And Then There's More

This morning, Meg, Cameron, Doug and I went to Ocala's Downtown Market.  I didn't realize that tonight was Light Up Ocala which filled the entire downtown area with vendors and shoppers making it very hard to find a parking place.  Thankfully, we did get a spot and enjoyed the market very much.  I bought Christmas gifts that I had been wanting to get everyone.  Meg and Cameron both purchased jewelry and got a peach fizz from a food truck owner that gave out Thanksgiving jokes for free.  Listening to the jokes were worth it as the drink was fantastic.  Although there was a lot of food at the market, we decided on Mellow Mushroom for lunch as it is Cameron's favorite place to eat in Ocala.  The guys ordered a white sauce pizza while Meg and I tried a cheeseless vegetable one.  Both were very good.

After our trip downtown, I dropped Meg, Cameron and Doug off at home and headed to Tampa to pick up Cal.  It had been a year since I had been at the Tampa airport and forgot how easy it was to get around compared to Orlando.  Cal's flight was on time and soon after I arrived, we were heading back to Ocala.  I enjoyed hearing all that Cal had been up to lately and his thoughts on IU football, work and the holiday season.  

Doug made brats, chicken sausage and potatoes in the oven for dinner tonight which were delicious and went well with the desserts that Meg and I made.  We spent the rest of the evening playing games, watching football and hanging out at home.  We also tried Cal's wine from Italy.  It was some of the best that I had ever had, and I could see why he raved about it this summer.  Overall, it was a wonderful evening, and I enjoyed having Cal, Meg and Cameron with us very much.  

Shopping

Cameron enjoyed sleeping in this morning while I used the quiet time to get a few things done for our Thanksgiving celebration this weekend.  Once he got ready, we headed to PDQ for lunch.  I hadn't been since the last time he was here and forgot how much I liked their grilled chicken sandwich.  From there we headed to the mall to do a little shopping.  Cameron didn't need a lot but wanted to get Christmas ideas for everyone.  I had several birthday rewards that were about to expire and was happy to use one of them on a Christmas shirt and sweater at Belk's.  Cameron found the perfect burnt-orange three-quarter zip on sale as well. Before we left, he went into Hollister to window shop, and I picked up my birthday candle from Yankee Candle.

Our next few stops took us to Heathbrook Square, my favorite shopping spot in Ocala.  We checked out Dick's, Home Goods, and Barnes & Noble before heading home to meet Doug.  Dinner was at Gators Dockside which we all really enjoyed.  Meg arrived shortly after we got back ready for a fun weekend.  We spent the rest of the evening playing ping pong, catching up and watching football on television.  It was a great first day of Thanksgiving break and I look forward to many more.  

He Made It

After a grueling thirteen weeks of I-Core classes, Cameron took his last final this morning at 8 a.m.  It wasn't just the early waking time that he had this semester that made it his toughest one yet, but the heavy load of classes, the internship with the athletic department, his job as a TA, being a director on Student Athletic Board and interviewing for summer internships that had completely wore him out.  I was extremely proud of him for finishing strong as I knew last weekend, he was ready to throw in the towel.  Cameron wouldn't find out the grades for his finals until next week but felt confident that the worst that he would finish with was a 3.7.  He still had a case study to complete when he returned, but that would be easy in comparison to the classes.  

It hadn't quite dawned on Cameron that he was done with the hardest part of his semester when I picked him up at the Orlando airport this evening, but the closer that we got to Ocala the happier he became.  I listened to Cameron talk about everything that had been going on in his life these past few months and was glad to hear that he did have several fun activities planned after break like attending the IU-Purdue football game and going out for a steak dinner with Cora to celebrate their one-year anniversary.  By the time we arrived home, Cameron was ready to have a small celebration of his own entitled "Thank God, I made it to Thanksgiving break."  Fortunately, I had the cooler stocked with beer and seltzers for him so that we could toast his achievements and finally relax.  It was a wonderful way to end a looooonnnngggg thirteen weeks.

What Does the Fox Say?

Several weeks ago, my Ring doorbell camera went off in the middle of the night. I jumped out of bed and grabbed my phone to see a cat walk across our front porch.  Animals setting off our Ring doorbell didn't end there.  While I was driving to Syracuse from Indianapolis a few days before my birthday, I got another notification that motion was detected.  I pulled over and stopped the car to see a lizard hanging out on the camera.  It looked creepy up close, but not too ominous.

Last week, my doorbell went off in the middle of the night once again.  I wasn't too worried as I figured that it was the cat returning for an evening prowl.  The animal this time was on the sidewalk a little bit further away and on the camera only for a few seconds.  I wasn't quite sure what it was at first but knew that it wasn't the same cat and definitely wasn't the lizard that I saw earlier in the month.  I was too tired to figure it out that evening but after watching the video multiple times and blowing up the picture, I finally decided that it was a fox.  At first, I was a little anxious about having a fox in our front yard but relaxed once I realized that foxes were harmless to humans. 

Hopefully, the next time my doorbell camera rings at night, it isn't something that is more dangerous.  Meg saw three bears on her drive home from church not too long ago.  A bear on my front porch would definitely be something to worry about.

Thankful for a Day at Home

I was up early this morning and out the door before Meg left for work.  Bible study had been cancelled for the day, but I still wanted to get back as soon as I woke up so that I could get started on my first full day at home in a long time.  With our family Thanksgiving planned for this upcoming weekend, I had a lot to do before Cameron arrived on Thursday night.  It didn't help that I had been in Indiana four of the past five weekends.  

