again.  Seveal games of Lasso Golf were played as well.  It was a little bit warmer than last night, but still cool enough for a bonfire.  We finished the night by playing Supper Sluggers and Mario Kart on the Wii and watching the end of Deathly Hallows Part 2.  Meg was impressed that Doug stayed up a lot later than both Brett and Cal.  Guess the four of us have our COVID-19 late weekend night routine down.  The older boys will just have to catch up.  

Happy Birthday!!

What an awesome evening celebrating Cal's birthday.  I wasn't sure when we would all get to be together so it made it even more special as we observed social distance rules on the back porch and still enjoyed each other's company.  Since we never had a large family celebration for Meg as our family quarantine started the weekend of her birthday, we included her in on the celebration as well.  Meg picked Bourbon Street for dinner and Cal chose Sleepy Owl.  Both pizzas were excellent especially since we hadn't had either since February.  We were finally able to order a cake from Lance's as well.  That was a delicious treat.

Cal opened some of his graduation gifts tonight along with his birthday presents.  He was pleased with all of them especially the money from Grandma Jane and Grandpa Cutes, the Fit Bit from HM, the Ray Bans from the Lamles, the Green Mile from Brett and a pair of Bose headphones from the rest of us.  The Szynals sent him a graduation card which meant a lot to him as well.  Meg was finally able to open her birthday gifts from Grandma which included several different nail polishes and money to help her buy a Fit Bit.  We had fun singing happy birthday to both of them and enjoyed all of the conversation.  We ended the night with a bonfire and a few games on the Wii.  It was definitely one of my favorite evenings of the year.

Twenty-Seven Years and Counting

This was by far the most low key of all of our twenty-seven anniversaries, but that didn't mean that it wasn't special.  This year it wasn't about gifts, eating out, or holding celebrations.  It was about getting the boys home for a visit.  When we last saw Brett on March 19th we weren't sure when we would get to see him again.  That was scary to think about.  Cal left for Bloomington at the very end of March.  We hoped that we'd be able to see him Memorial Day weekend, but weren't sure as the news at the time was grim.  Over the past two months the stay at home orders had changed, the news about COVID-19 had increased greatly and a political war had started over when and how states should reopen.  During all of that time period we still looked at Memorial Day weekend as one in which we might be able to reunite as a family, although we were never one hundred percent positive that we would be able to make that happen until today.

All of our concerns changed this morning when Cal texted me to let me know that his COVID-19 test results were negative and that he was leaving for home after lunch.  As Brett had been waiting to make sure Cal's test was negative before he headed out, he got the go ahead as well and planned to leave after work.  By 10:30 this evening all of the Heinisch family was under one roof, talking, laughing and sharing stories.  Doug and I both felt beyond blessed.  We couldn't have asked for a better anniversary gift.

A Very Merry UnBirthday to Cal!

Today was not the birthday celebration that we had planned for Cal.  Another holiday fell victim to the Coronavirus pandemic as Cal stayed quarantined at Hannah-Marie's apartment in Bloomington waiting to get the results back from his COVID-19 test that he took on Monday.  The results were guaranteed in 48-72 hours, but unfortunately for him he did not get them in the shortest time frame.  Thus, his birthday was spent studying for the CPA, eating Jack's pizza and receiving a lot of birthday texts.  We did come up with a plan to get him home tomorrow night while still social distancing in case the results were delayed.  Thus, it should be his last night in Bloomington for a little while.

