Sisters!

Sister: The one who finds an awesome mascara sampler, wonders who else would enjoy one just as much, and thinks of ME!

Who wouldn't love ten different tubes of high end mascara? 

Reunited, Part Three

I was the first up on Sunday morning and headed down to the lobby to let Debbie and Robyn sleep. Incredibly, Robyn was the second one up, coming down 30 minutes after me, all dressed and ready to go. Robyn's sister Joni drove down just to see us, and we ate breakfast at the Fairmont Hotel restaurant.

Debbie and I went back to her dad's house, and John and her girls came down to see Aunt Mary before we took Mary to the airport.

Stacey holding Butler.

It was great to have a mostly-down day before I left early Monday afternoon. This was out the window, looking behind us, shortly before landing in Atlanta.

Four flights over the round trip, two delays, but nothing that held me up enough to be worrisome. I landed on schedule just before midnight at Roanoke, and Robert and Trevor were there to meet me.

Such a really, really fun trip. Interesting that at least three people close to me (Debbie Judy, Holly) expressed surprise that I actually went, basically saying that I don't do things like this for myself. Well, I'm planning to do it again in five years, so no one should be surprised then!

It was great. So happy I went.

Reunited, Part Two

Deb and I slept in the pop up tent trailer out back. It was quite fun, actually, and thankfully 1) it didn't rain and 2) there was a full moon, making our frequent nightly trips into the house to the bathroom easy. On Saturday morning, we ran into Valley Fair, where I promptly found a fantastic pair of jeans, the best fit I've had in five years. It was Christmas in Macy's.

We visited with Georgia's dad. He's in his late 80s, still living in the same house. Many of the same pictures are on the same walls. It was a great visit, I am SO glad we were able to do this!

Debbie took me on a neighborhood tour, past our old high school, by her dad's old house on Woodcreek, past George C. Payne Elementary School, and we drove down the streets I walked to school on as a kid.

1528 San Tomas Court. Doesn't really look that different.

We drove up Saratoga (which was MUCH shorter than I imagined), past the now torn down McDonald's and Taco Bell (still reeling over that one!). We headed downtown. It was a pretty day, and I was trying to catch a shot of the surrounding foothills in this picture.

We checked in at The Fairmont, where our room overlooked the SJBACON.COM festival.
(And I die laughing, but you would have had to be there.)

Debbie and I went out to lunch, meeting Robyn back at the hotel. We reminisced as we got ready, a lot like old times, chatting, running in and out of the bathroom, putting on makeup, sharing curling irons. And it was time to leave!

We checked in at the reunion desk and were given cut red and yellow straws as free drink "coupons." (This later led to the best line of the night by Tom, sheeeeeeesh!!!!!) One of the first people we saw was this guy.  Oh, I knew he'd be there, and he was one of the top people I was waiting to see. Debbie's old boyfriend Greg, one of the sweetest guys ever, and his nice words made me burst into tears right off the bat.

Another person I was dying to see in real life was Tom, super nice guy, big heart, loves and loved by everyonem who came in from Bainbridge Island.

Having a really, super, great, fun, wonderful time! Everyone was truly so nice and fun to see. Talked to a couple of people I am pretty sure I never knew. Talked to a few people with whom I am pretty sure I never spoke to in high school. All of the women were hugging, not being phony but being truly glad to see people. With the exception of two guys, everyone was very comfortable, no one trying to show off, just happy to be there and happy to be themselves.

There was a table with photos of classmates who had passed. Debbie had brought Georgia's photo. Gosh, she was missed. She would have LOVED this night.

An earlier picture (stolen and added here) of Greg, Leslie, and Tom. My old friend (the other) Greg, surely the cutest boy in high school, and the third person I was so happy to see in real life. Leslie, who had the most amazing dress of the evening (and I told her at least a dozen times)--and Leslie who, when she found out there was not enough money to buy a cake for the evening, made one for us (she used to bake professionally).  And Tom.

Holli and I have known each other since kindergarten, but I can't remember ever being friends. We don't know why. So that's changed--after this night, we are friends. I'm sure I've known her longer than anyone else there that night. And it's a great feeling.

 

Michelle. Apparently we look alike in photos but not at all in real life. (True, we don't look anything alike really).

 

We took a couple of group photos throughout the night.

 

 

About 15 of us shut the place down and then went out looking for a restaurant to eat real food. The bar at The Fairmont was closing (and Greg W. was hungry enough apparently to eat glass). Original Joe's--closing. The next bar was loud, loud, loud, so a handful of us just ended up going to the hotel.

Fun end of the night, eating pizza, Robyn telling her stories, and Debbie crashing early.

And I'll go back for the 40th, no question about it. CAN'T WAIT!!!!

Reunited, Part One

So this conversation happened a few weeks ago.

So I bought my plane tickets two days later and went.

Roanoke --> Atlanta --> San Jose.

