Orchard Park Redux

Back from the '50-ish Reunion' and had a stellar time which surprised me completely! We had a great turnout in spite of having so many deaths recently- I'm so glad I went because let's face it, every 25 years isn't too hard to handle for reunions! The next one, the Seventy Fifth, I am sure might have some trouble attracting folks!

Friday night was hideous- a very small place with bad acoustics and terrible traffic flow that even the open bar couldn't make work. We had our first meeting along with the class behind us so the place was way too crowded and the noise deafening. Thanksgod we got our name tags because it's been a very long time and names kind of evaporated without reminders. Of course as soon a the cogs connected we could absolutely 'see' who we were talking to. The two 'fat-kids-with-great-personalities' were the biggest surprises- both had lost the weight and were in great shape so that was wonderful to see. After that night we were all exhausted and hoarse from screaming into the din.

There were parade and street fairs this weekend that allowed me to indulge my love of old cars- note that the woody is a commercial vehicle for a pet cemetery!!

The next day a few of 'the girls' got together for a three hour lunch where we bulked up after the night before hideous food. About ten of us were there and it was much better catching up on their lives, a few juicy stories, dead classmates (way too many!), and just plain gossip. We chased out all other patrons with our noise I am sure, but I'm usually on the other end of that issue so didn't care a whit.

That night we had the 'formal' evening and it was so much better- a larger room, much better food, and clear paths to mix and mingle. And dancing'- The Stroll got everybody up and moving, hysterical watching them with closed eyes and spastic feet. One old friend, from the class behind us remembered that I had given her my fake ID when I turned 18 so she told me of her adventure being Sandy Townsend for a year. My boyfriend and I spend hours forging the fake licenses, but back then you could drop into any DMV and pick up a blank license and they would type in the name and add the stamp after you passed the test. Not even laminated! We had a stack of them and had quite the little underground business going for awhile. And that, dear reader, was the end of my crime career- (said hoping the statute of limitations is in effect!)

Two of my ex-boyfriends were on the dead list, but I'll tell ya, as much as I would have loved to have them there, it sure was freeing not to have had 'history' with anybody. Great good friends and fun memories were all I had to deal with, while some of these people had to spend the weekend skirting around old loves and their spouses. Not that I am advocating getting rid of old alliances... (ahem).

Beverley (this is Beverley-the-Brit as opposed to Beverly-the North and Beverly-the South. I am blessed with three!) and I got along well and found we still had lots of common ground. I'm very glad she is back in my life and hope we can meet up in London some time soon. She is the perfect person to do the V&A with because of so many shared interests. Who woulda thought after all these years and certainly quite different lives... that VIDLERS would be a place to go and laugh together?

An array of candy cigarettes, bought for their packaging alone!

Green, yeah green, goldfish that will become a necklace back at the studio.

A wee coonskin (ish) cap for Elias!

And yes, a Rubber Pig. Much classier than a rubber chicken.

This is for Nate because he is worried how Wedding Roast Pig won't arrive intact at the reception!

We did class it up a bit with a quick ROYCROFT run-through but by then our luggage was stuffed and in the 'boot', making it tough to buy a thing.

And that is basically the Good News. the Bad News is TY slipped in the garage and went down heavily on the bad knee that he won't replace and has been in self-imposed traction for the weekend. And the garbage hasn't gone out since I left. He conned a dog walk and some basic needs out of anyone who could come by and I have a basket full of damage control around here. Sigh. And oh yeah, one more piece of good news:
Posted because Vel and Ricki and Carol asked about the pie I made before I left! I had a piece last night that survived ONLY because TY wasn't able to get to the refrigerator.