Last Friday, I walked past all the dads in plaid carrying in mountains of clothing or computer pieces or boxes of who knows what that their kids insisted on dragging to school. Boy do I remember those days. (Yes, Mom and Dad, I can hear you. You remember those days too.) Up three flights of stairs we went, time and time again, carrying in my – what, 3?...4?...carloads of stuff? Hey, I needed it!
That was ten years ago now. Ten years since I left for college. Crazy. So I got this weird idea to look back and see what I was doing every year on September 3rd for the last ten years. Just to see how life has changed. Or not. So after consulting the trusty journals, here’s what I came up with.
1996. The new beginning year. September 3rd ten years ago today was my very first day of college class. I didn’t write this part, but I even remember what I wore – a denim dress and white sandals. My first writing class – Advanced Writing with Dr. Allison – followed by good old Psychology with Dr. Puffer. Oh, and let us not forget the night class – Fine Arts with Mrs. Williams. I already knew after the first class that 3 hours and my attention span wouldn’t mix. I wrote, “If I could stay in focus, it could be a fun class.” And of course I celebrated the completion of my first day of class with dinner at Burger King. Some things never change.
1997. The overwhelming year. September 3rd was the second day of class for my sophomore year. It was my first visit to Dr. Buck’s Novel class, which I labeled “tons of work,” Dr. Brown’s Nonfiction class, which I labeled “pretty good,” and Prof. Owen’s Spanish class, which I labeled “HARD!!” – followed by a desperate plea for my high school Spanish teacher to convert to the college level. The other excitement of the day was a trip to Marsh for groceries, the mass of homework, and the engagement announcement of a co-worker.
1998. The over-caffeinated year. September 3rd was a rare day when I did not write. According to what I wrote on the fourth, I had a sick headache all day on the third because I drank so much caffeine on the second that I didn’t sleep that night. Did you catch all that? Apparently I was so sick that I actually resorted to going home to Mom and Dad’s to get some rest. (Rest does not happen in college apartments when roommates are getting reacquainted after a whole summer apart.) I slept from 7:30 at night until 8:30 in the morning. Better take it easy on that Mountain Dew, girl!
1999. The devastating year. September 3rd was the first time I finally admitted on paper that my boyfriend was over me. I finally had to admit that the relationship I’d written in my mind to last forever was in fact, in its final stages. Wow, that was a hard one. I wrote about it for three pages. I will spare you the details – but it was the beginning of a tough month. (Oh, and I overslept that day too. I didn’t get to work until 8:21. But that’s pretty good for waking up at 8:06!)
2000. The disheartening year. September 3rd was not my friend this time. I had to admit to myself that one of my “loves” from days gone by was falling in love with someone I didn’t want him to even associate with. That just led to an entire day of pity partying – trying to figure out where I fit in life, since he was making it clear it wasn’t with him!
2001. The twitterpated year. September 3rd was a reliving of junior high behavior. One of my crushes (who shall remain nameless because it’s just too embarrassing) walked past my office twice that day. I spent most of the day analyzing why he did that – and how it fit into the grand scheme of the two of us together. Given that he now lives halfway across the country, I’m going to guess I was off somehow on my speculation.
2002. The sick year. September 3rd this year was a vacation day for me. Not sure why I was allowed to take off work during the first day of class, but they let me out! I had my first ever massage – which was amazing – and then I spent the rest of the day sick, sick, sick with a nasty stomach attack. I cried and cried, apparently. Let’s not relive that one.
2003. The boy boy boy year. September 3rd was worse than any junior high year – or perhaps all of them combined. I ran into one potential crush at Handy Andy before work – and I was so unnerved, I could barely get my coffee. Then another one showed up in the office – unnerving me further until I could barely work. And I got a call from another one that night – leaving me a complete mess in the head.
2004. The OH BOY! year. September 3rd was a GREAT day. In fact, the journal starts out this way: “:) Need I say more?” I’ll spare you the details, but I had a very nice visit from the once-upon-a-time “dream guy” of my whole life. It was a very very nice evening. I’m voting for more days like that one!!
2005. The year of rest. September 3rd fell on a Saturday – and what a perfect Saturday it was. My friend Faith came over and we scrapped all day long. I watched two movies after she left – followed by a coffee outing with Marie. I even treated myself to a new Gaither DVD – one that featured a song by who else but Ronnie Booth. J What a perfect day!
So here I am today – ten years later. Today has been a beautiful day full of more time with friends, more scrapping, more writing, a Little House marathon (they’re about to blow up the town here in an hour or so), and all sorts of fun. It has been a crazy ten years – the years of work, the years of disappointment, the years of unabashed stupidity, and now, the years of rest (a.k.a. boredom to some of you). But the years have been good in the long run – and while I wouldn’t want to relive a lot of them, I can’t wish them to be any different. They made me who I am today – ten years later.
