A Day Out Exploring

Doug and I didn't have any plans today, so we spent some time this morning looking for places in the area that we hadn't visited yet.  The first one that Doug mentioned was The Flying Boat Tap Room.  It was in Belleview, twenty minutes southeast of our home.  We had tried to go once, but it was too crowded.  The distance was a deterrent from us trying again, but with nothing else on the agenda, we decided that today was the day to go.  Once we picked our lunch stop, we looked for other places to try close to it.  At first, we didn't really find a lot, but then I noticed that there were three different wineries that we could drive to that would loop us back around to Ocala.  

The Flying Boat Tap Room was very good.  We ended up ordering the same guacamole sandwich with Doug adding one of their beers to his plate.  From there we went to the Dragon Flower Winery.  We had been there once right after we first moved to Ocala.  It had such a fun family atmosphere that I suggested to Doug that we return with Meg and Nick once they moved to Florida.  Our next stop was our least favorite on the day.  Doug said that the wines were weak, and he really did not like the suggestive labels on the bottles.  It was also in the middle of nowhere, making us both uneasy.  The last stop was extremely impressive.  Whispering Oaks Winery was only thirty minutes south of our home, but we had never heard of it before today.  It had delicious blueberry wines for Doug to try and a full food menu as well.  It would be a lot of fun to make reservations there for dinner on a Friday or Saturday night.  Overall, it was the perfect way to end our day of exploring Central Florida.  

Save the Drama for the Llama

Brett used to have a shirt for drama club that said, "Save the drama for the llama."  I loved that shirt.  It was not only the perfect sentiment for the drama club, but for life in general, especially in middle school when he got it.  Lately, I feel like our lives have been filled with drama, some of it important and some of not so much.  Thus, I have been thinking of that shirt more and more.  

For me personally, navigating drama has gotten a lot harder as I have aged as I just don't really have the stomach for it like I used.  Being a part of a group at church has been wonderful.  I have met friends and have increased my knowledge of the Catholic faith.  This past week I was able to attend a Northern Florida meeting and helped to organize another meal with the "lunch bunch."  Both were very nice, and I enjoyed them very much.  Even with this said, a month ago something was emailed that made me believe that there was tension among a few members.  Years ago, I might have tried to solve any issues that I perceived were a problem.  Now I spend most of my time trying to avoid anything that could add drama to my life.  

Unfortunately, that hasn't been as easy for Cameron lately.  He belongs to an organization that has caused a lot of drama for him.  He definitely does not have very much experience with this and has called several times for advice.  I can't tell him what to do since the perspective I have at my age revolves around "get out of the situation immediately."  That wouldn't make sense for him, so I try to remember what I would have done in college and what fits best with his personality.  I do not know if anything that I have said has helped, but I do believe that just listening has had a positive effect on him.  The one thing that I do know is that this will pass.  It won't be pleasant, but it will end one day and probably sooner than he realizes.  

Happy 82nd Birthday Grandpa Cutes

One of my favorite days of the year has always been March 27th.  Not only was it Granny's birthday, but my Dad's as well. As a child I thought it was really neat that they both had the same special day.  I definitely never forgot either one's birthday.  When I was pregnant with Meg, I thought it would be fun to have her share their day as well.  In the end, I was ok with her being born on Aunt Dolly's birthday instead.  I don't think either her or I would have made it if I stayed pregnant any longer than that.

Today, I thought a lot about my grandma and my dad.  They have both been such an important influence on my life.  Cal recently asked me what my favorite memory of my dad was, and I told him that it was really a collection of memories surrounding my time working at the radio station with him.  I absolutely loved that job.  From answering phones to cleaning out the record collection to working the Cubs games to painting the WKAM sign in 90-degree heat to writing down all of the requests for the noon show to running the booth at the fair to painting my car pink for the demolition derby, I loved it all.  The people that worked there were so much fun, and I felt like I made a lifetime of memories during those summers.  

Even though those days were awesome, the best part about my dad was watching him be a grandfather to my children.  The relationship that he built with them in their youth has transcended time and each one has a unique relationship with him to this day.  I truly enjoyed looking back at pictures today for his birthday post.  It showed him at his best and why they have always loved doing things with him.  Almost every story they tell from their youth starts with "Grandpa and I" or "Remember when grandpa . . . " I really appreciate that I don't have to tell them my stories for them to see what he was like when I was a child.  They have all gotten to live it and for that I feel truly blessed.  

