For All the Chairs I Loved Before

Hello dear readers! It's been a while since I routinely put words on laptop for this blog. Why? I've asked myself that for the past couple of years. I used to squeeze writing in between working, activities, and parenting. Now I'm gloriously retired! What's up with that? 

Writing (along with reading) is something I've always enjoyed. When I found my employment dream career at age 40, I parlayed writing into part of my job as Recycling Coordinator in three SW Iowa Counties. I approached the Creston News Advertiser about submitting a monthly 1,000-word column on waste reduction and recycling. It turned out to be one of my favorite things I did (I loved it much more than public speaking, haha). When I moved on to my job at the Department of Natural Resources at age 50 I no longer had that writing outlet. So I started blogging. I was prolific! I had a lot to say, mostly about nothing important. 

Fast forward ten-plus years. Changing technology enables me to "read" audiobooks and podcasts pretty much anywhere these days using earbuds. I rarely do a chore or walk without some audio input. It's hard to ponder blog topics and turn phrases while constantly filling my head with other people's words. 

2020 was my first year of retirement. What a strange year in the life (for almost everyone on the planet.) Thanks, Covid! 😒 Though I had plenty of alone time that year, it failed to translate into any kind of joy of writing. I was out of words. 

I miss writing and want to find the joy of writing again. I've decided to cut back on audiobooks and true crime blogs. I'll get back in touch with music to see what happens. Thanks to our friend Connie and others who have asked about my blog and have encouraged me to write again. Maybe it will help keep me sharp - like Wordle does (haha). 

Today's inspiration started with an early morning sleep house remodeling dream. In the dream, each room I entered in the house contained a recliner chair from my past. Paul and I just visited Homemakers Furniture on Sunday. We looked at rugs, not chairs, but that place is full of recliners!   

Sorry recliners, I've always been more of a chair with ottoman person, like my mom. I'm the only remaining Bullock living in our home state of Iowa. Through the years, when my parents and grandparents were living, I benefitted by being gifted furniture. Ethan Allen cabinets, couches, chairs, and more. I've recently learned my DNA says I'm 26% Scottish, so that thrifty side has appreciated free stuff!  

Betsy and Max in Dad's chair - home place Atlantic

One of the first chairs I inherited was Dad's chair - seen above. Dad traveled the state of Iowa Monday through Friday repping ladies' lingerie, so the chair was available on weekdays. On weekends, Dad had dibs. His beautiful leather briefcase could be found tucked beside it.  

As you can see above, the chair was gold before Mom had it reupholstered. Atlantic Upholstery was operated by the parents of my classmates, twins Steve and Judy Boots. The Boots did fine chair work. Mom went with a vertical stripes pattern - with blues, reds, gold, and white (below). That's the color it was when Paul and I got it. It must have been 20-plus years old by then!  

Paul and sleepy Judson

The wear and tear with two kids, a cat, and a dog took a toll on the chair. No amount of Woolite upholstery cleaner would perk it up.  I found an upholstery shop in nearby Mackburg, and the chair was reinvented yet another time with a darker red, blue color that covered spills better. It lasted another ten years until the springs were just shot. I hated to get rid of it. We put it downstairs with my grandparent's plaid fold-out couch. 😁 

I replaced Dad's chair with my first brand-new chair/ottoman combo selected carefully at Coen Furniture in Creston. They matched prices with all the big guys like Nebraska Furniture Mart and they delivered. 

Greenish oversized chair/ottoman. Room for Kitty and Odie, along with my Bullock-sized bottom

That large taupe green chair served me well. On my telework days (every Friday morning throughout my DNR career) I put in many hours crunching trash numbers and corresponding with program participants in that chair. It was sooo comfy with wide soft arms that supported plates and laptops. My chair made the move to West Des Moines in 2012 and served through the Odie years. She liked to dig the seat (snagging it) and sleep on the back like a cat. 

Odie passed in 2018, and I still miss her. But old Green was looking a bit ragged by then. I shopped for a long time to find a replacement - finally settling on one at Redekers in Boone. Thanks to high school classmate John Krengel for fixing me up with my chair - he worked at Redekers for years. 

This is where I rest my bones these days. I remind myself of Mom in her nice wingback chair at my parent's condo in Atlantic. I still have the matching ottoman in my room - that chair wore out! And my grandma - Zora Bullock (Momo to us) in her beautiful blue wingback chair. Or in the antique rocking chair she always sat in at our house. 

