Playing King Of The Hill on a stump:
"Watch out for Dale, she has weapons we know not of!"
"Yeah, these hips don't lie"
Me: "Benji! Don't trample my pumpkin!"
Benji: "What pumpkin?"
Me: "That pumpkin!"
Benji: "Okay, pumpkin!"
(it was then that I realized he didn't say "What pumpkin?" but rather, "What, Pumpkin?"
Tim: "Benji, you left a shoe print on my stomach!"
Benji: "The patent office never goes for my ideas because they usually require undiscovered alloys or magic."
Jeremy: "I'm trying to see myself so I can draw an accurate picture."
Benji: "Just look at me, Jeremy."
Benji: "I'm losing money on you!"
Me: "What do you mean?"
Benji: "We've got a pool going on to see how long Tim will last before you kill him."
Me: "What?! You and Jeremy, right?"
Benji: "My date has already gone by, and Jeremy's still in, but Levi's time is almost up, and Sam, well, Sam Rembolt has a while go go, but the other Sam..."
(This one wasn't from tonight but I've been thinking about it lately.)
Amber: "Nothing beats a good camp boy... except Naomi."
Tim: "Uh-oh, Joel... Jeremy's pulling the "yawn move" on you."
(Joel then shoots a nervous glance at Jeremy while he flexes his muscles and tries to sneak an arm around him.)
Aunt Carrol: "I used to wrap my boys' presents right in front of them. I didn't have to be very sneaky about it; they didn't pay much attention until it started to look like a present. I'd put the bow on top and they'd get all excited. 'Is that a present?! Who's it for?!' and I wouldn't tell them, but then they'd stop paying attention by the time I got another gift on the table, and then 0nce I put the bow on the top, they'd realize what it was again. You'd think by the third time they'd start to understand that I'm wrapping presents, but they never caught on..."
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Friday, September 5, 2008
People in School
I thought about it recently, and I don't care about the people I've met at Butler (El Dorado campus) so far. I'm sure they could be really awesome, but after only 3? weeks, my Andover classmates have struck me as way more interesting.
At El Dorado, I'm taking a student connect class. All the other kids in it (I can say kids because they're around my age) are typical college freshmen. They seem like anyone I could meet at a high school, and they're pretty predictable. The teacher does not have my favorite personality type, but as I've been working on loving her anyway, I've noticed that I love her attitude about the class. The first day she never showed up, and two of the three classes after that she gave us an assignment and let us leave. Although she had a good reason to be gone, and had contacted her superiors about it, she's still frazzled and a little late all the time. This is not why I like her. I like her because of what she said the first day of class. "Okay, so you know you don't need to take this class, and I know you don't need to take this class, but they say you have to, and guess what? I'm in charge. So I'm going to try to keep this from being too painful for you guys, and we'll just go through it. You can get out of this class what you'd like."
This week, unfortunately, we've had a sub. Even more unfortunate is that the sub is Tim's teacher. He's an old guy with a beard who would like to believe he's hip and young and funny. He finishes every stupid pun with "Okay, I'll be serious now, guys" and thinks this class is the best thing that ever happened to college. He's just like the counselor in Freaks and Geeks.
However, he talks kinda like this guy from A Mighty Wind.
I also take a drawing class, but the kids in there are always focused on their work, and though I've gotten to know them a little, no one seems very interesting at the moment.
In Andover, I've been able to meet students like me who are too practical to live on campus, middle aged women going back to school, and determined high school drop-outs ready to start over and get serious this time.
My Beginning Spanish II class is pretty interesting. The other students are older than me. We spend most of the class talking in Spanish about nothing in particular. (That's what's great about learning a second language; you can answer any question however you want, as long as it's grammatically correct.)
My Spanish teacher is tall and thin with a wispy comb-over and thick glasses. He was a navigator in the Air Force and is full of stories. He has a strange sense of humor. He always talks about his wife because "she's not here to defend herself" and most of my classmates aren't sure whether he really likes her or not. On the first day he told us, "I used to like kids until I had some... Me and my wife always say that if we were to get a divorce, the first one to sign the papers has to take the kids... that's why we're still married." He has two horses, and they're his life. "Yeah, I raised them from colts. This past year, one died, and I was really attached to her. It was really sad... especially because I had to dig the grave by hand!"
