Next Stop Columbus

After a slight delay, I made my way to the Indianapolis Airport this evening to pick up Meg and Doug.  While I was there, I also picked up a new rental car as the one that I was driving had issues starting.  My dad jumped it and after several tries, he finally got it started.  I decided to not even stop the engine when I got gas in town before I left as I wasn't sure that I would ever get it started again.  National's helpline was not helpful at all with the issue, but thankfully, the people at the garage in Indianapolis were.  They let me pick out a nicer vehicle than I originally had, waved the helpline's fee and even filled up the tank for free.

The three of us arrived at Brett's around 10 p.m. this evening and headed straight to Buffalo Wild Wings.  We hadn't been there in a while and were happy that it was open so late. We caught up with Brett and Karen on what they had been up to since they returned from their honeymoon.  Afterward, we all went back to the apartment.  We talked for a little while about what they needed to do to get the apartment organized as they still had a lot of boxes to unpack.  The complex that they were living in was very nice and the size was perfect.  I know that they will be able to finish unpacking by the time we visit again in September.  

Saying Goodbye to the Past

Before my mom had a stroke, we had plans to have a big garage sale at her place during the townwide sale this week.  Meg and Brett had both cleaned out their apartments and had plenty that they wanted to get rid of this summer.  I offered to open up for at least Thursday to see how much we could get rid of as the first day is always the best.  My parents didn't want to, so instead we started looking at selling items on Facebook Marketplace.  My dad had had success with the window air conditioner that Brett used in grad school and several of his own golf clubs, so I thought it made sense to try it.

I didn't have time to sort through a lot of the garage sale items, but I was able to find a few things that we could put on Marketplace including my Raggedy Ann and Andy set.  I gathered everything together, took a few pictures and wrote a description of the set.  I wasn't sure it would sell but knew that the large Raggedy Ann and the Raggedy Ann & Andy lamp were rare.  Dad posted the set on Marketplace and now all we have to do is wait and see.  The good news was that there was plenty more we could try, and we had already earned $20 from the books that I sent to two different booksellers online.  There will be more to downsize when I get back, but for now, I felt pretty good about starting the process.

Who is This?

I flew out of Orlando airport early yesterday morning and rented a car for my drive to Syracuse. I stopped several times as I was pretty tired, but overall, it was an easy trip.  I was amazed to see how well my mom was doing.  Her speech was much improved, and she could walk a lot better than I expected.  She was still using my grandmother's walker but was hoping to get a better one once she was ready to go outside more.  

While I have been at my parents the past two days, we have caught up on some of their favorite shows including Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and Gunsmoke.  Although I had watched the first two shows frequently, I hadn't seen Gunsmoke in years.  I was amazed at how good the show really was.  One time I was so caught up in an episode that I didn't notice that my mom had fallen asleep and I finished the show without her.  She was ok with that as she had already seen it and knew how it ended.  

The other thing that I have enjoyed on the television while I have been visiting is the reel of the pictures that my dad has a screen saver on Roku.  Some are old ones from decades ago and some are more recent.  This picture showed up on the screen while I was watching them and my parents told me that Aunt Jan thought it was Cal, but they were sure that it was Cameron.  I knew right away who was correct but decided to text my family to see what their thoughts were.  Everyone knew instantly that Aunt Jan was right, and I texted her to let her know.  Cal even remembered the day and the hat, one of his favorites.  No matter who was right or wrong, it was a lot of fun reminiscing, and I thoroughly enjoyed the walk down memory lane. 

Happy Anniversary Meg and Nick

Meg and Nick spent the weekend in Sarasota celebrating their first anniversary.  They stayed at a Hilton resort on the beach enjoying the white sands.  They picked the perfect place for their miniature holiday as it was extremely hot in Florida this weekend with heat advisories over 110 degrees.  Meg said that they had a wonderful time with a lot of great restaurants to try as well.

