Baby, It's Cold Everywhere

I thought last November that I had read that we would have a warm, dry winter because it was a La Nina year.  I must have been dreaming as that has not been the reality here or elsewhere in the country.  In fact, from what I am hearing from long time Ocala locals, this has been the longest spell of cold winter that they have had in quite some time.  

I know that I should not complain about the cold since it is nothing compared to what everyone in Indiana and Illinois has to deal with recently.  That doesn't change the fact, however, that I thought it was absolutely freezing today and decided not to leave the house.  The clouds, rain and dreariness of the day didn't help.  Instead, I stayed warm working on the computer, catching up on a few television shows, wearing the new comfy that Doug got me for Christmas, turning on my electric fireplace and watering the lemon and lime tree that we had to move inside due to the freeze warnings.  Doug didn't even make fun of me when he got home as he had decided that it was too wet to jog outside and that he would rather just make dinner than go out.  

I promised myself when I moved to Florida that I would never wear jeans and would rarely put on a sweater.  The reality is that was a pipe dream.  Thirty degrees at night may not be frostbite weather, but it doesn't have to snowing for me to realize that I am cold, and warm clothes would make a difference.  I may soon be the one wearing a winter coat or stocking cap when we travel to Gainesville.  As long as I am warm, I do not care.  No one there knows that I lived my entire life in the Midwest and should be used to freezing temperatures.  They'll just think that I am one of those crazy Floridians that puts on a parka when the temperature dips below 60.  At least I'll fit right in with the majority.

One Bad Earache

Cal texted me yesterday to let me know that his ear was hurting and that he couldn't hear very well out of it.  I wasn't too surprised by that as he had been having problems when he was here at Christmas.  I was, however, concerned as he said that it had gotten worse when he was taking a walk a few days ago and that everything was muffled.  He couldn't even listen to music as it was too distorted (although I thought that might help with Bob Dylan's voice.)

After texting him for a while about it, Cal decided to not wait to see an ear doctor and went to the closest urgent care.  I was very glad to hear that.  Doug's aunt had an issue with her ear and waited too long to see a physician.  She ended up losing part of her hearing.  Cal texted back later in the afternoon to say that it was an ear infection and that he would be starting an antibiotic today.  That was great news.  I know that it will still be a few days before he is completely healed as Cal always takes longer to recover from an illness than his siblings due to his compromised immune system, but hopefully by next weekend he will be back to normal and able to listen to his favorite musical artists again.  

Gainesville is The Big Time

Phil, Doug and I spent the afternoon in Gainesville today.  It has become one of our favorite Florida towns, and I could see Phil moving there now that he has quit his job with Edward Jones.  I had found a few new breweries online that the guys hadn't tried and told them that I would be their designated driver if they wanted to go.  It would also give me a chance to do some shopping for Cameron's birthday.  

I mapped out a path for our trip starting with the one furthest from our home circling around to two others before ending our day at Swamp Head.  All four breweries had outdoor seating, but we mostly stayed inside as the temperatures remained in the mid-forties for most of the day.  Doug and Phil were amazed at how many people were wearing winter coats and stocking caps, but without the sunshine today, I thought it was cold enough for both.  The guys had a lot of fun trying different beers.  Doug got a flight at each, and Phil tried their pints.  They ended up ranking them in order of the way we visited each of the breweries with the first being last on the list and Swamp Head, of course, number one.  

Since I wasn't drinking, I instead enjoyed looking at how each one was decorated and made note of the number of patrons.  The amount of customers correlated with how we ranked the breweries which I thought solidified our opinions of all.  Although the atmosphere at Swamp Head will always be my favorite, I did enjoy the "swamp monster" outside of one of the breweries.  It reminded me of a Scooby Doo villain or the infamous Swamp Ape that I made Cameron chase this summer on our trip through the Everglades.  Overall, it was a fun afternoon and my reward for driving was dinner at Las Margaritas. Between that and the interesting conversation today, it was a great adventure for all.  

Should I Stay or Should I Go

Brett texted me this afternoon to ask if I thought he should stay in a hotel tonight in Columbus.  Since I hadn't really paid attention to the weather in Indiana since the storm aftermath on Tuesday, I was a little bit surprised by the question.  I knew Cameron was on his way to the grocery store, so I called him to see what he thought about the roads.  He confirmed that they weren't that great and that it might make sense for Brett to stays.  That's when I used all of the skills that I learned about Indiana 511 this week to help Brett.  

