Tonight, I went to my old synagogue's Chinese auction. A Chinese auction is sort of a raffle - the prizes are arranged in groups of various denominations - in this case, ranging from $5 to $36, with the majority in the $18 range. Each prize has a box. You decide which prizes you want, buy tickets in the correct denominations and put them in the appropriate boxes. At the end of the evening, have a drawing from each box. Who ever is picked gets the prize. It's a great fundraiser.

I bid on several items - a camera, a keyboard, a rocking chair, a dvd player, a pair of silver candlesticks, a palm pilot., ranging from $5 to $25. I put three bids in for the palm pilot.

I got the rocking chair. Also a basket of yarn - really nice yarn. *Wool*. And wooden knitting needles. And I do know how to knit. And a gift certificate to the yarn shop. And a hand knit baby sweater and hat. I gave the sweater and hat away to a friend who just had a little girl.

I also got to see people I just don't see anymore, because I moved away and they moved away and just doesn't happen, so that's nice.

I also saw Ronnie. Ronnie and I are...she called me her teacher once. We're somewhere between friends and acquaintances. And when I met her, she was battling breast cancer. This was years ago. Her kids were still kids. She figured out how to tie kerchiefs so they looked pretty on her. Eventually, though, the chemo/radiation stopped, her hair grew back and she stopped wearing them. This was years ago. Her kids are out of college now.

Tonight, she was wearing a kerchief again.

Damn.