Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for old friends
’86 girls
For the third year in a row my high school friends got together at my parents’ house this weekend. It was a bit questionable how many would be able to make it this time, but thankfully 5 out of the 6 were able to come. We had decided that we’d just order pizza and stay in since all we really wanted to do was talk and laugh all night. And talk and laugh we did. It’s so difficult to explain how wonderful it is to hang out with old friends. As one of my newer friends put it, these people knew me before I even knew myself. We’ve all grown and changed so much, yet we’ve all stayed in touch and have pretty much stayed true to who we always were. Maybe it’s the small town values, maybe it’s the fact we all went through so much together, or maybe it’s just our personalities, but we just all still click. There’s always a lot of catching up on the details of our lives, but fundamentally we always pick right up like we see each other every day. It’s awesome.
Even though I’m exhausted from a very late night, it was wonderful to spend time with my girls. I feel refreshed inside, and I know that my girls will always be part of my life. That’s a pretty good feeling.
Geeky girls time
My great friends Carrie and Amy did not have school because of Veteran’s Day today, so they dumped their kids on their spouses and drove down to Blo-No for a little mini get-away. They had lunch here, went for pedicures, and then did some shopping. All of this happened while I was in school, which I thought to be completely unfair, but I think they had a lot of fun bumming around. Finally after school was out they came to see our new house. I gave them the deluxe tour, getting their opinions about the improvements we’ve made or hope to make in just about every room. I had worked hard on getting the house looking good, and was excited to show it off to them.
After a lengthy discussion on where we should go for dinner (I’m horrible at making decisions like that) we finally headed out. We went to Destihl, where there was quite a long wait, but it was all good because it just gave us longer to catch up. Dinner was great…we always like to get a few appetizers and share them all. Plus that allowed us to save some room for ice cream afterwards.
We didn’t do anything big, but it was a really fantastic day. We simply got to talk and talk and talk, which seems rare these days. Amy was joking with a friend about what we’d do when we got together, and she was calling this our Geeky Girls Time. There could not be a better description of it, and I would not like it any other way!!
All those boys
There truly is nothing like old friends, and today I had the pleasure of getting together with two of mine. Patty and Lisa and I used to be so great about getting together regularly. Of course, that was when we all lived in Northern Illinois and we were either single or kidless. Once they started having kids, we still worked hard to get together pretty often. Then I moved two hours away, and that complicated things exponentially. But we still try. And somehow, amazingly, we found that we were all free today. As an added bonus, my kids had been in Sycamore at Mom & Dad’s over the weekend. Patty lives just north of Sycamore, so I could combine my trip up with a pick-up from the grandparents.
All of their kids are older than mine, and all of them are boys. Lisa has two boys and Patty has three. They love getting together because they’re all close in age. My kids didn’t really remember them, but they still had a great time swimming and playing together. Emma was not thrilled that she was the only girl, but Patty also has a dog, so Rocky entertained her most of the day.
It was so nice to see my dear friends. We had a great chance to talk because the kids are getting so much more self-sufficient. In a few more years my kids will be past the point of neediness (I hope) and it will get even better. Like I said before, there’s nothing like old friends. And I think Emma summed up the day perfectly. As we were leaving, she said to me, “Mommy, I had a wot of fun pwaying…even though it was wif awe those boys.”
I so needed my girls
Yesterday was the second annual LHS ’86 Girls get-together in Sycamore. We all meet there because my parents’ house sits empty all winter, so it provides us with the perfect meeting spot. This year there were six of us in the group. We had planned it almost two months in advance so we could all make sure to keep our calendars free. I was really looking forward to seeing my fellow Lelanders, and let me tell you, our time together did not disappoint.
There is nothing quite like old friends. I’m talking really old friends, too, because I’ve known these girls most of my life. Actually, the friend in the group whom I’ve known the shortest I met in 4th grade…33 years ago. The rest of them I’ve known since birth or Kindergarten. And I think that being from a town the size of a postage stamp makes our bond even stronger. We all literally grew up together, and I believe these girls know me like no one ever has or ever will again. And the damnedest thing about that is they all still love me anyway. It had been a very emotional week for me, and I knew that time with these friends would be priceless. It was, and then some. We talked, and talked and talked and talked. We all laughed, a lot. Some of us cried, and I really feel like we just got everything out. There was no subject too personal or private; that just doesn’t exist with these girls. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that three of us went to bed at 4:30 and then my bff Sandi and I stayed up until 5:00 just talking some more. I don’t even know how we did it.
I’m paying today…big time. Let’s face it, we’re not young pups who can stay up all night and bounce right back anymore. But even in my exhausted state I know that no matter how much I’m paying, it was all worth it. Spending time with my girls will always make me feel better. Always.
