Guardian Angels

Boy am I glad I wrote the birthday blog early!  At least the sixteen year old got one thing on her birthday that was all about her.  *Sigh* Let me tell ya 'bout having kids.  Yeah, yeah, I know.  I don't have any.  That doesn't seem to get me free of the drama, excitement, worry, anxiety, etc. etc. etc. 

Yesterday morning I was kind of teary eyed.  For whatever reason, I get that way on Ashlyn's birthday.  It's probably because she's the oldest, and growing up at a pace faster than humanly possible!  At least it feels that way to me.  It also makes me miss my Mom, which I assume is because she and Ash were so close, and I just wish she could see the wonderful young woman Ashlyn is.  I assumed that's why my Mom appeared in a dream I had two nights ago.  I don't usually dream about either of my parents, or anyone else who has passed on, unless something is going on in my life.  Let me amend that.  Sometimes it happens right before something occurs in my life.  So I was mindful of it while I was thinking of Ash, but I chalked it up to the birthday.

Then at about 3:00 yesterday the texts/calls began.  Here's the short of it:  Caitlin (Tater), was playing at a friends house.  A company is siding the house, but they were working on the right side.  The three girls went out on the deck (left side) to have an ice cream cone, and a dude on the roof dropped a piece of flashing.  It hit Tater in the face, cutting her deeply.  She ended up having surgery to re-attach two nerves, and a third was bruised.  If that flashing had gone ANY deeper this would be a different blog.

As fate would have it, Taters parents were nowhere near by.  Mom was at home in Oliver, Dad was at work in Duluth. Her friends Grandma rode in the ambulance with her, and her parents met her at the hospital.  Hannah was left out at the friends house with Great Grandma, and I popped out of work to deliver her into Ti-Ti's (Kate) safe and comforting hands until someone could pick her up.  Ashlyn chose to stay at football practice.

By the time I was done at six Tater was heading in to surgery.  I swung by Kate's and picked up Hannah, then headed over to the high school to grab Ashlyn for some sort of birthday dinner.  That is when it happened.  "Auntie, can I go with my friend for dinner and back to her house?"  I knew it was coming.  Ditched.  Oh Ashlyn.  I didn't have the heart to be a bitch ( which I later said to her mother, in front of Hannah, who I then had to pay a quarter because of my language....) on her birthday and say no, so I sent her off with a "I am the adult in charge.  Do NOT get into trouble, and call me later."   

Hannah and I headed off to Kmart, because I don't have any Hannah treats at my house, which turned into Sunny D, goldfish crackers, a card and toy for Tater, and a toy for Hannah.  Then we watched Pocahontas and hung out.  I really needed to take a shower.  Hmmmm.... can I leave this one on her own for five minutes?  Probably.  "Do not open the door to anyone, come and get me.  Here's the cell phone, bring it to me if someone calls.  Don't burn down the house."  Midway through blow drying my hair Ashlyn called to be picked up, so Hannah and I headed out into the beautiful night, lit by the full "blue" moon to get her from her friends house. 

Thus began the moody teenager portion of the evening.  Luckily I am smart enough to know that when a teen asks for earphones they don't want to be bothered, and I can respect that.  Plus the part where she said "This birthday sucks butt. Can I have a do over?"  Kind of clued me in.  Hannah and I snuggled on the couch watching Rikki Tikki Tavi, and left Ash to her own devices.  My brother picked them up around ten thirty, and Caitlin had been released from the hospital at that time too. 

Tonight instead of Happy Hour on the deck I will be snuggling my Tater.  ( plus I hear there is HAM!)  As soon as work is done I have to go and hold that child.  I just have to.  So where does dreaming about my Mom fit into this? It could be that she was giving me a heads up to let me know I would be playing fill in for her again, it's kind of my job description these days, or just a reminder that she's looking out for us.  Which, in the case of Tater, is a full time job.

Sweet Sixteen

Ashlyn

When I was contemplating writing Ashlyn's birthday blog I thought it would be something along the lines of how fast time flies, or something witty about teenagers driving.  I never imagined in my wildest dreams that it would be about my niece being the only girl on the SHS football team!

Me:  Are a bunch of girls going out for the team?

Ash: Nope, just me.

Me:  Um........ why?

Ash:  To prove to myself that I can do it.

Ok.  I will accept that one, and you will too, unless you want to deal with me, and trust me.....you don't, especially where my kids are concerned.  :)  If she is able to hang with the big boys, then she should be allowed to.  The end.

