Well we had our reunion last night and what a night it was, we chatted, drank, chatted some more, ate, drank, then chatted a bit.....
It was so good to meet old friends, some I'd stayed in touch with and some I'd not seen for 15 years! If it hadn't been for Facebook the evening would never have been arranged,
and with my phobia of losing friends I'll be forever grateful.
I think there were 14 of us in the end, and only a couple who aren't on Facebook - others were invited but were unable to make it. During the evening we sent a photo and text message to an ex-colleague who now lives in Perth, Australia,
she sent a message back to say she would have loved to have joined us!
As I live the furthest away from Norwich, where we'd opted to meet I picked up 2 friends on the way. Given my penchant for getting lost I had a google map of where they lived (albeit only 5 miles from my door!) although I still had to phone from a little lane to get a few more directions! I also hadn't realised that my 1st pick up was a very nervous passenger! We made it to the second pick up despite her occasional yells of "Stop!" and "there's a car coming!" -
my brakes took a battering but hey ho we made it.
A few of us met in a bar at 7pm - we were late as I'd tried to park in various "permit only" places and then tried to gain access to a carpark separated from us by a wall! All of that I blame on the back seat passenger! I'm surprised the story of my getting lost in the work carpark many years ago didn't surface at that point.....
I had a few butterflies in my tummy but they flew away when we met, it was old times again, the years vanished and we laughed and reminisced until we realised we were late for the restaurant!
Several others met us at the curry house and more chat and drink flowed. We all swapped seats so we could speak to everyone and it was the best night I've had in years. One girl had driven from Hertfordshire to join us and had to drive back that evening.
And to make my night a chap I worked with when I very first joined the Civil Service told me that he'd given one of his children my name as a middle name as he always thought I was a typical English Rose - I nearly cried!
A very dear friend, who I will eventually forgive, told me I always remind her of the comedienne Sarah Millican - I think she meant in sense of humour!?
We were all sad to leave and had to be turfed out of a pub just before midnight, I taxied three people home, it should have been two but a third person jumped in and said she was sure I wouldn't mind dropping her off as she lived very near to drop off number 2 (she's obviously moved house I thought) - that turned out to be close as in 3 miles away! She talked at me for the duration of the journey about her successful children, her husband, her holidays (every 2 months apparently) and her luxury lifestyle. I didn't want to be out done so began, "we have a big holiday coming up.... " at that point she said "you can drop me here" and hopped out of the car!
I did giggle though, nothing was going to spoil a brilliant evening........... we'll arrange another one and maybe not leave it for 15 years this time.
 |
| Me on the far right |
Sounds like you had a good time meeting up with all your old friends! Glad you enjoyed it! (Shame about the 'Bragger' but there's always one, isn't there?)
ReplyDeleteAngie x
It does sound like it was an eventful and very entertaining evening!
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely complimentary things were said about you too.
Here's to the next one and easier parking arrangements!
Lisa x
What a lovely evening!
ReplyDeleteClaire
I'm glad your evening was such a success, especially after you had been so instrumental in setting it up. I remember your story about getting lost in the car park at least you didn't get lost on the way!
ReplyDeleteSarah x
What a fun night!!! And so nice to see a pic of you, don't think I've seen one on here before ?!? Have a lovely weekend Mel x
ReplyDeleteI am a terrible passenger, so I always play mindless games on my Nook e-reader - nothing so taxing that I can't keep up with the conversation - but just enough to keep me from glancing at the road. As to the woman who bragged, you can figure this a couple of ways. The first one I sympathize with because I have very successful children - there are very few people I can even talk about my children with - so you must be the best, most amazing listener with good self esteem and superior children of your own. Second way is that she has a terrible weak ego, fueled by the fact that in order to afford her many vacations, she has to save money on gas by mooching rides from you. (Hey, there a pun in there.)
ReplyDeleteSounds like huge fun. Glad you had such a good time!
ReplyDeleteOh lovely! And you ARE an English rose with the beautiful skin and sparkly blue eyes _ have you posted a photo of yourself before? I don't think so? By the way I LOVE your blouse. I met up with one of my bosses from London and it was kind of sad as he talked about how he and his wife had drifted apart. Think he felt oK about telling me because I was in constant contact anymore. Everyone is bending their knees in the photo...does that mean they were good at working together, probably!
ReplyDeleteOh thank you Jody, I'm really flattered - don't forget the photo is in dimmed lighting!
DeleteI have no idea why we are all bending our knees, maybe we were about to do the can can (a la old office parties??) or maybe it was due to arthritis!