Can't Go For That, No Can Do

Hall & Oates is (are?) coming to Des Moines next Monday night. I've been a fan since the late 1970's. I'm not sure who introduced me to this duo, but I purchased and fell in love with the Abandoned Luncheonette album (yes, real vinyl), before the group reached more Top-40 acclaim.

College years with Vic and Robyn

The album's headliner song lyrics resonated then as they do now.

They sat in an abandoned luncheonette
Sipping imaginary cola and drawing faces in the tabletop dust
His voice was rusty from years as a sergeant in "this man's army"
They were old and crusty

She was twenty when the diner was a baby
He was the dishwasher, busy in the back, his hands covered with
Gravy
Hair black and wavy
Brilliantine slick, a pot - cleaning dandy
He was young and randy

Day to day, to day today
Then they were old, their lives wasted away
Month to month, year to year
They all run together

Time measured by the peeling of paint on the luncheonette wall

They sat together in the empty diner

Filled with cracked china

Old news was blowing across the filthy floor

And the sign on the door read "this way out", that's all it read

That's all it said

I was nineteen or twenty years old when I fell in love with this song and the lyrics. Already realizing the nostalgia for times past. I wasn't in Atlantic anymore - I was a big college girl with a world ahead of me. But I've always been one to value my roots - maybe too much sometimes. I have to fight the urge to hold on to things sometimes. There's much worth grasping to my heart. And some I should toss.

I can't wait for the concert. Paul wasn't even my boyfriend when I discovered this band. We'll have a great time watching (and singing along) to them together. 

Old pic of Amy with college roomies Jenna and Rachelle

Amy is coming for a visit later this week. Her college roomie, Rachelle, is having her bachelorette celebration in Des Moines. Amy and I are planning to do some shopping. Mama needs a wedding dress! We are looking forward to time with our girl. Amy loves her college buddies - they'll be her bridesmaids in August. Some things (people) are worth hanging onto. 

Just like that - gone again!

Amy took off this morning after a few days at home. We had a good time - as usual, during her visit. I wish Jud could have come too - but he's been running himself ragged traveling. Today he takes off for Virginia for a few days for work. So it didn't work out to get the whole fam together. ;>(.

Yesterday we kinda dragged Amy out of bed early, though she said she automatically wakes up anyway. We treated her to breakfast at the Waveland Café - a place she'd not visited before. We secured the last three spots at the counter. She liked it of course. Who wouldn't? Unless you're a big fan of expensive chains like Perkins. Hey - I like Perkins too. But I have a weakness for joints like this! The waitresses call everyone "Hon", the wall paintings are sweet and the political signatures and the wall are impressive. Not to mention the window paintings!

Check the chicken eating chicken - above it says "Dude that's just wrong"

Next, we stopped at the Farmer's Market - though not for too long because it was darn chilly! Amy has discovered a new love - Dutch Letters! Flakey pastry with almond paste filling. Yum. We picked up more of that excellent bacon too, along with tomatoes and green beans.

On our drive home, she texted her pal Kelli Behr Hoskins who lives in Minneapolis - only to discover Kel was on her way to DSM for a wedding! A bit later we drove back downtown to see Kelli and Toby - newly married in June. How fun and random is that!?! I spoke to Kelli's mama (my college roomie Vicki) in the meantime. We got caught up - since we haven't talked since Kelli's wedding.

lifelong pals - Amy and Kelli

Last night we hit the Cheesecake Factory. I know - it's a chain. But it's close and we had a good waitress. she even brought a crew over to sing Happy Birthday to Amy, despite the fact that Cheesecake doesn't usually do that. Good thing they didn't know that Amy's bday isn't until the 14th! Amy's friend Rachelle came with us. Those two are always funny - laughing about hijinx from the past.

Rachelle and Amy

Today is a drizzly, catch up kinda day. I should go pack for my trip to Council Bluffs tomorrow - the annual Recycling and Solid Waste Conference. Looking forward to seeing the trash peeps! Paul will get some more hunting in. And painting! Let's hope congress comes up with something so he can get back to work this week.

