Nick Makes it to Florida

Nick arrived late Tuesday night happy to have passed his check ride and finish his training in Dallas. He was also thrilled to finally see his new home in Florida. Meg had worked hard to get their apartment ready and was anxious to show it to him as well as the Baldwin Park area.  Meg and Nick were also excited to be able to get their new driver's license so they could be official Florida resident Disney World annual passholders.

I know that it will take some time for Meg and Nick to get adjusted to a new area and find their bearings. It will also take them some time to adjust to the Florida heat.  In the end I know that they will love the change from life in Chicago. Moving can be overwhelming, but it can also be exciting as it is a chance to start fresh. I definitely cannot wait to hear about all of their adventures in their new home state.

Visiting Northern Indiana

Since Cameron couldn't come down after he finished the semester, he decided he would go back to Northern Indiana, visit grandma and grandpa and see a couple of his friends from Goshen. He left on Sunday afternoon with the hope of making it to Syracuse in time for Mother’s Day dinner. He did make it in time, but not without a little bit of a hiccup. As soon as he got to I-465 in Indianapolis, his check engine light, tire light, and TPS light came on in the van. He called and asked me what I thought he should do. I suggested driving through the city instead of staying on the busy interstate. That way if there was a car problem, he could quickly get to a gas station. Cameron tried my route and thankfully, made it without any issue and enjoyed a nice evening with grandma and grandpa. Today, we found out that our worries about the van dying were all for nothing. One of the sensors had gone out on the tire lights, and it was causing the dashboard to light up. That was welcome news to all of us since we weren’t quite ready to let go of the 2012 Honda Odyssey. Now that it had crossed 230,000 miles, we were hoping that it could make it to 240,000.

Besides visiting grandma and grandpa, going out to dinner, and playing a lot of buck Euchre, Cameron was also able to play golf multiple times with Keagan, watch Bethany‘s match against Wawasee at Maxwelton, and hang out with Tristen who had just finished his freshman year at Goshen College. Cameron was extremely happy with his trip, and I was glad that he took the time to go before he left for Greece. Hopefully, he can return to sometime in June for another visit, but if not, he should have even more time in July. Since I know that he strongly prefers living in Bloomington to anywhere else in the world right now, I was happy that his visit went well and then he still enjoys many of the fun things that he did while growing up in Northern Indiana.

Charlie McCarthy

Growing up, my brother really wanted to be a ventriloquist. One year he asked for a Charlie McCarthy puppet for Christmas. I had seen the puppets in the JCPenney catalog, but I definitely didn’t feel the same way that he did about them. They never made any of my wish lists as I always thought they were a little bit creepy.

As I got older, I started watching scary movies and soon realized that I was not alone in my opinion that puppets were frightening. Even television shows, like Goosebumps, and the Twilight Zone featured puppets that were villains. I was glad to see that other people agreed with me and wasn’t surprised to find out that no one in my family liked puppets either.

Recently, my mom asked my children if any of them would like my brother's Charlie McCarthy puppet. Each one of them quickly said no as had Doug and I years ago. After deciding that no one wanted to keep him, we all started to brainstorm about what to do with Charlie. We talked about selling him at this summer‘s garage sale, but we honestly didn’t know if anyone would purchase him. I suggested throwing him away, but then Doug reminded me what happened to Tele Savalas' character in "Talking Tina" when he threw that doll away. I didn’t want a repeat of that Twilight Zone episode, so instead I suggested eBay. There were several other Charlie McCarthy dolls listed online. Maybe there was a market for my brothers as well.

After giving all of our ideas to my mom, she said that she should have just buried it with Bunk years ago. That made me realize that we should actually cremate Charlie McCarthy this summer, have a small service and spread his ashes at the cemetery. I told Cameron, Cal, Meg, Brett and Doug about it and they were all on board right away. My mom said it was a good idea but thought that she would just bury him there instead. I squashed that idea right away as I knew Charlie would come back to life and kill us all if we did that to him just like in the movies. No matter what happens it has been a lot of fun to think about as we downsize some of my childhood memories.

Mother's Day

Doug and I had decided to go to mass yesterday, so we could spend today enjoying Mother's Day.  Unfortunately, the weather had different plans for us.  We had gotten a really bad storm yesterday and another one was rolling through this morning cancelling our plans to go to Gainesville.  Even with the changes and the lingering discussion from last night, we still had a nice time together and I enjoyed my Mother's Day celebration very much.

The three of us decided that lunch would be first on our agenda.  Meg had not been to Cheddar's in a long time, so we tried there first.  The line was out the door, so we thought it was best not to wait.  After discussing several more options, I finally picked Milano's.  Meg had never been there, and I had enjoyed it the past few times that I had gone for Christmas parties.  Doug was a little bit skeptical as he remembered the Italian restaurant differently than I did.  We gave it a try anyway and were incredibly glad that we did.  

