Tampa

Cameron had a late afternoon flight out of Tampa, so we decided to have lunch at Rock N Brews and play miniature golf before dropping him at the airport.  Lunch took a little bit longer than normal, but we all enjoyed the food and the atmosphere.  They had a giant Tom Pettey mural that I would love to hang in my garage.  Meg and Nick checked out the stores near the restaurant before we left for Congo Mini golf.  Normally, we would all be annoyed with a flight delay, but today it worked out well as we wouldn't have had time to play if Cameron's flight left on time.  

Miniature golf was a lot of fun.  It was also the worst that I had ever played.  Everyone else had great rounds, however, with Cameron beating Nick and Doug by one, and Meg topping me by three.  We still had an hour before Cameron needed to be at the airport, so we looked for a beach close to us.  There was a park five minutes from the airport that we had never been to, so we headed there next.  It was small, but had some really cool bluffs and a disc golf course.  The park was packed with families taking pictures.  It was a nice place to check out and a lovely view of the bay.  

We left Cameron at the airport and headed back to Ocala.  Besides the delay, the flight went well and he was back at his apartment well before midnight.  We went to Crazy Cucumber for dinner.  It was a little chilly sitting outside, but all us enjoyed our meal and a quiet night at home afterward.  

A Day in Ocala

It was a wonderful day in Ocala.  We ate lunch at Mellow Mushroom, bought some candy at Grandpa Joe's and then checked out Infinite Ale Works.  We spent the rest of the afternoon at home, watching football, playing pickleball and enjoying game night.  Phil joined us in the evening for Donner Party and Chameleon.  We also got a chance to sample some of the beer that Doug and Phil made last month.  I thought it was the best so far and asked them to make some more for Christmas.  

There was one sad part about today, at least for Cameron.  He told Doug that he had an interview next week for a summer internship.  Doug gave him the bad news that he would need to shave his moustache for it.  Cameron was a little bummed but took it pretty well.  I wasn't too sad to hear it as I have never really been that big of a fan of facial hair.  I did feel bad that Cameron was disappointed, but it was nice to see him clean shaven again.  It was almost like getting another birthday present.  

My 56th Birthday

Cameron arrived late last night, and we were all glad to see him. He, Meg and I took a walk around Art of Animation and watched some Mickey Mouse shorts before heading to bed.  Doug had to work this morning, but the rest of us were able to catch up on some sleep.  Meg and Nick went to Magic Kingdom while Cameron and I took the Skyliner to Epcot.  We walked through the countries from France to Mexico trying the different foods from the Food & Wine Festival.  Cameron really enjoyed all of them, especially the Brazilian cheese bread.  Meg and Nick met us at the pavilion by Test Track where they tried the peanut butter wings and pickle shake.  Next on our agenda was the Three Caballeros ride and Figment.  Doug got off work early and joined us at Moana before we walked through the countries once more.  We each tried different foods and drinks for dinner and then listened to Smash Mouth sing All Star before doing some shopping on the way out.  Cameron found an awesome Figment shirt and Meg got a Minnie plush.  

Our trip home was filled with a lot of traffic, but we made it back before 8 p.m.  Doug picked up Marco's for dinner and I opened up my birthday gifts.  I loved the green Tinkerbell Disneyland shirt and guinea pig socks from Meg and Nick.  Cameron got me a Curt Cignetti biography that I am looking forward to reading after I finish my book from Bible study.  Overall, it was a wonderful 56th birthday celebration.  

A Birthday Stay

When Cameron decided to come to Florida for my 56th birthday, we thought that the best place to celebrate would be at Epcot's Food & Wine Festival.  We invited Meg to come along and soon she and Nick made plans to join us.  Due to their work schedules, they had to fly in on Wednesday.  Cameron had a test on Thursday, so to make it easiest on everyone, we looked to make reservations in Orlando for a couple of days.  I was thrilled to see that Disney had 35% off rooms for passholders.  Doug and I picked Art of Animation for our stay. We had enjoyed it when Meg was here in April and knew that it would have enough room for all of us with a separate bedroom and two bathrooms.  Nick and Cameron had never stayed there before, and we thought that they would love the Cars theme as well.

