Halloween Eve

Des Moines had their Trick or Treating on Tuesday night, so here's our Popeye and dinosaur for your viewing pleasure!

I'm Everywhere.

I realized yesterday afternoon that our nephew, Nate, most likely thinks I am literally everywhere.

On a regular basis I stop by his house to see him, Steve and I show up during walks, he sometimes comes to our house when his mom goes to the grocery store, we have dinner together, we go on trips together, sometimes he wakes up from his nap and I'm there to watch him and tomorrow I will show up in the middle of his trick or treating after work. I fortunately get to see him a lot.

And for those of you who don't know, my brother and I have been working in the same office building since the summer of 2006. Yesterday, I came back to my office from a meeting around 4 p.m.to a voicemail from Ann. She called to tell me she was dropping off Nate at Steve's office because she had an appointment.

So, of course, I headed straight up to my brother's office. I walk around the corner and there was Nate and Steve in the hallway. He gave me this cute smile when he saw me.

I followed him up to the front desk where a group of ladies were standing around oohing and ahhing over how cute he was. After awhile Steve coaxed Nate into this office to watch a movie.

I then told Nate I had to go downstairs to my office to work and he replied with a smile and an "otay".

As I got into the elevator I realized that in his mind it's not weird that when he goes to his daddy's office his aunt is there, too!

Goin' to Iowa City...

Steve, Nate and Jack all have the exact same expression looking at this fire-ridden marshmallow!

While Steve stays in KC and works on the house, I'm going to Iowa City this weekend!It's going to be a great weekend, although I have a feeling we'll be wearing about three times the amount of clothing as they are in this photo and spending ample time in the Jamboree before and after the game!

Iowa

After work I went to happy hour with five co-workers. Somehow three of us are from Iowa and the fourth is married to a Iowegian so we were talking about random Iowa stuff. That left one guy from Kansas who has never been to Iowa, and one girl from Minnesota who feels like she's from Iowa because we are all from there, and she drives through it on a regular basis.

And then one of my co-worker's husband stopped by. Also from Iowa.

Then another co-worker's roommate joined us. She's from Iowa.

The next person who came to our HH was the boss of my co-worker's husband. The minute I saw him I thought I recognized him, and I had a feeling he was from Iowa. And he was. It turns out I had been to parties at his house in KC (pre-Steve), we both lived at the Lambda Chi fraternity house during a summer, and we know a lot of the same people who live throughout the country. He asked what my maiden name was and when I said Book he said, "Oh I know who Beth Book is!". I'm going to assume this was meant positively.

Both Steve and I know a lot of people in KC who are originally from Iowa. But 98% of these people we met in KC and never knew in Iowa.

A lot of people we know in KC, who are not from Iowa, say they are amazed how so many people in KC are from Iowa. And some joke that if you look hard enough everyone is somehow from Iowa. If everyone could be so lucky.

Connect The Dots.

When Steve's two fraternity brothers, another guy and their RV pulled up to our house last week, the first person to walk in our house was the "other guy" we didn't know. Even though Clint didn't go to Iowa State and lives in Austin, TX, that didn't last long.

Within the first minute of me talking to Clint, I realized he was good friends with my friend Mazzie from Ankeny, IA. And we knew tons of the same guys.

Within the first minute of Steve talking to Clint, Steve realized Clint's family from Excelsior Springs, MO is actually his cousin, Lynda. Lynda is one of Steve's close friend Jason's wife who we were recently out with. It turns out we were all at their wedding together six years ago in Kearney, MO.

Within the first minute of our neighbor Scott talking to Clint, they realized Clint and Scott knew the same people from Scott's hometown of Marshall, MO.

This guy would be a dream for my mom to talk with. I could see them talking for hours, and he would answer every one of her questions!

Cooking in Bulk.

Everyone knows I don't cook.
Everyone knows Steve cooks in bulk regardless of the meal or the number of people sitting around the table.

Lucky for me, it's not abnormal for me to come home from Jazzercise on a weeknight and find Steve grilling or next to the stove. The grill is always packed full of meat. The stove many times has all four burners going or one going with three gallons of something in a pot.

I used to ask him who was coming to dinner when I saw seven hamburgers or a 20-lb. turkey cooking, but I haven't asked that question for years because I know the answer is nobody but us.

Thanks to the meals made for 12, neighbors and family have become accustomed to getting that unexpected knock on the door with meat, chili or dessert waiting for them.

