I celebrated a birthday last week. At least I think I did. I thought my birthday was on Thursday, but it was apparently Friday. A co-worker with the same birthday set me straight. I have had my age wrong many times through the years, but never the day. Clearly, the birthdays are adding up.
While driving to work on Friday, I was thinking about the most memorable birthdays of my youth. A few came to mind, mostly due to the Polaroids and home movies rather than the actual birthdays. Either way, they were memorable.
The first one was clearly a memory from the home movies, as I was in a diaper on the kitchen table tearing up wrapping paper with my friend Rob, who was born two days after me. That vision is a clear reminder that kids don’t need gifts to be happy. Ripping up wrapping paper makes most any kid smile.
My mom made sure we celebrated birthdays with cake and ice cream and candles, and I loved it. I recall a year when she invited the neighbor kids over for an outdoor party, and it poured rain. She brought them all inside, and we watched old Super 8 home movies (no sound, on reels) in the basement. Mom was a problem solver. The other kids seemed to enjoy the movies. The cake and ice cream helped, too.
When I turned 14, I made the trip to the county courthouse to apply for my driving permit, and I drove home with my mom. I remember being all smiles. Mom? Not so much.
When I turned 16, my dad took my girlfriend and me out for dinner at a nice restaurant in town. That was a big deal, as my family didn’t go out to eat very often. Dad wore a suit. That didn’t happen very often either.
When I turned 21, I was staying at my sister’s in Minnesota while doing a summer internship. Her husband let me take his Corvette out for a spin that night, and I went to a restaurant with a friend and ordered my first legal drink. My brother-in -law reminded me that it would only be one drink, and I obliged. I had my ID ready to bare for the server, but I wasn’t even asked for it.
In my adult life, the birthdays seem to all blend together, but I enjoy each one with my wife, our kids and our friends. As these birthdays pass by, I am reminded about what is really important. I don’t need to travel the world, or climb mountains or eat exotic foods. What I really want is to spend time with family and friends. That’s exactly what I did this year with a wonderful pasta dinner at home with my family and a night at the state fair with my wife, daughter and her husband — and a birthday candle in my root beer float.
It was a great Wednesday. Or Thursday. Or Friday. This forgetfulness of dates is why I am lobbying my family for a birthweek celebration instead of birthday. So far, so good.
Have a magnificent Monday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305
www.thedailyumbrella.com
See Shane Goodman's previous columns here. |
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Clear Mortgage meteorology
Only the slimmest of occasional rain chances as we look ahead at a warm and dry forecast that heats up into the weekend.
For help with pre-approvals or refinancing, get in touch with Originating Branch Manager Carrie Hansen at carrie.mortgage. |
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| Featured in the August issue of CITYVIEW | | | BELLY UP TO...
Bix & Co. is a Valley Junction favorite
By Jackie Wilson
A bar and restaurant opened just one year ago has quickly become a Valley Junction favorite.
Bix & Co. Kitchen Sports Bar is located in a prime spot at the corner of Fifth and Railroad in West Des Moines. A brand new brick building complements the other vintage buildings in the area.
... | | | READ MORE |
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| CITYVIEW's Best Of Des Moines® | | | The results have been tallied and published in the February issue of CITYVIEW and online!
Best Local Place to Hold a Corporate Event/Party
1. Your Private Bar
2. ARL Mapes Auditorium
3. Curate
Read all the results now!
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Bird food and big blueberries. Crane populations are soaring in Wisconsin, and that’s a million dollar problem for corn farmers there... Michigan blueberries are having a super year because the warmer spring weather extended the growing season. That means bigger berries and, unlike zucchini, bigger tastes better. (TNWD)
Gabriele Gorelli, Italy’s First Master of Wine, says Italian wines in general are becoming “more approachable” because of a combination of increased ripeness from the warming climate and stylistic changes by winemakers. He is especially excited about “mountain nebbiolo” from higher-altitude vineyards in northern Piemonte or from Valtellina, a mountainous area of Lombardy better known for ski resorts than wine. “Valtellina is not really a category, but it should be. The wines are chillable, super drinkable and interesting.” (WaPo)
Today's deals: Check for Restaurant Week specials all week.
• Monday’s $8 special at Continental (407 E. Fifth St., Des Moines) includes a smash burger with lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions, burger sauce and frites
• Centro (1003 Locust St., Des Moines) offers half-price pizza and Peronis on Monday.
• Who's on First (810 E. First St., Ankeny) has steak night on Monday, and it's an 8-ounce filet with salad, mashed potatoes and beans for $22.95
• Pelican Post (265 50th St., West Des Moines) has a special today on hot beef sandwiches, $10.95 until 4 p.m.
• Eastside Eddie’s (3517 E. 26th St., Des Moines) Monday $10 special is ham and Swiss sliders with fries.