Amy update, Jud's coming and Yankee Doodle Pops

We heard from our darlin' girl a couple times this week. She was joined in Panama on Sunday June 30th by college roomie Rachelle, who will travel with her for 10 days.

Rachelle is a teacher in Ames. She had not traveled outside the United States before - so this is quite the adventure for her! Amy met Rachelle in the airport so she didn't have to maneuver around there all by herself. The girls knocked around Panama City for a couple days, staying in the Spanish In the City Hostel for $12.50 per night. Amy reported Panama City was "awesome".

Next they are on to Boquete, Panama - which I see is listed as a retirement town for Americans and Canadians. They went on a coffee plantation tour, which Amy loved. She purchased a burlap sack.

Amy so reminds of my mom. She is so fascinated with travel and seeing the sites of foreign lands. She enjoys researching where she is going on each leg of this trip and what she will see. As Amy put together the trip, she built a spreadsheet on Google Docs showing where she'll be each day, with color codes for type of transportation she'll use, and columns for town, country, accommodations and cost. (called "where I rest my noggin") Yes, perhaps a little OCD going on...in a good way.

They are off to Costa Rica today, the 4th. They are still doing some planning for the activities there. Some of the locals suggest things to do and Rachelle took her iPad, which helps for booking when they are near WiFi. Paul and I still count down the days until Amy comes back on to our place on the 22nd. She has the price of that listed as FREE. (She's sadly mistaken - we will make her pay in hugs).

Judson David will be appearing at our doorstep this Saturday all by his lonesome. GF Kara is traveling for work. Though we saw him at Kelli Behr's wedding in early June, it seems we haven't really talked with him for a while. So this will be a treat! Odie will be happy to see her bro too.

Last night Paul and I attended Yankee Doodle Pops in Governors Plaza right by my office. Since 2009 I have watched the setup for this event, but have headed back to Creston for Independence Day where we hosted friends to watch fireworks off our driveway. Except Conover's trees grew and we began wandering over to their driveway the past few years...

It's a new era and we're trying new things! We headed back downtown after a stop at home for the pooch. We parked on the west side of the river just south of Wells Fargo Arena for quick getaway later and had a sandwich at the Standard, which was very quiet - though cars were streaming by on their way to the Iowa Cubs game.

Next we stopped at Lime for a cocktail and met some people from Norwalk who know Creston natives Tracy and Karla Purdum. Our new friends' daughter must have played volleyball against Amy, we decided. We talked concerts with our friends, and the bartender who is also a big Fleetwood Mac fan. Well drinks were $1, so the vodka cranberry tasted specially good.  Then we walked the couple blocks east to find a spot for our chairs for the show.

It was already packed - I saw people setting up their chairs and blankets before I left work at 4 p.m. So our 7:30 p.m. arrival was late...we located near the Wallace Building and couldn't really see a thing. The sound system was good though.

We noticed this youngster rolling down the hill - reminding us of the time little Jordan Alvillar did that at Mom and Dad's in Atlantic. She ended up with chigger bites in places where the sun don't shine. That resulted in me sending a text photo to all parties with some hilarious comebacks from my fam - including new Momma Leslie, who sent a pic back of baby James. Aww.

The evening featured the Des Moines Symphony playing many traditional patriotic tunes such as - the Star Spangled Banner, When the Saints Go Marching In, and we got a real treat when nationally known Iowa grown baritone Simon Estes sang God Bless America. The guy is getting up there - he graduated from the U of I in 1957, but he still has the pipes!

I can't resist a pic of that reflection...

The DM Symphony

 

As the sun slowly went down on the night, they broke out the Sousa songs (Dad would have loved it) - and the booming fireworks. Since the trees were in the way, Paul packed up the chairs and we began walking toward our car.

That's Paul in the visor on the right

We walked across the footbridge by Wells Fargo

We are so fortunate to be Americans - to be able to calmly take in a beautiful evening like Paul and I did last night. God Bless America!

My baby has gone south...

After the wedding we had a visitor. No...not really. Amy can't be called a visitor, since she's our kid. But I didn't want to sit around blogging while she was at our house. After Amy left, Cindo and Bonnie arrived. So I'm a bit behind on my writing - and my Aunt Martha texted me to let me know!

