Speaking of Blasts from the Past...

I had to leave for Cody this weekend and decided to leave a day early to stay in Casper with some very good, old friends I hadn't seen in years.

What a great decision that was.

Jeff and Linda, and Paul and Carrie are a hoot! It's been about six years, I would guess, since I've seen J & L, and about nine for P & C! Incredible. One of the best things about these friends is how seamless it is to get together and have fun with them. It's as if all that time had never passed.

We made dinner, drank wine, sat up 'til past midnight and got caught up...it was so fun. And so worth the extra day!

The next morning we went to breakfast at my favorite little restaurant in Casper - The Cottage. It's an old house turned restaurant and it's just so cute, and quaint, and the food is so good! I had a double stack of the triple berry pancakes...and they have these little bowls of cinnamon apples... Can I just say, yum. I haven't been to The Cottage but maybe once since I moved from Casper. It was a happy reunion.

Then I drove by my old apartment, which I really loved. It was fun to see it and it brought back lots of good memories.

I'm about to have one more blast this week. As I mentioned, I'm in Cody, Wyo., for work and I'm planning to meet up with my old friend Sam. This will be a treat, and I'm really looking forward to getting caught up with him. He's another one where time has passed since seeing him, so very quickly, without realizing it.

We'll have blast-off in:

5...4...3...2...

Blasts From My Past

I’m discovering there are more people I know living in Cheyenne than I ever would have guessed, and the number keeps growing.

People from my past keep popping up everywhere. I run into them at restaurants, at meetings, and mostly I hear about others through the grapevine, “Did you know so-and-so is living here too…?”

Last week alone I had two blasts from my past.

I was at lunch for my boss’ birthday. When we got up to leave a girl from the table beside us stopped me. “KIM!! How are you?!”

Oh no. I knew I knew her. I just could NOT place her. This was terrible.

It took me a few minutes of talking to her to figure it out – she used to work in D.C., for the other Wyoming senator, but left several years ago for the Peace Corps and nobody had heard from her, to my knowledge anyway.

She was completely out of context for me in Cheyenne and placing her took me a few. We exchanged cards and have emailed a couple of times with plans to meet for a drink or coffee sometime soon.

The very next day I had a similar exchange. I was at a meeting of public information officers and we had to go around the room and introduce ourselves. There was a girl I knew I had gone to college with. She had been in several of my communication classes and I thought for sure I remembered her name. I was right!

After the meeting she came over to chat. Once again, we left with promises to meet up.

It’s so strange and fun to see people here I knew mostly from D.C. And it’s strange and fun in a different way to run into people I knew in college and haven’t seen since.

It’s mostly nice to know there are more folks than I thought living in town who I can count as friends, buddies, acquaintances, whatever – even if I haven’t seen them in ages.

Ft. Collins Friday!

Friday night was the inaugural outing for a new monthly event I’ve instituted. It’s called Ft. Collins Fridays.

With not much more to choose from in the way of restaurants but chains and Mexican for “ethnic” food, I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands.

The idea is this: one Friday a month, myself and whoever else wants to go, will leave Cheyenne after work for Ft. Collins to dine at a predetermined non-chain, non-fast food restaurant.

The first request was for Indian food, which I have been craving quite a bit.

I did a quick search and up popped Star of India.

It was amazing.

And so was the turn out! We had 14 folks at our first Ft. Collins Friday.

People got to make new friends, many had never had Indian and ended up loving it, Apes drove down from Laramie to join us…it was a really good time.

So, our first Friday was quite the success, and I’m really looking forward to next month’s.

And maybe Greek, or Thai, or Ethiopian, or …

Hair-um

This is actually the name of the salon I went to today for a much needed hair cut.

I might have gone based on the name alone - I mean, it IS kind of funny - but I mostly went because a friend recommended one particular stylist there: a girl who cut hair in a D.C.-area salon.

That was all I needed to hear.

Not that I've never had a bad hair cut in D.C. - I recall one particular stylist who thought I'd look best as Mrs. Brady.

And, I'm sure there are good stylists in Cheyenne. But I wanted to check out the one who worked at the sister salon to a glitzy one in downtown D.C.

I had high hopes of walking out and not looking like a newscaster - which is also what stylists like to make me in to.

Overall, I think she did a good job. She wasn't my beloved Karina from D.C., but she may be a good substitute.

There's just one other person I want to check out before I make a solid decision - a guy my boss and her sister go to and who is apparently, um, a Dupont-type man.

I'll be right at home!

Revolving Door

My apartment has become a revolving door for visitors lately, and it doesn't look as if it will stop anytime soon.

I'm not complaining! I'm liking the constant activity and am enjoying seeing people I may not get to see again for a while.

It all started with Linds C. and her mom, who stayed at my place last weekend even though I was in D.C. Initially we thought we'd pull a switcheroo like in the movie The Holiday, but it only worked about half right. Regardless, she is my first official visitor, even if I wasn't there to greet her personally.

Then a friend from the Senator's office came by for drinks last Wednesday, followed a few days later by an old friend from college who I hadn't seen in years and who came to town to catch up. No sooner had he left than another friend from the Senator's pulled in and has been my guest until tonight.

CK has hinted he may stay when he's in the state for work, Linds H. needs a bed while in town for a conference, and my parents are planning a visit in early September!

Whew!

It's like running a bed and breakfast!

This constant flow of visitors is very exciting, but I'm afraid it is giving me a false sense of activity in my new town.

Oh well. I'll just sit back and let the door keep swinging.