10 Year High School Reunion

Saturday, July 24th, was my 10 year high school reunion. At the last minute I decided I wanted to look my best (hence the haircut) and wax, and I even tried to look fashionable, which you'd be amazed at how difficult that is for me. I borrowed some jewelry, and used some of the money that I earned from cleaning this week to get a new pair of red shoes. With a little direction from my husband, we picked out an outfit from my closet that I felt comfortable yet somewhat stylish in. I haven't stressed over my appearance this much since at least college probably before I was married (sad, I know). The funny thing was I don't know who I was dressing up for. I guess it was that I wanted to go looking my best, feeling my best, and there's a little confidence gained when you think you look good. It all seems so vain and silly now, but I know I'm not the only one out there feeling it!
The day started with a family picnic. We were some of the first to show up, and the kids were starving so we just started eating before anyone else. It was fun to see other people's kids and hear what they've been up to. It was a lot more laid back, easy atmosphere. There was a clown there that did face painting and balloon animals. Bryce was excited to have his face painted and chose to have a dragon painted on him.
Tyler was quite adamant that he did NOT want his face painted. He didn't seem to understand that you could choose between the two, so he was relieved when we told him he could ask for a balloon airplane. It took Lexi about 5 seconds to tear out her pigtails when we got there and she looked like a little ragamuffin the rest of the time, but she sure is a cute ragamuffin.
Here's Marc and I before heading out. We had our babysitter take the picture and my husband was kind enough to fix it a little for me:

The actual reunion was held at the Basque restaurant downtown. We arrived about 8:00. I walked in and instantly felt awkward. It was like cafeteria lunch tables all over again. You had your own little cliques of people at their own table, and it didn't feel like very many of them were mingling with other groups. Fortunately, Marc knew 2 of the other spouses that were there, and I left him most of the night to try and go talk to other people. (I only took one picture, I stole the rest from the reunion blog. )

OK< I tried REALLY hard to go talk to other people that were outside my group of friends I hung out with in school. It was uncomfortable and difficult for me, but I did it, and I'm glad that I at least made an attempt. I enjoyed seeing some of the people I had played sports with, or was on seminary counsel with.
It was hard to recognize some people, and it was even harder to know if you were supposed to know their spouses/partners or not. To be perfectly honest, it was kind of a lame night. There was finger foods to eat, and music, but that was it. It would have been nice if they had had the slide show with pictures from high school (that was canceled at the last minute), or drawings for prizes, or a competition or at least SOMETHING to do. It finally got a little exciting when some of the people there got drunk, and at least stood up to talk to other people. That way you didn't feel like you had to go awkwardly stand/sit at their table just to talk to one person. It wasn't a horrible night....but it was enough for me to know that I probably won't make any efforts to go to any other reunions through the years. At least this cute girl was there, she made it a little more fun!
I went for the experience. I probably paid a little too much for the experience that I got, but such is life. At least we got to get dressed up, have a night out away from the kids, see people that I haven't seen for 10 years, and I can say that I went to my high school reunion. What are some of your reunion stories?