Happy Birthday Cal

Cal turned 27 today and although we couldn't be there to celebrate in person, our family did send him multiple texts throughout the day along with social media posts and phone calls.  I was a little bummed that the gift Cameron and I sent him last week got delayed in the mail, but I knew that he would enjoy extending his celebration one more day.  Brett's present was delayed as well, but thankfully the Rubber Soul album that Meg and Nick got him arrived today and he enjoyed listening to that as he worked from home. Maggie sent us pictures later in the evening of Cal at his birthday dinner.  She had made reservations at a restaurant where they turned Winston Churchill's elevator into a private booth.  Cal loved it and enjoyed the seafood menu immensely.  

I was very happy for Cal today.  His twenty-seven years have been a blessing to our family.  There have been some challenging times that he has had to persevere through, but along the way there has also been so much fun and love.  I am extremely proud of the hard work that he has put into his relationship with Maggie and at Plante Moran.  Although I miss having him work from home, I am so glad that he has built such a wonderful life for himself in Chicago.  I can't wait to see him next month in the Keys.  It should be a fantastic time and a great way to celebrate his 27th birthday in person.  

Greece Bound

After a dozen hours and several countries, Cameron finally landed in Alexandroupolis.  I was nervous about his study abroad trip, but once I found out that he was situated in Greece, I decided that I would no longer worry about it.  Cameron makes good decision and would be sharing this experience with two of his roommates along with a dozen other honor students at IU and his college professor who grew up in the area.

Cameron sent pictures of the view from his hotel room as soon as he unpacked. I thought the scenery was absolutely beautiful. Turkey was just beyond the river, but I had stopped worrying about him "accidentally hiking into that country" long ago.  On his first day, Cameron was able to spend some time exploring the town, trying different Greek delicacies, buying his first legal beer and shopping.  He had purchased the perfect gift for Brett by the time he headed back to the hotel and had plans for more souvenir buying later.  I will miss talking to him while he is traveling but am really looking forward to hearing all about his adventures when he returns in June.  

Cleaning Out the Memory Tubs

While Meg was here last weekend, she spent some time going through the four memory tubs that she had stored here. Since I did not have as much storage space in our Florida home as I did in Syracuse, I was glad to hear that she planned to take them with her once she got move into her new home in Baldwin Park.  I enjoyed listening to her talk about all of the items that she had stored over the years.  Some were instantly put in the trash bag as she couldn't believe that she kept them in the first place.  Others provoked precious memories that would last a lifetime.  I was also glad to hear that she planned to keep a lot of the baby clothes in the hopes that someday her daughter or niece would be able to wear them. Since they had only been worn by one child, most were still in great shape, and the dresses were adorable.

Meg left the sorted tubs here until her next trip to Ocala.  Since Doug was going to stay with her one night, I offered to reorganize them and send them with him.  She appreciated the help, and I was pleased to see that I could now fit everything into three tubs for her.  Meg sent me a picture later in the evening.  She had been vacuum sealed a lot of her clothes and used the same process to store many of the items in the memory tubs.  It was funny to see Lucy vacuum sealed, but I was glad that she made the "keep" list and that everything fit nicely in Meg's storage unit. 

Cal's Day in Syracuse

When Cal found out that Maggie was going to go to a baby shower in St. Louis this weekend, he decided that it would be the perfect time to visit grandma and grandpa. They agreed 100%.  Cal drove out this morning and met Grandpa at Black Squirrel golf course in Goshen where they enjoyed 18 holes together.  Normally, they would have played at Maxwelton, but the course was closed due to a golf tournament. Grandpa ended up beating Cal, but he didn’t mind as he had a lot of fun.

After golf, they went back to meet Grandma for lunch and also enjoyed watching Jeopardy together. While Cal was there, he even got to open up his birthday gift a little bit early. I was really glad to hear that all went well and that they had a fun day together. I appreciate that my children still enjoy visiting their grandparents. I know that I loved hanging out with mine, and I am glad that they have carried on that tradition.

Bananas and Peppers

One of the best parts about moving to Florida has been learning about the state’s vegetation and what grows best in the warm humid climate. Since we have been here, we have tried growing a lot of different outdoor plants. We have had success with some like the pineapple, bromeliads and poinsettias. Others haven’t done as well as we hoped, but are still hanging in there like our hibiscus plant.

