Celebrating the ‘town too tough to die’

I’m the lucky one in the office: I get to cover all the water events at Pilger’s Q125 celebration this weekend.

So even though the heat will be scorching, I’ll be keeping cool near the kids’ water fights and duck races at the Pilger pool.

If you’re less inclined to get wet, there are lots of other activities on offer this weekend. A full list of events can be found on the Pilger page of this week’s News-Chronicle, or you can go to www.pilgerq125.com.

Pilger’s motto is “the town too tough to die,” and while it’s an apt description of the village today, it’s also a tribute to the pioneer spirit needed 125 years ago when it was established.

Over the past few months, I worked a weekly feature for the Q125 that detailed Pilger’s history. The accounts that resonated most with me were those of Pilger’s founding fathers and mothers, often told by their children.

Life wasn’t easy 125 years ago. Settlers new to Stanton County built rudimentary shelters and learned how to navigate life in a lonely prairie. Neighbors were few and far between, and medical assistance even sparser. One long-time Pilger resident told about when one of his siblings was bitten by a snake. Driving in an ambulance to a hospital emergency room was a reality that existed decades in the future, so the family relied on the expertise of a Native American who knew how to extract the venom and treat the wound.

Another local historian remembered how her mother got tired of walking over a mile to get water from the stream, so she got out the shovel and dug a well closer to the homestead. Considering this hardy woman probably had a houseful of children to feed, clothe and protect, it’s difficult to imagine summoning the energy to do it.

That’s why Pilger — and all other small, rural towns — have celebrations like the one this weekend, to commemorate the sacrifices of their founders and to remember the toughness it took to survive in the early days.

But it takes toughness to continue the existence of a town, and that’s also what Pilger will celebrate.

It’s tempting for outsiders to look at small towns and dismiss them as insignificant simply because their numbers are few. That’s a mistake, because so much pride beats in the hearts of those who love their communities. It’s evidenced by the amount of work and planning that goes into creating a Q125 event; I know the committee has been at work for at least a year.

And it’s not just during celebrations that you can see that early pioneer spirit at work. During village board meetings and Sunday church services, at adult swim at the pool and at the annual sweet corn feed, the residents of Pilger are actively supporting their community and keeping it going.

I’m from a Nebraska town so small, it makes Pilger look like a metropolis, so I know a thing or two about hometown pride.

Pilger isn’t my hometown, but I’ll help celebrate this weekend like it is.

I invite you to join me in the town too tough to die — happy birthday, Pilger.

On the Lighter Side

Published July 18, 2012

Thrifty Thursday - Mega Post

One of the things I love about second-hand shopping is that it can be a partially self-sustaining hobby. How, you may ask? Here's how I feed my habit: Consignment.

In my small rural corner of Nebraska, there are two excellent consignment stores I regularly frequent. I have accounts at both, and when I do a closet purge, I take in what has resale value. The split is something like 30% to me and 70% to the store. 

Granted, I never actually "make" money, but this way new-to-me clothes don't break the budget.

Here are some of our (Jim is developing his own thrifty sense!) recent finds:

This handbag is stamped "Kate Spade," but I have my doubts as to its authenticity. Regardless of if it's "real" or not, I love the color and sleek profile of it.

I'd been looking for some heeled sandals and these caught my eye. They are extremely comfortable, so I looked up the brand - BeautiFeel. It turns out similar shoes retail for $150-200 — and I got these for $7! 

I couldn't resist the feel of this scarf, and the colors are so pretty.

Pattern mixing is a thing now, I guess, and while I think the trend makes people look like a toddler dressed them, this isn't so bad. Would I go out in public like this? Likely not, but the skirt and shirt separately have lots of potential.

Now this is more my daily style: Boot-cut jeans (like new, Eddie Bauer - my favorite brand!), low-maintenance top and a toddler on my hip.

This necklace is NOT toddler-safe, but I'll be able to wear it at work without tiny fingers trying to grab it.

 

I saw these bright red cowboy boots and immediately put them in the cart. I don't think they've ever been worn and Evangeline LOVES them! I hope they still fit during football season - go Huskers!

Jim found a pair of nearly-new cargo shorts, and I picked up some books to keep me awake during 3 a.m. feedings.

Everything pictured here - two tops, a skirt, one pair of shorts, one pair of jeans, a pashmina, a pair of sandals, a pair of cowboy boots, two books, a handbag and a necklace - cost under $50. Considering my sandals alone originally cost at least twice that, I can live with that.

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Do you thrift, yard sale or consign? I'd love to hear about your favorite finds - leave a comment!

Not my first rodeo

For regular visitors, this is mostly a revision of what you've already read. I'm back at work at the newspaper and wanted to catch my newspaper readers up on the last six weeks or so.

Going back to work is fraught with emotion. Any working parent knows the cycle: You're excited to get back into the land of grown-ups, where adult conversation is abundant and you can go to the restroom unaccompanied. And yet part of you yearns to be with your babies, spending the day all snuggled up together. Even if you're fortunate enough to have excellent child care (which I do - thanks Maria!), you're still anxious about the hours you spend away from your Bunny and CuddleBug (insert your child's sure-to-be-embarrassing-when-she's-16 nickname here).

I have no deep thoughts on the nature of being a working mother, other than it's been my norm since Evangeline was eight weeks old. It's what I have to do, so it's what I do. And I'm thankful that I have a job that I do love — it makes it much easier to leave these sweet faces each morning.