Thankfully, I was able to get a lot of cleaning done today.  I was also able to make a list of everything that I needed to finish before Thursday night.  I had decided with all that I had going on to cancel on Thursday night's CCW meeting.  I would have only been able to stay for an hour before I had to leave to pick up Cameron, plus they were playing BINGO and having a pajama night, two of my least favorite things. In the end, I felt good about all that I had accomplished today, and by the time Doug arrived home for dinner, I was ahead of schedule and ready for a fun night of watching Dancing with the Stars.  

The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys were playing at Epcot's Eat to the Beat this weekend and Meg wanted us to see them as she had already been to two of their concerts.  I was very excited to go but worried about making it work after our busy travel week in Indiana.  Getting home early yesterday really helped, but once I saw the pictures of the crowds at Epcot waiting for the concert, my anxiety about going grew increasingly.

Thankfully, everything worked out perfectly and tonight, Nick, Meg, Doug and I were able to see one of my brother's favorite bands live.  Mike Love was the only original member still touring and his voice no longer sounded like it did on 45 in our home on Jackson Street in 1974, but it was still so much fun.  The band played all of our favorites and as an added bonus featured John Stamos on drums who also sang Meg's wedding song, Forever.  Meg and I enjoyed it very much and the guys appreciated one more trip around the countries for the last week of Epcot's Food & Wine Festival.  

A Weary Traveler

Doug and I decided yesterday that we would try to get an earlier flight if possible.  I was tired from the past ten days and the flight we were scheduled on wouldn't arrive in Orlando until 8:30 making it a late night for both of us.  Brett and Karen had plans for the day and Cameron was studying for his ICORE finals, so there was really no reason for us to stay in Southern Indiana any longer.  

I had tried multiple times over the past few weeks to change our flight and thought that with the government shut down, it would be easier to schedule a different departure but had no luck.  Fortunately, that changed at 12:30 a.m. when I woke up out of a dead sleep.  Changing our flights must have been on my mind as I had just gone to bed at 11 p.m.  Even though I was slightly disoriented, I was still coherent enough to look at the Southwest app and find earlier flights for Doug and I.  Normally, I would only be able to list us as stand-by passengers, but with the changes to the Southwest schedules since the government shutdown, they allowed me to pick an earlier flight without charging us any fees.  I was thrilled and chose the 9:45 a.m. flight before going back to bed.  

Doug didn't know anything about the changes in flights until I woke him up at 6 a.m. this morning.  He was happy to hear that we would be leaving early as he was ready to spend a day at home as well.  The only downside to our change was that we had C boarding passes and wouldn't get to sit together.  It was an easy flight, so that didn't matter and as an upside we were able to check our bags for free.  All of it was worth it to be home by lunch time today.  For me this wasn't about getting back from a ten-day trip but more of taking a long break from traveling after constantly being on the go since June.  I needed some time to rest and relax before going anywhere outside of Florida anytime soon.

Another positive about getting home early was that Meg and Nick stopped by on their way home from Tampa.  Meg was finally able to give me the birthday gift that she had been talking about all week.  It was a handmade beaded plant that she had worked on for a month.  I absolutely loved it and appreciate all of the work that she put into it.  It fit my title of "crazy plant lady" well.  Nick surprised me with a gift as well - a glass chicken from his Grandpa Leroy's collection.  It was awesome and even had room for a tealight for a fun nightlight ambiance. My final gift was from Doug - Tom Petty's Wildflowers vinyl.  What a wonderful way to end an awesome birthday celebration.  

A Wonderful 57th Birthday

To know me is to know that I love celebrating my birthday.  In fact, most of the time, my birthday becomes a weeklong celebration.  Thankfully, this year was no different.  My parents started the party this past week, and it carried onto today and doesn't plan on ending until I open Cal's gift during Thanksgiving break.  I appreciated everyone remembering and making a big deal about my 57th.  It made the number not feel as old as it sounds like.  

By far, this was the best year for birthday gifts that I could ever remember.  My started it off with a framed picture of Cal and Cameron from the UCLA with Hoosier the Bison and the words "The Bison Boys" printed at the bottom.  Then my mom gave me extra birthday money to help with my travel expenses this week.  Next, Brett and Karen presented me with a statue of Mary last night that I loved, and Cameron topped it off with a surprise gift this evening at dinner - an Elijah Sarrett t-shirt that I will proudly wear on all game days the rest of the season.  Meg promised me the best gift that I have ever gotten when I arrived back in Florida tomorrow and Cal had his and Maggie's gift already packed for his trip down next weekend.

The best part about my birthday, however, wasn't the gifts.  It was the love that I felt from my family and friends.  Spending the day at Memorial Stadium with Doug watching the Hoosiers defeat Wisconsin on a beautiful, sunny afternoon was fantastic.  Seeing Cameron work B-Town Boulevard and catching up with him after the game outside Assembly Hall made the time in Bloomington even more special.  Calls from Cal and Meg on our way to Nashville for dinner were very much appreciated as were all of the text messages that I received from close friends and family.  Finding a new place to eat in a very crowded downtown Nashville that had just enough room for Brett, Karen, Doug, Cameron and I was absolutely fantastic.  The dinner, the conversation, the gift from Cameron on an uncharacteristically warm November evening was "icing on the cake" for a perfect birthday celebration, one that I will never forget. 

Handing Over the Keys

Brett, Cameron and I had a very productive morning at the Indiana DMV in Bloomington.  First, Cameron handed over the keys to the Odyssey for Brett to title and register in his name.  Then, I gave the green Pilot to Cameron for him to do the same.  It took a little while to get the insurance switched for Cameron, but overall, it was a relatively painless process and both boys were very pleased with their new vehicles.  The Pilot had a lot of miles on it but was well taken care of and a definite upgrade from the van.  Brett was glad to have a more reliable vehicle for Karen to drive around town and she was thrilled to have a backup camera and the ability to sync her phone to the van. I was very happy that Doug and I were able to make this work for the two of them, although it was very bittersweet to let go of the green Pilot.  It was the last family vehicle that we had purchased and there were a lot of great memories attached to it.  Cameron completely understood because he felt the same way about the van since he had been driving it for the past five years.  