Recently, Doug and I added two new plants to the backyard. We purchased a banana plant and a jalapeño pepper. We had had banana plants when moved here, but they were in the ground and the cold weather killed them easily. We decided this time to keep the banana plant in a pot, so that we could move it indoors when the temperature dropped below 40° next winter. We hoped that the pepper would do a little bit better than our tomato plant. The snails seem to have stunted the tomatoes growth, so hopefully we can keep the mollusks away from the peppers. The other thing that we did this past week was move the lemon tree onto the rocks by the bromeliads, hoping the flowers would finally pollinate and we would have our first lemon. The good news for us this was that we finally saw a lime growing on our lime tree. Not only did it look healthy, but there were a few other small ones that had started taking shape as well.

I do not know what we will try to grow next. Meg and Nick got a basil plant to put out on their deck that seems to be thriving, so maybe we will try something like that. No matter what comes next, it has been a lot of fun experimenting with gardening in Florida.

New Chairs

I have absolutely loved our new kitchen table. The glass has been a lot easier to clean than I thought it would be, and the pineapple brings up some great conversations, especially now that I know that it’s significance in the Mormon culture. What I don't love about our new table and chair is the seat cushions. The color was extremely boring, and I really wanted to update them. I wasn’t quite sure how to do it, however, as the seats were round and the metal chairs were super heavy. Because of those two factors, I didn’t know if it would be easy to take the seats off and cover it like I did our dining room chairs in Syracuse.

This week, I decided to give it a try. First, I figured out how to take the seats off, so I could learn how to recover them. Then, Doug and I looked for fabric. He suggested finding a pattern for three of the chairs and a plain color for the fourth.  It took a couple of stores, but we did find fabric that we liked. The hard part came next when I worked on recovering the chairs. The round seats made the material pucker, so I had to staple and unstaple the fabric to the underneath of the chairs as I worked my way around each one slowly. The shortest time it took to recover one of the chairs was 45 minutes, while the longest I worked on one was two hours. Thankfully, there was no deadline, and in the end, I was able to recover all four of the chairs.  I love the new look and am very glad to have that project checked off of my list.

Nick Makes it to Florida

Nick arrived late Tuesday night happy to have passed his check ride and finish his training in Dallas. He was also thrilled to finally see his new home in Florida. Meg had worked hard to get their apartment ready and was anxious to show it to him as well as the Baldwin Park area.  Meg and Nick were also excited to be able to get their new driver's license so they could be official Florida resident Disney World annual passholders.

I know that it will take some time for Meg and Nick to get adjusted to a new area and find their bearings. It will also take them some time to adjust to the Florida heat.  In the end I know that they will love the change from life in Chicago. Moving can be overwhelming, but it can also be exciting as it is a chance to start fresh. I definitely cannot wait to hear about all of their adventures in their new home state.

Visiting Northern Indiana

Since Cameron couldn't come down after he finished the semester, he decided he would go back to Northern Indiana, visit grandma and grandpa and see a couple of his friends from Goshen. He left on Sunday afternoon with the hope of making it to Syracuse in time for Mother’s Day dinner. He did make it in time, but not without a little bit of a hiccup. As soon as he got to I-465 in Indianapolis, his check engine light, tire light, and TPS light came on in the van. He called and asked me what I thought he should do. I suggested driving through the city instead of staying on the busy interstate. That way if there was a car problem, he could quickly get to a gas station. Cameron tried my route and thankfully, made it without any issue and enjoyed a nice evening with grandma and grandpa. Today, we found out that our worries about the van dying were all for nothing. One of the sensors had gone out on the tire lights, and it was causing the dashboard to light up. That was welcome news to all of us since we weren’t quite ready to let go of the 2012 Honda Odyssey. Now that it had crossed 230,000 miles, we were hoping that it could make it to 240,000.

Besides visiting grandma and grandpa, going out to dinner, and playing a lot of buck Euchre, Cameron was also able to play golf multiple times with Keagan, watch Bethany‘s match against Wawasee at Maxwelton, and hang out with Tristen who had just finished his freshman year at Goshen College. Cameron was extremely happy with his trip, and I was glad that he took the time to go before he left for Greece. Hopefully, he can return to sometime in June for another visit, but if not, he should have even more time in July. Since I know that he strongly prefers living in Bloomington to anywhere else in the world right now, I was happy that his visit went well and then he still enjoys many of the fun things that he did while growing up in Northern Indiana.

