greenbelt park, clive

 in the afternoon was the graduation party i was invited to, at greenbelt park in Clive. it was my cousin's daughter that was the guest of honor, and the first time i had seen my cousin in eight years. i also saw my two siblings, and my dad, as well. the siblings arrived after i did. my brother spoke some of his line of work, at FedEx, and it sounded familiar since i overnight checks at the bank but with a different courier. the graduate was at Des Moines Christian, a small school i knew very little about, but plans to study biochemistry at drake university, also in Des Moines. in the mid-morning i started the drive from my hotel, after watching the local news, to the cracker barrel in Clive. i found the two items i was looking for, it was a patriotic snoopy towel, and an america-250 shirt. then i saw my niece at the dairy queen in Waukee. i did have some ice cream there near the end of the visit. it was the first time seeing the second daughter, who is not quite a year old just yet. the first daughter seemed to enjoy the three gifts i brought her. she fell and hurt her elbow, but i think she will be all right. my niece said i would be tagged in photos on Facebook from this visit. it was midday by then and i spoke of wanting to eat at a maid-rite sandwich shop, loose meat sandwiches, they don't have that in the twin cities. i found one at merle hay mall, although it was tough to see how half of the storefronts in the food court were empty. i know the mall has lost some anchor stores, the opening of Jordan Creek mall didn't help. but i know this one is doing better than two others in the area. Southridge is now a mall in name only, and valley west sank into bankruptcy and might get demolished. after my cousin's event, i did a quick tour of my hometown of newton. i got a pic of Emerson Hough school, then had a meat loaf meal at the Hy-Vee. in the evening i was back at my hotel for a little bit, and there was an interview with the president on one channel. then i had the urge to get moving again and went to sing at a karaoke bar near a mall. i sang 'the door' by teddy swims, it resonates with me as i know what it is like to say that i have had enough. and it sounds like my niece did too and based on what she said about her mom then i don't blame her at all for doing so.