Standing in the cold for hours is a health risk.

The best time of year is Mizzou homecoming. We started the homecoming tradition 101 years ago and have been celebrating ever since! My friend and I decided that the occasion made this football game great to get painted up for.

In order to get painted up, you have to be one of the first 60 people in line for Tiger's Lair (the super awesome student cheering section). Often, being in the first 60 requires camping out and securing your place in line hours and hours and hours and hours before the game actually starts. Last year, this same friend and I camped out for nearly 20 hours to get painted for the 100th homecoming game.

Homecoming 2011 camp out

Painted up for homecoming 2011

So this year, we packed up our tent, blankets and snacks around 10 p.m. and headed to the stadium to wait in line all night. The only problem was the temperature outside was somewhere around 32 degrees. There was no one else there. Last year by that time, we had been waiting for about five hours and there were at least 25 other people in line.

We were pretty disappointed that we couldn't camp out so we just pitched the tent in our living room and camped out there. It was much warmer and a much more enjoyable experience.

We woke up around 6 a.m. to head to the stadium again. It was still about 32 degrees outside, but there were two other people in line by the time we got there. The game started at 11 so we only had to wait in line for about two hours before gates opened!

I was wearing fuzzy socks and Uggs, leggings and yoga pants, a long sleeve shirt under my t-shirt, plus a hoodie and another jacket on top of that, a scarf, hat and two pairs of gloves, and I was freezing.

The thing about getting painted is you have to take off your shirt (girls wear sports bras). It's great when it's still warm outside, but after sitting outside in the cold for about five minutes I could no longer remember why we thought it was a good idea to get painted in the first place. But we did it anyway! 

Not many people were up for the challenge, because instead of the usual 60, only about 30 people lined up to get painted. The whole saying was: Many tigers, one roar, homecoming.

Photo Credit: Tiger's Lair

The good thing about morning games is that they get done pretty early in the afternoon, so I was able to squeeze in a good four and a half hour nap in my super warm, comfy bed afterwards. I definitely wasn't feeling 100% after the game or after I woke up from my nap. The day after I didn't feel too good either, and my illness dragged into the beginning of the next week. You'd think I'd stop getting myself into these situations since last time I camped out in the cold I also caught a terrible disease and almost died. I did go to the doctor to try and prevent this impending death and after that I felt better.

The doctor told me it was just a virus, but I'm pretty sure it was the plague.