No Interest in the Drama

For the first time in over twenty years, I will not finish a season of Survivor.  Meg watched last week with me in what turned out to be the most intense tribal council ever.  The person that caused all of the drama was not voted off even though he asked to be.  Instead a fan favorite was gone in a complete blindside.  Doug had gone to bed before it was over, so I was glad that I had Meg to talk to about the drama.  She thought it was weird, but not quite as much as I did.  She's used to watching Dance Moms and more dramatic shows than I am.  The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth.  I definitely thought twice about watching any more of this season.  My friend, Jim, felt the same way.  

Tonight's episode was even worse.  There was way too much arguing and the tribal council was just as intense.  I hadn't really liked the season very much because of the drama, but once my favorite player and the only one that I was rooting for this spring was voted out tonight, I knew that I had to stop watching.  It was no longer entertaining.  He wasn't the only one that had been blindsided or gone home with an idol in his pocket, but he was the only that I remembered ever being flat out lied to by multiple people. 

The ending was just awful to watch and I turned it off immediately with no plans to continue the season.  I realize that Survivor will continue.  Losing one viewer out of millions will mean nothing to them.  It isn't a protest.  I am just at the point in my life where I can no longer handle any type of drama.  I can't wait to find out if Jim felt the same way.  

Deal or No Deal Island

Several months ago I saw an add for a new Deal or No Deal Island reality television show that was scheduled to start in February.  It was a combination of the old Deal or No Deal show and Survivor.  Although it looked very lame, I was interested in watching it because my favorite Survivor player, Boston Rob, was on it.  Doug made fun of me for trying it, but then figured out the truth behind the show way earlier than I did.

When the show first started, I hoped that Boston Rob would make it to the second week.  Doug said not to worry as he would be there a lot longer than two episodes.  I didn't believe him at first, but after a month I realize that Doug was right and finally asked him how he knew what would happen on the show.  He said that he assumed that the only way to get Boston Rob to agree to be on the show was to guarantee him that he would be around until the last three episodes.  He said that the episodes were most like staged to give Rob an advantage as he was the reason that people tuned in weekly.  I had never thought about it before as Amazing Race and Survivor were completely different reality tv series.  They definitely use creative editing, but there is no guarantee of surviving each round.  I've seen way too many fan favorites get voted off in Survivor or finish last in Amazing Race.

Tonight, I sat on the edge of my seat sure that Boston Rob was going home.  He and his ally, Aron, had lost the challenge and both were on the chopping block.  When Doug went to bed a half hour before the show was over, he said not to worry.  They'd find a way to keep him another week.  Of course, Doug was 100% correct as the person playing Deal or No Deal made a bad decision sending him home instead of Rob. I wasn't even mad that Doug was right.  I was just relieved that Boston Rob survived.  It no longer matters to me if it is rigged or not.  I'll be watching next week.

Golf Season Begins

Golf season started early for Grandpa, Cal and Cameron this year as the weather in March was beautiful.  Even though it hasn't been as nice lately, the three of them have still found time to play.  Grandpa and Cal have even played a few rounds together.  Most of Camerons round have been with friends.  He was able to get in eighteen holes last weekend at the IU course with a friend of his in Teter.  He was proud to announce that he had shot a 43 on the back nine.  Cal also made time to play with friends this past weekend, driving to Erskine in South Bend to meet them for an afternoon.  He also felt great about his early season round, shooting an 88 on the day.

Grandpa had the most memorable start to the golf season.  He bought new clubs and was very pleased with them as he shot 73 twice with them.  Grandma had talked him into buying a new bag as well as the zipper on his old one broke.  Several weekends ago, Grandpa got a call from the golf course letting him know that the storage barn had been broken into and fifteen bags with clubs had been stolen.  He was obviously bummed, but hopeful that they would find them especially when he heard that they had caught a suspect.

After a lot of investigation, they police were able to find out who the second thief was.  He was AWOL, but they were able to recover multiple bags and clubs from his storage shed.  Unfortunately, Grandpa's clubs were not among those recovered.  The good news was that he got his monkey head cover back and Maxwelton would replace his bag and clubs.  Soon he will be back out on the course shooting a 73 with his "new" new clubs and would have an interesting story to tell.  

Little 5 Weekend

I heard from Cameron several times this weekend.  It was Little 500 and I enjoyed hearing his thoughts on the famed bike race.  He found the competition interesting and talked about the wrecks that occurred. There was one that left a rider stranded across the field from his teammates, costing his team precious laps. One item that Cameron wasn't impressed with was the drunk parents in front of him, but knew that came with the territory.  He wasn't sure if he would go again next year, but was glad that he witnessed the race in person especially after watching Breaking Away. 

