Wednesday Nights Have Indeed Changed.

All week I have been at one of our local gambling establishments on-and-off for work due to an annual meeting.

Last night we had the big event. The awards banquet.

My friend and co-worker, for almost seven years, Cathy and me.

I felt like I was at a sorority winter formal without guys (there were only a few men there).

Everyone looked beautiful. Many of the attendees wore extremely fancy dresses, make-up and hair-dos.

We had a Party Pic person taking pictures of everyone. We even had a snazzy, glittery backdrop for group photos.

It was like college all over except that we couldn't really drink since the majority of us had to drive home at 11:30 p.m. and go to work for two more days.

As it neared midnight, and I was driving home in pure isolation after 15-hours of being "on the clock", for some reason it made me realize that during college in the 90's I would most definitely be out at this time.

As we all know, Wednesday night was the start of the weekend in college.

We would go to Tazzles for quarter draws. (I like to secretly believe that the bouncer - who a decade later would become my husband - looked at the driver's license of a certain girl with a rockin' perm and thought, "Someday the girl attached to this frizzy fro will be my wife.")

And then we would walk down to Dean's List or to People's with our mugs for Mug Night until the bars closed at 2 a.m. And sometimes we'd go to after-hours.

As I woke up at 2:20 a.m. last night choking as a result of the second-hand smoke from the casino, and the fact that all of these drinking establishments no longer exist in Ames, it became extremely clear I am SO not in my early 20's in any way, shape or form!