Varina Blue Devils party like it's 1999?

Lately, there has been some hilarious drama and speculation about my 10 year high school reunion. The class of 1999 planning committee (i.e. two girls who were student council members in 1999) sent out emails about 9-10 months ago, stating that we needed to send them $50 so we could have a reunion. While I understand that it costs a lot of money to put on one of these things, I had no idea where I was going to be 10 days from then. How could I possibly know if I would be able to attend the reunion 10 MONTHS from that email? So, no, I sent nothing in.

Apparently, neither did any of the other 300 people I graduated with.

Now, people are p-i-s-e-d. We are (according to facts on Facebook) the first class in FORTY-TWO YEARS to not have a 10 year reunion. That is so terribly hilarious, it hurts a little. One of the girls who sent out the aforementioned email has since gotten married and the other has a baby and, according to stories heard recently, too many other things to worry about. So, people on Facebook have decided to send messages to the newlywed about the reunion. This started one of the best back-and-forth status comment wars I have seen in a long time, with the newlywed’s OLDER SISTER telling people that they are bitter and unhappy and need prayers for a better life.

Are we actually ADULTS?

I don’t know why I’m surprised by any of this. Varina is a very interesting place to grow up. It’s a huge and varied area, and so you get people like me who grew up VERY close to the Richmond City limits and people who grew up in farm country with cows and corn and jacked-up trucks and… you get the picture. Anyway, you get those two groups of people in the same school, which makes for a weird setting. In addition, though it’s near the city, it’s very isolated so you have to make your own fun. Boredom leads to stupid decisions, and then you find out all your friends have slept with the same guy who is now trying (quite unsuccessfully) to hit on you. Everyone knows everyone’s business, and that’s how we thrive. Drama and gossip are a way of life in Varina.

The weirdest part is that, it follows you. I have not lived in Richmond since 2005, and I can’t escape the drama. Worse than that, I kind of love it. Varina drama is my favorite kind because it rarely involves me. I have a friend from my high school days that also went to JMU with me, and we’ve been able to continue our relationship into something better than it was at the start. Part of this is because we both love the drama, but it’s also because we were always on the outside using common sense, watching our friends make terrible mistakes. All of his friends “dated” all of my friends, and we are the lucky ones that escaped virtually unscathed.
So now, I find myself in the midst of the newest drama, and it’s funny and nostalgic and probably more entertaining than an actual reunion would ever be, but it still makes me a little sad. Are we all so caught up in the past that we can’t get over ourselves? Does it matter what someone said to me or what I said to others when I was 14? I know people have lots of different views about who I was and what I used to do, but I’m a different person now. I don’t care if we never spoke in high school; I like to talk to people and find out where they are. I like to think about the decisions they made and see how they have thrived. I spent 13 years with some of these people, and I think that means something. Thinking about this has made me realize that, as much as I mocked and teased about this, I would have liked to attend a reunion.

So, instead of the traditional reunion, my BFF Lindsey and I are planning to celebrate 10 years since high school and over 20 years of friendship by going to Mars bar in Richmond and dancing and laughing and talking about how dumb we were and probably still are. I don’t know when this will happen, but I’m already looking forward to it. (If you’ve never had the chance to go to Mars bar, lemme tell you, it’s totally awesome. 80’s music and good drinks and no one is there to impress anyone else? My kind of place!) I say, everyone else do the same. Find that person from your old days that makes you happy, and celebrate your past and present and future. Clink your glasses and make a toast to 10 more years of drama and stories. 10 more years of friendship. 10 more years until we get to do this all over again!

Tuesday Telly

I hate that there are so many great things on TV on Thursday, and then there's Tuesday. There's 90210, which I think I might have to break up with, and The Biggest Loser, which I actually like to watch while I eat junk food. Which defeats the purpose of watching it. Either way, why can't Vampire Diaries come on tonight? Why must Thursday be packed full of awesome hotness? Bones, VampDiaries, The Office, Community, and Grey's? (Warning: some awesome may be much greater than others.) However, on the Tuesday front, I've already eaten some ice cream, so now all I have to do is cry over the sad stories and the drama and the "LAST CHANCE WORKOUTS!"

