Celebration, History, and St. Louligans with Julie

After work Friday night (10 February), I drove to Julie's house. We had dinner and exchanged gifts. I gave Julie a small heart-shaped box of Russell Stover chocolates and a card for Valentine's Day. She enjoyed the sweets, my card, and the short love letter I included with the card. In turn, Julie gave me some flowers for Valentine's and a book for my birthday three days before. She gave me "Way Beyond the Blue: The Memoirs of Colonel Jackie Jackson, USMCR, Retired," as told to Laine Boyd. I look forward to reading this soon.

We sat on the couch to watch a very funny movie Julie streamed to her TV, the 1971 comedy "And Now for Something Completely Different," which starred the Monty Python troupe.

The next morning, after breakfast, I drove us to the Missouri History Museum. Julie and I browsed among several exhibits, including Coloring STL. That exhibit spotlighted architecture in the St. Louis area and we used colored markers to color within the lines on several large drawings of noted St. Louis buildings on the walls of the exhibit space. 

We also toured the exhibits "The 1904 World's Fair" and "Seeking St. Louis," then we shopped in the gift shop. Julie and I then went to get cash from an ATM in Richmond Heights and got lunch from a Starbucks in west St. Louis before heading to the Schlafly Tap Room in Downtown West.

There, we attended the St. Louligans Annual General Meeting. Julie and I drank Schlafly Beer and bought St. Louligans scarves while chatting with fellow soccer supporters. This meeting laid out our plans for the St. Louis CITY SC season that starts later this month. This included parties by Schlafly Tap Room before and after home matches. Help was requested in painting a tifo for the home opener and for other projects. I contributed some money to the tifo effort.

After the meeting, I drove Julie home and then drove home, arriving early last night.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

Russell Stover: Russell Stover Chocolates | RSC

Monty Python: Monty Python Official Site

Missouri History Museum: Missouri History Museum | Find Yourself Here. (mohistory.org)

Starbucks: Starbucks Coffee Company

Schlafly Tap Room: Tap Room Brewpub - Schlafly Beer

St. Louligans: Saint Louligans – Supporting Soccer in the St. Louis Area – St. Louligans – Supporting St. Louis Soccer (stlouligans.com)

St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)

A Weekend with Julie at Home, Grafton, and St. Charles

Late last Saturday afternoon (28 January), I drove to Julie's house in Florissant. We enjoyed a dinner she prepared that featured salmon. Julie and I saw a movie streamed to her TV, "Amsterdam." We thought it was quite good. After the movie, Julie and I saw an episode each of two Apple TV+ series: "Shrinking" and "Ted Lasso."

The next morning, I drove us to Grafton, Illinois. Julie and I toured the town's Visitor Center and Museum, then drove through Grafton. We stopped by the wharf to admire the Lighthouse and nearby scenery along the Mississippi River. Julie and I hoped to have seen some eagles, who are known to visit Grafton during the winter, but none were present during our visit. We had to settle for a few gulls perched on a log floating on the river.

 

Julie and I then drove to historic Main Street in St. Charles, where we browsed among the shops and restaurants for some time. We each enjoyed an ice cream cone at Kilwins before walking down the street to visit several shops. Julie did some shopping for relatives having birthdays in the coming weeks. It was cold that afternoon, so a stop for coffee and pastry at Picasso's Coffee House was most welcome.

Both of us returned to Julie's house where we parted for now. More to come between us in the coming weeks.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

Apple TV+: TV & Home - Apple

Grafton, Illinois: Visitor's Guide to Grafton, Illinois — greatriverroad.com

St. Charles, Missouri: Saint Charles, MO| Events, Historic Downtown & Shopping (discoverstcharles.com)

Kilwins: Kilwins St. Charles-MO | Kilwins

Picasso's Coffee House: Picasso's Coffee (picassoscoffeehouse.com)

MPC, Missouri History Museum, and Time with Julie

Yesterday morning (21 January), I drove to the St. Louis Artists' Guild for the Missouri Professional Communicators (MPC) meeting. Writer and illustrator Lynnette Schuepbach spoke about "How to Refill Your Creative Tank." This was about finding creative freedom when you are dealing with creative block in your writing. Schuepbach spoke about factors in both creative block and creative freedom and lead exercises by the audience (both in person and via Zoom). 

In one such exercise, the in-person attendees were divided into groups of three and each group was given a sentence by Schuepbach. The group members had four minutes for each person in that group to add a sentence to that previous one to create a short story. The program was most interesting and should help me out in my creative writing endeavors.

