Lilly's July visit

Elliott & Emily were on their way back to Wisconsin from their vacation in Pennsylvania. As it happened, Emily had a wedding in Iowa the following weekend -- so I said, "why don't you leave Lillian here?"

So, she stayed for a few days with us -- "Grandma & Grandpa" ...and a few days with Emily's parents -- "Noona & PopPop"...

The actual WALK

Okay, Sandy...I'm gonna do it. Take a "WALK". Like in the olden days. Before treadmills could be delivered to your house from online bookstore websites...

It's a beautiful day. The heat wave is over. I'm actually putting on my tennis shoes and heading out the door...I'm walking down my lane...onto the road...over to my sister Ronda's house. She lives nearby....it only takes 5 minutes to drive there...It is a stunningly beautiful summer day...

Although, it's taking longer than I thought. Gee, it's been about 30 minutes and I'm only halfway there...

this would be a nice place for a bench....I wonder why nobody thought about that?

And a little shade would certainly be welcome at this point.

I saw three discarded shoes...don't you always wonder what their story is?

There is a single piece of shade between me and Ronda's house. I took a picture of it. I'm afraid I might pass out...I am sweating like a pig...my knees are hurting now and it's way hotter than I thought...


I have been walking for40 minutes when I get to the end of Ronda's road...she is there to greet me...she assures me it is only a quarter mile to her house...even though you can't see it from here...(unlike Russia from Alaska)

We had a little visit. Using the new "app" on my phone -- I discovered it is exactly two miles from my house to Ronda's house. And there is no way I can walk home...thank goodness there is gas in the truck...

Mary Mulari takes a REAL walk every single day. Rain or shine, heat or snow -- the Walkie-Talkies in Aurora, Minnesota are out there -- WALKING in their town. I have a new respect for you people....

Nobody loves their treadmill. But I realize how much I appreciate having a working treadmill in my house...come rain or shine, regardless of the weather...

And all the things I enjoy about having my treadmill....like -- there is a bathroom nearby. And I also like taking a nice cold drink of water whenever I like. Sometimes, I need a break and I walk for awhile, then put in a load of laundry -- or maybe just sit in a chair.

I'll admit it. I am a pansie...

Living Land & Waters, Part Two

The night of the big barge party at Living Land & Waters-- I gave my camera to Austin so he could take some pictures. We had to put on life jackets for the actual "tour" of the new barge...

To eat our dinner, we had to sit at a table that was "technically" reserved for somebody else. I'd like to thank the Eggars family....

Inside the old decrepit barge -- everybody who has ever helped Living Land & Waters is encouraged to sign on the wall. After all these years -- the writing goes on forever...
There are shelves filled with the trash they've removed from the rivers. Toys, artificial limbs, bowling balls...motorcycle helmets....actual MOTORCYCLES...

60,000 old tires, 9 actual motorcycles, 140+ water heaters...

As part of the fund-raiser, there was an art auction...

The volunteers were all wearing these snazzy t-shirts. You've gotta love the sentiment. "Results, not Rhetoric"...

In the fine print, you can read the exact amounts that have been removed...

141 Refrigerators?? Really??

Here's my point. One person makes a difference. One person can change the world. You don't have to be rich, and you don't have to have your own television show. You just need to have a passion....to care about something. Something that matters.

Thanks again, Chad Pregracke...you are my hero. I wish you were running for office...

Children's Discovery Center

After a week in the hospital -- Garrett came home. Amy had a lot of catching-up to do around the house -- and she asked if I could watch Cale & Cash.

Hey -- what a great chance to check out the Children's Discovery Center in Clinton, Iowa.
We were VERY IMPRESSED. Cale and Cash both fit in the "body bubble" machine...

And we all loved the wall of pneumatic tubes -- and watching the various scarves and yarn balls zipping around. Cash got really good at catching them...

They even had a zebra in the miniature golf course area!!

Cash was rowing a boat...there was magnetic fishing....lots of inter-active things for the kids to do. Pretend ambulance, grocery store, costumes, a train engine. They loved it!!

And -- the cost of all this high quality entertainment? Only $4 each.

Wow. AN AMAZING BARGAIN...

Heidi Klum's NB Challenge -- spoiler alert

About this "challenge". Heidi Klum designs "activewear" for New Balance. OH MY GOD -- THIS WOULD BE SO MUCH FUN...I know EXACTLY what I would make.

Of course, I love knits. I'd use zebra knit to bring all three "looks" together. The first look would be a simple knit dress that you could pull over your head as you leave the gym, or run to the store...I'd trim the armholes and hem with zebra...like an outside facing...instead of a jacket or a hoodie, I'd make one of those "wraps" that has two armholes....like the NYC circle wrap Mary & I had in the Ya Ya show...

