Rex and I LOVE our church here in East Lansing (URC - University Reformed Church), but we knew that our normal pastor was not going to be speaking today. We decided to take this opportunity to visit another church because we have a few friends who go to other churches in the community, and we wanted to get a taste of what they do on Sunday mornings. I forgot how much fun it can be to visit different churches...and how many fun blogs that activity lends itself to.
A very popular church around here is called Riverview, and we decided to try that one. This church has two locations: one on campus and one while away in Holt. We decided to go to the campus service since we already know where that is.
Let me preface my description of this service by letting you know that Rex is VERY conservative and traditional in what he likes in a church service. Riverview, um, isn't. I don't really care either way, but Rex's reactions to everything in this service were pretty awesome.
First of all, we walked in and saw my friend Cidney talking to some people. She ran up and gave us huge hugs, which was fun. She also told us that she has changed her name to Alexandra now, which is weird. I don't think she was lying, though, because everyone at church was calling her "Alex" or "Alexandra." I can't do it. Her name is Cidney. That was too odd.
So Rex, "Alex," and I went to go sit down in the church service. The service was being held in a lecture hall, so we all sat in seats with desks and the ushers gave us pens and note paper so we could take notes on the sermon. Whoa. As we waited for the service to start, the band (which was AWESOME - guitars, drums, piano, violin, cello, and some I am probably forgetting) played songs by Coldplay and other contemporary secular artists. I'm not sure what that had to do with church, but it sounded pretty cool.
Once the service officially started, the "worship leader" (AKA lead singer in the band) invited us to stand for worship. Now, usually to me this means standing reverently by your chair and singing. At Riverview Campus Church, this means that everyone gets out of their seats, runs to the front, and crowds around the stage, sort of like a "Jesus Mosh Pit." Rex and I must have looked a little bewildered, because Cidney said, "Come on! We have to get a spot up front, or you will never be able to see the words!!" Then she grabbed my arm and literally pulled me through the crowd to the front of the mosh pit. Once the music started, disco lights went on and everyone started moving around and dancing as if we were in "Club Christian" or something. After the first song was over, the band started playing another one. As the intro was playing, I leaned over to Rex and yelled over the music, "This sounds like an intro to a Guns and Roses song." He agreed, and he KNOWS his classic rock, so I know I am not crazy in thinking that. The song that followed the intro was a hard rock song about death and heaven. I am pretty sure that if Guns and Roses was still making music, and if they were a Christian band, that would have been a song of theirs.
After a somewhat jarring worship experience, we headed back to our desks for the sermon. I was surprised to see that the pastor was projected onto a screen - he wasn't even really there! The cool part was that we were hearing the same message that the Holt location was hearing, but it felt weird to watch our pastor on a screen. The whole experience felt very technologically advanced.
Speaking of technologically advanced, the pastor spent the first four minutes of his sermon sitting on stage and dinking around on his ipad. We were starting to think that he didn't realize that he was being streamed live to our location. Four minutes is a REALLY long time to sit in uncomfortable silence. After the four minutes, though, he proceeded to give a very good sermon on impatience (get the ipad connection now? We were impatient with him to start his sermon. Clever, huh?). About halfway through the sermon, he did a "congregation poll" and had us text answers to him about a question. WHAT?? We were being TOLD to text in church??!! This is NOT what I am used to. Also, he referred to Jesus as "the Dude." I have never heard this before. I can picture the prayers in those Sunday School classrooms: "Lord, you are the Almighty. The Alpha and Omega. The King of Kings. The Dude."
All in all, it was a very modern service, which was weird for Rex and I. I am so glad we went, though, because it is fun to see the different ways that people worship. One way is not better than any other, because the attitude of worship is all that matters. It helped me to make sure that I am focused on the attitude and not caught up in the "church traditions" that I am accustomed to. To be thrown into a completely different atmosphere helps me to analyze why exactly I worship the way I do. I liked it. I'm glad so many of my friends love Riverview, but I am quite sure that Rex and I will once again be warming seats at URC next week.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Mama Bear
Rex and I just got back from watching his brother Jake (and the rest of the K-Christian football team) play Maple Valley. It was a fun game, and the team won 21-10. YAY Comets! What was interesting, though, is what I learned about myself at the game tonight: I am WAY too overprotective.
As a little back story, I have no brothers. I have one sister and I love her to death, but I have never had a little brother. When I married Rex, I sort of felt like I inherited brothers because he has two of them. Today at school when students asked if I was going to their homecoming game that night, I said, "No, I can't. I'm going to my little brother's game." I justified that to myself by saying that sixth graders wouldn't know what "brother-in-law" means and I didn't want to go through the trouble to explain it, but I think secretly I just liked saying that I have a little brother. Plus, they feel like my brothers anyway, so I think it counts.
Another piece of information you should know: Jacob (the football player and youngest brother) just started dating a new girlfriend named Stephanie. What I heard about her from Jake before they were dating was a bit sketch, but then she apparently "turned cool" and now they are dating. The only solid impression I have of her is from what Jake told me back when she was in the "non-cool" stage, so I think it makes sense that I am a bit skeptical.
On our way to the game we picked up another K-Christian grad, Lindsey, because her boyfriend helps out the JV team and she wanted to go see him. We don't know her very well, and I was looking forward to riding with her and getting to know her better. Well, after this trip, she probably thinks I am insane and will never ride with us again because I grilled her about this girl. I hadn't planned on it!! But while we were riding along I commented, "I wonder if Jake's girlfriend will be there?" Rex said that he didn't know, and Lindsey asked who his girlfriend is. I told her, and the following conversation ensued (this is bits and pieces paraphrased - I don't have THAT great of a memory!)
L: Oh! Stephanie's great.
C: Really? Awesome! I'm so glad to hear that.
L: Yeah. She is. Well, I mean, as long as she likes you. She liked me because we played softball together.
C: What if she doesn't like you?
L: Then she's pretty much really mean. Just stay on her good side.
C: How does someone do that?
L: I don't really know. She likes Jake, though, so she would probably like you.
C: I don't care if she likes ME. I'm just wondering if she's going to be nice to Jacob. Do you think she'd be a good girlfriend?
L: Ummm... (scary pause here) I guess we'll find out.
C: Oh, super. You sound so convinced. What are all the awesome things about her? I'm trying to like her here. Don't tell me any more bad things.
L: Ummm...(another scary pause here) She's good at sports!
C: Well, that makes sense on why Jake likes her then! What else?
L: Ummm...I don't really know. I'm sure there's stuff.
