Bud's Big Day

It has been two weeks of travel and I have another big week next week (you will hear all about it in my blog post on Tuesday) so it comes as no surprise that Bud’s (my oldest son) 15th birthday kinda snuck up on me.

Not to be “snuck up” upon by any birthday, I was prepared. I whipped up another fabulous party last night, complete with birthday cake and Blue Bunny Peanut Butter Panic® ice cream, gifts, singing relatives, and lots of embarrassed eye-rolling from my “I’m-too-cool-for-all-this-attention” 15-year old.

The party needed to end early so that everyone could get homework done and get in bed at a decent time so that we could be up and making my first kid delivery to school by 7:15 a.m.

And since September seems to be about birthdays and cakes and ice cream, I must tell you one of my most favorite stories about Bud. One year, when he was 9 or 10, he asked for an Easy-Bake Oven® for Christmas. While this was the source of several conversations on whether or not a pink EZ Bake oven for a 9-year old boy was a good gift….come Christmas morning, that oven was under the tree and weeks of teeny-tiny cakes, baked by the heat of a light bulb, and quarter-sized cookies, baked 4 at a time, were enjoyed by all. We continue to tell stories about it to this day and Bud has even expressed interest in the possibility of pursuing a career in the culinary arts. Who knows………….maybe Chef Duff got his start with an Easy-Bake Oven and, possibly, a blow torch!

As the oldest, Bud has always been a bit of the Guinea Pig…the science experiment. From the day he was born until this morning, and for every morning hereafter, I will always look upon him with wonderment as the one who started my motherhood journey and leads me into unchartered territory on a daily basis. Bud continues to fascinate me with his compassion, kind heart, talent, and his resolute.

He is easy going and knows how to “work a room”. He has a winning charm and plays a very mean piano…..and he will always hold a special place in his mom’s heart as the one who, on this day 15 years ago, both terrified me and melted my heart all at the same time.

Happy 15th birthday, Bud!

Beware! Today’s blog post ends in a Cliffhanger!!!

Before I leave you for the week, I IMPLORE you to check out my blog post on Tuesday. It will be pretty unexpected, i assure you. Not sure the time that I will post it so keep checking back on Tuesday until you see it.

Until next time, I remain….1SweetMama

Time To Take A Stand

OK. Seriously. Someone has to say something and if no one else does, I sure am going to. I need to take a personal stand against "those" emails…..you know the ones….you get them two or three times a day. The “here-is-a-ridiculously-sappy-email-with-flowers-or-cute-puppies-or-angels-or-roses-that-says-you-need-to-forward-to-10-friends-and-your-wish-will-come-true-at-11:37-and-besides-you-must-hate-me-if-I-don’t-get-this-back” emails.

Just recently, I was sent an email from a good friend and the subject headline read:

“Let’s see if you reply….if ya don’t it says a lot!!”

Wow! That is harsh!

My immediate reaction is, “Why would so-and-so send me an e-mail with that as the header??” I guess I better read it! I open it up to find a series of roses for love and friendship, blah…blah…blah. I am supposed to send it on to 10 friends including her, the sender. If I don’t, I must be some kind of stone-hearted person with ice water running through my veins.

My email reply to her was:

“Dear friend,

“Know that I get all of your emails like this
one but I just don't reply or forward out of respect for my
fellow cyber-friends. If I sent and received all of these "Send to 10
friends and see who replies" emails with wishes being granted I would never get
anything done. In fact, my Inbox is generally where those kinds of emails
go to die. BUT I will reply to this one so you DO
know...

“I appreciate your friendship.....here is a virtual
rose.

“Just because I don't reply doesn't mean I don't care.
Hope all is well with you and your family!

1SweetMama”

I absolutely adore the gal who sent this to me…..but I cannot stand receiving these emails. I don’t mean to be a cynic but these are the cyber equivalent to credit card offers that litter my mailbox or solicitations for donations for The Boys and Girls Home or the ASPCA with photos of starving dogs and cats on the envelopes. I can’t stand these things! I am riddled with guilt when I toss them into the shredder. I know I should respond but I never have enough money to spread around for these kinds of things. I want to give but I just can’t.

And because my money is like my time, I must carefully budget it and spending time to respond and forward thousands of “here-is-a-ridiculously-sappy-email-with-flowers-or-cute-puppies-or-angels-or-roses-that-says-you-need-to-forward-to-10-friends-and-your-wish-will-come-true-at-11:37-and-besides-you-must-hate-me-if-I-don’t-get-this-back” emails is not very prudent. Again: I want to give but I just can’t.

So….here is YOUR virtual rose, your angel, your kitty, puppy, dancing hippopotamus, shout out to the classy ladies for “Today Is Classy Lady Day” (which, according to the number of times I receive this in a year….it must occur 47 times annually). I love you all but I don’t need to forward or respond to emails threatening me to do so. My promise to YOU is that you will never get one of those emails from me, either. You might, however, get a personal email telling you how much I love you. I hope that is okay.

Send this on to 10 friends or not. I really don’t care.

Until next time, I remain….1SweetMama

Peanut And His Tenth Trip Around The Sun

(Peanut in 2006....I love this picture...it is about the only moment when he wasn't talking...we call this photo "Peanut, at rest")

He was supposed to have been born on 9-9-99 but he just couldn’t wait. Peanut was born, instead, on September 8, 1999, and I watched, from my hospital bed, all the other mothers being interviewed on television because they had had their babies on September 9. Peanut was anxious to get started with life a day early and he has never looked back.

I also remember that he latched on to a “binky” and a stuffed animal from just days old. Peanut still cannot go anywhere without that stuffed animal, which was – we believe – a beanie-baby hamster but we began to call it “Mole” or more endearingly, “Moley”. I don’t even want to get into the whole… “But the animal has eyes so how can it be a mole?” thing….it is just what we called it and the name stuck. Today, Moley is just a stump with an eye (and no arms and legs) that Grandma Jane has to continue to perform surgery on in order to hold him together. Peanut doesn’t care.

