Painting the House

When we bought our home in January of 2022, the inspector told us that we would have to paint its exterior sometime within the year or two.  It wasn't the color that was the problem.  We loved that.  It was the small cracks in the stucco that needed help.  It wasn't a big deal, but if we ignored it long term, it would cause a problem.

Doug and I met with a painter last spring who walked the home with us, told us what he could do to repair the cracks and make the house look nice and clean.  Although we didn't have to paint the interior of the garage, we asked him for a quote for that as well the lanai.  He came back with a great price and even offered to stain the concrete garage floor.  I was happy to have a plan for the paint and we set a date for October 1st.

This week the painting started and it already looked better.  It was going to be a slower process than I originally had planned, but it was going to be done well.  Our painter kept telling us that we had a wonderful home, the new paint would just clean it up.  He was 100% correct.

Unpacking Cameron's Room

When we left for Indiana on September 22nd, I had every room in the house unpacked except for Cameron's.  I had purposely left it until I got back as I knew that it would take quite a bit of time to get through all of the tubs and boxes that were sitting on his beds.  I started on Monday and thankfully found it to be a lot easier than I thought it would be.

Cameron had two bedrooms in our home in Syracuse filled with memorabilia, pictures, clothes and so much more.  I wasn't quite sure where I was going to put everything.  Therefore, I was glad that he had agreed to get rid of almost half of it at the garage sale this summer.  It not only gave him a little bit of spending money, but also gave me a chance of fitting everything into his bedroom in Florida.  

I decided that the best way to tackle the project was to unpack everything and sort it by item - clothes in one pile, books in another.  I continued this way until everything was out of the boxes and tubs and soon had Cameron's clothes hanging in his closet and his hat collection on the shelf.  The dresser and the bookcases were next.  I was impressed with how much they held.  I wasn't sure what to do with Cameron's Nerf gun collection and light sabers, but fortunately, the small nightstand that I got for him when we originally bought the house had three empty drawers.  After unpacking those collections, I told Cameron that I was ready for a duel with Darth Vader if he happened to stop by or a Nerf gun fight if Cade, Evan and Chance visited.  He suggested shooting bullets into corners of the house so that it reminded me of our home in Syracuse.  Doug had always said that if someone moved in 100 years from now, they'd still be finding Nerf bullets in the basement. 

Cameron's games and a few of his miscellaneous items fit into a small cabinet that Meg had been using in Syracuse.  I was glad that we had decided to bring it since she no longer needed it and it was a big storage help.  The last item that I had to find a place for was Cameron's blue lamp.  He had had it in his room for as long as I could remember.  I not only found a useful spot, but also a colorful lamp shade for it.  The orange and blue were a wonderful homage to his old room and the perfect way to finish unpacking the last room in our new home.

Halloween Specials & Scary Movies

October has always been scary movie month to me.  I looked forward to watching Scream, The Blair Witch project and so many more horror films with Cal, Cameron and Brett.  Doug didn't quite share my love of that movie genre, but there were definitely films that he would join in with us.  Psycho was always at the top of his list along with the holiday namesake, Halloween.

This year, I just don't think that I can continue the tradition.  The "scary" movies have just become too scary for me.  Not wanting to let the tradition completely die, I decided that I would take more of the Meg approach and watch Halloween specials instead.  So far this month I have already turned on the Disney channel and watched Halloweentown.  I plan to follow Grandma Heinisch's favorite Halloween movie with Hocus Pocus, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and the cartoon version of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow with Bing Crosby as narrator.  I know that Doug wouldn't be interest in those, but thought that he and I could stick to Hitchcock and everyone's favorite Halloween special, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!"

Once I decided to change the theme of October to "Not So Scary Halloween Movie Month" I realized that I had to tell the boys.  Cameron said that he understood as Alina and Meg had never liked scary movies.  Brett suggested some old classics that would still work for scary movie month that I might add to my viewing list.  Cal flat out called me a "wimp!"  I didn't mind.  It was better to be a wimp than be scared all month long.  All three boys were glad to hear that I was at least going to watch an October family staple - "Something Wicked This Way Comes!"  Hopefully, I won't be too much of a wimp to handle that one.

Food Tasting

While we were enjoying lunch in Epcot yesterday, Meg, Nick, Gabrielle and Alex were in Lebanon having their own feast.  The foursome met to try different dishes from a Bloomington caterer.  They hoped to find a meal that they liked for Meg and Nick's wedding reception.  

