Tying up loose ends.

In case you’re thinking I’ve been slacking off by not writing, it has nothing to do with that. I’m actually trying to tie up as much loose ends as possible prior to my trip home. I usually have time on Monday morning to send a note. However, because I’m trying my best to tie up loose ends, work has kind of taken on added importance. So, here I am finally with a note.

Well, I made it to the State Fair on Thursday as planned and had a blast. The first group of people I went with was John, his sister, Carol and her husband Warren. They were in town for a couple of days and I try to meet up with them whenever I can. So, it was just fun hanging out at the fair with them. The weather was most perfect and you really could not ask for better weather. Prior years, it was hot and humid. The humidity was pretty low and that made it all the more pleasant. I had some of my regular favorite food, but this year they had crawfish etouffe and a London Broil sandwich. The sandwich was fine, but the etouffe was amazing. It was the first time the vendor made it to the fair and business was kind of slow so they were happy to see me and even happier that I totally loved the food. The residents of the facility will be headed there this evening and I may end up joining them if they need an extra staff. We’ll see. If I do, you can bet I’ll have the etouffe again. I saw the things I wanted to see and the art and photography was even more amazing than last year. All in all I just had a blast. Later that evening, I met up with the young adults and we ended up listening to the group called, “Blenders” from the Twin Cities. John and I went to their Christmas concert last year and thought they were extremely talented. I’m glad I got to hear them this year at the fair and for free too! Those in the group who have not heard them before thought they were good. We stayed still roughly 10:30PM. Honestly, the fair time is definitely one of my favorite times of the year – you get to see so many people from such a varied background. For someone like me who likes to observe others, it’s observation galore!

On Saturday, I met up with Matt and Sam. I’ve not seen Matt and Sam since Matt got married the end of May so it was good to just catch up with one another. Sam moved back to DM after spending a good part of the summer in Iowa City where he was working. Alicia was in Mexico as part of her social work course so Matt decided to make a trip back to DM just for the weekend. The three of us met up at the Matt’s house before heading to Zuzap for lunch. Neither Matt nor Sam had been there, but they thoroughly enjoyed the meal there. After lunch, we shoot the breeze at Matt’s house. Kevin and Martha were around too so that was nice. Once again, it was a gorgeous day so it was nice to sit out in the garden just soaking the sun.

Later that evening, I attended Abby and Joe’s wedding at the cathedral. Joe was in my RCIA class just this past year and that’s kind of how I got the invitation. I’ve known Abby for a number of years now especially because her parents are active member of St. Kate’s. Abby’s dad, Gene was the former mayor of WDM and now is head of public safety for the state of Iowa. Needless to say he’s a pretty important guy and this was going to be one of those fancier weddings. Abby and her two brothers all went to Oberlin Conservatory and majored in music so needless to say they are all extremely talented musicians. The wedding Mass was what I would describe as simple yet very elegant. Her brothers and a cellist played a number of pieces that just blew everyone away. For the reception, I sat at the table where a number of Oberlin alum were seated. It was nice getting to know some of Abby and Joe’s friends. It’s amazing just hearing where some of them are right now. Let’s just say it’s your cream of the crop program at top notch US universities. I kind of chuckled because all of them had never been to Iowa before and they had a good experience of the state. I definitely had a good evening, but ended up leaving kind of early because I had a pretty stressful and long day on Thursday. I could tell you about the day, but I’ll just skip it. Let’s just say I had three hours sleep that night. Oh, while at the reception I spoke to a lady who complimented my singing and was shocked when I told her I never had any voice lessons. She mentioned that she’s the choir director at a Baptist church and would be more than happy to have me sing with the group AND that it was paid! I really cracked up because he was really selling her choir and church and wanted me to be part of it. I graciously thanked her and said thanks but no thanks. I get a little self conscious when people compliment me in my singing especially strangers.

Apart from those exciting stuff, nothing too much happened really. This weekend, I’ll be headed over to Ann’s house for dinner and am looking forward to it because I’ll be provided the steak and Harley will be grilling it. I told Ann and Harley that they need to try Costco’s steak and since I’m unable to grill at my apartment, I offered to bring the steak if they were willing to grill it. Moreover, it’ll be great just hanging and chatting with Ann a week prior to going home. OK, that’s all the news from me.