World Book and Friends Visit

I love it when a new memory sweeps over me. It happened today as I drove to work all by myself. I worked at home this morning - a result of a rough weekend suffering from a gastrointestinal illness (scientific words for "the trots"). I didn't want to go to work and end up running to the bathroom with "issues".

I was pleased that the banana and apple I tested on my gut didn't cause any immediate issues, so I reported to work mid-day. On the way I listened to a retro book, "C is for Corpse", set in the 1980's. The narrator in the book spoke of a character's translucent skin exposing veins like a book overlay. A memory of the World Book Encyclopedias we had growing up (and everyone else did too) popped into my head.

My grandfather, Herbert Leslie Morehead, designed our home at 202 Crombie. It featured lots of built-in dressers and shelves in each of the three bedrooms. The World Book Encyclopedias and Mom's other favorite books were placed lovingly in another built-in shelf just outside my parent's bedroom. Dad wasn't a book-reading kinda guy. He was a Sports Illustrated fan.

The World Books were fascinating. They contained those clear page overlays showing all of the body parts. I remember being assigned a report on the country of Ecuador in 6th grade. Of course it was pre-Internet, so I turned to our trusty World Book for all of my information - geographic, economic, population, culture. Ecuador didn't have any overlays. One time, after the books became more of an afterthought, someone "pressed" a flower in the letter "M" book, without the benefit of wax paper to protect the book. Many pages in "M" got wrecked. Working in the waste and recycling industry I have come across many people wanting to get rid of their beloved World Books - sure others would want them. Um, nope. They are badly outdated now. There are places to recycle books - Google in your area or use Earth911 or other recycling websites to find out where to take them. They are good flower presses. haha

I mentioned that there were the other books in those shelves. That shelf was the source of my first "naughty" books to read - in my rite of passage from youth to adult fiction. Of course they weren't really naughty. They were just a step up from the youth fiction I'd been reading. Nancy Drew didn't have boobs, she had titian hair! I certainly couldn't just march into the library and check out titles like "Lady Chatterley's Lover" in Atlantic, Iowa.

I'd sneak a title from the shelf, and hide it in my room as I read it, dry mouthed during the sexy parts. Once I hit Junior High, there were all sorts of wonderful books to satisfy my curiosity like "Are You There God, It's Me Margaret" and "My Darling My Hamburger". I no longer needed to sneak from Mom's stash. Good memories though!

Lucky for me that Friday night I was still feeling fine when our friends Steve (aka Moose) and Kay Wilt stopped by on their way to a wedding in Kansas. We went downtown to RoCa for one fancy drink and then took them to our new go-to, the Iowa Tap Room for supper. It was lovely to see them - hope they didn't get what I got the next day!

Another year of wedded bliss

Our children have gone through the process of getting engaged and Jud is now married to Kara (yay!). Amy is planning a wedding! She and Corey will be married next August.
It's a lot of fun and it's made me think more about who I was when I went through that process - that culminated 34 years ago today. Yes, it's our Wedding Anniversary! 8/28/82.

Biking 2016

Weddings are a lot more complex today than they were in the early 80's. Of course my mother planned much of mine, so that helped. She was good at that stuff! I didn't have to find a venue. We got married in Atlantic, so the venue was the Catholic Church at 2 p.m. - as late as you could have a wedding at our church. Paul has a large family and all them were there, along with lots of aunts and uncles. Right after the ceremony there must have been a short break, because I went to the hospital to visit my grandpa, Bubba, in the Atlantic Hospital. Some of the group must have gone to the celebrated White Rose, a beer only bar on Highway 6 that was open only until 9 p.m.

I had my 3 college roomies stand up with me along with sister Betso. Paul had buddies from college. Our Best Man, Mike Huston borrowed a full sized van from my parent's friends the Clitheros and filled it with stuffed animals like a raccoon and a duck for our ride around town after we tied the knot! They even had a duck call cassette playing!

There was an early reception at the Atlantic Golf and Country Club, which was still in all its glory at that time. It makes me sad that today the Country Club doesn't have a kitchen staff, because they don't have enough business. We had many nice family meals in that dining room - with Choral (sp?) serving the hash browns extra crispy just how Dad like them.

