Change of Weather

The last few days have been pretty mild for February.  In fact today the temperature in the afternoon rose to 55 degrees.  The rain and the fog have made it feel dreary, but it has been nice to put away the winter jackets and to walk outside this week.

Everything changed today, however.  The winds picked up considerably this afternoon and soon the 55 degrees of the afternoon quickly fell to 30 degrees by evening.   The predicted low overnight was to be in the single digits.  It wasn't a surprise as the weather forecasters had been talking about the extreme swing in temperatures for the past few days.

The positive about the cold weather arriving in February is that it will not last.  Spring is only six weeks away and with our planned trips in March, tennis starting and a week of interterm for Cam and Meg the cold days will soon be a memory.  Thankfully, I have gotten used to walking in the basement and fortunately my parents made it to Florida before the weather became severe.  In fact they picked a fantastic time to go as it has been warm in the sunny state.  They've gotten to play quite a bit of golf and visit with old friends.  They've talked about coming back next week.  Meg and I have both encouraged them to stop at Graceland on the way home since they are in no hurry to get back.  Most importantly, however, I hope that whenever they do make it back to Indiana that they bring the sunshine with them.

Finally Scheduled

Meg had an appointment today in Fort Wayne with the oral surgeon.  Before we left she had time to email Grant her forms for camp.  She was happy to find out last week that she had been chosen to be a camp counselor this summer at Camp Crosley.  We know that she will be great at it.  Before we headed out she also reviewed her IU housing application.  Her first choice was Read.  I thought that was special as it was the dorm where Doug and I met.

I was glad that we left early for her appointment as it was very foggy late this morning.  We had no problems, however, and even had time to stop for lunch at Chick-Fil-A and to buy Brett's birthday gifts at Target.  We waited quite awhile to meet with the oral surgeon, but both Meg and I liked him.  Meg will have to have eight teeth taken out.  Four of those were baby teeth and the other four were wisdom teeth.  Hopefully, only two will require stitches.  We scheduled her appointment for February 20th.  She'll have to miss a couple of days of school, but it was important to get it done now so that she can get her bottom braces as soon as possible.

Once we got home Meg worked on her paper.  She had to get three pages completed before she went to Nick's for dinner.  Doug had to interview someone this evening, so he did not get home until after eight.  Cam and I had another quiet night at home watching Big Ten basketball.  I was glad for that as I did not feel the best today and was thankful for an evening of rest.

Tennis Season

Tonight I took Cam to tennis and was impressed with how well he played.  He had moved up to the high school league this year and it has been fun to watch him compete.  At the end of practice he found out that they will be offering a match play singles tournament for the boys.  He was very interested in that.

As I watched Cam play I kept getting updates from Doug at sectionals.  The Bruins got off to a rough start and just never recovered.  The only upside to their loss would be that Meg would soon be out on the court with Cameron.  I have never been much of a sports mom, but I definitely enjoy watching them participate in tennis.  Playing time is based on ability and records, so I feel that my children have more control over their position on the team.  Unlike golf, one bad shot or game generally will not determine the outcome of the match.  Strategy is an important part of tennis and it is so much fun watching them battle on the court, especially in a long rally or a close match.  Can't wait for the season to officially begin next month.

Another Day, Another Game

Tonight was the another round of games in the girls basketball sectional tournament.  By beating Hamilton on Saturday, Bethany earned the right to play Lakewood Park Christian this evening.  The Bruins had lost to them in December, but looked like a completely different team tonight winning by double digits.

It was a late night for Doug and Meg which was the downside to this year's sectional as Fremont was well over an hour drive from our home.  So that Cameron did not have to stay at home by himself again. I decided to sit this one out.  He and I enjoyed a quiet evening watching another episode of Gotham and playing Connect Four Shots.  Doug opted to go again to tomorrow night's sectional championship game as he though the long drive in the dark and the intensity of the Fremont fans might be too much for me.  Meg agreed with him plus that would give her a chance to ride the bus home if Bethany won.  It will be a tough game for the Bruins as Fremont beat ECA by over 30.  Cal and Meg have both been in sectional championship games, but neither has been on a winning team.  We'll have to see what tomorrow brings.

Super Bowl Sunday

It was a typical Super Bowl Sunday in the Heinisch home.  We started at mass, went to the Knight's Super Bowl party and finished the day by watching the big game at home.  Just as in years past the wings and tacos were excellent at the Knights and Doug made delicious appetizers here for dinner.  The only difference in our routine was that Nick joined us and Cam went to a Super Bowl party with his classmates.  

The game was actually pretty boring this year, but Doug was more than happy with the outcome.  The Patriots and Tom Brady were the victors once again.  This was their fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years and their third victory.  I remember giving him his Patriots jersey over decade ago when they won two in a row.  Doug had been a Brady fan since his Michigan days and it seemed fitting even thought it was kind of expensive at the time.  Needless to say, he has more than gotten his moneys out of it.  Just the look on the Knights members faces when he walked into the party today made it worthwhile.  Adding in a Go Patriots #12 big cookie just added to the fun.  Next year we're all hoping for a Bears victory instead.  

Groundhog's Day

In honor of Groundhog's Day the weather completely did a 180 degree turn.  It was sixty degrees warmer and none of us even thought about wearing a coat.  The snow started to melt and by the end of the day we could see pavement.  We weren't surprised to hear that the Punxsutawney Phil had not seen his shadow and predicted an early Spring.  As there weren't any weather issues, Meg Bethany hung out with Preston again.  She said that it was a lot of fun.  Cam spent his afternoon watching basketball and getting ready for IU vs. Michigan State game.

This evening Doug and I went to Fremont, Indiana for the second round of the girls' basketball sectional. Bethany drew Hamilton and it wasn't much of a game.  Meg did play quite a bit which we enjoyed.  She scored four points, had several rebounds and made some nice passes to add to her assist total.  Before the game we had stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings for appetizers.  We were able to watch the first half of the IU game and were pleased to see that they were actually within a basket at half.  While we watched Meg's game we followed it online and were thrilled to find out that IU had knocked off the #5 Spartans.  It had been a tough January for them and tonight ended their seven game losing streak!

Welcome February!

February started pretty quiet compared to the month of January.  We did get snow last night, but it was no problem driving Meg and Cam to school.  Wawasee did cancel, which surprised me, but I hadn't driven on the backroads.  Once I dropped them off I came back down Milford-Syracuse road to see if Meg could travel on it tonight when she hung out with Preston.  I was happy that it wasn't too bad.

I had physical therapy this morning.  It was my last one and I was ready to be done.  I had been going twice a week since December.  My back was 100% better and my arm was at 70%.  I have exercises to do, but otherwise I have been released.  I spent the rest of today doing laundry, picking up and shoveling the drive.  By the time I made it back to school to get Cameron there was only a little bit of the drive left for him to finish.

Tonight Doug, Cam and I went to Warsaw for dinner as the main roads were completely clear.  We tried the new microbrewery, Oak & Alley, but they were packed.  Instead we went to Mad Anthony's and enjoyed some appetizers.  When we got back Nick, Preston and Meg were here.  They ordered a pizza and had fun playing games.  Meg was glad to see Preston as they hadn't hung out since Christmas break.  Cam turned on the Iowa game in time to see them upset Michigan while Doug and I watched Lady MacBeth.  It was a little disturbing and not quite what I thought it would be.  It was better than Black Swan, however, which I was appreciated.