A Beautiful Easter

Today was the warmest Easter that I could remember in all of our years of living in Indiana.  It actually reminded me of the ones that we had celebrated when we visited Florida over spring break.  We took advantage of the warm weather by enjoying a picnic at Oliver Winery.  We hadn't been there since last November and it was surprisingly not very crowded.  We made time to walk around campus this afternoon as well.  Brett had to work at Bell Trace and Meg needed to study so we cut our afternoon short, but it sure was gorgeous while we were outside.  

Brett, Cam and Meg did make time to open their Easter baskets before Cam and I headed back to Syracuse.  It was the first year since 1997 that there was not an egg hunt in the Heinisch family.  That felt a little strange, but the tradition had to end sometime and it made sense for it to happen this year.  I was happy that Doug, Meg and Brett were able to attend Easter mass together this evening at St. Paul's.  Last year we watched it on television and it just wasn't the same.  It wasn't feasible for Cam and I to go this time, but hopefully we will be able to return to church soon.  

I drove the first half of our trip home.  It was more crowded than I expected it to be, especially on state road 67.  Cameron picked up the driving duty once we got to Westfield.  We got detoured on the way home and ended up having to drive through Warsaw.  It took a little longer, but as an added bonus we were able to pick up Subway for dinner.  It was the only Subway open in the area due to the holiday, so we felt thankful for the rerouted path.  It was after 8 before we arrived and I still wanted to get in some steps before dark.  Thus, the van didn't get unloaded until dark.  Doug called to let us know that he and Brett went to Upland Brewery for dinner.  Cam and I would have enjoyed that, but he was ready to get home and I already had my vaccine appointment scheduled for tomorrow.  I definitely didn't want to miss that.  It was a wonderful weekend in Bloomington.  We're hoping to get to spend more like it in the near future.

Brown County and More

Everyone got up early this morning to play Ticket to Ride with Brett.  We had planned on it last night, but watched The Emperor's New Groove instead.  We had eaten out so many times already that we decided on leftovers for lunch.  It was strange to have ordered out that much as we seldom do at home.  The guys had a 12:10 tee time at Cascades.  Cameron had shot a 38 yesterday and was hoping to stay in the same range today.  While they were gone, I cut Brett's hair.  It was by far the longest that I had ever seen it and he was more than ready for a trim.  Unfortunately as I was cutting it, I accidentally slashed my finger.  I had never done that before and it made it a little challenging to finish the haircut.  Thankfully, we made it through and Brett was happy with the outcome.

With Brett at work and the guys golfing, I worked some more on organizing a few areas of Brett's apartment.  Meg will be moving in the first part of May so she will need some room.  He is also scheduled to have his apartment remodeled and will have to have his personal items boxed up for the quick renovation.  Meg arrived from Bell Trace just as I finished.  She grabbed the box of bourbon chicken for lunch before she headed home to shower.  Once Meg got ready and the guys finished golfing we all drove to Brown County for an afternoon of hiking.  We went on the same three mile path that we had before, but did it in reverse this time.  It was a little more challenging as we had a fifteen minute straight uphill double digit stair climb to start and a long, steep downhill stretch on the way back.  As tough as it was, we all really enjoyed it.  

Dinner tonight was at Cafe Pizzeria.  Although Doug and I never dined there in college, their pizzas and Stromboli sandwiches have become a Heinisch family favorite.  They also have plenty of outdoor picnic bench seating on Kirkwood making it easy for a large group like ours.  Doug and I were wiped out from our afternoon hike that we decided after dinner to watch television and play games for the rest of the evening.  Brett made it home just after ten to join us, happy to be done with his work week and even more glad to have finished his Lenten promise of no alcohol for the season.  He planned to celebrate with a few beers after midnight.  

Meg's Birthday Celebration

Today was warmer than yesterday with a lot more sun.  It still felt a little cool, but overall a lot better than yesterday.  We spent the morning at Brett's playing games with he and Cameron which was very enjoyable.  Cameron also got some quality time on the Game Cube.  Meg met us after her class and we all ate Chipotle for lunch before Brett headed to work.  Cameron and Doug left for the golf course to play nine holes while Meg and I went grocery shopping.  It was nice to spend time with her and to shop in stores where everyone wore masks.

