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Mom on the right with 2 of her sisters

We spent Mother's Day with my sister and her extended family at Indian Camp Creek in St. Charles County. My nephew Joe has set up a picnic for the past several years and is always kind enough to include Jim and me in the gathering. The orphans. My kids have not been here for Mother's Day for years, so it is always a little bit of a weird day for me. I have never felt like Mother's Day was MY day, really. It had belonged to my mom for so long that I never truly bought into the fact that it was also for me. While I miss my mom each and every day, it is particularly hard on Mother's Day. I can't believe she has been gone for nearly twenty-four years.

But we had a fun day at the park. (Well, except for the ticks. They were numerous and disgusting. I still feel like things are crawling in my hair.) My nephew picked up Pappy's barbeque - pulled chicken, pulled pork and brisket - and the rest of us each brought a dish. I made a salad layered with romaine lettuce, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, strawberries and mandarin oranges. It is very pretty and tasty. I brought a variety of dressings, but the best on it is a strawberry poppy seed made by Marzettis. Yummy! Everything was good, but the barbeque was great. I had not eaten any Pappy's before. That is not for a lack of trying, but each time we have gone there it has been too long of a wait.

Both of the kids called, so at least I got to talk to them which was nice. And the day began with roses and Krispy Kremes from my husband. So over all, I had a very nice Mother's Day.

red roses for a somewhat blue lady

Working out at Curves, Tralee, Ireland 2005

Each month it seems harder and harder to fight my losing battle with weight gain. I know that menopause has a great deal to do with it, but despite my valiant efforts things are not going my way. It would be easy to just throw in my sweaty towel. I walk the dog a minimum of 20 minutes every day (usually longer on nice days - which admittedly have been few and far between lately), I do small group training every Tuesday for an hour, and two other days I work out utilizing the treadmill as well as the weights at our local recreation center. Added to that I rarely drink and I don't buy fatty snack foods or desserts. I also have greatly modified my cooking, cutting beef back to once a week and adding more lean pork and fish to the meals. So what the heck!?! It really doesn't seem fair. I know that my exercise has contributed to my good bone density, low blood pressure and wonderful cholesterol count, but it would be nice if it also enabled me to look good in shorts or a swimsuit. Really, what more am I expected to do?

Over the weekend I attended Publishing University in Chicago, which I have covered in my other blog Write Formation. The weather was wonderful in Chicago, with a warm sun and surprisingly calm winds. But I didn't get to enjoy any of that since I was inside the conference rooms. So when the weather here was so beautiful on Monday, cabin fever got the best of me. I packed up my water bottle and my camera and headed to the Missouri Botanical Garden. Being alone gave me a lot of time to think about all the things I had learned at the conference, and what items might be practical to put into use with my own company. So I wasn't totally goofing off. At least, that is my story and I'm sticking to it! Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day.

National Archives

Yesterday I attended the annual fair of the St. Louis Genealogical Society, held at the Maryland Heights Centre. It is the largest single day genealogy event in the Midwest, and is always well attended. A national speaker is brought in, and then other breakout sessions are held throughout the day. I normally stick with the sessions presented by the national speaker as I feel I can usually catch one of the other speakers at a different time. This year's presenter focused on records available at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. and how to best utilize your time if you plan to visit. She also talked about the National Library buildings as well, and what we might find there. Since Andy and Megan live in the area, I would very much like to plan a trip to see them and visit the archives. The information I received at the conference was helpful, and hopefully I can put it to good use.

When the main presenter had a break, I was able to catch a session on researching in Germany, which could not be more timely for me. Better yet, the speaker was the woman who is leading my Germany tour this fall, so it was great to be able to meet her face to face before the trip. I also was able to talk with the other couple from the society who are going on the trip and touch base with them again. So overall, a good day with new leads on pursuing my family.

There has been some activity regarding my trip to Germany this fall. Two of the couples on the trip are going over a day early, but the rest of us are traveling on the same day. The trip coordinator found flights for the rest of us that will take us all from our hometowns to Charlotte, and from there to Frankfurt so that we will be on the same flight to Germany. That way no one has to wait around in the Frankfurt airport for additional flights to arrive. Yesterday I met with the couple from the genealogical society so that we could plan our flight together, on the off chance that the rest of the people decide to take a different route. I had previously done some research and found that the best price was going directly through the US Airways website. Once we identified the type of plane we would be on (thankfully an Airbus) we went to seatguru.com where you can see a review of the seats on the plane. What a find! You can make sure ahead of time that you aren't seated by the bathroom or in a seat that doesn't recline. This will be particularly important on a flight that lasts 8 or 9 hours. We arranged our seats so that the three of us are together to and from Charlotte, since the seat configuration on the plane is three and three. From Charlotte to Frankfurt the seating is two, four and two in each row. Since we didn't want to sit in the middle of the plane, I have a window seat in front of them on the long flights. So at least if we want to talk a bit on the plane it is doable. Now my last major decision is what type of travel insurance I want to take out. I have several policies to review to make sure I get the best coverage. I don't want to take any chances should I need to cancel my trip for any reason, and I also want some health insurance coverage while I am there just in case.

