This last weekend, I reluctantly made my way down South to Portland to attend my 10 year high school reunion (okay, so maybe reluctantly isn't necessarily the right word; I may or may not have complained to Katy for about 6 months prior to the event, hoping she'd tell me we didn't have to go). It wasn't that I didn't like high school; I did. I really did. I just have little tolerance for bullshit and I got in my mind that it would all be bullshit - all of these people (including me) trying to prove that we'd done something with ourselves when really no one has had enough time to do a damn thing. 10 years is not that long! However, as much as I hated to admit it (especially to Katy as she would have every right to say "I told you so"), I had a really good time.
And, so I have decided to devote this week's entry to THE 10 THINGS THAT WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED 10 YEARS AGO.
1. I would not have been deemed the public transportation expert on the bus and train on my way down (apparently I looked like I was seasoned in area as at least 6 people stopped me to ask questions and/or proceeded to follow me); no, that would not have happened - after all I grew up in disgustingly boring white middle class suburbia where public transportation meant a yellow school bus going to a school in the aforementioned category.
2. Taken shots and proceeded to get hammered with half the people that shared/encouraged my intoxication that night; in fact, given that I was only 18 years old and didn't start [really] drinking until I was 21, I wouldn't have done that with anyone.
3. Taken a full day to recover from an all nighter and the above said intoxication; how is it that teenagers have the phenomenal ability to sleep all day and night and yet also be able to stay up all day and night? I can no longer do either.
4. Needed to look at name tags of my classmates; proudly, Katy and I knew the names of every kid in our class on graduation day (yes we tested ourselves with a year book).
5. Been described as "fucking hot" by someone I didn't know (or at least had a hard time remembering exactly how I knew them); "you have such a pretty face" or something equally as patronizing would have been more like it.
6. Discussed "losing it" with those that I did; no, wouldn't have discussed that, because happily there was nothing to discuss on that subject back then.
7. Considered our old neighborhood so small; I swear the walk from home to the bus stop was fucking long back then (yeah, it was 3 houses away).
8. Missed my parents so, so badly; I was always close to them growing up (and in ways still am), but I would never have imagined driving by our old house and yearning to walk through that door, see and hug them so tightly.
9. Been so excited to see a friend's new baby; while I'm not totally sure even now that I want a baby at some point in my life, back then I had my mind up that I was not a baby person and motherhood would never be for me.
10. Thought I'd be this comfortable, happy, and proud of who I am and what I've become.
There are one or two other things that wouldn't have happened that did on this momentous timeline marker, but I will leave it at this and give you an update in 10 more years.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
5 Things: Boob Week, Spider Kisses, Mosquito Birth Control, and Jumping Ship
1. Ladies! Its time to celebrate your boobs. No, I'm not referring to the mashup of topless hos and jello shots at SeaFair this last weekend. Its World Breast Feeding Week. Yep, I'm serious. I know that as an employee of a leading global health organization where maternal and child health and nutrition is at the forefront of our mission I should be way more enthusiastic about this; but, I just can't. Now, now, to any of my MCHN colleagues who have stumbled upon this and might be reading, I understand the importance; I do, I really do. You don't have to explain to me the nutritional value of breast milk, the important role it plays in connecting a mother and child instantly, or even the recent connection to reducing the risk of post-partum hemorrhaging in mothers. And, I also know that in regions where food and water are scarce, breastfeeding is many times the only thing that can keep an infant alive. But you have to admit that the title World Breast Feeding Week is pretty comical. And so, to make light (though not necessarily make fun) of a funny but probably well deserved awareness week, I will take this moment to express a bit of breastfeeding cynicism that I have come to hold:
2. ....deleted this post due to incorrect info.... guess I should change the title to 4 Things!
3. Earlier this week, I woke up to find that it apparently wasn't as lonely of a night as I thought. No, instead, I had been visited by a friend, in my sleep, while completely unaware. You see, it appears I had been kissed (or rather, bitten) by a spider. Lovely. My lower lip was nice and fat on one side (the least he could have done was kiss me twice so that I might get the Angelina look!). And just when I thought it was bad enough, about 2 hours into my day, the allergic reaction began. So to go along with my lopsided lip, a nice little rash that resembles some sort of herpes-like infection developed. And the kicker? Tomorrow is my 10-year high school reunion. Hi, my name is Sara. Remember me? I didn't have sex in high school but I clearly made up for lost time as I now have what looks like a nasty STI on my f*ing face. Oh, this is so my life.
4. The People's Daily Online published an article last month about the latest (and possibly most creative) attempt to eradicate Dengue Fever. Scientists are looking at the possibility of sterilizing male mosquitoes that carry the disease and genetically engineering the species so that offspring who are carrying it never fully develop. Its kind of like preventing unwanted pregnancies for at-risk bugs (hmmm... maybe we should offer this up in high schools, too). There are, of course, many unknowns associated with this developing idea, including the fear of creating a "Frankenstein Mosquito." Really, you should probably just read the full article....
