The trip to Chicago started off well enough. We didn’t leave until after noon because Alex and Missy both had eye doctor appointments (Missy for the first time, since she had for the first time not done well enough on one at school, but the actual doctor found her vision to be just fine, so no glasses for her) and we needed to do some quick shopping at Wal-Mart. Anyway, we hit the road early afternoon, and since the air in the tires had been a bit low for a while I stopped just before getting on the toll road to top them off. Aaaaaaaand when I took the nozzle off the rear driver’s side tire, the valve stem blew out. Leading to rapid deflation. I was able to get the cap back on to slow it down long enough to move the van to a flat surface but it was flat flat within moments after that. Now I had never actually read the user’s manual for the van so I didn’t know how to even get the spare out, let alone whether there was any air in it. But I read my way through getting the tire down from its storage cubby and changing it out, and it had enough air to get back over to the air nozzles and press it back up to where I could drive on it. Then we asked my phone where the nearest Discount Tire was and headed there. Discount Tire was, for some reason, crazy busy and very shorthanded. So, it was a 3-hour wait to get the tire fixed and put back on. But while we were waiting, we did find a Great Clips next door and get haircuts for Alex and me, and there was a restaurant called Dickey’s BBQ Pit in the same strip mall, which turned out to be fantastic. We think of that as the reason why the tire blew there, so we could get some awesome BBQ. We got moving again around 6 or so and just headed to the motel, which was out near O’Hare. Friday we spent pretty much all day at the Field Museum. They have a big Jurassic World exhibition going on, which is basically just a bunch of animatronic dinosaurs with a Jurassic World-like theme to the exhibit (as you walk through, one of the “dinosaurs” get loose, yada yada). There is also a large exhibition of specimens, and the science of specimens, which was much more interesting than it sounds. Then the hall of animals, and gems and jewels, and we were about done by then. For dinner we met up with Auntie Irene and Jonathan and Karla at a brewery/pizzeria that they had found not too far from where they live, really good stuff there too, Jon and Karla thought it was probably going to become their place (they’re pretty new to Chicago). We did the obligatory trip to IKEA Saturday morning, bought a few things for the home but nothing major, and headed home.

Christmas seems to be pretty much over, although New Year's is still pending. I've been off work since Friday the 22nd. In the evening I finally set up the Christmas tree (I'd have skipped it altogether this year if I could have gotten away with it). Beth and I ran up to Nappanee on Saturday to pick up our half-cow. It is a large cow this year, although it seemed like we didn't get as many steaks (especially ribeyes, seemed short). Later on I took the kids to the Village to get some last minute shopping done, and we went to an evening showing of the new Star Wars movie. The Last Jedi was pretty good, although I did think it dragged a bit in the front half. Speaking of our cow, we still had a lot of meat left over (and we were having some difficulty getting all the meat put away in the freezer) so we packed a cooler for some friends to drop off after church Sunday. Also on Sunday, the snow started in earnest. By 9, it was coming down hard. By 12:30, the roads were getting bad. Laura and Thomas were coming in from PA and planning to get to Mom's by 3, but we were getting concerned that the roads would be bad enough that maybe we wouldn't want to stick around for dinner afterwards as we planned (I had to stop in Columbia City to get new wiper blades for the van). Beth and the kids and I got there around 3, Laura and Thomas were a bit late but made it with no problems. We hadn't seen Mom in a week, but she seemed to be doing all right. It didn't seem like it was registering that several days had passed since we saw her. But she also lit up when she saw that Laura was there. We got her a nice fuzzy blanket for Christmas, which she seemed to like a lot. We had a visit for a couple hours, during which she showed us her room several times and we watched TV in the common room, then brought her downstairs to sit in the larger room and watch the birds. Leaving was difficult; Mom wanted to go with me and didn't understand why she needed to stay there. She got agitated and didn't realize that she lives there. Anyway, we told her how far away we had to go and how cold it was outside and she eventually agreed to stay. Laura & Thomas and Beth & the kids and I all went out to dinner then at the Hoppy Gnome downtown in Fort Wayne, which was very good, they specialize in craft beer and tacos and seem to do those things quite well. Monday was Christmas: the kids were all up early but we made them wait until Laura and Thomas got here, which wasn't until around 9. Good haul for the kids again this year, pretty standard lines: Alex got video games, Missy got stuffed animals and art supplies, Natalie got clothes and makeup. For the rest of the day, we hung out at home because it was snowy and freezing. Laura and I went through what's left of Mom's stuff,and we had a nice dinner in. They stayed overnight again and left in the morning after breakfast.
Tuesday, Beth had a doctor appointment to discuss the antidepressant medication she's been on and hated for 10 years. She is going to go off it and back onto the medication she was on before, which means a month of weaning off it. Which is going to suck, but will be excellent in the end. Also Tuesday I replaced the ceiling fan in our bedroom, since the old one had been buzzing and making the lights in the house flicker whenever we ran it for a long time now. We bought a new one a couple weeks ago but I finally got to replacing it. It is so much quieter and no flickering lights!
Wednesday we went back to Fort Wayne again to visit Mom. When we first got there Mom was participating in a group activity (!!) so we left before she noticed us to go to Barnes & Noble and come back later. Time was short since Nat had counseling later that day so we split up, with the girls staying at the mall to get some shopping done and Alex and I going back to visit Mom. She didn't have any problems when we left this time, thankfully. We raced back to town for Nat's appointment after a short visit. Today, we're all headed to Chicago.

Once again, this week was mostly about Mom. After the tour last Friday we decided that Chapman Place would be a good place for her. That was hammered home during the week too, because she isn’t cleaning herself or changing her clothes unless someone from the home health care place makes her, and she’s been trying to exit the building or get someone who works there to take her home. Assisted living just isn’t enough any more. So, I went back to FW on Monday to start signing paperwork, which didn’t take all that long. Lake City Place and Chapman Place arranged things so Mom’s last day at Lake City was Thursday, and Friday was her moving day. So I went to visit a couple times during the week, and brought back several things so we didn’t have to move them all at the same time. Things I knew she wouldn’t need at the new place, like Gramma’s old violin and the dozens of photo albums and Grampa’s war mementos. I also got the rocking chair back this week from being re-caned, but she won’t have any place to put that either. Friday was the big day. I took the day off work, and Beth and I went to Lake City Place after breakfast to pack Mom up and get her moved. She was not very present. It didn’t seem to register with her that she was moving, but then she hasn’t known she lives there all along either. Beth took her to the kitchen in the common area to make some cookies while I packed so we could keep her out of the way, but mostly she just sat there and didn’t talk, and fell asleep a couple times. We had both the van and the truck, so I was able to get everything that we were moving into both of them (the bed was tricky) and leave a few things to move out later. Beth and I took Mom to the new place, and she sat watching TV in the common area while I got everything moved into her new room. The room looks nice all set up, and everything we brought has a place, so she should be all set. I stayed until it was getting close to her dinner time. It didn’t seem to faze her when I left, but I’m sure she didn’t really comprehend that she had a new room at a new place and was going to stay there from now on. The place is certainly noisier and more chaotic than where she’s coming from, so I hope adjustment isn’t too hard. Anyway, the rest of her things are now in my house, taking up a lot of room. But I did get a better TV out of it.

Saturday was relatively quiet, Beth took the girls shopping in the morning and they were at a skating birthday party in the afternoon, after which we all went shopping again, including to TJ Maxx, since Natalie had a gift card from her birthday. However, that place is so crowded and chaotic it gave her a panic attack so things were cut short. Sunday we all went back to FW to visit Mom in her new place. She seemed content, more or less, but she still didn’t seem to realize that that was where she lived now. The nurses also told us that she slept in the common area on the couch the last 2 nights, and they couldn’t get her to go to her room, so they just let her sleep on the couch. But we brought her stuffed dog with us, which we had left at the other place by accident, so maybe she will now. Anyway, it was nice to see her out of the room…although when we went to see the room it was like she was seeing it for the first time. We also brought her a few pieces of jewelry and some of her fetishes, so she’ll have some more familiar things there now. We were able to take her downstairs at the place, where they have an aviary. Mom liked watching the birds. Again we stayed until close to her dinner time, and again it didn’t seem to faze her when we left. It seemed to us that she was fitting in there. Hope so. We just headed home after the visit.

