Insanely Wonderful...

I suppose that is how I shall summarize these past two weeks (which have also come and gone without a post....until now)

Homecoming was just that- insanely wonderful. Insane because of the sheer volume of work and tedious details I attended to, and wonderful because it was all worth it!

Homecoming Week 2008 became what many people are telling me is the best homecoming Red Cloud has had in several years. I would attest that it definitely was better than last year... in several ways. From my own personal perspective, I knew much better how to instill a sense of responsibility among the student council members (rather than what comes naturally to me, which is taking over)... and it proved to be quite successful. Over 1/2 of the student council students (now thinking about it- I might even say MOST of the Stu. Co. students) put forth amazing effort and responsibility in every Homecoming Activity- and it showed! Student participation was the best it has ever been (according to reports from long-time teachers) and the level of enthusiasm throughout the week with class competitions and dress-up days was phenomenal!

Speaking of dress-up days... I thoroughly enjoyed these- and will post pictures soon. I'm envisioning more time this week to work on getting those pics onto my computer- so if everyone crosses their fingers and holds their breath- I may in fact post pictures next time! (one issue I'm having, though, is an inability to access this blog from my school computer, which possesses the necessary pictures). On Monday we had pajama day, which was comfy and fun. Tuesday was 'dress-the-decades' or 'old-school' day. I thoroughly enjoy seeing the variety of outfits, mine being a funky 70s style dress. Wednesday we celebrated Super-hero day, for which I became 'Cupid.' Throughout the day I assured everyone that Cupid is a super-hero EVERY day! :) Thursday was perhaps my favorite day- Formal wear day! I serendipitously found this great green poufy early 90s style prom dress in a closet at my house- and it fit perfectly! I of course received several comments like, "You look like a mermaid!" & "are you trying to be seaweed?" & "Did you wear that to your H.S. prom?" Sadly, I didn't take a picture all day, so I cannot reveal this special dress via photo- but I'll work on that.

Actually, the dress was reintroduced to the students by my housemate and football coach Dan- who decided to stealthily take it and wear it during the FB skit (which depicted the VB team at their 'best'). :) You can imagine the laughs from that!

I have so much to tell regarding the Homecoming week. Wednesday we had a great evening with a cookout, class pyramids and games, and burning an "RC"- in addition to a wonderful fireworks show & several drum-group songs. Wednesday & Thursday after school each class busied themselves with decorating hallways. On Friday we had an all-school parade, a H.S. talent show, a dodgeball tournament, and one of the best pep rallies in the recent history of Red Cloud. (Okay, I say that based on reports from students and faculty). The boys won a solid victory during the game, and we finished off the evening with a dance. All in all, Homecoming week was spectacular, the student council members stepped up to the challenge, and we also raised quite a bit of money for Leukemia patients and research. Not bad for a whirlwind week!

I am doing quite well, after getting caught up on sleep this weekend (even though I did referee 10 matches (appx. 25 games) of middle school VB on Saturday. Let's just chalk this week up to stockpiling Americorps hours, shall we?

I am happy to be posting again, and I know that several of you continue to follow my blog, even when I am so busy I barely have time to write updates, let alone be updated on your lives... yet I am thankful for this avenue of sharing- and I thank you all for being interested... It is such a wonderful place here, and I cannot express well enough the amount of care and love I possess for these students....I truly wish you could all meet them in person... and hear the many conversations I am granted each day with these precious students...

In other news- the VB team is doing alright- some rocky areas, but it's been fun thus far- I'll be more involved again this week, as I wasn't able to much last week. Also, two weeks from yesterday I will be running another 1/2 marathon. Evidently my brother (who ran the last one with me) thinks I'm crazy. And I guess I am- but I am mentally prepared to walk parts of this one, since my training has been severely lacking this time. Yikes!

Okay, this will end my post- much love to you all, as you continue to seek and find the work God has prepared.

Written with a smile on my face and a warm glow in my heart,
Emily