I love the 4th of July! After all, how can you miss with a holiday that features my favorite color combination of red, white and blue? A holiday when it’s almost always hot – when the primary activities are eating and drinking – when I get to see a parade with a band playing “You’re A Grand Old Flag” (and yes, I sang along!)? See – it’s a can’t miss day in my opinion!
The year with the 4th on a Monday we had several days of festivities made even more special by all the quality time I got to spend with Tammy and Ralph and their families – especially Julia and Lydia. The Des Moines crew arrived on Friday and the girls lost no time in getting into the pool. Julia is now a member of the swim team at their local country club so had to show me her favorite strokes and demonstrate her skills from the diving board. That kid can do a mean flip off the board but I’ll admit my heart skipped a few beats when she started the flip before she got to the end of the board! I even impressed her and her mom with my diving!
We spent a couple of days trying to convince Lydia to go down the slide and when she finally did, Ralph and I missed her performance. I even tried to persuade her to try it by showing her how even Grammie could navigate the slide – all the while hoping Medicare wouldn’t reject a claim for any accidents I might have had. Fortunately there were none from me but on Lydia’s last slide adventure, she wrapped her little hands around the edge of the slide and ended up with some fingers full of fiberglass. Ouch! So much for Lydia and the slide!
It seemed that when we weren’t playing in the pool our time centered around food and drink and tonight I’m feeling like a 7-day fast will just be a start to make me quit feeling so full! Ralph and I took the girls to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday and picked out an array of fresh veggies and fruits and then Tammy, Steve, Ralph and Blair pretty much took over food preparation for the rest of the weekend. We had apple brats, fresh corn on the cob, several varieties of salad (all with fresh dressings), some amazing smoked ribs courtesy of Steve along with his homemade baked beans, strawberry pretzel salad, Cake Pops, Key Lime pie, chocolate cupcakes and of course, homemade ice cream. Not to mention beer, wine and margaritas. If you’re gagging as you read this, please remember, it did take us a few days to consume all this stuff.
When the clouds rolled in yesterday the kids played on the deck or in the house – friends came by and we enjoyed leisurely conversation – puzzles were put together, games were played, summer birthdays were celebrated. Throughout this time, Mulligan wandered around with his favorite toy hanging from his front tooth looking for someone to play with him – and he was often rewarded.
Naturally we had fireworks which are illegal in Iowa (except for public displays) – Steve and Blair assembled a great selection of pretties for us all along with some ear-splitting ones too. Lydia loved the black snakes which she said made the driveway look like it was pooping – a comment that did NOT sit well with her mother. I managed to stifle my laughter!
This morning they were on the road early headed north to home and Burl and I went to Marshfield for the 132nd parade there – the oldest 4th of July parade west of the Mississippi River! Burl rode his mini-motorcycle with the other Shrine Cruisers in the parade and had great fun high-fiving the little kids who lined the parade route. I met my friends Barb and Kathie and we sweated out about an hour of the parade before going to a picnic at Ron and Barb’s with our golfing buddies. By then, most of the parade entries were political and I can do without those.
What I really loved, in addition to the band, were the floats with the veterans riding on them. Without them, we’d have no reason to celebrate the freedoms we enjoy in this country. I kept thinking today about our founding fathers who fought against oppression from Britain to establish our great nation – about the sacrifices they made with no guarantee of safety for themselves or their families – no guarantee that they would win the war – but still they fought for their beliefs and for our freedom. I only wish they could know that what they did was not in vain – that despite all our shortcomings, America is still the greatest nation in the world.
And to all those people who come to America, legally or illegally, I just ask that you learn OUR language and abide by OUR laws – get a job, pay your taxes, don’t think you are entitled to have anything (welfare, healthcare, food, housing) handed to you – and most of all, please, please, please don’t desecrate our flag! Being an American is a privilege – not a right.
God Bless The USA – He has certainly blessed me by allowing me to live in this country I love.
A year ago I listed 44 reasons why I love my daughter Tammy and while she deserves another round of 44 – plus one for another year of life – I’m not about to start a trend!
Today is her birthday and soon I will call her at 11:42 a.m. to celebrate that moment when she arrived in my world which thankfully has never been the same since. 
This year we celebrated on Friday with a Mom/Daughter birthday lunch. We rarely go out to lunch together and I was excited when she chose Ocean Zen since it’s one of my local favorites. Her friend, Sarah, suggested we lunch as the French do – a glass of white wine, a salad, and then dessert. While my French vocabulary doesn’t get much past asking for a beer or where to find a bathroom, I was happy to oblige the lunch idea.
Tammy ordered a pinot grigio and I opted for a Chardonnay and it was fun to just sit and visit and not feel rushed since neither of us had an agenda for the afternoon. Ocean Zen recently added a lunch special of salad and sushi and naturally that called our name – we both liked the strawberry salad which had assorted greens, fresh strawberries, pecans and goat cheese in a light dressing and we chose the spicy tuna roll for our sushi. By time we finished, we were unsure about the dessert part and a glance at their dessert menu confirmed we weren’t ready – nothing on the menu just tripped our trigger so I suggested we do a little shopping and then stop in at a new cupcake place downtown.
Our first stop was at The Harem where Tammy works part-time as their marketing manager. The owner, Kathi, was celebrating her birthday so we gave her our best wishes and had a small piece of her chocolate cake with raspberry filling – quite tasty! Tomorrow Tammy gets her cake at work and it will be lemon – I may have to find an excuse to be in that area tomorrow afternoon. 
Then we went downtown to 3House Boutique to check on their new merchandise. I bought a couple of items there last fall when they first opened but nothing caught my fancy on this trip. Tammy picked up a couple of cute tees and we were off. Next stop was a new little vintage store called A Cricket In The House which had some great vintage items from the 50s, 60s and 70s along with very reasonable prices. I picked up a couple of darling melamine bowls covered in a watermelon print and think I know a couple of little girls from Des Moines who will be eating homemade ice cream from them this weekend.
