This old chair and other stuff

It's the "post Kitty" era, and Paul and I have been washing and cleaning in our bedroom. That was home base for Samantha - our cat of 19 years who went to kitty heaven last weekend. Our room was hairball central. It's amazing how much fur a short-haired cat can shed over the course of time. I'm not Holly Homemaker, but do run the vacuum periodically.

Kitty spent time under and on our bed, and on my mom's old chair. I've had the chair for over ten years - since dad's second wife Pat (we called her P2 since Mom was also named Pat) decided to re-decorate their Atlantic condo, and for some strange reason Mom's chair wasn't part of the plan. Dad's chair was too far gone to save - a smokey blue wing back recliner.

We started to vacuum, and noticed dampness, stains, rips - it had to go.

Mom's chair - complete with ottoman, is a comfy wing back. I love that chair. Sitting in it is like a little hug from Mom. It didn't go with our living room colors (orangish/cream), so I put it in the bedroom. The ottoman has served well as a step stool for the pets to get onto the bed, which is high for their little legs. The chair has been great for reading, even work, or when others take over the living room for watching the Packers.

While cleaning yesterday we made the decision. The chair has to go. Tough decision to make, but stains and the faded, torn covering helped. Three pets and 30 years have taken their toll. We'll keep the ottoman for now - until we find something else. Hate to do it, but gotta. Stinky!

And I still have Mom's blue suede bell bottoms and cardigan!

Other stuff:

• You may recall my blog about my elbow surgery and the tumor the surgeon discovered in there. Jokingly I said the tumor was my twin Imelda - the shoe lover, and that I'd lost my lust for shoes upon removal. Take heart all ye! I've recovered a bit. (Hopefully without any foreign objects growing inside me).

My foot is on the dash of Paul's car. I know the socks are nerdy - so am I.

• Found these cute slip ons at Marshall's.  Our office is so chilly with the AC on, sandals are not going to be possible for a while (my body temp runs at about 97.6 degrees, and I'm always cold, especially my feet!) - so I need something to wear with skinny jeans and cropped pants.
• Quiet weekend in Creston with the Gsmiths. Odie had shots at the vet Friday. yesterday she was either feeling poorly from that or down in the dumps, missing her kitty sis. Me too.
• Saw these at Seed on my walk during lunch at work this week. This store is on Grand in the East Village. That store always makes me wish I had a green thumb. Alas - I don't. Pablo did put plants in pots (his thumb is greenish) on our front porch this weekend - from photos I took of ones I liked in Decorah. So I do take credit for good plant taste...

Welded birds and plants at Seed are springy!

Violation

Amy called yesterday afternoon, and it didn't take long to figure out it was one of those calls parents hate to get. She was very upset, on the verge of tears - her purse had just been recovered in the restroom at work - without the wallet of course. Matt, her boss, fished it out of the toilet.

Amy, Jenna, Rachelle - 3 of the 4 Amigos

She was flying out for a long-awaited trip to Los Vegas (Vegas Baby!) with her college roommates - Jenna, Allie and Rachelle at 7:20 PM. What a crappy thing to happen, and what bad timing! She had her winnings from last week's Once Upon a Race in there - $100. She partnered with Allie (who just moved to Denver) and another friend to solve clues and dash between Denver bars, dressed as their fave fairytale characters. Amy was Ursula from Disney's Little Mermaid. Their team won the whole thing - beating some 700 others. That's my girl - way to know your way around bars!

Her wallet contained a few more funds too but it was lucky she hadn't yet gotten more $ for the trip. Credit/debit cards, insurance card, driver's license, library card and other assorted important stuff were in there too.

I felt helpless as she then did begin to cry as the reality of the situation sunk in. I tried to remain calm - and to keep her calm. She realized she had her passport at home, so she would still be able to fly with that ID. She would leave immediately to report the theft to her bank and get vacation money - as she wouldn't have plastic for her purchases. She's staying until Monday a.m. I advised her to cancel anything she could immediately and contact the police.

Amy works as a graphic designer at a meat packaging facility called Custom Made Meals. She designs labels and all the marketing materials for the reps who sell the products to supermarkets around the country. Super Target (Archer's Farm brand) and Krogers are two companies of their customers. There are only a few people in the CMM office, and several hundred on the production floor. I wondered how someone had waltzed into her office and stolen her purse so easily. It's such a violation!

