An All Nighter - Almost

Doug spent the week working in Florida.  When he booked his flights, he decided to try flying home on Thursday night instead of Friday morning.  With all of the cancellations recently, he was skeptical that he would get out this evening, but after only a half hour delay on the tarmac at Orlando he was on his way to Indianapolis with the arrival time of 12:47 a.m.

Knowing that Doug really wanted to drive home tonight instead of staying in Indy, I decided to do my best to stay up until he got here.  I was up late last night watching Downton Abbey so that I could sleep in today.  I also came up with some projects that I could work on late this evening  to keep me busy when I got tired.  It really helped that Cameron came home tonight at 10 p.m. and wanted to play Euchre and also that my parents were ready for a late night activity as well.  That kept me busy until 11:30 p.m. 

Doug called when he got on I-465 to let me know that he was on his way home with the expected arrival time of 4 a.m.  He had slept on the plane, so he told me that I didn't have to stay up.  I really wanted to try, however, as I thought that would help if he needed some one to talk to on his drive.  Around 2 a.m. I wasn't sure that I would be able to stay awake, but after talking to Doug several times, watching a few Law & Orders and working on some of the projects that I had lined up it was soon 3:30.  By that time Doug was well past Sidney and thankfully had not been detoured by a stopped train.  He had stopped for a big pop at Casey's in Peru and had listened to Rocky 3 on the Rewatchables.  Both of those activities and our several phone calls made his trip home a lot easier.  I was more than happy to see him when he arrived.  He wasn't quite ready for bed, but I definitely was glad to say "Goodnight!"  

The Drive Home

Cameron, Brett and I all slept in this morning.  Brett said that he was still sore when he woke up.  I cut his hair once we got up and around, and then we played several rounds of Exploding Kittens.  That went better than Monopoly, although Brett and I never won a game.  Brett ran to get Doug's birthday gift afterward while Cameron and I packed the Pilot for the trip home.  

We all met at Big Woods for lunch.  It wasn't very crowded and we enjoyed a nice meal together.  We discussed several recent topics in the news while we waited for our food.  The sandwiches were delicious and Brett tried a few of their beers as well.

After lunch we headed to "Hoosier Putt Hole."  Cameron had challenged us all to a round of miniature golf.  He soon took the lead, but the match remained close between Brett and I.  Brett ended up beating me by one.  It was a lot of fun.

Cameron and I left from Ellettsville for home around 3 p.m.  Doug and I had decided to let Cameron drive.  We felt that he needed experience driving on I-465.  That way if he ever needed to travel on it on his own, he would have at least done it once.  I was impressed with how well he did.  Cameron's driven a lot this past year and he was more than capable of handling the four lane road.  The only down part of the trip was when Meg called to complain about Cameron getting to drive on 465 before she did.  We made her wait until she was 19.  Brett said that he was 20, so she had nothing to complain about.  I decided to stay out of the debate.  I was just very glad that Cameron had risen to the challenge and that we had arrived home safely.  

Holiday World

Brett and Cameron left this morning at 9 for the two hour drive to Holiday World.  They texted me multiple times throughout the day to let me know that they were having a lot of fun.  They also sent pictures from all four holiday themed lands.  They rode on multiple roller coasters and several intense spinning rides.  They even took a turn on a turkey shooting ride.  They both said that it was lame, but they enjoyed it just the same.  For lunch they had funnel cakes and fried Reese's.  Cameron said that he regretted that on the ride home.  They made it back to Bloomington close to 10 p.m.  They were exhausted, but made time to show me their souvenirs, before relaxing for the night.  Cameron was proud of his new bucket hat.  He and Brett also bought matching t-shirts.  Overall, it was a great day and I was extremely glad that they went.  I greeted them with breadsticks from Pizza X when they returned.  Cameron was happy for some "real food."

