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.

My dad breaks the rules

So, last Wednesday was career day at my school. I don't remember having a career day at my school when I was a kid but they were often part of television shows like Full House. Uncle Joey didn't show up at this career day but it was still good.

The way this one worked was that professionals came to our class in groups of three for three rotations. My dad was in the first rotation for my class. Unfortunately he had to follow a representative from the SPCA and an animal cop. The animal cop was one of the ladies from the show, Animal Cops." She goes where animals are being abused and arrests those doing it. She even remarked on our class turtles, Gary and Susan. I had been told it was illegal to sell turtles that size but how could I pass up $5 a piece at the Flea Market? She said that having them as pets is illegal but you can have them for educational purposes. They are really more like class mascots than educational tools but I wasn't going to tell her that lest she take them away.

So, my dad had to follow the animal cop. Somehow law is not as interesting as animals. He did a good job, though. He tried to use third-grade friendly language and examples. He used some of my kids' names in his examples, which is always a hit. The best part of the whole day was when he called on one of my students. She said that he had broken a rule. When he asked what, she said, "You called Miss Hightower by her first name." She had a point and we all had a good laugh as my dad explained that being my dad gave him the right to call me by my first name.

The other guests were pretty good with the exception of this geeky middle-aged audio/visual technician. He explained his job in technical terms that even I had trouble following. He spent more time talking about Chicago than his job, which was probably good since his job was so boring.

One of my students' fathers came and shared about how he had come to Texas from Mexico and didn't know English. He also told them that he had failed the fifth grade. But despite these challenges, he is now a very successful technologies specialist with a post-graduate degree. This was great for them to hear since many of them have failed grades already. I was glad he shared that with them.

Belated Birthday Blog

So, my birthday was more than a week ago but I thought my blog readers (whoever you may be) would like to know how the big shebang went down.

The kids at school told me, "Happy Birthday" about every five minutes. I got several gifts from them: a big fleece UT blanket, a Dr. Suess book with stuffed animal from story, a fake crystal bowl(they know my taste so well!), a $20 Target gift card- Yay, and a Betty Bop doll a kid won from a crane machine. Betty had a jewelry box taped to her that held a very grandma-ish rose broach. I obviously put on the broach immediately. It was worth it to look silly and make a kid's day.

I left school as soon as possible and took a nice birthday nap. Then I met people at Chuy's. My birthday guests were John, Sarah, Thama, Katie H, Jane and later James. Sarah got me "The Idiot's Guide to Dating." This was a result of my laments over not understanding all the ways of dating. (See earlier blog.) A nearby waiter put out the creep vibe by asking me why I needed that book. He said dating was easy. What a weirdo to comment on my loser-ish dating book. A polite person does not mention such things. Then at the end of the meal he came by to ask where the book was. I think he was actually trying to hit on me using the dating book as some sort of misguided segway. It sure didn't work. Maybe he should read the book.

We then went back to my house for cookie cake and funfetti cake. A dream come true! Oh yeah, and I forgot the part where Katie made me breakfast in bed. I didn't tell anyone at school that for fear that saying "My roommate made me breakfast in bed," would make me sound like a lesbian in denial. In reality, it was a super-nice gesture with nothing lesbian about it. Now I need to go to sleep so I will have patience for tutorials tomorrow. It is very hard to have a good attitude when you are forced to do tutorials on Saturdays against your will. And this is definitely against my will!

Poetic Pooping

I live with two roommates and two cats. The cats aren't mine and I don't pay much attention to them in general. When I got home from Austin on Monday, I discovered that my roommate, Katie's cat, Samantha had pooped on my TAKS workbook. Lately I have felt a lot of frustration about all the pressure put on myself and my students to pass the TAKS test. It was as if Samantha was agreeing with my disdain for TAKS. I couldn't really be mad at Samantha. I would have done the same if it were socially acceptable. Her gesture was almost poetic. Again, I wasn't mad, that is until I noticed that she had also pooped in my bed. Now, there is nothing poetic about that! Nothing!!!!

Dating

I have recently discovered that I don't really know how to date. What I mean is that I don't really understand all the rules and procedures.

