Sectionals: Declassified

It has been one hell of a whirlwind weekend. I was up for two days with about 3 collective hours of sleep. Finally got to bed late last night and have awoken sick. Hopefully I've got what Molly had and not what Marian has. That would just suck so completely. I'm going to try and do justice to a recap of the whole weekend because Friday was good and yesterday was very, very interesting (but not for the reasons we thought). Let me begin...
Friday it poured all morning and there wasn't a chance in hell I was getting up to trek through that to go to philosophy class. So I stayed in bed. It cleared up by the afternoon and I had to give a tour, which was fine. I got to relax and do nothing while Molly ran around getting ready for the fellowship because I had an excused absence. That night I met my cousin Brian and his wife Holly for dinner in Chinatown. We went to this brickoven pizza place called Matchbox and it was surprisingly good. Very good, in fact. I haven't really found a good pizza place down here (I'm very much a purist when it comes to my pizza) but this was good. We waited over an hour for a table, which just meant that we sat at the bar and drank. That long of a wait is reassuring though. All those people wouldn't be there if it sucked. So dinner was fun. They're moving to North Carolina and Brian thinks he can get me a summer job. That would be fantastic. I have to send him my resume this afternoon.
I get back to campus around 10:30/11 and Chris had texted me to say they were having a party in Steve's trailer and I should stop by. So I did. It was a very strange party. Steve, Chris, Nick, Ed and his whole crew, and then a bunch of random people who don't go to school here. I stayed for a little over an hour to be fashionable and not rude. Then I peaced. It was getting late anyway and I had to be in the Pryz by 7 the next morning. I was ready to just go to bed. But! I get back to my trailer and Erin texted me to stay that her and Erin Kilroy were on their way back from Adam's Morgan and going to Brooks, did I want to joing them? Well, I ended up going to Brooks. Which would have been fine, but Chrissy was there. I have nothing against her. I never did. But the second we walked in she gives me a nasty look and you can tell she wants to start talking about me to anyone who will listen. In the end, I got home around 2:30 and didn't get to bed until 3. Just over three hours later, I was rudely awoken by Molly throwing my door open because we needed to get up and get ready to be at the Pryz by 7. Grrrrr!

