Sunday, October 07, 2007

Straight Out of a John Hughes' Flick



WARNING: WORLD'S LONGEST POST...

And you might want to move your coffee away from the keyboard... just sayin'...

The reunion!

I don’t even know where to start. I have no voice left. I did not vomit. I did not have to lie in bed all day long with a hangover. I am as exhausted as if I had just attended my own wedding this weekend…

It was THE BEST TIME!

So, here's the story...

Friday night a couple of us went up to a bar before the football game and there were other people from school there. I had two appletinis to get my nerves chilled out.

Then we went to the football game and at first I was kind of not wanting to see people in case I didn’t remember them! After standing around for like a half an hour talking to people, we looked around and said, “Why the heck are we all standing around here when Dave’s got a tent full of hard liquor, kegs, pizzas and EIGHTIES music? AND his parents aren’t home! Oh wait, he IS a parent now!”

We were off. And since there were a few of us, we scrambled into various cars and headed over to the party, and it was so reminiscent of Friday night football games in high school where we’d crank up B96 Friday Night Mix, roll down the windows and drive around looking for parties! Except we didn’t have the stolen six pack of Milwaukee’s Best and a two-liter bottle of Sun Country Wine Coolers rolling around in the trunk.

First things first. We needed nametags upon arriving at the party, so I set Mr. Manic up with one so everyone would know who he was cuz PS, he is a very shy guy and I didn't want him to feel uncomfortable:


It was really exciting to see everyone, and everyone looked great. And so very reassuring that no one is really as old as we are, because come on, we don’t look like we’ve been out of high school for 20 years! And it was so fun to see someone and be like, “Oh my God! You look EXACTLY the same!”

Fortunately, very fortunately for me, I never had a high school boyfriend, or a major crush; never lost my virginity to a love-of-my-life boy I could quite possibly run into. I was safe! No worries in that department. That in itself is a load of worry off one’s back, for sure.

Junior and Senior year, I had a lot of underage teenage drinking parties. I’m not exactly proud of it now. But then, it was pretty cool. Actually, it’s quite a shame when you think about the dangers of drinking and driving, but for those of you in your thirties, you know it was a different time “back then.” Back then sounds almost INNOCENT compared to these days.

People were talking about how they got sexed up in my parent’s basement, ahem, you know who you are; sadly, 'twas not I! A couple guys recalled the party where the cops came and my dad bolted to the neighbors so he wouldn’t get arrested. Then he called the house, pretending to be ‘out of town’ and told me to get a cop on the phone. My dad told the cop, “If there’s underage drinking in my home, you are not to let ANYONE leave that house because I don’t want anyone to get into an accident.” For some reason, the cop agreed to this. The cops left, my dad came back to the house, and we continued the party and about 20 kids slept over!

I’m sure I have mentioned on this blog about a million times how I didn’t go to my senior prom but MY SISTER, who was a junior when I was a senior, did get asked. And of course, I had to remind any and every guy in my class this weekend that I am yes, still very bitter that I didn’t go to my senior prom.

(My real-life friends who read this are probably like: GET OVER THIS ALREADY! Right girls? Come on, it's my claim to high-school fame!)

A couple interesting things happened. This one guy came up to me and said he has always remembered that when he asked a junior to our senior prom, I bitched him out telling him it was completely wrong to ask a JUNIOR when there were perfectly good AND WILLING, Seniors who wanted to attend their senior prom. And it's not like I wanted HIM to ask me. It was just the idea that senior boys were wasting their time on JUNIOR girls!

He has always remembered this. I did not remember us having this conversation 20 years ago. But, he told me, because of our conversation 20 years ago, when his son is a senior, he’s not going to let him take an underclassman to prom! And then he wanted to take a picture of me so he could show his wife a photo of the girl who bitched him out for taking a junior to prom. I actually smiled for him?

Another guy friend of mine reminded me that he didn’t go to our senior prom either, and I totally thought he went to prom because he had a serious junior girlfriend in high school. I asked him why he didn’t take Jane (not her real name) to the prom and he said he knew there were other senior girls who were not being asked to the prom so he thought it would be wrong for him to take a junior. I was like, ‘HEY, WE COULDA GONE TOGETHER!’ Missed opportunities. If only we students communicated more. And drank less. Sounds like a recipe for a marriage, doesn’t it—communicate more, drink less!

