Hello blog.

It’s been a while.

#whyhaveyouforgottenme

It’s not that way at all. It’s me, not you.

#gag

Ok, this time, it is me. Each time I’ve started writing, I’ve been distracted.

So, tonight, it’s just a quick note to say happy birthday to me.

We spent the weekend in Des Moines and we took a bike ride on the “Lemon Trail Ride”, a fundraiser put on by the Exile Brewery for the Friends of the Des Monies Parks. We got there early and it was sunny, a bit breezy, but a wonderful start to the day. They gave us a beer, so we found some chairs in the sun to wait for our daughter, who was riding with us, had a beer, and enjoyed the people-watching.

Eventually, we got started and got to two of the stops before the rain came.

#yuck

Yes, we got to ride back to our rental in the rain and wind and the cold. Yuck.

However, there was an indie book celebration going on in Des Moines, so we had the chance to hit three very different shops: one that was very small and intimate located in the East Village, one that was bigger, had coffee, and was across from the Cat Cafe (look it up in Des Moines), and one that was a board gamer/book store that had all the nerd vibes which we loved.

We ended up back close to our rental and ate supper at Big Grove Brewery, which was awesome. I see the love that Big Grove gets from people in the Iowa City area and we’ll make it a destination this summer.

Today, we ate brunch with our other daughter at a new cafe/coffee house in Ames, which was spectacular to say the least. Good food, good coffee, and good conversations all around. We stopped at my parents on the way home to check up on them. They went on a bus trip and were infected with Covid on the way home. My mom is over it, but my dad was really knocked down by it. So those who say Covid isn’t a thing anymore can f the hell off. It’s still a thing. However, they are in good spirits and are looking at getting a cell phone, which just means that hell itself is freezing over. 🙂

This birthday has been tough because of all the changes going on around me. Summer cannot come soon enough because I need to be able to breathe, which I feel that I just cannot do right now. On our way home, we talked a lot about why I was leaving my job, how we could work together, and how we could simply feel successful in the face of so many people just “collecting memories and not things”. We can’t vacation during the school year, so when summer rolls around we feel obligated to pack things in. The goal this summer, breath, and do what WE need to do, not was is expected of us. I’m not sure where we’ll end up, but it will be without obligations from anyone else, I am certain of this.

So, as my birthday wraps up, I wish all of you a great week. I have the Sunday Scaries, but it is what it is. We’ll go one day at a time, and the changes will happen.

Happy birthday to me! ❤

#happybirtday