The first thing that I did was check the travel advisory on the Indiana Department of Traffic website.  Thankfully, neither Columbus nor Bloomington was in the red zone, so Brett would be able to travel if needed.  Next, I looked at the radar on the weather channel.  The current snow was to continue until 11 p.m.  Since I didn't know how hard it was coming down, I turned to the Indiana snowplow cameras posted on the 511.org website.  It showed real time road conditions from the cameras attached to the snowplows and the poles along the main highways.  As soon as I saw a picture of the current situation on SR 46, I sent it to Brett.  He texted back, "hotel it is!"

Brett called me when he got off of work to see if I could help him come with a hotel close to his work and near a restaurant so that he could eat dinner.  After reading the reviews and prices to Brett, he had me book him a room at the Days Inn.  The price was well within his budget, the room was nice, and he was able to eat his Marco's pizza, watch some videos, work on his current story and even do some exercising without worrying about traveling on the slippery roads.  It made for a fun evening and the added bonus was that he would only have a ten-minute drive to work in the morning.

I hung up the phone with Brett tonight happy that I had been able to help him even though I wasn't close to Columbus or Bloomington.  I was also proud of the fact that he, just like the rest of our children, was financially stable and had plenty of money saved for nights like tonight. Karen texted me tonight to let me know that she appreciated me helping Brett this evening.  It was great to feel appreciated, but most importantly, it was nice to know that our family does not have to rely on others to help them out and can make the decisions needed to stay safe and happy when an unexpected event occurs.  

A New Work Environment

Meg started her new tax accounting job in Naperville yesterday. It was a lot different that she was used to as she had a manager that she would report to directly and a principal that would check in on her daily.  They would answer any questions that she had, provide training for items that she hadn't worked on in her previous job and would also check the client hours that she worked weekly.  Everyone was friendly, they took her to lunch and made sure that she had received her holiday party invitation for later in the month.

Meg's previous job hadn't been as helpful to her.  She was overwhelmed, had no one to answer her questions and was criticized when she made a mistake.  It wasn't the experience that Cal had had, but he worked in a completely different division of the company.  Meg left in December feeling overworked and unappreciated.  She had also started to doubt her accounting skills.  Two days on the new job had already restored her confidence and she was thankful for the chance to learn, grown and earn some money.  

I was happy to hear that all went well. Experience had taught me that working in a miserable environment led to depression and anxiety.  No amount of money was ever worth that.  I was also glad that she felt better about her accounting skills.  I knew that she was a much better accountant that she was given credit for previously.  She just needed support and guidance.  Thankfully, she will get both now. 

What a Difference a Few Hours North Made

It absolutely amazed me that while Southern Indiana was hit with almost 10 inches of snow, northern Indiana pretty much had nothing. Even Chicago was left unscathed by the winter storm, and Cal and Meg were able to continue their lives as normal. Cal spent his time the last few days working. He had taken a lot of time off over Christmas and had some catching up to do with the start of busy season upon him. Maggie had also switched jobs and had to travel north of the city for the new position. I was extremely happy to hear that her training had gone well and that there was no ice or snow to drive through.

Meg spent her Monday in Syracuse with Grandma and Grandpa. She gave them their Christmas gifts which they loved, a Willie Nelson book for Grandpa with circus peanuts and jewelry that Meg made for Grandma. While she was there, she also got her haircut from Amanda and had dinner with Kyle, Nancy and Millie before she returned to Illinois. She called me on the way home to let me know that there was some ice in Gary which she didn’t like but it was nothing that she couldn’t handle. Thankfully, she made it home without incident, and my children in Chicago felt fortunate that the winter storm had decided to stay south of them. 

Indiana wasn't the only place that Meg made it to this week.  She got to spend Tuesday at Midway as well.  Nick was on lay over there and they had time to get lunch and take a tour of his plane.  Meg had never seen it before and was glad to finally do so.  When she texted me the pictures, I was amazed at not only his plane, but also at how little snow they had in Chicago.  It was amazing what a difference the weather was just a few hours north of Indianapolis.  Maybe this is the last of the bad weather for the MIdwest, and that soon everywhere will be clear. That might just wishful thinking on my part, but hopefully not.  

Change of Plans

Originally, Brett was supposed to pick Cameron up at the Indianapolis airport yesterday when he landed. Brett had had the day off because he had a dentist appointment in the morning, so the timing was perfect. Unfortunately, winter storm Blair threw a wrench in our plans. Monroe County was listed in the red for travel warnings until 9 PM last night, which was also when the snowplows finally took a pass at Brett’s apartment complex parking lot.  

