Girl talk

I've missed girl talk. So when my sisters were here a couple weekends ago and last Saturday when I hung out with Bobbie and Joan, I was happy, I got to chat with gal pals.

Paul is a fab companion. We enjoy many of the same hobbies and can rant to each other about work stuff. But he's no girl! (thank goodness).

Yukking it up in the sculpture park

 

All my life I've depended on my girlfriends to fill me in on the important stuff. Health, hair, decorating, and fashion tips. We even discussed bushes and plants - I mostly listened... 

Art Festival with Bobbie and Joanie

Guys are fun, but one must have friends who have (or formerly had) ovaries. Paul is usually on a mission when we shop at the Farmer's Market. I get to look at stuff with my girlies! Bobbie should have earned a commission from the cutlery stand. A lady who was there when we were bought nearly $100 worth! We didn't buy any art at that festival but we had fun looking! I'm glad I got to hang with my gals.

Later on Saturday Paul and I headed back to downtown DSM after eating at Jesse's Embers.

Some of the vendors didn't open back up after the downpour that occurred about 4 p.m. But it turned into a beautiful evening. We walked across the river to hear Yonder Mountain String band fire up the strings.

The walking bridge over the very full DSM river is starting to accumulate padlocks - European style, for lovers and lost loved ones

It was a good day in the big city.

Fritz

I learned today that Fritz Simpson passed away. He was one of my father's best friends. I like to think of them hanging out together today - Dad greeting Fritz, showing him around the joint (whatever that might be). Fritz will call him Bullock - because he always did. Dad called him Fritty. Buddies!

Fritz followed his father into the newspaper biz. They owned the Atlantic News Telegraph - we liked to call it "The ANT". It was a great small town daily paper. I remember touring it with the Girl Scouts. I loved seeing the printing press. My pal Robyn's dad Robert worked for the ANT as an ad rep. There were several reporters that one got used to seeing around town covering stories.

In the small world department, after I moved away, Fritz hired a young reporter fresh out of journalism school at the University of Iowa - Larry Peterson. In Atlantic Larry met Deb Imming who worked at the YMCA after graduating from UNI. Love bloomed - they married in 1982, the year Paul and I did. Later they moved to Creston when Larry took a job with the Creston News Advertiser - and Deb became my BFF, their children are our kids' ages. One degree of separation - Fritz.

Simpson clan - with Fritz's dad

Fritz's wife Sue died before my mom. She was one of Mom's bridge club pals. Their son Ted is my age - and was my 8th grade boyfriend. Daughter Mary Sue is a couple years younger than I am. We were all on the swim team together. Plus our fams hung out some - because of the friendship between our families. Simpsons had a boat and they liked to go boating on the Missouri with Deters on weekends. If the boatless Bullocks were lucky they'd get invited too.


Ted Simpson shared this pic of Mom from boating

RIP Fritz. Hope you're hanging with the gang someplace fun.

Direction challenged

You know the one about walking and chewing gum at the same time? I can do that. What I can't do is drive and follow directions while participating in a conversation. This has become readily apparent in the past year or so.

I have spent some time apologizing to my passengers - because I took them for a ride. To the wrong place! Last night, all Cory, the consultant who works with DNR on the Environmental Management System project, wanted to do was eat and get to the hotel so he could sleep. He had arrived in Des Moines at 1 a.m. due to a flight snafu and had been tasked with putting on a workshop for business and industries all day. He was tuckered out.

So I offered to drive. What I failed to do was offer the disclaimer - about my disability. I had a great deal to tell Cory (and everyone else who rides with me). When my mouth works it directly affects my ability to read road signs and detect direction. I do drive very safely though.

Yesterday I missed the turn off of I-235 to take him to the airport and then later, the evil town of Mount Pleasant unpleasantly allowed me to shoot off Highway 34 onto another 4 lane road going south. Cory didn't notice it either - he was "Facetiming" with his wife and baby boy on his I-Phone. I was busy thinking about what I wanted to tell him next.

About the time we crossed the Missouri river, What? I saw the fireworks store (people were actually shooting some of the wares off). I knew I'd taken a right turn Clyde and we were in Missouri. Argh!

