[SweetTeaParty]

Plenty happened those first few months of college - - some was probably not the best decisions I'd ever made (like flirting up that cute frat guy - - who turned out to be the boyfriend of a Sporty). But, college IS a learning experience - and I learned a lot!

On to the House Tours!

The GLOs had shined up their houses for inspection – and there was to be no food or handouts or videos or tape recorded songs. Only their “Leaders Council” and the members of their House Committee could be in the house. We went to each of the houses for 20 minutes and then on to the next. We were not given 'tours', but the actives were stationed around the house to answer questions ABOUT THE HOUSE.

Each house consisted of a chapter room for meetings (large enough for at least 60 seated women – that was house limit.) a TV / study room, a kitchen, a patio overlooking “Sorority Yard”, bathrooms and, perhaps, a committee meeting room. The houses were not huge, but nice.

Here is what I remember:

Posh: Stunning house filled with antiques and Asian rugs. Highest quality tables, chairs, sofas, lamps dominated the lofted Chapter room. In short, it looked like a showroom. They had a 2-story house. Their upstairs TV room was open to the chapter room below and their upstairs study room had a deck where you could sunbathe facing the yard.

Sporty: Large meeting room with TONS of chairs, small fireplace. Large TV room with new TV. Many HUGE filled-up trophy cases. Large framed composite photos dominated every wall dating back decades. Beautiful outside patio area.

Baby: Another large meeting room with a few couches and TONS of pillows. They said they often sat on the floor or on floor cushions. Inspirational posters covered their walls. Upstairs were study/committee meeting room. They had the cutest bathrooms – somewhere, they found wall paper with their adorable mascot - it was to-die-for!!

Ginger: Their exceptionally large meeting room had a lofted ceiling. It was filled with sectional couches that could be rearranged to seat 1, 2, 3, or 4 at one time. One long wall had a large stone fireplace and huge window seats flanking each side. The small TV room had an old TV and a couch and club chair. The small entry hall was covered in black flocked silver wallpaper.

Scary: OUTSTANDING house! Double front doors that swung out on a sitting porch and opened into a sunken chapter room with a cathedral ceiling. A floor-to-ceiling rock fireplace with a hearth stretching 10 feet in both direction dominated one corner. Spiral staircases that led upstairs to their TV and study rooms. Beautiful furniture.

After talking among ourselves, we decided that Scary had the best house, Posh had a house like our grandmother's, Sporty house was OK and Baby and Ginger needed the most work. But, were we joining a group for their HOUSE?