While Brett and Cameron were busy, I spent the day organizing Brett's bedroom.  He had asked me several times since December if I could help him.  I was glad that I finally had a day to do so.  Normally, he kept his door closed when we were visiting.  He had been using the room as a catch all for everything that he couldn't find a place for in the rest of the apartment.  It took me about seven hours, but I got it all done.  I reorganized the top of his dressers.  I changed up some of the drawers as well.  I also unloaded a few tubs and cleaned out the closet.  In the end it looked very nice.  I did take some time off to run errands and watch Wimbledon.  I even picked up KFC for lunch.  Overall, it was a great day to be in Bloomington.

Heading to B-Town

Several months ago Brett asked me if I thought Cameron would be interested in going to Holiday World with him.  As I didn't know Cameron's schedule for the summer at that time, we decided to wait until closer to June to decide.  Cameron and I talked a few weeks ago and he was definitely up for a trip to Santa Claus, Indiana.  He had never been to Holiday World and wanted to give it a try.  We made plans to go to Bloomington today and stay for a few days.  Doug was going to be in Florida working that week so the timing was perfect.

Cameron and I left this afternoon for his second road trip of the week.  I let Cameron pick the music and we listened to Juice Wrld, Drake, Post Malone and more.  We also started the Rocky III Rewartchable.  That was very entertaining.  Brett got off work early tonight and we arrived just as he did.  It took a little while to unload the Pilot, but within a half an hour of pulling into his parking lot we were back on the road to Mother Bears.  It was absolutely deserted when we arrived and we soon had ordered a 10 inch Paulie Pine Nuts and a 10 inch chicken, feta, bacon pizza.  The food was delicious.  I enjoyed listening to Brett and Cameron talk about anything and everything.

I suggested Monopoly when we got back to Brett's apartment.  Cameron and I instantly regretted it.  Cameron jumped out to a big lead, but soon found himself bankrupt due to a couple of bad rolls.  It didn't take much longer for Brett to wipe me out as well.  Thankfully, we had a few We Bares Bears episodes to watch.  That was definitely a lot more fun for Cameron and I.  

A Weekend On Our Own

Cameron had plans for lunch on Friday and played golf early in the evening with Evan but said that he would be home that night to play Oh Hell.  He arrived just as Doug was finishing getting dinner ready and said, "Hey, Breece is at the Goshen College tennis courts, so I'm heading over there."  We had to laugh as we would have been surprised if he had stayed home.  Meg was the exact same way between her junior and senior year.

Once Cameron got home from tennis, he asked us if we would be ok with he, Samuel and Avery driving to Westfield to watch Jordan's soccer team play in regionals.  Jordan's family had offered for them to stay in their hotel Saturday night, so they could see the games on Sunday as well.  We thought it would be great for them to support Jordan.  They definitely had a lot of fun as they not only watched soccer, but played miniature golf and went out to eat several times as well.  

Cameron wasn't the only Heinisch busy this weekend.  Meg went out with the interns on Friday night and enjoyed visiting with everyone.  Nick came up for the day on Saturday.  It rained all day, but they were still able to take the train up to Wrigleyville and went out to eat several times before Nick had to leave.  Cal also enjoyed all that Chicago had to offer this weekend.  He had several friends come up for a visit.  They hung out on his rooftop deck and went out on Wells Street.  Brett enjoyed Friday night with Sean and Norman watching movies and catching up on the latest news.  He then did the same with Andrew on Saturday evening.  

With everyone busy, Doug and I had a weekend on our own.  We worked on a few projects, took several long walks, listened to our favorite vinyls, played Ticket to Ride along with several matches of corn hole, and watched Fatal Attraction outside on the big screen.  We also talked to Uncle Phil multiple times debating the best musical artists of the 1980s as well as our favorite movies.  It was definitely strange to spend the weekend with just Doug and I, but we did have fun.  Guess we'll have to get used to this as soon it will be that way everyday.

Roe v. Wade

Yesterday a news feed flashed across my iPhone announcing that Roe v. Wade had been overturned by the Supreme Court.  I shouldn't have been surprised as there had been a lot of talk about that happening this June.  I just honestly never thought that in my life time that it would occur.