Momo - in the rocker (I think Susi has it now), Dad is on our oversized blue couch. Mom had it recovered more than once and Dad still had it at their condo in Atlantic when he passed. We had to toss it off of the deck to get it out. 

So that's my walk down furniture memory lane today. Don't even get me started on couches! 

I hope you have some beloved furniture pieces in your lives (or not). I know, it's just stuff. But for me, furniture memories are like certain songs - memories of a bygone era and people and pets I love. 

Coming Up Tulips

This was "take 2" after I told him he had to smile

If you know me well, you know I can't tell an Anemone from a Freesia (I had to Google to get those flower names). Sure, I do know some of the everyday flowers, daisies, carnations, roses, and lilacs. Plus the other much recognized flower - the tulip. I must say, though they don't last long, tulips are in my "favorite flower" top five. Don't ask me to name the rest - I know them when I see them!

A couple springs before my mom died, she asked me to take a Friday to travel with her to Pella to see the town and the tulips. I'd never visited the town before. It was something Mom had always wanted to do. As a young mom, I had barely heard of the place - let alone flowers! Amy would have been ten and Jud around six years old then.

My trip with Mom at Chandon - bubbly factory

It was a gorgeous spring day - sun shining, with the temp in the low 70's. We went to the Pella Historical Museum - a place I've never visited since. Mom loved history and foreign lands. After Mom and Dad visited Scotland with their longtime friends Harv and Joyce Whisler. She enticed Dad with golf. After that, she took each of her daughters on a trip.

• Betsy (around age 15 at the time) to England - and maybe Ireland. Mom always booked with a travel company. On a trip like that, you get to know your fellow travelers well. After their return, they entertained us with stories of a loopy woman in their group named something like Margie Dinkledine. She was always missing the bus and losing things. In other words - the polar opposite of our mom. 
• Cindy to Europe - Germany, France and more? Cindy still talks fondly of their trip. 
• Susi and Mom to Greece. That was the summer of 1979? I took care of Susi's dog, Mac, while they were gone. 
• Mom and I to Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland in 1983. Our tour group was old - I believe I was the youngest person on the trip. It was fabulous - my favorite parts were Norway fjords and Copenhagen. 

Mom and I were good traveling companions. By then she was good about not smoking inside. I wish she would have had the willpower to quit altogether. We also traveled to NE Iowa and took a trip from SE Washington State down the coast to San Francisco together. Priceless memories. 

Every time I go to Pella, I think of Mom. It had been a while since I'd been in town when the tulips were blooming. Friday I felt them calling to me - and talked Paul into heading there. It's about an hour drive. It was another lovely sunny day in the 60s with light wind. Not all the tulips were in bloom, but many were showing their stuff! 

The central park is where most of the tulip action is. The colors were vibrant and there were many styles. It was a feast for my eyes and my memories. We attempted to visit the delicious Jaarsma bakery there - but the line was nearly out the door. I didn't need goats legs that badly! 

I did bribe Paul into going by telling him we could stop in Bondurant - just east of Des Moines on our way back. They have a nice brewpub we don't usually go to - Reclaimed Rails. I like the place because of the beer - but also because they reuse materials throughout their place. The deck is made from wood from Adventureland, a nearby amusement park. Pretty cool! 

The town of Bondurant also brings back good memories. As we drove in on surface roads from the east, I told Paul about how I rode with my friend Sal's dad Wayne Rodgers to deliver my horse Jack to Les Walker, a horse trainer somewhere over here. We went by a stable as we drove. I loved being Wayne's horse side-kick! One month later we drove back to get my three-year-old sorrel gelding. He he'd mostly been cured of rearing and was cantering more slowing - but would never have that rocking horse gait that Sally's Miss Viscosity did. Jack turned out to be a very good boy! What a lucky girl I was to have Wayne in my life to help make having a horse possible. 

Scary Movies Scare Me

I blame my childhood - watching Creature Feature featuring Dr. San Guinary on Omaha's KMTV channel 3 (one of 3 channels we SW Iowa folks got). 

Dr. San Guinary

The goofy, somewhat scary character hosted a show that ran old horror movies on weekends in the early 1970's through 1982. The early seventies were when I was home weekends - staying with my baby sister Betsy, guarded only by our faithful doggy Jud. Those old black and white movies, like "The Blob" were creepy! Suddenly the noises houses make took on a new meaning! I'm sure every light in the house was on when Mom and Dad returned from Poker Club.

