Family Reunion!
June 15, 2003 - 5:48 pm
So I decided to go home for the weekend (a few weekends ago). It was such a last minute thing, like I already said in the last entry, and I didn't get to make that many plans.
I was all prepared to leave for the airport at 4 am, when I got a phone call from United Airlines. My 6:30 am flight had been cancelled due to weather (which still puzzles me since the weather was beautiful), and they'd put me on the 10 am flight. I was really disappointed. My trip home was going to be short enough, and now 4 hours of that Saturday was wasted. Eventually I got taken off, brief stop in Chicago, then homeward bound. I woke up about 20 minutes before we landed in Kansas City. I was SOOO happy to see midwest land from the airplane that I started crying. It'd been WAY too long. Then I thought about my family waiting for me in the airport and that I'd see them in a matter of minutes (more tears). Really, it'd been TOO long. Seeing the family was so nice. Eric surprised me by coming to the airport to meet me too! He was even wearing the NYU shirt I'd gotten him for x-mas.
I got to see Mom's new car for the first time. It was really nice! It's a 2003 Ford Focus, darkish red. So nice. I was SO happy to be there, I can't even describe it! Just seeing the area again was enough to put a permanent smile on my face. We drove to St. Joe and went to Long John Silvers for lunch. SOOOOO good! I hadn't had LJS since December! I missed it. Then we went on a hunt to try to find some clothes that I could wear to work. No luck. None of my favorite stores had anything I liked! I was so disappointed. We had to hurry though, because a couple of my friends were getting married that afternoon and I really wanted to go to the wedding. We made it home. I got to see my grandpa, which was really nice, and I got to see Duane, which was nice as well. Then, I quickly changed into something wedding-appropriate, met Eric at his car (he wanted to go too), and then we left. I was so excited to see my classmates at the wedding. I knew that most of them would be there since Melissa and Tanner (the 2 getting married) were both in my class. Melissa was SO beautiful in her dress. I knew she would be, but I had to mention it. It was a pretty big wedding. Each of them had 5 people stand up with them. Seeing my classmates was great. They were really surprised to see me. I learned that Katy and Dustin had gotten engaged.
After the wedding, Eric and I went over to Travis's house. He graduated this year. He looked really good. Tim Stanley came over too. I hadn't seen him since I was a senior in high school. He was one the students in the Spanish class I helped teach. He looked COMPLETELY different! Then Eric and I went to the wedding reception. We got in line for some food, then sat by Teresa Risser, Mom and Bonnie's really good friend from high school. We didn't stay that long, but I wanted to stay for the speeches and the bride and groom's first dance together. It was so romantic, and it reminded me of being back in high school again (since Melissa and Tanner were together the last few years of school). Eric and I got into this discussion about weddings. I told him that if he ever got married, his bride HAS to make me a bridesmaid or else I won't like her. I told him that he'll definitely be a part of my wedding if I ever get married, and he made this big fuss that he would never want to be a part of my wedding. He said standing up there was stupid. He was just being dumb.
We went back to Travis's house after the reception. Jo (Trav's mom) got home a little after we got there. She showed me some of Danelle's army photos and Danelle's basic training video. Danelle looked like she doing really good. I'm so happy for her, that she got out of Bedford and is trying to make something of herself. Jo gave me one of Travis's graduation pictures. I made him write on the back of it. He wrote something really nice. =) Travis put on their senior video. It was SO funny.
That night I wanted to go to Maryville to see my friends. Christina called me and wanted me to stop by and see her. I didn't have a lot of time, so I said I'd meet her at Casey's parking lot. Mom let me take the new car for the night. Her and Shanda were both there, and it was REALLY nice seeing them. Christina ended up coming with me to Maryville, because I was going to stop at the bar and see Chad (if he was DJing). We quickly went back to her mom's (where she's staying now), she found her ID, I said hello to Danielle and her mom, got to see Caitlin, and then we left. We didn't get to Maryville until 12:15. Chad wasn't DJing that night at Lucky's. Devers, Doren, and Allison were there though, so it was nice to see them. Devers told me that they all moved again. The lease ran out. Hill moved home. Pip moved into an apartment with John by the college. Devers and Allison moved in with each other. He tried to explain to me where Pip lives, but he wasn't really making a lot of sense. Christy and I ended up going over to Burny's (another bar). It's the hick bar, but Mollys was closed, and we wanted a change of scenery. It was pretty crowded. There was a dance there that night. But everyone was drunk and very affectionate. I ran into Zach Churchill (my cousin). He's always there, so I figured I'd see him.