The three of us decided to celebrate the successful switch with lunch at Buffalouie's.  The meal was great, and I had a lot of fun with the boys, but I couldn't believe how packed the restaurant was as we barely found a table.  I don't remember November ever being busy time in Bloomington.  Cameron thought it was the nice weather and the football game tomorrow that brought everyone into town.  After lunch, Cameron headed to his office hours.  Brett and I went shopping on Kirkwood.  I found a new IU polo for Doug, an alumni license plate and IU socks for me and a lanyard for Meg to hold her keys at work.  Our last stop before heading back to Columbus was the car wash.  Cameron had cleaned out the van, but it still needed vacuumed and washed.  It looked awesome when we were done.

Brett, Karen and I had almost two hours in Columbus before we headed back to Bloomington for dinner with Cameron and Cora. I was able to move Doug's flight to 3:05 this afternoon so that he could join us as well.  I was very thankful for that as it gave Doug more family time this weekend.  While we were in Columbus, I helped Brett and Karen make and order their Christmas cards.  The pictures they chose looked beautiful and it was a great way for them to announce their new address and to send out thank you cards as well.  

The six of us had planned on Mother Bears for dinner this evening, but that changed quickly when we found out that it was an hour and a half wait for a table.  Thankfully, our next choice, Bucceto's, had room for us, and we all had a great Italian meal.  As good as the food was, the topics of conversation made the night even better.  The best Batman television series, our favorite superhero movies and IU football predictions kept us all entertained.  I also really appreciated the statue of Mary rosary holder that Brett and Karen gave me for my birthday.  It was beautiful and exactly what I was hoping to get this year.  It was the perfect way to end a wonderful day in Southern Indiana.

On To Columbus

The last 24 hours didn’t go quite as I wanted. A couple of things happened that really hurt my feelings, but that didn’t take away from all of the good that occurred throughout the week. First, I was able to spend last weekend with Doug enjoying something that he has wanted to do for years. Then, I visited with a good friend, got my haircut and caught up with Amanda, helped my parents set up their new big screen TV and downsized a lot that we had stored at their house.

The best part for me today was how the night ended. Once I made it safely to Columbus, I was able to rely on Doug to help me through a challenging situation. That was different than how it had been over the past couple of years when I felt like I had been dealing with family and friends, the house, and just keeping everything together on my own. It was so nice to be able to call him and have him support me the way he always had. I also really enjoyed going to dinner with Brett and Karen at Chicago Pizza this evening. My toasted turkey sandwich was excellent and the conversation was a lot of fun. Every day will not be perfect, but knowing that there are more good days than bad makes the tough ones a lot easier.

Saying Goodbye to a Few Family Favorites

Yesterday, while my parents were at Grossnickle eye doctor, I took a box of Brett's video games to Chimps Comix for resell.  Both Brett and I were pleased with the amount of money that he got from them.  I did not sell all of them to the local store.  I had sorted through them beforehand and found a shoebox full that were worth more than Brett could get from a video game store.  Because of this, I strongly suggested to him that he begin selling his extra items on Marketplace as Brett could get more from them through the Facebook selling site and there were more people to sell to in Columbus.  I was also ready for him to take responsibility for his items.  That way, he could control the price and sell them on his and Karen's time.  We have really downsized a lot at my parents, and I am not interested in taking on anymore work while I am there especially since I do not plan to return until spring.  I even offered to help Brett get one or two listed this weekend, so he could see how easy it was.  Finding out that his PlayStation 2 Guitar Hero set was worth well over a hundred dollars on Marketplace was a good incentive for Brett to start trying.  

The video games weren't the only items that I helped to downsize these past two days.  I finally got the Raggedy Ann set to the woman from Wakarusa who paid from them on my last trip.  She kept flaking out on when and where to meet, so I told her that I would make one last attempt and then I would return her money.  That must have worked as she picked them up last night.

While I was cleaning out the upstairs closet, I found a few items of Meg's to take back to Orlando for her to sell.  I also came across a set of Captain Underpants books and the National Park Monopoly game that Cameron wanted to keep in Florida.  Those along with the few small items that I wanted to try selling in Ocala, would make for a full suitcase going back, but thankfully, we had room for them.  

The hardest part of cleaning out was the toys.  There were some wonderful sets that we had kept over the years that I wasn't quite sure what to do with now, especially since none of my children had children of their own.  My mom said that they had no problem storing them, but it seemed silly to keep items that no one had used in over a decade and probably wouldn't use for at least the next five years.  I pulled out the Fisher Price Little People first.  After cleaning and organizing them, Meg, Karen and Brett made the decision for me.  Meg asked me to keep the airplane set for my house as it fit with Nick's career.  Karen and Brett asked me to set aside the rest for them to pick up this spring as they planned to have children in the next few years.  

The next two sets were the hardest for me.  Brett still had his Grand Adventure Pirate Set at my mom's along with his and Cal's Wild West Town.  Both were still in great condition, and I knew that they were worth quite a bit of money.  With that said, I had such great memories of our oldest two boys playing with them that I wasn't quite sure that I was ready to part with them.  Brett, Cal, and Doug agreed that they were awesome sets, but were more inclined to sell them as someone else could use them sooner than our family and because they were hard to store.  Once I realized that we could rebuy them if we ever wanted to and that there were new Fisher Price sets that our grandchildren might want instead, I decided that they were right and listed them on Marketplace last night.  Much to my surprise, I had several offers for them this morning.  After negotiating with a few of them, I settled on a family that could pay full price in cash and could meet tonight.  After seeing the little boy that they were going to, I felt a whole lot better about selling them and Brett and Cal were happy with the extra cash.

