Apr 20 2007
Will you still need me? Will you still feed me?
Welcome, gentle readers, to our second installment of Flashback Friday!!!
Today’s flashback was inspired by my mother- and father-in-law last night (who we are living with, remember?). Hubby and I went on a walk together, leaving my in-laws home with our sleeping kids. When we got home, we found them both on the phone. They were talking long-distance to their best friends, Spud and Cheryl. From what I understand, the four of them have been bestest buds for years and years. There was much heartbreak when Spud and Cheryl retired and moved to the northwest, but good thing they’ve all got good long-distance phone coverage, right? I thought it was so cute, to watch these 60-year-olds wandering around, each on their own cordless phone, talking to and giggling with their best buddies.
It reminded me of my own best friend, and how years from now I can picture this exact scene with us.
And so today’s Flashback Friday is dedicated to Kate*. You know her better as Walking Kateastrophe.
(*You could also consider it this way: If I’m going down, she’s going down with me.)
Kate and I met in high school. I was a senior and she was a sophomore (which was a little weird, because the people I latched on to had always been older than me). Somehow, despite lots of catfighting around us, we became bestest buds.
The unfortunate part here is that all the really incriminating pictures of her (and, I suppose, of me too) are in her possession, not mine. But! I DO have the date dance pictures.
And an explanation of date dances in our little community is given at Kate’s site, which I am hereby stealing, because I’m too lazy to write the darn thing myself:
You’ll need some background . . . on the planet I grew up in, date dances were much more than just the dance. We had to ask and answer each other in creative ways and we had day activities with our group. So let’s just say that if you didn’t like your date? You were in for a bad, bad day. With all of his or her friends. And it could possibly go on for 15 hours or so, because most people also planned something for AFTER the dance. Oh, and it was INCREDIBLY rude to say no. The first person who asked you was the person you went with. Those were the rules.
And so, I present you with exhibit number one.
(Kate is on the back row with the “red” hair. I’m in the front, sitting daintily upon my date.) What you need to know here is that in preparation for this magnificent date, all three of us girls dyed our hair red–sharing the SAME CHEAP BOTTLE FROM THE GROCERY STORE. Kate’s hair went good and red, the other girl’s hair had a reddish hew, and my black hair remained, well, black. I know. Shocker. And yet, I was early in my hair dying days and I was actually a bit surprised by this. Also interesting to note is that while my date was BY FAR the hottest, he was also about a whole foot shorter than me. Which is, I suppose, why I’m sitting upon him. (And YES my eyebrows were huge, and YES our fashion was freaky, and YES the hair is weird, and YES I’m sure you’ll come up with plenty of other unpleasant things to say…) (Oh, and NO I DON’T know what was up with Kate’s date’s pants. And I really, really, really don’t WANT to know…)
Let us now enter exhibit two:
Be afraid. Be very afraid. Kate is on the front row here (and no, I have NO idea what the crap she’s wearing…. you’ll have to take that up with her) and her date was a total and complete psycho. Seriously. He was completely nuts. And obsessed with Kate. And, well, CRAZY. You can tell by the weary expression on her face that this had been a very, very long day already. All she wanted was to go home.
And I am on the back row in the far right corner. DO YOU SEE MY DATE?? Does he remind you of someone? Someone named SATAN??? And, unfortunately, Satan-boy was thoroughly infatuated with me–something I never understood, but his infatuation almost defined my senior year of high school–and some bits of college too.
The moment we got home from that date, Kate and I called each other and talked on the phone for hours over them and their psychotic-ness, and how there really should have been a loop hole in the date dance rules: If a guy is psychotic, messed up, obsessed with you, or Satan, you should be able to refuse to date him, even if he’s the first person to ask you to the dance. Alas, there was no such rule.
But somehow we survived all the dating madness and moved on to the marriage stuff. Here she is as one of my bride’s maids 6 years ago (and 7 years after we first met). I’m obviously the one in the wedding dress and she’s the blondey (it’s not really a flattering angle for any of us, including Hubby who ALWAYS looks good. But my pic pickin’s are slim, okay?):
(Okay, ladies. We’ve had this discussion and some of you have already learned the hard way that drooling over my husband only leads to pain and misfortune and the shorting-out-of-your-computer. And we ALL know that NO ONE wants to blog with a shorting-out-computer.)
