Too busy to blog!

I like to spread out my activities - but sometimes you just have to go with the calendar!

Monday was the Diamond Brooke (that's our Townhouse Association) ladies monthly get-together. This month we met at Mary Jo's house - #8, just three doors down from our place. Mary Ann helped and others (not all named Mary) brought food and wine.

The two hostesses on the left. Our neighbor Vicki, and a gal named Sue Tyler (we talked about the Atlantic Tylers) on the right...

They had a great turnout - even some former occupants attended. I enjoyed taking to Kathy, who sold us our place, which we love. She and Bill moved just down the street to a house. They're helping raise their granddaughters who are about 10 and 14 years old. The girls' mom, Kathy's daughter has had some problems in her life, but I'm happy to report that Kathy tells me that she is getting back on track and the girls stay with her some of the time.

I really like getting to know my neighbors. Some are original owners here and some are new like we are. The food was great - pulled pork sannies and lots of other munchies. I had a glass of wine - but it is not my friend, so I sipped slowly. A good time was had by all!

Tuesday I went to Dubuque for work. Love that town, but it sure is a long drive! We didn't get back until 7 p.m. and I was really tired - even though Jeff drove on the way back. I now have more sympathy for the Dubuque staffers who make the trip to DSM for meetings frequently.


Angie couldn't make the party, so I snapped her photo with Jim at work

Wednesday was our Jimless Retirement party for work. Our co-worker Jim Bodensteiner had suffered successfully battled non hodgkins lymphoma before I started working at DNR. The damn stuff came back early this year and it was determined he needed a stem cell transplant. Jim was close enough to retirement age - and wife Jackie had just retired from her job. So Jim decided, during his time off from work that he would take retirement. Jim had to go to Iowa City for his procedure and has to stay away from people (we're germy you know) for quite some time.


Tom is a little upset with Jim for retiring...

So Mick, one of the engineers suggested we have a party without him. We can do one later when he's able to get back into the population. Amy and work and I quickly set the date - thinking sooner is better than later, right? I took my friend Robbie Dob's (Robyn Bredensteiner Uehling) idea to get a head shot photo of Jim and put it on a paint stick. Jim on a stick can stand in for real Jim until he's there for real. I had one photo made and did the other ones with the printer.


Bill Ehm with Jim

There are 2 Jims in this pic!

The party went great! Though Amy Wilken wasn't able to make it because she was under the weather. Staff members had fun and talked about getting together again sometime. Creston's Bill Ehm - our Division Administrator even made it. Everyone got their pic with Jim and wrote down a toast or note to Jim that I'll include in the booklet for him.


Council Bluffs Recycling Center staff with Jim

While preparing for the party, an idea popped into my head, and I got goose bumps - because it's like someone/thing else was guiding me. My brainstorm - people across the state know Jim - who, by the way is the nicest man ever. Jim worked on our Solid Waste Alternatives Program - SWAP. It's a grant, no/low interest loan program for waste reduction/recycling.

Since all these people know Jim, why not let them in on the Jim on a stick thing? I sent Jim's photo out to stakeholders - telling them to take their photo with "Jim". He'll get a kick out of it. Staff members can take Jim along on trips. It might help Jim's pass the time at home. He's a great guy - and whatever we can do to help, I'm all in!
If you would like to have your photo with Jim. Let me know, I'll send the file to you. Be a part of the Jim project!

The Game:

On Thursday, we needed to be in cleaning mode, since Jud and Kara were coming for the big (well...not so big this year, since neither team seems to be too great) Iowa State vs. Iowa game. I also made a couple batches of snack mix - Paul needed some for work, plus game day of course! Meanwhile, in Creston, the other 2/3rds of our tailgating couples were partaking of "halfsies" (when you drink partial highballs, pretending that if you don't drink full glasses, you aren't really consuming much alcohol - it's a Margaret McKim thing I believe), coming up with the tailgating strategy, post RV. Donnie still had the television setup, but no longer had a generator.  That ended up in a quick trip to Costco for Paul and me. (But only 1 halfsie for Paul when we got back - and none for me, since I'd had a couple full drinks in Jim's honor the night before).

By Friday, I was exhausted - but instead of my usual laid back work at home schedule, I had 2 meetings! Argh. I think "assisted living" should come much earlier. My mother used to always say that and now I know what she was talking about. If someone could just take care of the stuff like laundry, cleaning and our meals, I could concentrate on the fun stuff like tailgating and party planning.

Jud and Kara arrived Friday night in a whirlwind - they needed to be downtown for a sorority sister's birthday party right away. So not much time to talk then. McKims and McFees arrived around 9:30 a.m. for a Bloody Mary - and we packed stuff up. Traffic was a nightmare going to Ames, making Jud about half queasy in the back of our car. We parked at Vet Med while McFees and our parking pass went to C4 and got a good spot for our tailgating setup. The joint (Ames) was rocking with cardinal and gold and black and gold - many mixed tailgating groups.

Paul and Jeff talk ag while Jeff grills brats

Not a bad location - unless it rains. Jud's friend crawled through that icky road tube later...for 2 beers. He scared kids on the other side.

Kara and Jud were starving by the time they got to our tailgate



A photo Larry Peterson took - Look! I'm in it!

The tailgate was much improved from game one. Too bad the game wasn't better...in my view, the ISU band did win, playing classic rock songs. The Hawkeyes deserved the trophy after this one. The weather was also a winner, and fan behavior was pretty good where we were. A nice mixed group of Creston High School kids stopped by  - nice to know they can all hang out and be civil. I hope the Cyclones find some offense before the next game - the D seemed to have improved a bit since last game. This season looks to be one where we will look for improvement as small victories. And hope the offensive coordinator gets a clue...

Last time we tailgated by a guy in a kilt...it was much shorter...and we heard tell he was "commando"  

 

After the game, traffic was even worse than on the way in. We dropped Kristina McFee Carroll off in Ankeny on our way home, so we did get to catch up with that chicky during the molasses-like ride. Today Jud and Paul got to do the traffic thing all over again - in Kansas City for the Dallas Cowboys vs. Chiefs game. Kara and I got up a bit later and had a nice leisurely breakfast at Mimi's. Then she headed back to K.C. about noon. Now it's laundry, dishes, put stuff away time. And bloggin'.