Visit to Saint Louie

Neither flood waters or a broken arm could keep us away from visiting our son in St. Louis last weekend. We were supposed to go last fall and a visit to an acupuncturist sent me into a tailspin with flu-like symptoms - so we weren't able to go.

Jud and Kara have such a busy schedule - it was hard to find a weekend that worked for all of us, so that we could finally visit the city with the arch! We put this date on the calendar long ago - way before my clutzy move on my bike resulted in a broken shoulder. Despite pain and a sling, I was determined to go!

We took off last Friday after working a few hours in the a.m. We'd heard they had rain similar to the onslaught we'd had in DSM on Wednesday night - but didn't realize we'd run into a roadblock an hour north of Jud's place. That resulted in a, not one, but two hour detour. Ugh!

We were happy to finally arrive about 7 p.m. Friday night. Jud and Kara had recently moved from one apartment in their complex to a larger ground floor unit - AND they'd stayed up late to put up pictures/decorations. Nothing like the looming prospect of visitors to spur you on! The place looks great.

We walked through their neighborhood to a corner bar for some supper. The area reminds me of the East Village 10 years ago - it's just on the edge of taking off to be cool. Now there are some nice things and some that aren't great. After we ate, we walked to a huge brewery for a beer. We were on the edge of a neighborhood (there are tons of them in STL) called the Grove.

 In the morning we picked up a local pastry at the corner bakery (Amy's Bake Shoppe). Plus some muffins - yummy. After a quick stop at a bike store to get a tire pump (they'd been riding on 20# tires) we headed to the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park, the largest urban park in the United States. It's right in their neighborhood!

There were displays on the neighborhoods of STL - with what was going on in the city back in 1875. And there was another on Nazi propaganda. Did I mention it was all totally free? As is everything at the park, including the zoo. It was a great way to get to know some things about the city - like its sense of competition with Chicago.

Speaking of Chicago - the Cubs were in town. So the city was rocking with lots of traffic. Our plan to go to a barbecue joint for lunch was busted when we saw the block long line. Plan B was a delightful kosher deli off the beaten path. I had a great corned beef sannie with cole slaw on rye.

Note manila cards for "Now Serving!" love it



After a rest, we then ventured to Anheuser-Busch to see if we could experience the brewery tour. Alas...the crowds had beat us to it, and they were booked for a couple hours. So we took the short tour right to the bar for a fresh one! The neighborhood near here allows people to drive around in golf carts. What a world. It reminded me of the Atlantic Country Club.

After that, we headed to another neighborhood only about 10 minutes from Jud's place to a another brew pub called Square One. We were one a mission to meet up with an old friend and his wife. I met Kevin Aleshire (otherwise known as Dairy Cow or DC) during my sophomore year in college. He lived on the same dorm floor at ISU with our pals Steve and Moose, who we met when they became our flag football coaches. Through Moose and Steve we met the whole dorm floor - Pig Farmer, Dirger, Dirty, and a variety of other aptly named characters. It must have been much like a scene from Animal House, living on that floor. "We'll call you"...

Anyway...I'm Facebook friends with Kevin and he'd seen we were visiting his home of the past 35 years. He too works at Boeing where Jud now works. He and wife Julie have two children who are all growed up and successful. Their daughter is doing a residency after recently completing medical school. It was really fun to catch up with them - and Jud and Kara enjoyed it too. We hope to see them again before 30 years have passed.

It was still fairly early when we said goodbye and headed back to J&K's. So we sat in the little grilling/garden area at their complex and had a beer. Then we finished the night by laughing together watching the Lego movie. The next morning we caught breakfast at a good place called The Shack on our way out of town. Flood waters only took us out of our way by about 20 minutes on the way back.

It was a swell time. It's fun to have grown up kids!

Our house

A Father's Day segment on the CBS Morning Show featured a reporter returning to help his own father clean out his childhood home. One his father built. His dad's health is such that he needs to move closer to a relative - somewhere that isn't 2 stories, now that he uses a walker.

The reporter reminisced about his childhood home and talked about how safe he felt there. That took me to my own "Wayback Machine". Click on the link to see more on this term - Yes, my life has deep roots in cartoons. It explains a lot, no?

The Bullock home was my own safe fortress. My Dad (and Mom, because she was there more due to Dad's life on the road) was it's king. Even though Cindy told Betsy that a monster was in our closet (therefore Bets always had to sleep with it closed), I felt safe there.

