Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Back from a trip to Chicago - Reunion

Mark and I spent a long weekend in Chicago this past weekend attending his 45th high school reunion. Mark was fortunate in the sense that he attended the same elementary school, junior high school (now middle school) and high school and kept long-lasting friendships with a posse of guys that to this day stay in touch and see each other when they can. What fun to be the 3rd party sitting back and watching the dynamics of people getting together to embrace, share fond memories and see people they haven't seen in 25 to 45 years.  Their class was a large one for 1967 in Southside Chicago. There were 187 who attended the two days of events and 31 who have passed away over the years. From appearances and hearing conversations, some people looked the same except for maybe some white or grey hair, while others look completely different from their life experiences, genetics, health, etc. I smiled the whole weekend, took lots of pictures and just enjoyed the love and camaraderie that occurred. After high school, they all spread out and attended college in IL and in other states but the core group of friends stayed connected. They attend each other's weddings, now children's weddings and thank goodness no deaths yet. The wives, husbands and significant others are now considered part of this posse.

While growing up, we moved a lot, thus I attended many elementary schools mainly in California and Arizona  and I attended three different high schools so I don't have the luxury of having lots of friends I grew up with. I led an interesting life traveling and moving with my mother and I do somewhat envy people who were able to stay in one area and gather life-long friends. My children were Army brats and they too experienced moving a lot but my oldest son was able to attend one high school and has a couple of friends from there he is still close to. My other son attended two different high schools in two different states and didn't develop those close friendships.

I can't feel sorry for myself nor would I rewind and live my life differently as on my journey I became who I am today and that's what it's suppose to be. But I do respect and appreciate seeing those who have been together for years, shared life experiences, friendships and love. If you developed friendships from growing up and have lost contact with them, might be an opportunity to reconnect, think about it.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Pinterest Boards

Another new social media tool is "Pinterest" which really is a very user friendly place to create "boards" of interest. There are categories and topics you put on your page and then you start embellishing your boards. You can "pin" or upload photos you like or are interested in such as hobbies, food, places you want to visit, books you read or want to read, movies to see, styles, quotes.......you name it as you can be as creative as you want to be.

So you may ask yourself what the value of doing this is?  I have always loved to share with others helpful hints, tidbits, etc. so a perfect place given my personality to do this. Pinterest is connected to Facebook and Twitter  and somehow people from these social media sites will visit the boards to see things they can relate to or like and from the most recent additions put these same things on their boards. I simply enjoy spending a few minutes on this site each day. It is just fun.

I follow people who think similarly to me in how they post - fashion, design, travel, quotes, etc. May not be your cup of tea and that's OK.  Another creative idea that is innovative and the creators will soon be millionaires.