Doctor Day

Since Doug is now commuting farther to work, we thought that it would make sense to schedule all of his doctors' appointments on one day. I am sure that it wasn't his favorite day of the year, but it was an important one.  When I made the appointments, I decided to space them out with an hour and a half between them so that he could also work from home. Thus, by 9 a.m. he was finished with the dentist and back home working. 

At 10:30 the two of us left for Dr. Aich.  It was the only appointment that I went with him, and I was glad that I did.  We had a lot of questions about his Vitamin B12 test results as the numbers dropped again and he was close to being back in the deficient category.  Our doctor noticed it right away and increased his number of shots from once a month to twice monthly.  That sounded good to us as we realized that low Vitamin B12 can create a lot of neurological problems.  The second issue that our doctor was concerned about was not on our radar, but it made sense once she pointed it out.  Doug's heart rate was extremely low.  That was rare for him, and she was worried that the propenal that he was taking for his tremor had lowered it.  She did an EKG to make sure that it wasn't an undiagnosed heart event, but once that was clear, she suggested that Doug begin taking a half dose of his medicine in the morning and then another half dose after lunch.  She thought that would help with the low heart rate.  I was glad to hear that as Doug had been extremely tired lately.  I never thought about it being his medicine.

Doug's checkup took longer than we thought that it would, but he still had time to eat lunch and work for a little bit before heading to the dermatologist.  Thankfully, it was only a five-minute drive from our home. He was happy to get in right away and glad that he went as she had found a spot on his head that needed a biopsy and took a picture of a few moles on his stomach that she wanted to watch.  It was a quick procedure, and he was back home and working before 2:30. Although, it was a busy day of appointments, it was nice to have Doug home for the day.  

Moving Right Along

With Brett's wedding now only three months away, the planning has started to really pick up.  Karen and Brett have been working on the wedding registry.  This month the two of them have also met with their mentor couple and checked in with the church's wedding planner. Brett has been spending a lot of time packing for the move as well.  Meg and I have been helping where we can.  She has been working on the bouquets, and I have been drafting wedding invitations and making Karen's shower gift.  I even got to try on my mother of the groom dress this week and absolutely loved it.  

When I look back at the planning list that Brett, Karen, and I started last September, I can't believe all that we have gotten done.  I also cannot believe how quickly the time has flown.  It seems like only last month that we were helping Meg get ready for her big day.  One thing that I am really happy about is that Brett decided to incorporate parts of Meg's wedding into his - the DJ, the photographer, the dancing, without duplicating hers exactly.  He's also been able to keep the wedding costs inside of their budget.  I definitely cannot wait to see how it all comes together.  

Great News

Before Cameron left for Spring Break, he had an interview with the Indiana University Sports Marketing Department for an internship during the next school year.  He was extremely excited about the possibility of working with them, but didn't want to get his hopes up.  I was 100% sure that he would get it, but once he told me that 250 people had applied and only twenty would be chosen, I did get a little bit nervous.

In the end, there was no need for worry.  Cameron was offered the internship last Friday and let them know today that he was excited to accept it.  Although the position doesn't officially start until next August, he was already looking forward to the opportunity.  He doesn't know the specifics of his weekly schedule but heard in the interview that he will be working every football game, may be keeping stats and possibly will be interacting with the television crew.  The specifics didn't really matter to him or I.  We were both just thrilled that he would get the chance to work with IU Athletics and find out if sports marketing would be the career for him.  

March Madness

Although I did make it to the CCW Nothern Deanery meeting yesterday morning, the rest of the weekend revolved around March Madness.  The first day of games was a little bit boring with all of the favored teams winning.  The second day brought more close games and an upset that most predicted when #11 seed Drake beat #6 Missouri easily.  Although Uncle Dan was bummed about it, Mizzou's loss actually helped most of our brackets.  Upset aside, our favorite part of basketball this weekend was watching all of the Big Ten teams win their first-round game making the argument for IU to be in the tournament even stronger.  Our beloved conference still did not have a top pick for the final four, but it was nice to have teams to pull for next weekend as well.  

One team outside of the Big Ten that we were cheering for almost got beat today.  Florida who is a strong contender for the national championship, almost went out in the second round.  We happened to be in Gainesville at Kanapaha Botanical Garden for their semi-annual plant sale when the game began.  After purchasing a few new plants for the backyard, we headed to Relish for lunch watching basketball on my phone.  The game was definitely intense, and when we arrived at Swamp Head with only six seconds left, we found the place absolutely packed.  Even with the large crowd, we could have heard a pin drop as everyone was glued to the television. Florida only had a four-point lead with six seconds to go.  Thankfully, the Gators held on to win and we enjoyed tasting a few beers while listening to Tom Petty before heading back home.

