4/6 a Cup of Happiness

This post is mostly not about Harper.

It is about:

Erin and Calum

Tracy

Dotto

Erin, Me, Tracy, and Dotto!

Together we are 4/6 of a fabulous group known as the 101ers. 101 was our address our last, and finest, year of college. The other two members of the group are Julie and Cindy. They were sadly missing from the 101 mini-reunion held in St. Louis last weekend. That is part of the reason for the extreme lack of posts in the past week or so. (We hope to remedy this situation with a full-fledged reunion in Dayton, this September.)

Last Friday, Dotto and drove to the Lou from Dayton. On the way, we saw an armadillo crossing the freeway in Illinois. We were very excited about this. Until Erin, the conservation biologist, told us all about how armadillos are moving north and she gets calls about sightings all the time. I tell you, it's good to be in with a biologist. She also told me that hanging a fake wasp nest in a tree won't actually keep real wasps from living in your yard. See, when you reunite with old friends, you learn things!

We had a fantastic time including, but not limited to:
1. a Dar Williams concert
2. lunch with Erin's parents in their remodeled home
3. a super-delicious pasta dinner at Tracy's
4. margaritas and a game called ladder golf (which is going to take the country by storm)
5. dictionary balderdash

Harper had been left behind with her dad, Nana, and Dziatku. She had a fun weekend of eating out, playing in the park, and watching her dad coach basketball. It was fun to have kind of a freewheeling weekend with my girlfriends, but I did miss Harper. I even misted up a couple of times.

Being with those women is always a wonderful and refreshing experience. I have many wonderful friends now, I am blessed to have lots of loving people in my life. Still, I don't think I'll ever again find friendship the way it is with those women. Cindy and Julie, if you read this, we missed you!