The binky was a near permanent fixture for Peanut. When we began to grow concerned because his speech and language development was slow, the doctor simply told us to “pull the plug” on the binky and, upon its removal, the words began to pour out of his mouth like never before. He still talks non-stop and sometimes we joke with him, asking him if he ever even stops to take a breath. It is a common belief that he is making up for lost time from the binky and his “no-talking” days.

He has the wildest imagination and wants so much to be like his big brother. He says the funniest things without even realizing they are funny…which makes it even funnier.

He tells me that he likes to take showers because it is his “imagination place”, which, at first, terrified me when he said it. When I asked what he meant by that, Peanut said, “Well, I like to go in there and just think about things that are interesting.” Wow. That is deep.

Now in the 4th grade, he loves football (see my 8/28/09 entry), video games, the Nickelodeon Channel, collecting stuffed animals, and wanted nothing more for his birthday than an overly priced Nerf gun and a chocolate ice cream cake.

(Photo, middle, right, is of Peanut at his party....he held up the cake so we could take his picture and it slid off....his expression is priceless!)

His birthday was a huge hit.

Not only was there chocolate ice cream cake, Peanut received TWO Nerf guns (because what’s the point in having just one gun when you can have two and choose your opponent?), a giant slab of beef jerky (that’s his favorite), some little “fun” gifts, and the meal of his choice, which ended up being country-style BBQ ribs, Iowa sweet corn, and Grandma Jane’s applesauce.

Peanut is wildly proud of the fact that he is now a double-digit number. 10 passes around the sun and a personality that is just as bright.

Happy birthday, Peanut. We love you!

Why I Love The Iowa State Fair

For a girl who was raised in “the big city”, I love the atmosphere and the uniqueness of the Iowa State Fair.

To remind Iowa State Fair scoffers of the significance of this event, I mentioned in my blog posts, dated August 14 and August 19, 2008, that, “You may know that the Iowa State Fair was listed as one of '1,000 Things To See Before You Die' as chronicled in a book of the same name (Schultz, Patricia. 1,000 Places to See Before You Die: A Traveler's Life List. New York: Workman Publishing, 2003. p. 630. http://www.1000beforeyoudie.com/ )." Take that and add it to your list!

With this in mind, I usually try to figure out a way to load up the kiddies and make an annual trek to The Iowa State Fair. In order to fully enjoy a day at the Fair, one must, first, option a second mortgage on the house in order to pay for all the yummy food delicacies that await you while there. With an average cost of $8 per “yummy” multiplied times myself and two bottomless pits for children, let’s just say the trip is really costly (especially if you have to include gas, hotel, souvenirs, etcetera, etcetera) but it is really worth it.

This year’s adventure included all of the traditional stops: the Super Bull (“Big Black,” an Angus bull rockin’ it in at 3,404 pounds), the Big Boar (“Buddy,” weighing in at 1,117 pounds), the butter sculptures (the traditional Jersey cow and an additional sculpture commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Lunar Landing), and a stop at the Lamb Association food stand for a stick of lamb jerky or a lamb burger. You can see all of these truly fascinating features by visiting the Iowa State Fair website at http://www.iowastatefair.org/fair.php

But this year, we also managed to take in the sights of Iowa’s biggest pumpkin….nearly 1,100 pounds! Now that is a pumpkin Charlie Brown would be proud of!

But what do I really love about the Iowa State Fair? It is all about a state coming together. It is all about the wholesomeness of Iowans gathering in Des Moines to show off the biggest, the best, the tastiest, and the kitschy-est attributes of this wonderful mid-western place. It is about families and fun and home-town pride. Folks representing their communities (and the pride of the family name!) enter into competitions for events like flower arranging, quilting, livestock showmanship, talent, and cooking….just to name a few!

Speaking of cooking….this year, I was really fortunate to be asked by Blue Bunny® to judge three cooking contests featuring Blue Bunny ICE CREAM!! Yes, 1SweetMama tasted and evaluated, in all, over 35 dessert entries in two dessert categories: youth and adult. At one point during the judging, I turned to my fellow co-worker and judge, and said, “I think I have died and gone to heaven!” The capper to the day was judging nearly 20 entries in the youth “Ugly Ice Cream Contest”. This is a contest in which kids ages 6-12 must create an ugly ice cream concoction (with a Blue Bunny Vanilla ice cream “base”) in which all inclusions MUST be edible foods….but the food combinations are ghastly! For instance…..one entry featured Blue Bunny Vanilla ice cream, pickled pigs’ feet, anchovies, pickled herring, and some other unidentifiably horrific (and stinky!) ingredients. Another entry featured Blue Bunny Vanilla ice cream, mealworm larvae, and crickets (dead and dried). You get the idea.

Fortunately, judges do NOT have to taste these entries and I wouldn’t exactly have described the experience as “heavenly”…. “otherworldly” is, perhaps, more of an accurate description. However, the Bug Ice Cream Chef’s mother invited us to try a larvae and we all reluctantly complied. Tasted like a musty potato chip.

With livestock pooh on the soles of our shoes, less cash in our pockets, and mealworm larvae in our bellies, the boys and I departed for home in “The Ice Cream Capital of the World(R)” with another fabulous Iowa State Fair experience in the 1SweetMama Family history books.

A great way to round out a summer in Iowa.

Until next time, I remain….1SweetMama

My Love-Hate Relationship With My Lawn

You know when Summertime has arrived at the 1SweetMama household when my Friday night date is usually with someone who can be a little loud and obnoxious and is a little gassy and hard to turn on.....my lawnmower.

And by "lawnmower", I don't mean a sexy groundskeeper who manicures my lawn, shirtless, and cracks open a Diet Coke like that construction worker some years back that drove all the women wild in that commercial.

No....by "lawnmower", I mean my non-self-propelled, well-worn, pull start "Lawn Boy" push mower.

