Posted by beth on November 9, 2011
Y’all. I feel like tired that got tired, fell asleep, and woke up still tired. This week has been so utterly exhausting, I cannot explain it in words that currently exist in the lexicon. We’ve been going non-stop since Saturday morning, learning everything we can about World Team, church planting, discipleship, evangelizing, leadership and multiplication. And that only got us through Monday morning. For the rest of Monday and Tuesday, we were being assessed in smaller groups while we worked on tasks they gave us wherein we had to use everything we’d learned and some things we hadn’t. Then today, we each had at least two interviews that took 45 minutes to an hour apiece while simultaneously putting together a massive project with our groups. At the end of the day, it was all I could do to drive back to my host home and get in the bed. I didn’t sleep, but I rested my eyes (literally, turns out that’s really a thing) for an hour, and it was glorious. Then we went out for Philly cheese-steak. Well, I had Philly cheese-veggies, and oh my gosh it was amazing! The bread, y’all. It’s all about the bread.
So I think tomorrow is when we find out if they want us. I think. I’ve left my schedule in the car, but I think it’s tomorrow because after we find out, we still need more time to talk about our next steps. So that makes sense. Which is weird because I don’t think kindergarten math would make sense to me right now.
I said yesterday that if you ever decide you want to know everything about yourself that you never wanted to know or thought to ask, this is the place to do it. It’s crazy hard, but also super awesome, and even though I would love to sleep until 2012 right now, it’s been totally worth it. I’ve been prodded (verbally, nothing weird), challenged, tested, pushed and made to cry several times, but I’ve been more encouraged by these people than anything. Seriously. It’s been exhausting, yet oddly refreshing, and while I have the outcome I’m really hoping for in mind, if it turns out differently, it’ll still have been worth it.
But I’ll need to get a good week’s sleep before I acknowledge that.
Posted by beth on November 3, 2011
I know what you’re thinking. Which way is she going to go with this? Is it going to be about living the dream or Febreeze-ing a giant cockroach? Well, friends, why not both? Heck yes, this is all about having your cake and eating it too. Without any fuzzy bugs distracting you.
But not really. This is really about how I made a to-do list, and I’m doing so well knocking it out, I’ve started adding the things I’m already doing to it just so I can cross them off and feel more productive. Like “blog.” It’s on the list, and I’m doing it. Check me out! I might even add “watch 3 episodes of Bones” to it in a minute. We’ll see. I’m waiting for my laundry to dry (on the list) so I can pack (also on the list) for my out-of-town trip (wink wink). You know the one I mean. Wait. Maybe you don’t. Well, I mentioned in this post that World Team has invited me for a week of assessment, and it’s next week, so I’m leaving tomorrow after work to head up to PA for that.
My lesson plans are done (on the list) , I’ve got road trip snacks already (list), and I even got my oil and my air filter changed (not on the list). And while we’re on that, let’s talk for just a moment about Jiffy Lube, shall we? Do they really need to adjust my seat to drive the car 20 yards through the garage? I mean really? Then it feels all out of whack, and I can’t get it back exactly the way I had it. I would rather throw it in neutral and push it myself.
Ok, the dryer just stopped, so I’m off to fluff-n-fold. I’ll try to give y’all updates next week, but if you’re the praying kind, toss a few up for me over the next 10 days or so, for wisdom, stamina, a buddy to process with while I’m there, safe travel, etc.
Thanks, y’all. Hearts all around.
Posted by beth on October 29, 2011
I’m supposed to be finishing my lesson plans for next week right now. Technically, I was supposed to do them yesterday, but since I’m the one who set that schedule, I was also able to issue an executive order to obsessively look at Pinterest and watch Psych instead.
That’s lesson number one, friends. If you set the deadline, you can change it too.
So here I am. Blogging. Something I’ve also procrastinated on quite a bit of late. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Oh wait, I do. There is nothing going on that is of any interest to anyone. So lesson number two: Find nothing of value in your activity, and you will not have any motivation to do it.
Because I didn’t have any trouble at all focusing for an hour last night at craft night on making my Madonna skirt. Nope, none at all. I even recruited L-Josh to help. Because I had a party to attend, and there were going to be boys there. That’s right. I’m a 31-year-old woman who is still highly motivated by the presence of boys at a party. What? Don’t judge me. What motivates you? World peace? Pshh. A likely story.