That was ten years ago now. Ten years since I left for college. Crazy. So I got this weird idea to look back and see what I was doing every year on September 3rd for the last ten years. Just to see how life has changed. Or not. So after consulting the trusty journals, here’s what I came up with.
1996. The new beginning year. September 3rd ten years ago today was my very first day of college class. I didn’t write this part, but I even remember what I wore – a denim dress and white sandals. My first writing class – Advanced Writing with Dr. Allison – followed by good old Psychology with Dr. Puffer. Oh, and let us not forget the night class – Fine Arts with Mrs. Williams. I already knew after the first class that 3 hours and my attention span wouldn’t mix. I wrote, “If I could stay in focus, it could be a fun class.” And of course I celebrated the completion of my first day of class with dinner at Burger King. Some things never change.
1997. The overwhelming year. September 3rd was the second day of class for my sophomore year. It was my first visit to Dr. Buck’s Novel class, which I labeled “tons of work,” Dr. Brown’s Nonfiction class, which I labeled “pretty good,” and Prof. Owen’s Spanish class, which I labeled “HARD!!” – followed by a desperate plea for my high school Spanish teacher to convert to the college level. The other excitement of the day was a trip to Marsh for groceries, the mass of homework, and the engagement announcement of a co-worker.
1998. The over-caffeinated year. September 3rd was a rare day when I did not write. According to what I wrote on the fourth, I had a sick headache all day on the third because I drank so much caffeine on the second that I didn’t sleep that night. Did you catch all that? Apparently I was so sick that I actually resorted to going home to Mom and Dad’s to get some rest. (Rest does not happen in college apartments when roommates are getting reacquainted after a whole summer apart.) I slept from 7:30 at night until 8:30 in the morning. Better take it easy on that Mountain Dew, girl!
1999. The devastating year. September 3rd was the first time I finally admitted on paper that my boyfriend was over me. I finally had to admit that the relationship I’d written in my mind to last forever was in fact, in its final stages. Wow, that was a hard one. I wrote about it for three pages. I will spare you the details – but it was the beginning of a tough month. (Oh, and I overslept that day too. I didn’t get to work until 8:21. But that’s pretty good for waking up at 8:06!)
2000. The disheartening year. September 3rd was not my friend this time. I had to admit to myself that one of my “loves” from days gone by was falling in love with someone I didn’t want him to even associate with. That just led to an entire day of pity partying – trying to figure out where I fit in life, since he was making it clear it wasn’t with him!
2001. The twitterpated year. September 3rd was a reliving of junior high behavior. One of my crushes (who shall remain nameless because it’s just too embarrassing) walked past my office twice that day. I spent most of the day analyzing why he did that – and how it fit into the grand scheme of the two of us together. Given that he now lives halfway across the country, I’m going to guess I was off somehow on my speculation.
2002. The sick year. September 3rd this year was a vacation day for me. Not sure why I was allowed to take off work during the first day of class, but they let me out! I had my first ever massage – which was amazing – and then I spent the rest of the day sick, sick, sick with a nasty stomach attack. I cried and cried, apparently. Let’s not relive that one.
2003. The boy boy boy year. September 3rd was worse than any junior high year – or perhaps all of them combined. I ran into one potential crush at Handy Andy before work – and I was so unnerved, I could barely get my coffee. Then another one showed up in the office – unnerving me further until I could barely work. And I got a call from another one that night – leaving me a complete mess in the head.
2004. The OH BOY! year. September 3rd was a GREAT day. In fact, the journal starts out this way: “:) Need I say more?” I’ll spare you the details, but I had a very nice visit from the once-upon-a-time “dream guy” of my whole life. It was a very very nice evening. I’m voting for more days like that one!!
2005. The year of rest. September 3rd fell on a Saturday – and what a perfect Saturday it was. My friend Faith came over and we scrapped all day long. I watched two movies after she left – followed by a coffee outing with Marie. I even treated myself to a new Gaither DVD – one that featured a song by who else but Ronnie Booth. J What a perfect day!
So here I am today – ten years later. Today has been a beautiful day full of more time with friends, more scrapping, more writing, a Little House marathon (they’re about to blow up the town here in an hour or so), and all sorts of fun. It has been a crazy ten years – the years of work, the years of disappointment, the years of unabashed stupidity, and now, the years of rest (a.k.a. boredom to some of you). But the years have been good in the long run – and while I wouldn’t want to relive a lot of them, I can’t wish them to be any different. They made me who I am today – ten years later.
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