Nervous but don't really need to be

Happy Fourth of July my fellow Americans!

And a Happy Birthday to my cousin Carolyn and my excellent friend Paul!  Happy birthday you yankee doodle kids.

This morning I woke up at a little before five and couldn't get back to sleep.  When my parents were up at 7:30 I went back to bed, thinking I'd get about another 90 minutes.  I woke up 3 hours later to find the house empty of other people, my parents have taken the kids off somewhere.  They left Zoe's ADHD meds and the kids stuffed animals so I'm assuming they'll be back by bedtime.

Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth I'm taking this opportunity to write and watch the "Hoarders" marathon on A&E.  I will switch over to "The Twilight Zone" on SyFy because I have fond memories of watching Rod's stories all day on the 4th via KTLA channel 5 while the grown-ups bar-b-qued and drank beer.

On to the subject of today.  Since I got on Facebook and started to reconnect with old friends, my visits to Cali include getting together with friends from my school days.  Today, I'm meeting up with two people who were a couple of the best friends I had from those days.  Actually, two of the best friends I've had in life,  Kristi and Will.  We talked on the phone for hours.  I once talked Will to sleep. How funny is that?

My favorite memory of him is from the night we went to a park to ride the merry-go-round.  The metal one where one person pushed you around and around and around. Will could make that thing FLY.  When other people showed up to do stuff they weren't supposed to we beat feet outta there.  Will ran ahead in his billowing black shirt, his long hair flying behind him up the hill towards my car and then down the hill towards where I was walking.  Just for the joy of it, it seemed.

Will, as he prefers now, is remembered by my parents as FriendWilliam, because when I introduce people I exclude the comma between 'friend' and 'friend's name'.  I run it all together in one word.  I do the same thing with my parents.  MomCyndee and DadJeff and HusbandScott, is what I say instead of "This is my husband, Scott."  I say "My HusbandScott".  These introductions are generally followed by "Hi MomCyndee", "Hi HusbandScott"  etc.

I got together with Kristi just before we moved to Austin, catching up was very enjoyable.  I tend to lapse into reminiscing, which I can't decide is fun or pitiful.  She and I complained about our parents, discussed different shades of red nail polish, the episode of 120 Minutes on MTV and we wrote.  We wrote fictional stories about bands and runaways that were really fantasies of what we wanted to do.  We read Bloom County cartoons and talked about boys.  She was a good girlfriend.  And her parents didn't like me, which was a bonus.  We also went back and forth being friends, which made our times becoming friends again that much happier.

Again, it was high school and that's what you did with your friends you knew would still like you.

When I meet up with old friends for the first time in a long, long time I have a level of excitement mixed with a goodish amount of anxiety.  I do that little preparation in the back of my mind that there is going to be something they have to get off their chest about something I did to them.

Then they'll say "Whew!  I'm so glad I was able to tell you that.  I feel better.  So, how are you?"  leaving me to try not to cry.  I know that I owe some people apologies.  I know that.  I've given some of them to the people I've been able to get in touch with.

But, it's been twenty-two years since high school.  Most people I know have enough distance to know that it was just high school.  There is no other way to describe it.  I was high school.

This weird alternate reality where everyone is insecure but no one will admit to it.  (Ewwww, I'm going to interject here that one of my parent's bulldogs just farted.  *glaugh*)  Our hormones were raging, our bodies had turned on us, started to change and let out discharge every 28-30 days that would stain our pants.  Every girl got her period but no one wanted to talk about it.  And god forbid you started your cycle and didn't have protection with you.  There was the nurse's office, but it closed at random times leaving you with paper towels.

I'm rambling.  *Ahem*

My point is that I'm very much looking forward to seeing friends tomorrow that I loved very much then and I love very much now.  How many more times can I use the phrase 'very much' do you think?

Oooooo!  The episode where William Shatner gets obsessed with the fortune teller in the diner is on!

Amanda's beauty tip of the day:  If you are shaving more in the summer, make sure to change the blade regularly.  A man's razor is good for about 10 shaves.  So, a woman's needs to be changed out about every five.  Just get the cheapies and use them for a week and toss 'em.