Tonight is the North Tama Junior-Senior Prom. In fact, it’s nearly time for me to start getting beautiful, my date will be here in a little while to get himself cleaned up, and then we can head downtown for the big fesitvities. We are skipping the Grand March, which happens at school, so that parents and community members can see the lovely young things parade in their finery. The meal and dance itself is down at the Memorial Building, which has been turned in to an sea themed fantasy. Or so I’ve been told. I’ve only seen bits and pieces of the decorations, which the Juniors have been working on for several months…

We’ve been talking about prom at school, one of the teachers was wearing her prom shoes the other day, and we decided we all needed to pull out our prom pictures. I felt really old when one of the young teachers said something about being able to just go on Facebook and find his.

Mark Zuckerberg was 6 years old when my Senior Prom took place….

I remembered having seen my prom picture “recently” — for values of “recently” that include “some time in the last 10 years…”

It took me an extremely long time to search the suspected piles and boxes…only to have this growing memory of actually having scanned it at some point. But I couldn’t remember why, where I would have saved the scan, or where the originals had gone.

And then I got smart. I searched my blog and sure enough, I had posted here in 2010, when I was reminiscing about my graduation.

May 26, 1990

Mom made the dress. I still have it. It’s actually hanging upstairs next to the dress I’m wearing tonight. I don’t remember a lot of details about prom. I know that my friend Michelle braided my hair, but I had misremembered the location (I was thinking it was in Mystic, but it was actually at the Port ‘n Starboard in New London). The theme was “All of My Love,” but I only know that because I found the program pasted in a scrapbook.

That same young teacher that can find his prom picture on FB asked me if I was going to wear my old prom dress. I laughed and laughed and laughed.

I had to explain that I’m almost 40 and carried twin boys. Ain’t never gonna fit back in that dress….

But I’d better end my trip down memory lane and get dressed in my new prom dress and put on my new butterfly necklace and fix my newly cut and colored hair.

I also need to go slather on some makeup, including concealer, because you know what? I may be nearly 40 but I’ve got freaking breakout happening on my CHEEK. Just like old times.