After the meeting, I was able to get Deborah Reinhardt, co-president of MPC, to sign my copy of her recently published book "St. Louis Coffee: A Stimulating History." My brother Rick edited the book at The History Press. 

Speaking of coffee, I stopped by Kaldi's Coffee in Kirkwood on my way home from the meeting. I had a Gibraltar with a lemon raspberry scone before returning home for lunch with my mom.

Sometime after lunch, I drove to Julie's house. First, I took her to a post office for her to purchase stamps and put Christmas cards in the mail. Then, I drove us to the Missouri History Museum. Their exhibit "St. Louis Sound" was in the final weekend. Julie and I toured the exhibit, which traced the history of pop music in this area from the late 19th century until the present. It was fascinating seeing the story of the music and the personalities, venues, and media involved, ranging from Scott Joplin's ragtime to Nelly's rap. Julie and I shopped in the gift shop before we returned to her house for dinner. 

After eating, we saw the movie "Hidden Figures" that was streamed on Julie's TV. This was the first time I had seen it and I was impressed. We then called it a night.

This morning, Julie and I had breakfast before watching some episodes of "Ted Lasso" and a soccer match from yesterday. Julie's son Dave came by in mid-afternoon, along with his wife Barbe and daughter Little Bird. Dave took out the old sink and faucet in Julie's kitchen before installing a new sink and faucet. Barbe and Little Bird watching "PAW Patrol" on TV with Julie and I. 

After Dave, Barbe, and Little Bird left late this afternoon, it was time for me to take my leave. Julie and I hugged and kissed each other and we promised to keep in touch before meeting up again next weekend.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

St. Louis Artists' Guild: St. Louis Artists' Guild (stlouisartistsguild.org)

Missouri Professional Communicators: Missouri NFPW affiliate | Missouri Professional Communicators | Clayton (moprocommunicators.org)

Lynnette Schuepbach: Books * Art * Poetry – by Lynnette Schuepbach (kidsdoread.com)

The History Press: The History Press (arcadiapublishing.com)

Kaldi's Coffee: Kaldi’s Coffee - Specialty Coffee Roaster, St. Louis, MO – Kaldi's Coffee (kaldiscoffee.com)

Missouri History Museum: Missouri History Museum | Find Yourself Here. (mohistory.org)

Christmas 2022: Very Cold and Warm

I bundled up for work Friday morning (23 December) for a very good reason. The temperature when I left for work was -5 F (-20 C), with the wind chill of -25 F (-32 C). It was a challenge to stay warm while cleaning the interiors of our branch's vehicles. (It was too cold to wash the outside, apart from brushing snow from windows and lights.) The cold was accompanied by some snow. There was approximately 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) on the ground Friday morning. Fortunately, it was dry snow, which was easy to brush or shovel away. My Enterprise colleagues and I persevered despite the cold and serviced our customers, including many who were traveling to see family for Christmas.

After work Friday night, I drove up to Julie's house. We had a light dinner before exchanging Christmas gifts. I gave her a St. Louis CITY SC hoodie, plus passed along a card from my mom with a gift card included. Julie greatly appreciated both items. She gave me a neck warmer (charged up using a USB connection) and two items of St. Louis CITY SC apparel: a long-sleeved t-shirt and lounge pants. They are all very nice. After watching a bit of TV, we snuggled up for a winter's sleep.

Waking up the next morning, Julie and I had breakfast and then sat around and talked for awhile. We had lunch at midday before watching more episodes of Ted Lasso on TV. At mid-afternoon, Julie's son Dave arrived with his wife Barbe and their daughter. They came to pick up Julie for some Holiday fun, so this was my cue to go home.

Mom and I had a nice dinner at home and watched some TV before turning in for the night. We woke up this morning and had breakfast before checking out our Christmas gifts under the tree.

I bought Mom a pair of slippers she wanted to replace the worn slippers she has had for some time. She greatly appreciated my gift. We both received books my brother Rick sent from his employer, Arcadia Publishing/The History Press. Mom got one book and I got six, all of which should make for great reading. Rick also sent me an Amazon gift certificate via email. My brother Doug also sent me an Amazon gift certificate. I was on Santa's good side, as he also brought me a 2022-23 Ted Lasso calendar.

Mom and I relaxed around the house today, including phone calls and video chats with my brothers and her brother. Otherwise, we watched TV programs.

