Slow week in general but busy-ish weekend. Friday Beth and I had a date night (for a little while) and went to Tippy Creek Winery for a trivia night. We hadn't done it before so we weren't quite sure what to expect, but there was some guy there reading trivia questions and playing music, and tallying the scores in between. There were maybe 8 or 10 groups playing including us, and most of them had several people in them out on the town. But anyway, we only missed a couple of questions all evening, and by then end had a score that everyone there thought was really impressive. We came in first place and won ourselves a $10 gift card for Tippy Creek....Saturday was the Mall Derby, so the kids were all away most of the afternoon. Natalie even went, and invited a friend to go along with her. Missy's team wound up winning, and Alex's team came in second place....In the evening we took all the kids out to see "Captain Marvel," which we all really liked but I can see how some people might think she was too powerful. Trivial points though....This weekend I replaced the passenger side view mirror on the van, the one that had been smashed. It wasn't that hard once the door panel was off, but I did have to be a bit creative in fastening it to the door since the replacement mirror didn't want to tighten down. In the end I added a couple washers and it worked fine. The motor on the mirror adjustment device even works better than the old one did....

Alex turned 16 this week. Unbelievable. He chose to go to Flat Top Grill for dinner on his birthday so we drove out to FW for dinner (and dessert) and back on Tuesday. We gave him a couple of video games he wanted and $50 to put towards the VR set he wants (the one he’s trying to rebuild the computer to run). Friday, he had another of his standard video game sleepover nights, and once again the girls left me alone with them and stayed the night in a motel in town. I stayed in the kitchen on the computer doing genealogy research most of the evening and went to bed at around 11:30, while the crowd was still all up and shouting at the TV in the living room. I think they all went to sleep around 3:00 or 4:00. Alex was pretty tired in the morning and most of the next day….Beth is sick. She was coming down with something for a few days last week and it really hit early this week. She was off work on Tuesday, and tried to work Wednesday but got sent home. Thursday she went to Medstat and had an upper respiratory & right ear infection with laryngitis…This weekend I replaced the third brake light on the minivan. It's been broken ever since we bought the van, but now that Alex is driving I feel better with it working. I found the part online somewhere and found a YouTube video about how to replace it, so I was able to get the old one out and the new one in without too much trouble. I have also bought a replacement side view mirror since Beth has repeatedly smashed the one on the passenger side against the garage door. I also found a video of how to replace that, so I'll give that a go soon.

Saturday night was Warsaw night at the Komets game; not sure exactly what but there was a promotion that Warsaw residents could purchase tickets for $15, so we got some. Beth’s student Drake was doing a ceremonial puck drop with the mayor, so she was really excited to see him. We brought Natalie’s sister with us as well. Alex was working Saturday night so the girls all left in plenty of time to get to the game, and I picked up Alex and we headed for the game then, with him still in his work clothes. Leaving just after 7 for a 7:30 puck drop time in Fort Wayne meant we missed the first several minutes of the game, but it’s all good. We missed the first Komets goal, but caught everything after that. We saw a couple of the best goals I’ve ever seen, one on a breakaway where Szydlowski waited until just after the goalie committed and sprawled, then shot it right between the skate and the post, then another on a breakaway where the shooter shopped short and let the defender slide right past him, Top Gun style, then shot & scored. The final was 4-1, really good since it was against the Walleye. Really fun game….Sunday Alex was working again, and again we picked him up right from work to go to a movie so he was in his work clothes again. We all went to see “The Lego Movie 2” which we all like but I thought it wasn’t as fresh as the first.....I also went to visit Mom today. She was in her room lying in bed the entire time I was there. She looked at me when I walked in but I didn't see any evidence she recognized me. She never spoke the entire time I sat there talking to her, around an hour and a half or so. She just lay there, looked around, nodded off for a few minutes a couple times. Also, her bed has been replaced with a hospital bed, set low to the ground. I'm sure it was the hospice that came and replaced it, so I'm going to have to call them about getting her old bed back. I wonder every time how much longer it's going to be, but the staff tells me she has good and bad days, and she's more talkative most days.