high school reunion time

First, a couple Cadeisms -
He's sort of a little back-talker right now. We're working on it, but it hard not to laugh sometimes (we do our best & I hope he's learning).

For example, the other day he was whining (again) so I told him, "Cade, I'm done listening to your whining." And he replied, "And I'M done listening to your talking about whining." (Kinda made me mad, but it was kinda funny too).

After that, I obviously wasn't pleased with his response, but decided it was best to just keep quiet so I wouldn't smile or laugh or mess up the cross look I'd pasted to my face. He wouldn't let me get away with it though. He started whining, "I'm not being funny mom, am I? Mom, I'm NOT funny. I'm not funny at all." (I'm still ignoring). "And what will you say to me, Mom? Mom, I'm saying I'm not funny. I'm really not funny. And now YOU say, 'yes, you ARE funny, but you don't HAVE to be funny, you just are.' That's what you say to me, Mom." (I answered him after that and put an end to his whining. He's something else sometimes. Apparently IGNORING Cade is the way to really freak him out).

He's also had a habit of repeating requests we make to him. You can imagine it gets old fast & the other day Kevin was telling him, "Cade there's a time to do that [play the "copying game"] and a time not to, and you need to start learning the difference."
Cade's reply: "And YOU need to start learning the difference."
(Oh good, I really think he's catching on...I'm shaking my head 'no').


And segway to my reunion update with a quote from this afternoon:
Cade saw my class reunion nametag (see pic) on the table and said excitedly, "Look Mom! It's a picture of you when you were my age!" Ah Cade... Kevin laughed at my expression and jumped in with, "What he means is you don't look a day older than 18." (Hmmm, I bet). One person at my reunion last night did actually say, "You've aged well...very young face." (There was drinking involved & um, last time I checked, I was still only 28. But hey, a weird compliments' a compliment).

So yes, I made it to my 10 year class reunion at the Kennedy School McMenamins. Early evening I went over to Katie's so she could help me get ready & Crystal came over too to hang out and offer advice. Katie recently gave me a haircut and had a "vision" for a cute hairstyle (if you know me, you know I'm not one to put a lot of thought into my hair, so I rely on my sis to keep me somewhat stylish and cute, at least in the hair department). She was also the one in early-college sometime who preformed my scrunchy-appendectomy (thank you Katie, clearly it was for the best). ;) Finished product pics below.

The reunion was fine...I was actually looking forward to going, but it was the slightest bit disappointing that several friends who at one point WERE going, changed their minds (all for REALLY important reasons, but still...) and on top of that some other really good friends weren't going anyway (also for completely acceptable reasons). In all, I had a great time, but I wouldn't go so far to say the people who didn't make it really missed anything either. Bottom line is, my life hasn't changed, I have no new best friends (or even email addresses I'll probably use, well, maybe a couple). It was fun - and like I've said before, social gatherings are sort of my element. I truly enjoy talking with many people, getting to know some and catching up. Just sort of "butterfly-ing" around the room. There was a good turn-out, around 70+ of my former (260 or so) classmates showed up, many with dates, spouses, etc. I let Kevin off the hook for the evening and he was fine with that. I just pictured myself catching up and not staying put for too long and him possibly being the tiniest bit bored and tired of all the people he doesn't know and doesn't NEED to know. Not that he isn't a very sociable person, but I figure I (and therefore, we) won't see these people again at least for another 10 years, so it isn't as if I'm hoping he will 'connect' with anyone or become best buddies or anything.

I was really wondering what feelings I'd come away with. I think I shared in another entry my apprehension about the reunion. At times I've felt kind of bad that I didn't keep in touch with (or even ever SEE again) a few people I really enjoyed in high school. I mean I had my very few "best friends" and I've been better about them, but I've often wondered how the others have been and subsequently felt slightly guilty (I wonder if that is even the right word) for not looking back. Off I went to GFU, successfully immersing myself in a "Christian" incubator (sort of anyway, and I don't mean this as all negative, incubators have an important purpose for a time).

I've questioned why I was so eager to leave and not inclined to keep in touch with the class of '97. High school was a good time, but I was ready to be done (who wasn't?). I think leaving it all behind and diving into college, was part of my attempt to be "closer" to God and my mom (things of eternity, heaven, etc.). For me, that was just my path. I believe all things happen for a reason. Of course there are people I will still miss from time to time. There are also a handful of people I will continue to keep in closer touch with. Some friendships are just that good. Will I wrestle with "guilt" for not keeping up with more? I really don't think so. My life is so full of truly wonderful friends and family. Speaking of some of them, my highlight of the night was around 10pm when Katie (my sister) and Crystal (my best girlfriend from highschool, but a class behind - we're still very close) crashed the reunion! I loved it. Poor Crys looked like she'd rather be on fire than be standing in that room (good friend), but I'm pretty sure Katie truly had some fun saying 'hi' to some friendly faces and Marie (Daniel's cousin who lives with K & D and is awesome - "LOL" Marie - (haha!) well, she is just an easy going person who was up for whatever. Since I particularly don't like "inside jokes" unless only the people involved have a clue, I will tell you that Marie and I found out we share an adversion to overuse (which we feel is practically ANY use), of the term "LOL." (Which, for the email acronym-challenged, means "Laugh Out Loud.)" Using it after statements which are neither "laugh-out-loud" funny or otherwise, is just a bit annoyingly hilarious. At least to us. At midnight. I won't give any examples of what I mean because I don't want to assume everyone's humor is like mine, but I will say Marie, Katie, Crystal, & I got quite a bit of (LOL) milege from it last night. Before the crash, they'd been hanging out & were my ride home (to Katie's - sleepover/girltime in NoPo).

Ayway, as you can probably tell, I feel FINE. Great in fact. Resolved, peaceful, grateful. And ready for the 20 year! (Hopefully more of my favorites will make it for that - it would have been fun to have someone there to make faces at from time to time). Here are the pics (don't have many from the event).

Me and Cryssy (my hair is layered, but is also in a short ponytail in the back).

Some things never change...
Heather, Julia, and Sarah, some of my choir posse. Like I said, I took a surprisingly few number of pics...and I was surprisingly tall as well, thanks to Katie's wedges...I was even taller than Crystal for once, but I did feel kinda funny about it at the reunion, like I'd grown or something. All my friends were shorter than I remembered. I'm serious. I kept forgetting how tall the shoes were making me. Tomorrow I will try to fit in a blog/pics about Jena's (Crystal's sister, Jena, is having a little girl in a month) baby shower today. I'm sleepy and heading for bed. Hope you are all enjoying your weekend. :)