Jud the dog

In high school, we were sometimes desperate for entertainment - and the only movie was a horror movie. I spent more time with my eyes covered than not. I love to read suspense - but do not like suspense in movies! I always scream like a little girl. One movie involved a lady's head - her eyeball and a paper spindle. I still have spindle trust issues!

I blame peer pressure in a weak moment for causing me to go to the original Halloween movie in Ames while I was a college student. My friends and I were so freaked out after the movie we had to get a guy friend to check out the back seat of the car before we drove back to our apartment.

This was about as scary as our Halloween costumes got

When I became a mother I wisely chose to avoid scary movies - though they were on TV every Halloween. I'm sorry to say I passed my weakness of heart for scary movies over to Jud. He'd get one glimpse at Chucky and have bad dreams for weeks! We avoided scary stuff at our house - we didn't want the poor kid scarred for life. Amy was a bit bolder, but preferred mystery movies over horror.

Today - I still avoid horror. I still scream when surprised in suspense movies - and gory ones. Though I must admit - I'd still rather see a human get it rather than the horse or the dog... Confession - I did just watch one of my all-time fave kid movies last Saturday when I caught it switching between football games - "Goonies". It was filmed on our beloved Oregon west coast area by Cannon Beach. 

Happy Father's Day Dave Bullfrog!

I don't have any memories of my father actually in a pool - only these pics

Did you really know your dad when you were a kid? Back when Baby Boomers grew up, dads weren't expected to spend a lot of quality time with the cherubs. The rules were different in the 1960's and 1970's. Most dads weren't involved in all of their children's everyday lives - especially when they're girls. They brought home the bacon.

Mom and Dad were very social - Poker Club, supper clubs - such a handsome guy

My dad worked hard to support us by traveling throughout Iowa Monday through Friday. He was a sales representative for Lorraine Lingerie. Fun guy that he was, he'd say he was "in lady's underwear". Ha! This actually included panties, slips, and silky pajamas. Nice stuff, some of it manufactured locally in Bedford and Leon, Iowa. Those plants are now closed.

Dad lived out of a suitcase. He had nice suits that he purchased at Reichardt's Clothing in Des Moines. He left a weekly schedule by the phone. It included town and hotel. No mobile phones back then. If you recall the era, small towns were still commerce centers. They had small department stores that "had it all", including lingerie. Dad had his routes throughout the state. He knew which little restaurants had good pie. He loved Gooseberry. He enjoyed beets and liver and onions - Ick.

Dave Bullock traveled the state of Iowa (and a little bit of South Dakota) in first Buicks and then Cadillacs supplied by Deter Motors. He put 60,000 plus on his cars each year, so he'd trade cars annually. Even Caddies didn't come with a center console back then - so he had Eddie the Cobbler make him a leatherette covered armrest that opened. There he kept his Tareyton cigarettes, Binaca (breath freshener) and Dentyne gum. Salesmen are worried about breath! Dad was a great driver and was only in one accident his whole life - a hit and run in Fort Dodge, not his fault.

Dad used to buy funny toys from his customers bring back to us from his trips. Key the Mom eye-roll. Things like chattering teeth and wind-up barking dogs. When the older three kids grew up, and Betsy was at loose-ends, Mom talked Dad into taking Betsy on his route to South Dakota. Oh, how the buyers loved that little girl! Forgive me Betso if I fail to get the story right. She needed help with her hair, and they'd go to one store so she could get a comb-out from a client. Dad bought Mexican-Jumping Beans (which are really live worms in beans). They couldn't figure out what was rattling in the back window....then they left them in the sun too long, and they fried. Sorry worms!

Grillmeister - note white shoes

I wish I had more memories of spending time with my Daddy when I was a child. We watched family TV shows together Walt Disney and Bonanza. He'd torment us by saying Lassie wasn't going to make it this time. Crying ensued. Mom would yell. Dad liked to take us to Dairy Queen, and we'd take our dog Jud (hey, it's a family name - my son is not...just... named after a dog) and he'd (Jud) get a vanilla cup of ice cream. Dad was the grillmeister. Nearly every weekend he'd sizzle up something delicious - rotisserie chicken, steak, pork roast marinated with mustard/grape jelly.

