Meg met with someone tonight that gave her some great ideas that will help her in the future. She felt very good after the meeting and we had a nice conversation afterward. I am proud of Meg for trying to resolve a challenging situation.
Doug was busy with Cam tonight. They had basketball practice from 5:30 to 6:30 at Bethany. It was their last practice as Sunday is the tournament. They play at 4:20 against one of the Wawasee teams.
Brett worked on his grad school applications most of the day. I have been doing a load of laundry each day for him so that he can stay on top of the packing. He has everything organized in the basement pool table room - one pile for the garage sale, one for D.C. and one for storage. So far it is going well.
Tuesday, January 31, 2017
Monday, January 30, 2017
Already Thinking About Spring Break
I spent some time today organizing our Spring Break trip. Now that we know that Brett will be in D.C. we can finalize some of the plans that we had made earlier. We should be able to spend the first weekend with him touring the sites of the nation's capital. On Monday Doug will drop us at the Baltimore/Washington airport and Meg, Cam and I will fly to Florida. Doug will then head back to work and we will spend the week at the Boardwalk at Disney. He will fly down and join us there on Thursday of that week for a long three day weekend.
To be able to do all of this I had to change our hotel reservations in Alexandria, Virginia and add 7 day park hopper passes to our Disney reservation for Meg and Cam. Doug and I still have our annual passes to use. Meg, Cam and I talked about trying Universal Studios for a day, but decided against it. Instead they got water park and more with their tickets and we will go to Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon and Disney Quest. Doug isn't as excited about all of those, so we will go while he is not there and should also be able to play a couple of rounds of mini-golf as well.
I went over our fast pass selections with both Cam and Meg. They liked our choices. I told Cam that we would let Dad pick what we do when he's there. Cam replied, "OK, so all EPCOT, right." It's not quite that bad, but it is definitely Doug's favorite park and I know we will be there for part of each day the Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday that he is with us. They have added new food booths to the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival that will be happening when we are there. Doug was happy to here that.
We are all getting excited about our adventure and happy that we get to include visiting Brett. Cal's Spring Break is different than ours, but he said he would love to go back to D.C. in the summer if Brett is still there. Hopefully that will be the case.
To be able to do all of this I had to change our hotel reservations in Alexandria, Virginia and add 7 day park hopper passes to our Disney reservation for Meg and Cam. Doug and I still have our annual passes to use. Meg, Cam and I talked about trying Universal Studios for a day, but decided against it. Instead they got water park and more with their tickets and we will go to Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon and Disney Quest. Doug isn't as excited about all of those, so we will go while he is not there and should also be able to play a couple of rounds of mini-golf as well.
I went over our fast pass selections with both Cam and Meg. They liked our choices. I told Cam that we would let Dad pick what we do when he's there. Cam replied, "OK, so all EPCOT, right." It's not quite that bad, but it is definitely Doug's favorite park and I know we will be there for part of each day the Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday that he is with us. They have added new food booths to the EPCOT Flower & Garden Festival that will be happening when we are there. Doug was happy to here that.
We are all getting excited about our adventure and happy that we get to include visiting Brett. Cal's Spring Break is different than ours, but he said he would love to go back to D.C. in the summer if Brett is still there. Hopefully that will be the case.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Home
I love my home, but it was hard coming back today. We had had a great time in Bloomington as a family and I wasn't ready for that to end. I knew that there would be a lot of laundry to do, unpacking and then packing for Brett's move to D.C. It will be a very busy week, but I am excited for him. He will enjoy Washington and all that it has to offer. We now just need to get him there.
Saturday, January 28, 2017
State Finalist
Cam and Doug were up early and on their way to Pike high school in Indy before the rest of us were awake. Today was the individual state chess tournament and Cam was competing in the 6th grade varsity competition. The day was a long one with eleven hours of chess, but Cam had a great showing. After the first three matches he was in 6th place. The competition got harder as the day wore on and at 6:30 at night we heard that he would finish 20th earning him a place in the top 20 with special recognition at the awards ceremony. We were all proud of Cam. He has worked hard on his chess skills this winter. He also had a lot of fun as JJ, Evan and the Slabaughs were there as well. He didn't get to hangout with them as much as in previous years as they competed in the JV sections and several of his matches were over an hour, but it was great to be part of a group. He had a lot of stories to share when he returned to Bloomington.
While Doug and Cam were at chess for the day the rest of us kept ourselves occupied. Cal showed up at Parce's around 10:30. He and I caught up before we left with Meg for lunch at Noodles & Company. Brett met us there. He had gone to breakfast with a friend, but had some down time before his next "date." Lunch was a lot of fun filled with discussions of politics and Lemony Snicket. Cal headed back to the dorm after lunch and Meg, Brett and I went shopping at the different IU stores. Meg and I found some great IU wear and Brett was able to make a few purchases at the comic book store. Cal met back up with us at the union. He wanted to work out and then play basketball with his friends.