Amy later called me from the airport to report that Matt had had reviewed security (lack of?) film. The evil girl/woman was not an employee, but had come in with people stopping at the office to pick up paychecks. She went by the reception desk and up the stairs to Amy's office, evidently quickly finding her purse. Amy was out on the production floor at the time. She snuck into the restroom across the hall, ditched the purse in the potty (why'd ya gotta do that?) and took the good stuff. Amy's migraine meds are wet. Hope she stays headache free until she can get replacements!

By the time the banks checked, the stealer had racked up $700 in charges on Amy's cards. I hope they can nail this bitch! The cops were there when Amy stopped back at work after her bank visit.  I'm not sure if she charged purchases online or in person. They said the chick would be charged with identity theft as well as stealing, since she used the credit cards - but first they must catch her!

Amy sounded much better from the airport. She will call today with a few things to take care of - like paying her cell phone bill, since her credit card is cancelled. And her library card, cuz that chick is probably planning to head to the library today to check out a bunch of stuff. Yeah! I actually emailed Amy a list of things to to when your wallet is stolen. She'll have to deal with the driver's license next week. Yuck.

Our family has been so fortunate. We've not been touched much by crime. I've had my credit card cancelled because others were trying to access it. But I was home and it wasn't much of an inconvenience. I left my purse someplace and had my cash taken - not a lot of $. Jud's TV was stolen from his apartment his sophomore year of college - those flatscreens are easy to walk off with. We suspected an inside job from the one loser roommate's friends. But heck, we used to leave our house door open - never locking it, until the past couple years.

Generally we're very surprised when others take our stuff. It's not the way things are supposed to work. My baby learned the hard way that there are some bad people that think otherwise - that our hard work is theirs for the taking. It makes me sad when my baby is upset. Coulda been worse I guess - our niece in NYC was robbed at gunpoint! 

I hope Vegas and Amy's buddies help take the sting of this violation away. And this lesson is another of life's tough ones - there are bad people. Amy did a good job reacting to and dealing with the situation. I'm glad to support my children, but am proud that they are equipped to handle life on their own!

"The callous sophisticates laughed at Judy's tiny head"

Sometimes I feel like "Judy" when I try to do girl things like buy (and apply) makeup - and do my hair.

So that phrase went through my head today at Target when I was makeup shopping. My head felt tiny.

It all started in 1976, when I found someone just as warped as I am - when I started school at ISU. Vicki Gernand and I met that first week of school. Soon after, we discovered a fabulous quirky book of cartoons at the bookstore. It was "Never Eat Anything Bigger Than Your Head", by B. Kliban.

Oh the hours we spent pouring over the B. Kliban books. Our two other roomies, Sal and Jane chuckled at some of the drawings. But they weren't warped like Vic and I are....they didn't really get it.

He's the guy that made the Cat - mugs, stickers, calendars etc. so popular. B. Kliban was an artist who drew cartoons for Playboy. He wrote several books - or should I say drew.
There is even a song! http://www.eatmousies.com/intro.html

I still remember many of the sayings from B. Kliban books. I know - sad since I often don't remember names of people I see every day...

Like - "You know what they say - chiggers can't be boozers" with a pic of a chigger up against the curb all boozed up! What a hoot. Like the Far Side - really far.

Reality Bites

I'm readjusting to my former schedule. It sucks. That's okay...I'll get over it. The fact that Paul isn't here anymore.  And there is no East Village loft with a black wiener dog in it waiting to greet me. I no longer have the luxury of daydreaming about which fun place we are going to try out for supper. Tonight the freeway was a parking lot when I left work at 5 PM. The 10 hour day is killing me - I'm beat.

I was stopped (or close to it) when I snapped this shot

Okay I got that off my chest! Phew...

On the plus side, I'm settled back in at Joan's. I love the bright bathroom with the close mirror here - great for we blind-o's. Joan decided to wash the cloth shower curtain while I was gone, and evidently destroyed the waterproof properties of the inner layer - or so a couple of her nieces found out when they each took showers here recently. Water went all over the floor. Glad I missed that! So Joan bought a new plastic inner liner.

