THE LOWE FAMILY
NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 91 APRIL 2014
Dear Family and Friends,
Apologies to all my readers
who have been awaiting my long overdue newsletter – I know that
doesn't include any of my children. Even Ming-Jon - my most faithful
follower- confessed that he might have fallen behind on my blog!
March was a cold, blustery
month but my heart was warmed by an unexpected visit from three of my
oldest and dearest friends, Becky, Evelyn and Sherry. It was a
lovely surprise when Becky called to say that she had run ( well
maybe strolled ) into Evelyn and Sherry while they were walking the
indoor track at Fort Madison Community Hospital and the girls had
pitched the idea of escaping the misery of an Iowan winter by driving
south to visit me. I was delighted that Becky was willing to make
the trip as I knew she was dealing with several major life events;
retiring from her job this summer; suffering with constant back
pain;trying to sell her house; and debating moving to Savannah,
Georgia to be closer to Gretchen and her growing family: baby number
two is on the way. In fact among the four of us grandma's I am the
only one who is not expecting a new grandchild this year. I guess
there is a possibility that Sean might be sowing his seed through out
Asia if his blog is to be believed but …...
Things became even more
complicated for Becky when her car needed costly repairs that would
have been senseless given it's mileage. I suggested she buy the best
car on the market for the money which is of course – yes, you
guessed it children – a brand new Ford Focus! After asking her
brothers they agreed that it would probably be the best buy for her
so she picked up her new gorgeous bright blue Focus just in time to
drive down in style.
The girls arrived a little
later in the afternoon on Friday, March 21st than I had anticipated -
they later confessed to shopping at a quilt store somewhere along the
way in Missouri! Once again I reminded them the trip only takes a
little over four hours if they would limit their too frequent potty
and refueling stops ( themselves as well as the car) to just one.
The girls pulled into my
driveway which was piled with unwanted treasures as the following day
was a free clear out your junk pick up day. Evelyn and Sherry even
helped me haul out a very heavy sink that was sitting under the deck
and a small dorm size fridge to add to the ever dwindling pile as
throngs of people drove through the neighborhood taking almost
everything so that by the time the garbage crews arrived there was
little if anything left. The girls greatly enjoyed seeing people
tying more and more stuff on pick up trucks towering with junk that
threatened to topple as soon as they drove at any speed.
Coryn and Ava Claire were at
the house when they arrived so they got to enjoy Ava's lip smacking
tea guzzling as I always welcome my guests with a cup of tea,
preferably English style! I'm sure they were somewhat dubious about
the health benefits of tea drinking for babies but I assured them it
was very European for children to do so.
Knowing that my friends
observed Lent I suggested Barleys for dinner because they serve
delicious fish n'chips which actually do bear some resemblance to the
English version. We also felt that we were honoring Norm with each
bite as he would nearly always order it even after intently studying
the menu for half an hour or so as if contemplating ordering
something else.
We spent the rest of the
night drinking tea and catching up on family news. It was decided
that the following day we would shop at the Carter's outlet store, so
conveniently close and then check out the very impressive and
enormous newly built HyVee store.
Saturday morning found me
waking a lot earlier than usual to find the girls already had coffee
made, breakfast underway and some were even showered and dressed. I
pointed out that the Carters store didn't open for a few more hours
as I eased my way into the day. I decided to spend it in heels
as I was preparing to strut the streets of New York in style the
following weekend. The girls seemed dubious about the wisdom of
someone my age trying to pull this feat off! I must admit my feet
were killing me by the end of the day but as my mother always said
one must suffer a little to look their best!
Once again I veered to the
girls section while my friends were in the boys and neutral gender
section. Evelyn is now shopping for five grandsons! She has half the
number of children I have and yet she has more grandchildren! My five
eligible bachelor sons are going to be wizened old men before they
marry if they don't start dating soon.
Purchases completed we drove
to HyVee to admire the huge produce section, coffee shop, cheese
store, the Italian store, complete with take and bake pizzas, a
Chinese take out, a deli store, and my favorite the bakery. We bought
fresh bread, cheese, pineapple ham, with a carrot cake for lunch and
picked up some vegetables and dip. The butcher's section is enormous,
as is the whole foods area where you can buy in bulk.. The frozen
food aisles might cover as much square footage as the entire Fort
Madison HyVee. The thing the girls loved the most was the two story
restaurant complete with full service bar, big screen TV's and a
Maitre d'! I mentioned that I was sure Steve Stigall would love to hear about it!