It didn't surprise me that this pancdemic occurred during some of the biggest events of Cal's life cancelling so many of his plans.  He was the Heinisch child growing up that had faced the biggest disappointments - severe asthma with multiple trips to Riley, a rare strep throat reaction leading to kidney disease, a broken hip, a broken ankle sidelining his basketball career just to name a few.  Those situations prepared him for the downside of life earlier than most.  Therefore when COVID-19 started to alter so much of his plans this spring, I knew that he would be able to handle it without a problem.  His laid back attitude, ability to adapt and bigger than life personality has served him well these past two months.  Proud of him for his perserverance and positive attitude.  Cal told Cam that one positive that came out of all of this was that he had really developed a cannon for an arm since the stay at home order started.  Looking forward to seeing him throwing that football in our backyard tomorrow night.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Today I finished my goal of completing the original Harry Potter series for the second time.  Although Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was over 750 pages, it was a quick read.  I couldn't put it down as there were so many details that I had forgotten and was absolutely fascinated with how well this book tied up all of the loose ends from the first six.  Once I did finish the series, Doug and I started the Deathly Hallows Part 1 on DVD.  It wasn't a movie that we had watched often, and we both really enjoyed it.  Doug was surprised with how much of it that he had forgotten and I found it extremely interesting in how different the screenplay was from the book.

The other part of the book that left me almost dumbfounded was how much the story of Deathly Hallows mirrored our real life experience with the COVID-19 pandemic.  Large groups of individuals had to go into hiding to stay safe from Lord Voldemort much like our recent stay at home orders.  Businesses closed due to lack of employees and customers.  The ministry of magic was in a political war with those fighting against the death eaters.  Outspoken individuals that disagreed with the ministry's orders were thrown in Azkaban prison.  A small group worked frantically to defeat Lord Voldemort with little information to help their cause almost exactly like "operation warp speed" to find a cure or vaccine for the coronavirus.  All in all the war in the magical world of Harry Potter lasted close to a year and many lives were lost.  When I finished the book and thought about all of the similarities, my hope was that soon we would all be standing together cheering on the victory over the pandemic and subsequent economic crisis besting the one year time frame that it took in the wizarding world.

And Now We Wait

Cal called last week and asked if he could come back for Memorial Day weekend.  He said that everyone was leaving Bloomington and he was ready to be home.  At first he was worried that we wouldn't let him hang out with Hannah-Marie once he arrived, but that wasn't really a problem for us.  HM hadn't been living with as many people as Cal and hadn't been attending huge social gatherings these past two weeks.

The first question we asked him was if he had been social distancing.  He admited that he had not.  We then wanted to know if he was coming home for a few days or for a longer period of time.  If it was only a few days, then we could find him an AirBNB to stay in and visit with him outside as we had two weeks ago.  Once he decided that he really just wanted to come home for awhile we spent some time carefully considering the options.  In the end Doug and I told Cal that he could live at home if he spent two weeks completely social distancing first or took the COVID-19 test, stayed at HM's apartment in Bloomington and waited for the results.  Indiana had just opened up free testing for anyone, so it wouldn't be hard for him to get a test.

Cal decided to try the second option and took the test this morning in Bedford.  It was an unpleasant nasal swab experience, but overall he felt that it was a safe way to get tested.  He should find out the results in 48  to 72 hours.  We realized that others may not have taken such a stance with their college child returning home, but Doug, Meg, Cam and I had spent the last two months in almost complete isolation.  We knew that the chance of Cal being positve wasn't extremely high, but we thought we'd all rather be safe about his return.  We were glad that Cal agreed with us.

Bring on the Orioles

Ever since I saw the orange bird feeders at Ace Hardware I have been interested in buying one.  The advertisements on the front of them guaranteed that the feeders would attrack tons of Orioles.  Doug had asked his father about them, but he felt that Orioles only fed in the spring in our area.  Thus, he hadn't had much luck.  Even Uncle Maury, the bird expert in Doug's family, said that hadn't been able to attrack Orioles to his yard.

Two weeks ago our friend, Cheryl Manning, posted about how much she loved her Oriole feeder along with pictures of the birds enjoying it.  I decided to ask her how she did it and was surprised by the answer.  "Orioles love grape jelly and came to her feeder all spring and summer."  After I read that I decided that we had to try and see what we could do to get Orioles to our yard.  Since I don't go out shopping like I used to I looked online to see if anyone had an orange feeder.  Thankfully, Walmart had one that got good reviews.  My Mom offered to buy it for our anniversary gift and within a few days our feeder had arrived.

