We have a new car! New to us anyway. A guy I know at work was thinking about selling one right around the time Beth and I were thinking about buying one for Alex to take back to college in the fall. So when he finally decided to sell it he let me know. It's a 2012 Honda Accord LX with about 137000 miles on it. I had it checked out at Ab & Tom's and they said it was in good shape, so we decided to go for it. The asking price was $6000 which seemed like a pretty good deal. And it gets ~30 miles per gallon highway so it'd be a lot cheaper than driving the van or truck.

Natalie had her first bump in the road with her job. She was in the CNA class for a week before she didn't score high enough on a quiz (90 is passing for those) and had what was probably a POTS episode. She texted Beth and me from work that she wasn't felling good and needed to come home. So anyway that means that she's disenrolled from the CNA program until the next class starts since she missed too much time, and will have to start over. Not sure exactly when. But in the meantime she can continue to work there as a patient care assistant, basically helping with laundry and cleaning and such. We're still hoping this works itself into a good job.

Thursday we got our new A/C installed! We've been running fans a lot, and thankfully it hasn't been as hot lately as it was when it first died. This one ought to last us until we sell the house, I would think. 

Softball had a pretty decent game this week, although we lost a close one, 8-6. They had a lot more good hitters than we did so the fact that we kept it that close was pretty good for us.

 So this week was kind of dominated by Natalie's family drama. Since she found out about what happened, she has said she wants to go to Florida to get some closure. There were allegations about what some of her other family members said and did about her medical decisions, and in the end, even though I did not understand why she wanted to go or what she thought she would get out of it, we found out her grandparents were driving down there and taking one of her brothers with them. Basically there was no getting around it at that point, and we agreed to send her. Her grandparents agreed to put her up in their motel, and to take her with them when they drove back. So we got Nat a ticket from Indy to Orlando, drove her to the airport, and sent her away. Not knowing how she was going to do on the flight and the trip as a whole by herself. Well, she got there all right, and she visited her mom in the hospital before all the machines were turned off, as she wanted, though she told her grandparents that the only reason she came was so she could tell her mom how much she hates her. Anyway, it only took a little more than a day for things to blow up between her and her grandparents, to the point where they felt they couldn't have her and her brother with them any more. We got a call from her that she needed to come home now. My first reaction was to say absolutely not, but her grandparents needed her gone so we got her another ticket to Indy on Wednesday evening, drove down again, and picked her and her brother up. At least we didn't have to buy his ticket. We drove him home and then got home sometime around 2 am. Her grandparents want to have a memorial service for her in Warsaw, I hope they don't try to involve Natalie.

Alex and Natalie both have jobs lined up! Alex finally heard from Menard's that they were going to "go in a different direction" whatever that means, so he applied at Kroger and got an interview right away. He interviewed last Tuesday and got hired on the spot, will start very soon. He'll be fulfilling click-list orders most of the time. Natalie will be doing a CNA certification course at Mason's and starts next week. It'll take just a few weeks to get certified and then she'll just have to work there for 9 months to pay it back. She's starting that next week.

Softball continues! We got smoked this week though. We lost 21-9, mercied again. I also gave myself a little bit of a raspberry on my hip and elbow sliding into third. I had singled, and the next batter singled, and I gambled that the outfielder wouldn't be able to make the throw to beat me if I went for the extra base. Well, it was closer than I had hoped but I got in safe with the slide. I had figured that down 21-2 at the time I might as well go for it.

The Fat & Skinny Tire festival was this weekend, so no big bike ride with 2nd Mile Adventures this weekend, but I did go on the community ride from the Trailhouse Bike Shop to downtown Warsaw. I was a bit late so I joined the ride in progress just onto Center St. We got stopped by a train the the Center Street crossing, so that was fun. The ride ended downtown where there was a BMX stunt show, so all the riders (and there were probably hundreds of riders) all hung out to see the show before heading off. Anyway, since I wasn't on a long bike ride this weekend, I ran on Saturday morning. Only 2.7 miles, because the dark clouds I thought would just blow over turned out to be full, and they broke open when I was about 1.5 miles into the run. First time that has happened to me, actually. I tried to shelter under a tree for a little bit but it didn't look like it was going to let up anytime soon (it didn't) and in the end I was already so soaked I thought I might as well run home. So a short run this week.

The open house season has kicked off! Abby O had hers today at the fireman's house (or whatever they call it) down by Pike Lake. Nice time. Graduation is creeping ever closer.....

Missy had an art exhibition at the high school on Thursday! The AP art department was showing off their work and the public was invited to the show. Missy's chosen medium was digital graphics. She has been working on a sort of storyline about dragons for a while now and had a big display of 15 prints telling the story. And she was awarded a pretty big haul! Two pieces were selected as honorable mentions, one first place overall in the medium, and second place overall in the senior showcase! She is so proud of it and we are so proud of her. How awesome! She was worried that the judges wouldn't see her work as "real" art, I think, and that she would have no recognition for all her work. But yes! What a great talent. We're not sure where it came from. Probably my dad...

Some bad news this week. We have had a spell of unseasonably hot weather for a few days, so Beth turned on the A/C and it did not work. Well, something did, but it wasn't blowing and cold air out the ducts. I knew the blowers worked because they were fine when we were running the furnace, and something was working because there was ice on the unit outside and condensation on the coils inside. Turns out, the refrigerant is almost gone so it's not circulating well, and it's the old, bad kind of refrigerant so re-charing it would be prohibitively expensive, if they could get that refrigerant which they can't. So like $3-4000 to recharge at best if they could get it. Which means we may as well get a new A/C instead. In the meantime, I bought a bunch of fans for the sweltering upstairs, and Collier's sent a manager over on Friday to sell us a new A/C unit. I'm going to have to take out a loan....