So Ashlyn went to football camp. Her mother told me that she sat in the car for awhile, debating if she should actually do this.  I can't imagine how hard it was for her, as this girl is not an extrovert...at all....not even a little bit.  When she finally got out of the car her mother did mention that maybe next time she shouldn't wear mascara.  Immediately after that Ash learned another valuable lesson, printed underwear shows right through white football pants. :)  (Oh Ashlyn....)

She absolutely loved camp, and although she was trying out for kicker, they had her practicing at wide receiver and corner, where she currently is playing.  This concerns me.  You aren't supposed to touch a kicker, she would be fairly safe.  The other positions involve a lot of touching. 

Me:  How are the boys handling having a girl on the team?

Ash:  Good.  They are kind of protective of me actually.  It's cute.

Me: Uh, you do realize the other team is not going to be protective of you?

Ash:  Yep.

Me: Especially if they realize you are a girl?

Ash: Yep. I've got this.

Me:  Ok.......... 

I thought maybe Ash would change her mind before practice started in August, but nope, there she went merrily along.  I haven't heard anything about kicking the football.  The coach has her in at wide receiver on offense, and corner on defense.  This last week she was talking about tail-back.  She will be playing on the JV team, where she says she is more comfortable, but she suits up with everyone else for the Varsity games in case they need her.

I'm writing this birthday blog a few days early (It's the 30th) because I don't want it to be late. Her very first game (varsity) is tonight, and it's an away game, so I wont be there in person, but with her in spirit.  I used to play a lot of football myself growing up.  It was unheard of to let a girl play on the actual team, so I played, with the boys, without pads, and gave just as good as I got. 

So happy early birthday my sweet girl!  Uh..... I mean, you tough butt kicker!  Junior year in high school, and soon to be driving, the time has gone so fast!  I am so proud of everything you do, and I am proud that you proved to yourself you could do this.  I'm glad you've gotten so much support, from your coaches, team, family, and friends.  From little angel in a sundress playing in a mud puddle, to mascara wearing wide receiver for SHS.  Who would have thought?  Can't wait to see what you come up with next!  ♥  

P.S.  You are now "Baby Pigskin Pignose."

All My Love,

Auntie Pig Nose  xo

Windfall

My Grandma Lenihan has been dead for over twenty-five years now, but periodically she pops into my life just to let me know that she still has an eye on me.  No, I don't see dead people, but there are some people who have gone on that reach back from time to time to give me a nod or a nudge, in a way that I know it's them, and she is one of them.

This time I'm not the only one she helped.  My eldest cousin got a phone call from an insurance company a few months back.  It seems Grandma had taken an insurance policy out on our Uncle John, of which she was the beneficiary.  None of us knew about it, and it wasn't in any of her files, or my Mom's.  My Uncle John had schizophrenia and was institutionalized for most of his adult life.  Grandma, and then Mom (and then myself and my sister) were his legal guardians.  There is no immediate family left, so the ten of us cousins had an unknown amount that we needed to claim/share.

My sister rounded up all the addresses and sent out all the paperwork, but the insurance company couldn't release the amount of money we were inheriting.  It was fun to dream about thousands, but we knew the reality, split ten ways, would be more like $50.  Not that I would sneeze at fifty bucks!  Found money is found money, and when (as my Father would say) "the wolf is at the door" you take what you can get!

Yesterday I got a call from the insurance company.  They wanted to verify that we were the only beneficiaries.  When we were done going over the fact that my entire family is gone from that generation (lovely) she asked if I had any questions.  Well duh!  How much is the check?  Turns out more than fifty bucks!  Not tons more, but I no longer have to wonder how I'm going to finagle paying both renters and car insurance this fall.  (Thanks Gram!)

Then my other question.  When on earth did my Grandma take out this policy?  Turns out it was in 1941.  So a decision she made in 1941 saved my bacon in 2012.  That's some ripple effect! 

Choo-Choo

One of the words that CeCe will communicate is train.  Ok, she doesn't say "train"  she does the arm motion of pulling the whistle and says "Woo-Woo".  It's cute, and even more so because you know that she understands exactly what that is. She does it when she sees them, or hears them.  Her Dad is a railroad engineer, and kind of a train enthusiast  nut. 