My bed is also a good sleeper here at the Joan abode. I brought my electric blanky back this week, it's nice and cool down there and that makes for good sleepin'! Which goes well with 10 hour work days and an old chick!

Joan is fun to be around. She isn't one of those moody roomies that you never know how to approach. And she puts up with me.

I walked at lunch around the State Capitol. I feel privileged every day to work near this historical, beautiful place. Important work is done there. (and some dumb stuff). Today, children from Clear Creek were sitting in the shade eating picnic lunches awaiting their turns to tour.

I shopped tonight. By myself - not that shopping w/ Pablo isn't fun, but shopping with Pablo isn't fun. Or let me re-phrase. It's not the same - it's not him, it's me. I feel rushed when he's there. I took a pic of these cute doggies in the window at Jordan Creek.

These stuffed dogs remind me of Moki the Wonderdog

One more night after tonight and I get to go home Thursday - working at home Friday. Friday afternoon I get to do some errands - dentist for me and rabies shot for Odie. How fun will those be? For extra fun, I may ask the vet to expel Odie's anal gland. It doesn't get any better than that!

I'm not sad because it's over - I'm happy because we had a chance to live together in a loft in DSM. Every day is a gift!

the middle place by Kelly Corrigan and other stuff

We read this tome (I was using the word book too much in this sentence) for Book Chicks Book Club. It's about a women dealing with being a wife, motherhood and being a daughter. Then she discovers she has breast cancer, and her dad finds out his prostate cancer has come back as bladder cancer.

I read the book over a weekend. I liked the author's writing style and the book drew me in. A couple sections drew me in - this part, two sentences that capture my feelings exactly on faith.

Page 203 -
"I envy my dad his faith. I envy all people who have someone to beseech, who know where they're going, who sleep under the fluffy white comforter of belief."

I also liked how the author wasn't afraid to be hard on herself - her weaknesses. She called herself out on a couple of them. Still she totally idolizes her father - to a point that I found to be a bit over the top for an adult woman. But hey, maybe my dad was just kinda fabulous, unlike Big Greenie.

I'm looking forward to discussion of this book with my bookie friends!

• Sunday I finally got some girl time with my BFF Deb. Since the hardware store that doubles at a pseudo starbucks in Creston is closed for tornado repairs, we went to McD for Latte- and hardly came up for a breath. And we didn't even get to politics, baby! But we covered a lot of territory - our vacation, both works, Keith's bride-to-be's bridal shower, Jud's up-coming move, Kara's new apartment, Brett and Shawna's visit, Paul's job experience, Amy's big win at Once Upon a Race in Denver, plus Kitty's unfortunate demise - and of course tornado stories. When I dropped her off at her house nearly 2 hours later - we both did a big sigh of satisfaction. It was good!
• I got to have breakfast with most of my homies this a.m. Nan is in Arizona (with Jim) being unemployed. She works at the hospital which you may recall is a shambles - take heart Nancy, the Servicemaster crews are there in force! Diana was not there either - not sure if she and Donnie are still at the lake (or if she even went). It was reported that Lucy was quilting this weekend. Susan had photos from daughter Lindsay's bachelorette party here in DSM. Looked like a good time was had by all. Patti told us about all the volunteers from around the state who showed up to help clean up at her brother-in-law's place (wiped out by tornado). Boy Scouts from Onawa - where the Scout Camp was hit, and a church group, complete with chain saws. It gave me chills to hear about people coming all that way to help. Bobbie reported that her Mom Grace is back in the hospital - she suffered a heart attack recently, and was having chest pains again. Scary!
• I got my hair cut today - phew! Sarah cut those wings off the sides - lets hope I can get it under control now. After work I put on my walking shoes and took a walk around the Capitol, around through the East Village. It's just not the same without my Pablo and my little black wiener dog waiting for me on East Court Street. sniff sniff...
• I moved my shi*, um stuff back into Joan's. I never really asked her if she was ready for all that. Regardless - here I am. I need to settle back into Waukee - get back into my routine. I feel so fortunate to have a pal like Joanie willing to take in a vagabond like me.

