The Rain, Rain, Rain Came Down, Down, Down . . .

It was a beautiful afternoon here.  The sun shone brightly and the temperatures stayed in the low 80's. Doug and Cam took advantage of the nice weather to transplant some of our foliage and add some tulips to our landscaping.  Meg went with several of her friends to the Bethany vs. Central Noble boys sectional championship held at Westview High School.  The girls had a lot of fun and witnessed the boys bring home the trophy with a 6-0 victory.

As beautiful as the day was there were non-stop reports that a storm was brewing.  Hurricane Nate was to make landfall in Louisiana this afternoon which was predicted to bring heavy amounts of rain across the United States including our area.  The variety of college football games on the television seemed to confirm the forecast as the fans sitting in the stands were completely drenched.  I thought for awhile that they might move Meg's game up as it wasn't scheduled to start until 7 p.m., so they could avoid the storms  That was not to be the case, however.

Doug, Cam and I arrived at Bethany at 6:45 armed with umbrellas, jackets and blankets.  I was hopeful that the storms that were predicted would move past us.  For the first twenty minutes I held on to that belief.  I watched Meg and her teammates play against a talented Westview team positive that the weather would hold off.  Meg once again made some phenomenal passes at wing and had some great runs at goal.  She played aggressively and contained her mark well.  Bethany, however, struggled defensively against the Warriors allowing the first goal in at the nine minute mark with a header off a corner kick.  The second goal goal came at the twenty-five minute mark and by that time we realized that the storm that had been talked about all day was almost upon us.  The winds had picked up and the temperature had cooled off drastically.  Several fans started to exit the field about the same time that the ref saw lightening.  Play was instantly suspended and the team headed to the gym.  Doug, Cam and I made it to the van as the heavy rain hit.  Doug was hopeful that they would be able to wait it out and finish the tournament tonight, but after an hour the game was officially postponed until Monday night.  The girls should be able to rest and rejuvenate their spirits.  With the boys winning today, they definitely would like to have a dual championship at their school.  

End of Quarter 1

Today was the end of the first quarter for Cameron and Meg.  It's been a fast nine weeks for them, and  they both felt that it had been a successful one.  Meg was confident that she would end the quarter with all A's and a B+ in English.  Her physics and calculus grades were already posted at a 96% and 95% respectively.  We were happy to hear how positive she was about the classes and her grades.  We knew coming in that the rigor would be more challenging than what she had encountered at Wawasee.  It was an adjustment for her, but she took ownership of her learning and really rocked it.  Cameron was positive that he also had all A's and possibly a B in English.  The grades for English hadn't been updated and he was hopeful that once his reading grade was entered he would possibly end the quarter with all A's including a couple of A+'s.  As proud as we are of their hard work and grades this quarter we are even more proud of their ability to make Bethany their home.

Tonight we all gathered together at Cam's fall band concert.  Meg met us there as she had a team dinner after practice.  The band has a new director this year that both Meg and Cam really like.  He did a great job for his first concert as a teacher.  The songs they played were fantastic and we all enjoyed it.  After the concert we had dinner together at Sleepy Owl.  The food was delicious and it was nice to share a meal together to celebrate their first quarter success.

Moving On!

The Bethany girls soccer team had drawn the bye in the sectional tournament this year.  Thus, only Elkhart Christian academy stood in their way of making it to the championship game this weekend.  The teams played tonight at 7 p.m and fortunately for us, it was held at Bethany Christian.  Doug, Cam and my parents were able to be there for the start of the game.  I, however, was late due to the conferences at Milford.  Thankfully, Meg was just going in as I got there.  

I was happy that I made it to the game as this was the best that I have ever seen Meg play.  Her passes were spot on and she was extremely aggressive.  She even got flattened by ECA's sweeper and was able to rebound with only a sore shoulder.  Meg played over half of the game and ended with a beautiful assist to add to her stats sheet.  The girls ended up winning 4-0 which wasn't much of a surprise as Elkhart Christian started with ten players and ended with only nine as their goalie was injured late in the second half.  The Bruins will play again Saturday against Westview for the sectional championship.  That game will be more challenging than tonight's.  Meg would love to have a sectional win on her resume, but if not she was thrilled just to win tonight.  

Trying to Play Catch Up

Tonight was a rare night off for both Doug and I.  My plan was to spend time relaxing, but that wasn't quite on the agenda.  Brett had called yesterday to say that he needed some help with a few upcoming opportunities through SPEA.  I spent a good portion of the evening deciphering with him what was important for him to attend and helping him prioritize those events.  We both felt good about the plan that we created by the end of the evening.

Next on my agenda was school work.  Tomorrow night will be the Student-Led Conferences at Milford and we needed some materials printed for the sixth grade parents.  It took me awhile to figure out exactly how to print what was needed, but in the end I was able to cross that task off of my list as well.

