In 1998

Shakespeare in Love was voted best picture.
Google, Inc. was founded.
Gas was $1.10 a gallon.
Dawson's Creek premiered on The WB.

We looked like this

In 2008

I still haven’t seen Shakespeare in Love.
I Google everything.
The price of gas has increased 120%.
Katie Holmes was much cooler as Joey than Mrs. Cruise.

I'm thankful my face isn't quite as round.

Ten years is a long time. Long enough for people to get degrees, maybe even multiple degrees. Long enough for people to fall in love and get hitched. (Long enough for some people to fall out of love and get unhitched, too.) Long enough for people to start careers and change careers.

At my 10-year high school reunion this weekend, I’m excited to see what the 400+ people I graduated with have accomplished (or have not accomplished) in the last 3,650 days. For a while I wasn’t too excited for the reunion, but now I am. I don’t know what caused the change in heart; I think it’s the idea of reminiscing about our time at MNHS with my good friends from back in the day. Like:

Catching frogs and Ed’s house and letting them loose in school (mom you might want to stop reading now)
Emilie’s car by the school’s front doors

Stealing Bill Jetter’s dog
Radio routes - especially with Jon Bon Jovi
Piercing our own ears
Blame it on the Rain: when Kristi left the top of her convertible down and it, well, rained
Abe and Chucky from the state fair

Dressing up for the pizza man

Mr. Smiley - Kristi's sneak knife that was going to save me from potential robbers
Mr. Yakus. Oh Mr. Yakus.
Jewel ‘97
Baaaaaarn Party
4G
Teva tans
Pulled over by a cop on a horse (some things never changed – borrowed Ron & Mary’s suburban that night too)
AM breakfasts at Village Inn
Taking Mexican Maria home from school and making Emilie go with me
Sweaty Eddie
Graduation parties with no power; drinking peach schnapps under the pool table (mom, I warned you)
Getting hypnotized and barking like a dog
“Is there a Lors-back in here?”
Front row Garth Brooks tickets (and getting slapped in the face for it by a boy)
Sleeping in cars with my pager as an alarm clock (the best part is I had a PAGER)
Duh Girls
Medicine Man pharmacy (Emilie - HOW did you end up with that job?)

GNOs
Tp-ing
Lake trips with one caramel apple shot for four of us (my mom is such a rebel)
Smoking stoogies once Michelle was legal
Leaving school early to get our hair done (very cool of you mom, BTW)
Gum mirrors

Working for Ronnie and Wendy tripping over boxes and all Emilie seeing are feet in the air

Good lunches at Em’s

And so many more.

This weekend will be a blast from the past. I'm sure I'll be posting all about it next week. TGIF!