Tempus fugit

who doesn't need a schnauzer made from junkyard parts?  I went out the other day to buy baby presents but got distracted

Me almost 45 years ago. I like to think that my legs are in much better shape now even though I was biking quite a bit back then. I do weigh a bit less now

Delhi Park. In high school I would be wearing tons of eye make up but in  my coop days, maybe some mascara if that

outside it is bleak, cold, gray but at least things are blooming inside

another angel for my wall

My former boyfriend is slowly dying and putting his affairs in order. He did visit me last year to say goodbye. He has a slow growing form of leukemia which possibly could be cured by a stem cell transplant such as my friend (who died in August!)had had  but that is very iffy and painful. In the past, 50 years was the top age they would even consider this. True he was in excellent shape. He had developed symptoms while hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. He went a year needing blood transfusions every 3 days until last spring when he was given some experimental drug. He went the whole summer not needing a transfusion and even resumed running and traveling a bit but the miracle is over. Furthermore his white blood cells have disappeared so it is only a matter of time before some infection gets him. Going through his files, he found photos he took of me. I don't remember seeing these at all.

I met him the week I was graduating college. I was supposed to go out to dinner with my best friend (the guy I visit in DC) who told me that he was bringing a med student he just met that afternoon who was going to the med school he most wanted to go to and wanted to continue the conversation and could I bring one of my friends that maybe he would be interested in? I was super annoyed as it would be our last time together for a while and it was supposed to be special. I did bring my girlfriend, the one who lives in Santa Monica and who went with me to Italy when I finished treatment from cancer 10 years ago. She seemed annoyed at the set up. After the dinner, just me and my DC friend went to see Jaws. I remember him shouting at the screen at the teenager nonchalantly dangling her legs in the water with Bruce the shark lurking beneath to get out.

I lived in a housing co-op with 20 other women though later men moved in. It was quite the learning experience for me which I have written about in the past. My to-be boyfriend showed up at my door a few days later. We were together on and off for about two years and he  would never commit to being exclusive. It was a shock to him when I told him I was marrying Steve. By that time he was a doctor living out of state. He did marry someone else and raised two step daughters. We have kept in touch on and off.

He wrote yesterday that we were both so much prettier in our twenties. He did age well though obviously his insides are dying despite the care he took.  Well who wasn't though I never really thought of myself as pretty. My father was a photographer who stopped taking pictures of me once I was 5 or so as I was no longer pretty but good thing I was smart as I would be having to take care of myself.  And I sadly thought, yeah, he is right. If only I could be pretty….

I did discover make up (lots of it!!!) and maybe the boys in high school were blinded by testosterone poisoning but my dance card was full so to speak as it was in college though I made plenty of wrong choices. I remember one roommate (she had been the local beauty queen in her town) marveling at the attention I got as she honestly couldn't see why as I certainly was not all that. Well here is to bad taste. Maybe it is my charming personality....

It finally got warm enough to resume biking but I hadn't fixed my slow leaking tire that morphed into a fast leaking one. And it was on the one day my new shop was closed. Time to go to Plymouth, certainly it would be cheaper there (everything is much more in Ann Arbor..If we had an Ann Arbor address versus a Plymouth one our values would go up at least 200K and we pay Ann Arbor taxes..maybe my bitchy neighbor should be whining about changing the post office areas we aren't even in the same county instead of my unruly coneflowers and hollyhocks). Well the Plymouth shop was twice as expensive and took forever to fix as opposed to instantly in Ann Arbor. Lesson learned.

As I type this, I am waiting for the temp to get over 40 for another bike ride. I went out in the 30s recently and despite 2 pairs of socks (wool) and a plastic bag covering my toes, it took a while for my toes to thaw. I have been running too disappointingly slow though yesterday I finally started resuming my old speed, such as that is (nothing like the days when I would actually do well in local races) I am doing French, so much easier than German, on my Duolingo. I had finished the German but already it is slipping from my mind.

We had a Moms group last night. I usually make dessert but someone else wanted to. I made an old school appetizer. We had bought all these crescent rolls for the grandkids for Thanksgiving. What could I do with at? a broccoli, cheese almond braid.