I received a birthday card from my friend Lee from Wisconsin the other day. It made me laugh, for three reasons.

First, the message was quite funny. The cover read, “Everyone gets to be young once.” And the inside said, “Your turn’s over.”

Second, she repurposed it. Yes, she sent me a birthday card that someone else sent her, and she didn’t even try to hide it. She simply put a big X through the message that was meant for her, and she even admitted to the repurposing in her note to me.

Third, she sent me a $2 bill. Lee is a reader of the Daily Umbrella and remembered a past column on my favorite currency. I think the bill is even real.

Back to point No. 2. Repurposing birthday cards makes great sense to me. Why not? With cards priced as much as $10 now, it seems logical and sensible to get more than 30 seconds of satisfaction out of them. And if they are really funny, like the one Lee sent, it makes the pass-along even better.

My wife decided a few decades ago that she would start creating her own personalized cards rather than making Hallmark memories. She became quite good at it with her little stamps and stickers and glitter and corn husks. OK, maybe not corn husks. Maybe. But she did put a lot of stuff and time and effort into her cards. Still does.

I, on the other hand, continue to opt for the store-bought versions. Admittedly, I typically go for the cheaper versions. I often joke that I spend hours looking for just the right card. Those who know me realize I spend more time searching for the envelope than picking out the card. I was never very good at those matching games. My sock drawer proves it.

Meanwhile, those card-buying days are over. I am following Lee’s lead now, and I am saving my cards to repurpose them later.

Everyone gets to be cheap once. And it’s my turn.

Have a wonderful Wednesday, and thanks for reading.

Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305
www.thedailyumbrella.com

View Shane Goodman's archived columns from past issues here.

CITYVIEW announced its 2023 Best Of Des Moines® readers' choices Jan. 31. You can find all the results from the poll in the February issue of CITYVIEW magazine!

Best local dance club

1. PLATFORM

2. The Garden Restaurant and Show Lounge

3. Denny Arthur’s

SEE BEST OF DES MOINES® EVENT PHOTOS HERE...

Carolyn’s hobby: Greenbelt goats

From tax lawyer to volunteer

By Rich Wicks

In retirement, people often choose to do something quite different from what they did for a career, and that’s certainly true of Carolyn Kolks. After making a career as a tax lawyer, Kolks has chosen to volunteer for the City of Clive — specifically, helping to care for the “Greenbelt goats” the City uses to control vegetation in the greenbelt.

The City began the program around 2017, and Kolks has been helping out for the past three years. The City maintains a herd of roughly 20 to 25 goats, and Kolks says currently 14 are “at work” on the Greenbelt.
“During the season, right now between spring and late fall, they’re along the Greenbelt Trail, to eat the invasive species, like honeysuckle,” Kolks says.

The City staff works with the goats Mondays through Saturdays, but volunteers are used on Sundays to check on the goats, make sure they are healthy, have enough water and that the fencing is intact where the goats are enclosed.

Read more in the July issue of Clive Livingmagazine 

Happy Birthday Angela Ossian and Shane Goodman!

These celebrities were born on this date: Madonna, Steve Carell, Angela Bassett, James Cameron, Timothy Hutton, Kathie Lee Gifford, Vanessa Carlton, Cristin Milioti, Bob Balaban, Cameron Monaghan, Rumer Willis, Jeff Perry, Laura Innes, Lesley Ann Warren, James "J.T." Taylor

SUBMIT: Send your birthday greetings and congratulatory notes to: tammy@iowalivingmagazines.com

The answer to yesterday's riddle:
Why should you never go to a cheap eye surgeon? THEY CUT CORNEAS (CORNERS)! Thanks for sending in answers Gail Tomlinson, Rex Post and Carolyn Rogers

Today's riddle

What happened when the astronaut broke the law of gravity?

Have a guess? Email tammy@iowalivingmagazines.com

To advertise in this daily newsletter, contact Jolene Goodman at jolene@iowalivingmagazines.com, or call 515-953-4822 ext. 319.

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