There is a middle-aged woman who is only enrolled at Butler for this class. She is more comfortable with written Spanish, so when asked questions out loud, she stutters through the answer in a strong American accent, but I love that she wants to learn. One answer made me laugh really hard (not out loud).
Teacher: "So it says here that Spaniards live longer than Americans, but their calorie intake is about the same. I wonder why that is..."
Lady: "They exercise more."
Teacher: "That's probably it. "
Lady: "They just live healthier lives... (and then with a thoughtful expression) ...unless it's el dia de Running of the Bulls..."
At El Dorado, I'm taking a student connect class. All the other kids in it (I can say kids because they're around my age) are typical college freshmen. They seem like anyone I could meet at a high school, and they're pretty predictable. The teacher does not have my favorite personality type, but as I've been working on loving her anyway, I've noticed that I love her attitude about the class. The first day she never showed up, and two of the three classes after that she gave us an assignment and let us leave. Although she had a good reason to be gone, and had contacted her superiors about it, she's still frazzled and a little late all the time. This is not why I like her. I like her because of what she said the first day of class. "Okay, so you know you don't need to take this class, and I know you don't need to take this class, but they say you have to, and guess what? I'm in charge. So I'm going to try to keep this from being too painful for you guys, and we'll just go through it. You can get out of this class what you'd like."
This week, unfortunately, we've had a sub. Even more unfortunate is that the sub is Tim's teacher. He's an old guy with a beard who would like to believe he's hip and young and funny. He finishes every stupid pun with "Okay, I'll be serious now, guys" and thinks this class is the best thing that ever happened to college. He's just like the counselor in Freaks and Geeks.
However, he talks kinda like this guy from A Mighty Wind.
I also take a drawing class, but the kids in there are always focused on their work, and though I've gotten to know them a little, no one seems very interesting at the moment.In Andover, I've been able to meet students like me who are too practical to live on campus, middle aged women going back to school, and determined high school drop-outs ready to start over and get serious this time.
My Beginning Spanish II class is pretty interesting. The other students are older than me. We spend most of the class talking in Spanish about nothing in particular. (That's what's great about learning a second language; you can answer any question however you want, as long as it's grammatically correct.)
My Spanish teacher is tall and thin with a wispy comb-over and thick glasses. He was a navigator in the Air Force and is full of stories. He has a strange sense of humor. He always talks about his wife because "she's not here to defend herself" and most of my classmates aren't sure whether he really likes her or not. On the first day he told us, "I used to like kids until I had some... Me and my wife always say that if we were to get a divorce, the first one to sign the papers has to take the kids... that's why we're still married." He has two horses, and they're his life. "Yeah, I raised them from colts. This past year, one died, and I was really attached to her. It was really sad... especially because I had to dig the grave by hand!"
There is a middle-aged woman who is only enrolled at Butler for this class. She is more comfortable with written Spanish, so when asked questions out loud, she stutters through the answer in a strong American accent, but I love that she wants to learn. One answer made me laugh really hard (not out loud).
Teacher: "So it says here that Spaniards live longer than Americans, but their calorie intake is about the same. I wonder why that is..."
Lady: "They exercise more."
Teacher: "That's probably it. "
Lady: "They just live healthier lives... (and then with a thoughtful expression) ...unless it's el dia de Running of the Bulls..."
Monday, September 1, 2008
Reasons Why Today is Such a Good Day
Hey! um, yeah, as you can see in my title, today has been an amazing day. I can already tell it is, and it's 11:41. Here's why:
5. We're going to the Mission for Thanksgiving! That means awesomeness, lots of hiking, and riding a bus with little Navajo children. ...not to mention all the good food!
- My room is mostly clean, and everything's organized.
