FiftyBogue

I truly, truly can’t believe it’s almost September. B. and I were talking about how we feel a little gipped since we didn’t get to do everything we thought we’d do – fishing, water parks and the like. We’re hoping to make the most of the fall, which is starting to look a little booked up. We’ve postponed our big vacation for a number of reasons, but are starting to think about some smaller trips in the coming months.

I did have a couple of adventures this summer that I’ve neglected to set down here. I’ll do it in brief, since it’s late and tomorrow’s plate is full.

Our deluxe accommodations

V. and I took a trip to Minneapolis to celebrate our 50th birthdays. We stayed in a very nice hotel (down comforters, pool, hot tub) near the Mall of America where we shopped a great deal (uh, like 14 hours) and we also took in the sights of Minneapolis and St. Paul. We drove and honest to god never stopped talking the whole way. I was hoarse when I got home. I mean, you’d think we’d listen to music or something for a few miles…

Then, a couple of weeks ago, some of my good friends and art school cronies got together for a reunion, some coming from out of town. I had fun houseguests for a few days and had a great excuse to play hooky and just generally PLAY. Good food, good friends, great memories.

I’ve had a bunch of doctor’s appointments lately and have been trying to get my nose back to the grindstone everywhere – at work and at home. I’m trying to get an HOUR a day of exercise on most days – a new resolution – and sheesh! it’s kickin my butt. But I managed it today and we’ll see how tomorrow goes. I’d like to live forever, so I have my work cut out for me, huh?

So I guess I’m sharpening my pencils and getting ready for fall – not a new school year, but it feels like something new, anyway. Time to put away the dreams of summer for another year, maybe? Well, not until the pools close, I guess.

Then

Now

I’m gearing up to spend a wonderful weekend with some old friends. College friends, but that makes it sound so plebeian… We were in the Art Department fer crissakes, and a freakishly talented group, too. So out of the ordinary, we need a better, more descriptive designation, right? Art Rats. Visually Trained Humans. Aesthetes. Hmm. Not nearly cool enough. Oh, and I’d have to add “& friends.” Not everyone was an art student. Some were just cool in their own right.

Anyway, my friend R. and family are already here and we’re having a blast, hanging out, swimming, shopping, dining. And tomorrow kicks off 2.5 days with others of the gang (alas, not everyone could make it), hanging out, eating BBQ, looking at art, laughing, eating some more and generally having fun.

A nice thing to do, reuniting. I’ve been doing this a good bit lately. Against all odds, I, a formerly not-so-popular, non-cheerleader choir nerd, am now heading up my high school reunion committee, and we recently got together in a non-reunion year to celebrate turning 50. The party was fun, but the committee meetings leading up to the party were perhaps even better. I LOVE catching up with friends from my past. And the older I get, the more past I have. Awesome.

Advice of the day: I recommend going to a high school reunion, even if you didn’t have a great high school experience, and even if you didn’t know many of your classmates. It teaches you a lot: That all that stuff that mattered SO much back then – how popular you weren’t, how snooty the cute girls were, how unkind life seemed – all evaporates with time. Time is the great leveler. The handsome jock may be scraping by in a dead end job, while the guy nobody noticed has the brilliant career (but you already know this if you watched Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion). There are time-worn yet relevant lessons to be learned from this, folks. Like:

• don’t take yourself too seriously
• appreciate what you have now
• don’t judge a book by it’s cover
• don’t follow every fashion trend, especially if you’re going to be photographed

Reuniting with pals (or even enemies) from the past isn’t only fun (and anthropologically fascinating), it gives you perspective. And that’s never a bad thing.