Like the CBS reporter, our house was designed and built by a father. Not mine, but my mother's - Herbert Leslie Morehead. It was a modern design for Atlantic, Iowa in the 1950's. That flat roof brought headaches in years to come, but the unique style was always pleasing to the eye.

With my grandma Morehead when we remodeled the house

One memory I have is the sound of the screen door slamming behind me as I dashed in for a drink of water, use the bathroom, grab a bite, many times a day. I bet we drove Mom wild. The action was outside - in the "woods" the thin strip of trees on the lot next to ours. Or in the sandbox, swing set and playhouse designed and built by our grandfather. And that was just in our yard.

Take our yard and multiply it times about 20 - due to the post World War 2 families clustered in the neighborhood. Each day was an adventure. Would the Mallon boys try to encroach on our pretend family with a house in the woods? Our dog Jud always barked at that crew! Maybe Patrick Hayes would ride his bike down the street. The Reinertsons were always visiting from next door. Perhaps something was up across the street - at the Tylers and Westbrooks. Or I might head to Fairlawns where we knew who lived in every single house! Graysons, Fausts, Wereshes, Smiths, Bredensteiners, Van Nostrands, the Hensley boys, Drakes and oh so many more! We wandered randomly on our bikes too - into storm drains. I learned how to cross barbed wire fences.

But at the end of the day, the house at 202 Crombie swallowed me up. I had a much-needed bath. My Dad my come in and say "I'm getting a drink of very, very cold water now...and then pretend to throw it on me...or really do it!" Oh how I'd scream! Mom would say, "DAVE!" Miss you Dad.

Happy Father's Day to the bestest daddy.

Bemidji 1991

Making a statement

I thought of my Grandpa, Wallace Orville Bullock - Bubba-  tonight while watching American Pickers. The boys, Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, made a stop at a place where there were a bunch of VW "bones". Volkswagens - including the classic Bugs. Bubba loved VWs.

Bubba

Mike said people purchased Volkswagons to make a statement. Yep, that was Bubba. His nickname for me was Yogi. I was his favorite grandchild. (I'm sure each of his seven grandkids could make a case...).

similar to Bub's first VW

Bubba was a unique guy. He was a successful salesman. When he retired he took up oil painting - lessons in Omaha. He did well at that and won local awards. In his spare time, he would take us for rides in his VW Bug. He smoked a pipe. I remember each VW he had, including the last one - a Rabbit. The tan one had a really difficult parking break to disengage. My Aunt Jeanie and I had to use both our thumbs to get 'er done!

In the early 1970's, Bubba went to Omaha and came home with a new model - light blue, all the bells and whistles. With a Bug, that means it had an engine! Those things were bare bones man. I should know - I benefitted in the mid-70's. I got to drive that sweet thing while my grandparents, Momo and Bubba were in St. Petersburg, Florida for the winter. The motor in the rear end of the car helped me make it up the hill to the High School. My HS homies loved riding around in the Love Bug - scooping the loop! It was a cool ride.

A car very similar to Bubba's Love Bug

  I'd love a chance to talk to Bub now - all growed up as I am. It would be an interesting visit.

That's why

they call them accidents. Ugh. It wasn't my turn! I was so looking forward to a summer of activities including biking...after feeling so badly last summer prior to the Graves' Disease diagnosis.

No energy, abdominal pain, muscle and weight loss. Plus high anxiety. I was a mess. So I was determined to return to my "fun girl" self this year. Meds have brought my thyroid under control. It's amazing to feel better. I've been walking and felt ready to add biking to the mix - putting about 30 miles on my lovely steed Albie.

old pic of Albie - on right

Finally the city opened up the trail under I-35 which adds a world of trails to us. Yay! After a long day at work Wednesday, we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous day and ride to Saints - just down off 50th for a meal and a beer on the patio. It's about a 5 mile round trip.

We weren't the only ones with that idea. We saw Bill and Kathy Matthews there. They are the couple we purchased our townhome from. Huge bikers themselves, Kathy plans to ride from Iowa City to Washington DC soon - and she must be around 70 years old as they just celebrated their 50th anniversary. Very cool people.

Then our niece Barb and her daughter Mandy stopped by our table. They were there with another mom and daughter pair. Sometimes West DM is a small place!