There was one text from Cameron that caused concerned.  There was a shooting Friday night near the stadium.  Thankfully, he was safe in his dorm, but this was the third year in a row that someone had been shot during Little 5 weekend.  Fortunately, no one was killed.   We had the same thing happen when Doug was a senior at IU with a more tragic outcome during that shooting.  Although all of these seem to be isolated circumstances, it is a pattern that I hope does not continue.  I would hate for the tradition to end because of unsafe behavior by others.  

Magic Kingdom

After a fun stay at Art of Animation yesterday, we headed to Magic Kingdom for the day.  Although it was very hot, we still had a lot of fun.  My DAS pass was extremely helpful in that we did not have to stand in line for rides and could enjoy all of our favorites including The Haunted Mansion, Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride and Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin.  I was thrilled when we got a reservation for Tron, but the heat and hills made me think better of it later.  Meg and I still enjoyed the ride, just not the intensity of it. 

Although Doug loved all of the rides, especially the Jungle Cruise, I believe that his favorite stop of the day was lunch at the Skipper Canteen.  Although the food was absolutely delicious - Meg ordered a noodles dish, I had vegetable curry and Doug tried their chicken with rice - the atmosphere and the break from the heat was very nice as well.  

Meg had to be at the airport at 6:40 tonight for her flight home, so after doing a little bit of shopping and grabbing chocolate covered bananas for dessert, we left for Orlando International.  Meg was very sad to leave.  We had had a nice week together and a lot of fun this weekend.  I hated to see her go as well, but was thankful that we would soon be together in May.  

Art of Animation

Meg worked from home until 1:30 this afternoon.  Once Doug arrived back from Winco, the three of us packed up the Pilot and headed to Orlando.  I had made reservations at Art of Animation for tonight and was very excited about it.  We had never stayed there before and thought it would be the perfect time to try it.  

We arrived at the resort a little bit after 3 p.m.  Our room was ready, so we headed straight to the Lion King wing once we made it through the gate.  The suite was really cool.  There were giraffes behind the pullout couch, Simba painted on the table bed, and birds on the master bedroom's headboard.  We had a small kitchenette, two televisions and two full bathrooms with plenty of room for all.  Outside of our window was a giant replica of Skull Rock with hyenas perched on top.  It was just like walking into the movie.

After Meg and Doug checked their emails, we went on a walking tour of the resort.  We saw the Big Blue Pool with giant characters from the Finding Nemo movie.  We then walked through the Cars wing of the resort and got some great pictures of our favorite characters of the movie knowing that Nick would have loved staying in that area.  We ended our tour of the resort with a stop at the pool bar, shopping in the gift store and cupcake desserts at the food court. 

Next, we caught a bus to Disney Springs where we enjoyed dinner at Splitsville, Meg's favorite restaurant on property.  We also did some shopping at the M & M store, the World of Disney, Co-Op Marketplace and Francesco's.  We were done in Disney Springs by 8:15 and Meg asked if we could go to the Boardwalk next.  The bus was on break, so instead we rode to the Riveria and took the Skyliner over to the Boardwalk.  It was a fun ride.  We enjoyed waling along the familiar resort taking in the sites, watching the street acts and trying the margarita stand.  Our journey back to Art of Animation took a little longer due to the line to board the Skyliner, but the ride was a lot of fun.  We flew over both the Caribbean Beach resort which we stayed in on our March trip and our current resort, Art of Animation.  It was beautiful and a wonderful way to end our evening.  

It Had to Be Snakes

Last week we were chasing a frog out of our house.  I thought that was horrible, but this week's visitor was even worse as I found a snake on our back patio.  Doug had said that he had seen a garter snake in the backyard several weeks ago, but this definitely was a lot bigger than that.  It was all black with a thin head, almost five feet long.  Since I scared him when I walked out the back door, he decided to try and scare me by raising up and hissing at me.  I screamed and he slowly slid back to the west side of the house into a hole in the fence post.  

I wasn't quite sure what to do, so I frantically spread all of the Snake Away that we had left around the fence line.  It must have smelled as bad to him as it did me as I heard him thrashing around but never saw him come out of the fence post.  I went inside and looked through the computer for more help.  First, I identified the snake.  It looked a black "rat" snake that fed on its name sake.  I knew that Grandpa had a lot of those in Arcadia and most were twice as big as what I saw.  I was glad to find out that that typed of snake was not venomous.  The other option was a black racer which was pretty much the same but with a thinner head.  Either way, the biggest issue would be to avoid scaring either type so as not to suffer a bite.  

