Dollys are Important

And blankies too! When Amy was a baby, she received several lovely stuffed toys and blankets as gifts. I'm embarrassed to say I don't remember where the stuffed pink bear came from. It was bigger than the newborn she was when she received it.

We called him Pookie - I think the name came from the Garfield cartoon. (I don't know why it was a him, since it's pink...) Hmm, Garfield is where our dog's name came from too (Odie). I don't really even like Garfield that much, but I must have some kind of fetish. Anyway - out of all Amy's stuffed toys, she bonded with Pookie. That's often what kids do - they imprint on something and it becomes their crutch. It can be a blanket - I heard of a kid who used his blanket so hard it ended up in shreds. So his mom trimmed it to the size of a Kleenex. Still he fell asleep with it each night - rubbing it on his face. Ahhh.

The Bullock grandkids like their stuffed toys. Amy had Pookie - thank goodness our babysitter was only 3 blocks from our house. Sometimes in the rush to get out the door in the morning, we'd get to Carol's house and Amy would say, "where's Pookie?" in that panicked voice. Rather than face the wrath of a PO's 2 year old, I'd run and get him. We dragged him all the way to Florida on the plane more than once...he's big enough that he practically needed his own seat!

Pookie is dingy from loving and being hauled around - I wonder if he can be dry cleaned?

Thankfully, Jud bonded with a smaller bunny we named GusGus. I think that name came from the Cinderella Disney movie. I'd include a photo of said bunny, but Jud has GusGus in St. Joe where he lives. Pookie and GusGus were the stars of many a play and they benefitted from lots of meals cooked in our Fisher Price kitchen.

Colby Lefebvre had Hall Bear - given to him by Cindo's friend Mary Hall. (aptly named - no?). And who could forget Jordan Alvillar with her cat - Kiki. I think the story goes something like this - Susi, Leslie and Jordan went to Florida to visit Mom and Dad. Jordan left Kiki at their condo - our beloved nirvana where Susi, Cindy and I still go each April - though we don't stay in our parents' unit.

When the Alvillars got to the airport, Jordan realized her beloved kitty was MIA. She through a mother of a temper tantrum, screeching KEE KEE throughout the airport. I'm not sure how Susi ever got that little bundle of muscle on the plane...

Betsy's kids had special animals too - though I wasn't around them enough to know their names (the stuffed toys, not the kids - even though there are 5 of 'em I do know them all...).

A few horses were laying down on the job...

Paul and I checked out the new Farm/Fleet in Ankeny Saturday. I saw these toy horses there - reminding me of the porcelain ones we used to received for gifts. We'd put yarn halters on them - then use our erasers as riders. WHAT you say?

They were little rubber animals - you could stick them on your pencils at school. Or use them to ride your horses. We'd name the horses and pretend lots of scenarios - usually about Bar-L Ranch, the horse camp we attended in Guthrie Center. Man, the things we did to entertain ourselves before video games...

Audience Participation - favorite song lines

Do you have lines of certain songs that you Love, Love, Love?

I heard Bob Seger's "Night Moves" on my way to the Farmer's Market this morning. When he sang "In the sweet summertime, summertime." I thought about how that line in that song is IT for me. and there are two other songs I can think of quickly that have lines that I simply love. I'm sure there are more, but I'd have to put my thinking cap on...and that's not what this is about.

The other two are:
Head East: "Never Been Any Reason" is the song. The line "Have you ever been lonely?" It's followed by "Do you have any fun?" which I like too.

This band has a Leslie/Paul memory. The only time I ever saw this band was the first time Mom and Dad met Paul Goldsmith. He was playing on a men's softball team - for Minsky's Pizza the summer before our senior year. That was the summer we began dating. Fred Behr was on the team too, and Vic and I were groupies. The team played in a tourney in Harlan, Iowa - where for some reason they were able to book Head East to play at a community celebration.

I was attracted to the cute buns in those tight baseball pants...

In between games I drove everyone to Atlantic - it was very hot out. We swam at Sunnyside pool where I was a former lifeguard. Then we stopped at my folks place to change and have some food. That night we saw Head East. To answer Head East's question - yes - we had some fun!

and

My all time fave dancing song - all my homies and close family members) know this is true.
B-52's (the original group had a member from - you'd never guess it - Creston): "Love Shack" It's a simple line but gets repeated a lot - "Bang Bang - on the door baby". I like it because you get to do the knock on the door dance move...

