Cameron called after golf tonight and said that his plans had changed. Instead of hanging out with friends, he was going to dinner with the seniors. They had started a tradition last spring of having a formal dinner at Taco Bell the night before prom and they had invited Cameron to join them this year. He arrived home shortly after he called and asked his Dad if he had a suit jacket to wear for tonight. We laughed when he said it, but Doug was more than happy to help. I was just glad that he didn't ask to wear the white tuxedo he had just picked up for prom.
Earlier this week Cameron had some free time and decided that he wanted to watch a movie with us. We went through a list of movies that we had already seen, but thought that he might like. Most were thrillers, but there were a few that fell into the historical fiction genre. After thinking about it, Cameron picked the 1987 political action thriller, "No Way Out." Since I had been watching a lot of Kevin Costner in Yellowstone recently, I was happy to rewatch one of his early films.
The opening credits started to roll and I told Cameron that I thought there were a few actors that he might recognize in the movie that weren't big stars. I didn't really say too much else, but as the movie progressed I pointed out to him, Fred Thompson. Cameron didn't recognize him right away as he had only a small role. He also had a lot more hair than he did in his Law & Order role as District Attorney, Arthur Branch.
The next actor, however, he had no problem recognizing. George Dzundza was cast as a wheelchair bound computer expert and one of Kevin Costner's good friends. Cameron knew him instantly as detective Greevy from the first season of Law & Order. At first I was impressed that he recognized the actor. Then I remembered that we had watched a lot of our favorite television series over the past two years, so I shouldn't have shocked. We all enjoyed the movie, especially the twist at the end. In honor of the death scene of George Dzundza, as soon as the film was over, Cameron and I instantly picked a Law & Order Season 1 episode to watch.
As much as I enjoyed the night, I was most happy to realize that the Heinisch children had all been exposed to more than just their generation of movies, music, and television growing up. We had introduced them to many of our best-loved sources of entertainment while also enjoying a lot of their favorites. Sharing those small parts of our lives has enhanced our relationship with our children and has made life in the Heinisch home even more fun. No Way Out was the perfect example of that.
In the summer of 2020 we were all trying to figure out how to live in the middle of a pandemic. Cameron spent his time on the golf course, Doug was in the middle of projects at work, Meg was busy with classwork and I was just trying to keep the house free of Covid. Although none of us enjoyed the changes that the virus had brought to our life, we figured out a routine and it seemed to work out well for the four of us.
Cal was the one that struggled the most with the changes to our life in the Heinisch home during that time period. His job with Plante Moran was delayed and all that he had to keep him busy was studying for the CPA. He did work as a bag boy at Tippy and hung out with his friends at Maxwelton, but he definitely got frustrated with the reality of the pandemic. In our house we believed that the most concentrated cases of the virus came from large gatherings. Because of that we decided to stay away from two covid spreaders - church and restaurants. That meant that Cal wasn't able to go to The Frog with his friends. He found that frustrating, especially since a few of them made fun of him for our decision.
One night Cal came home from the golf course mad. His friends were all going out and he was stuck at home with us. I felt bad for him, but didn't really want to change our rules. We still didn't know a lot about Covid and we definitely didn't want it in our house. In the middle of our discussion, Cal decided to make dinner. Shortly, after he started I realized that he had used one of our Rainforest Cafe plates to cook bacon in the microwave. Needless to say, the plate did not survive that night.
I didn't say much to Cal about it. I did show him the next day where the actual bacon plate was. I realized that he was mad the night before and the plate took the brunt of his anger. I tried to replace the plate as buying the set of them at Rainforest Cafe was a great memory of a fun trip to Disney World for Cameron, Meg and I. Every time that we went to Disney Springs this past year, I would stop in their store looking for a new one. I realized on our last trip that I wasn't going to find one.
I decided a couple of weeks ago that I would start researching online for a replacement plate. I found several on Ebay, but they were all part of a set. I didn't want four additional animal plates, just Nile the Crocodile. I finally found a lone plate up for auction, but the price was more than I wanted to spend - $12.95 plus shipping. I decided to "watch it" and soon after I clicked the button I heard from the seller. They would lower the price to $9.80. That was a lot better, but I didn't want to accept right away. In the end I went back to the seller and offered $8. Doug thought I was crazy for trying to save a $1.80, but it worked. The seller accepted my offer. I paid right away and last night the plate arrived looking perfect.
