June 3, 1989
On one hand that date seems so long ago - hell it was a long time ago.
Then on the other hand it does not seem possible, that it has been 20 years since I graduated from good ol' PHS.
How can I be almost 40 years old? I remember when my parents turned 40. Now they are in their sixties, I am rapidly approaching the big four-zero, and my oldest son is about to be a Junior at PHS. Holy S*&T!!
As our twenty year reunion approaches, I have been spending time thinking about where the last 20 years have gone, and how much things have changed here in Fort Collins.
I was having drinks the other night with a friend, Pat Garcia. Pat is a Fort Collins guy - A PHS Guy. We spent part of the night talking about the good ol' days in Fort Collins, and places we hung out at in High School, that don't even exists any longer. It was a great time reliving the old days, the "we used go here" or "remember when" or " do you remember so and so". And honestly, the beers weren't so bad either.
Here is a list of some of the things from the old days that unfortunately, aren't around any longer for the kids at PHS to enjoy like we did.
WC Frank - remember all you can eat footlongs on Wednesdays? Pauls Pizza, Odyssey Fun Center, 3.2 Beer at Lunch, Valentino's Pizza, The Little Mall(Montgomery Wards), Fox Theatre, The Aggie(when it showed movies), Cruisin College on Friday and Saturday, Campus West Movie Theatre, Dave Cook Sporting Goods, The McDLT, Old Town Arcade, Fourth Of July at City Park, Hamburger Stand, Cables End, and last but in no way least - COLLEGE DAYS. I also grin every time I hear someone talk about Lake No. 4, and Watson Lake.
I am sure that there are more things that you remember, and things that Pat and I talked about but I don't remember. I am getting old, and the beers and shots were flowing at a good steady pace that night.
Not all is lost in the last 20 years. There are still some places and people that are part of my fondest memories from back in the day. The list is quite a bit shorter, but I still enjoy these places and seeing the friends in 2009.
Panhandler's Pizza - EVERY CHANCE I GET. French Field on Friday night in the fall, The Finest Record Store (do they still call it a record store?), and I am still great friends with Hector Avalos and Dave Harris. Hector is still the same grumpy ass he was 20 years ago, but I wouldn't want it any other way. Dave is.................Dave. Enough said! I can't imagine my life now, 20 years later, with out these two characters in it. I'll tell you all one thing -I would have a lot less stories to tell.
So where have the last 20 years gone? Well, they haven't "gone" anywhere. They have been an adventure, an adventure with no regrets, an adventure that is my life, an adventure that I have loved every minute of.
I am really looking foreword to our Class Reunion. Getting on Facebook, while addictive like crack, has been good. It has put me in touch with friends that I haven't seen since June 3, 1989. Friends that I can't wait to see next month.
Safe travels to all of you as you come home for the reunion. I can't wait to see everyone, and see what we can add to the list of places lost in the last 20 years.
Jeff
PS - The biggest thing missing from 20 years ago - being single and no children. Just Kidding guys - I love you all and can't imagine my life any other way.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
A Lucky Man On Mother's Day
Mother's Day 2009.
For me a day the spend with my wife and kids, letting Kym enjoy her day. A day when I get the pleasure of talking to my Mom on the phone from Oregon.
For some of my friends, who have unfortunately lost their Moms, today is not a happy day at all. Some are spending their first Mother's Day without Mom, and some have been through this day a few times now. I know either way, it is not an easy day, and I get the feeling that they honestly just can't wait for it to be over.
I always joke around that I love my Mom very much, but I love her more in Oregon. I just finished the phone call with my Mom. After thinking about all my friends who did not get to talk to their Moms today, I really wish my Mom were here in good ol' Colorado for me to put my arms around and tell how much I love her.
Luckily for me, she will be here in two weeks for me to get the chance to do so.
To all the people that I know that are having a tough day today, you are in my thoughts and prayers.
Mom - I can't wait to see you.
Kym - thanks for being a great Mom to our children, and the best wife in the world to me. I love you.