Fortunately poor exhausted Cory was a good sport. By that time I was pretty tired and hungry too. It was closing in on 8 p.m. and I'd started working at 6:15 a.m. #longday. We swung through MickeyD's when we arrived at our Burlington destination and I gulped that down and hit the hay after calling Pablo.

Today we were on site in Fort Madison. Cory was much refreshed and for some reason he insisted on driving...
Tomorrow - off to Carroll. I Google mapped it - that area is a bit more familiar to me and better yet, Becky is going along. She's like have Garmin in the car.

Just a Small Town Girl

pre-party - McFee deck

Living in a Lonely World...she took a Subaru down to Creston for a McKinley Park celebration yesterday. Little did I know some 40 years ago, as I swam competitively for the Atlantic swim team at the old McKinley pool, that I'd be hanging out in the area as an um mature woman. Listening to knock off bands. They were pretty good bands too!

We traveled to Creston on a swell day (first day 'o summer) to hang with our pals Bobbie and Jeff McFee (bonus - daughter Kimmy was home from Ames) - and anybody else attending at the annual McKinley Park fundraiser event featuring Heart, Eagles and Journey cover bands.
Here are a few observations.

• It's nice to go where everybody knows your name. Big city anonymity has its benefits - but familiar faces are nice too.
• People watching was..."interesting" living in West Des Moines, one forgets the mix of people (hippies, nerds, cowboys, prepsters, drunks, meth heads, fine upstanding sorts, farmers, business owners, factory workers, medical workers - and more!) in the Creston area. Kim commented on it too. Yes - they're around Des Moines too - I just am not exposed to them as frequently anymore. Events like this really bring them out. Aren't we glad we're not all alike...that there are so many "different" tastes...

This guy had few teeth, but had an expensive "teacup" pig he felt compelled to bring to the event...

• I truly enjoyed talking to people like: Todd and Beth Nielson, Linda and Mick Landers, Steve and Barb Crittenden. Love hearing about their lives and fams. Nielsons twins start at ISU this fall! Son Alex will be a senior - he's a great athlete and is still considering his college options.

Bobbie was probably pointing out the weirdo in the yellow and black shorts outfit...

Mick used to work with me at the hazardous materials facility - fun to catch up with him, Barb C., Bobbie, Kim

• I didn't get a picture - but one of Jud's classmates, Brea Steinkamp, recently returned from two years in the Peace Corps in a country I can't pronounce. Now she will teach at their school - St. Malachy, 8th grade. So nice to catch up with her, and another classmate Tyrell Miller. Plus their parents - who we hung with double time when our children attended school in Creston. They both also had a child in Amy's class!
• I chatted with Julie Plotz Weisshaar - a young woman who was one of the first Paul and I worked with (Paul was talking to her hubbie Allan) as a marriage sponsors in our church in Creston. She's doing energy reduction work now and has even started a non-profit to work with schools. Nice.
• I spoke with Amanda Miller, now married to Michael Buck (both Amy's class). Michael is practicing dentistry with his daddy Dave. Love seeing pics (taken by the talented Katie McKim, Jud's classmate) of their boy Carter - now 1 year old. Jennifer Hudson Hoyt was another young mom I caught up with too. She asked about Amo. Stormy was at a James Taylor Concert in Lincoln - missed her. Haylee Walters (Amy's classmate) sashayed by us several times. Crushin'
• I put Denise Miller in charge of my beer whilst I visited the dreaded port-a-potty. I swear she was about to take a sip of it when I returned...she was eying it wistfully.
• Denise's husband Dan and I tried to do a selfie - but it came out too dark. In it we almost look like the cartoon character we love. Droopy. He has a voice that can imitate some of the character so well!
• Next I ran into Jim and Nancy Anthony - they have a new grandson since I saw them last. Kyle is a parent! No doubt a wonderful one. Love those peeps.
• When I finally got back to our seats...I was glad they were not in the shi$*y section....



Must have been incensed that they weren't in the reserved section...

• Sharon and Al Higgins were there! So great catching up with those two lovebirds. Daughter Amanda and fam now live in Overland Park...need to get their address to see how far they are from our niece Katie and fam.

• I gave and received many hugs. Loved them!
• I did a selfie with a balloon that had some sort of light inside.

• We danced toward the end of the party - when fake Journey was playing, but I'm sad to report we didn't remember any of our dance lesson moves. Back to class this fall, me thinks.