We headed down the street to The Cup for our dessert which more than exceeded our expectations. Tammy got the orange creme which actually had a creme filling and I naturally had the chocolate peanut butter (with broken pieces of Reese’s on top) because NOTHING is better than chocolate and peanut butter combined.
On our way home we stopped at another little shop called Pickwick House which is near the old Pickwick Place where my girls loved to shop when they were kids. It was only a few blocks from our house and they felt so grown up when I’d let them walk up there and look around the store. Pickwick House is full of eclectic furniture and home decorating items and it was fun to browse.
I did give Tammy one of her gifts on Friday but I made sure she opened it at home and didn’t take it with her! She had requested Erik Larsson’s new bestseller “Garden of the Beasts” and while her manners are impeccable, I didn’t want her to get bored with me and start reading at lunch! Naturally she picked up on my ulterior motive – the sooner she reads it, the sooner she will pass it along to me so I can read it!
We had a great afternoon together and I’m so thankful to have such a beautiful, loving, funny, talented, polite daughter. Her abilities never cease to amaze me and yet, I know how dedicated she is to her metalsmithing and what she achieves comes with a lot of hard work.
She has blessed me in ways I could never have imagined 45 years ago today – here’s to you Tammy and thanks for all the memories so far and the ones left for us to create together.
I love you more than life itself.
Tonight was the first Summer 2011 edition of Women of Substance and in keeping with our desire to try local restaurants, we dined at Savor on Commercial Street. We each had a $20 coupon from the 417 Deal of the Day that we purchased for $10 which made the food taste extra delicious! Naturally we had plenty to discuss and here’s what is blog-worthy:
- Vickie just finished a great book called “Heaven is for Real” about a 4 year-old who has an out-of-body experience during an emergency appendectomy.
- Robin was styling in a black and white sheath with white beading around the neck – made Vickie and me look pretty plain.
- Robin loves the new Maroon Five song “Moves Like Jagger” and has it on her iPod exercise track. She claims it’s also good for pole dancing and sex. I played a clip of it on iTunes and downloaded it. We figure no one under 40 will know who Jagger is but our waiter did.
- Robin ordered the Chicken Pot Pie which came in beggar’s purses (cute little pie dough creations shaped like drawstring bags), Vickie got the Shrimp Picatta and I opted for the Lobster Crepes. We all raved about our choices.
- Robin said she and Jim are thinking about getting tattoos of their wedding date but then she nixed that idea because if she dies first, she wonders what his new wife will think. I said if the new wife doesn’t understand, she’s not right for Jim.
- Vickie now has 564 LinkedIn connections, Robin has 168 and I have 167.
- Savor served us a brioche with apple butter – as in butter with small pieces of apple in it. Tres yummy!
- Robin claims men should not be out running without their shirts on unless they have Matthew McConnaughy abs.
- Vickie said the Michael Buble concert was sex on a stick. A great concert and he was funny and contemporary.
- Vickie won’t let Hannah go to Florida with her boyfriend and his family for a 2-week vacation. His mom keeps telling Hannah to ask again. What part of “no” doesn’t she get?
- Corporette.com had an article today about professional thank you notes after interviews. The majority opted for an email message but we all voted with the 25% who said to send a handwritten note.
- Vickie recently had a topic on Corporette about flip-flops in an office setting. Many of the comments talked about how gutsy it is for a new associate to wear them and challenge the dress code and almost everyone agreed they are not appropriate for an office setting.
- For desert, Vickie had the salted caramel ice cream and Robin went for the bread pudding with vanilla ice cream. I got to sample both and they were excellent.
- I want all of us to attend Women’s Red Hot Nights in August which is sponsored by CoxHealth. Since it will be too crowded to get in our quality talk time the event will just have to be an extra for August.
- We got our new mattress on Tuesday – one we had ordered a week before. When we got it, the tag on it said it was manufactured on Monday in Shawnee, KS!
- Vickie’s next book club at work will read “Switch” and she already has 25 people signed up to participate.
- I just finished “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand which is a wonderful non-fiction account of WWII and really shows the power of the human spirit. I recommend it highly.
- My granddaughter Julia had her first swim meet this week and took an individual 2nd in breaststroke and another 2nd in a relay team where she swam the crawl.
- Robin needs ideas on how to dissuade potential buyers from buying her lake home – ideas included mentioned sewer problems, ghosts and rodents.
- Hannah is still looking for a job – right now she is dog-sitting and baby-sitting but needs something steady for the rest of the summer and into the school year.
- Vickie chaperoned a group of teens from her church on a mission trip to Houston, TX. She said the trip was redemptive to high-schoolers. The kids all bought t-shirts that said “We are a voice for the voiceless.”
- Robin and Vickie (along with Jim and Chaz) are going to see Members Only at the Branson Landing tomorrow night. Robin will be wearing her Daisy Dukes leather bra.
- Springfield Business Journal is now sponsoring 10 Men of the Year – and apparently had 150 nominations.
- I’m having a weekly battle with Pennypower which keeps getting left in my yard despite repeated requests to stop it. I email the supervisor for the carrier and also submit Thorns to the paper and still I keep getting it – and it goes directly to the recycle bin.
- Recently someone put home improvement fliers on all the cars at Vickie’s church during Sunday services. She called the owner and asked him why he put them there and he said he has workers who are out of work and if they are Christians, they should help them. She suggested he join the church and meet the members instead of placing fliers on their cars.
- Ann Taylor will open a store at the mall in July – and The Limited recently opened a new store.
- Vickie claims the garden shop at Lowe’s on Primrose has the highest volume of all Lowe’s stores in the country.
- Vickie recently watched “Silence of the Lambs” with Hannah and Billy – very scary flick.
