Heart-Mind-Body-Soul: So Long Summer



Until next year Tahoe

Well, it's official.  As my second day of the school year comes to a close, 

there's no way around it....SUMMER IS OVER.

I joke that the whole thing was a blur, but when I truly break it down I would say all-in-all the Summer of Eleven was not only successful, it was also one for the books.

Summer 2011 Highlight Reel

 

While I had a huge amount of success (and more importantly FUN) this summer, there are a few places where I feel like I really dropped the ball.   

I present to you...

Take Two

So there you have it.  My summer condensed down to a few clicks of the mouse.

  

These past few months have been memorable.

 I worked hard, and played even harder.  I laughed a ridiculous amount, smiled until my cheeks hurt, shed a few tears, experienced some wild adventures, and drank enough

Fireball Whiskey to fill a....oh wait, not even going to think about that!

I made new friends, reconnected with old friends, and poured my heart out to my best friends.

 I remembered why I love living in Reno, and at the same time...realized I may be ready for a change.

While I'm a little sad that days are starting to get shorter,

and the need for the fan at night has decreased...I'm also excited for the school year ahead.

My calendar is jam-packed, my head is already swimming,

 and I'm ready to dive in to probably one of the most intense (yet rewarding) year's of my life.

All I can say is YEE-HAW!!!

Who would have thought this city-slicker would without a doubt have embraced her country side?

TEN YEAR REUNION...Are You Ready for It?



Good 'Ole RHS!


Ok, I'm in a bit of denial. Denial over the fact that my TEN YEAR high school re-union will be coming up at the end of this school year (or next summer?). Ten years?!? Holy smokes! Most days I wonder where all of this time has gone. Other days it feels like it was just yesterday.


I actually enjoyed high school for the most part. I wasn't the most popular person, but I definitely had plenty of friends and fit into a variety of cliques/social groups. I swam swim team, I was editor-in-chief of my high school paper, and I threw a party (or 2 or 3) at my parents house (which knowing how sacred your home is now, I am forever apologetic to my parents). I earned three letters that still adorn my letterman jacket with that ridiculous flap on it. I liked the social part of high school much more then the academic.


With all that said, it surprised me a bit that I somehow was chosen to be the Class of 2001 "Reunion Representative". One of my closest friends (who I met originally in high school) had been browsing the Alumni Website and noticed that I was the designated contact. Since that discovery, I have received several emails from former classmates asking me when it is, what are we doing, can they bring their significant other, and other questions that I don't have answers to.


You see, I'm all about going to my reunion. My friend from high school and I decided that we would go together no matter what. It will be fun to see people. It will be fun to legally drink and party with the people who I used to drive up a mountain, huddle around a campfire and guzzle beer with. And thanks to Facebook (CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT MY FACEBOOK ADDICTION) I know what most of my former classmates are up to, so conversations will be easy and awkwardness will be at a minimum (or at least one can hope for that).

But here's the thing. I am a great party planner (my friends don't get bday parties, they get extravaganzas), I just don't want to (or have the time to) plan and organize this event. Talk about a TON of pressure as well! I will be happy to help out and offer my input. Just being the representative is a role that's just not for me. And this gets me back to my original question of wondering how I was nominated for this large undertaking. I can think of a handful of people who were way more school spirited than I was. Someone who was on student council maybe? Someone who went to every hall decorating and float building event? Someone who painted their cars and their face for every game day? Or maybe someone who just has the time to put into planning our reunion? I emailed the alumni association last week. The basic gist of the response was:

• They weren't sure how my name was acquired.
• There are some guidelines that are available for planning a reunion.
• And basically they didn't really know anything and would have to ask the Alumni Association Board for any real type of answers.

Really, it seems like noone knows anything. It's a good thing that it's only September and from what I understand "reunion season" is June - August. I'm not going to worry about it, as I'm sure the people who really want to take charge of this project will vocalize it over the next few months.


So, to whoever takes over planning the RHS Class of 2001 Ten Year Reunion....GOOD LUCK. We were an energetic, spirited group then. It will be fun to see how we are now! I'm totally excited (and a bit petrified) to see you all again. I can't wait!!!

