Odds

Happy Halloween, says the girl who doesn't celebrate it. Without children, why bother? I've got years ahead of me to hold the hands of the hungry candy eaters while they stumble beside me down the street peering from behind too big Spiderman masks or bunny heads, what have you. For now, chicken tacos on chipotle flour tortillas with Craig will do me just fine. I admit, though, it was fun to manuever through the bloody princesses and savage werewolves on my way out of the subway at 86th Street. Anyway, it's been a long while since I've been around. A lot has gone on, and versus trying to recap all of it and miss out on any important details, I will just tap on a few memories. Plus, tonight, before Craig returns home from work, I've got homework writing to do in addition to this.*Tonight marks the first night in a long while that I've been home earlyish with little stress on my mind, or no errands to run, or no class to attend or no function happening. A couple of weeks ago we flew to Arizona for our company's annual meeting. Six hours one way on a plane will really remind you how good it feels to stand on solid ground. Nevertheless, the weekend was a smashing success. We saw a lot of the old Detroit crew, from back when adult life was merely beginning for me, when I was meeting incredible friends and learning a thing or two about what it means to work around a bunch of men in dusty boots. Many of the guys now have families of their own, homes, exciting projects. It was great to catch up. The weather was fantastic but we really didn't get to indulge in it too much. We also caught up with Craig's Phoenix cousin Paul and Paul's wife Angie in Old Scottsdale at a bar. That was memorable, too - they are wonderful people (and by the way, they even thought to ask me about the Breast Cancer walk in Central Park! after donating me a sizable amount of money back then! They're awesome!) So, Arizona happened - and then we returned to New York for a fast-paced short week and flew out once again, this time to Indianapolis, where I managed, with the help of Craig's friends from Purdue, his sister, Andrea, and my parents, to throw him a nice surprise dinner at a Buca di Beppo in Castleton, Indiana. We landed Friday around 4-something, and Kara picked us up at the airport, where I was beginning to feel nausea floating through my midsection. Nerves. We went to Kara's house, met her husband Ben there and left for dinner: arrived at Buca, entered, hissed orders to the hostess and host at the podium in the lobby while an oblivious (I hoped!) Craig and Ben stood back against a wall (I was positive the host and hostess wanted to ruin everything: they kept saying, What are you here for?) and finally, they got the picture and led us all, the four of us, back through the kitchen (it's what they do at Buca) and to the room where 23 people awaited our arrival - nice! The dinner was great, I think. I was too wound up to enjoy it, but I think Craig liked everything about it. My parents and my nephew and brother were there, which was a great feature, too. That night, the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series. Yayy! And the next morning, we woke up too early to head to West Lafayette, for Purdue versus Penn State football. Another great day with friends, more friends than I have time to name, and the weather was clear blue sky but brain-numbing cold, and we survived the boring game (sorry Boilers) and Craig and I decided to stay in West Lafayette for the night. Above is a photograph taken sort of absent-mindedly and accidentally while scrolling through the other digital photographs I had taken of the weekend, but it represents our night at Purdue's bar (Harry's Chocolate Shop) rather well. We spent quite a few hours there with Craig's old crew, getting to see people we hadn't seen in a long time (Jen from Wallace's wedding years ago, and some guy in a black t-shirt to whom Craig kept shouting, "I never thought I'd see you again, ever!" and when someone else was near, Craig pointed at Guy in Black T-Shirt and said to Someone Else, "I never thought I'd see [whatever his name is] ever again!" The whole night was filled with a lot of reunion and some happenstance. Enjoyably. And after that, we turned in early (the game was at noon so us old kids were retired by like the eleven o'clock hour!) and in the morning, we ate at a Steak'n'Shake with Djay and Diana, and Dustin and Fiona (they are the couple marrying in London in January...) and John and Liz. And John and Liz drove us back to Indy, to Kara's. In the later afternoon we saw my parents, brother and nephew again, and my brother's new girlfriend Diana. Life these weekends was good. Fulfilling. Renewing. And now I'm back at the grind, having missed the pace of New York yet having experienced the thrill that throbs just outside of this town: life is good out there, people, even without the bright lights. The southwest is warm, the midwest is cozy. It's all here for a reason.*And now, off to enjoy my Halloween without ghosts and masks.