Charlie McCarthy

Growing up, my brother really wanted to be a ventriloquist. One year he asked for a Charlie McCarthy puppet for Christmas. I had seen the puppets in the JCPenney catalog, but I definitely didn’t feel the same way that he did about them. They never made any of my wish lists as I always thought they were a little bit creepy.

As I got older, I started watching scary movies and soon realized that I was not alone in my opinion that puppets were frightening. Even television shows, like Goosebumps, and the Twilight Zone featured puppets that were villains. I was glad to see that other people agreed with me and wasn’t surprised to find out that no one in my family liked puppets either.

Recently, my mom asked my children if any of them would like my brother's Charlie McCarthy puppet. Each one of them quickly said no as had Doug and I years ago. After deciding that no one wanted to keep him, we all started to brainstorm about what to do with Charlie. We talked about selling him at this summer‘s garage sale, but we honestly didn’t know if anyone would purchase him. I suggested throwing him away, but then Doug reminded me what happened to Tele Savalas' character in "Talking Tina" when he threw that doll away. I didn’t want a repeat of that Twilight Zone episode, so instead I suggested eBay. There were several other Charlie McCarthy dolls listed online. Maybe there was a market for my brothers as well.

After giving all of our ideas to my mom, she said that she should have just buried it with Bunk years ago. That made me realize that we should actually cremate Charlie McCarthy this summer, have a small service and spread his ashes at the cemetery. I told Cameron, Cal, Meg, Brett and Doug about it and they were all on board right away. My mom said it was a good idea but thought that she would just bury him there instead. I squashed that idea right away as I knew Charlie would come back to life and kill us all if we did that to him just like in the movies. No matter what happens it has been a lot of fun to think about as we downsize some of my childhood memories.

Mother's Day

Doug and I had decided to go to mass yesterday, so we could spend today enjoying Mother's Day.  Unfortunately, the weather had different plans for us.  We had gotten a really bad storm yesterday and another one was rolling through this morning cancelling our plans to go to Gainesville.  Even with the changes and the lingering discussion from last night, we still had a nice time together and I enjoyed my Mother's Day celebration very much.

The three of us decided that lunch would be first on our agenda.  Meg had not been to Cheddar's in a long time, so we tried there first.  The line was out the door, so we thought it was best not to wait.  After discussing several more options, I finally picked Milano's.  Meg had never been there, and I had enjoyed it the past few times that I had gone for Christmas parties.  Doug was a little bit skeptical as he remembered the Italian restaurant differently than I did.  We gave it a try anyway and were incredibly glad that we did.  

Since Milano's wasn't set to open until noon and it had started to pour, there wasn't much of a line to get in at 11:45 a.m.  Meg kept laughing that we were "rope dropping" an old person's restaurant for lunch.  It did work as we were quickly seated after they accommodated those with reservations first and were very pleased with the service, the food and the atmosphere.  Each one of us had a traditional pasta meal with my spaghetti and meatballs being just as delicious as the last time that I tried it, and we all had plenty of leftovers for dinner tonight.

Next on our list was a long walk at Shalom Park.  The weather was perfect for it and the sun started shining as soon as we arrived.  It was a fantastic afternoon which we finished by shopping at Heathbrook Square.  Once we got back home, I opened my gift from Cameron, REM's Life Rich Pageant, one of my favorite albums.  Brett's gift was set to arrive tomorrow, Meg had a birthstone bracelet that she was making for me and Cal had sent me a beautiful bouquet of tulips to enjoy this week. Those gifts along with the wonderful day that we had plus the new stone dishes that Doug gave me last week, made for one of the nicest Mother's days that I could remember.  

Unsolicited Opinions

Meg came out today and invited Phil over to visit for a little bit as she hadn't seen him since Christmas.  While everyone was talking, he told us that he supported Bill Belichick dating a 24-year-old. I stopped when he said it and asked if he thought about what he was saying. He went on to talk about money and looks and why people her age would date someone their grandfather’s age. I repeatedly stopped him and asked him to rethink his opinion, but he didn’t, and I ended up extremely mad. I wasn't upset about the age difference or the money, but about normalizing something that’s absolutely disgusting. I also didn't like having my opinion dismissed. I think that’s what bothered me most.