Mom picked the menu for the Country Club reception, and Paul and I approved. She even helped decorate. After the formal reception for everyone, there was a smaller reception for out of towners at our home at 202 Crombie where friends of my family served roast beef sannies with all the sides. It turned into a cool August evening and I eventually put on jeans and Mom's golf sweatshirt. So that's what I had on when Paul and I checked into the hotel - with him in a white tuxedo. It looked like I ran away with the groom!

And all these years later I still feel pretty lucky running away with that groom. Relationships are fluid. We certainly are not the same sweet kids that got married 34 years ago. For fifteen years in Creston Paul and I served in a ministry working with engaged couples getting married in the Catholic Church. That was one thing we always stressed - you're picking the person you will go through good times and bad with. I pick him!

Our honeymoon Victoria, Canada

Back to School

We gave out pencils at the Department of Natural Resources fabulous display I worked at last week. It's a mobile education unit built to look like a house - with education about how people can save resources all over our homes like water and energy. And how to recycle and properly dispose of things like chemicals and batteries.

View out the door of the Mobile Education Trailer

We give out "mood pencils". They are heat activated so when kids put their hands on them (or it's really hot out), they turn a different color - like orange to yellow. Pretty cool compared to the #2s I used to get for back to school. Some of the kids I tried to give pencils to said "no way!" like they could get out of going back to school by refusing the pencils. Renegades, ha!

I must admit, I was one of those kids who was ready to go back to school by this time of year - through about age 40. It's true! It took me that long to get over feeling like it was time to go someplace in the fall - to return to a place of learning. All it took was a few cooler days after a long hot summer.

When I was a kid Mom got us ready for "Back to School" in two ways. We'd buzz over to Omaha to shop for clothes. First we went downtown, then Crossroads and lastly, Westroads - the big new mall at the time. It seemed huge! There was a store called Gadabout for preteens with a younger kids store next door that she liked for little sis Betsobean. Mom also liked Brandeis Department Store and we'd get lunch at Bishops Buffet. I loved their French Dip and Chocolate Pie! How nutritious!

Back home we'd get shoes at Family Shoe or Brown's Shoe Fit. Then we'd go to Ben Franklin or Woolworth's for paper products. And paste. Remember paste? Why did we get that? Those little wands always dried up. Later we switched to glue. And we'd shop at Gibson's or Pamida. I loved selecting the eraser pack - they were all clean and ready to go. No mistakes yet!

In our elementary school, Washington, there were two sections of each class - about 60 students total. It was the baby boom years. I don't remember when we found out which teacher we had for the year. If I was filled with angst by being separated from my homies, I must have coped! I'd like to say it made me a stronger person and I made good friends with others. Alas I don't recall.

I enjoyed working at the fair. When I was done, Paul joined me and we visited some of our favorite haunts - like the 4-H Building. We love seeing what the talented youth come up with - especially woodworking. Later, we walked up to see a free concert by the Grassroots. When I was in 7th grade I received a cassette player for Christmas plus one cassette - the Grassroots. Needless to say, I played it over and over! They had a fill in lead singer, but the others looked original. Good memories!

Paul decides what to eat

A Dot on the Ocean er Lake

Riding on a boat on a big lake at night one begins to feel small. It's such a large lake, and the dark blue sky above goes on forever. The Big Dipper and the moon shone down, along with all the other sparkling stars. In the scheme of things we're all small. But I wasn't alone on the boat in the lake. I was feeling happy and pondering how fortunate I was to be sharing that time with good friends on a warm summer evening.

Paul's smile says it all

It was a weekend of fun with friends at LOTO (Lake of the Ozarks). Paul and I arrived at Al and Sharon's "Lake Place" Thursday afternoon and Bobbie and Jeff joined us soon after. We spent some time sitting on the deck enjoying the lake on a hot humid afternoon, while catching up with pals. Later, Paul and Lucy came to pick us up in their boat to go to Paradise for drinks and food. Don and Diana joined us later after they arrived in town. It was the first time we'd seen this group for a while.

Friday we woke up to a dreary day and decided the catch of the day was big breakfast at Stewart's - #massivecinnamonroll. Then the guys split off and the gals did the shopping thing - Outlet Mall. When we got back, we got some dock time in - then the rain came off and on.

