Happy Halloween

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

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

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

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

  

Laughing Gas

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

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

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

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

Just an Average Tuesday (and Thursday)

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

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

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

Happy to Be Home

I loved visiting all of our family, but I had been traveling for the past twelve days and was ready to sleep in my own bed even if I didn’t quite know where I was this morning when I woke up.  I was also very happy to return to Bible study.  The group was small today, but learning more about Isaiah was extremely interesting and the discussion afterward was fascinating as always.  

I spent the rest of the day unpacking, doing laundry, running to the grocery store and enjoying the solitude of home life.  I had therapy in the afternoon and appreciated that very much as well.  It has made a big difference in how I feel and has really helped me these past six months.  Tonight, was Halloween night on Dancing with the Stars.  I was glad that Doug was able to join me for one of our family’s favorite evenings of the week.  We were all glad that everyone that we were cheering for made it to next week’s Rock N Roll Hall of Fame night.  It was a great way to end a low key day back in Ocala.   

Well, That Was a Wasted Visit

As frustrated as I was the last time I saw my doctor, I was even more so today after leaving Meg's visit with her gynecologist.  Two weeks ago, Meg went to see her about a pain that she was having on her right side.  She was also experiencing some personal issues that she wanted to talk to the nurse practitioner about.  She left that appointment feeling great.  The NP told her that she had a large fibroid which was causing all of the health problems that Meg was experiencing and scheduled her for an ultrasound.  

Meg spent the next two weeks researching fibroids, their causes, symptoms and treatments.  From what she told me, I completely believed that was the correct diagnosis.  Since Nick was out of town, I offered to go with Meg to her appointment.  Meg was grateful as she felt that if both of us were there, we could remember all of the information better and come up with a plan of treatment with the practitioner.  

Instead of walking out with a diagnosis today, both Meg and I left the office feeling extremely frustrated.  The ultrasound did not reveal a fibroid, instead it showed an issue that may have been caused by an excess of estrogen in Meg's body.  The NP glanced right over that finding, threw out several other issues that made no sense when compared to Meg's symptoms, and completely ignored my history of hormone problems as well as the significant number of women in my family with cervical and uterine cancer.  She offered a few blood tests that Meg had already had with her family doctor and then pushed birth control, completely disregarding Meg's history of migraines with aura.  It was incompetence at its best, and the condescension was alarming.

As I drove home today, I thought a lot about Meg's appointment.  I had struggle with many of the same issues that Meg has when I was in her age.  Birth control was always the answer until the migraines became severe, then nothing but "take some Ibuprofen."  I couldn't believe that in thirty years there wasn't a better answer.  Thankfully, Meg was able to get ahold of her NFP sponsor from Chicago who set her up with a family doctor who had a more wholistic approach to Meg's medical concerns.  Meg also has my support as well as Doug and Nick's.  I know in the end, Meg will find a solution, but unfortunately, it won't be today.  

A Wonderful Last Day of Vacation

We were all so tired after yesterday's game that we spent the entire evening relaxing at Brett and Karen's apartment.  Brett, Karen and I even put on our pajamas once we got back.  Although it was a quiet night, it was still a lot of fun.  We watched more football games, listened to vinyls, ate leftover brats for dinner and played Ticket to Ride Germany.  

This morning, Doug and I appreciated that Karen and Brett got up early to see us off.  Cameron had invited us to a SAB breakfast at Assembly Hall today and we had to leave by 8 a.m. to make it on time.  The morning was so much fun.  After breakfast, we were given a tour of Assembly Hall and Memorial Stadium.  The tour was different from any that we had been on before and we loved every minute of it.  In Assembly Hall we got to go into the men's basketball gameday locker room, step out onto the court and see the basketball practice facility at the Cook Center.  At Memorial stadium we were able to walk through the student athlete academic center, see their cafeteria and even go out onto the field.  As a longtime Hoosier fan, it was fabulous.

Cameron had to work the women's soccer game at noon today, so we parted ways after the tour as he still needed to get bagels for the game.  I suggested that Doug and I stop at Portillo's for lunch as we hadn't eaten much for breakfast.  Thankfully, there was one close to the airport which gave us plenty of time to eat before we had to board.  The flight home was an easy one and for the first time ever Southwest gave Rapid Reward members free Wi-Fi.  That was really nice for Doug as he got to finish watching the Bears game before we landed.  