This brings me into the story of Espionage: Sectionals Declassified. What a day! We get there at 6:56 and the info desk worker won't let us in until exactly 7. Really? Whatever. So we get in, everyone else starts showing up and David and I are assigned to go sit at the metro and give directions to anyone who looked lost. A very exciting assignment, let me tell you. After that I had some time off before I was scheduled to work at the info desk. I ended up sitting on the third floor of the Pryz with Afifeh, talking about random stuff. Mark and Patrick came over and we ended up on a conversation about the post-conference party at last year's sectionals. It was awesome because, at first, Patrick was like "no I don't think I was there. I don't rememb-- oooooooo". It all just kind of dawned on him, which was hysterical. I worked the info desk and ended up getting into politics discussions with a bunch of the pledges. For the most part, they all seem pretty normal and cool. The day proceeded on with me running around doing minor things and just trying to make sure Molly wasn't freaking the hell out. This was done by staying out of her way and just helping her out whenever she stressed.
Now we get to the business meeting. I could write a whole post just on the drama that unfolded in the Hannan 108 auditorium. And believe me, there will be a long email that goes into great detail about what went down and why we think it did. Basically, the abridged version (for the sake of time) is that we have this business meeting with everyone from our section who is at the conference. Every school elects 2 voting delegates and the rest of the people just sit in the back and watch and, at times, may be invited to ask questions or offer opinions. At the meeting we vote on where the next year's sectionals will be (its at UMBC, who are a newly chartered chapter and have no idea what they're getting into) and we choose our new section chair for the year. Traditionally, people serve two terms as section chair. So this year we were going to nominate and elect Mark to his second year. Everyone knows this is what is going to happen and we're expecting this part to last about 5 minutes. Then all the non-voting delegates can leave and I needed to shower before the banquet. Well, for reasons that I won't get into, Zeta Phi (aka Howard U) decided to throw a metaphorical hissy fit and nominate some random person from section staff, who went to their school, to run against Mark for section chair! Are you kidding me!?!?! Then G-town thought it was open hunting season and decided to nominate Patrick, who is their section rep. He declined because he's Mark's best friend and he's not going to run against him. So then the two nominees had to answer questions from the voting delegates (and non-voting people can't say anything). Howard goes on to ask questions about embracing ethnicity and all this other shit. Now Zeta Mu (cua) is sitting there silently freaking out and plotting ways to kill Zeta Phi. Poor Molly had to leave the room before the vote because she would have been inconsolable if Mark didn't get reelceted. I mean, he's like family to her and that may have been the thing that drove her away from the organization. Well, Mark won, which was good. But it set the tone for the banquet.
All things considered, the banquet went very well. We gave Molly the Chapter DSK, which she was very surprised about. Mark gave Molly, Marian and Beth gift certificates to a spa as a thank you for the work they put into planning the conference and because they are "three girls who have no idea how to relax". Then we did Roll Call. No one in our chapter had time to plan a roll call so we put Alyssa and the pledges in charge of it. They got up to do their thing and the rest of the chapter was a little concerned because none of them had ever even seen a roll call before. Well, can I just say, they gave the greatest roll call I think I have ever seen. They may have beaten the boys from Alaska, Fairbanks at Nationals. It was absolutely hysterical. Luckily, I had decided to record it, simply because it was our chapter and the pledges. You can all go watch it on facebook. It's great.
Once everything wound down around 11:30 (and it was insinuated by section staff that we drink excessively, which we do) Molly and I had a few people back to our trailer to hang out. And by a few I mean Andee, Chris and Steve. It was just the whole "its over we can sit and do nothing" mentality. Molly went to bed around 12:45 because she had to get up this morning to go up to NYC. But I was still up and they all stayed until 3. We were just up talking and laughing about the conference, random people and a whole bunch of stuff. For the second night in a row, I didn't get to bed until 3 in the morning. That ok, I had a good time. This morning I woke up sick though.

So that was my epic weekend. It was pretty intense and very interesting. Overall, I think everything went very well and almost flawlessly, minus the business meeting. I just realized this is an insanely long post and it has taken me over an hour to write (although I was also uploading videos and checking my mail). I gotta go take Sudafed

Can I Take Your Order?

My dad just called me in this high strung, worked up panic about how I haven't heard from any of the jobs I applied to. So clearly, I need to go on monster.com, check the newspaper classifieds and apply for every waitress job in the district. Otherwise I will have to come home for the summer and look for a job there. I was like "Whoa, bud. Calm down. I think I have until the middle of April before I need to start worrying." He thinks I need to be panic stricken this very instant. Even though two of the jobs I applied to only had their deadlines last week. Give them time to file all of the applications before you start thinking no one is willing to hire me. Honestly, the confidence he has in me is amazing.
Well, that's my story. Conference starts tomorrow night and Molly has threatened to send me hourly, countdown text messages. Please dont!!! I may be forced to file a restraining order at that point. We have a meeting tonight to stuff envelopes and folders. Should be tons of fun. Really, I cant hardly contain my excitement. Who cares that the series finale of ER is tonight at 9? I'd much rather stuff folders in the Pryz. It doesn't matter that the show has been on for fifteen years and tonight is the last episode EVER! My dedication and love for APO are much more important. Especially when we are in such a state of crisis. The conference is only 24 hours away!!!! People, we are at def-com 10!!! It is time to start panicing!!!!!
::the entire preceding paragraph was dripping with sarcasm::

