My eighth bridesmaid gig

I have been meaning to write about Amy's wedding all week but I have been a bit of a slacker. Well, I am finally getting with the program after watching the movie, 27 Dresses, tonight. I definitely had some things in common with the main character. We even had the same fav part of a wedding- the groom's face when he sees the bride. I think this is just natural when you spend all day getting ready with the bride. You really just want to see what he thinks of the whole thing. I especially love it when they cry those subtle manly tears. Matt Laskey was classic!

One interesting thing about the movie was that the guy she ends up with is an actor I had a huge crush on as a teenager. So, if the bridesmaid chick is me, then I end up with a hottie!!

Now to real weddings- Amy's. It was so great to get to hang out in Canada with Amy and her fam. I really love those people. I wish I had been able to come earlier but it was hard enough to get permission to miss two days.

Thursday night was the bachelorette party hosted by Amy's sister, Lindsay. It was quite the phallic fiesta. I think a bachelorette party is just more fun when the couple is waiting until their honeymoon to have sex for the first time. Lindsay made an incredible chocolate cake topped with a naked Barbie and Ken who slightly resembled Amy and Shawn. There were rice krispie treats that spelled out "SEX." There were also some strange penis-shaped cupcakes. We played pin the penis on Spiderman and drew penises on paper plates. Good clean fun! There were even penis straws. A funny thing happened with the penis straws. I put one in my purse and forgot about it. The next day, Amy's brother, Ryan was looking for a pen to sign the check for pizzas. Apparently he zoned in on my purse as a potential pen holder. He grabs what he thinks is a pen and tries to sign for the pizza with a penis straw. Awkward! That will teach him to dig through my purse!!

On Friday, we attempted to sleep in. We ended up helping to set up the reception area and sanctuary at the church. After Bethany and Matt's wedding, I am an expert at putting chair covers on chairs. Luckily there were a lot of other people around helping. We soon tired and went back to Amy's house for a nap. That night we had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The dinner was at a family friend's house that was huge and cavernous. There was even a part that closely resembled a dungeon. My friend, Kristy from Maui was there and we had fun taking pics in the cavern. The food was incredible. I couldn't get enough of it.

Amy gave the four bridesmaids photo albums and lululemon gear. For those of you who are not Canadian or unfamiliar with 80% of Amy's wardrobe, lululemon is a trendy Canadian yoga clothing line. I feel cooler now that I own more lululemon gear.

We went back to Amy's and hung out a bit and went to bed. It snowed a little that night. This made the snow on the ground look a little nicer. In the morning we went to get our hair done. I had a picture of what I wanted but the lady informed me that she did not know how to do cornrows. I don't think Canadians understand black people because the picture of the hairstyle did not closely resemble corn rows. Oh well.

After the hair, we went back to Amy's to finish getting ready. I am getting tired right now. I will have to continue this tomorrow.

Tastes like a chicken shake

Today at Young Life I had to take one for the team. We did a fairly gross game. We blended three different McDonald's value meals. There was a nugget meal, cheese burger and the unfortunate fish filet. A student was assigned to each of us and if they correctly guessed the ingredients to the shake, the leader had to chug it. Oh, that Cindy!!! Why did she have to guess nuggets. The fact that the shake smelled exactly like chicken nuggets may have been a dead giveaway.

After the successful guessing, we had to chug the contents of our glasses. In case you were wondering fries, chicken nuggets and Sprite don't taste nearly as good as one. It was sick. I was mainly grossed out by the chicken scent. Luckily I didn't have to chug it all. I think I won since the burger guy and fish guy weren't drinking near as much. I have a feeling theirs were a lot worse- especially the fish filet. I couldn't get the pureed chicken taste out of my mouth all night.

What can I say? Suffering for the Lord.

Now I need to go pack for my third Canadian adventure this year. Hooray for a mini-vacation from the TAKS test!!!

Unexpected Emergency Room

This weekend was busy, well actually Saturday was really busy. I started the day off with the dreaded Saturday tutorials! I don't mind the actual tutorials themselves because it seems more productive and fulfilling to work in smaller groups. I just hate coming to work on Saturdays and even more than that, I hate being forced to come in on Saturdays.

