All's well that ends well

Shirley Jean Desvousges arrived at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. She is a beautiful little girl. Both mother, baby and daddy are doing great. Just got a report from the proud mother, baby and daddy are watching Super Bowl highlights. What more could a girl want on her first day out of the hospital?

The 'blind date' couple had a wonderful time meeting and getting to know each other. They must have had plenty to talk about, the evening ended at 1:00 a.m. They're anxious to see each other again, but both want to take the progress of their relationship very slowly. Waiting on God's timing and direction. I'm happy for both of them. Sorry, no names yet. At least not in this public forum.

All's well that ends well.

Connections

Sunday night I was privileged to meet with the Demon Dames. We were small in number, but the stories flowed along with the wine by the fire in Patty's cozy family room. What a treat to gather with intelligent women who respect each other for having an opinion and sharing it. The meringues were divine.

Monday I had breakfast with my friend Brenda in front of the big fire at Cracker Barrell. I never fail to be encouraged when I get to be with Brenda.

Monday noon Easton and I met 'The Sheldon Girls' for lunch at Spaghetti Works. He was the only boy at the table, he didn't seem to mind. There was Monica's daughter Saylor, she's 6 days younger than Easton. Her 5-year old sister Trinity and her friend Abbie brought their Barbie color books and had a lovely time as well. Halley, Jackie's daughter is 13 but loved every minute of our time together. She and Easton 'shared' a menu and a meatball. Toni's daughter Neve is 14 months old and may be on Easton's mind for a long time. If poking your finger in someones nose is high praise, then she adores Easton. They chatted while Saylor was eating the food off Neve's plate, it was better than the food on her own plate. The only disappointment was that none of us had a camera in our purse. There were some priceless spaghetti-stained faces to capture.

Wonder couple of days with friends. Only heightens my anticipation of the road trip with mom to spend time with Kathleen and her girls this weekend.

Weekend report -- Cheese Rules Our World

My sister and I went to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a wonderful time away. Wish I had kept a running log of all the things we discussed. It was long and varied.

We both arrived late Friday night so settled in without much talk. Saturday morning we talked nonstop for several hours. Amazing what you don't say to people on the phone or via email. We made the 20 mile trip to Amana, Iowa where we lunched at a restaurant we had visited as children on a family vacation. I remembered a bear on the second floor of the Ox Yoke Inn that she had no recollection of. Sure enough, the bear is still there and is now on a postcard. We had a fabulous meal of fried chicken, jaeger schnitzel with spaetzle, and amazing sides.

I must comment specifically on the cottage cheese with chives. We had just come to the conclusion that, 'cheese rules our world' when we happened upon this delicacy in a dish. This was full fat cottage cheese like you don't find in the grocery store. The chives had become part of the whole thing imparting an amazing flavor.

Following the wonderful lunch we strolled shop after shop of darling gifts and treasures. We made a few choice selections and headed back to Cedar Rapids.

The Husker game Saturday night shall go unmentioned here, along with the restaurant I selected for dinner. Really, both were quite unmentionable.

Sunday we ate a burger at the Texas Road House and went our separate ways.

We talked through ideas for my upcoming presentation, reminisced and shared, talked about mom's impending move to a retirement apartment and what should happen to 40+ years of accumulated stuff. It was a marvelous weekend. Can't wait to do it again!

Running away from home

I have dreamed of this day for a very long time. I am running away from home for the weekend with my bestest girl friend. We are meeting in a town neither of us have been to, halfway between our houses. We will explore, stay up late, watch the Huskers, whatever we want to do without having to please anyone but ourselves. I can't wait!!!

Amazing Women

What an interesting evening. Was invited to a friend's house to snack and drink wine with women I didn't know. We ranged in age from 30-60, married, single, divorced, liberal, conservative, agnostic, fundie, we were all over the board. The common theme was that we each knew the hostess. What a wonderful time we had sharing stories of love and loss, sex toy parties experiences, and upcoming adventures. One of the highlights of the evening was the bottle of port infused with chocolate. Truly amazing. The best part of the night, however, was when someone actually acknowledged how unlikely it was that we would all come together and be so open to share and not judge, and how much we liked each other and want to be together again.

We have to get together in August before Colleen leaves for her year-long writing fellowship at the University of Michigan and a trip to Turkey. We need one more night before Sarah's wedding in September.

Who knows if we'll ever be in one place again. But if we aren't that's okay, we had tonight and it was wonderful.