Doug and I were hopeful that we would be able to make it work.  The design made it easy to fill as it  had a cup for grape jelly and areas for two orange halves.  We put the feeder out two weeks ago with the hope of maybe seeing the beautiful orange bird arrive at some point this summer.  I even joked as we went for a walk right after we hung it up that we'd probably see five or six Orioles on the feeder when we got home.

Although, there weren't any birds on the feeder when we got back, we were both completely surpised an hour later when we looked out the front window to see two birds enjoying the feeder.  We watched off and on for the next few hours and counted as many as five Orioles eating grape jelly and oranges.  Since that time period we have had to fill the grape jelly cup several times a day.  We even have a pair of Orioles now living in the woods in our backyard.  It has been one of the highlights of our at home quarantine and with the warmer weather arriving we can't wait to enjoy watching and listening to our Orioles even more.

Rey

May Flowers

Doug and I spent the majority of today working in our yard.  It felt wonderful to be out in the sun, planting flowers and setting up the new fountain.  Doug had gone to Claytons this morning and bought two flats of impatients, a flat of zinnias, a flat of wavy petunias and a hibiscus plant for us to put in our yard this year.  He focused on the mulch and inground plants while I worked on the flowers for the planters.  Once we took care of the flowers, Doug mowed while I cleaned the back porch and set up the Zen Frog fountain.  It tooks us quite awhile, but we were able to finish everything by 5 p.m.  We were both exhausted, but as Meg told us afterward, "everything looked beautiful."  She went on to talk about how much she loved our yard, and we completely agreed with her.  

Both Doug and I were feeling pretty tired once we finished, but we really wanted to take a walk.  I talked him into go to the new nature trail that we discovered yesterday.  It wasn't our fastest pace, but we did enjoy walking along the path looking over the lake.  While we were busy with yard work and taking a walk, Cameron played golf with Grandma and Grandpa.  He also was tired by the end of the day as he walked eighteen holes today and last night.  He was willing to overlook that, however, as he had played well shooting an 84 this afternoon.  

Meg spent her day outside as well.  Jackie had brought Culver's for lunch and they spent the afternoon in the hammocks in our yard.  They also saw Grandma and Grandpa as they walked by their house on their way to Oakwood.  Once Jackie left the four of us ate dinner outside enjoying the last of the sunshine.  All of us had a little more color on our faces than when the day started.  We ended the evening with a bonfire and a game of Mario Kart.  It was the perfect way to unwind after our wonderful, but exhausting day.  

Nature Trail

Cameron was required to take a walk on a nature trail and write a report about his findings for environmental science before Sunday night.  His teacher suggested a trail on the east side of Lake Wawasee.  I talked Cameron into trying the newest path through the wetlands near the Wawasee Area Conservancy Foundation, however as it looked a lot nicer than the one near the old fish hatchery.  It not only would take us through the woods on the conservation's property, but also provide a trail over the wetlands.

The path was incredibly nice.  Meg remarked several times that she couldn't believe that something like this was in Syracuse.  We saw a lot of different water plants and flowers.  Cam also noticed the vast amount of redwing black birds hanging on the reeds in the wetlands.  We ran into Hannah-Marie, Winston and Robyn while walking.  HM was glad to help Cam find more animals and he was able to take a great picture of a bullfrog before we left.

While walking we also met up with Paula and Mary.  They were trying the path for the first time as well.  It was so nice to see everyone and Meg and I enjoyed talking to both of them.  Paula told us that Gabrielle might transfer to IU next fall.  Meg was thrilled to hear that.  Overall, we were all glad to have found this new path.  It was a great addition to our town and a nice way to break up the doldrums of walking the same path day after day.

