What calms you?

It's a high anxiety time. I talked to a good friend recently who said when she "gears up" putting on her facemask - and mentally prepares for a trip to the grocery store, she notices how anxious she feels. I can relate. I bet you can too. Shopping is not a leisure experience anymore.

A couple weeks ago I quipped that leaving the store be all like "I just pulled off a caper!" I put on my buff and gloves to shop at HyVee. At the store, I pick my places - trying my best to keep distance between me and the other shoppers and staff. Sometimes I hold my breath! I know, probably dumb - I haven't seen that method being touted as a way to be safe. Still, like holding my breath riding in a car driving by a graveyard when I was a kid, or not stepping on a sidewalk crack, I've adopted this behavior during Covid 19 times.

I started thinking about what helps me reduce stress. Reading Twitter and other news sites aren't stress reducers! So I'm trying to do less of that. I (and many others) enjoy doing Jigsaw puzzles. I started this hobby even before the pandemic as a way to reduce screen time. Walking and listening to books are two other great hobbies for me. I read fiction, but I marvel at the amount of educational information passed on in the books I read. Love my soaker bathtub for stress reduction too.

Today I'm listening to "The Tale Teller" by Anne Hillerman. It's part of the Leaphorn, Chee, Manuelito Four Corners detective series - started by Ms. Hillerman's father Tony who passed away in 2008. His daughter Anne carried on his legacy, writing the series which contains a great deal of information on Native American culture and antiquities. The reader speaks Navaho - the dialect is so intriguing. The characters are well-developed and dependable. During this time, I'm finding it best for me to read/listen to books where the good guys come out on top in the end. Lately, I've returned some books early that seemed to be too negative. I don't need that right now.

I've been thinking back to simpler times. Our high school class is planning next year's Class Reunion and a group email brought up some memories. All good ones - funny stuff about interaction with teachers and each other. I'd forgotten about what a body-baring time in life that was! A great deal of "mooning" (dropping drawers to show one's butt") and "streaking" (running buck naked) was happening. There are no photos and I wasn't involved. One classmate's brother attended a basketball game in a long trenchcoat. As we all stood up at the start of the game, he opened his coat to let loose two pigeons that flew around the gym pooping during the rest of the game. Incoming!

Jack was such a handsome boy! 

It was a fun time, but I sure wouldn't want to go back to those years. Teen angst you know. I was so fortunate to have a horse - Poco HiJack (Jack). He was wonderful therapy. I could ride him, brush him, or just lay on his back and sing while he grazed in the small fenced-in area at the Guttenfelder farm where he was boarded. He was solid and huggable, calm and secure. Hey - he sounds a lot like my husband! haha

Paul enjoys hunting to reduce anxiety - check out that happy smile! 

Everyone needs ways to reduce anxiety. I hope you are getting for yours!

Flee Fly Flow, We're the Class of '76

It's been a rough week, I can't lie. Oh, in the big scheme of things - it's nothing really. But I certainly didn't enjoy it. First of all, we need to replace our windshield for $500 due to that mysterious rock chip. Ugh!

Next, we've had fleas. Which made me think of that childhood song. "Flea Fly Flow" . It is much more fun singing that song than having fleas. I noticed Odie itching last Friday night - and spied one of the little bastards on her Saturday morning. We treat her monthly with expensive medicine - so I was not happy! After lots of thought, I decided the possums left them when the skeddadled.

I called the vet's office Saturday and they advised me to pick up a couple pills to kill adult fleas. Then I was to treat her with the monthly medicine the next day. We also purchased some spray for in the house and yard. We washed bedding, vacuumed and all the usual routine when one finds illicit visitors. On Monday I called Orkin and they treated the house that afternoon. None of this seemed to phase the evil biters.

Odie and I haven't slept well. She's been restless and itchy. I've been fretting and combing her frequently on the deck - producing dead and live critters. Even I have bites. I've poured over the Internet looking at options. I tried apple cider vinegar cut with water sprayed on her. I'm tempted to sprinkle diatomaceous earth around the yard. Paul think it sounds crazy. See...it's got me trying crazy stuff!