Next month’s venue is still being determined – but we will meet on July 21st which is the same day Robin gets a mammogram.
Until them, happy summer!
Every once in a while I read a book that is so outstanding, so head-and-shoulders above most novels that I want everyone I know to read it and love it the same way I do. That’s how I feel about “Cutting for Stone” by Abraham Verghese.
A friend recommended this book to me a few months ago and when she gave me a condensation of the plot, I didn’t get too excited but figured I’d put it on my reading list and get around to it some day. When I started it last week I had no idea I was in for such a special treat – it was like getting to plan the perfect meal and then the chef ramps up every dish so it’s every more delectable than anything you’ve ever eaten and your appetite is spoiled for ordinary food.
Verghese has a way with words that I don’t often find in authors – his descriptions made the settings to vivid in my mind – the characters felt like dear friends and I knew the sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes they experienced. My words pale in comparison to this author’s – whatever I write in inadequate praise for such a genius with the English language.
His parents were Indian but he draws on his own experiences of being raised in Ethiopia and his medical training there. The book covers the period of 1954 – 2004 and after reading Verghese’s biography I realize he drew on many of his own experiences in this book. Like many foreign medical students who come to the U.S., his residency was not at a major teaching hospital or medical center but at a more obscure and less-known facility. Fortunately he was able to take a sabbatical from medicine to attend the prestigious Iowa Writers Workshop where he received an MFA in 1991.
Clearly he is a physician first and then an author as emphasized in his belief “in bedside medicine and physical examination in a time in a time in medicine when the use of advanced technology frequently results in the patient having less attention than the patient data in the computer”.
In his own words, “I wanted the reader to see how entering medicine was a passionate quest, a romantic pursuit, a spiritual calling, a privileged yet hazardous undertaking. It’s a view of medicine I don’t think too many young people see in the West because, frankly, in the sterile hallways of modern medical-industrial complexes, where physicians and nurses are hunkered down behind computer monitors, and patients are whisked off here and there for this and that test, that side of medicine gets lost.”
Buy this book – borrow it from the library – download it to you Kindle or Nook. But if you love a great read, treat yourself to “Cutting for Stone” and be ready to stay up late or ignore everything and everyone to lose yourself in this novel.
I did.
Comedians love to make jokes about mothers-in-law and I’ve had friends who think having a root canal is more fun than dealing with their MIL – but I was blessed when I married the Starter Husband (SH). I not only got the father of my two girls - I also got the most wonderful MIL I could ever imagine.
Today would have been her 96th birthday so in honor of Lucille I’d like to share a few thoughts.
When I first met my MIL, Lucille, I was convinced she didn’t like me at all. She was cool to the point of almost being unfriendly and she scared me to death. Later I found out that any time she expressed approval about SH’s dates, he quickly dropped them so she tried another tactic and it worked!
Lucille and I didn’t always see eye-to-eye (example: when I divorced the SH) but I always knew that she loved me even when she didn’t agree with me or like what I was doing. And of course she loved Tammy and Ralph more than life itself.
She taught me how to cook and sew – she tried to teach me how to garden but wasn’t too successful, probably because I didn’t have her passion for growing stuff. With Lucille I learned how to make jam and jelly, how to refinish furniture and how to do simple household repairs. She knew the best way to paint a room, remove wallpaper and fix a leaky faucet. All of these were good skills to learn since the SH never acquired a taste for that stuff.
My girls say their Nana, as they called Lucille, taught them how to cook and cuss – and my mother taught them to write thank-you notes and say their prayers before meals. In many ways Lucille was the antithesis of my mother and yet they both were loving, caring wives and mothers and embodied the same values – just in different ways.
Lucille and Fred enjoyed almost 58 years together before she left us in 1990 at the age of 75. I was honored when she asked me shortly before her death if the girls and I would go through her belongings and take what Fred didn’t want. I still have her knitting needles and many of her sewing notions and I think of her lovingly when I use them.
Probably the greatest legacies she left were her granddaughters and I know she would be so proud of both of them today for the beautiful, accomplished women they are and she’d especially love her two great-granddaughters. I’m sorry Julia and Lydia will never know her because she was the genuine article.
Stories of Lucille abound and only yesterday when I was in Harter House, Kathy, the owner, mentioned Lucille and how she used to put a mixture of baby oil, iodine and a hair dye on her skin to enhance her tan. She spent days off in the summer working in the yard in her tube top and stretch shorts, often with a cigarette dangling from her mouth as she rode around their large lot on the mower. When Fred did something she didn’t like, she’d yell “Dammit Fred” which caused many of her friends to refer to him as DammitFred!
But the best memories of Lucille are in her famous – or infamous – sayings such as:
- She makes my a@@ want to go squirrel hunting;
- I’m doing everyone I can and the easy ones twice;
- He’s got him thumb up his butt and his mind in China; and my all time favorite,
- If you’re looking for sympathy, it’s in the dictionary between sh!t and syphilis.
If you don’t understand these sayings, all I can tell you is that you just had to hear Lucille say them. Just the look on her face and the tone of her voice made the meanings quite clear!
As I said earlier, Lucille was the genuine article. She grew up in a world where times were hard. She married at the age of 17, right out of high school, and she and Fred raised her four sisters because her mother had died and her dad just couldn’t handle the family. Before SH was born, she and Fred buried 2 stillborn babies and she lost countless others to miscarriages. But she never gave up and when SH was finally born, you can bet he was spoiled rotten. When he had typhoid fever at the age of 7, the pediatrician told her he needed to avoid sports. So she and a friend started their kids square dancing and the group became the Wagon Wheelers who entertained thousands on the Ozark Jubilee. Later he lettered in football and track in high school – guess that doctor was wrong!
