Starting to Heat Up

Today was definitely the hottest one of the week.  Thankfully, we have still been able to keep the house cool without running the air conditioner.  In fact I believe that everyone has gotten used to it.  I spend time during the day keeping the lights off, putting fans in the windows and alternating between being outside in the shade and inside when the sun's too hot on the back deck.  Doug has also come up with meals that he can grill and ones that he can cook in the crockpot outback.  Cam and Cal have used the basement more during the heat of the day as it has its own natural cooling system.  Even the guniea pigs have found new homes down there when the temperature gets too hot for them.

It has worked well for us and we have enjoyed the fresh, clean air.  Doug and I grew up without air conditioning and never had it at IU, so it hasn't been much of an adjustment for us.  Unfortunately, that may change as the forecast has called for at least two weeks of hot, humid temperatures starting tomorrow.  Thus, we may have to turn on the air conditioning for part of the day.  Neither Doug nor I are completely sure that it even works as we haven't run it since last August.  My plan is to buy a new filter and try it out this week.  It it doesn't than maybe we'll all be taking a turn in the basement for awhile.

A Quiet Saturday Night

It was a quiet day for all of us.  Cam decided to take a break from golf since Saturdays at Maxwelton have become quite crowded.  He was also still feeling the effects of walking thirty-six holes yesterday.  He spent his time at home watching Spongebob, playing Minecraft and taking on Cal and Doug at badminton.

Meg was happy to have fnished her homework last night giving her more freetime than she had had in quite awhile.  After dinner Rachael and Alex joined she and Nick at our house for a late night movie on the "big screen."  It took them awhile to find one that they were interested in watching.  In the end, however, they all enjoyed Back to the Future and made plans to watch Princess and the Frog next time.

Cal worked for the majority of the day at Tippy and then spent the afternoon at Hannah-Marie's.  He thought that he had plans with friends tonight, but that didn't work out.  He played golf instead and then beat Grandma and Grandpa at Rummikub.  Brett called from Andrew's this evening.  They were enjoying the night, catching up on the activities of their week.  Doug and I both enjoyed our day.  We were able to take a walk, finish a few small projects and play several rounds of Ticket to Ride.  Overall, it was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday.

Maple Crest

Today was Cameron's second golf tournament of the summer season.  Being that it was played at Maplecrest in Goshen, it was a lot easier to get to for all of us.  I dropped him off at 9 a.m. so he could putt before his 9:39 tee time.  Maplecrest has been known for his fast greens, so he was thankful for the practice.  Grandma and Grandpa chose to follow along for the entire eighteen holes while Meg and I thought it would be best to only watch the back nine.  Doug was even able to catch a few holes while on his lunch break.

Overall, Cameron was extremely pleased with his round of 82 finishing tied for eighth on the day.  The front nine provided the most challenge for him as he finished with two double bogeys on both eight and nine and ended up with a score of 44. We were happy to see him rebound with a 38 on the back complete with back to back birdies.  In all honesty Cameron's score was not the most important part of the day.  We were actually extremely glad that he had the opportunity to play and that he was pleased with his round.  Missing out on his Freshmen golf season was disappointing for Cameron.  Having the Indiana Junior tournaments to participate in has made that a little easier.

We Have Adjusted

Doug let us know tonight that the salary reduction announced at work in April would continue indefinitely.  It was originally hoped that this loss in wages would only last three months, but unfortunately that will not be the case.  None of us were surprised by the news.  Although the economy has seen some improvement, it's definitely not what it was in February of this year.  We have survived so far on less money and had already budgeted for our fiscal year with the idea that he may not receive an increase or bonus until next summer.  It will mean that we have to take some money out of our home equity line to pay for Cam's 529 plan.  We will also have to reduce our Christmas budget and cut our vacation money.  

Thankfully, we have gotten used to spending less and aren't planning on eating out or going on trips (except to Bloomington) until all of this is over.  Thus, a reduction in wages won't affect our short term plans.  I realize that this may not be the same for others and for an end to the pandemic soon.

