Just Like Old Times

So, when we were in New Mexico for Christmas, we had the great pleasure of seeing my best friend Josh who lives in Madrid, Spain. We hadn't seen him for almost two years (we traveled to Spain in Jan. 2005 to visit him--ah, Granada!), so we were all ecstatic.

Little tidbits about Josh:

• I've known him since I was in 7th grade and he was in 6th.
• We were in various church choirs and other groups together growing up.
• We once had a New Year's Eve party at his parents' house that involved an entire helium tank.
• He makes fun of Greta the cat because she's fat. Shame on you, Josh!
• He likes the color combination red and purple.

Anyway, here we are in front of the semi-new store in downtown Farmington called Andrea Kristina's. It's a cool bookstore/coffeeshop that--believe me--was sorely lacking during our formative years. (There's even a Starbucks in town now, too. We also went there. We were well caffeinated. Josh, though, had trouble ordering at Starbucks because he didn't know what Venti meant.)


This is a bride mannequin in one of the store windows on the same block as the coffeshop. Tell me--do they really think her crazed expression is a selling point?

The last night we were there, David, my parents, and I went to Josh's parents' house for dinner. We had a great time. Here's David talking to Don, Josh's dad. (I had "Mr. McDowell" for high school chemistry. I remember a lot of stuff blowing up in the lab thanks to my rowdy classmates.)

And here's Josh with his mom, Karlene. I had "Mrs. McDowell" for two years of junior high English (7th and 8th grade). She's definitely one of the first people who turned me on to poetry and the possibilities of the written word. She was also very strict when it came to grammar, so I probably owe her for my side editing work as well. I remember having to do a speech in front of her class. I was so nervous and shy that I fidgeted a lot. Her comments included, "Leave hair and ear alone." God--I can still quote it! She's the best.


I can't wait for Josh to move back to the US so I can see him more often. And maybe he can get Greta to stick to a diet.