Happy New Year!

It's like opening a present. The year 2016 is a gift perched on the table, dressed up in shiny wrapping paper - with ribbons and bows. It's full of opportunity! I'm excited. More than I have been about a new year for a while.

big hair

Let's take a quick look back at 2015. Not a bad year overall. They go by so quickly now - or has it always been that way, and I just didn't notice? Yeah, that was it. Like my 30's...where did they go? I feel like I missed that decade! When I look at photos from the late '80s to the late '90s, ugh. I know why I'd like to forget. Bad hair, glasses. I digress.

The year 2015 - the highlights revolve around our children of course. Jud asked Kara Whited to marry him - which we happily look forward to on April 23, 2016. They seem to enjoy their lives in St. Louis. Amy has settled in with a fella, Corey Park, and the two of them have adopted a puppy named Franklin. The three of them are moving to Pennsylvania in January for Corey's job. You know what. Seeing your kids lead lives where they navigate the ups and downs successfully - that is satisfying! Of course Mom and Dad still like the opportunity to weigh in with our opinions and back pats and hugs when necessary.

Paul and I both feel so rich when it comes to friendships. That doesn't happen easily - both parties must take time to nurture the relationship. Sometimes it might take a lot of work. Other times, you can lose track of someone and then connect again years later - like finding that long lost Benjamin you hid and rediscovered. Joy!

When I went to college I lost track of several of my high school friends. Oh sure I lived with Sally - and she was a bridesmaid in my wedding. And Robyn and I kept showing up in each other's lives. Some of the others I'd see at class reunions - and we'd have fun catching up, but then off we'd go to our lives, raising kids or working. When our classmate Theresa Faust passed away right around when we all turned 50, several of us talked and decided we should get together in Omaha. I thought it would be fun, but that would be it.

I swear someone said to act goofy in this shot...homegirls

I was wrong! Thanks to Theresa, what happened was a reconnection with the grown up versions of a bunch of girls I didn't really know how much I loved. Now we seem to find ways to get together at least every couple years if not more often. We text each other frequently to say how important this group is to us. And to talk about funny things like anatomical mushrooms.

Though I don't get to see them as frequently, my college pals are as comfy as old shoes too. I can slip them on easily - like when Behrs and Wilts came to a football game in October. Paul too enjoys his pheasant hunting trips to SoDak with college pals.

Creston homies at the lake

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention our Creston pals - people who have hung with us since the '80s and looked past my bad fashions during those years...We had fun biking with Bobbie and Jeff this summer. Okay, I sat on the deck at the bar and made memories that included beer. It sure was fun though. Paul got to go to Lake of the Ozarks this year with Higgins and McKims while I did the Atlantic Homegirl thing, but I vow to plan my trips better in 2016. We got together with Lents and Weis's a couple times too. Our tailgating peeps, Kevin and Kari went all out this year and we had a great time despite our team's less than stellar play. I enjoyed several get-togethers with my bestie Deb - including a couple concerts and my only kayak outing of the year. There are too many others to mention. I love you all.

Deb and me

We are one of those families who actually like each other! Not everyone does....our Florida trip with my sis Cindo and her son Colby is what gets me through Iowa's winter. We were back in Colorado in May and visited Susi and Jim again in Grand Junction - such good hosts. The Goldsmith Golf Trip to Wisconsin is a perfect time to touch base with Paul's sibs - much better than trying to meet in winter months. We hope to see them soon at our nephew Craig's wedding in Iowa City too.

We loved having our own kids home for Thanksgiving. We had a blast and Franklin the puppy terrorized Odie joyfully! Of course we could pass up ended the year in Colorado again without going to Denver to see our Lamm cousins. And then on to Vail, to the Lefebvres even though the cherubs weren't with us. Our friends the Pottorffs hosted a grand Christmas din din as usual. The Sanders family and Frank are like our real friends too by now - after joining the group for seven whole years!