One Big TV

When I arrived Sunday night, my mom told me that she wanted to buy a bigger TV for their living room.  She felt that if she was going to be stuck inside all winter, then she wanted to be able to see all of her favorite shows and IU basketball on the big screen.  My parents were hoping that I could help them with the purchase.  It had been years since we had bought a new television set, but Nick, Cal and Phil had purchased one recently, so I knew from them what size and type to look for and where to find the best deals.  After going through all of the options, Roku, Google and Prime, plus the screen sizes and brands, my parents finally settled on a 75-inch Philips smart screen TV.

I ordered their new television from Walmart and selected free delivery for yesterday.  It was a great price, and they were the only store that would deliver next day, so it seemed like the perfect purchase.  At seven o'clock last night, my opinion changed.  My app continued to show that the television was ready for delivery and would arrive by 10 p.m.  There was no part of me that believed that it was still coming that late at night after sitting and waiting on it all day.  I called the Goshen Walmart to see what the issue was and after being put on hold, given a second number and being disconnected, I finally got ahold of someone who was extremely helpful.  She told me that two different door dash vehicles had tried to pick up the order for us, but the TV wouldn't fit in their cars.  I was shocked as I assumed it would arrive by a Walmart truck.  She said that she could keep trying or call a local delivery service to have it brought to us this afternoon.  I didn't have a lot of faith in it arriving that way, so I asked her if she could measure the box so that we could figure out if it would fit in the Pilot.  Much to my surprise, she was able to find a tape measure and give us the dimensions.  My dad and I checked my vehicle and decided that it just might work.

This morning, I woke up at 6:30 a.m. which was about an hour earlier than I had planned.  Instead of going back to sleep, I decided to get up, get ready and head to Walmart.  I knew that the delivery service would be open by 8 a.m., so if the television fit, I could pick it up and get back in plenty of time to take my parents to the eye doctor.  In the end, I was so happy that I made that decision.  The television just fit into the Pilot and even though it weighed fifty-five pounds, my dad and I were able to slide it out of the car and into the living room without incident.  Before we left for Warsaw, we were even able to attach the legs, put the television on the fireplace hearth and get the television connected to my parents' Wi-Fi before we walked about the door.  I couldn't believe how well changing out the TVs went and my mom thoroughly enjoyed watching Dancing with the Stars on the big screen tonight.  The picture was so big, it actually felt like we were sitting in the audience.  

Be Careful What You Wish For

After my comments last weekend, I promise to never again say that any IU football game is boring no matter how much we are winning by as Saturday's Penn State game pushed me to my limits. The game was played at Beaver Stadium, and Cameron had bought tickets for he, Cora and Keagan to go for the weekend.  When he first bought them, we assumed that Penn State would be a tough team for us to beat. Then a few weeks ago their coach got fired and it looked like the game might actually be an easy win for us as they went on to lose their next four Big Ten games. In the end, however, the loss of their coach did not matter as it was the closest game that IU played under Cignetti and one that would be remembered by Hoosier fans forever.

Since the Penn State game started at noon, Doug and I watched most of it on my phone while on the Bourbon Trail. The first half went very well for the Hoosiers, as they took a 20 to 10 into the locker room. Penn State’s defense was the best that we had seen all season, but our offensive held sound.  Knowing that we had the ball to start the second half, neither Doug nor I were worried. Instead, we talked about how happy we were that Cameron and his friends had picked this game as their travel destination. He had sent pictures from the game and had called shortly before they went into the stadium. I was glad to see they were having a great time and to hear that all of the Nittany Lion fans had been nice to them in the stands.

Everything changed in the second half. First, we completely lost reception while we were at our third distillery in Kentucky. We weren’t really that worried, as we were winning and had controlled the ball for the most part.  Thus, we couldn't believe when we walked to the car at the end of our visit to hear someone say to us, “It’s getting tense.” Doug and I were surprised but probably shouldn't have been as my dad texted out earlier, “Sweating yet?” We still weren’t that worried until we stopped at the Arby’s to get a sandwich before going onto Buffalo Trace. That’s when the real sweating began.

IU had not only lost its ten-point lead but were down four points with only six minutes to go in the game. They just couldn’t get past Penn State's defense or stop their offense. When we turned it on, Penn State had the ball and looked like they were going to score again. Thankfully, they missed a relatively easy field goal to go ahead by seven. Doug and I were relieved, but still super nervous as we had less than two minutes to score. Knowing that we couldn’t just kick a field goal, and that we hadn’t scored at all in the second half, I am not sure that either one of us thought a win was possible. I could barely choke down my sandwich while we were watching the game and tears started to form in my eyes. I kept telling myself that it was just a game, but all I was thinking about was the last two away games that Cameron had attended at Ohio State and Notre Dame. They were the Hoosiers only two loses in past twenty-three games. I couldn’t believe he was going to be at the third loss in two years. I knew that he would forever be known as the Hoosier jinx in our family.

It looked like everything was over as we had fourth and long without much hope of converting first down. An awesome throw and a great catch, however, moved us up the field and from there we just kept moving forward. Penn State held tough, stopping us on the 2-yard line. Our first two downs didn’t go very well, and I was about ready to give up all hope as I saw a blitz coming on our quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Somehow, he got off the ball just before he got hit and it fell right into the hands of Omar Cooper Junior at the back of the end zone. The Penn State defender pushed him in mid-air to try and get him out of bounds, but somehow his foot came down and touched the ground barely inside the white line. Doug and I started screaming. We couldn’t believe it when the ref threw his hands up for a touchdown.

