We partied like it was 1999.

I was a sophomore at North Georgia in 1999. Back then the biggest decision that I had to make was whether or not to stay in my dorm room and study or go to Eric Jones' house for the weekly party which would most definitely end up to be the social event of the year if I chose not to go. My biggest worries were directly related to matters such as finding the appropriate attire from the thrift store for the upcoming Phi Mu $5 dollar prom social, what cereal I was going to eat for lunch, and if my face would be a terrible swirled orange hue the morning after accidentally washing it with self-tanner. [Such trials and tribulations for a young girl of 20.] Inevitably on those nights that I chose to be responsible by staying in and studying, not a lot of studying actually took place. Do you know how hard it is to study when your other responsible friends are just a few feet down the hall or a [incredibly long] walk up the hill in Donovan? It's nearly impossible. Someone almost always needed something from Wal-Mart and heaven forbid you travel alone in Mayberry. It's just not safe for a college-aged girl to be out alone at 9:00 on a Wednesday night in a quaint town. Did I mention the "something" was usually from the grocery side of the store with high fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated oil listed somewhere in the ingredients? And everyone knows that friends don't let friends eat junk food alone so usually what followed a "quick trip to Wal-Mart" was an all out hen fest . Yes, the parties and socials were fun and memorable in their own way, but some of my most favorite times were those nights sitting on the hall of Sanford or in Lewis Annex lobby with my best gal pals. Those times provided the same kind of comfort and sense of security that sitting around with my parents on a Thursday night watching none other than the Cosby Show and Family Ties when I was a kid did. It's a nice feeling.

And even now 10 years later it's still a nice feeling. On Sunday night, Suz called to chat on her way into Athens as Mike was out of town and Grandma's boxes needed to be unpacked in her new house. Of course I tried to convince her to come over then, but there was a baby to put to bed and it would have been really late by the time she finally made it over from her parents' house. ["Really late" for 30 year olds="early" for 20 year olds] But last night after she put Caroline to bed, she did come over for a visit and what fun we had. Well, she probably would have had more fun had my dog also been sleeping peacefully like her baby was. It was a great chance for us to catch up and laugh and discuss important matters like the pronunciation of my World Vision baby's name, what fitness classes she was going to take at the Y, and the price of tea in china. At one point I thought to myself, "gee, all that's missing is the cookie dough and this would be just like old times." And then what happened next is what happens only when you have been friends with someone long enough that they are essentially family. Suzanna reached into her bag and said "How much would you make fun of me if I pulled out my emergency Cadbury Egg and ate it?" Partially hydrogenated oil. Check. After falling apart into a fit of giggles and making note of exactly what she had said in her question for future blogging purposes, I said "none at all" as I pulled out a fruit roll up from the cabinet. High fructose corn syrup. Check check.