Kennedy Space Center

A few weeks ago, Doug told me that he would like to visit Kennedy Space Center at some point this summer and suggested that I ask Cameron if he would like to go with us.  Cameron had told me that he didn't want to overschedule his week while he was with us in Ocala, especially since he had had a very busy summer, so I was surprised when he said that he was definitely interested in making the two-hour trip to Titusville to visit the place where Apollo 11 had launched for its trip to the moon.  I was happy that he wanted to go, and thankful that the Space Center was offering a special rate for Florida residents, which saved me almost a $100 on our trip today. 

The three of us arrived at 10:30 this morning and headed straight to the bus tour.  I had read on the way in that it was the perfect place to start as it would take us on a tour of the main launching pad, give us access to the Apollo missions museum and let us Atlantis as well.  It was fascinating to all of us with Doug and I more focused on the 1960s and 70s missions and Cameron more on the current space travel.  I was really impressed with how much we learned and how much there still was for us to find out on our own.  The only negative on the day was standing under the rocket booster for seven minutes with a crowd of people for a less than awe inspiring "takeoff" experience.  Other than that, it was a wonderful day, and we were all glad that we chose to spend it at Kennedy Space Center.

Crooked Can brewery

Several months ago, Doug and I decided to try Crooked Canned Brewery.  It was unique in that it featured a local brewery and several food court style restaurants inside one long building.  Since he was staying at Meg’s while she out of town, Doug thought it would be a great place for him and I to meet as it was a little over halfway to Baldwin Park from Ocala. I liked the idea because it saved me quite a bit of time in the car and I would still get to see Doug. He and I met after he got off work that night and really loved the place. It not only had beers for Doug to try, but also several food vendors to choose from as well including a barbecue restaurant, an ice cream store, and a pizza place, just to name a few.

A couple of weeks after our visit, we noticed that there was a new Crooked Can Brewery being built along I-75. It was even closer to Ocala and from the looks of it, the place was huge. Doug and I both really wanted to try it as did Meg once she passed it on her way to visit us in July.

The three of us decided that tonight would be the perfect time to try Crooked Can Brewery especially since Meg had not seen Cameron since he arrived and was ready to hang out with him. We were also happy to show him another new place that we had found since his last visit in March. All four of us absolutely loved the brewery. It didn’t quite have all of the restaurant in place yet, but the ones that we tried were fantastic. We started with an appetizer of pork rinds along with a round of beers before picking out dinner. Cameron, Meg, and I had the empanadas which were absolutely delicious while Doug ordered a pizza for him and Cameron to split. Before we left, I treated everyone to dessert from the new donut shop, and we all agreed that the fried s’mores donuts were absolutely delicious. In the end, we all enjoyed the new place very much and it was the perfect place for Cameron to give Meg a surprise gift from his summer internship. It was nice to know that even the pink Panther loved Crooked Can Brewery.

A Day at Home

Cameron had a great first full day of his summer break at home in Ocala.  He slept in, signed his offer letter from Owens Corning, and went to lunch with me at Depot on Magnolia which he had never been to before today.  He was glad for the quiet day and I appreciated the company.  We even made time for a few rounds of Hands Down Yahtzee before Doug came home from work.

There were two things on Cameron's list that he really wanted to do while he was here.  First, he wanted to cook.  Since we were staying in this evening, it was the perfect time for him to try and make cheeseburger pods that Disney had made famous.  He had gotten the recipe for bao buns online and picked out his own ingredients for the filling.  I was incredibly impressed with how great they tasted and his ability to replicate one of our favorite theme park meals.  

The second thing that Cameron really wanted to do was watch Jaws 2.  He had watched the original every year with our family for as long as he could remember, and after seeing the sequel on the Rewatchables list, he decided that he wanted to watch it.  Doug and I had seen not seen the film all the way through in years, so we were more than willing to set up the tv on the back patio for a movie night.  Jaws 2 was just as good as I remembered and the perfect sequel to the first movie.  I was glad that Cameron got the humor out of the gasoline, water-skiing scene without even listening to Bill Simmons talk about it first, and that he enjoyed the last forty-five minutes as much as we did.  Overall, it was a wonderful night in Ocala, and I was extremely happy that Cameron was here to share it with us.  