She continued by thoroughly spoiling Tammy and Ralph and they are better for it. When SH and I said “no” you can bet Lucille came through for them. She loved to buy them clothes and take them on trips. When Tammy finished kindergarten, her Nana and Papa took her to Six Flags Over Texas. Later after Fred retired from Greyhound, they would all load up their snacks and suitcases and spend two days on the bus going west to LA to see Lucille’s sisters in the summer. My girls didn’t know there were other ways to travel except Greyhound!
So Happy Birthday Lucille! You are loved and missed after all these years and your legacy lives on with my daughters and granddaughters and all those who loved you.
After hearing the panel discussion about Rotary’s response to Hurricane Katrina, I knew I wanted to take the Rotary bus tour of Katrina. So early Tuesday morning I joined our tour guide, Barbara, and other Rotarians for a few hours of seeing areas where Katrina left her mark and how Rotary responded to the devastation.
Barbara is 60ish and has lived in NO all her life – although she and her family wisely evacuated when disaster struck. She has a very jaded opinion of FEMA, the state and national government, the Army Corps of Engineers and Brad Pitt – but she defended Ray Nagin for most of what he said and did because she felt he was powerless over the governor and FEMA. I took many of her comments with a grain of salt, realizing that the truth was in there somewhere!
We left the French Quarter behind and were quickly in the Lower Ninth Ward which received a great deal of press during the storm. This area was one of the hardest-hit parts of NO and left many of the poorer residents both homeless and powerless as they were evacuated from their homes and in many cases, relocated to other states where they remain today. According to Barbara, the Louisiana system of transferring property from one generation to the other requires legal assistance that’s more cumbersome than most states. So these people often just kept on living in their family homes which were casually passed from one generation to the other as deaths occurred. Without proper paperwork to prove ownership, these residents were out of luck with the powers that be.
As we rode along we saw vacant lots where homes once stood – where children once played – where families once lived. In many cases, a set of stairs leading to a vacant lot was the only indication that anyone had ever lived on this particular spot. Barbara told us that “someone” had designed concrete block homes for about $30,000 which would be affordable for these residents given that most of them work at minimum-wage jobs. However, the homes didn’t pass muster with FEMA so they were never built.
Another “someone” declared that all homes rebuilt in the Lower Ninth Ward had to be built at least three feet off the ground in the case of future flooding – which Barbara thinks is imminent given what the Corps of Engineers has done to the Mississippi River.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie started an organization called Make It Right Homes to provide energy-efficient architecturally designed homes for these residents. Pitt commissioned 13 of the world’s top architects to design green, sustainable houses and is building 150 of them at a cost to the new owners of about $150,000 each. Barbara told us they were running about $500 per square foot but given her disdain for the homes, I’m thinking that’s a gross exaggeration – but then I haven’t been able to verify how big they are.
One of the Brad Pitt homes in the Lower Ninth Ward
These houses are certainly a far cry from the original neighborhood and according to the website for Make It Right Homes, they are being sold to the new owners but donations are also being accepted to cover some of the costs. I also was able to find out that, indeed, they are energy-efficient and are resulting in much lower utility bills for their occupants. No matter who builds the homes, this area will never look like it did pre-Katrina! But, alas, there are still some empty shells of houses that are now inhabited with all manner of rats and vermin so I’m not sure how safe the neighborhood really is.
We left the Lower Ninth Ward and continued our drive towards Slidell, LA which is a bedroom community to New Orleans. Our destination was the Mt. Olive AME Food Ministry Kitchen which Rotary built in a converted church to feed the poor and homeless in that area. It was started many years before Katrina and after the hurricane, Rotarians from eight clubs came together to get it running again to provide sustenance for those in need. We had an opportunity to tour the facility and meet with some of the kitchen staff who were quite appreciative of all Rotary has done. When Katrina hit there were few areas of New Orleans that weren’t affected by the storm and that included many of the magnificent parks that the residents had enjoyed for years.
Rebuilding a city requires more than bricks and mortar – the people also need places to relax and where kids can run and play and get away from the everyday drudgery associated with the restoration process. Again, Rotary came to the rescue in the City Park where clubs from around the world donated trees to line the entrance to the art museum and the walking and running paths. Again, we were able to get off the bus and view the area where we have made an impact and see how people are enjoying their leisure time once again.
Our final “show and tell” was at
Warren Easton High School where unfortunately we were not able to tour the school. From their website I learned that “Warren Easton has always educated the children of the working class of New Orleans. The school has changed in response to the times, (from an all boys school to becoming co-ed, later integrating, ten years later becoming a fundamental magnet school and now a charter school). Easton has been led by dedicated principals, faculty and staff. Easton out-performed almost all other schools in the district and has improved its SPS score for five consecutive years. The school’s reputation of academic excellence, high attendance, low drop-out rate and high graduation rate were all factors that earned the school National Blue Ribbon designation by the United States Department of Education.” It’s the oldest public high school in the state of Louisiana dating back to 1845 and has been open continually except for the 2005-06 school year thanks to Hurricane Katrina. Warren Easton became a symbol of recovery for New Orleans as Rotarians and others worked tirelessly to bring it back to life one year after it was flooded. Teams of club members from around the world descended on New Orleans during the summer of 2006 to help finish the reconstruction and have it ready for opening day of the 2006-07 school year. Many clubs who couldn’t send personnel, instead sent books and supplies. In this case, it truly took a universe, not just a village, to insure these students got their education back.
The tour left me emotionally drained, especially as I pondered the road ahead for our neighbors in Joplin – so when we got back to the convention center I was happy for a break to just walk around, grab a bit to eat for lunch and reflect on all I had seen.
And then it was time for more convention with the third plenary session. Again, friends were able to save us some awesome seats, and it was good to sit down and relax and listen to the Preservation Hall Band perform prior to the session.
