Ring in 2010

We were lucky enough to have some old friends come to visit us to ring in the New Year; Liz and Scott came all the way from Memphis to see us and let me tell you, our temperatures were scaring her silly. You see, this girl is from Puerto Rico, and though she survived a noteworthy stint in Milwaukee, which is where we met back in '95, she's gotten a bit spoiled with the warmer weather.

Liz and Scott

However, we kept ourselves warm mainly by eating and drinking nonstop, and I was able to utilize both Liz and Scott's techie skills to start this blog (view Liz's blog here).

We also were visited by our equally old friends, the Rieds, from Milwaukee, who we also met back in '95. We have been spending New Years Eve's together with the Rieds on and off (mostly on) since then, and keep a record of what we did and where we were each year, so we were able to add this visit to our growing list.

Scott and Kathi

We lasted till 2:30 am with lots of laughing and storytelling from the past, along with a lot of good natured teasing. Of note was the eruption of laughter and astonishment when I pulled out my video camera to record some of the festivities. Now, you may remember from a previous post that technology is not my passion; we received this video camera for a wedding gift 10 years ago, and it has quickly turned itself into an antique. I knew I was embarrassed to pull this thing out in public and plug it in since the battery will no longer hold a charge, but when I was asked if it recorded sound or was just silent, if I needed a key grip, and if it used a tripod, I became convinced it is time to update.

Old Faithful

So, despite frigid temps, sick kids, and very little sleep for all, we managed to have a wonderful time together as usual and party like it was 1999 (note the year our hats said?). There is something special about feeling like your face always remains on the verge of a smile when you are with old friends. That comfortable feeling of slipping on a worn pair of shoes and knowing you can be 100% yourself never gets old. Thank you for making the trip my friends!

Liz, Kathi, Rob, Scott, Rachel, Scott