It's really a win-win-win-win because Steve likes to walk to the grocery store on an almost daily basis, Steve doesn't know how to cook for two, Steve likes giving things to people and everyone likes to eat Steve's food!

Ooh, that smell...

On Sunday I met the RV on I-35 to pick up Steve. I got out of the car and encountered four guys who smelled as bad as they looked. You could tell a good time had been had by all.

I poked my head into the RV and was overcome by this horrendous smell. Keep in mind the guys had "lived" in this horrendous smell for over two days.

Steve got home, threw everything into the basement, and immediately took a shower. All was good. But the other guys had what turned into around 14-15 additional hours left in that RV due to bad weather.

About six hours after Steve got home, he got a text from the guys. They had just found two big balls of uncooked meat that someone had hidden in the RV.

That was their smell!

The Best Weekend!

A year ago this weekend we were in sunny and warm South Beach for my bachelorette party!

It was the best weekend not only because I had an unbelievable bachelorette weekend in a place like Miami, but because I with my closest girlfriends. And my different sets of friends all became friends with each other that weekend!

What's Up With All These RV's?

After a 12-hour drive and $250 in gas, a 26' 1984 RV rolled up in front our house last night. We immediately learned that's about the amount of space between our driveway and our neighbor's driveway.

The RV included two of Steve's fraternity brothers and another guy we now know very well from Austin, TX (also originally from Iowa). They stayed with us on their trek to Ames for the Iowa State/Texas game.

Our neighbor Scott came over about the same time as the guys arrived, and our house immediately became five 30-something guys who could have passed for five college guys!

When I left The Brooksider a little after 11, I could tell their night was just beginning. And apparently it was just beginning since I didn't hear my husband get in bed until probably five hours later.

But Steve knows how to party hard and how to work hard, because he was up and at 'em at 7:00 this morning in his suit ready to start his day.

But by Sunday when the RV drops Steve off in KC after three days and nights of partying, I bet these four guys will not feel like they are in college anymore!

Engagement!

Congratulations to Allison and Kevin. They got engaged after the Chicago Marathon on Sunday!

And the Deck Comes Down...

We've taken a minor break from major household improvements. We've been doing a lot of little things here and there but nothing major. On Saturday the Steve's blew insulation into Steve and Ann's attic. It apparently got Steve into the spirit.

I mentioned I thought a stone patio would like nice in our backyard. That's all it took on Sunday for Steve to get the sledgehammer out and start pounding away and tearing apart the huge, oblong deck connected to our house. My job was to hammer down all the rusty nails so nobody loses a finger when carrying the boards to the front yard for KCMO bulk pick-up.

About five minutes after we started the thunder and rain starting rolling in. We kept working thinking the rain would go away. Instead it starting pouring. Steve thrives in weird outdoor working type situations so this was perfect for him. The sledge hammer and hammer got a little slippery but we got it done. Pictures to come soon.

Our neighbors later said they heard hammering in the pouring rain and automatically assumed Steve was connected.

Now we just need to figure out how to build a stone patio before it snows.

Fish Fry

On Saturday night Steve took my brother and me to a fish fry at The Elks Lodge in a small community a strong 45 minutes north of us.

We've obviously very familiar with both of these things thanks to our small town Iowa upbringings. But the words Fish Fry and Elks Lodge on a Saturday night haven't been in my vocabulary since I've had one ounce of control of my life.

One of Steve's favorite past-times is fishing and performing all the disgusting steps it takes to get a fish from a lake/pond/ocean to the dinner table. The smell of fish makes me sick. And for some reason the idea of eating fish like this almost takes me over the edge.

When we walked in, it was an overwhelming smell of fresh and stale smoke along with fried fish and huge hellos from every single person there for the people who invited us. Add the 2-Liter Hot Damn bottle that my brother immediately noticed and you've got the complete visual.

This fish fry is the doing of one man who apparently fishes 24/7. This was a free meal for everyone and included tons of sides and desserts. If you like the main dish, it's actually a very sweet deal.

And the lovely couple that invited us included us at the long table along with various children, grandkids and a great-grandson. The couple kept telling us how happy they were that we were there. The daughter even invited us on the spot to Thanksgiving dinner! And one of Steve's friends who lives in the area stopped by to say hi and, of course, he knew everyone in the family.

Small towns can be so different but yet they're all the same!