Puzzles Galore

When the stay at home order started in mid March we immediatly decided to order White Mountain puzzles to keep us occupied during our time at home.  It took longer for them to ship then normal due to COVID-19 restrictions, but thankfully we did get our entire order about three weeks after we placed it.  We received our puzzles on April 7th and started to work on them immediately.  Doug and I picked the Neuschwanstein Castle to begin with as we were intrigued by it ever since we "flew" over it in Soarin' at EPCOT.  The castle part was actually easy to complete, but the trees and sky took quite some time to finish.  It was a lot of fun to work on, however, and we both enjoyed it.

The second puzzle we finished was the state of California.  It was neat to see all of the places that we had visited on Meg's senior spring break trip last April.  It was definitely the easiest of the five to complete, which actually was a a nice break after the Neuschwanstein Castle.  The third puzzle was by far the hardest.  It was based on the painting La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat.  We had seen the original in the Chicago Art Museum and I had picked it as the background on my Discover card.  It took a lot of work to complete with Doug doing the most of it.  The different versions of green, purple and brown dots in the painting were hard to distinguish.  I was impressed with how well he did with it.

The last two puzzles were the state of Florida and the city of Chicago.  We enjoyed both as we had visited quite a few places on the puzzles.  Neither were as hard as the castle or painting, but definitely more challenging than California.  We won't have as much time for puzzles now with the warmer weather.  No matter the difficulty we enjoyed all five puzzles and were happy for the time that we spent together completing them.  It was a nice diversion this past month during the stay at home order, especially with the cooler than normal spring temperatures.

Finales

After Meg came home for spring semester we started watching one of our favorite shows together, Riverdale.  She had talked me into watching the show after the first season because she had enjoyed it so much.  I liked it from the beginning as it was loosely based on the Archie Comics. I have had fun keeping up on it and last Wednesday night Meg and I finished season four.  At first we thought that it was an odd episode for a season ending until we read that they had to cut production short and sent everyone home due to the Coronavirus outbreak.  After a lot of discussion we decided that it was actually our favorite episode this season except for the funeral of Archie's dad.  

Tonight we watched another season finale together.  This time it was my pick and we started three hours of Survivor after Doug went to bed.  I appreciated that Meg had started watching it with me once she arrived home to finish her spring semester.  In general we liked the same contestants and cheered them on during the challenges.  We were both disappointed when Boston Rob did not make it off of Island of Extinction and rooted against Tony during the fire challenge in hope that he would not make it to the final three.  We thought it was extremely funny that the finale had to be filmed in Jeff Probst's garage while everyone else joined in on Zoom calls.  Unfortunately, our favorite pick did not win the two million dollars and we were left wondering why anyone would choose Tony.  Even with the disappointing final tribal council, I had a lot of fun watching Survivor with Meg.  It has given us something to look forward to on Wednesday nights.  Right now it looks like another season might air in late fall if stay at home orders are lifted this summer.  Hopefully, life will be mostly back to normal by then.  If not, then I guess Meg and I will be able to enjoy it together again.

Back at It

Summer School for Meg started already today.  Since she still had a final last Thursday it only gave her four days off from studying, but she was ok with that since she doesn't have a summer job.  She was a little stressed out last night as her Business Composition professor sent out an assignment that was due at midnight.  She hadn't seen  the email last week as she was busy preparing for her spring semester finals and finishing papers for her classes.  Thankfully, she caught it in time and had the discussion post finished by 11:48 p.m. just before the deadline.  She sat in on the zoom session for the class this morning and was very excited about it.  She felt that the class was well planned out and would prepare her for writing in the business world.

Meg's second class of the summer one session was entitled Elvis, Dylan and Post War America.  Although the format was more laid back, Meg was still extremely excited about the class.  She loved learning about history and knew that this would be a topic that she would have quite a bit of interest in studying.  With only two classes her schedule won't be quite as stressful as it was during the spring semester especially since she has gotten used to online learning.  The short length of time that she has to complete the classes will keep her busy.  That will be perfect for the next six weeks as we transition to phase 3 of Indiana's stay at home orders next month which will then allow her a little more freedom to get out of the house.

