424 Days Later...

Hey!  You guys remember me???

Well, it's been over a year.  Never thought I'd take that long to get back to it.  I suppose I should do a little catch up...

Did you hear we've got ourselves a new president-elect?  Not going to go into that.

The niece that I mentioned getting married in the last post is now a new mother.  That makes me a great uncle or something.  Here's 4 generations worth.

Grandma, Great Grandma, Baby R, Mom & Auntie

Took a couple of OsTours since my last post.  Headed to the midwest to spend a couple of days with BFD and her family, then intended to head up to Canada and meet up with some of the earliest of the original crop of HNTers.  Imagine my surprise when Canada didn't allow me in.  Without going into the reasons why, I can tell you that I was absolutely furious.  Not really with Canada, but at the circumstances that prevented my crossing over.  It's something that could possibly be corrected, but it will take a lot of time and paperwork.  Still, I had a great time with BFD!

The other trip was to the Pacific Northwest, where I had intended to meet up with a couple of bloggers, as well as friends and former students.  After experiencing the 405 between Seattle and Portland, thrice (I never have the chance to use that word...), the scenery kicked in and it didn't disappoint!  Had a very surprising/shocking meeting with one of them, which almost derailed the whole trip, but fortunately the rest of the trip was salvaged with the visits later on, including yet another visit with the Bipolar Diva!  It was a very much needed six-day road trip.  If you've never visited the PNW, you absolutely must!

The big summer concert was again a huge success, with many in the audience proclaiming it was the best one ever.  I don't know that I'd go that far with it, but it really was pretty good.  We had about 16,000 in attendance, which is about all we can handle at the concert site.  Once again, I was blessed with the presence of the best damned assistant one could ever hope for.  She's been doing this with me for five years now, and I dread the day that she graduates from college and gets a real job someplace five states away.  But for now, she's promised that she'll be back next summer!

         

 Other bloggers I've met up with again are a couple of old friends, Moose and Sam.

          

Moose                                                                  Sam

Of course, I spent some time with the gang on St Patrick's Day, in spite of the fact that I had to cut it short and do adult-like things (work), and golf with Mom and the sisters for Mother's Day.  Great company, less than acceptable golf...

            

And Big Soul Band keeps playing on...

Photo credit - Eliza Wiley

Finally, just earlier this month, I got a front row VIP seat for Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire.  Included a backstage meet & greet and goodies.  For a bunch of guys (both bands) who have been doing this for decades, they still got it!  Unexpectedly was seated next to a guy I went to college with whom I haven't seen since the late 70s, so that was an added bonus!

So...that's about it.  Still handling the diabetes...it's been 7 years now.  The big "6-0" is coming up in April, so that's something to look forward to.  The former OHNT site is still running with contributions coming in from time to time--sort of nice to have a place to post if you get a wild hair up yer ass from time to time.  Tamer than the old days for the most part, but not always! 

Final two pics--the OsShirt, version 4.0, will be making a comeback after version 3.0 has been stuck in South Africa.  Also means I need to get the OsShirt site up to date.  And me, doing what I still like to do best (but not as often...).  Hope I don't wait this long to do this again!