I'm Home

For the first time in a long time, I never left my home yesterday except once to check the mail.  I had planned on going to the recycling center and to Lowe's but just didn't feel up to it.  Neither Doug nor I had felt well for the past few days, and I finally decided that the best thing that I could do was rest.  We both had been sick with cold like symptoms in December, so I was surprised to feel this way again so soon.  At first, we thought that maybe we had caught what Cameron had over break, but then we heard that Cora's dad was also sick, so it made more sense that we had picked up something from the Peach Bowl.  It really didn't matter to us how we got sick, but more importantly that we each felt better soon.  

I used my down time to binge watch The Pitt.  I couldn't believe how good it was and struggled to turn it off even when I found out there were new episodes of Chicago Med, Fire and PD on tonight.  I also had plenty of time to work on our 2025 HSA medical receipts as I had quite a few to organize and turn in for reimbursement.  This was our first time having a Health Savings Account and I will know better how to keep records for next year.  The good news was that we would be getting back $250 for everything that I turned into today.  

Although, I still didn't feel great at the end of the day, I did enjoy my "house a rest."  Having time to talk to my friend Jim, read, relax and watch Jeopardy were all a nice break from how busy our past few weeks had been.  Hopefully, I will feel better tomorrow so that I can go to Lunch Bunch.  I am sure that I will also sneak in a few episodes of The Pitt as well.  That has definitely made feeling under the weather a lot more fun.

She's Home

 After two weeks in the nursing home, my mom was sent home yesterday.  Once the insurance found out that she could walk sixty steps with her walker that was all they needed to release her.  My parents and my Aunt Vicky were completely shocked, but in the end, my mom was glad to be in her own home with her seventy-five-inch television in front of her.  It took my parents some time to get her from the car, up the walk and into the living room, but they made it without incidence.  

Today, my mom had an electronic chair delivered that would help her get up from a sitting position and would also allow her to sleep without having to go upstairs.  Home health and physical therapy should start soon, and Aunt Vicky made arrangements to stay with them for a few days.  I know that it will take some time, but hopefully by the time my dad finishes with radiation, my mom will be able to move around the main level of the house easily.  

The Golden Globes

After a weekend of football, Doug and I decided to watch the Golden Globes last night.  We hadn't seen all of the movies or television programs that were up for awards, but Doug really liked One Battle After Another and we had just watched Marty Supreme, so we knew enough to stay interested.  We had also heard of many of the films and programs from Cal and Cameron, so that helped as well.  The one person that we had never heard of was the host, Nikki Glaser.  She was funny, however, so we didn't mind and I felt a lot better when Cal told me that he had never heard of her until last year's Globes either. There were a lot of celebrities in the crowds including many from our generation, Julia Roberts, Sean Penn and George Clooney just to name a few.  None of them won, but their attendance also made the show more relevant to us.  

In the end, I enjoyed the program a lot more than I thought that I would, so today I searched for a podcast about the Golden Globes on Spotify.  I found one hosted by two people that I knew from the Rewatchables and I enjoyed listening to their takes on last night's ceremony.  After it was over, I realized that the best part about watching the Golden Globes and listening to the podcast was that it helped to keep me involved in current culture.  It gave me something to talk to my own children about that they are interested in as well.  As I am aging, I know that I cannot physically keep up with them, but if I can keep up with their interests that will go a long way to helping us maintain a great relationship.  

How About Pitching In for a Change

I was very tired yesterday when we got home but still enjoyed having Nick and Meg stop by on their way back from Atlanta and even made it up for Cal's late night phone call after the Bears won their first playoff game in fifteen years in exciting fashion.  Unfortunately, I did not sleep as well as I wanted to last night, and I woke up absolutely exhausted.  I don't know if that was a factor or a couple of things that happened over the weekend with Doug's family, but this morning I was extremely frustrated with several of their recent behaviors. Today, I spent quite a bit of time reflecting and trying to figure out what exactly was bothering me.  In the end, I think I came up with what I was mad about and finally naming it made me feel a lot better.

When Doug first developed health issues several years ago, I felt that there were a couple of people in his family that could have helped him and didn't.  I thought one was helping at first but soon realized that was I wrong.  I was surprised by their lack of support and empathy, but I guess that I probably shouldn't have been.  Doug and I had always been independent and had solved our problems on our own.  We both had grown up that way, and I always thought that it was our choice to be independent.  I have come to understand now exactly why Doug has always done everything for himself.  He had to.  

Even when Doug's tremors first began, he tried to take care of the problem on his own or with my help.  When I finally encouraged him to ask for outside help from those closest to him with the resources to help, he was rejected.  I was surprised and hurt by that then but had completely gotten over it until this past month as those two same family members have come to Doug for help even though they know that he doesn't have to ability to do so anymore.  They both made this weekend about themselves and their needs totally disregarding anything that Doug had going on in his life good or bad.  

The best part was that Doug didn't drop everything to help them out as he would have years ago.  Circumstances had changed and the reality was that he actually couldn't help them.  As hard as I am sure that is for him, I was glad that he finally put his health needs above others' trivial issues.  He deserves to put himself first.  He's done enough over the years.  It is time for a break.

Still in Disbelief

Even though I went to bed before 2 p.m. last night, I was still up and ready to go when Cameron and Cora called to say they were on their way to the lobby to meet her parents for the drive home.  I was glad that Doug and I got to see them before we left and that we had an easy drive through Georgia stopping once for gas and another time for Arby's.  Since it was such a beautiful afternoon, we decided to also stop at Swamp Head in Gainesville before finishing the drive.  While we were there talking about our night, a Florida grad stop to congratulate us on IU's win and talk about the amazing transformation of the IU football team.  