One week later I took her to the vet. Poor Odie isn't eating and neither of us can take much more of this! Dr. Merk prescribed an anti-itch medicine that is not a steroid. Plus she gave us a chewable flea med that kills fleas when they get on the dog - not after they bite the dog like her present med.

I hope this works. So does Odie!

The highlight of my week was a get-together with a group of my high school classmates - the decoration committee for our June 2016 reunion. We met at a restaurant in Ankeny. It's so funny how the years melt away when one sees old friends. Even though we didn't always go to the same school, Cindy, Dawn and I were in Catechism together most of the years. A bonding experience for sure! Jeanne, Cindy and Roger all went to Jackson school. And we all attended High School together - though Jeanne moved to Ames during our Junior year. I sure enjoyed seeing my homies!

We decided not to decorate but came up with some ideas for the Saturday night gathering at the Country Club - like nametags and a backdrop for photos. (Jeanne has suggested Zombie prom, but that sounded like too much effort for me...) On Friday night we typically do a picnic at Sunnyside Park with golf on Saturday. I'm in charge of looking into a walk or bike ride that morning too. Sounds like fun. Hope there aren't any bugs.

 

Class reunions - a dying event?

Amy headed home on Amtrak - arriving Friday a.m. in Crestonia (late as usual - good job Amtrak) for her 10th high school class reunion. Hungry, she walked to S&K Café for a bit 'o breakfast. She recognized a few familiar faces and one smiling one especially. When she tried to pay Chuck, the proprietor, someone had already taken care of it...anonymously. That warms my heart. Good 'ol Creston.

Was it Darwin West auctioneer, bus driver, prom announcer and all around good guy? Amy will never know but is forever grateful. The Denver kid still loves her home town because of things like that!

Amy planned the Creston High School's Class of 2004 reunion from afar. She wasn't the Class president or anything, but hey...nobody else was doing it - and it seemed important to her. Maybe her business mentor, my classmate Roger Underwood (Atlantic High School Class of 1976) is rubbing off on her. He's been great at planning our Atlantic class reunions (except for the last one when I accepted the challenge). I'm glad it's important to Amy as well.

I totally understand it when some people choose to just walk away from high school and wash their hands of the whole thing. They had a bad experience, have become a new person and don't feel like revisiting that time in their lives. Or some people just don't have that much vacation time - and peeling off time for a reunion isn't in the cards. Others just might not want to see a certain someone in the class, or to talk about where they are in their lives at that point. But in my opinion they're missing out.

I'm intrigued by watching people grow up. I must admit, I didn't pay attention to some of my classmates as we moved through those high school years. I had my group of friends and the others were bit players in my eyes. After graduation - when classmates had matured a bit...and maybe I had too - it was fun to talk to them. I hope they didn't think I was a total idiot.

Maybe Amy will never come back to another reunion. Or maybe, like her momma, she'll go to many. She enjoyed this one. She wished more classmates could have attended, but what can you do? There's never a perfect weekend - you just have to pick.

Paul and I chose to chaperone part of the evening at The Lobby along with some of our homies. First we ate at A&G where the Class of 1994 reunion was happening. I wish I would have known that Missy Frank, daughter of our daycare providers Carol and Mark, was there in the party room. We did run into these honeys.

Hudek girls - Megan, Syd and Erin

 We also saw many other familiar faces including Stew Stewart and family and Troy Jay's parents. Katzers came in for a bite with Ron and Dottie Dunphy. It's nice to go where everybody knows your name.

Amy and Kristina McFee Carroll

The crowd at The Lobby was much younger. Tim, the Lobby Owner, had hired a DJ with karaoke capabilities - one of the guy singers was pretty darn good. The girls gathered in the corner so we could keep an eye on the people - a mix since the bar wasn't closed to just the Class of 2004. Just down the street the Class of 1984 had hired a band and they were celebrating in the alley. Wow - 3 decades of former students in town.

unofficial chaperones/stalkers

It was fun to chat with some of the kids from the class who chose to take time to speak with us parents. Soon however the fellas (Jeff, Paul and Donnie) felt the need to keep moving. They walked to the Elms Club to catch up with some of the folks from that class. 1984 was a couple years before we moved to town. Thane Glynn told a couple of hilarious stories and then they were off across the tracks.