Beth finally made it back to the dentist on Tuesday. The filling she got last week really did not agree with her and she has been in a lot of pain ever since she got it. The dentist tried smoothing it out at first but that didn't really help, so she had to go back in an have it removed and re-done. One that was done, she started feeling better immediately. It must have been cracked.

Tuesday was FCC softball's first doubleheader to make up the rainout! We played at 6 and 8. We were all over the other team in the first game, like 21-9, but lost a close back-and-forth game in the nightcap, 13-11. Again, we had a lot of extra players. Everyone plays, though.

Friday my work group had a team-building exercise of sorts. The boss made some arrangements for all of us to go on a boating excursion on Lake Tippecanoe. It was a gorgeous day for it! James rented a pontoon for the afternoon from Patona Bay near Leesburg and 6 or 7 of us had a cookout for lunch in the park, then headed out on a lake tour. The lake is still too cold to swim but everyone was perfectly happy to take the afternoon off and float for a while. Good time.

I went on a group bike ride with 2nd Mile Adventures this Saturday. They do group rides every Saturday when the weather is good, I think, and Trey has been trying to get me riding for couple years. I think the time may come when I taper off running and switch to biking. Maybe. I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up with the group but I went with the slow group so I did just fine, and we went around 28 miles which is the farthest I've ridden in years, maybe since 1994 when Ric and Jim and I did the Kal-Haven Trail. The faster group went fast enough that I'm sure I would have been left in the dust, though. But it was a really nice morning and a fun ride with about 6 people.

Saturday was Warsaw's prom night! Missy didn't have a date but she made arrangements to go out with a bunch of friends. I think it's inexplicable that she has never been asked on a date but I don't think she minds, she is headed for bigger things than Warsaw. Anyway, the prom was a more normal one this year than last year's covid prom, so she had a much better time. She had more friends to hang out with this time as well. And she was absolutely stunning in the dress she and Beth found for her. 

Nat had something of a shocker this week. He birth mom was hit by a car in Florida, is in a coma with massive injuries, and is basically brain dead. She got a call from Logan asking to meet him at a park yesterrday and he gave her the news, which gave her a huge panic attack and made her pass out which scared the crap out of Logan. She wants to go down there, why I'm not really sure but I guess it's for some sort of closure and to make sure that it's true. I'm not sure how or when she's going, but I guess we're sending her. She's also saying that she and her siblings have to make the decision about taking her off life support. Which I guess is true, they're the closest family. She is only saying that she wants go to Florida to tell her mom how much she hates her before she dies. I don't really want to send her, but I guess we probably will. I just don't think anything good can come of it.

 In 1997, Sting played the Virginia Beach Amphitheater, and we couldn't afford to go. 25 years later, never mind the expense! Beth and I went to see Sting in concert last night! Remember back in January when we were looking for shows to go to because the one at Clyde Theater was a bust? Well, one of the shows we found was Sting on tour. Neither one of us was aware he was touring but Beth said hey, look for Sting when we were browsing for shows. And we found it! And also, he was playing large venues like Chicago and Philadelphia....and Grand Rapids!? So that's the one we went to see. We left the kids to fend for themselves and hit the road Saturday afternoon. The venue itself, Van Andel Arena, is a minor league hockey stadium similar to the Coliseum in FW but with much narrower seats and crammed rows. Very uncomfortable. But, the seats were really good (upper deck) and we had a good sight line, and the concert was awesome! He played sort of a greatest hits set with a mini-concert of new material in the middle, and some older songs re-made as reggae. Late in the show when he did The Police's "So Lonely" with an interlude of Bob Marley's "No Woman No Cry" in the middle and then went straight into "Desert Rose" it brought the house down. Great show! His son was the opening act, he was also very good. And a dead ringer for his dad. It was somewhere around 2:30 or so when we got home. We saw Sting!!!

Another rainout this week for FCC softball. Another makeup soon, hopefully.

 Beth and I went to see a play all by ourselves yesterday! The South Bend Civic Theater was doing "Noises Off" for the past couple weeks, and wrapping up this weekend. We saw that they were doing that last January when we were looking for shows to see after not being able to stay for the Billy Joel / Elton John tribute (see 01/23/2022) and I've been looking forward to it ever since. I saw that play in Terre Haute in 1987 or 1988 when I was in college, laughed myself silly, and was so excited to bring Beth to see it. I was so impressed with SBCT! It is a really small venue (maybe 300 seats?) but a very nice one, looks like it was fairly recently completely renovated from whatever it used to be, and the company was very good! Beth adn I had a great time and will certainly be back. 

Natalie and Alex both have leads on jobs! Natalie asked at Mason's about CNA training, which they will do for free if she agrees to work there for at least 9 months (or else pay back $1200). She's having a TB test Monday and if it's negative she will start training right away, working 6 to 2 each weekday (not sure weekends) doing all sorts of OJT and such. I sure hope this works out for her. Alex submitted an application to Menard's since they pay better than Wal-Mart and he could wear shorts at work. They called him back already and will contact him to do an interview. 

Last Thursday was the annual Heartline Gathering of Hope banquet. Beth and I were invited, not exactly sure how, unless it was just the Rogers' invitation. Several families from church were there. It is a big fundraiser for Heartline, and we pledged $25 per month for the next year. It was a really nice presentation and a good dinner for a good cause. 

Tuesday was finally the return of FCC softball! As always I was worried about not having enough players show up but it looks like we will have the opposite problem again. Lots of extra players. I always make sure that everyone plays, but at least one guy isn't playing this year because we have too many. And I got a couple of requests to joint the team even this week. We have almost enough for two teams, but not quite. Anyway, we got thrashed. Mercied in the first game. They had a lot of hitters on their team. We jumped out to an early lead but quickly fell behind and lost 17-5.