The only real relationship I have had began after over two years of friendship. When you start dating a friend, you are automatically serious because you already know you want to be with them. You also don't have to go through the "get to know you" phase. I understand how to have the friends become more type relationship.

What I don't understand is the meeting someone and then dating them shortly after route. I have gone on a few dates with guys and it's hard to know how long it is supposed to take to figure out if you can actually be with them. I have noticed that you can sometimes figure out on the first date. Maybe you realize that no matter how nice they are, you just aren't attracted to them. Maybe they talk about their pets too much or don't leave a tip.

I went on a couple of dates with one guy but couldn't figure out what to think. He was a really strong Christian and nice guy but not dorky. But he also wasn't very fun or funny. Funny is pretty important. Life is full of crappy stuff at times and I know I need someone who can make me laugh and forget about my troubles. But there wasn't anything bad or wrong with him.

My mom, who used to simultaneously date many men in college, told me I should give the guy at least three dates to decide what I think. I definitely think one date is not enough unless it is just super obvious it won't work for one of you. There is often a lot of awkwardness and nervousness during that first date so it isn't a true representation of one's personality.

But I don't think I subscribe to my mom's theory of three dates. After two dates with the aforementioned guy, I was not dazzled. He was not someone I couldn't stop thinking about. No need to lead him on with a third, right? Also I have been told many times that I am going to marry someone amazing. I sure hope this is true. And even if it isn't apparent to everyone, I should at least think he's amazing. You can figure that out by date two, right?

And then, if you make it past date two, when it is okay to hold hands, to kiss, to say that you are officially dating, etc? It seems to be a lot more straight-forward with someone you were friends with first. I would try to look on the internet for some guidelines but I am pretty sure that the usual advice is not to have sex on the first date- wait until the third. For a Christian woman who will not be having sex until after a fabulous friend-filled wedding, this advice really sucks.

I guess I am really just going to have to figure this out as I go but I wish there was some kind of universal guidelines we could all follow. There would be no hard feelings or misunderstandings. It probably won't happen right? Maybe I should just move to India and get an arranged marriage. Then I would know what to do- you meet, get married and then have sex all on the first day. No confusion there, huh?

Watching Bethany and Matt become Mr. and Mrs. Laskey

I really should be packing for the Young Life trip I am leaving for in an hour and a half but instead I am blogging. Oh well.

So, I want to give the low-down on Matt and Bethany's wedding for those of you who did not get to go.

I got into town on the Thursday night before the wedding. Wayne arrived a few hours earlier and apparently went to David's Bridal with Amy, her mom and her fiance. I wish I could have been there for that experience. I am sure it was priceless. They picked me up and we drove from Buffalo into Canada.

In the morning Matt and Bethany picked up Wayne to attend to some wedding biznass. Later that day, Amy, Shawn and I headed to the place where the reception was being held. It was just a boring empty room at that point. No one directly affiliated with the wedding party was there when we got there. One of Bethany's uncles and his wife were there but they were as clueless as we were about how to properly transform this space to the couple's liking. We decided to set up table and put chair covers on the chairs. This took a lot longer than I would have expected. The chair covers were a bit tedious but they made everything look a lot fancier. Luckily the wedding party arrived before we had to make any further uninformed decisions.

After Wayne and I tried (unsuccessfully) to make snow angels, Amy, Shawn and I took off believing that there were clearly enough workers to handle the job. It was Amy's birthday so we went back to her house for a birthday dinner. The food was excellent and I truly enjoy her family. After my big dinner at Amy's, I went to the rehearsal dinner for Matt and Bethany's wedding. It was at this buffet place that put American buffets to shame. It was some sort of Asian restaurant but they had every kind of food you could imagine and some that you didn't want to. Here is a sample of the fare: steak, sushi, fruit tarts, something called cuttle fish that I made Wayne eat, yam flavored ice cream, salad, and raw oysters, which I set a platter of at Matt's plate. You know what they say about raw oysters.

The next morning, Amy woke up sick. This was unfortunate since she and I were the makeshift florists for the wedding later that day. Luckily, Courtney Mowatt and Amy's mom helped out. We managed to put together the bouquets in time for the wedding. Courtney drove me to the wedding and I ran into Esther Brown in front of the church. How wonderful- another Texan feeling equally ill-equipped for this winter weather. We sat together and I gave her the who's who of the guests to the best of my ability.

