First Stop - Btown

After a very stressful morning of work, Doug was ready for a break this afternoon.  Thankfully, we had planned on leaving for Bloomington right after lunch.  The drive wasn't quite as quick as we had hoped.  Doug had to stop several times for work which didn't delay us very much.  The police officers on the road did, however, especially the ones on US 31.  Even with the added time, we made it to Cameron's open house at the Kelley School of Business in plenty of time to talk with multiple professors and to visit the career center.  I was impressed by the questions that Cameron asked and felt that we gained a lot of information about the different majors that could he chose.  The best part was that we found out that he didn't actually have to chose until his junior year.

After the open house, we picked up Meg and Nick for dinner.  We hadn't celebrated Meg's birthday in person with her yet and wanted to include Nick as well.  His 23rd birthday is on Monday.  Meg chose Social Cantina for her birthday meal.  Instead of dessert, she picked chips and queso.  We all enjoyed our food very much and loved catching up with everyone.  

Once dinner was over, we stopped at Meg's so that she and Nick could open their birthday gifts.  Cameron gave her a Squishmallow and earrings.  Doug bought her a new pair of Tevas.  I found a dress that she really liked and Cal chose a book from her favorite author.  Nick also got a pair of shoes from us and some birthday money from Grandma Jane.  Once all of the gifts were handed out, we played a few rounds of Herd Mentality before heading to Brett's.

Doug and I had just enough time to unload the Pilot before Brett got home from a Young Republicans meeting.  Meg, Cameron and Nick arrived shortly afterward, ready to play Chameleon and Loud Librarian.  Both games were a lot of fun and kept us busy until close to 11 p.m.  Meg called as soon as she got back to her apartment to let us know that there was a tornado warning.  The three of them took cover in the laundry building while I hung out under Brett's stairs.  Doug and Brett weren't really worried about the tornado, but Brett did join me to keep me company for the twenty minutes that the sirens were wailing.  Thankfully, the severe weather went north of us and by 11:30 p.m. we were all back safely in the apartments watching Prisoner of Azkaban.  Even though the day started off stressful for Doug and ended up scary to me, overall we had a wonderful time in Bloomington.  

Spring Break #2

Cameron and I were so exited last night that we had made it to his Spring Break.  A month ago it felt as though we would never make it.  March had been one of the longest months ever, especially with the dreary weather.  It was nice to know that we could sleep in this week and travel to a few places in the midwest that Cameron had wanted to visit without killing ourselves.  Cameron would also be able to play golf and hang out with his friends for part of the week as well.  

Cameron spent his first afternoon of Spring Break at the golf course practicing his chipping and putting.  Alina rode back to our house with him.  They played pool, looked at pictures for Cameron's graduation slide show and watched the first Captain Underpants movie as she had never seen it.  Doug made spaghetti for everyone and then we all played Skip Bo.  After Alina left for home, Doug and I watched The Quiet Man while Cameron enjoyed some much needed free time.  Overall, it was a wonderful, relaxing first day of Spring Break.  

There Has to be an End One Day

Today, I had the tedious project of painting the front door.  I knew that it would take longer than the one leading to the garage, but never planned on it taking five and a half hours.  The trim was impossible to paint and the light coming in from the windows made it very hard to see.  I wasn't sure at first if I would ever be able to finish it, but by 5 p.m. I had two coats of paint on the door, cleaned up the area and had even finished painting some areas that were missed on the walls from our weekend painting.  The project was so overwhelming that I asked Doug to say that the door looked great even if it didn't.  Thankfully, he and Cameron both thought it looked nice.  Cameron also said that he liked the new color choices for the walls and doors.  I was glad to hear that as it had been a lot of work to transform those areas.

I listened to Father Mike during the first couple hours of my painting.  He talked about how blessed laborers were as they were still doing God's work even if it wasn't inside of the church.  I told Meg that I appreciated the sentiment, especially today, but what I really wanted for him to say was, "Doing household projects to get your house ready to sell absolutely sucks!"  We both agreed that probably wasn't he should say as a priest, but today I would have enjoyed it.

