The weekend

Well, I'm going to post the few notes that I took on the way home.  The party was awesome...absolutely awesome.  Maybe, after tonight, I won't feel so strung out.  I'm very glad we went, but it's tough to get home and not have any time to recover before "real life" hits you in the face:

"The trip home always lacks the excitement that is a big part of a road trip.  I can't wait to get home, and it's gonna be a long day of driving.  We went back to Dan and Sue's today for breakfast.  She made a french toast casserole and some kind of casserole with eggs and hashbrowns and cheese and other goodness.  There was fresh fruit, bagels, bacon, sausage....sheesh, she really put out a spread.  After visiting for about an hour and a half, we said our goodbye's and hit the road, my changing into sweats in the truck, going down I-80.  You can't take the hick out of the girl.

Last night was an absolute blast.  My lasagna was a big hit, and it survived the trip quite nicely.  We had lots of good food, and there was beer from a lot of areas of the country.  I didn't have any of it, though.  It's kinda wasted on me.  I don't care much for heavy beers, or dark beers, or specialty beers, so why waste it?  We spent many many hours visiting and laughing and telling tales.  Everyone wants us to go to the TN gathering (it's the one that's been going on the longest with this group, and we've never been.)  We tried our best to let them know that it probably wouldn't happen.  I mean, that's a heck of a haul, and too expensive with kids.  I guess, if Linda is able to keep them for a 3-day weekend, we'll consider it.  Depends on the fundage available at the time.

I am amazed that you can get together in a huge group of people that you only know from message boards, and the conversation is as easy as if you were life-long neighbors.  Everyone knows what to expect of each other, even though nobody *looks* like you picture them.  I think several of them were truly sad to see us leave this morning.  I don't mean just the normal, "thanks for coming, drive safely" stuff.  I mean a real tight hug and a, "please please consider the TN trip?  It'll be awesome if you're there!"  I never expected to have good friends from across the country, but I do.  How cool is that?

I'm really glad we made this trip, and I think Kevin is, too.  It was so out-of-the-norm for us.  We don't do stuff like this.  But we did, and it was good.  Now, as we head home, we know that it's time to get back to life as normal.  The girls will need showers, laundry will need to be started, and we'll all be exhuasted from the weekend.  I can't wait to get a hard 8 hours of sleep...in my own bed...in my own home."