Former first lady Laura Bush spoke before the Economic Club of Southwest Michigan on Tuesday night at Lake Michigan College, where former president George W. Bush spoke last May.

When he spoke, protesters stood outside. On Tuesday, not a protester in sight.

The former first lady spoke before more than 2,500 people. She joked about her time in the White House and spoke about her new life in Dallas.

Conflict abroad is no longer an excuse for George Bush to leave wet towels or dirty socks on the floor, she said to laughter.

She said her husband rides his bike around their neighborhood and introduces himself to neighbors.

She and her husband are busty working on the George W. Bush Presidential Center and the library at Southern Methodist University. Laura Bush said she’s also been busy writing her memoir, which comes out this spring.

Other notes from her speech:

On September 11, she and her husband were holed up in a bunker deep under the White House. She said, during a question and answer period, that her hero is her husband.

She also said that the negative op-ed pieces, the comedy sketches and other negative media portrayals bothered her during their eight years in the White House. But, she says, she didn’t let them get to her.