Elise Sereni Patkotak

I go into a dressing room. My sister runs back periodically with armloads of clothes for me to try on. I walk out of the dressing room an hour later with enough clothes to last me for the next five years. And if god is good to me, I won’t have to do it again for even longer.

If my sister and I didn’t look so much alike, serious questions could be raised about whether we could possibly really be siblings.

She took me to a concert at the Keswick Theater in suburban Philly on Saturday to hear a group called The Faux Four. I think because it was Beatles’ music she assumed I would have A. heard the songs before and B. would enjoy it.

Halfway through I had to get up and go to the lobby where a nice lady gave me ear plugs. I shoved them so far into my ears I swear they were

My sister and I drove from Atlantic City to Philly on Saturday through a snow storm. In April. In New Jersey. What the hell?

Woke up the next day at her friend’s house where all their blooming lilies had just given up during the night and drooped sadly in death.

But thank god the Republicans are still assuring us that there is no such thing as climate change.

On the East Coast visiting family and not getting to my webpage like I should. I’ll do better soon. Or not. I’m on vacation and feeling like I am responsible to no one. Will post columns on this page everyThursday as usual. So check in tomorrow for sure. Other than that… you’re not the boss of me. I can blog whenever I feel – oh god, who am I kidding. I was raised on Catholic guilt by nuns. I will get back to posting every day in order to ensure my chances at heaven.

I will spend today with two sisters I have known since the earliest of our childhoods… I mean so early we weren’t even in school yet and I started school at 3 1/2. The older I get, the more special times like this become. How lucky am I to still have these friends, to still visit with these friends, to have people whose memories fill in my gaps about whose store was where on the street and what the neighborhood names were. Yep, I am very lucky.

Thanks to my dear friend Janis, I will fly first class today so I am not dreading this trip as much as I might otherwise be doing. I may actually have a seat that fits my body. What a concept. Not something you routinely find in planes nowadays.

I leave for a family visit on the East Coast tomorrow so today I am in my usual pre-trip panic. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I am traveling to another place in America and not a Third World country so I will probably be able to find anything I forgot once I get there. And yet I still panic.

Thanks mom. You didn’t give me your gorgeous figure or full head of hair. But damned if I didn’t get all the neuroses.