Hard to Decide What to Do

Cal called me over the weekend to tell me that he had decided that he would come home for the summer and work at Tippecanoe Country Club.  They were more than interested in having him back and we knew from previous years that he had loved working at the golf course.  I told him that sounded awesome to all of us, but also reminded him that we were on a different page as far as social distancing goes.  He said that he would be ok with that.

Doug called Cal today to see what he was thinking as he originally said that he would plan on being home Memorial Day weekend.  Cal told him that after giving it a good deal of thought that he might just stay in Bloomington and work there for the month of June.  I wasn't surprised with his change of heart.  Doug, Cam, Meg and I have spent the past few months self isolating due to COVID 19 and we weren't ready to completely give that up.   Even though we planned on loosening up some of our restrictions in the next few weeks, Cal wasn't ready to give up the freedom that he had been enjoying with his roommates in Bloomington.  It would be a lot easier deision for all of us if more widespread rapid testing were available.  Hopefully, that will happen soon and deicsions such as Cal's will be a lot easier to make.

Mother's Day During a Pandemic

Today was not the Mother's Day that we had planned long ago when we thought we would be in Bloomington this weekend.  It wasn't even a typical holiday celebration for us.  The pandemic and our self imposed quarantine kept Brett and Cal in Bloomington for the weekend and our typical day of brunch and shopping were both out of the question.  Even the weather didn't cooperate as the cold temperatures and rain made it impossible to plant flowers or put down mulch.

The change in plans didn't ruin the day, however.  Meg, Doug and Cam made me feel extra special with homemade gifts, including origami flowers from Cam, a handmade painting and keychain from Meg and a Zen frog fountain from Doug.  All of that went well with the breakfast strada that we had for brunch, the text I got from Cal, the phone call from Brett and the flowers that my parents dropped off this morning.  The rain even subsided for a littel while so that Doug and I could take a walk and Meg and Cam could drop off Grandma Jane's Mother's Day gifts.  Even though it wasn't the day we had planned, it was still a nice day and I was thankful for everyone for making me feel appreciated.  I love being the mom of our Heinisch family.  That makes every day a wonderful Mother's Day to me.

Our College Graduate

Today was the day that we had been looking forward to for these past four years, the day that Cal graduated from IU.  As proud as we were of his accomplishments as an undergraduate, I couldn't help but feel really sad today.  We had planned such a fun celebration this weekend.  It was hard not to think about that without tearing up.  I think that part of the reason that I felt disappointed was that we participated in Ken Brower's graduation parade.  I told Meg that I was doing more for him than I was my own child.  She and Cam offered to drive with me to Bloomington so that we could lead a parade for him as well.  I laughed as I couldn't imagine going to IU right now as they were still under phase 1 of the stay at home order.

By lunchtime I did start feeling better.  I realized that it wasn't about the day, but about supporting him during his college years.  He had done exceptionally well at IU and had made the most of his life in Bloomington.  Cal called later to check in and let us know what he and his roommates had been doing to celebrate their graduation.  He said that several of his friends' parents had come down to take pictures on campus and host a party for their graduates.  I was completely surprised and at first felt awful that we hadn't thought about doing that.  We had planned to wait to do something once the stay at home order had been completely lifted and we had Cal's cap and gown which was held up in production due to manufacturing closures in Illinois.  The more I thought about it after our conversation I realized that Meg and Doug were right.  Our decision to wait made the most sense for our family since there wasn't much to do in Bloomington right now and we couldn't invite others to a get together.  We also weren't looking to hang out with a lot of other families that we didn't know right now.  We will get to celebrate one day and it will be a lot of fun.  Until then we will take pride in the fact that Cal is a college graduate.

A Big Day Out

When the governor placed Indiana in phase two of reopening the state, we decided to take a week longer than most to change any of our quaratine rules.  Today was the day that we decided would be reserved for getting a big pop.  The four of us had stayed away from all fast foods and gas stations since the Stay at Home order was first mentioned which greatly limited our access to getting any type of treats.  I had told Cam and Meg today that if we got their bedrooms and bathrooms cleaned that we make a big pop run to Crystal Flash in North Webster.  They were definitely all in, especially Meg who had successfully finished her Freshmen year of classes last night when she completed her Calculus final.

