I love four-day weekends.

Everyone else calls them three-day weekends because they only extend the normal two-day weekend by one day, but ever since I was a kid I have mistakenly called these blessed weekends four-day weekends.

I generally correct myself and say, “I mean three-day weekend” so that I can fit the expected norm, but I think I’m going to stop doing that.

I like calling three-day weekends four-day weekends because that makes them feel longer.

Besides, I think my misnomer arose because, in a normal weekend, it feels like Friday is part of the weekend since it’s the first night you can stay up as late as you want without regretting it later.

Think about it. We say “TGIF” and otherwise wait expectantly for Friday to come, and when we get done with work and/or class on Friday we say, “It’s the weekend!” like we’re heralding in the New Year.

So, if in a normal (two-day) weekend, we actually consider Friday to be part of the weekend as well as Saturday and Sunday, it seems reasonable to consider Thursday the first day of the weekend in what is normally considered a three-day weekend.

Anyway, all of this is to say that I took off work last Friday to give myself a four-day weekend (I don’t have Friday classes since I’m in the Evening Studies program).

This four-day weekend was long in coming because, while everyone else who attends SMU spent their Spring Break lounging on a beach in Mexico, I spent my Spring Break accruing overtime hours at work. I spent twelve hours working the Monday of Spring Break.

So in a lot of ways, last Friday and the resulting four-day weekend was like my Spring Break.

No skiing, no beaches, no vacation of any kind really, but Spring Break nonetheless.

So what did I do over my four-day weekend?

I spent Thursday night at my parent’s house, got a hair cut and ran errands on Friday, worked on a photography project, went out to a nice dinner at a new restaurant on Friday night, spent the night at my in-laws that night, slept late Saturday morning, watched television most of the day Saturday (something I literally never do), and went to another new restaurant Saturday night.

This last event could use some elaboration. My wife grew up in the small town of Van Alstyne (just the name tells you how small it is. If it grows much larger they’ll have to change its name to something that sounds more like the name of a city and less like the name of a ranch).

Anyway, Van Alstyne just got a new Braum’s. It had been a couple months since my wife and I had been to visit her parents at their house, so seeing this gigantic ice cream cone dominating the (I hate to use this word) skyline of Van Alstyne came as quite a shock.

I imagine that this one restaurant alone has now increased the city’s commercial revenue potential by ten percent.

When we went to eat there Saturday, the parking lot was almost as full as it would have been if it were the parking lot of the football stadium on a Friday night. Half the town was there – almost literally.

My in-laws overheard a city politician talking to someone about how he’ll be running for mayor in May.

That’s how big of a deal the opening of a new restaurant is to a small town; it had become a campaign venue.

As is usual with new restaurants, I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich that came out fried and it took at least fifteen minutes for me to get a milkshake because the employee-in-training forgot about the milk. All in all though, it was a nice meal and a nice restaurant.

I know, I know: my four-day weekend/Spring Break wasn’t what you would call breathtaking or exhilarating, but it was exactly what I needed. Rest. Relaxation. Ice Cream.

Oh yeah, and Girl Scout cookies. I forgot to mention that I bought three boxes of Girl Scout cookies in front of PETCO while I was waiting for my wife to get new contacts and glasses.

I love those Trefoils. I have no idea how to pronounce the name of those cookies, but they are excellent. No frills. Just simple goodness. Like my four-day weekend.

Matt Brumit is a junior humanities major. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].