So...2009 marks 10 years since my high school graduation.


Who is that emo boy? OH WAIT IT'S A GIRL?? No wai.

I'm shocked and appalled by this for a number of reasons.

1. I'm old.
2. It has been a decade since I was in high school.
3. I have only 8 months until my reunion.

According to Facebook, the TRHS Class of '99 plans to reunite on Boxing Day. Way to kill the holiday buzz. It's all Christmas cheer, fun and frolic, and then *BAM* realizing how old we are and how unaccomplished I am and how it's amazing I made it through 12 years with these people without taking a plastic fork to my wrists in the cafeteria. Isn't the Christmas season the worst time for depression of the entire calendar year? Perhaps this should have been taken into consideration before planning a December 26 10-year reunion?

I kid, I kid! In fact, school was decidedly un-angsty for me and I'm anticipating the reunion with mild interest instead of apprehension. On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being refusal to attend and 10 is me seizuring with excitement, I'm precisely a 5. High school in particular was fun and I don't have nightmares about the drama and tears that plagued many of my peers from Grade 9-12. I mean, I had my share of hormone-fueled moments. I remember flipping out in gym class and screaming at my volleyball team for losing a point and bawling my eyes out because my clothes all looked stupid and my hair wouldn't cooperate on more than one morning before school (exhibit A: grad picture above). I remember accidentally-on-purpose missing the bus so I wouldn't have to get someone's leftover lunch ground into my hair. Craptacular experiences for sure, but I'm not scarred for life.

Since 1999, I haven't gone on to become a brain surgeon, travel the globe, build schools for starving orphans in South America or win a Pulitzer Prize. I didn't get fantastically hot after graduation. I didn't embark on any life-changing adventures or have any mind-blowing experiences...and I'm fine with that. I don't feel particularly nervous or disappointed in my life as an "adult" and there's really nobody I graduated with whom I feel the need to impress.

I'm looking at the reunion as a work assignment, one of those schmoozy networky events. Show up, have a few drinks, make pleasant conversation, try not to get embarrasingly smashed, identify and avoid potential ass-grabbers early on and sneak away quietly at the end of the night. Let's be frank: I've kept in touch with the people I care to keep in touch with. I'm not expecting to become BFFs with my lunch table girls again or spark up a romance with Mr. Quarterback (confession: if we had a quarterback from my grade I don't know who it was...the class of '99 was notorious for shitty athletes). I don't plan on leaving the reunion with a whole gaggle of rekindled friendships. Sadly I think Facebook kind of negates the need for physical reunions at all. I can go online and see everybody's kids, spouses, homes, vacations and jobs without having to stand around George's Roadhouse clutching a Coors Light and making awkward small talk.

But seriously. 10 years???!!!! I feel like I'm 21.