Meg called later in the evening with a menu that they thought would be perfect.  I was very glad to hear that as choosing a cater can be very challenging.  There are a lot of different menus to pick from and many have hidden costs.  It can also get stressful trying to please everyone.  Thankfully, they felt that they had succeeded in satisfying everyone's nutritional needs with a buffet that would taste delicious as well.  It was awesome to know that they had one more item checked off of their to do list well ahead of their wedding date.  I also enjoyed the pictures of their adventures on the miniature golf course today after their tasting.  What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon.  

Journey of Water & Oswald

It was a challenge to get up this morning after such a late night, but that didn't stop us from going to the passholder preview of Journey of Water at Epcot first thing this morning.  It was a Moana themed water attraction that Disney had been building since 2020 and I was excited to finally see it.  I also wanted to pick up our Oswald passholder magnets.  As an added bonus by going today, we would be able to eat lunch and possibly ride Soarin' over California.

Doug and I arrived just as the park opened for the day.  We walked straight to Soarin' as I had told Doug that was the highest priority for me.  We hadn't seen the original Soarin' over California since 2016 and I couldn't wait to ride it.  We were one of the first ones on the ride and I absolutely loved it.  We "flew" over the Golden Gate Bridge, smelled the pines while white water rafting, soared in air balloons, hand glided over the mountains, and so much more.  As we exited the ride, I noticed that the wait for it was still only fifteen minutes.  I wasn't sure what Doug would say about riding it again, but he was more than willing.  We loved it even more and noticed this time that we could actually see Alcatraz while in San Francisco.

Our next stop was the Journey of Water.  It started to rain as we got in line, but we didn't mind.  I had my umbrella and the queue was short.  We didn't know what to expect.  It started off slow with some water falls, but soon each exhibit became interactive and we were totally impressed.  We could "move" water with our hands and arms, and we could stop a waterfall by walking fast.  I absolutely loved it and couldn't wait for my kids to try it.  

After the tribute to Moana, Doug and I walked through the countries and tried several new dishes at the Food & Wine Festival.  We didn't leave until I had a Welsh Dragon from England and picked up my Oswald the Rabbit passholder magnet.  I was a thoroughly exhausted when we got the car, but it was worth the trip.  It was a great way to celebrate our first full year of being Disney annual passholders.

Ready to Go Home

Cameron had plans the entire day today, but we did get to see him in the morning before he left.  I was sad to see him pull out of my parents' driveway, but thankful that we got some time with him while he was in Syracuse/Goshen.  Cameron made plans to play golf, go to lunch and hang out with Alina today.  He was hoping to see Samuel tomorrow morning at breakfast before he left for Bloomington.

We came back to Syracuse this week so that Doug could work, but another reason was to be here when Cameron arrived.  We would have flown back on Sunday so that we could have visited with my parents too, but we had gotten a great deal on our plane tickets.  Doug had earned a companion pass from a flight that he took in April.  Therefore, I was able to fly with him for free in August and September.  Unfortunately, that ended today, so we had to leave this evening.  

Our flight back was very relaxing.  We arrived early to the airport and enjoyed dinner at Champs Sports Bar while we watched the IU game.  Doug slept a good portion of the flight.  I tried, but ended up watching The Bodyguard instead.  I hadn't seen it in years and liked it more than I remembered.  I forgot how beautiful Whitney Houston really was and what a wonderful voice that she had.  The movie ended just as we landed.  Our trip to Ocala was uneventful and we were both very glad to be home.

First Trip Back to Goshen

Cameron arrived in Goshen today in time to meet his friends for dinner.  He had hoped to catch some of the boys' tennis sectional, but Bethany lost in the first round.  He was disappointed for them, but happy to see all of his friends.  He spent the rest of the evening with Alina.  They hadn't seen each other in six weeks.  Cameron said that it definitely felt long, but hopefully that would be the longest that they had to be apart at any given time during the rest of this school year.

From my own experience and that of Brett, Cal and Meg's, I knew that the first trip back after starting college always felt a little bit awkward.  None of us were completely separated from high school yet, but realized that life was much different for us than it had been just a few months earlier.  Cameron felt a little bit of that tonight.  It was great to be home, but strange as well.  He did tell me that he really missed the familiarity of Goshen.  I could totally relate to that as Doug and I drove through the town tonight on the way to Goshen Brewing Company. It was hard to believe that we no longer lived in the area, but nice to know that we were enjoying our new life.  Either way, I was very happy to see Cameron when he arrived at my parents late tonight and hear all about his evening.