Bethany and Matt both looked awesome! Matt's face before she came down the aisle was very uncharacteristic. I have known Matt a long time and I have never seen such a mixture of nervousness and excitement on his face. It was very cute. And when Bethany walked down the aisle, he could barely see through his tears. Don't worry- it was a very subtle manly cry not the weeping I have seen at other weddings.

After they got hitched, they walked down the aisle to a Top Gun song- obviously Matt's choice. Then there was a long gap between wedding and reception. We went back to Amy's house to hang out. Then we went to the reception. The reception hall seemed to have magically transformed since we were there earlier that day. There were lots of white lights and some Christmasy decorations as well. When I saw that there were two lighted reindeer, I knew what must be done.

For those of you unaware of my Christmas-time hi-jinks, my friends and I like to put the lighted reindeer on people's lawns into sexual positions. It was great fun! I convinced Wayne to help me arrange them into a more "natural" position. It was pretty funny if you ask me. I also got into more reception hi-jinks with AMy's mom and sister. Someone had spelled out Matt and Bethany's initials on the gift table using fancy stones. We changed it to say, "Sex soon." Matt had waited 27 years for this. It deserved to be mentioned, right?

The food was good and I was seated with my fellow YWAMers. Bethany's brother sang a song about Bethany's food allergy. It was hilarious. It was called, "I hope they have gluten-free in Georgia." Bethany's dad told the story of Matt accidentally calling his brother, Amy's dad, to ask for his daughter's hand in marriage. So funny!

I was leaving as the bouquet was being tossed. I ran back just in time to see Courtney catch it. I was bummed that I missed out. I love going after those things for the pure competition factor.

That's most of the wedding, I think. I am sure I left out some interesting parts but this is already ridiculously long. After the wedding, Matt left his backpack of important items at his new in-laws' house. Luckily Amy, Shawn and I were on our way to the airport to drop me off. So, we met them at the airport. I ended up hanging out with them a bit before our flights. That just adds another airport to the long list I have been in with Matt. I am really excited for him. He is truly like a brother to me. I am hoping to visit the happy couple in Georgia for a few days when I go to Young Life camp there. Speaking of Young Life camp, I better get packing!

Christmas Down-low

A lot has happened in the last two weeks. This blog entry will focus on Christmas with my family in Colorado.

It was cold! I wanted to die every time I stepped outside. I really have no tolerance for cold weather after living in Texas and Hawaii. I am a big baby.

Shella and Andrew are renting a big house so there was plenty of room for the fam. They even have a basement. I have now been in several basements but they never cease to amaze me. We don't have basements in Houston.

We did a lot of shopping and chilling. It was cool to have the whole family together again. We exchanged gag gifts and I gave Celine Dion perfume. My brother traded for it and promptly sprayed it on us. How sweet!

Andrew got a blu-ray player and an enormous HD tv. It's like being at the movie theater. I got a wii for Christmas so we played that a lot. My mom actually beat my dad at tennis. It was pretty epic. She has never beat him at any sport- real or virtual. I got a lot of wii accessories for Christmas. I now have three controllers and four games. If you haven't played a wii, you need to come over. Those things are so fun!

Canadian capers

It's been too long since I updated this bad boy. I have been super busy with the end of the semester and a ridiculous amount of traveling.

I am currently at Amy's house in Toronto. I really love being here. It feels very comfortable and home-like. I really enjoy Amy's family and friends. I seem to fit in pretty well with these Canadians.

There is snow here, which is intriguing. Wayne(from Georgia) and I tried to make snow angels but apparently the snow was too old and hard. Tonight there is supposed to be snow so I have high hopes for tomorrow. I am bummed to leave tomorrow.

Today we had a shower for Amy. It was good times. It was not a lingerie shower but I brought lingerie. That's just how I roll. I also got her a Friends trivia game. She hates Friends. We can't help but hate the show after someone at YWAM got a DVD box set and it was on constantly at the house we lived in. I gave it to her anonymously. My goal was for her to have to fake that she liked it and I was hoping that some of the ladies would get excited. All my hopes and dreams were realized. It was awesome.

I need to go back to being social. I will tell more next time I write. PS- Matt and Bethany's wedding was fabulous!

D- Fence

Every since the day I first laid eyes on this wonderful pun at a UT football game, I have wanted to create one- the d- fence. I have finally done it. I cut a large D and a mini fence out of foam board. I feel so much more complete. I was super excited about breaking out the d-fence for the high school girls' basketball game I attended tonight. Many of my favorite YoungLife girls play on the team. Unfortunately I FORGOT THE D-FENCE!!!!!! How could I do that?!!! Our girls ended up losing by 30 points. I think you are probably coming to the same conclusion that I have come to regarding the loss- would not have happened if I had remembered the D-Fence. I clearly let them down. The worst part was when the crowd started chanting "Defense. That was difficult to hear knowing what amazing visual pun I could have contributed to the encouragement.

The girls play once more before I leave for Colorado. I would like to pretend that the whole reason I will attend the game is to support my girls but I think we all know it is because I can debut the D-FENCE!!! I will tell you how it goes. I am predicting a landslide victory.

What not to say to someone with cancer

Recently I was with Sarah when she was basically accosted by a random lady. She was a well-meaning friend of a friend. The moment she saw Sarah, she said, "You're Sarah! I've been praying for you!" That is a pretty awkward way to meet someone. It is great that people who have never met Sarah are praying for her. I know that she appreciates it too but it can still be awkward when they loudly announce to on at first meeting.

The woman, who had the best intentions, trapped Sarah in conversation and pumped her full of cheesy Biblical slogans. I fully believe in what the Bible says but it can come off a little weird when a perfect stranger tells you that your difficult situation will be good in the long run. While I believe that good will come out of this, it is hard to focus on that when there is still so much unknown concerning Sarah's future.

So, for those of you who have been praying for Sarah without ever meeting her, I sincerely appreciate it. Please keep it up. I admit that sometimes it hurts too much for me to pray for her like I should. But, if you do get lucky and get to meet Sarah, don't greet her by saying that you have been praying for her even if it is true. Don't look at her with sad eyes that say, "You are the girl with cancer." Treat her like a regular person. That's all she wants.

Sad stuff

I don't know if you have been following the news. In case you haven't, here is the deal:

A young guy went into a YWAM training center in Denver and shot four people, killing two of them. Then he went to a church and killed two teenage girls before he was killed by the church security guard.

YWAM is a funny organization because even though there are over 10,000 people working with YWAM at any given moment, we all feel like a family. You can meet a fellow YWAMer for the first time and talk for hours with no pauses or awkwardness. I am no longer on staff with YWAM but I will always be part of the family. And this tragedy hurts. These young adults were doing exactly what I was doing a year ago and now they are dead. I never met them but I know I would have liked them. It hurts that someone ended their lives.

It should probably make me scared of further YWAM involvement but it really makes me want to drop everything and join it again. I believe so much in how God uses this organization. I am thankful that their lives were not in vain and I pray for their families. It is all too easy to put myself in their place. So many of the people I love are YWAMers as well.

Pizza Olympics

Tonight was Young Life and as usual, it lifted my spirits. Those kids are so funny. We did this activity called the pizza olympics. At the beginning of club, three kids call three different pizza places. The first pizza man to get there, gets a cheesy gold plastic medal. It is really funnny but ours did work out too well. Only one pizz guy showed up. He seemed a bit mentally challenged and was definitely confused. When he arrived, we played the Olympic theme song very loud and screamed and yelled for him. That part went well, but the other two pizza guys didn't show up. We kept singing song after song, trying to stall before the big Jesus talk. Finally we had to just go for it. The kids all had fun even if it wasn't very smooth.

During the Jesus talk, my fellow Young Life leader friend, Bethany and I were trying to figure out what was going on with two of the girls. They were sitting awfully close. We thought they might be lesbians. Slowly our suspicions were confirmed as they continued to behave in a way that I never would with a female friend. They were pretty much sitting on each other and there was clearly nuzzling going on. If that was not enough, one started to lovingly smell the other's hair. Oh well, I am glad that the are coming to Young Life. We seem to have a decent number of lesbians. Maybe it is because we have a lot of sporty kids.