Brett left us shortly after Cal did. He had plans to meet another friend at Hartzell's for ice cream. Meg and I walked around campus and stopped at T.I.S before borrowing Cal's truck to go to the mall. We shopped at Target first looking for Brett's birthday gifts. Our next stop was Yankee Candle. Meg laughs every time we go in there as the same woman is working and she is just as crazed about the candles as I am. Once we ran everything back out to the truck we were able to walk the mall picking up a few more items for Brett's birthday. Our last shopping stop was Barnes & Noble where we found some great presents there as well.
Our plans were to eat when Parce and Doug got back, so Meg and I thought we'd better stop for a snack. Brett called as we pulled in to Chik-Fil-A. He had had a fantastic time catching up with his friend and was on his way to play pool at the Union with another one of his IU classmates. Meg grabbed some chicken tenders and I stopped at Hartzell's for ice cream. We got back to Parce's around 5:30. I had papers to grade and she had homework to do. Cal met up with us there. He had gone to Mother Bear's with his friends and was planning on hanging out with us for awhile. We all watched the Blindside until everyone arrived.
Brett was the first one back arriving around 8. He had met other friends for dinner at their house. He enjoyed it immensely and they dropped him off afterward. Parce came in about ten minutes later and had just enough time to grab a beer before Cam showed up with his trophy. Doug drove everyone to dinner at Upland Brewing Company. It was still crowded at nine, but no one seemed to mind waiting. It gave us a lot of time to catch up with Parce. Dinner was fantastic and we were back at the apartment by 10:30. Doug, Cam and Brett were the first ones out. Cal left to go find Jayce. I talked to Parce for awhile. Meg watched Glee on her phone and everyone called it a night well before midnight. It was a jammed packed day full of family, fun and friends - can't beat that!
While Doug and Cam were at chess for the day the rest of us kept ourselves occupied. Cal showed up at Parce's around 10:30. He and I caught up before we left with Meg for lunch at Noodles & Company. Brett met us there. He had gone to breakfast with a friend, but had some down time before his next "date." Lunch was a lot of fun filled with discussions of politics and Lemony Snicket. Cal headed back to the dorm after lunch and Meg, Brett and I went shopping at the different IU stores. Meg and I found some great IU wear and Brett was able to make a few purchases at the comic book store. Cal met back up with us at the union. He wanted to work out and then play basketball with his friends.
Brett left us shortly after Cal did. He had plans to meet another friend at Hartzell's for ice cream. Meg and I walked around campus and stopped at T.I.S before borrowing Cal's truck to go to the mall. We shopped at Target first looking for Brett's birthday gifts. Our next stop was Yankee Candle. Meg laughs every time we go in there as the same woman is working and she is just as crazed about the candles as I am. Once we ran everything back out to the truck we were able to walk the mall picking up a few more items for Brett's birthday. Our last shopping stop was Barnes & Noble where we found some great presents there as well.
Our plans were to eat when Parce and Doug got back, so Meg and I thought we'd better stop for a snack. Brett called as we pulled in to Chik-Fil-A. He had had a fantastic time catching up with his friend and was on his way to play pool at the Union with another one of his IU classmates. Meg grabbed some chicken tenders and I stopped at Hartzell's for ice cream. We got back to Parce's around 5:30. I had papers to grade and she had homework to do. Cal met up with us there. He had gone to Mother Bear's with his friends and was planning on hanging out with us for awhile. We all watched the Blindside until everyone arrived.
Brett was the first one back arriving around 8. He had met other friends for dinner at their house. He enjoyed it immensely and they dropped him off afterward. Parce came in about ten minutes later and had just enough time to grab a beer before Cam showed up with his trophy. Doug drove everyone to dinner at Upland Brewing Company. It was still crowded at nine, but no one seemed to mind waiting. It gave us a lot of time to catch up with Parce. Dinner was fantastic and we were back at the apartment by 10:30. Doug, Cam and Brett were the first ones out. Cal left to go find Jayce. I talked to Parce for awhile. Meg watched Glee on her phone and everyone called it a night well before midnight. It was a jammed packed day full of family, fun and friends - can't beat that!
Friday, January 27, 2017
Bloomington
Today was crazy getting everything ready before we had to leave for Bloomington. Brett had to fill out his internship agreement and application while also working on housing. Doug helped out quite a bit with the housing. I had found a group that only rents to interns and is near the Capitol which is where Brett will spend quite a bit of time. Freedom works had recommended this company as well, so we tried them first. They could give us rates for Brett for housing through May 20th. He will have roommates and the place will be fully furnished which fit his needs perfectly. By noon Brett had filled out the application for that and once I got home from school we paid the deposit by PayPal and also scanned his internship agreement to send to his new boss.
While helping Brett I was also able to finish the packing for the weekend. Meg and Cam were both home, so they helped as well and by 5:15 we were all on the road. Traffic was light for a Friday night and construction work in Martinsville was stopped for the evening. Thus, we were able to pull in to Mother Bear's at 8:45. The campus restaurant hasn't been as crowded since they opened a second location west of town, so we got right in. Everyone but Brett ordered pizza. He prefers their breadsticks. The food was good and we enjoyed the lively conversation at our table. Cal decided not to join us as Cameron Adams was in town. We told him that was no problem. Parce is in Columbus working until tomorrow night, so it was just the five of us. Glad that we got to have this time with Brett before he heads out next weekend.
While helping Brett I was also able to finish the packing for the weekend. Meg and Cam were both home, so they helped as well and by 5:15 we were all on the road. Traffic was light for a Friday night and construction work in Martinsville was stopped for the evening. Thus, we were able to pull in to Mother Bear's at 8:45. The campus restaurant hasn't been as crowded since they opened a second location west of town, so we got right in. Everyone but Brett ordered pizza. He prefers their breadsticks. The food was good and we enjoyed the lively conversation at our table. Cal decided not to join us as Cameron Adams was in town. We told him that was no problem. Parce is in Columbus working until tomorrow night, so it was just the five of us. Glad that we got to have this time with Brett before he heads out next weekend.
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Success!
I talked to Brett on my way to pick up Cameron today after school to catch up on his progress with grad school applications and to see if he had gotten any responses from prospective employers. At 3:15 he let me know that he had finished his MBA applications for both IU and Purdue and was finishing up the ones for Purdue's economics master's and public relations at the school of SPEA at IU. At that point he hadn't heard any news from the resumes he had sent out for employment. I know he had been feeling pretty down about the lack of responses he had been getting and the first interviews that he had had that had not turn in to much more.
All that changed when I called him back at 3:30 to remind him that someone needed to take Meg to the dentist as I was taking Cam to oboe. He asked me if I had read his text. I didn't even realize he had sent one since I had just talked to him. That's when he blurted out the best news we could have gotten - he got the internship in D.C. with Freedomworks that he had really been wanting and could start as soon as he could secure housing and move to D.C. He will be working with their director of public policy and legislative affairs. They will pay him hourly and give him a stipend for a metro card for transportation.
We were all ecstatic for him. He has worked very hard in his search for employment and this will put him in D.C. until at least May. I had spent some time last weekend looking for housing for interns and Doug will follow up on that tomorrow. Brett spent the rest of the night as happy as could be. We are very proud of what he has accomplished so far and already have plans to visit him in March.
All that changed when I called him back at 3:30 to remind him that someone needed to take Meg to the dentist as I was taking Cam to oboe. He asked me if I had read his text. I didn't even realize he had sent one since I had just talked to him. That's when he blurted out the best news we could have gotten - he got the internship in D.C. with Freedomworks that he had really been wanting and could start as soon as he could secure housing and move to D.C. He will be working with their director of public policy and legislative affairs. They will pay him hourly and give him a stipend for a metro card for transportation.
We were all ecstatic for him. He has worked very hard in his search for employment and this will put him in D.C. until at least May. I had spent some time last weekend looking for housing for interns and Doug will follow up on that tomorrow. Brett spent the rest of the night as happy as could be. We are very proud of what he has accomplished so far and already have plans to visit him in March.
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Grading & More Grading
I spent a good portion of my evening grading papers and filling out data reports that I started at our last Smart Start. The nice part was that I could do this and still watch Cam play tennis while catching up with Meg. I got the majority of the data and grading done there as the racquet club has wifi for members. After tennis Brett, Cam and I met Grandpa and Grandma at the bowling alley for trivia night. I was able to finish the rest of my grading there.
Although I had a lot of success catching up with schoolwork, we did not have as much with our trivia answers. In fact for the first time since we have been going we actually finished dead last. It seemed like we just kept talking each other out of the correct answers. It was fun, however, and I am sure we will be back next week.
Although I had a lot of success catching up with schoolwork, we did not have as much with our trivia answers. In fact for the first time since we have been going we actually finished dead last. It seemed like we just kept talking each other out of the correct answers. It was fun, however, and I am sure we will be back next week.
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