Now, I will set the stage by telling you that my backyard is, roughly, half a block long and 1/4 of a block wide yet when I mow it, it feels roughly the size of the National Mall in Washington DC. Oh...and one very important feature of my lawn to note is that even Jef Corwin - the wild animal guy on the Discovery Channel - would turn green at the number of snakes who have chosen to live in my yard. Yes, they, too, appreciate my lovely yard yet none of those rat ba$#ards have received the memo that if they live there, they have to step up and help out with the yard work. Oh, sure....they eat crickets and grubs and various 6- and 8-legged creatures what I hate just as much as snakes....but I say - "Not good enough. Get out of my lawn!!!"

I digress.

So, despite the heat and humidity, the lack of a self propelled (or riding) lawnmower, and sexy Diet Coke drinking groundskeeper....each week I trudge out to the garage, don my brown yard/work gloves and set to work on my lawn. I hate doing this.

I often joke about how I inherited my anal-retentive approach to lawn care from my father. My father - God love him!! - walks slower than any human I have ever seen that isn't actually standing still to very slowly and methodically mow his lawn. "If you walk too fast," he explains, "then you don't give the mower enough time to mulch up the grass!" It is for this very reason that we do not have (we share a lawn mower) a self-propelled mower.....because it will go too fast for his liking.

I am thinking it might be time to break from the communal lawnmower and purchase a self-propelled or a riding mower of my very own. Maybe one that is green and yellow with the initials JD...yeah....you know what I'm talkin' about!!

I also grew up watching my father hand-trim (with those little garden scissors) the lawn. It is for THIS reason, that, while I own an electric weed-whacker, I chose not to use it. I know I cause physical pain to my neighbors when they see me going around the yard after mowing it and hand trimming the grass blades around the edges of my house, trees, and flower garden with hand shears. Years of therapy has not allowed me to let go of this OCD behavior of mine.

But......and this is my saving grace......when I am done mowing and trimming and weeding and step back - after 2-3 hours of grounds keeping efforts - and look over my yard that my hearts swells with pride.

Years of annual investments into a fabulous yard care (chemical applications) company and weekly mowing and trimming with love have produced a lush and weed-free lawn. One of the finest on my block, if I dare be so bold.

While my ultimate dream is to own one of those 0 degree riding mowers that they use on Major League Baseball fields that lay the grass blades in wide strips so that you have alternating tones of green.....for now, I will settle for the old Lawn Boy...and I do not mean the guy who drinks that Diet Coke.

Yes....it is a labor of love. A job I love to hate and an end result that I love to show off. Truly, when I reflect on my beautifully manicured lawn.....I can appreciate another aspect of "The Sweet Life" in "The Ice Cream Capital of the World(R)".

Until next time, I remain....1SweetMama

Christmas in July in Copenahgen

It is 87 degrees in “The Ice Cream Capital of the World®” and I am laughing this afternoon because I just read that a “Santa Congress” was held in Copenhagen this week.

I was compelled to write about something a little more significant today…something with a little bit of substance….but was distracted by this sparkly object of news-worthiness.

According to the allthingschristmas website and news reports from Yahoo!, the congress is a proud tradition, conducted since 1957, that provides a venue for the coming together of Santas from all over the planet to gather for networking and merriment-making.

Besides Christmas itself, this is the Santas’ most important event and the only time they can meet to discuss important issues such as better rooftop parking conditions and standards of chimney-cleaning. And of course, they have to fix the date for Christmas Eve. Not sure what that is all about… I wonder, too, if the “Little Helpers” find this a good place to lobby for better working conditions and bigger pay for smaller people.

Congressional events also include a parade, an obstacle course (complete with chimney climbing), visits to local children’s hospitals, seminars discussing the challenges facing Santas in today’s economy and world situation, and…of course…..sight-seeing.

Maybe next year, they should consider a fashion show to share all the latest in Santa fashions…..maybe even invite chefs from around the world to offer up delicious cookie delicacies of what only the “coolest Santas" are eating this year??

Ahh….only in Copenhagen.

And, really….why wouldn’t there be a “Santa Congress”?

Until next time, I remain….1SweetMama

There's No Place Like Home

Settling back into the routine of living in Northwest Iowa after being completely engulfed by the hustle and bustle of The Big Apple has been a nice transition for me. It has enabled to me to, once again, review the reasons why I live where I do. I need to take a mental inventory every now and then when I am romanced by the light of the city.

Always a fan of big city life (I grew up in St. Louis), I miss a lot of the cultural and social activities that a city provides. It is also nice to be a small fish swimming in a big pond and not feel like you are living a life under a magnifying glass. There are museums and diversity and lots of great things to experience.

Having said this, there is much to be said for living in a place where you can walk to the farmers market and the grocery store on a sunny Saturday morning. One can also send your kids to the park without fear or know that if you forget to set your garbage can out the night before trash pick-up….your neighbor will remember to do it for you.

It means that, come August, your co-workers bring bushels and bags of vegetables that have grown in abundance in their garden… “Please! Take them! They will go to waste if you don’t!” It also means sweet corn being sold on the side of the road out of an old pick-up truck by teenagers (usually the farmers’ kids) – the sign, painted in orange paint on a piece of 4’ x 8’ particle board that reads, “SUPER SWEET CORN” – while another pick-up truck 30 yards away is advertising on their own particle board sign, “SUPER CANDY SWEET CORN”. How does one choose??

Living where I live provides free concerts in the gazebo on Wednesday nights, county fairs, kids selling home-made pie at the 4-H stand, driving through country roads surrounded by the smells of earth and growing things and farm-fresh air.

Bon-fires.

It is a place where my children are being raised by a community who cares about growing kids up to be strong, patriotic, and responsible citizens. It is a place where family members live within walking distance and Sunday nights in which dinner, dessert, and/or a card game is the order of business. It is where I can sit on my mom and dad’s front porch swing and watch the world go by, waving at folks walking past on the sidewalk.

It is wide green spaces and no traffic jams and just about the only thing that makes you late for work is the 7:55 a.m. train that crosses through town.

