Hard to believe that my high school graduation was 20 years ago. And yet here I am, back at my mom’s house — the one I grew up in — and headed to my reunion this evening.

They had an ice cream social in my hometown yesterday evening, just like they do every year to raise money for the local volunteer fire department. I saw a lot of the folks that I went to school with who are in for the reunion, several of whom still live here. That was very fun. The Peanut had a blast on the slides and swings at the city park — and that was even more fun.

It was striking how the kids who were running around the social who were our high school age were the same as when we were kids. The flirting, the little cliques, the crushes…it was all still going on. Kids still have hormones, and sometimes it shows, I suppose, but it was reassuring nonetheless that my Norman Rockwell-esque hometown was still pretty much the same.

Ran into my high school government teacher — he’s still a rabid Republican, and we got into a conversation about the state of the world and the country. (Newsflash for George Bush: If you’ve lost Mr. Anderson, you are really tanking. And…well…you’ve lost him.)

We came back home from the city park and The Peanut and her grandma played outside for a bit with our dachshund, PJ. Poor little short-legged doggie was running around at their heels and barking at the robins that were trying to forage for worms, and stay just out of reach of my four year old whirlwind.

It’s going to be a relaxing day of more playing with The Peanut, and then an evening of catching up with folks I haven’t seen in forever and a day. Things are crazy in the world, and really irritating more often than not…but every once in a while, it’s good to remind yourself that there is a lot of wonderful stuff, too. And today, I’m going to savor some of that good stuff.

What’s up with you this weekend? Doing anything fun? Pull up a chair…

PS — For all the Harry Potter readers out there, today is the big day. In honor of the arrival of the large tome — for which there will be NO spoilers posted anywhere on this blog until I get home to read it, thank you very much — I give you one of the funniest SNL sketches of all time. Mwahahahaha. (Sure, it’s juvenile breast enhancement humor at Lindsey Lohan’s expense. But it cracks me up anyway, so have a laugh. “Beat a couple of bludgers.” Mwahahaha.)