I was at her wedding too, of course, but I was massively and gigantically and so UN-gracefully pregnant with my third baby and so she let me be an “honorary” bride’s maid/matron thing. I pray that there are NO pictures of it…
And nowadays, we live very far away from each other. But we IM and call each other and keep tabs on each other pretty much constantly. And I FULLY expect to still be chatting and giggling with her when I’m sixty-four.
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Ok, selfishly? I love posts that are dedicated to moi!
But sincerely, meeting you, dear Brillig, changed my life for the better and I grateful every day that you are still part of my life.
I fully plan on chatting and giggling with you until we’re far into our nineties. I know how long your Grandma Desi lived and how long my family lives . . . we’ll totally be like, 115 and chatting and giggling on the phone!
LOVE YOU!!!
Oh and for the record. I am wearing my MOTHER’S linen button up dress and brand new blue suede heels, thank you very much.
Brillig is hidden behind that other, sort of uninteresting couple (when you compare them to the rest of us yahoos) and SHE is wearing a blue velvet mid-calf length dress and similar brand new blue suede heels. We shopped together and it took us FOREVER TO FIND SHOES.
And according to us, we were hot.
You were Hawt!!! I love this. What a great way to spend a Friday.
I need a scanner!
That’s the best. In a few months I’ll be Maid of Honor at my best friend’s wedding. We never went to any dances together though.
I love best friends.
That is adorable. Your eyebrows were VERY Brooke Shields.
If you have any pictures from the 80’s or 90’s, I don’t think you should have to apologize for your clothes. It should just be a given.
Very cute story.
Holy crap, he IS Satan! Hahahaha. Yah, I think you should have a loop hole. Utahns are weird.
As for you, you are such a cute little doll! No wonder you hooked such a hot hubbie!
Love it. Your flashback friday brings back memories of MY highschool years. But I think you were much cooler than me. I was kinda nerdy.
OMG, Brillig , I practically spit out my drink when I saw the second pic of your date - and then your comments - LMAO !
I love Flashback Friday.
I’m inspired. Because I absolutely loved (and still do) the 80’s (I’m just a “smidge” older than you but still a youthful 34
)
However, I probably burned any pictures of me with flourescent neckties and headbands.
Your dance dates are uncomfortably similar to my youth group dance dates. I was forced to go with one guy who asked me first to a prom from one of the other high schools. Let’s just say that he ended up sweating THROUGH his tuxedo while “dancing” and running around after drinking eight cokes. Nice.
Yeah, I’ve been there.
And my hair dying experience was so similar.
I’m thinking that your memory lane runs parallel to mine.
well, I’m just glad by your wedding you had those eyebrows under control. I think that rule about having to go to the dance with the first person who asked is awful. If it were me, and I saw someone coming that I didn’t want to go with I would run and hide, and or wear a disguise to school until it was over
Kateastrophe,
Awwwww. And, by the way, thanks for outting me. Yes I was wearing a frighteningly blue velvet dress. And I guarantee that ANYONE WHO WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL WHILE I WAS (’92-’96) owned that very dress in navy, burgundy, forest green, or black. Or MAYBE all four.
Janet,
Seriously! Get thee to a scanner-y! Scanners are where all the raging parties (and by that I of course mean “embarrassment for blog fodder”) are!
Super Des,
Hahaha. I love that you are gonna be her maid of honor! How fun! And even if you didn’t go to dances together (you poor, poor things) surely you have plenty of awful pictures of the two of you to post. Because that’s what having a best friend is all about, right?
Butrfly,
Yep. It was all about big eyebrows back then. Or maybe not… it’s just that it didn’t ever occur to us to do anything about the eyebrows, and the good Lord blessed me with some mighty fur there…
Gina,
Hahaha. You are so very kind. Yeah, he’s hot, in my opinion at least (and since he’s mine, mine’s the only opinion that counts!) Alas, my tiny little figure in those picture was replaced by a large “I had four babies in four years” blob of goo. Oh well. He still can’t keep his hands off me, so it’s all good, right?