It is chilled Pinot Grigio on the back porch, road trips to the lake, and Sunday church service. It is ice cream in the freezer 365 days a year.

It is life in “The Ice Cream Capital of the World®” – where, while it may not be over the rainbow, it is where life, truly, is sweet.

Until next time, I remain…..1SweetMama

Ice Cream Days!

It is that glorious time of year when the 9,500 residents of “The Ice Cream Capital of the World®” come together to spread the ice cream joy at our community’s flagship event, “Ice Cream Days”.

Father’s Day weekend is the time when we roll out the red carpet and invite ice cream lovers and anyone who appreciates a good community festival to the city of Le Mars, Iowa, to take in the sights, sounds, and tastes of Americana. Three days of ice cream socials, a parade, a concert in the gazebo in the park, arts festival, rib-grilling contests, competitive run….so much to do!

But this year’s highlight, for me, was playing the coveted role of Blue Bunny® Bomb Pop®.

Now, I don’t know if you understand what this means. You see, the Bomb Pop is an iconic frozen treat that has been popular for over 50 years!! This appointment to don the familiar red, white, and blue packaging is not to be taken lightly. Years of working for a company that makes the Bomb Pop got me to thinking….how does one properly represent the personality of the Bomb Pop?? This led me to perform a character analysis based on the Bomb Pop history….

Having just celebrated its 50th anniversary, the original six-finned Bomb Pop has become iconic with summer. It is rumored that two candy-makers, James S. Merritt and D.S. “Doc” Abernathy found that sales of their chocolate confections declined in the summers’ heat. Sweet-toothed patrons wanted something that was refreshing when the temperatures soared. After several attempts, the two landed (no pun intended) upon the idea of a frozen pop. Since its invention by Merritt and Abernathy in 1955 on Independence Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri, the Bomb Pop® has gone down in the American history books as one of the most popular frozen confections ever created. It is adored by generations past, present, and will continue to be part of the American experience well into the future.

So you can see why I wanted to properly portray the personality of the pop.

So I, along with my fellow packages – The Blue Bunny Champ!® Cone and the Blue Bunny Aspen™ Frozen Yogurt Granola Bar (who, I am certain also did detailed character background studies) danced and pranced, twirled, and whirled our way down the 2 miles parade route properly communicating our excitement to the parade spectators for being invited to participate in the ice Cream Days festivities….

Make sure to take a look at Blue Bunny's Flickr page to see all the “cool” fun we had on Saturday.

Coincidentally, Thursday, June 25, is National Bomb Pop Day. Be sure to celebrate by enjoying one of these super-cool and refreshing red, white, and blue treats. YUM!

Until next time, I remain....1SweetMama (a.k.a Blue Bunny Bomb Pop Extraordinairre)

Sweet Endings

This blog entry will mark the last of the “Summer Vacation” series and I hope you have enjoyed my musings and insights into a really wonderful adventure with my boys, Bud and Peanut.

Our final leg of the tour was a stop in St. Louis to do What St. Louisans Do. We attended a St. Louis Cardinal game (yes, 1SweetMama bleeds Cardinal red!!) and enjoyed frozen custard at Ted Drewes, a local tradition for decades.

Ted Drewes started when Ted Sr. opened his first ice cream store in Florida in 1929, followed by two locations on the north side of St. Louis in 1931. In 1941 the family opened stands on the south side. The current Chippewa location, where we ate, is on the famed old Route 66.

The above photo is the one I took of the stand. Bear in mind, it looks like this pretty much every hour of operation. Frozen custard-hungry patrons patiently stand in line, sometimes 6-8 people deep, for their favorite flavor concoctions. Some like it straight up in vanilla or chocolate, or you can order a Concrete (similar to a Dairy Queen Blizzard) in several varieties. My Concrete of choice is the “Frisco”. Having grown up in St. Louis, I ordered this absolutely yummy flavor a million times. Finally, I asked them why it was called a “Frisco”….they said it was because it is full of fruits and nuts. Their words…not mine.

By the way, the ballgame was great because it was my first time in the new Busch Stadium and I got to see Albert Pujols’ derriere (we were very close behind – no pun intended - the first base line) for 8 glorious innings. The photo is of Bud and Peanut at the ONLY moment the sun shone after we entered the ballpark. Very soon after this photo was taken, storm clouds blanketed the city and we cheered on the Red Birds in a thunderstorm….they never pulled the tarp out and the boys and I finally gave it up at the top of the 8th inning after we realized that the Cardinals could never rebound from a heartbreaking score of 8 to 2. Yes, the Colorado Rockies handed the Cardinals’ butts to them. Oh, well…..at least we knew that our day, and thus our vacationing fun, would end sweetly at Ted Drewes.
And so, on a sweet note, we ended our vacation and returned home the following morning. But we also knew that, at the end of our journey, we would arrive at another destination where life is sweet…..home in the “Ice Cream Capital of the World®”.

And as a sidebar, make sure you come back and read my blog next Tuesday….I will tell you about my experiences this weekend as our community hosts “Ice Cream Days”. If you find you are in the area, you really should come out to Le Mars, Iowa, and take in all the fun and festivities of this flagship ice cream event for our town. And if you happen to read this in time for the parade, you will recognize me….I will be dressed like a package of Blue Bunny® Bomb Pops®. Check out all the Ice Cream Days details by clicking here.

Superman Eats Blue Bunny Ice Cream!

Well….it is an unofficial observation, anyway, but I do have photographic evidence that Blue Bunny® ice cream is available in Metropolis….Metropolis, Illinois!

My boys and I were about 6 or 7 hours into our road trip and just about to cross over into the Bluegrass State of Kentucky when we happened upon Metropolis! Now, everyone who follows the heroics of Superman MUST know that he lives in Metropolis where his crime-fighting ways keep the streets free of Lex Luthor’s evil schemes.