Great. I am SO reassured. So then I was already more skeptical, which is not good, and we arrived at the game. I scanned the bleachers looking for Stephanie, and I found her. I immediately noted the following things (my thoughts following those observations are in parentheses):
1. She was wearing his jersey (YAY! She is supportive)
2. She drove all the way to Maple Valley, which is about an hour away from home, to watch his game (YAY! She is dedicated!)
3. She was actually watching the game, which is more than can be said for a lot of high school girls (YAY! She cares about his sport!)
I happily relayed these observations to Rex, and he gave me a weird look that said, "Christine. Stop awkwardly stalking and analyzing Jake's girlfriend." So I tried to concentrate on the game.
The problem was, I couldn't fully concentrate on the game because EVERY time something happened that had anything to do with Jake I would have to glance at Stephanie. Here are some examples:
1. Jake made a nice play! (WHAT IS STEPHANIE DOING??? Okay. She looks proud. Good, that is acceptable.)
2. Jake got hit and now he is limping. (DOES STEPHANIE LOOK ADEQUATELY CONCERNED??? Well, she is wincing. I think that looks concerned. Okay. She passes that one.)
3. It started raining. (STEPHANIE PUT HER HOOD UP! Well, obviously that means...I mean...okay I really need to stop judging her because that one doesn't even make any sense. She probably just wants to stay dry.)
Seriously. It is a problem. His relationship is NONE of my business. Why do I care about it so much? When Rex and I went at half time to get concessions for his family, I saw Stephanie eating some snacks and called out "Hey Stephanie!" She came over.
S: Hi!
C: Hi! I hear you and Jake are "official" now. (DOES STEPHANIE LOOK ADEQUATELY HAPPY ABOUT THAT??? Oh, she's smiling. So I guess yes.)
S: Yeah, we are.
C: That's cool. Congratulations!
S: Yeah, thanks!
(semi-awkward silence in which her sister comes up to tell her that they are going back to the stands)
C: Well, just take care of him, okay?
S: Okay.
C: No but seriously, he is one of the most amazing guys in the world.
S: (somewhat laughing at my ridiculousness) Okay.
And then she walked away. I turned to Rex and said with a panicked look on my face, "I don't think she believes me! He really is! And what if she doesn't treat him that way?!" Rex told me that I was being ridiculous, and that Jake is 16 and can do whatever he wants. He'll be fine. Um, I KNOW that. I just can't seem to ACCEPT it.
I tried SUPER hard in the second half. I really did. But then, after the game was over, REX (yes, I am blaming this one on him) said, "Hey, did you hear what that girl over there just said?" No, I had not. "She said to that other girl, 'You had better tell Sam to tell her sister (who is Stephanie) that he is never even going to like her because she's a b***h and she thinks she's so cool...' and blah blah blah. Pretty much mean things. So THEN I was livid and said (a little too loudly, I must admit), "Oh she had BETTER not be talking about your brother, and she had BETTER not be talking smack about a girl his likes. I will lay down the SMACKDOWN!!!" to which Rex's mom said, "Who are you smacking down?" Oops. So I just said, "Nobody, because Rex heard them wrong. That is what I am telling myself." and I didn't tell her what they "said." But I was all of a sudden defending this random girlfriend who I know hardly anything about to Rex, saying, "She is NOT a b***h! She is cool! Jake likes her, and that means she has to be at least a little awesome! They should not be saying that! They go to K-Christian! How RUDE!" and various other things until Rex got too annoyed with my commentary and the fact that I don't even like her that much but was suddenly all defensive on behalf of Jacob.
On the way home, we were talking for a while when Lindsay asked, "Christine, do you have your own brother to worry about?" To which I responded, "No. So I have to worry about Rex's. Plus, their sister is in Boston so I am taking over the worrying about them for now. And, I have 16 years of worrying about him to make up for."
I am so concerned for my sister Cara...I can't imagine how crazy I'll be about her first boyfriend. I feel bad for her, and I also feel a little bad for the boyfriend. Ha ha...
Anyway, to Jake - I am sorry. I worry about you too much, and I know that. As Rex has said a million times: you are sixteen, you can do what you want, and you will be fine. I KNOW that. I really do. You don't need me to baby you and screen your girlfriends. I just love you and want you to be happy, and this is my twisted way of showing that. At least I have discovered this about myself now, and I can work on it. I've always got your back, though...probably more often than you want me to. :-)
As a little back story, I have no brothers. I have one sister and I love her to death, but I have never had a little brother. When I married Rex, I sort of felt like I inherited brothers because he has two of them. Today at school when students asked if I was going to their homecoming game that night, I said, "No, I can't. I'm going to my little brother's game." I justified that to myself by saying that sixth graders wouldn't know what "brother-in-law" means and I didn't want to go through the trouble to explain it, but I think secretly I just liked saying that I have a little brother. Plus, they feel like my brothers anyway, so I think it counts.
Another piece of information you should know: Jacob (the football player and youngest brother) just started dating a new girlfriend named Stephanie. What I heard about her from Jake before they were dating was a bit sketch, but then she apparently "turned cool" and now they are dating. The only solid impression I have of her is from what Jake told me back when she was in the "non-cool" stage, so I think it makes sense that I am a bit skeptical.
On our way to the game we picked up another K-Christian grad, Lindsey, because her boyfriend helps out the JV team and she wanted to go see him. We don't know her very well, and I was looking forward to riding with her and getting to know her better. Well, after this trip, she probably thinks I am insane and will never ride with us again because I grilled her about this girl. I hadn't planned on it!! But while we were riding along I commented, "I wonder if Jake's girlfriend will be there?" Rex said that he didn't know, and Lindsey asked who his girlfriend is. I told her, and the following conversation ensued (this is bits and pieces paraphrased - I don't have THAT great of a memory!)
L: Oh! Stephanie's great.
C: Really? Awesome! I'm so glad to hear that.
L: Yeah. She is. Well, I mean, as long as she likes you. She liked me because we played softball together.
C: What if she doesn't like you?
L: Then she's pretty much really mean. Just stay on her good side.
C: How does someone do that?
L: I don't really know. She likes Jake, though, so she would probably like you.
C: I don't care if she likes ME. I'm just wondering if she's going to be nice to Jacob. Do you think she'd be a good girlfriend?
L: Ummm... (scary pause here) I guess we'll find out.
C: Oh, super. You sound so convinced. What are all the awesome things about her? I'm trying to like her here. Don't tell me any more bad things.
L: Ummm...(another scary pause here) She's good at sports!
