Good Times...Good Friends

Our time in St. Louis has come to an end for this year, and we spent the past week visiting with friends and family plus getting some service work done on the RV. We’ve had a slow leak in one of the suspension system air valves, and since the warranty expires soon, we were determined to get it fixed while in town. We’ve made appointments in the past but the part was always backordered. The place here in St. Louis got the part but didn’t make specific appt. times. Instead we were told to bring it in Tues. morning at 6:30 a.m. and they’d get to it as quickly as possible. This meant we needed to leave the campground at 5:30 in the morning since the place was on the other side of town. I followed in the car loaded with the dogs and cat so we could tool around for a few hours while they worked on the rig. My dad's parents had lived not far from away so we drove by their house and were pleasantly surprised that the house and neighborhood were in better condition than we had anticipated. Funny thing is that it was another one of those moments of “that house sure seemed a lot bigger when I was a kid!” From there we drove to nearby Calvary Cemetery to visit the graves of my mom's parents, grandparents, brother, aunt, and several other relatives. Then since it was close, we headed to Memorial Park Cemetery to visit the graves of Russ’ dad, uncle, two cousins, and grandparents. After grabbing a quick bite, it was time to pick up the RV and head back “home”. Sure makes for a long day getting up that early!

Gloria was on vacation this week, and Wed. we had a great time spending the day together. After visiting with Diane and her mom, Diane was able to join us for lunch at Macaroni Grill, and I introduced Gloria to the yummy Leaning Bellini. It’s a frozen drink made with rum, peach nectar, white wine, and topped with a splash of champagne…I think she’s hooked! Gloria and I stopped by Ellen’s work so I could tell her goodbye, and then on the spur of the moment we visited the grave of our high school friend, Mary Beth, who died 6 years ago, and we discovered that she’s buried not far from Gloria’s sister. I had been unable to attend Mary Beth’s memorial service back then and wanted to pay my respects.

On occasion I’ve had the need for a sewing machine, and Thurs. afternoon I ventured over to Patty’s house with my bag of mending to use her machine and her expertise. When I was in town last year, Patty visited a couple of the Sweet Adeline choruses with me and eventually joined the City Voices Chorus (www.cityvoiceschorus.org ). After a quick dinner at her house, I accompanied her to their rehearsal (can you find me on the 3rd row?) They are a mid-size chorus of about 60 members who won their Regional competition this year and will compete at next year’s International contest in Nashville. Master director, Jerilee Inghram, is at the helm with over 30 years experience in Sweet Adelines and for 17 years served as an International Judge in the Showmanship category. Jerilee is energetic and works as hard as her chorus striving for perfection but definitely knows how to have fun along the way. She remembered me from last year and made sure I felt right at home by allowing me on the risers for the entire rehearsal. Soon after we arrived they ran through It’s Raining Men, complete with choreo. Then it was time to work on their two newest songs…a beautiful ballad called It’s My Song, and the fun, fun, FUN song You Can’t Stop the Beat from Hairspray! Wow! They are learning it at tempo, which can be quite challenging, but everyone seems to be up to it and enjoying it. One of the gals gave me a lot of credit for even attempting it, but I had a blast! Would love to see the choreo they put with it! We finished the evening by working on two holiday songs, one of which is a very challenging Chanukah song. It’s more the words that are challenging than the music!

Russ and I paid a visit to his Aunt Dori on Fri., and while we were there, her daughter Karen stopped by. Don’t think we’ve seen Karen since our wedding so we had a good time catching up. Since Fri. was Scott’s birthday, we invited him over for a spaghetti dinner to celebrate complete with a bottle of Merlot.

Sat. was Russ’ birthday….yay!!! Though he didn’t want any big party, we had a small cookout at our place inviting Steve & Patty, John & Deborah, Rick & Alyce, and Scott. Unfortunately Alyce couldn’t make it and Rick could only stay a couple hours because he had to work, but a good time was had by all. Russ had told everyone absolutely no gifts or cards, but Steve & Patty gave him the funniest card that they said they couldn’t resist getting! And Rick gave him the DVD movie RV with Robin Williams…how appropriate! Especially since on Fri. I had a moment reminiscent of the one in the movie where he’s emptying the black water tank!

We spent Sunday doing laundry and preparing to leave Mon. for Odessa, MO, about 30 miles outside of Kansas City, where we’ll spend 3 nights before heading to Lincoln, NE, for Saturday’s Missouri/Nebraska football game.

So until next year when we return to St. Louis, we’ll have great memories of good times and good friends.