Then and Now 4 - Party Time

Then and Now 4 - Party Time
Time: Late 2007, single and at my apartment.

One Saturday, I decided to have a party at my apartment. It was the first party I had ever thrown in my life, and it was an excellent indicator of how much progress I had made in my life. Before, I didn't want to go to parties because I was ashamed at how much of a scrub I was, and because I was too nervous to talk to people. But abroad, I was hosting my own.

This wasn't a perfect day, because I had a few hours of work to do at a school where the kids had massive discipline issues, the co-teachers were unhelpful, and if that wasn't enough, the school reeked of urine. But as I said before, going to work at 8:00 in the morning and getting home around noon or so was a hidden blessing, because it got me out of bed, kickstarted my energy levels, and was perfect for getting me up and about to enjoy my unmarried life and get things done.

So when my work was done, I went home and called up all my friends, co-workers, acquaintances and so on to double check that everyone was coming. When all that was finished, my laundry was washed, dried and folded away, and I had moved all my furniture around to become makeshift couches and chairs, so I took an hour or two to play some video games to relax a bit.

4:00 rolled around, and I placed an order for several pizzas and giant bottles of coke, then got some packs of cups and plates from the local supermarket. After picking up the food and heading home, I set up my PS3 and Rock Band, and awaited the arrival of my guests. Almost everyone I knew was coming: Ken, his girlfriend Vicki, my co-workers, my young landlord Nate and his girlfriend Annie, several friends I had made on the internet (and who I will talk about in the future), and Sammi, a girl I wanted to date.

People started showing up in scattered groups, and it seemed like every few minutes I was getting up to answer another knock at the door, and more friends were coming in to enjoy the party. I did my best to show my first guests how to play Rock Band so they could teach the rest of the people at the party, and so I could welcome more guests in and do my rounds talking and joking around with everyone.

Ken and Vicki got lost on the way there because they took a bus in the wrong direction, so I directed them to the right one by phone. When they finally arrived an hour or two late, I ran downstairs to meet them at the bus stop and take them back to my place. I was so happy to see them, that even though Ken looked kind of annoyed at being late, I embraced them both in a massive bear hug that melted away all their unhappiness. And with that, we were up in my apartment in no time.

Finally, after the last of my guests arrived, my house was jammed with people rocking out on plastic guitars and drums, singing like fools, and with coke and pizza in hand. It was an amazing night; we groaned when people failed songs, cheered when the new players managed to get through one, talked about everything under the sun, and stuffed our faces with the greasiest pizza I could find. I took dozens of great pictures, too.

I tried to talk to Sammi a couple of times, but she was very unresponsive and a bit cold, which was par for the course for her. Still, even though I still tried to keep my attention on her, I didn't let her attitude spoil the night. We partied loud and hard up there for a good couple of hours until midnight rolled around. The party started petering out, and with full bellies and wide smiles, my guests left one by one.

Finally, after the last guest was gone, I cleaned up the discarded pizza boxes, greasy plates and game console, then had a little late night gaming session. I couldn't keep my eyes open after an hour or two, so I turned the computer off and went to sleep, a Sunday full of more travel and fun waiting patiently in the wings for me to wake up and enjoy it.

As for today...

I woke up at 8:00.
I read to my son.
I talked with my wife.
She took our son to his grandma's house.
I played video games.
My wife came home, so I turned off the computer.
I ate lunch.
I played video games.
I went to work.
I taught students.
I came home.
I slept.