Altoids

It was early April in 2000 and I was sitting with Brittany S. against the windows of the theater building at Plano East, donning our fabulous black spandex leotards, black spandex jazz pants, jazz sneakers and an insane amount of bobby pins in our hair. I was trying out for the Plano East Golden Girls, and Brittany was a year older and already a member of the Drill Team, so she was helping us prepare for our big audition.

Both Williams and Clark Drill Teams were joined together in the same building, and that is when I first caught glimpse of the most obnoxious thing ever. There were two girls from Clark practicing, one of which was sporting baby pink leg warmers and thought she was a complete sexpot. (Best thing ever - she got caught having sex at lunch in the school parking lot and got kicked off drill team, but that's much much later!) Totally out-of-control obnoxious, definitely never been told 'no' by anyone in her life, and just down right annoying. They were practicing their routine together and critiquing each other, so I figured the second girl (while not wearing pink leg warmers) must be just as heinous to be around.

Brittany and I were so grossed out by Pinkie and we just wanted her to sit down and be normal like the rest of us, so we started throwing Altoids at her. I honestly really have never been a mean girl, or at least not that mean, but this chick deserved it. It just so happens, that maybe the Altoids hit the second girl too, and she went back to Clark telling everyone about this bitch of a redhead who threw Altoids at her. As I entered my first year at Plano East, and I was mingling with all the other students that came from Clark, I realized they were all coming to the conclusion that I must have been the 'Altoid Girl."

Turns out, we became really really close friends and it's a never-ending joke about Altoids. We were so close, that she floated the river with my family, and my dad even had to bail her out of jail for underage drinking. It was totally stupid that she was there in the first place, and I think my dad even may have been arrested if he fought for Casey any harder. Needless to say, we love each other and love to laugh at all our crazy stories.

Well, a very bitter sweet event is about to happen - she's moving. To PHOENIX!!! I'm very proud of her for being so successful in her career and wish her and Brent the best on their big move, but we will definitely miss her so much! We decided to have one last Girls' Night In at her house before they moved, and it was definitely a night to remember. It was a dinner party, a wine party and a pajama party all in one. Of course, we showed up wearing the exact same jammies. Casey is not what one would refer to as 'domesticated' so it was pretty comical to watch her try and start the grill. She told us in her email that she was going to make us delicious grilled salmon (as long as someone knew how to turn on and off the grill.) Allison is a pretty skilled 'grill-er' and said she would be able to handle it, but unfortunately she wasn't too familiar on this particular apparatus. Therefore, Casey was on the phone with her husband (who is in Dubai) getting instructions while repeating them to Allison, who is trying to start the gas while holding a flashlight, and of course there is 9-month preggers Jessica, standing behind with the fire extinguisher. Don't worry, it all came out so good! While we're waiting for all the food to be ready, we're hanging out inside enjoying a varied selection of wines while we watched Amanda and Jessica compare baby bumps at 11 weeks versus 37 weeks pregnant. How sweet! Suddenly, we smell something burning, but we couldn't figure out what it was. The grill hadn't exploded, the oven wasn't on fire, so what in the world was burning? We checked our clothes - nothing. We checked our hair - nothing. Casey demanded that someones head wason fire because she smelled burned hair. Amanda jokes that maybe the cat caught on fire and we all shared a giggle. Immediately, the cat jumps down off the counter and scrams out of the room, which definitely caught our attention. Turns out, the damn cat jumped over a lit candle and singed all the hair on his belly. So sad, but so damn funny too! Pretty sure Casey is a little scared about having kids now, if she can't even keep from setting her cat on fire. Needless to say, it was a great night. We ate, we drank. We ate, we drank some more. We played games and chatted. We ate, we drank some more. And just for fun, we even lit animals on fire. I really enjoyed spending this night with the girls and am so sad that it will be the last one in a long long time with my dear friend Casey. We'll miss you, lady!!!