After tutorials, my teacher friend, Helen and I went out to eat at the local "Lesbian deli," my mom's nickname, not mine. Then we went to the art museum. It was fun. I like hanging out with Helen. She seems to have a lot of negative people in her life so I like being a positive influence. She is also fun to talk to.

After the art museum, my mom and I drove out to Sarah's house in Pearland so my mom, the nurse, could give her a post-chemo immune booster shot. She wasn't doing so hot when we got there. She had broken her impressive "no puke" streak that she'd been cultivating in high school. For those of you who don't understand the true ramifications of this, watch the episode of Seinfeld where Jerry's impressive streak ends with the fateful black and white cookie.

Sarah also had a fever. When a cancer patient has a fever, they have to go to the emergency room. I dropped my mom off and met Sarah, John and John's family at the emergency room at MD Anderson Cancer Center. It was not crowded since it only serves cancer patients. Sarah got right in. We were there for about 5 hours as Sarah was pumped with lots of fluid, antibiotics, and magnesium. We never really figured out where you would normally get your magnesium quota from. Luckily she got to go home.

Overall, it wasn't too scary though Sarah really looked like she had cancer to me for the first time. Sure she's bald but other than that you wouldn't know she was sick. It was hard to see her sick. I am so thankful that this did not happen until her very last chemo.

The last time I was in an emergency room was in Bangladesh. It was a very different experience. As for my own health, I am having some serious sinus issues. I have been put on a month's worth of antibiotics and three weeks worth of steroids. Not the Schwartzenagger kind. After all this I have to have a CAT scan to see if I need sinus surgery. Compared to cancer, it seems like nothing. I may end up going with the surgery to end my six month streak of back-to-back heinous sinus infections. I will keep you posted as I am sure you are on the edge of your seat for news of my whacked sinuses.

No mo' chemo!

Tonight I went to a "No mo' Chemo" dinner for Sarah. This was to celebrate Sarah's last chemo. One treatment down, several to go. Next is surgery, then radiation and more surgery. At least she's done with chemo. Her hair will start growing back, which is a really exciting thing!!!

And now for a few reasons I love Houston:

Reason #1- Last weekend I hung out with my friends, Jane and James who live in a primarily black part of town. The neighbors are super friendly and have been very welcoming to Jane and James, despite the fact that they are Asian and Honky, respectfully. Anyway, when we were driving in the neighborhood, we saw an incredible vehicle. It was a goldish champagne colored Buick Regal. In case you couldn't identify the make and model, the owner had it painted largely on the doors in silver cursive. The doors were not the type ordinarily found on the grandma-ish Buick. I think the type of doors are called suicide doors or lamborghini doors. They did not open out but up. It was pretty incredible!

Reason #2- We have a local celebrity called "Mattress Mac" who owns Gallery Furniture Store. He actually achieved a more national fame when he was featured on "Conan O'Brien." Conan was inexplicably only on at 3 am in Houston. He showcased the crazy commercials that are on at that time of the night. There is a furniture guy who uses a real chainsaw to demostrate how he slashes prices. Mattress Mac likes to say, "Save You Money" as he is holding a small wad of cash and jumping enthusiastically. He is often wearins a shirt that looks like it was made out of an American flag. He actually came to my high school and modified the "Save you money" to "Don't do drugs!" Very powerful and life changing for me.

All that was to say that on Monday, President's Day- They are having a search for Miss Gallery Furniture. I can't even imagine what an honor that would be. The store actually opens at 5am that day for auditions. I don't think I want to wake up in the 4's and then teach a full-day of school and tutorials. But wow, what a dream come true! I guess we'll see how I feel on Sunday night.

Wonderful Weekend

For those of you not in Houston, this weekend was exquisite! It was warm enough to wear sandals and shorts but not at all hot. This is not typical Houston weather.