Mom got discharged from the hospital on Tuesday. Monday, there was a conference call between me, the doctor, the case manager, Laura, Beth, and Lake City Place about what to do with Mom going forward. The doctor told us that she is medically ok, with moderate to severe dementia, paranoid, not agitated, slept ok, stayed in her room most of the time, and that assisted living is not enough for her. She needs more supervision. She’s also on a new prescription for an anti-psychotic. Beth made a bunch of phone calls and got us a tour at the Miller’s in Plymouth Monday night, but Lake City also called and said they are making some arrangements and Mom can stay there. Which is good, because neither Beth nor I was impressed with Miller’s. Seemed a sad place. And cluttered. And it didn’t smell very good either, but I’m sure that’s common in memory care. Anyway, we were wishing by the time the tour was over that we could tell Mom that if she can’t get by where she lives, then she’s going to wind up somewhere like that. But that would be meaningless to her. But, we’re both very happy that Lake City told us that she can stay there. They are going to add some in-home nursing care for her, and with that in place, they think they can make it all work. I’m sure glad for that. If she has to move out, I’m not going to see her nearly as much. I left work early Tuesday to go pick her up at the hospital. On the way home, she asked where we were going several times and didn’t seem to realize where she had been. She seemed pretty vacant, but that may have just been the new medication she’s on; she’s not used to it yet, I’m sure. But, as we were pulling into the driveway she said “Oh, I don’t want to go here!”so I guess she remembered it at least in some aspect. Beth and I met with David (the director) after I got out of work Tuesday and they seemed all set to keep her around. Revolution and FCC Kids had a roller skating party Tuesday evening, Tuesday so Natalie could go (she's had counseling on Wednesday since school started). I skated, Beth did not. Missy had her friend Abby over with us. The kids are getting better at skating, finally.
The end of the week got busy again. Friday was the teddy bear toss at the Komets game in Fort Wayne. The Boschains weren't able to go with us this time, though. Beth and I and the kids went, taking a bunch of stuffed animals that they were willing to part with and that hadn't sold at the garage sales this fall. For a while, we thought we might have to take them home, as the Komets failed to score for the first 2 periods and were down 2-0 midway through the 3rd. But then they scored twice like lightning, and regulation ended at 2-2. A scoreless overtime, and they went to a shootout which the Komets won when the goalie shut Toledo out on 3 shots. First time I've seen a shootout win. We got home late of course, which was inconvenient since Beth's big show at Wawasee was the next morning. She made a couple pots of soup (Soala and chili) and we got up early to set up and get selling, and I couldn't get back home right away because it was so busy. I came to get Natalie and bring her there to help (and sell cookies) in the early afternoon, then remembered we were supposed to ring the bell for Salvation Army at 1:00 so I ran back (late) and did it myself. And I must admit it felt strange saying Merry Christmas when it was 50 degrees outside and sunny. Usually it's freezing when we do that. Then back to the show to tear everything down around 3, by which time Beth had sold around $900 worth of soup. Incredible. The chili and soala nearly sold out. Sunday was Natalie's birthday, and what she wanted was to play paintball. So we did. We found a Groupon to a place near Churubusco, where for a set price you get the gun and helmet rental, 200 pellets, and use of the course as long as you want. There weren't many other people there so after a while we bought some more pellets. It was a lot of fun. Nat brought 2 friends, one of who had played there before, but nobody else had ever. Which brings up an important point: if you as a newby are asked by some kid with a full set of armor and a pro level gun if he can play with you, you say no. He killed us all. And at one point he made Nat cry, and I thought we were going to have to go home. But she rallied. He had shot her multiple times in the same spot...and his gun hurt a lot more than ours did. Anyway, we played several rounds in both courses they have there and had a lot of fun.

This week has been pretty much all about Mom. She is not doing well. She has finished up her course of antibiotics, but she hasn’t so far returned to the same level where she was before she got sick. She’s still paranoid, reclusive, talking to the mirror constantly, not eating much, has lost quite a bit of weight, and not showering. Beth and I have been very concerned lately that she’s not getting the care she needs where she is, and that she needs to move to memory care. It all came to a head when she started throwing things at the nurses and not letting them in her apartment. At that point, they made the call to get a doctor’s authorization to send her to a behavioral health clinic for Alzheimers/dementia patients, which came right away. Tuesday night, the same night they were having family night at Lake City Place, when the place was absolutely packed full of family members for Thanksgiving dinner, an ambulance arrived to take her to the hospital in Fort Wayne. I went to her room with the medics in case she was difficult, which she was. She was refusing to go, very paranoid. Saying things like “because you know what you did” when asked why she won’t go. Talking and talking but making no sense. She refused for a long time, which had the medics at a loss because she couldn’t legally refuse to go, but they didn’t want to force her either. Eventually she did, not sure what finally got her to agree to go with the medics, but she left with them via the side door so as not to disrupt dinner, climbed into the ambulance, and rode away with them. I stayed behind, because I was afraid she would refuse to go into the hospital or cause a scene that my being there would make worse. If she was going to be difficult, it seemed better that it be all left to the medical professionals. So I stayed behind and let her go. They were waiting for her at the ER, so she got right in, I heard. I was informed that she had arrived, got checked in, and was acting pretty calm. First thing they did was check for that UTI, but there was no indication of it. After work on Wednesday I drove to the clinic to visit and see how she was doing. She was up and walking around, again talking and talking but making no sense. We sat in her room for a while, she talked about how the Germans had built the building she was in and it was a real shame about those kids and how she and her cousin Carole were trying to go to that other building to get the cheese. And lots of other things. There was something of a floor show, with some teenage dancers putting on a show followed by karaoke by one of the staff. She sat in the common area and watched the show, after which I went back home without a good idea how long she would be there or how she was. Laura drove in Thursday, got there at around 3. I had already gone to visit Mom again and brought a few pieces of clothing and some toiletries. We visited with her for a couple hours, she mostly just sat. We did the big Thanksgiving dinner at my house on Friday instead since Laura had been traveling and visiting all day; neither one of us really wanted to go visit Mom again on Friday, so we didn’t. We all went to see "Justice League" instead. Laura left again on Saturday, we both drove to FW and visited Mom again for a while. Again she just sat most of the time. But after Laura and I left, around 4, Mom got all agitated again. Went and got her coat on and tried to leave. The nurses called me because she wanted to talk to me. She didn’t know why she was there or how she was supposed to get to where she needed to go. Insisting that there was nowhere for her to stay there and that she had never been there before. I couldn’t calm her down, and I kept trying to get her to give the phone back to a nurse, but she said there wasn’t anyone else there where she was, and she didn’t need a nurse, and that it was stupid. She finally hung up, so I could call them back and tell them that I wasn’t going to come back. It was almost dinner time so I was hoping that dinner would get her back on track. I didn’t hear back from them again. At least they got to see what she’s been like lately. And then after I got home Beth and I and the kids went to see "Thor: Ragnorak," which I may confuse with "Justice League" later on.

This week was mostly all about taking care of unfinished business. Laura and I have been going round and round with the MVD in Arizona to get the title for Mom and Dad’s Prius, and they have been spectacularly unhelpful. The last straws were last week when our agent in Phoenix (Mary from the estate sale managers) couldn’t get a replacement title for the car because you can’t use a POA to designate another POA. Then Mom wouldn’t sign a specific POA document for them. So we were left with the only option being one of us has to go. Laura couldn’t go until the week of Thanksgiving, so I went. Even though I was not positive that MVD wouldn’t pull another fast one on us when I was actually there. Anyway Monday night I made the reservations for a Tuesday afternoon flight. Laura overnighted a package to a UPS Store with a notarized letter saying she couldn’t go to help pass the POA responsibility to me. I brought the original POA and death certificate, as well as a copy of Mom’s diagnosis; neither Laura nor I could think of anything else we should need. Tuesday afternoon I headed down to Indy and caught a flight (and by the way, I had kept Dad’s American Airlines credit card open just in case I might find the air points useful, in just such a situation, but I found out they are not transferrable except to another AA points member, and only if the other account has been open for more than 30 days. So it seems they deliberately set the rules of the air points program to hose me) to Phoenix. I stopped and changed planes in Las Vegas, which by appearances does not have an airport so much as a casino with flights. I got to Sky Harbor around 8:30, picked up the cheapest rental car I could find (Payless…I got a teensy Ford Fiesta in which I kept closing my foot in the door when I got in) and headed to an AirBnB. First time for that. I joined when I booked the flight, and found a spare room in someone’s house that I could stay in for about 30 bucks a night. Close to the airport and everything. (It did feel weird just walking into someone’s house though. After one of the guys met me when I arrived, I just let myself in when I got there for the rest of the time, whether they were there or not. I didn’t know if I should knock, or just go in. I just went in.) Wednesday morning I was ready and waiting at the UPS Store so I could pounce as soon as their morning shipments came in, so I had Laura’s package by 10:00 and headed from there to the MVD in Tempe. The lady checking people in was all set to tell me why I couldn’t do that, but I had an answer to everything so she just sent me to a line. After that it was anticlimactic. I had the title within 20 minutes of arriving at the MVD. I did have to go back through the line again to get the title re-issued in my name so I could just sign the thing and make the transfer cleaner, but I had that done, the title signed and notarized, and handed off to Mary within an hour. And with that, I was done with what needed to be done in Phoenix. So, I spent the next couple hours driving around anywhere I could think of something that needed to be done. I went to the BBVA branch and closed the checking account. I went to the State Farm office and cancelled the Prius insurance. I drove by Mom and Dad’s house, not sure why. Got lunch at Manuel’s, a Mexican place Mom and Dad liked. Then killed the afternoon geocaching in South Mountain Park, using the entrance by the house Mom and Dad used to live in. I even ran into another couple of guys who were geocachers. They spotted me pulling an ammo box out from behind some rocks from atop the next hill over and found it themselves, then we searched for the next one together before parting ways. So two finds for me, then came up empty on the next two. I left when it started getting late enough I got worried about it getting dark while I was out in the park, which would be bad. I got dinner at Village Inn for old time’s sake. The a flight back to Indy the next morning.

Alex was at ICYC this weekend. Since he was, the girls and I all went to see "Murder on the Orient Express," since we figured he wouldn't be all that interested. I liked it, but it seemed to me to be more of a TV movie than a movie movie.

I’m a bit stiff and sore today, but not too bad. I ran the Veteran’s Day half-marathon yesterday, my fourth year in a row to run that (I finished in 2:09:22, slowest time yet by 40 seconds), but honestly I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to finish it at all because my knee has been hurting so much lately when I run. Last week, when I ran I stopped at about 8 miles because my knee hurt so much. So I did pick up a knee support bandage and wore it to run. It was also the coldest race day by far. I had a lot of layers on. The bandage helped a lot, I think. So my running goal for the year is over and now my goal is to not run again until my foot and knee stop hurting. Beth also had a craft show yesterday, conveniently in Columbia City. The race started at 8, the show started at 9, and as I was running along a segment of Old 30 she and the girls passed me going the opposite direction. We saw each other so that was cool. I stopped by after the race and then came back after I’d gone home to shower, and stayed to help out for the rest of the time. Unfortunately this show was not nearly as good as the previous show, she sold 8 jars of soup all day and mostly to other people who were selling things at the show. It was the first year for this particular show, so maybe that was why there wasn’t much foot traffic. Thursday was the Veteran’s Day concert at the middle school; Natalie is in the choir so we all went to the evening show. Since I’m a veteran Natalie got to introduce me…which she did, as her dad. Last Tuesday was also the Veteran’s Day program at the church with SOS. The kids put on a nice dinner and a brief show (piano recital of patriotic songs), then gave out gifts to the veterans of a very nice embroidered plush blanket.

