Happy New Year!

It's like opening a present. The year 2016 is a gift perched on the table, dressed up in shiny wrapping paper - with ribbons and bows. It's full of opportunity! I'm excited. More than I have been about a new year for a while.

big hair

Let's take a quick look back at 2015. Not a bad year overall. They go by so quickly now - or has it always been that way, and I just didn't notice? Yeah, that was it. Like my 30's...where did they go? I feel like I missed that decade! When I look at photos from the late '80s to the late '90s, ugh. I know why I'd like to forget. Bad hair, glasses. I digress.

The year 2015 - the highlights revolve around our children of course. Jud asked Kara Whited to marry him - which we happily look forward to on April 23, 2016. They seem to enjoy their lives in St. Louis. Amy has settled in with a fella, Corey Park, and the two of them have adopted a puppy named Franklin. The three of them are moving to Pennsylvania in January for Corey's job. You know what. Seeing your kids lead lives where they navigate the ups and downs successfully - that is satisfying! Of course Mom and Dad still like the opportunity to weigh in with our opinions and back pats and hugs when necessary.

Paul and I both feel so rich when it comes to friendships. That doesn't happen easily - both parties must take time to nurture the relationship. Sometimes it might take a lot of work. Other times, you can lose track of someone and then connect again years later - like finding that long lost Benjamin you hid and rediscovered. Joy!

When I went to college I lost track of several of my high school friends. Oh sure I lived with Sally - and she was a bridesmaid in my wedding. And Robyn and I kept showing up in each other's lives. Some of the others I'd see at class reunions - and we'd have fun catching up, but then off we'd go to our lives, raising kids or working. When our classmate Theresa Faust passed away right around when we all turned 50, several of us talked and decided we should get together in Omaha. I thought it would be fun, but that would be it.

I swear someone said to act goofy in this shot...homegirls

I was wrong! Thanks to Theresa, what happened was a reconnection with the grown up versions of a bunch of girls I didn't really know how much I loved. Now we seem to find ways to get together at least every couple years if not more often. We text each other frequently to say how important this group is to us. And to talk about funny things like anatomical mushrooms.

Though I don't get to see them as frequently, my college pals are as comfy as old shoes too. I can slip them on easily - like when Behrs and Wilts came to a football game in October. Paul too enjoys his pheasant hunting trips to SoDak with college pals.

Creston homies at the lake

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention our Creston pals - people who have hung with us since the '80s and looked past my bad fashions during those years...We had fun biking with Bobbie and Jeff this summer. Okay, I sat on the deck at the bar and made memories that included beer. It sure was fun though. Paul got to go to Lake of the Ozarks this year with Higgins and McKims while I did the Atlantic Homegirl thing, but I vow to plan my trips better in 2016. We got together with Lents and Weis's a couple times too. Our tailgating peeps, Kevin and Kari went all out this year and we had a great time despite our team's less than stellar play. I enjoyed several get-togethers with my bestie Deb - including a couple concerts and my only kayak outing of the year. There are too many others to mention. I love you all.

Deb and me

We are one of those families who actually like each other! Not everyone does....our Florida trip with my sis Cindo and her son Colby is what gets me through Iowa's winter. We were back in Colorado in May and visited Susi and Jim again in Grand Junction - such good hosts. The Goldsmith Golf Trip to Wisconsin is a perfect time to touch base with Paul's sibs - much better than trying to meet in winter months. We hope to see them soon at our nephew Craig's wedding in Iowa City too.

We loved having our own kids home for Thanksgiving. We had a blast and Franklin the puppy terrorized Odie joyfully! Of course we could pass up ended the year in Colorado again without going to Denver to see our Lamm cousins. And then on to Vail, to the Lefebvres even though the cherubs weren't with us. Our friends the Pottorffs hosted a grand Christmas din din as usual. The Sanders family and Frank are like our real friends too by now - after joining the group for seven whole years!

Yes, the rendition of the year is the sugar-coated version. You don't want to hear about doctor's appointments, job stress or the like. We had all that too. Sometimes I feel like we're in one of those old video games - we're all starships and something is shooting at us. Some of us get hit and knocked down. Some are just injured and keep flying. It can be brutal! My goal is to just keep flying in 2016 and to have fun along the way. I will surround myself with friends and family and be the best person I can be. Of course my very best friend will be by my side. #luckygirl.

Best wishes to you in 2016! We hope to see you. Help us open the present.

My Tunes, My Friends

How attached are you to your music? I seem to be quite fond of mine. I can't leave it behind on the hard drive of my old laptop...so I'm slowly loading into my new one. Tedious, when I'm resorting to putting songs on CDs and then loading them into the new laptop. And, before you say it, yes I know about the Cloud. I'm not quite ready to have someone else hold my music for ransom while they jack up the price. So I continue my old time ways.