Sitting in the stands, Cameron couldn’t see the angle that we could on the TV and didn’t know that we had won the game for at least five minutes while the referees reviewed the play. Once the ref said something to Cignetti and the coach started running up and down our sideline with his hands in the air Cameron, Cora and Keagan could yell along with the rest of us.  Penn State still had 36 seconds to score and thankfully couldn’t convert. We had survived one of the closest games that we had played in the last two years. Omar’s catch would be the highlight of every ESPN reel for the rest of the weekend, and even the announcers said, "Give Mendoza the Heisman now" at the end of the game.  I promised Doug from that day on that I would never say one negative word about a boring IU victory again. My heart wouldn't be able to take another day like Saturday.

Change of Plans

After our trip on the Bourbon Trail, Doug and I called Brett to see if he and Karen were home from their retreat at St. Meinrad Archabbey.  They weren't returning until tomorrow afternoon, so Doug and I decided to stay overnight in the Louisville area instead of meeting them in Columbus.  In the end, I was glad that we did for two reasons.  The first was that we had enough points for a free night at the Fairfield Inn in Jeffersonville, Indiana where Meg and Nick stayed the night before Brett and Karen's wedding rehearsal in June.  We knew from their visit that it was a nice hotel with a restaurant in the parking lot where we also had a fantastic dinner last evening.

The second reason that I was glad that we stayed in the Louisville area was because of Doug's flight back to Orlando.  We had booked him on the 6 p.m. flight from the Louisville airport.  Because of the chaos due to the government shutdown and lack of air traffic controllers, his flight got delayed until late in the evening.  I started checking other flights, but the times weren't much better.  I saw one that would have worked if we had known earlier, but it was boarding in less than an hour and Doug didn't think that we would have time to make it.  After talking about it, we decided that we had nothing to lose by trying and I got Doug to the airport within twenty minutes of leaving the hotel.  I decided to wait close-by in a Super 8 parking lot to see what happened.  Thankfully, Doug made it through security in time to change his ticket, get a boarding pass and board the plane before take-off.  He even ended up with a decent seat and room for his carry-on bag.  I was relieved as I knew that he really wanted to get back earlier than ten tonight.  

I had originally planned on stopping to see Paula tonight for dinner and was thankful that she would be able to meet for lunch instead.  It was a little over two hours to the restaurant that she chose in Fishers.  I was extremely glad that she picked one close to I-69 as the weather forecast predicted snow this afternoon.  It was already cold and blowing, a complete change from yesterday's beautiful, sunny day.  Even though I had just seen Paula a few weeks ago, I had a great time visiting with her as we spent over two hours talking and laughing.  As an added bonus, the restaurant served fantastic food as well.

I left Fishers just after three and was thankful to be able to drive while it was still light out.  It started snowing when I got to Albion, but it didn't come down very hard until I got to Syracuse.  My parents were glad to see me, and we spent the rest of the night, relaxing and talking about our plans for the week of Marketplace sales, going to the eye doctor and celebrating my birthday.  It was a nice way to end the evening.

The Bourbon Trail

Doug and I left Orlando yesterday at 3 p.m. and stopped just south of Knoxville at 12:30 a.m.  We hadn't driven to Indiana in over a year, so it felt a lot longer than 9 1/2 hours to me.  Thankfully, by leaving in the afternoon we missed the traffic in Atlanta and Chattanooga.  We picked up sandwiches at Buc-ee's for dinner which saved us time as well.  

This morning, Doug and I were out the door before 9 a.m.  He had researched four stops on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail that he wanted to check out on our trip.  The first one that we visited was Four Roses Distillery.  I had never been to an upscale distillery before and felt a little underdressed when we walked into the tasting room.  Thankfully, we had our Indiana shirts on so everyone that we met was more focused on talking to us about our football team then our lack of formal attire.  Doug loved the bourbon that he tasted on this stop and bought a bottle and t-shirt to take home.  I didn't try any of the bourbons, but had fun listening to him talk about them.

The second stop was probably Doug's least favorite.  The bourbons were mostly made from wheat, and he preferred the taste of those made from rye.  We were still glad that we stopped at Woodford Reserve as it was decorated with a beautiful fall "Christmas" tree.  Neither one of us could believe all of the people arriving from the tour buses.  It definitely was a popular spot.

The third stop was very quaint albeit a little hard to find.  It was named Castle & Key which made sense from the design of the buildings.  It was built in 1887 and remodeled ten years ago.  The grounds were beautiful, but the tasting room was extremely small.  Doug didn't try as much there as most of the bourbons were made from wheat.

Buffalo Trace was our last and favorite stop of the day.  We had toured the oldest, continuous working distillery in 2018, so today, we focused only on the tasting bars.  I was worried that we wouldn't get in as there was only an hour left before it closed, but thankfully, it wasn't a problem.  Since it was the only distillery that offered free tasting, I went ahead and tried a sip of a few of their vodka and bourbons.  My favorite was the cream ale mixed with their home brewed root beer.  It tasted like a root beer float. We also visited their gift shop while we were at the distillery.  Doug bought a bourbon to take home, and I found a neat long sleeve shirt with a small buffalo on it for myself.  In the end, I was really glad that we saved Buffalo Trace for our last visit of the day.  It was the perfect way to end our first trip on the Bourbon Trail.    

