Our Date to the Prom

After 15 years of marriage, Chris and I went to the prom last weekend. It was kind of nice...as it was approaching, I didn't have to wonder if I would get to go or be depressed because I wasn't asked. I didn't have to worry about getting up the guts to ask the guy and fear being turned down and feeling like an idiot. I didn't have to wonder if "he" would ask me. I basically said to Chris: "the prom is a week from Saturday. We're going." I love marriage! lol

Of course going to the prom meant we were chaperoning. It's been a whirlwind year after being switched from the K-8 to the high school in September and trying to get my footing this year. (There's a reason this blog was severely neglected for 3-4 months). And other than Parent/Teacher Conferences in October and March, I didn't attend any extra curricular events - a lot of it was playing catch up and being exhausted. However, when prom was coming up, I knew I needed to do my duty and volunteer to be ones of the chaperons. And okay, I wanted an excuse to go out and buy a new dress and for Chris to get some new duds.

I don't get along with dresses very well. For church, I have two dresses that don't get worn much. I am a skirt and blouse person. It's easier to accessorize and swap em' out and mix and match. And Chris looks great when he dresses up, but he doesn't get new dress up clothes nearly enough! He thinks he doesn't "need" any. He actually thinks of clothes as a basic need. Yeah, he's a guy. Since when do we "need" new clothes? lol I wish I had a gay guy friend that can take him shopping regularly.

But I admit, needing a nice dress for the prom when you're pushing 35 kind of sucks. I lost 12 pounds last summer (but my goal was 20), but 10 of them came back thanks to the fun stress and exhaustion this year. And it was the crucial 10 pounds that turn my face into a beach ball. Not fun. And I honestly didn't think I was that "thick" as far as those 10 extra pounds (technically 18 "extra pounds") until I saw the pictures we took! Yuck. Looks like another fun summer of trying to get rid of the 10 pounds, and then another bonus 8 pounds to get where I was 2 1/2 years ago. :sigh:

And if the thickness isn't enough, being the art freak that I am, I love the funky colors and bling, but I also have to consider that I'm a mom and teacher too and I can't dress like I'm eighteen or even twenty-five. Darn. I also can't do sleeveless or strapless. Normally that isn't a big deal, but now, EVERYTHING is sleeveless or strapless. I hate that. Therefore, as fun as dressing up sounds, it had a lot of barriers that induce frustration and stress.

Therefore, on our shopping excursion, I found a great dress (I think I tried on close to 15) but I had to find a shrug since it was sleeveless. That proved way too tedious. I was jealous that after one stop at JC Penney, Chris was all done and I was still scrambling to complete my dress. I was about to give up, when I finally got lucky and found a white shrug that worked. It was weird, because I tried on 3 or 4 similar white shrugs that didn't. But hey, when it's the one, it's the one.

So while it was nice that I didn't have to fret about a date or if I would have one, I wish I had my 16 and 17 year old body! So here is one of the shots of me at prom that actually shows me in a favorable light and angle (plus, the shoes were AWESOME!):


Chris and I even took one of "the" pictures at prom. I was going to pay for 2 5x7s, but they said, "you're faculty, right? Don't worry about it!" Um, okay! (<--another perk in adulthood, though without the high school body). But I haven't gotten those pictures back. Being that I didn't lose 10-18 pounds between the first picture and the ones we took at prom, I am not counting on it being that great. We'll see I guess. Anyway, I know I'm being way too worried about dumb little things. And besides the fact that Chris got the yucky throat achy thing that I've been dealing with, we had a great time. :-)