please welcome the graduating class of 1994

sorry to have left you all hanging for a day. a girl does have to work, some time.

anyway, where were we? oh right. the reunion.
so we got there and checked in and got our badges. they used the worst picture possible for me. i was a wee bit heavier (read: a LOT heavier) when i graduated, and that's the picture they used. yay me.
so we started to see some of the people we were talking about earlier in the day. A and i start giggling because some of these people have not changed. certain individuals that we made fun of, ones we had crushes on, ones we thought were losers, and ones that picked on us. the boys had not changed much. the girls. a whole other story. wanna hear it? here it go.

it was a little nervous at first for everyone. a lot of looking once, then looking at the name tag, the blank stare while they ran through the mental list of "did i know you/like you/pick on you/hate you/fuck you?" and then when they made whatever match, they would either advance, or do the half smile and turn away. i mean UH-LOT of that. but then there were the "oh hey, i was hoping you were going to be here"s! so it was wide open, the responses we all got/gave.

now keep in mind, that my husband and A's husband are the best dressed ones here. our men were hot. so we got some looks because of that (yay us). so we head for the bar (?) it was likker and beer lined up on something as big as a podium... and we had to pay for it. the funny thing was that i think i heard a girl say, "ooh, i forgot my ID" and then realized that this was a 10 year high school reunion. if we aren't old enough to drink, we aren't old enough to be there. did i mention that girl was me? (yeah, i'm a fuckwit.) blah blah drinks... and A and i see a girl we were in algebra with us who was in serious need of a mayonnaise sandwich back then. now, i'd like to add bacon and cheese to said sandwich. she was toooooo tiny. but still a sweetie. the 3 of us caught up and introduced husbands and made nice and that was great. she was even a cheerleader too. who knew they would be human? (i can't really say that... i was friends with half of them. don't tell.)
so we see all the other girls we didn't like in school. they were either pregnant, or showing off pictures of their kids. this was the part that started to bum me out. i started threatening to show pictures of my empty uterus with the sign on it that said,

FOR RENT
9 month Lease
Very cozy
GREAT starter home

but husband shut that down.

dammit, he never lets me have any fun. also we realized A and i were the only ones from "our group". that kinda bummed us out. A and her husband went to go check on the Race (capitalized just for you, A) and Husband and i started more mingling. i pointed out the first boy i EVER danced with. the boy i had a crush on, my senior year. the girl who used to pick on me and my NON matching socks in junior high history class (it was the 80's). i introduced him to a girl whom i have known since 5th grade. and we hugged and talked like not a day had passed by. i showed him the girl everyone thought was my twin (ummm...no.) and told him utterly funny and clever stories about myself. (all bullshit) we took the class picture, and by then A and her husband were back. we decided we had enough and headed down to 6th street. (for those of you poor souls who don't know what 6th street is, its a street in austin with all the bars, clubs, tattoo parlors, and more bars on it. its where EVERYONE goes to party. think bourbon street, but cooler, cleaner, and in austin)

Husband wanted to go to Pete's Dueling Piano Bar. we both have very fond memories of this joint. we went the first time i ever took him to austin, i had my bachelorette thing there, he had his bachelor party there, and we went there after our wedding. it's his favorite place. so we went. and we had a blast. MUCH better than the reunion. much. its basically 2 guys with pianos, who play requests for ridiculous amounts of money, and bring people on stage to make asses of them. it's a RIOT. if you are ever going to austin, let me know. i will fly down from amarillo and take you to pete's. i promise.

we continued with the drinking, laughing, and drinking. we headed home around 1:30. we said our good-byes and went back and crash out at our hotel. we had to get up early the next morning to go to brunch with the B's. and we weren't about to miss that. this time, P made it and brought his friend, vijay (sorry if i spelled it wrong). now, this is a half-jewish, half-italian family. they are loud. and we were sitting at a round table. and everyone was talking to someone ACROSS the table. it was like throwing a sentence across the table, and someone else lobbing it back.... it was ridiculous. and fun. once we all got the pleasantries out of the way, we ordered some coffee and all settled into family mode. i sat between my 2 favorite men (fuckin, DUH) and we had a wonderful brunch. that was over way too soon. i mean TOO soon. Husband and i had to hit the road headed back to dallas. we wanted to go back to the B's house, but never would have left, then. we hugged and kissed and cried and hugged some more. we said our goodbyes and ran. because if we hadn't;t, we would STILL be standing downtown, hugging.

the drive back to dallas was quick. Husband called my father at noon to let him know that we were on our way (really he wanted to find out what time the Cowboys game started.) the game started at 3:15. Husband said, "we will be there for kickoff." i said there was no way. but somehow we did it. with time to spare. yay us!

my father's apartment was small, but perfect. since he travels all the time, its just right. so we watched the game (ooh, fun) and i got to see footage of my brother's football game, the day prior. and then we left to get dinner. since i hadn't had any BBQ this visit, i wasn't leaving without at least having chicken fried steak. and that's exactly what i got. mmmm.....

after dinner, my father and i sat on his balcony and drank scotch. which is a new, nice tradition we have started since his last wife wouldn't let him drink the stuff.

BUT WAIT, i forgot the best part! we got him a Golf Zen Garden for his birthday. when he was unboxing it, he pulled out a HUGE piece of bubble wrap. and he and i started laughing so hard. i mean, sides hurt, can't breathe, tears rolling down our face, laughing. meanwhile, Husband has the "i don't get it look" i found out then, that H doesn't read my blog. you catch that? MY HUSBAND DOES NOT READ MY BLOG. and he lives half a continent away. the fucker. so my father and i had to explain to him the bubble wrap story. (http://3gallonsofcoffee.blogspot.com/2004/10/never-dull-moment.html#comments)

and then i got the look. you know the one. the look where he just shakes his head and rolls his eyes and says, "only MY wife" yep, that one. who cares? my father and i thought it was funny. so did everyone else who read it.

back to the balcony... we are drinking scotch. and having a great time, until.....

my mother calls.

i think she may have had a few drinks. and i KNOW she had a bad day. i could hear it. and i know she called for a good reason, but i think a lot of stuff got lost in the translation. poor girl. ( i owe her a dozen or so hugs when i see her next.) she called to give me directions to and from the airport from every location in dallas. see, i was taking Husband from my father's house to one airport, then driving to my grandmother's house in a town north of dallas and then i was going to fly out of a different airport, later that day. that's an ass of driving. especially when i don't live there anymore. so, she meant well. she just forgets that i am her smart child. (to the B's i am the GOOD child) ok, now i have directions and can get to the moon if i need to. as long as i can get there on highway 75.

finally we got everything settled and all parties headed of to sleepy land. because 5 am comes real damned early.

took Husband to the airport, cried, left, got lost, got found, got stuck in traffic, got stuck in traffic again, and finally got to my grandmother's house. while she and i were having a nice day, they came and told her that if she wanted her flu shot, she better get her booty on the bus in 10 minutes. so we got to ride the bus with the other elderly.... (i don't know how many times i said, "it's a 2 hour wait, they have our numbers, they won't run out, yes, you need to have your medicare card out," to the other passengers. thank goodness my Mimi has her wits.) that took about 3 hours. when we got back, we finally got to do some good visiting and then i was off to the airport again. totally uneventful flight... but i was headed back to SC. (bummer)

i got home at 10:30 pm and was exhausted. wonder why.

the end.