Soon after the announcement, Meg started texting me.  There were a lot of memes, Tik Toks and Instagram posts slamming the decision.  One thing that surprised me from all of this was the fact that many in Meg's generation didn't understand that abortion was still legal, it just now became a states rights issue and not a federal mandate.  

That wasn't the only misinformation popping up on social media.  Several women argued that entoptic pregnancies could only be ended by abortion and now all of those women would die or that women who traveled to states that allowed abortions would be arrested when they returned home.  From my research, none of this seemed to be true.  Even in Utah, which had proposed the most restrictive abortion laws, exceptions were made for health concerns of the mother and victims of rape or incest.  Only doctors could be arrested for performing abortions outside of the states laws, not the mothers.

The other statement that I just couldn't understand was "My Body, My Choice."  In my opinion that totally negated the fact that the baby didn't have a choice with its body.  Even if the mother did not believe that a fetus was a baby until birth, didn't these women understand that they did have a choice?  They did not have to have unprotected sex.  That was definitely within their control.

Overall, I decided long ago not to have an opinion about abortion.  The topic was way too polarizing.  I do believe in what Pope Francis said about the ruling.  He said that being pro-life was not being anti-abortion.  It was to value all life including the health of the mother.  He also stated that being pro-life meant being in favor of laws to stop gun violence which had become one of the leading causes of death in children.  He said that it meant to be anti-death penalty and pro-adoption.  Those were all statements that I could get behind.  

A Surprise Afternoon Off

Doug called this morning to let me know that he was thinking of taking a half day off.  The power was out in Ocala, so most of his meetings had been cancelled.  He was caught up on his work and was ready for a break.  He didn't have to ask me twice.  I was glad to have him home on this beautiful day.  

I asked Doug on his way home what he wanted to do with his free afternoon.  He gave me a list of everything he wanted to accomplish - drop off Phil's rings at the jewelers, put another coat on the basement bathroom,  and work on the yard were just a few of the items on his to-do list.  I wasn't surprised to hear his agenda, but was glad that he also added take a walk, play Ticket to Ride, have a bonfire and grill out.  

Doug managed to accomplish all that he set out to do plus one more activity.  Last night he casually asked me who would win in a game of corn hole, him or I?  I think I might have laughed out loud when he asked the question.  Doug wasn't known for his mastery of the backyard game.  I was a little nervous when we played this afternoon, however, as all of the Heinisch children had let me know that it would be absolutely embarrassing if I lost.  Thankfully, I was able to rise to the challenge with a 21-3 victory.  In the end Doug didn't mind losing, he was just incredibly happy to have the afternoon off from work.  

Checking Out at 70

Cameron told me a couple of days ago that he thought that living past 70 would be too much for him.  In his opinion he felt that once someone hit their 70s that all they did was read the obituaries, talk about their health issues and complain about the weather.  He thought that you ought to be able to "check out" once you got to that age.  I had to laugh when he told me this.  I realized that he would probably feel different once he reached his 60s, but for now could understand how he arrived at that opinion.  

Cameron had spent a lot of time with my parents growing up and now that he was the only Heinisch child left in the house he got to spend even more time with them and us.  Last week I drove him nuts when I talked about all of the downed trees from the intense storm we had.  He has banned all talk about the weather and has even given orders that he will not receive any more snacks from anyone.  

I told my group of friends what Cameron thoughts were.  They thought it was funny.  Grandpa Cutes got a laugh out of it as well, especially when we reminded him about flinging his teeth across the Mexican restaurant floor on Mother's Day.  I'm not sure that Grandma Jane enjoyed Cameron's opinion, but that didn't get him to change it any.  I am glad that he enjoys his youth and hope that he continues to appreciate it for many more years to come.

