kelly’s graduation party
The main event of this weekend was Kelly’s college graduation party on Saturday. In a testament to how deeply ingrained Kristie has become in our family, she had previously been to Kelly’s high school graduation party four years ago. It’s crazy to realize that in the time since Kristie and I began dating, Kelly, Eric, and Stephany have all gone from mere high school students to college graduates.
The party in Middletown drew my parents and PJ to Connecticut, with PJ arriving in New Haven on Friday night. Earlier in the day, I left lab at 5 o’clock in order to beat out a rainstorm for my bike ride home, but a downpour had descended upon the city by the time I went running shortly thereafter. When PJ got here, we immediately cracked into a couple beers, turned on some music, and started playing Monkeyball. The plan for the night was for us and Kristie to meet up with her labmates, Jason and Ashley, at a downtown bar, but as the night wore on, Kristie had yet to hear from them, so it seemed as though our presumed pregaming might become the entire night’s activity. But then at almost 11 pm, when nearly all hope of a night out was lost, Ashley finally called Kristie! PJ and I downed a couple shots for the road, then we met up with them at Wicked Wolf. The bar has taken a tumble since it’s Playwright heyday, and it was pretty empty, especially for a Friday night, so we moved to Black Bear Saloon. Regardless of the venue, we were having a good enough time that when last call rolled around, rather than call it a night, Ashley and Jason came back to our apartment with us, and we hung out in the kitchen, draining more beers until 4 AM!!
Unsurprisingly, we all slept til noon on Saturday, then Kristie and I introduced PJ to the famous Medical School lunch carts, where we got Chinese Food. I had to go up to Science Hill briefly to wrap up my AU experiment, then at 3:30, I drove the three of us to Middletown. The graduation party seemed to have three distinct acts: day, evening, and night. During the daytime portion, the relatives gathered on Uncle Ted’s deck for food, drinks, and good company. Meanwhile, the cousins and some of Kelly’s college friends played yard games, including the ladder toss and frisbee. Just like at her high school graduation party, Kelly prepared another homemade slip n slide, and she finally set it up late in the afternoon. This marked the transition to the evening phase of the party. I was wise enough to bring my bathing suit so I was able to partake this time, and it was immense fun! She lay two big sheets of plastic tarp end-to-end down the slight hill in the yard and sprayed a sprinkler onto the top of the slope. Then she doused the tarps with dish soap to make the track extra slippery, and the water collected at the bottom to make a natural basin for us to splash into. We started out taking turns sliding down it but inevitably expanded to two and more people at a time, and PJ and I staged a couple of races. We even brought out the frisbee for one of us to throw from the bottom while the other tried to catch it during our dive and descent. Meanwhile, Kelly and her friends were comically bad at sliding headfirst, and for some reason Kristie could never get enough speed to make it to the bottom, which added to my amusement. We slipped and slid until dark, when the final segment of the party kicked in. While everyone else watched from the deck, Uncle Ted and Joey set off firecrackers in the yard, which was a big hit. Then they set up a firepit, and all the cousins and Kelly’s friends gathered around to eat, drink, and be merry. PJ, Kristie, and I called it a night at 1 am, but the college kids stayed there even longer.
On Sunday, we slept late again, then PJ, Kristie, and I met Mom and Dad for brunch at the top of the Omni. In addition to admiring the view, we watched some of the Women’s World Cup game against Brazil, then Mom and Dad drove back to Sparta. Back at the apartment, I switched back and forth between the soccer game and the Red Sox game, which caused us to miss Abby Wambach’s dramatic goal (athough we did see the replay very shortly thereafter)! The Sox did at least win to somewhat compensate… After the sports games were over, we switched to board games and played a round of Settlers of Catan. Then Kristie had to go to lab for a little while, so PJ and I threw the disc around in the Crown Courtyard. When Kristie returned, we all went to the Clinton Crossing outlets because PJ was interested in trying to find some clothing deals and Kristie is always willing to go shopping. PJ and I both found some good bargains on items that we liked, including one shirt that we each liked so much that we both got it – awkward! However, since we live in different states and only see each other occasionally, it shouldn’t pose too much of a conflict. When we finished shopping, it was almost time for PJ to head home for the work week, but we were hungry, so before he embarked on his 2 hour drive, we went out for dinner. Because of the late-ish hour on a Sunday and the suburban setting, it took some exploration and improvisation, but we eventually came across a decent place to dine called Chip’s Pub III in downtown Clinton (it can’t be that bad if it’s the third franchise, right? there must have already been two successful ones before it!). Then, after we ate, we said goodbye in the parking lot and headed off in our opposite directions.