- I've got a lot of gifts figured out for Christmas! That makes me excited because I love giving gifts, and I'm happy when I get it right and give someone something they actually like. Early, yes, but smart... also yes. I now have time to afford everything!
- I've been filling out my calendar. This makes me happy for lots of reasons.
- I only have 11 more class periods of Student Connect! (that's less than four classes of psychology!)
- I'm in school less than half of November...
- ...and solo two semanas in December.
- I don't have school Fridays! (this seems like so little to me, and I'm taking 18 hours)
5. We're going to the Mission for Thanksgiving! That means awesomeness, lots of hiking, and riding a bus with little Navajo children. ...not to mention all the good food!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
"Do you play croquet?!"
Yep
The family jumped at the idea of a croquet game, after I quoted this creepy character.
While croquet is a simple game, it is the social part of it that gets me every time. The simple strategies of the game cause some (mostly me) to get slightly competitive. Then again, maybe it's always been an excuse to fight. C'mon, what other game do you hear your own mother say "Alright, Joel, you can come around here, and hit Grace, and then..."
There are also the almost-cheating incidents that don't go unnoticed. Wicks are turned slightly, mallets are used to form trenches through the grass, and seemingly made-up rules are remembered halfway through the game. Good-natured arguing, though, is half the fun!
As for the other half, that'd be the jokes. At one point, Daddy said,"Hey look, everyone! It's my caddy dog! ...C'mere, Major!" Major then walked sheepishly towards my dad. Maybe it was that he was the source of a joke and that everyone was looking at him, but I think mostly it was the croquet mallet placed through his collar, turning his walk into a waddle.
Of course, there's always the sitting on the croquet mallets...
...the puns "Here Tim, you can have green." "Okay! ... or should I say croquet?!"
...And of course, what family game of croquet wouldn't be complete without someone yelling "And then Uncle Harold's croquet mallet flew UP into the AIR!" before reenacting the scene from Shelly Duvall's Bedtime Story, Albert's Bad Word.
The family jumped at the idea of a croquet game, after I quoted this creepy character.
While croquet is a simple game, it is the social part of it that gets me every time. The simple strategies of the game cause some (mostly me) to get slightly competitive. Then again, maybe it's always been an excuse to fight. C'mon, what other game do you hear your own mother say "Alright, Joel, you can come around here, and hit Grace, and then..."
There are also the almost-cheating incidents that don't go unnoticed. Wicks are turned slightly, mallets are used to form trenches through the grass, and seemingly made-up rules are remembered halfway through the game. Good-natured arguing, though, is half the fun!As for the other half, that'd be the jokes. At one point, Daddy said,"Hey look, everyone! It's my caddy dog! ...C'mere, Major!" Major then walked sheepishly towards my dad. Maybe it was that he was the source of a joke and that everyone was looking at him, but I think mostly it was the croquet mallet placed through his collar, turning his walk into a waddle.
Of course, there's always the sitting on the croquet mallets...
...the puns "Here Tim, you can have green." "Okay! ... or should I say croquet?!"
...And of course, what family game of croquet wouldn't be complete without someone yelling "And then Uncle Harold's croquet mallet flew UP into the AIR!" before reenacting the scene from Shelly Duvall's Bedtime Story, Albert's Bad Word.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Hopes for a Successful Party
Hey everyone! Mostly I'm just real excited about an upcoming party my friends planned. At the beginning of the summer, Sarah Duncan expressed her wishes to have a hotdog party. A party for hotdogs, about hotdogs (if anyone can tell me how to keep my computer from automatically making my first paragraph into a link, please do!)
Anyway, it's going to be great fun, and Jon and Tim will both see how many hotdogs they can consume. I'd like to make Sarah's hair into a hotdog, and we'll all pitch in to finance it. (I am planning on bringing hotdogs with cheese in them!) She wanted it to still be summer, but probably before school starts.