I immediately texted everyone to let them know that Nile had arrived. Brett loved the comment. Cal promised not to use it again, at least not in the microwave. Meg responded instantly, "Omg, the new bacon plate." That made me laugh. I never heard from Cameron, but I knew that he was busying with golf. Once we got home, however, I realized that he had grabbed the plate right away to put his pizza on it. I knew then that the purchase was well worth it.
Bethany had a golf match today against Trinity and Northwood at Knollwood Country Club. I had been there before for one of Cal's matches, but had never walked the entire course. It was very nice and definitely challenging with tight fairways and small greens.
Cameron started off playing very well. He hit the ball well and putted even better. After the first four holes he was even par. Unfortunately, the fifth hole gave him some trouble with a chunked chip and a three putt leading to a triple bogey. Cameron still played well over the last four holes, but it looked like someone had knocked the wind out of him. I was proud that he hung in there to bogey out and finish with a 43 as he could have imploded and scored much higher. It wasn't the score he wanted, but in the end he was happy with how well he hit the ball.
Austin also scored in the forties tonight, shooting a 47. The rest of the Bruin team struggled with the difficulty of the course all finishing in the upper 50s and low 60s. It wasn't the teams best score of the season, but it was a good learning experience for all.
Bethany's next match isn't until next week. We're all hoping for warming weather. It sure didn't feel like spring tonight with temperatures in the low 40s. Thankfully the sun was out for seven of the holes or it would have felt even colder.
For the past six months Doug has been dealing with a tremor in his right arm. It wasn't noticeable at first, but has become more so over time. Although we both felt that it was related to the stress that he was under at work, we thought that it was best that Doug have it evaluated by our family doctor. Dr. Freeze met with him, reviewed his symptoms and ran some bloodwork. It took awhile to get the bloodwork back due to a confusion with BRCA 1 testing, but once it returned it didn't show much of anything. The next step was for Doug to undergo an MRI of the brain. It was an extremely uncomfortable test as he had to have his head bolted to a table with a hockey mask covering his face. He survived the unpleasantness of it and thankfully, was told that he had a very healthy brain.
Our last stop in the journey to diagnosis his tremor led us to the neurologist this afternoon. We left her office feeling very unsure. She spent an hour with us, but within a minute of meeting Doug, she had already come up with her diagnosis. Since the testing was all subjective - observation and some motor movement evaluations - we just weren't quite convinced that her diagnosis was correct. Some of what she was seeing were items that Doug had always dealt with, most notably dexterity issues in his hand (interestingly enough it was observed in the left hand, not the shaking one). Once we mentioned this, she agreed that she doesn't really know Doug and that she could be wrong. She really wanted him to try some medication that she felt would answer the question for us. We weren't as excited about that as it was a strong medication with some severe side effects. Doug set up an appointment for three months from now to reevaluate where he was at and to see if his tremor had progressed or slowed down.
After a lot of discussion last night between Doug and I, we thought that it was best to research more about what we felt originally caused the tremor - stress. I realized almost immediately that there was tons of information about shaking caused by outside anxiety. It talked about the tension that muscles feel when a person is under a lot of stress and how those muscles have to get rid of the extra adrenaline somehow. For most people that results in shaking. There were different relaxation techniques and tips on how to manage the tremor that we thought Doug might be able to try. It was the one avenue that neither Dr. Freeze or the neurologist had explored. We figured that it wouldn't hurt to try, especially since his shakiness always seemed to show up in stressful situations and relaxed when the stress reduced. We don't know if we are correct, but figured that our observations might be more reliable right now since we were the ones seeing the tremor daily. Either way, we figured that it wouldn't hurt to try the relaxation techniques. This has been one of the most stressful times in Doug's career. Even if it doesn't solve the problem, it may relieve some of that.
Cal left Thursday morning for Colorado as he had made plans to hang out with his roommate from college, Riley. Cal had never visited the state before and was really looking forward to the trip. He was also ready for a break from work. Busy season was winding down and a weekend trip was the perfect way to celebrate. Even better was the fact that two of his friends, David and Brock, were able to join him on his adventure.
It was definitely a quick trip as they left Thursday night and arrived back in Chicago on Sunday morning. While there they took full advantage of their time in the Rocky Mountain state by hiking in the mountains, checking out the nightlife and even playing some indoor miniature golf. We heard from Cal multiple times while he was gone and we loved the pictures that he sent. Most of all, we were just happy that he had enjoyed his weekend and was able to get in some relaxation after a stressful busy season.