5. While it is no longer my full time line of work, I still find myself planning 3 to 4 weddings a year. And this last weekend, even after almost 9 years of experience, I had a wedding first. This particular wedding took place on 2 different boats - one for the ceremony, which cruised around Lake Union, and one for the reception, which remained docked on the northend. Because the ceremony boat would not dock until just before the reception would start, we planned it so that I would not be onboard during the ceremony (with the right amount of prep, planning, and practice this can be done). Therefore I could prep the reception boat before guests arrived. Before the ceremony boat set sail, however, I arrived to set up, round up the wedding party, and do any last minute fire extinguishing. As I'm pinning the the last few corsages on the grandmothers, I hear the captain of the boat come on over the loudspeaker. After welcoming the guests to the vessel, he says, "We'll be on our way shortly, folks. We are dropping our lines and pulling away as I speak." Shiiiiiitttt!!!! I all but throw the rest of the corsages at the remaining patiently waiting grandmothers, flash a here-goes-nothin' look at the groom who is standing next to me, and then take off running from one end of the boat to the other, dodging oblivious guests and grabbing things I need as I go. I run to the bow, down the stairs and without thinking, duck under the chain and leap off of the boat and onto the dock just in time. I turn to see the crew (who had been flailing their arms and telling me to wait) looking puzzled and the groom wide-eyed and wearing one of the biggest smiles I've seen from him yet. If we could reach each other, a high five would have definitely be in order. Someone later in the night referred to it as Extreme Wedding Coordinating. Ha! Extreme wedding coordinating... take that, Martha Stewart!
When I hear people passionately defend a woman's right to whip out her boob in public and openly let her baby (or in some cases, toddler) go to town on her nipple, calling it "a natural thing", I often consider asking them if they'd have a problem if my boyfriend whipped out his penis and started masturbating at the table next to them. After all, it too is a "natural thing."Just something to ponder. By the way, its also Shark Week. As a friend pointed out to me tonight, maybe its the same thing? Happy feeding...
2. ....deleted this post due to incorrect info.... guess I should change the title to 4 Things!
3. Earlier this week, I woke up to find that it apparently wasn't as lonely of a night as I thought. No, instead, I had been visited by a friend, in my sleep, while completely unaware. You see, it appears I had been kissed (or rather, bitten) by a spider. Lovely. My lower lip was nice and fat on one side (the least he could have done was kiss me twice so that I might get the Angelina look!). And just when I thought it was bad enough, about 2 hours into my day, the allergic reaction began. So to go along with my lopsided lip, a nice little rash that resembles some sort of herpes-like infection developed. And the kicker? Tomorrow is my 10-year high school reunion. Hi, my name is Sara. Remember me? I didn't have sex in high school but I clearly made up for lost time as I now have what looks like a nasty STI on my f*ing face. Oh, this is so my life.
4. The People's Daily Online published an article last month about the latest (and possibly most creative) attempt to eradicate Dengue Fever. Scientists are looking at the possibility of sterilizing male mosquitoes that carry the disease and genetically engineering the species so that offspring who are carrying it never fully develop. Its kind of like preventing unwanted pregnancies for at-risk bugs (hmmm... maybe we should offer this up in high schools, too). There are, of course, many unknowns associated with this developing idea, including the fear of creating a "Frankenstein Mosquito." Really, you should probably just read the full article....
5. While it is no longer my full time line of work, I still find myself planning 3 to 4 weddings a year. And this last weekend, even after almost 9 years of experience, I had a wedding first. This particular wedding took place on 2 different boats - one for the ceremony, which cruised around Lake Union, and one for the reception, which remained docked on the northend. Because the ceremony boat would not dock until just before the reception would start, we planned it so that I would not be onboard during the ceremony (with the right amount of prep, planning, and practice this can be done). Therefore I could prep the reception boat before guests arrived. Before the ceremony boat set sail, however, I arrived to set up, round up the wedding party, and do any last minute fire extinguishing. As I'm pinning the the last few corsages on the grandmothers, I hear the captain of the boat come on over the loudspeaker. After welcoming the guests to the vessel, he says, "We'll be on our way shortly, folks. We are dropping our lines and pulling away as I speak." Shiiiiiitttt!!!! I all but throw the rest of the corsages at the remaining patiently waiting grandmothers, flash a here-goes-nothin' look at the groom who is standing next to me, and then take off running from one end of the boat to the other, dodging oblivious guests and grabbing things I need as I go. I run to the bow, down the stairs and without thinking, duck under the chain and leap off of the boat and onto the dock just in time. I turn to see the crew (who had been flailing their arms and telling me to wait) looking puzzled and the groom wide-eyed and wearing one of the biggest smiles I've seen from him yet. If we could reach each other, a high five would have definitely be in order. Someone later in the night referred to it as Extreme Wedding Coordinating. Ha! Extreme wedding coordinating... take that, Martha Stewart!
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