Reunion Season

Two weekends, two reunions – first the high school gang and then some friends from college.

Some of my friends from Niskayuna High School gathered at Saratoga Spa State Park the weekend before last for an afternoon cookout.

We had a similar get together last year and decided to do it again. Especially since this time our friend Chris Johnson and his family would be in town visiting from Norway where they live.

Next year will be our big 20-year reunion!

This past weekend we went on a camping trip to Green Lakes State Park near Syracuse with some friends from SUNY Plattsburgh.

We were there with our dear friends the Reeds, who we see a few times a year. But we also got together with Jon and Christine Kio, who we haven’t seen in 16 years, and Tim Casey, who we had lost touch with after he transferred to Buffalo in 1991.

Facebook helped bring us all back together, especially in the case of Tim. For the past 16 years (the last time we saw him was at the Kios’ wedding), every time we got together with the Reeds, inevitably at some point the subject of “whatever happened to Tim?” would come up. Kris finally found him on Facebook earlier this year and used the site to help plan the camping trip.

I should mention we used Facebook to help plan the picnic for my high school gang too. The social networking site is my primary means of communicating with Chris Johnson and keeping up on his family, since phone calls to Norway can be a tad expensive. As soon as he announced his vacation plans in the states, we put the wheels into motion to plan the picnic with an event page.

Both gatherings were a success and lots of fun. Although, after all this activity, I have to admit we’re looking forward to this weekend – when we have nothing planned at all!

You can find some photos of our Saratoga picnic here and our Green Lakes trip here.

Putting the band back together

We had a really good time our big summer picnic yesterday. A good chunk of my old high school crowd -- seven families all together -- gathered in the Saratoga Spa State Park.

Yeah, so we got rained on a little bit. We didn't let it rain on our parade!

It's always neat seeing everyone's kids together. They ranged in age from 6 months to 8 years.

Jim Flanders joined us, who most of us haven't seen since our 10th reunion about eight years ago. He surprised everyone by pulling out a great big stack of copies of The Warrior -- our old high school newspaper. It turns out he kept most of them. That was quite the walk down memory lane. I hope we can get together again someday so I can spend more time looking at them (and reading some of the old movie reviews I used to write for the paper).

As for myself, I pulled out a couple of yearbooks yesterday and looked them over -- and realized the pictures look like scenes out of a bad John Hughes movie.

We all do a pretty good job of keeping in touch, but these days it's mostly through e-mail, Facebook and blogs. Nothing beats getting together face-to-face. We hope to make this picnic an annual event.

Speaking of Facebook, I've got more photos of the day there.

Everyone's favorite treat

The doughnut fairy paid another visit to our house yesterday. Yes, our supplier hooked us up with another fix of sweet, delicious Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

What better way to celebrate completing a 25-mile bike ride than by downing a couple of Krispy Kremes?

As you can see, we had some friends over to help us share in the doughnutty goodness.

Mmm...treats!

A big thanks to our friends the Brownells, who seem to be always supplying us with yummy treats.

Not long ago we came home from a ballgame to find a dozen Krispy Kremes on waiting on our doorstep.

Today they dropped off a bag of "Yankee mix" M&M's (they're blue, white and gray) and this delicious doggy treat for Chester (and Ray is a Red Sox fan even). Thanks guys!

Remember me?

I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth. I've just been mega busy. I promise to get back into the habit of regular posting soon.

In meantime, I like to send out congratulations to my brother Tim who turned 50 earlier this week, my nephew Patrick who was crowned prom king last weekend, and my college classmate and fellow blogger Mike Sussman on the birth of his new daughter Darah Shea.

Holiday week highlights

Christmas Eve: For starters, Nolan was a wise man in the Christmas pageant at church. That was adorable, even though the crown was a little to big for his head. Later on we enjoyed the warm & fuzzy feeling that always comes from knowing the kids are all tucked in and the presents placed under the tree.

Christmas morning: The only thing better than seeing how excited the kids are when they go to bed on Christmas Eve is seeing the look on their faces on Christmas morning. It’s not just one of the best moments of the week—it’s one of the best moments of the year.

“Doctor Who:” The BBC’s hit show is quickly becoming a holiday tradition. The first post-Billie Piper episode, “The Runaway Bride,” was fantastic.

Brooker: I went out for a couple of beers with my old buddy Andy “Brooker” Miller and his fiancée Dori while they were in town for the holiday. It’s always good to catch up with old friends.

The Chicago Rooneys: My brother Tim and his family came to visit. It’s been a few years since they were all here.

Moira: We had a nice holiday visit with Kris’ parents. While there, Kris got to meet up with some of her old high school friends.

That’s pretty much where the fun ends. We’ve all been in various degrees of sickness for the last few days—getting 2007 off to a “great” start.