Summer in Smalltown, U.S.A.

Summer wouldn't be the same without the county fair. With Katy home for the event (and her husband Matt properly seated at the Bingo table for hours of enjoyment), she, Kari and I checked out the 4-H projects and had fresh pie. Katy and Kari were both high-achieving 4-H kids in their days - Kari was even one of the fair queens. I had my own place in the talent show, winning at the county level and going on to the State Fair. So, it was fun to relive those memories.

P.S. For those not familiar with "4-H," they're clubs set up mostly for rural, farm kids who work hard on all types of art, cooking, building, animal-training or grooming projects, etc. and win ribbons with the goal of making it to compete in the State Fair in Des Moines, Iowa.















Here are Kari, me, and Katy standing in front of the little restaurant with the square hamburgers. Behind us is our fair ground's pride and joy: The Round Barn. This is where us non-4-H'ers got to display our artwork and win some ribbons growing up, too.















Then, what would summer be without weddings and bridal showers? On Saturday, one of our high school friends had her bridal shower. A bridal shower is the perfect place to get all those household items you need before starting a new life as a couple. The women all sit in a circle and the bride-to-be gets to open boxes and gift bags filled with measuring cups, kitchen towels, wine glasses, etc. The social aspect is more exciting than the actual gifts, which are definitely of the practical sort. But it was nice to catch up with the soon-to-be-bride, Amanda, who is a hard-working medical student (also a fellow Iowa Hawkeye) who is taking her MCATs a week before the wedding (!), as well as the other Kari, new mother of a baby boy.
















The other Kari, Amanda, and me.

It has been, needless to say, a busy summer thus far. I've also had additional shifts at my department store "on-call" jewelry sales job, filling in for co-workers on summer vacations, but that should settle down now. Yesterday also marked our final summer municipal band concert. So now that I have all this free time, I will finally have time to get outside, taking walks or bike rides in this late summer heat.

And it's definitely hot here. Really hot and humid. But, it's pretty hard to notice the heat outside when you freeze all day...

[Begin rant on high-powered air conditioning]

Yes, I really do FREEZE all day at work. In the office I put ON my jacket and take it OFF to go sit outside to eat my sack lunch. During my lunch hour outside, I try to get nice and warm so I can go back into the office and not be as cold, but the warmth only lasts so long. After an hour or two I'm back to chilled skin and goose bumps. They have even offered me a space heater to put under my desk at work! Does that make any sense??

[End rant as she remembers how she sweated through her scorching hot, treacherously UN-air conditioned chamber music recital during the heat wave last summer in Berlin and is somewhat thankful for at least not having to die of heat all day at work this summer]....

The joke-du-jour I keep hearing is: "You know it's summer when you stand up and your chair goes with you." It's so hot and dry here that the farmers are all praying for rain. While I do prefer a hot summer to the chilly, rainy sort Europe seems to be experiencing right now, maybe we could borrow some of their precipitation for a day or two!

A Vanished Dream

I did it. I fell in love.

With a puppy, that is, but what a cutie she was... Unfortunately this precious little bundle comes with a very hefty price tag of $1700! Alas, I have lost out on love this time. But, for such a price? Upon some deeper research, I have found out that this price is a relatively average price (average!? Who has that kind of money for a dog, albeit sweet and perfect?) for these Cavalier King Charles spaniels, from a reputable breeder. I suppose if one were to breed the dog or show it, it would be an appropriate price. Right now, however, unless this little puppy comes with wheels and can take me to work and haul groceries, I can't spend money on anything for that price unless it has a steering wheel and a set of windshield wipers. But why did she have to be so charming!!?

I haven't written much about my obsession for a canine companion here, but anyone who talks to me everyday (parents, work colleagues and now my visiting grandma and probably even friends I don't talk to everyday) can attest to the fact that I am mildly obsessed, and have been since living in Berlin, with getting a furry, four-legged friend. In Berlin, I restrained myself. I knew that the puppy chow could have easily also become my next meal, too, as I could barely afford meals for even myself. But I watched enviously as people passed me on the sidewalk, with a little doggy trotting happily along next to them. These days I haven't forgotten that dream and every night I wish I could have a little doggy to take for a walk.

I'm actually really not even allowed to get a dog (oh, the joys of living with parents and having rules again), but there's no harm in looking. However, since I don't intend to be here forever, my parents have bended slightly and said they might let me have a dog for the interim, provided I move out soon thereafter! Hmm..homeless but have a dog? Might be worth it - it works for the punks in Germany!

