Christmas Eve in the Heinisch Home

I was extremely excited that all of the Heinisch children made it a priority to be home on Christmas Eve this year.  I have always enjoyed Christmas morning with our family, but the traditions that we started on Christmas Eve long ago have always been my favorite.  It must have meant something to them as well as they let me  know at Thanksgiving that they would all definitely be here.  

The morning started with the completion of the advent calendar and making cookies with Doug where Brett impressed Doug with his dough rolling skills. Meg and Cameron stuck with the measuring and stirring duties while Cal supervised.  Next on the agenda was A Year Without a Santa Claus and Garfield's Christmas.  The movies led to a debate about our favorite animated Christmas show with the Grinch being added to the top of some of our lists.  We decided to forego our tradition of attending Christmas Eve's children's mass.  The threat of the new Omicron virus and the lack of masks worn at our church were a little too much for us this year.  We spent the extra time playing games instead and finishing the Charlie Brown Christmas puzzle.  

Our evening began with the opening of Godparent gifts.  Not all of the Heinisch children received them this year, but thankfully, we found some fun gifts for them instead and they all had Grandpa Heinisch's to open as well.  Afterward Doug made appetizers for dinner including a new family favorite, buffalo chicken dip.  We ended the night with a viewing of "It's a Wonderful Life" complete with the SNL alternate ending afterward.  All in all it was truly was a wonderful day.  

Boosted

 Cal was up early for his booster appointment at Walmart today.  Doug and I rode along so that we could pick up groceries for the Christmas holiday celebrations.  I walked over to the pharmacy with Cal and was surprised to see the difference between his appointment today and Cameron's last week.  When Cameron and I showed up on the 15th, the line to register was at least twenty deep.  Today, Cal had only one person in front of him.  Needless to say, he was happy to be through the process and back in the grocery aisles with us in less than ten minutes.  

I was happy too and incredibly proud of the fact that all of my family had now been "boosted."  What a difference it will make to our family gatherings.  We can now safely get together for the holidays and shouldn't have to worry about the impending doom that has been all over the media about the Omicron variant.  It amazes me how much has changed since March 2020.  The fear of the unknown at that time was incredibly.  We have all learned so much about coronavirus since then and thankfully, have remained healthy so far.  I know that that could change at any moment, but for now I will breathe a little easier knowing that all of us have received our Covid booster.  

A Nice End to a Rough Start

Today didn't start out that well.  For several reasons, the early part of the morning just wasn't the best.  Thankfully, a rough start did not sabotage the rest of our day.  Meg, Cameron and I were still able to go on our shopping trip and had a lot of fun looking for last minute Christmas gifts.  We also made time to go to a vintage vinyl store that Meg had been talking about since she got home last weekend.  Cameron wasn't as excited about it as I was, but in the end enjoyed finding some new album covers that would make great posters.  He and Meg decided not to purchase anything today, but I did as I found a few albums in the dollar section to bring home.  Afterward we stopped at Hacienda on the way home to pick up lunch and even made it back in time to watch Match Game.  

Cal didn't join us on our shopping adventure.  He had made plans to go see the new Spiderman movie this afternoon.  He wasn't the only one that decided to spend an evening away from the Heinisch home.  Once we got back, Cameron made plans with Avery and Richard to go to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner.  Meg followed suit, by heading over to Gabrielle's for the evening.  We missed having all of the activity in the house tonight, but Doug and I made the best of it with a night of Ticket to Ride and the movie a Christmas Carol.  It was a lot of fun, but most of all I was just happy that everyone had a wonderful afternoon and evening, especially after the rough start to the day.

First Impressions

Tonight Brett went to Scottsburg to meet his new friend from Christian Mingle.  We were all nervous for him, as meeting someone for the first time can be pretty overwhelming.  Brett had a lot of support, however, which made it a little easier.  Meg helped him pick out an outfit and I was on hand to answer the phone if he needed any last minute help.  Thankfully, the only hiccup in his plan was when he arrived in the little southern Indiana town an hour away from Bloomington and realized that he had forgotten the gifts that he had purchased for the night.  Thankfully, I was available to help pick out something new and he made it to his dinner date on time.

Brett called on the way home to let us know that everything had gone well.  The restaurant was the perfect location for their first meeting as it had fish on the menu and plenty of open seating.  Brett enjoyed their conversation and had a lot of fun.  They made plans to meet again after the holidays and scheduled a time to talk again soon.  I was happy to hear that all had gone well and was proud of him for taking a chance on meeting someone new.  

