tiptoeing in my flipflops

Do you ever have that feeling that things are just going so well that, ummm something is bound to go wrong? Does that make me a pessimist, a glass half empty gal? I don't want to feel like this. I want to just ride the wave, not looking ahead, borrowing trouble. Dumb Leslie - ride the happy wave.

Things to consider:

My life isn't perfect.

• I'm not filthy rich, allowing financial security for me and my family for forever. 
• I'm aging and have issues that accompany that. 
• Work is stressful. I know - it's recycling, not rocket science or life and death heart surgery. Still, I put my heart and soul into it - which leads to some sleepless nights and angst.
• I haven't taken time to make new friends in DSM.
• Our children have found their mates, but still have many life steps to maneuver. How will they ever do it? There is war, infection and other bad stuff in our world (reference: state of the world/politics/ugh).

But things are pretty great right now.

• Even though we're not rich, we have plenty and we have each other.
• Paul and I are both pretty darn healthy and can do the things we want to.
• I love my work, despite and maybe because of the stress.
• Our friends and families are such an important part of my joy.
• It's so cool that Amy and Jud are now on life's journey with partners that we love (bonus!). Part of our job as parents was to prepare them to deal with life's roller coaster. We're not responsible to hold their hands through all of the above referenced things, even though I won't stop fretting about it...

Life is a journey - full of bends, twists, ups and downs. Right now, on the roller coaster of life, I'd say I'm on that wonderful ride - not a heart-stopping plummet, but enjoyable all the same without the terror/fun.

I'm so very grateful and aware.

Just like my mother before me, I've dropped out of attending church. I don't wish to get into it here - #toocomplicated.

I am a spiritual person and believe in a higher power. I am fascinated by how American Indians treat spirituality. It's amazing that at age 58 I'm still searching for answers, but I'll never stop. When I was young I thought people my age were grownups and had all the answers. Now I know this isn't true!

In the meantime, I'll keep blogging, boring you with the details of my life - as I tiptoe along. Hope I don't trip in my flipflops.

fam pic at Jud's wedding

We attended the DSM Art Festival Friday night. It's one of the best Art Festivals in the country according to the artist we purchased a photo from. Whilst there we ran into Sandy Travis (Atlantic) and John and Lois Rose (Creston). It was hot and fun - we walked and sipped a craft beer.

art? or landfill fodder

Nitefall on the River after visit to the Art Festival (and a martini)

Later that night we met a nice family listening to a few songs (see the band Michael Franti and Spearhead) playing at Nitefall on the River. There was another band playing at the Brenton Plaza. Lots of entertainment in DSM that night!

The family we met has two young kids and the 4 year old son was chasing bubbles as we talked. The dad explained his work installing electric into Habitat for Humanity homes in the city - some 20 homes last year. Very interesting. I love this town! #iowanice

My Class Reunion Speech

Hello classmates! Thanks for coming. Thanks to Roger Underwood for being a real life version of my childhood hero - Nancy Drew. “The Case of the Missing Classmate”.

He has taken a great deal of time to hunt down contact information for classmates through the years – no small feat. Thank you Cindy Westfall for helping to set up catering – great job by you! Thanks Dawn Stangl for the nifty nametags.

Great turnout. Why do we come to reunions?

When I was 6 or 7 years old, the Bullock family had a big addition to our family. No not Bitsy Betsy. It was our first electric toothbrush! It was so exciting – each family member had a colored brush head to insert into the agitating base.

I invited my pal Robyn to come over to see it. When she did, we were so busy adding toothpaste and working the new toothbrush, we realized with horror that the bathroom sink was going to run over! Then – I didn’t know which way to turn the flipper to turn the water off. By the time my mother helped us, water had run over onto my dad’s Hi-fi stereo system, set up right below the bathroom - on a shelf in the furnace room downstairs. His pride and joy! Speakers upstairs and down, Ray Conniff and Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.

Once the stereo got wet, Robyn remembers my mother inviting her to go home – helping her, not all that gently on with her little mittens. (#badinfluence) Here Robyn inserted her own version of getting sent home. Thanks for the assist babe!