When I thought back to this past year, I couldn't believe how fast the time had flown and how many changes had come into Meg and Nick's life.  They started last summer in Chicago with Meg still working for Plante Moran.  Since then, they have moved across the country and Meg has found employment that she has been a lot more meaningful to her.  They not only downsized their possessions, but friendships as well all for the better.  It wasn't an easy year, but it was a memorable one.  I look forward to seeing where year two takes them next.

Weekend Visitors

My parents were blessed with two visitors this weekend as both Cal and Cameron were in Syracuse for a visit.  My Dad and Cal had plans to play in a golf tournament and Cameron wanted to hang out in Northern Indiana for a few days as he hadn't visited there since before Brett's wedding.  My Mom and Dad thoroughly enjoyed having them both of them there and took advantage of spending as much time with them as possible.  

Cal and Cameron called to tell me that they could not believe how much improved their grandma was.  She was moving better and talked a lot clearer.  The four of them even played a game of Oh Hell out on the back porch.  I was amazed to hear that and incredibly glad that my boys made time to spend with their grandparents.  It reminded me of my visits to my own grandparents.  I wish that every child had a set (or two) of grandparents that loved them.  It makes life so much easier.  

Snakes, Why Did It Have to Be Snakes

Doug and I met Phil last night at Hiatus and then came back to our house to hang out on the back patio.  It had rained while we were gone, so once we arrived home, I went to the garage to get dry chairs.  Doug was in the kitchen making a drink while Phil went outside to check the patio.  I was walking with the chair in my arms by the pineapple table when all of a sudden, I saw something move. I put the chair down and yelled at Phil to stop.   At first, I thought that he was playing a trick on me but quickly realized that he wasn't as he was about to step on a snake. 

I was in shock.  Thankfully, my scream alerted Doug and Phil to the danger.  I suggested the snake pole and gloves, but unfortunately neither were helpful.  The snake was too thin for the pole to work and none of us wanted to try and grab it even with gloves.  The guys tried to chase it out with a broom, but unfortunately the snake got behind the China cabinet.  I started panicking that it would get into my bedroom and ran to get a blanket to block the base of the door.  Fortunately, they were able to move the cabinet out enough to get the snake out of the corner and push him with a broom out the sliding glass door.  The snake laid on the patio recuperating for quite some time before slithering off.  None of us went back outside last night and today I went to Lowe's first thing in the morning to purchase Snake-Away and a door protector to block the base of my bedroom door just in case any other reptiles stop by for another scary visit.  

A Ring Camera

After three years of dealing with our front doorbell, I had had enough.  The original doorbell that came with the house never really worked correctly and there was no way to hook up a new wired one to it.  I had purchased two different wireless doorbells that were great at first, but both ended up going through a multitude of batteries and eventually stopped working.  When the newest one quit, I decided that I had had enough and started investigating a Ring camera doorbell.  After reading hundreds of positive reviews, I went to Lowe's to price the one that I wanted.  I was surprised by how inexpensive they were.  When we first moved to Ocala, a Ring product would have been well over $200 and now they were less than $100.  I figured that I had saved us at least that much in fixing our electrical outlets in the kitchen myself and went ahead and bought one.

I set the Ring camera up yesterday and have already been surprised by how much I like it.  It alerts me quickly when someone is at the door and I have easily been able to talk to them via the microphone.  It also alerts me when a package is dropped off, and I can look out my front door via the app to see what is happening even when no one is there.  I know with the new doorbell that I will feel safer when Doug is in Orlando or when we are traveling next week as well.  Overall, I have been impressed.  It is amazing to me how much technology has really improved over the last five years and after having the doorbell for a few days, I am very thankful for that.

Boundary Boss

While my therapist was on vacation in June, she recommended that I start reading the book Boundary Boss.  She thought that it would help me with a few issues that I had been having with taking on too much.  I started reading the book, a chapter a week, and was amazed at how much insight it gave me.  It not only explained why I was taking on too much, but how to set boundaries for myself.  When my therapist returned, I talked with her quite a bit about what I had learned and what I had hoped to learn upon finishing the book.  She suggested that I started using the skills that I had learned on people or situations that were not that important in my life.  She thought that it would be a great way to practice my newfound skills.