• We stayed until the end. Jeff had a hard time using those extra drink tickets he'd purchased, but he gave it his best shot.
• The police and Highway patrol had a big presence at the gate when we left. Good thing our DD was up to the task (and it wasn't Jeff).
• Breakfast - egg casserole was delish, Summit Lake side at McFee's. Great night with great friends.

Pondering the benefits of raising kids in a small community

When my sisters were here, we talked a great deal about our childhoods - growing up in Atlantic. Lots of fond memories - good people. And a few creeps! Haha...every town has 'em.

When it came to raising my own children - I gravitated right back to my roots. Kind of. Creston isn't all that much like Atlantic - despite the fact that they're close in size and are in the same athletic conference. While Atlantic is the preppy, dressed up cousin, Creston is the biker dude in leathers.

While each is attractive in their own way. Creston is better at hiding the good stuff...and in my view Atlantic uses the blow comb a little too much - a little too much show, instead of go. My view may be a bit tainted by years of our kids competing with Atlantic though - grain of salt...

In 1986 Paul applied for a job opening in Creston - we really thought it would be a stopover on our way to something bigger. On our way, we found a loving community - a great place to raise a family. So we stayed 26 years. Amy is planning her 10th class reunion - Creston High School...so I've been thinking. For one thing - WOW. How fast did that time go! Crazy fast. And we haven't aged a bit.

Deep thoughts:

• A community can be anywhere - right in the middle of a huge city
• Our community was Creston - it's like a quote from one of my favorite cartoonists, B. Kliban's "a plain but good hearted girl"

I can't find a picture of that one, but here's another one of my B. Kliban favorites - my college roomie Vicki and I found his books in college. I can't quote any classics, but damn...I know all this guy's perverted and funny stuff..

B. Kliban

• Childcare - we hit the jackpot. Carol Frank and family were fabulous for this young mother. Becky and Ron Riley's kids were there. The Steinkamps lived across the street from Franks and the other Rileys - Frank the UPS guy and his wife, Marcia, lived by there too - so we had big Ryan Riley and little Ryan S.
• I was working at the bank, and later Gits and a group of parents (it was the Beta Sigma Phi moms - yes, I finally pledged myself to loveliness, a sorority - best thing I did when we hit town. Thanks to Julia Stuetelberg, my AHS classmate Dave's wife,  who suggested it) put together a preschool carpool. Later we did the same for kindergarten before it went to full day.
• St. Malachy - the Catholic school turned out to be another community within the community. We found a home there, with the staff, teachers and principal (once they got through a few wackos like that Caroline who purchased a stoplight for the lunchroom. When it got too noisy...red light!). We served - Paul on the Board of Ed, me on the Foundation Board. The kids flourished - Jud got to wear the blue and gold for the Knights basketball team and Paul helped coach. Amy donned cheerleading threads - do you believe it? There weren't enough girls to field a team so she played hoops for the Creston team - they were very accommodating.
• The transition to high school from St. M was a little intimidating - but they already knew a lot of kids from sports. We had to meet the teachers and find out how to work with them. We became active with the booster club.
• In a small town our children were able to participate in many things. Amy and Jud were mostly interested in sports, but it could have also been band and plays. I miss our sports watching pals! Especially from Jud's class. Fun group - the parents all worked together and didn't snipe and get competitive with each other.
• Our kids could go to Family Shoe store, purchase shoes and we would stop in later that week and pay. Because Steve (Dr. Shoe) know us.
• They could go to the dentist or the eye doc and know they were with friends - people they've hung out with. You don't usually do that in the big city.
• Yeah, it's a little weird to party with a doctor that has seen your hoohoo...but to him, it's just another orifice. That's what I told myself anyway.

What's my point? I'm glad I grew up in a small town and raised our kids in one. Yes, there are tradeoffs. Amy found out the hard way that big city eye docs don't let you take frames home to show your room mate overnight. Big city high schools are able to offer more sophisticated curriculum and AP classes. But we did have Southwestern Community College. Neither Amy nor Jud is likely to live in a small town ever again - and I probably won't either. (except perhaps when we are in a nursing home and are in rooms near our homies who can remind of all our memories) We all appreciate our roots.