C: Well, that makes sense on why Jake likes her then! What else?
L: Ummm...I don't really know. I'm sure there's stuff.
Great. I am SO reassured. So then I was already more skeptical, which is not good, and we arrived at the game. I scanned the bleachers looking for Stephanie, and I found her. I immediately noted the following things (my thoughts following those observations are in parentheses):
1. She was wearing his jersey (YAY! She is supportive)
2. She drove all the way to Maple Valley, which is about an hour away from home, to watch his game (YAY! She is dedicated!)
3. She was actually watching the game, which is more than can be said for a lot of high school girls (YAY! She cares about his sport!)
I happily relayed these observations to Rex, and he gave me a weird look that said, "Christine. Stop awkwardly stalking and analyzing Jake's girlfriend." So I tried to concentrate on the game.
The problem was, I couldn't fully concentrate on the game because EVERY time something happened that had anything to do with Jake I would have to glance at Stephanie. Here are some examples:
1. Jake made a nice play! (WHAT IS STEPHANIE DOING??? Okay. She looks proud. Good, that is acceptable.)
2. Jake got hit and now he is limping. (DOES STEPHANIE LOOK ADEQUATELY CONCERNED??? Well, she is wincing. I think that looks concerned. Okay. She passes that one.)
3. It started raining. (STEPHANIE PUT HER HOOD UP! Well, obviously that means...I mean...okay I really need to stop judging her because that one doesn't even make any sense. She probably just wants to stay dry.)
Seriously. It is a problem. His relationship is NONE of my business. Why do I care about it so much? When Rex and I went at half time to get concessions for his family, I saw Stephanie eating some snacks and called out "Hey Stephanie!" She came over.
S: Hi!
C: Hi! I hear you and Jake are "official" now. (DOES STEPHANIE LOOK ADEQUATELY HAPPY ABOUT THAT??? Oh, she's smiling. So I guess yes.)
S: Yeah, we are.
C: That's cool. Congratulations!
S: Yeah, thanks!
(semi-awkward silence in which her sister comes up to tell her that they are going back to the stands)
C: Well, just take care of him, okay?
S: Okay.
C: No but seriously, he is one of the most amazing guys in the world.
S: (somewhat laughing at my ridiculousness) Okay.
And then she walked away. I turned to Rex and said with a panicked look on my face, "I don't think she believes me! He really is! And what if she doesn't treat him that way?!" Rex told me that I was being ridiculous, and that Jake is 16 and can do whatever he wants. He'll be fine. Um, I KNOW that. I just can't seem to ACCEPT it.
I tried SUPER hard in the second half. I really did. But then, after the game was over, REX (yes, I am blaming this one on him) said, "Hey, did you hear what that girl over there just said?" No, I had not. "She said to that other girl, 'You had better tell Sam to tell her sister (who is Stephanie) that he is never even going to like her because she's a b***h and she thinks she's so cool...' and blah blah blah. Pretty much mean things. So THEN I was livid and said (a little too loudly, I must admit), "Oh she had BETTER not be talking about your brother, and she had BETTER not be talking smack about a girl his likes. I will lay down the SMACKDOWN!!!" to which Rex's mom said, "Who are you smacking down?" Oops. So I just said, "Nobody, because Rex heard them wrong. That is what I am telling myself." and I didn't tell her what they "said." But I was all of a sudden defending this random girlfriend who I know hardly anything about to Rex, saying, "She is NOT a b***h! She is cool! Jake likes her, and that means she has to be at least a little awesome! They should not be saying that! They go to K-Christian! How RUDE!" and various other things until Rex got too annoyed with my commentary and the fact that I don't even like her that much but was suddenly all defensive on behalf of Jacob.
On the way home, we were talking for a while when Lindsay asked, "Christine, do you have your own brother to worry about?" To which I responded, "No. So I have to worry about Rex's. Plus, their sister is in Boston so I am taking over the worrying about them for now. And, I have 16 years of worrying about him to make up for."
I am so concerned for my sister Cara...I can't imagine how crazy I'll be about her first boyfriend. I feel bad for her, and I also feel a little bad for the boyfriend. Ha ha...
Anyway, to Jake - I am sorry. I worry about you too much, and I know that. As Rex has said a million times: you are sixteen, you can do what you want, and you will be fine. I KNOW that. I really do. You don't need me to baby you and screen your girlfriends. I just love you and want you to be happy, and this is my twisted way of showing that. At least I have discovered this about myself now, and I can work on it. I've always got your back, though...probably more often than you want me to. :-)
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Surprises
Life is surprising. Period, end of story. Sometimes surprises are good, and sometimes surprises are bad. Sometimes they are big, and sometimes they are little. But they are always there.
Right now I am thinking about big surprises - life changing ones. But whenever I hear about a big, life-changing surprise in someone's life, I always think of the little, otherwise forgotten moments that preceded them. Like the woman who is happily singing in the shower and suddenly notices a lump in her breast, or the high schooler chatting on the phone about boys before she pulls into the intersection and doesn't see the semi coming. Or they could be good surprises, like a girl brushing her hair for an average night out and not realizing that a diamond ring will be hers before the date is over. Or those people who are all grungy and eating their cheerios when suddenly the sweepstakes people show up at their door and give them a million dollars.
Well, I think I might have had a moment like that last night. I was innocently on my computer working on a unit plan. I was contemplating how to best get sixth graders pumped up about reading mysteries when my phone rang.
Thinking it was going to be a totally normal phone call, I picked up with a cheery "Hello?" which was followed a few seconds later with, "Umm...oh my goodness..."
And I was faced with a big surprise a VERY difficult decision.
I haven't yet figured out if this is going to be one of those good life changing surprises or bad ones. It could really go either way. Maybe it won't even turn out to be life changing at all. All I know is that I have this giant decision to make, and I haven't been able to think of anything else all day. I've been completely scatterbrained; my kids were probably wondering what the dickens was wrong with me. Any time I try to do my homework it goes completely haywire...it's like I have stress-induced ADD. To be working on a mystery unit is completely ironic, what with this huge question mark dangling in front of me.
Sorry to blog about this without giving more information on the decision, but I really don't want to say anything about it until the decision has been made. Pretty much I just wanted to blog to see if I could possibly form cohesive thoughts in an informal format (in hopes I might be able to do so in a more formal format on my homework). I don't think I am being very successful. Blah.
I guess I will go play with the kitten again. My professors are going to kill me.