Chicago Marathon

Congratulations to our friend, Allison, and her boyfriend, Kevin, for successfully running the Chicago Marathon together today in what sounds like high temps and humidity! We checked their times and it appears they ran the entire marathon together...they are truly made for each other :)

American Royal BBQ

The American Royal is a month of horse shows, rodeos, etc. The BBQ makes up one weekend of the American Royal. On Friday night there are hundreds of private and public tents with lots and lots of BBQ and beer left and right. It's in the stockyard district so everyone is enjoying the night directly under bridges and freight trains(and a random Amtrak dropping people off)going past the bashes.

It's a huge event. Something like 15,000 people were there Friday night. Steve and I go down each year for a private party called "Meat Mitch". We met up with my brother and some of his neighbors Friday night. We went to four completely different types of parties - a lot of extremely good and heavy BBQ and drinks were enjoyed.

It was a fun night that I think made almost everyone there glad they live in KC.

Quote Of The Week.

"I love Steve. It's like he lives to serve me!"
-Steve and Ann's neighbor, Dave, last night at The American Royal.

A Bunch of Birthdays!

Happy birthday today to my mom! She has the best birthday present ever because she is with her grandson.

Happy birthday to my dad last Friday! He had the best birthday present ever because he was with his grandson.

It's funny to note this best birthday present ever has swiped both of their birthdays from them and declared each of these "my birthday"!

And happy birthday to our sister-in-law, Jamie, who celebrated her birthday last Wednesday! We got to see them briefly on Sunday and Luke made it sound like they really treated their mom right :)

Airliner Pizza

Steve and I have a lot of fun together and a lot of fun apart. For approximately seven hours after the game on Saturday we did the having fun apart thing. And boy did Steve has fun.

We reunited around 10 p.m. by me seeing my husband walking solo in front of The Airliner window. Note he was on his way to The Airliner to meet up with us, but due to his seven previous hours of fun, he apparently was enjoying a leisurely walk around the ped mall past The Airliner.

As soon as Steve walked in, he immediately ordered two large pizzas. Of course we had all eaten pizza a couple hours earlier when we arrived to The Airliner. Even though a couple of us mentioned that to Steve he was laser focused on these two large pizzas. Since we were planning to head to another bar, I quietly asked the waitress to make these pizzas to go.

The two very large pizza boxes arrived, and Steve then realized everyone else had eaten and he really didn't need $40 of pizza for himself. So off we went with Steve and his pizza boxes.

When we got back to the RV it became apparent that a 1984 RV fridge is not made for two 2007-sized pizza boxes. With no other options we found an Iowa Book and Supply bag and started dumping probably 20+ pieces of pizza on top of each other into this bag. Amazingly only a few pieces ended up on the cement. And while the pizza was not pretty, the next night back in KC the Steve's, Ann and me enjoyed some of the best pizza out there! And it was all thanks to Steve.

A Baby In The Bar.

Late Saturday afternoon I was heading back to Wendy and Brandon's with my parents and Robinsons. As we drove by The Vine in Coralville, Cynthia noticed there was a baby carrier positioned on an outside patio pedestal. We were laughing about taking babies to bars.

It then sparked a conversation about how our parents didn't take us to the bars when we were babies but waited until we were early elementary age and highly impressionable before they took Jen, Steve, Wendy and me to the bars in Iowa City on game weekends.

Then as we were rounding the corner to Wendy and Brandon's my cell phone rang and I saw that it was Ann. I said aloud, "Oh Ann and Wendy must be wondering when we are going to get home."

But instead Ann says, "Steve, Nate and I are at The Vine with Tony!" And she then said, "And Nate is having so much fun!"

Steve and Ann are fantastic parents to Nate. And in my opinion what makes them even better parents is that they know how to have a great time in a safe and responsible environment and include their son in the fun!

The Best Gas Station Sandwich Ever

Years ago on our way back from Iowa City, Steve discovered a sandwich that he's termed as "the best gas station sandwich ever"! I use an exclamation point because Steve seriously loves these sandwiches.

I've always enjoyed Williamsburg, Iowa. Pre-Steve I loved it for its outlet mall. Now that Steve's around, we're normally back in KC by the time the outlet mall opens on Sunday.

But it's never too early to have a five-meat sandwich, full of extras on Amana bread and cheese curds at 9:00 a.m. on a Sunday at the Colony Point gas station.

In fact sometimes, like yesterday, we treat ourselves even more with a special Amana bologna tube. I'm sure it will be as good as it sounds.