Needless to say, I was pretty jazzed up after my encounter.  I probably went overboard in my reaction.  I found out online that snakes did not like the smell of Epsom salt, so the yard that I did not cover with Snake Away was soon white with salt.  I hoped that I would be relieved with all that I had done to scare the snake away, but instead I only felt more anxious about my encounter.  After a lot more research, I decided to invest in a snake pole, reptile gloves and another bag of Epsom Salt.  I knew it would take some time to recover from my encounter, but I did at least feel better about my chances of surviving  another unwanted visitor.  

Catching Up with Dan

Last week was Dan's 47th birthday.  That seems almost as amazing to me as Brett turning 29 this year.  I still remember the first time that I met Dan.  He was fourteen years old and spent the day asking me questions.  I loved being around him from the start.  He was the little brother that I never had and some of our best stories revolve around the time that we annoyed Phil so much that he had to retaliate.  

We don't get to see Dan as much as we would like.  Both Doug and I would enjoy visiting him more if he and Kim moved to the Tampa area as they talked about doing so when they retire.  Until one of us moves closer, we will just have to stay in contact through phone calls, texts and social media.  Thankful for old pictures, fun memories to share and a lot of laughs along the way.

A Dolphin Cruise Celebration

Meg officially finished her first year of busy season yesterday.  She had been talking about 4/15 for so long, I couldn't believe that it finally arrived.  Her company had an end of the tax season party on Friday night, but she had to wait until today to really celebrate.  Meg took the day off of work and flew to Florida with the plan of spending the week here.  I was very excited to see her this morning.

When I found out that Meg would be flying into Tampa, I asked her if she wanted to commemorate the end of tax season with a dolphin trip at the Florida Aquarium.  I had wanted to take one since we bought a membership in December, but hadn't been able to find someone available to go with me.  Therefore, I was thrilled that we were able to make the 1 p.m. cruise today.  Neither Meg nor I really thought that we would see any dolphins, but we were both happy to cruise around the bay in the warm sunshine.   Thankfully, we were wrong and spent a good half hour of our hour long cruise watching seven dolphins splash, dive and play around the boat.   It was so much fun and the perfect way to celebrate the end to a long winter of work for Meg.  I was absolutely thrilled to have spent the afternoon with her.

Meg had talked about going to Clearwater Beach after the dolphin cruise.  She wanted to do some shopping, walk along the beach and eat dinner at Jimmy Hulu's.  Meg changed her mind once we left the aquarium.  She was exhausted and decided that she just wanted to go back to Ocala and relax tonight.  We made it back in time to pick up Doug from work and finish our celebration at Crazy Cucumber.  

Mr. Electric

Last night the power to the outlets in the kitchen stopped working.  I tried everything that I could think of to resolve the issue, but nothing would get the button on the main outlet to reset.  We had problems with that same group of outlets in January, but we thought that it was the air fryer as it stopped working as well.  Unfortunately, that was not the case as we found out tonight when our new one blew the same circuit.

Doug and I were positive that only the main outlet needed to be replaced, but decided that this time we would contact an electrician to make sure.  Although it cost us close to $200, I felt a lot better about having someone else make that determination and replace the faulty outlet.  While the electrician was here, he was also able to check another outlet, my doorbell, the kitchen lights, the master bathroom and the overhead light in the hallway.  He gave me some helpful suggestions on what I would need to do to solve the issues and also verified that the outlet that I changed on the lanai was correct.  The ground wire just needed tightened.  I felt very good about it all.

Once the electrician left, I spent the rest of the morning trying to decide what I wanted to do with the information that he gave me.  Doug brought the Pilot home at lunch and I was able to stop by Lowe's to purchase a few items that I needed.  By the time he got home from work, I had replaced the light in my bathroom.  I had also taken apart the doorbell chime.  Doug then helped me put in a new light in the hallway and assess that the doorbell chime was not worth fixing.  I was definitely exhausted by the time we went to dinner, but happy to have a kitchen with power, a new hallway light and a solution to several other electrical issues that I had been trying to resolve for quite some time all while saving several hundred dollars by doing it myself.  

The Masters

As soon as March Madness ended and Doug was declared the family pool winner, I sent out a text for entries into our Masters Pool.  Cameron picked first going with a fan favorite - Rory McIlroy.  Doug went next and that was where I made a mistake.  I should have had him pick last since he had just won a pool, but I didn't think about it.  I also didn't realize that Scottie Scheffler was the hottest golfer in the world and the hands on favorite to win this weekend.