Yesterday I was able to get Jim to go to the botanical garden with me to see the cherry blossoms. Usually he would be on a motorcycle ride, but he had one set up for today instead. I am so glad we went as I think we hit the peak of the cherry blossoms. Since it is supposed to get very windy this afternoon, the blooms may be all blown to Illinois by the end of the day.

tulips

cherry blossoms

more cherry trees

I guess I didn't mention that we went to opening day of the St. Louis Cardinals. The game started out pretty good, but then went to hell in a hand basket towards the end. I took some ribbing from my Cincinnati relatives since the Reds pretty much creamed us. They were silent after the Cards took two of the three games in that series. Who's in first place? That's right - the Cardinals!

Cardinals Opening Day

Flag on Cardinals Opening Day

Fredbird and me

hyacinths and mini tulips

When the temperature hit 70 degrees today, the call of the Missouri Botanical Garden was so strong that I dropped everything and drove there. My husband, as usual, is out riding his motorcycle so it was another solo trip to the garden for me. But I don't mind as I generally take a lot of photos and most people are not patient enough to go with me. I didn't realize they were having a special event today. When I arrived the "Lot Full" sign was at the entrance to their drive. I ended up parking on a side street. There was an ambulance at the entry door, which was an auspicious start to my visit.

I don't believe I have seen that many people at the garden except at one of their festivals. I guess everyone had spring fever today. As I walked along one of the pathways two women passed me saying the rosary. I can't think of a more beautiful place to pray! Then I happened upon a grandfather softly singing to his grandchild. It was so sweet! But the biggest excitement for the day came when a small boy took a header into one of the reflecting pools. His mom leaned over to grab him, and as she was about to fall in her mother grabbed hold of her. The boy was plucked out screaming bloody murder! And this is why parents should not let their children walk on the concrete ledges next to the pools of water.

As I was leaving a toddler was crying and yelling, "Mama! Mama!" It took me a moment to realize that in the crowd of people, he actually had been separated from his mom. Several of us were glancing around trying to spot a worried mom when she finally made her way to him. Hold onto your kids, people. That fast he could have fallen down the steps, or worse yet been snatched by someone and carried off. On that cheery note, here are a few of my favorite photos from today.

Jim and I spent last weekend in Colorado Springs. We went out for the wedding of the son of one of our college friends. The mom and dad both graduated from Iowa State with us, and Jim was in their wedding and the dad was in our wedding. They wanted us to stay in the five bedroom, three bath house they had rented for the week. At one point there were 14 of us sleeping there, but it worked out just fine. We flew out on Thursday, so Jim was able to go to the bachelor party activities with the guys. I stayed at the house with the older ladies.

Friday Jim and I went to the Garden of the Gods. We had not been there since before we had kids, and it has changed a bit with the addition of parking lots and paved trails. It was cold and windy, but at least we had a beautiful sky that day.

Garden of the Gods

King of the Mountain

Garden of the Gods entrance

rock formation

We also went to Manitou Springs to do some sight-seeing and to have lunch. It is a really cool old Victorian town.

street musician

Manitou Springs

chapel window

It began to snow that night, which was the rehearsal dinner. All of the out of town guests were invited, so we took part in that. We had a very fun table at the dinner, and the evening passed quickly. The snow continued through the night and was near blizzard conditions by the next day. Although the accumulation was nothing near the 12.4" that St. Louis got, it still made for some treacherous driving conditions. We all went to the base early to make sure we arrived on time for the wedding. Since the groom graduated from the Air Force Academy, the wedding took place in the Ir Force Chapel, which is a beautiful structure.

Air Force Academy Chapel

inside the chapel

Despite the weather, the wedding went off without a hitch, and the reception was on the base as well, so we didn't have to travel far to get to it. Everyone at the reception was so friendly, and the DJ was wonderful. We had a lot of fun dancing with everyone.

deer out the house window

Sunday brought more snow, so we were a little house bound. Finally in the afternoon six of us drove to the Broadmoor Hotel and went to their bar for a martini. It was nice to get out of the house. Monday we helped pack up all the cars and strip all the beds before heading off. Jim and I went to Castle Rock for lunch and sight-seeing before driving to the airport.

1875 train depot

lunch at Castle Cafe

frozen fountain

Castle Rock