The chair of the Trustees of the Rotary Foundation, Carl-Wilhelm Stenhammar of Sweden, gave a riveting speech about the future of Rotary which included suggestions that perhaps we should stop the practice of changing themes and presidents annually and instead, replace our top position with a 4-year paid employee. He even went so far as to suggest perhaps we should look for someone younger! A focus for the coming year is on our “New Generations” which suggests searching for younger members and what better way to entice young professionals than to update our image. It’s only been 25 years since Rotary ceased to be an all-male organization and that move has only strengthened us – now we need to ramp up to the next level! I’m sure Mr. Stenhammar had a rapt audience in part because of his remarks and also because of the next speaker who was Bill Gates.
Yes, I’m talking about “The Bill Gates” – that college dropout who started a little computer company many years ago and actually did quite well! Since his retirement three years ago, he and his wife Melinda has become very involved with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and their primary focus right now is the battle to end polio worldwide. To that end they have given Rotary International $355 million with a challenge to Rotary to raise and additional $200 million by 2012 – so far we have raised $174 million and I have no doubt we will exceed our goal.
Bill not only gives money for polio eradication, he also makes trips to Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria (the four countries which still have active polio outbreaks) and participates in National Immunization Days. Considering India has over 1 billion people and 24 million births each year, polio immunization is a never-ending process until it is annihilated. So far in 2011, there has only been one new case in India so as Bill said “we are this close” and he held his thumb and index finger about an inch apart. Our final inch. And in his words, “Failure in this fight is unacceptable.” He shared that the Canadian government matches individual donations for polio eradication and the U.S. government has been giving $1.3 M a year from but this year’s budget not passed. The total annual spending needed for the vaccines and distribution is $1 billion! Many people don’t realize that Rotary International has been involved with polio since 1985 and our PolioPlus program is the largest non-governmental program in the world. Great strides have been made and many U.S. citizens don’t even think polio is an issue anywhere – but it is. And we will win the battle!
Springfield Rotarians show we are "this close" to winning our fight on polio
Our work is cut out for us – raise the money – get the vaccine to the children in the four countries where polio is still active – and win the battle over this crippling disease.
It was our last night in New Orleans and I was so happy that we had the foresight last fall to sign up for the French Quarter Dining Experience offered by the convention.
Our choice was
The Court of Two Sisters which offered an authentic Cajun and Creole buffet with a beautiful outdoor setting in a patio hidden away from Royal Street. We arrived at the same time as a couple of other single Rotarians so the four of us were seated together at a corner table – and near a fan to keep the atmosphere cool. We all agreed we didn’t want to hurry the evening – we ordered drinks and settled in to get to know each other before tackling the delights of the buffet which was inside.
Lisa is a 40ish Rotarians from Philadelphia who has her own company doing voice-overs and also works as a DJ. Her radio program is on during the evening and she shared that earlier in her hotel room she had taped her show for that night. She also told us there was a possibility we had heard her voice as she does commercials as well as narrates training videos, etc. She was on a Group Study Exchange (GSE) team several years ago which was her first introduction to Rotary – and then a couple of years ago she served as a GSE team leader.
Philip is the face of Rotary’s future. He’s 24, a recent college grad with degrees in computer programming and Russian and he works at NASA where he spends several months a year working in Russia. He comes from a family of Kiwanis members and wanted to get into a service organization so he researched Kiwanis, Lions Club and Rotary. Obviously he’s very intelligent – he chose Rotary! He’s been a club member for 7 months and decided to come to the convention on his own. Since Rotary is trying to attract and retain younger members, we were most intrigued by his experiences and his observations about Rotary. It was no surprise that his biggest complaint was the lack of hands-on projects that his club has done – in fact, he has yet to work on a project but that will soon change.
Dinner at The Court of Two Sisters with Lisa, Philip and Vickie
So here you had a very young member, two young-by-Rotary-standards women in their early 40s and me – part of the upper age group of Rotary but one who is determined to keep an open mind and work to change the face of Rotary to meet the wants and needs of the next leaders of our organization.
We did indeed take our time with dinner – the restaurant was only open for those who booked through the convention and since we were at the late seating, there was no rush to turn our table.
We feasted on Turtle Soup with Sherry (oh so tasty), had fresh boiled shrimp and crawfish from the Seafood Station, sampled salads like Zesty Cajun Pasta and Creamy Crawfish Pasta – then moved on to the entrees which included Fresh Shrimp in Spicy Etouffee, Crawfish Louise, Creole Jambalaya and Veal Gillades and Gravy with Corn Grits. I paced myself and only took a bit of each item – and I passed on the Eggs Benedict and Omelet station – because the dessert bar was calling my name! Southern Pecan Pie, Bread Pudding with Whiskey Sauce and Mardi Gras King Cake. Just a bite of each but such a wonderful finale to a gourmet meal.
The four of us left the restaurant and strolled together through the French Quarter enjoying our new friendships – and then went our separate ways. Vickie and I talked about how the experience just reinforces the spirit of Rotary – all of us from all over the world coming together to embody the motto of “Service Above Self” and each reaching out to others to accomplish our goals. It was the perfect way to end our Rotary International Convention experience.
Sadly, Wednesday morning was our last in New Orleans and Vickie had one request – she wanted beignets! So being the wonderful person that I am, I timed my morning walk along the river and through the French Quarter to include a final stop at Cafe du Monde. With a couple of orders of beignets and cafe au lait in hand, I finished my walk back to the hotel and finished packing.
The trip home was uneventful which is always good when you’re flying – and no free tickets this trip!
My thanks to dear pal Vickie for making this convention experience so meaningful for me – and for all the new friends in Rotary (hi Lisa and Philip) along with already-friends for the great experience.
We are “this close” – let’s don’t stop now!
