Cooking the NYTimes and Other Assorted Retirement Activities

Those of you who regularly engage in craft-y type activities--and I count a fair number of you among my friends and acquaintances and you know who are you--will probably sigh as you read this, saying, "She is making a damn big deal out of nothing." Isn't that what retirement is all about? Actually I'm writing about this because the Birdhouse Project began a couple years ago as I was pulling out of the parking lot at KDWA radio in Hastings. When I was working, each month I was on air host Mo McNeary; we talked all things Community Education and made each other laugh.  One of the best gigs of the prior job.  Driving away, I saw a couple painted birdhouses hung on the side of a garage and thought to myself, "That's pretty cool.  I have a storage garage with an unadorned side.  That's something I could do when I retire!" So I'm pretty darned proud of myself that a) I remembered this was something I wanted to do when I retired and 2) I'm act...

I'm going to begin with a disclosure that at least some of you are familiar with. Almost 25 years ago, our family and our framily, the Smiths, were in the Drake Diner in Des Moines when it was robbed and two people brutally murdered.  One of the bullet casings bounced off Voldemort's foot (see previous blog regarding Voldemort).  The oldest children were called to testify in court.  The memories can still cause my blood to run cold and my heart to beat faster than it should.  Every mass shooting invokes the memory of being under the table at the Diner, holding our youngests close.  The oldest children were seated at a booth directly across from the register where the murders took place.  I remember the first shot sounded something like a wait staff had dropped a platter of glasses.  Or maybe a light bulb had exploded.  The restaurant went silent.  My eyes locked with Jeanie's, sitting across the booth from me.  Slowly we sank to the fl...

I spent Memorial Day weekend in Iowa with my friend, Jeanie and her family.  My oldest daughter, Molly, and her family were also there.  That meant 8 kiddos, 6 of Jeanie's 8 grands and 2 of my 6,(in total ages 2-8), in constant--and I do mean--constant motion.  The weather cooperated.  Hank only ran out once and actually came trotting back to Jeanie's in short order.  Communal cooking equated to fabulous meals.  I posted on Facebook that I LOVE the Come to the Table service that St. Timothy's Episcopal Church in West Des Moines, where Jeanie is a Deacon, offers on Sunday night at 5 p.m.  Regardless of your religious denomination, if you live in the Des Moines area, be there on Sunday night or be square. On Monday, I drove over with the Smiths to Iowa City where Jeanie's son (and my son from another mother) Tyson and his family live to celebrate Eleanor Smith's 6th birthday.  Still 8 kids, still constant motion, still loads of love. Tyson has n...