I am back at work tomorrow morning. It should be a bit easier to work with as it will get a bit warmer this week.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in This Post:

Enterprise Rent-a-Car: Rental Cars at Low, Affordable Rates | Enterprise Rent-A-Car

St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)

The History Press: The History Press (arcadiapublishing.com)

Amazon: Amazon.com. Spend less. Smile more.

A Weekend with Julie: Dinner, Concert, World Cup Final

Yesterday afternoon (17 December), I drove to Julie's house in Florissant. We then headed to south St. Louis for dinner with Julie's son Dave and Dave's wife Barbe. Originally, we were to have dined at Menya Rui, a Ramen restaurant; however, we arrived to find a long line to get in. We then decided to have dinner at Noodles & Company in Hampton Village Shopping Center. We had a wonderful dinner with conversation.

After dinner, Julie and I said goodbye to Dave and Barbe before we headed to the 560 Music Center in University City. This venue hosted On This Shining Night, a concert of Holiday season music performed by BandTogether, a volunteer music organization in Metro St. Louis of LGBT+ performers. After a pre-show performance by BandTogether's Colorguard in the Pillsbury Theater, we walked to the Auditorium for the concert. Selections ranged from Ukrainian Bell Carol, to Dreidel Dance, to music from the movie Home Alone and the TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas, to Auld Lang Syne.

It was a most enjoyable concert witnessed by a large crowd in the Auditorium. After the show, I briefly said hello and thanks to one of BandTogether's tuba players, Harald Boerstler, who I know from volunteering at Circus Flora. I introduced Julie to Harald before we left the 560 Music Center to head back to Julie's house.

This morning, we had breakfast at home before watching the FIFA World Cup Final on TV. Julie found the match on Peacock, with Spanish language commentary, but we had no problem following the action between Argentina and France. 

We witnessed a match for the ages, as Argentina took a 2-0 lead, the France scored twice to level the match and send it to Extra Time. The teams traded goals in Extra Time, which ended drawn at 3 each. Argentina prevailed in the Penalty Shoot Out, 4-2, to win its third World Championship--the first for Lionel Messi, who scored twice in the match and had one of the shootout goals. France's Kylian Mbappe had a hat trick--only the second in a World Cup Final--and had a shootout goal. What a match. Julie was disappointed; she pulled for France. I was happy that Argentina won.

After the match, we printed off some photos that were taken of us two weeks before. These pictures were taken at Zenhorse, an equine therapy facility in Marthasville, Missouri run by my friend Kit Maxwell. She invited Julie and I for photos with Santa Claus (played by Kit's husband) and Mrs. Clause (Kit). Michelle Huelsman of Unbridled Focus did a great job taking the pictures that day. Julie and I each got two pictures printed off for our Christmas albums. (I had brought photo paper and printer ink Julie requested to her house yesterday afternoon.)

Julie and I stopped by a Starbucks for lunch before driving to South County Center. We met with Dave and Barbe, who brought their young daughter to the Santa photo booth. They invited Julie and I to join in the photo, and we did. I then dropped Julie back off at her home, with plans to meet again this coming weekend for Christmas, before going home.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in This Post:

Noodles & Company: Noodles & Company | Classic Favorites with A Goodness Guarantee

560 Music Center: Welcome to the 560 Music Center | 560 Music Center | Washington University in St. Louis (wustl.edu)

BandTogether: BandTogether | St. Louis' LGBT+ Band and Colorguard since 1997 (bandtogetherstl.com)

FIFA World Cup: FIFA+

Zenhorse: Home | Zenhorse

Unbridled Focus: Unbridled Focus (mypixieset.com)

South County Center: South County Center | St. Louis MO (shopsouthcountycenter.com)

 

Cold Night and Cold Day for Soccer

Last Wednesday (16 November), I drove to downtown St. Louis. After parking at the Schlafly Tap Room, I walked to Lou Fusz Plaza at CITYPARK, the home ground for St. Louis CITY SC.

I picked up my replica CITY home jersey, which I had preordered two days before, then walked to the street in front of the Schlafly Tap Room. The supporter groups--St. Louligans, St. Louis City Punks, The Thieves, Fleur de Noise, No Nap City Ultras, and STL Santos--were holding a tailgate party. I had a beer from Schlafly (Park Lager) and hung out with them. I also made donations--via the St. Louligans raffle and donation box--to Heat Up St. Louis, which helps low-income residents with their heating bills.

One hour before the 7:00 pm kickoff, we marched from the Schlafly Tap Room into CITYPARK. I carried Ghana's flag into the stadium; other marchers carried other flags and banners. After entering CITYPARK, we made our way to the Supporter Section in the North End and took in the scene.