While unable to really spend little more time in this southern Illinois community than to take a “bio break” and gas up, we were very fascinated by this little city on the Ohio River. Peppered with superhero cut-outs (see photo), Metropolis is also home to the Super Museum, and a large Kryptonite meteorite, located on the southwest corner of Third and Ferry Streets.

Check out some of the sites here!

I love towns like this. The boys and I surveyed the superhero collection of souvenirs and I explained to them that, if we had flown to Florida, we never would have seen this part of the world – Superman’s town!! Not sure they were totally convinced....
Of course, we enthusiastically noted that Blue Bunny ice cream carried a prominent presence in the convenience store in which we stopped. Bud – my oldest son – posed by the Blue Bunny hard-dip ice cream and novelty bunkers located within the store. We explained to the staff that we were from “The Ice Cream Capital of the World®” and that we brought greetings from Blue Bunny to Superman’s constituency in the southern-most area of Illinois. To which, they responded that Blue Bunny ice cream was their favorite ice cream. I asked them if they knew what Superman’s favorite flavor was…..a question that was met with a blank stare from the staff. I took that as meaning that it must have been Scooper Hero ® ice cream – a vanilla ice cream that is colored bright red, yellow, and blue – the traditional colors of crime-fighters, I think.

AND, as an FYI… Wonder Woman, arguably the most popular and iconic female superhero in comics (and also wears the popular crime-fighter team colors of red, blue, and yellow), is considered a feminist icon and is informally grouped with Superman and Batman as one of a "Trinity" of DC characters, regarded as especially important, which is why she is also welcomed in the great city of Metropolis, Illinois.

We stopped for a quick photo (Peanut was a good sport about being Wonder Woman) of my own two superheroes….and then we were on our way.

More next week! Until then, I remain…1SweetMama

Ahh....The Joy of Cupcakes and Ice Cream!

This weekend was a busy one. Memorial Day is always a conglomerate of activity carefully choreographed to make it “feel” like a holiday, even though we never really go anywhere. As the official kick-off to summer in “The Ice Cream Capital of the World®”, Memorial Day weekend is usually a mish-mash of high school graduation parties, yard work, grill outs with friends, more yard work, my birthday….the list goes on and on.

Bud, my oldest son, marched in the school band on Monday (he is on the drum line) for the Memorial Day parade. I have also attached a photo of the Memorial Day ceremony that takes place, annually, at out county courthouse where we honor our military veterans. The parade marches up to the courthouse, followed by a flag dedication ceremony. Pretty awe-inspiring.

These activities usually prevent us from actually travelling anywhere significant so we just hung out all weekend and participated in all of the activities mentioned above plus some added fun extra’s. We also took in an IMAX showing of “Night At The Museum 2”…even though we had a two-hour drive in order to go see it…it was totally worth it. We had such a great weekend!!

But, amidst all of the above activity, we managed to squeeze in a little quiet time, too. For my birthday, my oldest son, now dubbed, “The Grillmaster” perfectly prepared steaks on the grill, which we ate for my birthday dinner, followed by cupcakes and ice cream and I gotta tell ya….for about 45 minutes, the world just stopped. What a joy to sit around the table, flanked by my kids, eating birthday cupcakes (aside from chips and salsa, cake and frosting is my favorite good group) and Blue Bunny ice cream. We laughed and chatted and ate more than we should but it was a great time….just the three of us. We ate my favorite flavor du jour, Blue Bunny® Double Cone Crunch ice cream and it was a little scoop – okay, it was a large scoop! – of absolute, total heaven. Have you tried this ice cream yet??? Two words: Yum… me.

I encourage you to carve out a little time in your life this summer to sit down and enjoy some ice cream (um…Blue Bunny…..okay?) with the ones you love. In a summer of never-ending activities and obligations, it might allow you to stop running on the “hamster wheel” for a little while and enjoy some sweet moments of bliss.

Until next time, I remain….1SweetMama

What It Means To be Another Year Older

If you read my blog last week, you will know that my birthday is fast approaching. While I kid about the fact that my birthdays stopped at age 39 (my sister’s wedding fell on my 40th birthday last year, so I claim that I never had a 40th birthday and, therefore, I will remain 39 forever)…I am proud to say that I will be 41 years old.

What this means to me is that I join the ranks of other 40-somethings who I believe have reached a pivotal moment in their lives where they, for the first time, feel the bravest, strongest, and wisest as they have ever felt.

I do have to give a special shout out to my girlfriend, Kimmer, and my Aunt who are celebrating their birthdays TODAY. Both of these women are string and fun and more beautiful than ever.

At nearly 41, I am able to view life more clearly than I ever have before. I feel more. I find the joy in more things.

I love more deeply. I don’t hold grudges for too long. I try to sweat less over the small stuff and I like to try to believe that every day is a chance to start over.

And while I work hard to stay in shape and to keep the wrinkles away and try to remain fashionable, I realize that I am of the age where sexiness is not necessarily defined by a waistline but by self-confidence. Wrinkles are earned and I am proud of each one of them.

These days, I appreciate a fine wine on a quiet evening much more than a night out on the town. I appreciate spending time with my children and walking my dog.

I enjoy sunny Saturday mornings when I can sit out on my front steps and watch the world go by….

Boring? Maybe. It has been a long and painful road to get where I am today but I am hoping that my 41st year on this earth will be the best ever. This is the year that I will smell more flowers and appreciate the beauty in more things. Maybe I will even take a cooking class….nah!

I will spend my birthday with my children. I think our plan is to take in a movie, maybe a picnic lunch and a walk in the sunshine. If the weather is good, we might grill out for dinner, enjoy some cake and Blue Bunny ice cream (is there any other kind of ice cream??) and sit outside for as long as the night will allow. I will wrap up my day with a book that was given to me for my birthday when I was in kindergarten by my teacher, Miss Moelling.