I chose to have one beer only - so I wasn't wobbly on my bike on the route back. And I had a big salad with a whole chicken breast. It almost felt like we were on vacation for that short time - it was a lovely evening.

Until the trip home. We were so close to our house when I made a bad decision - to pass a woman on the grass. When I tried to re-enter the sidewalk, my upper body strength wasn't enough to pull the bike back up and I flopped down - hitting on my elbow on the grass on the other side of the narrow sidewalk. I heard something pop - with pain. My head bounced but not bad. There was a scrape on my knee. My hip hurt. It was about 7:30 p.m. Maybe I should have had a second beer - that fall would have been easier?

I knew I needed to go to an emergency room. Paul and I walked our bikes home - about a block. Then we headed to Methodist West, right next to DMOS, where my shoulder surgeon resides during daytime hours. Emergency was a zoo. I finally had an X-Ray about 2 hours in. The docs, tech and nurses were all very nice. Broken shoulder was the diagnosis.

You can't put a cast on a shoulder. You can just put it in a sling and take pain meds because it's very painful. I could feel it grind around a little. I had a few choice words for myself. What a stupid thing to do. Now this summer will be shot as well...

I called my surgeon at DMOS the next day - Dr. Schulte. They snuck me in and one more XRay confirmed the diagnosis. I'll go back in a month to see how it's healing. The break is near the armpit. Pop! $(%*#

It's likely to freeze back up. Nice. At least this time there will be a reason. Sleeping isn't easy. I've been taking the pain meds as directed. Atlantic buddy Patrick Hayes has a similar injury. He gave me some tips. I'm worried about turning into a big gelatinous blob this summer - need to figure out how to get some exercise. With this pain level, that isn't happening though.

God bless Paul Goldsmith for doing laundry and opening my car door as needed. He's been a saint!

Work will be interesting. That goodness I have some flexibility regarding working offsite. I will meet with my supervisor next week. My left hand isn't the strongest...but working on the laptop is preferable to a standing work station at the Wallace Building (with real mice).

They say 4-6 weeks for the sling. Then the aftermath. It's going to be another long summer - but at least this time I know what's going on! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.

June bugs

When I worked at the Union County Landfill, I was privileged to see so many different types of insects. NOT. I hate bugs. Recent visits to landfill facilities for environmental management system audits have reminded me of that fact.

One year at the landfill I directed, there was a particularly robust "hatch" of June bugs. They were attracted to the nightlight and swarmed there - especially near the drive through for the household hazardous waste facility. I didn't like the noise made when people would drive over them - all those tiny bug screams. No not really - but they did make an icky crunchy noise.

So I would use the large shop broom and the hose to clear them out of the drive. But no! They were like zombie bugs - marching towards me. I'd dream about them. I'm glad I don't work in the wilderness any longer. I hate bugs.

Team Thor - DNR Audit Team with Carroll landfill in the background

It's a busy time of year at work! We are making site visits around the state each week - across the northwest to the southeast corners. Despite arachnids and insects, I quite enjoy visiting the landfill, recycling and household hazardous waste facilities. The employees there are doing such good work - above and beyond mere trash and recycling. They are working on clean water and are reducing energy usage too. This week I'm off to Fort Madison.

Paul and I have been getting out more too now that the weather has warmed up. Monday we rode our bikes to Saints - yay the trail is open under the Interstate! Thursday we attended Teambuilding at the Locust Street Tap - finally opened again after being condemned.

Paul - building the team at the Locust Street Tap

Jud and Kara arrived from St. Louis in Friday. A sorority sister of Kara was getting married the next day. We took Jud to the Farmer's Market for a breakfast burrito - courtesy of Prescott folks. It's practically a suburb of his hometown, Creston. Later that night we went to a movie and the kids attended the wedding near that pumpkin farm by the Interstate west of DSM. Jud ran into a High School classmate. They partied at a bar in West Glen later and ran into most of the ISU men's basketball team.

Paul and I  had a nice bike ride early this morning. I saved a tiny turtle from the wheels of some unsuspecting bicyclist. I spotted him - he'd floated out with mulch during the hard rain in the storm the night before. Paul placed him gently back into the mulch.

