Back to school

If I weren't feeling lazy right now this post would be full of pictures of my two boys and their first days of school. They looked perfect, bright colored polos, brand new backpacks, spanky new shoes... all kinds of adorable. But alas, I have been feeling overly lazy of late and the thought of finding my camera and then finding the right cord to download those perfectly perfect pics, seems entirely too much. So instead I will reminisce...

Last night we ventured down to Provo for the Cougar Kickoff and Fall was in the air. All the football players were out, feeding their egos as little boys waited in line for their autographs. The girls soccer team was out kicking the ball around with little cougar girls and boys, pony tails swishing. It was all so idyllic. My boys loved it. Jeff loved it. Even Paige got to run free.

I sat there on the grass, listening to BYU's latest boy band, watching swarms of families clad in blue wander by, and I smiled. Who would have thought that I would become one of them? I remember being a student, seeing those cougar crazed families walking through campus, each sporting their new blue T, fresh from the bookstore, mom and dad pointing out all the sights, where they met, where they had biology and Book of Mormon, where dad proposed... It made me want to gag a little. They seemed ancient to me then, those 30 somethings with their 3.5 kids, reliving their youth buidling by building.

And now I am one of them. I saw my old boss at one of the booths, trying to get people to join the Cougar Club, touting all the benefits that said membership would bring. 10 years ago we both worked at the press copy center on campus. I made many a copy in my time there. Copies of so and so's masters thesis, dissertations, family histories, school projects, more family histories. It was tedious at times, but I loved the smell of the paper and the days that the machines would make it through a big job and sorting and stacking and talking with my co-workers. Jeff and I were dating then. Hannah and Greg and Ben knew every detail, oohed and aahed over my engagement ring, took my side when we fought. It was like a little family. My little family. I left after we married and moved on to grad school and bigger and better things. We all did eventually. But seeing my boss every Fall always reminds me. Reminds me of the football games and the homework, the ups and downs of new love, the stacks of books, the smell of paper, the friendships, the drama, the freedom, the way it all felt.

And I realize now that it's ok that I have become what I dreaded then. A thirty something with 3.5 kids, reliving it all building by building. I loved BYU and all the memories that are hidden behind those walls. They are a big part of my story. And somehow it all seems to come alive again in the Fall. The excitement spills over and I can't help but remember and feel a little giddy.