Back to the Burg

Tomorrow I am heading down to my alma mater for Homecoming weekend - although it's not just any Homecoming weekend - it's the "twentieth year since I graduated from college" weekend.

How can that be? I remember being in college and thinking that thirty was old. Now I look at thirty-somethings and sniff at their youthfulness. I love it when I hear someone talking about turning thirty and they say "I'm so OLD now". Pfffffft. Wait til you turn forty and then tell me how you feel.

Of course, in about ten years that's what I'll be saying about forty year olds. It's all relative.

But I digress. There are many things about this weekend that will in no way resemble the visits I made on Homecoming weekends back in my twenties when I'd first graduated. Here is how I anticipate things being different . . .

THEN: Drove down in my Honda Accord, music blasting, stopping only for a six pack of beer and a bathroom break.
NOW: Driving down in my minivan, stopping at a winery along the way, music probably still blasting.

THEN: Crashed on the floor of friends who were still students at the university or stayed at cheap motel on the seedy side of town since we couldn't afford the nice ones.
NOW: Hotel room with no more than four people per room - no sleeping on the floor.

THEN: Stayed out til 3 a.m. partying
NOW: To be determined - but highly unlikely to make it past midnight at this point, especially if there is any daytime drinking involved (which there will be - wink, wink)

THEN: Wandered around the tailgates and bummed beers off all the people we ran into who'd had the foresight to plan a tailgate (meaning they got a keg and threw it in the trunk of their car)
NOW: Paid $20 to attend the "alumni tailgate", complete with white tent and DJ.

THEN: May or may not have attended the football game - we really only cared about the tailgates and what former crushes/flames/boyfriends we might run into.
NOW: Bought tickets two months in advance and actually looking forward to the game.

Ah, the joys of youth - nothing compared to the elation of being forty-something and preparing to road trip with your college buddies who knew you before you were a wife, mother, professional. I can't wait.

To Be Continued . . .