As is tradition the fire alarms went off at 6:40am to call us all out to the front lawn. The alarm in Sammy's building had gone off first so she came to my room to warn me. I had a few spare minutes to put on a bra and pee before it was time to head out to the dewy morning grass and engage in some good ol' singing.
Matt and Stacey were waiting to claim me when I got there. Paul was a little disappointed when he came over to find I was already claimed but I just shrugged and said "What can I say? I'm in demand."
It was pretty funny seeing the drunken and exhausted seniors in the circle. A bunch of them stayed in bed because even the tradition couldn't convince them to rise from their stupor.
We did our singing and running. Singing the Drinking Song that early in the morning is really really really tiring and our class definitely mumbled through the first lyrics.
The sophomore class gave the seniors roses and once we finished the alma mater the seniors all raced up to give the roses to the statue of Minerva and kiss her feet as is tradition.
I waited for my friends and hugged them, congratulating them for making it this far.
Matt and Stacey returned from the statue and we wandered off to breakfast together where the faculty stood waiting to serve us and the seniors were waiting for Champagne Breakfast (that's what they call it).
It was great sitting there with my fellow juniors and watching the seniors be super rowdy and spirited in their black robes as the celebrated the last day of classes.
My friend Evie was a bit hung over from the night before and was lamenting that she had to go bird watching that morning. I told her I'd lend her my Nerf shotgun to make the experience more entertaining (and it did).
We wandered out of the dining hall, some back to bed and others on to class and homework.
I went to the library and ended up sniffling a little bit as I worked on homework.

I went to my last class as a junior and spent the rest of the afternoon packing up my room and enjoying a little peace.

In the late afternoon we had Junior Stunt where the junior class makes fun of the seniors while having water balloons chucked at them. It was a fun but extremely chaotic time. Paul ended up diving the performance area and nailing me with a water balloon when I was imitating him....so I chased him back to his seat and returned the favor with his own balloons. Matt kept aiming for me the whole time but never actually got me and I kept sticking out my tongue at him like "Bwhahaha, neener neener!"
The skit of Matt and his roommate Jamie went well. Evie and I just both stood there awkwardly and silently a minute. Evie lifts a bottle of Jack Daniels and pretends to down it all and I just look at her expressionlessly. We nod to each other and walk away....because that is how Matt and Jamie are known to most people on campus. The audience completely understood and busted up.
At the end of it all of us that participated were a bit wet and muddy but enjoyed ourselves despite the complete lack of organization.

Going to dinner was fun with my squishy shoes and muddy legs. Heh.

To end the day Matt and I had alone time...which apparently he was rather eager for because usually we'll meet up an hour or so after dinner and with me being kind of gross I was thinking of a shower.
Nope, not the case. He followed me upstairs directly and pretty much immediately grabbed me (although to be honest I sensed he wanted to all day because he was almost being clingy and that is very unusual for him). But hey if he didn't care about the mud that's fine by me. Awesome time was had. He is a great partner.
He was also wonderful in that he knew I was bound to be stressed during finals week and said if there was anything I needed to just ask. I then promptly asked for a massage and was impressed.

However during the time my room kept making weird noises that were entirely unrelated to activities he and I were engaged in. The window started squeaking in this long low keen as if it were sliding down. Then things just kept randomly falling off my desk or something. And finally...my bed broke. I mean we just went to sit down on it and "Ka-thunk!" and one corner lowers. "What the heck?" Matt and I investigate and find one of the little legs had broken off under the mattress. Thankfully it is my own bed and the leg is really basic so it isn't a huge deal. We lifted off the box spring and mattress, ditched the crappy frame, put the bed back in place and decided to call it a night. I was super exhausted as it was because unlike him I hadn't napped to compensate for waking up at 6:40am.

~~~~~

The next morning, Saturday, I woke up around 7:30 thanks to my internal clock. I was disgruntled yet couldn't persuade myself to go back to sleep and bumbled around for a while instead.
At breakfast I was sitting there talking with my girls (making my friend Brittanie laugh her ass with some stories from last night: "He had his hair down and suddenly I was like 'Wait, you have to put it back up. You look like European Jesus right now,'") and Matt comes over to greet me saying "Hello gorgeous" -me momentarily floored and speechless- "What? Hello...uh...wuh...thank you." He has never just out of the blue complimented me like that, not even on the days when I look Daymn Goooood or Really Pretty. I was only in a basic tank top and jeans looking casual as ever so my jaw dropped completely open in shock, surprise and flattery at his words. Way to start a day. Wow.
Over the past last few days of class he almost became rather sentimental or something.

~~~~~~~~

We had "the conversation" about what was going to happen to "us" after graduation as people kept asking me "What are you and Matt going to do after graduation?" Basically we had the same thought: keep in touch via phone, Facebook, and e-mail with the possibility of a visit but otherwise whatever happens happens. I felt like a duface because I knew he was thinking near the same thing as me but it needed to be said out loud.

~~~~~~~~
(Author note: the following is copied and pasted from an earlier attempt at an entry so excuse the tense. I am too lazy too fix it all.)
So, because I feel compelled to: self-defense on Wednesday was fuuuuuun. Best final exam yet. Kevin would tell us "Do a straight punch" "Do a headlock" "Do a roundhouse punch" "Do a choke" etc and from those points the defender would have to do anything they could to get out of it, block, take down etc. He was seeing what we knew without him giving us specific instructions and then looked to see if it was techniques he taught us and if they were done effectively. The. Best. Ever. But very likely to leave some students scared shitless when they come against the more aggressive defenders.
A few highlights for me:
1) Being thrown through the air after a girl grabbed my legs out from under me when I was doing a side headlock to her. I was shocked and then came to myself and started laughing my ass off as I lay on the mat. It was soooooo awesome.
2) Scaring the crap out of my attacker when she was doing an overhand psycho killer punch as I just dodged to the side and doing a swift hand-parallel-to-the-floor palm strike to her stomach. I controlled it, otherwise she would have been bent over in pain. I had to catch her anyway because nearly fell over from the shock of my hand thumping her stomach.
3) Being the attacker and winning. I don't go down easy and if the technique isn't working then I am not just going to comply. I ended up taking my defender out once or twice. But I did start taking my glasses off after they flew off once or twice and the attacker had gotten me in the cheek bone. She apologized profusely but I waved her off, knowing it would only be red and not bruised. Kevin and Jake just nodded at me. We three understand the degrees of pain in the class and the levels that are too much, too little and bearable.
4) My instructor's pride as I used more advanced techniques and was effective in getting away every time.
It was interesting because again, Evie is taking the class with me and has been in it for as long as I have, yet she was less effective in defending herself that I was. I love her but I can't help but feel slightly competitive in that class.

I have specifically requested as "I am graduating next year!" plea that we do floor grappling in the class. I think it would be really valuable. Jake and Kevin are shirking it because women are the main ones that take the class and it might be awkward/mistakenly sexual. Well, fucking duh, where the hell would those techniques most be needed? And if people can't be mature then screw them. So I am really hoping they progress there.

~~~~~

So that's my account for the last day/week of classes that is long overdue.
On to the next!
Peace.
~Lo