Since Milano's wasn't set to open until noon and it had started to pour, there wasn't much of a line to get in at 11:45 a.m.  Meg kept laughing that we were "rope dropping" an old person's restaurant for lunch.  It did work as we were quickly seated after they accommodated those with reservations first and were very pleased with the service, the food and the atmosphere.  Each one of us had a traditional pasta meal with my spaghetti and meatballs being just as delicious as the last time that I tried it, and we all had plenty of leftovers for dinner tonight.

Next on our list was a long walk at Shalom Park.  The weather was perfect for it and the sun started shining as soon as we arrived.  It was a fantastic afternoon which we finished by shopping at Heathbrook Square.  Once we got back home, I opened my gift from Cameron, REM's Life Rich Pageant, one of my favorite albums.  Brett's gift was set to arrive tomorrow, Meg had a birthstone bracelet that she was making for me and Cal had sent me a beautiful bouquet of tulips to enjoy this week. Those gifts along with the wonderful day that we had plus the new stone dishes that Doug gave me last week, made for one of the nicest Mother's days that I could remember.  

Unsolicited Opinions

Meg came out today and invited Phil over to visit for a little bit as she hadn't seen him since Christmas.  While everyone was talking, he told us that he supported Bill Belichick dating a 24-year-old. I stopped when he said it and asked if he thought about what he was saying. He went on to talk about money and looks and why people her age would date someone their grandfather’s age. I repeatedly stopped him and asked him to rethink his opinion, but he didn’t, and I ended up extremely mad. I wasn't upset about the age difference or the money, but about normalizing something that’s absolutely disgusting. I also didn't like having my opinion dismissed. I think that’s what bothered me most.

For years, I have had to listen to men talk about women. They judge their looks, comment on the weight, and point out their flaws. Even men that I have respected in my life, put these views out for others to hear like it was gospel. After 56 years, I have absolutely grown tired of it. I do not judge people on their looks and do not believe that others should either. I will never understand why a person would throw away their relationship with their family to date someone that could be their grandchild. Most importantly, however, I hate it when people believe that they can spot off their opinion but tell me that I am wrong for expressing mine.  Everyone has the right to make their own decisions, but no one is free of the consequences of making those decision.

Obviously, there was more going on inside of me than Bill Belichick's love life.  After a long time of being told to just to let other people talk and not take their opinion personally, I have grown tired of it all.  I have never understood why I had to be quiet if someone had a disgusting opinion that I did not agree with.  Why can’t I just say that? Why do they get to drone on about something completely offensive to me and I just have to smile and listen. That is how young women dating a 74-year-old becomes normalized in the first place. Thankfully, Doug has never said anything degrading about women.  I wish everyone would follow his example.  It would make the world a better place.  

What a Difference It has Made

A couple of months ago I started getting calls from tax collectors. At first, I just hung up and assumed that it was random spam. One caught me off guard, however, when they asked for Doug. Our phone numbers have never been the same and there wasn’t really a reason for them to ask specifically for Doug, so I questioned why they were calling me. They said that they understood that he was the CFO at Winco and that there had been a lien placed against the business for tax reasons. As a registered agent, Doug was listed as the contact. I listened to what the man had to say, before I explained that I was not involved with Winco at all and asked him to take me off of their call list.

Unfortunately, the calls did not stop. I still do not know how they got my phone number as no one was calling Doug, but in addition to mine, they also got Cameron and Brett’s. The phone calls along with the monthly letters from the state of South Dakota to Champion Manufacturing that I had to keep "returning to sender," I decided this week that I had finally had enough. I asked Doug to please call his former boss and tell them what was going on with the phone calls and I would call the state of South Dakota. I am not sure that he was able to make any progress with his phone call, but I did with mine. I explained that we were not part of Champion, but that I did have an address and a phone number if they would like to call who I thought was. I did not give out any personal information or say anything that I did not find out publicly, but it felt good to let someone know that we were no longer part of the drama of that company.

After I hung up, I realized that Doug may have to drive longer to work now, but the stress is so much less that neither one of us care at all. We have worked around it, and now that Meg lives close to Longwood, it gives us a great reason to visit her once a week. It is hard to believe sometimes that Doug has been with his new company for six months, but what a difference it has made.

Sophomore Year Comes to an End

Last night, Cameron took the last final of his sophomore year.  Although the class had been a relatively easy one, he still spent the last few days studying.  He texted as soon as it was over to let me know that all had gone well and that he was sure that he would end the semester with all A's, thus maintaining his 4.0 grade point average.

Doug and I were both very glad to hear that he had finished the year on a high note. Cameron had worked hard on his grades, and we weren't surprised to find out that he was celebrating on the golf course.  His sophomore year had not only been successful in the classroom but outside of it as well.  He had secured a highly sought after internship for his junior year, had worked as a teaching assistant and had been chosen to be a director of Student Athletic Board all while starting a new relationship with Cora and living on his own in his first apartment.  This summer should be a relaxing one filled with his study abroad trip to Greece, multiple of rounds of golf, trips to Florida, an SAB conference and starting his internship in the IU Athletics marking department.  We are excited to spend some of that time with him and to hear all about his new adventures.