Luncheon

A couple of weeks ago, I texted Mary to see if she was free for lunch anytime soon.  She suggested this week and asked if I wanted to contact a few of our other friends as well.  Paula, Wendy and Betsy agreed to join us at Oakwood this afternoon.  I was incredibly glad to see everyone.  I enjoyed listening to all that they had going on in their lives.  Paula had a new position at Wawasee.  Mary talked about Deea's upcoming wedding.  Betsy was starting to deal with the reality that after next year her house would be empty, and Wendy filled us in on all of that she had been doing with her dogs.  

I talked a lot about the past month in the Heinisch home - the ups and the downs.  I appreciated all of their support and thoughts on several issues that we had been dealing with lately.  I was also thankful for their excitement for the success of our children.  Paula gave me a lot of tips on what to do with Cameron as he continues his journey dealing with Richard's death.  Grief was something that she knew only too well.  All in all it was a fantastic lunch and I can't wait to do it again.  

A Tough Couple of Days

Last night Cameron played in the weekly tennis league.  He was paired at singles against Northridge's best player.  Cameron lost 6-1, 6-1.  Even with the score we were impressed with how he played as his opponent was far superior to anyone else we had seen this summer.  Cameron walked over to me after his loss and just started sobbing.  I instantly knew that it wasn't tennis that was bothering him.  Thus, I wasn't surprised when he said that he just wasn't in the right frame of mind to play.  Cameron said that he cried all of the way over to Nappanee.  He couldn't stop thinking about Richard. Cameron had bought a new album from their favorite rapper.  We had listened to it this afternoon.  It had triggered a lot of memories for Cameron.  All I could tell him after his match was that I was sorry.  I had no words to alleviate the pain that he had been going through this past month.  All I could do was cry with him.  I was incredibly thankful that Daniel realized that the best solution for Cameron was to pair him with Breece for the next match.  The competition wouldn't be as fierce and Cameron would not have as much time to think.  It definitely helped.

 Cameron had a golf match this afternoon that didn't go his way either.  He played well, but had five balls out of bounds.  That knocked him out of contention for qualifying for the state tournament.  I felt awful for him.  He seemed to handle it well, but later in the day he said that he became extremely overwhelmed on hole number four.  Thankfully, he remembered a tip that one of his doctors gave him - "You can't control your emotions, but you can control how you react to them."  That was fantastic advice and I was glad that Cameron was able to remember it as it made a huge difference in his day.

This evening, Cameron and I talked a lot about his feelings over the past few days.  We had some great conversations from everything to gun control, to death, to life, to prescription drug use, to friendships.  We didn't solve any of the world's problems, but in the end we both came to realize that there was no shortcut to grief and from now on we wouldn't look for one. 

Hard Work Paying Off

Last night Doug told me that the best part of Father's Day was seeing how well his own children were doing managing life.  I thought a lot about what he said, especially after Cal called today to tell us about his positive performance evaluation at work.  Our children have all been successful and I am very proud of the four of them.  

Over the years I have come to realize that a large part of their success revolves around the positive influence that Doug has been on their life.  He has been supportive and encouraging of them from day one.  He has been their coach, their mentor and at times their voice of reason.  He has worked hard in his career to pay for their needs, including their college expenses.  He wanted each of his children to walk out of their college graduation debt free with a car to drive.  Doug knew from experience that having those needs met would help greatly for them in the future.  

During Doug first years post college he didn't have loans to pay off, but he did have to buy a car, pay rent at home and come up with money for his car insurance as soon as he graduated.  Those expenses were tough on his tight budget.  Much like Cal, he didn't start working right away as he studied for the CPA.  He worked for my parents that summer, saving up as much as he could. 

Over the years, it has been challenging at times to fund those expenses because costs have increased greatly from when we were in college.  We have budgeted and done without to make it work.  I have always been impressed with how Doug was willing to work multiple jobs so that we could pay for their education while allowing me to stay at home to be an integral part of our children's lives.  He has also made it a priority to enjoy life with his children outside of our daily routine.  We have taken some wonderful trips over the years and have spent countless hours with our children.  Overall, Doug's role as father has been nothing less than impressive and I am so incredibly blessed to have been the mother of his children.  I know that they feel the same way.  Meg said it best yesterday when she posted this beloved picture with the capture, "Happy Father's Day to my biggest role model."  

