Will's first birthday

I made a driving trip to Iowa for Will's first birthday. I left on Wednesday, Sept. 24, and returned on Tuesday, Sept. 30. The driving went smoothly and I didn't mind the 9 hours in the car, taking only 2 rest breaks and a brief meal break going both directions. That XM satellite radio makes a good companion on the long drive.

Will's big party was on Saturday, Sept. 27. Since I had spent Thursday and Friday cleaning and helping Melissa get things ready for the party which wouldn't start until 4 pm, I had Saturday morning free. I started the day by going to Iowa City to see Janet and Dave Hixenbaugh, our across-the-street neighbors and good friends from Lakewood/Norwalk, along with Dave's brother Greg, who were tailgating before the U of I football game. Because it was Iowa's homecoming, I anticipated driving there in heavy traffic, having to search for parking, and having to walk miles to their tailgate spot. But none of that turned out to be true. My timing must have been just right because I got to Iowa City in 20 minutes, which would be normal time, and drove straight onto campus and into a parking space just a couple of blocks from their tailgate site.

It was so good to see old friends and get caught up on the news and other friends from Norwalk, though I missed seeing Tom and Paula Greteman there--they would normally be at the game but gave their tickets to their daughter Kelli and her husband. So hugs with Kelli had to substitute. When Ed and I talked about where to live once he retired, I always wanted to go back to Iowa, back to the friends that were like family to us. He appreciated that idea but had a stronger pull. Obviously, when it actually came time to make the decision, real family and Ohio won out. But the question was inevitable and it came from Dave: Are you going to sell your house and move back to Iowa? You have no idea how often I ponder that question. With the way the housing market and the economy are, it's just a bad time to be trying to sell a house. But what holds me here even more is that I feel like I would be leaving Ed if I left here, the last place we were together, and I can't bring myself to do that. So I have a rational answer to that question and an emotional one that some people may find silly, but that's the way it is.

Once Jan and Dave headed into the football stadium, I headed to the Coral Ridge Mall thinking I might find a Maid-Rite in the food court there. The famous Maid-Rite "loose meat" sandwich is another craving I've had, especially once I satisfied my craving for a good pork tenderloin for lunch on Thursday. However, there was no Maid-Rite, so I had a quick bite then headed back to Melissa and Mark's.

Some family and close friends had already arrived, so Will's party actually got an early start. At 4 pm, it was in full swing with 30+ people there. Melissa said if everybody had come who was invited, there would have been 42 people total. Since many of their circle of friends have kids, they celebrate the kids' birthdays as another reason to get together. It was a beautiful, mild, sunny day, so the kids could play outside--and that includes the "big kids" who played a bean-bag-toss game. Mark handled the grilling, Melissa played hostess, and I alternated between monitoring kids outside and monitoring the food spread in the kitchen. Will received lots of toys as gifts, which Melissa predicted would happen.

At cake time, M & M stripped Will to his diaper, sat him in his high chair, and let him go at his piece of birthday cake with both hands. It didn't take long for him to be covered in frosting. Unfortunately, once he swallowed his first bite of cake, he began to break out in hives. The previous weekend, Melissa gave him homemade waffles, made with eggs, of course, and he handled them just fine, so she and Mark thought the doctor's prediction that Will would outgrow his egg allergy by age 1 came true. She found a cake mix with no milk in it but that did require eggs, and that's what she had me bake. At the first sign of the hives, they gave Will Benadryl and it worked within minutes. It's amazing to see how quickly the hives cover his body and how quickly the medicine reverses that. After a quick clean-up in the tub, Will was into his PJs and back in party mode. People left around 8 pm--had to get their own kids to bed.

On Sunday, Will's actual birthday, Mark's parents Jim and Marna, his brother and sister Matt and Michelle, Melissa's Dad Jim and Peggy, M & M & Will and I met for lunch at Panera. Afterwards, we went to see Jim and Marna's new house which is being built in a new neighborhood not far from M & M's. Then we went back and Will opened his presents from all of us. I got him a snugglepuff, which is a snuggly, soft Penn State football attached to a security blanket embroidered with "Penn State University" at the hemline--he had to get something Penn State! Another gift was a bright red sippy cup with his name on it in bold letter shapes and bright colors, along with a shirt that has a sheriff's star on it and reads "I'm in charge." I also got him a hardwood puzzle that teaches shapes and colors; each piece has an easy-to-grasp handle which he took to immediately, even though at one point he tried to use the grip as a pacifier. I added money to his college fund, too. He received many other nice gifts from everyone.

Will was just delightful the entire time I was there. Melissa had been showing him my picture days ahead and telling him that Grammy was coming, and within seconds of seeing me on Wednesday, he was reaching for me. So all in all it was a pleasant time. Having my own car to drive gave me freedom to do things on my own and I took advantage of that. On one of my trips to pick up party things, I saw a little of the area of Cedar Rapids that was flooded. I could tell that some progress had been made in the clean-up--in fact, the Courthouse downtown was finally re-opened on Monday--but there is still so much destruction to see.

Starting on Thursday of this week I will be back to working on SAT essays. Beyond that I have nothing planned though Melissa wants me to fly to Iowa on Christmas Day for my Christmas visit. Ed's grandson Rob will be getting married Dec. 6. On Sept. 20 I attended the celebration of the marriage of grandson Josh and his wife Honesty (they eloped June 26). Daughter Sherry in St. Louis (Josh's mother) had hip replacement surgery Sept. 22 and seems to have come through that fine though she has weeks of recovery time. Instigated by Cheryl, my friend from the Hearts group (Hearts being the friends from the support group I attended), I've been going to wine-tastings pretty much every Friday evening, expanding my horizons beyond my favorite beers and whatever-wine-is-on-sale. This is in addition to our regular Hearts gathering for supper together every Wednesday. As I told Jan and Dave, I'm very grateful to have my Hearts group of friends, but I so miss everybody from our circle of friends back in Iowa and I very much miss the neighborhood closeness we had in Lakewood.