Oh....I am LOVING IT....But -- just as I'm working on my second look -- Heidi said "don't think active wear"...think FASHION. Wha? Don't think activewear??

Of course, later on -- when Heidi came into the workroom to check out their progress, she sees they are using chiffon, and making long skirts, and she keeps asking, "how will that look with tennis shoes?"

Hummm...this might have gone better if they had been told it was an "activewear" challenge...

And -- hey -- where can I send my sympathy card to Bert? I used to like both Anthony and Laura -- but from the first moment of this team challenge they were completely rude and mean-spirited to Bert. And I was glad he stuck up for himself.

At the end -0n the runway -- the design Gods punished Anthony and Laura. Bigtime. Their outfits were absolute garbage. You've gotta love Karma.

However -- Bert should pray there are no more team challenges.

Once again -- Nina TRUMPS Heidi during the judging round and Dannielle was sent packing. What's up with that?? Isn't Heidi the PRODUCER for crying out loud? And this was for HER LINE OF CLOTHES??

Anthony should have gone home. Actually, his outfit was so bad, he should have been arrested by the fashion police -- a good punishment would be having to wear his own incredibly ugly shorts out on the street.

John's Golf Friends

John has been golfing with the same group of guys for over 25 years. From May through November, they have a once-a-month "outing". Every month, they go to a different golf course -- and the guy who lives closest to the course hosts the after-the-outing meal.

So -- August was John's turn. I usually make Easter dinner. Baked ham, potato salad, Cowboy beans, etc. The cooking takes the better part of two days -- and thanks to my cheerful, capable assistant -- Carrie -- the cleaning takes a couple of hours.


I love doing it. The house looked great -- and the food turned out exactly as I hoped...

John and his crew landed about 1:30. I had some cold dips and appetizers ready -- along with a cooler of very cold beverages...

As they walked in the door -- at least two of John's buddies said "hello, Mary"...

Wha??

An hour later, they're all sitting on the porch, John's friend Jim said, "Mary, everything was just delicious..." Another guy chimed in, "yes, Mary -- just terrific."

John finally realized his friends were calling me Mary. Pointing to me, he said, "her name is Rita"...

Of course, they were embarrassed, so I quickly added, "yes, he had to get rid of Mary...she was a complete bitch..."

These men have been friends with my husband for 25 years. AND THEY DON'T KNOW MY NAME??

Here's my point. ALL my friends KNOW my husband's name is John. If you are reading this blog -- YOU know my husband's name is John.

So -- let me think this through. John has been friends with these men for over 25 years...and they don't know my name is Rita. Because he never talks about me??

I'm having one of those "Venus-Mars" moments. Really. When men get together, they talk about sports...

Many hours later, I said, "so, let me get this straight...you NEVER talk about me with your friends? Because all my friends know YOUR name, John.."

He blustered for a bit...then, shaking his head, he walked down the hall. At the last minute, he turned and said, "You really shouldn't take this so personal....

Mary..."

ugh...

President Obama visits LeClaire, Iowa!!

This may seem like a strange request -- but if you happen to live in South Africa -- please email me. My son, Ross, is going to South Africa for a week (he leaves on Thursday) -- and it would be wonderful if he could actually meet somebody who lives there. AND I can see from my analytics that there are several regular readers from South Africa. You know who you are!!

And wouldn't it be WAY COOL if I could use this blog to make that connection.

ritafar@aol.com

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As it turns out -- during his recent visit to the Heartland -- President Obama probably drove his (big-million dollar-made-in-Canada) bus on the road in front of my house.

AND I MISSED IT. Darn...How cool would it be to have that photo??

But I do have THIS picture....



This is President Obama, stopping to buy some popcorn in LeClaire, Iowa.

That's right. The proud home of the AMERICAN PICKERS....Mike and Frank should have been there to shake his hand!!

I just could not resist telling you, ONCE AGAIN, what a special, interesting part of the world I live in. Here's a link to the President's visit

Apparently -- none of the stores had a clue that he would be stopping. Can you imagine? He also made completely unannounced, unscheduled visits to several high schools in the area. Although school wasn't in session in Maquoketa, Iowa -- he visited with teachers who were preparing their classrooms.

In Galesburg, Illinois -- on his way through town, he stopped at the high school football field to shake hands and talk to the practicing team.

Hey -- when you think about it -- I'm sure the BEST security is to NOT have a predetermined "agenda". And, it really doesn't matter whether or not you are a fan of Barack Obama. I'm just sayin' -- it is a huge honor to have a visit from the President of the United States...