When we first moved to Creston, Sidetracked was a dive bar right next to First National Bank where I worked. Then it got "selected" to move when the city decided the area was needed for urban development - Fareway went in there. Sidetracked (named due to proximity to Burlington Northern tracks, or because certain husbands get off course when they go there) moved to the south side of the tracks and has been there ever since. The establishment is run by a CHS classmate of Jeff's (Class of 1976) Randy Hagel. He's a big boy.



we were the only customers by this point...

When I got a text saying the boys were at Sidetracked we decided to join them. I didn't think we really needed to stay for the Class of 2004's whole reunion. Deb decided to head home - her husband Larry and sons (Brett is Amy's classmate) are in Cooperstown, NY at the Baseball Hall of Fame ceremony - trip of a lifetime! So Deb was flying solo.

On our way out of the door I stopped to say goodbye to Amy and chatted with Stormy Weis Wilson - longtime bff of Amy. What a sweetheart! Amy stayed at Stormy and Kyle's this weekend and I'm so glad they had a chance to catch up.



Don describes to Diana how to get him to listen to her...

Bobbie, Diana and I walked across the tracks to see what the fellers were up to. Of course when we got to Sidetracked...it was evident - the guys were up to no good! Soon Cheetos were had. Randy shot water at Diana from behind the bar when she tried to order just a water...so she had to settle on a vodka tonic. No limes at that joint...or diet tonic!

We shut Randy down and ended up back at the Elm's Club for just 1 more. Not for me though - I was driving. By the time we got back to B&J's Kristina was there and Odie was able to enjoy some Cheerios with Jeff and her. Bedtime 1:30 a.m. - late for this kiddo!

Bobbie served a lovely egg casserole this a.m. and we picked Amy up in time to do a rundown of the evening - who was there and who was a no-show who had said they were coming. It was a pretty good turnout for a Facebook Invite event with no real "buy in" required by anyone. Everyone there said they'd like to do it again in 5 years. Amy better get some tips from Roger...

Some say class reunions are dying out because people keep track of each other on Facebook. I say bah humbug.

Reunion angst

It's coming together. No not really. But kinda.

The Atlantic High School Class of 1976 has been spoiled! We've had some independently wealthy and motivated fellas heading up our class reunions for the past 25 years. Before that, really because they put together our fantastic senior party when they actually made a table out of sticks, behind KJAN Radio Station. We had to park in the station parking lot and ride in the back of a Jeep or pickup truck back to the party site. Of course I was a lil drunk when I experienced it all. And then the college frosh guys ran through naked, but it was dark and I couldn't see very well. Damn! Dave Becker was in the group too...hunky!

I don't know who put on the 5 year class reunion - but it too was behind KJAN. I was late, because I waited for eternally late Christie Jo Deardorff, poor planning on my part to attend this event with her! Five year reunions are kinda dumb anyway. Chris says we talked to Gary Burg after the five-year and when we told her mother she said later "wasn't he a no-good?" Ha! Good 'ol Ginger - always called a spade, a spade.

By the ten-year, I'd had Amy and couldn't wait to show her off at the Country Club pool. And Paul too of course. It was the start of Paul getting to know my classmates - the guys anyway. He already knew many of my girlfriends from before. I'm not sure if the ten year reunion was when Jeff Becker and Roger Underwood started to organized the things. They ran a business together. In 1986, they were most likely still in the early years.

By 1991 I was pregnant with Patrick. Robyn had us all (the gals) out for brunch at her mother's place. It was fun. Paul played golf with the guys. Was that the Elks Club year?

Roger and Jeff have set up the last two reunions - picnics on Friday night for the whole fam, followed by dinner at the Country Club Saturday night. We've got a good class - nice people to visit with.

But the people I really like to see are my girls! This year I'm hoping to see Sal, Jules, Pam, Chris, Rob and now I hear Christie and Paula are coming! Maybe Candice will show too!

Roger and Jeff have burned out of organizing the class reunion - so I'm stuck with trying to put together the spreadsheet of information to contact everyone. What a lot of work! I bow down to them for all their efforts these past 30 years! Wish me luck...