I really miss my old boss, Tom. I guess it is not too surprising to find a good boss when you work in a Christian environment. He was just incredible. He was humble yet commanding. He always pointed out people's strengths but wasn't afraid to confront when necessary. I am learning that a good boss can really make or break a job experience. I have moments every day when I just ache to go back to Maui and work with YWAM. It was just amazing. But alas, I know this is where I am supposed to be right now. I am really hoping that I am supposed to be in Maui over Spring Break. I am praying and saving so it can work out.

Afterwards, a bunch of the guys and girls started fake fighting in the parking lot. I guess it must have been a bit too convincing. The cops showed up just as we were starting to leave and told us to get on our way. Little did he know that Young Life is actually a really good influence on these kids. I got out of there before I could explain. He didn't seem in the mood to talk.

Tales of a Third Grade Teacher

I am absolutely exhausted right now, which is sad since it is about 8pm. I stayed up later than I should have last night on this scientific research website. It sounds boring but it isn't. The site tests your reaction time to a series of pictures and uses that to compute how you feel about issues. I had heard about one about race but I ended up taking some about religion, homosexuality and girls and boy stereotypes for science and math. In each case I was moderately biased in one direction. I didn't fully agree with the girls sucking at science assessment since I really don't think they suck. Anyway, if you want to check it out, go to-https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/research/

Today was a much better day at school. I have been praying a lot more for school stuff and I think it is working. Teaching seems to be full of highs and lows. Some of my kids have very difficult home lives and it hurts my heart. One boy today said he couldn't do his Science project because his electricity got turned off. Several of my kids have brothers, mothers or fathers in jail. I pray that they will rise out of their working class poverty and bad parenting and become successful. I try very hard to make them feel special.

I think I have mentioned before that there is one kid that I know has a crush on me. It's pretty cute to have a third-grader crushing on you- especially a short, chubby one with glasses. Today this particular kid gave me a hug and said, "Miss Hightower, you're my best friend." This was flattering but turned slightly awkward when he wouldn't let go. Luckily in third grade, they are all short enough to hug below the extremely awkward boob area. I finally pried the kid off of me. Now, if only I was that irresistable to men my own age....

Laughing at the nudes

Look, I am a blogging machine! Life felt easy in Maui and it feels hard here. I am still having problems with my principal that I will not foolishly elaborate on this public and anonymous forum. As can be expected, conflict at work makes life way more stressful.

Thankfully Christmas is coming soon. I am definitely looking forward to it. It is bound to be amazing! My brother will be home from Iraq and I am getting Nintendo Wii. Now if only Santa could bring a funny, sporty Christian man and a cure for cancer....

On Thursday I took my class on a field trip to the Museum of Fine Arts. The field trip only lasted an hour, which was far too short to see much of the museum. It definitely piqued my interest and I would like to go back soon. The kids were broken up into smaller groups and distributed among the docents- fancy word for volunteer guides. I strategically formed a group with some of the kids whom I was afraid would make trouble. Our guide, Blaine (who was curiously an older white man and not a gay black man as my In Living Color experience would dictate), showed us a good time and the kids behaved well. The funniest part to me was the way the kids responded to the nudes. I had joked to another teacher before we left that I was going to wrangle the kids and keep them away from the nudes. Well, the nudes were unavoidable and the kids acted exactly as I had anticipated. They turned red. They giggled and they pointed. It was pretty funny. I told them to act mature but that's pretty difficult to do when you are eight and looking at naked people.

One kid asked me why anyone would want to paint or sculpt naked people. I didn't quite know how to respond. I told him that some people think naked people are beautiful. The kid just looked at me like I was crazy.

This whole incident reminded me of visiting an art gallery in New York. My friend, Lucy's dad was part of an art exhibit along with a few other artists. We went to see his show. We walked around pretending to be part of the snooty art community. One of the other patrons looked very familiar but I couldn't figure out why. Soon, I realized that the woman was the model for a life-like nude painting hanging in that very gallery. I am sure I turned red and I think I giggled. How can I expect my third graders to keep their composure when I couldn't? How could that woman walk around a room full of strangers who knew exactly what she looked like naked? Eek! What a weirdo!