Social Weekend Ahead

A small storm blew through last night. That is the last of the rains for another 10 days or so. This has been one dry winter. It was so mild, even at night, that we had our bedroom door opened and I laid in bed listening to it in the early morning hours. Such a great sound. It made me snuggle deeper under the sheets.

I had foreseen that this year was going to be a very social one and it is living up to that expectation. This weekend we are meeting a bunch of local friends for pizza (UGH!) on Friday night. Maybe I can order a single, gluten-free, no cheese, lots of veggie pizza. I love this group of people. Our old book group: one couple plays in the orchestra with me, another gave us their points for our suite of rooms in Palm Springs last month and finally the young fun couple with roots in the auto industry in the Detroit area. Michael loves talking car stuff with them. Before meeting everyone Friday night, I will be at a rehearsal with the young violin students in anticipation of their concert in late April and a performance as a prelude to my orchestra concert in May. It will be a long day!

Every morning Michael has a very healthful breakfast of oatmeal, cottage cheese, cereal or crustless quiche.  He makes the best coffee for us. After he leaves me, he stops at a Peet's Coffee near his work. I think there might be a pastry involved! Several times a week he runs into a couple - Essa and Faye - who own a body shop where he worked over three years ago. They have slowly developed a nice relationship and Michael discovered they are huge fans of Chez Papa, our favorite restaurant, and they also know the owners. So the plot was hatched. We have reservations on Saturday night to meet one of the owners for dinner along with his wife and new baby and our mutual friend Don. They know we are bringing another couple, they just don't know who it is!

I haven't seen Essa and Faye in years and previously only met them very briefly on a couple of occasions. Michael so enjoys their company that I have a feeling I will be seeing a lot more of them!

Old friends are also returning this year. Long lost Mark has made his way back into our lives after years of wondering what happened to him. We have a lovely e-mail relationship. I got a virus-filled e-mail from Jeannette, who worked as the Middle School Music Specialist at the school where I got sick. I didn't open the attachment in the suspicious e-mail but had an old e-mail address of hers. I wrote. She responded. We are also getting together for the first time in five years. 

It is interesting how people flow in and out of the daily pulse of life. New and renewed.