Our Kitty 1994-2012

Samantha the Panther

She saw me through my maturing years. And now she's gone. I just spoke with Amy on the phone to tell her the news - we both cried. I told Jud yesterday. She was their kitty sister.

Samantha (a/k/a Pooncy, and mostly Kitty) Goldsmith passed away yesterday at Creston Vet Clinic. She'll be cremated and scattered at the Pet Cemetery in DSM. Paul and I were there as our longtime vet, Richard Brus gave her the shot to render her unconscious for the next part of the humane "putting to sleep" routine. I gave her one last kiss and we left. I shed a few tears, just like I did when I called and talked to Mindy, the vet tech to make the appointment. Our cat had been slipping health wise and when we returned to town Friday, we found her totally blind. It was time.

As you can tell from her birth year, Kitty was old - we figure 19 years (I know the math doesn't make sense - but we thought she was 18 last year...) at her passing. (I was only 36 when we got her - a mere child!) Samantha was Amy's  9th birthday present - but she was already 6th months old by then. You see, Amy ever the softee, really wanted a kitten - but decided to adopt this beautiful black stray (with 4 white paws and a white beard) from the vet clinic. (This after a disastrous attempt at a kitten adoption when we discovered we had a boy kitty instead of the girl she wanted).

Samantha, was never a greatly affectionate cat. I believe that was due to her being mistreated as a kitten. Prior to our adoption, she lived in a cage at the vet clinic for several weeks. But she tolerated us quite well! And for some cats - that's saying a lot. Kitty was supremely mellow when compared to my first cat Bucko (RIP 1980-1993), who used to spring off my back and onto the shelf of my closet when I leaned over to put on my shoes.

Kitty left, Odie right - me in the middle

Samantha also got along quite well with our dogs. Most recently, she was queen over Odie, except when genetics took over and Odie chased her like the rodent hunter she is. If Odie was on my lap and Kitty decided that's where she wished to be - by golly, Kitty just walked on Odie and the dog skedaddled! The pecking order was set.

When we first moved to our present home, Kitty checked the whole thing out, pausing to hiss at herself in a mirror under the stairs. She also loved to sit by the back door waiting for a visit from the neighbor's cat, so she could pitch a fit.

Paul has been a trouper through the years, taking on the brunt of her care - food/poop scooping. Until recently she hasn't been to the vet for years - because she bit the vet, even when he tried to utilize a Plexiglas box to give her a shot. I guess she remembered those months of confinement as a stray...

When Kitty was much younger, she used to jump up on top of the cabinets in the kitchen (before our remodel made the cupboards taller), and lean on a stuffed wiener dog (before we got Odie) observing us safely from above when we entertained. Oh - she never liked any people but our family. She always knew the kids right away, even after they moved away.

It was always surprising when she would allow strangers to pet her. In her "golden" years she began staying on my footstool when friends would visit. If we were out of town, cat sitters rarely caught sight of her - and she would hiss at them if they did.

About a month ago she decided she needed a drink of my ice water...

When Paul and I returned from trips, Kitty made sure to let us know how angry she was at us - knocking over things on our dresser or tipping water glasses (or drink from them) over on my bed stand. She would often meow during the night the past couple years and walk on my head. Love those pets! She and Odie both slept with us at night. And oh those night I awoke to...if you're a cat owner you know the noise. Hairball! I'm pretty good at scampering out of bed to rush the cat to the tiled floor. (That I will not miss, along with the shedding)

I didn't sleep well last night - and today I keep thinking I see her sleek dark figure in the corner of my eye. After 19 years, I miss the old girl. Having pets is bittersweet - the end is so tough. Samantha you gave us many years of purring, companionship and stories.

We thank you! See you in the next life.

Capris Kayaking

One week ago Friday, I talked Cindo and Pablo into kayaking in the Isles of Capri. I'd seen ocean kayakers while on our morning walk one day. The, when looking through a local magazine I saw an ad for a kayak rental place with no reservations required.

We got up and ate breakfast at Susie's Diner - one of our fave places in town. Then we headed to Capri Fish House and Tony fixed us up with 3 Perception kayaks, paddles and life jackets. Paul got the map - was that because he's the guy? The kayaks were around 11 footers. We were in the backwater - it was salt, but no waves.