When Doug and I talked about all of the items that we would have to do to get the house ready, I had hoped that we would be able to hire a lot of them out.  That has been impossible with rising costs this year, especially those regarding food, gas and education expenses.  They have thrown off our budget this year and I haven't been able to put away anything extra for household projects.  With Doug working a lot more and traveling several times a month, the bulk of the projects have fallen on me.  I have tried to do everything that I can to save money and fix what needed repaired or updated myself.  I would have loved hiring someone to do the painting, but at least we are done and saved money so that if we have to pay someone to clean the outside of house, it won't be so hard on the budget.  During our phone call Meg reminded me that one day this will all come to an end.  I know that she is right, but it sure didn't feel like it today.

Another Sleepless Night

I have fallen into a terrible sleeping pattern that I wish that I could break.  I fall asleep just fine, but after four hours, I wake up due to the pain in my neck, shoulders, and hips.  In the past I was able to grab an ice pack for the back of my neck and then sleep in my chair until Cameron got up for school.  It hasn’t been the best way to sleep, but as long as I got six hours total, I was fine for the rest of the day.

That has changed lately.  I still fall asleep quickly and wake up after four hours, but I haven’t been able to fall back asleep even with an ice pack and my chair.  The lack of sleep has left me exhausted and anxious.  Last night it was so bad that I finally just got up and worked on my to-do list.  I did get a lot done, but didn’t feel the greatest the rest of the day.

Doug came down to check on me at a little bit before 6 a.m.  He was worried that something was wrong.  I decided not to tell him that part of the issue this morning was that the shooting in Tennessee was weighing heavily on my mind, making it impossible to sleep.  Since Richard was killed, I have realized that mass shootings trigger a sadness in me that I really don’t like to think about on a daily basis.  The pain that the families and friends of those who died in yesterday’s Nashville shooting was only beginning.  I knew that they would have a long way to go before they could function again or talk about their loved ones without wrenching in pain.  Gun violence would have an all new meaning for them.  I try very hard not to think about Richard’s death and focus on his life instead.  Today, I just couldn’t put those sad memories surrounding the circumstance of his death out of my mind.  

Thankfully, Cameron did not react the same way that I did.  I would never speak of his journey with grief as it is his story to share.  I can say as an observer, I love that Richard is still an important part of Cameron’s life.  His death is not the mainstay of his memory of their time together on this Earth.  It has taken Cameron a lot of work to get to that point in his grief journey.  I know that not everyone can get there.  I hope that the loved ones of those killed in Nashville are able to do so one day. 

Happy 80th Birthday Grandpa Cutes

 Today was Grandpa Cutes' 80th birthday.  Due to Doug and Cameron's work and school schedules, we decided that it would be best to celebrate last night.  Doug took us all to the Channel Marker for dinner.  We hadn't been there in years and everyone really enjoyed their meals.  We asked Grandpa about his radio days.  I didn't realize that he started working at WKAM the same year that the Beatles became big in the United States.  I told Cameron that I thought it was the perfect summer job and I was sure that the Heinisch children would have all liked working there as well.

After dinner we went back to our house to open gifts.  Brett gave Grandpa 80 orange slices to honor the day.  Cal followed suit with 80 "birthtees" for his golf game.  Cameron and Meg's gifts celebrated Grandpa's youth and their shared time in his beloved home town - a bottle of Pepsi and a big banana from Cameron and a Milford, Indiana long sleeve shirt from Meg.  I gave him a booklet of what had occurred on key years in his life - 1943, 1963, 1979, 1995 and 2020.  It was fun looking up all of the information and interesting to see the differences in music, news events, movies and more over the decades of his life.  We ended the evening playing our favorite card game - Oh Hell!  Instead of letting the octogenarian win, we destroyed him, sending him home with the last place bird.  