  

A Short Memory is Sometimes the Best Memory

One thing that I have realized the older that I get is that almost all memories fade both good and bad.  That can really help when trying to forget painful parts of the past. I have learned over the years that it is a choice to remember something or not.  The thought of someone hurting my feelings might pop into my head, but that doesn't mean that it has to stay there.  I can choose to put it aside, talk about it to a trusted friend or therapist or just plain tell myself that I do not want to remember this thought and focus on a pleasant memory instead.

The part that is challenging about forgetting bad memories is when someone else keeps bringing up something that is painful to me.  I have never really understood why people do that.  If I know that something bothered someone else, I would never talk about it in front of them.  A death, an embarrassing moment, or mistreatment by another is never fun to think about, so why would I talk about it with someone that found the memory painful.  It just brings it to the forefront of their mind.  I know I don't like it when that happens to me.  It takes longer to forget it or move on from it. 

Recently, I have heard myself tell others, "I really don't like talking about that subject."  Most respect my position and drop the topic altogether.  I appreciate those who do.  I didn't learn this overnight, but through a book that I have been reading about boundaries and from a friend that I met in Florida who told me point blank, "If you don't like talking about something, then we won't."  Between the book and the friend, I started to believe that my feelings had merit and that it was ok to say no to anything and everything that I did not like.  It hasn't worked in every situation, but for the most part, I have given up every bad memory that I had and have grown the courage to tell others that I am not interested in talking about them.  My "shortened" memory has definitely helped me focus on the happiness of today and leave the past in the past. 

A New Honda

After finding out about the exciting news of Cameron‘s summer internship, Doug, Cameron and I started talking about what the summer would look like for him in Toledo. We were thrilled to find out that Owens Corning would be paying his housing expenses. That eliminated one concern right away. The second concern, however, was about transportation. It was awesome that they would pay his travel expenses to Toledo, but Doug and I wanted to make sure that Cameron had a reliable car that would drive from Bloomington to Toledo and to the other places that Cameron would want to go to this summer. The van has been awesome, but with 237,000 miles it has become more of a drive around town kind of vehicle. Doug suggested that we give Cameron the Pilot and that we look for a new car for me. I definitely like that idea a lot and knew that even though the green Pilot had 200,000 miles on it, it was still way more reliable than the van for long distance driving.

Once we decided that Cameron would get my car, we then needed to figure out how and when we would get it to him. He didn’t really need it right away, so we talked about bringing it up in spring. We didn’t have any travel dates set but figured we could come up with a plan after the holidays. We offered our van to my dad to replace his van since he only drives the Dodge around town anyway. He and my mom didn’t think they really needed it. That that’s when Doug suggested that we give it to Karen. It was an awesome idea and I wish I would’ve thought of that first. She was driving a 1999 Chevy Impala that had no air conditioning and needed pliers to close the driver’s side door. Brett didn’t seem to mind dealing with those issues, but Karen really wanted something different once they paid off her college loan. I texted her and Brett right away to ask them what they thought about the Odyssey. Karen was over the moon excited. I was really glad to hear that. I love that van and I know Cameron does too, so we were both happy that it was going to a good home.

Since Karen could use a new vehicle sooner rather than later, Doug and I decided it was time to go ahead and buy a new car for me. For the last year I had said that I really wanted to get another Odyssey. That changed, however when I drove one as a rental in September. It was way too low to the ground and the technology in it seemed dated for the age of the car. Last month, we drove a Hyundai Palisades and that made me realize that I really wanted another SUV. Nick suggested a Honda passport, but I wanted something that we could fit eight people in for when the whole family is here to visit. Thus, a new pilot seemed in order.

Last week, Doug and I went to Honda of Ocala for a test drive. We had wanted to go back to Gainesville as we loved our sales person there, but he had since retired. We met the perfect sales person for us in Ocala. He was our age, knew exactly what I meant about a car that was too low and was able to show us all the bells and whistles on the new Pilot. He didn’t try to upsell us or push us into buying something that we really didn’t want. The test drive went really well and Doug and I decided to purchase one. It took a little while to come up with the correct price, set up the financing and get insurance before we could drive it off the lot, but last Thursday night, I became a proud owner of a 2025 obsidian blue pearl Honda Pilot. I absolutely love it.  I am also excited that this weekend we will be able to drive the green Pilot up to Cameron and transfer the Odyssey to Brett and Karen. I have never had anything this nice to drive in my life, and I really appreciate Doug for making all of this work for our family.

Lunch Bunch

Lunch Bunch met again this afternoon for the first time in Silver Springs.  I had a lot of fun helping to host the event and really enjoyed the Italian cuisine at Franco's.  We had a great turnout with twenty-five women in attendance.  I sat with several new members and several that I already knew well.  It was nice to catch up with everyone and listen to all of the ideas on how to manage such a large group.  Several women want to have small groups meet, but we haven't gotten a lot of positive feedback on that idea when Robbi and I suggested it in the past.  For right now, having the restaurant seat us at small tables of four to six has made the large group feel a lot more intimate.  We will take a break until January because of the upcoming holidays, but I may try to get a small group together in December if I can find time.  Either way, it has been a lot of fun to be a part of the lunch outings, and I am looking forward to many more to come.

New Position

Meg started her new position as a bookkeeper at a Catholic Church near her today and already loves it.  She will have to learn a few new accounting practices, but thankfully the woman retiring from the position will be able to train her during the next month.  Meg was very excited about the slow pace of the job, the friendliness of her co-workers, and the fact that she would have her own office that she could decorate as she wished.  She will have to attend finance meetings quarterly but doesn't mind that as she will get to know a lot more about the church and the parishioners during those.  Meg is looking forward to working closely with the priest and getting more involved in the parish. 

I am very happy for Meg.  It seems like the perfect fit where she can use her accounting skills to help a non-profit organization just as she told me she wanted to do when she moved to Orlando.  As an added bonus, the church is filled with young families with a lot of activities to participate in which will be great when Meg and Nick decide to start their own family as well.  

