The verdict on Jefferson: still on our list!

Isn't it nice when you are pleasantly surprised by something you were afraid might not turn out so well? We left DSM at 10:30 AM today for our Mother's Day road trip to Jefferson. Shawn and the boys allowed me to sleep in until 9 and then made me a delicious breakfast of pumpkin scones, prosciutto omelet cups (delicious -- Shawn is a hell of a cook when he puts his mind to it) and gave me my Mother's Day presents -- an antique flower crock (to replace the one Bo smashed a couple months ago during a tantrum) and a new flower vase for my office.

It was a sunny, beautiful drive. Both boys were happy and content, which is rare. We listened to the Dixie Chicks and all sang along to Goodbye, Earl. Mazy calls it the blacked eye pea song. He always has many questions for me -- why did they peas kill him? why did the girls want him dead? did he really go to the lake for a picnic? why didn't anyone miss him? Poor Mazy, it's a hard song to understand when you're a kid.

Anyway, as soon as we hit Jefferson's city limits I looked for a brown sign to point us in the direction of a city park where we could run around, stretch our legs and let the boys blow off some steam.

We quickly found a nice one where the Jefferson city swimming pool is located. There were two preteen girls there, but no one else. We had fun on the swings, the monkey bars and the big slides. After a half-hour everyone was getting hungry so we decided to find some food. There were a lot of local restaurants -- at least six that I saw. They were all packed, which I took to be a good sign. And it was Mother's Day of course. So we decided to dine at the ever-popular Dairy Queen. (the blizzard is 25 years old this year, if you've missed the commercials) You can't go wrong with an ice cream cone for dessert.

We drove around for another 20 minutes and were very impressed with the beautiful houses, well-kept lawns and generally very clean and tidy neighborhoods. The south side of town is particularly nice as is the west. We did not have directions to our acreage, so we did not get to inspect it more closely.

As we left town, I asked everyone for a pro and a con about Jefferson. Here's the list:

Pros:
1. Good park (Mazy)
2. Nice rural setting (Shawn)
3. Beautiful neighborhoods, affordable houses (Keesia)
4. Sucker (Shawn bought Bo a sucker for dessert from one of the two Casey's stores in town)

Cons:
1. Couldn't find Subway restaurant (Mazy -- he really wanted to eat there)
2. Not much retail (Shawn)
3. Patrons at DQ were kind of rednecky, and overall I got a sense of a very conservative culture (Keesia)

Shawn also kept notes on a couple of companies we saw: West Central/Soy Chlor, Microsoy, Syngenta and American Athletic, Inc. that might be job possibilities. And two new real estate sites we need to check out: Polking Realty and Peckumn Real Estate.

We drove home through Panora and stopped at the farm for afternoon naps for all. Dad was in the field, and Mom didn't mind the surprise company. The boys slept for three hours, me for 1.5 and Shawn for about 1. Then we took the boys to Crazy Sharon's house so they could ride in the tractor with Grandpa as he was planting the field south of her house. Grandpa Keith dropped by and we all visited on Sharon's deck. I just love her house. I always have. It is one of the most tranquil settings in my life -- whenever I need to calm myself and think of a peaceful, relaxing place, I imagine floating on an inner tube at Gerald's Pond, the wind blowing the silverleaf maple trees, dragonflys buzzing around, the sun shining on my face. It's heaven over there.

Mom made us an excellent supper: BBQ chicken and shrimp on the grill, rice pilaf with fresh green onions, corn on the cob, baked beans and German chocolate cake for dessert. I felt bad she had to cook on Mother's Day, but I made sure to clean up before we left. Thanks for a great afternoon, Mom!

It was a perfect Mother's Day!

Mother's Day Weekend

For the first time in six years, we've missed my favorite Mother's Day tradition -- the downtown DSM farmers market. It's only about 40 degrees out and windy and cloudy. I will miss the photo opp more than anything, but will be sure to do something tomorrow that is worthy of a Mother's Day scrapbook page. I think Shawn has been talked into driving to Jefferson, so perhaps we'll take some photos of me and the boys at the Bell Tower.