Right away we saw this osprey nest - and Dad Bird was just bringing supper in - a nice fishy.

We weren't too brave - sticking to areas that looked easy to get back to the Fish House from. But we paddled for a couple hours (we had the kayaks until noon) and found an interesting little beach. Though Cindo had never been kayaking before, she loved it and she caught on right away (we Bullocks are water people - thanks to our Mama).



After we left the beach, we paddled around to where we could see Marco - the south end, called Tiger Tail Beach. It was cool to see it from the water. Then we as we paddled back around toward our point of origin - we saw a dolphin not 20 yards from Paul! It was so cool! It kept surfacing near us for a couple minutes - then off it went.

I'm glad we broke our usual mold of just sitting on the beach and at the pool after our morning walk. It was fun to paddle the waters of South Florida! 



Finally...home again

We are finally home in Creston. It's such a relief! We'd been pouring over photos, videos and written accounts of the storm and aftermath. Now we can see it for ourselves, and talk to those who lived through it.

It seems to be almost like grief. I believe re-telling of trauma can be therapeutic. We heard some stories last night at The Lobby when we met Bobbie, Jeff and Deb (Larry was in Iowa City covering Collin Bevins for the New Advertiser at a wrestling superstar thing) for a drink and pizza (ordered in from nearby A&G).

• Bobbie and Jeff said the actual tornado was over in scant seconds - B ran to get her purse before going downstairs. When she got to the top of the stairs, it was over! Jeff says she should leave the damn purse - next time. They live just west of the hospital complex and after the storm, they ventured that direction to see where debris that had hit their house and yard had come from (a picture frame flew through their garage window and their yard was scattered with someone's belongings and treelimbs). After driving over some downed power lines, they saw the firetruck pull up to the hospital, and decided to go west to get to neighbors to the south.
• Upon arrival, they found the Scott family, whose home was hit, in stunned shock but okay physically. Windows were broken and part of the roof gone from their beautiful home. Jeff said the walls were coated with leaves and grass. People began to show up with tarps right away. Folks went about securing things as best they could.
• Deb told the story of a track coach for Creston High School, Pat Schlapia. He's a bit of a throwback when it comes to technology, so Saturday after evening Mass, he went to the middle school to make copies of results from Friday night's Panther Relays for Deb's sports news guy husband. Whilst in the school, a tornado hits! He heard debris flying, the heat/air units fly off the roof. When he arrived back at his Ford truck parked a the curb - the back window is gone due to flying debris - but he drives to Peterson's house with papers. When they see his truck, all dented and battered they're wondering about his sanity!
• Jeff and Bobbie's neighbors, Dave and Sharon Moffitt watched their pool cover take off like a parachute when the tornado passed. They looked at each other in awe. Moffitts now have 3 college students living at their home. (The college dorms were pretty beat up by the twister). We all agreed that those students won't likely do anything during their stay that Moffitts 4 daughters (now grown up) didn't already think of...
• Jon Carroll was taking a hot bath when the twister hit, while Roxanne escaped to the basement. He agreed that it would have been embarrassing to be naked if the house was wiped out, but said he'd heard the tub was a safe place to be. He says he may take to the basement next time.  
• Dennis Leith suffered the devastating loss of his log home - a place with a lot of history to his family. He grew up there, and raised his family there. The family hosted football fundraisers in the barn (now gone) and class reunions were held there, complete with live band according to my roomie, Joan. A desk in the home (250 lb!) was missing in action. The storm wiped out huge beautiful trees around the home. Dennis vows to rebuild.
• I quickly read through storm coverage in the Creston News Advertiser when we arrived home yesteray. Several of the stories and accounts touched me, but the column by Creston School Superintenent Tim Hood (he's a gruff kinda guy who isn't naturally grateful) makes my eyes well up - even now when I think of it. I would link it if I could figure out how, but I'll have to paraphrase.

"I can't find words to express how proud I am to be associated with this staff, student body and this community. There has been a tremendous outpouring of support for our district...by (those groups) and by surrounding areas. Throughout the cleanup people kept showing up with buckets, rakes, tractors, skid-loaders, dump trucks and more importantly with a spirit to help.