Happy Father's Day!

Doug had a wonderful time celebrating Father's Day.  First thing this morning Brett called him to wish him a fantastic day.  He was still excited about yesterday's convention and talked to Doug about that before heading off to work.  Cameron, Doug and I left Syracuse at 9:30 a.m. for Chicago.  We had the Pilot filled with everything that Meg still needed.  She had spent her first week in a dorm room and was happy now to have a studio apartment all to herself.  It had a full kitchen, a bigger bed, a private bathroom a desk and a chair.  It was located on the top floor of the building.  Needless to say, she was extremely happy with the arrangement.

We made it to Meg's around 11 a.m.  She and Nick met us in the parking lot.  We got everything to her building in one trip.  We couldn't go up, but she promised to FaceTime us at some point and show us her place. Once they took everything to her apartment, we went on a long walk around the city.  We stopped by the Art Museum and Bean before crossing the Chicago River.  

After our walk, we headed up to Cal's new apartment in Old Town.  It was on the fifth floor of a 1920s building.  We really liked the area and his place.  It had a living room, dining room, kitchen, three bedrooms and two bathrooms.  There was a large deck outside that was perfect for hanging out on or even playing corn hole.  We had Doug open his gifts from Meg and Cal while we were there.  He got a kick out of the Gettysburg Battlefield Tour CD that Cal gave him.  It was from one of our trips long ago.  Cal had absolutely hated listening to it.  Meg found him a Blue's Clues salt and pepper shaker set complete with paprika.  He loved it.

Cal took us to a coffee and wine bar for lunch called 3rd Coast Cafe.  I wasn't sure when I walked in what the menu would be, but we really liked it.  They had a mixture of breakfast foods, sandwiches, tacos and quesadillas.  Everyone was pleased with their food.  Meg even tried a mimosa and Nick tried a pimosa (made with pineapple juice.).   We then walked around Cal's neighborhood.  It was very nice. It was close to Wells street and not too far from the south end of Lincoln Park.  

We left Chicago around 5 p.m.  We had to drop Nick in Wakarusa, but still made it home well before 8 p.m.  After dinner, Doug opened his gifts from Cameron, Brett and I.  They were perfect for the head of our household - five different hot sauces to try from Cameron, Dwayne Johnson Tequila from Brett and a bag of snacks and candy from me.  We invited Grandma and Grandpa up to play Oh Hell.  Grandpa loved his Father's Day gifts as well - licorice, circus peanuts and a Chicago coffee mug.  Overall, it was a wonderful Father's Day.  Doug said that he couldn't ask for anything more.

Convention Time

In November, Brett was elected as delegate to represent Monroe County for Republican Party at the state convention.  His best friend, Sean, was also chosen to be a delegate along with several people that Brett knew from around the state.  Today's convention was held in Indianapolis and was an exciting day for him.  He texted multiple times during the day to give us updates and send pictures.  We were both glad to hear that the two candidates that he supported, one for State Treasurer and the other for Secretary of the State of Indiana, had won their nomination.  

Brett called afterward and talked non-stop about his day.  From getting up early, to taking pictures with politicians and friends, to the number of ballots that each person needed to win.  The closest race was the treasurer with Eliot only winning by three votes.  I had followed a lot of the races with him as the state Republican party had my phone number instead of his, so they would text me the information and I would send it on to him.  We tried to change that, but couldn't.  In the end, I was glad to be involved.  Several times I would get survey calls during the day.  I could answer them while Brett was working and fill them out with his opinions.  

As much fun as I had being a part of this with Brett and listening to his update tonight, my favorite interaction actually came from Sean.  Once Brett's phone battery died, he used Sean's to text me the results.  In the middle of the information, I got a text that said, "This is Sean!  And now that I have your number I will spam cute baby pictures!" That was definitely alright with me.  

