SoapZone Community Message Board

It was a 2 and 1/2 hour drive (one way); the first 20 minutes was getting to the freeway, the last 20 minutes was making about a thousand different turns onto this road and then that one, and the rest was a loooooong (but not terribly uninteresting) drive on I-90/Rt. 2. Of course the severe storms they'd predicted hit just as I got to the tricky part of the trip. There I was, wipers on highest speed, a weird fog rolling in, lightning and of course construction and I'm trying to look for exit numbers and road names. And of course the rain stopped just as I pulled up to the community hall.

Inside, my good high school friend had transformed a nice space into something Pinterest-worthy. I was seriously impressed with all the clever decor. Interestingly, GHSF's mom was a bit of a hippie back in the 60s before she became a mom, and she passed her love of all things 60s down to her daughter who then passed it onto HER daughter. The space was groovy--there was even a cutout with the word "groovy" on it. The food also was excellent, especially the dessert table, and again, all arranged so artfully, and such an eclectic assortment of offerings...I want to dislike GHSF for being so talented but dang, she's also really nice and really sweet, so I can't <g>.

The deciding factor in attending today's party was the opportunity to see GHSF's family, most of whom I've not seen in around a half dozen years. It's been even longer for others...for some reason, I have GHSF's three brothers fixed in my mind as being the ages they were around GHSF's wedding back in 1997, so it was weird to see her oldest brother (GHSF is the oldest of all four kids) with thinning hair, the middle brother with a paunch and the youngest brother with patches of gray in his beard. Her mom practically looks the same though...I was thrilled to see her but MAN, she talked my ear off <g>.

Fun fact: the oldest brother used to work at a place that made parts for the K5 units that I occasionally helped build at my last workplace back in '22. I told him we had a lot of difficulty with faulty parts and he nodded and said he wasn't surprised, as their quality control was...lax.

As the party was wrapping up, GHSF asked if I wanted to take anything home with me. I told her just one of the small bottles of water...she sent me home with a bag with Jimmy John's sandwiches, a family size container of potato salad from Meijer, a 2 liter of Dr. Pepper and a book she meant to give me at Christmas when I last saw her. Dad and I are good for lunch for the next few days.

I'm really glad I opted to go today...but I don't have any real desire to ever go back to that part of Ohio. GHSF and her husband just finished construction on their dream house about 30 minutes (further) away from their last house, just over the border into Michigan, and they're mostly moved in now. I'm hoping maybe next year to get up there and check out the new digs.