Some Much Needed Rain at the Wrong Time

It has been quite awhile since we have had any measurable rain.  Even though we had been keeping up on watering the flowers, we had noticed that the planters out front were looking pretty sad.  Thus, Doug and I spent some time on Monday dumping some of the potted plants and moving others to the backyard to live out the rest of the season.  Fortunately, our yard stayed green during the recent drought thanks to all of the shade that our trees provided this August and September.  

We did finally receive some much needed rain this evening which we appreciated for the grass seed that Doug planted in the backyard yesterday.  Unfortunately, it came at the wrong time as the storm blew in while the Bethany Bruins were taking on the Westview Warrior on the tennis court.  Postponing the match to tomorrow night wasn't that big of a deal, but dealing with the extreme wind before the storm hit was.  Everyone struggled to keep the ball on the court and being in the middle, Cameron had the most "let" points of his tennis career due to errant shots.  Cameron also struggled to keep his serve in play with the wind gusts.  He wasn't happy about the conditions or the postponed match, but realized that he couldn't do much about it.  His court ended with a 0-6, 1-6 loss, but he planned to be there tomorrow to cheer on the rest of his teammates.  Hopefully, the rain and wind will take a break until the postponed match is completed.  

Labor Day Fun

While we were enjoying our Labor Day weekend in Syracuse, the rest of the Heinisch family was having fun as well.  Meg invited Nick down for the three day weekend and they made the most of it by going to Indy for shopping at TJ Maxx and having dinner at Maggiano's, taking long walks, trying the new Crumbl Cookies store in Bloomington and watching their favorite movies.  They did also make time to clean Meg's apartment, meal prep for next week and finish some homework.  

Brett's three day weekend started yesterday as he returned to his normal work schedule.  It was the first time in almost two years that he was in Bloomington for an extended break and didn't have to work a part time job.  He was excited for the break and was looking forward to reading, relaxing and watching The Love Boat. He participated in mass on Sunday night where he saw Nick and Meg and then took a long walk with them today.  He also made plans to hang out at Andrew's tomorrow night and to go to lunch with a friend on Wednesday.

Cal's holiday was spent in Nashville, Tennessee with a large group of friends.  They reserved hotel rooms just off of the main strip, so that they could walk to all of the entertainment that the city had to offer.  Cal texted multiple times while he was visiting the Volunteer state, mostly about football.  My favorite message was received yesterday, however, when he sent a picture of their group together with the caption, "Still Alive!"  We were definitely happy to hear that and glad that he had found a new city to enjoy.

A Beautiful Sunday for Relaxing

As none of us had plans today, we decided to spend the day in Fort Wayne.  The weather was perfect for eating lunch outside on the patio at Hoppy Gnome.  Once we put our name in for a table, we walked around downtown Fort Wayne for a little bit.  While we were exploring, we found a beautiful park with a fountain and saw several other restaurants in the area that we would like to try at a later date.  We arrived back at the Hoppy Gnome just as they called to let us know that our table was ready.  We all enjoyed our lunch choices - Doug ordered a flatbread, Cameron had pork belly with mashed potatoes and jalapeno coleslaw and I chose chicken Tinga tacos.  The service was pretty poor, but the food and time together made up for that.

After lunch we headed to Putt Putt by Glenbrook Mall.  We had never played at that course and were looking forward to trying it.  Everyone else in Fort Wayne must have had the same idea as the place was packed.  We decided to try another day and stopped at Paige's Crossing on the way back home instead.  Thankfully, we got on course A with no problem and soon Cameron and I were in a highly competitive match.  We were actually tied at the end of 18 holes, but Cameron was declared the winner when he had a hole in one on the "19th" hole.  That not only gave him the family victory, but a free round of mini-golf as well.  In all of the times that we had played at Paige's Crossing, no one had ever even come close to a hole in one on the bonus green.  We were impressed.

Once we got home, we invited Grandma and Grandpa up for a round of Oh Hell!  Doug was the winner, but Cameron was close to the number one spot.  Afterward Doug started a bonfire and we set up the big screen for a movie night.  We had debated all day about what movie to pick.  There were so many good ones on our list.  In the end we chose "Body Heat."  We hadn't seen the 1981 thriller in at least a decade and it was really good.  I didn't remember all of the twists and turns of the plot which made it even better.  

We finished the movie in time to watch the last quarter of the Notre Dame vs. Florida State game with Cameron.  Just when we thought the Seminoles were out of it, they came marching back to tie the game at the end of regulation.  FSU lost in overtime, but at least they made it a game.  Cal texted us afterward and we all shared his sentiment - "New year, still hate ND!"  Even the disappointment of the Notre Dame victory couldn't ruin this wonderful day.

Could We Get A Redo?

 Today was the day that we had talked about since college football season ended last January - the kickoff of the first IU game.  Adding excitement to the game was the fact that #17 IU was slated to play #18 Iowa in Iowa City.  We had talked about buying tickets for the game, but due to a Saturday morning tennis match at Triton, we decided to decorate the house and have our own tailgate at home.  

In the end we couldn't have been more thankful that Bethany's tennis schedule prevented us from traveling to the Hawkeye state.  Within three minutes of kickoff, IU had let Iowa score an uncontested touchdown run and had thrown a pick six on its opening drive.  The momentum was gone before the game even got underway and Iowa dominated from that point on winning 34-6.  IU football fans were taken by surprise and Twitter rang out with tweets asking for a better offense.  Adding insult to injury was the fact that the Freshmen away jerseys had incorrectly spelled the name on the state as "Indinia" - a complete embarrassment all around.  

