January 2021

     Our January had us busy with a visit from Deb’s parents, back into school full-time along with plenty of basketball and volleyball.  I started my new job at Dealer’s Wholesale and completed a few projects around the house. Everyone has stayed healthy so far, but we consider that mostly luck at this point as we have had several people we know get COVID and are happy that most of them have had mild symptoms and recovered.   

 

            Randy and Anna came for a visit in mid-January and although it wasn’t “normal” we enjoyed seeing them at our house for the first time in a year.  We all wore masks all weekend, ate separately and also had our assigned bathrooms to use during their visit.  We enjoyed exchanging Christmas presents, going to mass and watching some NFL football.  Granddaddy gave the girls a robotics gift and spend a majority of Sunday helping them put those together. Anna & Debbie painted Allison’s room while I spent most of the weekend either at work or on my laptop getting ready for some meetings.  Anna showed Sarah how to use a sewing machine and also worked on one of our shower curtains.  The girls enjoyed getting their backs rubbed at bedtime and I’m sure Anna didn’t mind doing it!   

 

             Although I know that I’m still in the honeymoon phase at my new job, things have been going very well.  In the last month, I’ve worked on the budget, the year-end close and got through my first board meeting.  I’m preparing for the January close along with the auditors coming in February.  I’ve enjoyed getting to know my team along with meeting people each week throughout the company.  I’ve enjoyed being “in the office” and the social interaction that brings.  While I like flexibility and having a good balance, the fact that the location is 15 minutes from my house makes it easy to get to and from the office.   

 

            We took care of 2 house projects this month.  We got our trees trimmed in mid-January.  This was the first time we have had that done since 2012 and hoping it gives us a chance to grow some grass this spring in the backyard.  We also got some new carpet installed in the basement.  We are also having a neighbor work on building us a new tabletop for our kitchen and we hope that is done in February.   

              

Sarah’s Things of the Month  

            Sarah has enjoyed playing basketball with her friends at Best Choice Fieldhouse.  While our team has struggled, the girls have had fun and enjoyed practices and games.  I’m coaching the team of 10 girls from her class and am quickly reminded how really the only goal is that they are having fun and that they would sign up again for basketball.    

 

Allison’s Thing of the Month  

             For the first time in Allison’s life, she is playing on a basketball team and I’m not coaching.  I’ll be honest, it isn’t easy.  I believe it is good for Allison and the rest of the team to get a chance to be coached by some other parents, who are doing a fantastic job and the team is improving each week.  Allison is also playing volleyball and enjoying learning a new sport.  Her games start in February and I’m struggling to imagine it being much more than a contest of who can get the most serves over the net.    

 

A few more items from this month: 

• On New Years Day, the girls and I went over the Dodson’s garage to let the girls play outside a little bit. 
• Deb has gotten both of her vaccine shots during the month.  
• Deb had a girl’s night where they did some crafts and made wreaths.   
• My birthday celebration was pretty low-key but the girls were excited enough to decorate the house and enjoy some cake with me!   
• Jeremy came over during Deb’s girl’s night and we watched some Purdue basketball.   
• I went over to Beth’s for some afternoon beers on a weekend and we stayed in her garage with hat and gloves.  
• I met up with some neighbor guys for an impromptu happy hour at Blind Owl on a Friday afternoon after getting together in what felt like months.   
  
  
  

December 2020

         As December comes to an end and everyone is looking to ending this very unique 2020, I asked the girls what they are thankful for in the past year.  They both stated they were happy we were able to keep most of our annual trips to certain places along with vacations to see family and friends.  While many of the trips weren’t the same, we still were able to see many of our family members at some point this year and for that we are thankful.   

