G-O-T T-O-B T-R-U

I have inexplicably had Steven Curtis Chapman rapping in my head for the past 24 hours.
But beyond this, we've had a pretty interesting week so far. (I'm sorry if I'm repeating myself for those I have talked to recently... I'm just giving the overview so that everyone's caught up.) The football game was deeply depressing- it was like being back at Pinecrest again back in the olden days when we lost everything. The popular, suave, blonde 8th grade quarterback twisted his ankle and cried. It was that bad.
Luckily, none of the girls at Northwoods who I work with know anything about football at all. Most of them are Hispanic, so they naturally think that the Americans are just barbaric and call tackling each other in the middle of a grassy field a sport. (Honestly, now that I think about it, if you don´t understand the game this is a logical assumption) This translates, however, to obliviously happy Challenge girls after the game, so I´m not complaining. The poor brothers have to deal with the football players.
Speaking of the game, I don’t know what’s happening to me. I think I’ve been so deprived of normalcy for too long. Either way, at the bonfire afterward they were playing country music and I had this insane urge to dance and sing along… to Taylor Swift. That’s how much I miss home. “Love Story” came on and I was so thrilled that I knew the words thanks to my friendship with Jenny and Kayce that I almost burst with the need to relive prom, jump around in wild abandon, whip out a good ole’ Georgia accent and sing along! WHAT IS GOING ON?! WHO AM I?!
I’m also really getting to know my challenge girls. At the bonfire yesterday I mentioned in passing that my friends discovered back home that if you lick someone’s elbow while they’re not looking, they won’t be able to feel it. Soon, all the middle school girls at Northwoods were running around licking everyone’s elbows. Paulina was scandalized that a coworker should suggest something like that and considered it beyond horrifying that the girls were experimenting on the theory, but I thought it was fantastic. They finally realized that night that we have a sense of humor. (I think our mini-dance party during “Love Story” I mentioned earlier helped… they love the song, I love the people it reminds me of, so we all danced and sang.)
I also got to know a few of the football players. Patty, Pau and I wanted to split a hotdog so we could call it dinner and not have to cook at home (this was AFTER the four s’mores) and it just so happened that a tall, lanky 8th grade football player and I asked for the last hotdog at the same time. I told him he could have it (poor kid, the least he can have after such a loss is a hotdog), but he said forget it because he didn’t feel like roasting it himself. So I roasted it, found him, and gave it to him (at the cost of my knuckles. They burned pretty badly) Only afterward did I realize that he was standing with all of his cool, 8th grade football friends and was probably really embarrassed that the girl coworker had to roast his hotdog for him. No good deed…
Patty was taking pictures the entire time, oohing and ahhing. “O my gosh, it’s just like A Cinderella Story!” “That’s what they do in Remember the Titans!” “Are those real cheerleaders?!” (the cheerleaders deserve their own paragraph later). She took a picture of everything and kept talking about how none of her friends were going to believe her that she actually ate a marshmallow she roasted on a stick, or how cheerleaders really do throw people up in the air, or how football players really do grunt when they hike the ball. Video after video after video… “No me dices! They really jump on top of each other like that!” “It’s JUST like the movies… I feel like I’m in a movie…” It was what Patty calls “gorgeous,” which is her way of saying it was cute. I once tried explaining to her the difference between the two (for example, we don’t call a cartoon tv show gorgeous, we call it cute.) but she resolutely stated that she likes her way of using it better.
As far as the cheerleaders (I have to include this because of Margot) there were only four of them, they were endearingly off-beat and badly formed, none of them over 5’, and all on my Monday night Challenge team. There were many cute things about this game from the football team’s attempts at manly battle-cries to the mums we made for everyone on campus, but this beat it all. These girls were trying so hard. Their halftime routine was to some new, cleaned-up hiphop remix (normal cheerleading music) but their routine was very, very elementary. So they do the whole thing and the four of them run off to the cheers of mom and dad sitting in the stands. Then the 30 something middle school cheerleaders from the other team roundoff-double-back-handspring-back-tuck-ariel on, dance to another cleaned-up hiphop remix a level of routine many large, public high schools haven’t reached, nonchalantly throw up four full basket tosses, a scorpion, and two extensions (not incredibly impressive until you throw in the fact that most of these girls are between the ages of 10 and 12) and tumble right off again. Luckily, the Northwoods cheerleaders have lots of self-confidence and love cheerleading enough not to care that the other squad, which had about 10 times their cheerleaders, totally showed them up at their homecoming, so they had a fabulous time.