We appreciated Meg picking us up from the airport and we enjoyed catching up with her very much.  She had had a busy week hosting Nick's parents and then recovering from another sinus infection.  I was glad that she was on a stronger antibiotic that seemed to be helping.  None of us stayed up too late as Doug wanted to get an early start on work tomorrow and I planned on going with Meg to her ultrasound in the morning.  It had been a wonderful week in the Midwest, but I was thankful to be home and looking forward to some much-needed rest.  

Best. Football. Experience. Ever

I had told Doug and Cameron recently that as much as I loved this IU football season, my favorite was actually 2019 as it was when we could all tailgate together at every football game.  The team wasn't as good, but still decent enough to make the games enjoyable, and being with family was always the best part.  After today, however, I may have to change my opinion as this was by far the best IU football game that I have ever attended.

The day started out the same as most of our other gameday experiences in the past.  We were all up early to get a good spot for our tailgate.  We picked up Cal and Maggie along the way and met Parce before we headed to the lots so that we could all drive in together.  Once we entered the stadium area, however, that was when the changes started.  First, we were able to park in lot 12 behind Assembly Hall instead of the grass lots.  We loved the difference as soon as we arrived.  The lot was paved with plenty of room to set up the tent, table and chairs as most tailgaters had not arrived in that area yet.  There were even portable bathrooms next to our lot which were extremely convenient especially later in the day.

The next notable difference was that Parce had brought a Great Dane with him.  He and Gena were fostering her, and she hung out with us for the morning.  She was very well behaved and everyone in my family loved having her there.  Our food choices had not changed as Doug made his famous beer brats for the tailgate and Maggie brought muffins.  Although the weather was chilly and gray, we all had a great time hanging out, catching up, watching the band and football team walk in, and eating some wonderful dishes.  One big improvement this year was that all of us got to go into Assembly Hall once Cameron arrived as he had a key to the building.  It was awesome to be able to warm up and use actual bathrooms before the game started.

The biggest difference to our normal gameday experience happened when we went to the stadium for the game.  Cameron and the rest of the SAB directors were to be recognized at the end of the first quarter of the game.  He had gotten three tickets for Cal, Doug and I to be on the field with him.  It was by far one of the best IU experiences that I had ever been a part of besides watching my own children graduate from college and Meg getting married on campus.  We not only got to help wave the Indiana State flag on the field before the game started, but we also got to watch the entire first quarter on the field behind IU's endzone just a few feet away from the Hoosier's pick-six to start the game.  It was absolutely amazing made only better when we heard Cameron's name called during the director recognition ceremony.  I felt incredibly blessed when we walked to our seats in the second quarter and extremely thankful that Maggie, Brett and Karen were able to catch the excitement on video for us.

Although the rest of the day was a lot of fun, the apex was definitely hit during the first quarter.  By the time we got to our seats, the Hoosiers had a three-touchdown lead over UCLA and never looked back winning 56-6.  Cal and Maggie took a walk downtown at halftime to enjoy the rest of the game from The Tap.  I left at the third quarter to check on those still at the tailgate.  Parce, Gena and her family packed up shortly afterward to head home.  Doug arrived next making it through most of the game while Brett and Karen stayed until two minutes left.  Once Cal, Maggie and Cameron arrived, we packed up the car for the return trip to Columbus but didn't leave right away as we wanted to visit with a friend of ours from college first.  Doug and I enjoyed seeing Nellie in person as we had only corresponded through text over the past twenty years. 

Cameron was the first to head out as he wanted to catch the rest of Cora's tailgate and see a few of his friends as well.  Cal and Maggie had decided that they would make the drive back to Chicago tonight as they had plans tomorrow in the city.  Although I was sad that everyone was leaving, I was still very happy from our wonderful day together.  Plus, Doug and I still got to hang with Brett and Karen tonight, and we had one more day of our vacation left before heading back to the sunshine state tomorrow.  

An Odd Stay, But Some Fantastic News

Doug and I had a great visit with Paula on our way down to Bloomington last night.  I wasn't sure if I would be able to see her on this trip, but Cameron was busy tonight, so it worked out perfectly.  We met at Daniel's Vineyard which was within walking distance of her home.  I enjoyed hearing what she and the girls were up to recently.  Alex's wedding is in February and Gabrielle was in Miami this weekend for the bachelorette party.  I was sad to leave, but we made plans to get together for lunch or dinner during my trip in November.