Disney+ Struggles

Our family's favorite night of the week became super stressful tonight when YouTube TV dropped all of the ABC channels from its lineup due to a contract negotiation failure with Disney.  That meant that only Disney+ subscribers were allowed to watch Dancing with the Stars this evening.  Since Disney+ only allowed one home network and one mobile viewer on their streaming system, it became extremely stressful for those family members outside of our home to watch the show.  They would first have to have a passcode from Doug's email to login to the app and then once too many people were on from outside of our home network, it would kick individual viewers out.  

Brett called first when he realized that he couldn't login easily.  After several attempts, he finally got the streaming service to work, but once my mom and dad logged on, it kicked him out.  This occurred multiple times until Karen finally talked Brett into signing up for his own service plan so they could watch the dance show, and all other Disney shows plus Hulu without interruption.  Once Brett made the switch, the service came back on for my parents so that they could continue to watch the show.  Thankfully, Cal and Maggie were able to watch from her parents' account and never had to compete with others using our plan.  Meg and Nick had gotten the streaming service a long time ago when they realized that Disney was going to make it a lot harder to share services.  They watched the app more than anyone else in our family and wanted to make sure that they never had to worry about losing access to it.  

In the end, everyone was able to watch Danielle get sent home tonight eliciting cheers from Cal and relief from those who were rooting for Andy to make it one more week.  Hopefully, Google and Disney will come up with a compromise that gives everyone access to ABC and ESPN soon.  Otherwise, more people from our family will have to sign up for yet another streaming service with inordinate monthly fees.  I hate to cancel some of our favorite services, but the cost is getting to be astronomical.  With all of the other rising costs lately, I guess that I shouldn't be surprised. 

Cleaning Carpets

Over the weekend, Doug and I put all of the Halloween decorations away, dusted the house and moved the furniture onto the tile.  I had scheduled Stanley Steamer to clean our carpets today and wanted to have everything ready for them as I wasn’t sure what time they would arrive since the window I was given was 8 to 11 a.m.  I was really glad that we were ready early as they called right at eight this morning to let me know that they were on the way. 

When we lived in Syracuse, it was recommended to us that we have the carpets cleaned every six months.  I tried to keep that schedule as it really helped with the high traffic areas and extended the lives of our carpets.  Since we had less people living in our home in Ocala and had bought a small spot cleaner, Doug and I decided to have them cleaned once a year.  Last year, Doug spent a weekend cleaning them on his own with a carpet cleaner he rented from Lowe’s.  I thought he did a fantastic job, but I wanted to go back to a professional cleaner this year just because Doug doesn’t have as much time at home with his job in Longwood.  I hated to have him spend the free time that he did have cleaning.  

In the end, I was very happy with my decision. The two men that arrived were professional, thorough and did a nice job.  They didn’t try to upsell me any unneeded products either.  The men were very complimentary of our home and how clean it was.  They felt that our carpets were in great shape and would definitely last at least five more years especially since we didn’t have any pets as they told me that they were the hardest on the life of carpet.  I could believe that as I had noticed that our home was a lot cleaner since Molly had stopped visiting.  I did feel a little silly when they left as I felt as though I may have had them clean carpets that were already clean.  In the end, it didn’t really matter.  Meg had told me before that I was good at cleaning the clean.  Either way, the house looked great and I was very happy about that.

All Souls Day

One thing that I have really enjoyed at Blessed Trinity is the emphasis on the days of Holy obligation for the Catholic Church. My favorite of all of the celebrations that Blessed Trinity has reintroduced me to recently has been All Souls Day.  It is a day of remembrance and prayer for the souls of the deceased.  

Our church has a large book that we can add names to for all of those who have died.  The names are read at the last mass of the weekend for all in attendance to remember in prayer.  Every year I add a few names from our family and friends.  It gives me a great sense of peace and makes me feel blessed to honor their memory.  Most of all it gives me a special time each year to reflect on their lives and their importance to our family.  It also makes death more a natural part of life instead of a scary unknown entity like it did in the past.  For that I am extremely grateful.

Are We Getting Too Comfortable?

IU played Maryland in College Park this afternoon.  The first four minutes of the game were worrisome as the Terrapins scored on their first drive, but other than that, IU dominated the game.  I realized by the end of the first quarter that I had stopped paying attention except when IU had the ball.   After halftime, I had completely zoned out except when the mascots were on the screen.  After IU’s 55-10 victory, I told Doug that as much as I loved IU football, the games were getting kind of boring.  He disagreed with my take as did Cameron.  They loved the blowout games as they found them a lot less stressful.  Cal wouldn’t call the games boring, but he did agree with me that he had started to zone out in the second half as well.  One thing that we all could agree on was that IU’s success had made the other football games a lot less important to us.

Thankfully, something that will never change is my excitement for IU’s victories.  Tonight, when we saw Phil at Hiatus, he said that we will soon become just like all of the Alabama fans - complaining when the team goes 10-2.   I can promise that I will never feel that way.  No matter the score, I will always appreciate every time we win as I sat through too many seasons when our losses doubled our number of victories.  Since the Hoosiers only have three more games, it would be nice to finish undefeated this season.  But if they don’t, I will just be thrilled that we have gotten to the point where our blow out victories have become so normal that I stop paying attention halfway through the game.  

Happy Halloween

I told Doug this week that without any of our children living at home, my excitement for Halloween had waned.  In the past, I had loved watching my children pick out their costumes, co-ordinate with friends to go trick or treating and then help pass out candy while their carved jack-o’-lanterns lit up on our front porch.  Without their enthusiasm, it just didn’t feel the same.  I did still buy candy for the trick-or-treaters and decorated the house, but overall I was feeling lukewarm about the holiday this year.  

