Reunited and it feels so good

I had a blast at my reunion. I felt young again and unfortunately drank like a dumb teenager!

I left Houston on Thursday afternoon. All went well...I arrived at the airport, parked the truck, checked my bag, got through security and on to the plane. The oldest plane I think I've ever been on--old, rusty, seats falling apart. Think Eastern European block country's cheapest airline. Then, when the plane started up, this horrible siren went off. Then we rolled out to the runway only to be 1,000th in line for take-off. Then, a storm hit with lightning, high winds and all the fun stuff that means you are NOT taking off. Next we see emergency vehicles around the plane--why? A KLM flight was coming in with no gas in the ol' tank. Eventually they shut the plane off to conserve our gas (thank you, good thinking) and we sweat and we sit and we sweat an we sit and then they start the plane up again (with the same horrible, may-day type siren) and we're off. Phew!

I spent my first day in Hudson, WI with the J-fam. I spent most of my days there anyways, so it's like a 2nd home. Hudson is like Mayberry. The mailman stops and talks to everyone. The grass feels like fleece and is green and soft between the toes. The sky is blue. The houses are well-kept. It has a historic downtown but also a modern 'Hill' where the Target and other convieniences are located. I don't know why I wanted to get away from it so badly (OK, I know there is a 'dark' side to Hudson--turning the other way from all the meth labs, bad politics, etc. but let me just live in my little happy bubble)

The reunion was fun. About 1/4 of the class showed up and it was so fun to see everyone. I was especially happy to be told I looked 'exactly the same' and enjoyed having people come up to me and say "I hear you have an accent!'. It was fun to see the faces that were hidden behind big, spiral perms and mullets back in '92 (and some guys had spiral permed mullets, seriously, I'm not kidding). Two guys got to live the dream--coming back to the reunion looking totally different, one skinnier, one buffer, both looking really good. They got a lot of attention. It was fabulous to be with my girls again--Chris, Jody, Erin and Annie. We walked in and someone said "Oh, look, y'all are together still!" (except they didn't say "y'all", I guess). We chatted, caught up with classmates and then went downtown Hudson to drink and dance.

And I drank and I danced and I drank and I danced and then I threw up behind Richard's on the River (aka Dick's Bar). Then we went to McDonald's and I threw up there. Then to Annie's house for one more reunion with the porceline god. Not being much of a drinker in high school (I drank 1 time, threw a party while my parents were out of time and got caught and grounded for about 6 months--had to break up with my boyfriend because we couldn't go on dates, was socially out of the loop, no phone--makes you not want to drink, yes?) I figure this was my time to "leave my mark" on Hudson. Got to bed at 4 am.

The next day was rough, had a massive hangover and sleep deprivation so we didnt' get going until noon. We headed up to Cumberland to watch a softball tournament and then went to a teammate's cabin. It was so nice. Went out on Pike Lake in a boat....just needed some cheese and Leinie's to make it complete (but neither sounded good on my poor belly). I got my Dairy Queen cherry dipped-crunch coat cone (dont have 'em in Texas) and was a happy girl.

Next morning I spent having brunch with Jay and then off to the airport. Got checked in. Got on the plane (same crappy, old, frightening one I rode up on--dont think it had been cleaned since I was on it last, either) and then we sat. And sat. And sat becuase Houston had shut-down the airport. Eventually in the air--no snack, just drink. Weird siren again. Horrible turbulence. Bad landing. No more Northworst Airlines!! The good think was I read 3 books and watched "Pretty in Pink" during all my air time (or on the ground time in an airplane plus airtime)

I am so sad today. Whenever I head back to Wisconsin it's like when you break up with a boyfriend and you still love him but you're trying to be cool and mature and 'stay friends'. So you hang out with him 'as a friend' and you're so happy being with him but your heart aches because you know you won't ever be together again and it hurts to walk away every time. That's me and Hudson. When I'm there, I'm so happy but my heart hurts because I know I have to leave and that we can't be together right now. Sniffle. I miss my friends. The ones who know you before life got complicated. I have friends now but I know nothing about childhoods or history because there's no time these days. No time for lolling by the pool and walking barefoot and talking. Just talking. For hours and hours and hours. About nothing but about everything.


Now I'm going to crawl back in bed and be homesick.....