Three Guys and a Machine Gun

I had a good night. The weather kind of sucked but the night, itself, was fun. We started out at Loriol Plaza in Adam's Morgan. It was me, Molly, Marian, Erin and Erin. We got some food and some margaritas. Soooooo amazing! Oh my god! I love their drinks!! They are the absolute best in the district.
While we were there, my dad called me. It was like 11:30 and I'm thinking, why the hell are you calling me now!?!?! Well, it turns out he was watching the local news (because he was in the district for work) and they had a report about increased crime in Adam's Morgan, highlighted by coverage of a convenience store robbery that took place that night. Three guys with machine guns robbed a store and everyone who was in the store. Machine guns??? Really? Is that necessary? You could rob a store with a sharpie that you put in your pocket!! Using machine guns to rob a convenience store is like using a surface to air missile to go quail hunting. It's ridiculous and unnecessary. At that point, they were showboating.
So when we finally left Adam's Morgan, Molly and Erin Kilroy went back to school because they were sick/tired. Erin, Marian and me went to Irish Times. That is my bar!!!! I've decided that must be our cheers bar because it is just that wonderful. All CUA people, great music, reasonably priced drinks (we got 2 long island iced teas for $14, which is what one margarita cost us at Loriol Plaza). We walked in and I was stunned how many Catholic students were there. I mean, I knew it was a CUA bar, but the entire place was students. I could turn around in a circle and find 10 or 15 people I had class with. We ran into Ray, who was there with a group of people, and we all hung out for a while.
I dont know how it came up, but at one point I found out that Erin knows some of the details of the night we don't speak of. Actually, I think it was because Paper Planes came on and I naturally freaked out and said this song reminds me of a night I don't speak of. Then Erin told me she quasi-knew what went on. So I then had to explain it enough that she had the story straight. But, there are still parts that would only get discussed with Liz. Or the boys, but we've never spoken about any of it with them. Either way, there is a reason it's called the night we don't speak of. We don't speak of it.
I guess we got back to school around 2:30 and passed out. Slept till noon, woke up and made some pancakes. And now the rest of the day has been spent procrastinating and doing nothing. It has been a very productive.
Now I'm going to get ready and go to my wonderful APO meeting. The conference is in less than a week and I think Molly is reaching panic mode. Still haven't decided if this is going to be a funny thing to see or if it's going to be terrible. Doesn't matter, because the banquet on Saturday will make it all worth it. The entire section is going to go to hell in the Pryz Great Room and I can't wait.

Post Party

So Molly has been planning this APO conference that is going to take place here at Catholic. It's in just under two weeks and she's been working on it, probably for a year. Honestly, I've tried to stay as far away from it as possible because I just don't want to get involved in the insanity that will be her life in the next two weeks. And it takes place the week after my birthday. I plan on being drunk. But anyway, I've just been informed that on Saturday night of this conference, after it is essentially over, there will a post-conference party. To be held, most likely, in our trailer. Sweet, I could go for a party. And if there is one thing Zeta Mu knows how to do right, its drink. Maybe the conference won't be so terrible after all.
You know, I'm becoming slightly concerned about something. It's pretty trivial when you look at the grand scale of things, but still. My 21st birthday is on Saturday and I'm becoming worried that (like the rest of my semester) its going to be a let down of a weekend. I mean, I've just got a feeling that it's become so hyped up that it's just inevitable that I be disappointed. And I don't want to be, ya know? I mean, I think that, other than turning 16 and 18, this is the last major birthday you have until you turn 30. And the fact that that is less than 10 years away is slightly frightening. But I digress. I guess I'm just worried that I'm gonna try and have my friends over and half of them will be too high to show up or be any fun and everyone else will have something going on. And then on Saturday, it will turn out that no one wants to go out or do anything and I spend my 21st birthday like I've spent the majority of my weekends this semester. Doing absolutely nothing. Sober as a reformer at an AA meeting. If that happens, that might be it for me. I may actually lose it at that point. Maybe its the pessimist in me, but in any event, I've begun mentally preparing myself for a not-so-spectacular birthday.
Well, I'm going to attempt to get some work done while I contemplate ways to justify a less-than-stellar birthday.