Lesson three: Turn your procrastination into a discussion of something else entirely, AND make that discussion about someone else. That way, people forget that this is about you not doing what you’re supposed to be doing.
If only boys at a party could motivate me to finish my lesson plans. Could I do a whole lesson on flirting? I’m pretty sure this week’s list could be a list of bad pick-up lines. Oh, it’s starting to come together. But I only do lists on Thursdays, and I still have to plan for Tuesday. I suppose I could do a list of slang words for good-looking one day and the list of pick-ups the other. And I could teach dating terminology like “blind date,” “go Dutch” and “crush.” What else?
And just like that, I’m back on track! Thanks, y’all.
Posted by beth on October 20, 2011
1. I’m totally addicted to Pinterest. I love it, and I want to spend more time browsing the internet looking for things to pin, but I just don’t have that much time to waste. I think it’s probably for the best.
2. I’m in the middle of the second Bible test, and so far, I think I’m doing much better on this one. It’s essay questions, though, so that is not shocking for anyone.
3. In my slang class, I’ve been teaching them lists of words that all mean the same thing. They’re usually 10, 15 or 20 words/phrases/expressions for something. I’ve done words for “easy,” “great,” “good-bye,” “money,” “crazy,” “nothing” and “vomit.” These lists have been QUITE a hit, and they’re pretty fun for me to come up with as well. The words we use for vomit, especially, are just so descriptive. If you have an idea for a future list, please share. I’m open to suggestions, and my students will love you for it.
4. I’m going to Wilmington this weekend, and I am super-excited about it.
The end.
Posted by beth on October 13, 2011
Ok so now that everybody pretty much knows, I guess I can talk about it.
I might be moving to Europe. It’s weird to type it out into the world like that. So far, it’s just been discussed privately among a few close, trusted friends and people I knew would understand and be excited with me. Honestly, I have no idea what’s going to happen. I’ve been taking things one step at a time, and really, at any point, the whole process could just be over, and that would be it. We’ll see. But for now, we press on.
I’m applying to go with World Team either to Italy or Spain. This is the same organization I went to Italy with back in June, and so far, this process has been…quite thorough. It’s been very cool – I’m learning a lot about myself as I go – but it has also been taking up lots and lots of time that I might have otherwise spent blogging. Or (let’s be honest) watching every episode of Bones (again) on Netflix. The application alone was at least twelve typed pages, and then they sent me the personality tests, the spiritual gifts test and the Bible tests (one of which I told you I flunked miserably, the other I haven’t been brave enough to take yet).
Then they sent me the official invitation to join them for a week of information, evaluation and mutual assessment, and suddenly things got really real. First of all, I need about $700 to make it happen, which is the first real commitment I’ve had to make. Until now, it’s all been literally on paper. Just theoretical. Just a really, really amazing dream of a possibility. Just paella and/or pizza, European public transit, Romance languages and adventure abounding on every side. But when it hits your pocketbook, it hits home.
Then, speaking of home, I started thinking about all the things I’ll miss if I leave. Weddings, birthdays, family reunions, my godchildren growing like weeds, Baby Josh, maybe Moravian Sugar Cake in my PJs with my family on Christmas morning. I don’t know what I’ll miss and what I won’t, but I know I’m asking my family and friends to make as big a sacrifice as I’d be making in going.
But then I started thinking of all the things I’d miss if I didn’t go, namely the chance to do something awesome, something bigger than myself, something impossible, something I’ve felt compelled to do for the last seven years. I don’t know the details of what’s in store for me. I just know that if I don’t at least try, I’ll always regret it and wonder.
I think y’all would too. You know me. You know I’ve got this crazy pull toward Europe. I honestly think if I didn’t at least try to go, some of you would be disappointed. So I’m asking you to sacrifice with me, but also to share in the awesomeness, knowing that your letting go is fueling something incredible.
I didn’t intend to make this a fundraising post, so you can stop reading now if you want it to not be about money. But if you’re still with me, and you want to give a little bit to help me get to the assessment week, please contact me. Comment, call, email, text, smoke signals, carrier pigeon, dream invasion, note in study hall, whatever. But maybe don’t send me a pigeon. You know how I feel about birds.