We hurried home to fix lunch before our next adventure, afternoon tea at Coryn's with more shopping to follow! Soon we were whizzing on underpasses and overpasses to Lees Summit, slowing to a crawl as we arrived on the two lane road that leads to Raintree Lake. The girls were thrilled to finally see Coryn and Jeremy's new house which they had missed along with Ava Claire on their last visit as the Logues were away that weekend. Coryn made us tea and I was most impressed to see a sugar bowl and milk jug along with a plate of cookies. I didn't know she owned such things! Once again Ava Claire drank tea and ate a cookie with a lot of lip smacking and appreciative sounds!
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| The four Grandmas with Ava Claire, Sherry, Becky, me and Evelyn |
After tea, we headed home on
a different route that would take us to Tuesday Morning, a discount
store with everything from furniture to clothes. I think we all found
something we needed in there! Shopped out we headed home and decided
that something light would be good for dinner as we all seemed to be
trying to lose a few pounds! I chose Spin as they have a great
selection of salads,. We pulled into the parking lot but there was
not a spot to be had so we had to park like Marc out in Siberia and
hoof it in. I was concerned that we might have to wait for a table
but fortunately we were able to nab one.
Whilst enjoying our salads
the girls decided we needed an after dinner walk. I suggested an
evening by the fire with wineglasses in hand but the girls were
determined to exercise so we headed to the mall as it was too cold to
walk outside. I kept Becky company as she slowly walked hoping it
would help her back. I was still in my heels so slow tottering was
fine! Evelyn and Sherry took off but I think they spent as much time
shopping as they did exercising!
By the time we arrived home
it was too late to build a fire so we settled in with our tea cups
again until the girls gave into sleep well before my bedtime.
Sunday morning we were
hoping to shop at Steinmarts before lunch but unfortunately the store
didn't open until noon so we went to the adjacent Gordmans and spent
an hour or so finding more stuff to stuff Becky's trunk – I had
already waxed at great length on the amazing capacity of my Ford
Focus – admittedly the trunk is at it's roomiest when the back seat
is folded down but that wasn't going to be possible with the three of
them.
After lunch my friends
headed back to Fort Madison and as always I was so grateful to them
for taking time out out of their busy lives to spend time with me. I
feel so lucky to have people I have known for over thirty years stay
so close to me. Next month Gary and Bonnie Niehaus will be here, they
are spending a night with me before flying out to Colorado to visit
Kari and family. I am also hoping that my Josh might show up at the
end of May as I haven't heard from him in the wilds of South America
for weeks..
On Friday, March 28th
I drove over to the Logues to spend the night as our flight to New
York was leaving at 8:30 am so we would need to be on the road by
6:30 am. Mother literally rose to the occasion when my kind and
thoughtful daughter opened my bedroom door and let the dogs in !
Thankfully I had time for a cup of coffee and a granola bar before we
headed to the airport. En route I realized that it probably would
have made more sense for us all to have slept at my house as I live
much closer to it than the Logues but ….
Ava Claire was an excellent
passenger, she spent a lot of time with Grandma reading some new
books
and playing with toys. Of
course she enjoyed the package of cookies that were handed out .
Jeremy and Coryn were seated a couple of rows ahead of me and since
Ava was being good they didn't need to worry about her. She even
napped for awhile.
Once we arrived in New York
we seemingly landed in the next borough as the Captain explained that
no gate was available so we would be transferring to a bus and
having to climb stairs into the airport. I immediately wondered how
on earth any handicapped person would be able to do this. Your dad
would have been stuck on the plane until they could get it to a
gate. Not that he would have been capable of traveling in any mode of
transport for the last several years despite his hope that one day he
would be able to take me to New York City and afternoon tea at the
Waldorf Astoria! It must have been a great comfort to him in the last
few weeks of his life to know that our children were making his
dream trip a reality for me.
Leslee-Ann had given me
strict instructions that we were to only use 'real' taxi cabs not to
cave into the patter of town car driver's who would charge far more
for the ride from La Guardia to the Midtown Hilton. We were accosted
by one such chap almost immediately and despite my misgivings Jeremy
decided we should trust our souls to him and I have to say he was the
best driver we experienced in New York. He was big on personality and
was soon talking food with Jeremy and telling him to make a note of
this and that restaurant and even told him what to order! Coryn and I
just rolled our eyes in the back seat with Ava Claire.
We arrived at our hotel, the
midtown Hilton around lunchtime, the reception area was very busy and
since we were early bird check ins we doubted that our rooms would be
ready but much to our delight one of them was and they were even
offering an upgrade to a corner room with expansive views.