Summer Break

Cameron arrived this afternoon and he couldn't have been happier to have a week in Florida before school started.  He talked non-stop all the way to Ocala from the airport filling me in on his two days at Grandma and Grandpa's beforehand and his weekend in Southern Indiana.  The biggest topic of conversation, however, was Owens Corning and Cameron's job offer.  He still hadn't come off of cloud nine from that and wanted to go over the benefits with me while we were driving.  I was impressed with the company's bonus structure, relocation stipend, employee stock opportunities and their 401k employer contribution match program.  Although he didn't have to choose his insurance plan yet, we still went over it and talked about what made sense for him.

When Doug got home, the topic continued and Cameron had his dad read his contract.  Once we all agreed that it looked great, we picked Hiatus to celebrate.  I hadn't been there in months, and we enjoyed a beer there before heading to Taco Tuesday at Tijuana Flats.  It was a fun night of hanging out, talking about careers, predicting IU football's success and listening to Cameron's plans for his senior year.  I was glad that the pressure was off this week and we could just focus on having fun and relaxing.  Cameron hadn't been in Ocala since March and Doug and I were definitely looking forward to spending time with him.

Vitamin D

Last week at my biweekly appointment, my therapist asked me to take a quiz on depression.  She felt that my weepiness was caused from a mental health issue and not just from being overwhelmed by the events of the summer.  I had never been diagnosed with depression before but definitely understood her concerns.  I had been very weepy.  In fact, I cried for an hour after I cut Doug's hair and realized that the scar from his last bought with skin cancer would be noticeable.  For some reason, I couldn't focus on the fact that Doug was healthy and that he honestly didn't care about his hair.  I just kept thinking about that scar.  Maybe my therapist was right.  

After the scar incident, I told Doug what my therapist said.  He listened but didn't really feel that I was depressed.  He felt that I still enjoyed life too much.  He also thought that I had other issues going on that I hadn't mentioned to my therapist. He suggested I should talk to Dr. Aich instead.  After Doug said that, I realized that he was right.  I had been having a lot of joint and muscle pain.  I started getting headaches and I was physically exhausted.  Even my morning walks had become too much.  He also pointed out that my weepiness could have been from the news that we received from Syracuse last week.  Our long-time insurance agent whom I had known since I was fourteen had died unexpectedly from pneumonia.  It was hard not to think about as he had children Cal, Meg and Cameron's ages.  

I took Doug's advice and had bloodwork done in anticipation of my appointment with Dr. Aich at the end of the month.  As soon as I read the report, I knew exactly what was wrong.  My Vitamin D was very low.  That had happened one other time in my life and I had the exact same symptoms that I was having now - fatigue, joint pain, nerve issues, weepiness, and more.  I messaged my doctor right away and she increased my Vitamin D to every other day instead of every other week.  I know that it will take a while for it to make a difference, but just finding out that there was something medically wrong and that I could do something about it made all the difference.

Windchimes Instead of Bird Feeders

When I was living in Indiana, I loved to feed the birds.  With the woods behind us and a big Maple tree in the front yard, we attracted hundreds of birds each week.  I not only fed sparrows, but gold finches, hummingbirds, cardinals and even orioles.  Out of all of the feeders that I set up in our yard, and there were many, my favorite was my peanut feeder.  I loved watching all of the blue jays flock around it when ever I filled it with peanuts.  They would fly up into our front tree and start cracking the shells with their beaks hitting the peanuts repeatedly against the branches.  When I couldn't see the blue jays through the leaves, I could hear them working on the shells.  The peanuts rarely lasted an hour or so before they were gone.  

Unfortunately, I haven't had any luck here feeding the birds and I am not sure why.  I researched what would be native to our area and set up several different kinds of feeders to accommodate those birds, but none ever came to our backyard.  I didn't know if the huge black crows that were hanging out in the oak tree across the street scared them off or if the birds in Florida had plenty of food and didn't need feeders.  Either way, my bird feeding days were over, and it was one of the few things that I missed about our home in Syracuse.  

Recently, Doug and I decided to give it one more try.  I set up the pole, filled up a regular birdfeeder and the one for peanuts, but nothing happened.  I waited a month and never saw one bird in our backyard.  I finally gave up.  Instead of being sad about losing all of my birds, I decided to try something else on my shepherd's hook.  I found a beautiful solar lighted hummingbird windchime on Amazon to hang in our backyard and decided that would be the best way to remember my fun days of being "the crazy bird lady" in our family.

