Old Home Weekend

Apparently, this is the weekend for friends of mine who have moved away from Lawrence to come visit.  Last night was Jason from St. Louis, and today was Owen from the Army.  He was my aikido teacher in the dojo for many years and then he joined the Army.  They are teaching him Arabic so he can go eavesdrop in the Middle East.  It was great seeing him.  It had been almost a year since he had been here, so there actually were changes to report.  You know how when you are living somewhere day-to-day and things don't seem to change much?  Try removing yourself from the picture for a whole year and things change at a pace you can actually see!  It is refreshing to think that life here isn't as stagnant as I might believe. 

I wish I had more time to hang out with him.  After a year in the Army with his room and board paid, I bet he has saved quite a sum of money.  He got a week of vacation and could have gone anywhere he wanted.  He chose to come visit us in Lawrence.  We are more of a family to him than his own biological family, I guess.  I totally understand.  I feel the same way about my Lawrence "family." 

Tomorrow I start the school year.   I have posted about this for many years.  In fact, I went back and reviewed.  The first day back is a piece of cake, as it is Freshmen orientation and we only have to see them for about 90 minutes.  The rest of the time we can finish getting ready for the real first day of school, which is Tuesday.  I am feeling pretty good about it.  Those 12 days of lesson plans that I worked so hard to assemble in July will come in mighty handy now.  Finally, I get to reap the benefits of early preparation!