 

After a big breakfast, Kara and Jud headed home. We're glad we get to see them again when we head to their place in a few weeks. I heard from Amy today - she's on her way to New York City with bf Corey who will be working there this week. Amy will hang out and work too. They'll squeeze in some tourist stuff too. These kids are hard to keep up with!

Roid non-rage

Guess what these are? You're right...I've been visiting the doctor's office again. I'm a sucker for these models. Brains, ladyparts, sinuses. I like 'em all. Cuz they're plastic - not real guts!

This time I was visiting a new endocrinologist. You may recall that when I found out that my thyroid was wacky, I didn't wish to wait for the Des Moines group of doctors at Iowa Diabetes and Endocrinology Center (IDEC) to get around to phoning me for an appointment. They seemed to be way to busy for little old me - who was in the midst of angst and anxiety, the result of not knowing what was wrong with me and my illness.

So I was referred by my nurse practitioner, Sheryl Young ARNP, to an Endocrinologist at University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics. Despite the fact that I'm a big Cyclone fan, they nicely got me in for an appointment fairly quickly. While I was on the way to Iowa City, IDEC finally called me to make an appointment. Right.

Dr. Doelle got me on the right track. We kept in contact using the secure online system. I needed periodic blood tests and that was a bit of a hassle for both his staff and me though. So I decided it was time to switch to a local doc. Thus the visit to Dr. Vanitha Singaram last week. She was nice and seems very thorough and plans to run a test to make sure that I have the Graves antibody, important as I go forward with this illness.

I'm down to 1 pill every other day. We'll see how that goes - aiming for remission. I hope the thyroid cooperates. Mine is shaped pretty normal - like the one on the left BTW. Don't look for me to get a butterfly tattoo like some people on the Graves Facebook page...

More long pants weather

On Saturday we met Cindo for a quick lunch at Moe's Original BBQ in Lionshead (a Vail suburb) where her son Colby works as the manager. He also has now been promoted to manager at the Eagle store too. Way to go Colby-Monster!

Hands-on manager - does it all, Colby

 We had a southern bbq lunch, ribs, smoked turkey, black-eyed peas, corn bread and more. It was fab. Then we were off to Grand Junction where we knew another yumster meal was in store at the Alvillar home - Susi and Jim are great cooks. It's a lovely drive through the Glenwood Canyon to GJ and Amy, Cindy Paul and I enjoyed chatting on the way.

On the patio - Jim and Susan

Culotte steak was on the menu that night. Susi had been marinating it. The Alvillars told us about their recent European trip, and we enjoyed partaking from their wine cellar. The conversation is always lively with this group!

In the morning I took a walk enjoying the beautiful scenery.

View from the trail behind Susi's home

We piled into Jim's Toyota SUV and headed 10 minutes up to the Colorado National Monument - the daily view of the Alvillars, but a place they hadn't actually entered for years.

The sissies

After our Monument tour, we had brunch at Garfields and then pointed the Subaru back east. We spent a bit of time in Edwards at Bolder's favorite bar - E-town. His portrait is still displayed there.

Etown with Boldie looking down

On Monday, Cindy invited friends over for supper. Skirt steak this time! (we were eating our way through women's clothing). Paul got his yard work jones fulfilled by helping spread mulch on the berm in the yard. We did have an incident on our way to Home Depot.

Paul had selected a can of soda that turned out to be frozen and it erupted slowly like Mount St. Helen's in our car cup holder as we drove. I was afraid it might overflow onto the car carpeting - and leaned down to sip from the can, nestled between the seats, as the sticky liquid trickled out. Paul yelped, "people are driving by!" He was worried about appearances. I howled with laughter! That made it hard to drink. Later, Amy and I took a walk - she wore gloves. Walking is harder at 8,500 feet!

The dinner party was fun! All the usual characters were there - our Vail pals. Bonnie and Eric - Cindo is their sister wife (in name only). The Sanders, Jim and Shiloy and their adorbs son Reeve with his new girlfriend. The food was nummy - Cindy is a good cook. I didn't get that gene either, but am determined to work on it. The conversation was enjoyable. A good time was had by all.

We were up and out of there at 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning, stopping in Denver to drop our beloved Amy off and to say goodbye. It was a long drive home, but an audiobook kept us company. We only stopped twice! Odie had McDonald's eggs for breakfast because I left the darn food at Cindo's. Oh well. We'll be back! Love my peeps there. Thanks for everything.