Mass Hysteria

What happened today can only be described as mass hysteria. Fourth graders go crazy when there's a birthday going on. The pictures tell a little bit of the story from today. We had fun. We watched Princess Bride and had cupcakes.

Also today: Luke and I put up our Christmas tree. An hour later the cats knocked it down breaking four of my favorite ornaments. I'm giving them both the cold shoulder. I don't think they notice.

I'm very thankful for all that happened today. It was wonderful. I got a fun birthday card from a name-share-er! Thanks so much!!

Top 5 Birthdays

I would like to take this opportunity to share five of the best birthdays ever, or maybe some of the most memorable.

1. My freshman year of college my friends of only a month or so kidnapped me! They blindfolded me and took me on a car ride to the happiest place on earth: Chuch E. Cheese. Ok, not really the happiest place on earth. They took off the blindfold and there in front of me I saw many people I knew and some I didn't know. There were LOTS of people there. We had pizza, watched Stacy dance with a fourth grader, and played games. It was this birthday party that solidified some friendships and started other ones. This birthday was also so special because it was my first birthday by myself--no twin sister to share it with. I missed Liz, but it was so special to have my own day. The celebration was all about me! It was great.

2. My sophomore year at college my girlfriends arranged a dinner together at a pizza place. On the way there we were talking about how cool last year was and how this year will be good too, even though it will be a much smaller crowd. When we got there we went up to the party room and I opened the door to find a much larger crowd than expected!! It was amazing. So many people that at this point I knew and loved.

3. For my 16th birthday my mom threw Liz and me a surprise party. We came home from Awana and all of our youth group friends were at our house. Those were the good old days when Jon, Tab, Grant, Lucas, Angie, Lindsay, Jessica, Erica, Strohman, and others were readily available. That means nothing to most of you. That's ok. This is the only good birthday I can think of when I was still at home. I know that sounds harsh, but you have to understand...most birthdays growing up consisted of quickly sticking in a present opening session in between getting packed up in the car to go to Grandma's for Thanksgiving, and running around the house getting ready to go spend time with cousins we saw twice a year and who could care less that today was our special day. I remember one birthday Liz and I were asked to sit on the couch while our siblings stood around us and Mom was half paying attention to us while they sang happy birthday and tried to look interested as we opened presents. No, I'm not bitter. I guess I'm thankful that I had a partner to be miserable with me. haha, this sounds really harsh, and people will probably feel bad after they read this, but let's just laugh about it b/c it's all over now. OK?

4. One birthday really taught me humility. It was the first birthday after Luke and I got married. My birthday turned out to be the day that we were traveling back from our annual Thanksgiving trip to South Dakota. Terri's (Gabe's girlfriend at the time, now his fiance) birthday was the day we left, and mine was the day we came back. Her birthday was remembered the whole day; mine wasn't mentioned until the minute we stepped out of the van in Correctionville. I felt terrible and lousy, bitter and upset. This is my new family and they're not treating me like a daughter. I should have spent my birthday with people who really care: my own REAL family. Yikes, this sounds bad. I'm just being very honest. Come on, I know someone out there is identifying with me. Maybe it wasn't your birthday, maybe it was something else that was really special. Anyway, Luke and I talked about it on the way back to Cedar Falls and he tried to talk me out of being upset. When we got home he bought me a sweatshirt I really wanted and did one of my favorite things: ordered sausage pizza from Pizza Hut and rented a movie. Even though Luke and I had talked a lot about it and I knew I shouldn't let it be that big of a deal, I was still a little peeved. It was during that next week that I received a card in the mail from my mother in law who said she was sorry. She realized not much was said about my birthday and she would buy me some new jeans the next time I came home. I really needed them. I definitely felt humbled. It was a memorable birthday.

