Blast From the Past

If visiting Winchester wasn't a walk down memory lane, visiting with a good friend from high school sure was! A. and I have been good friends since middle school, but we have always have had a pattern of years going by between visits. We just pick up where we left off. Love that kind of friend.

How we became good friends is a testament to how kind and fun she is. We were complete opposites as kids and now have parallel lives. Kids do that to you (see below). I was the "good" girl and she liked to have a lot of fun. I'd even take a fake hall pass and get her and her boyfriend out of class by saying they were "called them to the office". Needless to say, they never made it to the office and I had a blast exploiting my nerd persona. Great laughs. Can you even imagine that happening now?

My son snapped this photo while we were visiting at her farm in Summit Point, WV:

She usually has some interesting animal to visit (like emus one visit):

and chickens and a few dogs (Rip and Lucy):

One advantage of visiting infrequently is that there is always something to new to see. My friend is a antiquing/junk store/estate sale/thrift shop kind of gal, and scores the most striking, large scale finds, which she has no problems displaying proudly. Here's one of the sheds out back:

And here are the corn cribs she asked a farmer friend for, set by another friend over existing junipers with a crane, to house her chickens:

And in the middle of it all in the back yard are swings and rings everywhere. It started looking a little like a circus:

Did I mention that this was a friend who tried out for American Gladiator at her kids' request (and flew through the physical screening tests)?

My little girl got into the act, too:

And the really fun part was how two friends can have some many people attached to them now:

Her daughter came to my wedding in utero, her son followed, then mine, and then another bookend daughter. And Lucy. All but the dog even used the same crib.

Despite the years, the kids, and our "real" lives, we're still the kids in high school looking for fun, doing it our way, and having a blast. After seeing all the impromptu home renovation projects (My husband went hunting for two weeks so I built an addition! Then he went on another trip and I ripped out the bathroom!) and hearing how hard she's working on her new career as a pharmacist, I am amazed at how far we've come. Can't wait to see what the rest of the trip has in store!