Plans for the party changed slightly after a visit to Hope International Fellowship by a guy by the name of Dennis Hedke. He is running for state BOE in district 8. He is a scientist and a Christian. He talked about the importance the schools have in the next generation's world view. It was all great stuff, but of course, some jokes were made during fellowship time. Sarah and Bill suggested we make shirts for him, and I said "Vote for Dennis!" in my most Summer Wheatley-ish voice. To my embarrassment, Dennis walked up to our small group at that moment to say hi. ...oops Anyway, after he left, we decided that "Vote for Dennis" T-shirts would be awesome, and that we should make some.
It'd be the perfect activity for our hotdog party. Everyone will bring their own t-shirts, and I will provide paint and iron-on's. Later, hopefully, we will model our new shirts at Riverside park during our weekly Bible study.
In case you were wondering... I DID make a design for the shirts!
Anyway, it's going to be great fun, and Jon and Tim will both see how many hotdogs they can consume. I'd like to make Sarah's hair into a hotdog, and we'll all pitch in to finance it. (I am planning on bringing hotdogs with cheese in them!) She wanted it to still be summer, but probably before school starts.
Plans for the party changed slightly after a visit to Hope International Fellowship by a guy by the name of Dennis Hedke. He is running for state BOE in district 8. He is a scientist and a Christian. He talked about the importance the schools have in the next generation's world view. It was all great stuff, but of course, some jokes were made during fellowship time. Sarah and Bill suggested we make shirts for him, and I said "Vote for Dennis!" in my most Summer Wheatley-ish voice. To my embarrassment, Dennis walked up to our small group at that moment to say hi. ...oops Anyway, after he left, we decided that "Vote for Dennis" T-shirts would be awesome, and that we should make some.
It'd be the perfect activity for our hotdog party. Everyone will bring their own t-shirts, and I will provide paint and iron-on's. Later, hopefully, we will model our new shirts at Riverside park during our weekly Bible study.
In case you were wondering... I DID make a design for the shirts!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
"...The Foal of a Beast of Burden"
Kansas Bible Camp has a new addition to their herd of poison-ivy control. And I'm not talking about just another stinky goat. This my friends, is an ass christened Peanut. A farm donated him to the camp along with two ducks. Although these really add to our fairly new nature center, Peanut is kind of only here for one reason: once every three years, he is to be ridden by some kid for acting out Jesus's triumphal entry.
Yes, this past week at KBC happened to be the Christ week. Having a live donkey there REALLY helped people understand a bit more about our awesome Jesus. See, this donkey, like the one in the Bible, had never been ridden before last Monday. Guess what? This donkey STILL remains un-ridden! As soon as the blanket was placed on his back, the unwilling Peanut tried to buck it off, and then took off running with a camper still hanging on to its neck for dear life. Thankfully, this camper has had some experience with cowboy/rodeo life, and it wasn't that big of a deal. It was still funny, especially when Andrew tried to lead it back by its bridle and kids were making it extremely difficult by waving branches, and adding to the scariness of the situation by throwing these branches right in front of the donkey's path!
I don't want you to think this is a big, dangerous creature. It's only a donkey, not a mule. A mule would be bigger and a bit wilder. It spends its days wandering with the goats, and while it will follow an unsuspecting camper, it runs away from anyone who pursues it.
My first reason for writing a blog post about a donkey, though, is to tell of my absurd experience with Peanut. During sport-time, I wandered across the creek to feed the animals. After offering the donkey a handful of leaves, he was less concerned about standing close to me. Soon, he would let me pet him while I fed him, and not long after, he would follow me around the trees while I found leaves for him to eat. He began to sniff my back between mouthfuls, which I thought weird, so I decided it was time to go. "One more tree" I said to myself. As I reached for one last handful of leaves, I was in for a horrible shock. The ass bit my donkey! (okay, dumb joke) but the donkey really did bite my butt, and hard too! I ran all the way back to the nature center. As I stopped to take a breath, I heard galloping behind me. I gasped and turned around. Peanut was running towards me at full speed! Thankfully, he turned at the last second, giving me time to run to the bridge and across.
Later, after I told Tim, he said, "Well, now I guess I have to go beat up a donkey!" I started to tell him that the donkey really didn't mean it, but Tim interrupted me with "Wow! you really got him riled up! Look!" I looked across the creek, and between the trees, I could see Peanut still running, pacing by the gate to the bridge.