5. I think this birthday is going to be amazing because the big day isn't until tomrrow and I've already been so blessed. Today my kids at school got so excited that it was my b-day that I got more homemade cards today then ever in my whole life! One boy sang me happy birthday in his own made-up language like 10 times. Luke's family threw me a surprise party on Saturday after we got home from South Dakota, definitely making up for two years ago. :) We ordered Pizza Hut and watched Cars together. They bought me Diet Coke. "These are a few of my favorite things!" Luke gave me an amazing gift: a "Day of Beauty" at the Jardin Spa. I'm talking massage, facial, pedicure, hair styling, make up--the works. I'm so pumped! This may never happen again in my whole life. All this is happening and it's not even the 28th!

I'm finding myself thinking: I am so not deserving of this. I mean, I just got really peeved two years ago when my birthday was forgotten. Is that selfish? It makes me think I'm self-involved. If nothing else I'm learning that it's so worth it to let others know that you've remembered their birthday.

Is this still the USA?

Luke and I went to the Pine Ridge Reservation in SD for Thanksgiving this year. We left at 3 pm Wednesday from Sioux City last week and drove about 7 hours straight. We stayed with Luke's uncle Rick. Rick is a missionary at the Res. He raises support year round to be there. He lives in a house, with a roommate, that is next to an abandoned Christian school. Altogether we had 20 people celebrating with us. That includes cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, grandparents, and parents. I wasn't sure if Luke and I would get our own room, or be able to share a bed, but we did. We slept on a blow-up mattress that was placed in one of the old school rooms. This abandoned school was a microcasm of the Pine Ridge Res. the way I see it. It was a well-intended organization that apparently received too little support, and/or money, to sustain itself. The whole school looked like at any day it could be started up again--everything was still stocked and ready to go. It's just that for some reason the school lost it's ownership. On Thanksgiving day for an hour Rick took us on a tour of the Res. I was reminded a lot of the missions trip I went on in college to the Rosebud Res. There was a really nice and new hospital and then really nice houses right behind it. This was a government funded hospital b/c part of the treaty the U.S. has with the Reservations is that they provide health care and money for LIFE! The nice houses belonged to the doctors from Brazil, or some other place where they have gotten education. We drove to the highschool where there were gates with barbed wire all around the school. There were playgrounds that had been set up by do-gooders from who knows where and they have all been graffitied and run down because there's no sense of ownership. They don't feel the need to take care of it because they didn't put in the time and effort needed to put it there. We drove through the drug selling part of town, the part where they sell the most alcohol of any place besides Omaha and Chicago, the place where homeless people stay; and all places were littered beyond belief. I honestly felt like I was driving through a different country. I struggled with what to do with this eye-opening experience especially on a day like Thanksgiving. I felt wierd about haivng so much to eat and so many things to do when I knew that right down the street there were Native Americans who may have not eaten in the last three days. What is the responsibility of the government? Are they really helping? What should we be doing? We had some really good conversations.

On Friday we went hiking in the Badlands. Dusty, and windy! It was fun though. The men and some of the girls climbed to the high plateau we were hiking towards. Gabe and Luke went up the hard way. At one point Luke was laying flat, bridging the gap between two cliffs. I had the pleasure of sitting a quarter mile away to watch the whole thing happen. This was comforting, but not so comforting when it looked like he might kill himself. We have two traditions that Luke and I look forward to every year: tackle football after the Thanksgiving meal, and the South Dakota hike the day after Thanksgiving. Both events were enjoyable again this year.

My first pregnant friend

This is my friend Tonya. She is the tiniest pregnant woman I have ever seen. She lives in Kentucky. I wish we lived closer so I could see her. She's always had a laugh and smile or encouraging word to offer. She's going to be a great mom, and probably lose any baby weight within a month. In one of the pictures my friend Laura is with her. They're holding up the things we bought for her. Congratulations to Tonya and Ryan. Tonya, you look adorable!
Can't wait to meet your baby!