The weekend started off well despite an unnecessarily hard fought battle to gain approval to take off two days to be in my YWAM best friend, Amy's wedding. It was nice to finally get the yes. I had already bought the plane ticket and the dress. I figured if I ended up being denied, I would just wear the dress for those two days of school I was supposed to miss. I really don't think two days is bad for a wedding in another country anyway. Luckily my kids kicked butt on their fake standardized test the day before.

So, I was riding high going into the weekend knowing that I was going to get to be in my eighth wedding. I really am a professional.

When I left school the weather was warm and breezy. I took advantage of this and went for a bike ride. I am trying to start training for the MS150. On Saturday, I had to do Saturday tutorials, which I hate. I mainly hate the concept of being at school on a Saturday. Luckily God was was merciful and made the weather cool and gloomy up until noon when we were dismissed. I called up my friends, Jane and James and we spent the day together. It was great! We played disc golf, road bikes, ate pizza and played video games. It reminded me of being in YWAM where I would hang out with friends all day. After each activity, we'd just try to figure out what's next. I feel like now I mainly hang out with my friends for one activity and one hour. I miss the all-day hang out.

On Sunday, I was treated to a lovely banana pancake breakfast served by the aforementioned, James and Jane. Then I went to church and then played disc golf with Sarah. A great weekend!!! I heard it is going to get into the forties later this week. That's Houston for you!

Sucks to school, hooray for Young Life

I just love Young Life. Yesterday I went to a basketball game for some of my Young Life girls. I am glad I went because it turned out to be their last game and therefore my last chance to use my "D-Fence" in a logical way.

Luckily it was a home game. This made it easy to find someone to hold my fence. It is really done best as a two-man job. A kid I know named Jarvis was my fence man this time. He is the kind of kid who is not ashamed to yell "fence" with gusto. But despite our best efforts, the team lost by almost 30. I considered that n improvement from the game I watched where they lost by 50 to this same team.

Last week I missed Young Life because I was sick. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I came back. I feel like school piles weights on my shoulders and Young Life takes the weight off. I think it's technically Jesus that takes it off. Anyway, instead of feeling more tired after teaching all day and then being a Young Life leader at night, I feel energized and rejuventated.

I don't know what this means. Maybe I was spoiled at YWAM by my incredible boss-type people. The regular world is tough. I wonder often if teaching is for me. It's a big time-consuming job. I really feel I need to try a new school before I make my final decision. 90% of my issues with the current job surround one person so I would like to see what teaching is like without that person. Lately I have been leaning towards getting a master's in school counseling. I am so tired of the hype surrounding our state's standardized test, the TAKS test. I HATE IT! I think you get to bypass most of that as a counselor and hang out and care about kids. That's the part I like best about teaching. I missed the deadline to enroll for next year's masters program. I guess that's a sign I should think about it more. So, those of you who pray, pray that I figure out what I am really supposed to do.

Also pray that I can go to my YWAM best friend, Amy's wedding. I am meeting some resistance even though I am in it. Pray that everything works out. I would be devastated to have to miss such an important day. Also I paid a lot of money for the bridesmaid dress and I have no foreseeable balls to attend in the future.

Shopping with Bing

Today I took my Chinese friend, Bing, shopping. I am emphasizing her ethnicity because she is an international student I befriended through an organization in town. Spending time with her makes me wish every international person who comes here had an American friend to explain things to them.

Today I took her for bbq. I had a fun time trying to explain what bbq was and what the South is. She was confused why the "south" is not actually the states in the south but really the states in the southeast to mideast.

Our goal for the day was to find Bing an outfit she could wear to an upcoming job fair. She is an engineering grad student and wants to get a summer internship. So, we went business suit shopping. It was good to help her but business suits are pretty boring. I am very thankful I do not have to wear one.

She told me some interesting stuff about China. They still have the one kid rule and if you break it, you have to pay an on-going fine. So, only rich people can have more than one kid. She said that the laws are different in rural areas so families have help on the farm.

She also said she has heard that some families have a second child that they keep secret. They would have to obtain false birth certificates for the kid to go to school. I am glad I live in America where people can procreate as they wish.

I am happy to report that we accomplished our mission and purchased a fine business suit. I am sure Bing will wow them with her snazzy new duds and get an internship in no time.