Last Day in Chicago... and Homecomings!
On Tuesday the 21st, Jim took me out to an early Birthday dinner. We went to the Goose Island Brewery and had a nice meal and conversation. We talked about football and life and the future and about how incompetent our waiter was. There is no difference, apparently, between ordering a Pepsi or a Diet Pepsi.
After dinner, we had our Basically Awesome rehearsal on the Skybox stage. It was a big deal for me to be able to get us time on that stage, so I was excited about us finally getting serious about this show. And, before we started, I was talking to Adam about the show and he said that next time we do a show together we all need to make one person the director and have that one person make all the decisions. Something in my head clicked and I said to myself "I can be that person now." And I know that it seems like everyone in the group wants guidance; but apparently not from me. Allow me to explain. During rehearsal, we wanted to go through the show a second time and we were running out of time, so I said "let's do a speed-through!" So, as we're going through the show, I noticed the pace slowing down... so I said "Pace! Guys... let's speed up" and they did. Then we went through the rest of the show... and when we got to the last scene I noticed we were slowing down AGAIN. I tried to find a good place to tell them to pick up the pace... so I waited for Keith to finish his line. Then I said "Pace! Come on... let's get movin'! Speed thru!" And Keith looked at me like I messed him up... and then there was silence. And I said... "You know, we've gotta keep movin"... more silence. "Oh shit! 'Boss... shouldn't we go over the plan again?'" Yeah. I had forgotten my line. And they laughed at me, the way you laugh when your boss looks like an idiot. After we were all finished with everything, Adam gave me more crap about forgetting my line. My sister thinks that they saw me as the "bad guy" because I was trying to be serious and take away their fun. But I think that's stupid... we can have fun and get some serious work done. And it takes someone truly ignorant to not know that both can be done at the same time. So poop on everyone.

On the 22nd, I started my drive home. I had a couple things to do in Grand Rapids, so I stopped there about 1. I had prearranged to have lunch with the lovely Miss Chelsey Wagemaker at Max and Ermas near Rivertown Crossings. Like I said, we met around 1 PM... and just ate and talked. But we ate and talked and talked until around 5 PM. The dining area where we sat was filled, emptied, filled again, and emptied again in the time we sat at our table together. I had an awesome time, and the conversation seemed to flow pretty easily. It would be impossible for me to be more in love with her. In fact, I was really surprised when I looked at the time and it was already time for me to go. But it was, in fact, time for me to go... as I had another appointment.
That appointment was with Mr. Adam Emperor Southard for headshots! Hooray!!! And, fortunately for me, Mrs. Susan Studley-Dullard... I mean, Southard-Dudley was there as well! Hooray! She came outside with Adam and me as we were taking the pictures... and she totally helped me relax while Adam was taking them. It kind of reminded me of when my sister came with me when I got my senior pictures in high school: I am NOT comfortable with getting my picture taken, but Karen then and Susan now made me feel like it was just me with someone I love and care about, oh and yes there's someone else with a camera.
I think Susan is remarkable. I know that it's been a LONG time since we saw each other in person... but she is someone I feel instantly comfortable with, regardless of how long it's been. I mean, she's someone who I just reconnect with instantly and I don't feel guilty because it's been a long time since last we talked or saw each other... it just feels comfortable right away. That's a remarkable feeling.
But I felt very comfortable with the Southards in general. Adam and I have kept up, bouncing funny ideas off of each other; and his parents made me comfortable as well, as his mom said, upon my return from outside and the pictures, "You know you're not leaving here until you have dinner." I love when people do that. So I stayed for dinner.
And I'm so glad I did. Dinner with the Southards (times 2) was certainly an experience. The elder Southards made me feel very comfortable... moreso than most parents that I know a lot better than I know them. We talked and talked and laughed and had cheese and crackers and WOW did it feel nice. I even mentioned to Susan at one point: there was a family, and Christmas decorations, and food, and I felt like I was home, even though it was a place I'd never been before with two people I'd only met once before. I love Adam's mom, by the way. Diana, when Colleen came up in conversation (as she always does whenever I'm talking), said "Oh... this is THAT John." Because I'm apparently the John that loves Colleen. But Diana thinks I would be very good for Colleen, because she liked me and she likes Colleen and mothers are like that. So I love anyone who thinks that Colleen and I should be together, because they obviously know a LOT about people. Heehee... oh it's true!
By the time I actually got home to MY parents, I felt very tired and talked out. But we still had a pretty good conversation and I called it a night early, because...

On the 23rd I woke up insanely early. We're talking 6 AM Eastern Time, which is 5 AM my normal body time (i.e. Central Time). I woke up that early because I was going to drive myself to the Cherry Capital Airport in Lansing, Michigan. Why was I going to the airport? Well, because I had a certain Senior Airman waiting for me there.
Oh yes, that's right. All the bitching about not being able to see Ken until February paid off, as Ken decided to come home for a week! And I was on my way to pick up Kenny from Lansing. The drive to Lansing seemed to take forever... but probably because it was still dark outside and because I was driving to something I really wanted... and that always makes the drive seem longer. But I did, in fact, finally get there through the blowing snow... and had to circle the airport because of bad directions given to me by my dad (heehee). But there that short bastard was... with his huge duffel bag, looking insanely cold. It was great to see him again.