I arrived at Disney World yesterday morning after dropping Doug off at work.  Before our room was ready, I visited Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios.  I had just enough time to unpack before I picked Doug back up at work.  We headed to Epcot by Skyliner as I had just enough energy to walk the counties with him and enjoy dinner at the Food & Wine Festival.  We left right before the park closed and sat out at the pool bar for the rest of the evening. 

Meg and Nick arrived after midnight last night.  They loved the hotel and were glad to be in Florida.  Today, Meg worked at the hotel while I rested.  I was exhausted from yesterday's adventures and appreciated the time off of my feet.  We ate lunch at the food court, showed Nick the different themed areas of Art of Animation and checked out the gift shop.  Once Meg was done working, she and Nick took the Skyliner to Hollywood Studios.  We met them there and enjoyed a couple of the different food courts before heading back to the hotel.  It was a great day at Disney World, and I was thankful that we had another one to enjoy tomorrow. 

Veteran’s Day

Monday was Veterans Day and I loved seeing all of the past memories of posts that I had made to commemorate the day on Facebook pop up on my phone.  Of course, most of those posts were about my Grandpa as he was my American hero, but there were some from elementary Veterans Day programs of long ago. My favorite was of Meg at Milford.  She was asked by Paula to be a part of the white table ceremony.  The ceremony was always wonderful, but that picture made me laugh.  I knew that Meg and Gabrielle had gotten into an argument right before it started.  Since Gabrielle had always put the hat on the table, Meg wanted to do it that year and got mad when Gabrielle said no.  Twenty-three year old Meg does now realize how tone deaf she was at the time as that was Todd Fiscus’ hat and the girls always put it on the table to remember their dad.  

Because of the importance of the holiday in our family, I made sure to thank the army veteran in Bible study yesterday morning for his service.  He always proudly wore his army hat to our meetings and talked about his time in the service.  He was a little bit surprised when I approached him, but soon started telling me about his time in Germany fifteen years after World War II while the country was rebuilding.  He also couldn’t believe that his service in Vietnam had ended over fifty years ago.  He thanked me for thinking of him.

My conversation with my fellow Bible study member was brief, but it brought back a flood of memories of sitting in my grandpa’s garage listening to his own war stories.  I smiled all the way home, thinking of those days and my Grandpa’s proud days in the army.  I will forever miss hearing him tell me stories, but will be incredibly thankful for the multitude that he shared with me.  I believe that it bonded us in a way that not many will ever understand.

The Sitar

 Today’s Bible study focused on Revelation. I didn’t know very much about that book of the Bible. When I was a child, I was told that Revelation was about the end of the world, i.e. the rapture. Instead of a doomsday approach, Catholic teachings focus on what heaven looks like through the scripture of Revelation. Today, we focused on John and his description of worshiping with God in Heaven during the book of Revelation. The video we watched had a famous painting for us to look at so we could envision what John was trying to teach everyone. We learned that the Catholic mass is based on the descriptions found in those passages.  

I found all of it extremely fascinating, but my favorite part was when our instructor described the instruments that were being played by men circling around God. I knew exactly what they looked like in the painting, but was completely surprised when he confirmed that they were a sitar. Instantly, my mind thought of George Harrison as he was the most famous sitar player that I knew.  It made me smile to think of George Harrison sitting with God playing music. The last 20 years of the famed Beatle’s life was devoted to loving God and all people.  It just seemed fitting.

I called both Meg and Cameron this afternoon and told them about my Bible study. I asked them if they knew the instrument that was being played in Revelation. They both guessed the oboe which made sense since Cameron played one for a long time. Once I told them what it was, they instantly said they could totally envision the same thing that I did. Obviously, George Harrison has become a fixture in the three of our lives. We started talking about All Things Must Pass and what an awesome album it really is. None of us put George Harrison at the same level of God or Jesus, but it was really fun to think that one day when we die we would get to see him playing in action.😉

Projects Galore

Recently, I have been working on projects around the home.  It reminds me of when I got the house in Syracuse ready to sell.  Thankfully, there is no dead line on when these projects have to be completed as some have been easy and others have been a bit more challenging.  The cabinet in the garage has been a main focus for me.  The cabinet part has gone a lot better than expected and the flaws that I was trying to fix are now almost completely covered.  Painting the sink, however, has been a bit more difficult.  The main part of it looks great, but the overflow tray will not cover well.  I finally gave up on painting it anymore and am going to look for another solution.  Fortunately, Doug and my children have been super supportive of me trying out my DIY projects.  They have each given me ideas for the cabinet and I believe that when it is all done, it will really make a difference in how our garage looks.  As an added benefit, the project has kept me busy and has filled my days very well.  I am not sure what I will work on next, but with the holidays coming up, I probably won’t need to find anything new for quite some time.

A Weekend Get Away

 Brett and Karen went to Northern Indiana for the weekend with two goals.  First they wanted to pick out wedding bands from Newcomer Jewelry in Nappanee.  We had highly recommended the store to them as they were great to work with when we brought in our own personal jewelry and they were awesome with Meg and Nick’s wedding bands.  The second item on Brett and Karen’s agenda was to visit Grandma and Grandpa.  I was glad to hear from both of them that it was a very successful weekend.

I talked to Brett on his drive back from New Albany to Bloomington tonight.  He really liked the rings that they picked out and was pleased to hear that they would be able to resize the Brucker family ring that he was going to use for his own wedding band.  Brett also enjoyed hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa, going to mass at St. Martin’s and eating lunch at Hunter’s Hideaway on Saturday and Sleepy Owl on Sunday.  Karen texted me pictures of the rings and let me know that they were all in for Indiana against Michigan yesterday.  I was happy to hear from both of them and glad that their visit had been an awesome one for all.  

The Most Intense Game Ever

Today was a fantastic one for Doug and I. We spent the morning celebrating my birthday albeit a week early.  We did some shopping, went to lunch at Big Hammock and found my present - a terrarium.  I had wanted one for quite some time, but had decided to wait until we could go to The Peacock Cottage together to pick one out.  They had several that were already started, but we decided to try making our own.  I was proud of the end product.  It looked perfect next to the hippo garden that Doug got me last year. 

This afternoon our day got even better. IU kicked off at 3:30 against Michigan at home.  It was all that the sports shows could talk about this week.  A win legitimized IU's season, a loss might kick them out of the top twelve and dash their college football playoff hopes.  We were favored by two touchdowns, but all of us were still very nervous.  Even Michigan's 5-4 record didn't make us feel completely confident.  

The first half started off great.  Our offense looked a little shaky to start and the defense gave up a field goal in the opening drive, but at halftime we were up 17-3.  Doug and I felt great and the announcers were extremely positive about the strong possibility of IU going 10-0.  Everything changed in the second half. The Hoosiers threw an interception in Michigan’s red zone on their first drive and soon found the score to be a lot closer at 17-6.  It was even closer at 17-9 by the end of the third quarter.  Needless to say, Doug and I were on edge of our seats for most of the fourth quarter.  Everything seemed to turn in Michigan’s favor.  Two missed passes and a couple more field goals closed the gap to 17-15.  Fortunately, an awesome punt return put us in field goal position and IU held on to win 20-15.  Doug and I were ecstatic.  

As exciting as the game was, the best part showed up several times on the CBS broadcast.  While the cameras were panning the crowd, we saw Cameron in the student section twice.  With a sold out crowd, we couldn’t believe it.  We heard from several other friends and family members that saw him as well.  The Maloney family texted that it was the “stache” that gave him away. It was an awesome way to end a wonderful day.