88 Is Great!

Lady Di's high school class turned twenty this weekend. So we packed the minivan with yearbooks and hairspray and headed up north to party like it was 1988.

Last year, I had my twenty year reunion and we had a blast. Lady Di's class had a tough act to follow. I had some high expectations for this year. I'm glad to report that the class of 1988 rocks almost as much as the class of 1987.

We started off the weekend with the fishing Gramma and Grampa. We arrived a little late so all we had time to do was shoot some two year old fireworks for the kids. The kids were pretty excited to wave some sparklers and slap mosquitoes a few hundred times. It seems that whenever fireworks are involved, kids will always gravitate towards the fireworks box with their lit sparklers. No matter how far away I started the kids with their fire sticks, they always gradually backed themselves closer and closer to the box just to keep Dad on his toes.

The next morning Lady Di and I had the opportunity to swing our golf clubs with another couple attending the reunion at the local golf course. Gramma and Grampa kept the kids entertained on the lake, so I had no excuse for losing as many golf balls as I did. We still had a lot of fun and hopefully will be able to play another round if we can all get together at the end of summer.

Golf was followed by a rare night out at the fanciest nightclub in town. It also happens to be the only nightclub in town. In fact, nightclub may also be a bit of a lofty description. But who cares? We saw a band and did some dancing and stayed up late. So we were nightclubbing.

On reunion day, we went to a classmate's home for a cookout and Lady Di was able to reconnect and reminisce. I got to hear all of her embarrassing secrets from high school and luckily I had a pen and paper to jot down the juiciest stories for future posts. I may have missed a few stories because I was put in charge of the grill. I must have had the grill a little too hot because along with the smell of hamburgers, there also was the smell of singed arm hair.

Once the cookout was done, we raced home to quickly check on the kids. Yup, still fishing. Then we were off to the fanciest dinner club in town. We had to drive ten miles to the actual town where Lady Di went to school two decades ago. This town is a little bit bigger than where Gramma and Grampa live, so there are actually a few restaurants to choose from. After the lovely chicken and ribs buffet, we again went nightclubbing.

And just so you don't get the wrong idea, we didn't spend the entire weekend drinking at the bar (I mean nightclubbing). We did lots of other things like visit and tell stories and look through year books and we only drank during some of those times. Well, I guess that's what you do at reunions.

The highlight of the weekend was getting the award for 'Most Handsomest Spouse of a Classmate'. I was so totally not expecting it. Luckily, I always have a 'Most Handsomest' speech ready at a moments notice.

Overall, it was nice to see Lady Di get caught up with her friends and it looks like we may get together with a few of them later this year.

Lady Di has a great class of friends and I had a lot of fun meeting them. There was already talk of planning a twenty-five year reunion so I have five more years to practice my golf swing and my nightclub head bob.

Class of 87 Still Rules

This weekend I dragged the family to my home town for my twenty year high school reunion. I can't believe it has been two decades. I don't feel twenty years older. Well, sometimes my back feels that way after mowing the lawn.

I graduated with 29 other hopeful youngsters. Yes, I'm from a town where everybody knew everybody. We had about a 50% turnout for the reunion. I was hoping for a better turn out, but it was still nice to catch up with the classmates who were able to attend. Surprisingly enough, It didn't seem like anyone changed all that much. I know I am still the 'cool dude' I was in high school. My kids tell me that all the time. Most classmates had started families of their own and that is what everyone talked about of course.

We got to play some golf. Some of us just chased the ball from tree to tree before feeding it to the creek. It was a very loose game. The 'foot wedge' was used often and a few golf balls were thrown by hand with better results than some hits with the golf club. Golf etiquette was observed at all times. Except when we were shouting or laughing during someone's swing.

Those of us with kids got them all together with us at the park to play and get acquainted. After the kids had a hot dog picnic they were given over to their sitters, and we grilled steaks before invading the local tavern to jam to Outfield and Bon Jovi music. We acted like headbangers without the hair. It seemed some of us weren't used to having a night out sans kids. When 'no kids' was combined with seeing friends you haven't seen in ten to twenty years, it added up to loud evening. After a few drinks, some classmates started acting like they were still in high school. By the end of the night, a couple classmates actually thought they were still in high school.

Overall, the weekend was very fun. It was worth the five hour drive to reconnect with friends. It also made me realize that I miss my friends and I need to keep in touch better. We have all led such different and interesting lives. Many classmates went off in directions that no one could have predicted. Some have been around the world and have experienced different cultures. It also makes me re-evaluate my own life. Have I done enough and seen enough at this point in my life? Probably not. I now have email addresses that will allow me communicate better and hopefully learn more about where my former classmates have been.

Thanks to Christi, Kim, Maria and Mike and everyone else for all of their hard work. And if anyone needs a good pecan bar recipe, I'll get it from Carolyn.

By the way, I'm the old guy who's still 'got it' in the picture.