Today everyone in the Heinisch family wished him a happy birthday with either a text, phone call or social media post.  Grandpa said that he absolutely loved it all.  It was hard for all of us to believe that he was really 80 years old.  My Dad still looks like he did when our children were born and still has the same enthusiasm for hanging out with them as he did when they were little.  In fact, he and Cameron walked nine holes yesterday, enjoying a beautiful afternoon together.  I love that they all have a close relationship with their Grandpa, and I appreciate how much of a part of their lives that he has been.  Thankfully, he doesn't seem to have any signs of slowing down, so they'll be able to hang out with him for many more years to come.  

Painting Blues (or Greens)

When our realtor walked through out home a month ago, I thought that she would give us a lot of ideas about what we should do to get the house ready to sell.  Instead of doing that, she said that her company had a specialist who would meet with us and go through it all.  I was very nervous about meeting her as I wasn't sure what she would recommend.  We had already done a lot, I wasn't that excited about doing much more.  

Once we met with Andrea, I felt a lot better.  Most of her items were suggestions on what to have in each room and what to take out.  I was excited that she would bring accents, bedding, towels, and such to stage the house for pictures and showings.  She focused a lot on our backyard and we talked about easy landscaping ideas.  Everything that she suggested sounded doable, except for one - painting our large dining room, kitchen, and hallway.  Doug really didn't want to do it, but realized that it needed it.  

The first step was to pick a color.  Andrea suggested to use the one in our living room.  After looking at samples, however, we all agreed that it was too yellow.  Instead we found one that was cream with some highlights of green in it that we all liked.  She picked sage for the new door colors to match.

Doug had told me that it would be a lot of work to paint it all, especially around the custom built cabinets.  I didn't really realize how much time consuming it would all be until we got started Saturday morning.  Doug focused on the walls and I painted the trim and kitchen.  It was a lot harder than I thought that it would be.  The paint could not be easily cleaned off of the cabinets, so I had to be very careful around them.  I couldn't tape them as the paint would seep underneath, so at times I had to use a Q-Tip to get close to them.  Doug got so much more wall space painted than I did as it took me seven hours just to get a first coat on near the cabinets and in the kitchen.  I did cry once when I though that it was going to be impossible to finish one section, but thankfully, I eventually figure it out.  As we cleaned up today after well over twenty hours of painting, I definitely could see that it looked a lot better.  The two tone wall were gone, the color was neutral, the space looked even bigger, the kitchen walls were a lot cleaner and the sage door to the garage looked very nice.  We realized that the small bathroom on the main level would probably look better a different color, but for now we decided just to be happy with what we had done.  

A Fun Couple of Days for All

All of the Heinisch children have had a busy, yet fun couple of days.  Cameron spent Friday in Grand Rapids at Calvin University on a band field trip.   They played with a professor for several hours working on their individual instruments.  Then they went to an orchestra concert performed by Calvin's students.  It was a late night, but Cameron enjoyed it.  Today, he spent the day with Alina picking out a tux, shopping and hanging out at her house.  He did make it home in time to watch the last basketball game of the night, happy to announce that Houston and Alabama had both lost this afternoon.

Meg spent a quiet day with Nick yesterday .  She said that she needed it after a busy week of school and work.  They went to dinner and hung out at her apartment.  Tonight, Meg went out with her friends to celebrate her birthday.  Their theme was 1970s and Meg looked really cute in her crocheted top.  Nick had to fly in the morning, so he hung out at Brett's before he dropped the girls off at the bars.  Brett picked them up at 2 a.m. and enjoyed the conversation on the way back to Meg's apartment.

Cal spent his weekend in Michigan at a bachelor's party.  He texted several times to let us know that they were having a great time.  His favorite part was seeing the Northern Lights in person.  He sent us a photo and it was beautiful.  I was really glad that he decided to go on the trip as I know that he needed a break from Chicago for a few days.  

After spending all week getting his apartment ready for the new carpet, he was excited for a break from packing and unpacking.  He spent Friday night with Sean and Norman.  He also worked on the story that he had been writing.  He spent tonight with Nick, playing video games and just hanging out.  He was super excited about starting his new work schedule.  He will have tomorrow off and then will begin working Monday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.  That will be a lot better for him and give him time on the weekends to do a lot more.  