Yes, the rendition of the year is the sugar-coated version. You don't want to hear about doctor's appointments, job stress or the like. We had all that too. Sometimes I feel like we're in one of those old video games - we're all starships and something is shooting at us. Some of us get hit and knocked down. Some are just injured and keep flying. It can be brutal! My goal is to just keep flying in 2016 and to have fun along the way. I will surround myself with friends and family and be the best person I can be. Of course my very best friend will be by my side. #luckygirl.

Best wishes to you in 2016! We hope to see you. Help us open the present.

My Tunes, My Friends

How attached are you to your music? I seem to be quite fond of mine. I can't leave it behind on the hard drive of my old laptop...so I'm slowly loading into my new one. Tedious, when I'm resorting to putting songs on CDs and then loading them into the new laptop. And, before you say it, yes I know about the Cloud. I'm not quite ready to have someone else hold my music for ransom while they jack up the price. So I continue my old time ways.

Some of my songs and I go way back. Doobie Brothers, Steeley Dan, Eagles - those guys have been singing to me a long time! Some take me right back to when I used to listen to the song. "Black Water" by the Doobies. When I hear that one, I always think of when Joanie Troll used to pick me up for school in the mornings. That song would play on the radio and Candice, Joan and ? who else was in the car...Pam? Chris? would sing along. And smoke cigarettes. (Not me)

We always picked out good music for our Big 4 college parties

Several songs remind me of my Sunnyside lifeguarding days - listening to WOW radio out of Omaha. I was really into rock and roll back then - groups like Kansas that weren't really radio material, thanks to the Deardorff connection. My friend Chris Deardorff's brother Scott had a huge music collection. Face it - the 70's rule when it comes to music. From Elton John to the bands I've already mentioned. Fleetwood Mac, AC/DC, Queen, Al Green, Aerosmith, Al Green, Hall & Oates, Gordon Lightfoot - there are too many to name. My college roomie made listen to "gasp" Barry Manilow. We would borrow Moose and Steve's Stereo for our parties at 230 Campus Avenue during our Junior and Senior years - good tunes!

The 80's weren't all that memorable when it comes to music, yet I came away with a few faves - Springsteen, I've got a great duet by Dolly and Kenny - "Islands in the Stream" love that one, Tina Turner, and more Foreigner. Hey, I got busy getting married and having kids. That era did produce the best dancing song of all time - "Love Shack". I will always remember dancing to that song at the First National Bank Christmas party - it must have been 1987 or so.

Then came the 90's - by now I had joined Columbia House and was getting a cassette a month - yippy! I went through a gospel stage Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant - though I don't have any of those songs on my hard drive now I'm sorry to say. Good stuff. My kids grew up hearing that music and Fleetwood Mac. By the end of the 90's Amy was into music and I kinda liked what she was listening to - Backstreet Boys etc.

I admit it, I like Hip Hop. I am a freak for "Uptown Funk" and other songs like that. Give me Rihanna. My niece Jordan asked Amy if I knew what the lyrics to one of her songs were. Um yes. I just sing along anyway.

Sure, it's taking a while to get my friends, I mean my songs the way I want them in my music library. It's still a work in progress. It's worth it!

Big Birthday

My Aunt Jean celebrates her 80th birthday this week. She said it's hard for her to believe she's attained that advanced age. As someone approaching age 60 (in less than 2 years!) I totally get it. Inside my head I'm still 45ish...in the mirror? Ugh, not so much.

A file photo I had on hand - from a few years ago Jean and Bruce

Anyway - hats off and party horn honks for a great aunt who has had a positive impact not only on my life and my sister's lives, but lots of peoples'. Jean was a teacher in the Cherry Creek School district in Denver for  many years - Third Grade. A popular teacher, no doubt. One claim to fame was that she taught one of John Elway's kids, when he was the Broncos quarterback. Big stuff! We loved hearing stories about parent teacher conferences.

I was always jealous of my Denver cousins because they got to see Jeanie and her husband Bruce more often than we Iowa cousins. Luckily, we had the grandparents, so there were lots of visits to Iowa. I have fond memories of Jeanie and me driving around Atlantic with in my grandpa's VW bug.