Posted by beth on October 7, 2011
Ok y’all, I have about a million things to do, and I’m supposed to be lesson planning right now according to the schedule I set for myself last night, but I HAVE to tell you about how I was STRONGLY reprimanded by a very sassy postal worker the other day.
Back story. A couple of weeks ago, I went up to the mailboxes as the mail male was doing his thing. I live in an apartment complex, so the mailboxes are the kind where one large panel opens up about 20 of them at a time. Our panel was open, and I asked him if I could just reach in and grab ours. He said that was no problem, so I took my mail and went on my merry way.
Ok now. The other day, I got to the mailboxes as the mail female was there doing her thing. I was on the phone with Amaris, and I didn’t want to have too much going on at once, so I didn’t say anything to the mail lady. I just went in for my mail.
She whipped around so fast you’d have thought I was stealing her baby, and with a horrified look on her face and a sassy neck swivel, she said to me, and I quote, “NO. Uh-uh. Step AWAY from the mailbox.”
Shocked, and trying not to laugh, I don’t know how long I stood there with my mouth open before I replied, “Oh. I’m sorry. The other guy let me just get my mail before, so I thought…”
But I was interrupted, this time with an accompanying finger waggle, “Huh-uh. Wrong answer. No. Mm-mm.” Seriously, she said, “Wrong answer.”
At this point, I really wanted to try for a grab-n-run, but I was afraid she’d taze me or something, so I went for a more docile approach. “Uhh…ok, can I give you this then?” I said, tentatively holding out my Netflix envelope.
“Yes,” she said, obviously using every bit of restraint she had to keep from saying or doing something that might get her in trouble, “but you need to leave now.”
Oh my gosh, y’all, ask Amaris. I was giggling uncontrollably all the way back to the car. I still can’t believe this happened. It absolutely made my day, but I still haven’t gotten my mail.
Posted by beth on October 3, 2011
It’s amazing how many little kid games I have my students play in class. We play board games, Memory, Cootie Catcher, but my favorite is Telephone. It’s perfect because it incorporates listening and pronunciation skills, and today, I made it use writing skills too. Because I’m the jam.
We were working today on quoted speech. You know, where you tell exactly what somebody else said and use quotation marks. I only just recently realized that not all languages write quoted speech the same. We use a comma to introduce a quote while other languages use a colon. We also put both of our quotation marks up high whereas in other languages, one of them goes down low. It’s crazy times, I tell you.
So I started two messages going in opposite directions around the room. As each student heard the message, he/she had to write it down as a direct quote:
Miguel said, “The fly water is ugly bathtub.”
That way, when we got the messed up one at the other end, we could trace our way back through the mistakes. And I don’t know, but I think that was more fun than just hearing the messed up version at the end.
Well. One of the sentences was, “Maria has a pet monkey in Brazil.” In my lesson plans, I’d written, “__student__ has a pet monkey in __country__,” and I’d planned to see who was there in class today and pick someone with a good sense of humor to put in the sentence. Maria worked out well because she has a great sense of humor, and she was far enough around the room for the sentence to have changed significantly from the original by the time it got to her.
On the other end, it came out, “Maria likes smoking,” but before that, it was, “Maria likes monkeys,” and ,”Maria is a bad monkey in Brazil,” which I’m sure they thought was some crazy idiom I’d thrown in. You know, like Shaft is a bad mon… (Shut yo’ mouth!). Aaaaaand YouTube-ing the theme from Shaft…
Anyhoe, once we traced it back to the beginning and everyone knew what the original sentence was, Maria’s face lit up, and she said, “Yes! It’s true!”
Y’all. The woman straight up had a pet monkey in Brazil. I was so confused, I didn’t know what to do with myself. She thought someone had told me, and I had to show her my lesson plan to explain that it was all a big coincidence. Amazing.
Incidentally, the other message was, “Without geometry, life is pointless,” which they totally didn’t get, but I was amused.
Posted by beth on September 26, 2011
So I just took a Bible test, which I’m pretty sure I failed miserably. It’s not that I don’t know what it says, it’s just that I don’t know where it says it. There were all these questions about where one might find certain verses or passages on certain topics, and I sat here staring at the screen going, “Uhhhhhh…,” and then just laughing out loud because I had NO. Earthly. Idea. At least one of them was even a verse that we studied IN DEPTH in Community Group like two weeks ago. Not a clue.