New Furniture Shopping

I noticed a few weeks ago that Doug's armchair was getting pretty dirty.  The main section was fine, but the arms looked downright filthy.  I tried to clean them, but it didn't help very much.  I asked him what he thought about getting a new chair.  He still liked the one that I got him when we bought the house but agreed that it was probably time to start looking.  Once Meg saw the chair, she was all in for us replacing it.  I definitely was ready.  Doug's chair had served a nice purpose these past few years but had outlived its lifespan.  

I had purchased Doug's chair on Amazon but didn't really want to use them again.  We got lucky with his as it was the perfect firmness for Doug, but I thought it was too big of a risk to try buying online again.  I also thought that we might get better quality from a furniture store.  Doug and I spent this afternoon shopping for chairs.  We stopped at Ashley Furniture first.  It had the perfect set of barrel chairs complete with a marble table, but I was worried about the color matching our couch.  I was more than ok with getting rid of my armchair but really didn't want to buy a couch as well.  Our next stop was Rooms to Go.  They had a lot more chairs to choose from, but the prices were more expensive, and I didn't like any of their chairs better than the set at Ashley.  

In the end, Doug and I decided to wait.  We used Google Gemini to place the green chairs in our living room and liked how they looked.  We just weren't sold on the color.  Maybe we will go and look after Cameron visits.  Either way, it was fun to window shop today and start thinking about new furniture.  

A Job Offer

Last week, Cameron gave his final presentation to the Supply Chain Department at Owens Corning. He was very happy with how well it went and was pleased with all of the compliments that he received. This week, he interviewed for a position with their development program. He had met with several members of the steering team for help and had spent a lot of time over the weekend preparing for the interview. By Tuesday, the stress level was at an all-time high. There were seven interns vying for four positions in the Supply Chain Department. He felt that he had a good chance of receiving an offer but wasn’t 100% sure. 

This morning at 8:30, Cameron had an appointment with his intern coordinator. I had told him last night that no matter what he heard at this meeting, we were extremely proud of him and that the skills he had learned at his internship with Owens Corning would serve him well wherever he ended up getting a job. Thankfully, Cameron no longer needs to search for a job. Owens Corning made him a fantastic offer that he plans to accept once he reads through the contract with his dad next week. I was extremely pleased for him. The job market is tight right now with a lot of layoffs. Cameron doesn't have to worry about that and knows that for the next three years he will be employed with a company that has made a commitment to develop him. At the end of that time period, he will be able to apply for a position within Owens Corning that would suit his talents. He doesn’t know yet where he’ll be for the first year as they take tow 6-month rotations at a plant somewhere in the US. I secretly hope it’s Ocala or Tampa but realize that that’s a longshot. No matter where he ends up next June, we are absolutely thrilled for him and very happy that he took advantage of all that Owens Corning had to offer this summer. It proved to be the difference in getting hired or not. 

A Helpful Surprise

When Doug visited with his dad a couple of weeks ago, he mentioned to him that he may have to retire earlier than planned because of his Parkinson’s diagnosis. His dad asked if Doug was still able to stay with Meg a few days a week and if overall, he was feeling healthy.  Carl was relieved to hear yes to both of those questions. At the end of the conversation, Doug talked to his dad about taking some of his inheritance early, so we could pay off the Pilot and our house in the next couple of years. That would really help Doug's new retirement plan.  Since the Pilot had a larger interest rate on its loan as compared to our mortgage, Doug asked about help with that first. I was a little surprised to hear that Doug‘s dad was very receptive to it. In the past this topic had led to hurt feelings. I was glad that they were able to talk about it rationally and that Doug’s dad was prioritizing Doug’s health. 

Even though Carl had told Doug that he was going to help, I was still a little surprised today when the wire transfer came through. I know that Carl worries about his own long-term health expenses and wasn’t sure if he would be able to come up with the funds needed to help Doug. Needless to say, I was incredibly happy for Doug. He’s a dedicate employee and bread winner for our family.  Although I know he likes working for now, this money lowers Doug's stress levels tremendously as he starts planning his retirement. 