I hope that all of you have a great day today.
For me a day the spend with my wife and kids, letting Kym enjoy her day. A day when I get the pleasure of talking to my Mom on the phone from Oregon.
For some of my friends, who have unfortunately lost their Moms, today is not a happy day at all. Some are spending their first Mother's Day without Mom, and some have been through this day a few times now. I know either way, it is not an easy day, and I get the feeling that they honestly just can't wait for it to be over.
I always joke around that I love my Mom very much, but I love her more in Oregon. I just finished the phone call with my Mom. After thinking about all my friends who did not get to talk to their Moms today, I really wish my Mom were here in good ol' Colorado for me to put my arms around and tell how much I love her.
Luckily for me, she will be here in two weeks for me to get the chance to do so.
To all the people that I know that are having a tough day today, you are in my thoughts and prayers.
Mom - I can't wait to see you.
Kym - thanks for being a great Mom to our children, and the best wife in the world to me. I love you.
I hope that all of you have a great day today.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Vegas 2009 Recap - Part 1
Spring time in Colorado only means one thing to most soft tip dart players. Vegas Baby, Vegas. We start counting down the days shortly after New Years. You can ask any dart player who is headed to Vegas, and they can tell you roughly how many days are left until departure day. This years Vegas Invasion was one for the ages, a classic.
Things did start off a little rough for a lot of our darters from Northern Colorado this year, as we had a HUGE spring storm move through the area on Thursday. After rented vans, stops at Jiffy Lube, cancelled flights and Cab rides from Mesquite, everyone finally arrived in Vegas safely. I was the lucky one. Due to work, I was not able to leave until Monday morning. My flight left and arrived on time, and I even managed to sleep for about an hour on the plane.
Upon my arrival at The Riv, our normal pre game tailgate party commenced in the room. Let me tell you, there is nothing like Bud Light and Standards ( a well poured DOUBLE Jack and Coke) at 8am on a Monday morning to kick off the weeks activities. For those who don't know, NDA Internationals is a long week. Mornings start very early (8am start times) and becasue of the fact it is Vegas, the nights end up being really late ( 3am-ish or later) Monday we were playing Team Cricket.
My team- Amy, Sylvia, Alex and I, went into this tourney with a lot of confidence. In fact, I have never been as relaxed and prepared as I felt we were this year coming into a tournament, especially Internationals. I don't know what the hell happened to us, but the wheels completely fell off the bus of Team DILLIGAF. We spent most of the day playing from behind, trying to back close numbers, and missing numbers that normally come easy to us. Needless to say, things didn't work out so well, and we did not advance to the second day of the round robin. To say the least I was extremely disappointed in our performance. I really felt that Cricket was our best chance as a team to get into the final 16, and cash a check. Better luck to us next year.
We finished off the night with our poolside BMW Players party, we drank A LOT, and ended up with a ton of beer in our room for the rest of the week.
Tuesday and Wednesday were now days off since we didn't advance. Tuesday we didn't do much of anything. My friend Bino and I took off walking down The Strip. We stopped and had Lunch at Stripburger - it isn't quite as good as In-n-Out Burger, but definitely helped get rid of the hangover from drowning our sorrows on Monday night. We ended up at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, so we did what any normal person would do - Drank some Marg's. Cabbed it back to The Riv to watch friends and wives play in the Mixed Doubles Combo Event. No one really did that well in this event either.
The good thing about Tuesday night was we got spend a great time hanging out with our good friends from Canada. We have the most fun with these guys every year, and let's just say they know how to drink. I also got the pleasure of watching Ray "The Razor" Carver throw darts Tuesday night. He is an incredible dart thrower, and it was a pleasure to get to watch him.
Wednesday was another day with no plans except the arrival of my wife. We watched a little bit of The International Challenge. Congrats to the Men's Team USA for taking first place. The Women's Team USA lost the title for the first time in five years, but still had a strong showing in second place. My wife arrived late Wednesday afternoon, and it was all over after that. By the end of the night, we were all in our room playing Three Man with the boys from North of The Border. The beers were flowing all day long. I got mixed up in a game of Beer Darts by the pool. Thank God Kym showed up when she did, or I could have been passed out by 6pm.