Yes, I have problems memorizing things that are not set to music or quoted in films, but the words are not as problematic as the verse references. I remember some verses verbatim, but I could not tell you where to find them. I just don’t think in numbers. I think in stories and voices and experiences. I remember movie quotes because all of those things come together as I put the quote in the context of the story, remember the inflection of the actor’s voice and think about where I was and how I felt as I watched the movie. I remember song lyrics because songs tell stories, recordings invite me to add my own voice to the story, and music always evokes feelings that come back every time you hear that song. I remember Malachi 3:10 because I said it every flippin’ Sunday of my life for about ten years.
I don’t have ten years to spend on each verse in the Bible.
So if you have a nifty trick for me, a recording of Scripture set to music, or a movie that quotes the Bible and isn’t boring or super-cheesy, please let me know because these numbers are killing me.
Posted by beth on September 21, 2011
Amaris‘s brain doesn’t always work. I don’t know if she needs more sleep or if she’s got some kind of vitamin deficiency or what, but sometimes she just ain’t all there. I can say these things about her because she knows it, and I’ve said it to her (though she probably doesn’t remember), and well, she’s just not ashamed. She is who she is, and we love her.
Well, this morning, I got a tweet from her that I should go look at Mary’s feed because the content of one of her tweets was a direct result of me and my awesomeness. So I went, and I looked, and I did not get it. Then, as I thought more about her most recent tweet, a tiny, vague and very hazy memory began to creep ever-so-slowly and sneakily into the very back corner of my mind. It said, in part, “[my husband] is singing along to Billy Joel, which is just awesome.” And I thought, Did I turn Karl on to Billy Joel? That feels kind of familiar.
So I asked Amaris, and she told me this WHOLE long story about how I told Karl that any man who likes music should have a basic appreciation for Billy Joel, and how the women in his life, and maybe even his future wife, would love it if he liked Billy Joel, and on and on and on.
Y’all, I have no recollection of this whatsoever. So I told Amaris that if we don’t have husbands when we’re old, we need to just move on in together so we can try and help each other remember to put our teeth in and wear clothes when we leave the house. I don’t even care if they match. (Well, I want my teeth to match my mouth, so I hope I don’t put hers in, but as far as my clothes go, I’ll still be so urban that it won’t matter.) Clearly our mental capacities are already failing us, so now is the time to prepare.
So if any of y’all want to get in on this, let me know. We can buy a big ol’ house somewhere and form our own old folks home. Surely somebody will have a kid who’s a doctor who’ll come over and check on us once a week. We’ll hire a college kid to do all our grocery shopping, and when he/she comes over with our rations, we’ll say things that are totally inappropriate and unexpected for old people. We’ll play games in the back yard, but we’ll cheat, of course. We’ll go on early evening walks through the neighborhood, smiling and waving at all the families out playing in their yards. We’ll sit out on our porch on Sunday afternoons and wave at passing cars. We’ll always have candy in our pockets to give to the kids at church. We’ll have surprisingly good Halloween decorations. We’ll dance as much of a jig as our hips will allow when Christmas carolers come by. We’ll drink wine on the porch at 10 in the morning just because we can get away with it ’cause we’re old. And when we wake up at 3 in the morning because we went to bed at 7 the previous evening, we’ll take the opportunity afforded to us by the cover of darkness to go skinny dipping in the community pool.
Won’t you join us?
Posted by beth on September 12, 2011
The next thing I’ve been up to that kept me occupied all last weekend is I went up to northern Virginia to visit my friend Rachel and my godchildren. Yes! There are now TWO!! And oh how precious and adorable is the wee babe, Ben. He’s two months old and super-chill. He just hangs out, chillin’. He doesn’t even really cry that much. Just sits. It’s very cute. It will be very interesting to me to see the difference between him and his sister as they grow up. Annabelle’s FULL of energy. Homegirl was playing a Wii game while I was there, and as she was playing, she never stopped jumping up and down. Not once. Meanwhile, Ben was chillin’.
I’m sure he’ll grow into a rambunctious little boy, but it’s hard to imagine a child with as much energy as Annabelle. Even the pregnancies were different. Rachel was really active with Annabelle right up until she was born, but with Ben, she had to go on rest for the last couple of months before he arrived. It’s just fascinating to me. Anyway, here he is. Precious lil punkin.
Whooped
