Fun, then None

After IU's victory over Purdue in men's basketball on Saturday, we were all hyped up about tonight's game against Iowa.  For some in our family, the Hawkeyes were a bigger nemesis than the Boilermakers.  We had blown a big lead against them in Iowa City early in the season.  A win tonight would avenge that loss.  It would also put us in great position in the NCAA tournament and give us the double bye in the Big Ten Tourney next weekend.  

Cameron invited Samuel over to watch the game.  Doug came home early from work tonight so that we could take a walk before tip off.  Once we got back, he ordered pizza for the guys and picked it up well before the game started.  Within two minutes of the game starting, the excitement was gone in the Heinisch home.  IU looked absolutely awful and Iowa couldn't miss.  Even Brett texted the family group chat to let us know that the Hoosiers "were blowing it tonight."  

Before halftime, Cameron and Samuel had moved downstairs to play pool.  They ended up turning off the television with three minutes to go in the game.  Doug watched all of it, but the loss sure changed the mood of the night.  We were expecting a heated battle and instead got a big bunch of nothing.  Gone was the excitement of this afternoon when Cameron and I were talking about the Hoosiers making a run for the tournament or the possibility of a change in our spring break plans to include a trip to Houston for the final four.  I actually ended up working on the computer all night, catching up on my Blog and filling out paperwork for the realtor.  I hope that we can rebound form this loss, but after this evening none of us are really sure anymore.  Guess we'll have to lower our expectations for now.

Realtor Meeting

Today Doug and I met with a realtor about selling our house in Syracuse.  We picked her after a lot of research.  I had made a spreadsheet of all of the homes that had sold in our area in the past year.  I listed their address, price sold and realtor.  One name stood out, Angie Racolta, from Keller Williams Thrive.  She was local and we both liked the fact that we did not know her personally.  That may sound strange, but living in a small town, we knew a lot of realtors.  We thought it was best to chose one that we had not had a previous relationship with as it might complicate the selling process.

Doug and I spent all of yesterday getting the house ready for her visit.  I also thoroughly cleaned the kitchen today.  We her and her assistant at 4 p.m. this afternoon for a tour of our home and to talk about the selling process.  They were both impressed with the size of the house and felt that the location was highly sought after in our town.  We talked about the listing process, what we would need to do to get ready, and the price of the home.  They valued the house close to what we thought it would be worth.  We were surprised to hear that the lot that we so incredibly loved really wasn't worth anything near what we thought that it would be.  I couldn't imagine living here without that lot in our backyard.  It provided a buffer from our neighbors and a lot of entertainment for our children over the years.  They left a lot of information for us to look over.  Even though we did not plan on listing our home until after Cameron's graduation, we told them that we would be in touch soon.  

After they left, Doug and I talked a lot about selling the house.  It has been a wonderful home to our family, but it was time to let it go.  With just Doug and I living in it next year, it would be way too big.  None of our children want to live in Syracuse and we are ready to move on as well.  Neither of us are looking forward to the getting the house ready to sell and then keeping it clean once it was listed, but it is a necessary evil if we are to move.  Thankfully, we believe that we have found an organized, professional realtor that has a sense of urgency to get our home sold.  

University of Florida Decision

When Cameron and I visited the University of Florida in November of 2021, we were really impressed with the school and its academic rigor.  Cameron felt very comfortable there and was impressed with the fact that the students that we met were a lot like him.  When we came home, it was top on his list.  

As much as we liked the university, we were also very realistic about his chances of getting into Florida.  The head of admissions was intense and she made it very clear that AP and Dual Credit classes were absolutely necessary to be admitted into the school.  At Bethany, most of those classes were taken during the students' senior year.  Cameron and I were both concerned that even with his 4.0 grade point average, it wouldn't be enough since he would have only taken AP English by the time he applied last fall.  We also came to realized that as an out of state student, Cameron would also only have a 22% chance of being accepted.  Those facts along with Cameron's interest in business as a major, made him sway from Florida as his top choice and move towards IU.  The familiarity of Bloomington also added to IU's favor.