Our stay last night at the IMU was different from any that we had experienced recently.  As soon as we opened the door to the first room that we were given, we saw guest luggage unpacked on the bed.  It took a while for the front desk to find us another room, and the one that we ended up with was definitely subpar.  The bed felt like we were sleeping on a stone slab.  The television picture mirrored those from the 1990s and the thermostat predated any that I had seen since we were in college.  Thankfully, the room was clean, and we enjoyed being on campus once again.  Cameron was able to meet us at The Vault in the basement of the Union after his intern social event.  We loved the bison three quarter zip that they had given him and enjoyed listening to his week.   

Today, Doug and I met Cameron and Brett on Kirkwood for lunch.  Cameron suggested Uptown Cafe which we all loved.  The food was a lot spicier than advertised, but we enjoyed it just the same.  Afterward, we walked to the record store and then to Kirkwood where I finally found a clear stadium crossover bag that I liked and was reasonably priced.  It would be perfect to take into the games.  Cameron had to work this afternoon, and Brett had a doctor's appointment.  Doug and I didn't mind as the day was gorgeous and it gave us a chance to walk around campus, visit the Game Preserve and complete the shopping for the tailgate tomorrow.

Before we left for Columbus, we met Cameron and Cora at Upland Brewing Company.  We weren't very hungry, so Doug just tried a few beers while the two of them split a few appetizers.  Cora had finished a challenging bio-chemistry test last night and was thankful to put aside studying for the afternoon.  I was glad that I never had to take that class as it sounded brutal.  Most of the rest of the discussion revolved around Cameron's acceptance of a summer internship at Owens Corning in Toledo.  The internship was one of the elite ones offered at Kelley, so we were all very excited for him.  Cameron would be working in their operations department which was exactly the type of position that he had hoped to find.  The hourly pay was fantastic especially knowing that his lodging would be paid for as well.  Personally, I was incredibly happy that Cameron could put aside the interviewing process until next fall as that had added a lot of stress to his already busy schedule.  He and Doug reread all of the emails to make sure that Cameron's acceptance letter had gone through and were already talking about where we would go in Toledo when we visited him this summer.

Once Cameron and Cora headed to the men's soccer game, Doug and I left for Columbus and arrived just as Karen was getting off of work.  It took a little while to unpack the car, start the brats and make plans for tomorrow's tailgate.  Once we finished, everyone was ready for dinner.  Our original plan to eat at The Garage Pub in downtown Columbus quickly changed when we realized that they had a band playing tonight with a very large crowd in attendance.  We found a Mexican restaurant nearby that we decided to try instead and were not disappointed.  The food was authentic and cooked to order.  Their margaritas were fantastic as well and everyone enjoyed their dinner very much.  Even though no one stayed up very late this evening as we knew that the 5:30 a.m. wakeup call would be challenging if we did, we all had a fantastic evening together.  

A New Glasses Wearer

Doug and I spent the morning playing Oh Hell with my parents before packing to leave for Bloomington.  My mom was sad to see us leave but smiled when I reminded her that Cal would be there next weekend, I would be back in two and a half weeks, Brett and Karen would visit for Thanksgiving and Cameron would be spending several days with them before Christmas.  As we pulled out of the drive, Doug told me that he was incredibly impressed with how our children and I have stepped up to increase our visits to my mom and call her more frequently since her stroke.  I appreciated him recognizing that. Grandma Jane had been an important part of our family's life and none of us would have thought of doing anything less.  

Before we left Northern Indiana, Doug and I had two more stops to make.  The first was at Hacienda, one of our family's favorite restaurants, for lunch.  Doug hadn't been there in over a year, and I was always ready for their chips and salsa.  We both enjoyed our meals and talking about our fond memories of the twenty-five years that we had spent with our family in the Hoosier state followed by what we loved about living in Florida.  The weather this week has definitely made me appreciate Ocala even more.  

Our second stop was a priority this trip.  Doug had realized over the past few months that he needed glasses.  I wasn't surprised as I had noticed that I could see better than him recently both close up and far away. We could have tried to find an eye doctor in Florida, but our family had been going to Dr. Caughill since Meg started eye therapy ten years.  He was an excellent optometrist always going the extra step to insure the health of our eyes.  Doug didn't like all of the parts the eye exam, especially the tests that looked into the back of his eyes, but he did appreciate finding out that his eyes looked healthy and that he was able to get a prescription for a new pair of glasses that I should be able to pick up for him on my next trip north.  