Oh well. A prom is a prom is a prom, but a TWENTIETH REUNION… well, that’s completely off the wall crazy-fun!!

We left Friday night’s party at hubby’s insistence, at 12:15 a.m. although I could have stayed all night I was having so much fun reliving our high school days. Plus, me and high-school gal pal had just discovered the pizza. She wondered if it was bad since it had been outside for so long. I reminded her that when we were in college, we used to eat pizza from the GARBAGE CAN!! (Can you believe THAT?!?! We were poor. We were hungry. SOMEONE WAS THROWING AWAY PERFECTLY GOOD PIZZA CRUST!) Anyway, going home at midnight was a smart thing to do though, because I woke up in perfectly great partying shape Saturday a.m.!

I had to go over to the Westin to help set up because I was recruited to the reunion committee last April. I got there early, helped set up with balloons and memorabilia:

and then I hooked up with my best gal pals from high school later in the afternoon. It was seriously like 20 years had never happened. We just fell right back into our obnoxious laughing and snarkiness. I loved it. I don’t know why we don’t hang out more often—probably the kid factor, and the marriage factor, and the fact that we don’t have the opportunities high school kids have to see friends that often. But it was so great to just fall back into place, to tease each other and talk about those crazy things we did in school.

The four of us:


Mr. and Mrs. Manic:


The big party was so much fun!


Like we were all grown up but not really grown up. Things I noticed:

~There were a lot of boobs out that night! LOTS! And, Mr. Manic was the paparazzi all weekend, and it was quite interesting that when we reviewed the FOUR HUNDRED digital photos from the weekend, there were many pictures where the camera must have ‘slipped’ from his grasp causing him to get boob shots of all these boobalicious ladies!

The above is, obviously, not a boobalicious boob shot.

~Quite a few men are now bald, but funny thing is, bald is like totally hot these days, and men look really good without hair; some of ‘em anyway! I seriously saw a couple skulls I wanted to run my hand over just to feel the smoothness.

~The druggies in high school might still be druggies now too. This, I am not sure of though, because I was very, very naive in HS when it came to any illegal substance other than alcohol, so I cannot either confirm or deny. I just think there were some drugged-up dudes.

~The women. Whoa, they are H O T! Like classy hot. See:



And more:



Women tend to mature very nicely. I remember hearing once that at 10-year reunions, the men all look way better than the women.

And the 20 year is the time for the women to shine. I think this urban legend might have to do with the fact that at the 10 year, many women have either just pushed out kids, or in the process of being knocked up, like I was at the 10-year. There are NO photos of me at my 10 year. Probably for this very reason.

~Our class can still party!


It was kind of slow going in the beginning, but in a good way, like a “let’s take the opportunity to talk with some of our old friends, do a little catching up, and then crank it out like maniacs” kinda way. One guy was giving everyone five minutes. I thought that was so cool. He seriously went up to everyone, stated his five-minute plan, and gave each person his undivided attention, and was sincere when he was asking about their lives. At one point, I noticed he was spending quite a long while with another classmate so I had to go be the Committee Cop. I said, “Dude, you’re going on like seven minutes; time to move on!” Thanks though, Brian, for taking the time to make everyone really feel welcome! I thought that was so cool.

After a few drinks, the requisite questions demanding answers were asked, and I answered:

“Three kids ages 9, 8, and 6.”

I live in Manictown now but was in Philly for almost 7 years.”

I stay at home but am a writer and editor trying to get my books published.”

And finally,

“Oh yeah, married almost 15 years to that guy over there who has just taken boobie shots of your wife.”

We then did the class photo where the mean guy was yelling at us to all be quiet like he was taking a preschool class photo. Then the committee showed an amazing video of photos from high school, and after that, I went to the lobby bar because the reunion bar did not have sour apple pucker, and dang-it-all, I’m a grown-up and if I’m out partying, I want to drink my grown-up drink of choice! I ran into another classmate and she was like, “Were you just quoted in Glamour?!?!? I saw it!”