My sister Cindy credits Jeanie and Bruce for helping her see beyond high school when times  were tough one year. Mom sent her out to Denver to visit them when she wasn't making the best choices. She had a good time, and got her head on right and knew she could handle high school - there was much to life than that. Smart move by our Mom to ship her to Denver to Auntie Jean!

Bruce and Jean stopped at our house in West Des Moines the last time they came back for Jean's AHS class reunion. I hope to see them again soon. Love them!

Happy National Hot Chocolate Day

As a choc-o-holic, that beverage has always been high on my list of things to consume. My first memory of the delicious liquid is of Mom making us cocoa in a saucepan on the stovetop after an invigorating afternoon of sledding or ice skating.

It was hard to wait for the creamy tan liquid to cool - sometimes I would burn the roof of my mouth, slurping too quickly. If we were lucky, there was a crusty bag of marshmallows in the cupboard to toss into the cocoa.

Somewhere along the line, we discovered Nestle's Quik and as the Bullock girls got olders, we took over our own hot chocolate duties. My mother sighed in relief. (it tasted much better when Mom made it...).

I am grown up now. I drink coffee. Okay it has cream in it. Flavored creamer. Sometimes I have latte. Skinny! Being completely honest, if I didn't have to put on this grown up front all the time - and keep my girlish figure - I'd be drinking my Mom's cocoa.

Young Pat Bullock - graduating from U of I

From the CEO to the custodian

I heard a quote today - about treating everyone the same, from the CEO of a corporation to the custodian. Isn't that what we should all aspire to?

It made me think about the first janitor I ever knew of, the one at Washington Elementary School in my hometown.

I believe his name was Mr. Carstensen, a kindly older gentleman who quietly went about his work around all those crazy kids. Of course to a kid older can mean 40 years of age, but I think he was older than that. We kids all liked him. He was nice!

At Christmas, the big thing was to "pass the hat" for the janitor. All the kids would bring their change in to give to Mr. Carstensen as a Christmas gift. To me it seemed like millions of dollars, but it was something like $90. I was so proud to be a part of giving him that money.

Since that time, I've been fortunate to work places where there were custodians who took pride in their jobs. Men and women who sometimes operated during the night, keeping the place habitable. Or they were there during the day, plying their trade efficiently in the background while the rest of us did what we do.

Hats off to you janitors of the world. I hope you get respect from everyone you work with - and an envelope full of cash

Dumb Ass feeling gratitude

Dumb Ass. That's the name of the game Paul selected at the Christmas gift exchange. It's a trivia game that we ended up playing it the last two nights. If I might brag, I'm quite good at it - surprising the wee ones with the amount of knowledge I possess, mostly due to how much I read. Everyone had their moments though - answering questions you'd never expect them to know.

You may not know this about me but I am not a fan of game playing. It requires concentration - something I am bad at supplying in my off-time. In fact I blurted out a few answers Friday night when it wasn't my turn - simply because I wasn't paying attention. My bad! That made me giggle. That, and the toddy I was drinking. The chatter during the game was priceless. Thank goodness Franklin the wonder puppy settled down and napped during most of the games.

We took a drive to Ames on Friday to show the fam all the updates to their college town. And to show Corey the most beautiful college campus in America. He is a Clemson University grad and was smart enough not to argue. We lunched at Hickory Park of course - after Corey purchased a token ISU t-shirt. Amy had previously gotten a Clemson shirt while visiting that town for a football game (their team is 11-0 woohoo).

Saturday we celebrated Thanksgiving at Paul's niece Barb's. Thanks much to the Archers for hosting! We took along Mom's creamy mashed potatoes. Corey and Amy made a pumpkin cheese cake - the peaks of the whipped cream started out like the Rockies but melted and ended up like Iowa terrain according to Corey - but it was still delish. Paul's sisters were there plus bro-in-law Dave and great niece Mandy. It was fun catching up with the Goldsmiths. I heart family.

