BE Reunion

What a weekend. A whirlwind weekend. I’m beat. Going to bed at 2AM, even though you sleep until 9-9:30, still feels like you went to bed soooo late!

So… I’ll give you scoopage on who was there and what they’re like. Let me say up front, that they were truly some of the nicest people I have ever met. All expectations were met and surpassed… respectful, intelligent, and funny people. I can be rather aloof, having to adjust to ‘crowds’, but by Saturday afternoon, I was more relaxed and felt like I could partake without disappointing anyone.

Harvey, our blogfather, and the reason we were all gathered, is so incredibly kind and respectful. I can see how he comes up with the Love Notes to Beloved Wife as he truly loves her and has no problems conveying it. It was such a pleasure to meet him. A gift. Really. It was cool knowing that we were all there BECAUSE OF HIM and meeting him made me happy that I had chosen to blog eight months ago.

Harvey’s wife, Beloved Wife, was in attendance too. She is hysterical. She fit right in with all of us; you would think she was a Blogger, especially with her ‘quote pen’. She is cute and funny and all that Harvey claims her to be. I felt like I knew her when I met her. And if nobody has stated it yet, she’s in awesome shape.

Tammi, hostess extraordinaire, I knew her already as we probably speak once a day on our cells anyway, after she met me during my infamous Sea World adventure with my boys. I had no problems taking over her kitchen! Tammi is like a sister and she made this weekend so comfortable for everyone. Wow, and she’s a damn good cook. We had the BEST prime rib last night. The night before we had pulled pork BBQ sandwiches. And she served us the sweetest corn last night… the sweetest corn I had ever tasted. I think she said it was fresh Indiana corn she had blanched, frozen and saved for us. There are some foods you never forget… that corn is forever burned in my fond food memories.

Teresa of Technicalities, is a smart and funny woman. I’m not sure if she realizes how witty she is. She told us some stories and with her facial expressions and the tone of her voice… the way she phrased things, it cracked me up. The frustrations of being a Mom don’t seem to go away when you kids grow up. She’s a peach. She’s a keeper. I'm hoping to hang with her again.

_Jon of We Swear, I was unsure what to expect, although I had spoken to him on the phone before. He pretty much saved my ass. I left my directions at home. I had put them in my car the night before so I wouldn’t forget, and then in a quick “Gotta clean my car one more time before I leave”, I pulled them out with my Son’s school papers. Lovely. I happened to know what time his flight came in and having his cell plugged in mine, as good fortune would have it, I was driving by the airport right after his flight landed. So I called him, found out what rental car company he was using, and met him there. I followed him in.

I have posted about _Jon’s other blog before. He lost his wife to lung cancer a year ago. It is heartbreaking to me, knowing he is grieving so. I was unsure if he would be sullen, introspective… I just wasn’t sure... because I don’t really know him. I have so much hope for him… for his making it through all he has endured although I know it may take years and years… meeting him renewed my hope and faith that with his family and friends, he will be OK, although I know he must question it. He is a wonderful man. A caring man. And I have the utmost respect for him. It was good to hear him laugh. I was afraid it was a sound I would not hear. I need fear no more.

Johnny Oh of Closet Extremist, who I will now forever tease as the man boy, even though I did assure him I know he’s a man, at the ripe age of 32. I think one of the first things I asked him was, “So, Johnny, exactly how old ARE you?” He looks so young. I told him if he didn’t have a mustache, I would question if he shaved. *Big Grin* If _Jon doesn’t kill him before the next family reunion, I look forward to meeting him again. He is a sweetie. Some girl’s gonna snap that boy up.

Lee Ann of Lee Ann’s view… I love this woman. Her laughter, her being… she is infectious. Kind. It doesn’t even begin to describe her. She is only a few hours away, so I am hoping I get to see her again. Meeting her in person made me laugh even harder at some of her posts… I could picture her facial expressions when she saw all those damn Christmas decorations as the Decoration War was occurring between her neighbors. She’s the kind of girl that you hug… and then you want to turn around and hug her just one more time.

Lee Ann’s non-blogger darling husband. OK, there were two things that made me look at this man twice and think, I really like being around him… 1) he makes his hamburgers with the same ingredients I do and 2) I peeled potatoes with him. I walked in the kitchen two hours before we were going to eat dinner and I said, “We’re having mashed potatoes. That’s a lot of potatoes to peel.” And he replied something like, “OK! Let’s do it!” and with that, he grabbed two big ass bowls of Tammi’s and two potato peelers, and we rejoined the group on the porch and peeled potatoes. It was like being with family and snapping snap beans. I think we had that bag peeled in 5 minutes flat. He has a big heart and I can see how he and Lee Ann fit so well together. They are wonderful people.

Boo-Hahn, Lee Ann’s and non-blogger darling husband’s dog, rocks. My heart NEVER pulls to have another baby, but it does pull to get a big dog. What a sweetie.

The Great SarahK, is as sweet as her blog. Read her blog and you know SarahK. Her laugh is infectious too and she stole my heart when she accidentally called me ‘Bou’. It made me laugh. She keeps FrankJ grounded and the two of them are funny together… how they play off each other like in their blogs. It was nice to hear that a big Blogger like her gets as bummed out about nasty commenters as I do. I thought I was the only one who gets so bothered by it… now I feel like my skin is not so thin.

The Lovely and Talented FrankJ, is a riot, drunk or sober. I have no idea how he thinks of some of the things that come into that man’s brain. I’ve quoted him a couple times already… and yes, it was beyond the “Do I look more sober in a Ninja stance?” quote. I have to say that I was a bit worried about their 2 hour drive home and it was so very late (the very sober SarahK was driving), but that’s the Mom in me and I had to keep saying to myself, “They’re adults… they’ll be fine.”

That wraps it up. I had a wonderful time and on my way home I got that empty feeling I get when I leave a relative’s house after a good family reunion. You don’t want it to end.