P.S. Just because I feel like some people may wonder, this surprise has NOTHING to do with a baby. I feel like that is the number one thing people ask about if I am ever stressed/surprised/excited/upset about something in life, even if that solution makes no sense in the situation at hand. ARE YOU PREGNANT?? ARE YOU PREGNANT?? ARE YOU PREGNANT?? ARE YOU PREGNANT?? No. I am not pregnant. I will never BE pregnant. We have been over this. So that is not the issue. Ever.
Right now I am thinking about big surprises - life changing ones. But whenever I hear about a big, life-changing surprise in someone's life, I always think of the little, otherwise forgotten moments that preceded them. Like the woman who is happily singing in the shower and suddenly notices a lump in her breast, or the high schooler chatting on the phone about boys before she pulls into the intersection and doesn't see the semi coming. Or they could be good surprises, like a girl brushing her hair for an average night out and not realizing that a diamond ring will be hers before the date is over. Or those people who are all grungy and eating their cheerios when suddenly the sweepstakes people show up at their door and give them a million dollars.
Well, I think I might have had a moment like that last night. I was innocently on my computer working on a unit plan. I was contemplating how to best get sixth graders pumped up about reading mysteries when my phone rang.
Thinking it was going to be a totally normal phone call, I picked up with a cheery "Hello?" which was followed a few seconds later with, "Umm...oh my goodness..."
And I was faced with a big surprise a VERY difficult decision.
I haven't yet figured out if this is going to be one of those good life changing surprises or bad ones. It could really go either way. Maybe it won't even turn out to be life changing at all. All I know is that I have this giant decision to make, and I haven't been able to think of anything else all day. I've been completely scatterbrained; my kids were probably wondering what the dickens was wrong with me. Any time I try to do my homework it goes completely haywire...it's like I have stress-induced ADD. To be working on a mystery unit is completely ironic, what with this huge question mark dangling in front of me.
Sorry to blog about this without giving more information on the decision, but I really don't want to say anything about it until the decision has been made. Pretty much I just wanted to blog to see if I could possibly form cohesive thoughts in an informal format (in hopes I might be able to do so in a more formal format on my homework). I don't think I am being very successful. Blah.
I guess I will go play with the kitten again. My professors are going to kill me.
P.S. Just because I feel like some people may wonder, this surprise has NOTHING to do with a baby. I feel like that is the number one thing people ask about if I am ever stressed/surprised/excited/upset about something in life, even if that solution makes no sense in the situation at hand. ARE YOU PREGNANT?? ARE YOU PREGNANT?? ARE YOU PREGNANT?? ARE YOU PREGNANT?? No. I am not pregnant. I will never BE pregnant. We have been over this. So that is not the issue. Ever.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
4th Annual Corn Shenanigans
Every year, Campus Crusade throws a huge party in the fall called the "Barn Bash." Rex and I have attended this party every year. With a HUGE two story barn, hundreds of people dancing, cider and donuts galore, and everyone dressed in farm-ish clothes, could there BE a better way to celebrate the coming of fall?? No.
The first year that Rex and I went to the Barn Bash, we talked to our friend Lynn and decided it would be a fun idea to go run through the corn field across from the barn and creep each other out in the dark, crisp, spooky air. It was a BLAST, and we decided that we must make it a tradition. So far, we have continued our corn tradition each year. With this being our fourth (and possibly final) year at the Barn Bash, we had to make our corn run super extra fun and exciting.
Well, we were certainly not let down.
Our corn team has grown over the years. While we still had the core from year one (Rex, Lynn, and I), we also added Larsen (Lynn's boyfriend), Katie Masters (our friend from ResLife), and Katie Hyde (Lynn's friend from her hometown). We assembled our team for Year Four and prepared to advance upon the corn, but we were met with DISASTER - the corn across from the barn had already been harvested!
Obviously, this just wouldn't do. We were not going to let a silly little detail such as "no corn" ruin our corn run! We decided to pile into Lynn's car and seek out a cornfield. We figured since we were in the middle of nowhere, there had to be one somewhere. So we all piled in (Katie Hyde was in the trunk), and we set off to find some corn. We weren't having much luck; the only suitable corn we found was at a farm down the road from the barn. The problem with this corn was that there was an entire corn field in front of it that had already been harvested and a valley in front of that field, so we would somehow have to cross the valley and then sprint across the open field before arriving at the field we wanted to run through. If we were seen, we would be in pretty big trouble because we had no idea who that field belonged to.
We decided that, despite the risks, the aforementioned field was going to be our best bet if we wanted to complete our corn run. We chose to drive back to the Barn Bash and then walk to the field from there so that we would not draw the suspicion of having a random car parked on the side of the road. We decided to cross the road outside of the Barn Bash and then walk to the field in the valley so that people wouldn't see us walking away from the party and ask us where we were going. We began by "nonchalantly" walking up to the pine tree at the very edge of the barn house yard. We tried to be quiet, and then we dashed across the road one at a time and ducked into the valley. Rex went first, and then Lynn. I ran after them, and as I neared I heard Rex whisper loudly, "Careful! There's a ton of water down here!" I dove onto the slope of the valley, but I was careful not to hit the bottom part where the water was. Rex continued his whisper warning to each additional "valley jumper" but then said, "Sh! No one tell Larsen about the water!" we all dissolved into giggles, which was (un)fortunately enough to warn Larsen that something was up, and he carefully jumped down the slope and did not hit the water.
We looked around, tried to stop laughing, and confirmed that everyone was present, dry, and ready for the next phase of the mission. All systems were go. Our next obstacle was to decide how to cross the watery bottom of the valley. With it being so dark out, we couldn't see exactly where the water was or how far it went. Katie Hyde volunteered to try it out, saying, "I can see the other side - I'm going to jump it!" She took a running leap, landed, and then we heard, "Ewwwwwwwww!! I landed right in the middle! Ewwww!! My foot and jeans are totally covered in mud! Ahhhh!" So obviously, we decided not to follow her.
We left Katie on the opposite side of the valley (poor girl; we had put her in the trunk earlier too) and told her we were going to find a different way to cross. We walked down the valley a little ways, looking for alternative methods. Our walk was peppered with the occasional "DUCK! CAR!" whenever we saw headlights, and we would drop and press ourselves into the tall grass so we wouldn't be discovered. About a quarter of a mile away we finally found a bridge of solid ground that crossed the valley, and we all crossed it safely to reunite with Katie.