(*Brillig is Blushing*)
Cherann,
Oh yeah! I WAS SO COOL!! Alas, no. I had a lot of fun, but I think I was anything but cool. And I can’t imagine you as “nerdy.” I suspect we’d have been great buds.
Worker Mommy,
Oh, I’m so glad you appreciated it. From what I hear about him, he’s actually now very active in his church, he has a wife and a couple of kids, and he just passed the bar exam and he’s off to be a lawyer. Well, good for him. But I will remember him, uh, differently than that…
Melissavina,
Oh my crap, that’s hilarious. I can picture the whole thing. And I HOPE my memory lane runs parallel to yours, because you seem like you were (and still are)really fun.
ba doozie,
Oh, such brilliance never occurred to me! I SHOULD have worn a disguise! (And really, I suppose we “could” have said no, it just wasn’t polite and we didn’t want to be snobs. Still, I think that I’ll give my daughter a bit of advice about when it’s okay for her to be a “snob”.)
OH. MY. GOSH. Dark, dark days! Awww, you are BOTH my favorites. Brillig, what a trooper to post dance pictures! I better get on that…OH! I GOT IT! You remember when we all went to Morp together? And you went with Tommy D? Yep - I’m posting that on my Flashback Tuesday next week. Watch out. I think my favorite part of this post however was your reference to “the other girl” about dying your hair. I love you.
You dated Satan? I did too. I didn’t know he got around. I think he is ba doozie’s ex, too.
Great flashback photos! I think we all have memories of those dances…
Confession:
I too had a black velvet dress with black suede heels, nay pumps. I ended the ensemble with a lace choker, remember how big those were?
We could have been a total clique.
Oh Jewels!
I’ve got some doozies of you, my dear. And yeah, I have that picture from Morp. I was actually gonna post it today (I mean, it has DONNY OSMOND JR. in it. Surely that’s good for my google hits! hahahaha) I didn’t post it, because I might need to explain why it looks like Tommy is strangling me. Or why my MUSIC TEACHER was no longer SPEAKING TO ME after that date. And so I decided to save it for Soap Opera Sunday sometime. Because, I mean, it was SUCH a soap opera! So yeah, you post it and I’ll steal it from you one of these days! Can’t wait to see what YOU have to say about it…
Emma Sometimes,
Oh, see, I was asked to a DANCE by Satan. I didn’t… marry him. But yeah, it does sound like he gets around. Hahahaha. And I’m so sorry for the girls who married him, only to find out who he was. Refer to my post on pigs…
Shauna,
Oh thank goodness! I thought I might be all by myself here–or that Kate and I were all by ourselves, or something. By the way, the name of your blog ALWAYS MAKES ME HUNGRY. Like right now. I NEED chocolate. So, uh, my waistline thanks you.
Melissavina,
Oh, see? I love you that much more for it! I wasn’t so awful, was I!
Had to pop in and say that the dance pics made me laugh from my sick bed! A feat, to be sure. Oh the fashion! Love it. I myself am a member of the class of ‘96 so I know all too well the evils of the fashion available at the time. Thanks for the laugh!
Kelly,
NELLO LIVES!!!! Oh, hon, I’m so sorry you’re still sick, but I’m glad I was able to make you laugh a little bit. I check your blog EVERY SINGLE DAY to see if you’re back! And I cannot believe your profile pic. I laughed my head off when that came up. I’m glad to see that you’re keeping yourself entertained from your sick be.
uh… sick BED, that is. You got that, right? AM I ALONE IN HATING THE FACT THAT I CAN”T GO BACK AND EDIT MY COMMENTS??? I swear, every time I post a comment I see something I wish I could change.
Proofreading? What’s that?
This makes me wish that I had a best friend like that, one who will still be able to put up with me a few years from now, let alone when I’m 60.
Love this!
With all that’s going on in the world, it amazes me that Satan can still find the time to date. I swear I went to a dance or two with his as well!
Oh, your date is soooo scary-looking! And, yes, there is clearly a need for such a refusal rule. I think you look wonderful in all the pics.
Could NOT stop laughing over ‘Satan-boy.’