Today, I paid a good portion of the Pilot's loan and re-organized our budget with the knowledge that Carl has offered another payment in January to finish the loan. I do not take any of this lightly. Doug and I have worked very hard to help our own children start their life debt free. I feel blessed to now receive some help for Doug and I.  

Agathe Von Trapp

Several Christmases ago I gave Meg a memoir that Agathe Von Trapp wrote in the early 2000s. She was the oldest of the Von Trapp siblings and her book shared memories of her life with the famous singing family. Once Meg was done with the book, I put it on my reading shelf.  I wasn’t sure how interested I was in it, but I didn’t want to get rid of it just yet. I normally don’t read two non-fiction books back-to-back, but I knew that her memoir would be a lot different than Mike Campbell’s autobiography, so I decided a few weeks ago to pick it up and at least giving it a try. It was also short and small, so I could easily take it along with me on my trip to the Midwest in July.

Last week, I finished the book and was absolutely surprised with how much I enjoyed it.  Although I liked the musical, Sound of Music, I didn’t quite share the love of it that Doug and Meg did. Because of that I never dreamed I would find the book fascinating, but I definitely did. Her memoir was a lot different than the movie. Even the names of the Von Trapp siblings were changed for the film. Agathe wrote about her time with her real mother and life during World War I that was not a focus in the movie. It was obvious from the memoir that the personalities of Maria and Colonel Von Trapp were swapped in the movie, but that probably made sense since Maria wrote the book that inspired the movie and wanted herself to be seen as the positive parent. I already knew that the family did not walk out of Austria as is portrayed in the last scene of the movie but didn't realize that the Von Trapp Family Singers were famous throughout the world. It was fun to learn about their travels, their summer singing camp and their family lodge in Vermont. Overall, I really enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone who loved the movie.

Will they or won’t they?

For the past six months, Brett and Karen have talked about possibly moving to Florida next year. Sometimes they seem all gung-ho about it ready to leave the state of Indiana and other times they’re not quite sure. They like the idea of living closer to family but love the town of Columbus. They really enjoy their church, the choir and the people they have met through their religious activities. Then again, they also realize that once they have children, they would like to live closer to us and Karen‘s parents, which makes a lot of sense as well. One of the biggest issues that they have right now in Columbus is there aren’t a lot of people their own age to meet. Most are older and already have families. Brett doesn’t mind this as he’s used to hanging out with older people and loves the guys he has met at Knights of Columbus where he is by far the youngest member. Karen, understandably, would like to find a group of friends her own age.  She loves the women in New Albany, but that’s over an hour away and it's hard for them to get together on a regular basis.

Through all of their talk about moving, I have tried to stay extremely neutral. I would love it if they lived closer to us even if it’s in Tallahassee, where Karen’s parents live. Although we travel to Bloomington quite often now, those trips will diminish next year once Cameron graduates and moves away from Southern Indiana. Thus, it would be really nice to take a 2 1/2-hour trip to see them instead of boarding a plane or making a driving 13 hours. 

Even though I think it would be nice for Doug and I if Brett and Karen moved, I try not to put any pressure on them. I would hate for them to move and not like Florida. It is very hot in the summer, and they would have to find new jobs, new friends, and a new church. That isn’t always easy. So, I have decided the best thing I can do is just listen and be supportive. God will lead them where they need to go, and I trust His judgment.  For now, I will just be very happy that Meg and Nick live so close, and that we have been able to travel back-and-forth to the Midwest quite a bit these past three years.

The Craziness of IU football

Last week, Cameron let me know that he would not be able to get us complementary tickets to the Indiana versus Western Kentucky football game in which he would be recognized for being a Director of Student Athletic Board. I was bummed to hear that as we had a lot of fun last year going on the field with him for this honor and our entire family had decided to go to this game this time since it was Cameron's senior year.  We had two tickets but really needed seven more.  I had hoped that Cameron would get at least an extra two for this event.  

Cameron provided me with a link so that we could order tickets which was very nice.  I planned to pick up four of them today, and then we would only need three more which I would order this Thursday when they were offered to season ticket holders. My plan seemed like a good one. I was ready at 10 AM with the codes and had two computers up and running to get the four tickets. Within one minute of logging on the thousands of tickets that were offered to friends and family were completely gone and we had none of them. I had never seen anything like that. 

