7th Grade: This is the year when I met a whole mess of new people, as we had quite a few grade schools coming together to form a junior high class. Although I actually met her in 4th grade (and shamefully attended a bi-weekly gifted class with her), this is the year that I became friends with Lucy. Here�s what she wrote in my yearbook:

�Hi Pam -
Hope U have an awesome summer & see U next year -
Lucy KIT [phone number]�

Oh, this just epitomizes the whole junior high yearbook signing experience. KIT! Writing like Prince! All she needed to put in there was a �4-eva� and it would be complete. Also, I think pretty much the only thing we could think of to say as seventh graders was, �Have a great summer!� I�m also finding a lot of �You�re a great kid� messages in there. Oh, and the classic �stay cool!� Here�s another fine example that will introduce a running theme:

Hi Pam!
I�m wicked glad I met you this year and I�m glad I�m in your classes! You are a wicked cool kid and Kevin W. is so lucky to have an awesome girl like you to like him! Good luck next year!
Your friend,
Alicia
KIT [phone number]

Gee, can you tell I�m from New England with all of those wickeds? Wicked cool!

9th Grade: My junior high was 7th, 8th, and 9th grade so we ruled the school as 9th graders. Well, we thought we did. I just liked it because it gave me an opportunity to go after the new 7th graders. Always with the younger men�. Anyway, 9th grade is also where people really started to get to know me. Here�s a good example of that:

�Pam, TV is your life, but I can respect that. Your nutty attitude I can respect. But most of all I respect Kevin and his homosexuality. Just bustin�. Nothing ever gets to you does it. I can respect that. I think that I�m God. Ask Lesley, she thinks I�m God. I hope you and your TV have a cool summer.
See ya next year, Paul

There�s that Kevin again. He actually shows up in almost all of my yearbooks, as I had a crush on him from 7th-11th grade. I became famous for it, which is really strange. I remember someone giving me a picture of this guy for my birthday in 10th grade, which I thought was the greatest thing ever. Man. He was 2 years older than me and knew my brother. Last year, my mom was at a wedding reception and found herself staring at a guy, wondering how she knew him. It turns out it was Kevin, and when she said that he graduated with her son, he perked right up and said, �And you have a daughter, Pam!� Hey, at least I�m memorable. He�s married with 2 kids now. Still cute, I hear. Anyhoo, here�s some other snippets from other 9th grade signings that made me laugh:

�Pam, This year in Social Studies was pretty cool. Sitting behind you was a little different�.� Hee! �Pam, (Babe) Have a great summer if I don�t see you and look forward to the new fall lineup�.� �Hi Pam! Math, English and Bio were a lot of fun this year! I especially like your questions of the day!� �Hey Pam! We have had quite a few laughs this year!! And believe me, I do not know how I survived your changing love-life! Everytime I talk to you, you like someone different!! So are you excited about school next year because you get to see Kevin?!� �Pammy, You better be in my classes next year cause I think you make them very interesting. Call me over the summer and we can eat fun fruits while rolling down the hill.�

Fun fruits?! Man. And now I�m remembering my questions of the day. My math teacher encouraged my exploits to the point of where he let me hang up a list on one portion of his chalkboard that I would update each day with the stupidest questions imaginable, such as, �If you catch a cold, can you throw it back?� and �Is Howdy Doody the anti-Christ or just an innocent pawn in Cowboy Bob�s master plan?� As I was flipping through the comments, I just kept seeing things that said �you made class interesting and fun.� Re: You are weird. Your honor, I�d like to enter these as Exhibit U in �Reasons Why Pam Didn�t Have a Lot of Boyfriends in Junior High and High School.�

10th Grade: Ah, high school. We should see a more grown-up and mature me, right? Yeah, right:

�Hey Pam, P, Joey, Kevin, George, Whitebird & other aliases!
This year has been such an experience with all our crazy adventures together�How many different people have we liked this year? It would be a pretty long list! We also survived our adventures with Alicia and the Yellow Banana (aka Nellie). At least we weren�t imjured in any way � came close to a heart attack once or twice, but what the heck � we came out alive! Just remember � BUCKLE YOUR BELT FOR SAFETY�. El rey lives! Love, Kris�

You know, I have no idea what half of those nicknames mean. I know Joey was my New Kids crush, but Whitebird?? Kris and I have been friends since kindergarten, so there�s a history there, but still. I believe those nicknames were all from that school year. I called her to find out what George meant, and she had no idea. But yeah, Kris and I have been friends for eons and still are, with never a harsh word to each other in all of our days. I was proud to be in her wedding a few years ago. The thing about this snippet from her yearbook comment (which was really a whole page long) that I find so funny is the seat belt part. Our friend Alicia was born in January, so she got her license first and had this old yellow stationwagon that she would cart our asses all around town in. We were very grateful not to have to depend on our parents for rides everywhere anymore, save for one thing � Alicia was a HORRIBLE driver. You took your life into your hands stepping into that bananamobile. Kris almost got up close and personal with a highway exit sign one night, while I almost lost some limbs to a telephone pole. Thank God Kris got her license in July.

Speaking of weird nicknames and having no idea where they came from, Lucy referred to herself as my �pigeon buddy� in her 10th grade comments, and neither one of us has ANY clue as to what the hell that means. It probably had something to do with our New Kids on the Block exploits. Speaking of which:

�Pam, Erin�s right, we really should start our own volleyball team. We�re so much better than those wimps in the Olympics. Enjoy your summer dreaming of Danny, Donnie, Jordan, Joe and John. Hang tough over the summer. See ya next year!
Becky

I�m sorry, but did she really tell me to �hang tough� over the summer? I�d just like the record to show that I never wrote anything like that in anyone�s yearbook.

11th Grade: This is the year that I started driving and never looked back My friends Kris and Liz and I teamed up with an awesome Texas transplant to become the Sistas of �Rebel Nights.� Courtney Harris was her name, and although she was only here for that year, we became the best of friends. She came back up to visit for graduation, but we lost touch during the second year of college. Kris and I often wonder how she�s doing. If anyone out there knows her, hook some sisters up! (She was from Corpus Christi and went to college in Nacogdoches. She�d be 30 now) I�m going to defer to a quote from Kris�s scribbling in my yearbook that year that sums it up the best:

��We have always managed to get ourselves into strange situations, though. We�ve been chased and followed by so many freaks it just doesn�t seem possible.�

Until I just read that, I had completely forgotten about the night we were all driving through a McDonald�s parking lot when some random guy standing by the door took one look at us, pointed and tore through McDonald�s to come out the door on the other side that we were coming around to. He then proceeded to chase my car down the road, and we still have no idea why. Kris was laying down in the backseat when he pointed, and it caused her to sit straight up and start yelling. The worst part? When we had gotten around the corner and away from the random freak, we were all hyperventilating and screaming. Then we just all looked at each other, laughed, and said in unison, �Let�s go back!� And we did. And he chased us again. And we laughed and screamed the whole rest of the night. Sometimes I really miss those days.

Senior Year! Da-dun-dun-dun-dun! So what did people learn about me and take away after 6 years together? Let�s see:

�Hey Hey Pammy (Paula) [no idea]
I remember it all started with the Patty Duke theme song��Tell me mama what to do�.� Well, I must say that you are by far one of the most creative people I have ever known. I loved watching your movies that day. When you become a rich and famous star, DON�T YOU DARE forget me. (I still have your �Best Volleyball Player in the World� autograph somewhere) Good luck at RIC next year and hey, live it up. I�ll miss you. Love, Deann�

You know, I�m still waiting on becoming a rich and famous star, but sadly, I have already forgotten about Deann. And I had completely forgotten that I used to watch The Patty Duke Show every night when it premiered on Nick at Nite. Wow.

�Pam � You are the weirdest friend I have and I love it! Stay in touch this summer and we�ll wear masks and drive around! Let�s party! Good luck in RIC! Luv, Anne!�

Yeah�we used to drive around wearing crazy masks just to see how people would react. Come on, we weren�t old enough to drink, what else did you want us to do? It was actually really fun. There�s a busy main street right near my house that is just lined with shopping plazas and restaurants. We�d just wait at one of the numerous red lights and see what people did when they pulled up next to us. We�d be acting completely natural, of course.