For years, I have had to listen to men talk about women. They judge their looks, comment on the weight, and point out their flaws. Even men that I have respected in my life, put these views out for others to hear like it was gospel. After 56 years, I have absolutely grown tired of it. I do not judge people on their looks and do not believe that others should either. I will never understand why a person would throw away their relationship with their family to date someone that could be their grandchild. Most importantly, however, I hate it when people believe that they can spot off their opinion but tell me that I am wrong for expressing mine.  Everyone has the right to make their own decisions, but no one is free of the consequences of making those decision.

Obviously, there was more going on inside of me than Bill Belichick's love life.  After a long time of being told to just to let other people talk and not take their opinion personally, I have grown tired of it all.  I have never understood why I had to be quiet if someone had a disgusting opinion that I did not agree with.  Why can’t I just say that? Why do they get to drone on about something completely offensive to me and I just have to smile and listen. That is how young women dating a 74-year-old becomes normalized in the first place. Thankfully, Doug has never said anything degrading about women.  I wish everyone would follow his example.  It would make the world a better place.  

What a Difference It has Made

A couple of months ago I started getting calls from tax collectors. At first, I just hung up and assumed that it was random spam. One caught me off guard, however, when they asked for Doug. Our phone numbers have never been the same and there wasn’t really a reason for them to ask specifically for Doug, so I questioned why they were calling me. They said that they understood that he was the CFO at Winco and that there had been a lien placed against the business for tax reasons. As a registered agent, Doug was listed as the contact. I listened to what the man had to say, before I explained that I was not involved with Winco at all and asked him to take me off of their call list.

Unfortunately, the calls did not stop. I still do not know how they got my phone number as no one was calling Doug, but in addition to mine, they also got Cameron and Brett’s. The phone calls along with the monthly letters from the state of South Dakota to Champion Manufacturing that I had to keep "returning to sender," I decided this week that I had finally had enough. I asked Doug to please call his former boss and tell them what was going on with the phone calls and I would call the state of South Dakota. I am not sure that he was able to make any progress with his phone call, but I did with mine. I explained that we were not part of Champion, but that I did have an address and a phone number if they would like to call who I thought was. I did not give out any personal information or say anything that I did not find out publicly, but it felt good to let someone know that we were no longer part of the drama of that company.

After I hung up, I realized that Doug may have to drive longer to work now, but the stress is so much less that neither one of us care at all. We have worked around it, and now that Meg lives close to Longwood, it gives us a great reason to visit her once a week. It is hard to believe sometimes that Doug has been with his new company for six months, but what a difference it has made.

Sophomore Year Comes to an End

Last night, Cameron took the last final of his sophomore year.  Although the class had been a relatively easy one, he still spent the last few days studying.  He texted as soon as it was over to let me know that all had gone well and that he was sure that he would end the semester with all A's, thus maintaining his 4.0 grade point average.

Doug and I were both very glad to hear that he had finished the year on a high note. Cameron had worked hard on his grades, and we weren't surprised to find out that he was celebrating on the golf course.  His sophomore year had not only been successful in the classroom but outside of it as well.  He had secured a highly sought after internship for his junior year, had worked as a teaching assistant and had been chosen to be a director of Student Athletic Board all while starting a new relationship with Cora and living on his own in his first apartment.  This summer should be a relaxing one filled with his study abroad trip to Greece, multiple of rounds of golf, trips to Florida, an SAB conference and starting his internship in the IU Athletics marking department.  We are excited to spend some of that time with him and to hear all about his new adventures.  

I Love a Rainy Night . . .

Tonight, I looked up into the sky and got really excited. For the first time in a long time, I actually saw rain clouds. They were thick and black and headed towards our home. I sent a picture of them to my mom with my fingers crossed that soon our drought ridden yard and thirsty plants would soon be soaked in rain drops.