A Wonderful Day to Relax in Syracuse

It was cold today in Syracuse, but that didn't hinder any of our plans.  Doug and I were able to relax, play Oh Hell with my parents, and watch Jeopardy with my Dad.  We did venture out to run a few errands in town and even made it to Goshen Brewing Company for dinner. The only disappointing part of today came with dinner.  GBCo had changed their French fries.  They were quite a bit thicker than before and seasoned differently.  As they had always been my favorite appetizer, I was a little sad.  Thankfully, the brewery had added other items to the menu to compensate for the change including a new soft pretzel and hummus dish for me and anchovy bruschetta for Doug.  Overall, we had an awesome day and appreciated the slow pace very much.  

Michigan

Doug and I were up before Cal left for work so that we could tell him goodbye and thank him for a wonderful visit.  Maggie had to leave later in the morning, so we quietly got ready to go and texted her a message of appreciation as we drove out of the city.  Doug and I wanted to visit Holland and Saugatuck, Michigan before going to my parents for a few days.  It wasn't the perfect day for an outdoor adventure with rain, wind and chilly temperatures in the forecast, but thankfully none of that hindered our day.

Our original plan was to shop in Saugatuck before the rain and then go to lunch at New Holland Brewing Company afterward.  The predicted rainfall changed while we were making the two-hour drive moving our first stop to Holland.  Neither of us minded as we were both ready for pepperoni pinwheels.  It had been over a year since our last visit to Doug's favorite brewery and we both enjoyed lunch very much.  Besides the famed pinwheels, we also shared a soft pretzel and Doug tried several of their beers as well.  Since we knew that we only had a few hours before the rain returned, we held off shopping in Holland to spend more time in Saugatuck.  We did, however, stop at New Holland Brewing Company's adjacent store so that Doug could buy a new shirt.  

It was windy and chilly in Saugatuck, but thankfully no rain.  The store owners had told us that they had had a terrible storm in the morning which we were very thankful to miss.  The weather must have scared off tourists as we had most of the stores pretty much to ourselves.  We didn't buy anything but had a great time window shopping and reminiscing about our family visits to our favorite Michigan town.

The trip to my parents was an easy one and we arrived well before dinner time.  My dad had a town council meeting tonight, but we were still able to find time to play Oh Hell and watch Jeopardy with him.  Both of us had a lot of fun watching Dancing with the Stars with my mom.  She has grown to love the show as much as Meg.  We loved hearing her take on the dancers and even helped her vote for her favorite, Robert Irwin.  All in all, it was a wonderful day in Michigan and Indiana, and I personally was glad for a few days of rest with my parents before returning to our fast-paced before traveling again.  

Another Wonderful Day in The Windy City

The first part of my day was very quiet.  I was up early to see Cal and Doug out the door before 6 a.m. Cal wanted to get a jump start on his workday and Doug had plans to see his father in DeKalb.  Maggie didn't have to leave until 7:30 and I enjoyed talking to her for a few minutes before she left as well.  An additional benefit of getting up before dawn was watching the sun rise over Lake Michigan.  It was absolutely beautiful.

While everyone was busy, I spent my morning working on the computer and hanging out in the rooftop lounge of Cal's apartment.  It was a nice place to work and there was free hot chocolate as well.  After lunch, I headed outside to take a walk through the Lincoln Park Zoo.  It was a little cool, but the sun helped warm me up.  There weren't as many animals out as yesterday, but I did get to see the zebra up close and personal.

Doug called while I was on a walk and said that he was on his way back to Chicago.  I was glad to hear that the visit with his dad, Aunt Marg, the farm manager and the investment banker went well.  Since he was getting back earlier than I expected, I decided to go back to the apartment to rest as I was pretty sure that Doug would want to take a walk when he returned.  I was thankful that I did take a break, because as soon as he arrived, we headed down Lincoln to see what businesses were still in existence from when Doug lived in the area over thirty years ago.  There weren't a lot from the 1990s but were still several that we recognized.  After walking through his old stomping grounds, we took another stroll through the zoo before heading to a restaurant that Cal had recommended for happy hour.  It was closed on Mondays, but we did find one nearby that we absolutely loved.  It was on top of the long-standing Lincoln Hotel.  The drinks were refreshing, and the views were gorgeous.

Cal arrived just as we were finishing our drinks and we all walked back to his apartment together.  We had just enough time to change and rest before walking to one of his and Maggie's favorite Spanish restaurants.  My feet were tired, but the walk was well worth it as we got to see Oz Park named in honor of Frank L. Baum, author of Wizard of Oz, who lived in the area.  Dinner was wonderful.  All of the food on the menu was served on small plates with the intention to share.  Everything that we tried was absolutely delicious as was the Sangria flights that we had as well.  I could see why Cal and Maggie had recommended it and would definitely go back on a return trip to Chicago.