Best Christmas Present This Year

Today I got the best Christmas present. It was about 4:30 when I got the voicemail from Sheryl about getting together for dinner with Seren and Alan (great friend and former roommate). Then the plan was to go over to the Deckard's (formerly known as: The Mecca) to hang out with Tim & Fia (also great friends; went to high school with Tim) and maybe Ronda (if she was around; no link for Ronda). Alan, Tim, Fia, and Ronda are all just in town for the holidays, so naturally I was game since I don't see them often.

Ronda was there, so we were all catching up on our lives when she asked about Matt, who lives in the area, but on the far east side of town and thus we haven't hung out on a regular basis in quite some time. I had actually just been thinking maybe we should give him a call, because I know he'd like to see everyone and vice versa. So I did. I didn't really expect him to come out on such short notice, but he said he would. So it appeared to be turning into a nice little soiree.

So Matt, Tim, and Fia all showed up and after a little while of talking we realized it would be even better if Tom came by, then the complete tridumbverate would be there, and it's been quite some time since we were all together in a casual atmosphere. Sheryl gave him a call and tried to talk him into it, but apparently they had to get up early in the morning (“excuses, excuses” I said) so they weren't coming by. Tim and I thought about pestering Tom, maybe he and I could talk him into coming, or maybe we could just go kidnap him. But lo and behold, he and his wife Davina came after all.

It had probably been 3 or 4 years since we had all been together like that, and at that time we were a pretty close group of friends, so we relived all sorts of memories tonight, laughed a lot, and just enjoyed each other's company. We invented the coolest game ever and I think we're going to market it, so I'm sure you'll hear of that soon. It involves balloons. :-] We also played Catch Phrase, which is similar to Taboo...

Matt (not on my team): *makes motion with hands of a big stomach* “I'm pregnant.”

Me: “Congratulations!!”

...

Ronda: “it's on the bottom of a ship, not sure if it's the front or back but it steers the ship.”

Fia: “udder!”

Ronda: “plus one more letter!”

...

Fia (also not on my team): “Um, I'm sick.. I have a fever and I need..”

Me: “More cowbell!!”

So several rounds of that, and the time flew by; it was midnight and time for us to get going before we knew it. I think it's great that even though I haven't seen a friend in a year, or we haven't spent time as a group in several years, we can all pick up right where we left off and be just as close. We've been through a lot together, and I think it's safe to say these people will be great friends for life. I'm glad I had the chance to relive some memories with them tonight, and make some new ones. Not to be cliche, but this sort of thing is far better than any gift, I think. Once again, screw materialism. :-] It's kind of funny because we probably never could have planned such a night. It just worked out - spur of the moment - that everyone could get together, so it was a pleasant surprise.

Thanks for taking the time to read this far. Boring to you maybe (probably), but I'm kind of writing this for my own memory's sake, too. I'm old and forgetful, after all.