Once Cam and Doug returned, we headed to Kirkwood to check out the shops and grab an appetizer.  We appreciated that they had closed the street to car traffic and had picnic tables outside the restaurants for patrons to use.  Afterward we walked through campus before heading back to Brett's apartment.  We hadn't seen Meg since she had turned twenty and had brought down plenty of gifts for her.  She liked the jean shorts, money, candle and gold cross that she received, but I believe that her favorite gift was a Brita water filter pitcher.  We spent the rest of the evening watching Ned's Declassified and eat cajun food from Dat's.  It was a lot of fun and I was glad to have spent a full day in Bloomington just enjoying all of the local activities with our family.  

A Cold Start to Spring Break

 Today was the start of Cameron's spring break, but the weather sure didn't feel like it.  It was thirty degrees most of the day with windchills well below that.  It didn't stop Cameron, however, from enjoying his first free day of vacation.  He bundled up and headed to the golf course to play eighteen holes.  He was the only one on the course, which made for a quick round.  He said that it was definitely cold, but he was glad to have played.  

While Cameron was golfing, Doug and I packed for Bloomington.  He had worked at home and taken the afternoon off, which made getting ready a lot easier.  We decided to take two vehicles so that Doug could stay in Bloomington Sunday night.  He had a flight to Ocala schedule on Monday and it would mean a lot less driving for him.  We also had quite a bit of furniture and other items to take to Meg and Brett, so the extra space was much appreciated.  

Since we were taking the van, I decided to let Cameron drive part of the trip.  He made it all the way to Carmel before I had him pull over for a break and to switch drivers.  I was impressed with how well he did as he had to drive on US 24 and US 31.  Neither were too busy, but crowded enough to make changing lanes and navigating exits a little challenging. 

It took us some time to unload at Brett's.  I did as much as I could to get everything organized so that there was room for all of us.  Meg met us for dinner as we had ordered Mother Bear's pizza.  We spent the rest of the evening watching television and playing games.  Brett joined us after work and was ready for a game of Ticket to Ride.  Doug and I were glad to be back in Bloomington and had a wonderful evening with everyone.  

Vaccine Appointments All Around

We found out several weeks ago that COVID-19 vaccines would be available for all Hoosiers aged 16 and up on March 31st.  None of us could believe it as it was only a few weeks ago that immunizations were available for those over forty.  When the announcement happened I started to research vaccination clinics in our area that had the Pfizer dose.  It was the only one that was approved for sixteen and seventeen year olds.  There were several close to us and Cameron and I agreed that we would drive an hour or more if it meant that he'd get a vaccine as soon as possible.  I also checked out the availability of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine as  Cal wanted the one and done shot.  Places were a little harder to find for him because he was only available on certain days of the week due to his work schedule and social life.  I did finally find something that I thought would work for him and made a list of dates and clinics for both he and Cam.  That way I'd be prepared when the immunizations schedules opened up for them.

My plans went out the window when the governor announced on Monday that those thirty and up could sign up for COVID vaccinations.  All of the places that I had checked earlier for Cameron had become full by Tuesday night and I wasn't sure what I was going to do.  Cam also had a few conflicts in April due to my plans to travel to Florida with Doug and his interterm and golf schedules.  We decided that if we had to we would delay our trip to Bloomington to get him an appointment.  Cal wasn't as much of an issue since he decided that he would go to the Indy Speedway to get his shot.  There were plenty of appointments available for those dates.  Last night I rechecked all of the clinics close to us with a Pfizer vaccine and wrote down the best case scenarios for Cam.  I even stayed up late just in case the website opened appointments at midnight last night.  Unfortunately, they did not.

This morning I got up early before school and tried to log on to the health department website with my phone, but the age groups still hadn't changed.  By the time I got my computer up and running the age had changed, but it was a 22 minute queue to sign up.  I started to worry that we would be late to school, but decided that Bethany would understand if Cam was tardy.  While I was waiting to schedule Cam's appointment, I was finally able to get on the website with my phone.  I hoped that I would be able to use that to schedule Cal shot or have it ready for Cam in case I got disconnected on my computer.

At 8:22 I was finally able to start looking through appointments.  I was glad that I had researched the site earlier as I could flip through the clinics a lot easier than if I had just started this morning.  I tried the Goshen clinic first but its first appointment was April 12th.  I hoped for something better with Elkhart, but they were already booked out until April 24th.  The next site I planned to try was the St. Joseph Clinic at Hedwig.  When I first clicked on it, I couldn't believe it.  They had an appointment today at 1:40 p.m.  I started cheering and then made sure that Cam was up to driving to South Bend this afternoon.  He was more than up for it and I set up the appointment.  It was only when I got to the end of the sign up process that I realized that I had clicked on the wrong St. Joseph and actually got the Regional Medical Center in Plymouth.  I couldn't believe my good luck as had I picked the correct St. Joseph, Cameron would not have gotten an appointment for today.  By the time Cam and I arrived at Bethany I also had secured an appointment for Cal on the date and time that he wanted.

