*insert the Bernie Sanders meme that says “I am once again asking you for your financial support” and send it to my mom, who will promptly leave me on read*

Well, winter break is finally upon us.

The week before break was stressful for everyone, and I decided that I should take a few breaks before the official break. I can’t say that the impending break was the reason I repeated some semi-stupid decisions, but I think that break made me go “hey, life is stressful, have some fun and go do the things you’ve wanted to do all semester long.” And what were these decisions? Dying my hair and getting acrylic nails!

Semi-Random Decision #1: Dying my hair.
Why it’s semi-random: I had a box of dye just sitting around. I got it at Target a few days after I tried to dye my hair pink for the first time (detailed below). But I planned to wait 4-6 weeks before doing it again so I wouldn’t damage it too much.
Cost: Like $8? I forget, honestly.

Here’s the story about me trying to dye my hair pink for the first time:

On Thursday night (November 19), I was pretty bored. I was sick of studying and had done everything that I could for other classes. And then I remembered that I had the other box of hair dye. It had also been over a month since I last tried it, so it wouldn’t harm my hair. So, in about five minutes, I made up my mind that I wanted to try and re-dye my hair. This is the one I got:

I borrowed a friend’s hair paintbrush, and she told me how I should dye it. It was almost 11:15, but my first class on Fridays didn’t start until 1:25, so I didn’t care too much. I could afford to stay up a little later. Once I was done, I sent the pictures to my mom of the during and after. She didn’t have too much to say, but then again, she’s a college professor. She knows that students will make stupid decisions at times.

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I mean, it kind of worked, so it wasn’t that stupid… right? It still shows up when I stand under a light, and I could give Ariel from The Little Mermaid a run for her money.

Anyway, I went to class on Friday, and then on Saturday, my friend and I were sitting in the student union together. We were talking about acrylic nails, and it just so happened that my friend had a car. And that’s when we decided to go.

Semi-Random Decision #2: Getting acrylic nails.
Why it’s semi-random: I wanted to do it all semester, but I didn’t for several reasons. First, I don’t have a car on campus, and acrylic nails are expensive. Also, they’ve never lasted more than two weeks on my nails. (However, I haven’t had any problems yet- and I got them a lot shorter than I’m used to.)
Cost: $45, including tip. My poor wallet.

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They turned out pretty cute, so I can’t complain. This is my third time having acrylic nails, and I don’t know how long they’ll end up lasting. I do like them, so maybe I’ll get fill-ins in a few weeks.

As for COVID-19 precautions, all of the technicians wore two masks. There was also a plexiglass shield between you and the technician and a small opening for you to slide your hand under. Also, they made you wash your hands before and after the service was performed.

Saturday went by pretty fast. The original plan was for a few of us to have a fire in the firepit between New Res 1 and 2, but it rained. My friend and I then decided to go get milkshakes at Steak n Shake, drive around, and have a 12-2 AM karaoke party in her car. On Sunday, I took the third calculus test and got an 81%, which I didn’t think was bad at all.

On Monday, I went to one of my classes and the professor decided to cancel class on Tuesday. I was glad since it would have been the last class of the day. That class was the reason I had a flight home on Wednesday instead of Tuesday. I told my mom, and she was able to get me a flight on Tuesday from Daytona to my home airport.

Yes!

As much as I love Embry-Riddle, I was ready for a break and definitely ready to see my family and cats.

On Monday night, I packed up and hung out with a few of my friends. I, unfortunately, don’t live close to them, so there’s no chance that I’d see them over the break. On Tuesday, I said goodbye to one professor who was holding an optional Zoom class. After that, I went to Starbucks, said goodbye to a few other friends, and came back to make sure the last-minute items (like my phone and Apple Watch chargers) were packed. I also made sure to clean my room according to ERAU’s closing cleanliness standards for dorm rooms since my roommates/suitemates were gone.

I left for the airport at 2 PM even though my flight left at 3:30. I ran into several other Riddle students at the gate; I was on American Airlines flying from Daytona Beach to their hub in Charlotte, and from Charlotte to my home airport of Lexington, Kentucky. I had a window seat on the first flight and lucked out; nobody had taken the seat next to me. As we were sitting on the taxiway waiting to take off, I snapped this pic:

Yup, there was a Riddle Cessna landing right next to us, a CRJ-700. It was crazy cool. I also got to watch Riddle go by as we took off on runway 7L. It was a gorgeous view, and pretty ironic- my first in-person view of Riddle was landing on runway 25R, or 7L’s reciprocal runway.

As we flew from Daytona to Charlotte, I noticed a lot of things that I’d never noticed before. Since I had completed AS121 (detailed here), I knew a lot more about what the pilot was doing. I understood what the runway markings meant. I watched us fly parallel to the airport and enter the traffic pattern at Charlotte. I understood why we did what we did, and it was awesome.

At the end of the flight, I had to say goodbye to everyone since we were all heading in different directions. I had a one-hour connection but managed to snag a Starbucks before heading back to my gate:

I boarded that plane, which was empty, too. I talked to one of the flight attendants and she gave me a free upgrade to the exit row (yes!!! Free extra legroom!!!). I ended up chatting with her all flight. She also invited me to the flight deck to meet the captain once the flight was over.

Of course, I said yes, and it was pretty awesome. They let me snap a picture, too:

After I’d left the flight deck, my family met me at the baggage claim and we went home, which took an hour. We hung out at the house for the night, and I wasn’t too tired. Because of my College Kid Lifestyle, I wasn’t used to going to bed at 9 PM, so I ended up staying up until 3 AM.

Whoops.

Either way, I feel like I had a pretty productive week before I went home for the holidays. I have two large assignments I need to do, but other than that, I don’t have any work, which is a nice feeling.

However, my cat has been critiquing my blog post. He thinks that I should write less and go give him a snack.

I guess I’ll have to do that, then.