When we crossed the land bridge, we were no longer protected from sight by being low in the valley. We stared ahead at the harvested corn field (corn stubs of about three inches or so stuck up everywhere), and we decided our best bet would be to sprint across the field to the tall corn that would once again offer us cover. We knew that being seen in the open field would invite lots of weird questions, and we wanted to avoid that by getting to the tall corn as quickly as possible.
With our decision made, Rex let out the battle cry of "LET'S GO!" and we all started running. It was difficult to avoid tripping on the corn stubs, but we had to soldier on. I told Katie that I felt like a part of the D-Day invasion. She agreed, but commented that there were considerably less guns involved. I was okay with this.
I was one of the first ones to reach the tall corn, and I turned around to nervously watch my comrades until we were all safely hidden. We took some victory pictures at having reached our destination, and we had some fun running around in the corn before we decided we should start heading back.
We walked to the edge of the tall corn field, and we prepared ourselves to start the long sprint back to the valley. After another vocal starting gun from someone, we started our run. About halfway through the run, I heard Rex whisper yell, "DUCK! FOR REAL! POLICE!!! GET DOWN!" We all dropped to the ground, which in retrospect was a HORRIBLE idea. What looks more suspicious than a group of twenty-somethings trying to hide themselves in three inch tall corn stubs!? My heart fell into my stomach, and we watched the police car turn its blue and red lights on. It was so dark out that the lights could have been fireworks, casting an eerie glow on all of us. We looked at each other nervously, and we watched in relief as the police car pulled over a car that had just turned the corner.
As soon as the two cars had stopped (thankfully facing away from our field), Rex said, "Okay. NOW! GO! RUN!" We all sprinted as quickly as we could back to the valley as the lights from the police car turned the corn stubs shades of red and blue.
When we all made it back to the valley, we looked at each other with wide-eyed relief. We were out of breath from running and from adrenaline. We crept back to the party as quickly as we could, casting weary glances over our shoulders every few steps at the occupied police car. When we arrived back into the yard of the barn, someone asked, "Where have you been?" and we replied in unison - far too loudly and quickly - "NOWHERE!" We would make horrible spies. We laughed at our ridiculousness and headed back into the barn.
Safely back at the party, we recounted our adventure and went back to the dance floor to celebrate our success. It was quite the night, and a wonderful finale to our years of barn bash corn shenanigans.
The first year that Rex and I went to the Barn Bash, we talked to our friend Lynn and decided it would be a fun idea to go run through the corn field across from the barn and creep each other out in the dark, crisp, spooky air. It was a BLAST, and we decided that we must make it a tradition. So far, we have continued our corn tradition each year. With this being our fourth (and possibly final) year at the Barn Bash, we had to make our corn run super extra fun and exciting.
Well, we were certainly not let down.
Our corn team has grown over the years. While we still had the core from year one (Rex, Lynn, and I), we also added Larsen (Lynn's boyfriend), Katie Masters (our friend from ResLife), and Katie Hyde (Lynn's friend from her hometown). We assembled our team for Year Four and prepared to advance upon the corn, but we were met with DISASTER - the corn across from the barn had already been harvested!
Obviously, this just wouldn't do. We were not going to let a silly little detail such as "no corn" ruin our corn run! We decided to pile into Lynn's car and seek out a cornfield. We figured since we were in the middle of nowhere, there had to be one somewhere. So we all piled in (Katie Hyde was in the trunk), and we set off to find some corn. We weren't having much luck; the only suitable corn we found was at a farm down the road from the barn. The problem with this corn was that there was an entire corn field in front of it that had already been harvested and a valley in front of that field, so we would somehow have to cross the valley and then sprint across the open field before arriving at the field we wanted to run through. If we were seen, we would be in pretty big trouble because we had no idea who that field belonged to.
We decided that, despite the risks, the aforementioned field was going to be our best bet if we wanted to complete our corn run. We chose to drive back to the Barn Bash and then walk to the field from there so that we would not draw the suspicion of having a random car parked on the side of the road. We decided to cross the road outside of the Barn Bash and then walk to the field in the valley so that people wouldn't see us walking away from the party and ask us where we were going. We began by "nonchalantly" walking up to the pine tree at the very edge of the barn house yard. We tried to be quiet, and then we dashed across the road one at a time and ducked into the valley. Rex went first, and then Lynn. I ran after them, and as I neared I heard Rex whisper loudly, "Careful! There's a ton of water down here!" I dove onto the slope of the valley, but I was careful not to hit the bottom part where the water was. Rex continued his whisper warning to each additional "valley jumper" but then said, "Sh! No one tell Larsen about the water!" we all dissolved into giggles, which was (un)fortunately enough to warn Larsen that something was up, and he carefully jumped down the slope and did not hit the water.
We looked around, tried to stop laughing, and confirmed that everyone was present, dry, and ready for the next phase of the mission. All systems were go. Our next obstacle was to decide how to cross the watery bottom of the valley. With it being so dark out, we couldn't see exactly where the water was or how far it went. Katie Hyde volunteered to try it out, saying, "I can see the other side - I'm going to jump it!" She took a running leap, landed, and then we heard, "Ewwwwwwwww!! I landed right in the middle! Ewwww!! My foot and jeans are totally covered in mud! Ahhhh!" So obviously, we decided not to follow her.
We left Katie on the opposite side of the valley (poor girl; we had put her in the trunk earlier too) and told her we were going to find a different way to cross. We walked down the valley a little ways, looking for alternative methods. Our walk was peppered with the occasional "DUCK! CAR!" whenever we saw headlights, and we would drop and press ourselves into the tall grass so we wouldn't be discovered. About a quarter of a mile away we finally found a bridge of solid ground that crossed the valley, and we all crossed it safely to reunite with Katie.
When we crossed the land bridge, we were no longer protected from sight by being low in the valley. We stared ahead at the harvested corn field (corn stubs of about three inches or so stuck up everywhere), and we decided our best bet would be to sprint across the field to the tall corn that would once again offer us cover. We knew that being seen in the open field would invite lots of weird questions, and we wanted to avoid that by getting to the tall corn as quickly as possible.
With our decision made, Rex let out the battle cry of "LET'S GO!" and we all started running. It was difficult to avoid tripping on the corn stubs, but we had to soldier on. I told Katie that I felt like a part of the D-Day invasion. She agreed, but commented that there were considerably less guns involved. I was okay with this.
I was one of the first ones to reach the tall corn, and I turned around to nervously watch my comrades until we were all safely hidden. We took some victory pictures at having reached our destination, and we had some fun running around in the corn before we decided we should start heading back.