Dad liked to play golf and pitch at the Country Club. He tried to teach me how to play golf...fail! Susi and Cindy turned out pretty good though. He did teach me how to drive a clutch car, but it wasn't pretty. That corner by the YMCA was a bitch!

Dad was a people guy. He had a lot of friends and continued to make them all through his life. I think that's why he was such a great salesman. He was a snazzy dresser too. The poor guy got criticized a lot by teen daughters later in life."Not the white belt Dad!".

At our first house with the Alvillar girls

I had the opportunity to get to know Dad better in my adult years. Paul and I were very thankful that Mom and Dad paid for flights to visit them in Marco Island, Florida. As young parents buying a house, we wouldn't have been able to visit otherwise. Dad loved showing us their second home. Later, after the kids were born, he'd take the kids down to the beach, tossing popcorn in the air for the gulls. Their interaction was priceless.

With the Kohan boys

After Mom died in 1997, we were all stunned. Mom was a strong woman - the "director" of the family. We had to establish a new order - new communications. We took the opportunity to get to know each other better. It was a busy time as I was in the midst of raising kids. Looking back, I wish I would have taken more time to spend with Dad. But, in the moment...kid duty calls.

Mom and Dad's condo in Atlantic - Paul and I have on sweathers, kids, shorts? 

We got to spend some quality time with Dad and his friend Kay in the last years of his life. He enjoyed her family and ours. Dad was very proud of his ten grandchildren. Somewhere he's watching from afar, sipping a cocktail with his buddies Dandy Don, Eddie Freese, Fritz, and more. They're smiling. Cheers Dave Bullfrog!

Why didn't I get his skinny legs? 

Get A Clue

Oh that hair...a lifelong struggle

It was reported recently that the game of Clue finally made the National Toy Hall of Fame. The game was joined by Wiffle Ball and none other than paper airplanes.

Clue has a special place in my heart. Sure, I played the game with friends throughout my childhood. But the game also had a key role in a vacation my sis Betsy and I took with my parents when I was around 14 years old (making Bets about 9).

Thinking back, our family didn't take many trips together. There were the lake trips - mostly on our way to collect our sisters from Camp Lake Hubert in Minnesota. We visited our cousins in Okoboji too. During two memorable summers, we traveled by car to sunny Saint Petersburg, Florida. Mom was at the wheel, Susi was co-pilot. Dad flew in later.

Mom and Dad made sure that the Bullock girls had summer fun, sending us to camp - first Bar-L-Ranch in Guthrie Center, then Camp Foster and other camps in Minnesota and Colorado. I traveled to Camp Cheley near Estes Park with my pal Sally.

Mom and Dad did not travel that much. I get it - he lived out of a suitcase all week long, thanks to his career as a women's clothing rep. Okay, he was a panty man for Lorraine Lingerie. Mom and Dad did take some trips with friends, leaving us behind to "rough it" with super sitter Lulabelle Herbert.

I'm not sure why Mom and Dad decided to take Bets and me along on the trip to Biloxi. I also remember visiting our grandparents and think it was the same trip - but could be making that part up. Their plan was to golf, leaving us to swim. One problem - it was cold!

Planning ahead (Mom), they took us to a toy store and we each got to buy something to keep us busy. I chose Clue! So poor Betsy was at my mercy in the golf course clubhouse as we played Clue while Mom and Dad knocked a little white ball around. I'm sure I dominated my little sis in the game. No, not really. Betsy always had a knack for being lucky/good at games.

We also went to a Sea World in Biloxi and later traveled to New Orleans where my big memory was my first pair of Adidas - Robert Haillets. So very cool! Betsy remembers the fancy restaurant we ate at where the men's restroom had urinals with crushed ice. I'm not sure why she got to see that...

I love my Clue memory with Mom and Dad. Congrats to the honor of being selected for the Hall of Fame, Clue. You were already in mine.

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…

The big event

And the process was grand!

I admit, I was a bit emotional this past week, leading up to Jud's much awaited wedding. It's milestones like these that make one consider our paths in life. How did I get to be a 58 year-old woman with this amazing son about marry a talented, beautiful, caring woman?

