Weekend Update

I had an awesome weekend in Des Moines. It started off visiting Amy, Matt and their daughter A, who amazed me with her knowledge of zoo animals. The overall purpose for my trip was a baby shower for my friend Kristy, who is due in about a month with her first baby. I spent Friday night with she and her husband, and then went with her to the Des Moines Farmer's Market on Saturday morning before heading over to her shower.

It was just 6 of us, all friends from high school/college and all willing to find an excuse to get together. We had a great time chatting, watching a DVR recording of New Kids on the Block on the Today Show (a topic for another blog perhaps), playing some baby games, and watching Kristy open her gifts. It is always fun to reconnect and celebrate what's new in our lives.

Saturday night I stayed with my friends Laura and Ben in Indianola, which is the town I went to college in. Turns out my visit was to be full of blasts from the past. During a nice dinner out, we ran into an old college classmate; a guy who used to live across the hall from me my sophomore year. He was part of a group of guys we hung out with quite a bit that year (for those of you who would know, it was J.H.) He was with his family and we chatted a bit. Consequently, after dinner we were at the liquor store picking up some adult beverages, and we saw him again! I joked that this was just like college, except now we pick up household goods with our alcohol...Laura had to buy light bulbs, and he needed to stop and pick up pacifiers!

Shortly after that, Laura and I went to visit our old sorority, Alpha Chi Omega, which is being closed. It's kind of sad because AXO has been at Simpson for over 100 years. The house was actually in a pretty sad state, with many things already taken or thrown out, and the remaining furniture marked for auction. It was good though to walk through it one last time, and it was just a reminder that although the house will not longer contain AXO, it's the people in it and the memories made that will still last a lifetime. Like this one, from a 70s-themed fall party at the bowling alley in 1996:

That day had been graduation day at Simpson, and I was reminded that exactly 10 years ago, that was me accepting my college diploma in the same gymnasium. Kind of funny that I happened to be there on that day without realizing it. It made feel very nostalgic (and a little old). Laura, Ben and I were all at Simpson together, and spent the rest of the night laughing about the college days over a couple of cocktails.

This morning I spent a little time playing with the kids and was inducted into the "Super Sidekick Challenge Club", which is the brainchild of Laura's daughter M. We aren't sure of the rules, except that the club is for girls, babies and daddies. It was such a delight to spend time with Laura and her family.

After a quick drive through campus, I returned to Des Moines to visit my brother Justin. We did a little shopping and had lunch. It was very nice to see him and I'm glad we got the chance to spend a little time. It was back on the road for me then; with a phone call on the way that let me know that my boys were back from their fishing trip a day early. They had the lawn mowed and were ready to take me out to supper when I got here.

I guess there's no place like home!