Am I the only one that does this? Or do you, dear readers have favorite song lines?

Trip to Double Ds

Wednesday this week I headed to Dubuque for the League of Cities conference. I helped with a booth to market our section's programs to Iowa communities. A co-worker, Becky Ohrtman, from another section in our bureau staffed the booth with me. Ironically, Becky worked for the Natural Resources Conservation Service - who Paul works for - prior to DNR. So she knows Paul and lots of his buddies. Trash and dirt - they're simpatico.

I took off Wednesday and arrived at the Grand River Center about 1 p.m. The location is great and it was a beautiful day. I took a few minutes to check out the river side of the center - so gorgeous.

I set my stuff up and attended an excellent session by a woman named Rebecca Ryan who runs a consulting firm that helps businesses and communities figure out how to deal with the next generation. Some of the keys she talked about, that community leaders need to consider are things like schools, vitality and health, leadership, night life, commute time (not really a problem in small towns - but for every 10 minutes one commutes, you lose 30 minutes of volunteer time). Rebecca talked about how the different generations deal with these things in different ways.

It's important for those of us that work with the public, because we can't assume that we are reaching everyone just because we print it in the paper or put it on the radio. That might have worked back when I first started working in this biz. Heck I even started a website, but today that's old news...for today's young people. Twitter, apps, Facebook - we need to find new ways to get information to the people. While not forgetting the Boomers who still read the paper.

I got to see some Crestonites that Wednesday evening, as people went by our booth. Of course Jim helped us in our booth. We gave away nifty chip clips with magnets along with information about our programs. Warren Woods - mayor of Creston, along with his lovely wife went by. Later I saw Mike Taylor, City Admin - and my former boss at Gits Manufacturing. That seems like a lifetime ago! Someone else called out my name as I made my way through the crowd - it was Chad Levi, husband of Renee, former St. Malachy teacher. That fam now lives in the Cedar Rapids area. The oldest of their three daughters is a HS frosh!

Becky with Jim

I stayed at the Hotel Julian - (that is Dubuque's first name). It was refurbished - and it gorgeous. I wish I could have stayed longer than 9 hours...but all too soon I was off to Davenport for an audit. Jim helped with that too.

Audit Team with Scott County staffers

It was a good trip - a long couple of days for an old bat like me.

Didn't see that coming...

I read a couple books a week - usually simultaneously. Yeah, now I'm just showing off (other people get stuff done - I read). This week I listened to a Thomas Perry book on CD. I like his Jane Whitefield series, which are about a woman of American Indian descent who helps people disappear. Usually they're running away from abusive marriages or the mob - that type of thing. Jane is an interesting character, very understated and thorough, and I like her Indian background and family lore.

The book I listened to on this week's trip was about different characters, though - "Night Life" starts with a beautiful young woman shooting a guy in the head. Tanya then adopts different names throughout the book, and "is" that person. Catherine - the cop chasing her is the Jane type character. We get background on both characters - I like that. How did they end up the way they are.

One thing I find interesting is that the author, a man, allows men to be portrayed as so shallow. He lets Tanya - the black widow - pick them up right and left. I began to wonder - is it really that easy for beautiful women to attract men? Can a hot chick show up at the bar and take a guy home any night she wants to? Do they buy her diamonds and fall into her web? Don't worry - Tonya got hers in the end.

The second book "Good as Gone" was by an author I'd not heard of before. It was about the kidnapping of a young child - a 5 year-old girl when her parents were visiting Paris. It reminded me of the story of the English family in Portugal or Spain that lost their daughter a few years ago. Usually kidnap stories freak me out. I have to read them quickly. This one was more like a "Taken" movie type scenario. The guy tracking her was like a younger Liam, and he winds up with a cute woman attorney helping him.

I thought I had the plot figured out...I'm pretty good at that. I started thinking the wife of the lost child had an affair and the real baby daddy had snatched the kid. But then there was a plot twist. They end up in Russia where Chernobyl fallout affected the health of everyone. It seems the pediatrician of the little kidnapped girl is there - it's a special clinic he's raised funds for to help the kids of this area. But wait, he's brought his own daughter because she's the same age as the stolen girl and - shock - she has what our son Patrick had hypoplastic left ventricle. She needs a heart transplant. The two girls have rare blood type. She needs to harvest the kidnapped girl's heart to put into his own daughter.

