So, after going to my first high school football game in ages (Nicholas's first ever!), attending a family picnic on Saturday and dolling up for the official 20 year reunion dinner Saturday night, I have only one thing to say:
I have absolutely no business being in front of a microphone and pray to God it will never happen again.
It was a total fluke and probably shouldn't have been an issue in the first place. We were all handed ballots at the beginning of the festivities last night and I (in my happenin' black sheath dress, fancy lipstick and snazzily (in my mind) straightened hair) chose to answer one question in a way that allowed me to 'win' a certificate. The question was in regard to how many states one had lived in since graduation. I have only lived in 4, but a certain Salty Dog noted that countries should also count for something, so I threw in the two other countries we lived in. So, while I didn't win for states (someone had lived in a whopping 8!), I managed to grab the "most places lived world-wide". I had figured I would have serious competition in this arena (when you have been in the Foreign Service long enough, you assume everyone has lived in a minimum of 3 different countries over the past few years), but alas perhaps those folks just could not attend.
I waltzed up to get my certificate and all was well until they handed me the microphone and asked me what was the most exciting thing that happened to me while living overseas. I mumbled something about the coup in Venezuela, being on medevac and technically homeless (the medevac totally confused the issue) and tried to throw in a quick explanation about Chavez. *Sigh*…for this I totally and completely apologize. For those of you who were subjected to my rambling and likely not audible words, I offer you this instead…heck, I'll give you choices, as I really can't say one was more exciting than the other…the most exciting thing that happened to me overseas was:
- meeting Matt Dillon at a friend's party
- watching my husband cook Marisa Tomei an Icelandic hot dog (pylsur) and even more amazing, watching that tiny little thing put it away like it was nobody's business
- meeting Garrison Keillor at the private party at the ambassador's residence after his live show in Reykjavik
- meeting the cast of Lazytown and watching them perform at the annual party for diplomats' children at the home of the President of Iceland (actually attended 3 parties, they only performed at one)
No, no, no…that's just name-dropping and sounds vapid at best (but pick one one of the above if it suits you)….maybe what was really exciting was:
- being the first spouse of a U.S. diplomat in Iceland to receive a work permit (to my knowledge)
- having Nicholas in Reykjavik (his passport lists Reykjavik as his birthplace…doesn't get much cooler than that)
- helping my 3 month old touch his first glacier
- hotting-potting anywhere in Iceland
- traipsing through lava fields just cause we could…and the same for visiting real Geysirs
- seeing the Northern Lights from my doorstep
- viewing the ocean from dizzying heights while eating incredible gastronomic delights just outside of Caracas
- the fact that my daughter learned how to ski in Germany
- the fact that my other daughter was incredibly fluent in Icelandic for two years
The above items are far more realistic to me, but would likely come across as well as the coup business. So, one must be wondering ….the rest of the reunion? Well, frankly, social situations can just scare the bejeezus out of me. And while I don't generally feel I need to rely on my spouse (since he would likely be sitting there coding on his iTouch anyway), it did feel just a *tad* bit lonely. Granted, he Skyped towards the end of the night, and while it was sort of like he was there, I can't say it was what it should have been.
I managed to catch up a bit with folks though probably not as much as I should have (yes, being lame and hiding in the other dining room to Skype with Peter didn't help much). It was still a good time, though and certainly worth going. The reunion crew did a stellar job of putting together not only a fun Saturday night, but a great family-friendly weekend. I'd say here's hoping we can go to the next reunion as a complete family, but since Cait will be (if they have one in 10 years), 22, gulp, that might not happen. And with that, above are a few photos from the weekend (just don't mind the lighting, my camera was a bit wonky this weekend)
