A Day at the Lake

Yesterday Nick took Meg, Cam and Millie up to Union, Michigan for a day on the lake at his Aunt and Uncle's home.  Jackie met them up there since they didn't have room for her in their vehicle.  The four of them had a fantastic day together lying out on the rafts, swimming, watching Millie jump in and out of the water, and tubing behind the jet ski.  Meg told us that Cameron was awful at tubing which I wasn't too surprised to hear as he had told me that himself after he tried it at Camp Crosley.  Both of them complained about sore arms today from holding onto the rope, but overall it was a great experience for everyone.

It was strange for Doug and I to have the house to ourselves as Cal was working while they were gone.  We did have baked spaghetti ready for them when they got back to our house, so we were able to catch up on their day during dinner.  It's been a long time since Cam and Meg had been able to get out and do a lot.  Although it was definitely quiet here, we were glad that Nick's family was able to provide a much needed escape from their daily routine in the Heinisch home.

Some Sacrifices Are Easier Than Others

We have had to make some changes in our normal family routine since the start of the pandemic.  Thus, we only go to the grocery and CVS once a week.  We order more online and spend more time at our own home visiting with friends and family outdoors.  I still have not gone to the hairdresser since March and none of us our pushing for a dental cleaning right now.  Even Doug agreed that we would sit out of mass until August.

The biggest change to our lives, however, has been eating out.  Before COVID-19 we went out or ordered out at least three times a week.  Since March 20th we have not visited a restaurant and have only ordered pizza twice and Subway four times.  Doug believes that while we cannot completely eliminate all risk of exposure that we can reduce it.  We have stuck with that philosophy since before the stay at home order was announced.

As Cam, Meg, Doug and I have adjusted pretty well to our new reality, it has definitley been harder for Cal.  His life was drastically different than ours while he was living in Bloomington.  That made sense then as he was not a high risk candidate.  He has had to change, however, since he moved home.  Although there is still a lot that he is able to do - have a job, play golf, hang out with his friends outside . . . there are a few things that we have asked him not to do while living at home.  The first, going to the gym, we may be able to ease up on in the next few weeks as there have been safety protocols put in place at the gym and articles on how he could reduce risk while exercising.  The second, however, isn't as easy.  We cannot find any information about going to the bars or eating inside restaruants that does not place that as a number one high risk activity.  Thus, Cal's friends are all allowed to go out, but he isn't.  I know that is extremely disappointing to him.  I feel bad about that, but a lot of people in our community just aren't taking the risk very seriously.  Doug and I drove by the Channel Marker today and it was packed.  The Frog is the main hangout for young people in our community and it is on overload.  If COVID-19 cases weren't skyrocketing in Elkhart County and definitely rising in ours, Doug and I probably wouldn't mind as much.  Until we see a decline or a lack of hospitalizations in our area from the deadly virus, we believe that we still have to be dilligent in keeping our home safe.  Hopefully, this will start to level out soon.  If not moving to Bloomington may soon be on the agenda as today it recorded zero cases.

A Day Off

Doug decided to take today off from work as he had caught up on everything that he wanted to accomplish earlier in the week.  He also realized that we wouldn't be taking any long vacations this year, so he could use more time off this summer.  Of course we didn't go anywhere, but Doug did enjoy his day.  He fixed his chainsaw, chopped up wood, mowed the yard, played badminton and tennis against Cam, and made chicken on the grill.  Meg was most excited about dinner as Doug had time to also make her favorite homemade pasta salad.  He ended the evening with a bonfire for all of us.  It was really nice to have him home.  There's been a lot of press about the US going to a four day work week.  I would definitely vote yes for that as I would love for Doug to have a three day weekend every week.

Budgeting in a Pandemic

Our family budgets from June to June instead of the traditional Janaury to December timeframe.  We decided a long time ago to structure our expenses that way because of school year tution due dates.  It has worked for us and some years we have been better at it than others.  The most expensive year of lives was from June 2018 to June 2019 with Brett and Cal in college, Meg and Cam at Bethany and both of the younger two needing braces.  We also took several family trips that year including Meg's senior spring break trip to California and Brett's wish to go to Universal Studios before he finished grad school.  

I do the majority of our yearly budgeting and Doug focuses on the long term financial goals.  Last April he challenged me to a new monetary goal which was tighter than our previous year.  I couldn't disagree with him on the reasonings behind it as we had Meg moving on to college and would need to start thinking about purchasing a vehicle for her.  Thus, we tightened our belts a little bit and kept track of each purchase to see if my numbers were feasilbe.  We were even able to plan a trip to Disney World for the entire familiy inside of this budget.  By February we were doing very well and it looked as though we would come out well ahead of our goal. 