Cameron had said that he could wait at the airport until Brett was free. I also knew that we could put him up in a hotel close to the airport until he could take the shuttle the next morning back to Bloomington. He and I had already decided that we were going to cancel his haircut and dental appointments for this week in Syracuse as the weather wasn’t cooperating with a trip north.

While Cameron was waiting at the airport gate in Orlando yesterday, he texted Cora about his situation. Although the solution that we had come up with was good one, it would have meant for a lot of downtime in the Indianapolis airport or an overnight stay with not much for Cameron to do. Cora and her dad decided that they would just come and get Cameron so that he could spend the night at their house. I was incredibly thankful that they offered to do that. I knew as a family that we would do the same thing but hated imposing on someone else. Cameron said that they were happy to have him there, and that the roads north of Indy were nothing like the ones that Brett was dealing with back in Bloomington. I was extremely thankful to hear that all went well with Cameron's trip to Indianapolis and very glad that they would also be able to take Cora and Cameron back to Bloomington tomorrow so that they could get ready for spring semester. Cameron decided the best way to thank them was with Crumbl cookie. I couldn’t have agreed more.

Saying Goodbye

Cameron was scheduled to fly back this afternoon. We were a little concerned about his flight getting out because of the snowstorm that was hitting southern Indiana. We knew that yesterday a few flights had been canceled and even more had been delayed. We decided, however, that the best course of action was to go to Orlando and wait to see what happened. We didn’t just sit around the airport once we got there. Cameron and I left early enough to eat lunch together at Rock N Brews before his flight. While we were there, we witnessed a car travel too fast through the intersection outside the restaurant and flip over multiple times. How ironic it was that we were worrying about traveling with the snow in the Midwest, and somebody in Florida just had a bad accident with no weather issues at all. Thankfully, we saw him get out of the car on his own and make it to the ambulance without any issue.

After lunch, I parked at the airport and went in with Cameron just in case his flight was delayed or canceled. There were several cancellations on the board, but none of them for Indianapolis. I waited until he got through the long line at security, and once I knew he was at the gate, I headed over to the local Barnes & Noble to do a little bit of shopping for his birthday. I also didn’t really want to leave Orlando until I knew he had taken off, so it was the great place to kill some time.

Surprisingly to all of us, Cameron‘s flight took off and landed without any issues. I was glad that he made it safely, but was super sad that the holidays with our children were officially over. It had been an awesome couple of weeks, and I hated to see it end. I knew, however, that the kids needed to get back to their lives, and I would never hold them back. Instead, I started making plans with Brett and Cal for their next return visit in February and March respectively. That way I had something fun to look forward to instead of focusing on the goodbye that I had just said.

Food Tour of Ocala

One of the best parts of moving to Ocala has been all of the restaurants close to our new home.  I haven't been the only one to enjoy that fact.  Cameron and Doug have made the most of all of the new possibilities and this week was no different.  Some of the restaurants that we tried while Cameron was here were family favorites, such as McAlister's, Chicken Salad Chick and Hiatus.  Others were new like Miller's Ale House and Foody Bowl.  All were delicious and solidified our opinion about our newfound love of living in a town with a multitude of food choices.

Eating wasn't all that we did the past few days while it was just Cameron here.  We invited Phil over to play Catan. We also watched multiple games of football happy to see the Lions finish first in their conference.  We went to mass and visited Gainesville for an afternoon where Cameron finally got to see their famed alligator in person and eat his favorite "Relish" burger.  All in all, it was a fun way to end our holiday break with our family.  Both Doug and I were sad that it would all come to an end tomorrow.

Shaking Off the Rust

One thing that Cameron wanted to do before he left for was play golf.  He suggested it to Doug, and I was glad to hear that he was interested in playing as well. Doug hadn't played in over a year, and I wasn't sure if he was ready to shake off the rust and get back on the course.  It also gave Cameron a chance to get Bob's clubs out and put them to good use.  We made a reservation for them at SummerGlen for today, and they were both happy when they left the house this morning.

I was glad to see that they were both smiling when they returned this afternoon.  They were a little surprised that they were the only people on the course today, but it didn't change the fun that they had.  Cameron felt that he hit the ball well and was proud of the five pars that he scored.  The other four holes didn't go quite as well, but he was still able to break 50.  He seemed pleased with that and was very glad to spend time with his dad.  Doug felt the same way about their round, only he wasn't quite able to break fifty.  Instead, of talking about his score, he was proud of the four putts that he made all over ten feet with one closer to twenty-five.  The scores and putts didn't matter to me.  I just enjoyed hearing their golf stories and was happy that all went well.  

