Do you know who I am?
Ok, so it's 10 year reunion update time. It was actually fun. There was a great turnout (about 1/2 of our graduating class) so it made it interesting to say the least. Friday night consisted of Dave and I calling up our good buddies, Zach and Lisa. We were NOT going to do this alone.
We went everywhere together that weekend. "Safety in numbers" was our motto. We headed to the Homecoming football game where we had a whirlwind of ,"Oh my gosh! I haven't seen you in forever! What are you doing now?" type of conversations. The next day, there was a family shindig at our park in the middle of town. Here we could all show off our offspring and really see each other in the light of day. (It was very dark at the football game)
The prize for most kids went to the Herods (Dave was my prom date my Junior Year of high school). In 10 years, he and his wife had 4 kids! No one else even came close to them!
I got to see my best friend in high school, Brandy, and meet her husband, Chris. It was so fun to see her! We were partners in crime all through junior high and high school.
One girl had the nerve to come up to Zach and ask, "Do you know who I am?" Zach (being a no-nonsense kind of guy) said, "no". Then she took off her sunglasses and said, "Does this help?" Again, he answered no. How can you do that to people? Come on! Take note: this is a cruel thing to do to someone at a reunion. Never, ever do it. My cousin, Joanna was there too. It was great to see her!
Then came Saturday night. Oh, Saturday night. You have to understand where I grew up. Small town (about 7,000 people) in rural Arkansas where the nearest mall is 1-1/2 hrs. away and the nearest airport is 2-1/2 hrs away. So they had this get together planned on Saturday night at the Elks Lodge. One word to describe this place: shady. We called up our partners in crime and added the Herods to the list. We were not going at this alone. We head out to the country where the Elks Lodge resides and pull into the parking lot. As we exit the car, we can hear "Ice, Ice Baby" blaring from speakers inside. One of the spouses threw out the idea that we could just turn back now. "We can't do that!", I shouted, "I hear 'Ice, Ice Baby' playing - I'm going in!" On our way in, we noticed a bunch of motorcycles parked out front - one of them being in the "Exalted Ruler's" spot. yikes! We just HAD to stop and get a quick picture.
It totally made me think of Chevy Chase when he goes into the biker bar pretending to sell real estate. (Harley Davidson of Harley Davidson Motorcycles) Anyway, I digress...
As soon as we stepped in the door, I realized why I had never gone to the Elks Lodge before. Dark, Smoky, Loud and overall very creepy. To our left on the wall behind a big stage was this display - reminiscent of The Wedding Singer.
Apparently, there was supposed to be karaoke something that night - it never happened...not while we were there at least. So we all make our way to a table that has red and black balloons on it (our school colors) and little votive candles. (oh, so romantic) We spent the next couple of hours visiting and observing that really, everyone is still kind of the same. Some people had changed a lot, but some were still doing the same ole thing. It was really interesting to see what 10 years had brought to our class. I'm really glad that I went. The spouses of our class were such troopers! Dave sat through hours of mind-numbing Mena "fun" and didn't complain. (much)
I did find it amusing that the people voted "Best Personality" (myself and another classmate) were the ones sitting back at the Elks Lodge taking it all in. I didn't really feel like being social once we got there. It was too weird. I just took it all in. I got up a few times to mingle, but I had a short leash. I would quickly come back to the table and the safety of good friends. Which, I think is ok.
So, that's it in a nutshell. For your viewing pleasure, I've got one of my senior pictures to show. (Please don't ask what I was thinking with these earrings. They went GREAT with my prom dress)
Oh, and Halloween was fun at our house this year. That's another post for another day...pictures to come.
We went everywhere together that weekend. "Safety in numbers" was our motto. We headed to the Homecoming football game where we had a whirlwind of ,"Oh my gosh! I haven't seen you in forever! What are you doing now?" type of conversations. The next day, there was a family shindig at our park in the middle of town. Here we could all show off our offspring and really see each other in the light of day. (It was very dark at the football game)
The prize for most kids went to the Herods (Dave was my prom date my Junior Year of high school). In 10 years, he and his wife had 4 kids! No one else even came close to them!
