So I went to the football portion of the 1999 reunion.

It was everything I expected. The 'popular' kids had not changed. I think I spoke to a total of 8 humans.

The funny part was hearing a former jock say "wow life really sucks since high school. I totaled my cool car, haven't got married, and don't have any kids." I found myself respecting that he was not trying to put on airs. This is just how things were.

More than a few classmates came up to talk to the old friends that I was chatting with. They would start up a conversation, then turn to me and say "did you graduate with us?" All the meanwhile I was wearing my letter jacket. I suppose one of three things is true (1) I have changed and they don't recognise me (2) They suck at remembering people (3) They were too self absorbed to notice others when we were in school. It was underwhelming. We left about a hour and a half in. It wasn't Romy and Michelle but to tell the truth it wasn't that awesome either.

I went. Lets just say I certainly hope the friends that did not go to this one will be at the 20. Maybe then it will be worth attending the reunion.

Your thinkin's so complicated
I've had it all up to here
But it's so overrated
Love and hate it
Wouldn't trade it

-Aerosmith

10 year reunion.

This weekend.

The itinerary is this: Football Game, Dinner at the Jenks Aquarium. All this for $80. As for me I am just going to the Game. I have been watching the RSVP's online very closely. Thus far I am not feeling all that compelled to attend. Especially not at $80 a head. From what I can tell the reunion will be mostly comprised of STUCO (student council for you non- BAHS folk) kids. This is a group I was never involved with.

To further add annoyance to this phenomena that is the 10 year reunion I am noticing a trend in the classmates that passed on. The only ones that are being listed are the popular kids. I emailed the moderator about this but it has not been taken care of as of yet so here I would like to add Donnie that passed in 8th grade, and Richard Winland that passed in the winter of 1997. They have added others that passed prior to graduation but not these two.

Now please do not get me wrong. I loved my high school experience and would not trade it for the world. None the less I feel it is too soon after high school for a reunion. Have we really changed that much since then? If a classmate wants to see me or contact me it is easy thru the wonders of the internet or cell-o-phone-o I am easily reached. But I really do not want to live out my own Romy and Michelle experience just yet. But I do know better than to claim I invented post-its.

I will be punking out early from work to attend the Homecoming parade. If you are going to be there please let me know, maybe we can catch up.

Otherwise for you - my classmates of 1999 give a holler some time we can chat over beer or coffee. I am not against seeing any of you but this reunion - its just not my bag baby.

10 years since 1999
10 years since my senior year
10 years since the STUCO blood drive
10 years since Columbine
10 years since the school evacuations
10 years since wild accusations
10 years since empty threats and hollow fear
10 years since BAPD guarded the senior assembly from every door and hall
10 years since we changed
10 years since I chose to not live my life in fear

Some world events shape your life, some days in history you will never forget where you were or what you were doing. For me these days start at Clinton's first inauguration, OKC bombing, Diana's death, Columbine, 9/11, and most recently Obama's election.

I would say Columbine shaped me in so many ways I face my life. It was my senior year. I had just walked into my English lit class and it was on the TV. The weeks that came after lead to how I face tragedy to this day.

I watched as my school was threatened that the same would happen to us. Parents called their children out of class for their safety. My friends who were not 'normal' - who dressed differently were targeted as the ones fueling this fear. I saw each of them being sent to the office to face a battery of questions. In tenth grade I had a history teacher who brought to life the Red Scare, then my junior year I had stage managed our production of Aurthur Millers the Crucible. To me this was the same injustice.

I clearly remember the blood drive where the entire school was evacuated because of a bomb scare. We all sat out on the baseball field while BAPD SWAT searched each room. I felt like a sitting duck - I wanted to leave. Then a week later was the final assembly of the year, the senior assembly. It had to be rescheduled due to a threat, and the BAPD was standing at each door fully armed, parents would not allow students to attend school - fear was the predominate feeling. I was given the option by my mom to miss school, I declined. The pep assembly was quiet, almost silent. We had to sit with our teachers like we did in elementary school. The end of the year pep assembly had been such a riot my junior year, this was such a let down. I made up my mind that day that I would never allow fear to prevent me from living my life. This is a theme that has resurfaced, first at my graduation, then 9/11, and during my time as a navy wife.

Now the students at my school wear id badges around their necks, I can only imagine so many other things have changed since then. I hope that Columbine taught the larger 'us' more than how to live in fear, I hope someone other than me can look back on this and say it shaped who they are for the better. So many lives were lost.

seriously contemplating his high school reunion stuff - seriously - if you haven't tried to return the contact attempts I have made why in gods name would I want to pay $85 to have dinner and relive my prom again - it just doesn't seem like a good expense. I can pay my own admission @ the football game and call that good - or meet up with friends at a bar, but if I need a designated day every 10 years to catch up with people that I have lost touch with is it really worth it?

Well, I thought the whole point of going to the reunion was to impress people. I mean, how am I gonna impress ANYBODY by selling ban-lon smocks at Bargain Mart?

Grant came home from work the other night with a web address to his high school reunions website. Can it really be possible? It is already time for a 10 year reunion? Already this is bringing up questions for me. Obviously since I now live in the same town I graduated from I will run in to classmates from time to time. It doesn't seem like enough has happened in my life to warrant a class reunion. I imagine everyone sits around at reunions to compare war stories. My stories aren't that great, my life hasn't changed that much, and frankly I am not sure that there is a soul from high school I even care to see. I tried to keep up with the folks I cared about, some have lost touch, that's cool. But why do people decide to go to a class reunion? Already I am feeling the internal pushing to better myself before the dreaded weekend a year and a half from now. The biggest push, loose weight. By damn it I want to look at least as fit as I did in high school. I finally figured out what drives my weight loss, spite. I can help others better themselves, living situations, or anything else...... alas only one thing will fuel me to better myself. I am fueled by spite. I feel I have to be the best I can be just to prove I could.

First let me say, WE HAVE A HOUSE! SO folks this means I will once again be a BA resident! It is pretty much everything we wanted in a house. 1300 sq ft. 3 bed, 2 bath. Fenced in yard, nice big patio, and what seems to be a cool landlord, who might let us rent to own.Down sides are as follows, it is like 12 houses from my mother, and it has headboard.Anyone have an idea on how to hide it? Rules are I cant paint it and I cant take it out.Send me any and all suggestions! Also does anyone out there like water gardens? I dont but the house comes with one. And I guess I am going to have to maintain it to prevent mosquitoes breeding in it.

Next step is Grant finding a job. He has applied for many but had no call back as of yet. It has only been 2 weeks, but it does feel like an eternity. But we are trying to wait patiently, but you know what they say, a watched pot never boils.

Good Points about BA:
*A recent national crime survey found Broken Arrow to be the 20th safest city in the nation and the safest city in Oklahoma.
*Broken Arrow was listed as #66 in the CNN Money list of the 100 best places to live.
*The Police Department has won several national awards for their work in reducing the crime rate.
*Broken Arrow has been listed as a "Tree City USA" for over 6 years in a row.
*Broken Arrow was listed as one of the "Top 25 Affordable Suburbs in the South" by Business Week Magazine in 2007.

It is crazy to think I will be living in a house I walked past every day from school.

Yeah I Graduated in '99 so this is more sentimental for me than some.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked….

You’re not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing.

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes
you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you
succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your
life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe
you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…

What ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard;
live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund,
maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one
might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen…