201.
My previous post hit the 200 mark, both for number of posts and comments. I celebrated by eating a Pop Tart.
Life has been a little busier and looks to keep me busy throughout the month of February. Notably, I had a few awesome days this past week.
Wednesday, February 13: My small group leader, Amber, had e-mailed us earlier in the week to let us know she was cooking dinner for all of us while we discussed “love.” I decided to break out of my mold and show up early, to catch up and help out. I’m useless in the kitchen, so she suggested I start a fire in the fireplace. I had never done so, but assured me that the starter log was simple and walked me through the movements. Easy enough, right?
Five minutes later, I peek my head out the kitchen and notice smoke filling up the living room. I asked Amber if that was normal. Apparently, it is not. And apparently, she forgot to tell me to open the flue (I had to google that later). The little fire I started grew into a big, healthy fire with nowhere to go but in the living room. Things got fun because two girls showed up just in time to see us running amuck. Amber kept her cool, found a flowerpot, and put the fire out. I spent a good fifteen minutes cleaning up the smoky mantel. Moral of the story? DON’T FORGET THE FLUE!
Thursday, February 14: No, I didn’t have a Valentine, but had a few opportunities to love on others. My good pal Jody has a heart for the United Cerebral Palsy organization and invited me to participate in their Valentine’s Day party. He told his buddies that he’d bring chicks. I was the chick. I had only been to UCP Dallas once and didn’t really interact with anyone. I couldn’t even tell you what cerebral palsy is really, but I knew that its victims suffered in different ways. I was totally unprepared.
I got to spend a little over two hours with these guys that Jody and UCP Dallas has taken care of and loved on. I’ll admit, I was hesitant with everything because each guy was different. I guess the biggest obstacle I had to overcome was trying to communicate with them. I’m big on communication, so it was definitely an eye opening experience to see how these guys communicate and just live their lives. I helped them make Valentine’s Day cards and candy bags which was pretty fun - one of the guys had a nurse as his sweetheart, he had such a smile. I fed them cupcakes and Kool-Aid which started to break down the barriers between us. I mean, I love cupcakes and Kool-Aid too!
Finally, I assisted two guys while we played Bingo. I think Bingo is as universal as cupcakes and Kool-Aid. One of my guys understood numbers completely and would make sure I dotted the numbers that came up. He would also yell BOO! when someone else one, ha ha. The other guy (with the sweet smile) would yell BINGO! as often as possible because I’d laugh every single time. It was finally good to get out the house and volunteer which is something I said I’d do with all this free time I have. Moral of the story? It’s easy to help others you want to help, but that shouldn’t stop you from helping everyone.
Since it was WIT night (Whee! It’s Thursday), I swung by Jenna’s school and ended up helping her prepare her classroom for the next day. We made a mini road trip to pick up Rosa’s and enjoyed our usual TV shows. We did make chocolate covered strawberries and pretzels since I never had before and thought it was appropriate. To ’round up the night, I helped her make all these posters for her big Jump Rope for Heart day. We stayed up late, but it was just good to be able to help out. I think I miss working.
Saturday, February 16: The big test to see how good of a Maid of Honor I can be came as it was Mandy’s bachelorette party day. Mandy hosted it at her new house and I finally got to meet a lot of her other friends. The party consisted of one large and detailed cake (!!!), kissing old teenage crushes, and a video Q&A I put together to see if Mandy could match up with her fiancee’s answers. It also consisted of fun gifts, some of which I even got to try out (!!!)
We combined the bachelor and bachelorette parties at On the Border for dinner. Man, they have good grilled chicken tacos. We finished up the night at Main Event. I definitely got a workout at laser tag and bowling. My bowling game remains average, but I think I had more strikes than gutterballs. (Insert self-high five here.) We laughed a whole lot and things went without much of a hitch. Success! Moral of the story? First-time Maid of Honor? Google, google, google, and make sure you talk to your friends who are bridal party pros! (Thanks Magen and Kelly!)
Alright, time to get stuff done.
By Kelly Lawson, February 20, 2008 @ 12:15 pm
I can’t believe you started a fire. Hilarious. A Valentine’s Week to remember.
I don’t know that I would have remembered the flue, either. And man… if I were getting married today, I’d be asking you to be MY maid of honor– it sounds like you throw great parties!!