The Way We Were

I have been sprinting down memory lane here in my hometown. Something about being in my adolescent bedroom with sporadic memorabilia peeking out from the bookshelves and constantly driving past my high school on my way to pretty much anywhere sparked a flourish of re-discovering some things I had forgotten. I spent one night reading through my high school yearbooks. According to these living epitaphs in brightly colored ink, I'm supposed to be on Broadway by now, and one classmate signed that he was going to call me so I could dance at his bachelor's party. Clearly, that isn't the road I took, although I may still retain some skillz. (wink wink, smiley face)

I came across some old journals as well. I like to think I've always been pretty mature about certain things. I never wrote stupid things like "I love (insert crush here)" on my notebooks. I was ashamed to discover that while I may not have written it on my notebooks, similar phrases are all up in my angsty writings from ages 13 - 15. "My feelings for Derek are stronger than ever. I'm convinced he's the one for me." Two entries later - "I hate guys!!! They're so stupid!!! I finally got up the nerve to ask Derek to take Nicole and me to Dairy Queen and he said he didn't feel like it. Well guess what? I don't feel like liking your stupid self anymore!!!" Like I said, epitome of maturity. The good days read something like this- "What's up self?!? Today was Wednesday which means it was soooo cool!!! Derek took me to Donalds where they go hunting and it was really cool! We did this thing at church and it was cool!! I'm really tired now so I have to go, but tomorrow is going to be really cool!!!! I can't wait!!!" Apparently I also had quite the dependency on voluminous punctuation.

To recap -
Bad Day = Crush not taking me for ice cream. >: (
Good Day = Things being really cool!!! : )
Ahhh. The simple life.

I wrapped up my memory lane excursion by going to the Hickory Point Exxon to buy a hot dog special (one hot dog all the way - mustard, chili, onions - a pack of chips and 16 oz drink for a whopping $1.81. 1980 called. They want their prices back.) I drove to my church parking lot to eat it, reminiscing about the time I ran my '89 Chevrolet Caprice over a bush and into a light pole there while swatting at a spider. (I had thought it was a bee! I preferred totaling my ride to swelling up like a fat kid.) Good times. I think the bush there is still growing crooked. As a campground attendant in Nashville once said, "Cute, but rough on things aren't ya?" Well, I do like to leave my mark.