Now on to Mom. She seems to be over the UTI and the antibiotics have been in her system for some time now, but doesn’t seem to be getting better mentally. The nurses have told me that a UTI in a dementia patient makes them really crazy but I was hoping she’d get back something. She still won’t leave Mary, her sister in the mirror. Beth and I got her to eat lunch with us in the dining room last weekend but she left early to go check on Mary. And she’s insisting she wants to go to her grandma’s house. Meanwhile, Laura and I are trying to finish getting things in Arizona taken care of, most notably the Prius. We still do not have the title. For some reason the landlord started pitching a fit over us leaving the car in the garage, or more precisely that nobody was talking to him about it. Which is disputable. Anyway he was being pretty hostile with the estate sale agents so I called him to smooth things over best I could; he agreed that we could keep the car in the garage until we could dispose of it but the estate sale people moved it out right away anyway. Laura called then to get the utilities shut off so we are done with the house. But the car in in the agent’s driveway now and we still do not have the title. We’d designated one of the estate people as a POA so she could go to MVD for us, as MVD had told us to, but when she got there MVD told her that she could not do it that way (can’t use a POA to designate another POA) and they wouldn’t give her the title. So plan B was for me to get mom to sign all the affidavits and POAs herself and send those in so they could get the title that way. I brought in a mobile notary with the documents but mom just looked at them and asked what they were over and over again. Wouldn’t sign, and the notary could tell she didn’t understand them so he wasn’t going to notarize them anyway. So to Plan C. Either I or Laura have to go to Phoenix.

Beth had a very successful soup sale in her first show of the season yesterday. It was at a little craft fair in the basement of the Brethren church in town, and one she only found out about a couple weeks ago. So she’s been working diligently to get a good dozen soups of each kind ready to be on hand for the show. And it was a very good show, even better than we were expecting. She sold around $500 worth of soups. Natalie helped her out for pretty much the entire time. She had a pot of soala and a pot of calico bean soup for tastes, so those both sold really well. I thought about trying to get Mom over there to check out the show, thought she might like that, but in the end decided not to. She has been fighting that UTI all week now, been very agitated and delusional. She was refusing to take her antibiotic pills, saying she doesn't need them, and the staff there has called me over a couple times because they can't get her to take them. I came over a few days ago and made her take them, but she threw them up soon afterwards, and was asking why I'm doing this to her. She wants to go see her grandma and is talking to “Mary” in the mirror. And she lately won’t leave her room. She seems to be taking the antibiotic pills now though, as long as they tell her it’s her thyroid medication.

This past week was of course Halloween. Again this year, Alex chose not to go out. Missy didn’t either, but she did go to her friend Abby’s house while Abby’s younger siblings went out. Natalie was planning to go to the Dells to meet her half-sister and her nephew to go around with them. She did colorful zombie makeup and Beth took her there, but they never met up with her. I think she was disappointed but tried to hide it by saying she wasn’t really expecting her to show up.

And this week the check engine light in the van came on! Woo hoo. Like I need this right now. I took it in to Ab & Tom’s and they had it all day but couldn’t tell exactly what was causing it. It was an evap/emissions code, but that can be from a lot of things. But they did a smoke test and find some leakage, and several other things that may be wrong with it now or soon enough. I’m going to bring it in again next week.

Ah, bad choices. Nat has lost her Kindle privileges for bad choices. She's been on her phone or Kindle at night and lying to us about it. And we check up. And caught her. So, no Kindle for Nat for a while.
On the Mom's business front, we may be nearing steady state. I got notice that Dad's IRA re-titling to Mom is now finished and funding...in other words, money is available from it, should it be needed. The estate sale was this weekend, I hear it was very successful. Lots of foot traffic, beautiful weather, and there really wasn't that much stuff unsold. We got $10650 for the truck alone. So, we'll soon be out of the house in Tempe, although we still have no title for the Prius. Should have had that long ago, so not sure what's going on with that. We do apparently have interested buyers for it, which I'm a bit surprised by, since there is no way I'd have bid on a car at auction that didn't have a clean title. But I'm glad someone did. 3 bids for around $10k. So I hope the title comes in very very soon.
In other news, Mom has not been feeling well. She had an appointment Friday with the local doctor for an apparent UTI, but by Saturday it was getting worse and she was really uncomfortable. Had to call the doctor back...she was saying she wanted to go see the doctor again.
Beth and I and the kids went to Fort Wayne Saturday to do some shopping. THe kids needed a lot of clothes so we went to Old Navy, then we hit the mall but mostly to go to Barnes and Noble, and finally to Furniture Row where they have the most wonderful massage chair that I thought we weren't going to get Beth or Natalie out of. But we were there for a drop-leaf table for Mom, because it is just the sort of thing she needs in her room at the home. Hopefully it gives her a place to do something like a puzzle, maybe.

Last Wednesday we had the most horrible visit with Mom at her place. It was family night, so there was dinner served for everyone, and since Nat has counseling, she and Beth were not there. I took Alex and Missy, but since they weren't serving anything that Alex would eat, he was bored, hungry, and out of control. I could not keep him from yelling back and forth with Missy and acting crazy. Finally Mom spoke very sharply to him about how rude and obnoxious he was being, and how her kids never acted like that. The she got up from the table and left to go back to her room. Alex felt bad but he was really out of control and I couldn't get him to calm down. Now he's upset because Grandma is mad at him. Well, we knew it was coming, because Mom has been very impatient with the kids when we've gone to visit her the last few days. They're too noisy for her.

In other news, Revolution went to Sky Zone this weekend. Nat didn't go, she hasn't been feeling well lately and jumping on a trampoline does not sound fun to her.

This past weekend Beth and I had the garage sale redux. Everything the had that did not sell in the last garage sale, plus a few odds and ends we found. Sold a bunch of frames and a few things, but overall only made a little. Better than nothing, I guess

Things are looking up for Mom's stuff, finally...and all the rest of her business. Monday her new bed was delivered. Beth and I were kind of afraid that she wouldn't remember that she was getting a new bed, and that the bed she's been sleeping in is only a loaner, and that once we got her new bed installed she wouldn't like it. We went over to her room in the evening and I assembled the new bed and got the new mattresses in place, and disassembled the loaner and carried it away, and Mom didn't seem to notice. She never said anything about the bed, anyway. Thursday, after days and days of delays, during which the moving company kept calling me and telling me "the truck didn't arrive, so it'll be tomorrow" every day, the truck finally arrived. We had a huge pile of stuff delivered and, fortunately for us, wheeled into the garage. I was afraid they would leave it at the curb and I'd have to lug it to the garage myself. Friday I asked a bunch of guys from work if they could come over after work and help me move that humongous table from the garage into the dining room. Trey, James, and Bruce showed up and it was about all we 4 could do to lift the thing and carry it around the back and through the sliding glass door. I was also afraid I was going to have to reinforce the floor to hold up the table but Beth got an area rug at Menard's to protect the vinyl, and the rest seems to be just fine. Friday night Laura came to town, ready to get down to the business of Mom's business. Specifically, getting the Wells Fargo accounts un-frozen, then paying off the car and getting the accounts all closed. We got an early start (we'd asked the assisted living place to have Mom ready to go with us by 9) at State Farm, got everything signed to fund Dad's life insurance policy (which we're planning to use to pay off the credit cards and such), then headed to Rochester where the nearest Wells Fargo branch is. They tried hard to thwart us and told us first thing that I was supposed to come back Monday because they were so busy...OMG Laura and I were pissed. But, a helpful agent worked with us, and we had an answer for every question and a piece of paper for every requirement. After a couple-few hours there, the Prius was paid off in full, we had the receipt for it, and all the bank accounts were cashed out and closed. I almost expected someone to come running after us with one more thing we needed to do or provide in order for us to be done, but we made it out the door with the check and have finished with Wells Fargo forever. Never again. We then visited PNC to get me added to Mom's checking account, only to find that since it's an account that social security goes to, and I'm not the primary POA, we can't. But we can get me an ATM or debit card for it, so that's what we're going to do. Anyway, we dropped off Mom at her place again in the late afternoon, then Beth and I and Laura went out to dinner without the kids to Rua. Laura was gone early this morning.

Things are finally starting to get straightened out with Mom and Dad's estate. The bed that Beth and I bought for Mom's new place arrived at our house on Monday, and I was able to get it over there and get it set up in the evening. Now I just hope she doesn't decide she doesn't like it as well as she liked to borrowed bed she's been sleeping on. She still has a borrowed dresser and sofa...the shipment of household goods was supposed to arrive Tuesday, but after 3 days of calls about how the shipment didn't come in again and it'll be tomorrow, repeat, it finally arrived at the curb on Thursday. The shipping company guy was nice enough to wheel it into the garage instead of leaving it at the curb like they said they would do, which was nice because there was a lot of heavy stuff. Especially that table, it weighs a ton. And a desk that Thomas wants, and some other stuff. So many picture albums. Anyway, the table was impossible to move without help, so Friday I asked several guys from work if they could come by afterwards and help me carry it into the dining room through the back sliding door. I got 3 guys here, and we were able to carry it in and get it set nicely on the area rug that beth had bought for it. Did I mention it weighs a ton? I hope the floor can bear the load.

Laura arrived in town Friday night, with the original death certificate in hand, so Saturday morning early we got to work. We collected Mom and headed to State Farm, where we got the papers signed for the checking account for Dad's insurance money, then on to Rochester where the nearest Wells Fargo branch is. They started by telling us they were too busy and to come back Monday. Laura responded by telling them to get with the program, now. Anyway, we found someone helpful who went through everything with the process of unlocking the account and adding Laura as a primary account holder via the POA, then withdrawing all funds, paying off the Prius, and closing the accounts. We had a check in hand and were headed for the door, and I was almost expecting someone to come after us with another big obstacle we had to do before we were done. But no, we left with a check and no more WF accounts. Unless they opened some in Dad's name without his knowledge, of course, but still none we know of. Then on to PNC, where we found I can't be added onto this account because it's a social security deposit account, and there are some rules or other about that. Anyway, no matter, the big stuff we did get done and by the time Mom was getting worn out, we were able to take her back home. In the evening we all went out to dinner at Rua, which Laura liked a lot. Early Sunday morning she hit the road again after breakfast.

Last Wednesday was family night at Mom's assisted living place in town, so I took all the kids there for dinner before youth group. Mom was asleep in bed in her pj's when we got there, so we had to wait for her to change and get ready, which took forever. The dinner line took forever as well, and they had almost nothing there that Alex would eat (it was chili and weird salad). All the while we were racing the clock to get dinner because Natalie had counseling at 6. We made it through though, and Nat made it on time while the rest of us stayed a while for the entertainment (Elvis impersonator). Mom wasn't much into it though. I'm sure she just went back to bed when we left to get the kids to youth group. Laura and I have been dealing with all of Mom and Dad's affairs as best we can remotely this week, and we're finding out what a pain that is. Mom's all moved in but still doesn't have much stuff in the room because the shipment from Arizona hasn't come yet. So she doesn't have much to do and doesn't feel comfortable enough yet to come out of her room. She sorts her jewelry a lot. We're going to get some bird feeders for outside her window so she has something to look at. The staff there assures me that they won't just let stay in the room alone all the time, so I hope they can draw her out. Anyway, Laura's getting a PNC bank account set up for us to use for Mom's money, since they have branches both here and in Pennsylvania, I'm getting Dad's IRA retitled in Mom's name, so I've taken Mom out on trips to the notary or something a few times. Wells Fargo: I hate them. When Laura told them Dad had died, they froze all of the accounts, and they remain frozen to this day because we still don't have a death certificate. So they froze things based on a rumor that dad was dead, and won't unfreeze them without proof that he is. Sheesh. No matter how many phone calls or visits to the branch, they will not budge. That's making it hard to pay bills. Including their rent, since their stuff is still in the house for a while. The stuff that is moving is on a truck somewhere, supposed to arrive the day after tomorrow. Not sure what all in in there, but there is the cedar chest, all the clothes, TV, pictures (So. Many. Pictures.), the grandmother clock (why? Mom wanted it), the Ikea chair, dresser, and the huge dining room table (the one made of Mesquite and with the inlaid turquoise...the one table in the world that Beth would sell our Amish table for) and the 6 chairs. Among other stuff. All the things we're not selling in the estate sale at the end of October. Laura's also coming next weekend so we can settle everything possible with the IRA, Dad's life insurance, the Wells Fargo accounts, the new PNC account...whatever we need to do when everyone who needs to sign is present. Wells Fargo is the biggie though, they've been really unreasonable.
Saturday we took Mom up to Michigan with us for the annual campout at Michawana, except we aren't camping this year. We thought we would bring Mom since we're not ready to not see her at all for an entire day or two, so we didn't stay overnight. We loaded up the camp chairs (and my recently reconstructed RC plane), collected Mom, and headed to Michigan in the morning. It was unusually hot for the campout weekend, so it was a perfect day for the beach at the campground. Mom pretty much sat in a chair and watched while everyone went swimming or paddleboarding or canoeing, which was fine. We just made sure to keep her out of the sun. Later in the evening we made tinfoil dinners, which came out super yummy, and I attempted to fly the plane for everyone. It did not fly. It must have been tail heavy or something, because it wouldn't get any altitude and smashed right into the ground and rolled. We played bingo with everyone later on, then in the late evening headed home. Mom was pretty worn out, I think we overdid it with her.

I'm still feeling like I'm in a fog. Laura called me over a week and a half ago to tell me that Dad had died and I still can't get used to the idea. I guess that's not unusual. For a couple days after getting the news I felt like I had to go back to Arizona, but I'm not sure why. It was almost the first thing. I don't even remember what I did at work when she called, but I started rushing around like I had to go back there as soon as possible. But there was nothing for me to do there, I know. Anyway. I didn't go, which is a good thing, I suppose, but I was filled with the sense of need to do something. I don't know what. The Saturday afterwards, the family and I went up to Michigan to go to an apple orchard that we'd heard about. We picked a whole bunch of apples and bought some apple wine (which wasn't all that great) and some other farmy stuff. The orchard itself is very nice but I don't think it's any better than ones around here. It did have Michigan apples, though. Anyway Laura extended her stay in Arizona much longer than she was expecting to, but was able to get pretty much everything she needed to get done, done. Last Wednesday she moved Mom to Indiana. They'd been packing and getting things ready as much as possible for the estate sale and getting bank accounts taken care of and such, authorized cremation, etc etc, but on Wednesday morning when they were leaving the house, Mom asked her where they were going and got upset because nobody had told her that she was moving. She started crying in the Lyft they were in to get to the airport, and Laura started crying...They flew to Chicago via Minneapolis, made it through an hour layover and a plane change, and made it to Chicago around 8:00 pm. I was there to pick them up and took Laura to Monica's house, then took Mom home. Mom's going to stay with us for a few days until we can get her settled into Lake City Place, which is an assisted living facility just a block from our house. Beth and I put her in our bed and sleeping in the living room for the few days until after Dad's memorial. We needed to get her to see a doctor and get a chest x-ray before she could move in, things like that. Friday everybody headed up to Michigan; Laura and I reserved a side room at Burdick's in Kalamazoo for a memorial for Dad. Laura and Monica came over from Chicago and Thomas came from PA. We set up a memorial display, photos from over the years on posterboard and cycling on Mom's MacBook; miscellaneous things from their travels and such. All of Mom and Dad's friends from Kalamazoo were invited, as was all the family that could be there. Auntie Irene and Jonathan & Karla also came over from Chicago. It was great to get more acquainted with them. I have not seen my cousin Jono in years. We had a really nice time, there was a good turnout and good time. I gave a eulogy that made me cry from the beginning to the end. I wasn't sure I was going to make it through the whole thing, actually, but I was reading from a printout or else I wouldn't have. Farewell, Dad.


We stayed in town for breakfast, then made some plans to see Jono and Karla around Christmas, and headed back home. We had an appointment with an agent from the long-term care insurance company to evaluate Mom, which they were doing at our house. She did a quick evaluation, and Mom was obviously impaired, so I'm hoping the evaluation comes out the way it should. We all took Mom over to the new place to look around and see her new room (Laura thought it looked much better than the place in PA she looked at) and have dinner there. We left her there and came back again later when she was getting ready for bed. She seemed to be doing all right there. We're hoping it gets even better when her things arrive. We came to visit again today and took her to our house for a little while; she didn't want to go back to her place but she did without too much fuss. We need to find something that she can do there to keep her busy. She can't do her iPad or computer games or craft stuff any more, she needs a TV but then she may just sit in there alone all the time when it comes. She likes having her jewelry to sort through. We think she might like a bird feeder by the window. Anyway, it looks like she'll be ok there, but to be honest she seems more functional than most of the old ladies that live there. I hope she'll fit in and be sociable, but I don't know that she will. I'm feeling guilty about putting her there...and I feel like we should just make room for her at my house. Even though I know that will not work and we can not take care of her. I just will have to be ok with the fact that she's there and I can go see her any time. Hope this all works out.

I'm home, and the world has changed forever. About 10 days ago, I got a sudden call from Laura that Dad had fallen at home and couldn't get up, and Mom had been found wandering around outside the house. I last spoke to Dad the previous weekend, and he had sounded awful. He had been fighting pneumonia, and his acid reflux was acting up. Couldn't shake the pneumonia even after a complete round of antibiotics. He was coughing terribly and sounded miserable. He also had an appointment to go to the GI specialist and was wondering exactly how he was going to get there since Mom can't drive any more. But the day before that, he collapsed at home. A neighbor saw Mom wandering around outside and came out to see if she was all right, and they went back inside and found Dad. I don't know if Mom forgot what she was doing, or couldn't figure out what to do, but Dad had asked her to get help. So Dad was at the hospital, and Laura arranged for some respite care to come stay with Mom until I could get there. I flew out on Friday, thinking that I'd be taking care of Mom until Dad got over the pneumonia; Laura's classes were starting so she couldn't come out right away, but I'd stay around a week and come home when Laura got out there, and she'd stay for a week, and together we'd get them into assisted living. I got out there on the 25th, and headed for the hospital as soon as I got there. Dad was having fluid drained from his lungs, apparently they got 2 liters out and there was another 2 liters the next day. He was resting most of the time, but seemed generally ok although very weak. And confused, at one point that first night he thought he was in France. Mom was awfully confused too, she told me a couple times in the first couple days that dad was trying to kill himself and her. And she wanted me to look at her poop (also did both with the respite care lady) because she thought it looked abnormal (Nope). And wanted to know if I thought they should stay together (The 25th was their 55th anniversary...I had forgotten). Over the next day Dad's confusion was getting worse, especially at night. An MRI didn't show any neurological reason for the confusion, and he had to have his lungs drained again. By Sunday afternoon the doctors had found malignant cells in the fluid they drained from his lungs, stage 4 lung cancer, they said. The oncologist did not think Dad was a good candidate for chemo, and guessed that he might have 3 months if untreated, maybe 8 with chemo, if he reacted well to it. Dad asked me to let Dr. Pettit know what was happening, which I did, adn he immediately contacted me and began lobbying to get Dad moved out of Banner and into Mayo Hospital, because he didn't think Banner had any real proficiency in cancer treatment. Since they'd already recommended hospice, which we'd contacted, we figured we had nothing to lose so we started trying to do it. But there was no accepting physician at Mayo to do a transfer, and Mayo said they couldn;t do anything that Banner couldn't, so there was no transfer. It wasn't as simple as Dr. Pettit thought, it seems. Meanwhile we had scheduled a lung procedure to block the fluid buildup for Tuesday, but we cancelled it because of the transfer that didn't happen. Which cost a few days. We then went into a holding pattern because the surgeon couldn't do it until Friday now. So we waited, Dad just hung out at the hospital getting more confused and hardly eating. Meanwhile, we went back to the hospice plan and finding a care place for Mom and Dad to move into after Dad was discharged, one that could take care of both of them as long as possible. Thursday the 31st, The surgeon had a cancellation so Dad got in a day early, and we had a good discussion with him as lucid as he's been in a while. I told him what the doctors all had said, and that Mayo declined the transfer, and what should we do. "Bob's schemes were always overly optimistic," he told me, and chose hospice over radical procedures. So he went in to have the pleurodesis, and shortly afterwards I took Mom to visit with the Pettits. They took us out to lunch, and I think Bob was ready to show me all sorts of new research on lung cancer and when I told him what Dad told me, I just about lost it. It was the first time I'd said it out loud. I composed myself as best I could and we finished lunch in time to visit at the house some more before we had to run to pick up Laura, who was having a real odyssey getting to Phx. We dashed to the airport, drove around until we met up with her on the curb, and dashed out again to tour assisted living places. They looked nicer than the ones we saw in July. We found a nice group home in Scottsdale, one with a full range of care, where we thought they'd be good to go until moving Mom back east. We started getting things ready for moving as soon as we could. Over the next couple days we ran over the the place a couple times, moving in clothes and pictures and furniture; the hospice delivered a hospital bed for Dad, we got the pictures up on the wall, and everything was about ready, as soon as Dad was discharged. But the surgeon kept looking in, checking him out, and saying we'd keep him for another day. By Sunday, Dad still had the drain in and was still just waiting, but started being unable to keep anything down and going into afib. Monday, I had to go home (Dad fortunately had enough Southwest points to get me a ticket for free). Laura dropped me off and headed for the hospital, where Dad was no longer nauseous but still out of it. The drain finally came out Monday afternoon but they decided to keep him another day, then the vomiting started again. Tuesday, Dad was uncomfortable, his back hurt, and wasn't passing urine so they were possibly going to put his catheter back in. Laura saw some test results: adenocarcinoma, possibly throughout his body. By afternoon Dad was not having a good day, wheezing very badly, vomiting again, and seemed very uncomfortable. Then he started vomiting blood, and around 4:30, Tuesday, September 5, 2017, Dad died.

The softball tournament wrapped on Tuesday, and again we had a good showing! We played the Rahn’s church first, and played a really close game all the way through until the end, when with the score tied Chris H scored from first on a single with two throwing errors to give us a 5-4 win. Bob and I also turned a sweeeeet double play on a liner to second with a pickoff of a runner at first. I love doing that. That put us into the championship game against the regular season champs, a team that we smoked about 6 weeks ago but had destroyed the other of the final four teams in the early game. We played well, played from behind most of the game and even took a 1-run lead into the last inning but they won 10-9. We got a runner-up certificate and a $100 prize for the church instead of trophies, nice. Wednesday was the first day of school, specifically the first day of high school for Alex. It’s hard to wrap my head around that still. He had a good day though, but Nat told us that nobody even spoke to her all day and she wishes Beth could home school her so she doesn’t have to go back to that place. The second day went better though, and we realized later that she forgot to take her meds the day before the first day, so that may have been why it was so rough. FCC Kids / Revolution started back up again also. Unfortunately for me, Nat’s counselor can only see her on Wednesday evenings, so Beth is going to be taking her there and I will do the kids class myself. And we have an unusually...rowdy…difficult….group of kids. I was not able to do the lesson at all because I was too busy doing riot control. I asked for some assistance for going forward. We went to the middle school to meet & greet with the teachers Thursday evening and to walk around the school with the girls. Missy is taking a Chinese class, amazing. From that, I surmise that middle school is about the same as it has been. We deliberately set aside the weekend for nothing on the schedule, so it was pretty quiet. I ran a bit but my ankle started to hurt and the my knee started to hurt after about 5 miles so I quit there instead of running through it, so I guess I’m learning there. In the evening on Saturday, Natalie heard from a best friend of hers and literally got on her knees and begged for us to let her go meet him at the park in Winona Lake. We did, with the condition that we meet him first and they stay at the beach. All of us went to Winona, and we left them at the park for a while as the rest of us went to Rocket Fizz. From what we’ve been told, he’s talked her out of suicide attempts in the past and is *not* a boyfriend, so we wanted to let her see him and that seemed to make her really happy. And on Sunday, Gary made her a cake. I’m not sure why exactly, I think it’s due to something between them when he came to visit her in the hospital. She made one for him too last week.

The week ended better than it began. Monday I took the chance to drive the van in to work so I could drop it off at Ab & Tom’s. It made it there, but the overheating alarm went off just as I was approaching the shop. They said they would be able to check it out the same day but they hadn’t called by the time Beth and I had to go to Fort Wayne for family counseling with Nat. And it went poorly. Nat was ok for a while but got really upset with Beth when Beth challenged her about having already dealt with her past, and about not having reasonable expectations for her meds. And she stormed out of the room and didn’t want to say goodbye to us. Nor did she want us to come tomorrow. Beth was fearing the worst and we were both pretty upset overnight. Tuesday was better; the van problem turned out to be split hoses and there was no permanent engine damage ($450 was better than I was afraid it was going to be), then Nat’s mood was much better and Beth had a good visit with her in the afternoon. The softball tournament began at 7:00, which meant that I missed…get this…Alex’s high school orientation…but Beth took him and he said it was boring. But he did get a new iPad, a full size one. And Beth caught the second game. Yes, second…we won the first game of the tournament, essentially a play-in game, by mercying them in the 4th inning, something like 18-6 (Chris Hohm hit TWO grand slams in that game). That was the same team we should have beaten last week but didn’t. Did this time. Then in the second game we played the UMC, the team that beat us badly twice in the season and has the worst attitudes. Complainers, they are. They have more heavy hitters but we stayed with them and finally put them away late. I also had a very gratifying walk late in the game. I hadn’t been hitting well, and the guy in front of me was intentionally walked to load the bases. So I took 3 in a row a forced in a run. Hee, hee. So, we play again next week, against even stiffer competition but on a win streak. Wednesday we had another family counseling with Nat, which went better but we’re still pretty concerned and scared about things. We got safes to keep all the meds in the house locked up. Nat was pretty tired but glad to be home for the next couple days, which we spent getting ready for another camping trip. We had a coupon in a big book we bought a while back for a free night at Indian Springs Campground near Garrett. Friday after I left work we headed there for the weekend. We also brought Sam with us again. We had the boys in the tent and the girls in the camper this time around. The campground is very nice; we liked it a lot. The whole camp is clean and well taken care of, the lake is clean and not too muddy, and the sites weren’t too small like some private campgrounds. However the crowd was largely semi-permanent residents (big RVs hooked to sewer lines) and there was some drinking and loud revelry going on pretty late, and the campground is pretty short on bathrooms. It wasn’t a problem for us this time because we got a site that was close to them, but it would have been a big problem if we were on the other side. Anyway, we had a nice weekend there. I did burn the tin foil dinners pretty badly this time around, not sure why that happened. Maybe we didn’t use the heavy duty foil. Dunno. Also we visited the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg auto museum while we were up there, since we had another coupon. Really liked it, too, all of us. Alex even said he liked it more than he thought he would. We packed up and headed home around lunchtime on Sunday. Nice weekend overall.

Big week. We started out on Monday by heading to Holland for a short camping trip. We were there by lunchtime, a bit early for check in, so we went to Dutch Village (shopping only, not the farm). Turns out it’s a good thing Beth and I got a new wedding candle last time we were here because the candle place is gone, the owners retired. We got some trinkets and looked around, then got set up at the campground (Natalie wanted to sleep in the tent by herself, so she did, and Alex and Missy were in the camper. First time with Alex sleeping on the dinette bed with the storage/supports I built for it between spring break and now) and we headed to the beach. Overall, this has been a weird summer I would say, cool and wet, so we were afraid the lake would be too cold. Well, it was pretty cold. It was beautiful weather while we were there, but Lake Michigan was on the chilly side. Not so cold that you couldn’t be in it, though. Even I was in for quite a while. Seemed a bit muckier than usual, though. The sunset on the lake Monday evening was also beautiful. However, it became apparent that we weren’t going to want to spend all day at the beach Tuesday, so we started working on plan B. Which turned out to be Windmill Island, which none of us had ever been to before. You should see that street organ. The gardens were amazing; like I said it’s been a fairly wet summer so I’m sure the flowers all loved that. We took the tour all the way to the top of the windmill (De Zwaan) which I loved (but I’m into that kind of thing). Alex and Missy liked it too but the height made Nat dizzy. That was the morning; we did spend the majority of the rest of the day at the beach. Still chilly, but nice. And I’ll take a chilly and kinda mucky Lake Michigan over any of the lakes around here, I’ll tell ya. Wednesday we had to head back fairly early because we wanted to get back in time for the youth group’s water wars (at least Alex and Missy did, Natalie didn’t want to go but we made her). We then finished getting everything ready for the garage sale and started it on Friday. So nice we got most everything ready for the garage sale before we left, so we didn't have to do a mad rush to get things ready after we got back. The Purvis and Harrison families also had stuff in the sale so the ladies were at our house helping out, and when I came to the house for lunch Beth was not there, because she had just left to rush Natalie to the emergency room. She took pills and then told Beth what she had done. So she was in the ICU for a while, then had an ambulance ride to Parkview in FW. I stayed home from work to man the garage sale while Beth was gone, incidentally we made about $120, then the kids and I were going to FW to visit but the van started overheating by the time we got to Big R. I parked to wait for it to cool off and tried to make it back to get the truck, for a while the van wouldn't even start but eventually it did and we made it *almost* home before the alarm was just dinging constantly and it was overheating big time. The truck was still at the hospital so I caught a lift there to pick it up and we went to FW in the truck instead. We went back home after a while. Saturday I manned the garage sale again while Beth went back to FW. We did some good sales (Missy sold a lot of toys and her Bitty Babies, so she made a lot) and had a 2-day total of $280.75 for us, $156 for Missy, $42.50 for Alex, and $1.00 for Natalie. Beth is back now, Nat is not.

Busy week. On Tuesday, softball had an epic 12-inning battle against one of the Wesleyan teams. We were evenly matched, all right...we eventually lost 14-13, but played an unbelievable amount of innings without either team able to score. They eventually got the better of us in the 12th, but they had a gift of a really blown call in the 11th that should have ended the game, but instead allowed them to tie it again and keep it going. Moral victory, I guess. Later on I finally got Alex's new phone set up; he has a slider phone with a touch screen (which I didn't realize when I bought it, so the girls are jealous). He has the same number, I have his old phone with my same number. And he's not on Verizon any more, which was a bit complicated but will save us some fair amount of money. Alex and the girls are on Red Pocket, a virtual network that operates by leasing the Verizon network. Same service, but a lot cheaper. Wednesday, I flew hodge-podge for the first time successfully. I've been working on finishing up the new version of the plane, which I finally did a week or so ago, so I took it to the church and flew it around the parking lot. There was a teen even going on so I got Griffin to video it for me, and I was really pretty shocked that it flew so well. Good control, good lift, good steering. I even landed it successfully and re-flew it again. Amazing, and makes me feel so giddy. Love it. Thursday evening, we took Natalie to visit her great-grandparents, who she hadn't seen in a long time. We had a nice visit...they sure can talk at length about a lot of things...and Natalie seemed pretty happy to see them and visit with them again. Friday we went out to dinner at another new restaurant in town, El Faro, which was pretty good although its focus is Mexican seafood so there’s not much the kids would eat. We went out with the Purvises (Patrick is still pretty sore from totaling his car last week). The rest of the weekend, we spent largely setting things up for the garage sale next weekend. We’re going camping in Holland next week, and I have a feeling we’re going to be really pressed for time if we wait until after we get back to set things up. I also finally broke down and bought a new battery for the lawn tractor because I’m tired of charging it and spraying starter fluid in the intake every time Alex needs to cut the grass. Today, I flew hodge-podge again, also at the church parking lot, and again it flew brilliantly. Until it broke. In mid-flight, as I was doing a flyby of me and the kids, you could very distinctly see something come flying off the nose of the plane, and the propeller and motor flew off and could be seen dangling  from the wires. However, it still glided surprisingly well. I was able to get it to the ground pretty much intact except for what was already broken just using the elevator. I think I can repair it without too much difficulty.

No softball game this week, due to a tournament. This week was also my birthday, although we didn't do much for it. Natalie made me a cake. Now I'm 48, and that's about all that's different now. Anyway, pretty uneventful week overall. Yesterday I went for a run, but the burning on top of my left ankle flared up again, so I cut it pretty short (only like 2 miles) and walked home to put ice on it. Beth and I had a date night later on, and went out to try a new restaurant in town, Mi Cholulita, which we decided was not bad but not any better than everything else, and more expensive, so we probably won't be back much. Today, we took the kids to see "Spiderman: Homecoming," which everybody really liked. We also began cleaning the house for the garage sale, pulling stuff out of the green room and finding out what exactly we had. We may have more stuff to sell than we thought, even without any really big items.

Softball had a great game Tuesday against one of the top teams in the league, and one that jumped all over us earlier this year. We beat them 12-8, in a game that we had a big lead on them but they chipped away at it until the very end. They came into the bottom of the 7^th trailing 12-8, but with momentum, and then the first guy hit a hard single…then the next guy bounced one to the pitcher, who started an excellent 1-4-3 double play. Bingo bongo, two out, none on. Next guy popped it up, game over. Sweet revenge…Friday I finally got Alex’s new phone. Beth and I have regretted getting him that smartphone ever since we got it, and we’ve been getting him used to the idea that he’s losing it ever since it was time to get the girls phones. We cannot afford 5 smartphones, plain & simple. So, the girls have slider phones and now so does Alex. Or at least, he will as soon as I figure out how to migrate his number to the new phone, and mine to his old one. He’s figured out how to migrate everything he wants to keep off of the phone and onto his Kindle, so he’s gotten used to the idea now (after a long period of getting ready for it). Now I just have to get around to it. Yesterday, I did some shopping at Green Earth, bought a new pair of running shoes (now that my toes aren't bleeding any more). She also showed me some of those anti-chafing socks, which sounded like an excellent idea so I got a couple pair of those too. Later on we headed up to Michigan to pick blueberries, somehow or other Beth had heard about some nice berry farm not far from Gobles, so we went up there in the early afternoon and filled several buckets with blueberries. This must have been an extraordinarily good year for them; the bushes were heavy with all the berries. With the berries in hand, we headed for Kalamazoo (and changed clothes in the restroom of a Biggby Coffee) to catch a production of “Annie” featuring Lauren as one of the orphan girls. We got back pretty late, and overslept and missed church. Again.

We went to Judy’s yesterday, and got back late enough that we overslept and missed church. But in the evening, the girls wanted to go hiking down the trails in Winona Lake to leave their peace rocks in the woods. All 3 kids and I took the rocks and went for a good long and winding hike through the woods, which I should not have been wearing flip-flops for. They found good spots, hid maybe 6 or 8 painted rocks, and then we got pretty turned around in the woods and had no idea where we were. I pulled out my phone to check a live map and get us back to a trail, which was way off where I thought we were by the time we found it again. I’d been getting a bit concerned because it was getting pretty dark in there by the time we made it to a trail.

I've returned from Arizona. It was a pretty nice trip, although it was disheartening to see how much mom has declined. She can't drive, or use a phone or stove, and has a hard time remembering words, but at least she's fine physically. And she forgets things pretty much as they're happening. I got to the airport on Saturday evening, Laura and Thomas were there a bit earlier and all of them had gone out to eat. Laura left them to come pick me up. A bit after I got there Dad went to the restroom, and when he got back Mom says to him "look who's here!" meaning me. She had forgotten that he was there when I arrived. Things like that. Anyway, the point of the trip was to see how they're doing, and to see whether they need help, especially Dad, for taking care of Mom. Dad and I went out to the spot where the camper is stored so I could help him get an ad placed to sell it (I have a feeling it's going to be an albatross), Laura and I both rifled through all their papers (and found a long-term care insurance policy, yay!) and Mom told us over and over again which pictures on the walls she wants to keep. But she doesn't care about the David Winter cottages (again, over and over). We also found that Mom had literally thousands of unread e-mails on her computer because she can't figure that out any more either. Laura and I took Mom and Dad around on Monday to a couple assisted living places. Some of those are better than others, it seems. We went to one...looked like an apartment complex...that Mom didn't even want to get out of the car for. A second one, in a high-rise, was a lot more expensive but is similar to the one the LaRues live in so Mom was willing to look at it. It was nice, I must say, but pretty expensive. Another one we went to was less impressive, but quite a bit cheaper, although I felt like it was the kind of place that when things break, they get fixed, but not well. For example, when the towel bar pulls out of the wall, they'll patch it, but you'll always see where the patch is because it was done sloppily. And it kinda smelled. And the manager was creepy. And at one point during the tour Laura sent me a text saying "This place is a dump!" and I couldn't disagree. Dad actually said he liked that place the best but I bet that was just because of the price. Anyway, the point of this visit was to see how Mom and Dad are getting along, and at the end we both figured that they are OK for now, but when their lease expires in the spring, we'll work on getting them moved in somewhere that can take care of both of them. In the meantime, we've been trying to drive home to Dad that HE has to be the one to make sure Mom takes her medications and such. That's been a problem lately. Beth and I are going to try to arrange a trip out there again for fall break, if we can. At least Beth's ticket is already paid for with the cancellation. Hope they're OK til then. For now, they seem to be.

Interesting thing this morning, I was out for a run and just happened to arrive at Winona Lake Park just a couple minutes after a 5k down the greenway started. I ran past and the clock said something like 2 minutes. I was just about ready to quit at about 7 miles but I thought why not? And kept on going. It was a pretty slow 5k by my standards, but I finished it in around 32 minutes and made it to 10 miles for the run. Found out a bit later I should have quit at 7, or maybe even before. For one thing, my left ankle was feeling like it was really chafing across the top, and the toes on my right foot felt like they’d gotten wet. After the 5k end as I was walking home, I stopped in at Green Earth Multisport to look at the new shoes. As I took my shoes off, I noticed that 1) my left ankle wasn’t chafed where I thought it was and 2) my toes felt wet because one of them was bleeding. So, it not being a good time to try on new shoes or socks, I took my leave. Worried about developing tendinitis in the left ankle now. Sheesh. Anyway, tonight I’m headed to Indy to catch a plane for Phoenix. Beth, however, is not coming with me. We had to very quickly change the plan for the weekend, which was for Beth and me to go to Phoenix and Alex and Missy to stay with the Monsmas while Natalie stayed with Mary Jane, but instead Beth is going to stay home because Nat was admitted to a behavioral health clinic last week.

We are back from a nice vacation all around. Beth and I got to go on a second honeymoon for our 25th anniversary, without the kids. Which was weird but wonderful. Last Saturday we all loaded up the van and headed to Pittsburgh. We got there in time for a nice dinner along the riverfront at Joe's Crab Shack with Laura and Thomas and Ben, who is living with them again as of late. We did a minimal amount of walking around the shopping center before heading back to Indiana (PA), where we spent the night. Anyway, the following day Laura and Thomas, Ben and the kids headed off to a water park while Beth and I went off by ourselves. It was pretty cloudy when we left, and we drove through a lot of rain, so we were afraid that the water park day would be rained out but apparently it never rained on them. Beth and I made a brief side trip to Deer Creek Township PA, an ancestral home of the Jewell family (Beth's grandmother). We found Ralph Jewell's (1808-1887) home church and grave site, and a road named Old Perry Highway (unlikely to be named for Perry Jewell, but you never know). However, Beth's great-great-great grandmother's grave is now on private property(a campground) and they were not willing to let us in to see it. Someone is in the site, you know, can't disturb them. After the side trip we hit the road again and headed straight to Canada eh? I had a momentary panic attack looking at my passport and thinking I had grabbed the expired one but it was all good. We had a really cool hotel called the Stone Mill Inn, built into an old textile mill.We spent the week exploring St. Catharines (there is less than we thought. The ads made the place look like Saugatuck, but actually the village by the lake part was quite small, and not very beach-y, and what beach there is was all closed due to high water, as was most of the village. Lake Ontario is so high now, most of the beach is actually gone and the lake is in the parking lot in places). But there are very nice restaurants, cool walking trails, and that Inn. We did stay in the hotel for large chunks of time. And on our 25th anniversary, I gave Beth and very sparkly present. But we also went to Niagara-On-The-Lake for shopping (there is a soap store that sells the most expensive soap on the planet, and triggered a crazy allergy attack in me that was ok because I was looking for a way out), stopped a couple times in a cool old antiques store (the big crammed full building that goes on and on kind), watched some ships transiting the locks in the Welland Canal, and also did a bunch of geocaching on the walkway along the canal. Also, Niagara is apparently a big wine country...I didn't know...but there are a million wineries all throughout the peninsula, and we found one to have a nice lunch at where we had some of the best burgers we've ever had while we sat outside on the deck by the frog pond. And an all-day trip to the House of Industry and Refuge, where we got some really good information about Huldah Myers (Beth's g-g-grandmother), and about the place in general, but what really blew us away was the revelation that she had another daughter (Mary) that we didn't know about, who also lived at the House with Huldah and Edith for a while. Still no indication how she got to Canada from Iowa though. Anyway, after we had our fun in Canada without the kids, we headed back to Indiana (PA) to pick them up again. We took Thomas and Laura and Ben out to a nice dinner in town and stayed overnight again (playing Superfight with the kids until pretty late. It seems that A being that is half Miley Cyrus and (bottom) half Conan, riding a broomstick, is unstoppable). Then the return trip again, back to Canada with the kids this time. We got to Niagara Falls in plenty of time to ride the Maid of the Mist, although it was absolutely pouring when we got there (with lightning) and I wasn't sure we were going to get to ride at all. But it cleared up and only rained a bit as we waited in line. We did the boat ride, then crossed into Canada and did the shopping and viewing the colored lights on the Falls. Sunday we did the brunch at Skylon Tower, and did more shopping at the touristy places. I took Monday off and was back to work on Tuesday.

Tomorrow is the big day…Beth and I are going to get away together for the first time since before 2003. Laura and Thomas volunteered to take to kids, all 3 of them, off our hands for a week while we go off somewhere for a second honeymoon. We do have to deliver the kids to their house, so we had to find a good place that was within fairly easy driving distance. We settled on St. Catharine’s, Ontario. By what we’ve seen on the web it seems to be a fairly artsy, marina-y kind of place, maybe a bit like Saugatuck. There are hiking trails and a lakeside village, ship-watching, antiques, shopping, and a super cool old inn built out of a defunct textile mill, called the Stone Mill Inn. Looks awesome. It’s also near the Ontario House of Industry & Refuge where Beth’s great-great-grandmother lived and died. We’re going to go visit. We’ll be in Ontario for a week or so, then pick up the kids again and take them to Niagara Falls. But anyway. This week, Monday the kids and I went out with the Rahns to the TinCaps game in Fort Wayne. Steve had some extra tickets, and asked if we wanted to go with them. We were sitting in the picnic or pavilion area or whatever they call it, down the 3rd base line so not real close to the batter, but with a good view anyway. It looked at first like the TinCaps were going to get shelled but then things calmed down, and it started going back and forth. We stayed through around the 5th inning or so before all the kids were pretty bored so we headed home. Eventually we found out the TinCaps did lose. Also this week, I got the pool up. I was able to get it out of the storage unit with help from all the kids, and we just bunched it up and put it into the back of the truck, and it fit. So at least that was easier than strapping it to the top of the camper and trailering it home like I did to put it away last fall. But, we also are finding that the inflatable ring that goes along to top of the pool will not stay inflated, so maybe that it related to moving it. Or, it’s just getting old. I filled and shocked it, but it’s still way too cold to swim in even a few days later, so we’re going to see how it is when we get back from vacation. Thursday was Missy’s birthday, so now we officially have 3 teenagers in the house. And on Friday, Alex finally got his Nintendo Switch. Poor kid, he has been saving for a long time to earn the money for that thing (Beth and I have made it clear that we are DONE buying gaming systems) and he got over the edge with his birthday money, but it’s been completely out of stock everywhere. I’ve been dropping in to GameStop most days to see if they have any, but it’s been a long time. Alex has been pretty frustrated that he’s had to money for about 3 months now but he couldn’t get one. Finally, he found that the Meijer in Goshen had some so Beth took him out there to get one. They got it just in time, I guess. He even got a game to play on it. Some Zelda thing.

The softball team cam crashing back down to earth this week. We were playing one of the weaker teams in the league, and although we started out hot (7 runs in the 1st inning) we got cold soon thereafter and at first let them back into the game, then got blown out. I didn't play because of the foot (which I kinda doubt is really fractured, based on how much it doesn't hurt now) which is still too sore to run on, but we had a couple extra guys show up to play so we had no problem. Anyway, Thursday all 5 of us headed to the storage unit to get the pool stuff because it is supposed to start getting hot again very soon. It was actually remarkably easy to get the pool out of the unit and into the back of the truck, considering how herd it was to move there last year. I started filling it in the evening, and Beth continued it Friday so by the time I got home it was almost full and I could add the chemicals. We'll see if I have better luck controlling it this year (don't bet on it). There are also about 6 pinhole sized leaks, including one in the inflatable ring, that I will have to patch before they get bigger. Tiny little water jets shooting out all over! But the big news for the weekend was Marve and Beth's wedding. It, and the reception, was held Saturday at Stephanie's house outside (nice sunny day, fortunately). Beth and I were supposed to make the fruit salad for the reception party (for like 60 people, so we made a lotttt) which became their wedding present. Beth C was about half an hour late...to her own wedding???...but things did go on after the delay. Judy officiated, which was cool. We stayed until evening at the reception and headed home.

Last week was a good one and bad one all around. Tuesday, our softball team continued our current winning streak. This was even against one of the top teams in the league, or at least they were. At game time I thought by the eyeball test they looked like they were better than us. But we held them in check and started to break things open after a couple innings. In the bottom of the 4^th inning, I singled and advanced from 1^st to 3^rd base with the next batter. 2 batters later I came home with what turned out to be the game-ending run, as it put us up 13-1 and invoked the mercy rule. The game was over in 35 minutes! That’s never happened before! We’ve been on the receiving end of it, but…anyway, with that last run, by the time I got to 3^rd I started to notice my foot was hurting. A lot. Enough so that by the next morning I went to the doctor and got my foot x-rayed 3 times. He thinks it is stress fractured. So I guess I’m on the DL for a while. The following day was the last day of school for the year. Alex will have summer school for gym, though. Not sure about Nat; it’s been a struggle and a rush to get things turned in. Saturday we all posed for the new church directory pictures, and we all looked very nice I must say. We also went to the “beach” at Center and Pike Lake (such a filthy dirty lake) for a while, and did some yard work. Sunday we headed up to Michigan for the day to tend to Becky’s gravesite and visit with the Wiessners for Sam’s 16^th birthday. He already has a car he paid $100 for.

Softball this week continued a winning streak! We won 11-5, and we've been playing really well! We started out with a big lead and started to let them back into it, but eventually pulled away. We basically haven't been making the big mistakes that we usually do. Thursday this week was the Middle School awards program, in which Alex and Missy received their honor roll and high honor roll awards...and Alex won an award from his technology class that was pretty cool...a 3D printed tower thingy that lights up with an LED. Speaking of technology, the repairman from Collier's was here Friday to repair the A/C, and it seems it is on it's last legs. It's old enough that in a couple years it won't be supported any more, and they won't be able to get parts for it. It seems to me like an A/C should last more than 20 years but after an exhaust removal system renovation and $1642.50 of repairs, the repair guy tells us we maybe have a couple years left and we should start saving for a new one. Anyway, the rest of the weekend was the long one, Memorial Day...and we're not camping again this year, nor are we doing a garage sale, or anything else for that matter. On Monday we went to Fort Wayne, mostly because Beth wanted us to go pick up her anniversary present (don't tell her, but it's a ring that she picked out herself) at the mall. We had no other plans, but it was a nice day so we thought maybe we could go geocaching as well. There are a bunch at Shoaff Park, which we had never been to before, so we thought we'd go check it out. Well being Memorial Day the park was pretty crowded, and I neglected to bring the GPS and we had lousy signal for the phone, so we made a pretty weak attempt to geocache and then quit with no finds. But the park is very nice, we'll have to remember it. The river runs through it, it's very wooded, and there's playgrounds and frisbee golf and hiking trails and such. It's be a good place for caching when we were better prepared.

This weekend has been busy and not busy. Friday, Natalie wanted to go to a movie with a friend of hers, so I dropped her off at the theater so they could see "Everything Everything," which appears to be for teenage girls and I had never heard of but could tell I did not want to see. However I found out later that their movie sold out so they went to see "Gifted" instead (They wanted to go see the new "Alien" movie but they couldn't because it was rated R). Which got out quite a bit later so I hung out waiting for them to get out of their movie for a long time. Saturday I had to get up early to get Ruby to a vet appointment, then Beth and I went to a wedding at the church between Kelsea and Lorenzo, the first time I've been to a wedding where both the kids had grown up in the church. Beth and I left the kids at home, which was all for the best, and we got pizza afterwards from Marco's, which included a free DVD rental so we got "Thor: the Dark World" since we know there's another Thor movie coming soon that includes Dr. Strange and Hulk. Another gotta-see Marvel movie. Sunday, Nat had another migraine, so we spent most of today being quiet at home.

The 2-liter rocket that Missy and I built flew this morning! Boy did it. I was able to run to the school from work again for the launch and was able to stick around for it (barely) but I'm so glad I did. Whooosh. Her rocket soared higher than any other I saw, and the egg capsule and parachute deployed perfectly. Her aloft time was over 20 seconds and she got the top score in the class. The egg drifted so far on the parachute that it cleared the entire soccer field at the school and landed in the parking lot. And I got it all on video for YouTube!

