A Trip Out of the Country

Doug left yesterday morning for Toronto.  He had a board meeting tomorrow and needed to be there for a dinner with the equity firm tonight.  It was the first time he had traveled out of the country in over ten years.  He went to Mexico quite a bit when he worked for Group Dekko, but traveled little when he was at Grabill and Renegade.  His last trip to Canada was with me about twenty years ago when we drove through the country on our way to Niagara Falls.  That was before US citizens needed passports to visit Canada.

As Doug had never been to Toronto before he decided to walk around the downtown area before their dinner.  There were quite a few craft breweries close to his hotel and the hockey hall of fame was in walking distance as well.  Their dinner last night was very nice although he found out later that two people had been murdered there while eating in the past few months.  The theory was that they were mob hits.  Thankfully, everyone survived and Doug enjoyed his fish dinner.

This morning's board meeting went well.  He had a presentation to give that last fifteen to twenty minutes during it.  He was pleased with it and felt he was well prepared.  He received high marks from his boss which I would have expected, but it was nice to hear that he was happy with how it went.  The trip home was an easy one.  They flew out of Toronto's small airport which was only a mile from their meeting.  The plane was a smaller one, but was a direct flight.  Therefore, in a little less than two hours they were back in the states.  He will have to go back again in November for a couple of days.  I am hoping to one day go with him.  That would make for a fun adventure.

It Just Keeps Getting Better!

Tonight both Meg and Cam had soccer games.  Thankfully, they were at Bethany and started an hour apart, so Mom, Dad and I could sit in-between and catch all of the action.  Cam's team was pitted against Stanley Clark.  Bethany dominated the field and scored four goals easily.  Cam played extremely well and even got two shots on goal.  Both were high and wide, but there were nice ones from his right fullback position.  The eighth graders played less than their normal amount in the second half to give some of the B players a chance to participate in the game as well.  As Cam had started every A game this season and sits out very little, that seemed appropriate to us.

Tonight was educator appreciation night for the Bethany soccer girls.  When Meg found out the date, she instantly invited Brent.  He was not only her law/history teacher these past two years, but also her junior varsity basketball coach.  She has thoroughly enjoyed his class and finds his personality to mesh well with hers.  She was excited that he could be there to support her.  As an teacher myself I was pleased with the ceremony honoring educators and their importance to student athletes.

Meg played exceptionally well tonight once again scoring Bethany's first goal.  It was a beautiful turn around shot from about twelve yards out that the goalie did not even have a chance to stop.  With the pressure off to score early, Bethany once again dominated the game.  The starters played very well controlling ball the entire first half.  They only played about ten minutes in the second half, but Meg didn't mind.  South Bend Riley's defense had become frustrated with the Bethany forwards and started tripping the girls.  Meg had no interest in getting hurt in such an easy game.  The girls went on to win 5-0, moving their record to 6-1-1.  We found out tonight that they were ranked 14th in the state in this week's 1A polls.  It should make their game against #13 LaVille on Saturday morning extremely interesting.

A Productive Day at Home

Last night Meg's basketball coach, KP, asked me how I was enjoying my time off from teaching.  I answered her honestly that I love it.  I've been able to exercise everyday and help out the Heinisch family as well.  Today was one of those days where it really paid off to have me here.  It started early in the morning when I registered Meg for the October SAT two days before the deadline.  I picked up Cam mid-morning to order his passport.  County Road 29 was closed for paving, but that didn't matter as I did not have to rush back for work.

At lunchtime Cal texted me.  He needed his unofficial transcript converted to a pdf and emailed to him for an application.  After a little bit of research I had one ready for him.  Brett then emailed with a question that I was able to answer immediately.  Meg had given me the information for her accounts from IU and Purdue's admissions department which I set up for her.  Doug then called as he needed information on his passport for his flight tomorrow to Toronto.