The next day we all went out for lunch at the Highway Cafe. It is the cheapest, but tastiest food! A cheeseburger is less than $1.50!!! It's unreal. We went down to Maryville to do some shopping. I ran into Jodi at WalMart. I hadn't seen her in a long time. I don't think I even saw her when I was home for winter break, so it was SO nice seeing her. She was pretty surprised to see me. We started talking, catching up a bit, remembering old times. She kept showering me with compliments, and I couldn't believe it. She was talking about me and Pip (in the past tense of course), and how he was always such an ass (which I knew), but she added a few things that made me think a bit. She also kept mentioning how loyal I am and a bunch of other really nice things. I really didn't know she felt that way, and it was nice to be acknowledged by at least one of my friends. =)
That evening my family had a pizza party in my honor. We ordered my favorite pizza, and the whole family came over (well, walked over). The stupid pizza place made my pizza wrong. They put tomatoes on it. My mom wasn't going to do anything about it, but I wasn't going to stand for that. The pizza place messed up and they needed to make it right. So, yeah, the pizza place ended up remaking my pizza exactly how I wanted it. I've found that I'm a lot more assertive nowadays. I never really realized that before, but I usually don't take crap from people. I definitely wasn't that way in the past, especially with my friends. I always got walked on, not always intentionally, but still. My friends have pointed out how I've changed, and I like the change.
Later that night I went down to Christy's and her, Shanda, and I hung out outside, playing cards and drinking beer. It was so much fun. We were listening to music and talking about old times (some current stuff too). Then, of course, Robert-drama just had to happen. I can never come home anymore without that big horse's-ass causing drama. You see, Christina and Robert got engaged while I was away (which, of course, is the worst mistake of all mistakes in my opinion). I guess Robert broke up with her, moved out, and now Christina lives with her mother across the street from where Robert lives. Christy lets Robert use her car to drive to work. He works the evening shift at McDonalds. Well, he wasn't home yet at 1 am, so Christina was concerned. Shanda started bringing up a bunch of things and throwing them in Christina's face. I'm really surprised that Christy didn't get mad at Shanda. I kept my mouth shut, because I've already told Christina how I feel about Robert. She's old enough to make her own decisions. I just wish she'd start making the right ones soon. Anyways, Robert got home, and Christina went over there to 'talk'. Shanda went over there to yell at him (drama, drama, drama!!!). Robert got pissed off and took off in the car. He eventually came back, Shanda went back over there to talk to him some more, Christina started to fall asleep, and I got sick of dealing with it all, so I left. I'd mentioned to Shanda before I left that everytime I come home, it seems like I can't escape all the stupid drama. That was a really stupid comment and I knew that the minute I said it, because drama is an essential part of small-towns! It's like a soap opera.
So the next day, Mom, Bonnie, and Grandma took me out to chinese for lunch. SOOO good! I tried to spend a lot of time with my grandma, obviously since I hadn't seen her for a while, but also because she hasn't been in the best of health lately. It really bothered me in London that I couldn't be there more. Anyways, after lunch we did some more shopping. Grandma bought me this huge duck. I named it Lottie as an homage to her (gram's name is Charlotte). Then we went back home. My grandma made a big dinner that night for the family. She made all of my favorite foods. It was SO much fun. It was a really nice night, so we were all out on Grandma's patio, telling stories and jokes (our usual ritual). I started telling the story about when the red fingernail polish exploded in mom's hand here in NY. I couldn't stop laughing, when all of sudden, I elbowed this wooden post that I was a little too close to. I hit the post really hard. It hurt SOOOO bad! I was laughing and then crying, then laughing because it hurt so bad and I because I looked ridiculous. Ronnie was laughing at me, in fact, everyone was laughing at me. Grandma went and got me an ice pack (awww, grandma=love). After dinner, Eric, Mom, Bonnie, Grandma, and I played Scattergories. Mom started getting pissed off because she thought our answers were stupid (she's so funny). Then, Eric did the most amazing thing. In the middle of the game, out of no where, he said "by and by I come". I nearly fell off my chair! If you don't know, that is a quote from Romeo and Juliet (during the balcony scene). Eric didn't even say it in a loud voice to where he was trying to impress me. He said it while he was contemplating an answer for one of the categories. I was really blown away! SOOOOO impressive! I really couldn't believe he said that! I mean, Eric didn't even the best grades for the Romeo and Juliet section of English! Wow. Wow.
