Old School

In recent weeks I've gotten in touch with some old junior high school friends, and even some elementary school friends.  it always amazes me to think about this and actually remember things that went on back then.

Finding and chatting with some elementary school friends a rush of memories came back, from the time I pushed someone into the closet during a firedrill, to the time I got in trouble for kicking a tree on the sidwalk.  Memories like that and especially remembering friends and even grade school crushes are always fun.  

Aside from those "good" memories, we also have those other times in our school lives that we wish to forget but somehow can't!  Who knows, maybe they traumatize us too much?  

Being that junior high school isn't as far back as elementary school, it's easier to remember details.  A few days ago I reconnected with a friend from junior high and we talked about things that had happened back then, I guess me having the memory that I have, I remember things to great detail and keep them in my head for just such an occasion.  

I can go on and on about all these wonderful memories and also about the not so wonderful times too, but what this is going to be about those "crushes" that we have as kids, and yes we were kids at that age even though at the time we didn't see that.  

Having a crush at that age is awesome, but at the same time it's so scary!  You're at that age in junior high school, well at least I was, where you haven't "dated" or had a girlfriend/boyfriend yet, and if you did, it was something that didn't have much substance.  

So onto one of my junior high crushes ... there was a Filipina girl that I thought was pretty, but I don't think I told anyone since I didn't trust that it would stay secret.  This was a friend of my cousin that I had a crush on.  At this age, being the guy who I was, I didn't try to talk to her or anything, I was shyer than I am now!  You gotta give some credit to my cousin who did try to play cupid and tried to "hook us up."  

I remember the lunch room being segregated with the boys and girls not being able to sit together.  There I was with all my friends, trying to be "cool" and my cousin comes over and calls me over to their table.  This was definitely uncharted waters for me, talking a walk to the girls side of the lunch room and being out in the open like this without any of your friends around.  It's still plain as day for me where I stood there at the end of the lunch table as my cousin takes a seat leaving me standing all by myself.  It felt as if all eyes were on me and I knew that all the girls at her table were looking at me.  There would have been a difference if these girls at her table weren't in all of my classes and were just girls that I pass in the hall from time to time, but these were the girls that I had class with, so I see them for those seven to eight hours a day!  

This felt and seems like a Wonder Year episode as I'm typing this.  

My cousin introduced me to her friend, it was the girl who I had a crush on and apparently she had a crush on me too.  Yeah I was quite the hot stud back then in my prime, but that time has since passed.  As we were introduced, a sudden feeling of deer syndrome came over me.  I stood there, no words were said, I just remember her face as she looked at me and smiled as we were being introduced.  Unfamiliar territory with no protection ... I did the only reasonable thing when you're introduced to someone who likes you in the middle of the female section of the lunch room.  

I walked back to my table where my friends were.  

There I was seeking comfort in the "guy bonding" but apparently everyone was watching and knew what happened, or at least saw me walking away.  So that was the topic of discussion for the next thirty minutes.  I can't remember what I was saying, but I can only imagine me talking to my friends and painting a picture of me not being interested in the girl, instead of me acting like a deer in headlights.  

Ahhh the wonderful memories of grade school.  There are many more to come as with these chats about the old school brings a flood of things remembered back into my brain.  From the time I bit a girls arm for touching my pencil, to the poop in my pants, the list goes on and on and might be listed here for your enjoyment.

If anyone out there is reading this and is in grad school, do yourself a favor and learn from my mistakes.  Should something like this happen to you, don't just walk away and don't stand there as if the headlights of a car were coming right at you ... but maybe you can try and muster up the courage to say a simple "hi."

+ mon

Detox ... Attempted Again

So you've probably read about my detox attempt before where I tried to eat "healthy" after eating a whole bunch of non healthy food for a little while and how well that all worked out.  Today was my second attempt at this and hopefully it was going to work.

You can see from all the past entries being about food and what I've been eating, it's definitely time to detox!  I really tried, really I did ... for lunch I went to the gourmet deli and was at the salad bar, but then gravity drew me into the regular food bar and I loaded up.  Not on the super bad food, but not the "healthy" ones either. 

Look at the evidence of the healthy food attempt with the salad!  Then I ended up getting some shrimp, then rice, and finally the two meatballs.  Not so bad right? 

Tomorrow's another day, we'll see how that all turns out.  I have to eat "good" tomorrow since we have our volleyball game, that's motivation for me!

+ mon

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

What would you do if you were locked up in a cage and you were forced to sit there and watch people eating your family? 

Strong and strange question huH?  It was something that I thought about when we went to Red Lobster today and as we were being brought to our table two things caught my eye.  Close to the front of the restaurant was the tank with the lobsters, just sitting at the bottom with their claws rubber banded (geese, I still find that cruel too, it's like duck taping our hands!).  A little further on the trip to our table was another tank, but this time with goldfish swimming around. 

I'm not sure what the mental capacity is of fish, lobsters or any other animal, but I can only imagine how crazy it must be to be stuck there in those tanks and being able to see people eating relatives and family members!  I felt kind of bad having my lunch ... but not enough to eat everything on my plate and Diday's plate too!

The shrimp, lobster was way too much and now I suffer the consequences.  I feel so tired and so slugish that I don't want to do anything, but I must.  I'm actually off to iron some shirts for the work week ... yes I am not going to do the 5 day shirt this week (well at least I hope I don't). 

I digress, whomever thought of the "design" with the tanks in Red Lobster ... must like torture!

+ mon

A Terrible Weakness

With all the temptations out there this one always gets me all the time.  No matter how hard I try to stay away from it, there it is right in my face all the time.  And I can't resist, and I must yield to the temptation ...

McDonalds has a lot of things on their menu that I'd want, but the one thing that constantly gets me all the time is the Sweet Tea.  It's sooo sweet and so good, so refreshing and it's only $1 !!!

I got two sweet teas last night after volleyball and then again this morning to last me throughout the day.  I figure that I'd be efficient and just buy my lunch while I was there and I ended up getting the bacon & swiss angus burger - yeah I'm definitely trying to eat healthy!

Ahhhh sweet tea, sooooooo good.

+ mon

Free Lunch!

Gotta love meeting that get cancelled and it's too late to cancel the food order!  So today we have free lunch, MmmMmmMm and yes that is fruit you see on my plate!  I'm trying to eat a little bit healthier.

+ mon