I was awake early on Monday morning and hit the streets for an early run/walk along the river. The humidity hovered at around 5000% and I decided N’awlins needs a new motto: “Two showers a day are just a start!” My route took me away from the river and into the French Quarter and all of a sudden I was at Cafe du Monde. Coincidence? I think not! I was ready for my cool-down back to the hotel so I covered that last 15 minutes carrying my precious cargo of beignets and coffee for Vickie and me which we consumed while watching Brian Williams broadcast live from Joplin. The reports were so sobering and we prayed for those who had lost family and were suffering the aftermath of the devastation.
Friends from Sunrise Rotary scored great seats for the morning plenary session and we arrived in time to hear the Langley Ukulele Ensemble perform. The group of students are from Langley, BC, Canada and range in age from 12-21. I’ll have to admit I’ve never heard a ukulele group before but these kids were amazing – such showmanship and enthusiasm and their director is past president of his Rotary Club. Such an unexpected treat to start the day.
The session featured a panel discussion entitled “Katrina Revisited” and the panelists discussed how the Rotary Clubs of areas affected by Katrina in LA and MS joined forces to help put their communities back together following the hurricane. Their stories were incredible and reminded me that Joplin, too, will rise from the destruction thanks to Rotary and other caring organizations. We were saddened to learn in this session that a former Rotary Youth Leadership Academy (RYLA) student, Will Norton, is missing after being sucked through the moonroof of his father’s car. They were on their way home from his high school graduation earlier that afternoon and the tornado literally tore off his seat belt and carried him away.
We also heard from Michael McQueen, founder of The Nexgen Group, who talked about understanding Generation Y. His comments were particularly important considering one of Rotary’s primary areas focuses on what we call “New Generations” designed to engage the next generation of leaders to replace the aging Silent Generation and Baby Boomers. I had earlier commented to Vickie about the lack of women and younger people in RI leadership and mentioned we need to get away from our image of “men over 65″ who dominate our organization at the international level. But change needs to start at the club level and swell to the top.
We had a long break for lunch before the afternoon breakout sessions so my friend Doug and I decided to tour the National World War II Museum which was just a few short blocks away from the convention center. We arrived in time to do a short tour of the first couple of floors and then settled in for the 4-D movie experience titled Beyond All Boundaries. This cinematic experience was presented on a 120-foot immersive screen and tells the tale of the Greatest Generation’s journey from Pearl Harbor to America’s final victory in the War That Changed the World. I have seen a lot of museum movie presentations but none as riveting and stirring as this one which left me in tears of pride for this great nation and for those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
The movie was a wonderful prelude to touring the actual museum and after two hours we’d only gotten through the European Theatre and were mentally drained. I know I got more from the movie and museum than I ever absorbed in a history class and only wish we’d had time to see the Asian Theatre portion of the museum which Ralph tells me was even better. Don’t know if/when I’ll get back to NO but another visit to this museum will be a must. I had wondered why this museum was based in NO until I learned that the Higgins boats were made there and were designed by Andrew Higgins. These boats featured prominently in the Normandy D-Day invasion as they allowed the troops to exit by charging down the boat’s bow ramp. Known as LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicles, Personnel), the Higgins boats played a crucial role in the Allies victory in Europe. 
The quote on the right really resonated with me and I found the last phrase especially moving and a perfect quote about leadership by example – something all of us Rotarians need to remember as we lead the way in service.
Doug and I left the museum in a very pensive mood – especially so for Doug whose son is currently serving in the armed forces and will see his second tour in the Middle East next fall. As we walked back to the convention center we passed the Ugly Dog Saloon and declared it was beer-thirty – time for a brew and a shared order of red beans and rice with sausage. We sat at the bar and were thoroughly entertained by a native named Nicki who shared her story of Katrina and the aftermath.
Monday evening found us back at the museum as Vickie and I enjoyed an event put on by local Rotarians. It was held in the Stage Door Canteen designed to look like an actual USO gathering place from WWII. We enjoyed an authentic Cajun and Creole buffet complete with yummy bread pudding while we listened to a Cajun band and met Rotarians from around the world – including friends Doug and Rae from Springfield!
Another spectacular day of Rotary ended……….more to follow
Rotary International held their annual convention this year in New Orleans…or “N’awlins” as the locals say…….so Woman of Substance pal, Vickie, and I decided we should attend. Actually Vickie, as the president-elect of her club, was expected to attend and I tagged along – especially since RI doesn’t plan to hold another convention in the US until 2017.
So early Saturday morning we drove to Branson and flew Air Trans to Atlanta – could have left from Springburg but hey, the ticket prices from Branson made it much more attractive! We were told we’d get our seat assignments on to NO when we got to ATL and when we got to the ticket counter we discovered our next flight was overbooked. That’s all I needed to know before I asked two important questions – when’s the next flight to NO and what will you give me to get voluntarily bumped?
The wait for the next flight was only an hour and they offered a free round-trip ticket to anywhere Air Trans flies (including the Caribbean) so we quickly became the first two volunteers. Now, I’ve tried several times in my life to get bumped so my expectations were low but the airline gods were smiling at us on Saturday! As the original flight boarded, we picked up our new free ticket vouchers and our boarding passes for the later flight which showed we’d been assigned to first class. Sweet! Free beer, more leg room and better snacks.
As we checked into our hotel, Vickie asked the desk clerk for a dinner recommendation and he suggested Mulate’s. It was just a few blocks down the street so off we went! 
Mulate’s is recognized throughout the world as the King of Cajun Dine and Dance halls and features live Cajun music and dancing along with great authentic Cajun food seven days a week. The atmosphere was casual and relaxed and I was wishing Burl was with me to take a turn on the dance floor – instead we sat and enjoyed watching couples from all over the world share their own versions of “Dancing With The Stars.”
A look at the menu made us decide to order entrees that we could share – Vickie wanted the Stuffed Catfish Cecilia (grilled catfish stuffed with crabmeat) while I opted for the Crabmeat au Gratin. They both were excellent but were I to return, I’d order the catfish because my dish was cool and had to be reheated which told me they had it prepared in advance and sitting under a heat lamp.