Girls Night at the Heinisch Home

My friends texted about a month ago asking what night in March worked best for a get together.  I instantly said March 24th as I knew that we would be in Florida for the two weekends beforehand.  That worked well with everyone else and tonight, Betsy, Wendy, Paula and Mary all arrived promptly at 6 p.m. for a nice of living conversation and catching up with one another.  

I hadn't seen any of my friends since October, so I especially enjoyed the get together.  We talked a lot about everyone's upcoming plans.  Wendy had had a grandson since I last saw her in the fall and planned to see him over spring break.  Betsy, Mary and I could all relate to one another as we talked about our last child graduating from high school.  Paula shared with everyone Alex's thoughts about maybe leaving Los Angeles for Miami.  The evening ended with a long discussion about the fate of Milford Middle School.  It was rumored to be closing at the end of this school year to combine with Wawasee Middle School.  Although, no one was sure about whether that would happen or not, everyone was positive that the school year had been filled with some angst due to the discussion.  

When the door close at 11:15 this evening, I was very happy to have visited with my friends.  They were the best part about being a teacher at Milford.  Even so, I was also glad that I was not longer teaching and could just be a bystander tonight as I would have hated to be a part of the drama revolving around the middle school situation this year.  Hopefully, it is all resolved by the next girls night out.

Urology - An Interesting Professional Choice

When Doug visited the oncologist in early February, she strongly suggested that he see a urologist due to his family history of prostate cancer.  Our family doctor had only performed PSA tests the last few years and although the numbers looked good, Dr. Denham didn't want to take any risks.  I realized that Doug wasn't be excited about going, but I had been worried about relying only on a family doctor's knowledge.  Thus, I was happy that Dr. Denham made the recommendation.

Today was Doug's scheduled visit and he asked me to go with him, so that someone else would be hearing the information about his risk of prostate cancer.  I was more than willing to go with him, but felt a little weird about it at first.  That subsided when we got there as I realized urologists are for women too and I had seen one after I had Brett.  

In the end I was very glad that I went as the visit was extremely informative.  We found out that Doug's risk of getting prostate cancer was still relatively low compared to the average male.  The type of cancer that he would most likely be diagnosed with, however, was more aggressive and wouldn't always show up in a PSA test.  That meant the dreaded internal exam, but at least we would know right away if there was a problem.  I was happy to hear that as we had learned from Phil that not only had Jeanette's Dad and brother had prostate cancer, but so had Carl, his brother, four of his uncles and his grandfather.  I had become a little more nervous about it since hearing that news.

Thankfully, I was able to leave the room before the exam.  I didn't have to wait too long before I heard Doug making an appointment for a year from now.  That was a relief as I knew that the test was normal. I called Meg on the way home as she had also been concerned.  She was glad to hear that all was well, but did have two questions.  The first one she wanted to know was "Who goes to med school and decides, hey, I think I'll be a urologist?  Why wouldn't they chose something fun, like pediatrics, or less invasive, like radiologist?"  I couldn't answer that one for her, but did have an answer to the next question that she asked, "So, after Dad's exam today, did he still think that having a q-tip shoved up his nose for a Covid test was the worst thing that could happen?"  I asked Doug for her and he said that after today he would prefer neither test.  Either way, I am glad that our urology appointment ended on a positive note. 

Happy 22nd Birthday, Miss Meg!

Today Meg celebrated her "Taylor Swift birthday" by turning 22.  She had really been looking forward to it and I am thrilled that she had such a wonderful day.  It began with Nick singing his own version of Happy Birthday to her at midnight and was followed by texts and messages from family and friends shortly afterward.  She still had to go to class during the day, but overall that was even fun as she attended her favorite one, History of the Blues.  

Tonight, Meg went to a new Italian restaurant in Greenwood with Carson, Maddy, Mallory and Stella.  They all loved it and as a special treat, Gabrielle met them there as well.  The girls took pictures together, enjoyed the Pope decorations, and had Meg try Sangria.  Overall, it was a lot of fun and I was so glad that she had this time together with her friends since we could not be there and Nick was flying.  