Guilty. Can’t remember the page it was (in the 200s) and I think it was in the October issue, but I did use my maiden name because it had something to do with S E X, and I don’t need my 16-year-old neighbor girl coming up to me and saying, Mrs. Manic, I didn’t know you got caught having sex in the living room by your boyfriend’s roommate and his parents!”

After all that, I was getting kind of tired. I grabbed Mr. Manic who was seriously being the BEST, BEST all night. He was like my BEEYOTCH. Doing whatever I said. Taking pictures of everyone for our class website. Bringing me drinks. A perfect gentleman.

So, we decide to go upstairs and put on some comfy clothes, then come back down for the rest of the party.

Little did I know, crazy Mr. Manic has a plan of his own…

No, you dirty minded people…MINDS OUTTA THE GUTTER! When he was packing to come over to the hotel (I was already there), he specifically brought unbeknownst to me, a special late-night ensemble. Before I show you what he had on, here is a reaction upon his entering the room:



And this is what caused the reaction:



HIS HOT MOM T-SHIRT!!!!



And then, it was time to break out the purple boas, and soon, everyone looked like this:






By the end of the night, I decided I needed a new nametag:


PS—If you’re from DGN class of ’87, please leave a comment saying hi.

PSS--Also, thank you Amber and Jen (formerly S, now K) for saying such nice things about my blog and my writing--I can't tell you how much that meant to me! And everyone who took the time to say hello and be so nice to me! It was a blast and I'm so glad I got to see you all!

PSSS--If any of you want your boobie pictures back, you’ll have to take that one up with the Mister.

PSSSS--Count down to the big Two-Fiver... Four years, 364 days...

Class of ’87 DGN ROCKS!!

41 comments:

Cecily R said...

Sorry I'm not a DGN alum, but this:

"Oh yeah, married almost 15 years to that guy over there who has just taken boobie shots of your wife.”,

made me laugh outloud. For real. None of that LOL crap.

Glad you had such a great time.

Anonymous said...

Well aren't you the party animal!

Looks like you had a riot, glad all your hard work paid off.

I am Heather...creator of all things crafty! said...

Looks like fun was had by all. You condoms really know how to par-tey...I'm loving the Mister's sense of humor. My husband would have been in a corner rolling his eyes saying, "Can we go now". Unless he ran into some of his frat buddies which were in my senior class. So, had anyone croaked. Seemed like we'd lost 3 to suicide at my 10 year. Not too sure if I'll attend my 20 year but since I've lost 100 lbs in the last 3 years thanks to weight loss surgery I just might. I could show a few of them beyotch's who were snarky to me how HOT I am now (wink). Oh, and senior prom was the ONLY dance I went to in HS and I invited my guest. So, I know the "dance-bitterness" you have. Thanks for sharing the pic's and the memories.

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Heather! You MUST GO! 100 pounds!!! You need to get a kick a$$ dress and show 'em all your stuff!!!

B. said...

Glad you had a great time!

The 10 year reunion phenomenon is quite interesting. I'll have to see if it's true in '09 at my 10th!

Anonymous said...

Hahahaha! I still listen to B96.

I went to my 10 year a few years ago and it SUCKED. I am SO hoping that my 20 year is even just half as fun as yours!

Glad you had such a great time!

la bellina mammina said...

WOW! What fun!! I wish I was in school with you! Love all the pics, and yeah, all the women look hot! You go girl! :-)

xxxx said...

I love it!! And I forgot to tell you, you did a great job with the decorations, too!!

Doesn't she look YOUNG and HOT, everyone???

I am Heather...creator of all things crafty! said...

I should, shouldn't I. Do you think hubs will let mine borrow the I LOVE HOT MOMS shirt a couple years from now. Mine 20 year reunion is in 3 years. At first the purple boa was covering the letters and I thought the shirt said I LOVE HO MOM'S....Too funny!

I am Heather...creator of all things crafty! said...

P.S. You and I exactly the same shaped eye-brows. Do you always get compliments on them like I do? I have never had them waxed either, I pluck em' myself....

Anonymous said...

Heather you have lost my 8 year old daughter!!!

You HAVE to go toyuor reunion if only to see if anyone recognises you!

secretmom said...

You look great! love all the pics and glad you had so much fun.

