Ok, this one is only a week after the fact. I’m getting better at the efficiency at which I update this thing.
Last weekend was the long awaited, ND 5 year reunion. Yes, my alma mater does a 5 year reunion. I realize it’s not like a thing. At any rate. It wasn’t a reunion as much as an excuse for my group of friends to hang out on campus and maybe attend an event or two.
After nearly not getting out of DC Wednesday night courtesy of some of the crazy storms this area is still dealing with, my flight managed to find a magic opening among the other planes trying to do the same thing we were. I definitely saw way more lightening close up than I felt comfortable with on the take off. My dad picked me up at the airport per usual. I did feel some remorse that I wasn’t able to hang out with the parents more that night, but I was wiped and dragged my sorry butt up to my bedroom.
There’s something strange about your childhood bedroom. I redid it junior year of college and cleaned out a lot of the random stuff. It still has enough identity of being my room that it’s bizarre to be there. I digress. In true fashion for any time at home, mom and I managed to get some shopping in before I met up with my friends.
I digress. After meeting up with Liz, Eileen and Tim and driving through construction/rush hour/car accident traffic, we finally made it to the Bend and wasted no time getting dinner. We took it easy Friday morning. Well everyone except for Liz who managed to get a work out in and pick up her classic stash of Dainty Made frosting. Instead of doing any of the seminars or meetings, we managed to spend the day wandering around campus. Part of this was due to Megan’s daughter Emi wanting nothing more than go to to “DOME!” (emphasis added) Mind you, there’s nothing much going on in the Dome. It’s a bunch of offices. One of those offices being Undergraduate Admissions. *cue photo op for Emi with a copy of the admissions booklet* Hee.
We managed to spend all of Friday afternoon at the bookstore before going back to get ready for the Class of ’04 dinner. And if by dinner, they meant a bunch of random appetizers and a cash bar, then yes. That was our opportunity to actually figure out who from our class was there to hang out with. Either I didn’t know anyone I went to school with, or the people that chose to go to the reunion weren’t at all who I was friends with. At the end of the day, I was fine with it since I was staying with the people I actually wanted to see. We ended up cutting Friday short since the refreshment tent wasn’t really happening. We definitely ordered bread sticks and cheesy bread from Papa Johns and went back to the hotel early to scarf it down. It tasted like heaven. We headed to bed on the early side (ok, like midnight) so some of us could rest up for our… races.
I’ll admit that this was probably my fault. Or I at least ignited the spark. I think the running makes you crazy. I got wind that the Sunburst Races existed shortly before my half marathon and decided that another race would be fun. At any rate, when 6:30 AM rolled around on race day, I was questioning my judgment. Especially knowing that I hadn’t done much running at all since the last race. Unlike the Indy Mini which had 35,000 people at it, the Sunburst 10k was a little smaller at about 1,000. It was a luxury to be able to walk up and not fight for a space in the starting corral. I also started up near Liz and Tim with the 9 minute mile folks. It seems like hardly time passed between walking up and starting the race. Luckily they allowed iPods on this course since I lost the fast people (read: my friends) in about a minute. Literally. In exchanging stories after we finished, we all (Eileen included who did the 5k) slugged out the race. It just hurt. And while I was running I just wanted it over. However, we all managed to clock respectable times. I took a minute off my last 10k. I think my shuffle knew I was on campus because the last two songs I heard while running were Journey “Don’t Stop Believin’” and Madonna “Like a Prayer.” I may or may not have pumped a fist or two. The course was amazing because you finish by running down the tunnel onto the field at ND Stadium. They even had band music playing in the tunnel so you felt like Rudy (even though you wanted to die). I remembered why I put myself through that nonsense as I did the last minute of the race and crossed the finish line. Runners= masochists.
We made our way back to the car/hotel and cleaned up. Our reward for the race was a big lunch of cheeseburgers and fries at CJ’s. I think we spent 3 hours there just hanging out. I managed to get a nap in (and not go back to the bookstore again) before we went to campus for the reunion Mass at the JACC. Fr. Hesburgh said the homily. That man is a rockstar. The same part of me that likes Disney World and fairy tales and being patriotic loves to hear people articulate on what makes Notre Dame so special. I don’t think you’d find anyone better than that than Fr. Ted himself. He even got a standing O after the homily. Not many priests have that kind of game. It was amazing.
We made our way to the BBQ on the library quad. Again, it was a chance for the group of us to hang out with each other. It was super laid back and a beautiful night. I couldn’t have asked for more. The tone was definitely different this night as we knew we didn’t have to race the next day so we were going out. One of the funny moments came after Megan left and her younger sister Erin came. Erin and her friends just finished their freshmen years at ND. Clearly they wanted to crash the reunion. After confirming that they didn’t have a car on campus and had a non drinking driver picking them up, we proceeded to make our way to the refreshment tent to load them up. It was kinda awesome to see the Class of ’04 turn the tables that once held our dinner into flip cup tables. On the quad. Definitely one of those bizarre moments when you realize that people are playing drinking games outside on campus. God bless Notre Dame.
We left Erin & co on campus so they could eventually crash the cups game so we could go to the ‘Backer. Because you have to visit the Linebacker Lounge. The best part was that we were able to take one the shuttles (read: ND students who had minivans to schlep reunion attendees around all weekend) to the bar. Tim got her phone number and instructions to call her before 2 AM. Awesome. We then proceeded to go in, get Long Islands and dance for 2+ hours. It was amazing. I love the types of experiences you only have at that bar. Like a crowd full of drunk people who all magically know the words to Prince’s “Pussy Control.” The 80′s called. They want their playlist back. The rest of the night read like senior year as we left the Backer to go to Nick’s Patio for late night diner fare. We then managed to hail a cab back to the hotel.
4 hours of “sleep” later, we woke up to make our way back to Chicago/ORD and the real world. It had been 2 years since I got to see all those kids at one time. Luckily the weekend didn’t disappoint at all. Here’s a photo of the reunion crew:
