I ignored the hemorraging of my wallet and decided to enjoy the events. It was my huband's big weekend and I wasn't going to spoil it for him, no matter what.

We live 30 miles away from where the event was being held. That wouldn't have been too much for me to drive back and forth each day, but he wanted to be able to hang out with his buddies till all hours and not worry about me in the background, fretting to get home. I wanted to be close enough to ensure that he took his meds and didn't drink alcohol of any kind.

Also, I think he wanted to glitz it up. Put on a facade for his successful classmates, many of whom are big time lawyers, surgeons, hobnobbing with the rich and famous. It gave him a while to live his dream. There are many reasons why he wasn't a financial success, but none of them is relevant here. He wanted a chance to be on a par with them, and I figured it was only once in a lifetime.

Loyola was a boys only school, and most of them are pushing 70, so I imagine in the future we'll be going to more funerals than reunions.

The view from the 26th floor of the hotel was fabulous at night. We stayed in the section where "True Lies" was filmed. How did they ever get a horse into that tiny outside elevator that zips up and down the side of the building?

The only other event of note was the service. The air conditioner in our room stopped working and when I called the concierge to complain, five minutes later there were more people rushing to assist than I could count. I nearly had to beat them off with a stick. The service was friendly and helpful to the point of obsequiousness and beyond. I appreciate courtesy, but I'm terribly uncomfortable with subservient smarmy servitude.

While my husband was off with "the boys", we, "the girls", had our own dinner, complete with tough steak and much bowing and scraping of (cute) wait staff. It was held in the restaurant at the top of the tower, but we were in a side room of that restaurant with a view of a slab of building across the way. Too bad, because the city of Los Angeles at night is gorgeous from that venue and is the rationale for the outrageous prices.

Dinner was $100 apiece. As soon as I saw the restaurant, my wallet fell open and the credit card flew out, but it was too late to renege. Though I can tell you that if it hadn't been Norm's reunion, I would have turned and walked away. For that price, we should have had better seating, though I certainly can't fault the service. And the asparagus was cooked to perfection.

Home again, home again, jiggety jog.