Patti said...

omg! y'all are sooo drunk! and we are just jealous...

stewbie2 said...

WOO HOOO!!! Makes me want my 20-year reunion to hurry up...not too far away....

stephhale said...

Mr. Manic is such a cutie pie! It looks like you had a blast and the nametags totally cracked me up.

Melisa Wells said...

Yikes! I'm so jealous that you had so much fun! I went to my 20th last year (and you're right about the women being MUCH better looking at the 20 year than the 10) and we only had a "fair" time. Big disappointment. It's great to see that all 20th reunions don't stink! :)

Melisa
rememberruby.blogspot.com

kay said...

looks like a great time! i know my reunion (this coming up weekend) would not be near as fun as that. so i'm not going.

i will just pretend i was at yours!!

it was so much fun!! :)

artsmary said...
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artsmary said...
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artsmary said...

Manic (Name changed from the first entry)- Fellow DGN87 here. Love the photos, snapfish and blog... you are an excellent author. I wish we could have partied together 'back in the day' Had toooooo much fun this weekend and since your stuff is out there, I'll read to catch up on you. Our misters must be cut from the same cloth! Oddly similar. Thanks for all your hard work....87 is Heaven!

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

MARY R!!!!

How's YOUR HANGOVER!!! You my friend, are a party gal!!! Did you see the other pics of you I put up on the snapfish link to the website!

Thanks so much for stopping by Manic's!

Had a blast all weekend, and I know you did too! BTW, you were one of the boobalicious babes!!!

Anonymous said...

So Manic, (other than you of course) did you go to school with anyone famous? Were they there?

Looks like a fun time. Im going to homecoming at my college this weekend. 11 years. My HS wont let us have a reunion. Oh well. They suck!:)

Kate said...

That sounds like so much fun! Mr. Manic is the cutest ever--and how awesome that he wore that shirt! ("Awesome" makes an appearance in honor of the 80's)

I lived in another country and did correspondence school, so there wasn't even a prom to go to. I was just sad I didn't get to wear a fabulous dress. Anyway, I'm surprised that Young Manic didn't just ask a boy herself.

Anonymous said...

Your reunion looks like soooo much fun!! My 20th reunion (class of 81) was in the High School Cafeteria. No alcohol, the current junior class band playing songs from the 1960's and we had to go through the line(trays and all) to get our food. It was so BAD!!! Thank God for best friends, who no matter how much time goes by, you can still laugh with. That was the best part of the whole thing!!
Anyway, you looked beautiful! So glad you had so much fun, the pictures tell it all, you can see the joy on their faces.
XOXO

KATE said...

Shut Up MANIC!! - My hubby has that SAME SHIRT!! How funny is that. In fact I wore it once in front of my brother in law (I was working out) & he laughed & said it really is funny no matter who is wearing it! ha ha

I laughed right out loud too at the
"Oh year, married almost 15 years to that guy over there who has just taken boobie shots of your wife."
Holy crap that is funny & I got quite the look from my husband as I'm wiping my eyes from crying from laughing at a blog! He already thinks I'm a nut job, & sitting here in this room cracking up by myself just confirmed it for him!
But seriously so funny, I think I'd like your husband as much as I like you!!!
I'm SO SO glad you had fun & you look GREAT!!

March2theSea said...

awesome stuff..looks like you had a blast..and best of all..NO HANGOVER!!

Here is to the 25th!!

tommy said...

why do sexy middle-aged women turn me on so much?????

Tanya said...

I am so jealous. I'll never have a class reunion. I was a homeschooler and while I did have a high school graduation. I knew exactly 4 people.

Good thing I can live vicariously through you.

B96 is that still around? I don't live there anymore. :(

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Tommy--sexy middle-aged women turn you on so much because they KNOW what they want, the KNOW what they like, and they are NOT AFRAID to ask for it!

Tanya--yep, B96 is still here! Funny thing is, do you remember the LITE? 93.9? Well, whenever I hear songs from that station, I think: THESE SONGS ARE NOT LITE SONGS! They play Pat Benetar for cripes sake!!!

Unknown said...

You look so great in those pictures! And Mr. Manic ROCKS! :) Sounds like a blast! You make me look forward to my reunion next year.