It was strange for all of us as we set off on our mini-adventure armed with hand sanitizer, face masks and Clorox wipes.  I had fun listening to Meg and Cam talk on our way.  The topics ranged from the most current Tik-Tok videos that Meg had watched to the number of Pokemon that Cam had caught in the past few days.  Except when the two of them ran into the gas station with their masks on, I almost forgot all about COVID-19.  I know in the past that both of them probably would have thought that our big day out was lame, but today was different.  It was fun hanging out together outside  of our home.  Plus we felt like we had turned a small corner on our self imposed stay at home order.

Loved Our Visitor

Cal finished his last two finals yesterday.  He thought that they went well, but was overall just happy to be done with his undergraduate career.  Although he wouldn't go as far as to call himself a graduate, I sure did.  He said that he would feel better about it all when his finance grade was posted.  I wasn't too concerned about that.  I have learned that the Henisch children tend to over worry about their grades and in general receive higher marks than they thought.

Cal decided to stay in Bloomington for a couple more weeks, but made it to Syracuse for a little while today.  Hannah-Marie needed a ride home and that gave Cal a chance to visit with his friends and family.  He started his morning at Wawasee Golf Course playing nine holes with Jayce, Nick and Cameron.  Afterward a group of his Wawasee classmates met at the Lakeland Youth Center for an afternoon of basketball.  Cal was rusty at both golf and basketball, but was mostly just glad to be back at them both.  He was also able to visit Grandma and Grandpa today as well, talking about golf, basketball, IU and much more.

Cal spent quite a bit of his time in Syracuse visiting us on our back porch.  We had decided that it was best for us to stay the six feet apart that was recommended by the governor for safe social distancing.  Cal had had a friend that tested positive for COVID-19 and had been in contact with more individuals than we had been over the past six weeks, so we thought that it would be better to be safe.  Even with the separation of space, it was so nice to have him home.  We talked about school, his summer plans, the Michael Jordan documentary, Ozark and all of the movies that he had watched.  He had just found out that his job at Plante Moran wouldn't start until January 8th due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  He seemed alright with this idea as it gave him more time to study for the CPA.  We were happy to hear that he that they would be holding his position.  Both Doug and I were a little worried with the recent downturn in the economy.  It was a relief to know that it would only affect his start date.  We were sad when he finally had to leave, but so incredibly proud of his time at Bloomington.  His hard work has paid off in big ways.

Who Would Rip Up a Picture of the Pope

Meg had her last exam in History of Rock N Roll today and while she was studying I heard her say, "Who would rip up a picture of the pope?"  I immediately said, "Sinead O'Conner and it ended her career."  Meg was glad to hear that and then went back to studying music of the nineties.  The more she asked me about that time period, the more I realized that the majority of music during that decade was more than forgettable.  The Dead Kennedys and Sonic Youth were more well known then most, but still almost unheard of now.  Grunge made up the majority of our listening enjoyment 20+ years.  Although Doug and I still enjoy Pearl Jam to this day, none of our children have ever been that interested in joining their fan club.  REM by far would have had the most appeal and staying power for our children's generation, but nothing compared to the Rolling Stones, Elvis, the Beatles or even CCR.

Even though the genre wasn't my favorite in music history, it was fun listening to Meg's play list and helping her study.  Both Brett and Cal had taken several History of Rock N Roll classes at IU as well and Cal even thought of minoring in music history.  I was glad that all three of them were able to experience these topics for themselves.  It was a fun way to fulfill their arts and humanities credit and gave us a lot of shared information to talk about.

A Big Help

When Doug's salary was cut 25% and we found out that we did not quailfy for the stimulus relief check I was a little worried about how we would pay for Cal and Meg's college costs.  We made adjustments to our budget to make up some of the expenses, but were still $900 short in the end.  Doug said not to worry as that was why we had a line of credit at Key Bank.  I was disappointed that we would have to use it, however, as I had worked hard this past year on our family budget and was proud of how well we had done staying inside our spending parameters.