Tonight, I'm in Spencer, Iowa - near Iowa's Great Lakes. If you're not from Iowa, you probably don't ever realize we have lakes that are great - natural glacial. I spent some time at the lakes (aka Okoboji) when I was a kid, at my relative's lake place - the Stewarts. Tomorrow - I won't be at the lake. I'll be at City Hall and the landfill. Not quite the same - still, I'll be digging it! Because I love my job.

My workmates - Scott, Jeff and Becky and I all went out to eat with my longtime friend Mary Faber tonight. She lives in Emmetsburg and works here in Spencer. It's always fun the see Mar - one of my fave people. Of course she won the hearts of the staties I was with!

Back to last week. Amy was hanging in WDM with us, preparing for her 5 week trip to South and Central America. She quit her job of 2 years, ready for a new challenge. The kid has been saving her cash, because she works to live - and to her livin' is travelin'! It makes her daddy and me nervous - hell yes. But we don't want her to stop being Amy. We so proud that she is brave enough to travel far and wide, and in this case - by herself for much of the trip. She is a smart traveler, and I tell myself - she could get hit by a bus in Denver, right?

With 2 of my fave peeps

On Monday, I had such a pleasant lunch when Amy and my longtime pal Robyn joined me in the East Village. She was back in Iowa from her home in Florida, visiting her Momma at Heritage House in Atlantic. I'm so pleased she takes time to see me! Such a bonus that Amy was available too! We had lunch at the Continental.

Do I look proud of my girls?

Chiya looks a little scared...we had the owner cook for us - he had a cute giggle!

I ask my Lil Sis Chiya to go out to eat with us at O'Hana's last Tuesday night. I wanted her to meet Amy, because I can't think of a better role model for her. Chiya's Grandma had her all dressed up for the occasion. While she likes Chinese food, I don't think the Japanese fare was her fave - especially when I explained to her that Amy was eating squid. She tried the shrimp appetizer, but Paul quickly got the rest. Amy was the recipient of most of her veggies. Chiya did like the virgin strawberry daiquiris, salad, rice, noodles and sesame chicken. For dessert - a chocolate shake. Amy liked it all - including her Templeton Rye Manhattan.

A couple nights Amy got together with her college pals Rachelle and Jenna. It makes my heart happy to hear those gals laugh so heartily. At one point they took photos downstairs under Paul's antlers - like they were coming out of their heads. Too funny.

All too soon, it was 4 a.m. Thursday - time to take Amy to the airport for her flight. She has texted, emailed and even blogged since she left - so that helps. Amy even met up with a friend of a friend Saturday night, in Cusco Peru, which was nice, because she sounded like she felt a bit down and lonely. The report so far - she loved Machu Picchu. She's in Lima tonight and tomorrow night - I know because she sent me the "where Amy rests her noggin" spreadsheet. I'm not sure I needed to know the names of the hostels she staying in though - like "Supertramp". Sound icky to me...

If you want to keep up on her blog: http://amygizzle.blogspot.com/

Time to get to bed - I have an audit to do tomorrow!

Violation

Amy called yesterday afternoon, and it didn't take long to figure out it was one of those calls parents hate to get. She was very upset, on the verge of tears - her purse had just been recovered in the restroom at work - without the wallet of course. Matt, her boss, fished it out of the toilet.

Amy, Jenna, Rachelle - 3 of the 4 Amigos

She was flying out for a long-awaited trip to Los Vegas (Vegas Baby!) with her college roommates - Jenna, Allie and Rachelle at 7:20 PM. What a crappy thing to happen, and what bad timing! She had her winnings from last week's Once Upon a Race in there - $100. She partnered with Allie (who just moved to Denver) and another friend to solve clues and dash between Denver bars, dressed as their fave fairytale characters. Amy was Ursula from Disney's Little Mermaid. Their team won the whole thing - beating some 700 others. That's my girl - way to know your way around bars!

Her wallet contained a few more funds too but it was lucky she hadn't yet gotten more $ for the trip. Credit/debit cards, insurance card, driver's license, library card and other assorted important stuff were in there too.