I bet each of you has a story like this from your childhood. They are what bind us together. Our shared experiences from our formative years.

·        Dan Mason, Robyn and I got in trouble in Kindergarten for chatting during naptime.

·        Linda Skoog stapled her own thumb in third grade, which made her puke. We all remember that awful stuff the custodial staff rushed into put on puke!

·        Recess was all important – and I’m not so sure the world wouldn’t be a better place if we had “work recess” with a good game of kickball twice a day.

·        Red Rover is out though – in 6^th grade, those devious boys let go just when I got there – a girl, determined to “break through” the boy arms, sending me sprawling into the mud in my corduroy coat. I learned a lesson that day.

·        Seventh grade! Dodge ball and square dancing for PE. Smokers in the bathroom and twirling gum.

·        Every time I hear the song “Color My World” – I still think of school, church and YMCA dances. We talked Monsignor Kane into letting us Catholics host one dance, thanks to Mary Jean Faust. Once he saw us all slow dancing – that was the end of that.

·        Church youth groups, Scouts and 4-H more memory-making. I don’t care what the Maid-Rite franchise says, the Cass County Fairgrounds had the best sloppy joes ever.

·        Then there was high school. Though I was never a sports star, I still dream about riding on the bus with my buddies. What great friendships were forged. Coming home after a game to scoop the loop before hitting Pizza Hut or Lallie’s. Others here participated in band, the year book, FFA, debate and more – similar hijinx during those events I’m sure.

When I was about 50 (I know - big jump), a group of us got together to celebrate Theresa Faust's life. Life has a way of wearing us down. I discovered how these girls, now all grown up, fill up my bucket. We laugh a lot, we talk about life and in bad times, like after our friend died, we comfort each other.

·        Our class is a fabulous one. Just ask us! Classmates are successful in all walks of life. We haven’t forgotten our roots in this little corner of Iowa….a good place to be from. Thanks again for coming! Help remind me about a few more stories from our youth…

Checking In

The Class of 1976 Reunion is in the books. Phew! We had a grand time.

Some highlights:

• Paula and Julia came to my house Thursday night and we went downtown to my fave restaurant Alba, and hit Governor's Plaza to get our picture on Cass County - the whole state is portrayed in concrete.

• On Friday morning, we took off for Walnut, taking Highway 6 part of the way to avoid heavy I-80 traffic. The huge antique festival was going on. I purchased a non-antique metal rooster for my front landscaping.

• We took another road trip for lunch to the small town of Hamlin - where the bridge was out, so we took gravel. Paula's truck was up to the task. A nice man in bib overhauls parked at the first stop sign in town, right in front of us and walked back to speak to Paula. He was concerned three gals in a Texas truck were lost. He directed us to Darrel's for pork tenderloins. Yum! #smalltownfriendly
• The route to Anita from there was not easy either - with more backtracking due to roadwork. We had booked rooms in the Anita Grant Motel because the Walnut Antique event booked all rooms for miles around.  
• When we went to check in, the first words out of the hotel owner's mouth were "I've had surgery to have my toenails removed, and you can't have the Brass Bed room after all." That was not a good sign. Sandy Bullock (no relation) proved to have Hotel ADD. The check in process took over a half hour, during which she showed us several rooms. Then she suggested we probably should have booked at Chestnut Charm - the Bed and Breakfast in Atlantic. Hmmm, is the hotel operation bar too high for you Sandy? Sandy told us her new sign had the word Grand removed from the name - because she didn't want people to think they had a pool, or you know - grand stuff.
• When the check in process was complete, I had five keys for the five rooms for everyone in our group - even though half our group hadn't yet arrived. And I didn't even fill out a registration form. Ahhh, gotta love small town Iowa. Julia, Paula and I had a much-deserved cocktail before getting ready for the night's picnic.
• The Class of 1976 picnic at Sunnyside Park was a rousing success. I enjoy the picnic style that allows people to just stop by. I chatted with lots of different classmates that night. I was sorry Cindy Westfall Turner, who was instrumental in planning the event, wasn't able to attend due to an ill family member. There were around 100 in attendance. We stayed until dark and then stopped by a local establishment before heading back to the motel 15 miles away.
• I was a bit disappointed that more classmates didn't join us at the City Park on Saturday morning for the hike. #lightweights! I had a couple minutes to take a photo of the statue honoring veterans, including my great, great grandfather Adnah David, civil war vet.

