The Ice Bucket Challenge

In recent days I have seen photos of celebrities taking what they call the "ice bucket challenge".  I didn't know what it was all about.  Last night, though, my nieces educated me.  It seems a person "nominates" another person to do the challenge.  Either they have a bucket of ice water dumped over their head or they donate $100 for the ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) fund.

Aubrey had been nominated by a friend from school.  It seems you have to do this within 24 hours of being nominated.  So, after dinner last night she took the challenge.  Her sister Molly volunteered to dump the ice water on her.  Here are the photos:

Aubrey looks like she's saying "I dare you!"

As part of the ritual, the dumpee nominates another person.  So Aubrey immediately nominated the oldest sister Sarah.  Here is Sarah's turn:

Sarah nominated some friends on her gymnastics team.  I'm not sure how Molly escaped after dumping the bucket on both of her sisters.

Here Comes Change!

We bought a condo in Philly!  Well, actually just outside Philly in Bucks County.  Now that we are retired we had to decide where to live for the next phase of our lives.  We lived in the Philadelphia area for sixteen years before moving to Kentucky to be near family.  We have good friends in the area and have made it a habit to return for visits and to travel with them.

I feel sad about leaving our house here.  I have come to love this house, as I loved the one we had before in Philly.  What can I say?  I have a tendency to put down roots.  It's quiet here, and it's pretty here.  I like the rolling hills and farms and country roads.  However, I keep reading how important it is to surround yourself with a social network with shared interests.  We are missing doing things with our friends back in Philly.  We know so many people there our age who are young at heart and leading more interesting lives.

We are really busy trying to pare down our belongings so they will fit into a condo.  I have collected way too much over the years, books, fabric, clothes, china, all kinds of "collectibles".  I can take only a fraction of it with me.  Weeding out my belongings is hard, both physically and emotionally.  Giving up  certain items is like giving up part of my life, giving up on projects I will never finish.  I look at every item, thinking maybe it's one of those hidden treasures, a collectible that ends up being valuable.  I have to check every old book to see whether it is a first edition.  I need to just clear things out indiscriminately or I will never finish the job.

I am looking forward to a more interesting and carefree lifestyle.  However, some days I feel that I will never get there.

High School All Over Again

So my high school reunion is coming up next month.  As soon as I received the invitation I returned it, thinking it might be fun.  Now I'm not so sure.

Now I feel like going back to high school might not be such a good thing after all.  No, I wasn't one of those people who had a miserable experience and I wasn't bullied or anything like that.  I had my share of friends and my share of fun but I was never part of the "in" group, more like the second tier of nice kids who never got into trouble.  I was quiet and introverted but mainly able to hold my own.

Facebook is ruining it for me.  I see many of my classmates friending each other, but not me.  I'm beginning to think no one remembers me.  I have been friended by a few of them and that has led to messaging and liking each others' posts.  It's been fun to hear from them.  However, I am beginning to see long lists of names on others' pages, "so and so is now friends with so and so".  I'm starting to feel left out, like they are having a party and not including me.

I have led a happy life and made many friends since high school.  I was feeling okay about myself and my place in the world.  Now I'm back wanting to be one of the "popular"kids.  I am reverting to teenage angst.  Maybe the reunion isn't such a good idea after all.