Best Part of Christmas Break - Hanging Out with Friends

The best part of Christmas break besides the holiday has always been hanging out with friends.  It's a lot of fun at the high school age, especially with licensed drivers.  Cameron took full advantage of that freedom to go shopping in Fort Wayne with Avery this afternoon.  They had a lot of fun at the mall, found a new game to purchase, bought some clothes and had dinner at Portillo's.  It was a great way to enjoy their holiday vacation from school and to celebrate the success that they both had achieved this semester.  

As much fun as it is hanging out with friends over break in high school.  It's even more enjoyable for those home from college.  Meg took full advantage of her free time to make plans with several friends over break, including Rachel, Philip, Gabrielle and Sara.  She was happy that she would get to see all of them.  I believe, however, she most excited about the plans that she made tonight.  Meg and Aaron scheduled a date night for this evening, just as they had in high school, complete with dressing up and dinner at Olive Garden.  I was glad that they were able to work out the details as they hadn't seen each other in two years.  I thought it was great that they also decided to surprise Grandma Jane with an unannounced visit before they left for Fort Wayne.  It was a fun night for them and Grandma thoroughly enjoyed seeing them before they left.  

Lincoln Park Zoo Lights

 Last year we were not able to attend the Christmas light display at the Lincoln Park zoo due to the coronavirus.  We were disappointed as we had been enjoying the yearly event ever since our first visit in 2016.  Even though positivity rates for Covid had increased greatly over the past few weeks, we decided that we would renew the Heinisch tradition this December.  

In order to limit the amount of guests coming into the zoo at one time, the event required tickets this year.  By the time we were able to confirm that we were going all of the early tickets were taken.  None of us minded going a little later in the afternoon as it allowed us to sleep in this morning.  Our first stop in Chicago was Giordano's for a late lunch.  Cal took the train and met us there.  We arrived just as he put our name in for a table.  There was a thirty minute wait, but we didn't mind.  They let us order our pizza ahead of time and we enjoyed catching up with Cal while we waited for our name to be called.  The pizza was really good and I was glad that we ordered larges as it gave us leftovers to bring home.  The only downside to lunch was the spacing of the tables.  It really wasn't crowded, but they placed us a little too close to the table besides us.  I wasn't too worried, but didn't feel completely comfortable.  It could have also been because the table was full of Trump supporters.  Either way we did really enjoy it.

After we ate we walked over to Michigan Avenue.  Unfortunately, the Disney Store was no longer there.  We were disappointed, but decided to see where else we could shop.  We were surprised to see that the Disney Store wasn't the only store that had closed on Michigan Avenue.  Several of our other favorites were gone including Dylan's candy shop.  We did find one store that had gifts from Mexico that we really liked, but other than that there wasn't much for us.  We decided that the best idea was to head to the Water Tower Place.  It wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be.  We checked out a few stores.  Cameron and Meg each bought several some clothes at Ragstock.  We all liked that store. 

Doug wanted to get to the zoo early and we were very glad that he made that decision.  We arrived close to 5:15 for our 6 p.m. entry and there was nowhere to park.  We got stuck in a traffic jam trying to get around the zoo and then ended up having to drive several miles out of our way to get back across the Lincoln Park area just to find a spot on the street.  We had to walk to the zoo, but we didn't mind.  We were just glad to make it by 5:45.  We also appreciated that they let us in early.  

The zoo was just as wonderful as in years past.  I felt that this was the best year for lights and really enjoyed our walk through the park.  We ordered hot chocolate to keep us warm, but overall the weather really wasn't very cold.  In years past we had arrived closer to 4 p.m.  Meg and I liked the later entry time as it was a lot darker than our trips previously.  Maybe that's why I enjoyed the light displays even more.  Overall, it was a wonderful day in Chicago and I appreciated getting back to our Heinisch tradition very much.

Some Scary News

We found out this weekend that Doug's dad would need to have quadruple bypass surgery as soon as possible.  The news was surprising to him and completely caught us off guard.  Carl had been tired lately and his legs had been hurting for quite some time, but until he saw the doctor in Florida he really didn't know why.  Thankfully, they insisted on testing and that found the cause immediately.  He was then taken by ambulance to the hospital in Winter Haven for more testing and to await the results of the additional tests.  

Today, Doug and I were both able to talk with Carl and review the diagnosis.  We found out that the cause of the issue was the calcium build up in his aorta and that was the area where the bypass surgery would be needed.  Thankfully, his heart was in very good condition.  The surgery was scheduled for Monday morning at 10 a.m.  Marina and Aunt Marg would be there while the operation took place.  Doug was relieved to hear that as he would have had a hard time getting to Florida this week with his work schedule and Christmas just around the corner.  Doug did spend some time on the phone with his dad later in the day going through the financial ends of the surgery and what to do just in case the surgery wasn't a success.  It was definitely a stressful afternoon, but by the end of the night, we were all feeling a lot better about the situation.