Cameron texted me later in the morning to ask me if I got tickets and when I said no, he told me to call the IU ticket office. I called the athletic department and they apologized, but there weren’t any tickets left. I let everybody know that they would probably be on their own for tickets and was completely bummed for the rest of the morning. Cameron called me at lunch and told me that I was not the only parent that hadn't gotten tickets and that he was going to try and call the ticket office. I heard back from him later in the day that he was able to at least get two tickets. They weren’t beside each other, but they were one in front of the other, which would work for our family. Now we just had to wait until Thursday and try to get five more tickets. I wasn’t hopeful but knew that it was my best shot at not paying outrageous prices that were being offered on Seat Geek. 

There was good news out of today. Right before the tickets went on sale, Doug received an email letting him know that he could get the family tickets today. The link was the same as ours, so it didn’t get us any more tickets, but it did, however, feature a picture of the SAB directors at a home football game cheering on our beloved Hoosiers. I thought it was pretty cool that Cameron‘s picture was sent out to thousands of IU alumni and was glad that his affiliation with the athletics department at least got us two tickets today. I can’t believe how different everything is from three years ago when tickets were being given to students for free and now, they were only allowed five for the season. I guess it’s the price of having a National Championship football team, so I won't complain too much.

Elevation 89

While Meg and Nick were here this weekend, we decided that they needed to try Elevation 89.  It is a restaurant inside the Ocala airport that has windows facing the runway.  We had been there a few times before and thought that Nick would love it.  The restaurant was packed when we got there, but thankfully they had a table open and much to our luck, it was next to a window.  Nick not only got to see the runway, but also a plane landing while we were waiting on dinner.  It was a really neat experience.  

While we were at Elevation 89, we also made a list of other places that we wanted to try in the area.  The Polo Pony was high on the list as Doug and I loved it on his birthday.  I also wanted to meet them at the new Crooked Can Brewery sometime as well.  The last place I recommended was one that only I had been to - Eaton's Beach Sandbar and Grill on Lake Weir.  It was a wonderful place and reminded me a lot of restaurant's that we visited in Key West.  No matter which one we pick, I know that we will all really enjoy trying anyone of these places. 

Hanging Out From Far Away

When we were in California, I told Jim that Meg was bitter that her two older brothers had met him and that she hadn't.  He was positive that we had visited him in Peoria when she was a baby.  I remembered that as well, but she didn't believe him as there weren't any cute pictures of them like there were of him, Brett and Cal when they were five and two.  

After I told him this, Jim made sure to have me take random videos of him on our trip yelling "Meg we are. . . " and then name where we were or what we were doing.  She got a kick out of them especially the one of him yelling, "Meg, we are by a fireplace, and my eyebrows are on fire" with twenty people in the background staring at him.  Jim even got Doug to do one with him.

Tonight, while Meg and Nick were visiting, we decided to take a video of her and send it to Jim.  It was really cute as she told him that we were sitting on the back porch and she had a Michelob Ultra.  After I sent it, Meg looked at my phone and started laughing hysterically.  In the background of her video, Nick was dramatically eating a brownie.  It was so funny and made the video to Jim even better.  I am positive that he appreciated that we were thinking of him and I am sure that he also found Nick's presence extremely funny.

 

Flowers Make Any Day Brighter

For some reason this past week, I have been really weepy. I don’t know if it is because I was tired from everything going on this summer or because my arms were still killing me from all of the work on the tile. Either way, I had started crying at the smallest of things. This wasn’t the first time I had ever had that happen, but I was still getting frustrated with it.

Doug must have seen this and decided that the perfect cure would be a bouquet of flowers. It definitely made the day so much brighter, and I really appreciated him bringing them home. Doug knows how much I love flowers and having a bouquet of them on my table gave me something beautiful to look at every single day.  The flowers also reminded me that no matter how tired I was or how challenging life could be, life is still very beautiful.