My favorite book of all time….it is a Golden Book called “The Daisy Dog Wake Up Book” by Ilse-Margret Vogel. It is about a little beagle who runs around waking up all of her friends early in the morning to invite them to her birthday party “under the apple tree”. Funny thing about Daisy Dog…..she was up so early inviting her friends that she fell asleep in time for the actual party. All of her friends arrived and had to wake up “that silly, sleepy pup” so that they could have chocolate covered meatball pizza and thimbleberry pie. Reading this book has grown to be one of my favorite birthday traditions.

Not sure why I do it….maybe because it reminds me that no matter how old I get, there is still a little “pup” in me who can’t wait to celebrate her birthday with the people she loves the most.

Until next time, I remain...1SweetMama

What May 19 Means To Me

Photo: popup calendar may june page by lilibee1

It is funny….I had another blog ready to post today when I realized that it was May 19.

For many, May 19 holds no real significance but for me, I remember the EXACT day that I began to form some kind of weird connotation with this particular date. My mother thinks I am weird....I think I would say I was sentimental.

It would have been May 19, 1975. I was in the second grade at Westchester Grade School. I remember that it was a sunny and warm day and I vividly remember my classroom. It is funny, but the older I get, the more clearly I can recall the little details of that room. I do not, however, remember my teacher or any of my classmates but I do remember that the room had windows that looked out on one side to the playground area and I remember that they were open that day.

As a six-year-old-about-to-turn-seven, I remember realizing that the date was May 19 and that I only had 5 “wake-ups” left until my birthday. As many wake-ups as there were fingers on my one hand. From that moment on…..there has always been a real meaning to May 19.

Today as I was preparing my blog entry, I realized that I only have as many wake-ups to wait for my birthday as there are fingers on my one hand.

Today’s weather is very similar to that of May 19, 1975. My house windows are open and the same smells of late spring waft through it as they did through my classroom windows many years ago.

A lot of water has flowed under the bridge since that day. But it still holds the same meaning and I still look forward, with childlike anticipation, to my birthday in five days.

Until next time, I remain.....1SweetMama

My Brother - The Soldier

Several nations of the world hold an annual Armed Forces Day to recognize, venerate, and honor their military forces. It is similar to Veterans Day or the “Remembrance Day” in many other nations. In the United States, Armed Forces Day is celebrated on the third Saturday in May (that’s tomorrow). The day was created in 1949, and was a result of the consolidation of the military services in the Department of Defense.

So, today’s quote pays homage to some special people in my life who have served my country. It is from American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist, Walt Whitman:

“The moon gives you light, And the bugles and the drums give you music, And my
heart, O my soldiers, my veterans, My heart gives you love.” –Walt Whitman

I am a member of a family who has had at least one member serving our country in every generation, dating back to – at the very least – the Civil War.

Specifically, the ones I have been told about are my Great-Grandpa who served in the Armed Forces in WWI, my Grandpa S (US Air Force) and Grandpa F (US Air Force) served during WWII, my father (US Air Force), an uncle (US Army) served at the end of the Viet Nam era. My cousin (US Army), a graduate of West Point, has completed three tours of duty in Iraq and my kid brother has served in the US Air Force for the past 14 years, being sent overseas three times – this time to Kabul.

So… pride in the US Armed Forces runs thick in my veins. Every man and woman who bravely place their life between me and anyone who wants to compromise my freedoms is certainly worthy of honor. Tomorrow is a day set aside for that.

So, while I pause and reflect on all the things I have and the great cost others have paid in order for me to have them, I will think about my brother.

Three months into his service in Kabul, he misses his wife and two daughters who wait for him back home. He calls us all on a webcam program that allows us to see him and talk about our lives. He is always dressed in his dessert BDUs (Battle Dress Uniform). He always looks tired because it is 5:30 a.m., his time, when we are able to talk.

He thoroughly enjoys his work and he is interacting with so many nationalities of people. His assignment is very interesting and, once back home in the ‘States, he will be able to recognize the wonderful things he is doing and how he is truly making a difference globally.

This one, the brother, who I used to punch when my parents weren’t looking. I always kid him about this, but he, once, chewed the head off of my Luke Skywalker action figure…which, no doubt, unleashed a barrage of sibling beatings. How ironic that these days, he is the ultimate “Action Figure” of my life.

I will always be older than him but he will always be braver than me. I want to thank him and his family for allowing him to serve my country.

Here is to my brother, as well as all my other family members…and all of yours….who have served or are currently serving. May you know that you are truly the heroes of our time.

Until next time, I remain...1SweetMama

Springtime in the Ice Cream Capital of the World

Photo, courtesy of D. Smetter, May 5, 2009

Warm weather is sometimes a long time a-comin’ when you live in Northwest Iowa. The April Showers that bring the May Flowers often become May Showers that bring the June Flowers.

But, late as it may be, I am always amazed at the beauty and wonder all around us as the deadness of winter springs forth in green lushness once the shower and thunderstorm season arrives.

It also never ceases to amaze me how we are all caught by the moments that Mother Nature brings us. I continually try to remind myself that it is so important to stop and smell the flowers. Take the time to breathe in the little things that life gives us that sometimes go unnoticed. I was so refreshed this morning when I came into work….just moments after the photo at the top of my blog was taken… and opened my Inbox to discover a half dozen emails from co-workers, including my boss who submitted today’s photo, of the double rainbow that appeared at 7:21 a.m. Adults routinely immersed with their usual morning routines suddenly stopped, took notice of the event and (thanks to the miracle of cell phone and digital camera technology) captured it. Photos of every angle and in many settings – farmland, interstate, residential – displaying this simple little thing that presented its loveliness to us today.

And that so many of my friends and co-workers took the time to stop and take in the beauty of this rainbow and wanted to spread it around via email is a wonderful thing. It means that we haven’t stopped appreciating the little things and they aren’t going unnoticed here in the place where I live.

As sweet as an ice cream cone on a warm, sunny day or as wondrous as a double rainbow in the heart of Springtime….thus is life in The Ice Cream Capital of the World®.

What Is Up With Crabby People?