�Pam! You and all of your animal friends have been a pleasure to know but my favorite is the super long monkey you pulled from your pocketbook. Good luck in your future. I hope I see you at RIC! Love, Kelly Lee�

Yes, Tim tagged along with me to school one day that year.

�Pam,
It�s been great knowing you all these years! I hope that we will continue our friendship for years to come! I can see it now, at the 10 yr. reunion you are going to show up with Mr. California (The hottest guy in the world). You have all the luck! We must get together this summer! You are so much fun to be around! You always know how to make me laugh! Thanks for being a great friend,
Erin�

You know, I�m starting to think that one of the reasons that I lost touch with Erin right after high school was the fact that she was on crack with all of that 10 year reunion Mr. California jive. I have all of the luck? When? And let the record show that my 10 year reunion was 2 years ago and I didn�t even show up. (Although I did start dating the hottest guy in my world 2 months later. But he was no Mr. California, whatever that means.)

�Dear Pam, you little smurf -
Well, we are done! Party on, dude! I will miss you dearly, Roso. College will be lonely without you. With whom will I quote John McLaughlin? Liz? WRONG! Pammy, you are just so silly! I will always remember Pooh Bear, Kevin Day, SNL, Rock Paper Scissors Duck, etc. We�ve had lots of good times. The Corner 4 is something I�ll remember forever. Your company never bores me�.Love ya, Andy�

Oh my God, the Corner 4. We used to sit in the back of Physics class and write ridiculous stories and make up all different options to expand Rock, Paper, Scissors. I still have the list of options and corresponding pictures of their actions somewhere. �Does disco beat smurf? What about soul patch vs. egghead?� And now I'm laughing thinking about Dana Carvey's impression of John McLaughlin. WRONG!!

Then there is the litany of the �you�re nuts� comments again. Here are some of them:

�Pam, Well you certainly are an interesting person, that�s why I like you�.� �Pam, Well, it�s been great knowing you all these years because you�re the only person in this school who us as weird as I am�.� �Pam � What a wild year. You are such a ballbuster. You�re such an mmmmbadass�.� �Pam, Pam, Pam, Pam � what can I say about Pam? Pam, you�ve got to be the most original person I know. Just make sure you keep it up. You�ve got a personality that�s hard to beat and impossible to match. Remember me always. Your friend forever, Mike Mc.�

Mike who? I wonder if he�s writing greeting cards these days with words like that. I think I was always destined to become That Girl, you know the one? �Well, she has a great personality.� Yeah, thanks. Tell Mr. California that and he�ll go running the other way. Damn him. I don�t even know who he is, but damn him anyway.

And finally, let�s hear what one of my still close friends had to say:

�Bamhay, Pam, Crime Boss, Brenda:
I can�t believe we have made it through. Here we are graduating and we steal lawn decorations. I am such a crazy when I�m with you and Kris. Remember our 9th grade �Women in History� video? The Brenda Episode, Stop & Shop incidents and Rebel Nights � they�ve meant so much to me�Liz, Dizzy, Lord. Ching Ching to the sistas!�

Those are the highlights of her page-long note. Liz has always had the greatest way of stating things so perfectly and simply � here we are graduating and we steal lawn decorations. Hee! And hey, we were doing a public service by removing some of those monstrosities. The �Ching Ching� thing is a shout-out to one of the best board games of all time, Electronic Mall Madness. When you tried to make a purchase with your credit card, an electronic voice would announce �Ching ching!� if you were approved and �Sorry, try again later!� if not. The way it said �Ching ching!� was classic.

Man, I could list so many more from the years, but I�ve been rambling on long enough. Now I think I�ll be spending the rest of the night trying to figure out what most of these bizarre references mean. Pigeon? George? Also, thanks to someone else's comments, I now have "Mr. Dobalina, Mr. Bob Dobalina" stuck in my head. Thanks a lot, old friend.

Anyway, stay cool and KIT. Good friends 4-eva!


before & after





2007-09-26 - Follow Me!
2006-09-30 - Site Move & Favorite Entries
2006-09-25 - Evil Easter Bunnies & Rock Climbing!
2006-09-22 - Shameful-Purchase Hiding & A New Dentist Plan
2006-09-19 - Birthday Picture/Video Diary & The Wheelmobile





Copyright 2003-2006 by Sockgirlie. Stealing is wrong.