I was worried that Cameron would be extremely disappointed in the lopsided loss, but thankfully, he took it all in stride.  Since it was over so incredibly quickly, he never had time to get disappointed.  He felt that next week would make a big difference as it would give the new transfer students a chance to settle into IU's offense.  I hoped that he was right, but years of being an IU football fan made me a little apprehensive.  Guess we'll find out next Saturday.  

"Why Is Everything So Much More Stressful When Dad's Involved?"

In helping Meg search for internships recently I had been checking her emails with her daily.  In doing so I realized that one that she received from IU provided information for her as a graduating senior.   I had also noticed this summer that her college loan information had her graduating in December of 2022 instead of May 2023 as she had planned.  Since Meg was just a junior, I decided to do some research for her and find out what her projected graduation should be. 

After looking more into it, I found that as an accounting major Meg could actually graduate when she had 120 credits.  Most accounting undergrads waited until they had 150 credit hours, however, so that they can sit for the CPA.  Meg already had earned 102 credits thus far thanks to the extra classes that she took online during the coronavirus pandemic.  Thus, Meg had some options - graduate a year early without having an internship and with only 120 hours, graduate a semester early with an internship and 150 hours, or add a major and graduate in May of 2023.  

I thought the best plan of action was to call Meg tonight and explain this to her.  Nick had plans to graduate in December 2022 and I thought that maybe they wanted to discuss her options as well.  Doug decided that he would listen in on speaker as she and I talked so that he would also be a part of the discussion.  Before I talked to Meg about her graduation plans, I let her know that Doug was on the line as well.  She instantly started bawling as soon as I talked about graduating early.  She didn't even hear me bring up any other options.  She had felt that her college life had already been cut short with the time at home during lockdown and the online class structure of last year.  She felt like she had just started to feel like she was in college this semester and didn't want to give that up so soon.  

Once she calmed down I talked to her about the option of meeting with her advisor, adding the business law and ethic majors to her transcript like she had talked about and staying until May of 2023.  She definitely liked that option the best, but wanted to talk to Nick first.  She called back a little later to let me know that they liked that advice best and she had already scheduled an appointment with her advisor for Tuesday.  She also wanted me to know that she only cried because Dad was on the phone.  She said "Why is Everything So Much More Stressful When Dad's Involved?"  

Cameron laughed when he heard her say that.  I realized from Cam's reaction and Meg's statement that she was probably right.  Cal had even texted me tonight so that I could tell Doug to stop using his Spotify account as he needed it for the drive to Indy.  He thought that Dad would listen better to me.  He was correct and I solved the problem immediately.  Doug laughed when I told him that all of this was actually  my fault.  I had used him as the "heavy" so much over the years that the Heinisch children were always nervous when he was involved.  He said, "If it makes them more successful in life, I don't mind being the bad guy."  So glad that he feels that way.  

Internship Season

These past two weeks have been very stressful for Meg.  In addition to starting classes in person for the first time in over a year, she has also had to learn how to navigate the Kelley career services (a.k.a. Handshake) in order to find an accounting internship for next summer.  It seems extremely early to start this process as most position do not start until late May or early June of 2022, but it really isn't according to the business school. Kelley already has companies asking for applications and even had their first accounting networking night this evening.  

Meg was pretty overwhelmed when she started the process, but felt a lot better about everything today.  Last weekend she updated her resume and researched companies.  Last night she attended an information session with one company and met with five recruiters tonight via Zoom.  She had applied for at least four positions by the end of the evening and had several more lined up for tomorrow.  I have tried to be supportive, but do not know a lot about getting a job in the business world.  Thankfully, Doug had a few ideas for her to help her get started and Cal filled in the gaps along the way.  Meg hasn't always appreciated living in her brother's shadow, but definitely did tonight.  The Plante Moran recruiter knew who he was and strongly encouraged her to apply with their company as well.  As stressful as it was to start, Meg felt pretty good about the process this evening.  Hopefully, some interviews will follow soon and she will have a plan for the upcoming summer.  

Weight Loss Success With An Added Bonus

Last January I decided that I wanted to work on losing weight in the new year.  As I didn't really want to disrupt the daily meal plan that we had at home, I decided instead to first increase my exercise time and reduce my portion sizes.  It worked well, but took a lot longer to lose weight than it had in the past.  Over a four month period I had only lost seven pounds.  As my goal was 30 pounds overall, I decided to talk to the doctor about it.

Dr. Freeze felt that the best plan was to check and see if I was insulin resistant.  She said that could be causing the difficulty that I found trying to lose weight.  My A1C blood test confirmed her suspicion and she gave me a choice, either take medication that would lower my pre-diabetic results but cause severe intestinal difficulties or try a low carb diet.  It was an easy choice and I started Weight Watchers on April 11th with the goal to lose 23 more pounds.  Last week was the moment of truth as my A1C blood work returned at a normal level.  I was extremely happy about that, but even more proud when I received my Weight Watchers "goal" pin in the mail days later.

Overall, I didn't really think that much about how the weight loss had affected me physically.  I definitely was able to walk further and exercise harder than when I started. I also noticed that I looked a little thinner from the December pictures that I had just put into the 2020 photo album.  The best payout happened today, however, as I cleaned out my dresser and closet in anticipation of fall weather.  I tried on everything I owned and couldn't believe the difference in how my clothes fit.  Pants that I couldn't even put on last January now fit perfectly.  I even had a few pairs that were too big that I had to box up for Goodwill.  There was a pair of shorts and jeans that I hadn't even taken the tags off of as I gained weight shortly after I bought them.  The best feeling was when I tried on a pair of dress pants that I hadn't been able to wear in more than three years.  They fit perfectly.  What an awesome bonus to losing weight - it was almost like getting a whole new wardrobe for free.