Unfortunately Jeremy was under the misconception that this room would
be for him and Coryn but when we opened the door and saw two beds we
knew it was the mother- in- laws!
Ava Claire was ready for
lunch so we decided to eat at the hotel where they offered a take-
out or eat -in restaurant. This was to become one of my favorite
places for picking up a snack or a cup of coffee!
Fortunately they had a lot
of things to which Ava Claire is partial, everything from Tiramisu,
macaroni and cheese to bananas.
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| Ava Claire rocking out with Craig |
We really took a bite out of
the Big Apple as we seemed to be constantly eating. On Saturday
afternoon we got together with Marc, Bryn, Leslee-Ann and Craig who
met us at out hotel and then invited us to theirs so we could plan
out what we would do together. Craig and Leslee had turned their room
into party central with flashing lights, music and afternoon
cocktails. Ava Claire was the belle of the ball until she finally
conked out on the floor.
Despite the chilly
temperature and rain we grabbed our umbrellas and ventured out to
explore the city. As it turned out Craig was very familiar with it as
he usual makes a few work related trips there every year, even Marc
had visited before with friends – a surprise to me as I didn't know
he had any!
Leslee-Ann was determined
for us to see the New York City Library because of its architecture
and it was a magnificent building. We also had to visit a couple of
shops where Coryn found the perfect vest for Leslee-Ann – I
couldn't quite grasp why someone living in Florida would need such a
thing but I guess she does travel to colder climes. Coryn and I
checked out the children's department and on looking at the price
tags I knew I could do a knock off for next to nothing.
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| Me, Leslee-Ann, Coryn, Bryn, and Marc with Craig and Jeremy and Ava Claire at Rockerfeller Center |
That evening we met up with
Alisha Sanchez – one of my favorites from Bryn's Aquinas class- who
actually lives in New York now. We all had dinner at Johns which is a
pizzeria in a church building complete with stained glass windows,
domes and arches. As every one seemed to be ordering drinks I decided
to have a martini – something I haven't done in the last few
decades. The next morning I seemed to have completely lost my memory
of the latter half of the previous night. I knew I had insisted on
paying the tab as Norm would have done if he was there but I couldn't
remember calculating a tip. Fortunately Craig who was seated next to
me said he had helped me figure it out since my brain was a little
slow so I had definitely done so. I guess Mother can't even drink a
martini anymore!
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| Lunch at the Cock and Bull |
Sunday was very chilly,
rainy and gray but we headed for breakfast at Rue 57- the portions
were so generous that I could have existed on breakfast all day! We
met up with the others and after doing a little sight seeing we opted
to have lunch at the aptly named British pub, The Cock and Bull.
Unfortunately the food lived up to the expectations of most Americans
about my native lands cuisine but it was great that they had the
table space to accommodate our large group. Bryn and Marc headed to
the airport after lunch. Craig and Leslee ended up spending the
afternoon with us instead of leaving for the airport with the boys as
planned once their flight was canceled. They managed to book a much
later flight. Since the weather was so inclement we decided to take
a bus tour of New York. Leslee immediately took on the task of
haggling over prices with the tour operator- for our size party she
wanted a group discount and as always she succeeded.
Once on board the bus and
hooked up to my headset it soon became apparent that even if you
could figure out which side of the bus you were supposed to be
looking out of, you couldn't see anything for the most part except
passing cars, throngs of pedestrians and only the first floor of the
buildings. Ava Claire soon ended up on Grandma's lap and promptly
took over my headset, not that I was paying any attention anyway.
Jeremy braved the rain to check out the view from the upper, open
deck of the bus but it was too cold to endure for long.
Eventually Leslee and Craig
departed for the airport and we returned to the hotel. I had no
appetite for another meal so I suggested that Coryn and Jeremy have a
night out and leave Ava Claire with me. I found soup, fruit and
dessert for her in the hotel's herb kitchen. After dinner I decided
to give her a bath and set her on a towel to help keep her from being
in direct contact with the tub, but it didn't work too well as she
crawled up and down, and splished and splashed. Once I took her out,
dried her,rubbed some lotion on her and diapered her she was asleep!
Exhausted as Grandma!
