Approaching Thanksgiving Break

As I start this blog entry, I'm about 3 hours away from Thanksgiving break, which can seem a little unfair as I know people who got to leave on Monday or over the weekend.  Me and many of my fellow students have talked jealously of other schools, like Penn State, where break started on Friday.  As much as I might whine about the shortness of this break, however, all in all I had a pretty good weekend that I'm glad I didn't miss.

Friday night was the 80s party at TRAX.  My friends and I began getting ready early, mainly because we didn't have much else to do.  I didn't have 80s clothing, so I borrowed a pink Star Wars shirt and gray leggings from my friend Karen.  Annie lent me fluorescent socks to add to the 80s look.  The most quintessentially 80s aspect of my appearance was my hair, which Karen wrangled into an impressively enormous side ponytail (the enormous part came naturally, sans any teasing).  When we first arrived at TRAX, which was admittedly early, the place was pretty empty, but soon things picked up.  We danced our night away to 80s tunes and belted out "Living On A Prayer" and "Don't Stop Believing," among other songs.  

Saturday my friend Jill picked me up to go shopping, and we headed over to the mall on the strip.  I bought the most adorable pajama pants at Maurice's.  It was significant that I bought anything, since usually on shopping trips I'm the one who goes away empty-handed.  Later that night, my friends Karen, Lindsey, and I headed over to Charlie's Coffeehouse for a "Charlie Brown Thanksgiving."  This was my first time at Charlie's, much to the shock and dismay of my friends.  Somehow I had never gone any of the times other people on my floor had.  I was very impressed with the atmosphere and enjoyed having a soft pretzel as I watched Charlie Brown force his dog into making his friends Thanksgiving dinner.  That same night, I ordered some Dominos and stayed up late with my friends talking.

The low-point of the weekend occurred when I experienced my first fire alarm at Hass, approximately at 3:40 something in the morning.  I must have been asleep for about a half hour when it sounded.  It wasdisconcerting, though my first thought was that it was my alarm waking me.  We dashed out of the building.  I was wearing slippers and fell on the steps.  Luckily, we all got out alright, though it was pretty cold and spirits weren't exactly jovial.  On the bright side, I was wearing aforementioned adorable pajama pants.

Sunday improved from there and was, all in all, a relaxing day.  I went to chapel service at 11.  Chaplain Radacke performed a great one-person play about Christ the King.  Afterwards, a friend I sat by at chapel accompanied me to brunch in the caf.  Later, Karen and I went to see our friend Kathleen in her band concert, which was really great.  Then the three of us and a friend from InterVarsity Christian Fellowship headed over to the Church of  the Nazarene to help with Christmas decorations.  We assembled a fake tree and decorated it.  We also got some really great food while we there; the sugar cookies were delicious. 

Monday almost felt as if it was part of the weekend, since I only had one class, compared to my usual four.  I had a great time going to Lutheran Student Movement, and I also got to watch some of my favorite TV show Freaks and Geeks with my awesome roommate Sarah.

Even though I do wish our Thanksgiving break was longer, I had a good time with the days I was here that some other students weren't.  Now bring on break!