Yes, this past week at KBC happened to be the Christ week. Having a live donkey there REALLY helped people understand a bit more about our awesome Jesus. See, this donkey, like the one in the Bible, had never been ridden before last Monday. Guess what? This donkey STILL remains un-ridden! As soon as the blanket was placed on his back, the unwilling Peanut tried to buck it off, and then took off running with a camper still hanging on to its neck for dear life. Thankfully, this camper has had some experience with cowboy/rodeo life, and it wasn't that big of a deal. It was still funny, especially when Andrew tried to lead it back by its bridle and kids were making it extremely difficult by waving branches, and adding to the scariness of the situation by throwing these branches right in front of the donkey's path!
I don't want you to think this is a big, dangerous creature. It's only a donkey, not a mule. A mule would be bigger and a bit wilder. It spends its days wandering with the goats, and while it will follow an unsuspecting camper, it runs away from anyone who pursues it.
My first reason for writing a blog post about a donkey, though, is to tell of my absurd experience with Peanut. During sport-time, I wandered across the creek to feed the animals. After offering the donkey a handful of leaves, he was less concerned about standing close to me. Soon, he would let me pet him while I fed him, and not long after, he would follow me around the trees while I found leaves for him to eat. He began to sniff my back between mouthfuls, which I thought weird, so I decided it was time to go. "One more tree" I said to myself. As I reached for one last handful of leaves, I was in for a horrible shock. The ass bit my donkey! (okay, dumb joke) but the donkey really did bite my butt, and hard too! I ran all the way back to the nature center. As I stopped to take a breath, I heard galloping behind me. I gasped and turned around. Peanut was running towards me at full speed! Thankfully, he turned at the last second, giving me time to run to the bridge and across.
Later, after I told Tim, he said, "Well, now I guess I have to go beat up a donkey!" I started to tell him that the donkey really didn't mean it, but Tim interrupted me with "Wow! you really got him riled up! Look!" I looked across the creek, and between the trees, I could see Peanut still running, pacing by the gate to the bridge.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Counseling
This last week at Kansas Bible Camp was a fruitful one, with many kids getting saved.
My dorm was a pretty "good" dorm, full of Christian friends who came together. Although I sometimes wish for a challenging group of girls, it was a nice change to focus teaching on growing in the faith instead of just salvation. I never felt a strong desire for a break, which was good; we didn't get as many as normal. Thursday, however, the director told us we could all take a break during quiz, and we chose to spend it consuming the enormous package we received anonymously. (some are suspicious of George Farber) I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as we did.
This last week at Kansas Bible Camp was a fruitful one, with many kids getting saved.
My dorm was a pretty "good" dorm, full of Christian friends who came together. Although I sometimes wish for a challenging group of girls, it was a nice change to focus teaching on growing in the faith instead of just salvation. I never felt a strong desire for a break, which was good; we didn't get as many as normal. Thursday, however, the director told us we could all take a break during quiz, and we chose to spend it consuming the enormous package we received anonymously. (some are suspicious of George Farber) I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as we did.
My dorm was a pretty "good" dorm, full of Christian friends who came together. Although I sometimes wish for a challenging group of girls, it was a nice change to focus teaching on growing in the faith instead of just salvation. I never felt a strong desire for a break, which was good; we didn't get as many as normal. Thursday, however, the director told us we could all take a break during quiz, and we chose to spend it consuming the enormous package we received anonymously. (some are suspicious of George Farber) I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as we did.
This last week at Kansas Bible Camp was a fruitful one, with many kids getting saved.
My dorm was a pretty "good" dorm, full of Christian friends who came together. Although I sometimes wish for a challenging group of girls, it was a nice change to focus teaching on growing in the faith instead of just salvation. I never felt a strong desire for a break, which was good; we didn't get as many as normal. Thursday, however, the director told us we could all take a break during quiz, and we chose to spend it consuming the enormous package we received anonymously. (some are suspicious of George Farber) I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as we did.
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