Finding the humor

This is ITBS week at school and the kids have been taking tests all week. Tomorrow is our last day. Today they took their social studies test and I was up and down out of my seat answering questions about how to pronounce words. Towards the end of the test, one of my boys named Cameron raised his hand and looked very serious. He spoke very softly so that I had to lean in really close to hear. Given how many questions I was answering during that half hour, I figured he had one too. He did have one, but it wasn't one that I was expecting.
Very softly he said, "Did you see Dancing with the Stars last night?"
Whispering, I said, "Yes."
"Who won?"
"They'll tell us tonight."
"No, I mean, who had the better score?"
"They tied."
"I thought they would!"

Then he promptly put his answer sheet inside his test booklet and put it at the top of his desk. He was done.
Things like this make me laugh.
If he only knew how much I like Dancing with the Stars...I'd be too much of a real person...that'd be weird...teachers aren't supposed to have real lives.

I am the Biggest Loser

So, the staff at school is starting a Biggest Loser competition. I'm pretty pumped about it. Everybody's chipping in some money and whoever looses the most gets the money. The competition will only last a month this time b/c of a long Christmas break coming up. The organizers are thinking of doing another competition in January. I feel a little out of my league. I'm not sure what to do about meals. Also, this is a lot different from this summer's detox diet. That only lasted for a week. I can do anything for a week. I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep this up for a month. The excercise is not what concerns me, it's the food prep, and not being sure what's ok. This summer I learned it's all about portion size, so I'll take that little bit of wisdom with me. Luke is doing it too. Pretty exciting! I think I'm the only one who faithfully watches the show. I feel responsible to make sure everything is authentic. :) Some of my competition: Luke, Lori, Shauna, and Angie. I'll find out tomorrow if there are more! Exciting!

School Auction

Last night we had our annual auction fund-raiser for school. Luke and I were helpers. We ended up helping a lot more than we thought we would. We were busy all night, but still ended up taking away 6 tickets to "Peter and the Wolf," and a new lamp! I love my lamp! It was a total surprise from a Mom from last year. She is so incredibly generous. I was telling Luke last night how much I love it and that I finally felt like I have something nice. That's funny b/c we have many nice things, but this lamp just makes me feel classy. Weird, but true. The room that it's in right now gets used so infrequently, so I think it might be moved so I can see it more.
**Yes, those are Jeff Clement baseball cards.**

In "Reader's Digest" I read an interview with Tim Allen, in anticipation of his new movie: Santa Clause 3. Will it be the next Christmas classic? Probably not. Anyway, there was one question and response that I found humerous and pretty true, in my life.

"RD: What was it like growing up in a family with so many children?

Allen: Fabulous, although my mom wold probably disagree. I have an only child. She's so independent and good with adults. We didn't care about adults. They were in that other living area. It was like Charlie Brown: you just saw their feet walking around."

I thought this was funny b/c it's so true. I was the fifth child out of six. Maybe being so far down in the pack made it more true for me than the older ones. I remember growing up being so intimidated and scared sometimes when communicating with adults, even uncles and aunts b/c we hardly ever saw them. Hey, when there's so many kids around, there's no need to interact with adults, but boy, when you're forced to, it's the most nerve-racking thing. Could this be why during all my jobs in highschool there was so much discomfort when it came to realtionships with my bosses? I.E. T-Man??? As realized recently, I was not able to feel comfortable around adults until I had become one. So, since college, it's been good. I just thought this was interesting. The reference to Charlie Brown made me laugh because I always got so irritated that I could never see the adults' faces or understand what they were saying. It's funny to me now b/c I think they were making a statement that when you're Charlie Brown's age, everything adults say sounds the same, as well as unintelligible.

Whoa!

