Together again?

Happy Thursday!

It's that time of the every five years (is there a word for that?)? Class reunion time! I realize that I date myself by willingly publishing which reunion it is, but that's the least of my worries. It's the big 2-5!! As I write this I am totally conflicted as to whether I want to go or not. See, Facebook has created a whole new angle on the "should I or shouldn't I" front. Now you can search names and see photos of pretty much everyone you went to school with. Of course, this can be a good thing or a bad thing. In the case of my picture, it's an OK thing. I am terrible at taking pictures and then getting them on Facebook. It's so awkward taking a picture of yourself with your own cell phone. You're holding it at arm's length, trying not to have it wiggle, getting your finger on the button and making sure you're at least SORT OF centered. And it's a given that you're going to have some goofy look on your face.... how can you not? You're smiling at a cell phone! It's WEIRD! My result ended up with a picture so close you can count my pores.... but you know the upside of that? My weight remains a mystery! That part I like. For most people the camera adds 10 pounds. For me, it adds 30 (on a good day, a VERY good day!) which means I am more than happy to go with the close-up.

Some of the reunion events sound fun ... specifically the tailgating before the football game and the pizza party after. But a Saturday golf outing? Are they serious? If you read the info it assures everyone that five years ago it was SO MUCH FUN! Even if you don't golf! Right!!! OK, I don't golf. My experience with golf does not go beyond high school when we did golf in gym. All of us would line up in a long row outside and just hit balls. While you might see what I am about to write as slightly less than honest, I prefer to think of it as CREATIVE. I would keep an extra ball in my pocket, swing my club, act like it went really far out there, walk out to where I "hit" it and drop a ball in A or B range, cha-ching. I wasn't the only one doing it of course.... oh, great. Now 25 years later I have a guilty conscience!! Well at least I wasn't like (uh, let's call her Nancy for sake of me getting sued) who filled her entire forearm inside with French vocab words and their translations and then pushed up her sweater sleeve during the test. Anyway, I am one MEAN mini golf player (and I STILL know the French word for windshield wipers) ... but apparently my old classmates are too good for windmills and giant fiberglass clown heads. Snobs!

Who knows. RSVP's are due soon. I've only heard from one good h.s. friend of mine and she's not sure if she's going. Such enthusiasm! Guess it's the nature of the beast. The funny thing is, if George Clooney was in my class, I'd be there with bells on and drinking water and eating only carrots for the next few weeks! But no, no George Clooney at my high school.

I hate making big decisions. Guess this calls for the Magic 8 ball.... AGAIN!

Have a great day,

Cindy

How can you not love the zoo????

Hello friends!!!

Do you love taking a trip to the zoo? I do! I really can't imagine not loving the zoo. We have a family membership to Chicago's Brookfield Zoo, about 40 minutes from our house. While we don't go as often as I like, it's always an adventure when we do go. We're thinking about going Monday, which led me to thinking about my most recent trip there.

While the zoo is always eventful, last time (July) was one of the most bizarre yet. We had just gotten into the new bear exhibit (VERY cool), and are standing on a slightly raised area looking at the underwater view of the polar bears. My daughter, referring to a guy standing in front of us, says, "That guy looks famous." I'm busy filling out a survey related to the exhibit (anything for a free pencil!!!) so I look at this guy. He was big. Huge. Very athletic looking. I thought maybe she was onto something, but I hadn't quite pegged it. Then he turns around, looks, my way and I thought I might just about DIE.... it was Chicago Cubs first baseman Derek Lee (OK, I know he got traded a couple of weeks ago. I know this because it was a day of mourning in our home). I am a big time Cubs fan (and yes, I can prove that because I named my son after one of them!) so my brain is about to explode. Realizing it's my daughter's favorite player, I lean over to her and say, "Holy **something**, that's Derek Lee." Now she's running around in circles like her butt's on fire. I'm frozen in place, she's freaking out. It was quite the sight as you can imagine. We of course become stalkers of the first degree, until it happened.... my image of D Lee got ruined. His wife changed their baby's diaper and she gave it to him to throw it away. Didn't she get the memo? Derek Lee is way too good for that! What? That's a multi-million dollar hand... you have people for that... PUH-LEASE!!!!!! I thought about giving her a piece of my mind, but getting ejected from the zoo and having my membership revoked is not the legacy I want to walk away with! He hung around the bear exhibit for a long time.... which meant I pretended to be VERY interested in bears for a long time. To this day my friends are disappointed that I didn't ask for an autograph. To sign what? My zoo program? A dirty tissue? I'm a Cub fan with pride!

After we got done there, we had time for one last exhibit. We decided to head over to the Australia house. We're just about to head inside the building and this CRAZY lady comes running out, arms flailing, screaming, "The wombat is dead! The wombat is dead!" I was still in la-la land about the Cub I saw in the bear exhibit (LOL) so this chick scared me to death, caught me totally of guard! "The wombat is dead" ... is that code for something? Come on, that DEFINITELY isn't something you hear every day! As she passes by, she says to me, "I'm going to get someone!!" Yes, run fast! Get the wombat specialist! Geez. If it is DEAD, is it a crisis? Well, you know I had to go and see for myself. It's pitch dark in there and is one of those setups where you look down to see the animal below you. I can tell you this much... he was either dead or sleeping pretty darned deeply.... flat on his back legs extended straight up in the air. I was watching for some sort of twitch, a sign of movement. Nothing. A few minutes later, two zoo people come in (couldn't tell you if they were custodians, vets or parking lot attendants) and start staring. So now there are three of us staring. I asked one of them, "Does he always sleep like that?" She smiled and walked out. What the heck does that mean? I'm a big girl, I can handle the news that he died and went to "Wombat Heaven." Nothing. Come on!!! Because you know I'm going to get hounded the whole way home... "Mom, do you think that wombat really died?" "Do you know if they can get another wombat?" "Do they really sleep with their legs up in the air?" Geez Louise. I did go to college, but I did not major in wombats, yet you KNOW how kids are... they will expect you to have all the answers. A side note.... I will tell you that I would rather talk about dead wombats with her than what those LOUSY zebras were doing! For Pete's sake. Show a little modesty guys!!!! Get a room! I'm not a photographer with National Geographic and this isn't Animal Planet. I'm still working on getting that visual out of my head.

Without a doubt, if we do go Monday, you KNOW the first thing we are going to do is to check on the wombat. But steer clear of the zebras!

Have a great night!

Cindy