CABCo Reunion

Last week I was walking down the stairs at work and stumbled upon what appeared to be a time warp. Standing in front of me was Derek, who I used to hang out with at CABCo in the early 2000s. I had not seen him in six years. It was quite a shock. It turns out he works at Allied now. We had a lot to catch up on, and it was decided that a reunion was in order.

Derek called Michelle, who I used to spend a lot of time with. I had not talked to her in about 4 years. We agreed that we would meet on Saturday at Court Avenue Brewing Company.

I was incredibly nervous. I always worry before I see people I haven't seen in a long time. After about 5 minutes of hanging out it became clear that I should not have worried. We were talking like no time had past. We even set up a sushi night for January.

Mike, Stimmel, Me, & Derek

Michelle & Mike

I think the best part of the night was reconnecting with Michelle. We used to be very close, but drifted apart as we were leading vastly different lies (vastly might be an understatement in that sentence). We are in similar spots again, and I look forward to hanging out with her again soon.

I sat at this bar for most of my early 20s.

I have so many wonderful memories of Court Avenue. I hope to continue to make memories there for years to come.

By Golly, It's Dolly!

Tonight was a wonderful night. At about 5:30 my friend Tim picked me up and we headed to Dos Rios for dinner. We had some delicious guacamole, good wine, and decent food. They make the guacamole at your table, which is neat.

After our meal we headed to the Civic Center to see Dolly Parton perform. I love Dolly. Love her. I've been to Dollywood twice and would jump at the opportunity to go again. She is an amazing performer. She is a great singer, musician, as well as entertainer. She made me laugh and cry. That may sound melodramatic, but I dare you not to cry when she sings "Coat of Many Colors" or laugh out loud when she says "It takes a lot of money to look this cheap."

At the concert we talked to the man next to us. He was from Algona and his last name is John Runkey or something similar to Runchey. Of course he'd heard of the Runchey famliy from West Bend. Whenever I start to think that Des Moines is a big place I am reminded of how small Iowa is (like yesterday when another student from grad school told me she was my high school friend Susan's college roommate).

After the concert we headed to Court Ave. for a drink. It was nice to be able to talk about the show while we let traffic thin out.



It was so much fun. I will be singing Dolly songs for days. I'm off to bed now, still singing Islands in the Stream and 9 to 5 over and over in my head.

Healthy Again

I spent the past two weeks in a bit of a fog. I developed an awful cold. The worst part was not the sore throat or the stuffy nose. The worst part was the foggy head.

I did not really notice how bad it was until I returned to normal on Saturday night. The fog lifted and I was able to form a complete thought again. Since then I've been keeping myself busy.

Saturday night Stimmel and I went to Monica & Andrew's wedding party. They are so happy together, and I wish them a lifetime of love and happiness. After the party we headed to the Red Monk to see Foster. He's moving to Colorado in a few weeks, so I'm glad I was able to see him. Hopefully I'll see him again before he leaves.

Sunday I went to High School Musical III with Kathleen and Ellie. It was not nearly as good as the first two. We had a lot of fun, but I don't know that Ellie appreciated our analysis at the end of the movie. After the movie I went on a run and then to AKs to meet Ellen. It had been a very long time since we'd seen each other, so it was good to catch up.

On Monday night I had class. It was my last class of the semester. We have a presentation and paper due in two weeks. There is work to be done, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. In my group for class I am with three wonderful people and one colossal jerk. After class we ditched the jerk and grabbed some beers. It was a good time, and I may have recruited a few people for the powerclimb (Don't forget to sign up for Stop Stairing).

Last night I stayed up late watching the election coverage and speeches. I am very happy with the results of the election. I hope we can now come together as a country and make some positive changes.

This morning I rode into work for the third time this week. It was raining when I left, so I grabbed a ride home with Panith. We fit my bike in her SUV, so I'm ready to ride again tomorrow.

So after a couple of weeks of being sick I've come back with a bang. I have been pretty busy the past few days. Maybe that's why I'm in my pajamas at 7 PM.