Long story short, Doug won another pool this year.  The tournament was a little more exciting than I thought it would be, especially when we found out that Scheffler might have to forego the final round as his wife was expecting their first child any day.  Nick also had a chance to win as his pick, Morikawa, was in contention until the final nine holes. Even so, the Masters was no where near as exciting as the NCAA tournament and Doug quietly appreciated his win once again.  

Since I was feeling bad that everyone had gotten into a pool without having a chance of winning, I thought about giving everyone back their entry fee.  Before the weekend was over, however, Doug let me know that all of the outlets in the kitchen near the air fryer had stopped working.  I tried to reset them, but couldn't.  Thus, I decided that the best use of Doug's winnings was to put it towards the electrician's bill.  He was ok with that and I figured that everyone else would be too.  I also made a rule that Doug would have to pick last in the family pools for the rest of the year.

Cal and Brett's Saturdays

I heard from Cal and Brett today and was pleased to find out that they had both had a very relaxing Saturday.  Cal had driven to Syracuse to play golf with Grandpa.  The weather was gorgeous for a mid-April day and they had so much fun together despite the fact that Grandpa's clubs were stolen out of the storage barn at Maxwelton last night.  After they finished, Cal returned to Grandma and Grandpa's to eat dinner and play several games of Rummikub.  The three of them rented A Perfect World in the evening and were pleased with their choice even though it had a sad ending.

Brett also had a nice Saturday spending it in Nashville with Karen.  They enjoyed some great food, did some window shopping, got in a lot of walking and heard multiple compliments about Brett's Kermit sweatshirt.  The weather was perfect for their outside adventure and they loved the sunshine.  I got a kick out of the picture that Brett sent and liked his new Facebook profile as well.  

Hearing all about Brett and Cal's Saturday adventures really made my day.  I was glad that both found time to take a break from work and real world issues just to relax.  Saturday with friends and family is the perfect way to rejuvenate.  I am extremely glad that they took advantage of it.  

SAB Chair

As soon as I got this picture tonight, I called Cameron right away.  He had had his interview yesterday afternoon with the Student Athletic Board and had felt very good about it.  He didn't want to get his hopes up, but when he got the phone call to meet them outside of his dorm he definitely got excited.  Cameron had really enjoyed being a part of SAB this year and I knew that he would be a great choice as Field Hockey chair.  It was a sport that he knew that he could meet a lot of people at and could make a difference in their student support.  The certificate and shirt were the perfect reward for his accomplishment and I was very happy for him. 

Besides recognizing Cameron's student activities involvement this weekend, IU also planned to recognize him in an academic ceremony tomorrow.  All students who had achieved a 3.8 or higher GPA were invited to attend a celebratory convocation at the auditorium.  A 4.0 in the fall and currently this semester earned him this honor.  Overall, Cameron has had a wonderful first year of college and I couldn't be more proud of him.

Lizards, Snakes and Frogs, Oh My!

When we first bought our house in Ocala, I realized that we would see lizards out and about in the yard.  I wasn't quite prepared for the number of them that we would see daily, but overtime I got used to seeing them every time I went outside.  I still haven't gotten used to chasing them out of the house when they inadvertently come in through a cracked door, but it happens so rarely now that I don't worry about it too much.  The butterfly net has made a difference in how easy it is to catch them and getting rid of the landscaping around our house has greatly decreased the number that hang out close to our home now.  

Besides lizards, I knew that we would also see snakes once we moved, especially when I found "Snake Away" in the garage left by the previous owners.  Thankfully, I haven't seen any of those creepy crawlers, and besides the two king snakes that Doug found in the garage over two years ago, he's only seen one garter snake since we moved.  I try not to freak out about those as I know they will keep smaller pests away from the house and they are more afraid of us than we are of them.

Last night ago, we found something that I am more scared of snakes and lizards.  We also found out that me screaming "Frog . . . get it!" makes Doug shake way more than anything else.  I don't know if it was from the frogs that kept coming into my classroom when I taught FACS at Milford or if it was because frogs jump at you instead of running away when you try to catch them, but either way, I absolutely freaked out when I saw a frog in our home.  After trying to catch him off of the door, we realized that it was better for me to use the net to get him and have Doug move everything out of the front closet that he was trying to hide under.  We did eventually find him and rehomed him outside.  

Today, I spent some time trying to "frog proof" the front and back door with foam door stops.  We weren't sure if the frog got in from the small gap between the french doors or if it was when we potted houseplants Tuesday night.  I did double check the plants after I fixed the gaps in the doors to make sure that there were no other frogs hiding in the soil or under the leaves before I could finally relax.  Thankfully, the plants looked beautiful in their new home and the house was officially "frog free."

