Good Neighbors and Broadway Across America

How was my day, you ask?  It was great, thanks!  I met my dad for coffee this morning, and then spent the majority of the afternoon with my brother, sister-in-law, and niece.  My brother and I wore matching blue plaid flannel shirts, which I thought was great because, you know, we didn't even plan to coordinate.  I also got to catch up with James, an old friend from high school who I hadn't seen in years.

Me and James.  I look 12.

My first memory of James goes all the way back to ninth grade math class.  It was 1999, several months after the Columbine shooting.  At the beginning of class, James announced that he had forgotten his math book, and needed to go to his locker to get it.  The teacher, whom we had affectionately dubbed "Smokey the Bear" due to her ashtray aroma, let him leave to get his book.  

When James had not returned within 15 minutes (mind you our school had 3 hallways and under 200 students), our teacher became concerned.  Before she could send anyone out to check on him, though, James opened up the classroom door with a strange grin on his face, holding not a math book, but his backpack.  He walked to the front of the class, set his bag on the floor, and unzipped it as he looked around the classroom.  

I remember my heart racing, and my teacher crouching awkwardly behind her desk.  James reached into his bag, but instead of pulling out a weapon, he pulled out a can of Pepsi.  "I got free pop for everyone!" James exclaimed, as he started passing out Pepsis to the class.  He had actually stood out in the hallway for 15 minutes, feeding money into the vending machine until he had bought enough drinks for the entire class.  He still claims that it didn't cross his mind that we might think he was about to do something bad.

Anyway, most of my funniest memories from high school involve James.  He has one of the strangest, yet most brilliant, senses of humor I have ever come across.  I am glad to see he is doing so well.

When I got home, I decided to do some yard work.  I was outside cutting back the shrubs and the monkey grass around our walkway when my neighbor, Alex, came over to help.  Alex is 5, and has the biggest personality of anyone I know.  She often stops by to help me with the yard, and I love the company.  Today she brought a bright pink pair of zig-zag scrapbooking scissors to trim with.

 "They make the bushes shapey!" she said.

She would also laugh while we were working and say pleasant things like "these plants are rascals!"  When we were done she fawned over my yard and told me how amazing it looks.  Everyone needs an Alex.

Next, I had to meet my friend Emily to give her Broadway Across America tickets for The Addams Family.  Three of my friends and I purchased season tickets to Broadway Across America in Cincinnati, and I can't go to the show tomorrow because my family is having their Easter celebration.  Emily and I decided to meet in the local hospital parking lot (because it is a central location) to make the exchange.  We also thought it would be more exciting if we pretended it was a drug deal.

Warning:  Good times ahead. 

When Emily got to the hospital she sent me the following text: "In place whenever you are ready."  I pulled up to the rendezvous spot, right outside the front entrance of the hospital, blaring Dr. Dre with my windows down.  I was afraid I was being too much, until Emily leaned into my passenger side window, hood up and ready to deal.  

"Hey man, can I catch a ride?"

I attribute this behavior to our recent attendance of West Side Story which, by the way, is a lot less hardcore than I remembered from my childhood.

All-in-all, it was a good day.