On our way home, I thought a lot about the Hoosiers.  IU football had been an important part of my life since 1987 when I arrived on campus my freshmen year.  My cousin, Krystal, and I went to every home game and were there when they tore down the goal posts after beating Michigan that fall.  At the time, we didn't realize that a winning season and going to bowl games were an anomaly for the Hoosiers.  After 1990, there wasn't a lot to cheer about, but Doug and I still remained loyal going to at least one game every year after we graduated and even having season tickets for several years when Brett, Cal and Meg were in Bloomington making for some wonderful Heinisch family memories.  

The love that we had for the team only grew when Cameron became their number one fan during high school.  He knew every player on the team and completely adopted Tom Allen's philosophy LEO.  We went to more games than I could count and even sat in the stands putting up with inclement weather to watch them play Ohio State never giving up on them even when the football players had obviously quit on themselves.  Sometime during the fall of Cameron's freshmen year in college, when it was apparent that IU football would be parting ways with their coach, he asked me if I would rather have the Hoosiers win another national championship in basketball or one in football.  I didn't hesitate when I said, football.  Even though it had been over 35 years since they won their last championship, I had already seen basketball rise to the top.  I thought that it would be a lot better story and more fun to watch if it was football playing in the national championship game.  At the time, I never even dreamed it would be possible.  Now, next week, they have a real shot at going 16-0, erasing the past and making history as the biggest turn around by a sports team ever.  I still can't believe it.

The Rose Bowl

What a day!  It was crazy, exciting, stressful and most of all amazing.  Atlanta was definitely not ready for all of the Hoosiers in town which made navigating the area, checking into our hotel, and finding a spot for lunch challenging, but in the end that didn't really matter.  Cameron found us a wonderful Italian restaurant for our noon day meal and an awesome front desk clerk helped us get into our room early.  From there the rest of the day was absolutely unbelievable.  

Cameron and Cora spent the morning and early afternoon with us touring Centennial Park before heading to the Fan Fest at the convention center next to the Mercedes Benz Stadium where the Peach Bowl would be to play.  Thankfully, everything was walkable, so we didn't have to worry about driving or taking an Uber anywhere.  Meg and Nick arrived just as we were checking into our room which worked out perfectly as they were able to go with us to the Fan Fest after a short rest at the hotel.  The walk over as crazy.  We passed the IU sponsored ticketed event, which was packed with fans, John Mellencamp songs and "Hoo, Hoo, Hoo, Hoosier" chants everywhere making downtown Atlanta feel a lot more like Kirkwood Avenue in Bloomington.

As packed as the streets were on our walk over to the Fan Fest, it was nothing compared to the convention center.  There was so much to see and do including games, food booths and a lot of football fans.  After meeting up with Cameron, touring the area and getting something to drink, Doug, Meg, Nick, Cameron and I headed to the stadium.  We were definitely early, but that gave us a chance to see the football team arrive by bus and navigate the entry points.

We parted ways with Cameron once we got into the stadium.  He was seated in the front row with the other directors from SAB while we were in the tier right above him.  I was extremely pleased with our seats.  We could see very well and had the Jumbo Tron above us to catch the action in the other endzone.  We spent the eighty minutes before kickoff talking about the game, watching the warm-ups, trying out the snacks (Nick's favorite part) and enjoying the Chick-Fil-A cow mascots.  It was amazing to watch the crowd file in as we estimated the percentage of Hoosiers in attendance to be well above 80%.  The cheers and the enthusiasm grew as game time drew near and exploded once the team ran out of their football helmet.  

I know that we all really thought they IU would win tonight, but there were still moments of nervousness throughout the day.  I was definitely worried when Oregon took the field as the hype around their defense and their quarterback who many felt would be the number one pick in the draft over Mendoza was everywhere.  I told myself that we were playing extremely well and had already beat the Ducks once, but the media was getting to me, and I was losing starting to lose confidence.

In the end, I had nothing to worry about.  On the first play of the game, Oregon threw a pick six and from there the Hoosiers dominated the game.  My fears of a tense, down to the wire game like last nights were gone and we all had an awesome time watching the Hoosiers do what they do best - win.  Without the stress of a tight game, we instead made enjoying the game a priority.  During the next few hours, we listened to Nick rank his favorite snacks, watched Cameron do the Chicken Dance on the Jumbo Tron, joined the crowd singing IU's fight song and waited with over 50,000 other fans for the trophy presentation.  The only downside to the evening was walking to our hotel in a downpour.  

Although the Peach Bowl was a lot for Doug and I to manage, we were both so incredibly glad that we went.  It was an experience that neither one of us will ever forget.  I thanked Cameron, Nick and Meg multiple times when we got back to the hotel for helping us make this journey.  Neither one of us plan on going to the National Championship game in Miami next week.  Instead, we will just enjoy it on our television and hope that we get to see Cameron on national TV just like all of our friends and family did tonight.  

Road Trip

Cameron, Cora and I had a nice day here at home before we left for Atlanta tonight.  While I was packing and running errands, they had time for a run.  We then ate lunch at the new Tropical Smoothie near us and played multiple rounds of ping pong before Cameron and Cora had a rematch at backyard golf.   We finished our dinner from the Publix deli just as Doug pulled in the driveway from work.  By 6:15, the four of us were on the road with McDonough, Georgia as our destination.  

The trip through Northern Florida and Southern Georgia was dark, but very light on traffic.  We kept ourselves entertained by watching the Miami vs Ole Miss Fiesta Bowl game.  It was extremely close throughout and we actually thought we were going to be able to see the two teams in overtime when we reached our hotel. That changed quickly when a terrible play on defense by the Rebels let the Hurricane's quarterback walk right into the end zone giving them a four-point win.  Although we were all hoping for an Ole Miss victory, it was a great game and put us all in the mood for the Peach Bowl tomorrow.