It's a Stomach Bug's Life

Yesterday I woke up in the middle of the night and didn't feel the best.  My stomach and lower back were absolutely killing me.  I thought that maybe it was from sleeping in my chair.  I tried some ice and eventually fell back asleep.  

I didn't feel much better when I got up in the morning.  My joints started to ache and overall I just didn't feel well.  I still went out for a walk as I thought that might help.  The weather was a little bit cooler than normal, which I actually preferred at the time.  Later in the day, not so much.  Doug arrived home from work and asked what I thought about dinner.  By that time I couldn't even thing about food without becoming nauseous.  I did my best to eat rice and saltines.  Afterward, I spent the rest of the evening on the couch, freezing cold and miserable with a mild fever.  Fortunately, Survivor and Amazing Race were on, so the entire evening wasn't a complete waste.

I didn't even set an alarm for today.  I woke up several times in the middle of the night sick, but was able to catch up on my sleep finally getting out of bed at 10 a.m.  Doug came home at noon so that I could have the car.  I had planned on going Christmas shopping but wasn't sure if I could make it.  Thankfully, I was well enough to spend the afternoon out and about.  I even found some great gifts for the Heinisch family.  

Doug and I went to McAlister's once he got home from dinner.  Their chicken and dumpling soup was perfect for tonight's meal.  As we were talking I realized that I hadn't been sick since July of 2022.  That may have been why I was so caught off guard this time.  Either way, I was glad that today was a lot better than yesterday and I hope that soon this stomach bug will be a thing of the past.  

Dancing With The Stars

In September, Meg told me that she was watching the new season of Dancing with the Stars.  She had never really followed the show before, but she was excited about the fact that Barry Williams, aka Greg Brady, was one of the contestants.  After finishing the first two episodes, she strongly encouraged me to watch it as well.  It was perfect timing as I had just finished the newest Star Wars series, Ashkor.  

I didn't know what to expect when I started Dancing with the Stars, but I was quickly hooked.  I loved watching all of the celebrities compete, even when I didn't know who they were.  Barry Williams was my obvious favorite.  He wasn't the best dancer, but he was very likable.  Every week, I felt bad for those that were voted off of the show, but as long as Barry continued both Meg and I were happy.  

I talked about the show all of the time and soon I had Doug watching with me.  He was a big fan of the Brady Bunch, but hoped that Alyson Hannigan stayed alive as well.  I didn't agree at first as she was one of the weaker dances, but as she improved, I also started cheering for her.  Another big draw to the show for Doug was having Alfonso Ribeiro as a host.  We both had fun watching YouTube clips of his own performance on the show when he was the celebrity winner.

Soon it felt like everyone in our family was watching the show.  We turned it on at my mom's when we were there in November and Cal followed along as his girlfriend was a fan.  Brett and Cameron didn't watch the show, but they would listen when I talked about it to them weekly.  Brett even voted several times upon my suggestions as he like both Alyson and Jason Mraz.  

Last night was the three hour finale and I was glued to the television the entire time.  Sadly, Barry had been vote out several weeks ago, but both Jason and Alyson were still alive.  I was ok with Alyson winning, but knew that it was a long shot.  Even though she was a fan favorite, the other four dancers were a lot better.  Jason was hands down my pick for the "Len Goodman Mirror Ball Trophy."  After a fun night with a lot of great dances, the final vote left Jason in second place.  I was disappointed, but was extremely happy that we had all had so much fun this fall bonding over Dancing with the Stars.  

December with Jeanette

December was always Jeanette's favorite month.  It wasn't just because her birthday was today, but also because she absolutely loved Christmas.  She would decorate her house with a tree on every level and hang lights and garland inside and out.  She carved wooden Santa Clauses to add to her holiday collection and she would bake everyone's favorite Christmas cookies.  Doug told me that when he was younger, they would deliver giant homemade gingerbread men that she made to their family and friends.  Jeanette also planned a get together every year in December with her mother's family and Aunt Betty's complete with delicious food, small presents and a lot of Christmas cheer.

When Jeanette became a Grandma, she added one more tradition to the holidays.  She would set aside a day to open presents with her grandchildren.  She would enlist her daughter-in-laws help in picking out the perfect gift for each one.  Those gifts were always special.  She would add to their Thomas the Tank Engine collection, or clothes for the American Girl Dolls.  She would have fun watching her grandchildren open their new Blue's Clues toys, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Bob the Builder sets ready to use the toys with them as soon as the holiday paper was unwrapped. 

Jeanette's love of Christmas did not change once she was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  The gifts that I helped her pick out for the grandchildren did, however.  Instead of a toy, I started looking for items that were more memorable - a craft that they could make together, a game that they could play together, a book that they both loved, clothing, pillows and blankets with a beloved sports team on them -  a Chicago Bears pillow pet for Meg, Fighting Illini shorts for Cal, Mario pajamas for Cameron and countless books for Brett.  Those gifts meant the world to our children and they held on to them long after their Christmas celebrations with her ended.  

After Jeanette died nine years ago, our Christmas celebrations with Doug's family changed dramatically.  One tradition that I decided to keep alive was the gifts.  Every year, I would take the Christmas money that Carl gave Doug and spend a portion of it on our children.  I would still pick out a memory gift and we would open "Grandpa Heinisch's" gifts on Christmas Eve.  I don't think that Carl even realized that we did that, but in my heart I knew that Jeanette did.  No, our children didn't need the gifts or money that they received, but it was one more way to keep Jeanette's tradition alive.  Doug had told me that he hoped that when his mom was diagnosed with cancer that she'd live long enough for Cameron to remember her.  Thankfully, she did and from the moment of her death, I continued keeping her a part of our lives in so many ways.  The Christmas gift tradition was always at the top.

This year when I opened Carl's Christmas card, I cried.  There was just a short sentence letting us know that he had moved to DeKalb permanently.  Doug had told me earlier in the year that his dad was no longer going to give him Christmas money.  It wasn't until the moment that I saw the empty card that I realized how sad it made me feel.  It wasn't about the money or the gifts, but that it was the permanent end of our tradition with Jeanette.  

I have always been happy for Carl that he found love again and enjoys his life with Marina.  I know, however, that Jeanette's death has left a hole in our family that can never be filled.  In honor of her birthday and her love of the holidays, I will just have to come up with a different way to help keep her memory alive that doesn't involve opening gifts.  

It's a Bug's Life

When we moved, I knew that Florida animal life would be very different from Indiana.  I realized that we would encounter snakes and lizards at our home.  If we went to the springs, we would also see alligator and manatees.  I had learned from my previous visits that there would even be wild monkeys. 

What I wasn't expecting to have to deal with was all of the bugs.  When we first moved in, I noticed ants in the driveway.  I asked our realtor about a pest service, but she said that most people just take care of it on their own.  We didn't do anything at first, but after a few days of cleaning we found more bugs and bigger ones at that.  That's when we tried our realtors advice and bought traps for the inside of the house.  They helped, but didn't completely solve the problem.  One night while Doug was sleeping, a Florida carpenter ant bit him.  That's when he decided to try a heavy duty spray.  It definitely made a difference and he slept well that night.

We kept up with our routine of changing the traps once a month and applying spray as needed.  I had read that bugs were worse in Florida if there was a lot of landscaping around the house, especially with pine needle mulch.  That was exactly what we had, so I mentioned to Doug the idea of taking it all out and putting down rock.  It didn't take much convincing as what we had looked pretty bad.   We hired someone to remove the landscaping for us this summer.  The house definitely looked better without the heavy vegetation, but the ants that were hiding underneath the bushes came in our front door.  By the time we moved down here in August, there were hundreds of dead ones lying on the tile in the foyer.  It was nice to know that the Ortho spray was working, but it put me over the top.  I knew that we had to do something else.

As I was vacuuming up the ants, I remembered that the person who cleaned our dryer vent also owned a pest control service.  I dug out his business card and Doug called him right away.  We set up an appointment for a lawn treatment and house perimeter service for Labor Day weekend.  It was more expensive than we had planned, but we had to try something.  I didn't want to fight bugs for the rest of our life in Florida.  

Fast forward three months later and we couldn't believe the difference.  The amount of bugs that we saw was reduced by 90% and those that we did see were usually dead or dying.  I called our pest guy last week for another service and to add us to his quarterly schedule.  He was pleased that we were happy with his business and offered to come out today.  I was relieved that we had an answer to our problem.  Even when I found a wolf spider in our garage after he left, I didn't freak out too much.  I knew that it was just trying to get away from the spray and would die soon.  Cameron made fun of me for helping it along the way and trying to convince him that I was going to somehow die along with it.  Thankfully, I survived and our home remained bug free.

A Fun December Weekend for All

This weekend, Meg kicked off the Christmas season by going to her first office holiday party.  Nick was hosting Trent for the night, so Carson went as her plus one.  They had a great time socializing with the other staff and made great use of the dance floor.  They left a little early so that they could hang out with Nick and Trent for the rest of the night.  On Saturday, Meg and Nick continued the Christmas spirit by attending ZooLights at Lincoln Park, and Sunday visited their first ever Kris Kindle Market.  They enjoyed both very much.

Cal also made the most of the holiday season in Chicago.  He attended the Kris Kindle Market as well and had his first egg nog of the year.  He started his Christmas shopping in between watching the conference championship football games and working.  He also rented several movies and really enjoyed The French Connection.  I wasn't surprised as that was one of Doug's favorites as well.

Brett and Cameron had visitors this weekend as Grandma and Grandpa spent several days in Bloomington.  They went out to dinner, shopped at Brown County and played multiple board games.  Brett finished his Christmas shopping while they were out and Cameron beat them at Sorry.  It was fun listening to their stories, and I was very happy to hear that all of the Heinisch children had a fantastic first weekend of December.

Tikis, Cactus and Hula Santa

While I was packing to move this summer, I was also planning in my head how I wanted to organize and decorate our new home in Ocala.  It not only really helped make packing a lot easier, but really helped once we arrived in Florida.  I soon had everything unpacked and was ready to put my decorating ideas to good use.  

I had explained one of my ideas to Doug while we were still living in Syracuse, but he couldn't quite grasp what I was talking about.  My plan was to "connect" the lanai to the back patio creating an outdoor living space.  It all made sense to Doug once we made a walking path out of pavers from the back door to the patio and then added a table, grill and tiki bar to the chairs and fire pit that we already had.  It really looked nice and we all had fun using the space during Thanksgiving break.  

This Friday night, we put the patio to good use by watching the IU basketball game on the projector outside.  While we were outside, we talked about adding tiki torches to the space as well. Until today, however, I did not realize how much Doug really liked that idea.  As we headed to Lowe's, he told me that there were two things that he had always wanted - a tiki torch and a cactus.  I was completely surprised when he said that as I had never heard him talk about either one before this past month.  Happily, we were able to find both at Lowe's and soon had three burning torches around the patio along with a newly potted cactus.  Those additions along with the lighted palm tree and hula Santa that I recently found at Bealls made for the perfect finishing touches on our backyard living space.  

Best College Sports Night Ever

Tonight had to be the best college sports night that I could ever remember.  No one was named national champion, but the evening felt like a huge win for us.  First, IU basketball played Maryland at Assembly Hall.  Everyone had been down on IU this year as they had lost several key players form last year's team.  They hadn't looked the best in their first few games, but seemed to be doing a little bit better in the last two.  Thus, tonight's complete dominance of Maryland was a total shock.  I was glad that Cameron had decided to buy tickets and enjoy the win from the famous Assembly Hall balcony.

At halftime of the IU game, we turned it over to the Pac 12 conference where Washington had to beat Oregon to make it into the college football national championship foursome.  We were really hoping for a Husky win as their starting quarterback was Michael Penix, Jr.  He had led two of the best Hoosier football teams that IU had had in several years.  There was talk of him even being a finalist for the Heisman this season.  We were glad to see that Washington was controlling the first half of the football game and concentrated on IU basketball until the Hoosiers won.

We weren't surprised when we flipped it back to see Oregon come out strong in the second half.  They were the favored team.  Washington had lost their large lead, but were still hanging tough.  It was an exciting game with the lead changing multiple times.  While we were watching football, my Mom, texted the group chat - "Go Northwestern!"  Since we knew that they were playing #1 Purdue in basketball tonight, we switched it immediately to see what was going on with that game.  Northwestern actually had a one point led with under five minutes left in the game.

The rest of our night was spent flipping back and forth between football and basketball.  Both games were very exciting.  Washington held off a late run by the Ducks to become Pac 12 Champions.  Purdue tied Northwestern with a last second shot, but the Wildcats held on to win in overtime.  It was late when we went to bed, but I didn't care.  I was so incredibly happy.  It was the first time that I could ever remember three of my teams winning in a single night.