"that is neither amusing nor attractive."

~me, about this guy tripp's dancing skills. don't worry, I said it to his face and everyone laughed and then went over to matt to brag about how funny I am. :)

the reunion was really, really fun. REALLY fun. it was unfortunate that we got in so late (~130am on saturday morning) but we still had a blast.

Saturday was the picnic at the school. There were lots of Westsiders and lots of little ones. We had our grilled food and Matt threw some pig skin while I asked a two year old named Anderson if he could point to the "B" the "pencil" and the "books." He was adorable, and his daddy was playing football so he and I hung out.

Also, I made a wee mistake. I thought picnic=park=shade trees. Um, not at a stadium it doesn't. I mean, granted I didn't know WHERE on the school grounds it was, but, well, I got a nice sunburn in the exact shape of my neckline with a little whiter spot where my necklace hangs. Thank goodness for blush to cover it up!

For the most part the picnic was pleasant--a little hot, but good. The only bad thing was at the picnic we were sitting with this group of people while we ate, and I said to the girls “so, what are y’all wearing tonight? I heard we were supposed to wear jeans, but Matt and I were thinking it would be dressier than that…” The girls said NOTHING. Not a word. This guy, Tripp (the one with the mop later) told us we’d see a range, and then nothing else was said by anyone...all the while I was thinking “seriously? A girl who is CLEARLY a stranger to this asks you about attire and you don’t say a PEEP? Come on!” anyhoo...we ended up wearing jeans that night and lots of other people did too, so it worked out.

so we went on a couple of errands (including to get some beer we can't get in NC since we missed the beer festival) and came back and zooonnnnkked out. I think we each napped for two hours! and then it was time for the evening fun. we had a mini fashion show before we finally decided what we each would wear and headed over to the event. everyone was outside, the weather was amazing, the sun was setting and there was plenty of beer. :)

matt saw A LOT of people. and a lot of people were very glad to see him. later in the night I actually heard one girl say "y'know, I was worried, but this reunion was totally worth it because I got to se ____ and matt f*y.

I spent a lot of the evening meeting people with him, but there were times where we'd be in a convo with others and he'd get pulled away, so I ended up talking to folks by myself too. I also enjoyed telling people “I’m a chemical engineer and I work in air pollution regulation.” THAT got a lot of interesting responses, ranging from “Wow, saving the world!” to “you must be really smart!” to “so it’s killing you to have to put these bottles in the trash then, huh?” A couple of people said "you must be really green, huh?" I say what I always say, that I try to me. And then Matt begins to brag about how I'm green and I tell other people about it and many people I know have become greener and anyway, it makes me smile. :)

We had a good time and I think Matt is REALLY pleased that we went. He told me afterwards that a couple of the guys were like “she’s a keeper!” :) And a couple of girls who had heard about me through the parent-circle tried to grill him on our future. But I suppose that was to be expected.

other highlights of the evening (a few are really lowlights)
-this very nice girl told matt she'd always had a crush on him. it was cute. :) she later told him how great she thought I was
-this random girl who was, oh, 21 or 22 but behaved like she was 17 told me that I had nice boobs. she also told me that hers were fake, that she had a boyfriend she lives with who was NOT the guy she was here with, and how this guy told her "not to wear a t*tty shirt." they were odd, don't get me started.
-having someone offer to take a picture of me WHILE I used the bathroom. yes, really. the door didn't lock and the 98 group were the only people there, so I just shut the stall door and set my camera and purse down where you could see them from the waiting area in the bathroom. some girl was like "can I take a picture while you potty?!?" AWKWARD.
-freaking people out by remembering their names--without the nametags. particularly impressive when they name-tag game started and everyone wore each others nametags. at one point I had matt's and he had mine. :) the picture turned out AWFUL because my batteries were running low or I'd share it with you.
-watching the people clean after the party. I tried to help but it didn't work out...so instead I was a photographer. I also asked the cop about the wrist band he was wearing.

-calling tripp out on his dancing. immediately after I said it I thought "these people don't know me, this might not be as funny to them..." so I said "sorry, I was just being funny, didn't mean to offe--" and before I could finish someone else said "damn, that was hilarious. you are FUNNY. you and matt should let us know next time you're in town, we'll hang out!"
-going to TWO different bars after the festivities were over...one called surrey tavern and another called somewhere in augusta. VERY different atmospheres. I almost fell asleep at one and couldn't hear at the other!

Sunday we slept in (no world communion sunday for me!), talked to both of his sisters via videoconferencing, ate french toast and watched the SNL skit his dad had dv-r'd. We had to explain the last part about saying maverick for all the joe six-packs, TOO funny. If you haven't seen it yet, you really should. We hit the road a little late, got into some traffic and got home a little after 8. busy weekend but I think we're both very glad we went! there are pictures online somewhere but I'll have to get the link from matt, and then I will share.