10/22/21
This week is a special week because not only is it Homecoming week but today one of my friends finally turned 21. So, my day started when the clock struck midnight and my friends, and I got to take her out to the bars. At midnight, we sang Happy Birthday to E on the roof of her apartment building, and then we made our way down to start the evening. We started her first bar experience by getting her a classic Blue Raspberry Long Island and sat by the fire at Brothers where we continued with a few more drinks and hung out with some friends who met us there. Then at 2:30, we left Brothers to go to The Chug to sing some karaoke.
After E’s beautiful rendition of You’re So Vain by Carly Simon, The Chug made their last call, and we walked the birthday girl back to her apartment at 3:30 before my roommate and I started the journey back to our apartment. The night was a lot of fun, but even the best nights have to come to an end.
When I started my night, I did not anticipate getting to take a nap before I had work in the morning, but to my surprise, I did in fact get to take a 2.5-hour nap before I had to get up for work at 7:00 am. Before you know it, 8:00 is here and I found myself back at the Learning Center where I work as a Graduate Assistant. Luckily, I had a short shift, and I had a nap I was looking forward to more than ever before when I got to go home at noon.
Every morning that I open the desk, I have to start with unlocking all of the doors, file cabinets, and logging into all of the software. Then I answer some emails from professors and students, print out some tests, and get ready for our first round of clients to come in and take their exams and quizzes with us. That cycle continues until 12:00 when I get to finally go home and catch up on some more sleep and prepare myself for the weekend that is about to come.
I can only sleep a little bit more because I have a lot of Homecoming preparations that needed to happen before my friends arrive. At 2:00 I got up from my nap, and decided it was time for lunch before I start my evening checklist. I made some caprese ravioli and green beans and started my afternoon of activities. First on the list, my infamous Jell-O shots.
3:00 comes around and I start prepping for Jell-O shot making. Since Homecoming is tomorrow, I was tasked with providing enough Jell-O shots for two separate tailgates. That means I start by setting out 125 serving cups and start boiling some water. An hour and 6 fun flavors later, the Jell-O is in the fridge and setting and I am patiently waiting for my friends to arrive. I decide to fill up the cooler with the drinks for tomorrow and go get food for our own little Breakfast Club in the morning so off to the grocery store I went.
6:30 comes around and I am finally all prepared for tomorrow’s festivities. The breakfast food is in the refrigerator, the snacks have been packed, and the cooler is ready to be filled with ice in the morning. The only thing left are my friends to arrive and at 7:00, they finally pull up to my apartment. My friends K and C were my roommates in undergrad, so we haven’t gotten the chance to hang out together like this since they both have very time-consuming jobs. Muncie feels like home when they are here causing chaos with me.
Around 7:30 we decided we wanted to go to Puerta’s for dinner since that used to be our spot every week. The three of us, my roommate B and my little in my sorority all met up for some food and margaritas to start Homecoming weekend off with a bang. After dinner, we all went to Walmart to finish grabbing things we would need for the cold day of tailgating ahead of us, and then we went back to my apartment to hang out until 11:30 when we called it a night.
Homecoming is a fun-filled week, and it is even better when you get to see some of your best friends that don’t live down the hall from you anymore. This has been a highly anticipated day, from taking E to her first bar, to K, C, and I finally being in the same spot for more than a few hours since the pandemic started. While not every weekend involves this much activity, and me going out more than once a week is a rarity, this is my day-in-the-life for a not-so-ordinary weekend in Muncie, Indiana.