Happy 24th Birthday Meg

Meg turned 24 years old today. When I write it out like that, it seems so incredibly old. Sometimes it feels like time has just flown and she was in elementary school just yesterday. Other times it feels like she’s always been in her mid 20s. Either way, I am incredibly proud of the young woman that she has become and to be her mother.

I talked to Meg several times today. I was thrilled to hear that she and Nick were celebrating her special day with a trip to Michigan. They made plans to go to both Saugatuck and Holland before returning tomorrow. Pepperoni pinwheels, shopping and beer tasting were all on the menu. Our family absolutely loves Michigan, so I thought it was the perfect place for her to visit before she moved to Florida.

I also thought it was a really nice way for her to say goodbye to year 23. There had been some wonderful days for Meg including her wedding to Nick, her honeymoon, and her trip to California, but there were some really big challenges as well. It was hard for both of them, but in the end, it was wonderful to see that they had navigated the challenges well and had grown as individuals and also as a couple. 

Doug and I both look forward to seeing more of Meg this next year. We are also extremely excited about Nick ‘s upcoming confirmation and their move to Florida. It will be nice to have her close and I know that I will enjoy spending a lot more time with her soon.

End of a Wonderful Spring Break

Although I was sad to see Cameron's Spring Break end, I was very happy to spend the last day in Florida with him enjoying some of our favorite activities, shopping at the Florida Citrus Center and having lunch at Rock N Brews.  Both were a success as Cameron found several fun gifts for Cora and we each had a wonderful meal while watching basketball and listening to music videos. While Cameron and I were together, we talked about Spring Break, March Madness, IU basketball, his summer trip to Greece and the end of the semester.  It was incredibly nice to have time together before I dropped him off at the Tampa airport.

Cameron called on his drive to Syracuse.  He said that the flight arrived early, his new luggage worked well and the basketball teams that he had been cheering for had won.  The only downside to the trip was the guy who whistled on the plane.  That would have driven me crazy.  Thankfully, Cameron had earphones to block out most of the noise.  

I definitely cried on my way home from the airport but overall did pretty well.  Doug and I had really enjoyed the boys visiting this past month and I knew that I would really miss having company in the house.  Fortunately, I had several upcoming events to look forward to including spending the week of Easter in the Midwest, Meg moving to Orlando, our trip to Key West and Brett' wedding.  All would be a lot of fun and I would need time to rest before our next adventures started.  With all of the ballgames on this weekend, I should have plenty of time to do just that.  

Mrs. Meek

Our family received really sad news this week. Mrs. Meek, our children’s beloved piano teacher, died yesterday. I probably shouldn’t have been as surprise as I was, since she had been in the hospital, but my parents had seen her at church, and I thought she was on the mend. It definitely hit me a lot harder than I thought it would.

I told Cameron in person and then talked with Brett and Meg about it over the phone. Everybody felt the same. They were glad that she was in a better place, but sad to hear the news. After talking with those three, I guess it really shouldn’t have surprised me that I took it as hard as I did. We were at Mrs. Meeks' home almost every week for 17 years. She not only taught Brett, Cameron, and Meg piano, but she also was extremely supportive of all of their endeavors. Anytime they were having a bad day or just needed a friendly ear, she was always ready to listen. This was never more appreciated then after Jeannette died. She took on the role of surrogate grandma very well, especially with Meg.

I think that I was also sad because piano had been such an important part of Jeanette’s life. Losing Mrs. Meek reminded me of how sad it was when Jeanette died. Phil, Doug, and Dan had all taken piano lessons, but none of them were very interested in pursuing it for a long time. Jeanette was incredibly happy that her grandchildren loved the piano enough to learned to play it. She loved listening to the new pieces that Mrs. Meek had taught them.  My favorite piano moment happened when Meg signed up for a piano contest in middle school. She may have earned a silver instead of a gold, but when I heard her play Over the Rainbow in memory of Jeannette, I could barely hold back tears. It was absolutely beautiful.

I think that another reason that I was sad, was because it was a reminder that those days were over. As the tears began, I decided that instead of being sad, I would just be happy that we made those memories together and that they would last a lifetime. I would definitely much rather be sad at the thought of losing Mrs. Meek, than never knowing her at all.