Unfortunately, my hopes were quickly dashed as the rain clouds just kept floating by our home. I looked online later and saw that some parts of Ocala got rain and that there were storms south of us, but we still had empty rain gauges on our side of town by the time we went to bed. It has been so hot and so dry that we have had to water our plants almost every day. Even so, the tomato plant is wilted, and the hibiscus is looking sad. My sun patients have not fared very well this spring either.  I can’t believe I am saying this, but I am actually looking forward to the rainy season this summer. At least then I won’t worry about the yard accidentally catching on fire when we blow out our Tikis for the night. I guess, soon enough we will have rain and then I’ll be tired of it, but right now it sounds like a welcome relief.

Baldwin Park

Since Nick hadn’t returned from training yet, Meg asked Doug if he wanted to stay at her apartment tonight. It would really cut down on the drive for him and give her some company as well. Our dryer vent was getting cleaned out at our house today, so I wasn’t sure that I can join them, but thankfully they finished in plenty of time, and I was able to arrive around the same time as Doug.

Both of Doug and I were very impressed with how much Meg had gotten done this weekend. She rearranged the furniture and unpacked several more boxes as well. She would still need some help from Nick, especially when some of the new furniture arrived, but she felt really good about it all. She had also enjoyed exploring the area in the last few days as well.

Since there wasn't a lot for us to help Meg with, the three of us decided that we wanted to go to Baldwin Park tonight. We love how quaint it is and how close it is to Meg's apartment.  We also appreciate that there are a lot of different restaurants to choose from in the downtown area.  We stopped at several while we were out walking and finally chose a Mexican themed one on the lake. They even had seating outside so that we could enjoy the beautiful weather. We had a fun meal together and enjoyed listening to Meg talk about Nick coming home tomorrow. I couldn't wait to hear what he thought of Baldwin Park and his new home.  I don’t think that it has really dawned on any of us that Meg is a permanent resident of Florida now and not on vacation, but either way it sure is nice having her close by.

Nurses on Board

When we first found out that Maggie was a nurse, we asked her lots of questions about her job.  At the time she worked in a hospital on the obstetrics floor helping to deliver babies. It seemed like a lot of fun, although I know that there had to be times that it was very challenging, especially when the outcome was tragic.  Maggie has since found another nursing position that may not sound quite as exciting since it is on a surgical ward and doesn't involve babies, but we still like talking to her about it. Plus, the hours are a lot better, and she doesn’t have to work nights anymore which she and Cal really appreciate.  

Out of all the things that Maggie has told us about being a nurse, my favorite story is the one that she tells about her mother. Several times when there have been emergency situations near them, Maggie’s mom has yelled out, “It’s OK, my daughter’s nurse.” That isn’t quite what Maggie wanted said in those situations, and she explained to us that she was OK if we never yelled that out. Thus, when I saw this sticker on a car, I couldn’t help but take a quick picture. I thought it would make a great gift for Maggie as then everyone in the world would know that she was a nurse. Thankfully, she knew I was joking when I sent it to her and Cal this afternoon.

A Day of Rest

After traveling to the Midwest two out of the last three weeks, I was definitely glad for a day of rest. Of course, because it’s Doug and I, it wasn’t completely a day of rest.  After going to church and working the gift shop, he and I started rearranging the Piano room. We had brought back a rocking chair and a stackable bookcase from my mom's that we had had in our home and Syracuse. We wanted to make a place for it in Florida as I liked both pieces and they had been in Doug’s family for well over 100 years.

As soon as we started moving furniture around, we realize that the only way to make room for these two pieces was to get rid of the futon. Meg had slept on it when she moved down here last week and said that it was uncomfortable even with the mattress padding I bought to cover it. I checked with Cameron, and he said he would take it but he couldn’t fit it in his room so if we wanted to donate it, it was OK with him. I suggested that maybe Phil would like it as he did not have a couch and was surprised to hear that he actually did. Doug moved it into the garage to give to him later in the week, and we got said to rearranging the piano room. The focus became our record player, the piano, my sewing table, and the bookcase that I filled with craft supplies. I loved the outcome.