Yesterday morning I had to come in from the country to do a few things at home before heading out to a different part of the country to Tater and Ashlyn's birthday party.  I kept hemming and hawing over how much time I needed, and I finally just decided to go early so I could handle everything. (crabbily I might add....again, not a fan of things to do on a Sunday)

The drive was uneventful, until I reached the railroad crossing right outside of Superior.  Cars were stopped for two blocks already from a long train that was slowing down.  It comes to a stop and I shut off my car, obviously I wouldn't be going anywhere for a little bit.  Ten minutes later the train was still at a dead stop, but there were some whistles blown so I thought we would have progress.  Suddenly I hear a train.....but "my" train isn't moving.  Ohhhhh it's another train, and "mine" must have had to stop and let it by before it could switch onto that track.

Then my brain started thinking.  "Hmmmmmm  don't they know when and where these trains are?  Couldn't someone have stopped "my" train before it hit this crossing??  I posed this question to CeCe's father, who answered that "Yep, they could, but the person who handles that is located in Texas."  Now that doesn't seem real safe to me....... but what do I know?  Does it seem logical that the person handling the trains running up here doesn't even know the area, or what he/she are blocking off?  What if there's a computer problem? 

All in all I sat for twenty some minutes, for a total of ten cars that were actually blocking the track.  The people up front would have been there more than a half hour.  In the realm of reasonable, that is pushing it.  So I didn't get a jump start on the things I needed to do, and was about a half hour late to the party.

On the last leg of my journey toward the party I got stuck on another country highway by another train!  This time it was a reasonable ten minutes, but it struck me that maybe the universe was trying to tell me something.  Something like, slow down sister!  Enjoy the moments and the people in your life, early or late, what does it matter, really?

An older couple that I've known for years, and actually bought a home from once, lost their nine year old Grandson on Saturday.  He was hit by lightening.  I can't even imagine the devastation that family is going through.  Take your time, appreciate your loved ones, don't auto pilot through life, embrace it, and enjoy the beauty of a summer morning when you are unexpectedly stopped by a train!  

Hype

Boy am I glad that I didn't pay one cent for the Fifty Shades books.  I'm probably about three quarters through the first one now.  This is the type of book I could have easily read in two or three nap times when I was working at the Y, and yet I can't seem to find the will to pick it up and finish it.  First, and foremost, because it isn't well written.  I actually did hear that from several people, but of course I had to look into this myself to see what is so interesting to all these women.

What you don't know:  I was an avid (and that word doesn't cover it) historical romance reader from the time I was twelve until....... maybe thirty-five?  I called them "brain candy" and devoured them as fast as I could get my hands on them.  These are what built my skewed view of relationships, and men in general.  That, however, is a different blog. Then I switched over to Chick Lit.  I read to relax, not to purposefully learn.  That being said, I can not tell you how much useless knowledge is floating around in my head from the historical novels!  My X and I were at some high faluting event once and the mucky mucks were talking about something that you would assume a preschool teacher would know nothing about. (No, I don't remember what it was.)  I put in my two cents and got some very impressed looks.  The X even took note and asked me later in the evening how on earth I knew anything about the subject.  I just shrugged my shoulders and said.  "Historical Romance Novels."

The other thing:  I wont read "crap".  Which I guess means that if it isn't well written, or doesn't grab me by page ten it goes into the give away pile.  This is the main reason I am struggling with the series.  Missy Christy, a former co-worker of mine said it best. "There was way better stuff in the books from the little glass room."  Which made me laugh.  She was right though, there was.  The little glass room was a room at the Y where we would do our planning, and there were shelves in there where we also shared books.  There were some doosies in there!

Plus:  Well, I'm not going to get very personal here, but things in that department are way more than fine thank you very much. :) (read as: smokin' hot)

So: I do get why these books are so popular, but that has much more to do with women and repressed sexuality than a well written book.  I haven't even seen anything so far to get in a tizzy about, but I am not part of the above category.  I was going to bring the entire series back to Sandy Hughitt tonight, and I might still if I run back home before Happy Hour.  I read so much less these days, and I certainly have better things in the house (twenty at least) to curl up with.

In Conclusion:  As my friend Mary pointed out, there's a lot better free erotica right on the Internet. :)  So if that floats your boat, you're welcome.  (Mary was always a good one for leading people astray......)