  

the intrepid walkers

• Thank goodness Todd Pellet hi-jacked my planned walk route. I didn't know about the Quarry - a beautiful area with concrete trails and ponds along the East Nishna Botna river and the confluence with Troublesome Creek, just north of the downtown area and restored Depot. When we were done, my phone said 11,000 steps, some 5 miles!

Trish and Paula check out park information

• We ran errands after that. First stop - Henningsen Locker. Julia's family runs this place that is hugely popular and it was crazy busy. Paula picked up some RollyPolly. That's not really what it's called, but it's something like that. It's sliced, spiced meat that is excellent. And we stopped at Bonneson's Five and Dime. The store just moved to a new location, so there is even more room for bargains. I purchased a butterfly on a stick for Patrick's grave.
• At noon we met Paul at the Super Bowl for lunch. He'd been in Portland for work all week and drove over from West Des Moines to attend the evening event and to see his adopted class - he knows my classmates better than his own! Soon a whole host of people were there for lunch, the '76 golfers and the hikers. The stories started flying, nothing was sacred - Ted Becker, Ted Wickman, our senior party (though nobody else admitted being there - did I graduate alone?), hunting, keggers). It was such fun.

I don't think it was a fish story...

Dave, Jack and Trish listen in rapt attention

Robyn tells of the time Ted Becker removed everything out of her apartment for a prank - down to the toothbrush!

#clean up nice...

We wear a lot of blue

The food was excellent (courtesy Bob's Downtowner) and drinks were good. The stories that night were hilarious. Deputy Bill Ayers missed his calling and should be in stand up comedy. Roger asked a couple of us to speak. Kirk and Dwight had messages that were a bit spiritual, very uplifting. I talked about an electric tooth brush. But in the end I did bring in a message - one I've shared here before. My friendships with some of these people stretches back over 50 years. My girlfriends have been especially important to me. They've been there in in good times and bad. Life can wear us down, empty us out. My friends help fill my bucket back up. It was fun seeing classmates from the first 18 years of my life.

We extended the evening by sitting on the Country Club deck until after midnight. It was a gorgeous Iowa night. Paul Goldsmith was a wonderful designated driver and drove the daisies back to Anita safely. On Sunday we ended up eating Casey's Donuts and breakfast sandwiches at the Anita Park. I did get my quota of laughs in. I care so much about these ladies!

 

Thanks to Roger Underwood, real life Nancy Drew for solving the Case of the Missing Classmates. He's invested a lot of time into our class, genuinely caring about the lives about each and every one of us. Everyone had a great time. 2021 - it's a date. I think Todd Pellet volunteered... 

Kid's Day!

Facebook tells me it's "Happy Children's Day" today. That brings back a rush of memories from good old Atlantic, Iowa. Back in the 1960's the town would bring a carnival in each June, closing off the downtown for "Kid's Day". It was marvelous - like a tiny state fair midway right in my home town.

Mom would take us downtown and buy us tickets for the wonderful, heart thumping rides. The Scrambler, the Octopus, Ferris Wheel, mini roller coaster and - yes, The Hammer - where you would actually go upside down. No doubt most of these have been outlawed by now, or at least insurance is too expensive for carnies to haul them around to Iowa towns. It's the end of an era.

Hammer

Once we had our tickets in hand, we were on our own - at least by age 10. The tiny temporary carnival world was my oyster. Not only could I use tickets for rides, they could be used to play games like toss the ring on the pop bottle. The prizes were so cool like fake swords and wicker finger cuffs. So - mostly crap! Plus cotton candy, ice cream, pop corn, hot dogs. All the bad, good stuff!

Once my little fellow kids and I had our fill, I'd walk up to my grandparent's house with all my new junk in all my bloated child glory. It was a good day - Kid's Day.

obviously not a summer picture - but me at around 10. Pay no attention to the Hawkeye banner

It's the 1 year anniversary of breaking my shoulder biking. It happened near our home on the sidewalk as I passed a woman walking and tried to go from the grass back onto the sidewalk - caught an edge, fell and heard a crunch as my shoulder hit first. Ouch.