What amazed me the most about reading the book was how much insight it gave me into Doug and his family relationships.  Until I read the book, I did not realize how many times boundaries were overstepped.  I knew that I was frustrated with situations from the past but did not know why.  The book explained it perfectly.  It also explained why I had spent many years being angry.  It gave me some helpful ideas on what I needed to do to remedy those situations, even though they were long past.  I appreciated the helpful advice that the book gave me and promised myself that I would not be put in those situations ever again.  It was a very freeing feeling, and I was glad that my therapist had recommended the book to me.  

Positively Electric

This past weekend, the electrical outlets in our kitchen went out.  They had done so a little over a year ago, so I knew where to look for the problem.  Once Doug and I confirmed that it was the same outlet and that I could not easily fix it, we decided to call the electrician.  The company that fixed it in April of 2024 said that it was past its one year warranty and would have to charge us $167 just to come out and look at it.  I tried another company with good reviews. They could send someone right away and it would only cost $35 for the trip.  I thought that I might as well try them since the first one did not solve the problem.  

Several days ago, the electrician came out and said that it was the same GFCI outlet that was the issue.  It would not reset and he felt it was because it was installed incorrectly.  I believed everything that he said as it seemed reasonable.  After diagnosing the faulty outlet, he also stated that the issue could have been caused by an electrical surge.  He pushed pretty hard for us to put in a surge protector because of all of the lightning strikes in Florida.  He might have talked me into it until he said that it was over $1000.  That was a lot more than I wanted to spend.  I thanked him and asked that he just fix the outlet for the $234 he quoted me. 

I was very hopeful that replacing the outlet would be the end of our electrical woes, but unfortunately the next morning, the entire set out of outlets were out again.  I started to believe that maybe I had made a mistake in not getting the surge protector.  Instead of calling the electrician back, I called the electric company.  I explained the issue, and they agreed to send out one of their electricians to make sure that we were not getting power surges form the outside line.  They arrived quickly and were able to tell me that everything coming into the house was working correctly. They were also able to validate my opinion that we didn't need a surge protector as a power surge of that magnitude would cause more than just one set of outlets to go out and that we would notice a lot of other issues such as blinking lights.

I decided after talking to the electric company that I would solve the problem on my own.  I didn't want to call an electrician as I knew that they would push me to buy something that I didn't need.  Instead, I shut out the power to our home and started changing the outlets in the daisy chain one by one.  Sure enough, once I replaced the second outlet that I was suspicious of, the power came back on, and all outlets worked.  I even overloaded them by plugging in multiple small appliances and the GFCI stayed on.  I was surprised at first that I figured it out so quickly, but it made sense when I thought about how electrical currents worked - one bad outlet would definitely cause an issue if they were all connected to it. 

I spent the rest of the day excited about my ability to fix the outlets.  It not only saved us several hundred dollars, but I also was able to put in outlets that looked a lot nicer with our new granite.  I was pretty proud of the new look.

Finally, Something to Make Us Laugh on Social Media

The news from the 4th of July weekend was very sad this year.  There was a flash flood in Texas that killed over 100 people, a third of which were elementary girls that were at camp for the week.  Although our family knew none of the people affected by the flood, we could totally sympathize as Meg and Cameron had spent a week or two every summer at Camp Crosley from their early elementary days as well.  The reels that showed up on Instagram and Facebook were incredibly sad and I tried to stay away from all of them.

This past week, however, social media was filled with news of another sort.  During a "Kiss Cam" at a Coldplay concert, a light was shone on a couple that obviously did not want to be seen.  The woman hid her face and the man ducked under the seats.  The lead singer even joked, "I hoped that they weren't having an affair or something."  In the end, the whole world found out that he was actually correct.  The man and woman were part of the management time of a media company and were married to other individuals.  Some people tried to say that it was an invasion of privacy, but I was glad that they were "outed" in front of the entire country.  The ones that I actually felt sorry for were their family members and their coworkers who had to deal with the national attention.

