New Year's Eve

We left this morning for South Bend.  We had decided to take a break from cleaning and painting to eat lunch at Portillo's and to do some shopping.  The food was just as good as it was two weeks ago when Cal, Brett and I went.  Brett changed his hot dog order to a hamburger and I tried the chocolate candy cane shake.  

After lunch we stopped at Target for groceries and then headed to the mall.  I bought calendars first for Meg, Cam and I as they were all 50% off.  Meg did some shopping on her own.  Doug used a $20 gift certificate at Jos. A Banks to buy a new shirt.  Cam and I toured the mall and then met Brett at the Disney Store.  He had been eyeing a Jack Skellington jacket.  It originally started at $99 and by today it was down to $39.99.  It was too good of a deal to pass it up.  I did make a stop at Yankee Candle although I won't be urging as many candles.  The reason we had to repaint the bathroom was the soot stain from the one I had in there.  I promised Doug I would stop burning one in there since he got it painted.  Our last stop of the day was Barnes & Noble.  Cam used his gift card to buy a mystery/thriller written by one of his new favorite authors.

The rest of our New Year's Eve was a typical Heinisch family one.  Meg had Gabby and Preston over for the celebration.  Cameron spent the night at Breece's for his annual New Year's Eve gathering (which he sent invitations out for in August).  Cal left for Chicago this afternoon with Riley and Jayce to hang out with their roommates from IU.  Brett, Doug and I called my parents to come up for appetizers and cards.  My Mom destroyed us at Oh Hell and I won Racko.  In between all of the game playing we made time to watch WKRP and The Twilight Zone.  It was a fun night for all and I felt blessed when the ball dropped at midnight that we had all had a wonderful 2018 and had quite a bit to look forward to in 2019.  

Painting & Cleaning

For the last several years Doug had chosen a project to complete over New Year's Eve weekend.  This year he threw out several ideas, but finally settled on painting the small bathroom on the main level and cleaning out the storage room.  It was an exhausting day for both of us, but I was impressed with how much we got done.  The yellow bathroom had been updated to "banana bread", all of the Christmas had been taken down and everything in the storage room had been stacked and ready to be organized.  I was amazed at how many boxes of Sports Illustrated magazines that Doug really had stored under the stairs in the basement.  He pulled them out and was committed to getting rid of them.  I was surprised by that as well.  Meg also joined in on the day of cleaning.  She took down all of her Christmas and organized her desk.  It was nice having her home for the day.  

Even with the amount of cleaning we did, we still had time to play Ticket to Ride.  That game has been a lot of fun.  We also have been enjoying Cam's Connect Four Shots.  We haven't tried out Brett's Villianous game yet, but plan to soon.  The only dud so far of the Christmas gifts has been the chameleon robot.  The pieces just don't seem to fit together.  We may give up and return it, but Doug said he'd give it one more try first.

Cal spent the afternoon in Fort Wayne with Hannah-Marie.  After all of our talk about "mules" from yesterday's movie, Cal called us to report  that he wouldn't be following Clint Eastwood's career path as  he got his second speeding ticket for driving 70 in a 55.  He was disappointed at first, but realized that it wasn't as much as he thought it would be.  He definitely didn't want to drive after that.

Doug tried a loaded tater tot recipe tonight that was wonderful and also made a new family favorite - pepperoni pinwheels.  Those two along with red lobster biscuits made for a delicious dinner.  Cal left before it was done to watch the Bears game with his friends. We made sure to leave him some of each for lunch tomorrow.  Thankfully, Chicago won, so he wasn't too disappointed about missing the food.  

Purdue & The Mule

Cam left this morning for West LaFayette.  The Browers had invited him to a Purdue game with them and they wanted to spend the day on campus first.  Cam was excited to go even though he was not much of a Purdue fan.  He did know the majority of the players on their roster since he had been following Big Ten basketball extensively this past month.

While Cam was out for the day, Mom, Dad, Doug, Cal, Brett and I all went to see The Mule.  We had been wanting to see it as it was directed by Clint Eastwood, but couldn't come up with a time or date that worked for everyone.  The movie was surprisingly packed for a noon showing, but we found seats together without any problem.  The major story surrounded Clint Eastwood's character as a ninety year old, down on his luck horticulturist.  He became a drug runner for the Cartel earning money for his family and renewing his relationship with them along the way.  Bradley Cooper had a supporting role as well which Doug and I were both happy to see.  All of us walked out of the movie impressed with it and happy that we got to see it on the big screen.

While we were at the movie Meg came home after practice and worked on organizing her room.  She also filled out her application for Camp Crosley.  She was asked by one of her LIT leaders to apply to be a camp counselor.  She wouldn't be able to work there the entire summer, but would be available for five weeks.  It would be a great first job experience for her.  She left at 5 to go to dinner with Kaitlin and spend the night there.

Tonight we watched the football college playoffs starting with Notre Dame vs. Clemson.  It wasn't much of a game and in the end the Heinisch family was glad to see the Fighting Irish get knocked off of their media pedestal.  Cal called my parents after it was over to see if they wanted to come up and play Tripoly.   The six of us enjoyed this family favorite game and finished in time for Cal to watch Alabama win over Oklahoma setting up the championship game on the 8th.  Cam arrived home before it was over and filled us in on his exciting day.  He was disappointed that Bellmont did not win, but was happy for a close game and a day with Evan.

Visiting Friends

This morning I left with Paula, Mary, Wendy and Betsy on what Meg named a "Mom" trip.  Our destination was Fountain City, Indiana to visit Debbi.  I had not seen her since May and missed our daily talks from when I taught with her.  Paula and Betsy had stopped by her home in the early fall, but no one had made a day of it yet.  I was happy to be invited to go with my former colleagues.

The trip down was a rough one filled with quick turns and a lot of hills.  I was thankful for a seat in the front.  Fortunately, the last half was all interstate and we made it in one piece.  Debbi suggested "Little Sheba's" for lunch and we were happy to see her as soon as we pulled into the parking lot.  There were a lot of hugs to be shared and for Debbi, several tears.  We all enjoyed catching up as none of us had spent much time together this fall.  We took pictures and chronicled our day for Meg.  She was "worried" about us being "safe"!!  The service was slow, but no one minded as there was plenty to talk about.  The sandwiches were just as good as promised and by 3 p.m. we were out the door and on our way to Debbi's new house.

We drove through Richmond on our way to her new home.  It was situated on a farm near her parents close to the highest spot in Indiana and the Ohio line.  She and Joshua gave us a tour of their home.  It was nice to see all of her plans come to life.  Afterward we spent several more hours catching up and no one seemed to want to suggest leaving.  Paula finally said that we'd better start back.  It was close to a three hour drive home and several of the women had family trips to take in the morning.  It was sad saying goodbye, but on the way home we saw several towns that would make great halfway points for our next get together.

Paula dropped me off close to 9 p.m.  I was happy to hear that Cam and Brett had enjoyed their day together, eating Taco Bell for lunch, watching Halloween 3 and going bowling.  Cal joined in their fun playing pool and hanging out with them until his friends arrived.  Doug made everyone dinner.  Meg spent the afternoon shopping with Nick once basketball practice was over.  She appreciated my picture updates and was glad that we made it home safely.  Doug agreed to take a walk with me.  I had sat far longer than normal and was still in need of 3000 steps.  I was thankful that he was willing to go with me.  It felt great to stretch my legs and to tell him all about my day!

End to Our Season Tickets

For the past three or four years we have purchased season tickets to Amish Acres.  We have enjoyed the shows during that period of time, but I noticed this year that everyone seemed less and less interested in going.  I personally thought the shows were weaker as well.  Because of that and the fact that Meg would not be here next year to go with us, we decided to end our season ticket subscription. 

Thus, today's performance of Annie was our last one for awhile and unfortunately, it wasn't anyone's favorite.  Cameron flat out hated it and I struggled to stay interested.  Brett and my parents thought it was ok.  Meg liked it the best, but the fact that the people behind us were extremely loud lessened her overall enjoyment of the musical.  I actually thought about turning around and asking them to be quiet.  I'm not sure that I have ever done that before.  In the end I figured that it was our last show for awhile, so might as well just make the best of it.  At least I won't feel guilty when I get a reminder email to resubscribe.  We have all agreed that we're ready for a break from The Round Barn.  

Clean Up Time

It was a quiet day here.  Doug was up at 4:30 a.m for the yearly inventory.  Cal, Brett and I all made time to exercise.  I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and doing laundry.  Cam and Meg played WiiU before she left to go shopping with Nick.  Cam and Brett then took turns on the PS 4.  When Brett wasn't playing his game or reading, he helped me move Cameron's old television to the bedroom downstairs.  We set the SNES up on it, so they could all play Bomberman.  Cam helped at BINGO today at the nursing home while Brett and I walked.  I finally finished cleaning just as Doug called at five to say he was done for the day.

Tonight Cam, Brett, Doug and I all went to Sleepy Owl for half price pizza night.  It was delicious and we enjoyed visiting with them.  Afterward the four of us played Cam's new game, "A Ticket to Ride."  I had bought it for him as I had read positive reviews on it.  It was just as fun as I had read and once again Cameron was victorious.  He has been on an awesome winning streak lately.

Merry Christmas

Today was a wonderful Christmas in the Heinisch Home.  Everyone voted to open gifts at 10 a.m., which was later than normal, but appreciated by those who wanted to get breakfast started or time to sleep in.  We started with the stockings which were filled with Olympia chocolates, wireless headphones and Buffalo Wild Wings sauce.  After the stockings were emptied, Meg and Cam began to pass out gifts.  There were a lot of awesome presents under the tree this year including a Mack jersey for Cal, Spyro for Brett, an iPhone 8 for Meg and a Sweden soccer jersey for Cam.  Doug appreciated his wine basket and I loved my new bird feeder.

       



After opening presents we all had time to set up some of our new items.  Cam had a new television for his room.  He also spent time changing in and out of his IU jerseys, Sweden jersey and Rutgers shirt.  Meg set up her new mirror/jewelry armoire and Cal tried out several of his food items while wearing his new Bears' jersey.  Brett had to download his games, so he read for awhile.  He wanted to finish an old book so that he could start on his new ones.

My parents arrived at 2 for another round of present opening.  The Heinisch children appreciated all that they received and each eventually found their $50 hidden in their stuffed animals.  Doug's ham dinner finished just as we completed gift giving.  Everything was delicious especially the corn and green bean casserole and mashed potatoes and noodles.  While Mom and I cleaned up, the guys played pool in the basement.  Desserts were next on the agenda.  Doug made English Trifle, which was delicious, along with cookies, brownies and carrot cake.

Hannah-Marie and Nick came over later in the evening and the rest of the night was spent playing games.  Meg picked Five Second Rule and Scattegories Categories first.  Cal wanted Clue which led to a Cameron victory.  Hearts and Sequence were played along with Cameron's new "Connect Four Shots" game.  The night ended with "Oh Hell".  Cam sat in for Doug when he called it a night in order to get up early for inventory tomorrow.  Once again Cameron was victorious adding to his list of victories for the holiday weekend.  The house quieted for the night at eleven with everyone happy with their Christmas Day.