The Lonely Ghost

T-man and I ran some errands on Saturday afternoon to prepare for his Ultimate fun tourney today. We found a polka dot sheet for his ghost costume. Unfortunately, when we got home last night, T-man was sporting a fever and not doing well. It’s 11:15 on Sunday morning and he is still sleeping. Bummed he can’t partake in this fun activity with his friends. 

The 80’s in 2022

Our friends love Halloween and have had a huge party for several years (COVID and life put a pause on the party a few years ago). This year, they decided to get people together for “The Goonies” band playing at the Louisville Underground. 

They decided to hosted people prior to the event and it was a fun night (even though I freaked out about costume choices at the last minute). But, our costumes worked out “fine” and we enjoyed rocking out to 80’s music and some good people watching. 

Sporting a vintage Pender football jersey and Mohawk 

Our hosts laughing it up 

The band 

Chris is rocking the mustache 

So fun! 

Pink Out

We didn’t have any plans for Friday night so we said yes to going to the last home MOHI football game. It was a sunny day, but once the sun goes down, it is chilly (but we were ready). 

We ended up setting with a bunch of sophomore parents and had a really nice time (and mostly stayed warm). 

We ended up at Murphy’s for “power hour” after the game with a few friends. We ordered half price drinks and got happy hour priced apps while watching the end of the World Series. 

A really fun impromptu night. 

Ready for the pink out 

We were the only adults dressed for pink out 

Got colder 

But we provided some pink for our friends 

It’s Hard Because it was Wonderful

Saying goodbye is not always hard, but it is hard when the people you are leaving mean so much to you. Today was not as hard as the first time and there is joy in seeing our son thrive. All of us were sad to leave, but happy that we got to steal away with D-man for 48 hours. When we were walking to his dorm he said, “the time went so quickly.” It surely did, but we made the most of the time together. 

Sunday was a quick wrap up with a walk around High Street and ending up the Pulley Diner on campus for a milkshake for T-man and breakfast for the rest of us.  We made a quick stop to drop off D-man and his things at Tappan Hall and made our way back to the car (with a few tears shed by me). 

We made it to the airport with plenty of time and will know better how much time is needed next time. T-man got more ice cream (Graeter’s from Ohio). Next time we have to get in Skyline Chili and hit Brick Street (the huge club on High Street) and meet his friends. Already looking forward to it! 

One last shot 

Ice cream! 

Let’s Go Hawks

Saturday was all about football. Waking up late and watching football. Getting sandwiches prior to football and then heading to Oxford for the football game. We stopped by Walmart in Richmond to grab some supplies for D-man’s room before heading to the game (Kleenex, popcorn, cough medicine, dusting supplies, tide pods, stain stick and anti-wrinkle spray). We got out of Richmond around 1:30 or so and headed to watch the RedHawks take on the Broncos of Western Michigan. 

We stopped by D-man’s residence hall so he could change and off we went to the stadium (a 1.2 mile walk). It was a great day for a football game. We enjoyed taking in the festive atmosphere and walking through the tailgating lot. We also took a souvenir photo before heading into the stadium. 

It was a pretty dull game for three quarters, but the RedHawks worked to make it exciting in the 4th quarter. Unfortunately, they could not score the much needed touchdown to walk away with a victory. But, we all enjoyed the fanfare of a live game and cheering them on as they tried. 

We walked through campus with a quick stop at Tappan Hall before heading back to Richmond. We did a quick drive down High Street (the main drag), which was popping with the Uptown Festival (and the many bars). However, we didn’t want to fight the crowds especially with D-man under the weather. 

Instead, we grabbed dinner at Wings and Rings (had had no wait and unfortunately not traditional wings, but they did have sports on TVs). Back at the hotel, we watched football and set out the felt I brought and played Euchre (D-man and I won the best 2 outta 3). The time with just the four of us was so great - I just wished D-man felt better. 

RV tailgating 

Flags 

Taking it all in 

Ready for the game (the stadium did fill in more) 

Souvenir photo

View back to the stands where we sat 

Love this one 

Finally - gotta see the flags after a TD! 

Not happy 

Father son chat 

Entrance to the stadium 

Upham Hall at night 

Clock tower 

Student center 

A residence hall in D-man’s quad 

Uptown Festival 

Had to play euchre while in Ohio 

Family Weekend

We are fortunate to have a beautiful weekend for family weekend in Oxford. We weren’t sure if we should of brought T-man for the weekend or not. However, when the boys saw each other, I knew it was the right decision. 

We flew in to Indy late on Thursday and stayed at an airport hotel. After the hotel breakfast, we headed to Oxford around 10:30. We took the backroads and arrived around 12:30 and lucked out on a parking spot right by D-man’s dorm. We met D-man at the student center and ordered food for lunch from D-man’s phone. It was so so good to see him. 

We all ordered food off of D-man’s phone from places in the student union - Chinese, sushi and gyros. D-man surprised us and got T-man a milkshake and toasted bread (a Miami tradition) from Pulley Diner. It was great seeing D-man in charge of his domain and being willing to guide us. 

We then walked over to see D-man’s dorm and drop off the things we brought from Colorado (shoes, pants and a coat). D-man then took us on a little hike near his dorm between classes (he found out about it from his hairdresser). When he headed to class, we walked around the campus a bit and ended up at the library. T-man ended up falling in love with the Maker’s Space at the library. We then walked to meet D-man at Farmer School of Business and show T-man around. 

We then walked around an arboretum by the business school and stopped by the physics building to check out the Foucault Pendulum. T-man snagged his sweatshirt at the book store and then we headed back to D-man’s dorm so he could pack. 

We avoided the crowds of Oxford for dinner and had dinner in Richmond at Galo’s Italian Grill. It was a nicer place and I knew D-man liked Italian food - success! We just chilled out back at the hotel room and watched the Phillies win (D-man has a dorm mate who grew up in Philly). Marshall helped D-man with some coding and we talked about his course schedule for next semester. Mostly, we just enjoyed our time together and catching up. I’m glad we are here. 

Ready to board 

Road less traveled 

We found him! 

Toasted roll - yum! 

D-man’s “home” 

Room is looking good 

Bros 

Hike by his dorm 

So cool 

Our guide 

Walking around campus 

Pretty lake on campus 

Crunching of the fall leaves 

Reflection in the pendulum 

Together again 

Italian dinner - yum 

Change

I took a pretty observant walk today after work as I continue to work on being deliberate in how I react to situations. While we can’t control everything around us, we can control our reaction to it. While I may not always get this right, I continue to practice. 

The fall chill is definitely in the air and it was a beautiful fall day for a walk. Fall is that reminder that change can be beautiful.