Day 16: Ancient History

Yoga class was a little more normal tonight. Turns out Jody was sick last week and trying to push through with a 103 fever. Silly wabbit. I knew the energy was off. But today was better, and I followed it up with a trial Reiki session. Reiki is a Japanese technique for relaxation and stress reduction that promotes healing. Basically it's energy work.

I was going to write a whole blog about energy and being sensitive to it, but then I got sidetracked. My niece posted a bunch of pictures from her senior prom on her myspace page, so I had to check them out. And of course it brought back memories of my own proms.

I was never the thin one in high school. I was the chubby "best friend" type, the mousy brown haired side kick. I was the buddy to all the guys. They didn't date me, but they hung out with me. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that I could drink most of them under the table. I was aware of my weight issues and I occasionally wished that I could be one of the thin cheerleader types, but that was never going to happen. My weight was and continues to be one of my biggest insecurities. So when a guy was actually interested in me, it always surprised me. I had a couple boyfriends during high school, but never anyone who actually went to my high school and never for very long. So I went to my proms with friends. Sort of a "Hey, I want to go to prom and you want to go to prom, so why don't we go together. Okay cool." kind of thing.

Now, I'm going to show y'all something. Please don't judge. And please keep in mind that this was the mid 80's. Here, making their internet debut, are my prom pictures.

This is my Junior Prom. My date is Steven Bitkower. He was a year older than me and a friend. He was also a last minute fill in for me. I was originally supposed to go with a guy that I had a thing for. But his very traditional Thai parents did not approve and he ended up having to break our date. Steven, bless his soul, was kind enough to step in and join me. We had a nice time. Two other girls were wearing the same dress as me. And yes, my natural hair color is actually that dark. (I didn't start to color it until about 5 years ago.)

Compared to what I gained later in life, I actually look pretty thin here, but compared to other girls I was big.

I kept that dress until just a few years ago, yeah, like I was ever going to wear that again right?

This is the Senior prom. Y'all can stop laughing now. It's New Jersey in 1987, my hair is supposed to be that big. I swear that I think I was possessed by the ghost of Scarlett O'Hara. I remember when I found the dress that I absolutely loved it, but they did not have it in my size. I had to get a size 12 I believe and they had to put some extra panels in the bodice to make it fit. It was sort of mortifying. And yes, I'm wearing a hoop skirt underneath. My date's name is Larry Bogad. We knew each other since elementary school. And come prom time we were both dateless, so it literally was "You wanna." "Yeah okay, if you wanna." My senior prom was actually kind of interesting. First of all, my older brother Chris and our friend Dave crashed it. They showed up in jeans and denim jackets and talked their way in. And second, we had a bitchin' after-prom. A bunch of us went up to a friend's vacation condo in Connecticut for the weekend. There was lots of alcohol involved. I remember falling down the steps at one point and getting a nice little cut in my shin. I laid there for a moment and then said, "Ow. I really must have done something because I can feel it." Ah sweet memories of youth!

Oh, but what I wouldn't give to weigh now what I weighed then! Even if I was still overweight, I hadn't yet been introduced to the Freshman Fifteen (or more like 30 in my case) and the simple pleasures of raw cookie dough eaten straight from the tube when you are really stoned. I had all that to look forward to! There's a time and place for everything, it's called college. But those are stories for another time.

Well with any luck, come January I'll be lighter than I was those twenty-mmmph...umm years ago.

G'night all!