I talked to Meg several times throughout the day.  It was a lot of fun listening to her talk about her birthday.  She loved the 22 pictures that I posted on FaceBook, sending me ones that were her favorites.  She thought it was funny that Mrs. Mahnensmith wished "Miss Meg" a Happy Birthday as her favorite elementary teacher had been calling her that since first grade.   Meg also enjoyed Grandma's post,  Cameron's snapchat story, and all of the pictures that Grandpa sent her via text.  She heard from so many people today, even friends from middle school, that it really made her birthday feel special.   Meg said that 22 sounded so much older than 21 and she was more than ready for that.  I could definitely agree with her and was thrilled to hear that the first day of her 22nd year had started off in fantastic fashion.

Uncle Phil's 50th Birthday

Although we celebrated several weeks ago when we were in Ocala, today was Uncle Phil's actual 50th birthday.  Since we couldn't be there in person, we all texted him today instead.  When he called later in the night to check in with Doug about his favorite college football announcer of all time, I made sure to remind him that he needed to at least text Meg back.  She had mentioned several times that she was waiting for a response and I figured that he might want to know that.  He told us that he wasn't sure what to say, since he had heard from each of us.  He wanted each text to sound unique, but had run out of responses.  Thankfully, Doug's suggestion of "Nifty, nifty, look who's 50!" fell on deaf ears.  I told him that he didn't have to text me back, but I still wasn't going to buy the Rex Grossman jersey that he suggested I get when I move to Florida.  

I heard from everyone later in the evening that Uncle Phil had texted them all.  I was glad to hear that.  Phil has always been important to our children, so it has been a lot of fun having him living in Ocala.  Next year, at least Doug and I will be able to celebrate his 51st in person.  

Regrouping

Cal texted over the weekend to see if he could come home for a few days.  He just wanted to talk to Doug and I, regroup and hopefully rejuvenate.  Busy season had been long.  He and Rachel had decided to take a break.  Although his roof was fixed, the hole in his ceiling was not.  He just really wanted a break and we were more than happy to provide that for him.  

While Cal was here, we had some great conversations about life, work and relationships.  In the end, he was able to come up with a plan to get through some challenging things going on in his life right now and felt a lot better than when he arrived.  There were a lot of other positives about Cal being home.  Doug cooked his favorite dinner, homemade macaroni and cheese.  Grandma and Grandpa visited several times, and we all watched the IU game together as well.  

Cal left this evening ready to go back to his routine in the Windy City.  I had enjoyed having him here, even if it was for just a short time.  We will have to figure out next year how to accommodate his schedule and get him to the Sunshine State for a few times in the winter.  It would be a great escape from the Chicago weather and a wonderful visit for us.    

A Sad End to A Great Season

After years of suffering under the regime of Archie Miller, it was so much fun to watch the IU men's basketball team coached by former Hoosier great, Mike Woodson, play this season.  There were ups and downs along the way and the typical frustrations of being a basketball fan, but overall it was so incredibly nice to support a team that actually won more games than lost, played well in the Big Ten Tourney, was seeded relatively high in the NCAA March Madness tournament and had a legitimate All American on the team. 

The best part of it all was how it brought our family together.  Games days were filled with group texts of "Kopp for 3" or "Take Bates Out!"  Even Brett and Meg joined in the action, following the team somewhat, understanding all of the inside jokes and even making a few of their own.  All of that came crashing down tonight when IU lost to Miami.  Not only were they out of the tournament, it really wasn't much of a game to watch as the Hurricanes led for most of the night.  It was sad realizing that our entertainment was over for the season.  It was even harder to take knowing that we were saying goodbye to one of our all time favorites, Trayce Jackson-Davis.  This one will definitely sting for a few days, but at least the pride in being a Hoosier fan was back.

