True to Blue 2007

Hello to everyone who reads (or happens upon) my blog....

I have been hearing of various people lately (to whom I have not personally sent the link) who seem to be tracking w/ my blog- and it reminds me that my thoughts are actually more exposed than I expect.... SO- welcome to everyone who takes an interest in my somewhat haphazard reflection on life here at Pine Ridge.

Well, gosh. It's Monday night, and I have been marveling at the week which was "Homecoming." My marveling is not due so much to the fact that everything went spectacularly (although I was quite pleased) as to the reality that it is over. Yep, Homecoming came and went in a flurry of Blue & White, Whipped Creamed excitement! I feel the need to be a bit more specific than these few words.... so allow me to detail the week...

On Monday I was becoming a bit frantic getting everything together for the bonfire... at this point I still needed faculty prefects, WOOD, confirmation on a variety of details, and WOOD. I wore pajamas, which was of course the best part of the day!!! In the evening a few of the guys in my weight lifting class ended up helping w/ the wood- and a very gracious faculty member who took it upon himself to procure the wood and the driving skills necessary to reach the wood pile in a truck which I KNOW I couldn't have driven. We managed to gather quite a bit of wood, and in addition I found out about another pile of wood coming in from a freshman girl and her father- what joy my heart felt!

Tuesday I enjoyed the outdoor adventure of (trying) to cut up a few pieces of wood- along with a dozen or so students- a few of whom were more brave than I with a chain saw! I dressed as a black and purple twin, and this has nothing to do w/ the wood- except for the fact that being dressed as a twin to my housemate Katie prevented me from being overly helpful in the hauling wood deparment (darn slippery sandals!). We also dug out the old stump and put in a fantastic new center beam for the bonfire (okay, so the football team actually did the manual insertion of the beam)... but I DID dig quite a bit of the hole. :):) The rest of the evening was slightly relaxing- after my bus run, that is. I felt prepared for the bonfire to come, and was praying for the other elements of Homecoming to fall into place.

Wednesday came in a flurry of crazy outfits, and I must say I added my (evidently hippie) mark on this day, w/ my randomly combined outfit and stupendously large & frizzed out hair. Ha, if you know me, you are probably smiling as you ponder my excitement at being able to dress in whatever crazy outfit I pleased, under the clever guise of necessity (as the student activities director, of course!) The morning flew by, and soon I found myself in the midst of weight lifting 7th period, wondering how things would all go down after school (what w/ hallway decorating and all)....and again, a weights student came to the rescue by suggesting the brilliant idea that my weight lifting class build the bonfire....YES! So, our class 'lifted' wood that afternoon- and they all received A+ grades for the day! :):)

In the evening we had everything ready to go- the fireworks confirmed, DJ plugged in, and fire dept. available to light the fire! :) In the afternoon we had hallway decorating, which was fun but hectic- as I had a last minute run across campus to retrieve the large roll of white paper necessary to effectively decorate class hallways! Good thing I remembered my camera, b/c I think I took a little less than a million pictures that evening! :) (some of which you will see come my next post)... The fireworks were awesome, to kick off the night- and the bonfire was big (enough- I have nothing to compare it to)... the students were participative and excited, it seemed- and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. I stayed up until midnight that night to make sure the firefighters' foam took full effect to squelch the flames. :) A bit creepy walking back in the dark, but I'm pretty tough :)- and/or insane.

Thursday I was feeling the pressure of the following day on my shoulders, but in God's good grace, things all fell into place, and hallways were decorated nicely (although not exactly cleaned up as nicely, I must say)... That day a donor from (somewhere?) stopped by my office to congratulate me on a successful bonfire the previous night- which obviously made me smile and say, "ah, I love this job!" My happy spirit continued on into the evening, as I became more and more excited for the following day!!!

Friday I woke up, put on my "True to Blue 2007" homemade T-shirt, and entered into the chaos of Homecoming Day! We decorated floats in the morning, had a fantastic parade w/ elementary and middle school participating and enjoying the event.... We moved into the little gym for the talent show featuring two solo singers, a trio, the VB girls, and the BB boys.... we ended w/ Coronation- and Casey Zimiga & Ida Clarke are the Homecoming Royalty...FYI :):) The next thing on the agenda was the pep rally, and I must say- it got a bit chaotic and rather unsightly perhaps (what w/ the mess of configuring order, supplies, condensing for time, etc....and we ended the time w/ a lovely pie-in-the-coaches-face episode- which also became "Pie Emily" time as well.... so for days my hair smelled like sour whipped cream (note to self: wash out ASAP...or else). :)

After the pep rally, I played custodian for a good 2 1/2 hours (hallways and gym)... but didn't mind it too much- fewer people and commotion, which was helpful....and after finally removing the pie from my hair- I went to the game/ little gym for decorations/ game/ Pizza Hut for DJ's pizza/little gym/dance set-up, etc.... I enjoyed the beautiful weather (which I forgot to mention was another blessing)....and we set up for the dance in good time, enjoyed the anticipation pulsing from students (or was it just me?), and danced the night away. Correction: I actually took $2 or $3 from students and became skilled at writing an "R" on people's hands while the students actually danced the night away. Needless to say... it was a good time.

Besides no students staying to clean up, I felt extremely pleased with the entire week- and Saturday I celebrated never being done w/ things to do- by line judging for a varsity volleyball triangular... for 5 hours- and THEN cleaning up the gym w/ my dear friends John and Katie (and the occasional help of 9 year-old Shadi)....Saturday evening and into Sunday I crashed, but with a smile on my face.

So, this ends the saga of homecoming- but today we began after-school program, and I discussed the intricacies of after-school snacks w/ the Superintendent...which was refreshing and fun. I feel prepared for the coming week- and have a few new things to look forward to! I will be receiving a FULL SHELVING UNIT of fruit for my office!!! The Superintendent noticed that I have been routinely stopping by to pick up fruit- and he suggested it would be good to return fruit to the high school- and place it in my office!!! Hurray! :) Also, my office will soon be enjoying the addition of a fridge for after-school snacks! :):) Yep, I'll be a regular healthy food vendor soon enough!

I feel as if I've been spouting out my schedule from the past week- without much for reflection...and I apologize to those who appreciate a more insightful look into my learning experiences here. I will say this: I feel called (especially after my week of homecoming) to pursue the challenge of fostering a sense of responsibility amongst the students- but this will come in time- and/or my reaction to such episodes will adjust. :)

I end with a fun story about something quite random. So, one evening our group of volunteers was discussing what Disney character we'd like to be- and I mentioned that I'd like to be Fiona, from Schrek.... and no kidding- a sophomore girl says to me a few days later, "I know who you remind me of- Princess Fiona!" Is it a sign? Perhaps- that craziness is contagious! :):)

Much love to everyone who is kind enough to follow my adventure and respond w/ gracious words. Actually, even if you don't have time to respond w/ gracious words, I still love you.

Peace, Em