Wednesday, August 16, 2006

The Cliff's Notes version

So, here's a rundown of recent events. I'll blog as much as I can to get caught up!



Peter Pan? Where are you?
My kids are growing up. My son is a high school football/baseball player. He's wondering about playig in college. COLLEGE?!?! It occurs to me that in four years, he's gonna be itching to live on his own. He'll go away somewhere, most likely. My daughter, as much as she loves her brother, has just figured out that she'll have her high school years as, in effect, an only child in the house. I really don't think she means to have that cheese grin on her face about it.

She's in Junior High now. I asked her to sort out her closet so we knew what to get for school. When I saw three large trash bags full of clothes she wasnts to get right of, I asked her if all that really didn't fit anymore. "It's not that, Mom. It's just that so much of it was so....5th grade." Oh good gracious. Adolescence, here we come.


What has 20 years done?
I am happy to say that the Lubbock High School Class of 1986 seems to be a largely successful bunch. However, we've lost seven of our compadres, and that stung. The planning process brought out the ugly side of a lot of people -- those who saw it as a chance to gain power over old classmates. Oh, for Pete's sake. Someone actually managed to turn it into a political process. And get this -- they continue to. They are already jockeying for control of the 25th reunion.

One surprise -- I got a letter of reference from this experience. After working together on the planning, our Class President (now a lawyer) proclaimed that "If you need a CEO of anything, [Blogget} is the one for the job!" Cool. Oh, wait, it was the 80s, so that's...totally awesome!

I saw many people I didn't know I missed, until that night. We'll keep track better through our new Web site and through email conversations that are ongoing as we speak. It was a surprise to see what professions we *really* ended up in, and how much we have in common still. And I love the silly things we talk about now -- like how much it hurts to step on Thomas the Tank Engine with bare feet and how much we've had the tunes from High School Musical drilled into our heads.

Something to remember for the 25th -- this group doesn't need icebreaker games.


Did we see this coming?
My ex called the other day. Background, for those just tuning in: he was divorced for the second time in November from a lovely troll of a woman. He started dating a nice woman (really, I'm serious!) not long after that. They've told the kids over and over that they aren't talking about marriage, not interested in that any time soon. That's good....my daughter is freaky about him getting married at all. Even to me -- she really does not want us back together. (Whew)

So, he called, as he does nearly every day. Guess what? Yep -- they are getting married. In November. He told me about how he proposed. One of those big, public spectacles. I hate that. Puts the poor woman in a terrible spot. But I digress.... I had to break it to the kids.

My son shrugged and said, "Saw that coming." His dad had looked for rings when he took the kids school shopping. Nice.

My daughter cried for an hour. She knows how the last one worked out. A wicked stepmother and bratty half-sister to compete for Daddy's attention, to boot. Can we blame her for not wanting to risk that again?

THIS is why I promised them I wouldn't marry before they are grown. His life is about flux and chaos. Mine has to be their rock, their security. They have to come home to stability and reliability. Sure, I'd like to have someone to wake up to, but that will wait. No one is going to need me as much as they do, until they have lives of their own.

Some people have asked how *I* am handling the news. It's fine with me. There's no shock or surprise. She's a nice lady and my kids deserve a stepmom who likes them. And this means that the subject of us getting back together won't come up. I've had those awkward conversations, where he says, "I still love you, you know." He disappointed that feeling out of me a long time ago, so what can I say that isn't hurtful? I don't like to be hurtful, but I have to be honest.

They want me at the wedding. Wife #2 is being told to stay away.


It's War
It's becoming known as the Fishbowl Wars. See, my office moved into brand new, swanky digs this week. It's been a highly anticipated move and I LOVE my new office. The only thing is, there's this window. It's not an outside window...I don't rank one of those. It's a big ol' window into the hallway. Everyone tromping up and down the hall gets to rubberneck at what I'm doing in my office.

The Fishbowl.

As I was unpacking, it dawned on me that I didn't like this at all. Bending over to reach into a box, I realized passersby got a good peek down my shirt. Bending the other way, the window framed my backside. Nope, didn't like it at all.

A coworker and I took the plastic from our chairs and taped it into the windows, creating our own crude version of sheers. Apparently, the interior designer (who I now learned initially thought our offices didn't need blinds like everyone else's) didn't care for our handiwork. She was seen making angry faces and gesturing at our windows, from the hallway.

I hear blinds are on the way. I hope so because, truth be told, I don't much care for the look of plastic, either.


There's more, but it's past my bedtime. I'll catch up soon. Teaser: Nickelback ROCKS...again.

Love to you all,
Blogget

2 comments:

e jerry said...

Speaking wholly for myself, the only thing I've been successful at in the last 20-plus years is going completely and certifiably insane, and I have the psychiatric hospital stay (not to mention the bills) to show for it. Oh, and I've developed a keen tendency for frequent oversharing.

Realistically, when has anything in our class not been a power play for at least two random somebodys? We're nothing if not a bunch of aggressive, competitive overachievers. I personally take pride in knowing that I am the merely above-average in the pool of extremely above-average.

So [redacted, but you know who I mean]'s feeling, um, what's the word? I wasn't surprised about him getting behind the reunion planning, but there were a couple of people that surprised me by stepping up (I only know from standing just off to the side and listening to the roaring electronically from here, since I didn't actually have the resources -- or, to be honest, much in the way of desire -- to come back for the reunion). One has a bit of a history of being a little pushy, the other I always thought of as someone who was pretty content staying in the background. The latter, once a person I considered to be a good friend, has turned out to be a pretty good snoop, because I got found before the reunion when I was trying damned hard to disappear.

All told, though, it seems that not too much has changed as far as the collective interpersonal dynamic. I'm okay with the fact that I wasn't much missed, although it does sting a little bit in the heart of the kid I was back then.

Glitterstim said...

For my part, the blog thing has certainly given me an outlet for oversharing! At that reunion, I had to wonder how many of us had a transcript like mine - where the inevitable burnout from overachieving at an early age eventually delivered a wallop in college.

And yes, I know who the "redacted" one is! You're right - not a surprise there. The one who was a little pushy is a lot more so now. My prediction if that she'll be at the forefront of the 25th reunion. She's pushing already! And the "snoop"...it must be the residual effects of being a reporter in HS! There's reasons why she won't be at the leading edge for the 25th, but that's a topic (among others) for private email ;o)

And I wouldn't say you weren't much missed, Jerry! A lot of people asked where you were and what you were doing. Your absence was felt!