Boiler Up

Today I went with Doug, Cam and Meg to the Purdue vs. Illinois game at Mackey Arena.  The three of them have been to Purdue but never a game.  It is a great place to watch basketball especially compared to the balcony of Assembly Hall.  The only complaint I had was that it was bench seating and after awhile my back hurt.  It was also crowded, so it wasn't easy to get in and out of our seats.

Illinois led by a lot in the first half then Purdue took over in the second and never looked back.  Meg and I watched the student sections to see if Cal would like it.  By the end we definitely thought he would.  The students are located on opposite ends of the arena and are loud.  They stood almost the entire game and were extremely enthusiastic.  I was worried that if he chose Purdue over IU he would miss out on the basketball atmosphere, but that will not be the case.

We decided to head home after the game and order Bourbon Street pizza.  Next time we will find a place to eat in West LaFayette, especially if it is an early afternoon game.  We did stop at the bookstore before the game and picked out a t-shirt to add to Cal's collection of college Ts.  It was nice to do something that Doug was interested in as he usually is along for the ride with us.

End of a Long Week

Tonight was the end of a long week and I am glad that it is over.  I am thoroughly exhausted and ready to catch up on my sleep.  With everything else going on this week we also had to deal with a teacher being arrested at our school on some very serious charges and a lot of middle school girl caddiness.

The first issue made me sad.  I hope it gets resolved and the allegations aren't as serious as they have been reported.  The second issue made me mad.  I didn't like middle school drama when I was involved in it, and I sure don't like watching it as a parent.  Only 52 more days left in the school year and a lot of them will be fun ones.  A weekend break will regenerate us all for the next week's activities.  Until Monday I will put school out of my mind.

Trivia Challenge

Tonight was the annual trivia challenge at the community center.  It was hosted by the Kiwanis and the money raised helped various charities.  Last year Doug's team won the event and he, Ron, my Dad and Cal were all pumped up for a repeat victory.  I had planned on a quiet night at home, but Angie called and one of the Knights teams needed an extra player and they were hoping that I would be able to play.

I almost said no as I was pretty tired last night, but am so glad that I didn't.  We had a lot of fun and knew more than I figured we would especially since a lot of the questions were geared toward men's interests.  We were all pleasantly surprised when we headed into the final round tied for first in the service category and only five points behind Doug's team.  They were in third overall.

Angie and Megan knew the first bonus question, so we earned ten points for that.  My Dad knew it as well, so they were still five points ahead of us.  The last question was on the fine arts and a challenging one.  We decided that we did not have a guess, so we turned in zero points hoping others would do so as well.  In the end we found out that the painting they were vaguely describing was "The Scream."  Doug's team did not get it either and I felt terrible for Cal.  He has had that painting hanging on the wall in his bedroom since he was in early middle school.  He knew the painter and all the other details about it, but not that it had been stolen in 2004 in broad daylight.

Although none of us were winners there were small victories.  We finished second in the service category.  Doug's team finished third overall and Cal's team beat Maddie and Dylan's.  The best part, however, was that it was a lot of fun.  Angie is already signing us up for next year.

ISTEP and More

I woke up in the middle of the night with a stabbing pain in between my shoulders.  It kept me up and I only slept about four hours.  By the time I got to school I was wiped out.  I couldn't call in sick as we were giving the ISTEP test today and a licensed teacher had to give it.  I knew I could make it, but it hurt a lot.  The rest of my classes were short, so we played kitchen safety Kahoot and that made the time pass quickly.  It also helped not having practice.

Doug and I talked about going to see the doctor, but once we got home from school the pain in my back had lessened.  As it started to fade I realized that it was tension in my muscles causing the pain and as I relaxed the pain subsided.  This has definitely been a challenging time with basketball, pleurisy, library changes, and now ISTEP to give.  I am glad that I made it through it all.  Next year won't be as challenging as I plan to trim my commitments down.

We did celebrate the end of the season with a night out at Buffalo Wild Wings.  The four of us had not been there to eat in quite awhile and we all enjoyed the evening.  Doug even made cookies once we got home.

The End of the Season

After having zero games for the last two weeks, we ended with two in a row this week.  Last night we played Lakeview in the first round of the NEMLSC tournament.  We started off very slow in the first half, but actually outscored them in the second half.  The girls played well and it was a lot of fun coaching them.  We ended up losing by 19, but Meg was very happy with how she played.

Today we played our final game at Westview.  The girls did pretty well, but not quite the same as last night.  Playing at home brings out a lot more enthusiasm in the girls and they do seem to play better.  Everyone played in every quarter and the girls had a great time.  There was a lot of laughter on the bench and a lot of fun.  That was the best way to end the season.

Clean Up in the Gym

Last week we were practicing in the big gym when we heard over the PA - "Gil, clean up in the small gym.  Bring a mop and a bucket."  All of us realized from the announcement that someone had thrown up at the 4th grade practice, but Meg and I knew exactly who it was without even checking.  I did send Bethany over to verify that our suspicions were correct and they were.  Cam was the culprit.

By the time I went in to check on him he was already doing the lay up drill.  His asthma starting bothering him while they were running down and backs.  He told Mr. Voirol that he thought he was going to be sick, but before he could make it out of the gym he had thrown up.  Cam didn't seem to  be rattled by it and neither did the coaches.  Thus, he was back at it and I promised to bring his inhaler for the next practice.

I know a lot of people like to brag about their children.  I do not spend a lot of time doing so.  The one thing I would have to say, however, is that the Heinisch boys are the kings of throwing up.  I'd put them up against most anyone else in that contest.

In Like a Lion

March definitely came in like a lion today.  It started snowing last night and was still going strong this morning.  Cam and Meg made it to religion.  We attended mass last night, so they did not have to be up for 8 a.m. mass.  It snowed until 3 p.m. or so and ended with about three inches of snow on the ground.  Towns south of us received even more than we did and Bloomington was under a winter weather alert.

I hope that this means that March will go out like a lion.  Golf season will start on the 16th for Cal and his friends.  It would be great if they were able to actually play outside instead of putting on the carpet of the high school.  No matter what, winter cannot last forever and before we know it it will be Spring and the cold and snow of winter will be forgotten.