By the way, don't tell my hubby, but I'm getting him that shirt for Christmas! I was going to get it for him last year, but I was NOT feeling like a Hot Mom - I was feeling like a beached whale (8.5 months prego).

Andie said...

I love my little bald guy. :) Just sayin.

I didn't go to my 10 year. I actually don't really talk to many of the people I went to high school with.

now a college reunion would be totally different for me.

Drewpy Drew said...

Oh you crazy kids. Sigh. Isn't it about time you grew up? Not!!!

And talk about your silicone valley!

XYZinn said...

That sounds like one hell of a party. I kind of wish I could've been there. I am going to look smokin' hot for my 20th reunion. I was prego with my baby for the 10 year so I didn't go, and I was kind of bummed about it. Hope I look as good as you at my 20 year! You are one hot mamma!! I LOVE the black dress you had on!

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Drew--yep... 'twas some silicon!

XYZinn... thanks for the compliments! Funny thing is--I wasn't wearing a dress-it was a top and pants! : )

Pants two sizes more than I would have liked.

Rick said...

Hey Manic - found your comment on Dawn's blog - thank you for your kind remark about the illustration I got to do for her. It was fun. I enjoyed your photos - I'm a Trojan too!!! - just a different class and a different school. Can't stop the spirit of the trojans!!" (Or something like that.)

Rick
http://organizeddoodles.blogspot.com/

Matchbox Mom said...

tee hee!!! That looks like a ton of fun. I love that the women were showing their boobies, that's classic. They're like, "hey look at me! I'm still hip and cool, and I have boobs now".
I'm glad you had fun. I've always said that I wouldn't go to any reunions, but this post makes me waver a little bit.

Tami

PS I love hot MOMS!!!

Monnik said...

What a great post. Sounds like you had the best time!!!

Mr. Manic is a cutie! RRRROWLL! (that's not an acronym, it's a lame attempt to write that sexy cat sound...)

cubmommy said...

Sounds like you had a great time. you guys know how to party.

I went to my 10 year just to see what everybody looked like. I really did not like high school. Did not fit in any where. Not sure about my 20th that is in 3 more years.

I did go visit family this weekend and went to my college homecoming. Ten years since graduating college.

While there, I saw a guy I graduated high school with and I thought man he looks old. Then I thought do I look old. Boy, I hope not.

Unknown said...

I just found you and you're hysterical!
The 20 year reunion post was GREAT! The story about your dad and the party had me laughing so hard tears were coming down my face!

Thanks for sharing!
HYSTERICAL!
Best husband EVER!

Shelley said...

Hi Manic!
Thanks for visiting my blog, and I'm really sorry about not having a picture of the red-faced girl. I so wish I did. No worries though, if I know her (and I do), it'll happen again.

I'm glad you left a comment though, because now I've discovered another blog I want to read on a regular basis. Your reunion story is hilarious! I've never been to any of my high school reunions. 2010 would be my 25th, but if all the women look like that (thank you, Dr. 90210), I'm not going to that one either!

Anonymous said...

Schwartzenegger insists the victims of the 2007 Southern California firestorm residing at Jack Murphy Stadium are happy.
First he calls Tonight Show host Jay Leno an "idiot". Then he drops this bomb.
If it were Gray Davis the gods would have their media attack him mercilessly for these mistakes. Together they may be enough to cost any other politician his career. But not Arnold Schwartzenegger.
They say he says makes suspect comments all the time, and they are all buried. And it is because they have BIG plans for him::::He is a tool who will be used to accomplish historical evil for the gods.

They say there is a sense of "unease" at the State Capital, like he doesn't belong there. It is because he doesn't. He is not American. Sadly this is an issue that is too readily discounted:::
He is not from the United States. His loyalties lie with a country that was the enemy of the United States a mere 65 years ago.
Just as we witnessed with Clinton in 1992 expect blacks to register and vote en masse for Schwartzenegger as well, a clue and a red flag.

Just as we haven't seen any more of that "Everybody is happy." idiocy from the Preditor so do we no longer hear anything of the possibility a firefighter started one if not more of these SoCal fires, buried forever.
Weight training, promotion of pharmeceuticals, desensitizing "guy flicks" all prove the name "Preditor" is warranted.