While in my car this week running an errand, a song came on that elicited thoughts of Jud through various stages of his life. (I was at one of West Des Moines long stop lights)
Picturing him:

• newborn - looking much like his big sis, but still like himself
• toddler, towhead blond - full of himself and impish
• temper tantrum boy - tough to wrangle because he was so strong
• those grade school years - when his love of all things sports emerged
• junior high and high school filled with sports practices
• entering college, a new Jud emerged - talkative and funny - meeting lifelong friends his freshman year, finding his way in life
• at his cousin Leslie's wedding in 2010, he started talking about a girl he was interested in. By Christmas that year, he was smitten
• following a career path in logistics, starting in St. Jo, Missouri - but staying kinda close to this very special girl
• Watching this relationship grow and mature - to when he called to tell me he was going to ask Kara to marry him

I admit, sitting at that traffic light, I went all "Diana McKim watching a Hallmark Commercial" and got teary eyed.

Right then I was sure I'd be a basket case at the actual wedding ceremony.

Fast forward. We traveled to Saint Louis, where Jud and Kara have made their home for the past two years, on Thursday morning. Kara had channeled my mother (AKA "the YMCA Director" Pat Bullock) and emailed an itinerary out that week. We planned to pick my sis Cindy and her son Colby and girlfriend Liv up at the airport that afternoon. Sis Betsy, husband Wayne and their oldest boys Alex and Paul flew in that afternoon and rented a car.

All our bags are packed - plus two long dresses!

Our home for the weekend was the Hyatt located right by the St. Louis Arch. So close I could spit on it! Okay, not really - but almost! Fabulous facility if you're ever looking for a place to stay, or hold a wedding. Kara and Jud decided if they were going to get married in STL, they wanted to embrace the location - instead of heading to the suburbs. 

Paul and I headed to Jud and Kara's apartment to meet up with her family that night for a picnic. It was nice to see them again in person since we hadn't gotten together since the kids graduated from ISU in 2011. Kyle and Renee's son Nate arrived shortly after we did with his wife and their baby Alexander. The weather forecast was looking promising for the big event! It was nice to have a casual event to meet with each other and talk - before "stuff got real".

Later we were able to hang out with family in our room which was "party central" - a suite. Daughter Amy and her boyfriend Corey had arrived that afternoon and went out to eat with a work friend of Corey's.

Paul was busy on Friday picking up tuxedos and shuttling groomsmen for theirs. After lunch at a burger place with the clan, I was able to hang out with Cindy, Betsy and Wayne at the free zoo in Forest Park. We didn't have time to see the whole thing, but the bugs and reptiles were cool. Amy, Corey, Colby, Liv, Alex and Paul toured Budweiser and got to see that neighborhood. Sister Susi and husband Jim arrived late Friday afternoon - we had a bit of time to catch up with them before heading off to the next act. A few of the Goldsmith siblings were starting to trickle in too. It was surreal having all these people there for us!

Friday evening was the rehearsal, followed by a meal Ballpark Village, a short walk from the hotel but right near the St. Louis Cardinals ballpark. Not a favorite team for either of my two guys, but hey - they can still appreciate a gorgeous park. Paul gave his toast at this dinner. He did a wonderful job. I'm glad I didn't have to speak! (I'm more the writing type!)

pretend wedding

My honey looking hot in his new sport coat

Jud and Kara on the walk to the restaurant

Jud with Whiteds

Rehearsal dinner gang

with Amy and Corey in front of the ballpark

When we got back to the hotel, my fam had arrived back from the Shaved Duck restaurant in the Hill neighborhood. It sounded like they enjoyed the food after a bit of a wait. We had fun chatting with family members for a while when Jud and Kara and some of her friends stopped in to say Hi. They were pretty wound up! I must say I didn't even hear Jud come in later to sleep on the fold out bed in the other room of our suite. I did get it all set up for him so he wouldn't be stumbling around in the dark! The wedding day deserves its own blog...

Another successful Marco Trip

Thank Mom and Dad for introducing us this beautiful paradise! Paul and I first went to lovely Marco Island in 1988. We think. We're a little foggy on the year. Young parents a all that. Blame lack of sleep.

Dad retired at age 58. Gee that age sounds so familiar. Hmm, that must be because I'm 58 now. Yet the R word isn't in my vocab quite yet - except to say that Paul says that I'm a Freshman in my quest for retirement from DNR. I aim to retire at age 62 from that job. I'd still need to drum up income from somewhere to support my lucrative lifestyle in central Iowa - living large. haha.