We have received calls from neighboring districts, various colleges, community groups, as well as the Salvation Army and the Red Cross with offers of assistance. ...FEMA officials were incredulous that so many people came to help in such a short time span. Well folks - that's the Midwest, that's Iowa that's CRESTON.

(Someone asked) "Why are so many people here?" ...the answer is we are a family. "Panther Pride" was on public display for the state to see, and we've done ourselves proud.

There's no way we can thank every person who helped after the disaster....many came and slipped quietly away without fanfare....
He goes on to thank the officials like fire, emergency responders, utility workers etc.

The response of my community to this disaster just makes me so darn proud. Bobbie said Todd and Lori Scott were so surprised at how many people showed up at their house to help them - people they didn't really know or consider "friends". It brings back memories of when our baby Patrick died.

People are so generous by nature - my faith in humanity is restored. Temporarily, anyway.   

Baaack in DSM

We had a swell vacation in sunny Florida. And 10 days was just right - I was ready to come home when it was time. And I still am - ready to go home. To Creston. In the meantime, we're still here in the big city, working through Friday.

The trip. I've already told you a bit about our vaca - to my  happy place in Marco. Paul and Colby tried their hands at deep sea fishing Tuesday morning. So Cindo and I walked down there, stopping at Starbucks along the way. The boys had fun fishing - met a fam from Jersey, and caught a few fishies - none too large though. We won't have a giant pointy nosed marlin on our wall.

We tried a new place to dine that night before Colby left - The Sand Bar. It was fun! I tried my first lugie. I mean, oyster on the half-shell, with lots of horse radish and shrimp sauce. Coconut shrimp was my entree. I'm sure Colbs was ready to get back to someplace where he could hang with people who stayed up past 10 p.m. But we had fun being with him - all growed up. Well, kinda. They'll always be kids on our eyes!

On Wednesday we got up very early to get him to the airport in Fort Myers on time. After a Perkins breakfast, we off to shop at the outlet mall. Not so fast! It didn't open until 10 a.m. but we got there at 8:45 or so...but there was a nice koi pond cleaner guy to look at. My shopping outing was successful as well. Love that Columbia Store!

We attended the movie Hunger Game when we got back to Marco. Loved it! I'd started the book series on vacation, and read all 3 by Friday. Compelling. The movie was well done.

Each day we walked on the beach - alternating north and south. It's a great workout and takes about an hour. One morning we even saw surfers - rare for this beach. I loved this shell tree, and sculpture.
More later - have just been so busy!

Creston's Challenge

I didn't realize what a computer hoarder Paul G. Goldsmith had become...snivel, sniff. While I'm relegated to my smart phone and Nook - unable to blog on vacation. But that's okay - I didn't come here to be tethered to my computer. That's why I left it at home.

Today Paul and Cindy are on their last walk. I stayed home to do some laundry (and snuck the computer). I didn't want to do the "this is my last walk of the year" walk anyway. It's another gorgeous day in paradise. Paul and I have spent the past day and a half pouring over storm coverage from Creston - where a tornado hit in our absence!

So thankful nobody was killed or seriously injured in the storm. (And that it didn't hit our house - Lila, the dog-sitter checked it out). The thing did strike just a mile north - on my usual walk path, near the Country Club neighborhood and our hospital, college - all on the NW side of town. Many friends make their living at the hospital - It makes me sad they have been impacted so greatly - but again, in the big picture, no lives were lost and things can be replaced and fixed.

Saturday night all we had were some reports on Facebook, and Paul talked to Bobbie who along with Jeff was helping tarp the roof at the Scott home. The photos posted on various sources since then are so compelling. Here we are in paradise, and our town has been ravaged!
DSM Register Photo Gallery
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=D2&Dato=20120415&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=204150802&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=1

I'm ready to head home. I'm sure I'll be full of regrets once I get there, but a worker bee can only be decadent, eating, drinking and doing nothing worthwhile for so long. It's been fun - hanging with Cindy, and Colby earlier in the week. But my home beckons. People there are strong and resourceful. They aren't waiting for outsiders to show up and fix things. (Even though the Gov did tour yesterday - see Register photos - showing our pal DON Gwen Buck, followed by our neighbor Hospital Administrator Monte Neitzel).