We walked to the edge of the tall corn field, and we prepared ourselves to start the long sprint back to the valley. After another vocal starting gun from someone, we started our run. About halfway through the run, I heard Rex whisper yell, "DUCK! FOR REAL! POLICE!!! GET DOWN!" We all dropped to the ground, which in retrospect was a HORRIBLE idea. What looks more suspicious than a group of twenty-somethings trying to hide themselves in three inch tall corn stubs!? My heart fell into my stomach, and we watched the police car turn its blue and red lights on. It was so dark out that the lights could have been fireworks, casting an eerie glow on all of us. We looked at each other nervously, and we watched in relief as the police car pulled over a car that had just turned the corner.
As soon as the two cars had stopped (thankfully facing away from our field), Rex said, "Okay. NOW! GO! RUN!" We all sprinted as quickly as we could back to the valley as the lights from the police car turned the corn stubs shades of red and blue.
When we all made it back to the valley, we looked at each other with wide-eyed relief. We were out of breath from running and from adrenaline. We crept back to the party as quickly as we could, casting weary glances over our shoulders every few steps at the occupied police car. When we arrived back into the yard of the barn, someone asked, "Where have you been?" and we replied in unison - far too loudly and quickly - "NOWHERE!" We would make horrible spies. We laughed at our ridiculousness and headed back into the barn.
Safely back at the party, we recounted our adventure and went back to the dance floor to celebrate our success. It was quite the night, and a wonderful finale to our years of barn bash corn shenanigans.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Heist
Rex and I stole a canoe today.
It was a pretty sneaky mission...done in the darkest of night...one that took a lot of forethought and planning for a seamless execution...
Oh wait, no it wasn't.
We really did steal a canoe, but it was more on a random whim. Rex and I had pulled our deck chairs up to the edge of the lake, and he was fishing for carp while I was playing with the kitten. He has fished off the side of the lake ever since we moved in, and he has been dying to get a boat so that he could fish the middle of it. We haven't had any luck, though. There are lots of boats around at our apartment, so we have been asking our friends if any of them own any of the boats. So far we haven't had any luck. Today, though, our neighbor Karl came out to say hi while we were by the lake. We talked for a while, and then he said, "Hey, I remember you guys mentioned wanting a boat. We don't have one, but the green one on the side of the building just sits there all the time. I have never seen anyone use it in the two years that we have lived here, so I'm thinking maybe someone moved out and left it." His girlfriend contradicted him (by talking out their window at us as she took a genetics test online), saying that she had seen someone using it a couple of times. We knew that another person in the complex owns a similar canoe, though, so she could have possibly been confusing them. Karl went back inside, and we were left with a dilemma. Who was right about the canoe? Was it owned or abandoned?
We went to the side of the building to check out the canoe. It was nice; Spartan green in color. We flipped it over, and it looked as if whoever owned it had not taken it out in a very long time. We went to get the oars, and we actually had to dig one of them out of the dirt. That should show you how long it had been since they were used. The oars were the jankiest I had ever seen - completely covered in duct tape and still falling apart. They weren't even canoe oars, but rowboat ones. Whoever owned this canoe was clearly not very invested in their hobby.
On the inside of the canoe was a name: "Brook." There was a number next to the name, so we knew that someone with the name "Brook" (first or last name remains unknown) wanted the canoe identified with them. Rex called the number, but the line had been disconnected. VERY fishy...
Obviously, we decided to go for it. "Brook" hadn't answered, so we figured maybe he/she wouldn't care if we borrowed their boat for a while. We dragged it down to the lake, and we were off!!!
It was a beautiful day for canoeing. The water was so calm that the sky was reflected perfectly in it. It appeared as if we were canoeing through clouds. I told Rex that "Canoeing Through Clouds" sounds like a song that someone would write when they were high. I then proceeded to spend the rest of the canoe trip using my oar as a fake guitar while I composed the song "Canoeing Through Clouds." The water was so calm that Rex didn't really need my help in steering the boat anyway. We passed some egrets and saw fish swimming around in the water. A flock of about fifty Canadian Geese flew over our heads, and they looked like shadows against the pink sunset sky. I thought for sure we were going to get pooped on, but today was one of those perfect days where bad things don't happen.
Sure enough, as is true of days when bad things don't happen, we didn't get caught. We returned the canoe to the side of the building, and congratulated ourselves on a successful heist. We just might have to try that again sometime.
It was a pretty sneaky mission...done in the darkest of night...one that took a lot of forethought and planning for a seamless execution...
Oh wait, no it wasn't.
We really did steal a canoe, but it was more on a random whim. Rex and I had pulled our deck chairs up to the edge of the lake, and he was fishing for carp while I was playing with the kitten. He has fished off the side of the lake ever since we moved in, and he has been dying to get a boat so that he could fish the middle of it. We haven't had any luck, though. There are lots of boats around at our apartment, so we have been asking our friends if any of them own any of the boats. So far we haven't had any luck. Today, though, our neighbor Karl came out to say hi while we were by the lake. We talked for a while, and then he said, "Hey, I remember you guys mentioned wanting a boat. We don't have one, but the green one on the side of the building just sits there all the time. I have never seen anyone use it in the two years that we have lived here, so I'm thinking maybe someone moved out and left it." His girlfriend contradicted him (by talking out their window at us as she took a genetics test online), saying that she had seen someone using it a couple of times. We knew that another person in the complex owns a similar canoe, though, so she could have possibly been confusing them. Karl went back inside, and we were left with a dilemma. Who was right about the canoe? Was it owned or abandoned?
We went to the side of the building to check out the canoe. It was nice; Spartan green in color. We flipped it over, and it looked as if whoever owned it had not taken it out in a very long time. We went to get the oars, and we actually had to dig one of them out of the dirt. That should show you how long it had been since they were used. The oars were the jankiest I had ever seen - completely covered in duct tape and still falling apart. They weren't even canoe oars, but rowboat ones. Whoever owned this canoe was clearly not very invested in their hobby.
On the inside of the canoe was a name: "Brook." There was a number next to the name, so we knew that someone with the name "Brook" (first or last name remains unknown) wanted the canoe identified with them. Rex called the number, but the line had been disconnected. VERY fishy...
Obviously, we decided to go for it. "Brook" hadn't answered, so we figured maybe he/she wouldn't care if we borrowed their boat for a while. We dragged it down to the lake, and we were off!!!