I realize that if you live in “The Ice Cream Capital of the World” and you work for a company that makes Blue Bunny ice cream, your view on life might be a little more sweet than the view of someone who doesn’t. However, there is no real excuse for people to go around with a chip on their shoulder, infecting the rest of society with negativism.

I get so tired of people who feel that it is their mission to make everyone around them feel insignificant and miserable. The only deduction I can make from this kind of behavior is that those people are only truly happy when everyone else around them feels as sour inside as they do. And so the saying goes, “Misery loves company,” and I believe it.

We all have had bad days but there is no reason to take it out on other people. I have a mother who works in a job that handles consumer comments. You would not believe some of the things people say to her. She is not directly responsible for any of the things people call her number to complain about, yet those people use her as a verbal punching bag in order to help them vent their anger. She calmly takes the insults, tries to make it right with them and hangs up.

But what I have also noticed about my mother is that on days when the complaints are heavier, this usually pleasant woman is crabby, too.

Crabbiness is viral. Negativism spreads like a toxic disease and, if infected at an early age, can scar a personality for the rest of that individual’s life.

There are some people who I think would be so much happier if they just ate an ice cream cone every now and then.

The world, for the most part, is good. People, for the most part, are good. Imagine a world where everyone was kind to each other….and ate more ice cream.

Pass the scoop.

Until next time, I remain….1SweetMama

Grandma Jane

Tomorrow, a very special lady will be celebrating her 83rd birthday and I just wanted to tell you a little bit about her.

My Grandma Jane was raised on a farm and received formal schooling at “Country School” only until the 8th grade, which was a common practice for girls back in “those days”. She and her sister, Emily, helped out on the family farm. Since there were no sons, I am certain that she and Emily probably did as much work as any male. This is where Grandma Jane gets her work ethic that has been passed through the generations. There is nothing this woman cannot do.

At age 19, she met my Grandpa Bill who was home on leave from the War. They met at the City of Brentwood Carnival and were introduced by the sister of Grandpa Bill’s buddy, Homer (her name was Mildred). Homer was also dating Grandma Jane’s sister, Emily. If I recall the story correctly, it was raining and Bill had offered to buy Jane a lemonade but didn’t have, as it turned out, enough money for both of them so Jane paid the nickel for her own. They didn’t ride any rides that night – just sat around and talked. Jane thought Bill was a cocky soldier and Bill was enamored by this young farm girl who had moved to the “big city”. She had spunk and Bill liked it.

The two were married in 1946 (coincidentally, Homer and Emily were married in 1945) and the wedding reception was held at a local dance pavilion, complete with banjos and fiddles. Sixty years of marriage later, they ended up with two daughters and a son, which ended up producing six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, with one on the way.

As a kid, some of my fondest memories include how Grandma Jane was the best back scratcher in the whole world. Sleepovers at Grandma and Grandpa’s house were the best as she would read book after book, at my request, until I was nearly asleep. To this day, when I hear her read anything out loud, I am instantly transformed into that seven year old who loved to sleep on the fold out couch at Grandma’s. Grandma Jane also introduced me to braunschweiger sandwiches, which I loved as a kid but cannot stand as an adult.

Grandma Jane and Grandpa Bill moved to the Ice Cream Capital of the World® from our “home city”, a large Metropolitan area, in June of 1999, following their oldest daughter, my mom (with dad and my kid sister, Diana), who had also made the move from that same city to Le Mars a year earlier, to follow their oldest daughter (me). This family exodus occurred nearly 12 years after I had moved here. All of this was in an effort to bring keep some of the family close together and to “get out of the rat race”, as they called it. Family has always been important to Grandma Jane and Grandpa Bill….and this, too, has carried through the generations.

Together with Grandpa Bill, Grandma Jane helped me tremendously by providing all the daycare and transportation from school to activities for both of my boys. They attended every single music concert and were such a rock to both myself and to my children.

Sadly, we lost Grandpa Bill in 2006, but Grandma Jane remains the steadfast matriarch of the family. She works almost full time as a greeter in a large “box store” and loves it because she gets to talk to everyone. At 83, she is often on her feet an entire shift and sometimes she will even work an 8-hour shift.

So much of who I am today is due to her influence and I owe her so much. I hope that on my 83rd birthday, I am able to do HALF the things that Grandma Jane does today. She has never missed a step and is the youngest and most vibrant 83-year old that I know.

Happy Birthday Grandma Jane!

…and if you would like to wish my Grandma Jane a happy birthday, please post a comment. When it asks for your ID, chose the “Anonymous” posting option – you won’t have to sign up for anything! She reads this blog regularly and I think it would be cool if anyone responds with a birthday greeting for her…plus it will be a good exercise for all of us to learn how to post comments within this blog and boost some interaction among the readers.

Until, next time, I remain….1SweetMama

Peanut's Lucky Weekend

(photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/leftlung/)

My nine year old, Peanut, is – aside from his incredible stubbornness – probably one of the happiest, most optimistic people I know. It has become the joke with most people who know him that he cannot tell a story without smiling. His inability to properly enunciate consonants is simply because he never is able to shape his lips in anything other than a big, ol’ Cheshire Cat grin. It is one of many endearing qualities he possesses.

This past weekend was a fun weekend for the boys and me. Our itinerary wasn’t anything particularly out-of-the-ordinary but Peanut must have thought it was something extra special. At lunch, on Sunday, he exclaimed that this weekend was a really lucky weekend. I asked him why he thought the weekend was so lucky and he summed it up by saying, “Well, we had Mom-And-Sons Date Night on Friday and had the best food and waitress ever, then we got to go to PetCo and we bought Hannah (the hamster) a new cage. Then on Saturday we played Blitz (this is our “traditional family card game” that involves a $1 per person ante to play the game) with Grandma and Grandpa F. and Great Grandma S. and I won $6. Then we got to come here, to the China Buffet, for lunch after church.”

We all thought that sounded like a pretty great weekend and what luck he had to have had it.