Creston will be back, baby - better than ever.

Live...from MI

No - not Michigan. Marco Island, Florida. Paul decided to bring his laptop, and we actually have WiFi in our unit this year. Once we figured out what the secret password was. So here I am on Tuesday a.m. with a few minutes to blog. Paul and nephew Colby (he's Jud's age) are deep sea fishing.

Colby and Cindy our first night at another place I'll review - Crazy Flamingo

Cindy and I are enjoying a leisurely morning watching the Today Show whilst outside the sun shines and people walk the beautiful beach I love. Later we'll walk down to Marco Marina to see what (if) they caught anything. And if they puked. I hope the sea was calm, and easy on their stomachs. Yesterday Colbs rented a ski-do just after lunch and the food didn't sit so well...let's say the dolphins might have gotten a treat. But he enjoyed buzzing around on the ski-do.

Our usual morning walks - Cindy and Paul

Cindo's husband Bolder didn't come to Florida. He never does, because he doesn't do hanging out out by the pool well. You might recall he's fighting prostate cancer - and is now in the midst of radiation therapy - week 4. It seems to be going pretty well. He went through chemo before Christmas. The guy has been hit with a lot. I'm glad we get to see him soon, when we travel to Vail on our annual Memorial Day trek - to see Amy and the Lefebvres. This is my time to pamper my sis - because it's hard on a spouse to watch their loved one suffer. So far we're having a great time.

Weather has been perfect!

Yesterday was Cindy's bday. She's lucky to celebrate in our fave place, our parents' winter home, Marco, at the Gulfview. We went to Mom and Dad's favorite (and thus our) favorite restaurants - the Little Bar. Favorite because the food is sooo delish! It's become tradition to go there for Cindy's birthday. Paul and Cindy order Twin Lobster Tails - Market Price. (don't ask) I get blackened shrimp. Colby was happy with Grouper Almondine. Their garlic salad dressing is so tasty! Colby has peanut butter pie. 5+ Moki heads!

The atmosphere is part of the joy there too. So many good memories with our parents, sisters and kids. Some funny ones too - Susi and the chicken always comes up. The past few years there has been a regular who must get a drink (or two) at the bar there. He parks his golf cart outside the door - and his parrot waits for him. You don't see that in Iowa much.

Colby heads back home tomorrow. He graduated from college last spring as Jud did, with a BS - he went through a culinary program but also took the additional things to fill out his education, accounting, management. He's a total foodie and can tell us so much about what we're eating. Some times too much! Yet he's a well-rounded kid that likes to rock-climb, raft and is into music. He moved back to the Vail area after college to work for a group of barbecue restaurants he worked for during college - but he talks about moving elsewhere someday. We've loved having him here. It's nice to get to know him better as a young adult - not the little kid that used to bite Jud when Jud would hit him....oh those cousins!

Stay tuned for more. We love our Marco restaurants, and being with my fam!

Off to our happy place

Pablo the Poolboy and I are off to our happy place. Marco Island, Florida hold a lot of happy memories for us - and a few sad ones. My parents bought their condo at Gulfview Condominiums there in the late 80's.

My sisters and I sold Dad's place after he passed away in 2006, but Cindy, Paul and I return each year - renting a unit. Susi and Jim go too, later in the month. The places are small and we couldn't possible squeeze all of us into one all at the same time. Last year Betso even came when we were there.

So I won't be blogging for a while. But I'll be gathering thoughts and photos as ammo for future pieces. I won't forget you dear readers! In the meantime I'll be on the beach, by the pool, sipping lemondrops and eating shrimp...

Latest update

Sunday we attended Palm Sunday Mass at the cathedral. I enjoy going to church there. I like the priest, I think his name is John Bertogli. He doesn't do politics - at least he hasn't when I've attended. Sunday he talked about the Palm processional, explaining that process is part of that word. Our lives are a process. That is pretty deep.

After Mass, we stopped at HyVee and walked Odie to the local coffee joint. Later in the day, we delivered some of our clothes to my roomie, Joan's for when we get back from Florida. Paul will work the rest of that week here, and she's letting us stay there. What a swell person she is! Her dad passed away last week, so she's spent a great deal of time in Creston with her mom - not at home. I noticed her lawn needed mowing, so Pablo and I dug her mower out and fired it up. It felt good to be able to doing a little something for her since she's done so much for me.