The rest of the afternoon was spent finding recipes for the butternut squash and eggplant we bought at  the farmer's market in Bloomington.  I found two that I decided to try and by the time everyone got home there was fettuccini, baked eggplant and butternut squash ready for them.  The recipes turned out perfectly and everyone enjoyed dinner.  As I told Doug of all that I was able to accomplish today, I kept thinking to myself, how would I have done all of this and worked all day.  I was incredibly thankful to be able to help the Heinisch family.

Problem Solved, Finally!!

For the past year Doug and I have been talking about finding a new primary care physician.  Since Dr. Mulry retired we have had a challenging time getting in to see any doctors at Syracuse Family Practice.  Dr. Clouse was technically listed as our primary care physician when he left, but she has been very hard to get an appointment with in a timely manner.  I had called several physicians in Goshen this Spring, but no one was accepting new patients then.  Thus, we thought we'd wait and look more into this issue once fall arrived.

Our motivation to find a new practice grew immensely this past week.  Dr. Clouse told me at my check up that she was leaving in November and that they did not have a physician to replace her.  I asked about the nurse practitioner that we saw this summer, but she had left already.  The physician's assistant that we had gone to several times in the past planned to retire in January, therefore, finding a new doctor became my number one priority this week.  Dr. Clouse had told me that we would receive a note in the mail about physicians excepting new patients, but I didn't want to wait.  Thankfully, my search quickly ended this afternoon.  I found the website listing the information that Dr. Clouse talked about and did some research on the doctors listed.  One stood out to me and I was pleasantly surprised with how easy it was to set up appointments for the entire family.  The best part was that it was only a mile from Bethany and the office staff was helpful and friendly.  My Mom planned to call tomorrow and switch as well.

With the chore of finding a new doctor behind us, we all got to enjoy a close game between the Bethany girls and rival Elkhart Christian Academy.  It started off fantastic with Meg scoring a beautiful goal within the first two minutes.  The lead quickly disappeared, however, as ECA rebounded and scored two goals themselves.  Bethany tied it and then went ahead 3-2.  ECA score two more goals and looked to take a 4-3 lead into the half.  Thankfully, Bethany tied it up and had ten minutes to rest and talk about strategies to mark on defense.  They did a lot better in the second half, holding ECA scoreless.  Bethany scored two more goals to win once again, making their record to 5-1-1.

We were all impressed with how well Meg played.  Not only was her goal beautiful, but she also passed extremely well. It was hot, but that didn't slow her down.  She was aggressive to the ball and we were proud of how she led her team on the field.  Cam had a role in tonight's game as well.  He was asked to be the ball boy.  Since he had to be there anyhow, it was the perfect way to earn service hours for confirmation.  My parents, Doug and I left after the girls game.  Meg and Cam stayed to watch the boys destroy ECA.  It was after nine before they arrived at home, but they didn't mind as they had had a great time with their friends.

Labor Day Downpour

We were all up early and on the road this morning by 9 a.m.  Brett and Cal had plans to study today and we wanted to get back so Meg could eat and rest before practice at 4 p.m.  Cam was invited to play at Black Squirrel today with the Bethany high school team, so he wanted some time to practice at Maxwelton with Grandpa beforehand.  Getting home early meant that Doug could mow the yard, go grocery shopping and jog as well.  I spent about two hours unpacking and sorting laundry.

I didn't mind being inside for most of the afternoon as it was extremely humid today.  We do not turn our on air conditioning much during the month of September, but I was thankful that we did today.  In the heat of the afternoon Doug left for the store.  As soon as he pulled out of the garage the skies opened up and the rain started.  We have become accustomed to the afternoon showers that this humid weather has brought, but this one seemed even more intense.  Thankfully, it did let up in time for me to take a walk later in the day, but that was about the only time that the skies cleared again.

I left early for Goshen to pick up Meg's photos from Walgreens and to be in town just in case Cam's practice ended early.  According to the cashier it hadn't rained in Goshen at all today.  That soon changed.  I was about a block from the golf course when it started to pour.  Cam was just walking off nine with his coach and an umbrella when I pulled up.  He was very thankful that I arrived early and pleased with his play.  Meg's practice ended before the storms as well.  We found out later that it had rained in Syracuse the entire time we were gone.