Rounding the Bases at Mudhens Stadium

One of my favorite things to do in Toledo is walk by the Mudhens stadium when a baseball game is playing.  The crowd, the noise, the restaurants, the lights and the references to Klinger make it a fun place to be.  Imagine my surprise when I found out that the Owens Corning softball game that Cameron talked about was played on the Mudhens field. What a great experience for the interns even if they got destroyed by the upper management that played against them.  Cameron even got to run the bases with his first at bat turned into a single.  I don't know if this internship will land Cameron a job with Owens Corning, but it definitely has provided him with a lot of great memories and skills to take into any position that he gets.  He couldn't ask for more than that when the summer started.  

JabberJaw

When Meg got Doug his beloved Six-Million-Dollar Man lunchbox for his birthday, she asked me what one I had as a child.  I remembered being excited about picking out a new one every year but couldn't recall any of them except for my very last one - JabberJaw.  I don't know why I bought that one as I wasn't a huge fan of the show, but something about it caught my eye.  I kept it for quite a few years as it held up very well being made of plastic instead of metal which seemed to rust right away.  

Last week, I found the exact JabberJaw lunchbox on eBay and sent a picture of it to Meg.  She responded right away that she would get me one for my birthday if I wanted.  I graciously declined as it didn't mean to me what Doug's lunchbox meant to him.  She asked me what did mean a lot, and then almost answered her own question before I had time to respond.  The childhood item that I absolutely loved were the "Moody Cuties" that I picked up on each trip to Riley to visit my brother.  I could remember vividly going to the gift shop and looking through all of the dolls closely examining each one before I made the purchase.  It made the trips hold a special place in my heart instead of being as overwhelming as visiting a children's hospital can be.  I was surprised to see them on eBay as well.  Thankfully, I did not need Meg to buy me these either as mine were safely tucked away in my storage tub.  Maybe I will get them out and display them next to Doug's lunchbox.  Either way, I am glad that these small treasures brought back such fun memories for Doug and I.

DIY Project Week

For the last year and a half that we lived on Sunset Drive, money was tight.  Cameron was in his final year at Bethany, Meg was a senior in college, and we had purchased a second home in Ocala.  I did everything I could to budget our income, move investments and even sell items that we no longer needed to help pay the Florida mortgage. 

During that time period, I also worked very hard on getting our home in Syracuse ready to sell.  Housing prices were on the rise, and I wanted to get top dollar.  I knew that we had several items that needed repaired or replaced before we could list the home.  I thought about calling a contractor to come in and get a quote for everything but decided first to see if there was anything that I could do myself.  I wasn't overly handy, but I could follow directions well.  I was surprised to find a lot of YouTube videos on DIY projects that I needed done.  My dad also had electrical and plumbing experience, so I asked him for help as well.  I was amazed at all that I could complete with my dad and YouTube's help.  It saved us quite a bit of money and help me to gain confidence in my own abilities.

I have carried that newfound skill to Florida and have been able to fix a few items in our home here.  I even found a faulty outlet after two electricians were unsuccessful and was able to add daisy chain repair to my list of things that I could fix.  This past week, I spent quite a bit of time working on a few DIY projects again.  First, I replaced a broken latch on our fence after a windstorm tore it off of the vinyl gate.  That went well, and I appreciated Doug's help with it.  After our success with the fence, I talked Doug into also helping me replace the fluorescent lights in our garage.  That definitely proved to be the easiest of our tasks.

The third project was a little more challenging. Our grout had never been professionally cleaned since we moved in, and many places desperately needed it.  I tried several different ways to clean them, but they were too hard for me. I finally found the easiest solution from Google Gemini.   In the end, the tile looked great but cleaning it exposed a flaw in how my baseboards were installed.  The water from cleaning the tile had seeped under them and the inexpensive board had swelled in several places.  After a lot of work, I finally got them sanded down and repainted.  They didn't look 100% but would do for now.  

I decided that I would take a break from any type of DIY projects for the time being. I was happy with my new latch and the clean tile but was exhausted from the work.  The best part was that I saved over $500 with both projects and had a week to rest before Cameron arrived home for a short summer break. 

Walking Buddies

One of my absolute favorite places to go to in Ocala is Sholom Park. I found it shortly after Doug started traveling here for work and I have visited it at least once every week ever since then. The park is absolutely beautiful and the perfect place to be on a hot day especially with their shaded walking paths. It’s also very well maintained, and I love to see all of the people out enjoying the park just as much as I do on my walks.

