The Jennifer Blogs

Have you ever seen such a beautiful sky? Actually, this picture doesn't begin to show you the beauty of the Texas sky.

Maybe it's the vast openness that makes it so remarkable. Maybe it's the perfectly painted sky. Maybe it's all of it.

Sometimes people ask me to describe the Singapore sky. I honestly never see it. I live in a high rise surrounded by other high rises and you just never see the nighttime sky. But in Texas, it's gorgeous. Oranges and yellows and reds and even purples and blues. It's absolutely stunning! If I had to spend the rest of my life staring at that sky every night, I don't think I'd ever tire of it.

Seeing these girls again was one of the best days of my life! Sometimes you just don't know how much you miss someone until you see them again and wrap your arms around their necks. (Okay, so mostly it was around their torsos since I can't reach most of their necks.) It felt so good to see these women with whom I share so much history.

Going home was supposed to be a mini-reunion of sorts. Unfortunately I didn't get to see everyone I had hoped to see. This year is my 20 year class reunion. I missed my 10 year because my brother got married the same weekend. I didn't really think I'd be able to manage going home in July for the reunion after being home for the holidays, but after having just a small taste of these girls' friendship again, I really hope I can make that work too. I'm dying to catch up with them again and see all the people I missed on my winter trip.

Funny thing is, none of these girls has changed. My mom used to say that when I was a kid. She'd get together for her class reunion every five years and talked about how none of her friends had changed. I thought that sounded ridiculous. Of course they've changed in five years, ten years, fifteen, etc. But now I know what she means. It's been 20 years since I've been home and I recognized every one of these girls. I only wonder if I still look the same to them?

I had to laugh because my friend Kara said she always thought of me as Peppermint Patty. Not just my red hair and freckles, but she said I was kind of bossy to my little brother, whose name is Charlie, just like Charlie Brown. Moi? Bossy? I think she remembers a different person. I much prefer to think of myself as the Little Red-Haired Girl.

I made the arrangements and I'm goin' home. Well, to one of my homes. Medina, New York.

I grew up in Medina. It's where I went to first grade. And second. And third. And every grade through the first half of my sophomore year in high school. Then my parents decided they had enough of the bad economy and enough of the snow, so they put our house up for sale and one month later we were in a fully-packed truck bound for Florida.

Since 1988, I've been back to Medina just a couple of times. The last time I was home was 1989. I remember bits and pieces of that trip, some memories more vividly than others. Most of those friends I have talked to a few times on Facebook, but only in recent months. I'm hoping to see as many people as possible while I'm back there.

Tonight I talked to my old friend Lisa Payne. Well, it's not Payne anymore, but that's how I remember her. She was my best friend in elementary and middle school. We grew apart a little bit in high school since we didn't have many classes together, but she will always be one of the people I remember the most in my life. On the phone, we talked about so many things we did together as kids. My most vivid memory of Lisa was the first time she came to my house after school. I made us macaroni & cheese. She was worried my mom would be mad. She must have asked me half a dozen times if not more if I was sure my mom would not be mad that I was making us macaroni & cheese.

When I wrote the title to this blog, it dawned on me I called Medina "home." The funny thing, on this trip I have also called Baton Rouge, Louisiana "home." I did the same thing with Lakeland, FL and Ocala, FL. I also refer to Singapore as home. I guess for me, home is where my heart is, and I have left bits and pieces of my heart with my friends everywhere I have lived. But Medina was my first home and holds the biggest part of my heart. I can't wait to go home.

I admit I'm a bit of a coffee snob. But when you know what you like, you know what you like. And what do I like? A hot caramel macchiato, and now that Starbucks is using two-percent milk in all its drinks (unless you specify otherwise), I don't have to sound like a snob when I ask for it low-fat. Of course, it's not typically cold enough for me to enjoy the hot coffee beverages, so I typically order an iced grande nonfat sugar free vanilla caramel macchiato. For some reason I can drink the nonfat milk in the iced version, but in the hot version I prefer the lowfat. I know, I'm a snob, but I already told you that.

In Singapore, I actually prefer The Coffee Bean to Starbucks. Their coffee is just way smoother than Starbucks' coffee. It's made with a powder and espresso. Whatever they put in that powder makes it so smooth and every cup is like drinking a cloud!

We also have Spinelli's Coffee in Singapore, but I'm not a huge fan of their cuppa. I've been told of another place, Highland Coffee or something like that, but I have yet to check it out. Rest assured I will, though, because I hear they actually have barista classes to teach you how to make the perfect cup of coffee. HELLO?!? I am *so* there!