Just for my lil niece LeLo

IronRite

In CubicleLand this week (aka the beautiful Wallace Building) Angie, Becky and I discussed how we recognize certain of our co-worker's walks. How they actually sound as they make their way through the aisles of the joint - usually 5th floor. And we all have our own etiquette styles.

Angie's desk is at the end of a longish aisle and some people hover and wait for her to notice them - even though her back is to the opening. Others, like me, trot right in unless she's on the phone or involved in a conversation with someone I don't feel comfy barging in on.

My back is to the opening of my cubicle and lots of people try to make some type of knocking noise to get my attention. When I'm deep in thought, it usually scares the heck out of me! There is a little doorbell sticker on the support beam in my cube, but it doesn't really work.

I can recognize some of my co-worker's distinct walks without even turning around - which brings me to the family portion of this blog. The house we grew up in had a huge laundry room and Mom seemed to spend lots of time there - smoking and laundering. The laundry room contained the usual stuff - washer/dryer combo, a table where Mom would lay out folded clothes and a utility sink with 2 sides where she could bleach and soak stuff.

There was also a row of hooks where we could hang up coats and a place for boots - great for winter. She insisted we use this entrance from the patio during sledding playtime. There was a mounted pop bottle top remover (for Dad's poker parties no doubt) and a phone mounted on a wall with an extra long cord so you could even talk in the next room - with the TV in it.

On the end of the room, a clothes line was strung up so she could hang stuff as she took them out of the washer or after ironing. The ironing board was set up right below it. And the focal point of the room was the IronRight. It was a huge machine she used to iron sheets - but I even learned to use it to iron tee shirts. You had to watch out cuz it could sure screw up the pressed on applique! And the controls are knee operated and could shock you!

The ceiling of our laundry room was never finished and insulated. So you could hear everything through it. Mom didn't bother to march around through the TV room and up the stairs to yell at us - she'd just yell through the floor. And she liked to yell at Susi about the way she stomped on the floor when she walked. Evidently Susi didn't float like a graceful young woman at that time. Mom would yell, "quit stomping!"

I wonder what it sounded like when Betso was doing her flippy flops in the living room?

Life is rosy

Awww, Paul sent me roses at work! (see the photo of my cubicle in this post - roses are in the corner, right by my lunchtime book, plus pictures of my family and tickets from favorite events)

I like impromptu flowers much more than the ones I’ve gotten on “expected” flower days, like Valentine’s Day and anniversaries.

He sent me two red roses and one yellow. I was so impressed that he remembered that we had yellow roses in our wedding. Um wrong. When I texted him to thank him, he wrote back, “Did you like the Cyclone colors?” Iowa State’s colors are cardinal and gold.

Oh well. I suppose after 26 years of marriage, I should quit expecting him to a romantic. I’m not all that romantic myself. I wish I was more so. I’m just so damn practical – it can be a curse. I suppose it’s due to my English heritage – stiff upper lip (if I had any) and all that.

And I’m a tough person to buy gifts for because I don’t like to keep things I won’t use. I’ll never forget the kids’ disappointment when I took the watch back that they (and Paul) got me for my birthday one year when they were small. Thinking back, I should have just kept it and made a big deal out of it. But hey, it was just like one I already had.

And Paul will never let me forget the stick pin he got me for Christmas when we were newlyweds. But my God, stickpins were OUT by then. I couldn’t go around wearing a passé stickpin, now could I? I’ve learned to be very specific with gift ideas, so I there are no unpleasant surprises.

Yep, I'm a lucky girl! I heard this line in a book I listened to last week (Robert Tannebaum's Rage), and I think it applies to my situation in marriage as well. One of the main characters - Marlene Ciampi - she of one eye, big dogs, guns and oh the lust said it: "In my last life I must have been Mother Theresa"...to deserve a such a great husband (something to that effect). Of course her husband, Manhattan DA Butch Karp had just given her a private escape all decked out in cool furniture in the building across from their loft. It was a place for her to paint and get away from the family.

Anyways...I’m determined to think of something spontaneous and romantic to surprise Paul back soon. To pay him back for the beautiful Cyclone colored roses.