We are honored.

But, really -- the rest of the world must be wondering what the Iowa attraction is.

Hey -- it's a mystery. I know for SURE that we see more of these people than anybody in Washington D.C. ever does.

Again -- all I can say is -- if politicians were bees....Iowa is the honey...

Take A Walk?

One of the highlights of my week is Tuesday morning "breakfast club". We usually just meet at the local Hy-Vee grocery store. We often have a Sew & Tell. Now and then we have a field trip. On this day -- we went to Aunt Ada's house. Sandy is the one in front.

Here she is, at the Ricky Tims event. We are taking pictures of each other, taking pictures...

I know she doesn't LOOK like a trouble maker...


But the other day, when I was complaining about NOT being able to walk because my treadmill died, she said, easy as you please, "well -- you could go outside and walk, Rita."

I'll be dipped. What's up with that?

I looked at her as though she suggested I launch the space shuttle from my roof.

Walk outside? In this Iowa summer weather? On real grass, loose gravel, unlevel ground?

Taking a closer look at my friend Sandy, I wondered if she was one of those radical free-thinking. vegetarian-health-food-commie-subversive-types?

Hummm....could I do it?

Actually walk OUTSIDE?

How will I know when I've walked a distance of 2.22 miles @ 4.0 mph??

It's like a big I DARE YOU....

I'll pretend I'm a pioneer woman, walking behind my covered wagon across the prairie...

This must be what the Wright brothers felt like...

John's garden

Here's John -- standing by Sam's grave, covered with flowers.

You can see some of the hummingbird feeders hanging off the porch...

John has always loved gardening. And this is the very BEST time of year...with bumper crops of green beans...
And my favorite thing -- POTATOES...

He picked the first green pepper of the year.

Really. There just isn't anything better in the world than good old-fashioned FRIED POTATOES. If I wanted to start a restaurant -- that's what I'd do.

Potatoes. Nothing but potatoes. Fried potatoes. Baked potatoes. Mashed potatoes. Hashbrown potatoes. Cheesy potatoes. Potato pancakes....Gheesh...that is SUCH A GOOD IDEA..!!

Happy Birthday, John. Thanks for taking such good care of everything around here. Especially me...

Chad's girls

Yesterday, my nephew Chad posted a "comment" on my treadmill-funeral-blog. I am always DELIGHTED to learn one of my peeps is reading this darn thing...

Especially since I had already scheduled THIS blog post --
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Thanks to my photographer-niece-Kelcy -- I DID finally manage to see a picture of some children ACTUALLY wearing my nifty towel cover-ups.

Here's Chad's girls -- Madeline and Avery -- in their semi-matching pink flamingo towel cover-ups. Pretty cute, eh?
But, alas, the young fathers just CANNOT RESIST these! In this picture, of course, CHAD is wearing one of the towels.

Apparently, all my nephews -- in Iowa, in Pennsylvania, in Utah -- wherever they live -- they are a bunch of goof balls.

Treadmill Disaster

My sister Ronda has been coming over to my house this summer -- and we do a "walk and talk" on my treadmill. Things were going just great. We spurred each other on until we both did two miles...excellent progress...

Until the morning of the "big bang". One day -- on mile #3 -- my treadmill died. Bummer.

This is the second treadmill I have personally killed. Hey -- I did not love my treadmill. The truth is -- everybody hates their treadmills.

But I really, really would have liked it to last longer than 3 1/2 years (440 hours and 1540 miles to be exact). It was a Horizon treadmill, which I purchased from Amazon...which seemed like a good idea at the time. However, after wasting two days trying to contact a tech --John (who can fix anything) figured out the computer board (a $300 part not under warranty) melted down. Bummer.

So here's today's valuable lesson.

#1: REMOVE THE COVER FROM THE MOTOR AREA OF YOUR TREADMILL AND VACUUM AROUND IT.

The lint and fuzz that builds up becomes like a wool blanket that holds the heat in. SAVE YOURSELF!! (Hey -- Clean the bobbin area of your sewing machine while you're at it.)

#2: Amazon is a great place to buy books -- but not so great when it comes to 300 pound treadmills.

So I am buying my next treadmill from Dick's sporting goods -- along with a 4-year EXTENDED WARRANTY...AND you can be sure I'll have them show me how to remove the cover and VACUUM...

After a week of RESEARCH....I am buying an honest-to-God-made-in-America- Sole treadmill. A F-63. I think. I'll keep you posted...

And I am hopeful...