I break into tears! That was not expected. Did not see that coming. Just when you least expect it, your life ends up in an exciting novel.

Patrick

This novel (I know he's not real) doctor is willing to sacrifice the life of a healthy child to save his daughter who has what your baby died from. Our hero saves the day of course. He explains to the doc that it's not fair to cause Lindsay to die for the poor damaged heart girl. The doc dad kills himself. The book lost its intrigue for me. I just wanted to finish it.

With October just around the corner I've been thinking so much of my Brother-In-Law Bolder and my sis Cindo. I'm sure she'll be re-living events from a year ago. Being told Bolder's cancer was back. Learning there was no treatment, that it would be fatal.

Boldie

 

I remember sitting on a bench on Locust street during my lunch break in late October when Cindo texted to say Bolder had 10 days to live. Surreal. We gathered the troops to make the quick trip to Vail. I'm so glad we did! And the days keep passing and the seasons turn. Patrick and Bolder hanging, somehow, somewhere together.

Gettin' high and cooking

Sunday we got to have a late breakfast with Jud and Kara, before they headed south to Kansas City. It was fun to see them two weekends in a row! I was spoiled. I like hanging with my kiddo - hearing Paul and him talking about their teams. Jud chased Odie around the house Sunday morning and she got all jacked up, barking and whirling - she's still got it for an old gal. Kara thought it was a hoot.

I ran some errands during the Green Bay game - left Paul to feel the pain of another tragic loss. His teams aren't faring too well this season so far. Luckily it was the early game and there was still plenty of beautiful day left when the game ended. We were off to Woodward to ride the bike trail to the High Trestle Bridge - something we'd been itching to do all summer!

Can't have an Iowa town without a grain elevator

The trailhead is right in town
 

There was an overlook that made Pablo queasy...

Orange and Albie liked the nice railing - it kept them from plunging 40 meters

See...he's not quite smiling - he doesn't like this height. For some reason it didn't bother me

I guess it's really cool at night with the lights

Afterwards we couldn't resist a cold bevvie at the Whistlin' Donkey!

We need to go back to this trail sometime with friends! The trail is all paved and is flat as a pancake. It goes to the High Trestle Bridge which is 15 stories high - built from a former railroad trestle. It's up there! We saw lots of recumbent bikes as we rode. Plus walkers and families. It's 2.6 miles to the trestle from Woodward - and is another 2.6 to Madrid (pronounce Mad Rid) after the bridge.

I always think of Betso when I see that town name. When she was in high school, she and buddy Julie Hansen drove to Ames to visit me at college. They took a left turn at the wrong place, and they ended up there for some reason - lost! It was prior to the cell phone era of course, and she found a public phone and frantically called me and said, "We're lost - we're in Madrid!" pronouncing it like the Spanish city. Being the smart ass college student I was, I said, "Wow, you did take a wrong turn!" Clever, no?!? I hear there is a pub in Madrid too. Could be a fun ride!

Last night I attended a cooking class put on by LearnWest. It was in a little magazine I received in the mail from the community education program. They offer all sorts of classes - from jewelry making, to quilts (damn - you have to know how to sew) to cooking, exercise, computers, blogging and more.

About time you learned to cook, some of you might say. So I mature slowly. There's still time! It's not like I can't cook - it's just that I have no style. I'd like to learn to be comfortable in a kitchen - and not just on the clean up crew. There were nine of us at the class set at a local Junior High Home Ec room. Visions of Mrs. Elming, my very own Junior High instructor. She tried valiantly to teach me to cook, sew and apply makeup. It didn't take.

This class was taught by Stacey Parkins, who runs her own business - Nonna's Inspired Cooking. She'll come to your home and teach you to cook a dish. Stacey also teaches several of the LearnWest classes. Nice gal, who is assisted by her sister. Nonna is her gran - awww.