Thus, when Cameron texted me Friday to see if we had heard anything from Florida yet, I was a little apprehensive to answer.  He hadn't gotten an email from the university, but I knew that he could check his admissions portal today as decisions were due on the 24th.  I didn't want him to get bad news while he was in Indy for the girls' tournament.  In the end, my fears were all for nothing.  Cameron texted me once again with the words "I GOT ACCEPTED!"  I was so absolutely impressed and incredibly proud of him.

Cameron, Doug and I sat down today and talked more about Cameron's college decision.  He had no desire to go to Purdue, so that was instantly out of the question.  Wisconsin and Michigan were too expensive and were taking too long to render a decision, so they also were off the table.  Instead the three of us focused solely on the pros and cons of Indiana vs Florida.  The first one having the strongest business school and the second being overall ranked quite a bit higher #5 out of all public colleges compared to IU's 72nd ranking.  Familiarity went to IU without question, but locality to Doug and I went to Florida as Gainesville was only 40 minutes away from Ocala.  Overall, it was a great discussion.  Cameron listened to what we had to say, added insight on his own and ended with he'd "think it over."  The nice part for Doug and I was that we knew that whichever he chose, both would provide him with a wonderful education.  

State Championship Run

Although the end of the Bethany girls' basketball state tournament run did not end with a championship, it sure was a fun ride for all involved.  In our family that was especially true for Cameron.  He was a part of their sectional, regional and semi-state celebrations.  He was invited to go to Indy with the team on Friday where he got to take a three point shot on the floor of Gainsebridge Fieldhouse and hung out in the locker room that Joel Embiid had been in a few days before him.  He was a part of their team meal at the Old Spaghetti Factory Friday night and had a floor access pass to sit on the bench, keeping stats for the girls, on game day.  He was featured on the Jumbotron several times throughout the 1A championship game and even stayed with the team to watch the Fairfield girls in their own state basketball championship game Saturday evening.  

Doug and I both enjoyed going to the girl's tournament games this season as did my parents.  None of us were able to attend all of them, but thankfully several were available on television as well.  Meg and Nick joined the four of us at the state finals which was a nice treat.  They enjoyed the atmosphere and even ate lunch at Shake Shack after Bethany's state runner-up game with Cameron and Keagan.  Overall, the season was a lot of fun and a great break to the winter blues that February usually brings.  

Cal Visits

Cal told us early in the month that he thought about visiting some time this week.  We were glad to hear that, but realized that his plans could change due to his work schedule.  Thankfully, he did not have anything come up and arrived Wednesday night with plans to stay until Saturday.  He had to work from home yesterday and today, but I still enjoyed having him here very much.  I ate lunch with him, helped him get his taxes done and even took him to get an oil change when he was on break.  

Doug appreciated having Cal here in the evenings as well.  He ordered pizza from Sleepy Owl one of the nights and made macaroni and cheese another.  We watched several movies, including Whiplash, which Cal had been wanting to see.  Tonight, Grandma and Grandpa arrived to play cards.  We reacquainted Cal with "Oh Hell!" and then played "31."  Cal beat us at both, but none of us cared.  We were just glad to spend some quality time with him.  He will leave tomorrow morning while we are in Indy for the girls' state basketball championship.  I will miss having him around, but am sure that I will see him soon.

Four Years Later - Still Hard to Believe

The memories that showed up on my Facebook feed this week have been especially sad this year.  Four years ago Meg's friend and classmate, KeShawn, was killed in a car accident.  It was absolutely unbelievable then and feels like a dream even now.  His smile was infectious and looking at his picture reminded me of that.  He loved life and was looking forward to his future outside of high school.

As Meg makes her plans for life after graduation from IU, I am reminded that not all children get to live out their dreams.  It makes me appreciate even more that Meg has been able to set goals, reach them and plan celebrations around the next phase of her life. The photos this week were also a good reminder that the future is never guaranteed.  As our family gets ready for some big changes, I will have to take time to enjoy the small moments even when everything seems stressful.  That will be the best way that I know how to honor the high school boy that I can still hear calling, "Mama Heidi," at Meg's basketball games.  