I got to see my best friend in high school, Brandy, and meet her husband, Chris. It was so fun to see her! We were partners in crime all through junior high and high school.
One girl had the nerve to come up to Zach and ask, "Do you know who I am?" Zach (being a no-nonsense kind of guy) said, "no". Then she took off her sunglasses and said, "Does this help?" Again, he answered no. How can you do that to people? Come on! Take note: this is a cruel thing to do to someone at a reunion. Never, ever do it. My cousin, Joanna was there too. It was great to see her!
Then came Saturday night. Oh, Saturday night. You have to understand where I grew up. Small town (about 7,000 people) in rural Arkansas where the nearest mall is 1-1/2 hrs. away and the nearest airport is 2-1/2 hrs away. So they had this get together planned on Saturday night at the Elks Lodge. One word to describe this place: shady. We called up our partners in crime and added the Herods to the list. We were not going at this alone. We head out to the country where the Elks Lodge resides and pull into the parking lot. As we exit the car, we can hear "Ice, Ice Baby" blaring from speakers inside. One of the spouses threw out the idea that we could just turn back now. "We can't do that!", I shouted, "I hear 'Ice, Ice Baby' playing - I'm going in!" On our way in, we noticed a bunch of motorcycles parked out front - one of them being in the "Exalted Ruler's" spot. yikes! We just HAD to stop and get a quick picture.
It totally made me think of Chevy Chase when he goes into the biker bar pretending to sell real estate. (Harley Davidson of Harley Davidson Motorcycles) Anyway, I digress...
As soon as we stepped in the door, I realized why I had never gone to the Elks Lodge before. Dark, Smoky, Loud and overall very creepy. To our left on the wall behind a big stage was this display - reminiscent of The Wedding Singer.
Apparently, there was supposed to be karaoke something that night - it never happened...not while we were there at least. So we all make our way to a table that has red and black balloons on it (our school colors) and little votive candles. (oh, so romantic) We spent the next couple of hours visiting and observing that really, everyone is still kind of the same. Some people had changed a lot, but some were still doing the same ole thing. It was really interesting to see what 10 years had brought to our class. I'm really glad that I went. The spouses of our class were such troopers! Dave sat through hours of mind-numbing Mena "fun" and didn't complain. (much)
I did find it amusing that the people voted "Best Personality" (myself and another classmate) were the ones sitting back at the Elks Lodge taking it all in. I didn't really feel like being social once we got there. It was too weird. I just took it all in. I got up a few times to mingle, but I had a short leash. I would quickly come back to the table and the safety of good friends. Which, I think is ok.
So, that's it in a nutshell. For your viewing pleasure, I've got one of my senior pictures to show. (Please don't ask what I was thinking with these earrings. They went GREAT with my prom dress)
Oh, and Halloween was fun at our house this year. That's another post for another day...pictures to come.
posted by sarah p at Sunday, November 05, 2006
5 Comments:
excellent post.
i'm dreading my 10 year...fortunately, i have some time.
i didn't realize that dave & jessica had 4 kids! wowza!
i'm looking forward to seeing those halloween pictures!
Loved the reunion recap! I love the senior picture by the piano even more. :)
Not so sure I'll be attending my 10-year. I wasn't as outgoing as you were in high school, so I'm sure I'll be feeling even more anti-social!
That piano pic is great. The placement of the arms is especially creative. =)
Elks Lodge...sounds like such a classy place for a reunion. I really love the time and effort that must have gone into the hanging of the gold streamer thing with the "Mena Class of 96" banner. Nice, very nice. My 10 year was ohhh, just a few years ago. I enjoyed it overall..Although I did only have a class of 21.
My last weekend was jam packed...lets talk this weekend. OK? I will call you. Too long has passed dear Sarah!
Love you!
I, too, loved the placement of the arms in the senior photo. "To the left a little...no, more to the right. Now tilt your hand upwards into the light just a bit..." :)
Love the stories and especially love the earrings; face it, prom was totally the time to borrow your mom's "grown up" jewelry!
Post a Comment
<< Home