Brownie Sundae

This is SO late!  HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY SEVENTH BIRTHDAY CAITLIN!  It's not to late, because her family party is this coming Sunday.  I got to wake up and tell her Happy Birthday on her actual day and spend some fun time together, and that's what counts most!


We get creative with bday candles at Auntie's!

The Goovers came over on Wednesday night (Aug 1st) and we had birthday brownie sundaes and watched the movie "Hocus Pocus".  The birthday child always gets to pick, and that's what she wanted.  I'm fairly certain we did the same thing for Hannah's birthday, except she picked Pizza Hut for dinner and Tater chose DQ for lunch. We have a fine performance on facebook of all of us singing "Call Me Maybe", staring Tater!

Cute that we have almost the same pose!  Except she is a tan baby and Auntie's legs will not tan.  Period.  Ever. :(

 

The next morning headed off to Turtle Park, but by eleven the day was already warm and very muggy.  Ash and Tater hung out on the swings for awhile, Hannah hid in the tornado slide where it was cooler, and I dragged a bench into the shade of a tree.  Lynn brought her two kids and we decided that Billings Park might be a little more shady and fun for the kids, so off we went.

The kids had a blast at the Billings Park playground, we will definitely be back!  They played for a bit while Lynn and I visited, and then they wanted to head down the steps to the bay so away we went.  Lynn's little girl tripped on a step and scraped her knee pretty good so they headed back to Grandma's, and the Goovers and I continued on for a little adventure.  It was so much cooler down there we just spent some time sitting and skipping rocks.  That's where the last pics were taken.  Spending time together is so different  now that they are older!

When we finished up Caitlin chose to have her birthday lunch at DQ.  On the way there we had to stop on Billings Drive and film us all singing "Call Me Maybe" when it came on the radio.  I put the car in park, Ashlyn watched for cars coming from behind, and we videoed an encore performance.  "Ashlyn do NOT do that while driving.  Oh, what am I worried about.  I'm sure you've seen your Mother do much worse." :)

Happy birthday Tater Tot!  Thanks for spending some of it with Auntie!!  xxoo  I love you to the moon and back and half way round the block. ♥

My Goovers

Fifty Shades of Red

I suppose if these things didn't happen to me I wouldn't have anything to write about.........

What should read as:  Had a nice dinner with Sandy Hughitt last night, and finally remembered to get the "Grey" trilogy from her, so I can see what all the fuss is about.

Reads as this:  Finally got the Grey books from Sandy, set them on the passenger seat of my car and headed home.  Three or four blocks down the road I see an extremely religious friend of mine, with her teen-aged daughter, walking along.  I know they don't drive, live about a mile from where they were, and my friend had a knee brace on, so of course I stopped to give them a ride. 

As I am moving the three books (forgetting what they were about) into the backseat so she can sit down I ask what they're up to over this way, and of course the answer is church. (choir) That is about the time I realize what I have in my hand and I quickly tuck them on the back seat (next to the teenager) and toss my (thank God I brought it) hoodie over the top of them! 

After I dropped them off I noticed that all three titles were visible........ lets just hope the religious teen isn't as savvy as this religious teen was. ;)

Ey yi yi!

As for the books, well...... I am eighty pages into the first one and nothing exciting to report.  If these weren't so popular and I didn't have to know what everyone is talking about, it isn't something I would read.  She isn't a particularly great author and the story isn't grabbing me.  I am betting that I've read steamier, plus I have heard way to many "My Grandma read that!" stories, and it has me a little weirded out. :)  I will, of course, report back.

300

Well, here it is!  This is blog number 300!!  Words of wisdom?  Funny story?  Ha, I've got nothing.  I'm busy recouping from last weekend and heading into a weekend of family activities.  I know I owe Tater a birthday blog, but I want to include some pictures and the dang dial up is messing with me again.  I know, I know.  Someday......

Someone said recently "that blog you write for your friends".  Well, since we were arguing about privacy issues I didn't think it was the best time to point out that my blog is read all over the world, with the average visits on a daily basis somewhere near 30 now, whether I write or not. Kinda puts the pressure on to get my act together!

So at this milestone I will just say Thank You!  Thanks for stopping by, thanks for reading, and thanks for the comments.  If you happen to know me and I've "used" you here, thanks for that too. 

Oversight

As time goes by I might think of people I forgot to mention at the reunion, but I can't imagine how I forgot this one!!! (I'm going to blame Lisa and that damn Kamikaze.)