I’m convinced both my daughters will grow up to be journalists: They already know how to keep a deadline. 

Let’s back up six weeks to May 29. The Tuesday after Memorial Day and alumni reunion activities is traditionally a busy issue for the newspaper, and naturally, it was also my due date.

If you recall, I spent the month of May in a state of anticipation, expecting the birth of our second child any day. I left little undone at work each night, convinced I wouldn’t be back in the morning. And as the weeks of May passed, I grew increasingly impatient.

So on Memorial Day, Jim decided we needed to take matters into our own hands. We loaded up Evangeline and left to seek out the bumpiest gravel roads we could. Unfortunately for us, the county roads department does an excellent job and the roads we found were smoother than highways we’ve driven on in other states (Missouri, I’m looking at you).

Regardless, by the time I went to bed on Monday night, I suspected things were starting to happen. On Tuesday morning, I knew labor had started, but since my contractions were mild and still infrequent, I decided to head into work.

There is nothing quite like putting a newspaper together to keep your mind off impending labor. I worked happily through the morning, and by the time we finished the issue around 2 p.m., I figured it was time to go home.

My mother and Jim tolerated my puttering around the house until 5 p.m., when they started to insist it was time to leave.

“We’re going to the hospital,” they said. “What you do is up to you.”

We got to the hospital shortly after 6, and Brielle was born at 8:23 p.m. So maybe I did cut it a bit close ...

Despite her somewhat aggressive prenatal nickname — Stormageddon — Brielle is a relaxed, easy baby. She loves to cuddle and any crying is done only to alert me that it’s time to eat. And I have high hopes that her recent six-hour stretches of sleep through the night will become a regular habit.

Evangeline is largely indifferent to her new baby sister, although she enjoys playing with Brielle’s “beet” (feet).

The biggest surprise to me is how easy it was to transition from parenting one child to two. Granted, there are now two sets of diapers to change and two sleep schedules to balance, but mostly, it’s all familiar territory.

And that’s nice, because now I can focus on the fun stuff — snuggling with my little ladies, planning future tea parties and shopping trips, discovering their distinct personalities and quirks.

Don’t get me wrong: I know having two children under the age of two is full of all kinds of crazy. But it’s a good kind of crazy, and I’m loving (almost) every minute of it.

It’s not my first rodeo, after all.

Outfit roundup

I'm really behind the curve, technology-wise, so this isn't new information, just new to me. With iPhone apps for Blogger, it's super easy to take photos and upload them to the blog. Granted, these aren't gorgeous, high-resolution photos, but they'll do the trick. 

Here are a couple of outfits I wore during the past week, spent mainly at my mother's house (hence the lack of posting). (And to add more parentheses, we had a wonderful, relaxing time out of town, celebrating the Fourth of July, my brother's 18th birthday and our 5th wedding anniversary.)

Black ruffled top - Clearance at Pamida

Black cardigan - Clearance at Pamida

Cream skirt - Local consignment store

Sandals - Local consignment store

Long pearl necklace worn as a bracelet - Premiere Design sale

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I'm not crazy about this next outfit. I've been reading some different blogs during Brielle's marathon nursing sessions, and using a belt for purposes other than holding up your pants is apparently a thing now. So I decided to try it, and here's what it looked like: 

Ruff Hewn asymmetrical T-shirt - Clearance at Herberger's

Maxi skirt - Clearance at Herberger's

Belt - From a sweater my sister handed down to me

Sunglasses - Payless

Sandals (not shown) - Gap via Goodwill

I felt uncomfortable with where the belt bisected my middle, so I nixed it and went with this:

Not the most glamorous outfit ever, but very comfortable and easy for chasing around Miss Evangeline!

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I wore this for the Fourth of July party at my grandmother's house. I ended up spending most of my time inside with Brielle, but I did get to enjoy part of a five-foot-wide pizza my uncles and cousins engineered. I wish I had a photo; it was impressive!

Green striped top - Local consignment store

White camisole - Yard sale

Black capris - Yard sale

Flats - Payless

Purse - Fossil, via local consignment

The top and capris are maternity clothes, which I should be sick of, but am not yet because they are so comfortable! (And if I hadn't pointed it out, you wouldn't have known they were maternity.)

Maternity pants = socially acceptable sweatpants. 

Cake mix cookies

I thought cravings would go away after pregnancy. 

I was wrong. (Nursing a cluster-feeding infant is exhausting and calorie-consuming!)

So, the other day I was craving something chocolaty and chewy, and decided to try out cake mix cookies. 

The verdict: Delicious and so easy!

Here's what you'll need:

Shur Fine should pay me for advertising! 

1 package of cake mix (any flavor)

1 egg

1/4 cup oil

1/4 water 

Optional: 1 cup coconut, chopped nuts, raisins (although, why???), chocolate chips or anything else you'd put with cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine cake mix mix, egg, oil and water and beat until blended. I added a little bit more water because it seemed too dry. Add any extra ingredients. 

I molded the dough into balls and put them on a cookie sheet. You could flatten them out with the bottom of a glass if you want flatter cookies, but I didn't make that effort. 

I baked the cookies for 13 minutes. They were soft and chewy, and the coconut was a tasty blend with the dark chocolate.

Jim said they look kind of gross, and admittedly they do, but still - yummy!

I got this recipe from www.cooks.com.