Tuesday, August 14, 2007

I've Come a Long Way

I went to my ten year high school reunion this weekend. It was not as eventful as I expected it to be. I guess I envisioned lots and lots of people approaching me, telling me that they secretly read and love my blog, or perhaps confessing to harboring a little crush on me, or thinking that I was the coolest girl in school, and that I was robbed of that title by show-offs and outgoing people. But, to my surprise, nobody said anything like that to me at all. The closest I got was a girl telling me that my tongue-in-cheek comment that if I could do it all over again I would "punch more people in the face" was right up her alley. She launched into a bitter diatribe about the injustice of high school and how she wanted to punch people, too. I didn't have the heart to tell her that I said that as a joke. I mean, who wants to truthfully answer the "what would you do differently" question?! Anyway, this is how I looked when I went to the picnic:

My mom made me pose like this. She asked for my best "Paris and Nicole pose" and I gave it to her. I didn't take a picture of what I wore to the dinner because I was too busy washing some underwear for Mike so he wouldn't have to go commando. So we got to the dinner and found Sorro and Forro, of Two Guys from Quantico fame. We sat by them and some other nice people. An hour into the dinner, Mike leaned over and whispered that he had only been there for one hour and he had already picked out the two people he hated the most in the room. What do you know? They were two people I had hated all growing up! I think that, alone, proves that Mike and I are soul mates. Either that, or these two particular people are just so foul that anybody can grow to hate them in only one hour of being in the same room. Maybe a little of both.

It was weird to see the people upon whom my fragile sense of self worth depended during ages 14-18. I mean, some of the key players in "Carly's Sense of Self Worth" were missing. Nevertheless, it was eerie to realize that I have come so far from those tenuous days of botany club, choir, and school dances. Now, rather than relying on 100 or so fickle teenagers to tell me if I am cool or not, I count on blog readership. Could the contrast BE any starker? Ahhhh, I've come a long way.

19 comments:

  1. Let me be the first to congratulate you on making it down life's path this far. Ten year reunions kinda give you a new perspective on life, makes you stop and say "10 years?". Of course you have to count to make sure. "No way it's 10 long years already!" But then again I never attended my 10th...or 20th...or 30th.
    The Chess Club President wasn't considered Cool.

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  2. You and mike ARE soulmates and I think you know why I say that.

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  3. Is that because Mike is the male version of you?

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  4. Wish I could have been there! And I wish I had punched more people in the face!

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  5. Care to share Carly? I'm quite interested in who would punch more people in the face as well as the two people Mike hated.
    As far as my reunion thoughts...it took the first act for Mikey and Jed to gel again, but then I thought their schtick was as enjoyable as ever. I think it might have been hard because they were trying to talk to a group of people who really weren't paying attention to them. I didn't know you made the picnic, my little girl was far too spastic and ready for a nap to stay any longer than we did. It was interesting though. I thought that I'd see more people that I was good friends with than I did and also that I'd talk with a wider variety of people. As it was there were maybe 20 who I really cared about talking to (not including spouses) and I got to them relatively quickly. I'm also surprised that our next reunion chair a) remembered my Top 10 lists and b) wants one at the next reunion. That's crazy talk!

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  6. Oh, might I also mention that I really liked having the opportunity to slay my white whale (i.e. going back to the person you liked in high school with the love of your life and implicitly saying "yup, didn't need you"). That made everything worth it.

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  7. Sorro,
    I need to know who this white whale is! If you tell me, I'll tell you the two hated people.

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  8. My 20-year reunion is next week. I hope Marcy will be able to instinctively spot who the right people to hate are. I think she will.

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  9. Oh, I'm sure I'll be able to spot the right people to hate at Neil's reunion. And probably some more that he should hate.

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  10. I secretly read your blog. Well, at least sort of secretly.

    I can't decide whether or not I wish I'd been at the reunion, but I do know that I sure would love to know who you hated.

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  11. 1) I need to know who these two people are. Maybe we have the same hates?

    2) I need to know Sorro's white whale.

    3) I applaud your attendance. I don't think I would have gone, even if I still lived in the area.

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  12. I would love to shout the names of my hates from the highest hill top. But I better not. And technically, only one of them is a deep hate from my childhood. The other is more of an annoyance. I will give you their initials and you can email me if you want more details. Here goes:
    Girl: JA
    Boy: MD

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  13. For me, it would have been JH. He would have followed me all around the reunion like a puppy dog, despite the presence of his wife and my husband.

    Hmm.... until my husband shot him.

    That would have made the reunion memorable.

    It's probably good that I wasn't there.

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  14. Carly!
    Hey it's Ginna, from high school. I'm hoping you remember me.
    I'm sad I missed the reunion because I think it just would've been so surreal. Was it? Did everyone look the same, or like completely different? How weird...

    I love your blog, I am now a regular.

    Hey, I also want to know who this "sorro" is. Do I know sorro?

    Ginna

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  15. Ginna,
    Of COURSE I remember you. You don't just forget the people you took Zoology with. Sorro is Beau. The reunion WAS surreal. People looked the same, but older. The strangest thing for me was seeing all the boys I thought were immature goofballs being dads and changing diapers. WEIRD! What have you been up to the last ten years?

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  16. That truly would be bizarre to see all the boys turned to men. Or supposed to be men.
    Anyway, we're in Kansas City MO right now. My husband is in his 4th yr of dental school (finally!!) We have a 3.5 yr old named Max.
    I'm trying to finish up my MBA, which I'll hopefully do next semester.
    That's basically the jist of it. We don't know where we'll be next year because Kris will be doing a residency. He's applying now all over the country. It'll be interesting!
    And you? I know you're not in Tucson anymore...

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  17. Ginna,
    I am IMPRESSED. Dental school? MBA!? Wow. And Max is such a cute name, and, looking at your blog and PHS profile, he is a cute kid, too. As for me, my husband just finished coursework for his PhD in Chinese Linguistics (which is why we were in Tucson). We are going to Taiwan for 6 months for him to study and work on his dissertation. After that, who knows? We'll be in Provo for the fall, both of us teaching at BYU. He will teach Chinese and I will teach writing. We have two kids. Dat all.

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