Making Progress

Doug has worked for two to three hours every night in our backyard cleaning up the debris and fallen trees from Monday nights storm.  Thankfully, Kosciusko REMC cut down some of the trees in the lot, but that still left quite a few logs, branches and sticks to remove.  Doug has a small chainsaw which has helped a lot with the smaller trees and branches, but has made no difference in dissecting the largest tree or the tree stump on the side of the house.  

Tonight, Doug started a fire as soon as he got home from work.  The sticks that I picked up on Tuesday worked out perfectly for kindling and he soon had a nice bonfire going.  He spent  the rest of the evening adding branches to the fire and moving large logs to the lot.  I was extremely impressed with how much he got done.  By the end of the evening I had all of the bird feeders and potted plants moved to new spots in the yard and he had almost everything burned.  We even had time for two games of Ticket to Ride before nightfall.  We will still need some type of help with the large tree and plan to have Hoosier Tree Service take out three of the more daunting looking trees, but overall our backyard looked a lot better.  I still can't believe all of the damage.  

All of the inside cleaning that I did this week and the outside work that Doug accomplished as well, confirmed my opinion that we need to move to a smaller home once Cameron graduates from high school.  I love this home and it has served the Heinisch family well, but I know that Doug and I would benefit from the added time that downsizing would afford us.  I love spending time together, but would prefer to do it outside of manual labor tasks.  I also realize that this house and yard will feel even bigger once Cameron goes away to college.  I wasn't sure that I would ever be ready to leave our home, but in the past year, I have come to see why it's important to do it sooner rather than later.  Otherwise the work will become so overwhelming that we may never leave.  It will be sad to leave, but the storm on Monday definitely reaffirmed to me that our decision to move in 2023 is a good one.   

Mammogram

I had scheduled my Mammogram on Monday, but had to move it to today because it was the only day that Dr. Freeze had available for Cameron's sports physical.  Cameron heard me pre-registering on the phone yesterday and asked me what a mammogram actually was.  None of the boys or even Doug for that matter had ever questioned the procedure, but I could see with Cameron's interest in science wanting to know.  He thought it would be more like a MRI.  I explained the x-ray machine that they used and told him that MRI's and ultrasounds were only for women who were high risk or already had breast cancer.  I also said that I thought the worst part was the skin that they pinched during the procedure.  I told him about the memes that I had read stating that if men had to have their intimate area squished once a year than all cancer would be cured.  He followed up with "All women are good for is cleaning and cooking."  We both laughed at that and I left for Warsaw.

Normally, I have had very little wait time in the women's imaging department at KCH.  This year, however, I was there about twenty minutes before they called me back.  It gave me time to think about how fortunate I have been to never have had a lump or even a call back for something suspicious looking on the x-ray.  I knew that wasn't the case for a lot of women.  Maybe that's why I never minded getting a mammogram.  I didn't enjoy the process, but knew it was important.  I also didn't think that I should complain about it when many women received devastating news afterward.  The procedure was quick as always which I appreciated.  Soon I was on my way to the grocery store, thankful for having being done with this routine test for another year.  

I am not Getting Out of Bed for Three Days

Today, Cameron played in his second tournament in as many days.  This one was at Beechwood in LaPorte.   The drive was longer than usual, but the tee time was in Central time, so we didn't have to get up as early.  Cameron felt pretty good about it when he arrived.  He had shot a 93 there last year and definitely wanted to do better than that.  He was disappointed that so few people were playing once again, but didn't let that bother him.  He just said that he liked it better when there were 20+ in his age group instead of less than ten.  

Cameron started off well, hitting the ball straight.  The course was tight, so I knew that would make a big difference in how he scored.  He liked the player that he was paired with for the match.  His mom was nice too, which made the day more enjoyable.  Grandma had rode along with us and got a cart.  I appreciated that as it was hot today and I would be able to sit down for part of the round.  

In the end, Cameron did break 93.  He shot 88 which was good enough for fifth place.  He was disappointed in his play on the day, especially in his approach shots.  I could see where he thought that, but a lost ball and an uncharacteristic four putt were the difference for him between 1st and 5th.  The course played tough today with the extreme heat, slow play (they teed a ladies league off in front of the tournament), and rock hard greens.  Either way, I was glad that he had played the last two days and was thankful for a break from the sport tomorrow.