Hanging Out with Friends While Social Distancing

It's been challenging for Cameron and Meg to find friends to hang out with and still stay inside the social distance parameters required to avoid COVID-19.  Meg had a few friends that she had wanted to do something with this week, but one was sick, another grounded, a third never texted back and the fourth one had plans with her sister.  She was disapponted, but was glad that Nick was still available.  He had been busy with work and an online Physics class, but he and Meg were still able to eat dinner with his family, clean out his room and walk Millie last night.

While Meg was at Nick's, I ran Cameron over to Bailey's.  They hadn't been able to connect in a couple of weeks, but were able to make time for a bonfire at her house last night.  They enjoyed hanging out and jumping on the trampoline.  We appreciated Nick and Meg picking him up, therefore saving us an additional trip to Goshen.  The pandemic has altered how much Cam and Meg have been able to get together with friends, but we were thankful that they were able to get out of the house and have some fun this week.

Summer Session Part 2

Meg came home in March to find herself finishing her Freshmen year with online classes.  She really missed the classroom and direct interaction with her instructors.  Several of her classes became more challenging because of the new format.  Others almost became a joke filled with busy work.  She did her best, however, given the circumstances and proudly finished with a 3.65 grade point average.

Since Meg wasn't able to work this summer due to the pandemic, we encouraged her to take two more classes.  As Bloomington campus was closed, more classes were offered online through IU than in years past.  Thus, Meg was able to complete a business composition class required for her major and take a history class.  Summer session one went well for her.  She had grown accustomed to the online format and the professors were better prepared for it as well.  She didn't love her business class  like she thought that she would.  Cal had told her it was an easy A.  Meg, however, was taking the class with the author of the textbook who had higher grading expectations than Cal's teacher did.  She put a lot of time into the class and fortunately was placed with a hardworking group for her final project.  She didn't receive the A+ that Cal did, but her group won the case conference challenge.  She was extremely proud of that.

Meg's second class was Dylan, Elvis and Postwar America.  She really enjoyed the topics that were assigned.  She and I discussed McCarthyism, the Presley family's move to Memphis, sexuality in the 1950s and the Civil Rights Movement.  We even watched Guess Who's Coming to Dinner together as her final project for that class.  We were proud to see that she finished with an A+ in the class.  Meg has one more class to take this summer, The New Testament.  Thankfully, the assignments seem to be more on par with her Postwar America class.  She and I are both looking forward to the topics that will be discussed in her new class.  Continuing her education wasn't quite what she was interested in doing this summer, but overall it has worked out well for her and will definitely help her in the long run.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Several years ago we took Meg and Cam to the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.  Although it wasn't a JK Rowling book, it was based on her famed series and left off where number seven ended.  Meg, Cam and Cal all read it immediately that summer, but I waited.  I wanted to reread the entire Harry Potter series before I tackled the new book.  It took me longer than I had anticipated, but the stay at home order gave me time to finally reach my goal.  Thus, I was able to start Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the end of May.

I was excited when I first started reading the new story, but after the first forty pages I thought about putting it down for something else.  The son of Harry Potter spent the first few chapters feeling incredibly sorry for himself.  It wasn't much fun to read page after page of him whining.  Thankfully, the book got a lot better and soon I found myself unable to put it down, finishing the last 140 pages all in one night.  The story was an intriguing one with Harry and Draco's sons using an illegal time turner to go back to the TriWizard tournament to try and save Cedric Diggory who was killed in book 4, The Goblet of Fire.  Their actions never saved the intended, but it did alter the outcome of the Battle of Hogwarts therefore causing the death of Harry Potter and allowing Lord Voldemort to overtake the wizarding world.  All ends well, however, as the boys enlist the help of Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hermoine and Draco to travel back to the night Harry's parents died, Halloween 1981, to set events right and save the world.  In doing so, Albus and Scorpious learned not only that Cedric had to die for the Death Eaters to be defeated, but also that their fathers weren't quite the disappointing dads that they thought them to be.  I found it fascinating that the book revolved around the one part of the Harry Potter series that I had always struggled to deal with, Cedric's untimely death.  It was also interesting that they introduced a love child of Voldemort and Bellatrix LeStrange.  Overall, I was happy that I decided to finish the "newest" Harry Potter book.  It was a fun addition to a beloved series.