I felt helpless as she then did begin to cry as the reality of the situation sunk in. I tried to remain calm - and to keep her calm. She realized she had her passport at home, so she would still be able to fly with that ID. She would leave immediately to report the theft to her bank and get vacation money - as she wouldn't have plastic for her purchases. She's staying until Monday a.m. I advised her to cancel anything she could immediately and contact the police.

Amy works as a graphic designer at a meat packaging facility called Custom Made Meals. She designs labels and all the marketing materials for the reps who sell the products to supermarkets around the country. Super Target (Archer's Farm brand) and Krogers are two companies of their customers. There are only a few people in the CMM office, and several hundred on the production floor. I wondered how someone had waltzed into her office and stolen her purse so easily. It's such a violation!

Amy later called me from the airport to report that Matt had had reviewed security (lack of?) film. The evil girl/woman was not an employee, but had come in with people stopping at the office to pick up paychecks. She went by the reception desk and up the stairs to Amy's office, evidently quickly finding her purse. Amy was out on the production floor at the time. She snuck into the restroom across the hall, ditched the purse in the potty (why'd ya gotta do that?) and took the good stuff. Amy's migraine meds are wet. Hope she stays headache free until she can get replacements!

By the time the banks checked, the stealer had racked up $700 in charges on Amy's cards. I hope they can nail this bitch! The cops were there when Amy stopped back at work after her bank visit.  I'm not sure if she charged purchases online or in person. They said the chick would be charged with identity theft as well as stealing, since she used the credit cards - but first they must catch her!

Amy sounded much better from the airport. She will call today with a few things to take care of - like paying her cell phone bill, since her credit card is cancelled. And her library card, cuz that chick is probably planning to head to the library today to check out a bunch of stuff. Yeah! I actually emailed Amy a list of things to to when your wallet is stolen. She'll have to deal with the driver's license next week. Yuck.

Our family has been so fortunate. We've not been touched much by crime. I've had my credit card cancelled because others were trying to access it. But I was home and it wasn't much of an inconvenience. I left my purse someplace and had my cash taken - not a lot of $. Jud's TV was stolen from his apartment his sophomore year of college - those flatscreens are easy to walk off with. We suspected an inside job from the one loser roommate's friends. But heck, we used to leave our house door open - never locking it, until the past couple years.

Generally we're very surprised when others take our stuff. It's not the way things are supposed to work. My baby learned the hard way that there are some bad people that think otherwise - that our hard work is theirs for the taking. It makes me sad when my baby is upset. Coulda been worse I guess - our niece in NYC was robbed at gunpoint! 

I hope Vegas and Amy's buddies help take the sting of this violation away. And this lesson is another of life's tough ones - there are bad people. Amy did a good job reacting to and dealing with the situation. I'm glad to support my children, but am proud that they are equipped to handle life on their own!

The gang's all here

Our gang arrived Wednesday - Thanksgiving Eve. Amy flew from Denver into Kansas City, and Kara, who works there, picked her up at the airport. They drove up to St. Joe, where Jud lives, and on up to Ioway they came, arriving about 6 PM. Paul and I were awaiting with open arms.

It had been a long short week for me. I was only in DSM from Monday morning until Wednesday. But I suffered from migraines all three days. Yuck! So I was pretty puny by the time I worked in my cubicle until 10 a.m. yesterday morning and stopped at the big HyVee grocery store to pick up a few things - a Mexican dip, salads, wine and crescent rolls. I finally felt good enough to eat something on my drive home.

I didn't need to feel crappy on the big day that my kids were coming home! A short nap was in order. By mid afternoon I started to perk up. Paul browned some burger and I put together some enchiladas for supper. I didn't want anyone to go hungry! They pulled up to the house right at 6 PM, and Odie wasn't the only one wagging her tail with delight!

We got the dip and chips out, and cocktails were in order. I decided I best not tempt the migraine gods with liquor - so I stuck with water! Supper was just was right as the five of us talked and laughed over enchildadas. Love having the fam together again.

