So, where did you go to school?

While on Facebook a couple of weeks ago I came across a posting by a college professor who is conducting a study on the impact of the high school question on non-St. Louisans. She is looking for St. Louis residents who were not born and raised here to answer some questions. I immediately posted a response on her Facebook status as I have many things I would love to tell her about my experiences. When we moved to St. Louis Jim and I were starting a whole new life - newly married, new jobs, new home, new city...all the major stress points in life except a death in the family. At a party we were asked where we went to school, and we replied, "Iowa State". After getting a blank stare, the guy said, "No, where did you go to high school?" When I answered, "Hoover High", the guy literally turned around and walked away. That was just our first experience with the St. Louis obsession about where you went to high school. Unfortunately it was not our last.

A few days after I posted I received a phone call from a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter, wanting to know if I would talk to her about my experiences. We had quite a chat, and I was candid about how it made us feel being new professionals to the St. Louis area. I never really thought that we would stay here more than a few years. But here we are 33 years later. The article by the reporter made the front page of the Post-Dispatch on February 7th. I made the first line of the article. It was a pretty interesting piece, and it has generated a LOT of conversation both on the stltoday.com website and on Facebook. People have very strong feelings about the question, both positive and negative. As I said, I don't object to anyone asking me the question - I object to the way I am treated after I answer it. If you decide after talking to me for a bit that I am not interesting and not worth your time, fine. But to dismiss me simply because I did not graduate from high school here? To me that is pretty shallow and narrow-minded. But perhaps that tells me that I don't want to waste my time getting to know you either. At any rate, the study should be interesting. I have already answered the first set of questions and have volunteered to be interviewed further. If you live here but are not from here and want to participate, let me know. I'll forward the survey to you.

I'll leave my best quotable quote with you - the one that did not end up in the newspaper. When the reporter asked me when things changed for my husband and me here, I told her after we started our family. Then people were more interested in where my kids were going to preschool than where I went to high school.

Heart Day

Jim and I usually do not do anything special for Valentine's Day, but I decided I was going to make the triple chocolate cupcakes that my cousin brought to the family reunion in Cincinnati this summer. She recently sent me the recipe, and it seemed fitting to make them today. You can never have too much chocolate in my opinion. The recipe was easy to follow, and I topped the cupcakes with the buttercream frosting recipe that she included. Oh my! The cupcakes are pretty amazing! I didn't even think about the fact that I would have 24 cupcakes - well, 22 now. I think I will send some of them to the office with Jim tomorrow. It probably would be nice to take a few to my hair stylist as well since he doesn't have a woman to bake for him. I want to save one for Katie, but I am not sure how good it will be by Saturday when she gets home from LA.

On another note, we just learned that the party hearty neighbors now have the idea to put a driveway in front of their house. Since our group of 9 houses is on a private alley, most of us do not have driveways. The garages are in the back, and that is part of the charm of the area. Consequently the front yards are very pretty with no concrete or asphalt blemishing the landscape. Apparently he intends to add two bays to his garage in the back, and then put on a new front porch with rooms above it. I guess the drive would come up to the new porch. It sounds like he is planning on putting it on the south side of their yard, which is good for us since we are to the north of him. He told the neighbor on the other side that city hall has already given him approval for the drive. I find this very hard to believe. First of all, we are in a national historic district, so pretty much anything you want to do has to go before a public hearing. Since a sign goes in your front yard announcing said hearing, I know we didn't miss it. Second, our city is very reluctant to give out new curb cuts, which he would need since there is no existing driveway. What is really sad is that one specimen tree (at least) would have to come down for him to do the driveway. Since Webster Groves is a designated Tree City USA, it is hard to get permission to remove living trees. So I am trying not to get too worked up about any of this yet. Things usually don't move too quickly at city hall. I just wish these people who want to live in houses that look like Chesterfield would just move to Chesterfield. Quit trying to make Webster Groves into something it is not - and doesn't wish to become.

The Diamond Anniversary

This weekend we celebrated my mother and father-in-law's 60th wedding anniversary up in Charles City, Iowa. The actual anniversary is the 18th of this month, but there were conflicts next weekend. We attended 4:30 Mass at their church, and their priest was to offer a special blessing for them. This was the weekend that the Catholic Church celebrated all marriages, so that was a happy coincidence. As it turned out, their priest had a pacemaker put in so he was unable to officiate. A visiting priest stepped in to cover Mass. Before the service began, he approached a couple in the front pew and asked if they were the Woltermans. He must have wondered how they had lasted 60 years because there was a four foot space in between the two of them! We motioned to Father that the couple he was looking for was in the third pew. He explained that he would offer a blessing after communion.

It was really great when all the parishioners broke into applause as he asked them to step forward. What an accomplishment! After we finished with Mass we went to a restaurant in New Hampton for supper. Unfortunately they were understaffed both in number of employees as well as employee capabilities. The service was slow, only two meals came out and the rest followed probably 15 minutes later. My father-in-law didn't get what he ordered and several side dishes were incorrect. On top of that the food was only so-so. Very disappointing for such a special occasion. But it was nice to have all of us together for the weekend, even though our children were not able to attend. It takes a lot of living and loving to get to 60 years.