Some of my songs and I go way back. Doobie Brothers, Steeley Dan, Eagles - those guys have been singing to me a long time! Some take me right back to when I used to listen to the song. "Black Water" by the Doobies. When I hear that one, I always think of when Joanie Troll used to pick me up for school in the mornings. That song would play on the radio and Candice, Joan and ? who else was in the car...Pam? Chris? would sing along. And smoke cigarettes. (Not me)

We always picked out good music for our Big 4 college parties

Several songs remind me of my Sunnyside lifeguarding days - listening to WOW radio out of Omaha. I was really into rock and roll back then - groups like Kansas that weren't really radio material, thanks to the Deardorff connection. My friend Chris Deardorff's brother Scott had a huge music collection. Face it - the 70's rule when it comes to music. From Elton John to the bands I've already mentioned. Fleetwood Mac, AC/DC, Queen, Al Green, Aerosmith, Al Green, Hall & Oates, Gordon Lightfoot - there are too many to name. My college roomie made listen to "gasp" Barry Manilow. We would borrow Moose and Steve's Stereo for our parties at 230 Campus Avenue during our Junior and Senior years - good tunes!

The 80's weren't all that memorable when it comes to music, yet I came away with a few faves - Springsteen, I've got a great duet by Dolly and Kenny - "Islands in the Stream" love that one, Tina Turner, and more Foreigner. Hey, I got busy getting married and having kids. That era did produce the best dancing song of all time - "Love Shack". I will always remember dancing to that song at the First National Bank Christmas party - it must have been 1987 or so.

Then came the 90's - by now I had joined Columbia House and was getting a cassette a month - yippy! I went through a gospel stage Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant - though I don't have any of those songs on my hard drive now I'm sorry to say. Good stuff. My kids grew up hearing that music and Fleetwood Mac. By the end of the 90's Amy was into music and I kinda liked what she was listening to - Backstreet Boys etc.

I admit it, I like Hip Hop. I am a freak for "Uptown Funk" and other songs like that. Give me Rihanna. My niece Jordan asked Amy if I knew what the lyrics to one of her songs were. Um yes. I just sing along anyway.

Sure, it's taking a while to get my friends, I mean my songs the way I want them in my music library. It's still a work in progress. It's worth it!

Big Birthday

My Aunt Jean celebrates her 80th birthday this week. She said it's hard for her to believe she's attained that advanced age. As someone approaching age 60 (in less than 2 years!) I totally get it. Inside my head I'm still 45ish...in the mirror? Ugh, not so much.

A file photo I had on hand - from a few years ago Jean and Bruce

Anyway - hats off and party horn honks for a great aunt who has had a positive impact not only on my life and my sister's lives, but lots of peoples'. Jean was a teacher in the Cherry Creek School district in Denver for  many years - Third Grade. A popular teacher, no doubt. One claim to fame was that she taught one of John Elway's kids, when he was the Broncos quarterback. Big stuff! We loved hearing stories about parent teacher conferences.

I was always jealous of my Denver cousins because they got to see Jeanie and her husband Bruce more often than we Iowa cousins. Luckily, we had the grandparents, so there were lots of visits to Iowa. I have fond memories of Jeanie and me driving around Atlantic with in my grandpa's VW bug.

My sister Cindy credits Jeanie and Bruce for helping her see beyond high school when times  were tough one year. Mom sent her out to Denver to visit them when she wasn't making the best choices. She had a good time, and got her head on right and knew she could handle high school - there was much to life than that. Smart move by our Mom to ship her to Denver to Auntie Jean!

Bruce and Jean stopped at our house in West Des Moines the last time they came back for Jean's AHS class reunion. I hope to see them again soon. Love them!

Happy National Hot Chocolate Day

As a choc-o-holic, that beverage has always been high on my list of things to consume. My first memory of the delicious liquid is of Mom making us cocoa in a saucepan on the stovetop after an invigorating afternoon of sledding or ice skating.

It was hard to wait for the creamy tan liquid to cool - sometimes I would burn the roof of my mouth, slurping too quickly. If we were lucky, there was a crusty bag of marshmallows in the cupboard to toss into the cocoa.

Somewhere along the line, we discovered Nestle's Quik and as the Bullock girls got olders, we took over our own hot chocolate duties. My mother sighed in relief. (it tasted much better when Mom made it...).

I am grown up now. I drink coffee. Okay it has cream in it. Flavored creamer. Sometimes I have latte. Skinny! Being completely honest, if I didn't have to put on this grown up front all the time - and keep my girlish figure - I'd be drinking my Mom's cocoa.

Young Pat Bullock - graduating from U of I

From the CEO to the custodian

I heard a quote today - about treating everyone the same, from the CEO of a corporation to the custodian. Isn't that what we should all aspire to?

It made me think about the first janitor I ever knew of, the one at Washington Elementary School in my hometown.

I believe his name was Mr. Carstensen, a kindly older gentleman who quietly went about his work around all those crazy kids. Of course to a kid older can mean 40 years of age, but I think he was older than that. We kids all liked him. He was nice!

At Christmas, the big thing was to "pass the hat" for the janitor. All the kids would bring their change in to give to Mr. Carstensen as a Christmas gift. To me it seemed like millions of dollars, but it was something like $90. I was so proud to be a part of giving him that money.

Since that time, I've been fortunate to work places where there were custodians who took pride in their jobs. Men and women who sometimes operated during the night, keeping the place habitable. Or they were there during the day, plying their trade efficiently in the background while the rest of us did what we do.

Hats off to you janitors of the world. I hope you get respect from everyone you work with - and an envelope full of cash