One of the best parts about the park is all of the wildlife that I encounter while I am there. Today, eight turkeys and one egret greeted me as I walked along the paths. The turkeys make me laugh every time I see them as they love the park, but hate being close to people.  Watching them run (waddle) away from everyone is just so funny. The pond always brings in some type of waterfall and although it is usually a grey heron, today’s bird was a beautiful white egret looking for minnows or a lizard or two. I know that a lot of town and cities have a nice park or walking path to enjoy, but I think Sholom Park is one of the most gorgeous that I have ever seen.  It reminds me of God's glory and how wonderful life is here in Florida.

Bachelor Party Fun

Cal sent us this picture from Bloomington this weekend to let us know that he was ready for Brock's bachelor party.  He also thanked Meg for the birthday gift as everyone except for Maggie loved his new shirt.  I was glad to hear that he was having fun.  The guys had already "survived" a boating adventure on Lake Monroe and were hanging out at their Airbnb tonight.  Tomorrow that had plans to play Chase the Chicken complete with a Colonel Sanders outfit for Brock.

All of Cal's plans sounded awesome, but most of all I was happy that he and his college friends were still hanging out together.  Not everyone has a friend group like theirs and maybe not everyone wants one, but they have all been an important part of each other's lives since freshmen year at IU.  It was nice to know that they still were supporting each other across the miles and now through new relationships.  

Benson Boone

Last year when our Spotify top 100 song lists came out, Cameron remained very quiet about his number one.  I wasn't really sure why as he loves music and always joins in the conversation when that topic is involved.  After a few days, he finally told everyone why he didn't say anything.  It was because his top song of the year was Mystical Magical by Benson Boone.  He did get a little bit of ribbing after that, especially because he claimed Cora played it too much when he had actually put the song on repeat last year during Little 500 weekend.  

With all of that said, everyone did really like the song and were glad to hear that Cameron attended a Benson Boone concert with Cora last weekend.  This was his first major concert and the two of them had a great time at it.  I loved all of the pictures that he took and his description of Benson Boone as an entertainer.  There is no better memory than a first concert.  I could still remember seeing REO and being amazed at hearing them in person. I know this will be one that Cameron never forgets.

Family Reunions

While Doug and I were at Dan's last weekend for a "Cousins' Reunion", Meg and Nick were attending the Yoder Family one as well.  I was very glad that they were able to make it as they had missed the last two years due to Nick's travel schedule.  They both said that they had a lot of fun and caught up with a lot of family members that they hadn't seen for a while.  

Meg's trip also allowed her to spend a lot of time with Grandma Jane and Grandpa Cutes.  Grandma was very happy to see her and Grandpa enjoyed watching the Simpsons with her.  Meg also made time to visit Toledo on her trip.  She and Cameron met at the Toledo Zoo and afterward he took her on a tour of his apartment and Owens Corning.  Meg told me that she really enjoyed her stay and was happy to have had a few days with everyone. I have been so glad that our family makes an effort to stay in touch and visit often even though we live miles apart.  I truly believe that it makes us appreciate each other even more.  

Above and Beyond

Recently, I found a Lego that no one remembered ever owning.  Since some of it had already been built, Doug and I decided to finish it and put whatever money we made off of it toward shipping supplies.  Everyone agreed that it was a good idea and we started on it in June.  Once we got working on it, we realized several pieces were missing from the Star Wars Lego.  Since I had ordered from the Lego replacement store previously for other missing parts, I thought that it would still be worth finishing.  Once the missing pieces arrived, I put the Hoth Wampa Cave together and listed it on eBay.

The Lego was a huge hit on the selling site and soon I had $58 extra dollars to use toward bubble wrap, packing tape and more.  About two weeks after I shipped the Lego, I received a message from the buyer that there were seventy pieces on the set that were incorrect and several more that were not true Legos.  Since there weren't a lot of pieces in the set to begin with and everything we have or have bought are Lego, I questioned his message as nicely as I could.  He agreed that our listing had stated that we could not be 100% sure that all pieces were included or correct but still wanted some type of remedy to the problem that he addressed.  I didn't agree with him but since I didn't want negative feedback, I offered a refund if he returned the set.   He didn't want that and asked for a partial refund instead.  I decided to give him $15 back and thanked him for compromising.