St. Patrick's Day

This year was not our typical St. Patrick's Day as we spent the majority of it driving home from Florida.  Instead of watching The Quiet Man in the evening, we watched March Madness.  We postponed our traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner until this evening and had pizza for Cameron and his friends as they watched the late night IU game.  I didn't even wear green so that I could don IU red as did Cameron.  

Even though yesterday's St. Patrick's Day was different then in the past, we still enjoyed it very much.  We watched the #1 seed Purdue lose in the first round to a weak 16 seed in the biggest upset in tournament history.  Normally, we root for all of the Big Ten teams, but Cameron, Cal and I were tired of Purdue, especially since every game of theirs this year has started with the chant "IU sucks" no matter who they were playing.  Last night it was actually kind of fun to watch them go down in defeat with their heads hanging low.  They proved to the world that they weren't the number one team that everyone said they were.  Instead they were one big, inside player with a lot of weak guards.

As much fun as it was watching Purdue lose, nothing compared to watching IU win against Kent State.  IU has been very inconsistent this year and we were all afraid that they might not make it past the 13th seed.  It was definitely close in the first half, but during the second half, IU pulled ahead and won easily.  Sunday night will be a lot tougher as they play the #5 seed, Miami.  At least we had a good reason to miss our typical St. Patrick's Day celebration and also had something to look forward to for the rest of the weekend.  

60 Years - Wow!

Yesterday was my parents 60th anniversary.  What an awesome accomplishment.  I obviously wasn't at their ceremony in 1963, but I had heard stories about it.  I knew that they were married in a quiet ceremony with close family and friends.  Granny helped make the wedding dress and Aunt Jan wore yellow, my mom's favorite color.  I am pretty sure that Uncle Jack was the best man.  After the ceremony, my parents honeymooned in Chicago where they listened to the Indiana basketball state finals while nursing my father's severe nose bleed - his first and last one ever.  I am not sure what they did on the day after their wedding, but I am positive that they enjoyed Chicago and all that it had to offer.

I thought a lot yesterday about that young couple starting out together sixty years ago, not sure where life would lead them, but positive that they wanted to spend it with each other.  So much has happened since that weekend in March - some good, some sad.  I know that they didn't expect to have a son die young, but I bet they also didn't expect to have four grandchildren either.

Overall, I am sure that they have appreciated their time together and the life that they have built.  Although every day may not have been a bouquet of roses, I do know that they have thoroughly enjoyed having their grandchildren live less than two miles from them for the past twenty-five years.  As they look to the future, I realize that there will be fun times ahead for them as well as challenges to face.  For now, I am just happy that they have each other as I couldn't imagine one without the other.  

Successful Senior Trip

Meg and her friends arrived last Saturday ready for a week in the Florida sun.  It did rain on Monday and was cooler on Tuesday, but overall that didn't change any of their plans.  On Sunday they spent the day at Cocoa Beach.  Monday, they celebrated Carson's 22nd birthday in Ocala enjoying dinner at Harry's, drinks at Crazy Cucumber, shots with Doug and a strawberry birthday themed cake.  

Carson asked to go horseback riding at some point during the week and the girls had a lot of fun on their one hour trail ride at "Just Horsin' Around" south of Ocala on Tuesday.  The rest of that day was spent shopping at Disney Springs.  Everyone loved Splitsville for dinner there as well.  Wednesday took the girls to the botanical garden in Gainesville.  Afterward, Maddy was able to visit her Grandmother in Ocala as well.  The girls ended their last evening with a trip to the Florid Citrus Center where Mallory found some great souvenirs for her family.  Overall, we were really glad that they were able to join us in Florida for their senior spring break trip and that it, along with their drive home, was a complete success.

A Meatery

Brett and I were having a serious conversation about some expenses that he had coming up.  It wasn't about whether he could afford them, but more of how to budget for them.  As we were talking, he said that he needed to save $200 out for a project that he and Andrew were working on in May.  This wasn't the first time that he had told me about a side hustle that he and his friend had been contemplating trying, but this idea absolutely floored me.  Brett said that he and Andrew were working on having a "Meatery" in his garage in Bedford.  As Brett had never discussed butchering animals, hanging meat or making jerky before, I asked him again what he was talking about.  He didn't understand why I was confused.  He said that he had told me several times in the past that they were interesting in having a meatery and both Dad and I had seemed very positive about the project.