Anyway, I digressed. As Dad approached retirement, Mom and Dad had scouted for a place where they could spend winters - to escape the frozen Iowa tundra. They checked out Arizona where several Atlantic friends had settled, but Mom need water - as in an ocean. So they headed back east to the state where both sets of my grandparents had spend time. Mom's parents actually sold their home in Cedar Rapids and moved into a retirement center in Dunedin, Florida. My Atlantic grandparents wintered in the St. Petersburg area each year.

My folks went farther south on the gulf side of the state, eventually driving over the Judge Jolly Bridge to Marco Island. Mom knew she was home. They rented a condo in the Gulfview a couple years before they purchased a unit. It was sometime in there when we were invited to visit - a year or so after we'd settled in Creston with our young daughter.

We weren't real sure about traveling with a baby, so we approached our fabulous care providers the Frank family about keeping Amy while we took a short visit to Marco via Miami. I do recall that it was a nice break from parenting, but we sure were glad to get home to our kiddo! In the meantime, we fell in love with that island just like my parents did.

Before the beach was restored - check out little Juddy!

That was before the beach was restored, and before many of the condos and hotels that are there today were even built. Mom and Dad enjoyed introducing us to their many friends. The next time we came back, We had both Amy and Jud with us - it was 1991. After that is was game on. We took many trips to see Grandpa and Gran at the beach. Good times!

The second time we took the kids - Betsy and Wayne brought the Kohan kids

After Mom passed away from evil lung cancer in 1998, Susi and I drove with Dad to Florida. It was sad to leave him there without his partner of 45 plus years. He sounded lonely when I spoke with him on the phone that winter. We spent Christmas with him - and that was strange! Palm instead of Christmas trees! In the next year, Dad reconnected with an old friend and fell in love with Pat2 (yep, that's what we called his second wife). She enjoyed Marco too - until her death, tragically another lung cancer victim.

Stormy and Amy with Kay and Dad

Dad suffered a stroke in 2002, and we weren't certain he'd be able to recover enough to live in his own Atlantic apartment, let along make it to sunny Florida. Thank goodness a good friend by the name of Kay Harris stepped up. Dad  had asked Kay on a date shortly before he got sick - and she liked the guy! He was pretty darn swell. Kay and Dad traveled to and from Florida each winter for the next few years until his death in 2006. Our last time with him in Marco was in 2004, when we took Jud and a friend down over spring break while Cindy and Colby were there.

This year, Cindy, Colby, Paul and I talked as usual about our parents as we stayed in the very building where they used to own a unit. Patty, who cleans at the building, still remembers us. Most everyone else is gone though - like Mom and Dad. It's not overly fancy, but has a decent pool, great grounds and is smack in the middle of the beach - right by the Resident's Beach, allowing for a great view.

We enjoy visiting many of the restaurants and haunts that our folks used to take us to. Plus we find new places to go. Colby and Paul like to fish - just like Dad used to - even though he'd often get seasick, poor guy. We love walking along the beach just like our mother did. It's therapeutic, you know. I sorely needed that this year after a rough couple weeks at work. (I've been told that I need to quit caring so much, but I guess that's just not how I am wired.) My sis, Cindo was therapeutic too. She's a good listener and advice giver when it comes to work issues.

Each year we stay in Marco for 10 days, including travel (which was delayed on the way there). By the last day of this year's trip, I was ready to go home, ready for my own bed and to see my puppy. Now that's a good vacation!

Girl talk

I've missed girl talk. So when my sisters were here a couple weekends ago and last Saturday when I hung out with Bobbie and Joan, I was happy, I got to chat with gal pals.

Paul is a fab companion. We enjoy many of the same hobbies and can rant to each other about work stuff. But he's no girl! (thank goodness).

Yukking it up in the sculpture park

 

All my life I've depended on my girlfriends to fill me in on the important stuff. Health, hair, decorating, and fashion tips. We even discussed bushes and plants - I mostly listened... 

Art Festival with Bobbie and Joanie

Guys are fun, but one must have friends who have (or formerly had) ovaries. Paul is usually on a mission when we shop at the Farmer's Market. I get to look at stuff with my girlies! Bobbie should have earned a commission from the cutlery stand. A lady who was there when we were bought nearly $100 worth! We didn't buy any art at that festival but we had fun looking! I'm glad I got to hang with my gals.

