For Comparison

Me at a football game in high school. Compare with the one below. I'm not fishing (Har!) for compliments; I truly want to know if I really still look the same. This is bugging me.

Surprise!

So my *coughtwentiethcough* reunion is coming up, right? And I did not enjoy high school, as I think I've stated. But one of the people I did like is in a band, and they were playing in Houston and Austin this week. The Austin-area reunion folks were turning this into an occasion, so I tried to get the Houston people similarly excited about reuniting early. One girl I didn't know well at all in school came, and we traded stories and had a blast. Unfortunately we both had to leave before getting to see our drummer friend, so I was supremely bummed about that.

After the show, JJ and I were talking, and I told him about the Austin show the following day. "If there were any way possible to go to that Austin show I'd be there in a heartbeat. I'm so disappointed in these Houston slackers!"

"Well," he says, "I took tomorrow off, so why don't you just go?"

Can you believe this man? I could not be luckier!

So yesterday afternoon I took off for 6th street in Austin, taking in hill country sights I hadn't seen in ages along the way. Most everything about that stretch between Houston and Austin is scenic; small towns, stretched-out pastures, rolling hills, distant valleys. It makes the 2.5 hour drive worth it. I hit Bastrop in a downpour that slowed everything to less than 40 mph, so that part I didn't get to see. It did make me worry about making it into Austin, and worry about whether there would be anyone to reunite with when I arrived.

After locating the club, which took some doing, and finding parking, which took more doing, I walked in to a nearly vacant room to be greeted immediately by drummer C who apologized for the Houston show and not getting to visit. He saw shapes waving to him from the stage in Houston, but didn't see who it was until we stood to leave. Then I got to hug on R, on whom I had a pretty nice crush in school until I realized his family was Jewish and I was out of the question as a date for him.

Double R, my best bud in 6th grade and the one who was there when I first started writing, brought her husband, and when she saw me I got the biggest squeal: "What are you DOING here! Did you drive all this way?" Oh, yeah, that was worth half the drive right there. Then J showed up, J whose mom used to substitute for us in grade school and whom everyone loved.

The band did their shortened set and then we retired to the deck outside to chat and catch up. It turns out I had a party in 8th grade that I totally forgot about that C and R had been to and loved. And it turns out that I was a bit more memorable than I ever credited myself with being, as several also-forgotten stories were dredged up and repeated for me. Thank goodness I was fairly nice, and also fairly well-behaved in school. That could have gotten ugly.

What surprised me most was some of the nice things that they said they remembered about me. C remembered me writing poetry and being a little bold and introducing him to a lot of people. R remembered my party as one of the first he'd ever been invited to, and remembered how that made him feel. J remembered, rather tactfully and nicely, that I looked then exactly as I do now (his wife ought to love him if he talks like that all the time) and Double R brought up the best of times when we were thick as thieves, and how sad she was when the busing business hit town and we got separated in the school shuffle. And Ed, a graduate of another local school showed up. I never knew Ed until last night, but it turns out we know a hundred people in common from my days at private school. I wish I had known him before; he was precious and funny and such a comfortable person to talk to.

I stayed until almost 1, having so much fun that it was unthinkable to leave before that. When I did leave, I spent the entire drive back thinking about how I thought I had people pegged in high school, and how wrong I must have been on so many of them. At least with this bunch, certain long-held beliefs had to evaporate, and though I liked them before we got together, I like them so much more now. I don't know if that says something about me, or them, or both, but it makes the reunion coming up so much more exciting. Who else will I see with new eyes?

Happy Birthday, Little Critter

The LC turns 8 Wednesday, and she had her party Saturday. The plan was for us to go swimming a couple of hours, then come back home and have a karaoke party. (We loves us some karaoke.) But God has blessed us in southeast Texas with a truckload of rain, and so the pool was closed. Silver lining: fireworks for the 4th are ON!

So we cleared the den, rented the karaoke machine, set up a makeshift stage, arranged the Luau party favors from Oriental Trading (I'm a sucker for a 2" plastic pig in a hula skirt and lei) and had us a party. (Pictures to follow)

The kids paired off at first to sing favorites from High School Musical and Cheetah Girls and the like, but eventually got together in large groups and belted out "Girl Power" and "We're All In This Together." Even the moms got into the act after I dragged them into it. I belted out "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and then N did a wonderful version of "Let's Give Them Something to Talk About." Then we did "I Will Survive" together, and finally dragged all the moms and kids together into a version of "We Are Family."

Then they took turns, boys, then girls, and we thought that was darling. And it was, at least until the boys decided they'd like to take a whack at singing "Macho Man."

Body...wanna feel my body?
Body...such a thrill my body
Body...wanna touch my body?
Body...it's too much my body
Check it out my body, body.
Don't you doubt my body, body.
Talkin' bout my body, body,
Check it out my body

Um, yeah. Any mom in the room when that began lost any composure left. Worse? They sang it TWICE.

The kids sang almost nonstop for 4 hours until the MOMS got tired and decided it was time to go. But I have to say it was the best birthday party we've given, and the one that was the least work and the most fun for us as well as the kids. The great thing is that we bought the Little Critter a karaoke machine of her own, so we can have regular karaoke parties now.

But I think I'll steer clear of anything by the Village People for a while.

Those were the days

Oh, man, it's reunion time. Here's me way back when:

And here's even way-er back:

And way backer than that:

And worst of all, the way way back inna day picture:

I've been exploring a reunion site put together by old classmates. Tons of old and new pictures. Stories from our misspent youth. Secrets of High School that are just coming out.

And surprisingly, it's kinda fun.

When I left high school, I had no intention of ever seeing anyone there ever again. I did not like it. It was not Party Central time for me. I was not popular, well-loved, admired, but merely tolerated on most days. Granted, I was an obnoxious ass on my bad days, but there was stuff going on; at home, at school, and in my head. I had a gang of friends I hung out with, but for the most part they were older. Or younger. The one junior guy I had a big thing for my sophmore year (see above picture) ripped my heart out, stomped it into the ground, ground it up beneath his heels, and dumped me for a drum majorette. She was nice, though.

My senior year I had a thing for a sweet shy goofy smart guy named Sean. He had something in there for me too; whether it was just for amusement or loneliness or the comfort of being with someone who liked him. But he'd call me ten minutes after I dropped him off after school and say "What are we doing this afternoon?" Gosh, he was precious, until his stock rose and he was off in a whirl to grad parties and beach blasts I couldn't get invited to if I tried. (He did answer my e-mail this week asking him if he'd been informed about the reunion, so apparently 20 years has mellowed him a little.)

The funny thing is that I'm so much happier now than I was then, and so now I'm actually looking forward to the reunion. It makes a weird sort of sense. I didn't like myself very much then, because I had that huge failing of judging myself by what others thought of me. Now, though, I've really learned not to give a rat's patootie. At least, not nearly as much as I used to. Maybe it's age, maybe I'm more mature, maybe I just got bold, or tired of caring so much. But I like where I am, and I like who I am. Maybe that is what I was missing all along.

At any rate, I'm going to the reunion, and in the meantime, I am contacting a few people the committee hasn't mentioned yet to let them know I'd love to see them. Who knows, maybe I'm the only person who lets them know it's on. I only found out about it because one of the class nice guys goes to church with me. Who else might they have missed?

So here's me, now, with the LC and JJ. And I guarantee it's the happiest picture of the bunch.