This week we were happy to find out that some of our financial concerns would be taken care of by outside help.  First, Farm Bureau sent us a refund check for $100 on our auto insurance since no one in the family was driving very much right now.  We appreciated the gesture and used it to help reduce our weekly costs.  The biggest relief happened from the source that we worried about the most - Cal and Meg's IU expenses.  At the beginning of April I found out that they could apply for help through the COVID-19 emergency relief at Indiana University.   We had never received help before, but with the financial effects of the pandemic - Doug's salary reduction, Meg's inability to work this summer and Cal's paid internship being terminated - we thought that it wouldn't hurt for them to apply.  We all said that even if they only received $50 each it would be worth it.

This weekend we received news from IU that we had hoped for, but weren't expecting.  Cal was given $1500 from the Cares Act to use toward rent and utilities.  That along with the return of his I-Bucks account would go along way to pay his summer expenses.  Meg's response was a little different.  Instead of a grant, she received a $4500 loan from the US Department of Education that she would be able to use for her summer classes and part of her fall tuition as well.  That was a blessing to us especially since IU had already refunded $1700 for her room and board and Kelley had credited her $250 for program fees.  Doug and I were extremely thankful for the help and impressed with the process.

To Mask or Not to Mask . . .

I have stayed away from social media during the pandemic.  The amount of misinformation, finger pointing and ugliness that has been posted has done nothing to ease my anxiety during this crisis.  I made an exception yesterday, however, as the posts became funnier and funnier.  It all started with the St. Joseph county council passing an ordinance that everyone in the county would have to wear a mask in public.  They felt that this was a safe solution to following Governor Holcomb's guidelines to opening the state of Indiana.  Not everyone agreed and the decision started a war between those who felt that this violated their rights as an individual and those who believed that public health dictated the necessity of facial coverings.

 As the day wore on some of the posts got ugly with a lot of name calling and blaming, but none of them made me unnerved.  I realized that everyone was just frustrated with the current situation due to the health crisis.  In the end I actually found it funny that so many people were posting about something that they could not control.  There were those who felt that the entire pandemic was a political scam and those who were sure that every one of us would die at the hands of Coronavirus.  Being forced to wear masks just seemed to be the last straw for the social media crowd.

I honestly don't know if wearing a mask will help and I definitely don't feel that calling someone a name on FaceBook will solve our current situation.  I do realize that the economy has been hit hard by the stay at home orders and a compromise needs to be found for all.  If that means wearing a mask, then that's what the Heinisch family will do.  For those who won't follow the order as it infringes upon their "freedom", I would love to tell them that freedom is not an absolute.  There are rules that must be followed or consequences will occur.  Passing a law requiring the publice to wear a mask is no different than having a speed limit or no smoking ordinaces.  I realize that posting this on social media will not change anyone's minds, so I'll just quietly keep my opinion to myself.  As I reminded Meg and Cam today:

Like Mike, If I Could Be Like Mike

Sunday night at 9:00 p.m. has become Doug's favorite time of the week.  ESPN released a ten part documentary three weeks ago on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls and Doug has absolutely loved it.  Remembering what a big Bulls fan Doug was during that time period, I wasn't surprised by how much he loved the series.  I was surprised, however, by how much the rest of us enjoyed it as well.  Cal has texted multiple times about his thoughts on Jordan and the Bulls over the past three weeks.  My parents have talked about watching it and remembering how excited Doug was when the Bulls won all six of their championships.  Brett and Cam even joined in on the action watching it as well.