I was so sad tonight when I finally got to watch my taped episode of Dancing with the Stars. Yep, it's safe to say I'm a reality TV junkie. I will give every reality show a fair chance. Well, not every show. I have to draw the line at Big Brother. I've never given that one a fair shake. It's just not worth it to me. Anyway, this season I got hooked on Dancing with the Stars after I saw that last season they had Lisa Rinna on the show. I loved her as Billy on Days of our Lives. So, this season when I found out Mario Lopez and Joey Lawrence were on...how could I not watch? Every episode my heart swells up with admiration and appreciation for Joey Lawrence. He is such a family man and obviously adores his wife and daughter. He keeps saying how "blessed" he is. Who says that? I've only known Christians to use that word. He is so appreciative for every good score he gets. I mean it's almost embarrassing sometimes how often he says thank you. He's so incredibly joyful, and talks about praying on the show. I have to say I like the bald Joey a lot more than the long haired Joey. I am a Joey fan now. He has got my vote and my allegiance much more than he ever did when he was on Blossom. (Trivia: Joey co-starred with David Lascher on Blossom, who appeared on "Hey Dude." Just a throw-back to an earlier post) Well, now that I've made this post look like an edition of "Tiger Beat" I would just like to finally note the reason for this post: I'm extremely disappointed that Joey and his partner Edyta got voted out this week. I was cheering for him, but I think that Emmitt Smith's charm and hip movement won out. I guess now I'm going to cheer for Mario. One of the teen heart throbs has got to win.

You'll always be a winner to me, Joe.










Something extra: Joey had a short-lived singing career and I loved one song that he sung. I still listen to it every once in a while. If you'd like to listen to the song, go here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVg7il--C90
For some reason the video doesn't match the song, and it's broken up, but you get the idea.
If you missed Joey dancing this season, never fear, go here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhnYQ0anoMw
**I can't figure out how to make a word highlighted within my post like Holli and Miles do. I would like to just have it be highlighted so that you can click on the word "Joey Lawrence," for example, and it will take you right to the video. Rookie question, I know, but can anybody help?

This one's just for fun:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYCSCbqbdJA

Rare and Few

Not many people get to graduate from college with their husband. That's why I love these pictures so much. We sat right next to each other and walked across the stage one after the other. Deb first, then Luke. Luke cheered loudly for me. Yes, we planned it so our hats would point to each other while we were sitting among the rest of the Ed. Majors. We made it easy for our parents to spot us.

I also really like this next picture. It's an ad for Bleach. At the bottom it says, "Trusted for six genertations. All the rage since 1913." I'm not sure why I like it so much. It just really makes me think. What are they trying to say? I may be searching too deep for meaning...probably. It think it's saying that what was popular in 1913 was to be like the first girl, then in the twenties to be like the second girl, and so on. Until we get to today. So the question I ask myself is: Is it now more popular and noble to be pregnant and not working? (I can only assume not working, because the previous girl is obviously headed off to work in her pant suit.) Is that what is "all the rage" right now? My friend Micah came to another conclusion: "The ad is saying that there's way to much pregnancy now. They're saying while you used to see every popular girl in a working suit, now you see them pregnant." We laughed about this a little bit. But the question remains, is the ad speaking out about the nobility of being a mom and investing in your kids, or about promiscuity? You be the judge. Could be that this is not interesting to anybody but me...

Blanchard's fate will be decided in 5 minutes

I was looking at some old commercials and TV intros tonight while waiting to see if our school's superintendent won the Iowa Senate race. Barbara Blanchard, best of luck to you.

What I was mostly looking for was a specific Dunkaroos commercial where it says, "The long distance, dainty dunk!" I'm trying to prove something to an old friend on his birthday Nov. 20. I found every Dunkaroos commercial but that one. Ugh. In my searching I found the song intro for "Hey Dude." Awesome! I also saw the intro for "Kid's Incorporated." So funny. While I was watching the "Hey Dude" opener I spied something so totally amazing. Check out the name of the girl who used to play "Brad." Kelly Brown??? WHAT? haha. This is hilarious. One of my bestest friends used to have the name Kelli Brown, now it's Kelli Burrier, but sometimes I slip up and call her Brown. :) I thought this was great. Thinking of you tonight, Kel!

Now I know how you really feel...

Today I sat down to edit the yearbook for Luke. After an hour into working, I looked down at the mouse pad to find a friendly surprise. I'm not sure who wrote it, but I'm sure it's one really cool fourth-grader.


May you be someday be graced with the sweet compliment of defaced property; done out of uncontainable admiration for you.