I’M BACK! (AND SO ARE THE NCAA FINALS!)

I bet most of you hadn’t even noticed I was gone from Los Angeles for awhile, since there were new columns all the time. But I spent March in New York, working on the super-sad task of clearing-out my little mother’s house. That part was pretty depressing, but, as always, I managed to have some fun in-between all the hard work, which I’ll tell you about in the weeks to come. (The fun–not the hard work!)

I’ve come to really appreciate New York in only the last few years, so now I’m going to try to make the most of my last few prolonged stays there for the rest of the year, while I continue emptying the house I grew up in. Even though I moved to L.A. when I was a teen-ager, I’ve spent so much time in that ultra-cozy house, especially keeping my mother company since my father died over a dozen years ago. And I love it there! It’s just great. I’m really going to be sick seeing it go.

The stars of the two teams contending for the title tonight.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I had an excellent, and productive, time in New York, but I’m glad to be back in L.A. And just in time to see the NCAA Basketball Championship game tonight, on a TV that I can go back on! I usually watch every second of the tournament, (and some seconds over and over, much to Mr. X’s chagrin.) But, being as busy as I was on the east coast, I missed a lot of it, so I can’t really choose my favorite to win it all, although I routed for Final Four team Ohio State because my wonderful friend, Sheila Tracy, who came to New York to help me, lives there and has known the Sullinger fam over the years.

Getting back to my month-long Brooklyn stay, this was the first time I was ever there without my precious mother, and I do really want to thank a few of my east coast friends for being there for me, thus making the adjustment so much easier. It would have been really lonely without them.

Most of my pals came through for me on one level or another; some were their usual fun/wonderful-to-me selves, and some went a tad out-of-their way for me, (like Betsy, Jeff, Jackye, Anna, Manny, Adrienne, and Thea, to name a few.) But, sadly, a couple of very old pals disappointed me, big-time. I just can’t understand what’s in people’s minds who act like that. (Or don’t act at all.)

But mainly, there are a few I want to thank from the bottom of my heart: Judy Paley, for getting me to New York in one piece, and making the re-entry to that area so much less painful than it would have been otherwise; Lauren Clarke, who came into the house with me the first time, and does everything to make my life in New York easier always, not just this trip; and, most of all, Sheila Tracy, who came out from Ohio to help pack-up my house, but did so much more than that (including cleaning the yard, doing the re-cycling, trimming the hedges, washing the dishes, packing my suitcases, scouring the kitchen, sewing, re-bulbing the outside light, and fixing just about everything in the house! She’s a regular Mr. X, without the krumping.)

So now, to the game tonight—may it be great, with the more deserving team winning. One thing I know for sure—a team that begins with my favorite letter, K (or course!,) will win!