the upperclassmen years

January has just not gotten anymore exciting ( despite a road-trip to Las Vegas for a soccer tournament..and a neat hike in Snow Canyon and a fabulous dinner at Maggianos for Dallin's b-day..who Enjoys this town?! yuk.) I am going to continue my eulogy for my high school days ( you have been forewarned.) I went a different direction,maybe for lack of anything better to do ( and why didn't I consider academics a choice?) The "student government" gang. Why does this type think they are so great? And they exist in every school and organization , I realize that Woodside doesn't stand alone in this (dis)honor. It is a persona non grata that is full-of-themselves and I find nauseating. Unfortunately they can be found in every organization; schools,sororities ( does Jan Dodge still haunt the halls of the The Theta house?!) PTA, soccer moms and church members. Suffice it to say that all this disgust/mistrust of elected "officials" began in my Junior year. Luckily there were so very bright spots to save me, namely Kim Cole and Ricky Anderson, Alan Whitson,Bert Grunwald and best-of-the-best Stefan. High school would have been Nothing without Stefan. Rarely do gems like him come along. Stefan restores your confidence in truly good people. He deserves a complete blog entry. The drama gang was its own entity. it was wonderful and fun and we Made it cool!! Our teacher, or drama coach was a rare educator and individual. Senior year came and I went yet another completely different route. My heart was set on moving to Berkeley but I feel like I really made the most of the year I had left there. I became a wildkitten and absolutely loved that orange and white themed year. Lisa, Gretchen, Amy ,Charlene, Angie( said in a Rod Stewart voice ) and of course the truly fabulous Cynthia were all way too much fun. Football players from Redwood City were down to earth,sexy,rough and tumble-yet gentlemen.. Grima,Brett,Rob, Thurloe,Brian..a bunch of good guys. Totally different from all the guys I had known before. But change can be good.Shelly was my joined-at-the-hip best buddy.We enjoyed independence to the max. I grew up alot that year.I only see that in retrospect. Stefan was still at my side guiding me along.Sam was sitting like a pot of gold acroos the bay over in Berkeley. The future looked Bright. I shed tears leaving Woodside ,it had been quite the ride. For better and for worse it had been My experience. I needed to write it all down and go through it in my mind again..I am 50 you know and reflective as heck!!

January is as dull as..January.The most exciting thing in my life right now is trying to figure out what the heck is going on in "Lost".We never watched it on regular TV, but started the series on thanksgiving day and today we are in the middle of season 4..don't do the math. Yes, we are addicted..it better have a fabulous ending!! No, I better not write about that. Good a day as any to go back to 1973 ( RED FLAGS.. if you have no desire to hear me ramble on about high school exit now.) My ideal childhood had just got the wind kicked out of it. To make matters worse, we moved away from Woodside. My best friends weren't going to be at the new high school.Basically, I was starting fresh-a new beginning. I came to realize that I like that. Sharon Heights was nice but snooty, they viewed us "woodsiders" as hayseeds,cowboys..oh, whatever!!On that first day of high school (not to worry that I am doing a day-by-day account!) a funny memory comes to mind. I walked down to my bus stop and there was a group of tight friends who had obviously gone through jr. high together. Every girl was in a dress, I was in jeans (but no horse-chaps!) We get on the bus, "they" all sit in the back laughing and carrying on. The bus gets going but suddenly stopped stops again for another passenger. But no, on steps my father and says,"Debbie, you forgot your lunch." Chris Smith finds this hysterical and repeats this line in the same voice. I was mortified..but I think it is pretty funny now. And given a chance, I would do it to one of my kids in a second! And I like to have a memory of my dad that is enjoyable. That group of kids in the bus became my dear friends. "Good luck-bad luck, who can tell" is the way I see leaving Woodside now..there were some great people in my new school ( this can be confusing because Woodside is the town I grew up in..but Woodside High is school made up of kids from menlo park/sharon heights,redwood city,portola valley and some from woodside-but most went to private schools.) Freshman year was cool. Everything and everyone was new, and so very,very different from my life up until then. I thrived on the freedom, the independence. I had my first part-time job, I worked through all my highschhol years. I was a good student but Woodside wasn't exactly a hard school. German was my favorite subject, and I took it all four years. Social life was Everything. Side note to my children.."streaking" was all the rage, at a slumber party I was the only one to NOT do it( they wont believe that!) A shout-out to Lisa Leonard who took this "country mouse" under her wing. I loved to observe her family ( probably with my jaw dropped open in awe-oh, that is where Devin gets it!)Lisa's mother was dying of cancer and they were so candid about the whole thing.Heaven knows they had their hands full,but Lisa took me in and included me in their life. They were so opposite of my family. They dealt with the cancer so honestly;cried and laughed their way through it.Lisa's father was this big ruggedly handsome man who was so in love with his wife,struggling heroically and devoted to his daughter. Wow. That is what I wanted ( #1.) Sophomore year was the best though. I loved the graduating class. It was what High School was Suppose to be like. And this is where I really need a sound track!! Kim Cole and I couldn't function without music. Al Green, K.C and the Sunshine Band, ELO, Chicago, Doobie Brohthers, Cat Stevens, Elton John-oh man, I could go on and on and on. The silver lining was having a great boyfriend that year. I would describe him as "ruggedley handsome" too, and athletic , and just darn FUN. I adored his family too. That is what I wanted ( #2.) The Woodwards were hip,natural and intelligent. Their Eichler-style home in Portola Valley was ubercool. I couldn't get enough of them. Decades later when Kevin bought me a suburban for just having our 5th child I felt like I had truly "arrived". The Woodwards had had one. They had an all boy family- and that is just what I wanted too ( note to Devin, Kelly and Kerriann..I am very happy the all-boy family didn't come to pass.) I hope this doesn't sound "stalker- ish" because honestly it was quite healthy,healing and let me breathe ( my "wind" still wasn't back.) O.k, added to this ideal situation was the fact that Chris had Great friends and they were good to me.( oh cute, I just heard Cathy Dobbins darling giggle in my memories!) It is a big boredom no-no to mention names-but dang it this is my recollections after all and I loved these people..Fritz Pankler, Chris Gatley, Janet Stentholm, Butch, Lloyd Bayliss, Bones, Mike and Mark, Sharon O'Leary,Joni,Kim, Cherie. I couldn't have asked for more. That is what I wanted(#3) simple happiness. thank-you ,That was a wonderful year.