So last night, minus a few very important people, I ate dinner and hung out with my core group from our tiny little Christian college. It was there that I met my dearest friends. It was there that I met my husband. It was there that I became comfortable with being a dork. And it was there that I stepped onto a path for my life, along which I am still walking. On this path, there is a Dora big wheel. On the Dora big wheel, there is an oversized 6-year-old pushing two buttons that honk two different horns. And she yells in that non-inflective (made that word up and you know EXACTLY what I mean, don’t you?) “Turning Right! Derecha!” And there’s apparently a laser gun, because you know how violent Dora and Boots are. And the engine is very loud and powerful. Why is this big wheel in my house, right next to my computer? And why am I not yelling for him to stop?

I’m sorry. I digress. That almost derailed this entire process.

So about that path. I think any place I went to school or didn’t go to school would have worked out fine, as long as God was involved. But I went where I went and I did what I did and I met who I met and 20 years, many dear friends, 1 husband, and four children later, I am blessed. And I am at the threshold of a reunion weekend where I will see a lot of people whose names I hope will come to me as my lips form a greeting of sorts. We shall see. Last night was a smallish reunion, again without some very important members of the group (you know who you are and we love you). Toward the end, I got the bright idea to self time a Canon Powershot that was balanced precariously on top of an umbrella, which was then horizontally placed across two hooks of a hat rack. This photo was the result of that first attempt.

Following this lovely “normal” shot, for the second photo, I yelled “Do something goofy!” And 8 seconds later, the timer went off, the result of which is below. Apparently, this group’s interpretation of goofy is quite different from mine. We have bunny ears (really, Jennifer?), glamor shots (come ON, Heather!). We have a couple of tilted heads. And we have monstrously disfigured. I’ll let you try to figure out which one I am. Even 1000 words wouldn’t cover this one.