That afternoon we went to Hooters. Yeah, I know...I always said there need to be a Big Dicks to make life fair - and then they invented a sporting goods store with that name! Go figure. Anyway, we needed to get a gift card for our buddy Jim, who so kindly scoops our driveway when it snows. It didn't do that a lot this winter, but he was there a couple times. Nice man, who happens to like Hooters wings. At least that's what he claims...he likes about the joint. We thought the wings were fine. Not as good as Jethros though. 3 Moki heads.

Around 5 p.m. we took a longish walk and ended up at El Bait Shop - where the food was better than Casa in Creston, but nothing too great. 3.5 Moki heads. We did sit outside in the balmy weather. On our way there, Paul grabbed a beer at the Irish bar on the corner of Court and 2nd Avenue. They don't serve food - thus our stop at El Bait.

El Bait Shop - burger for Paul, burritos for me - saved one for the next day

Monday night we were both depressed. It's our last week here. We slumped over the bridge to Spaghetti Works - sat outside. Paul recalled we hadn't eaten there since we went with Petersons before we took the boys to an Iowa Cubs game. They have a big salad bar that actually hit the spot - but it's pretty basic. I ate pasta, Paul had chicken with pasta. 3.5 Moki heads. The outdoor temp was perfecto.

On the way home, the fishermen were out on the DM river bridge. Cool guys. NOT. I heard one say he'd gotten a sunburn from being there all day. Wow!  

Spring Cyclone

The Cyclones super secret weapon - Bubba!

Quarterbacks go through drills

We had the rare privilege to attend a closed ISU football practice/scrimmage yesterday with McKims. Their son Ryan is on the coaching staff again - now as a Graduate Assistant (GA) with the offensive line. That's where he played back when he was in high school. Ryan has a mind and a passion for the game. Head Coach Paul Rhoads saw that when he worked on the staff in operations when Rhoads was hired at ISU. Ry took a year off to try a few months at "real" jobs - banking and then high school coaching in Creston - which he loved. But Coach Rhoads came calling, and somehow he got Ryan's attention.

Ryan looks official with a clipboard

The weather forecast Saturday was partly sunny and 70s. Fail! We dressed for that weather. Practice was in Jack Trice Stadium - in the wind and drizzle. Shivers! It was way cool though - seeing the players up close like that. We stood along the side of the field, first watching the guys go through some drills. Ryan was quite impressive (especially in the eyes of his parents) bossing those big boys around.

Scrimmage

It was easy to tell when the scrimmage started - the guys with the striped shirts (refs) were blowing whistles just like in real games. But it was more controlled  - in situations with the first stringers going against each other and second string D going against second string offense - like that, through third string. A few times the players got up close and personal with us - but we didn't get run over or anything.

AJ Klein #47

A student greeted us for the scrimmage...

There were some other outsiders in attendance - coaches from all over Iowa, including the staff from Creston, where Ryan coached last fall. Paul talked to Steve Shantz - who now coaches at Greenfield. He used to teach Spanish (not all that well, considering neither of my children can speak Spanish) and coach in Creston.

Paul talks (in English) to Steve Shantz

It was a really cool experience. But cold. And we got hungry! It had been a while since any of us had been to Hickory Park, Ames famous restaurant. So off we went. Even though it was mid-afternoon, there was a half hour wait. But it was worth it! I got my usual - smoked turkey on an onion bun (oh so fresh) with mashed potatoes. Paul and I split a sundae for desert - a concoction with hot fudge, almonds and coconut. Heavenly. 5 Moki heads. Sigh.





Ryan and me, surrounded by guy's locker room smells...

Don and Diana had some stuff to deliver to Ryan - and he was done with his duties by then. So we went by the Jake - the Jacobson Building where the football offices and lockerrooms are. So we got a tour! There weren't any young men running around semi-nude, but it was still neat. The facility will be replaced by a new one in just a few months by a state-of-the-art facility. Nothing but the best for our Clones! We had a good time doing what we enjoy - being fans of our team.

ISU's new football facility