Shopping & The Batman

The past two days with Cameron have been a lot of fun. We have spent a lot of time shopping.  Yesterday, we traveled to Silver Springs to check out Broke N Records.  Cameron had gotten several vinyls for Christmas but still had a few that he was looking to add to his collection.  I was happy to tag along as I have always enjoyed searching through the bins at this shop since all of their albums are vintage.  We spent quite a bit of time browsing and both went home with several that we were looking to purchase including and a few that we were surprised to find.  Doug appreciated Bob Dylan's greatest hits from 1967 and Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line."  Cameron found a Smoky Robinson album that he had been wanting to buy but could never find and one of Stevie Wonder's first albums.  Needless to say, he was thrilled.

After the record store, we headed to The Peacock Cottage.  I didn't need anything in particular but always love looking at all of their unique plants and planters.  Cameron had as much fun as I did sorting through everything and soon, we were heading home with a Sansevieria Cylindrica Braid. It looked fantastic on my plant stand.

While we were out shopping, we also stopped at Belk's, Kohl's and HomeGoods.  Cameron used my Kohls cash to buy some new socks, and I found a set of Christmas sheets with palm trees on them for next year.  It was a lot of fun and I was very glad that we went.

Cameron and I had just enough time after our shopping trips to catch the new movie, The Batman.  Cameron, Cal and Brett had already seen it and thought that I would like it as well.  The movie reminded me a lot of the series Gotham that we watched before Covid, so of course, I loved it.  There is already a series out following the movie's success called The Penguin.  I am looking forward to watching it as well and was extremely thankful for a few relaxing, but fun days in Ocala.  

The Sugar Bowl

All of us were surprised to hear that the Sugar Bowl had been postponed yesterday.  At first, I assumed that there was a weather issue in Louisiana but was completely shocked when I read that it was because a truck filled with IEDs and guns drove through a crowd of New Year's Eve partygoers on Bourbon Street killing fourteen people before the police took his life.  None of us could believe it and were sad to see that a few of those who died were there to watch the Notre Dame vs. Georgia game.  

Cameron talked a lot about the devastation that occurred yesterday in New Orleans.  Just like Doug and I, he realized that had IU beaten Notre Dame two weeks ago, we would have been on our way to Louisiana New Year's Eve night filled with excitement about the game.  Waking up to the news would have been awful.  Cameron even said that he wouldn't have wanted to go to the game because of the fear that the incident brought out.  Parce must have been feeling the same way as he texted me that in the end maybe it was a good thing that IU lost.

My feelings were the same as Parce and Cameron, but one other thought kept coming to my mind.  The incident was terrible, but I knew if we were there, we wouldn't have been anywhere near Bourbon Street on New Year's.  It would have been too crowded and loud for Doug, Cameron, Parce and I.  I did realize however, who would have been there and that was what scared me the most.  Cal and Jayce would have been right in the middle of the action on New Orleans famed street having the time of their lives.  I would have been incredibly scared and worried had that been the case.  Thus, I felt even worse for the families who lost loved ones last night.  It wasn't the way anyone would want to start the New Year, but it was a good reminder that life can change on a dime.  Thus, we cannot live it in fear and must make the most of it while we can.  That is the best way to honor the senseless tragedy.  

A Complete Unknown

If you would’ve told me a year ago that I would be watching a Bob Dylan movie on the big screen for my New Year’s Day entertainment, I never would have believed it. That was, however, exactly what Cameron, Doug and I did as we caught the 11 AM showing of A Complete Unknown. I wasn’t sure what I would think of the movie, but it had gotten such great reviews that I really wanted to see it. I was hooked from the very beginning when Bob Dylan met Woody Guthrie and was fascinated by his relationship with Joan Baez, Pete Seger, and other folklore legends. The movie only covered the first four years of his career, but it was absolutely mesmerizing to hear how Dylan went from obscurity to the biggest folk singer of the mid-1960s.  

Cameron and Doug wondered if I would like the movie since I wasn’t a big Bob Dylan fan. I still believe that he has one of the worst voices in music history but was blown away by his songwriting. We talked about the movie the rest of the day and listened to quite a few of his songs while we were playing games together including "It Ain't Me Babe" and "Maggie's Farm."  Overall, it was such a nice way to start 2025.  Just as any New Year begins, the movie was a great reminder of just how wonderful life truly is even though it passes by ever too quickly.