(Which also really makes me wonder what I used to do with the ideas before I blogged. Probably pounced upon my poor, unsuspecting husband some nights when he came home from a long day of work at the office. . . )
And because my brain is the way it is--you know, so
So here are a couple more pics from the reunion. . .
I was so fortunate in high school not only to have Mina and Susan, but to also have another Susan as a best friend:
Me and Susan M., in front of the choir room during the school tour--
and I can't believe this dim mobile upload is one of the only pics we got of just the two of us
from the entire weekend! How did that happen?!
Mina and I became friends the summer before freshman year of H.S. when she moved in down the street from me; then midway through our freshman year she introduced me to Susan O., there on the bench in front of school. I honestly do not know why the three of us became such close friends, other than it was meant to be. But Susan M. and I became close friends because we were involved in so many of the same activities throughout our years in high school: musicals, Madrigal Choir, Speech Team, Students for a Better World, Peer Ears (student counsellors). The first three activities on the list alone accounted for so much of our free time after school and in the evenings and Saturdays, so actually Junior year I probably spent more time with Susan M. than I did with Susan O. and Mina. And then Mina moved to California the last day of school Junior year, and Susan O. had an out of town boyfriend she was with much of the time, so Senior year of high school Susan M. was the best friend whom I hung out with the most.
Saturday morning there was a reunion tour of our alma mater, where I got to relive some of the old, fond memories of my friendship with all three women.
Memories like hanging out in the bathroom! Aren't these the most awesome stalls? Just so classic--I hope they never try to upgrade these bathrooms, because they would just ruin them. This bathroom is going to look better in 100 years than anything else they could possibly put in, because that's how you made things back in the good ol' days--to last.
To prove my point further--subway tile! It's back in style already! Okay, maybe not in that particular dried pea shade, but still! And the steam radiators! Very cool. Susan M. was our photographer for these shots, and I was going for the nostalgia shot here, reminiscent of how we would all check our hair-do's (and don'ts. hehe) before leaving the bathroom. Except it looks like I'm checking for gray hairs, which is a little too much realism.
Anyone else remember how teen girls would carry a full-size can of Aqua Net in their purses, for touch-ups in such bathrooms between classes? Not that I ever did. . . no seriously, I never did. I was anti-hair product most of my life because I believed it made my acne worse, and I so did not need help in that tragic aspect of life. And my grandma used Aqua Net, so that was that right there.
We haven't changed a BIT. ; )
Our high school was not air conditioned back in the day--and amazingly enough, is still not! Actually, that makes me glad, and not in a sadistic kind of way. No, I am proud of the "buck-up, pioneer schooler!" attitude of the school, which knows that kids will not actually die of heat, just stick miserably to their seats and lose all ability to pay attention, and might even want to nap, esp. when the teacher turns off the classroom lights in compassion (or was it commiseration?). And heaven help you if you were not lucky enough to be sitting in the path of one of the box fans teachers would bring from home and set up in the classroom. Or if you were in a classroom on the first floor, where bees would wander in and out of the open windows. But still, you grew up hardy, and full of vigor, not like those wimpy Centennial High School kids across town who were actually sent home from school on the days when the air conditioning wasn't working.
ANYWAY, after the school tour Sat., Susan M. came back to my parents' house with Susan O. and Mina and DH and I and joined my parents for lunch. It was just a perfect time--laid-back, with delicious, nostalgic summer food (thanks Mom and Dad for such a great lunch!) and good catching-up time. Really, those moments with my good friends were the best parts of the whole weekend.
The school was built during the depression as a work project to employ unenployed young men. It has some really great art deco features. I remember teaching there in the heat with sweat running down my legs. Ugh!
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