As much as I wanted to be supportive of my oldest son, inside I was thinking, "What are you talking about?  Have you completely lost it?  You know nothing about meat, how could you take on this project?The last I heard, the two of you were going to grow potatoes."  Instead of saying what I was thinking, I asked him what type of meat he was talking about - jerkey, beef, chicken, etc.  That's when Brett laughed out loud.  He told me that I was hearing "Meatery", but he was actually saying "Meadery."  That's when we both started laughing.  Brett and Andrew had been working on making Honey Mead wine for about a year now.  They wanted to promote their product by donating some to Andrew's fraternity.  Then even had someone coming by to review their process.  I was very happy to hear about their project.  It sounded perfect for the two of them.  I was also slightly relieved as I didn't want to buy any meat that had been cured in someone's garage.  A bottle of Mead sounded a lot better to both Doug and I.

Bracket Time

For the first time ever, I set up the bracket for the annual Heinisch family March Madness pool.  Cal normally does it, but he has been incredibly busy at work this week, so I offered.  It actually was a lot easier than I thought it would be and before the end of the day,  Grandpa and Cameron had been able to sign up without incident.  I was glad that we were able to keep the tradition going.

Although I thought that setting up the group bracket on the ESPN website would be the most challenging part of the tournament pool, it was actually filling out my picks that gave me the most difficulty.  Once I started, I realized that I really didn't know much about any teams outside of the Big Ten.  From the media reports, I knew that Alabama's star player was still a part of the team even though he had been involved in a shooting incident which left one girl dead.  I wasn't sure if that mattered to their chances of winning.  There were also rumors that Houston's number one player would not be able to participate in the tournament due to injury.  I had also heard from Bracketologists that UConn and Duke were on a hot streak right now, and that everyone was surprised that NC State made the tournament.  Dan had told us that Missouri was very good, but other than that, I had no idea who to pick.

In the end, I went with my gut.  I don't know if any of the upsets that I chose were good ones or if IU could really make it to the sweet sixteen, but I thought it was worth trying.  I don't have the knowledge that the rest of the basketball fans in our family have.  That may not matter anyway as Brett usually does well by picking the top seed in each match up until the Final Four where he picks the best overall team.  He talked about changing that up this year, but I'd be surprised as it has worked well for him in the past.  In all honesty, it really doesn't matter too much.  It's just fun getting everyone to sign up for the family pool and listening to the trash talking that ensues over the next few weeks.  It's what makes March Madness one of my favorite times of the year.  

Golf Season Starts with a Snow Shower

This morning everyone in Northern Indiana was bummed to see more snow in the forecast.  February had been incredibly mild and everyone was hoping for an early spring.  Even Cameron's golf coach texted us to bring back warm weather with us.  Unfortunately that wouldn't be soon enough to change today's weather, and although the snow melted off of the roads, it stayed around long enough to move the first official golf practice of the season inside.  

Cameron was bummed, but did have fun putting around the school with his teammates.  He is excited about the season and hopeful that they will be outside later this week to work on their chipping at Black Squirrel's putting green.  My secret hope is that the miserable March weather will bring sunshine and warmer temperatures in April and May.  It has been a long time since we have had a warm weather for the first few weeks of golf matches.  Maybe this will be the year for it.  If not, we will still have a lot of fun watching Cameron in the last Heinisch high school sports season ever.  

Spring Break Senior Style

Meg, Carson, Maddy, and Mallory all arrived safe and sound last night.  I was a little worried about their trip to Ocala as it was Meg's first time driving through Atlanta, but she made it without incident.  Doug ordered pizza for them and they filled us in on their trip as they ate.  Nick had mapped out different stops for them along the way and they each took turns driving.  It only took them a little over fourteen hours which we thought was great for their first long road trip.  

After they ate, the girls took a long walk around the neighborhood.  I thought that they might sleep in, but instead they were all up and ready for 8:45 a.m. mass this morning.  I was impressed that they made it after such a long trip and the fact that we "sprung forward" last night.  After mass, they headed to Orlando to pick up their friend, Stella, before traveling on to Cocoa Beach.  We had never been there, but with Red Tide on the gulf side, they thought that it would be a good time to try it.

While the girls were busy, Doug and I decided to do a little sightseeing ourselves.  We went to 11 a.m. mass and then drove south.  We didn't have any specific plans, but thought we'd see if there were any distilleries near us for Doug to try.  The first one was about an hour from Ocala.  It was a little shack in the middle of nowhere.  It may not have looked like much, but it had at least a half dozen bourbon/whiskies to taste.  Doug sampled a few while I looked at all of the unique merchandise for sale.  He bought a bottle of their original moonshine to take home and then we headed next door to the bakery.  It was a unique set up with a nice outside garden.  There were tables to sit at and a band playing music.  The bakery was packed, which seemed strange since there was nothing else around it, but it did look like a lot of fun.  We didn't stay, however, as we wanted to check out a couple of other places today.

Our next stop was Mt. Dora, a small town on a large lake that reminded us of Sagatuck.  It was fun to walk around and see all of the shops.  The second distillery, Maw's Moonshine, was disappointing, but the artisan pizza place that we found was very good.  We saw several other restaurants as well and thought that we would visit the area again another time.  On the drive back to Ocala, we saw a winery that Doug had read about.  Since we didn't have to be in Ocala at any certain time, we decided to check it out.  It actually was very nice and had a back patio with yard games.  We liked it very much.

Doug and I had enough time to watch the end of the Big Ten tourney, the NCAA tournament selection show, eat dinner and finish the Oscars before the girls came back from Cocoa Beach.  They had really enjoyed their time on the water and with their friend Stella.  I was glad that it all went so well and looked forward to hearing about their next adventure.  

Senior Trip

Cameron arrived home late last night exhausted, but happy from a successful senior trip.  I wasn't quite sure how it would go as they had less on their agenda in Pigeon Forge than Meg did when she spent the week in Chicago.  The amenities of the lodge that they stayed in this year, however, helped make up the difference in schedules.  

We had heard from Cameron via text several times during the week, so we knew that he had thoroughly enjoyed the pool, spa, billiards table, game room, movie theater and more that the lodge had to offer.  He called on Tuesday after his hike through the Smokey Mountains to let us know that he had survived the steep path to the waterfall.  He also let me know that he was glad that I wasn't there as I would have never been able to handle the trail.  Wednesday was filled with fun activities including laser tag, go carts and miniature golf.  Thursday was spent at Ripley's aquarium, lunch in Gatlinburg and some shopping.  

Except for a few minor annoyances than always occur during a week long adventure with classmates, overall it was a wonderful senior trip for the class of 2023.  Doug and I were both happy that Cameron and Meg had the chance to experience this time with their friends.  They each made memories that would last a lifetime.

Flower & Garden Festival

Doug and I didn't make it to rope drop at Epcot this morning, but we still got there early enough to ride Soarin', Living with the Land, and The Gran Fiesta Tour before the crowds arrived.  After riding our favorites, the rest of the day was spent enjoying Epcot's Flower & Garden Festival.  There were so many topiaries to see, foods to try and even a few drinks to share.  Doug's felt that the Crawfish Pie from American was the "best of the fest", while I voted the chocolate cake from Canada as #1.  Neither one of us drank very much, but we did get a few of our favorites  - a Welsh Dragon for me and a Maelstrom Margarita for Doug.  

After riding the rides that we wanted to, walking the countries twice and buying a Groovy Gardens Orange Bird shirt, Doug and I decided to call it a day.  We were both exhausted, but had thoroughly enjoyed our time at Walt Disney World during the last two days.  Over the past two years, Doug and I have spent more time apart than at any other time in our married life.  Thus, it was incredibly nice to hang out together without much on our agenda except having fun.