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Monday we explored some of
the iconic hotel lobbies, including the Waldorf Astoria where we had
originally planned to have afternoon tea but unfortunately they no
longer offered this service so we went to the Pembrooke Room in the
Lowell Hotel. We picked a perfect day as only two other sets of
ladies were enjoying the experience thus Ava Claire's eating and
drinking habits would not cause a roomful of pinky fingers to be
bent out of shape! The waiter was most accommodating, finding her a
high chair and presenting her with nutella and banana; ham and cheese
finger sandwiches which she
thoroughly enjoyed along
with petite fours and meringues. The pace of tea time was definitely
more Victorian than new millennium. Fortunately Ava Claire was free
to admire herself in the mirrored walls that desperately needed
re-silvering, to touch the dangling crystals on the wall sconces and
to walk around the room holding onto me or Coryn. Ava Claire was
perfectly dressed for the occasion in my opinion because to my
surprise and delight Coryn managed to squeeze her into the very
Victorian, shabby chic ruffled floral print dress with matching
beaded headband with my handmade fabric roses.. It was very touching
and meant a great deal to me because this was the dress that I was
working on in the last weeks of Norm's life and his hands had touched
the fabric many times as he inspected every detail. I really felt
that his spirit was with us.
Monday night we ate at the
Carnegie Deli which is famous for it's pastrami sandwiches. Not being
much of a meat eater I ordered something else but Jeremy and the baby
sure enjoyed the pastrami. Then we all shared their strawberry
cheesecake for dessert.
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| Claudia and Ava Claire |
Ming, Lori, Blake and
Claudia arrived that night so we met up with them the next morning
for breakfast at the Dominique Ansel Bakery the only place in the
world that you can find an authentic cronut, a sort of crossbreed of
a croissant-doughnut . Unfortunately we arrived a few hours too late
to sample one as they are sold out every morning by seven!
From there we explored Soho,
Little Italy, and China town. Somewhere en route Coryn spotted a
light fixture in a store window and dragged Jeremy in to check it
out. The rest of us waited outside with Ming making a run back down
the street to China town to pick up something to snack on – Lori
and I promptly turned our noses up when he returned!
Checking out our
surroundings we noticed that every store on both sides of the street
offered light fixtures. A light bulb went off in Mother's head –
surely Coryn and Jeremy wouldn't want to check them all out to make
sure they were getting the best buy? I decided not to enlighten them
on this realization fearing it would dim our progress on seeing more
of New York. I think it was Ming who eventually wondered in after
them to see what was happening – apparently the over-the-top
enormous chandelier- despite it's attractive price- was being passed
over for something less flamboyant but equally huge. Being nosy I
decided to take a look myself and was flummoxed to see so many
beautiful fixtures. The one they picked to have shipped to their home
was more my style than the crystal chandelier.
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| Ming- Lee, Lori, Blake, me, Claudia and Coryn |
Lights out on that project
we enjoyed a pasta lunch in Little Italy before we headed to Central
Park, a must see on my list. I enjoyed the many beautiful vista's and
the chance to have some one on one time with Blake and Claudia. We
had purchased a football earlier in the day so that the guys and
Claudia could toss a ball around while we other girls sunned
ourselves on a park bench – our first and only nice day of the trip
weather-wise.
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| Jeremy, Coryn, Ming-Lee, Lori and Claudia at Central Park |
I am not sure if Ava Claire
was more excited to see Big Bird or a rummaging rat at the park. I
can see why the city is so attractive to vermin because every street
is filled with garbage bags every evening into the next day. It's too
bad they can't come up with a way to hide all this garbage from view
in planters or something as it really looks awful.
After our trek in the park
with me holding up very well with my children (I thought) we headed
back to our hotels to get ready for dinner at Thalia's, a beautiful
restaurant but unfortunately Ava Claire was worn out from the day's
activity and not into eating as usual so after dinner we bade Ming
Lee and family goodbye and went back to our hotel thinking that Ava
Claire would fall asleep immediately. We were all sleeping in my room
for the final night since we had to leave early again for the flight
home on Wednesday. Coryn and Jeremy took one bed while I slept with
the baby in the other – but she suddenly came alive and insisted on
play time for another hour! Eventually we all slept.
This trip was such a
meaningful and thoughtful gift children for which I shall always be
grateful. I am so blessed to have such a beautiful family and I love
you all so very much. Your dad must be so proud of you all!
Special thanks go to Kay and
Jeff for cat sitting for me, I know Delilah was very demanding and a
pain to medicate! It was lovely to come home to a nice clean house
too!
Now I am going to steal
Sean's literary style and leave you with a cliff hanger: mother has
something low to the ground, red and sporty parked in the garage but
to learn more you'll have to read my next blog!