McKim's place - Diana is juggling 

We went to McKim's place Friday evening for drinks and dinner (Jeff McFee's yummy homegrown beef). Donnie and Diana have continued to work on their "fixer upper" and have added a kitchen since I was here last. Very nice. They had college friends visit, including Jim with his bride Rita. Most of us had met Jim's first wife Patti - lost to devastating breast cancer. $&#* cancer. We miss you Patti.

We're so happy for Jim and enjoyed meeting Rita, who is of Armenian heritage. Her accent is so sexy. #whymespeaksoplain? Their other friend Wally is somewhat of a nut who once dug sunglasses out of a port-o-potty. That night it rained off and on, but talk and laughter poured out too!

Luckily the sun popped out Saturday morning. Bobbie, Jeff, Paul and I took a 3+ mile walk in the hills around Higgin's place. We were rewarded with a big breakfast served on a table designed and built by Al. It is built with repurposed wood from their own porch, a windmill and other odds and ends. The bench is from Alan's family farm. Sharon picked out the cool chairs. Face it they are Creston's own version of HGTV's Chip and Joanna Gaines.

We parked the boat in a cove and floated on noodles in water that was the perfect temperature. When McKims arrived, Don rolled out the "lillypad", a large foam raft. It was good to have for when the fish were biting. They didn't actually bite me...but I heard rumors and Jeff helped my get my large fanny up on top of that thing until the fish got bored. A couple pairs a glasses bit the water (not dust), including Bobbie's prescription sunglasses. Eye doc Donnie just smiled.

That boat photobombed us...

We hit a couple joints on our way back - ordering appetizers and even dancing a bit. Too bad there wasn't any karaoke! I'm sure we would have killed it. It's funny, we didn't stay out late any night. #notcrazypartiers  Yet, we still had a crazy good time.

Bobbie & Jeff "huddle Up"

Al and Sharon

On Sunday we boated to our fave place, Miller's Landing, for breakfast. One last fun ride on a fairly quiet lake before we had to head home. It's fun to see the other boats and look at the beautiful homes on the lake. Many thanks to our friends who host us and let us share their toys. #feelingthelove

The Gsmiths Gathering

The Goldsmiths descended upon West Des Moines for the Annual Reunion/Golf Tourney this past weekend. I say descended - not because we live in HE double toothpicks (that's what we used to call hell when I was a child). But because they all seem to live north of us. Paul's seven siblings and along with spouses are a hardy bunch!

Goldsmith girls watch the Cubs win!

Gmiths on the deck

We used to get together over the weekend after Thanksgiving - kids in tow, to celebrate Christmas. Once our families "grew up" (we all know they're still our babies) and weren't often able to attend, we decided a summer date would be better. So seven or eight years ago we made early August the official fam gathering - including golf for some and shopping for others.

Some arrived Thursday evening and we attending the Iowa Cubs game. It was nice to have big sis Carol there. She missed the rest of the festivities due to a trip to Rome with family members. Yep - she picked Rome over us!

The gang began to arrive on Friday afternoon. Our little deck was overflowing with Gsmiths! We ordered pizza and ate snacks that everyone brought along.

This year golf was pretty casual - there was no passing on of the Goldsmith Green Jacket, nor trophy - as there were only six players. They had fun with playing a two team best shot at Walnut Creek, a public course south of here.

The rest of us headed down to - you guessed it, the DSM Farmer's Market. It was a gorgeous day so the place (a several block area) was packed. There were eight of us and we split into a couple groups. I took Dorie and John for a staple breakfast burrito.

smiling even before they get their burrito

I trotted them over the walking bridge on the way back to the car

You know me and selfies. Challenge accepted!

After an hour at the FM, we drove a few blocks west to the West End Architectural Salvage - a business made famous by HGTV, now on the DIY network. There are 4 floors of light fixtures, furniture, odds and ends. Kelli, Regina and I made it to the top! I must say it had been a couple years since I'd been to the store and it will much better organized now.

We met the golfers for lunch at Draught House 50 and were seated in a great party room. Perfect! Saturday evening we grilled burgers and brats at our place and Larry and Regina's son Karl with wife Lee attended. They live in Grimes and Lee is a fellow DNR employee while Karl teaches at Valley High School. Our home was filled both nights with talk and laughter. That's what family is about!