While leaving Mulate’s we met Springfield friends Mike and Janene so decided to stroll along the riverwalk together. Within a block we’d met other friends Mike and Carol so we had a Springfield stroll on a spring evening while some locals walked with us and gave us some local color.
Vickie was last in N’awlins when she was 7 and didn’t remember Cafe du Monde so bright and early Sunday morning we headed out for a walk in our ‘hood and a stop for beignets and coffee at my favorite place.
Beignets at Cafe du Monde - made, I'm sure, with fat-free grease and lo-cal powdered sugar!
Even at 7:30 we had to wait to get a seat in the cafe because they didn’t open the outside seating area until later. Oh well – it was worth the wait just to take a sip of the cafe au lait and bite into a still-warm, powder-sugar-covered beignet. Talk about heaven!
After that diet-friendly breakfast, we roamed around the French Quarter – stopped by the French Market and Flea Market which were still in the process of opening and then strolled up and down several of the streets. Many of the people we saw were still in party mode from the previous evening and the trash in the streets revealed that a good time had been had by all. It didn’t take long for the stench to send us back on the other side of Canal Street!
One thing I love about Rotary conventions is the great entertainment they offer before and during the plenary sessions. I’m from the era that loved the Kingston Trio so when the King’n Trio made up of four members of the Rotary Club of Grand Junction, CO took the stage, I was familiar with their selections. They included a couple of Rotary-themed ditties they have written and had the audience clapping and singing along for an hour.
As the plenary session officially opened, Rotary Youth Exchange Students introduced the flags of each of the 200 countries where Rotary clubs exist. The flag ceremony is a tradition at the opening session and never fails to make my heart swell with pride for this great organization and the united desire to serve that members around the world share. The final flag to be introduced was for the United States since we were the host country and then we sang our national anthem.
The current RI president is from Kirksville, MO so those of us from the Show-Me state were especially proud when he took the stage. President Ray exhibits a midwestern friendliness and smile that seemed to ignite the NO Convention Center. He was introduced by the “singing cowboy poet” Michael Martin Murphey who described President Ray’s style as “cowboy logic”.
Sunday evening our Springfield friend Doug had made reservations at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. so a group of eight of us from Springfield gathered for drinks and seafood – what, you thought I had a cheeseburger?!?! Doug and Vickie got “Bubba’s After The Storm Bucket of Boat Trash” which I think they ordered as much for the name as for what was in that bucket of boat trash!!! We had a fun waitress who played Forrest Gump trivia as we waited for our food and of course they had a gift shop full of Forrest Gump goodies like running socks that said “Run Forrest Run” on one sock and “Stop Forrest Stop” on the other!
The only downer to the evening was the tornado that had hit Joplin earlier – all of us had either watched it on The Weather Channel or been getting updates about it from loved ones at home. Springfield was under a tornado watch briefly but we were spared. By time we finished dinner we were all ready to get back to our hotels and watch the news and call it a day.
To be continued…………..
Earlier this week my Woman of Substance buddy Robin mentioned she wished the movie “I Am” would come to Springfield. I remembered that it was at the Moxie Cinema and was also on my list of movies I wanted to see but knew Burl wouldn’t – so we made a movie date for tonight. Robin had seen the author, Tom Shadyac on “Oprah” and I’d read a great review in the Phoenix newspaper and we both knew we were in for a treat – especially since Robin had never been to the Moxie!
Shadyac was the creative brains who gave us the blockbusters “Ace Ventura,” “Liar Liar,” “The Nutty Professor,” and “Bruce Almighty.” He went from making $2,000 a month out of college to making films that grossed nearly two billion dollars and afforded him the glamorous and extravagant A-List lifestyle of the Hollywood blockbuster filmmaker. But he discovered that his 17,000-square foot art-filled mansion, exotic antiques, and private jets gave him less happiness. What’s wrong with this picture?
A few years ago a bicycling accident left him incapacitated and he says that ” Though he ultimately recovered, he emerged with a new sense of purpose, determined to share his own awakening to his prior life of excess and greed, and to investigate how he as an individual, and we as a race, could improve the way we live and walk in the world. ” Very profound thoughts from someone known as a comedy filmmaker and Hollywood jet-setter.
Shadyac set out to answer two important questions:
- What’s wrong with our world? and
- What can I do to improve it?
To seek his answers he met with a wide assortment of men and women with backgrounds in science, philosophy, academia, and faith. He asks probing questions and takes us on a journey where we get a glimpse of the world from a new and refreshing perspective. Instead of a crew of 400, he engaged a crew of 4 as he sought to identify the underlying cause of the world’s ills. He explains, “I didn’t want to hear the usual answers, like war, hunger, poverty, the environmental crisis, or even greed. These are not the problems, they are the symptoms of a larger endemic problem. In I AM, I wanted to talk about the root cause of the ills of the world, because if there is a common cause, and we can talk about it, air it out in a public forum, then we have a chance to solve it.”
And along the way he learned
- There’s more right in the world than he ever imagined,
- The heart, not the brain, may be man’s primary organ of intelligence,
- That human consciousness and emotions can actually affect the physical world,
- That money is not a pathway to happiness and some native cultures, gross materialism is equated with insanity,
- That contrary to conventional thinking, cooperation and not competition, may be nature’s most fundamental operating principle – a point he so vividly illustrated with a herd of deer,
- That humans actually function better and remain healthier when expressing positive emotions, such as love, care, compassion, and gratitude, versus their negative counterparts, anxiety, frustration, anger and fear, and most important of all,
- That we are all connected – connected to each other and to everything around us.