About a week after he received the refund, the buyer messaged again asking me to look for six pieces with stickers on them that we didn't know were part of the set.  I wanted to say to him "six is a lot less than seventy, so what were you talking about in the first place" but instead I spent an afternoon looking through all of our tubs of Legos searching for the blocks with stickers on them.  I was extremely pleased to find four of them and sent them out the next morning.   

In the end the buyer never offered to pay for the shipping for those pieces, but at least I did receive positive feedback from him.  Doug asked me why I went above and beyond for such little return.  I didn't really know, but I think it was because I realized that if this was one of my own children, I would want someone to treat them the way I did even if they were being a little over the top.  I don't know if I would do it again, but I was glad to help out this time. 

Skin Cancer Blues

Doug went to the dermatologist this week to have another skin cancer removed from his head.  I didn’t go with him to this appointment because he told me that he would be there for several hours. It was a smaller area that had to be removed than the last two times, but he would have to be there longer as he waited to make sure that all of the margins were clear. 

Doug was very positive about it and I didn’t think much about it since it sounded like a pretty easy procedure.  Imagine my surprise when he came home with six stitches on the top of his head. I looked at him and started crying. I know that I shouldn’t have, but this was nothing like I was expecting and I knew from his previous surgeries that this one would be a lot more noticeable. Hair doesn’t really grow back over a scar, it just kind of grows around it.  That didn’t really matter with the two in the back of the head, but for some reason knowing that this one would be in the front felt overwhelming to me.

Once I started reading about the skin cancer, I stopped feeling sorry for myself. Doug had a different type of this time of skin cancer this time and although it wasn’t deadly, Basal Cell could definitely cause a lot more damage to the bone. I thought of my uncle Bob and the fact that he had lost his nose to skin cancer. A scar on Doug’s head would be nothing compared to that. Plus, our main goal is to keep Doug healthy and stress-free. Me crying over his skin cancer was stupid. Hopefully, this will be the last time, but if not, we at least know how to deal with it now.

IU Scholarships for the Win

Cameron sent me a text today asking me if I had checked his bursar account lately.  Since it wasn’t August yet, I hadn’t even thought about looking at his tuition bill.  He told me to look at his financial aid package when I had a chance as he thought that there might be some changes to it.  I was definitely curious after his text, but didn’t have time to log in until after lunch.  

When I finally sat down at the computer, I couldn’t believe what I was reading.  In the section for financial aid awards there was an extra $4628 in addition to his annual provost scholarship of $4000.  I had to read it twice to even believe what I saw was true.  Cameron had won the Douglas A and Rebecca L Smock Scholarship award for $2628 and the Padget Family Bicentennial Scholarship for $2000.  Both were merit based scholarships in the Kelley School of Business given to undergraduate students demonstrating academic excellence and campus involvement.  Cameron fit the definition perfectly.

As soon as I found out, I texted Cameron to congratulate him on his hard work.  I then called Doug to tell him and started crying.  I had spent over ten hours last March helping Cameron fill out his FAFSA, the general scholarship application, and the one for the business school specifically.  At the time I told myself if he got a thousand extra dollars it would be worth it.  Now he was getting over $4600 and it couldn’t have come at a better time.  The cost of living in Bloomington had skyrocketed over the past three years.  Cameron’s rent alone was twice what I had paid for Cal his senior year.  From my estimates this summer, I was going to be $3500 short in the account that I had set aside to pay for Cameron’s final year.  Now with these two scholarships I had a little breathing room.  It felt like a gigantic win and a wonderful reminder that God does answer our prayers.  

Fourteen Years and Still Going Strong

This post popped up on my memories today and it made me smile instantly.  I absolutely loved our 2012 Honda Odyssey and was happy to know that it was still going strong.  It had seen a lot in its fourteen years.  It was the last car that we bought when all four children lived at home, it had moved each one of them to college and would have been the last car that Grandma Heinisch knew for our family.  The van had not only made numerous trips in the Midwest, but it had also been to Washington DC, Boston, Maine, Vermont, Niagara Falls, Texas, Orlando, Tennessee, and Wisconsin as well.  The Odyssey had known me as a driver for nine of those years, Cameron for four and now Karen for almost one.  It overheard more conversations between our children and I than I could ever count and has truly become an important part of our family.  I know that one day we will have to say goodbye, but not thankfully, not today.