• Tito’s Lounge (3916 Urbandale Drive, Urbandale) offers all-you-can-eat wings Mondays
• Trostel's Greenbriar (5810 Merle Hay Road, Johnston) offers half-pound steak burgers with fries or salad and a beer for a Monday-only price of $14
• Monday brings prime rib specials to both Chicago Speakeasy (1520 Euclid Ave., Des Moines) and Christopher's (2816 Beaver Ave., Des Moines).
• Johnny's Hall of Fame (302 Court Ave., Des Moines) has $12 burger baskets on Mondays and Fridays.
• Fareway begins a sale on pork bellies at $2.99/pound today through Saturday.
— Jim Duncan, jd91446@aol.com |
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| Featured home for sale | | |
$515,000 7740 Spring Creek Drive, Pleasant Hill, IA 50327
Ranch home with 4 car garage. Check out this 4 bedroom home with 3 full baths, finished lower level with wet bar and lots of storage. The open living area is spacious and great for entertaining. The primary suite has access to covered deck, bath with soaking tub and tiled shower. ...
See the listing here.
| | | See More Homes For Sale |
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| SOLD: Featured commercial real estate transaction | | | 7695 N.W. BEAVER DRIVE, JOHNSTON
SALE DATE: 2024-05-22
SALE PRICE: $250,000
SELLER: TBJ LLC
BUEYR: LAKEHOUSE INN HOLDINGS LLC
ACRES: 0.810
SQUARE FEET: 1,927 |
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| From the August issue of Indianola Living magazine | | | A ‘golden’ surprise
Lord’s ’49 Ford is the heart and soul of family.
By Becky Kolosik
Bob Lord has owned 40 cars in his lifetime. His list includes a number of Chevy and Ford cars and trucks, but also Dodge, Toyota, Nissan and even Porsche.
“I’m fortunate to have had each one come into my life,” he says. “Some were more special than others, and many had history, character and a story to tell.”
Lord’s interest in cars started as a young kid while helping his dad, a Methodist minister, work on them. When they moved from Oskaloosa to New Jersey, Lord remembers making that trip in the family’s black 1949 Ford.
[...] | | | READ MORE |
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FROM KCCI: Iowa's tornadoes break an all-time record. More tornadoes have hit the state in 2024 than any other year in recorded history. ...READ MORE
FROM WHO-TV: Bonobos and how The Ape Initiative is helping them. DES MOINES, Iowa — The Ape Initiative is expanding research and learning opportunities about Bonobos apes for students, scientists, and the community. There’s a place you’ll only find in Iowa .... READ MORE
FROM WOI-DT Local 5: Iowa State Fair names 2024's Best New Food. DES MOINES, Iowa — Get ready to roll out to the fairgrounds: The Bacon Cheeseburger Eggroll from Winn & Sara's Kitchen is officially the 2024 Iowa State Fair People's Choice Best New Food. ...READ MORE |
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ESPN: Mike Tyson 'ready' to fight Jake Paul following health scare. ...READ MORE
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED: Caitlin Clark Sets WNBA's Rookie Assist Record With Jaw-Dropping Dime ... READ MORE
CBS Sports: 2024 St. Jude Championship leaderboard, grades: Hideki Matsuyama survives back nine to win FedEx Cup opener. ...READ MORE |
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1909: First race is held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. ... READ MORE
2011: “West Memphis Three” released from prison after 18 years. On August 19, 2011, three men, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, who were convicted as teenagers in 1994 of the murders of three boys in Arkansas, are released from prison in a special legal deal allowing them to maintain their innocence while acknowledging that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to convict them. ... READ MORE
1812:.Old Ironsides earns its name. During the War of 1812, the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution defeats the British frigate Guerrière in a furious engagement off the coast of Nova Scotia. Witnesses claimed that the British shot merely bounced off the Constitution‘s sides, as if the ship were made of iron rather than wood. By the war’s end, “Old Ironsides” destroyed or captured seven more British ships. The success of the USS Constitution against the supposedly invincible Royal Navy provided a tremendous boost in morale for the young American republic. ... READ MORE
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| Birthdays and notables | | | Happy Birthday Shelli Pulley!
These celebrities were born on this date: John Stamos, Ethan Cutkosky, Lexi Jayde, Siena Agudong, Christina Perri, Melissa Fumero, Manny Jacinto, John Deacon, Nico Hulkenberg
SUBMIT: Send your birthday greetings and congratulatory notes to: tammy@iowalivingmagazines.com |
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The answer to yesterday's riddle:
What do you call an angry counsellor? A THERA-PISSED! - Mike Chiston, Gail Tomlinson, Kris Laurson. Or, a mad mentor! - Rex Post. Or, A "psycho"therapist! - Carolyn Rogers.
Today's riddle
What mug shots taken by the criminals themselves called?
Have a guess? Email tammy@iowalivingmagazines.com |
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To advertise in the Daily Umbrella or Winterset Living magazine, contact:
Kristine McDonald
Account Executive
Office: 515-953-4822 ext. 321
Mobile: C: 515-975-3543
kristine@iowalivingmagazines.com
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