Anyway, we talked to everyone from Northwoods and cheered our faces off (metaphorically) for the mighty Knights and did all the little chants the cheerleaders had us do.
On the topic of my beloved Challenge girls, Margot, It made me laugh when you wrote “the things I do for that boy,” about your adventure to go see Jed because I feel the same way about my little girls, however pathetic that may sound. They constantly occupy my mind and time, I call them at least once a day, I take every opportunity I can to go see them, they’re a heck of a lot of work and definitely not perfect, but I can’t help but love them and it’s more than worth it in the end.
Saturday was our first 1st-4th stage retreat. There were supposed to be over 40 girls coming so we could book the cool, new Lifeteen center for a weekend and use all their resources… but only 11 signed up, so we can´t afford the cool new Lifeteen center and used a neighborhood clubhouse. This is ridiculous considering how many girls are in the section. Again, I love them a lot.
But God knows, and I didn´t give him this year with the stipulation that there had better be more than a dozen Challenge girls at this retreat. He knows better than I do, and it was exhausting enough with eleven FOR SURE. It was also Patty’s birthday, so we celebrated with every group of people at the retreat. I’ve never eaten so much cake in my entire life, and I had had no legitimate food all day until dinner, so by the time I made it to the Mexican restaurant we were celebrating at, my legs were shaking and I could barely walk. It hurt to push down on the acceleration on the way there, my legs hurt so bad. I think the retreat went well… it just seemed so short (9 hours flies by). The eleven who signed up showed up and no more, but it was actually great that they were the only ones. Most of the girls were normally shy and introverted, and by the end of the retreat they were all talking and sharing together. I don’t think they would have spoken a word if there were more girls, so God really does know. I got to talk to and establish a real relationship with each and every girl, which is so important because now they know we don’t see them as Challenge Girl #335A.
I am now, officially, the 5th grade CCD teacher at St. Edward’s Catholic Church in Spring, TX. I thought when I asked for this job that I was going to have to apply, interview, perhaps prove that I know what I’m talking about, etc. Instead, Paulina called the office asking if the job was still available (she’s teaching 3rd grade), the deacon asked if we were Virtus trained and told us to come in and pick up the teachers manuals. (Why can’t all job application processes be like this?) So tonight I will be in front of a large group of 5th graders explaining Chapter 5: How Great is Our God. I really love that I get to teach CCD at the parish. I think we’re finally achieving what Fr. Alvero has been begging of us for years- being at the service of the local church.
The consecrated are (SURPRISE!) still not home and said they're not sure when they're coming. Why have they been gone so long? First, they went to clean out the downtown Houston apartment for a consecrated who is coming from Spain for medical attention. Then, they went straight from there to their once-a-month Texas A&M visit in College Station. From there, they drove straight to the Houston airport and boarded a plane to Michigan for a week. Since their return, they have been back in the apartment with the consecrated from Spain and their Dallas Directress, Michelle. They dropped by Sunday for sports and recreation, and we went to the condo where they're staying for the day yesterday so that Michelle and Natalia could have the car to go to a doctor's appointment (Angie and Lindsey are in San Antonio... PRAY they bring back my organizer!). So we ate their food, swam in their pool, and prepared CCD for St. Edwards. Actually, Paulina was the only one who swam, because however much I planned on swimming, the water was FREEZING and Patty was telling me all about Venezuelan politics, which was really interesting. She said when she saw the 5th Harry Potter about the Ministry interfering at Hogwarts, she thought JK Rowling MUST have seen Venezuela, because that's exactly what's happening there.
It's been so nice outside lately... about 75 degrees and balmy. I was walking around trying to find one of the Challenge teams at Prince of Peace yesterday (about 20 minutes from our house) and I wanted to stay outside forever... it felt like getting to the beach at night. Warm, breezy, and calm. Too bad this is only temporary and it will be going back to normal for sure soon.
Tonight we are going to St. Anne's and then I'm teaching my first CCD class... so pray a lot for me, family!

I'm sorry this post is so scatterbrained... it reflects my mind right now. I can't wait to see you in 8 days (I've been counting down)! I love you all!

Love,
Sarah