Reunion

I guess it would be nice for me to work in some kind of update for this month. It's been a real whirlwind. The first of the month started off with me heading up to Knoxville for my 20-year high school reunion. I drove up on a Friday afternoon with a cooler full of water and Mt. Dew and a few packs of Chewy Spree candy. As I got closer to my destination, I recognized all sorts of things and got that "I'm almost home" feeling that I haven't had in years. I think it's been 17 years since I've been back there. It was suprisingly easy for me to find my way around and I was at my hotel in no time. I got checked in and found out that I was on a "quiet floor". They had a list of rules for this floor, no kids, no loud TV or radio, no slamming doors, quiet in the hallways, etc. I was in HEAVEN.

I headed down to the waterfront to meet up with a few friends for dinner. Kathy and Dave were already there and I joined them on the balcony outside. Tracy J. joined us soon after and we spent several hours just catching up. It was pretty late when we decided to call it a night so I went on ahead and retired for the evening.

The next morning I woke up early and headed out with my camera to my old neighborhood. I went by one of the places I used to live and checked it out. I made it over to one of my elementary schools to look around. Even though it was Saturday, the head custodian and the current principal were there preparing for the students to return that following week. I talked with them for a bit and they let me have free reign through the building. WOW, talk about having some old memories! Everything seemed so SMALL now. For me, it was fantastic to be walking down the hallways and peering into the classrooms of my youth. The school was in amazingly good shape for its age.

Across from the school was the building I used to meet in when I was in Cub Scouts. My dad was our scout leader. Now that I think back on it, I really appreciate my dad taking the time to work with me and the other kids. That was really cool.

I next tried to get over to my old high school, but unfortunately it's surrounded by a fence and I couldn't get in (well, I didn't try). It would have been nice to get in there and walk the halls again. Maybe for our next reunion that could be arranged. Anyway, the elementary school I attended in first through third grade is on the same plot of land. I learned that it's been converted to a carpentry school. It's in pretty bad shape though. I looked in some of the windows but really couldn't see much.

Next, I headed over to the west side of town where I used to work at a computer shop. The building complex where my office was is gone now, replaced by a strip shopping center. Oh well! I drove around some more and just looked at hom much things had changed. On my way back to the hotel, I drove through the UT campus and went by many of the buildings I went to class in. Sigh... I miss being a kid.

I got back to my hotel and cleaned up for the reunion party. One of my classmates sent her husband to come pick me and LeAnn up from the hotel. When I arrived, it was like we were all 18 again. It was fantastic to see everyone. We all had an awesome time. I don't remember us being quite so alcoholic though (LOL). We ate, we drank, we laughed, we danced, we talked, we hugged... it was a fantastic time.

After all that fun, driving back home kinda sucked.