Hotel Blackhawk & POTUS

The last time you saw the Hotel Blackhawk was in January when they were having their grand opening.
My entire crew went down for a rare cousins-party...and we enjoyed it to the max.

Remember the beautiful beds? Well -- GUESS WHO SLEPT IN ONE OF THOSE BEDS on Tuesday night, August 16, 2011?

President Barack Obama!!

Remember -- I live in IOWA. For reasons I will never understand, we hold a deep, special, enduring, never-ending fascination for politicians.

We're the cheese...they are the mold.

Wait, that didn't come out right....

Anyway -- it is interesting how an actual presidential visit works. Although security was beefed up in the area, there never was an "official announcement" about where the President would be actually sleeping...

If you were already scheduled to be staying at the hotel, you may have had an actual "encounter". Otherwise, the Secret Service had such a large area cordoned off -- we never even saw a picture of him, at the Hotel Blackhawk -- on the local news.

Which begs the question. Was he really THERE?

Sweet Corn

I live in Iowa. We ARE sweetcorn. There isn't anything in the world more delicious than a big platter of hot sweetcorn...

My brother, Calvin, lives just up the road -- and I invite him for dinner once a year. For his birthday. We eat sweetcorn...

Well -- we also had some very nice porterhouse steaks. But, really, it was all about the delicious sweetcorn...There were three people sitting at the table. And we each had our own stick of real butter...

Because that's how we "roll"...

OH MY GOODNESS...such a treat.

In my area, sweetcorn is $4 a dozen. When I spent the day in Cedar Rapids, Anne made sweetcorn for supper -- and I discovered it's $6/dozen in her area.

Once again...I am grateful to be living where I live. Everybody should move to Scott county, Iowa -- just for the $4 sweetcorn!!

The HELP

I certainly know this is not a hot news flash -- but The HELP is a fabulous book!! Published in 2009, it's sold over 3 million copies -- and the new movie will most likely double that number.

My niece Amy read it when it first came out -- and she loaned it to me. I didn't get around to reading it -- and gave it to Val when she was in the nursing home. When I got it back the other day, I found myself reading until 3:00 AM. I couldn't put it down and I cannot remember the last time I enjoyed a book as much as this one.

The other members of my book club have been waiting on me to have the actual "discussion" -- and now -- I made them wait so long -- we can ALSO GO SEE THE MOVIE...

So -- hey -- run -- don't walk -- to get this book. I will not ruin it for you by discussing the pertinent details.

But I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the way Kathryn Stockett told this story. And it will be interesting to see the movie, too -- because Kathryn sold the movie rights to a good friend of hers, also from Mississippi, who had zero movie experience.

Click here to read the story about the making of the movie...

It's inspirational in sooo many ways. Yes...run, don't walk...

Austin's Surprise Aunt Rita Adventure

Austin is 14 years old, a soon-to-be-sophomore in high school. Yikes. Where could I take him? Remember -- his sister, Lexi, went with me to a 60's music event. Hummm...He's a kid who loves the outdoors. I could take him to see a local production of the "Music Man"...it IS happening in a park, after all.

THEN I GOT THE INVITATION IN THE MAIL...

Chad Pegrake, and his foundation, "Living Land & Waters" is having their annual fundraiser. Down on the Oneida landing in Davenport, Iowa -- there will be a dinner and a tour of the new barge...they're expecting 900 people!!

Where else can you go to eat smoked carp appetizers? That tastes like beef jerky?

Here's a picture of Austin, at the entrance to the tented party area...

AND -- SHAKING HANDS with Chad. Who is an inspiration. If you think one person can't make a difference -- think again. Chad was Austin's age when he realized there wasn't a government agency in charge of picking up trash out of the river. So he just started to do it himself...

We got a tour of the barge...
Then we ate dinner...

Which was delicious! Fried fish (of course) -- excellent cole slaw, a shrimp boil...I was hungry, too!!

I'll write more about Austin's adventure -- but I wanted to post this as soon as possible, because right now, during the month of August -- all up and down the Mississippi River -- Living Land & Waters is working on a giant clean-up. And they're also going to have a launch party for the new barge in St. Louis. Maybe you'll want to help.

At the end of our adventure, we stopped at the Village Inn (any excuse for a piece of pie, eh, Rita?). Austin spent his own money to buy his Dad his favorite pie -- french silk.

Austin is a fine young man and it was a pleasure for me to spend a little time with him. He is bright, engaging, polite, and has many interests and hobbies. Plus -- he's so considerate. I mean -- IT WAS A WHOLE PIE, PEOPLE!!

It is very clear to me that his Mom & Dad have done a great job.