Diamond Girls

Sure do shine. I went out with the Diamond Brooke ladies last night. It was a small group - just six of us. We went to PF Changs - just on the other side of Jordan Creek Mall. It's our neighborhood.

Connie sets up the nights out - the first Monday of each month. She sends an email to each unit - there are 68 of them, but not all have women in them...we usually have around 10 or 12 gals there, but in the winter there are fewer. The month we met at one of the units in the association there were over 20 of us!

Leslie and Connie

I enjoyed having a smaller group. It made it easier to have just one conversation. We talked about the weather, of course - that storm a couple weeks ago when people had such a long commute home. It took Leslie B. 2+ hours to travel from Urbandale to her place. Other Leslie (not to be confused with Alternate Leslie Goldsmith) lives down the street from us. She is a radio exec with the company that owns several radio stations around here. She and her husband (he travels) moved back to Iowa from Atlanta to be closer to children. Their son is a doc who just finished his residency in Omaha and now practices in DSM. They have grandkids.

Sue Tyler and Sally

Movies were another topic. Nobody liked American Hustle, though we agreed the acting was great and the clothes were awesome. I sure don't remember women wearing clothes where their breasts nearly popped out though - at least not in Atlantic, Iowa. My mom sported a wiglet (hairpiece) sometime during that era. I was too young to pay attention to when she wore it and how it looked. I think it was a short-lived fashion effort on her part.

Me with Linda

Connie recently took herself to the animated moving Frozen. I wish I could have gone with her. When Jud was here over the weekend, we watched Wreck It Ralph on Starzz. It wasn't something I could have ever interested Paul in without Jud's influence. I like animated movies and told Connie to call me next time she needs someone to go with.

I sat by Linda. I hadn't really talked to her before. She and her spouse Dave lived her for a long time but then moved for his job to Minneapolis and then Kansas City. Then they moved back here when Dave retired as their kids live here. I showed her where Jud's girlfriend Kara lives and she said that was really close to where they lived in KC.

Sally and Sue Tyler and fun to talk to as they are Des Moines natives - so they know all the locals and the original joints. I told Sue that I know another Sue Tyler from Atlantic. Sue just moved to Diamond Brooke not long before we did and she loves it here. Her husband - a former DM Register employee - report? passed away a few years ago and Sue decided to sell the home they owned on 50th Street in West Des Moines. She says she likes having all the people around - she plays bridge on Wednesdays with a group.

Sally is a retired teacher. She told about her church - Plymouth Congregational. They operate a program that outfits women for job interviews. They have helped over 1,000 women so far. I plan to start saving my clothes for Sally to take there from now on.

I plan to meet with Connie tomorrow night. We're going to arrange a meeting of Odie, our dog, with her granddaughter Logan who is 16. If it works, we could have a new dog sitter. Fingers crossed! Connie used to live in KC too, and worked for an outfit that helped independent hardware companies. So she knows the Cappels from Atlantic and the Seckingtons in Creston. Small world.


The toilet did it!

We came home from work early today - it was snowing and we wanted to beat the idiots. We stopped at HyVee on Grand for - what else milk and bread. Plus some other stuff. I couldn't resist snapping a couple pics. Odie is getting used to snow - she didn't even wait for Paul to sweep the walk when we arrived home - she leaved off the steps and tinkled. #sleddog.

Oh man - how pretty would I be in these?