On the way home we stopped at Portillo's for a late lunch.  Cameron enjoyed that and Doug appreciated the "Big Beef" that we brought home for him.  While we were driving, Cameron said that he was absolutely exhausted.  He planned to "go to bed as soon as he got home and not get up for three days."  I told him that I thought it was a good idea.  I mentioned it to Doug when he arrived home.  We both laughed as we knew that wouldn't last.  Sure enough, about an hour and a half after we arrived, Cameron walked downstairs and said, "I've changed my mind.  I'm going to go to tennis tonight."  Neither of us were surprised.  

What A Mess!

 Last night Doug and I spent the evening at the Northwood High School tennis courts.  We had a lot of fun watching Cameron play, especially when he was paired with Breece at number one doubles.  We were a little disappointed when the match ended early due to lightening.  The good news was that Cameron and Breece won, the bad news was the storm that followed the lightening.

The three of us arrived home about five minutes ahead of the predicted severe thunderstorm.  As we walked in the house, the power flipped on and off.  I had heard a transformer blow miles from our house and was glad that it hadn't affected us.  That all changed several minutes later.  As Doug was looking out the back window, he saw sparks fly.  A large tree in our backyard had come down on the power line.  My excitement about having electricity was gone and we started to make plans for what to do next.

The storm stayed strong until 10:30 p.m.  Cameron had an early morning tee time at Meadowvalley, so he and I decided to stay at Grandma's.  It was hard getting up at 6 a.m. after all of the excitement last night.  Cameron decided to play, however.  I was glad to hear that.  I had planned on meeting him after nine and walking the back with him.  Once I saw the damage in our backyard, I asked my Dad if he could go to Middlebury instead.  It was extremely hot out today and I wanted to make sure that someone checked on Cameron.  I was glad that he and Grandma could make the trip.

Doug waited until I got home at 7:30 a.m. this morning to leave.  Not only was a big tree down, but two others were as well.  Dozens of big branches had fallen as well as hundreds of sticks.  The biggest tree was hanging on the Mediacom cable line.  It looked as those the tree just missed the electric line, but we found out later from our neighbor that REMC had fixed the line late last night.  Doug had slept through the noise.  Before Doug left for work, he called Hoosier Tree Service, REMC, Mediacom and Farm Bureau Insurance.  Once he pulled out of the drive, I started working on the yard.  I took a break at 10:30 and felt like I hadn't even made a dent in the cleanup effort.  

Cameron arrived home in the mid-afternoon.  He was absolutely exhausted, but pleased with his second place finish.  He was even happier that he got to play with one of his long time friends on the junior tour circuit.  Grandma and Grandpa took him to lunch at Essen Haus to celebrate.  He spent the evening at Samuel's making good use of their swimming pool.

REMC arrived around 3:30 this afternoon.  They made plans to come out and take down the tree hanging on the cable line as well as a few others that might cause damage in the future.  I was glad to hear that.  Doug arrived shortly after they left and started work on the tree that fell in Kyle's yard.  Thankfully, Josh was able to help.  He had a bigger chainsaw than Doug.  I spent another hour picking up branches and sticks.  We did hear back from our insurance.  Our deductible for wind damage was too high to help with the tree clean up and they wouldn't pay for the downed fence as it was on Kyle's property.  Thus, they closed our claim.  Kyle's insurance would pay for the fence, but he thought that he could fix it without much issue.  

It was definitely a long day of clean up from the storm last night.  We would still have plenty to do for the next week or two.  We knew from the estimate from our tree guy that it would cost about $2500 to clear away the debris, stumps and take down a few more trees that look precarious.  Even with the long hours, hard work and extra costs ahead of us, Doug and I didn't really have any complaints.  We were just thankful that no one was hurt in the worst storm of the twenty-four years that we had lived here.