Cameron did enjoy the night of relaxing and doing what he wanted.  He had finished a quiz in history today and didn't have much homework as he was at the end of the quarter.  Doug had work to do, but was able to help me and get that finished as well.  Meg went with several of her friends on the soccer team to watch the boys play in the second round of the sectional tournament at Westview.  Bethany had tied the Warriors earlier in the year, but she was glad to report that they won fairly easily this time 3-1.  She was home by 8 p.m. ready to study for her tests this week.  Although it wasn't quite the night off that I planned, it was nice to be home.

A Shopping Spree

Tonight Cam had his first chess club meeting of the year.   Both Doug and I were there to pick him up afterward  and he was pleased to report that he had beaten several players while having fun along the way.  Our mission for the rest of the evening was to do a little shopping.  While trying on clothes for his band concert this coming Friday Cam had mentioned that his black pants no longer fit.  He then proceeded to show me all of his other pants that were too short as well.  They would have worked out great if we were wading in the river, but not for everyday use.

We stopped at Kohl's first to see what they had for him.   The racks were completely disorganized, so it was hard to find exactly what we wanted.  Thankfully, there were three of us to look through the piles.  Within no time we had a pair of black pants and five pairs of track pants.  With the buy one get one half off special on dress pants Doug was even able to find a pair for work.  Cam was extremely appreciative of the new pants.  It had been a long time since we had taken him shopping and he was glad to have gone.

After we finished our shopping we stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner.  Meg wasn't able to join us as she had to stay at the girls sectional and watch Central Noble play Westview.  Meg said that she had fun with her teammates, but the game got a little long.  The best part was that she got to talk to Lauren Starrett before the LCA v. Lakewood Park game.  We were sad that she couldn't be with us, but we did bring home a dozen wings for her.   It was nice to catch up with Cameron.  He talked about his chess club, the quiz he has in history tomorrow, and the continual knock-out game they play at recess.  Life of seventh grader is a busy one.

What a Sad Day

I awoke to a message this morning from Brett letting me know that they had made it back to Bloomington without any problems.  I was happy to see that it was before midnight as I know they both had items to unload and classes to attend to on Monday.  The next message that flashed across my phone, however, was not uplifting.  It stated that a shooting had occurred on the Las Vegas Strip and over 20 people had been killed.  I was shocked beyond belief.  I watched as much of the Today show as I could before I left for school hopeful that the news was in error.  It was not.

As I had therapy tonight after school I had not checked for updates about the shooting until after 4 p.m.  By that time the death toll had risen to almost sixty and the number injured was well into the 500s.  It was described as the worst shooting in United States history.  Someone in a hotel on the strip had opened fire on a country music concert held outdoors.  The stories described were heart wrenching and the motive was far from understood.  The physical therapist working with me was distraught and could talk of nothing else.  She had tried to order tickets to the concert, but they were sold out before she could buy them.  She had friends at the concert who were snapchating her through out the four day event.  Their last text was a black screen that said, "We're safe."

As horrifying as the event in Las Vegas was I was absolutely flabbergasted by the news that Cal texted me next, "Tom Petty has died."  I had hoped that it was a FaceBook hoax like so many before. Unfortunately, that was not the case.  He had suffered a massive coronary and did not survive.  Tom Petty was a family favorite and one of the best concerts that Doug and I had ever attended.  We were just talking about him on Saturday as we were listened to the musician at the winery.  He covered one of Tom Petty's songs and Cameron knew exactly who it was.  I was proud of that fact then and happy now that we have exposed the Heinisch children to a vast array of music over the years.  I am sad, however, to think that I will never have a chance to take them to one of his concerts.  For now I'll just enjoy his music channel on Sirius Radio.

What a Wonderful Weekend!

Today was the perfect end to a wonderful weekend.  The boys spent the afternoon hanging out with us in various ways.  Cal tuned into the NFL and updated scores for Doug as he finished his yard work.  Brett went to see Sister Act with Mom, Dad, Meg, Cam and I at Amish Acres.  The musical was excellent and all that went were glad they did.  By the time we got back Cal had taken a break from the NFL and was ready to play catch with HM and Cameron.  Doug once again made dinner and although he couldn't quite master the spaghetti pizza that I mistakenly promised Cal, everything was delicious.  Several games of corn hole were played during the early evening all in which Cam and I proved victorious.  Hannah-Marie's 18th birthday was a highlight of the night complete with turtle pie and the birthday song played on the piano by Meg.  She appreciated the Subway card that my parents gave her and the shirt and friendship bracelet string picked out by Meg and I.  Cal decided to take back a desk from Mom's and after spending some time playing Tetris with it and the Civic he finally fit the desk into the backseat.  There wasn't a lot of room left for all of the laundry and groceries, but Doug got them in as well.  The boys pulled out of the driveway a little after 8 p.m.  We were sad to see them go, but very appreciative of having them both home on the same weekend.  It was wonderful to spend quality time together as a family.  Looking forward to the next time we do it already.