In CITYPARK's inaugural match, St. Louis CITY 2--the club's developmental team--played German Bundesliga side Bayer 04 Leverkusen. CITY 2 looks well in playing Bayer 04, but the German team proved too much and they ran out 3-0 winners. Still, being able to see such a match in this new stadium and with a full house mattered more than the scoreline. All this despite the freezing weather.

After the match, I walked back to my car and drove home. The next night, I modeled my replica CITY jersey. I think it looks great.

This afternoon, I was at World Wide Technology Soccer Park to referee matches on the last day of the SLYSA Fall Season. My crew worked three matches on Field 1 under freezing conditions. After running line on an under-15 girls match, I was in the middle for another under-15 girls match. That was a thriller, with the teams trading the lead, and the final goal in a 3-2 result coming 7 minutes before full time. Then, I ran line on an under-13 boys match. All three matches today went well with no controversy.

I caught the first half of the Qatar vs. Ecuador match that opened the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. The tournament continues tomorrow with three matches, including USA vs. Wales. I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN! U-S-A!

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in This Post:

CITYPARK: CITYPARK | St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)

St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)

Schlafly Tap Room: Tap Room Brewpub - Schlafly Beer

St. Louligans: Saint Louligans – Supporting Soccer in the St. Louis Area – St. Louligans – Supporting St. Louis Soccer (stlouligans.com)

St. Louis City Punks: SLCP Home (slcitypunks.com)

The Thieves: Home | Up the Thieves! (stlouligans.com)

Fleur de Noise: Fleur De Noise

No Nap City Ultras: NO NAP CITY ULTRAS

STL Santos: (4) STL Santos | St. Louis MO | Facebook

Heat Up St. Louis: Heat Up St. Louis – Give the Gift of Warmth (heatupstlouis.org)

St. Louis CITY 2: STL CITY 2 | St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)

Bayer 04 Leverkusen: Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH | bayer04.de

Bundesliga: Bundesliga | official website

SLYSA: Home - St Louis Youth Soccer (slysa.org)

FIFA World Cup: FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™

 

  

To Wichita and Back for TrailCon 2022

Before dawn yesterday (15 October), I left home to begin driving to Wichita, Kansas. I was heading to Midway Baptist Church, the site of TrailCon, the annual model contest and swap meet held by the Chisholm Trail Scale Modelers Chapter of IPMS/USA.

After a trip of some 6 and 1/2 hours, counting stops for fuel and refreshment, I arrived at the show site. I brought two models to enter in the contest, a 1:72 155mm M1 Gun and a 1:720 battleship USS Alabama. After placing my models in the contest area, I began to make the rounds of meeting people I know and seeing the other contest entries and vendors. Yours truly was the only IPMS/Gateway member to attend this show. I also went in my capacity as IPMS/USA Region 14 Coordinator.

At midday, I joined with other contest judges for a pizza lunch and briefing. I then joined two others in judging the aircraft entries. There were a few categories with no entries or only one entry, but those with several entries each were scrutinized for how well they were built. After carefully looking over these entries and questioning each other, our team agreed on the category award winners.

After our team judged the aircraft categories, we joined with other judges to determine the Best of awards in aircraft and the other major awards. Once that was all done, those awards were announced to end the show. Category awards were placed with the winning models.

Both of my entries were the sole entries in their respective categories and thus received First Place awards. My M1 won in Armor: Towed Weapons and Missiles, while the USS Alabama won in Ships: Surface Vessels 1/401 and Smaller.

After packing my models and awards and saying my goodbyes, I got back in my car and started the long drive home. This included a stop along the way for fuel and dinner and another for refreshment. I listened on the 101 ESPN app on my phone to the St. Louis Blues game, their season opener at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blues won, 5-2.

Late last night, I arrived home after an 897-mile (1443.6 km) round trip--tired, but happy.

IPMS/Gateway meets this Tuesday night at 7:00 pm at Affton Elks Lodge 2635.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in This Post:

IPMS/Chisholm Trail Scale Modelers: (1) Chisholm Trail Scale Modelers | Facebook

Midway Baptist Church: Midway Baptist Church | HOME (midwaywichita.com)

IPMS/Gateway: IPMS Gateway Chapter (google.com)

IPMS/USA Region 14: Region 14 - Mid Central | IPMS/USA Calendar (ipmsusa3.org)

101 ESPN: 101 ESPN - Sports Talk for St. Louis

St. Louis Blues: Official St. Louis Blues Website | NHL.com