We couldn't just head home, though. We had big plans in the Saginaw area! And the drive to Saginaw didn't seem like it took much time at all, until we got in between Flint and Saginaw (closer to Saginaw than Flint). We ran into what was almost stand-still traffic because of what we eventually saw was an accident. The car and tow-truck were taking up two of the three lanes. This wouldn't have been so bad if it was a horrific accident (I know this sounds bastardly to say... but you'll see what I mean in a second), but the crash honestly didn't look that bad. We were going about 5 miles an hour tops for half an hour at least because this stupid car chose an inconvenient place to crash. Gah! But it didn't matter because I was with Ken and he was showing me his newly found rubix cube mastery. He can honestly finish a rubix cube in two minutes. He says it's five... but it's only two.
The first thing we did when we got to Saginaw was drive to the house that Miss Ellen Goff is renting out. Do you remember her? You don't? Um... well, she was the girl I had a crush on for my entire high school career. But she wasn't the unattainable crush: that lovely title goes to the fabulous Miss Elizabeth Erlewine. No, Ellen was the girl I could actually talk to who I had a crush on for four long years. She's also the inspiration for the line "For the last four years, I have been your whore" from that fantastic Outer Core song "Go Off". Remember that one? Of course you don't. It's only the first song I ever wrote all the lyrics to... why would you remember something trivial like that?! *sobs* Anyway, we made it to Ellen's... and surprised her with Ken, as I didn't let her know that he was going to be there. I had hoped that she had gained some weight... because that would be cosmically fair to me. But, alas, she still looked really good. And, oddly enough, instead of seeming happy to see Ken, she seemed a little uncomfortable with both of us there. I'm not sure why... but she definitely seemed uncomfortable.
And nothing says uncomfort like Applebees! That's their new slogan. No, it's not. But that's where we went for lunch. I found it very difficult to find a place to start catching up, as it had been five or six years. I don't know what one talks about when one tries to reconnect with someone they knew very well for years, but haven't seen for even more years. I mean, I'm almost a completely different person from who I was in high school: I look different, I think differently, and now I'm totally awesome. But, whatever. Ellen spoke of her new boyfriend, Alex... probably more than she needed to, but probably just to try to rub in the point that she was taken and not looking to do anything with either of us. Or something. That would make sense.
After we had eaten, we were sitting at the table and the mysterious boyfriend, Alex, finally showed up. He's Greek, but was raised in England... so he looks Greek and sounds British and it's really cool. I tried really hard to make him feel comfortable in the conversation; which is something that I realized I'm getting better and better at. I also noticed that she really cared about him... and she even blushed at one point, which I don't think I've ever seen. *shrug* Good for her. It seems like she's happy, and I'm happy for her.
After about an hour with Ellen and Alex, it was time to part ways. Don't cry for us, blog reader... for Ken and I had more plans. We had to hit on someone else who lives in Saginaw: Miss Courtney McKay Hancock. It was then off to Court's! Oh... I should mention that I found Court's house on memory alone. I hadn't been there in a couple of years... but I was able to find her house all by myself. I think that makes me awesome. But it doesn't. Regardless, we found Court's house. We then sat and talked with Court for a couple hours. It felt really good to see her again. I guess I didn't realize how much I missed her until I saw her again. Oddly enough, Courtney is not someone who I felt as instantly comfortable with as I did with Susan. I don't know that this was necessarily a bad thing. I felt guilty for not knowing more about what she's been up to, so I was very interested in hearing everything she's been doing, and asking her lots of questions. So even though there wasn't the instant comfort, it's not a bad thing. And after a few hours, I felt like I hadn't heard enough yet... and that's a good thing, I think.
But after those couple of hours, Courtney's sister Shannon showed up at the house. I've only met Shannon twice before, I believe... but since I knew Court so well for a period of time, I figured that I kind of knew Shannon. So I was surprised to realized that we had only seen each other twice before. It doesn't matter... what matters is that she isn't seeing anyone. Oh... I know what you're thinking, but I'm that bastardly and not that smart. Yes, I did hit on Courtney's sister. And I loved every second of it.
Because Ken and I were having such a good time hitting on the Hancock women, we decided to stay for supper. Court's mom seemed as "gah!" about Christmas as my mom was, so we did a simple supper: soup and Subway. Shannon drove us to Subway, and I let Ken hit on her for a change while Court and I talked semi-seriously about our situations and relationships and how much she should be dating Ken. No, Ken, that didn't happen, but only because I couldn't find a good place to slip that in to the conversation. I tried, dude... trust me.
After dinner, Court kept putting Ken on display. I probably would have felt bad for him, if I didn't know how much he loved every second of it. She made him do the rubix cube a couple of times, she had him show her mom and dad and Shannon the money he picked up overseas, and she even made him show how to direct airplanes as they taxi on runways (it's an Air Force thing). Hell, I even tried to get him to sing some lyrics from our old Outer Core days. Shut up, Ken... you loved it.
It was then finally time for us to go back to Big Rapids. The drive back to BR seemed to go by quickly. Ken told me the story of the helicopter he worked on that went down in Afghanistan. He detailed the story with such military precision that I felt I could really visualize the entire ordeal in my mind. I had previously stupidly thought it would be somehow easier to lose a helicopter to enemy fire than anything else... but when the anything else is the environment--an accident basically--it's not something that you're prepared for like you would be for enemy fire. They know they're going to get shot at... that's a given. To lose a helicopter to the environment is just... emotionally shattering, and not something that you're really prepared for. *shakes head* I can't think of anything more eloquent than "it sucks."