Florida Disc Golf

Before we heard from Nick yesterday, Cameron had told me that he really wanted to play disc golf this week.  I did not know of any local courses and was glad to hear that he found one within twenty minutes of our home.  While Cameron was mapping it out, I realized that I could walk along while he played but probably wouldn't be able to compete with him for twenty-four holes.  He said that he didn't mind, but once we heard that Nick was going to spend the night, we were both happy that Cameron would have someone competitive to take with him.

Cameron has been playing disc golf for several years and had tried all of the courses near Syracuse when we were still living in Indiana.  Each one was different and except for the one at Ox Bow Park, most were pretty open.  Thus, the one they tried today with tall Georgia pines and narrow fairways was a lot more challenging than most.  Even with the difficulty and the extended holes, Nick and Cameron had a great time finishing the round dead even on the day.  I really enjoyed listening to their stories and seeing the pictures that Cameron had taken.  

Once Doug got home tonight, we ordered pizza for the guys from Piesano's.  Nick was surprised that I only got one pie for the three of them until he saw the size of it.  For dessert Doug picked up Crumbl cookie making our dinner complete with plenty for all.  Phil joined us later in the evening for a round of Catan.  In a rare turn of events, I actually won thanks to a lot of fortunate rolls on the dice.  The evening ended with another late night of Yahtzee Hands Down which I obviously enjoyed very much.

Three Surprises in a Day

I decided to take a week off from Bible study today as I didn't want my Tuesday morning routine to interfere with any of our plans.  I knew that Cameron would sleep in, but I would have had to go to bed early last night and miss our game night.  In the end, it worked out perfectly as the plumber called to say that he could stop by and finish putting in our garbage disposal.  I was super excited about that as our kitchen project would be finally complete.  It delayed our lunch plans, but he was finished fairly quickly and the disposal worked perfectly completing surprise number one.

Cameron picked Mooyah's for lunch.  It was a new restaurant behind Mellow Mushroom that had opened last month.  It was a lot like Shake Shack, but the best part for me was that unlike the favored hamburger place they had turkey burgers. We both liked our meals very much.  From there, we headed to Silver Springs for another afternoon of shopping.  On our way, we heard the second surprise of today.  Indiana men's basketball had hired Darian Devries as their new basketball coach.  He was the coach of West Virginia who along with IU had been snubbed by the March Madness Selection Committe.  I was completely shocked as I hadn't heard his name even mentioned during the past few weeks.  Cameron was extremely excited, so I was too, and we soaked in all of the information that he could find on the internet.

Once we arrived in Silver Springs, we first headed to Play It Again Sports.  Cameron wanted to buy new discs for disc golf, and I hoped to find a gift for Grandpa Cutes' upcoming birthday.  Thankfully, we were both successful.  We went to the Broke N Records next.  It has become one of my favorite stores for vintage albums, and we both had fun searching through the crates.  Cameron left with the Rocky II soundtrack, and I purchased the Godfather one for Doug. 

While driving to our final stop of the day, The Peacock Cottage, I got a text from Nick.  He was going to land at a small airport about an hour north of us and asked to see if we wanted to catch up for dinner.  I texted yes immediately and reminded him that it was Taco Tuesday at Tijuana Flats.  He was excited to join us and even Uncle Phil agreed to meet us there.  Overall, it was a great day for surprises, and I enjoyed all three very much. 

Shopping Spree

Cameron and I decided to spend today shopping in Ocala. It is by far one of his favorite activities to do while he’s here and I knew that I would enjoy it just as much. We went to the Paddock Mall, stopped at Kohl’s, and went to Heathbrook Plaza, where we spent some time in Dick's Sporting Goods and Barnes & Noble. Both of us found some great buys. I was most pleased with the new clothes I bought for Doug with my $50 reward at Belks. I also loved the new solar light birdcage that I purchased for our backyard with my Kohl’s cash. Cameron spent some of the money that he had earned being a teacher's assistant on clothes at Belk's and Hollisters.  He also found a Mediterranean cookbook that he was looking forward to using when he got back to Bloomington.

Lunch was at Chicken Salad Chick. We both really liked it and thought that it was the perfect day to go as it isn't a favorite of Doug's.  Since we had celebrated St. Patrick's Day last night with Corned Beef and Cabbage, we decided tonight to take Cameron to dinner at the new Greek Mediterranean restaurant. The food was delicious although the service was a little bit slow.  We figured that would improve soon as it was only their first week of opening. Once we got home, we decided to play Ticket to Ride. We had watched The Departed last night. Since it was a little intense for me, I was incredibly thankful for a game night this evening.  Once Doug headed to bed, Cameron and I played our new favorite Wii game, Hands Down Yahtzee.  It is one of the few video games that I am competitive at, so I never turn down a chance to play.  Overall, it was a wonderful day in Ocala.

