Monday of Thanksgiving week

After my flight on Sunday, I was pretty excited to get the week started. I seriously could NOT WAIT to see all of my Towson friends.

Monday  was really just a day of errands, starting of course with Dunkin Donuts. Mom and I went to the pet store to look for a little sister for The Berk. Mom wants a miniature, long-hair dachshund. The pet store had miniature short-hair and miniature wire-hair, so it was easy to say no to a new puppy. Perhaps we will go to the Harford County Humane Society when I’m home for Christmas and get Berk a big dog sister instead. Who knows.

Around 3:00, I headed to TU to start my reunion! The HRL office was my first stop. I rounded the corner of Newell and as I got to the door, Bryan was there to greet me!! It was fantastic :) Biggest hug ever (well until I saw Courtney, Niki, Marc and Sean later that day). I got to visit with Gail, Jeannie, Judy, Jayson (some things never change haha), Jerry, Ron, and Lisa for a little bit. Then I saw Laura! We walked out to my car together like we were never separated.

I then headed over to the Glen.  I walked to Tower A first, naturally, and Mac and Cheese were reunited and it felt so goooood :) I talked with Joe for a few minutes, met the new AC, Kristen, and then continued my journey to Tower B. I knocked on the door to Lisa’s office, and guess who answered the door?? Craig! My Prettyborough buddy!! Oh how I missed him. We talked while Lisa was in a meeting, and when her meeting was over, guess who walked out of her office? John! Another wonderful surprise! As I was talking to John and Craig, guess who walked in the door? Megan from the Building Council of the Year!! I didn’t think my day could get any better, but somehow it did!

I decided to walk down to Laura and Courtney’s office to see if I could catch them before they left. Craig and I walked down and the office door was open. First Craig walked in and Laura was not at her desk. We walked around the corner and Courtney was there! She looked at me and said a casual, “hello”, then realized that she hadn’t seen me in a while and wrapped me in the longest and greatest hug of my life. It was almost like she couldn’t believe it was real. What a great moment.

Courtney and I visited for a little bit, then Joe was picking me up for dinner. I said my good bye to Becks, then went with Joe to dinner.  As we were walking to his car, Joe turned to me and said, “prepare for the biggest hug of your life.” I didn’t know what he was talking about until I saw Mark in the distance, walking towards us while carrying enough two-liters for an army. Then he saw me. Then the screaming began. Then the kisses began. For those of you who are lucky enough to know Mark, you know he is… affectionate. I think he kissed every square inch of my face. He tried to hug me, but the two-liters kind of got in the way, haha. Love you Mark!

After recovering from the Mark-Attack, Joe and I continued to his car. We went to the Cheesecake Factory with Laura, Greg and Bryan – my buddies. Fun dinner with great people.

After dinner I started my rounds in West Village. I was going to Tubman to hang out with Kyle, or so I thought. I walked into Tubman, and it was a mini TA Building Council of the Year Reunion!! Kyle – you are amazing. So we staked our claim in the Tubman lobby and caught up on each other’s lives. Yay Rachel and Steve! While we were chatting, guess who walked out of the MPR? Sean!! That was one of the hugs under review as the biggest hugs ever. Then Dan and Sam stopped by to visit, too! Oh man, life is good :)

We then moved the party to Becca’s apartment. Sean and I walked into Millennium and Becca was there to greet me. So glad we are pen pals! As I walked around the CC, guess who was in the lobby? Niki!! She saw me and kept saying, “but you’re in Pennsylvania!”. Such a great reaction. Apparently as we hugged her eyes were wide in disbelief. That was another greatest hug ever contender.

So we hung out in Becca’s apartment for a while, when to RA Emily’s program and talked A TON about CAACURH. I miss those conversations. Becca – YOU ARE ON A FREAKING REGIONAL BOARD. Be proud :)

I couldn’t keep my eyes open as it neared midnight. So we called it a night.

I wish I had better words to describe what an amazing, loving, feel-good day this was. I am thankful for each and every one of you and your hugs and kisses :)