Old Times, New Times, Better Times

By way of "old times," the picture here is from the Sacramento State Reunion I attended a few weeks ago. From left to right are my college roommate, Joan, one of my two (not at the same time) college sweethearts, Ron H., me and our friend - and local "celeb" - Dann Shivley who works for KCRA Channel 3 in the Sacramento area. A great time was had by all at the reunion. As I look at this picture, I am struck by two things: first, time has passed so quickly (it has been 40 years since we were at Sac State) and second, the wonderful times we had and friendships we shared still matter after this long period of time. I was terribly distracted at the reunion because of Merlin's health crisis, so I didn't spend as much time talking with everyone as I would have liked, but it was great finding out what folks have been doing with their lives.

On the "new times" front, Dear Husband and I just returned from Ashland, OR where we saw "Macbeth" and "The Music Man." We both agreed that we are getting weary of Shakespeare performed in non-period costumes (what's up with the unidentifiable military uniforms that are passing for costumes?), but "The Music Man" was beyond words, over-the-top fantastic - as good as anything in the Big Apple, London, Chicago, San Francisco, LA. Really quite extraordinary. This musical was a real departure for the OSF, but the audience loved the performance and people left the theater humming the tunes, tapping their toes, and feeling ever-so-good. We had planned to come home tomorrow, but returned today instead, which gives me times to prepare for Phase II of the home dec project. YIKES! More tile and new carpet activities begin on Tuesday. Glad I have a massage and acupuncture on Monday. This will prepare me for another chaotic week.

While we were in Ashland, I visited a local quilt store and - of course - purchased some lovely fabric for an African-theme quilt for my best friend, Bobbie. She and her Dear Husband went to Africa last year and loved it. As they have just added a room to their home, they have wall space for this quilt art. The fabric is stunning; the colors are beautifully rich and lush. The technique for making the quilt is one I haven't used, so I'm looking forward to learning something new.

By way of "better times" news, Merlin is much improved and, as my sister-in-law would say, is acting pretty darn "sparky." We are going to take him for a very short walk tomorrow to see how well he does. He is still on pain meds and seems to have adapted to them well. I was hesitant to leave him to go to Ashland, but he did well with our pet sitter. He was very glad to see his Dad and Mom when we got home, however.

I wasn't able to skate last week and have no idea when I will this week, given the home dec schedule. I miss being on the ice. My new boots are ready to pick up so I will go down to SP Terri by mid-November for the fitting. Definitely won't have them broken in for the holiday show at the rink, however. Too bad. I really miss my best skating buddy also. She continues to prepare diligently for her November test date. Her discipline always impresses me.

Happy Halloween everyone! Onward we go!