Thursday morning we started the Team 501 section of the Tournament. We threw a lot better and came out of the day the third seed, only 3 games back. We actually beat the team that got the one seed in heads up play. Everyone played pretty solid throughout the day, and i was feeling good going into the second say round robin.
That is enough for now. Coming up in Part 2 - The players party, our friends from Canada, day two round robin, Britney Spears and hangin with Uncle Mikey and Rachel from Montana.
Things did start off a little rough for a lot of our darters from Northern Colorado this year, as we had a HUGE spring storm move through the area on Thursday. After rented vans, stops at Jiffy Lube, cancelled flights and Cab rides from Mesquite, everyone finally arrived in Vegas safely. I was the lucky one. Due to work, I was not able to leave until Monday morning. My flight left and arrived on time, and I even managed to sleep for about an hour on the plane.
Upon my arrival at The Riv, our normal pre game tailgate party commenced in the room. Let me tell you, there is nothing like Bud Light and Standards ( a well poured DOUBLE Jack and Coke) at 8am on a Monday morning to kick off the weeks activities. For those who don't know, NDA Internationals is a long week. Mornings start very early (8am start times) and becasue of the fact it is Vegas, the nights end up being really late ( 3am-ish or later) Monday we were playing Team Cricket.
My team- Amy, Sylvia, Alex and I, went into this tourney with a lot of confidence. In fact, I have never been as relaxed and prepared as I felt we were this year coming into a tournament, especially Internationals. I don't know what the hell happened to us, but the wheels completely fell off the bus of Team DILLIGAF. We spent most of the day playing from behind, trying to back close numbers, and missing numbers that normally come easy to us. Needless to say, things didn't work out so well, and we did not advance to the second day of the round robin. To say the least I was extremely disappointed in our performance. I really felt that Cricket was our best chance as a team to get into the final 16, and cash a check. Better luck to us next year.
We finished off the night with our poolside BMW Players party, we drank A LOT, and ended up with a ton of beer in our room for the rest of the week.
Tuesday and Wednesday were now days off since we didn't advance. Tuesday we didn't do much of anything. My friend Bino and I took off walking down The Strip. We stopped and had Lunch at Stripburger - it isn't quite as good as In-n-Out Burger, but definitely helped get rid of the hangover from drowning our sorrows on Monday night. We ended up at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville, so we did what any normal person would do - Drank some Marg's. Cabbed it back to The Riv to watch friends and wives play in the Mixed Doubles Combo Event. No one really did that well in this event either.
The good thing about Tuesday night was we got spend a great time hanging out with our good friends from Canada. We have the most fun with these guys every year, and let's just say they know how to drink. I also got the pleasure of watching Ray "The Razor" Carver throw darts Tuesday night. He is an incredible dart thrower, and it was a pleasure to get to watch him.
Wednesday was another day with no plans except the arrival of my wife. We watched a little bit of The International Challenge. Congrats to the Men's Team USA for taking first place. The Women's Team USA lost the title for the first time in five years, but still had a strong showing in second place. My wife arrived late Wednesday afternoon, and it was all over after that. By the end of the night, we were all in our room playing Three Man with the boys from North of The Border. The beers were flowing all day long. I got mixed up in a game of Beer Darts by the pool. Thank God Kym showed up when she did, or I could have been passed out by 6pm.
Thursday morning we started the Team 501 section of the Tournament. We threw a lot better and came out of the day the third seed, only 3 games back. We actually beat the team that got the one seed in heads up play. Everyone played pretty solid throughout the day, and i was feeling good going into the second say round robin.
That is enough for now. Coming up in Part 2 - The players party, our friends from Canada, day two round robin, Britney Spears and hangin with Uncle Mikey and Rachel from Montana.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