Gail and Angela

Soup

We learned to cook chicken and rice soup and whipped up a citrus salad dressing to put on some greens. I partnered with a couple other gals who came without built in pals - Angela and Gail. I got a kick out of Gail who said she doesn't even own measuring spoons. It will be hard to cook at home without some, I believe! Stacey had us tasting the recipes after several steps and also gave us tips about things to keep in our kitchens. It was nice to ask questions of someone who wasn't snooty. We had to keep adding mustard to the dressing because it was too thin and a bit bland to start with. The evening was fun. I won't be cooking like that every night - it takes time! But there might be hope for the weekends. Maybe I am growing up. Naaa.

Prudypants

My nieces have a friend named Prudence. She came to Cannon Beach with them in 2002, and she fit in well with the Bullock grandkids. Especially Baby David who loved her. She went by the name Pru and had the nickname Prudypants. I liked the kid and always wondered what became of her. She was an awesome soccer player.

Last night at Mass at St. Francis, our deacon spoke about prudence. The noun not the girl. In my view, the world would be a better place if we all put on our prudypants. The Webster dictionary says prudence is:

1

:  the ability to govern and discipline oneself by the use of reason

2

:  sagacity or shrewdness in the management of affairs

3

:  skill and good judgment in the use of resources

 

It seems to me that fewer people all the time are prudent. I'm not even going to go into politics. We all know that system is messed up. I'm not blaming one side or the other. They's all bad! I heard a good quote on the CBS Morning Show today - it was from a Mark Twain show that's running. It was a Mark Twain quote that went something like this, "The only reason politicians didn't become actors is because they're ugly." Oh, the drama.

 

No, it's just that I keep hearing about the number of people who make knucklehead choices. Seriously? Why are people not prepared in life to make good choices. We are failing to teaching decision-making 101.

 

I read a story this week that illustrates my point perfectly.

Guy may be sued by parents of teens of trashed his house

 

WTF. Your kid goes to a party at a house that has been illegally entered. Does drugs, drinks and trashes the place. The guy does research from all the Twitter posts and gets photos from the party and posts names to get information on who was there. Only one kid who was at actually at the party shows up to help clean up the mess.

 

Parents of the kids who had their names posted on the website he created in the wake of the destructive bash have threatened to sue the former NFL star. And they want to pay him to make this "problem" go away. Anything to get junior out of this predicament.

 

What's wrong with this picture? What happened to accountability? Did it end with my parents' generation? When my sis Cindy had a party (was she a HS Junior?) at my grandparents' Atlantic home while they were wintering in Florida, she got busted. Mom got to pick her up at the cop shop and haul all the kids home. Man was Mom pissed! Even though there was no spray painting or destruction. Cindy had to apologize to my grandparents and Cindy was grounded for a long time. On a good note - during her period of "incarceration" that summer, Mom arranged for Cindy visit my Aunt Jean and Uncle Bruce in Denver for a couple weeks.

 

Cindy credits that time period with her awakening - to the fact that Atlantic High School wasn't going to be her life forever. She would rise above it and be okay. And she was! She went on to be very successful at Drake University. She was popular, received good grades and made great lifelong friends. Crappy high school, where she felt peer-pressured into having an illicit party is a distant memory. In this coming week, Cindy's Drake friends are gathering for a trip with her. Very cool.

 

Those kids in New York are not going to learn a lesson like my parents taught Cindo. Nope. No prudence there. They're learning - no matter what, you're parents will help you weasel out of it. Money buys you out of it - takes care of everything. There is another word that goes with prudence. Integrity. Do what you say you will - the right thing. The New York party goers are not learning either. It's sad.

 

Am I perfect at all this? Ha! Far from it. At age 55 - still a work in progress. But every day I try to put on my prudypants. With integrity - one leg at a time.

 

Yesterday Paul and I once again headed downtown to the Farmer's Market. Yeah, you're probably tired of hearing me proclaim how much I adore the weekly event. It's spiritual so you'll have to bear with me...





The light in the a.m. was fabulous - with the chill and the music - it combined to be quite spiritual for me...



I love the colors too



got some bacon from these dudes - the other spiritual thing is buying right from the producers

Paul purchased a couple hosta to put by our steps - the grower was quite helpful. We miss Cheri Finken from Creston though...

 



We bought a couple Cinderella stacking pumpkins - they loaned Paul a cart to wheel our haul to our car. It was a good morning.