The best part about the scandal was all of the memes that came out afterward.  Even the Tampa Bay Airport posted something extremely funny on X about it.  My favorite spoof of the incident happened with the Philadelphia Phillies.  During their "Kiss Cam" a spotlight was shone on the Philly Fanatic and his Fanatic girlfriend.  As soon as they saw the camera, the Fanatic dove on the ground and his "friend" hid her face.  It was funny enough to make me laugh out loud.  That is the kind of news story that I prefer. 

40 Days

Cameron and Cora left this afternoon for Indianapolis.  They were ready to get back to Bloomington.  Cora had to work and then had plans to travel to Washington DC later in the week to visit one of her roommates.  Cameron was going to go to Syracuse while she was gone so that he could visit Grandma and Grandpa for a few days.  

After I dropped them off, I went to Meg's for the afternoon.  While she was working on applications for jobs, I started looking through Instagram.  All of a sudden, this photo popped up on my feed and I instantly started smiling.  I was more than ready for football season to begin.  It would give the football fans in our family something to look forward to every week.  Plus, we would be traveling multiple times to Indiana for games.  Even though Meg and Maggie weren't as excited, it meant that Dancing with the Stars would be back on television in September as well.  Brett was the only one that wouldn't be excited about football or DWTS, but he would be happy to tailgate once again and to have pumpkin spice back on the menu.  It was 100% positive news for all of us.

Enjoying a Laid Back Sunday

 After such a busy week, it was really nice to have a laid-back Sunday.  Meg, Cora and Cameron played more Mario Super Sluggers before she headed back to Ocala.  The four of us then had another round of pickleball before enjoying a driving tour of Ocala.  Cora finally got to see the World Equestrian Center and to eat at Mellow Mushroom, Cameron's favorite restaurant in Ocala.  We tried Mario Kart when we got back to home, but Doug's tremor knocked him out of the game.  The three of us instead switched to Hands Down Yahtzee which has become my go to game every time Cameron visits.  

I was a little sad thinking about Cameron and Cora returning to Indiana tomorrow, but we had had such a wonderful visit that I didn't want to ruin it by crying about them leaving.  Plus, we had plans to go to Bloomington the first weekend of August so it wouldn't be long before we saw them again.  With that in mind, I had a great last night in Florida with everyone.

Gainesville

Today's adventure took us to Gainesville as Cameron really wanted to show Cora all of his favorite places to visit.  We started at Kanapaha for a walk through their botanical garden.  It was very hot, but that didn't matter too much as we stayed mostly in the shade.  They both absolutely loved all of the plants and flowers growing throughout the gardens and had fun on the water path looking at the large lily pads and searching for turtles.  

Next, we drove by Tom Petty's home as Cameron felt it was a rite of passage when visiting Gainesville with our family.  We also took a driving tour of the University of Florida.  It was interesting listening to them compare it to IU.  We stopped for lunch at Relish which never disappoints and ended our time in Gainesville at Swamphead.  It was the first time that I tried sour beers.  I was surprised by how sour they really were.  Everyone enjoyed the beer tasting and looking for the alligator in the "swamp." 

Once we got back to Ocala, the four of us had a great time playing pingo pong and pickleball.  Meg arrived soon after we finished, and we then ordered Piesano's for dinner.  Phil joined us for game night, and we played several rounds of Donner Party and Chameleon.  Later in the evening, the Wii was brought out with Mario Super Slugger dominating the screen.  It was a fantastic throwback to Cameron and Meg's younger days and just like long ago, I loved watching everyone play.  

Ocala

Today, Cameron, Cora, and I spent the entire day exploring Ocala.  We first went to the Ocala Greenway Disc Golf Course.  The two of them had a lot of fun playing even though it was hot. I enjoyed walking along and decided that sometime when it is cooler I need to try it myself as I think I would really enjoy the sport.  Cameron and Cora did decide to quit after 16 holes because of the heat, but both of them had a lot of fun and Cora was impressed with the course.  The only negative of the morning was the squirrels that looked like half monkeys that we saw everywhere.  

