clap your hands everybody / if you've got what it takes

7/23/2009
My department has a giant trampoline in the break room. Every morning before work anyone who wants one gets a hug, and then we all jump on the trampoline and freestyle (mostly about science). The new grad students were introduced before this morning's meeting.
After work I walked through the U of C (Chicago, HI) campus to get to our tiny studio apartment. I noticed the boxing ring outside the Reynolds Club had been ripped out and was nearly done being replaced with an obstacle course and an array of heavy bags.
Nick, who is extremely ripped, was ready to leave by the time I got home, and we headed to a nearby amusement park to meet my family, who were visiting. They have a roller coaster much like the Millennium Force except it breaks down all the damn time, so much so that they just keep maintenance people up there, wearing climbing harnesses and hanging out on the catwalks.
Nick and I arrived home to find that our landlord had rented out our apartment to an elderly lady and a family with two small, loud, entitled children as well as us. I checked our lease--apparently there's nothing in it that says we must be the only people renting the apartment.
"WHAT THE FUCK," I vented to Nick. "THERE IS NOT ROOM IN THIS APARTMENT FOR US AND TWO ANNOYING-ASS KIDS AND THEIR PARENTS AND AN OLD LADY."
"Maybe they're just short-term and we can renegotiate the lease after they leave?" said Nick.
"There is no way I'm going to be able to write this abstract when there's not even room to walk across the floor here," I said.
I turned around to see all the other tenants staring at me.
"Sorry for calling you an old lady," I said. She laughed.
"It's okay, I don't care," she said, clearly more amused at the bizarre situation than hurt.
My immediate family plus Grandma K---- arrived at the door to take Nick and me to Church. I was so stressed out I slapped a Tang label on a bottle of whiskey and brought it along.