Then the pandemic hit, and we soon found out that Doug would have to forfeit 25% of his salary due to the downturn in the economy.  At first I panicked.  We could put money on our home equity line, but neither of us wanted to do that.  We hadn't paid all of the Disney vacation package that was due the first of June yet and still had our regular expenses to worry about.  When Doug talked about the worst case scenario - losing his job, I realized that the reduction in wages was nothing compared to that.  Thus, I spent a weeked in April reworking our budget, getting rid of some categories and reducing others.  Everyone was on board to help cut what they spent and last night I was pleased to figure out that we actually had come out $4000 ahead of our goal this year.  That was fantastic news as we look to switch over to a new budget year next Friday.  Proud of everyone for stepping up.  It looks as though we may even be able to buy Meg a car this fall.  

Decisions, Decisions

The Indiana governor announced today that he will move all of the state into Phase 4 meaning that bars and theaters will be opening at 50% capacity and restaurants will be allowed to serve at 75% capacity.  Social gatherings also will be allowed to move up from 100 to 250 people.  All of this would sound fine to us if we lived in Bloomington as the town has been strict about following the governor's orders through the separate stages including social distancing, outdoor seating at restaurants and mask wearing.  Around here it has been a different story.  Although a lot of families are still "following the guidelines," many in our county and the neighboring ones have gone back to life as usual with large social events and jam packed restaurants.  This has shown in the increased number of individuals testing positive for COVID-19 in Kosciusko, Elkhart and Noble counties.  Health administrators in each of these areas have tried to inform the public of their risky behaviors, but the message doesn't seem to be getting through.  Elkhart county has even asked the governor to keep their citizens in Phase 3 for at least another week as they sort through the numbers including the fact that their positivity rate went up 350% in the last month.

All of this information has made it challenging for Doug and I to make decisions about what to do with the family members in our house.  From the very beginning I have been nervous about getting COVID-19, not becuase I think it will kill me, but because of my experience with pleurisy which is another lung inflamation disorder caused by a virus.  I have had it four separate times and the last event was horrible complete with a trip to the hospital.  If the coronavirus is the same or worse than pleurisy than I definitely do not want it.  Thus, we will have some to give some thought as to when Cal can return to the bar life, how Cam will get to visit his friends at Bethany, when Meg should go swimming at Jackie's, how to go to mass safely or if we should partake in social events such as graduation open houses.  The stress of this can be overwhelming at times.  It gets harder when others throw out their opinions without understanding our thoughts.  It is extremely nice, however, that Cam, Meg and Doug have been diligent from the beginning on keeping our home environment a safe one for me.  Dr. Fauci said last week that this will all come to an end.  I know he's right, but some days it just doesn't feel like it.

Piano Newbie

I decided several weeks ago that I would try my hand at learning the piano.  I had always wanted to play ever since I visited the Stetlers' home in middle school listening with amazement at their ability.  I had never taken lessons, but I did learn to read music when I played the tenor saxophone.  Meg and Brett suggested a book for me to start with, one that really helped them when they began playing.  It was pretty easy at first as I only had to work on my right hand.  Once it added the left, however, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to continue.

I have continued to practice, however, and have definitely improved.  I have had to ask Cameron and Meg for help on more challenging songs and I still do not like it when I have to change hand positions on the keys.  Overall, I am glad that I tried to learn to play.  I am almost done with the book they recommended.  Meg has shown me several others to try as well, but they look pretty difficult to me.  I've decided that I am not going to move on until I master "Shortin' Bread" and Musette by Bach.  Those have given me the most trouble and I feel as though once I can play those two pieces well, then I will be ready to try something more challenging.  Even if I never get there, it has been fun learning a new skill.

Favorites

What's your favorite movie?  Which Disney character do you think you are most like?  Who's the best  character on Law & Order?  What television show do you like best?  Which Harry Potter movies is your favorite?  Top basketball player of all time?  Those are just some of the questions that are asked in the Heinisch family on a daily basis.  A lot of times these questions come with a varied amount of answers which lead to long discussions and a lot of debate on whose opinion is correct.  It is always fun to listen to everyone talk and I am impressed that these rarely lead to heated arguments.  I love that the Heinisch children have learned to express their own thoughts and back up their opinions through these friendly discussions.  It is a skill to be able to debate without becoming angry or emotional.  It has taken some of them longer than others to get to that point, but overall they have each developed their own style and have learned when it is time to "agree to disagree."  I wish more families would teach this skill.