 

                With no plans and the possibility of staying at home for Christmas like we did for Thanksgiving, we decided to pack up our things and go to skiing in Davis.  We left on Dec 23^rd and it rained a lot on Christmas Eve.  We spent the day relaxing, gathering the rented skis for the girls and watching mass on the iPad.  We woke up to snow on Christmas and opened presents, ate breakfast and then went to Timberline for the first of 3 days on the slopes.  Allison was quickly able to go down Dew Drop and Sarah enjoyed White Out and Winterset.  It was very cold so we enjoyed some breaks every few hours and were very impressed with the upgrades that have been done over the last year.  We had a nice Christmas dinner and everyone slept well after skiing hard all day.  We did it all again on day #2 with the only difference was us having Siranni’s pizza for dinner and I went to a local brewery to buy some beers to bring home, and have a draft beer and a quiet moment to myself.  On Sunday, we skied from 9AM until Noon and then packed up and were home by 8PM.  As with every trip we take, Deb did a fantastic job having everything we needed including bringing all of the food so we didn’t need to go to the grocery store.  The girls got the books they asked Santa for (Dogman and Babysitter’s Club), a Harry Potter Lego set, a Wubble Bubble ball and a squishy craft set.   

 

                The weekend before Christmas, I took the girls to Ohio for a short visit to see Vandervaarts & Grandma.  They built a new house in 2020 which has an “in-law’s” suite.  We arrived around 4:30 in the afternoon and had pizza, played charades and a game on the iPad called “Among Us.” While the girls played that game with their cousins, I enjoyed catching up with mom and Laura.  Their house us very nice and accommodates well having guests with the basement having a separate bedroom and bathroom.   

 

                This month I accepted a new job at Dealers Wholesale. After meeting with the leadership team at the company and seeing the culture, the size and the possibility to really add some value quickly, I decided this was the right thing to do for my family and my career. I’m excited to start in early January and my last day at Kauffman Engineering was Dec. 30^th.  I appreciated the short time at Kauffman and this opportunity is really an example that things can come up when you aren’t looking and least expect it.  I appreciate the guidance and advice from 2 of my favorite people, John Oblazney and Sonja McClelland over the last year as I’ve transitioned from Herff Jones, to Kauffman and now to Dealers Wholesale.   

                  

Sarah’s Things of the Month  

                Sarah continued to enjoy playing tennis at IRC and basketball at IBA.  Both of those lessons ended in December and she is looking forward to a new basketball league with her friends in January.  She enjoyed a virtual birthday party for Jonathan on Zoom in December. 

 

Allison’s Thing of the Month  

                 Allison continued her basketball lessons at IBA and practicing with her Jr. Trojan’s basketball team.  She has also started practicing volleyball and the games start in January.  

 

A few more items from this month: 

• One of our good friends, Liz, turned 40 this month and Deb participated in a driveway birthday celebration. 
• Beth celebrated turning 40 this month by hosting a driveway party of her own.  She had several friends that showed up so I enjoyed seeing several of her friends.  
• We went to see Santa at Sullivan’s with the Sniadeckis.  We had them over to our house for pizza afterwards.  The girls really enjoy this tradition as we all ride in the train as a family on the way to the North pole, but on the way back the kids get to ride it together and 4 adults sit in a small train car for 15 minutes on the way back.   
• Julie and Debbie found a unique way to celebrate their parent’s 45^th wedding anniversary by ordering them food delivered by Doordash and then hosting a Zoom with several friends and family.   
• I got a chance to catch up with Brad and Jeremy a few times this month.  We were together on a Zoom a few days before Christmas, I got to talk on the phone with Brad earlier in the month and also enjoyed watching some football at Jeremy’s earlier in December while getting a chance to see their new pool.  
• While I had the girls in Ohio, Deb had to work until 3PM that afternoon, so she got a chance to enjoy a girl’s night with some friends and a pedicure on Saturday morning.   
• We saw 2 impressive light shows in December.  One was at the state fairgrounds and has a drive-thru light show that coordinates with music on the radio.  Another was our first time to Newfields which was a walk-thru light show that we were lucky enough to see while it was snowing, which made it pretty cool.   
• New Year’s Eve was pretty low-key this year, where we stayed at home, watched some sports and everyone went to bed at 9PM and I stayed up until midnight watching a movie.