Speaking of tears and workouts, I am officially. For Real This Time. Trying to run. I found this couch-to-5K thing online, and so I thought I'd try it. It takes like 9 weeks, and I'll be running 3.1 miles by the end of it. It seems to be subtle enough that I could do it. I really need to do something, and I've felt like I'd like running for years. However, every time I try, I get fed up and I stop. There's no reason for me to do that. This past weekend at the AIDS walk was a real motivator to do something with my life, to do something with myself. It's all up to me, and I know I can do it.

Must go now. Dog needs petting.

well it's a shame, i'm a dream.

I've been listening to Paramore's new album via YouTube the past few days. They were streaming it from their website, which crashed, and then they moved it to Myspace, which I can't look at from work. A total stranger who is my new best friend put the entire album online, and hence, YouTube. The last track on the new CD, "All I Wanted," is incredible. I've listened to it lots of times today, at least into double digits. I love it.

That's all.

change is gonna come.

I decided to change the look of things around here just a bit. It was getting boring. Now, something that is hilarious to me, the picture at the top covers knitting AND television. And Grey's Anatomy. I probably should have posted a picture of a vampire since they are my current most fave thing, but alas, I don't know if they knit. Pam does needlepoint, but True Blood has not caught up with Sookie's books yet...

THINGS I AM EXCITED FOR:
+new Paramore album on Tuesday
+thinking of things to knit
+all the awesome TV on tonite (vampire diaries, bones, the office, grey's)
+the possibility of seeing an old friend this weekend
+new moon in november

random television

Am I the only person that still watches Grey's Anatomy? I know it's nowhere near as good and cheesy as it used to be, but still, I like it. I think it's replaced that hole in my heart from when Dr. Greene died and I stopped watching ER.

In other news, "The Secret Garden" is on STARZ right now, and I'm too excited. I L-O-V-E-D this movie when I was little, the book too, and now I'm all glad it's on. This is a bizarre plot for a children's book. A bed-ridden hypochondriac that's in love with his cousin, a Huck Finn-esque local boy who speaks to animals, and a bitchy emo orphan girl who's obsessed with gardens? Random. However, Dame Maggie Smith is the nurse, and she rules.

Updates

I haven't posted anything here in such a long time. I would like to start posting more regularly, but as you know, promises, promises. Either way, here's a quick update on where I've been since President Obama took his oath of office.

I worked in Reston at the law office that shall remain nameless until June, when I took my new position for Albemarle County in Charlottesville, VA. I'm working for the superintendent's office, and it's been pretty great so far. Great people, GREAT supervisor, great environment, so much happier and less dysfunctional than my last position. I'm hoping to stay here for a while.

Also, we got a dog, Leela (as you can see). She's a lab lite, as I say, because she's a black lab mix that makes her smaller than an average lab. People think she's still a puppy, and I use that to give excuses for her crazy behavior, like when she tried to crawl through the iron gate at our new place and got stuck in front of the president of the HOA. She fits in well with us, and we love her.

So, that's about it for now. Hopefully, I'll be able to update this more with rants, tirades, opinions, and pictures of things. Take it easy!

yes, we can.

i can't believe this day.  i don't know if i'll ever fully appreciate what i witnessed.  at the same time, i don't think i'll ever forget every minute of this historic event.  though it might be a silly story to tell my someday children about how i drank a magners, scarfed a BLT, and fought off tears as i watched president(!) obama being sworn in at "table 4 ladies," but i will certainly tell them.

there's nothing i can say that hasn't been said already.  there are no new thoughts i can have regarding these events.  all i can say is that i feel blessed and exhilarated that i am an american.  it's such a change to feel like that.  i love it.