As I mentioned above, my grandma is visiting. She lives with my aunt and cousin in South Dakota, about eight hours away, so she's staying for three weeks. It's nice to see her again. The last time I saw her was in 2004, when I was on a trip from Germany. That Thanksgiving, my parents, sister, brother and I squeezed into our 4-seater Honda Element, and for eight hours I sat on a makeshift extra seat - piece of foam over the cup holders - between my sister and mom in the back seat. Car sick and cranky after the long drive that apparently still quells some aggression, I'm just glad grandma came to us this time...

With Grandma here to visit, some of our cousins came with their families to visit and we spent Sunday lunch catching up with them before rushing off for a day at municipal band.

Here's Grandma and me. Hard to believe she's 81, has 17 grandchildren and 11 1/2 great grandchildren but still has her natural hair color!

My cousin Steve (bald) and his wife next to him. My cousin Kim on the couch, her husband (hat) and kids:

My mom with the chubby baby Samantha. Does it look like she is eagerly awaiting grandkids, too? Would a puppy suffice in the meantime?...

An Independence Day Getaway

Finally I have an evening home, and I spend it cleaning. But I couldn't handle one more night of going to bed, not knowing if there were spiders lurking in the corners. In short, it was time for a good top to bottom vacuuming, a hardcore tub scrubbing, and now my basement lair sparkles clean and spiderweb free.

Why so busy? In addition to days filled with my day law office job, my on-call weekend jewelry sales job, and Sundays and two weeknights filled with hot, sticky oboe playing in the two outdoor municipal bands, I spent a couple days last week in Lincoln, Nebraska, playing first oboe in their symphony's 4th of July outdoor fireworks concert.

Lincoln was a fun getaway. Never having been there before, I found it to be similar in atmosphere to Iowa City - a true college town, only bigger, and with a bigger city vibe. After the first rehearsal Tuesday night, I hungrily waded through the skimpily-dressed young college broads and their goof-off fraternity boy companions downtown out to celebrate the impending holiday, to find some eats. I was in the mood for anything I couldn't get at home and so when I stumbled across a "gyro" place (or more appropriately a Döner Kebab) named Ali Baba, I happily ducked in.

Feeling as though I'd struck gold, I ordered a falafel sandwich and started chatting with the Afghani kebab owner. The falafel was great, albeit very messy since gyro pita bread is much smaller than Döner flat bread which mostly stays together when you eat it. I really enjoyed talking to the owner. He even lived in Germany as a refugee in the early 80s for a short time so he offered me a couple German phrases. Now in America for over 25 years, he has never looked back or traveled back to his troubled life in Afghanistan and happily shaves lamb meat off a skewer in a country he calls home.

I made my home for two nights in a Marriott hotel paid for by the orchestra (and yes, it made me feel like an important little oboe diva for a couple days...just kidding). The concert was amazing - even coordinated with fireworks; it was exciting and impressive. Only bad part was it was scorching hot and the orchestra, thanks to stage lights and stand lamps, was getting eaten alive by swarms of bugs. When we weren't swatting or hitting bugs off ourselves, we were sweating or close to fainting from the loud, intense patriotic concert selection.

It was quite thrilling, though, and afterwards an old youth symphony friend of mine, Ryann, who now lives in the area there and had also played in the concert, joined me for a drink downtown among the (gulp) young twenty-somethings. Afterwards she took me up on my offer to use the spare bed in my nice hotel and stay in Lincoln for the night instead of driving all the way home. We had a nice little reunion, the last time we saw each other being at her wedding four (!) years ago.

Back at work the day after the 4th of July, it felt like an anti-climatic finale, as I was back to punching holes in legal documents and organizing file folders. But I certainly appreciated the little trip and the chance to play with the orchestra there. Plus, I had some very friendly work colleagues to come back to and they were eager to hear about the concert.

In other news, my mom had to fly to Bellingham, Washington (near the Canadian border) over the weekend to visit my grandpa, in the intensive care unit of a hospital after much internal bleeding due to a stomach ulcer and suffering a subsequent heart attack. We're awaiting word on possible brain damage due to the long period of resuscitation, but it seems he is doing steadily better and even able to somewhat communicate and understood her presence. My parents just got home from the Omaha airport, so she will share the news of the trip tomorrow. My mom and I are actually going to try to get up for a 6 A.M. Pilate's class... And me, the non-morning person...

In conclusion, one of my good high school friends, Kari (pictured middle), and her husband have just made the move back to our hometown. She is pregnant, and both being teachers, they were hoping he would find a job here so she could have the baby close to her parents. He did find a job, and so they just moved into their new house here last week. With another dear friend Katy (pictured left) back home for a wedding over the weekend, too, the three of us enjoyed a girls night out Saturday night. As I have been pretty reliant on friends coming home to visit, or the occasional trip to visit them, it is always refreshingly nice to have friends (my age) home to spend time with. And of course, all the better when they stay for good!