Later on Saturday Paul and I headed back to downtown DSM after eating at Jesse's Embers.

Some of the vendors didn't open back up after the downpour that occurred about 4 p.m. But it turned into a beautiful evening. We walked across the river to hear Yonder Mountain String band fire up the strings.

The walking bridge over the very full DSM river is starting to accumulate padlocks - European style, for lovers and lost loved ones

It was a good day in the big city.

Dad's Day

Aren't crock pots grand? Saturday night we whipped up egg casserole - yummy stuff, though it is actually quite hideous. Kinda like egg hash.

Crock Pot Egg Casserole – Cook overnight

Ingredients

1 Dozen Eggs

1 Cup of Milk

1 Package of Potatoes O’Brien approximately 32 Ounce

1 Pound of Bacon Cooked, Drained and cut into pieces.

1 Pound of Sausage, Browned and Drained

1/2 Cup of Green Onions, Diced

1 Medium Onion Chopped

3/4ths Pound of Cheddar Cheese

1/4th Cup of Parmesan Cheese

1 Tablespoon of Prepared Mustard

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Instructions

I used a liner and sprayed with Pam.

1. You will do about 3 layers.
2. Start with potatoes, bacon, sausage, onions and cheddar cheese (do this 3 times).
3. Although the layers don’t matter too much, make sure bacon is not on the top, it cooks better underneath other food.
4. Make sure your final top is the last of the cheddar cheese.
5. Beat the eggs, milk, mustard, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese together.
6. Pour over the layers.
7. Cook on low for 10-12 hours or until the eggs are set.
8. Cook overnight so it will be ready in the morning.

We had a nice Father's Day breakfast. Jud and Kara showed up a little later and a little hung over, or at least tired from a night at the wedding. I liked hearing about their night. They had to take off all too soon for the drive back to St. Louis.

Sunday night was the big show! We started at Court Avenue Brewing Company for supper and a drink. It was a lovely evening and we got a nice table street side and the waitress was good - unlike the night before when we had grumpy Gertie.

We got rocked at We Will Rock You. It wasn't the best show or production I've ever seen.

 But it was fun. Our heads were bobbing, toes were tapping (even Betsy and Paul's). There was some clever dialogue and the musicians were good. The female lead had some pipes. By the end we were all clapping and singing to Bohemian Rhapsody. I'm glad we went!

Monday was shopping day. We went for a walk in the 'hood first. We headed to Waukee for our Jethro's Jones. It was most excellent. (I ate the other half of my sannie for lunch Wednesday and it was still good).

That night was burger night with mom's baked bean recipe. Sweet. We watched a movie on Netflix about an art forger. It was an early night because all too soon it was 4 a.m. Tuesday. I took Cindy to the airport - not as hard to say goodbye when I get to see her again in a couple weeks. Betsy hung out with Odie during the day and then she too was off. Paul was in charge of delivery, while I was in Clear Lake working.

I'm glad my sissies came to visit us in Ioway. Love 'em!

Everybody knows the mister

who drives around me and my sisters. He did well. The Bullock Girls (minus sister Suso - we missed her) rocked around DSM and southwest Iowa. That is after Betsy finally arrived. Cindy's flight last Thursday was right on time. She spent the whole afternoon carousing in the East Village, ending up at the Historical Building.

As a matter of fact, she learned that Iowa had problems during the Civil War - trying to make their own fashion statement by dressing in gray, instead of blue like the other Union Soldiers. Oops - friendly fire. Were they using up a large shipment of gray fabric? Interesting. I work right by there - I think I need to swing through the Civil War exhibit and read up.

Anyhoo....I arrived back in town from a day in Iowa City ready for a beer in a not-so-nice dive bar. Locust Street Tap fit the bill. Paul met us there. A text arrived from Bets - her flight was running late. Argh. By the time we were done - 1:15 a.m. was the ETA. We went to bed and set our alarms. Yikes. Finally both sisters were in the house.

Friday morning came too soon, but was a beautiful morning. We headed to our Mother Ship - Atlantic.

Stop at the cemetery

We met our friend Kay Harris for giant pork tenderloins at Oinkers for lunch.

We headed to Walnut to antique after that. I scored a great box that had once stored rubbers (the feet kind...). Check out this cool bear.

Love the dove-tailing on the edges

Jud tells a story Friday night

And that was Friday.