It was a beautiful day for canoeing. The water was so calm that the sky was reflected perfectly in it. It appeared as if we were canoeing through clouds. I told Rex that "Canoeing Through Clouds" sounds like a song that someone would write when they were high. I then proceeded to spend the rest of the canoe trip using my oar as a fake guitar while I composed the song "Canoeing Through Clouds." The water was so calm that Rex didn't really need my help in steering the boat anyway. We passed some egrets and saw fish swimming around in the water. A flock of about fifty Canadian Geese flew over our heads, and they looked like shadows against the pink sunset sky. I thought for sure we were going to get pooped on, but today was one of those perfect days where bad things don't happen.
Sure enough, as is true of days when bad things don't happen, we didn't get caught. We returned the canoe to the side of the building, and congratulated ourselves on a successful heist. We just might have to try that again sometime.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
I love teaching
I LOVE teaching. Really, I do. I feel so lucky to have found something in life that I am passionate about, and even though this internship is a lot of work, I am (so far) loving every day of it. If I could get a job next year similar to where I am working now, I would be in complete heaven. Anyway, I come home every day with an abundance of stories for Rex, but I figure I should share some of my favorites on my blog. (I changed the names for anonymity).
1. Benny raised his hand and asked if he could go to the bathroom. Acting on a hunch, I said, "No, you cannot go to the bathroom, because you don't really have to go. You just want to go to your locker and get a snack." He looked shocked, and when I turned away I heard him whisper to the person next to him in a simultaneously awed and scared voice, "She KNOWS me!!" Ha ha ha ha ha!! I was the creepy witch mind reader of a teacher.
2. In the same day, I had two firsts: A student said, "I love you," and another one said "You are an evil woman." Quite a day.
3. My class 100% is consumed with Bieber Fever. The girls love him and swoon at the mention of his name. I literally used that to get the class's attention once. They were being chatty, and I just said "Bieber" at the front of the room. Heads whipped in my direction faster than their necks probably appreciated. Even the boys love it, because they love to hate him. They can engage in the flirtatious banter of "Justin Bieber Sucks," which is rebuttled with "No! I LOVE HIM!!!" Obviously, their flirting needs some refining. Carly, I'm bringing you in to do a workshop.
4. They are also obsessed with silly bands. One student has over three hundred, and she can't fit them all on her arms so she carries the rest around in a box. Why? I will never understand. Now THERE is a trend that I wish I would have invented. Luckily, I thought of an idea that is going to make me millions: A Justin Bieber silly band. There - you heard it here first. It's how I'm going to make my fortune.
5. As a last note on trends, here is another one hot off the presses: Squinkies. Never heard of them? Neither had I. There are hundreds of them marching across the desks of my students, though, so I have become quickly acquainted. Boys and girls are both enthralled with them. They are these totally creepy pencil toppers. Here's the website if you want to brush up on how to be cool in sixth grade: http://www.squinkies.com/.
6. Yesterday I was watching over the students who were not allowed to go outside because they did not finish their homework ("Recess Jail," as I affectionately call it). I noticed that all of the boys in the room except for one were football players. I commented on it, saying "What is up with you football players? You're supposed to be good examples - why are none of you doing your homework??" They tried to tell me that they had no time after practice. I said, "Oh, come on. You totally have time. You go to practice, go home and eat dinner, and then maybe if you could turn off Dora the Explorer, you would have time to get your homework done." Tim (the one boy in Recess Jail who was not on the football team) called out "HA HA -BURN!!!!!!" and happily jumped up to "pound it" for my dis on the athletes. He he he.
7. Rex and I already know that we don't want to have children, but now we have one more reason not to. Our child already exists in the world, and he is in my class. All of the students had to give presentations on themselves, and this one boy gave this presentation: "Hi, my name is Danny. I really like rats, and I have two of them. We also have one cat. I really like baseball, and I like to shoot bows and arrows. I also drew a picture of bongos because I like to play drums." I'm not making any of that up - that was the student's presentation. Um, hello Rex's son.
There is a sampling for you. Can you BELIEVE people get paid to observe these hilarious anecdotes on a daily basis? I can't. But someday, I will have my OWN classroom, and then that will be me! YAY!
1. Benny raised his hand and asked if he could go to the bathroom. Acting on a hunch, I said, "No, you cannot go to the bathroom, because you don't really have to go. You just want to go to your locker and get a snack." He looked shocked, and when I turned away I heard him whisper to the person next to him in a simultaneously awed and scared voice, "She KNOWS me!!" Ha ha ha ha ha!! I was the creepy witch mind reader of a teacher.
2. In the same day, I had two firsts: A student said, "I love you," and another one said "You are an evil woman." Quite a day.
3. My class 100% is consumed with Bieber Fever. The girls love him and swoon at the mention of his name. I literally used that to get the class's attention once. They were being chatty, and I just said "Bieber" at the front of the room. Heads whipped in my direction faster than their necks probably appreciated. Even the boys love it, because they love to hate him. They can engage in the flirtatious banter of "Justin Bieber Sucks," which is rebuttled with "No! I LOVE HIM!!!" Obviously, their flirting needs some refining. Carly, I'm bringing you in to do a workshop.
4. They are also obsessed with silly bands. One student has over three hundred, and she can't fit them all on her arms so she carries the rest around in a box. Why? I will never understand. Now THERE is a trend that I wish I would have invented. Luckily, I thought of an idea that is going to make me millions: A Justin Bieber silly band. There - you heard it here first. It's how I'm going to make my fortune.
5. As a last note on trends, here is another one hot off the presses: Squinkies. Never heard of them? Neither had I. There are hundreds of them marching across the desks of my students, though, so I have become quickly acquainted. Boys and girls are both enthralled with them. They are these totally creepy pencil toppers. Here's the website if you want to brush up on how to be cool in sixth grade: http://www.squinkies.com/.
6. Yesterday I was watching over the students who were not allowed to go outside because they did not finish their homework ("Recess Jail," as I affectionately call it). I noticed that all of the boys in the room except for one were football players. I commented on it, saying "What is up with you football players? You're supposed to be good examples - why are none of you doing your homework??" They tried to tell me that they had no time after practice. I said, "Oh, come on. You totally have time. You go to practice, go home and eat dinner, and then maybe if you could turn off Dora the Explorer, you would have time to get your homework done." Tim (the one boy in Recess Jail who was not on the football team) called out "HA HA -BURN!!!!!!" and happily jumped up to "pound it" for my dis on the athletes. He he he.