Facebook is my CRACK

Ok, I'm the first to admit it.  I'm addicted to Facebook.  It's like crack to me.  I check it when I wake up, I check it before I go to bed.  I check it every time it bing-bongs at me and alerts me that someone has: posted on my wall, liked my status, tagged me in a picture, commented on one of my pictures, etc.  And really who am I kidding? By having my other addiction (my iPhone) it allows me to have a Facebook App where I click the button more times daily then I can count. 

I'm the queen of taking pictures (and then posting them within 24-hours on Facebook).  My friends call me the "historian" of the group because whenever a moment needs to be captured, there I am with my camera.  But just as often as they ask me to take a picture, they also come with the warning of, "You better not post the picture on Facebook Sarah" or "You can post it, just don't tag me" or even "Can you create a blocked/locked album so I can see the pix but no one else can?"  I always oblige.

People ask me why I like Facebook so much.  I guess I don't have a specific answer.  I use my status updates more as a journal of my life, for myself.  I rarely post to get a reaction or a response from others (but if people comment, even better).  I like feeling connected to people, even if we're in different parts of the world.  I enjoy seeing people's photos, and love seeing my friend's children grow-up. I guess it appeases the "Jewish Mother" in me and my need to be a yenta (Yiddish for a busy-body). 

I have joked with a few of my friends from High School that there really is no need for our 10-year reunion next year (YIKES!!!). We all know what each other are up to via our Facebook pages and updates.  So with that said, I know I'm not the only one out there who has a Facebook addiction.

While making my daily rounds of my favorite news websites today, an article about Facebook caught my eye.  The article was titled 6 Things You Should Never Reveal on Facebook. They suggested that you NEVER REVEAL:

• Your Birthdate and Place
• You've basically just given identity thieves a key to stealing your financial life. A study done by Carnegie Mellon showed that a date and place of birth could be used to predict most — and sometimes all — of the numbers in your Social Security number.
• Your Vacation Plans
• By posting flights, arrivals and departures, locations and pictures it's pretty much giving criminals an open invite by telling them specifically when you'll be gone.
• Your Home Address
• Well this just seems OBVIOUS!  But suprisingly some 40%  of FB users listed their home address on their sites; 65% didn't even attempt to block out strangers with privacy settings. And 60% said they weren't confident that their "friends" were really just people they know.
• Any Confessionals
•  Employers commonly peruse social networking sites to determine who to hire — and, sometimes, who to fire. One study done last year estimated that 8% of companies fired someone for "misuse" of social media.
• Password Clues
• If you've got online accounts, you've probably answered a dozen different security questions (your Mom's maiden name; the street you lived on as a child; or the name of your favorite song). Got that same stuff on the information page of your Facebook profile? You're giving crooks an easy way to guess your passwords.
• Any Risky Behavior You May Partake In
• Insurers are increasingly turning to the web to figure out whether their applicants and customers are putting their lives or property at risk, according to Insure.com.  So you may like to go heli-skiing, or you may like to race your motorcycle at high speeds. You just may want to consider twice before posting it on your Facebook.  

TO READ THE COMPLETE ARTICLE ABOUT THE

"6 THINGS YOU SHOULD NEVER REVEAL ON FACEBOOK" CLICK HERE 

 Some of the articles advice seems pretty obvious to me.  And I follow the majority of those guidelines to a "t". I guess I need to be a little bit more observant about posting my whereabouts when I'm out of town though.  One of my best pieces of advice for Facebook users is check your privacy settings on a regular basis.  Facebook makes changes to those settings, and doesn't necessarily inform their users.  If you haven't checked recently, there's a very good chance that your information is set to "Everyone" meaning anyone can see your posts, your pictures, and whatever your friends post. Last week, one of my friends was changing his 13 year-old son's settings (someone had found out his son's password and had "friended" all sorts of random people).  He didn't know how to do it and called me for help. Another piece of advice I offered was that even though the privacy setting of "Friends of Friends" sounds secure, in fact everyone can be a friend-of-a-friend.  Better just keep it as "Friends Only".

So with that said, I wish you all happy Facebooking. I know that I'm about to feed my addiction, log on, and post this very blog,  After all, it's been a solid three hours since I've logged on last and I'm going through withdrawals.