 

Jud is in town again - vegging it up on our couch watching wall-to-wall football while gf Kara hangs with her sorority friends from college for a bachelorette weekend. Last night Paul and I attended the "Untamed Shrews" show at the Funny Bone Comedy Club in West Glenn. I used to listen to those gals on KGGO radio classic rock (that was the only place in our metal building I could get KGGO - otherwise it was the local Creston Radio station with Country music) when I'd work in Creston in the hazardous materials facility sorting people's boxes of paint, cleansers, oil and other stuff. When they were it town they'd be on the radio show and they were a hoot - in a PG-13 way.

Last night they were rated R to XXX at times but funny! There were 3 bachelorette parties in the house and it was rocking. At one point one of them asked if a bus from Creston was there. Hmmm who has been to see them before, I'm wondering. Piels and the CIPCO group perhaps?

I'm glad Jud didn't go with us. For sure. It was not spiritual but laughing is good for the soul.

 



Susi's birthday Ahoy!

It's my big sis Susan Morehead Bullock Alvillar's birthday today. I love that girl! She's been nice to me since I was born.

Susan in the middle - separating the two trouble-makers, Cindo and me. Pre-Betso.

Except for that time she hit me in the mouth with the baseball bat she brought me home as a gift from her Girl Scout trip to Washington D.C. At least I think that's where it came from. For some reason she was swinging it like a big league player and I decided to wander into the flight path. So I guess it really wasn't her fault after all.

Susi is six years older than I am - but she was seven years ahead of me in school. No, not because I flunked! She started school when she was four - which was normal back then. She was a typical first child - high-achiever. She seemed to be a peacemaker with out family. Except with Cindy - I do remember the two of them breaking out in fisticuffs a couple times.

Susi grew up in a different family than the one I did. She remembers my grandparents being much younger than I do. My grandma, Momo played golf! I mostly recall her playing bridge and sitting in her chair. Susi got stuck with 3 younger sisters. I only had 1. She remembers the Germaines as neighbors - in fact she and Johnny burned down the bushes together. I remember the Reinertsons.

So it made sense when she went off to college and studied Sociology at Temple Buell. (It's now closed and ironically the campus is the site of where my nephew Colby studied and received a Bachelor of Science - Johnson and Wales for Culinary School). Where is that, you ask? All the way out in Denver! She went there two years, and then to the University of Denver.

It blew up my world when Susi went to college. I was 11, and was just entering those tender years. I wasn't going to get any guidance and assistance from Cindy. She had her own angst going on! I remember the first time Susi came home from college. She got a ride from someone and when she arrived at our front door, she looked like someone totally different than the girl that left. A hippy! It was 1969, after all. She had John Lennon wire frame glasses and fringed jeans. Wow - radical! I sometimes helped her iron her hair - with the iron on the ironing board - pre-flat iron days.

I've always enjoyed hanging out with Susi throughout my life. She's easy-going and even tempered. But the lady knows how to get stuff done. She needs to as the Government Affairs Specials with WPX Energy. She is a busy person.

Susi and Jim have raised 3 wonderful children. Jim's son David was only 3 when they got married in 1982, so Susi has been a big influence in David's life. He now lives in Manhattan with his wife and baby boy - Jonah who is adorable.

My nieces Leslie and Jordan are gorgeous and smart! Just like their parents. And now Les and her hubbie have little James who is a cutie. We can't wait to meet that little guy sometime soon. Jordie (my niece) lives and Denver and she and Amy get to hang out some. Les & fam live in sunny CA.

Susi is a Girl Scout. For real - not just the "be prepared" stuff. Mom helped with scouts when Susi was growing up (she burned out by my time with scouts - I got Cindy Peterson's mom as a leader...). Susi stayed in Scouts long enough to do the neat stuff like visit Washington D.C. She's given back to that organization many times over by volunteering - even though her girls weren't involved. One year, when we were in Florida, Cindy and I howled with laughter as Susi tried to describe how the girls in her troop insisted they need to have "Fluffernutters" deep fried white bread with peanut butter and marshmallow. Susi was determined to eat healthy and that wasn't what the girls had in mind...

It's also "Talk Like a Pirate Day" today - September 19th. So Ahoy me matey Suso! Hope yer havin' a great Day 'O birth!