We're heading to Creston tomorrow to party in the park with Bobbie and Jeff! It will be like going home.

you may this after reading this blog....

Dad's Day

Aren't crock pots grand? Saturday night we whipped up egg casserole - yummy stuff, though it is actually quite hideous. Kinda like egg hash.

Crock Pot Egg Casserole – Cook overnight

Ingredients

1 Dozen Eggs

1 Cup of Milk

1 Package of Potatoes O’Brien approximately 32 Ounce

1 Pound of Bacon Cooked, Drained and cut into pieces.

1 Pound of Sausage, Browned and Drained

1/2 Cup of Green Onions, Diced

1 Medium Onion Chopped

3/4ths Pound of Cheddar Cheese

1/4th Cup of Parmesan Cheese

1 Tablespoon of Prepared Mustard

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Instructions

I used a liner and sprayed with Pam.

1. You will do about 3 layers.
2. Start with potatoes, bacon, sausage, onions and cheddar cheese (do this 3 times).
3. Although the layers don’t matter too much, make sure bacon is not on the top, it cooks better underneath other food.
4. Make sure your final top is the last of the cheddar cheese.
5. Beat the eggs, milk, mustard, salt, pepper, and Parmesan cheese together.
6. Pour over the layers.
7. Cook on low for 10-12 hours or until the eggs are set.
8. Cook overnight so it will be ready in the morning.

We had a nice Father's Day breakfast. Jud and Kara showed up a little later and a little hung over, or at least tired from a night at the wedding. I liked hearing about their night. They had to take off all too soon for the drive back to St. Louis.

Sunday night was the big show! We started at Court Avenue Brewing Company for supper and a drink. It was a lovely evening and we got a nice table street side and the waitress was good - unlike the night before when we had grumpy Gertie.

We got rocked at We Will Rock You. It wasn't the best show or production I've ever seen.

 But it was fun. Our heads were bobbing, toes were tapping (even Betsy and Paul's). There was some clever dialogue and the musicians were good. The female lead had some pipes. By the end we were all clapping and singing to Bohemian Rhapsody. I'm glad we went!

Monday was shopping day. We went for a walk in the 'hood first. We headed to Waukee for our Jethro's Jones. It was most excellent. (I ate the other half of my sannie for lunch Wednesday and it was still good).

That night was burger night with mom's baked bean recipe. Sweet. We watched a movie on Netflix about an art forger. It was an early night because all too soon it was 4 a.m. Tuesday. I took Cindy to the airport - not as hard to say goodbye when I get to see her again in a couple weeks. Betsy hung out with Odie during the day and then she too was off. Paul was in charge of delivery, while I was in Clear Lake working.

I'm glad my sissies came to visit us in Ioway. Love 'em!

Sisterly Saturday

Jud and Kara

My sissies

Saturday was market day. The gang went to market to market to buy a fat hen. No...not really. The place was packed - it was hard keeping track of the cherubs - Jud, Kara, Cindy and Betsy. They were still able to squeeze in to sample the wares.

My samplers
 

  Pablo and I purchased:

• red potatoes
• strawberries
• rhubarb (someone made a pie - not me - thank goodness for Laura Goldsmith - she taught Paul how to make crust)

After shopping we headed to Mullets for a bit 'o breakfast. Our cousin Bob Steward met us there - it had been a long time since he'd seen Betsy, Paul and Cindy. Jud had never met him. Nice of him to take time out of a busy day to see us. His dad C.B. was a cousin of our dad - but we saw their fam quite a bit growing up, so they seemed closer than second cousins. His folks were great friends to our parents.

Pic outside Mullets with Bob
 

Betsy's Atlantic friend Julie Hanson came over to visit that afternoon. They hadn't seen each other for many years. They had fun remembering their childhood escapades and catching up. Cindy, Betsy and I shopped at Jordan Creek later that day. On the way home Cindy rescued a turtle crossing the road on 68th street - rounding it up back into the weeds so it wouldn't get run over. I would have gotten a photo but the turtle requested no publicity...

We ventured back downtown to Americana for supper that night. The food was disappointing, but the company was fun. We stopped at the sculpture garden for a picture. Loved this shot - it's how we spent much of the weekend. Laughing.

don't know why the two guys behind us aren't laughing...