Doug and I had dinner reservations at Sleepy Owl at 7:15.  We waited as long as possible for the rain to let up before we left, but no such luck.  We were surprised to see the rain flowing through our drainage pipes in the front yard like a river.  The house west of us already had standing water all around it.  Our satellite was out most of the afternoon, but no problems with the internet.  I was surprised by that, but thankful that I could check the National Weather Service on Twitter.  They stated that we had received 3/4 of an inch of rain in less than twenty minutes!  Thankfully, the weather did not cancel our dinner plans and Doug and I were able to enjoy a nice dinner out.

A Hot Day in B-Town

Today was a hot one in Bloomington.  Thankfully, the guys had an early morning tee time, so they were able to finish nine before it became sweltering.  Cam felt he played well and Cal was once again low medalist.  Doug had fun, but admitted it was his worst round of the summer.  Brett, Meg and I were ready to go shopping once we got back.  Cal needed a haircut first, but it was pretty easy to do and we were out the door by 11:30.  Brett found a sports coat at Kohl's that he needed and Cal bought a pad folio to hold his resume.  Both have career fairs come up this month and wanted to be ready for them.

We ate lunch at Trojan horse.  The food was good, but we were crowded in a booth and had terrible service.  Thus, we will probably cross that off of our list of restaurant choices.  While we were there, Cal found out that he had an assignment due today at 8 p.m.  He had checked several times earlier to make sure that he didn't have any homework this weekend, but his professor put it in Canvas late.  Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult so Cal was able to finish it in plenty of time.

We stopped at the mall this afternoon.  We talked about going to Garlic Fest again, but it was too hot for the majority of us.  Once we finished shopping we dropped Cal at the library and stopped at Brett's.  Meg and Brett both wanted to work on homework as well which gave Cam and Doug time to play tennis.  I took a walk while there were playing.  It was hot, but we seem to have gotten used to it.  

Tonight the six of us went to dinner at BJ's.  It has become one of our favorite places to eat.  Our waiter knew Cal from class.  Brett had mass tonight and Doug, Meg and Cam wanted to go to the IU soccer game which happened to be at the same time.  Cal decided to workout instead of joining us, so we said goodbye to him at Brett's.  The game was a close one, but IU was able to hang on to win 1-0. Once we all got back to Brett's, we played the new Qwirkle game.  I really liked it except for the fact that Cam beat me by one point!!  

One Fantastic Day in B-Town

It was a great day in Bloomington filled with a lot of family time.  First, Brett, Cam, Doug and I checked out the Farmer's Market.  Cam bought an eggplant to try later and Doug found a butternut squash.  Afterward we picked up Meg and headed to Oliver Winery.  Meg wanted her senior pictures taken there, so we started with that while Doug and Brett did some wine tasting.  The pictures looked beautiful and we were done by the time everyone was ready to eat lunch.  Brett and I were beaten by Cam at washer toss before we left.

Our next stop of the day was downtown Bloomington.  We found a Qwirkle game, IU chess and several IU shirts.  Meg and I stopped at Global Gifts to look at the jewelry while the guys walked to Garlic Fest to see Parce.  Soul Street was playing by the time we got there which was one of Doug's favorites.  Brett, Cam and I checked out the art tents while we were there.  Cal tried their garlic bread with real garlic and Cam finally got garlic meatballs.

After Garlic Fest we all went to Elletsville to play miniature golf.  Parce even agreed to go with us.  Cal had the lead after nine, but Doug came roaring back to end up champion of the night.  We had a hard time finding a place to eat as everything was an hour wait or so.  Parce suggested Opie Taylor's which worked out perfectly.  They had a table ready for us and everyone enjoyed their dinner.

Cal left once we finished eating.  He was ready to go home and watch the Notre Dame football game.  We stopped at Parce's so that we could see his new apartment.  Everything in it was brand new and it had a nice front porch.  After visiting for awhile, we headed back to Brett's.  Doug and I walked down to Pizza Express to get breadsticks and we finished the night by watching football.