My girls
Tonight was a difficult one. My dear friend Sandi’s mother passed away last weekend; quite unexpectedly and suddenly. So this afternoon I drove up to Somonauk for her wake. I knew there would be a big crowd, as her mom had lived in our hometown her entire life and now her children do and there are hundreds of people who have known and loved them for years. But I don’t think I expected the crowd to be quite the size it was. The line was wrapped all the way around the inside of the funeral home waiting to give their condolences.
I was so sad for my friend, but I know it made her feel good to have so many come to the visitation. I was very excited at one point to see our group of high school girlfriends in line behind me. Once we had all gone through the line, the five of us congregated in a downstairs room so we could chat. Even though the circumstances of getting together were not good, it was great to see them all and to talk and laugh and catch up with each other’s lives. I have to say that I’ve never had closer friends than those from good ol’ Leland. We are still as close as we were over twenty years ago. Once the line had dwindled, Sandi was able to talk with us for a short bit, and we all agreed that we would make a committment to get together at least once a year without any circumstances like this. At one point Sandi said, “It’s just so nice to have my girls here. Thanks you guys.” It was nice to have everyone together, and it’s nice to have a group that we can call “our girls”. I just hope next time we can skip the sadness.
Euchre mania
I participate in a Euchre tournament that has been going on for over twenty years. You can read about it here if you want the full background about this tournament, because I wrote about it when we played last summer. But today we got together and played again, and as always, it was a super fun day.
It’s so funny how much these tourney days have changed. We used to have Euchre weekends, where we would eat massive amounts of junk food and play cards until all hours of the night. Sometimes we would barely leave the house…usually just to go out for a meal so we could get some fresh air. Sometimes, though, we’ve ordered in just so we could keep playing. But now we’ve all aged 20+ years and none of us are too interested in those kinds of crazy events anymore. We’ve tamed it down to a one day marathon…usually about six hours or so…with much less junk food and an actual meal involved during our play.
We had a great time catching up, listening to 80s music, and playing cards. Just for the record, my partner Jeannine and I won seven games in a row, which I think has to be some kind of record. We’re still WAY behind in the megapoint category, but maybe someday we’ll catch up. We have plenty of time.
Time with two of my besties
Amy and Carrie and I have been friends for a long time. I think we first met in the fall of 2001 when we had a grad school class together. After that, we continued to get to know each other and by 2003 we were all living in the Aurora/Naperville area and had a blast. Carrie and I were still single at the time, and Amy’s husband had a job that kept him in the city for long hours. So we all had common interests and lots of free time, which meant we were together all the time.
Seven years, two weddings, and six kids (between the three of us) later, we’re still close, but we don’t get to spend much time together that doesn’t include waiting on or refereeing our kids. So when we had the chance to get together for a couple of days without any kids within miles of us, we jumped at the chance.
The girls drove down and we headed for Champaign. You know, the holiday getaway capital of the world, right? Well, we decided it was somewhere relatively close that had an outlet mall close to it, and we wanted to do some shopping. I won’t bore anyone with the details of the time we spent together, but there was a LOT of talking, a lot of laughing, some good shopping, and a whole lot of catching up. It was wonderful to spend some grown-up time together like we did in the old days. If only we could have watched an episode of “The Bachelor” together over pizza. Then it would have been deja vu all over again.
We’ve decided this should be an annual event, and I really hope we all work to make that happen. I love these girls, and I’m happier when I get to spend some time with them.
Friends came
Two of my dear friends, Amy Mad. and Carrie, trucked down to Blo-No from Naperville this morning with all of their kids in tow. The three of us met in grad school, and when we met we were all kidless and Carrie and I were single. We were together all of the time, and truly were my two besties. Then Amy had her first son Jack, Carrie got married, I got married, I moved to Normal, I had Ben, Carrie had her first daughter Jaiden, Amy had her second son Charlie, I had Emma, and Carrie had her second daughter Lexi. All of this took place between March 2004 and June 2007. Shew! Needless to say, we just don’t get the same girl time that we used to. But we were very optimistic about this trip. We thought since all of the kids were finally over three (which I guess in our minds is supposed to mean they’re more self-sufficient), maybe we could actually have more time to catch up while we were together.
It was a beautiful hot day, so as soon as they got here we threw on our swimming suits, drove through McDonald’s and headed for Tipton Park. 
Tipton is what we refer to as a ‘splash park’ because it has a bunch of fountain like attractions that kids can squirt and play in. It’s really pretty cool, and I knew that it would be perfect for our kids. They were all pretty excited to be there, and shockingly the lunch disappeared pretty quickly. They were off.
Of course everyone had their moments…Ben especially. He is currently having a really rough time dealing with other kids not being fair, or not giving him his way. If he asked some random kid for a turn at one of the features, and the kid said no, Ben would burst into tears. It was not fun. But overall, everyone had a great time and they all played really hard. 