I don't really recall seeing him on Friday night, but right when I arrived out on the deck on Sat I hear my name.  "Joanie, you need a name tag!"  "Glen, if you know my name, why do I need one??"

Mr. Glen Novak was also in attendance.  Saw him then for a minute, and then later when we were all sitting around the poker table he would pass by, singing or dancing.  Many times that evening I found myself saying "Some things never change." and it wasn't meant in a positive way.  This time it is.  Glen, don't ever change!

The Deck at Dodgie's

If you know me, you know that I am not a fan of Dodgie's.  Not the person, he's a nice guy, the bar itself.  It's just not my style, and I usually don't hang out there.  I've never been back as far as the deck, so I didn't realize what a nice area that is!  Great place to spend the evening hanging out at the reunion.  We sat in the way back, and I placed myself (no....not totally where I could see Greg Jarvis... that was just a bonus.....) where I could see the door, and pretty much everyone and everything that was going on.  I love to people watch, and I'm sure I could tell something interesting if I knew WHO these people were!

I pretty much stuck with the same group of people, mingled a bit, got to see Sarah Sweeny,(Apparently I am her favorite facebooker, although she didn't ask for my autograph.....)  Kevin Honz, and Wayne Eng, who I don't think were there the night before.  I had more meaningful conversations with the people I did see, and to me that's always a bonus.  Then later in the evening while standing on the deck I heard my name, looked up, and there was MARIE!  If there was one person I hoped to see, she was it.  Thanks for coming down girl!  You made my night.  Now if I had only brought a scrabble board.....  Plus, I can't forget the conversation with Wendy Dalbec.  I am SO glad you came!

I rarely get to see my cousin, Sue Lenihan, and was so glad she and her husband Brian were able to make it up for the day, and that we were able to have a chunk of time to spend together and catch up!

This is probably going to seem rude, and I'm debating writing it, but it is a sad fact.  "That group of people" are still that group of people.  They have their clique and they don't break it to even smile and nod at anyone outside of it.  I didn't need their validation then, although I remember them as friendlier, and I certainly don't now.  I just find it funny that they still don't get it.  In all fairness I suppose I'm just as bad, I certainly didn't head on over to chat with any of them, and I do know them.  (Side note to Kelli.......this would be your "other" group of friends lol)  Example:  Somewhere later in the evening I went to the "ladies".  There was a small line, and one of them walked in.  No smile, no hello, just a crab ass look on her face and a loud "Hurry the hell up and pee." to the person in the stall.  I turned my back to her, because it just wasn't worth the time it took to think up the words, but I did think, "One word while I'm in there sister.........one word." 

It would have been interesting because although I didn't drink most of the evening, that would have been about ten minutes after having a kamikaze that Lisa Drahota handed me.  It was blue, and yummy, and WHAT the heck is in those things??

After Lynn and Greg ( So nice to finally meet him!)  left we headed inside and I sat in the back area at the poker table.  Visited with a lot of people coming and going, but again I had the best time with that little group of folks who I already know well. (Deb, Kelly, Harvey, Dave) The Lisa's joined us, and I got to listen to some interesting Republican discussions between Lisa Nelson and Mike Soyring, not an argument, they are both Republican, and it was educational. Harvey Vincent was between them shooting me looks, and then he moved his chair over between me and Mike. "Well Jo.." he began with a twinkle in his eye. I immediately cut him off with a whisper. "Do NOT out the liberal." :)  Then we all headed over to Perkins, and I got home at 3:40 this morning.      
                                           
The best part of Perkins wasn't the drunks falling asleep in the booth next to us, it was the 23 year old who hung out with us at Dodgie's and came along for the ride to Perkins.  I'm fairly certain in his inebriated state he thought he was going to get lucky with some very fine "older" ladies...... not that they led him on or anything.....poor Russell.  I couldn't believe it when I saw him walking in the door.  "They kidnapped Russel!"  I really want to know how that story ended! 

Oh, and I did get to see the Beecharmer.  ♥  You rock!

So.......... all in all I'm glad I went, although there were long gaps of time during it where I was wondering why on earth I was there.  If nothing else, I got to see Greg Jarvis....... ;)

Twighlight Zone

I don't really know how to describe going to a 25 year reunion that none of your close high school friends attend.  You are in a room full of people (minus Dave Larson, Lynn Henning, Kelly, and Deb Gilroy) who are totally familiar to you, but you don't really know. 