In thinking back I remembered a lot from that time period, but was glad to have Doug around at commercials to ask questions about the NBA in the 1990s.  Michael said before the documentary aired that a lot of people would not like him after watching it.  We haven't felt that way.  We realize that very few individuals were as big as he was and we couldn't even imagine what it would feel like to have that much attention all of the time.  I thought it was funny that he admitted outright that he did not like Isiah Thomas.  I understood why with all of the issues with the Pistons in the 1980s, but couldn't believe that he said it.  Cal texted today that he was surprised by all of the negativity surrounding Jordan's gambling.  We weren't that shocked as that was a hot topic twenty-five years ago.  Tonight's episode was bitter sweet as it discussed his relationship with Kobe Bryant and featured an interview with him shortly before he died.  Overall, I wasn't sure what to expect, but have been happy that we have all enjoyed the Michael Jordan series.  It was exactly what we needed to fill the void left from lack of televised sports.

What a Gorgeous Spring Day!

Today was absolutely gorgeous.  The temperature was in the seventies and the sun shone bright all day long.  All of us took advantage of the beautiful day and spent as much of it as possible outside.  Doug and I both had a few projects to work on in the yard.  It was so nice just to be out in the sun.  Nick brought Millie over around 2:30 and he, Cam and Meg took her for a walk up to the high school.  Millie seemed to enjoy the attention and we were glad to see her again.

Cam left to play golf with Grandma and Grandpa at 4 p.m. keeping a safe six feet away from them while on the course.  We were happy that he was able to return to his favorite sport and it were glad that all of the golfers took social distancing seriously.  No one touched a pin or rode in the same cart while Cam was there.  He was proud of his 45 especially with the way he started on one - a whiffed drive and an errant sideways shot.  While he was gone Doug and I took a walk around our neighborhood.  It actually felt really warm.  Meg and Nick decided to take Millie on a walk around Oakwood.  They were glad to spend time with her, but weren't impressed with the social distancing skills of the people around them.  They decided that they probably wouldn't go back to that area for awhile.

Last night Doug and I ordered a fire pit from Ace Hardware.  We had decided that we wanted to move our nightly bonfires closer to the house.  It was delivered on our porch this afternoon and Doug had it ready to use by dusk.  We were really impressed with it.  We made an area for it where our old garden was and enjoyed our first bonfire tonight with Cam and Meg.  It was the perfect way to end a wonderful day!!!

Phase 2

Today was one of anticipation for all in the Hoosier state.  It was the day that Governor Holcomb was to address the stay at home order that was to expire at midnight.  There was a lot of speculation on what he would say or do during his daily update on COVID-19 in Indiana.  Since Michigan, Illinois and Ohio Governors had extended the stays in their states for at least two more weeks, some felt that Holcomb would do the same.  Others were sure that he would lift the order all together.  Both Doug and I decided to watch his speech at 2:30 this afternoon so as not to get the news secondhand.

In the end we were all impressed by his decision.  The governor said that we were done with Phase 1 which was more of a lock down stage and were starting Phase 2 on Monday May 4th with some loosening of restrictions to start that day and even more on the 11th.  Three counties in the state would still remain in Phase 1 as they had been hit hardest by the pandemic.  All Hoosiers over 65 or who had health issues were asked to remain in Phase 1 until May 24th as they were the ones most at risk of a deadly outcome from the virus.  He had four specific data points that he was able to convey in the press conference that helped him to arrive at this decision and hoped to move everyone into Phase 3 on the 24th as well.  There were five phases in total all aimed at opening up more and more of the state.  Social distancing was to continue in all five of the phases until a vaccine or cure was found.

Cam, Meg, Doug and I all talked tonight about our thoughts on the changes to the stay at home order. We realized that it was drastically different than other states in the midwest, but wasn't the complete re-opening that Georgia decided to go with this week.  We were happy with the plan even if our state was being called the guinea pig state.  We all realized that the economy has to get back on track if we as a nation are to survive.  We decided that our family would take a hybrid approach to the phases and continue our own stay at home order next week before easing up a little on our household restrictions.  Governor Holcomb said that there would be more deaths, so we will watch the numbers and use those to make more decisions in the future as our state gets "back on track."  For now just the thought that Meg and Cam might be able to order Moe's on the 13th was a happy one for both.