As we left the Chinese food restaurant, he insisted we all take fortune cookies and read them together. We took them as we walked out and got in the car to go home.

Peanut remarked from the back seat, “Well, guess what, Mom?”

“What’s that?”

“My weekend just got even luckier,” he exclaimed. “My fortune cookie has TWO fortunes in it!”

How lucky is that? It just goes to show us that we are only as lucky as we recognize we are and sometimes it just takes a nine-year old to point it out to us.

Peanut’s Lucky Weekend reminded me of how lucky I am, too.

What's Your Elevator Speech?

Someone once told me to always have an “elevator speech” ready. What, you ask, is an elevator speech? It is a 3-5 minute description of who you are and what you do and it usually includes some interesting tidbit about who you are or what motivates you or some little nugget that would make you interesting to the elevator speech audience.

I am usually faced with producing my elevator speech on airplanes. As much as I desperately try to avoid conversation with my seatmate(s), seventy percent of the time I am finding myself giving it. I often wish that my seatmate had an elevator speech because usually they give me a 45 minute monologue on their life, their family history, and any medical conditions they may be facing at the moment. I once had a seatmate tell me within the first three minutes of my sitting next to her that she was having surgery on some female issues (I will spare you the graphic details) later that week. I think I must have stared at her for a full minute before I reacted to her story. I could tell it was going to be a very long flight. Thankfully, she was removed (she was in the wrong seat) and replaced with a teenager who slept the entire flight. Whew.

I digress.

So, my elevator speech goes something like this:

“My name is 1SweetMama (name changed to protect the innocent!) and I am a mother of two boys, ages 14 and 9, and we live in Le Mars, Iowa, The Ice Cream Capital of the World. Le Mars is actually called The Ice Cream Capital of the World because more ice cream is made in my town than any other town on the planet. Le Mars is actually located in the northwest corner of Iowa and it is about 30 miles north of Sioux City. I have been employed at Wells’ Dairy, Inc. (we make Blue Bunny ice cream), with the exception of a four month sabbatical, since 1998. Presently, I am in the "blah, blah, blah" department serving as the "yaddah, yaddah manager" (awww, c'mon....I have to leave some mystery to 1SweetMama's identity!). What this means is that I am do stuff to get people to buy Blue Bunny ice cream (again....nebulous....I am kind of an enigma). I also love to write and do some copywriting for Wells’ Dairy, including writing my own blog about how sweet life is. I really do enjoy my work.”

With the appropriate dramatic pauses and inflections, this elevator speech takes me about three to four minutes. It sums up who I am and what I do and how it relates to them. Sometimes there is a follow-up question and answer period but the gist is that it is concise.

Elevator speeches work great on airplanes, at small dinner parties, or even if called upon for a “get-to-know-you” ice breaker activity. I highly recommend you carry your elevator speech in your “cerebral back pocket” so that you can quickly and easily reference it at a moment’s notice.

Now, an “elevator speech” should not be confused with your “Oscar Speech”, which we will talk about next time. Stay tuned! Until then, I remain…..1SweetMama

The New Washing Machine

Coincidence? Perhaps. No one will ever know for sure…..in my last blog, I wrote about how Hannah the Hamster (aka – Hannah The Escape Artist) was very recently extracted from the guts of my washing machine.

Max The Wonderdog – or Max The Hamster Hunter – (please refer to my last blog entry) quickly located her, by smell, as being inside the washing machine. We all had our doubts but we couldn’t overlook Max’s intense concentration on the lower, front corner of the appliance.

Now, understand that my washer has been on the fritz for the past six months. It came with the house, but if I had to make a guess, I would think the washer was probably 20 years old. In recent weeks, it has been acting up and, really, has developed its own little personality. It will knock and bang around a load and will run so loudly, that I would start a load of wash and leave my home, just so that I would not have to listen to the ruckus. On many occasions, I have gone to the basement to find my washing machine had strolled across the floor – possibly to socialize with the water heater?? – you know, appliances really do need to get more social with each other…

Until the “Hannah” episode, the washer and I had formed a nice little relationship: she won’t bother me too much as long as I don’t bother her too much. However, the “Hannah” adventure tipped the scales in her favor. After my father disassembled parts of the machine in order that we could locate and remove Hannah from the inside, this washing machine has refused to run without incident.

Her wash cycles grew louder –as if she was screaming at me from the basement, "WHY DID YOU TOUCH ME???? I TOLD YOU NOT TO TOUCH ME!!!! WE HAD AN UNDERSTANDING!!!” She would knock around in the basement, walking away from her little corner, in total refusal to cooperate as a functioning contributor to my household. Then, the other night, she put her foot down for the very last time. She ran all night, spewing water and never draining. I found her the next morning in a pool of lukewarm water, still churning the load I placed inside her at bedtime, the night before.

Well, that attitude from my washer just doesn’t “set” with me. It was time for her to go. And I was gonna throw out her little friend, Mr. Dryer, too. He just couldn’t seem to dry a single load of clothes without taking his own sweet time – sometimes taking two or three cycles to accomplish the job. I was sick of him sucking off my electricty while taking total advantage my benevolence - allowing him to remain under my roof without contributing 100% to the laundry effort.

So, let this be a lesson to all the other appliances living within the walls of my residence – get lippy with me and OUT YOU GO! Today, my new washer and dryer stand proudly in the spot vacated by the insubordinate ones. Gleaming white, they are not the big, fancy front loaders I often daydream about, but simple laundry sentinels, standing at the ready – awaiting their next load. The new crew washes and dries three times the capacity as the old ones in half the time. In fact, I am happy to report that, for the first time in several months, I am totally caught up on the laundry. And no back-talk from either of them!

So – I guess that the entire ecosystem within my household supports each other in ways I never even fathomed….it took one little escape adventure from Peanut’s hamster to trigger a whole chain of events that resulted in a brand new set of appliances that make me very, very happy.

I guess that in the “Ice Cream Capital of the World”, it is the little things that make me realize that life really is sweet!