I'm sitting here killing time until Lynn and Greg pick me up for the final festivities, and I'm honestly wondering why I'm even going.  There's a beecharmer that I might get to see, but I just found out that the head of the Middle Aged Republicans club wont be there.  I'm about at the end of my small talk tether, so I'm hoping something entertaining will happen.  (Please God don't let it be me.....)

So, for those of you needing a reunion re-cap.......... 

The festivities started last night (for me) at Keyport.  It was regular happy hour with my girls, plus Dave, Lisa, and Lynn.  I did a fabulous dismount out of the big truck with my slippery shoes, which no one really saw. :)  I heard  "Are you o.k. over there?" from the other side of the truck.  "Yep, had a little struggle on the dismount, but I stuck the landing!"  Damn slippery shoes.  From that point on I accepted a helping hand out of the truck.

Lots of talking and laughter, and I would have been content to have stayed right there with just those folks for the rest of the evening.  I haven't seen Lisa Drahota since high school, and watching her chatting away while she did her make-up at the table was great!  With the added bonus of borrowing some anti frizz gunk for my hair.  Doesn't matter how much time passes, when you get a group of women together it's always the same.

We headed over to Barkers Island at about seven.  It could not have been more humid in the hallway area where most of the people were gathered.  Dave looked at me and said "Did I ever tell you I don't like crowds?"  My response.  "Did I ever tell you I don't like people?  This should be good."  With that we headed to the bar. :)  Lets see, who did I talk to?  Oh, what's his name anyway?  Dean, that's it.  Dean Hoff.  Then spent a bit of time chatting with Marc Campbell and Nancy Erickson.  Hugged some people that I couldn't pick out of a line up, fuzzy recollections from the pic on their name tags.  

We went into the room where the reception was held and it was a little cooler.  Tina Stokes was at our table, and the Hall sisters, Becky and Shelly.  It was nice to visit with all of them again, as I haven't since high school.  Had fun looking around the room with Lynn trying to figure out just who these people were.  Especially challenging since I didn't know half of them at all in high school.  I did figure out Greg Young, and then finally Billy O'Brien.  When I talked to Greg I asked about his wife Jill (Prochazka) because I knew she had to be there.  "She's here somewhere, you know Jill." as he makes a sign for talking.  "Yep, I sure do." I laughed as I walked away.  I did run into her later. 

Shannon (Flaherty) Olson was running around all night.  She was in charge of the Barkers side of things.( Very nice job Shan)  Jackie Glockner and Melissa Milan did a trivia contest for prizes.  I couldn't hear half of it, but Dave won a mug for something.  Got up with Tina to get something to eat and had a minor mishap at the veggie table.  Something hit my foot, but I don't think anyone saw........  Lost my seat while I was gone to one of Dave's fan club members, he is always surrounded by women. :)   That gave me a chance to really sit and visit with Tina though, and have some talk that wasn't just chit chat.

Other people drifted through........ Melanie Hesselgrave, Wendy Dalbec  (lookin good girl!), Some people danced, the music was mostly 80's, and so-so.  Will no one ever learn to keep the music quieter at these things?  You spend the entire time shouting at each other, and most of us were hoarse by the end of the night. (I really like music, that isn't a total "old and crotchety" statement.)

At some point during all this I had a few Jack and cokes.  We went outside to put stuff in the truck and to cool off, and I might have stood on the running board and did a "King of the World" move in the wind.  MIGHT have...... there was some tipsy babbling that Kelly got the brunt of, (Lynn had left already) and that's about it.

Dan Rahala came up and talked to us, and I had to look at his name tag.  "I DO KNOW WHO YOU ARE!"  I laughed.  I had been trying to place him all night.  Ronda Dalgren came over and we looked at the Memorial stuff, and then it was over.  Some of us wandered out into the outdoor patio area and it was perfect.  Lisa Drahota, me, Dave, Pat Higgins, Lisa Nelson, and Carl Rusch sat at a table visiting, joking, oh then Ronda Granquist joined us, talking, and just relaxing.  That lasted about fifteen minutes til the storm hit.  That was probably my favorite part of the night.

Forced back inside into the bar area where I squeezed by Greg Jarvis ( whom I had an enormous crush on in high school) "Why are you all coming back in?" he says to me. (That's when the high school me takes over...... OMG IS HE TALKING TO ME??!!)  "It's starting to rain." I replied with a smile.  Yeah....that's all I had.  Some things never change. 