Shadyac’s life has been transformed. Gone is the mansion in the hills of Hollywood, replaced by a prefab home in a small community where he is back on his bicycle and teaching at a local college. All the proceeds from this documentary will go to his charitable foundation to fund various worthy causes and to educate the next generation about the issues and challenges explored in the film. He lives by the words of St. Augustine who said, ‘Determine what God has given you, and take from it what you need; the remainder is needed by others.’ That’s my philosophy in a nutshell,” Shadyac says, “Or as Gandhi put it, ‘Live simply, so others may simply live.’”
Robin and I left the movie knowing we had seen a very transforming movie – and one that we both agree we need to see again just to be able to absorb all the message Shadyac relayed. I’m still rolling parts of the movie around in my brain so I have no idea how these thoughts will shake out into my daily life.
But I do know the answer to his first question, “What’s wrong with the world?”
I AM
It’s also the answer to another question he posed, “What’s right with the world?”
As Women of Substance, we try to avoid the chain restaurants (well, except for Houlihan’s) and especially like trying new local places which is why this month we ended up at The Aviary where the sign outside proclaims “birds of a feather flock together.” That’s us – hip, happening chicks who flock together as often as we can!
The Aviary specializes in crepes so naturally that’s what we had to order. We all chose the Shrimp and Cheese Grits Crepes which Robin and I paired with the small house salad (designer lettuce with apples and a citrusy dressing) while Vickie opted for fried okra. Between forkfuls, here’s what we discussed:
- Robin has lowered her cholesterol from 219 to 193 during the last year. Unfortunately her physician told her that the only way to lose weight after the age of 40 is to cut calories – exercise helps but isn’t as effective.
- Hannah wants to job-shadow Robin while she’s currently looking for a career change. To Hannah that means endless days of pedicures, manicures, lunch, shopping and then a stop at the ice cream shop.
- Robin highly recommends the strawberry lemonade at Mickey D’s – and if you go between 2-4 p.m., it’s $1 off. Too bad it’s not lo-cal.
- I had on my new Birks that I bought yesterday at Weezie’s upscale resale shop in Ozark. They appeared to have never been worn and only cost me $25 – but if I’d been paying attention when Tammy sold them to the shop last week, I could have bypassed the middleman and paid Tammy $10 and we both would have come out ahead! Oh well, still cheaper than a good sale at Marshall’s.
- Robin sold some old gold jewelry she no longer wanted including her high school ring, a gold chain, earrings and her treasured gold bead necklace.
- We think the punishment doesn’t fit the crime for the kids who let loose 15,000 bouncy balls at Kickapoo High School – they shouldn’t lose their scholarships and should only get in-school suspension We fear the punishment is directly related to the amount of liability the administration figures they would have had if some kid had slipped on them and fallen with a serious injury.
- Vickie is going to have her Rotary Club do a service project next year with Rare Breed which is a local organization that supports homeless teens.
- I brought an unopened box of Girl Scout Thin Mints which Vickie will share with her Sunday School class. Burl won’t eat them and if they stay in my cupboard, I will eventually give in to them.
- We all predicted Scott Miller as the new general manager for City Utilities.
- We all agreed the crepes we got at The Aviary were okay but lacked much flavor. The prices were reasonable and the salad great so overall the food got a B-. The decor, atmosphere and flatware scored an A. It’s a very chickish place but we probably won’t return.
- I left to use the restroom and returned to find Vickie had written in my notes “Anne is one hot mamma!”
- Chaz hacked Vickie’s FB account and wrote “My husband rocks” – then he logged in under his own account and checked that he liked her status.
- Hannah couldn’t get the job at the library because Vickie is president of the library board – nepotism policy!
- We tried to see an exhibit at Good Girl Art by our friend Randy Russell but it wasn’t open this evening – so we strolled around downtown and ended up for dessert at The Cup. Vickie chose the Chocolate Raspberry Truffle cupcake which ranked a B+ (and she liked the hairy raspberry on top), Robin gave the Carrot Cake cupcake a solid A and Vickie got the Peanut Butter Cup cupcake to go for Hannah and already knows it’s an A. I passed on dessert.
- Robin and her sister did The Kitchen 5K in 46 minutes.
- Vickie and I have to eat shrimp creole in New Orleans for Robin.
- Vickie didn’t like her new Dooney & Burke purse until Hannah stole it – then she saw how cute it looked on Hannah and wants it back.
- Robin and Vickie recommend Alexandria’s Cupcake Cottage on Republic Road near Arris’ Pizza – they have a cupcake sampler of 6 cupcakes that each have about 2 bites plus they serve free coffee.
- Vickie says the cupcakes at The Cup are a commitment.
- We hope someone we know gets another job so that Robin can apply for the job he’s currently in.
- I want Robin and Vickie to do the Girls Just Wanna Run 5K with me in July – Robin said she’ll be at the lake and Vickie said it will be too hot so I’ll have to do it alone.
- Vickie is worried about eating raw oysters in New Orleans – no worry, I don’t like them anyway.
- Vickie just finished reading “The Help” and loved it – now wants to see the movie. Robin is reading “Switch” which Vickie recommended. I just started “Fall of Giants” and finished “Devil in the White City” – great piece of non-fiction.
- Vickie’s mom got her teeth whitened today which was a big step for her. She’s a huge coffee drinker so needed to get them whitened. Robin recommends using Colgate Whitening toothpaste to keep them white.
- Next month we plan to dine at Savor since we all bought half-price coupons online. We’ll go after Vickie gets back from a mission trip to Houston with 40 kids on a bus.
- Vickie wondered what The Cup does with all the leftover cupcakes each night. I told her to ask them but she didn’t want to deal with it – said she’d had a bad day. So I asked! Turns out they donate them to Rare Breed which was exactly the answer Vickie wanted to hear.
That’s it for May – stay tuned for possible mini-updates as Vickie and I travel together to the Rotary International convention in New Orleans next week.