After that I went to Maryville. I figured that the only way for me to see Pip was to meet him when he got off work, like I always used to do back in the day. Christina came with me, and we decided to go bowling first. We bowled, I won, it was fun, then we drove over to the Kawasaki parking lot and waited for Pip. I decided that instead of approaching him in the parking lot, I'd follow him home to figure out where he lived. Also, it would make him paranoid since he wouldn't know who was following him. He ended up going to McDonalds before going home, we stayed behind him though, and managed to not lose him. It was quite funny actually. He figured out someone was following him and tried to lose us. He started weaving through the streets, but he didn't lose us. By the time we got to his place, he was ready to start a fight or something. Then, he realized it was me and became good ol' Pip. You should've seen the look on his face when he figured out it was me. It was great. We talked for a while, gave each other shit like always (well, mostly me ragging on him), then Hill came over. Hill started ragging on me, like ALWAYS! He started teasing me about how I was all high and mighty now that I live in New York and go to NYU. I thought he was serious there for a while and my feelings got a little hurt. But he was only messing with me. Hill and I have always been competitive when it came to who was smarter. We used to play these stupid games where we'd quiz each other on the hardest stuff imaginable, just to see who knew more. It was usually a tie. Hill's back in college, and I'm so glad, because he is a really smart guy. I tell him all the time that he could get into NYU if he wanted (ya know, just to make him realize that he is a smartie and that I don't think I'm better than him). Well, Christina needed to get home since her mom was watching Caitlin, so hugs were given and goodbyes were said, and then we left. It was really, really, really, really nice to see those guys. I missed them a lot!
I was leaving the next day, so that night I packed up the few things I needed to get packed, and then went to sleep. We got up early the next morning, because Grandma had to go to the hospital for this injection thing into her knees. I said my goodbyes to my Grandpa, Ronnie, Duane, and Eric. Then Mom, Bonnie, Grandma, and I took off south-bound. While Grandma was at the doctors I decided to go see Jennifer at her store. However, she wasn't there when I got there. She was at home with Imajen. I was really disappointed. I wanted to see them so bad. I talked to Billie (her mom) for a while. She ended up giving me a recent picture of Jerod, Jenn, and Immy. Imajen is the cutest baby I've ever seen. She looks so happy, always smiling! Jennifer looks really good too, looks like her old self! They all look so happy, which is great! I will definitely see them when I'm home again, when I have more time.
We stopped in St. Joe for some lunch, and then I needed to go to Hobby Lobby to get a few things for my scrapbook. Then it was off to the airport. I was tired so I fell asleep in the front seat. I was awoken by my mom shrieking at me. "Tonya, get your seat belt on". Apparently, a cop had passed us while Mom was driving a bit too fast and the cop had turned around and was now behind us. The cop pulled us over, and gave Mom a speeding ticket. It isn't really funny, but now I get to tease Mom about it! We got to the airport and said our sad goodbyes, mom cried as usual, then I left. It seemed like I just got there! I WAS NOT ready to go back!
When I got back to my room, I had a roommate. Her name is Heather Simon, and she was in Paris last semester. She remembered seeing Bart (since he was in Paris last semester too). Ya know, every single student here at NYU is connected by everyone else. It makes the school seem smaller. So, Heather's cool and all, but I really liked having the room to myself. She isn't here that much, so I can't really complain. She is nice and considerate, it could be worse. However, I still feel like this room belongs to me and Melissa. I need to get used to the fact that Melissa graduated and won't be coming back! It makes me so sad, though, because she was the best roommate ever! No one can ever replace her. I miss Melissa...(mentally crying like a baby).
I have much more to talk about, but I'll save it for later...