Next on our to do list was to sort through the boxes of Nigerian artwork that we brought back from Illinois. I had condensed the four boxes into two and Doug looked through those to see what would fit on the bookcase in his bedroom. We prioritized the pieces that he really liked from his childhood and put aside any that had nudity or references to slavery.  After sorting through everything and placing some of the items on the bookcase shelves, we realized that we would need to hang up some more shelves to fit it all. We finished up by storing the rest in a tub with Jeannette’s memorabilia along with the slides that Carl took from his time in the Peace Core and any information that he had with it. Eventually, we plan to contact someone from the local art museum to see if they can give us an estimate of value or explain any of the pieces to us. Overall, it looked a lot better than I thought it would, and I was glad that Doug finally had the Nigerian artwork to showcase.

 

Bonus Trip

While we were all busy in Orlando yesterday, Meg's dresser was delivered to our home.  Since she was just going to be hanging out at her apartment today, we offered to take it to her new home.  Our thought was that we would go to Epcot afterward for dinner as we didn't want to intrude on Meg's time.  Once we arrived, however, Meg asked us to stay and help for a little bit.  Doug started building a bookcase for her bedroom and I rode with her to Target to buy a few items that she still needed for her apartment.  It was nice to help out and to see all of the progress that she had made this week.  With Kyle's help, they had really gotten a lot done.

Since Doug and I were at Meg's longer than expected, we decided to forgo our trip to Disney World today.  Instead, we headed to one of our favorite places in Orlando to eat, Rock N Brews.  It was a lot closer to Meg's apartment complex and the food was delicious as always.  While we were there, we were also able to watch the Kentucky Derby.  Doug's always enjoyed the race, and it was very interesting this year as it had been raining all day long, so the track was very much, and there was a horse from Ocala entered.  Although that horse finished surprisingly well behind the winner, we still had fun watching just the same.  It was a great way to end our day in Orlando.

Moving In

Meg, Kyle and I left for Orlando just after breakfast today.  They arrived first to pick up the keys and were already parking the truck by the outside stairs leading up to her second-floor apartment when I arrived.  The next few hours were spent unloading the truck and unpacking some of the key items.  I wasn't great going up and down the stairs, so I offered to pick up the lunch that Meg ordered from Potbelly.  It also gave me some time to check out the area close to her new home.  There was a Target within a mile of their apartment and a shopping plaza with restaurants and several of her favorite stores. 

The afternoon went by quickly and soon Doug arrived after work.  He helped unload the last few pieces of the truck so that they could move the dining room chairs and tables from the Pilot into the apartment.  After working for a few more hours, we decided to check out downtown Baldwin Park and find a place for dinner.  We were extremely impressed with the area.  There was a CVS and a Publix plus a lot of other small shops all situated around a lake with a lot of activity.  There were multiple restaurants to choose from, and we found one that had a menu that everyone could enjoy.  We even got a table outside.  It was a wonderful way to celebrate Meg's first day in Orlando.

Road Trip

I was really worried that it would be hard to fall asleep last night with the excitement of Brett's blown tire, the loud fire alarm and sleeping on an air mattress.  Fortunately, I went right out and slept through the evening until 5:30 this morning when Kyle headed out the door.  Meg said that I could wake her up if I was ready earlier than our planned 6 a.m. wake up time.  She woke up easily, ordered her Starbucks and was on the road by 6:30 a.m.  I was very glad as I knew that if all went well, we would be in Atlanta before 4 p.m. which meant that we would miss rush hour.

I drove for the first three hours taking us through the easiest part of the trip - Southern Indiana, Kentucky and an hour of Tennessee.  Meg and I stopped in Nashville for a snack and a bathroom break.  It wasn't in the greatest area, but we had no issues and were thankful for the break.  Meg drove the rest of the way through Tennessee including Chattanooga.  I was thrilled that there wasn't any traffic, and Meg was glad that we finally caught up with Kyle.  

Georgia was long as usual, but we did have fun stopping at Buc-ee's for lunch.  Meg gave me a hard time about my road trip snack, but the pineapple was really good.  Once we cleared Atlanta, Meg switched to the Penske truck with Kyle.  He was ready for some company, and I was ok having some time on my own to listen to last night's Survivor and Amazing Race episodes and to check in with Doug.  The last five hours were long, and I was more than ready to get out of the car. Needless to say, I was very happy to make it home without any issues.  Doug and I had just enough time to unpack the CR-V before the truck pulled into the driveway.  We all then unpacked a few items from the truck that were going to stay at our home before eating Doug's delicious dinner.  The rest of the night was spent relaxing, thankful that for a safe road trip.