T-Shirt Blanket Success

When Brett graduated from high school, Jeanette made him a t-shirt quilt as a graduation gift.  It was very nice with quilt blocks representing Brett's life from age two to eighteen.  There was binding all around it and a note stitched on the back, reading, "Made with love by Jeanette Heinisch."  We found a prominent spot to hang it up for his open house and Brett's had it on the end of his bed ever since 2013.  

As Jeanette realized that she probably wouldn't be able to make a t-shirt quilt for the rest of her grandchildren in our family, she asked me to make one for Cal, Meg and Cameron.  I told her that I thought it was outside of my capabilities, but that I would think about it.  When Cal graduated in 2016, I went through all of his memory tubs, saw the t-shirts that we had saved and decide not to attempt a quilt.  I was still working at Milford and I knew that just getting ready for his graduation open house would be enough for me.  Cal didn't seem to mind and enjoyed his party just the same.

I wasn't working when Meg graduated in 2019, but I still was overwhelmed thinking about making a t-shirt quilt for her.  It seemed way beyond my expertise and with Brett graduating with his MPA from IU and Cameron celebrating his confirmation, I knew that I would not have time.  Instead I focused on the photo poster frames like the ones that I did for Cal.  She had a successful open house just like her older two brothers that Meg and I were both proud of hosting.  

This January I started going through all of Cameron's memory tubs to begin the process of getting ready for his graduation open house.  I found a lot of great items in those tubs, but what struck me most of all was all of the clothes that I had saved from his childhood.  As he and I sorted through them, I asked him what he thought about a t-shirt quilt.  He said that he would definitely like one, but if it was too much work or too expensive, he was ok forgoing the traditional graduation gift.  I told him that I would look into it and let him know.

My research led me to a website that constantly appeared in my FaceBook feed.  They made nice t-shirt quilts that were a little bit different than Brett's, but were very nice.  I inquired about a price.  It would be close to $150 and we would have to ship them our shirts.  The price wasn't too bad, but I was afraid of the shirts getting lost or the quilt not arriving on time.  Valerie gave me the phone number of a woman who made quilts for her three children.  I really liked the design of Jacob's as it was a lot like Brett's and the fact that this woman was local was a positive.  The cost was the deterrent, however, as it was about half the price of a laptop.  I couldn't really justify that. 

Cameron and I talked and we decided that we had two options - no quilt or I try to make one myself.  He was for the latter.  I asked Doug and Meg what they thought and they agreed with Cameron.  I started doing some research on how to make one and found a lot of help on YouTube.  They showed me the tools that I would need and how many t-shirts that we have to use.  There was a lot of great advice and even one that showed me how to make a no-sew one.  In the end, I liked a video from the YouTube site - Drink and Sew Things.  The woman was a little nutty, but her video on how to make a t-shirt blanket for beginners was easy to follow.  

Two weeks ago, while Doug was in Florida, I decided to try making Cameron's blanket.  I was extremely nervous when I cut that first shirt, but after doing several of them, I developed a routine and soon had twenty shirts cut into 12" by 12" blocks.  Sewing the shirts together to make a row was actually easier than I thought that it would be.  Ironing was tricky as I couldn't put anything hot near the screen printing or it would melt.  The seams were also hard to press open as they were incredibly small.  I figured it out however, and after a few days, I had five rows to show Cameron.  

After laying it all out, both he and I thought that it would look a lot better with one more row.  I searched through everything that he had and found some more shirts for him to pick from in the memory tubs.  Four more were sewed together and soon the six rows were one long piece.  Cameron picked blue for the backside of the blanket and I found a great piece of fleece at Walmart that fit perfectly.  I was super nervous about sewing the back on as it seemed a little daunting.  It took me an hour and a half to pin the two together and an hour to sew it.  In the end both Cameron and I were thrilled with the outcome.  It represented Cameron's childhood well, was brightly colored and only cost $65 total.  The nice part was that the quilting tools that I bought for $50 could be used to make a blanket for Cal and Meg.  Thus, Cameron's t-shirt blanket really only cost $15 and would make a nice wall hanging at his open house.  I told Cameron before I started that it may not be perfect, but the blanket would be made with love.  It definitely was and I couldn't be more proud of my newfound skill.