Happy Mother's Day to all, and especially to my mom! This is also the first year we're not having Mother's Day Sunday lunch at Mom's house -- we did it last weekend instead. But I am looking forward to the day and know I will enjoy it no matter what.

Today's picture is of me and Mom drinking wine at sunset while on our Door County vacation last fall. It was wonderful. We had so much fun. When I think of my mom, I think of blue jeans, bottles of Corona with lime, lawn chairs, good books, laughter and delicious food. She's the best. I look forward to drinking many, many more bottles of wine and beer with her!

My goal for tomorrow's trip to Jefferson is to check out the downtown area, possibly find some of the houses for sale and take a closer look at them, and just get a feel for the people and culture. I hope the weather cooperates with us. I'd like to find a park for the boys to run around in and maybe have a picnic.

Update: Dina no longer needs a reference letter so I can skip that step. I think that brings me to Step 4: Visit Jefferson, make a list of five pros and five cons.

And since I mentioned Door County, I would be remiss not to mention my dear, dear friend Jane. I talked to her on the phone last night and told her of my plans. She was very excited for me. Incidentally, this new life plan started because of a conversation with Jane. She is a true kindred spirit. Thanks for everything, Jane! I miss you!

Step 2: finished -- resume updated and sent

Well, not to toot my own horn, but damn, I have a hell of a resume after working at Iowa's largest marketing and branding agency for four years.

I decided a new life called for a new resume. So I started from scratch last night and added fancy things that I didn't have on it before: overarching statement of skills, accomplishments, other talents/abilities, interests/activities. It's looking good!

I proofed it several times and emailed it to my contact at the Midwest Partnership. Here's my dream career: full-time job with a local (preferably sustainable ag or renewable energy) organization who could use me for PR, communications, marketing, etc. and part-time work with local farmers and groups who need PR help. I would love to barter with them for work -- I just think it would be fun to work with them! So once I am established, look out Western Iowa farmers and cute little shops, I'm coming to find you!

I'm in between proofreading jobs at work and taking a short break. I am hoping to get out of here at 3:30 today to get the boys and head to Nevada. Also, I am trying to talk Shawn into driving to Jefferson on Sunday as part of my Mother's Day present. I would love to look around downtown, checkout the schools and just see how it fits us. We'll see if I convince him...

One more thing, if you are interested in the real estate scene in Jefferson, now you can check it out. Look for my acreage with the country store! Yes, I like to think of it as mine now. I have come up with so many things to do with it already!

Uncle Bob -- would you come help me create my very own summer jam kitchen in it? Wouldn't that be fantastic. And then I could have quilting and scrapbooking retreats in it. And have jam classes using all the delicious fruits from my acreage. Oh the possibilities!

Welcome to ... Jefferson??

When I get excited about something, I tend to get a little overzealous. Thank goodness for Shawn, who tries to slow me down and be more methodical about giant life changes such as the one I have suggested.

But, that said, I totally found an acreage for us!! Shawn suggested the Jefferson area for our future home earlier today -- it's not too far from Nevada where his parents are, it's not too far from Panora where my parents are.

Trivia fact: I was born in Jefferson, Iowa, during a blizzard. Remember that for my biography one day.

Anyway, tonight I decided to do a little dreaming and did a property search of Jefferson. Incidentally, of the 29 properties listed, only two were out of our price range! Whoohoo! Awesome! Of course, that's based on our current salaries and not our new and exciting, yet-to-be determined careers. But still, exciting.

So the third listing was for a cute little white house that said: imagine yourself in the country. Of course I perked up at that. It is awesome!!! A little three-acre home that comes with its very own general store! Can you believe it! Can you imagine the possibilities of having a bonafide old-timey general store on your property! I immediately thought of turning it into Shawn's ultimate gaming center, or my ultimate crafting studio, or an antique/junk store for Shawn to run on the weekends, or a freelance writing studio for me, or a year-round Haunted House!

Plus, this property comes with a chicken coop, a play house, a shed, a three-car garage, two grain bins and of course, a house! And they have raspberries, rhubarb, peach tree, apple trees, grapes, asparagus and rhubarb. Oh, I am in heaven!

But, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. I need to start working on my resume and get it sent out tonight. But isn't it great that a place like this exists -- if this house is out there and affordable, others will be too!