Afterwards it was Wii time baby. That's right, we started playing Wii Fit. Kara kicked our butts in bowling. Then Rachelle drove in from Ankeny. Rachelle is Amy's college roomie, and she was looking forward to a night of partying in Crestonia - where the night before Thanksgiving is epic!

We broke out Just Dance 3, and Amy and Rachelle shook it up right on the living room floor. It was such fun. Chelle challenged Jud to a dance off and it was a close one. I loved all the laughter and just plain fun being together.

Just after 9:30, it was time for Amy, Rachelle, Jud and Kara to hit the town. Paul dropped them off downtown, and they spent the next 4 hours hanging out in three bars, catching up with old friends. Later, (or earlier Thursday) Paul's phone rang, and he got to go pick them up - they were a little rowdy. He had some funny stories to relate when he got back - stuff they had told him on the ride back. I was wide awake for quite a while after that, even though I didn't pick up duty.

Rachelle is a city gal. She had such fun partying in Creston - but she isn't used to partying in bars with people wearing steel toed boots. And people with camo hats and shirts on. She even saw a guy with a knife scabbard on his belt - and she was impressed (or concerned)! Not stuff you see clubbing in downtown DSM. Her powers of observation are impressive. I am in bars with those folks many weekends and don't even notice.

Paul and I attended mass this morning - it's a routine of mine on Thanksgiving. And it's not even a Holy Day (cuz I miss mass those days...). But I do miss attending on this day with my pal Deb who no longer attends our church. Even so, I have a lot to be thankful for. Family, friends health - the list goes on. Life is good and that higher power is the source.

When we got back, the little party animals - Amy at least, was up. The rest of them slowly trickled in. And we've had a great day watching football (don't expect Amy and Kara to say that part was great), playing Wii, and we worked in a little food too. First, I dragged them outside for a photo op in the afternoon. It was 60 degrees out! The Iowa Silk chocolate pie from Upper Crust Bakery - my pal Cynthia Wolf, was great. And the turkey, stuffing, creamy mashed potatoes and scalloped corn were excellent too!

Posing in the wind

Amy and Rochelle ham it up

 

Chelle and Red

Amy has a couple friends from college that are true blue. Every girl needs friends like that! I'm not sure if she met Jenna and Rachelle her freshman year, but I know she knew them by her sophomore year, when she lived with Allie, whose boyfriend Chris was in their room all the time. So I think she spent a lot of time with those two.

Rachelle and Jenna are not really anything like Amy. They aren't athletic, or naturey. They are more into dressing up and don't have that wild child attitude my kid seems to have - jumping off cliffs and traveling to Turkey. Even so, the relationship between the three seems to work. Life is funny that way!

By their Junior year, the four girls lived together in an apartment on Stanton Street. Allie was still spending her time with her guy, but the three musketeers were becoming BFFs. Building memories of crazy times that would bond them forever.

Today, they're so funny to listen to - clever, talking in their own particular lingo only they seem to understand. I know how that is - I have that relationship with 3 very special college roomies of my own. We have our own lingo (Vicki Kim from Hong Kong) and memories from those three years we lived together. Even though it's been thirty years - the time melts away when we're together!

Saturday night when Jenna - the ginger-haired gal, and Rachelle - girl with the vixen eyes, joined us in celebrating our friend Brett's marriage to Shawna Miller. It's just fun to watch the three girls have a good time together. And they were that night - along with a few of Amy's schoolmates - Ryan McKim, Dusty Mullin, Thatcher and  Nick Young. As Pablo says, Amy enjoys life.

The girls were laughing earlier that night about how Amy had snapped at them when they visited Denver over the 4th of July. It was really hot and they were hungover. She didn't want to turn the air conditioner up on her car - tempers were fraying. They all laughed about it later. Now those are good friends!

Amy, Jenna, Rachelle

Amy says she doesn't have any Denver friends that she can snap at yet. Too bad. Those are true friends - the ones you can show your true colors to, and expect them to still love ya! (But not to treat poorly or take advantage of, mind ya) I'm glad Amy has friends like Ginger and Chelle. People don't expect each other to be perfect, yet we spend a lot of time pretending to be so. When you live together in college, the gloves come off - and you never put them back on again! I'm glad.