After disc golf, Cameron picked the Big Hammock for lunch.  I was glad as it has become one of my favorite places to eat. Our next stop was Silver Springs. I had bought tickets for the 3:00 PM Glass Bottom Boat tour and we wanted to get there a little bit early so that we could walk on the boardwalk. Unfortunately, it was closed today due to downed trees, but we still enjoyed showing Cora the area.  She absolutely loved the boat ride and was impressed with all that we saw.  This was my 4th time riding it and I have learned something new every time that I have gone. This time we found out that the Spanish Moss hanging on the trees is not actually moss. It is a type of air plant that houses chiggers, so it is not a good plant to bring into the home.

The three of us had enough time to stop at the record store before we headed back home.  Cameron found a few that he really liked and bought Doug's birthday gift.  Doug was here when we arrived and loved his new Back in Black vinyl.  We then decided that it was the perfect night to take Cora to Shuck N Shack.  I was really impressed that she tried oysters but wasn't too surprised to learn that she didn't really like them. Cameron and Doug said that the best part was the horseradish, but I think I would rather just try horseradish alone.  On our way home, we picked up Crumbl Cookie.  We then spent the rest of the evening watching the WNBA All-Star Weekend while playing games. Even though Caitlin Clark was out, we all still had a very enjoyable night.

Playing The Fairways

I really appreciated Doug letting us stay at Saratoga Springs last night, as it was incredibly nice to sleep in this morning.  By staying on property, we were also able to take advantage of our extra time in Disney World by stopping at Disney Springs for lunch at Polite Pig.  We were able to do a little bit more shopping as well.  

Meg decided to head home after Disney Springs, while Cameron, Cora and I all went to Fantasia Mini-Golf.  We had rain vouchers from Tuesday night's round that we wanted to use.  The regular course was packed, but we were able to get on The Fairways right away.  I hadn't played that course in years and knew it was a lot tougher than Fantasia Gardens.  I also realized that Cameron and Cora might enjoy the challenge.  I left the decision up to them and was happy to join them on The Fairways.  

The course was just as tough as I remembered, and there were definitely some challenging holes, but overall, we did have a lot of fun.  I was the big winner which at first frustrated Cora, until Cameron pointed out that I did win most family mini golf rounds.  I explained to her that I was happy to have one sport left that I could still competitively compete against our family with since real golf was out of the question.

After miniature golf, we headed to Ocala.  Cameron gave Cora the tour of our home and they enjoyed looking through photo albums and talking about their favorite parts of Disney World.  Once Doug got home, the four of us went to The Great Greek for dinner.  Although it wasn't quite as good as the food that Cameron had in Greece, they still enjoyed it very much.  We finished the evening playing games and relaxing. It was a wonderful way to end our day.  

Magic Kingdom

This morning, Cameron and Cora were up early to catch the bus to Magic Kingdom so that they could rope drop the park.  It was a great idea as they were able to get on several of the major rides before non-resort guests were let in at 9 a.m.  Since they decided to stay until park close, Meg and I thought that it would be best to rest up and meet them later in the morning. 

It ended up being a great day for all of us as the park wasn’t too crowded and the heat was manageable. The four of us were able to ride several of our family favorites together such as Winnie the Pooh, Little Mermaid, Peter Pan and Haunted Mansion.  It was a lot of fun. During the afternoon, Meg and I decided to go back to Saratoga Springs to rest before Doug joined the group for dinner.  We had originally planned on staying one night, but once I realized yesterday afternoon that it was going to be a tough drive back tonight, I asked Doug if we could add a night to our reservation.  He thought it was a great idea and we all appreciated knowing that we would be able to maximize our day at Disney.

We met Doug at the Skipper Cantina this evening after he got off work.  It is Doug’s favorite place to eat in Magic Kingdom as it is based on his favorite ride - The Jungle Cruise.  Dinner was delicious and we enjoyed the atmosphere.  We also missed a pop up shower while we were eating.  After dinner, we headed to the restaurant’s namesake and then on to Pirates of the Caribbean before Doug, Meg and I went back to the hotel.  Cameron and Cora stayed until park close and arrived just before midnight.  They were absolutely exhausted, but very happy with their day.  I couldn’t wait to ask them more about it in the morning.