Visited with people from Dave's crowd of friends.  I would love to tell you their names, but without dragging out a yearbook I can't.  Angie DeRosia was one, and Julie Goodiel stopped over.  Crissy Lange buzzed by, and I did see Laura Greely right before I left.  I thought she must have just arrived, but apparently she'd been there the entire time. 

We left in an absolute downpour, so when I arrived home at 1:15 I was soaked to the skin, and barely able to talk.  All in all I would consider it time well spent.  I have higher hopes, but lower expectations for tonight.

In Memory Of

I have so many things to blog about the last few days and the weekend isn't over yet!  I'm going to take the toughest one first and get it out of the way, because that's how I roll. :)

In my last blog I talked about how difficult it would be for me to attend a class reunion knowing that Wally would not be there, especially without the rest of that group of friends.  The not knowing how I would handle it, and not knowing how the reunion committee was going to handle it probably were the biggest things on my mind. 

Instead of blah blah blahing about all of it, just let me say THANK YOU.

The committee set up a table, kind of off to the side (Oh you know the group I was with sat right next to it.........but I put my back to it) so you could go and look, and it was a part of everything, but very tasteful and respectful.  There were pictures, and a beautiful poem (thanks Ronda) and candles lighting the entire table.  It was very thoughtfully done, and very much appreciated. 

I didn't actually face it until almost the end of the night.  Periodically I would sneak a look around at the other pics, and of course of his, and it was o.k.  In a strange way comforting to be able to see his face, while knowing for sure that in spirit he was there too.  I knew I needed to go up there, read the poem, and pay my respects to all of those that we have lost, because there comes a time when you just have to face things.

I was actually standing near, contemplating this, and who I was going to rope in to going with me, when Ronda appeared and asked if I had read the poem she wrote for our classmates who have passed on.  She was concerned about what I thought about the memory area, if it was o.k., etc.  I said that I hadn't read the poem, and hadn't even really looked at the table yet, but was working up to it.  She just took my hand and said lets go, so we did. 

Sometimes people come along just at the right time, and I've never thought that was coincidence.  Thanks Ronda, I owe you one, and again, you did a beautiful job!

Reunited

Well it's that time.  Apparently I've been out of high school for twenty-five years.  That means it has been twenty-five years since I was a nanny in Madison, and twenty-five years since I obtained my Child Care Diploma.  Hard to believe since I'm only......... 35............ ;) 

I am really not a reunion kind of gal.  I see the folks I want, and with the invention of Facebook I can speak to pals around the globe on a daily basis if I choose.  I love it (fb) because you get a glimmer of what people are up to, and how their REAL life rolls.  Not the "look at me and my beautiful life" you are typically going to get from a reunion setting.  Lets add on top of that the fact that NONE of "my group" are going.  Not a soul.  Thanks guys. 

Every day brings news that more people I know are not coming to the reunion.  It's really very disappointing, but I get it.  I stayed away from our twenty year because the ten year was just so lame, plus it's also difficult on a very personal level, and I'm still not sure how well I'm going to deal with that, but I have to try.  If I stay home I don't have to face the fact that Wally will not be there.  If I go there's no way someone isn't going to bring him up to me, and if there is any kind of memorial for those who have passed on........well.....that would be a good time for me to be in the bathroom.

So I am going with a couple of gals from junior high, Lynn and Lisa, who were both on their own too, and Officer Dave, who is in town for the occasion.  He also happened to surprise me at the office today, which was fabulous!  I haven't seen him since high school, and I get a text at one o'clock saying "Let me in, the humidity is killing me!"  I thought he was joking, but there he was!

The dress I bought for the occasion arrived yesterday.........it, was not fabulous.  Fail of epic proportion!  Lynn and I are going shopping tomorrow. :)  I have an old stand by that I could toss on, but I thought it would be fun to have something new.  I could write a blog about the failed dress, but I have the reunion to write about and the goovers are sleeping over tonight.  There's just not enough time!  I took my first vacation days from my new job so that I could cram everything in.

I guess this weekend is going to be more about meeting new people (my class had over 400 graduating so I did not know everyone) and getting re-acquainted with some old acquaintances, and probably doing a lot more listening than talking.  That way if there's anything crazy to blog I wont miss it!  I really want to bring a scrabble board to sit and play with Marie face to face.  Maybe teaming up with Lynn we could beat her.........