We had thoughts of going out later but ended up catching more sports on TV (another Cyclone bball victory) plus football. Amy is getting awful sick of football. That's when we broke out the Dumbass trivia game again. Did I mention how much fun it's been to be around these people?

Gathered all together for a group shot - not too bad!

I heard from my sisters on Thanksgiving Day. Susi and husband Jim, like our fam were celebrating with all the children (and grandkids). Cindy entertained 12 at her place and managed not to tear a retina this year. Betso had the clan at her place - arriving from all over Washington state. Love to all of them.

I'm very thankful for all of my family and friends. How rich my life is. #gratitude

Giving Thanks

I love Thanksgiving! This holiday is better than Christmas, in my opinion. Except for the relentless ads pushing us to buy, buy, buy. I know - Christmas has the promise of the birth of the savior. That is a beautiful message for us all. But giving thanks - no matter what religion you are, where you are in your life - how rich, how poor - is a true and pure. Jesus, Allah, Higher Power would approve.

With the passing years I appreciate the little things more each day. I have a tenancy to over-plan. It must be a Pat Bullock thing - because my mother was so organized. In the past I have dreamed up these scenarios, prior to events that have me cooking stuff and the family bonding together over games and crafts. While those things may happen - I now know they must be organic, not forced by Leslie the overplanner.

This year anytime I started down that road...then I remembered that I don't really like to cook. And hey what do you know, wisdom can come with age. I decided to do just the stuff that I'm good at - Mom's scalloped corn and creamy mashed potatoes. For other meals I would get prepared foods that are just as good as anything I might make. Less stress - and there is really no score card for these events. I don't get points for homemade meals. I quieted my inner voice telling me I am a slug for not over-achieving on food.

Paul did a standing prime rib yesterday - for our Christmas with our family. Amy, Corey and Franklin the busy weinie puppy) flew in from Atlanta around noon Wednesday. The four of us headed to Creston - Paul and I, to meet friends for a couple beers. Amy and Corey were there to spend the evening with their friends Stormy and Kyle Wilson. Kara and Jud arrived from St. Louis later that evening. We hadn't seen Bobbie and Jeff for a long time. Donnie managed to stop down on his way to Fareway (he was convinced that Diana thought the line at the store was really long). Patti stopped in for a drink too. On our way out the door we saw the Millers - Dan and Denise. Fun to see those two! We pledged to have a party together.

Back in the big city, Jud and Kara went out for supper at Jethros with friends. Then they were on Frankie duty. They did a super job taking care of the little guy - he was wound up but imitated Odie with outside duties quite well. When he crashed for the night (with them), he was down for the count.

Installing the TV

Thanksgiving day was grand. A whole day of hanging with the group. Paul and I had broken down an purchased a monster sized television. Like my parents before me, TV is a big part of our lives - especially when it comes to sports. We've been talking about upgrading for a while and our friend Moose put us over the top. He's a techno-gook and Best Buy expert. I was a little afraid that the TV would take over the room due to the size, but with Paul's engineering and the help of strong arms, the thing is mounted and is awesome. Game on! Kara and I worked on kitchen duties during the installation.

My fave part of the day was just listening to the conversations between all of the people. It's the first time both couples have been with us. We were able to share some family lore. I especially love the story of the pie maker at Marczyk's gourmet grocery store. Marczyk's was Amy's first job in Denver. One year when she worked there, the pie-maker went nuts, partying it up (on video at the store with strippers no less) at Thanksgiving and blew off making the pies. So everyone had to pitch in, including the storeowner's mother to get the pies done. Kara told us the story of a visit by a high school friend - one of those people who has no social skills. Little did she know when she accepted his invite to get together. You know the type - it's all about them, and they never ask about your lives...

Franklin finally sleeps

We did our Christmas gift exchange. The type where everyone brings a gift and then one picks and the next can take it. I ended up with a sweet water bottle. More later! So fun.