Anthony, eat your heart out

Think Anthony Butler looks great in his hospital gown? Here is Rebecca modeling the latest in pediatric hospital attire.


Oh, and just to be fair (to make everyone feel waifish), here is me right before I delivered Sarah (humiliating, but hey, you already saw how huge I was at the reunion). I apologize that I could not figure out how to change the orientation of Rebecca's photo.

Also Thankful

I know that Thanksgiving is past and that we are now officially into the Christmas season. However, like Anthony, I wanted to write about things I am thankful for regarding the reunion.

Since graduating 20 years ago, I have not been in contact with many folks from Chaminade. Obviously, Anthony and I have kept our friendship going. And through the years I've seen Dani Carusi, Tracy Tuso, and Denise Bradley now and again. But otherwise, I haven't had ties to Chaminade.

So when the planning for the 20 year reunion came around, knowing that I didn't really know anyone, I was really nervous about attending. But instead of getting hung up on freaking myself out, which is what I usually do, I decided to jump in and help so I could actually reaquaint myself with everyone. And I'm so thankful I did.

First of all, working on the committe was great. I got to meet up and chat via email with Lisa, Carol, Lynn, Dave, Dave, and Dora. I got to meet Tom and Carol's new baby and Lisa's kids. I was thankful to be a part of this group who just wanted to throw a good party.

Then by initiating the blog, I got to hear from many of you who needed help. I've actually ended up continuing email relationships with people because of this. I've had great conversations that I never would have had and I'm very thankful to have these new/old friendships.

Once the blog was up and running, I was so thankful to read about what everyone was doing with their lives. Even when we found out that some of our friends had passed, I was thankful that we all had each other and could share in mourning that loss.

As the reunion came close, I got to email and call people to harass them to come to the event. Though this made me especially nervous, I was thankful that people responded so kindly.

During the reunion weekend itself, I was incredibly thankful to have been not only a part of this committee but a part of this class. Everyone there was so appreciative of the time we took. Everyone looked happy and excited to be there. And I was thankful to be there to see old friends, reconnect, and celebrate with everyone.

Thank you all for participating in whatever way you did. For reading the blog, for writing a blog, for posting pictures, for asking for music suggestions, for posting music titles, for attending Sagebrush, the White House, or the Family Picnic.

Thank you for being part of the class of '87. I am thankful.

Amy

THANKSGIVING

I can imagine that with parades, football, family, friends, food to be prepared and consumed, and eventually dishes to do - most of you will not be killing time tuning in to the BLOG. So, these sentiments will have a shelf-life of at least a week. Then it's "screw you and the turkey you rode in on".

In addition to the usual checklist of items to be thankful for - I would like to add some personal thanks. I am thankful this year for the reunion commitee (except the "other Phalen" who did absolutely nothing - and said so everytime someone gave her credit which was very honorable.) who did such a great job pulling us altogether and planning such a nice weekend. I am greatful for everyone who took the time to attend and graciously share their lives. I appreciate those who could not attend but let us all know they were okay and doing their thing. Oddly enough, I may be most thankful for the BLOG itself. It allowed me to open a door of humor and create a connection with many of you even before the big night. I am at heart, a shy and quiet person, and I don't always feel at ease in large groups. That pre-reunion Blogging ice-breaker was a true treat for me and to have it so well received was a blessing.

The obvious wish is for all of you to have a Happy, Healthy Thanksgiving with much to be thankful for. The not so obvious may be to remember that there are those of us who may not have had the best year. In life, we rarely get to experience the UPS without the DOWNS. So, if this Thanksgiving finds you dealing with some difficulty or misfortune, hurt or sorrow, or just something that knocked you off the path you thought you were on - I hope you can find a simple pleasure to be thankful for and move forward in the knowledge you can and will endure. And I can bake you a pecan pie if it helps.

Oh, and I am thankful for the emergency rooms in both Idaho and California!

Anthony Butler

Unrecognizable?!

Well you really didn't expect me to have the same hair, and lord forbid the same eyebrows, did you?!



Anyway, here is a much better picture to look at - his name is Keenan and he is 8 months old today (which means I haven't had a full night's sleep in about a year now).

Take care everyone, and now that I'm back in LA I hope to run into some of you.

Sue

DVD Mix-Up

In addition to people who did not get a reunion DVD, there were also a handful of people who got the incorrect DVD. If you take your DVD out of the protective sleeve and it has a little cartoon chicken wearing bondage attire - you got the wrong DVD. This DVD can be returned to Amy for a copy of the reunion DVD.

We are still not sure how the boxes of DVD's got mixed up. I respectfully request that if you have not watched the "bogus" DVD that you do not watch it. If you have already watched it, then I can only say I am terribly embarrassed. Sometimes, when you are young and stupid, you do things for money you would not normally do. I would like to point out, all the girls were over 18, none of the midgets got hurt, the scene with the mattress sized cornbread was a computerized green-screen effect, and no one actually had physical contact with the goat - he was just there for atmosphere.

Anthony "money shot" Butler

DVD Delay

I'd like to apologize to the folks who didn't get a reunion slide show DVD. There has been a delay in production and distribution due to busy family lives of the producers/distributors. Seems that as soon as the reunion ended, the universe filled the void of our newly found free time with a ton of stuff to do.

But have no fear, the DVDs will be made and sent before the holidays (well, after Thanksgiving, but before Christmas). So when you gather with your family and friends this season, you can show them yourself in days of yore as you tip back a little eggnog and snack on those fantastic Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark Squares.

Amy

Multi Media Social Site

Hi all!

The reunion sounds like it was tons of fun! I've set up a little social networking site (like a blog on steroids) over at http://chaminade87.ning.com/

Feel free to join up, and request an invite. It's free, and no one is going to use your email addresses to put even more spam in your inboxes.

It's chock full of multi-media technology, so Tom could upload the chami version of "i love the 80's" and anthony could photoshop and upload to slide shows. I've even got this blog itself coming to the site.

Anyway, come on by, connect up, and see if it's something y'all want to use.

rob

http://chaminade87.ning.com/