I know my kids were beat when they left, and I’m sure there were some quiet kids on the way home to Naperville. Once everyone left, Ben was laying on the couch chilling and he looked up at me and said, “Mommy, I’m so glad your friends came. They have fun kids.” 
And how did our grown-up conversation go, you ask? Well, I will have to say that we had more of a chance to talk than we have just about anytime in the last 5 years, but it still wasn’t quite what I would call girl time. It’s getting better, though, and I think all three of us can see a glimpse of a time when we get together and don’t even see the kids the whole time we’re there. At least I hope that’s really coming…
’86 girls night
I am still very close with several of my high school friends. I’m sure that the fact that we only had about 12 girls total in our class had something to do with it…you can’t really switch friends too much when there are no other girls to be friends with! But seriously, there are six of us who have remained good friends. Last night, five of us got together for a much-needed visit, and we had a great time.
It was funny because we planned this get-together at my parents’ house in Sycamore…because it is sitting empty while my parents are in Florida for the winter. We all joked that it was just like high school all over again…planning a party at someone’s house while their parents are gone. But really it was the best option. It is relatively central to all of us, it’s an entire house sitting empty, and it’s free!
Sandi was the first to arrive and we had almost an hour before Patty came, and then another half hour until Lisa got there. We knew that Debbi, the fifth musketeer, wouldn’t be able to get there until much later, as she had a previous engagement, so the four of us headed out to dinner. At my request, we went to Pizza Villa, a restaurant that is truly a DeKalb tradition. I wanted to go there for one reason only; beer nuggets. Beer nuggets are these fried dough nuggets that are just delicious. For some reason, they seem to be DeKalb specific, so I wanted some. I don’t think that I had tasted one in probably six to seven years. I was long overdue.
After dinner we stopped to get some wine, and then headed back to my parents’ house. Debbi finally arrived a short time later, and then we just talked, and talked, and talked some more. I enjoyed myself so much…you just can’t beat hanging out with friends who know you so well and who know most of your history. It was incredibly easy for all of us to pick up right where we left off last time…even though it had been so long. Leese and Patty had to go home, but Sandi and Deb stayed over with me. The three of us stayed up until three am talking! We couldn’t believe how quickly time passed.
Sure, I’m paying for it tonight. I’m sooooo tired right now that I think I’ll be heading to bed soon. But it was totally and completely worth it. It was a refreshing and rejuvenating night, and I hope that we can do it again soon.
Woo hoo…U2!
U2 opened the U.S. leg of their 360° tour in Chicago last night, and my dear friend Amy Mad. and I were there! It was a warm Spring Break night in Florida when I got the text from Amy saying, “I just got us tix for U2 at Soldier Field on Sept. 12!” That seems like such a long time ago now, but the concert was definitely worth the wait.
The evening started with an early dinner of stuffed pizza (something I truly miss the most about the suburbs) with two more great friends Carrie and Rachel. The four of us used to get together all the time before we all had kids and crazy, busy lives. Now our time together is much more rare, but still really great.
After dinner Amy and I headed into the city. The drive was awesome because we atually had a chance to talk without heaing, “Mommy!” constantly. Then we hit the traffic. Ugh…we were still a long way out when the interstate became a parking lot. But, we kept our spirits up…this was going to be great! Then we tried to find parking. Man, the traffic in the city was twice as bad as it was on the interstate!!
We ended up parking in the garage of the building of a friend of Amy’s after a short little drive on the sidewalk, thank you very much. No, I’m serious. There was so much traffic on the street that we just drove on the sidewalk at one point to get from one driveway to another that was only about 50 feet away. It was great.
Anyway, we then set off on foot to Soldier Field. I was a tiny bit stressed because at this point it was already after 7:00, which was the concert starting time. I knew that U2 wouldn’t go on until much, much later, but still…I always get a little stressed if I think I’m going to be late. We were parked about a mile from Soldier Field I think, and there was a huge crowd all walking that way. There was a definite excitement in the air, and Amy and I were stoked.
We entered the stadium, and were awestruck. The stage was so unbelievably cool. I had seen pictures of it in the Trib that morning, but nothing prepared me to see it in real life. We started up the steps to our seats…fully aware that we were in the nosebleed section, but truly having no idea of the workout we’d endure getting there. 102 steps later we hit row 34…four rows from the top. 
Seriously, I got a little queasy every time I turned around going up. Those seats were way up in the air. Once the show started, though, it just didn’t matter. Bono, the Edge, Adam and my beloved Larry were outstanding, as usual. The sad thing was our seats were so high that we were above the speakers. The sound was not as good as it could be, but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment too much. The light show was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The stage changed constantly, and each time it got more visually interesting than it was before.
The band played most of the classics that everyone wanted to hear. Of course they got political, dedicating a song to the president of Burma who has been under house arrest ever since she was elected several years ago. But they were so entertaining. I truly think I would never get tired of seeing that band. Let’s hope they never get tired of recording and touring!
