Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

The past 3 weeks have flown by with the calendar full on a daily basis. Seems that one or both of us had somewhere to go and/or friends were dropping by our place for a visit. Any few hours of down time were spent doing mundane chores like laundry, grocery shopping, or sometimes just resting. However, we enjoyed every minute of our time in St. Louis even though Russ says he’s had enough beer for another year!

This trip was a little shorter than previous years, but we still managed to cram in a lot and saw nearly everyone we intended to see. Russ played a couple rounds of golf, I attended my first Bunco party (winning $20!), and I toured the brewery with a friend who never had in spite of living here all her life. We took flowers to our families’ gravesites and made another trip to Lombardo's Restaurant (http://www.lombardosrestaurants.com/) visiting with Carmen and Angelo plus there were a couple more trips to the San Bar visiting with some of Russ’ high school buddies. I had a couple get-togethers with a few of my high school friends, too, and made my annual visit to see friends at the bowling alley and then joining them for lunch.

Russ' brother invited us to join him and his wife for dinner one night at a local restaurant near their home in Wentzville (about a 45 min. drive) as a surprise for their 49th wedding anniversary. Joining us in the surprise was one of their long time friends along with their daughter and her fiancé…quite an enjoyable evening.

Some days had back-to-back events scheduled, sometimes on opposite sides of the city. One such day I enjoyed delicious homemade chili and a great visit with Denise, and then I drove across town to meet Patty for a bite before we headed for a chorus rehearsal visit. St. Louis Harmony Chorus (http://www.stlharmony.org/tlharmony.org/w.stlharmony.org/) has nearly 80 members, placed 1st at last year’s Regional contest, and will compete in the International Competition in Seattle this Oct. They worked on perfecting several Bob Fosse numbers complete with Fosse choreo that will be part of their International package should they make it into the top 10. Bet you never considered Fosse done in the barbershop style! They have a great sound, a great look, and I wish them all the best next month in Seattle.

Over the course of the month we were in town, we had several dinner invites, and one of those was another back-to-back day. After a girls’ get-together at Dana’s (complete with yummy barbecued pork steaks!), I drove back to the campground to pick up Russ so we could head to Jim and Judy’s in the other direction! They have a lovely home in Clayton that is about 90 years old, and we ate outside with music provided over the outdoor speakers. We enjoyed a fabulous meal, and it would have been a perfect evening had someone not spilled a glass of red wine on Russ’ beige shorts…hmmm, who’s fault was that guys? LOL Honestly it was a great dinner party...many thanks to our wonderful hosts.

The last 3 years Michelle and Randy have traveled across the river to have dinner with us, but this year we drove to their home in Columbia, IL. We sat on the back deck enjoying the view and chatting, Randy barbecued, we ate a scrumptious meal, chatted some more, and before we knew it, it was midnight! We always seem to have plenty to talk about!

The trip would never be complete without visits to Aunt Dori and Bill and Alice Riley. Aunt Dori still has her apartment in the retirement community and invited us to join her for lunch in the main dining room. Baked chicken, rice, corn, and dessert sounded fine to us, and we had a lovely visit. On the day I visited the Rileys, Alice and I picked up Subway sandwiches and took them to share lunch with Bill at the nursing home. He still has his great sense of humor, and we had a great visit.

Soon it would be time to hit the road again but not before a final fun weekend!