Thankfully, that changed today and the Halloween that I wasn’t really looking forward to became a wonderful day.  First, I met my friend Robbi for lunch at Panera thankful for the cool weather so that I could wear my jack-o’-lantern sweatshirt.  We had a nice visit and were even able to find some time to shop before I had to head home to meet Doug to get ready for all of the trick or treaters.  He set up the chairs and table at the end of the driveway while I turned on our new pumpkin lights on the garage door and got the Halloween vinyls ready for ambiance.  We decided to hand out Tootsie Pops and Reese Cups first as those were always everyone’s favorites.  

Trick or Treating started out slow, but we weren’t surprised as it did last year as well.  I had bought enough candy for 700 children as we had 611 last year.  I thought that we might have more this year because the holiday fell on a Friday night.  I definitely guessed wrong as we ended up with only 543 this evening.  We wondered if the cooler weather scared some of the families off or if it was because there were more events being held because it was the weekend.  Even though it was a smaller group, we still had a lot of fun and loved seeing all of the costumes.  

Our evening didn’t end when we came inside.  Doug and I stuck to our family tradition of watching the movie Halloween and enjoyed it just as much as in years past.  As much fun as we were having, my favorite part of the night was receiving texts from all of our children with their costume choices for this year’s Halloween.  Brett and Karen were first with a photo of Michael Myers and a Hogwarts Hufflepuff student.  Cameron’s was next with his Riddler costume that was totally homemade with Cal sharing his usual, a Woopie Cushion.  Meg went as Marnie from Halloweentown while her friend Mallory was dressed as a pirate.  I loved all of their pictures, even Nick’s last minute parrot, cowboy, pilot trio.  In the end, I was incredibly glad that my feelings about being separated on Halloween had been completely changed.  We didn’t have to be in the same home or even the same town to celebrate the holiday together.  That was the best feeling of all.  

  

Laughing Gas

When I went to the gynecologist several months ago, she had highly recommended that I have an ultrasound because of my family’s history of uterine cancer and my personal issues with anemia both of which put me at risk of female cancer.  I agreed with her recommendation and scheduled the ultrasound for the first of October and wasn’t surprised when it came back irregular.  The gynecologist told me that the next step would be a biopsy and hysteroscopy which would involve the insertion of a camera into my uterus.  I felt comfortable with the recommendation and set an appointment to have it done today.

To prepare for the procedure I had a pre-op appointment several weeks ago to discuss the procedure.  I was surprised to hear that they recommended anesthesia for it.  I had had a biopsy before without even taking pain medication, so I wasn’t expecting this to be too much different.  Since I had had adverse reactions to anesthesia in the past, I asked if there was anything else that they could give me.  My choices were either Vicodin with Valium or Nitrous Oxide.  My stomach ulcer made me extremely weary of taking oral medication on an empty stomach, so I chose the latter.  I had had “laughing gas” once in college when I had dental work done on a broken tooth and remembered that it was pretty easy to use and helped with the discomfort.  Even though it was $200 more I knew that it was the correct choice.

I never seconded guessed my decision today as I was positive that it was the right choice for me, but I definitely thought about stopping the gas during the procedure.  It felt like I was purposely trying to make myself pass out.  It didn’t help that I had to have a nose clip on and breathe the nitrous oxide through a tube. The pain didn’t help either and I was never so glad to hear the doctor say that she was 95% done when I thought that the pain couldn’t get any worse.  I told Doug later that I knew that the pain was at its apex when I could no longer see anything but the bright lights on the ceiling.

Thankfully, the procedure did end and the good news was that the doctor didn’t see anything to make her believe that I had cancer.  She did take the biopsy to make sure, but I felt confident when I left that everything would come back normal.  As happy as I was to hear about the results, I was even more pleased when the doctor told me how impressed she was that I made it through the procedure.  She said that most women give up halfway through because of the pain.  That made me feel really good even though the procedure left me sore for the rest of the day.

Just an Average Tuesday (and Thursday)

I sent Cameron a picture of our tour of Memorial Stadium in the fall of 2019 with the note “Who would have thought six years ago when we went on this tour that going to the stadium would now be an average Tuesday?”  Cameron laughed and sent back “And Thursday.”  That made me smile.  He was right.  Cameron and I have talked many times about his journey with IU athletics and what an important part of his life they have been.  They have not only added to his social life, but have taught him work skills as well.  Next week, Scott Dolson, IU’s athletic director, will meet with SAB to talk about not only his journey in the Hoosier’s athletic department, but also give them specific tips on networking in the business world.

An added bonus of Cameron being a part of IU’s athletic department both as an intern and as a SAB director has been the media exposure that he has received.  At the last football game, a woman behind me screamed when she “finally” saw her daughter on the Jumbotron for the first time.  I had already seen Cameron three times in just that game and realized that I had taken for granted that he would be on the big screen while the Hoosiers were on the field.  

Even on television, we have seen Cameron at almost every IU athletic event that he has attended since last fall.  A lot of those have been on Big Ten+, but he has gotten big market exposure as well.  Wearing the red coat and sitting in the front row this year has only increased his time on the screen.  Last weekend was probably the most impressive airtime he has received as he and his friend Jazlyn were featured in the newest Big Ten football national ad.  I couldn’t believe it when he showed me. Even Cameron was impressed with that.  I know it’s all an average Tuesday (and Thursday) to him now, but one day Cameron will truly appreciate how impressive his journey with IU athletics really is.  The nice part is that he will never get a big head from all of the attention.  He has Cal and Meg to keep him grounded.