I hurried home, exercised and showered before I had to be back to Goshen to pick up Cameron.  His friends were all impressed that he was getting the shot already.  I let him drive to Plymouth and he did a nice job even though our path took us on US 6 and US 31.  Right when we pulled into the parking lot of the medical center, Cameron's phone rang.  Our hearts sank.  Both he and I were a little nervous on the way over that we were going to the wrong site or that he couldn't really get vaccinated today.  It just all seemed too good to be true.  It was the health director from the center on the phone, but she was actually calling to confirm our appointment for tomorrow.  Cam looked at his text and verified with me that it was today.  She double checked as well and said that she was wrong and to come on into the facility.  She met us at the door to lead us through the sign in process.  Cam was the clinic's first and only under eighteen year old on the schedule today.  Once they made the changes to the registration process due to his age, we were off and running.  He got his shot by 1:00 p.m. and by 1:15 we were on our way to Arby's drive thru to celebrate. I told Cam that we could go home and sit out the rest of the day of school, but he wanted to go back to Bethany so he could share the good news with all of his friends before he had golf practice.  It was a lot of time in the van today, but definitely well worth it.  I smiled the rest of the night.  

A Walk Down Memory Lane

My downsizing project of this week was to sort through the three tubs of my childhood mementos stored in the basement.  I know that I had sifted through them ten plus years ago when I had my twenty year class reunion, but I figured that there would be more that I could part with now.  My hope was to get the three tubs down to one. 

It was actually a lot easier to downsize than I thought that it would be.  Several of the items from my early youth had yellowed and rusted and just weren't worth keeping.  I also decided that I didn't need every card given to me from high school graduation and only saved a few.  I found a goodbye card from my radio station days, however, that I thoroughly enjoyed reading and placed in the keep pile. As much as I was sure that I enjoyed being a library helper in 4th grade, I was positive that I could part with the certificate awarding me that honor as well as several others.  There were quite a few photo albums taking up a lot of room in the tubs.  Since so many of the pictures were duplicates it was easy to sort through them and ended up only saving a few.  There were a lot of articles, pictures and stats from my days on the golf team which I still held in high regard.  I couldn't take them out of the photo albums without tearing them, so I decided to cut the pages out to copy them later.  

I didn't get through all of the tubs, but made a good dent in them and was able to start the organization process.  I plan to put everything that I wanted to keep in manilla envelopes and then scan it later to make a memory book.  Even though I didn't finish the project, I did really enjoy working on it and am looking forward to completing it over spring break.

"We're Talking Basketball"

March Madness is the only way to describe the feeling in the state of Indiana right now.  Upsets have dominated the mens' NCAA basketball tournament this year and have made Indianapolis the talk of the basketball world.  The women's tourney is being played in San Antonio, Texas, but even that has drawn news to the Hoosier state.  The IU women's team earned a birth in the Elite Eight of their tournament for the first time in the school's history in an exciting upset of #3 NC State.  

To top all of the news of the mens' and women's tournaments, Indiana announced their choice as the next leader of the mens' basketball program.  Much to the surprise of many outside of the alumni circle, the Hoosiers hired former player, Mike Woodson, as their new coach.  Woodson was a second team all-American during his senior year on the 1980 IU squad.  Afterward he played in the NBA for eleven years and had continued coaching in the league once his playing days were over.  His lack of college coaching experience and age caused some to take to social media criticizing the pick.  What many did not realize was that IU had also hired Thad Matta, former Ohio State coach, as an assistant athletic director to help with the nuances of college basketball rules and regulations especially in recruiting.  Those outside of the IU alumni network also didn't realize that Woodson was still heavily involved in the Indianapolis area where he had the support of the business and basketball communities.  Former players and even former coach, Bobby Knight, gave their endorsement and support after hearing the news.  Current players let it be known that they were excited to be coached by someone who could help them develop their skills, especially those hoping for an NBA career after college.

Only time will tell if this was a good choice or not.  The strategy of hiring a former player with a support system has worked well for college basketball this year as highlighted by the elite eight appearance of Juwan Howard's Michigan team this season.  Doug, Cam, Cal and I have decided to jump on the Woodson bandwagon.  Nothing could be worse than having Archie Miller as a coach and at least this time we will have someone to cheer for that we actually like.