A JAUNT DOWN MEMORY LANE

I hijacked this questionnaire from my friend Natalie Nelson's blog. Sure, she was reflecting on her and her husband's 10-year reunions this summer -- and I'm getting ready for my 20-year reunion next summer -- but it just got me to thinking. (Click here to read her funny October 2 reflections.)

I don't know if it was our recent purchase of a used station wagon that got me to thinking ever-so-slightly fondly of the old woody I got to borrow every once in a while when I was 16, but I've been thinkin about this baby for the past month: my first car, a 1977 Datsun B-210 -- and I can't get a picture to post. Shoot. I guess you'll have to click here to see it. But it's one of those things I'm thinking about 20 years later, wishing I could drive it again just to re-claim it as an adult with a better perspective. I used to think it was so nerdy, and I'd hoped for something a little cooler in a first car.

Anyway, I'll continue with the quiz and hope I can post a photo later.

1. Did you date someone from your school? Yup, a couple guys. (See #s 14, 19 and 20.)

2. What kind of car did you drive? First it was "the woody," a 1980'ish Toyota Cressida wagon, and then it was the 1977 Datsun B-210.

3. What was the most embarrassing moment of HS? Hmmm... that's tough to nail. Could be the time I scrubbed the H out of a teeny tiny zit next to my mouth with a loofah and it turned into a scab the size of a dime (earned myself the nickname Loofah for quite a while), or it could be the time I had a solo in jazz choir, the simple last line to "My Funny Valentine" and I got so freaked I couldn't find the right notes to save my life and ruined the whole sweet, tight jazz piece by singing the very last line of the whole entire song solo and off-key. There are more, but I'll stop here.

4. Were you a party animal? Hardly.

5. Were you considered a flirt? Maybe, but not always intentionally.

6. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Concert choir, Jazz choir.

7. Were you a nerd? Yes, according to Buddy and Jason at the time.

8. Were you on any varsity teams? Sort of. I swung varsity volleyball my soph and jr years but then quit my senior year run for Daffodil Queen and sing.

9. Did you get suspended/expelled? Not on your life!

10. Can you still sing the fight song? You betcha.

11. Who were your favorite teachers? The only one that's coming to mind is Mr. Nace for singing -- 2 classes a year for 2 years, but he wasn't my fav in the traditional sense (he was mean and challenging and a perfectionist, and some ways that's good, but it doesn't make him my fav) and then I had this fabulous English teacher, Colleen? __, but I can't remember her name!

12. Where did you sit during lunch? at a lunch table, usually.

13. School mascot? Rams! But when the cheerleaders yelled it out it sounded like we were the Rims.

14. Did you go to homecoming, and with who[m]? Yeah, sophomore year I was the class homecoming princess and went alone (yeah, that was a real highlight), junior year I went maybe with Brian Hope (?) and senior year I was princess again and went with my senior year boyfriend Jameson.

15. If you could go back and do it again, would you? Sure, I thought high school was really fun.

16. What do you remember most about graduation? Wearing a blue graduation gown.

17. Where did you go senior skip day? Um, probably class.

18. Were you in any clubs? Yeah. Rambassadors and Natural Helpers come to mind.

19. Have you gained some weight since then? Funnily enough, I weigh 25 pounds less than when I graduated. That senior year I quit volleyball I chubbed out on spoonsful of peanut butter every day after school. I also lost about 15 of it that summer after graduation, after I spent my summer on the rec room floor crying to Sinead O'Conner's "Nothing Compares to You" after my senior year boyfriend dumped me. (See #20 below)

20. Who was your prom date? Jameson. But he had food poisoning from something earlier that day. We skipped dinner, I dragged him to the dance in my B-210, made him get pictures taken with me, and drove him home. Then I went back to the dance alone, danced with a couple pals who weren't making out with someone somewhere, and huddled around in a giant circle at the end crying along to "Friends Are Friends Forever," our prom theme.

21. Are you planning on going to your 10 year reunion? Went to it. Had a great time. Next summer it's my 20th.

22. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself? Think less about trying to have a social life and dig into some real learning. What I wouldn't give to know how to debate, and to understand calculus, chemistry, economics, or physics! Oh, and I'd tell myself to be smart enough to be grateful to drive any car.