7. Rex and I already know that we don't want to have children, but now we have one more reason not to. Our child already exists in the world, and he is in my class. All of the students had to give presentations on themselves, and this one boy gave this presentation: "Hi, my name is Danny. I really like rats, and I have two of them. We also have one cat. I really like baseball, and I like to shoot bows and arrows. I also drew a picture of bongos because I like to play drums." I'm not making any of that up - that was the student's presentation. Um, hello Rex's son.
There is a sampling for you. Can you BELIEVE people get paid to observe these hilarious anecdotes on a daily basis? I can't. But someday, I will have my OWN classroom, and then that will be me! YAY!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
First week of school
I have to stop labeling my blogposts "Day __" of being married, because facebook has kicked my wedding book app off of my profile! RUDE! Now I no longer have an easy way to calculate how many days I have been married. I shall start titling with different things instead.
I haven't written in a while, and I fear that my blog posts are going to be somewhat sparse this year due to the INSANITY that is this internship year. It is fun because I am finally doing what I want to do in life, but it is hard because it is a lot of work (full time job + course work), and in all of the business I am still trying to cultivate my baby marriage relationship. It's fun, just busy.
With that said, I think teaching sixth grade is going to be a blast. Not a whole lot has changed since I was in middle school. Yes, perhaps they have traded gel pens for silly bands and NSync for Justin Bieber, but still. Nothing is really new. There is still the queen bee who thinks she rules the school and her followers who inexplicably do everything she says. There are still the jocks who refuse to believe that a world exists outside the field/court. There are still the nerds who want to fit in but for some reason just can't. There are still the girls who think the boys are SO CUTE and will do anything to get their attention, but the boys so absolutely DO NOT care (once again: girls are not on the field/court, so they do not exist). Yep, sixth grade is sixth grade, no matter where you go or what year you have it in.
I love my students so far. I don't know a ton about them yet, but they all seem pretty cool. My CT (cooperating teacher) lets me be in front of class and teaching a lot, even from the first day, so that is very appreciated. I still get startled every time a student raises their hand and says, "Mrs. Webb?", but I'm pretty sure I will settle into that name fairly quickly. One of the funniest things that has happened to me so far was not even in the classroom. The week before school started we had a bunch of district meetings, and I figured I'd better bring a notebook to be super attentive and take notes. After all, I was going to be with a room full of teachers, so they would be very attentive and studious.
I could not have been more wrong. I walked into my first meeting, and all of the teachers were sitting in the back. No one would go up front. The speaker had to coax them for about five minutes to get them to move to the front of the auditorium to be more accessible. During the meetings, the teachers were completely inattentive. I saw a few teachers texting, a couple doodling (one made a nice drawing of a house on a cliff and birds flying over the water - I watched over his shoulder), and even a couple sleeping. I saw - and I swear I am not lying - two fifty-ish old teachers PASSING NOTES. As if they were in fourth grade again or something! The teachers made the worst students ever. It was HILARIOUS. I mentioned this to my CT and his friend after one of the meetings, and his friend said, "Oh yeah, teachers are totally the worst students. We give a speaker about one second and then say, 'You suck. F--- you.'" Yeah, teachers swear. WHAT?! They also party. Another fifth grade teacher at my school was talking about how he likes to go out and get drunk on the weekends. Ummm...he's like 40. And he has a family. The same guy walked into our classroom the other day and said, "Whoa!! That is a big a-- stack of papers! That should keep em busy for a while....oops...I mean 'enrich their minds.'" What is this about teachers that I never knew? It's like they have a secret life in front of students, and then behind their backs they are completely the antithesis of what they are telling their students to be. It's depressingly hypocritical and hilarious at the same time.
This is going to be a crazy year - I can feel it already. I can only hope that I find snippets of time with which to record all of it for future reflection (and laughter).
I haven't written in a while, and I fear that my blog posts are going to be somewhat sparse this year due to the INSANITY that is this internship year. It is fun because I am finally doing what I want to do in life, but it is hard because it is a lot of work (full time job + course work), and in all of the business I am still trying to cultivate my baby marriage relationship. It's fun, just busy.
With that said, I think teaching sixth grade is going to be a blast. Not a whole lot has changed since I was in middle school. Yes, perhaps they have traded gel pens for silly bands and NSync for Justin Bieber, but still. Nothing is really new. There is still the queen bee who thinks she rules the school and her followers who inexplicably do everything she says. There are still the jocks who refuse to believe that a world exists outside the field/court. There are still the nerds who want to fit in but for some reason just can't. There are still the girls who think the boys are SO CUTE and will do anything to get their attention, but the boys so absolutely DO NOT care (once again: girls are not on the field/court, so they do not exist). Yep, sixth grade is sixth grade, no matter where you go or what year you have it in.
I love my students so far. I don't know a ton about them yet, but they all seem pretty cool. My CT (cooperating teacher) lets me be in front of class and teaching a lot, even from the first day, so that is very appreciated. I still get startled every time a student raises their hand and says, "Mrs. Webb?", but I'm pretty sure I will settle into that name fairly quickly. One of the funniest things that has happened to me so far was not even in the classroom. The week before school started we had a bunch of district meetings, and I figured I'd better bring a notebook to be super attentive and take notes. After all, I was going to be with a room full of teachers, so they would be very attentive and studious.
I could not have been more wrong. I walked into my first meeting, and all of the teachers were sitting in the back. No one would go up front. The speaker had to coax them for about five minutes to get them to move to the front of the auditorium to be more accessible. During the meetings, the teachers were completely inattentive. I saw a few teachers texting, a couple doodling (one made a nice drawing of a house on a cliff and birds flying over the water - I watched over his shoulder), and even a couple sleeping. I saw - and I swear I am not lying - two fifty-ish old teachers PASSING NOTES. As if they were in fourth grade again or something! The teachers made the worst students ever. It was HILARIOUS. I mentioned this to my CT and his friend after one of the meetings, and his friend said, "Oh yeah, teachers are totally the worst students. We give a speaker about one second and then say, 'You suck. F--- you.'" Yeah, teachers swear. WHAT?! They also party. Another fifth grade teacher at my school was talking about how he likes to go out and get drunk on the weekends. Ummm...he's like 40. And he has a family. The same guy walked into our classroom the other day and said, "Whoa!! That is a big a-- stack of papers! That should keep em busy for a while....oops...I mean 'enrich their minds.'" What is this about teachers that I never knew? It's like they have a secret life in front of students, and then behind their backs they are completely the antithesis of what they are telling their students to be. It's depressingly hypocritical and hilarious at the same time.
This is going to be a crazy year - I can feel it already. I can only hope that I find snippets of time with which to record all of it for future reflection (and laughter).
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