I must admit I've had a bit of a hard time "getting back on the horse" when it comes to riding my bike around the neighborhood. The sidewalk edges - changing surfaces scare me!

This morning I decided to take an early morning ride in celebration. I'm back baby. I'm more careful - but life goes on and I want to keep riding for exercise and fun.

by the rugby fields - Jordan Creek Trail

Sum sum summertime

The most wonderful time of the year. As far as I'm concerned it's summer! I love it. Every former child should.

What's was not to like for a kid? You got out of school and had 3 months of vacation that seemed to stretch out in front of you like and endless wave of fun. Or boredom, which was still better than school, at least in June and July. By August, well....

I admit that I'm putting on my nostalgic goggles (waterproof for all that swimming I did) for my childhood summers. It's easy to forget the icky stuff (was there any? - I was oblivious to anything going on outside of good 'ol Atlantic, Iowa).

We had the run of our neighborhood, stretching for blocks from out house - especially after I got that snazzy Western Flyer bike with the banana seat. I felt like one of Hell's own little angels on that baby - tooling around the 'hood. I've mentioned before how fortunate the Bullocks were when the Reinertsons moved into the house next door to us because there was someone for Cindy, Betsy and me to play with. Also the move got rid of the creepy family before them - with the son that burned Cindo with the cigarette lighter in their car. Don't worry - our dad punched him.

We spent countless hours with Kathryn, Laurie and Annie Reinertson indoors and out. We did plays (my grandmother typed up the tickets on her manual typewriter) in the Reinertson's yard, hanging a couple blankets over their clothesline for the curtain. I don't think I had many speaking lines. #moreofabehindthescenesgirl. We built forts in the "woods" next to our house and climbed the trees there. We also had a cool playhouse that our grandfather built - I wish I had a picture of it. I remember being so busy playing that it was inconvenient to have to go inside to tinkle - playing is such hard work! Mom did a good job of just leaving us alone.

We were so fortunate that our parents belonged to a golf course that had a small swimming pool because early members thought that was important. My Aunt Marty says my grandpa Bubba was the first one ever in the water. That's funny because I don't remember him ever being in the water! That pool saw a lot of action. It had an ever smaller "baby pool" next to it that was somewhat dangerous because it was much too deep for youngsters and had a slick rounded bottom. In later years they fixed that.

We spent a lot of time at that little pool - just ask my shoulders. I just had another little precancerous spot zapped last month. The pool had cool woven chairs that you could tip down and hang your towel on to make a shady fort on the grass. By the time we went home late in the afternoon, I'd be famished and exhausted - just what Mom was hoping for I'm sure. (The little rats will sleep well tonight)

Sometimes the neighbor kids would play night games like kick the can or Ghost in the Graveyard. Or another hide and seek game we called Sardines where one person hid and when you found them, you laid down by them - just like a sardine in a can! I loved being included with the big kids.

My sister Cindy had a wonderful imagination. She was great at making up things to do. We'd use our porcelain horse collection with little rubber animal erasers as riders and play Horse Camp. It was fun naming all the horses and people. Mom got some old wallpaper sample books and Cindy used old boxes to make houses for Barbie and decorate. Quite stylish. Again - I was probably the maid.

We'd draw a 4-Square "court" on the driveway and play that with a rubber ball. Banks or no banks? That made a huge difference. We had a flat roof on our garage, so hitting a tennis ball against the door required that I prop the ladder up at the same time. I can't believe Mom let me climb up on the roof.

I was in Atlantic - at least the landfill, McDonald's and the cemetery this week. I had lunch under the tree we planted after our infant son died. He's buried there along with four other generations of Bullocks. It was very peaceful - unlike the Bullocks on this side of the grass. Haha. I'll be back in A-town in a couple weeks for my class reunion. I'm looking forward to seeing my homegirls of course, but also those peeps that I don't get to see quite as frequently. Atlantic is a good place to be from. Bring on summer!

Adnah David Bullock - Civil War veteran