Mother's Day weekend is in the books. It's been pretty good for Beth, I think. Friday evening we all went out shopping at Menard's to buy Beth her annual load of flowers and plants for the front and back yards, Saturday we went to Fort Wayne for the afternoon to go to the mall so I could buy her anniversary present. It's being sized, so we won't have it for a couple weeks. We also hit Barnes & Noble and went out to dinner...for some reason she told the kids they could pick put where we got dinner and the choice was Golden Corral, of all places. We haven't eaten there since the one in Warsaw was condemned. Anyway, I don't remember it being sooo expensive, but we had 5 adult prices instead of 2 adult and 2 kids as we would have last time. Today, we slept in instead of going to church because we were all sure that there would be a lot of carnations, and a lot of perfume, there today and Beth had no great need of a migraine. So we spent the day doing yard work. I finally got the lawn tractor running (needed fresh gas, and a squirt of starter fluid) and got the back yard mowed, Beth and Natalie got the flowers and plants got planted, Alex mowed the front. Missy spent a good chunk of the day working (with me) on the 2-liter rocket egg lifter project. It looks like it'll work; we've got a nose cone resting on some brackets instead of wedged into a smaller bottle like with Alex's that failed last year. Friday I also finally got the bifold doors finished, and I hung them on Saturday. Finished projects make Beth happy.
Alex also attended his first middle school dance. More than I ever went to, I tell ya... it was a dress-up sort of dance, so he wore one of my button-down white suit shirts with a tie, and khaki pants and shoes. He looked so grown up. And so not. I dropped him off at the school, and how I felt in middle school all came back to me as I watched him walk in by himself, with groups of kids hanging out not including him all around. He had asked a girl to go with him but he waited too long and she was going with someone else, and none of his friends were going, so I was nervous for him but it wasn't bad. Some kids even tried to get him to dance with them but he wouldn't, and he texted me asking to be picked up because he was bored after about an hour. Not as bad as it could have been, I'm sure.
Softball update: Another loss this week, but we hung with them for a few innings but then they started to get away from us. I hit another double, two this year so far, as many as I hit in one or more years usually.

Today was the annual Help a Neighbor Day with the church. All of us were on a work detail going to Magical Meadows, a horse farm where they do therapeutic riding for special needs kids and adults and military veterans. We were going to help do a VBS and block party for a mobile home park in town, but we couldn't because of some personal history. So the horse ranch instead. Beth worked on gardening, weeding, and landscaping around their chapel, the kids (all 3) and I worked on staining a new wooden staircase in the barn. There was a detail working on building an extension of the deck they use to mount the horses, but I quickly figured out that there were too many Indians and not enough chiefs on that one and looked for something else. Those things always seems to turn into too many people for the available work. So, nobody seemed to be in charge of staining the staircase, and there were just a couple of ladies that didn't seem to know how to do such a thing over there with some kids milling around. Nobody seemed in charge so I decided I was in charge. We had all the supplies we needed so I just started telling kids (I had our 3 plus a few extras, all early teenage) how to stain wood and where to do it. They all wanted to help, but needed to be told what to do. Usually the problem is nobody is telling people what to do, they're just doing it themselves. So I told all the kids what to do, and they all got to work. It took a good 4 or 5 hours of work, but we got it all done. I was so proud of the kids, they all worked hard on it without a lot of complaining. Natalie switched to gardening later in the afternoon when all that was left was the stairs themselves and there wasn't much room for people on the stairs but everyone else stayed until the end. An excellent job by all. Afterwards we went back to the church for ice cream and the big group hug (the cinnamon roll). Jared filmed a lot of the stuff going on today with a drone, including the cinnamon roll. Hope that gets posted somewhere.
Softball lost again last week, 12-8. We hung close with them all game, but they got a last inning grand slam. I'm enjoying playing second base, I gotta say.

This week has not been uneventful. And everything happened on Tuesday. Tuesday was Laura's 50th birthday, which is neither here nor there, but a few other things also happened. Let's start with the truck. A week ago Friday, and then again last Monday, it would not shift into reverse (but I was finally able to get it into reverse after shifting back and forth several times). Tuesday I dropped it off at Ab & Tom's and got the news later that the transmission was gone. According to the mechanic, when they opened it up, the trans fluid was "gray and sparkly" which means that it was eating itself. Beth and I talked about it and decided to go all in on keeping the truck. Fix the parking brake and the windshield washer while you're at it! I got a loan from USAA to pay for it all but then then they found problems with the front brakes and the differential as well. Yep, fix those too. Even though the loan isn't enough now by a few hundred dollars, but I'll figure it out. They still have the truck now and will until the middle of next week. In the meantime, we rented a car from one of the used car dealers in town to help out during the week. A Hyundai Sonata, which is not a bad car but doesn't fit me very well. We didn't keep it over the weekend. Also on Tuesday, we got a report from Laura about Mom. She's been declining, to the point now that she can't remember how to use the stove or microwave, and Dad has to help her with things like that. It's been a rapid decline. Laura also sent a neurologist's report to us, which tells she is worse than we ever thought. Not really sure what we're going to have to do, but Laura and I are planning to go to Arizona to try to figure that out this summer. Also on Tuesday, Natalie had what appeared to be some kind of panic attack or breakdown at school, where she just couldn't deal with things anymore and pretty much fell apart crying and saying she wanted Beth. Beth had to get her out of school and take her home. The migraines have been better lately since seeing the specialist and getting the supplements but this was new. Also on Tuesday, at least something good did happen. FCC softball is back! We have pretty much the same team as last year, with Josh back pitching after a 2-year hiatus, which means I don't have to, and I'm now at 2nd base. We not only won the opener, we dominated by like 12-3. And my first hit of the season was a double! So the week wasn't all bad.

Easter weekend! After the big spring break trip, everything else for a while is going to be low-key. The kids got some chocolate bunnies and peanut butter eggs but nothing else. Beth and the girls went to see the new "Beauty and the Beast" movie, which they loved, and Alex had a birthday party for his friend Michael on Saturday, which was supposed to be a sleepover, but we told him he couldn't stay overnight, so we made arrangements to pick him up at 10. They bowled at first, then went to Michael's house to play video games. While everyone else was gone, I did some work on the camper to shore up the dinette bed and improve the under-bed storage. Other than that, the week and weekend were both pretty uneventful.

We are back from a vacation both preceded by and followed by a very very long drive. We’ve been on the Gulf Coast of Alabama, in the place where Judy used to live back in the day (see 4/10/11, ), camping at Gulf State Park. I took a week ago Friday off to get the camper and truck packed (the hardest part is getting all the bikes in the truck. Plus we were taking Lauren’s bike since Ric and Nickie didn’t have enough space), and we hit the road as soon as the kids were out of school. We drove a good 6 or 7 hours to Bowling Green, Kentucky, our go-to-place for trips south (see 4/10/11), although I wasn’t as impressed by their service this time (we’d asked for a roll-away bed, but they didn’t have any available by the time we got there, so we got an air mattress). We hit the road Saturday as soon as we could which was later than I wanted, but we gained an hour at least…we finally got to the park just after it got dark, and spent a good hour setting up after that, in the dark. One good and bad thing about the park is that there are no campfires allowed, so the place isn’t full of smoke but there’s no campfire. Everyone went to bed pretty early by camping standards. It was fairly warm down there, but pretty wet, to the point that in the morning there was condensation all over the inside of the canvas. I brushed against it a bit in the morning and caused a rainfall. Sunday, we did our food shopping since we had decided to only haul the dry goods from home. It took quite a long drive to find the Wal-mart due to some confusing directions, but we eventually did. We also had to get some shorts for me since I hadn't packed any; it was so cold and wet at home when I packed I just couldn't imagine needing them, I guess. Natalie also wanted to get a new bathing suit so we spent quite a bit of time looking for a 2-piece one that we would let her wear and she felt comfortable in. Later in the afternoon we hit the beach. Monday, the weather reports all said that violent storms were coming so we secured the camper, rolled up the awning, packed the canopy, put the bikes and chairs under the camper, and left the campsite to go shopping at Old Time Pottery, a home & garden crap store, and wow did it storm while we were there. In the evening we drove into Pensacola to get dinner at Flounder’s, mostly for the key lime pie. Well, the key lime pie was a real disappointment. It wasn't nearly as good as it used to be, or at least as I remembered it being. But the restaurant is still nice and it has all the beachy stuff so it was a nice dinner. But we forgot to close up the camper before we left so Tuesday morning there was another rainfall inside the camper thanks to Natalie. In the evening we went on a dolphin "cruise," I use quotes because the boat never left the inner channel. I'd expected to go into the gulf. But anyway, we cruised around for a while and did see several dolphins, some slapping their tails, which was pretty cool. Afterwards we all had a shrimp boil for dinner, which may have to be a tradition. Natalie got a migraine thought, probably from all the glare on the boat, and missed most of it. Wednesday, the storms returned so we spent most of the morning doing laundry at the campground laundromat. Later on in the day we went to the pool but it was freezing, and the sun which had come out went back under just after we got there. Thursday we did some souvenir shopping at the t-shirt shops, went out to lunch with Judy and Neill at Tacky Jack's, and drove out to old Fort Morgan at the entrance to Mobile Bay...and I would go back there again and again just to wander around the grounds because it was so amazingly cool. We all drove out to the city pier later on to watch the sunset, but because of geography and the season the sun actually set over the high-rise condos from the pier. On Friday, Ric and I went on a park-wide bike ride/geocaching expedition while the girls went out shopping, and everyone but us and the Wiessners had to pack up and leave. We stayed another night, so we all went out to dinner at Flora-Bama (the nice restaurant part, not the dive bar part). Saturday morning we packed up and checked out, hitting the road by around 10 (later then planned, and we also forgot we'd lose an hour) and drove as far as Bowling Green again. They had neither roll-away nor air mattress this time, but we'd packed our own just in case, good thing. Sunday, we headed out again later than I wanted, and drove to Indy to meet up with P.J. for a late lunch, then home. We got home by about dinnertime but it felt like we were driving forever.