What a Disappointment

Today started out very well. The three of us went to 11 AM mass where we really enjoyed Father Titus' homily. Afterward Doug and Cameron went to Mellow Mushroom for lunch while I worked at the church gift shop. I was done early this week because they were training a new person and only needed me for a half hour. I was happy about that as I got to Meet Doug and Cameron before they left the restaurant.

We spent the afternoon at home watching the finals of the Big Ten Tourney while waiting for the March Madness Selection Show. From everything that Cameron had read online, over 90% of bracketologists had us making the tournament.  Because of that, none of us were very worried. The show started off kind of sad with a tribute to Greg Gumbel. I told Cameron and Doug that I would have been OK if they hadn’t had shown that, because I had actually forgotten that the famous sports announcer had died recently. It was nice, however, and I know for them a great way to start Selection Sunday. The show moved by faster than I had remembered and soon we were ready to hear the last bracket. All of us were a little bit surprised that Indiana hadn't been called yet but weren’t too worried as we knew there was still a play in game left or a 10th and 11th seed that IU could fill.  Our moods completely changed a couple of minutes later when the fourth and final side of the bracket was announced, and the Hoosiers were completely left off the list.

Cameron was ready to turn the channel as soon as the show was over, but I asked him to stay as I wanted to listen to the commentary. I was in disbelief and hoped to hear an answer about the Indiana snub.  The first question out of the announcers' mouths to the chairman of the committee was "Where is Indiana?" They pointed out that North Carolina had gotten in with less quad one wins and a lot less impressive schedule. The chair of the selection committee was the Athletic Director at North Carolina which had already raised some concerns, and the announcers wanted to know if that influenced the decision. Neither the Chairman nor the Vice Chair really had an answer. They did say that the AD was not in the room when they discussed North Carolina.  Everyone seemed to except that as an answer and never even brought up that West Virginia had also been left out of the bracket.  That was a complete shock as 100% of bracketologists had them in the tourney. Soon talk switched to other topics regarding the tournament and IU seemed to be forgotten.

Since none of the answers on the television screen really satisfied our questions, I spent some time looking online.  In the end it seemed like West Virginia had gotten treated worse than we did. Knowing that didn’t make me feel any better about my beloved basketball team, but it helped me accept that there was nothing that I could do about it. I did appreciate later when I found out that Dick Vitale had come out and completely bashed the committee over their decision to put North Carolina in the tournament.  I also loved hearing that the state of West Virginia was suing the selection committee over the decision. I definitely don’t remember this much controversy on Selection Sunday, and I was super sad to know that IU had played their last game. In the end, I decided that maybe it was good news as we wouldn’t have to watch the Hoosier lose another heartbreaker. 

Gainesville

Doug, Cameron and I had an absolutely wonderful day visiting Gainesville. We started at the Florida Natural History Museum. Doug and I had taken my mom there in January and knew that Cameron would like visiting it just as much as we did. We also wanted to make sure that we went today because the museum would be closing for a year soon. In addition, we would get to visit the butterfly forest on this trip.  We had missed it previously because it was closed due to cold weather two months ago. Cameron is not the biggest fan of bugs, but he enjoyed the butterflies very much. He did say that he would have screamed and ran out if a butterfly had landed on his head like it did mine.  Even so, we were all very impressed with the exhibit. As an added bonus, we also got to go into a part of the museum on native Americans in Florida that we missed the last time.

When our visit to the museum was over, we headed to Relish for lunch. That is by far our favorite restaurant in Gainesville. After lunch, we took Cameron to Swamp Head Brewery. It was a gorgeous afternoon, and we enjoyed a round of beer tasting on their patio. I was a little surprised that the alligator wasn’t out as it was the perfect day for him to be sunning on the banks. He is a little bit more intimidating to me than the butterflies, so I was actually glad to miss seeing him.

We spent the rest of the night back at home watching more of the Big Ten Tourney, even though everyone was still sad that IU had lost to Oregon yesterday. Uncle Phil joined us for a few hours. Besides basketball, we also played Catan. Cameron destroyed us, but it was a lot of fun just the same. Overall, today was a fantastic day and we were extremely thankful to have Cameron with us this spring break.