The Missing

In 1981, searching for missing children became forefront on the news.  John Walsh's son, Adam, was kidnapped from a department store and two weeks later found murdered.  The Walsh family was everywhere and after their son's death, John started a movement to help find all missing children.  He started the show, American's Most Wanted, and helped put missing children's faces on milk cartons around the world.

Since I was not quite thirteen when all of this happened, I grew up in a generation that had a healthy fear of being kidnapped or going missing.  Since becoming a mother, that fear did not end.  I can name several times where a Heinisch child was out of sight for a short while that made my heart stop.  As my children became adults that fear remained.  Stories of people in their twenties who had too much to drink, experimented with a new narcotic or went home with the wrong guy and ended up missing have made the news quite often. It is something in the back of my mind at all times.  

Unfortunately, I have come to realize that I can't control what happens to my adult children.  Thankfully though, I can support them, pray for their safety, and keep in contact with them so that if something would happen I would always be available to help.  I thought a lot about the mothers of missing children this week.  A mother's heart is bound with her children for life.  It would be terrible not knowing where your child was no matter their age.  I hope that those mothers find peace in their times of trouble and I pray that our family never knows that pain.  

March Madness Comes to an End

I really wasn't looking forward to the men's college basketball tournament this year.  I hadn't followed very many teams this season, IU didn't even make the tournament, and the Big Ten overall wasn't that great this year.  After the first weekend, only Purdue and Illinois were left with a chance at the Final Four and I didn't care for either team.  Illinois had a player that was in serious legal trouble, but still got to compete this season, and I was tired of Purdue fans chanting "IU sucks" at the beginning of every game.  I also had picked the worst bracket ever, so I didn't think that I would have much to look forward to this year.

All of that changed, however, when NC State went on this unbelievable run.  First, they had to win five games in a row to be crowned the ACC championship just to make it into the men's bracket this year.  Then they had to beat teams with better records than them to make it to the elite eight.  It looked like their tournament run would end there as they had to once again beat Duke to get into the Final Four.  It was so much fun to watch and very reminiscent of their 1983 tournament championship team.  

When I saw that not only the men were in the Final Four, but the women as well, I decided to buy an NC State shirt for the weekend.  My Uncle Larry had played for the Wolfpack in the 1960s and his time on the team was one of the highlights of his life.  LaMarr lived within two miles of their campus and we enjoyed visiting him and taking a tour with him many years ago.  I knew his family was very excited about this year's team from the texts that we had shared last week.  

I wore my shirt both Friday and Saturday night hoping that the support would at least help one of the teams make it to the championship game.  Unfortunately, they both lost to favored teams ending wonderful seasons for both.  On Sunday, we watched the South Carolina women beat Iowa and last night UConn's men defeat Purdue in games whose second halves were more lopsided than exciting.  Even so, it had been a fun March Madness and had something for everyone to be excited about this year.  I didn't even hear anyone complain when they found out that Doug had won the family pool this year.  

Total Eclipse of the Heartland

I don't follow the news too much, so I didn't really hear a lot about the total eclipse that was supposed to travel through the United States today.  Cameron had told me that all of his classes were cancelled for today.  At first I thought that was a little over the top until I saw the predictions for the amount of people that would be traveling to Bloomington today as the city was in the path of totality.  Brett said that he was told that he could take PTO if he wanted to avoid the traffic today.  Nick even made plans to go to Bloomington last night so that he would be there for the rare event.

I read more about the eclipse this morning and found out that our state would only be able to see a partial eclipse.  Because of that there really wasn't much hype down here about it.  Hearing all about Nick and Cameron's plans to watch the event on campus peaked my interest in the eclipse.  Meg said that she had glasses and would be going outside her apartment to watch it for a little while this afternoon.  Brett said that he would be doing the same.  I called Cal to see what he was thinking about the eclipse.  He was working at Grandma's for a few days while his tire was being repaired and would be able to watch it there.  He didn't have any glasses, so I sent him information on how to make a solar eclipse viewing box.  I had decided to make one this morning and found it kind of fun.  Thankfully, Grandma and Grandpa were back from the doctor to pick up three pairs of solar glasses at the WACF before the eclipse started.

I talked and texted everyone right before, during and after the eclipse.  There were a lot of pictures taken and even a really neat time elapse video captured by Nick.  Everyone but me was able to watch it through their glasses.  They could even take them off during the moment of totality as there was absolutely no sunlight whatsoever.  My solar box worked a lot better than I would have thought, and although it wasn't quite as exciting as the eclipse in the Midwest, I still had fun trying it.  The best part of the eclipse wasn't watching it, however.  It was sharing something together even though we were all miles apart.