Snow over the Rockies near the New Mexico/Colorado border. I took this one for my kids. Need to mention here that I also bought more Sea Bands just for this trip, which again were complete lifesavers. Can't say how much difference they make for me and my motion sickness. They look funny, but it's certainly better looking than puking into a bag.  ::shudder::

Debbie picked me up at the airport, and after grabbing Starbucks to ease my caffeine habit, we swung by her dad's house to pick up her dad and Aunt Mary. John has lung cancer. Debbie's staying at his house during the week, helping out with doctor appointments, cooking, just being close by. Mary was visiting from Martha's Vineyard. I'd never met Mary, but I've heard about her for so long that I think she was surprised at how much I knew/remembered.

We drove over the mountain in the rain to Santa Cruz, where Jimmy's memorial is. It's a special place for them to go, and Deb wanted to share it with me.

For some reason, Jimmy's name isn't showing on the wood on the left where the flowers are, but it looked fine in real life.

It was blustery, evidenced by my inside out umbrella and Debbie's broken umbrella!

It was damp and drizzly and cold too!

Just past the fence behind us, there are rocks and then the ocean.  Looking past the fence, you can see the "Toilet Bowl" where Jimmy was trapped. So tragic, but the ocean and surfing here was special and loved by him, and he did it every chance he got, and by extension, it's special to his family.

Because of the weather, we didn't stick around long, but grabbed pastries for the car ride home. Stayed in for dinner, and John went to bed to the sound of Deb, Mary, and me playing rummy--pretty much like he often did 40 years ago (at least with me and Deb playing).

Writing about art

One of the reasons we chose to go to the National Gallery of Art for Holly's birthday was that Trevor needed to see, in person, a painting of his choosing about which he would then write a four paged paper for his art history class.

He had a few in mind and ended up choosing View of Medinet El-Fayoum.

Part of the class requirements were to take the paper to the school's writing center to be reviewed by a writing tutor. This was the text conversation between me and Trevor afterwards.

These were her written comments on Trevor's paper.

I know Nancy, as we had the same boss when I worked at the college. (Miss that job!!) She didn't make the connection that Trevor was my kid. And I knew she'd want to know that.

"I think his paper is the best one I have ever read from from a student in my 25 years in the Writing Center."

I really can't add anything more to this!

Happy birthday to Holly!

We went up to celebrate Holly's birthday. I look at the car and wonder HOW IN THE WORLD are we going to get all of this stuff actually moved out in May???!!

We had plans to visit the National Gallery of Art on the Mall in DC. It was a bit chaotic when we arrived; it was drizzly outside, and several nearby streets for closed for Taste of DC. But thanks to the encouragement of the kids, I was able to keep it together :), park in an unexpected location, and we met up with Robert where we dropped him off by the museum.

We took our time in the museum, Robert's first visit. I love seeing the familiar pieces that we learned about when the kids were little. I knew nothing about art, but it was a fun way to tie in something cultural with the way we studied history.

Artist: Rafael. Not just a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.

 Artist: El Greco. The Greek.

The fountain in the middle of the museum. On our first visit, Trevor instantly recognized who this was because of his love for Greek mythology. (However, I can't remember!)

I think this Manet was part of the Renaissance Art Game we used to play when they were little.

Monet.

And Degas.

After the museum, we went to Chili's for an early dinner, then our usual Walmart run. Back at Holly's, we dug into her birthday cake while she opened her presents.

The cake was actually one of her presents! She's wanted a bakery cake for awhile, and I wanted something different than a regular grocery store cake. This was quite incredible, a white chocolate and chocolate layer cake. Fantastic deliciousness! I've decided we'll have to get one to bring home for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Quite a wonderful little bakery, and I'm not sure if it's good or bad that it took us so long to find this in downtown Fairfax!

I appreciated that they even took care to make it special for her birthday. I should have gotten a picture of a cut piece!

It was a really late night, something we've not done in the past three years since she's been there. Well worth it, nice to celebrate as a family, and the rain had cleared out for our drive home, getting in around 11:30!

Happy birthday to my sweet baby, 22 years ago, made me a mom, made us a family. <3 br="">

Falling

I am never ready for this. We've had hot, hot weather, and POOF!, once fall was officially here, that changed dramatically.

 

On the plus side, we kicked off Oktoberfest at work with apple cider mimosas, assorted beers and faux German snacks.

I finally feel like I'm settling in to the new job, catching up on the chaos from when there was no secretary for quite a while, and learning how things work. I like the work, the medical information is quite interesting to me. The people are pleasant, no drama. All is good.

This conversation happened between me and Debbie late Tuesday night.

That part about me considering going? That was a flat out lie. I only said that because I thought I had the perfect out. 

So I bought a plane ticket to San Jose. I haven't seen Debbie in 20 years, Robyn in 33. Georgia is gone. Debbie's dad is really ill. This is a welcome opportunity to visit, and I'm looking forward to it (although I'm reluctant on the reunion event part, that's just a couple of hours of the trip). Most of the people I would want to see I already see on Facebook. I feel very little pressure about finding the "perfect" outfit or doing anything drastic to be sure I look good. And that's a really nice, comfortable feeling. San Jose, here I come!  (Gulp.)