My Big Surprise

A month or more ago, my new friend Brooke mentioned that she would like to start a Bible study with some ladies from school and whoever else wanted to join in. I can't lie -- my gut reaction was an internal groan. Not because I didn't like these people, not because I didn't love the Lord, but because I've basically been trying to hide from Him for a while. It's much harder to do this in a Small Group. Dang accountability always messin' me up.

Anyway -- my desire to get to know Brooke and others better and the urging of the Holy Spirit (again, dang it!) ended up overriding my desire to stay hidden under a bushel (no!) and I agreed to join.

Fast forward to our first meeting. We're all sitting around discussing what we want to study, who will lead, how often we'll meet, etc. and all of a sudden -- word vomit. (that's a shout out to the movie Mean Girls -- watch it, you won't regret it!) I started contributing ideas!! I felt my InterVarsity training kicking in and suggesting ways that we could approach it. And the next thing I knew, I VOLUNTEERED TO LEAD THE FIRST FEW WEEKS! How's that for hiding?

Now, I could end my post there. That was surprise enough in itself. But then came the first night I actually led. And wouldn't you know it, at least twice as many people showed up to this one as the first one! No pressure. Of course, I felt pretty prepared -- Lee gave me some Bible Study refreshers and helped me talk through some ideas -- but when you lead a Bible Study, especially a new one, there's no telling how it will actually go.

So, we started our meeting a little late -- it's a shame we all like each other so well. :) And then we get going. I'm half expecting to hear the crickets chirping as I ask questions, but low and behold, we had such amazing, uplifting, God-centered conversation that I only got through the first point on my plan before we had to wrap up!

Now, I could end my post there. It was a great night filled with easy conversation and sharing. That was surprise enough in itself. But then came my feelings about it...

If you know me at all, you will really understand why this is another big surprise...

I actually felt good about the way I led, what I shared, AND I REALLY ENJOYED DOING IT! I tend to be so hard on myself and analyze every little thing, but I honestly didn't! When Lee asked how it went, I was actually able to say "really good" instead of my normal answer of "it was okay".

I guess the BIGGEST surprise is that after all this time, I still get surprised when God shows how willing He is to be there for me!

My AIG Kids are Weird...

I have to admit, I was worried that my AIG kids wouldn't be quite as funny as my regular classroom kids. With fewer personalities come fewer funny moments. Or at least that was my fear. However...

I started meeting with kids this week (finally!) and so far so good. We basically just did some get to know you stuff, starting with a true/false quiz about me. I just listed some statements that they had to try to guess if they were true or false. Trying to get them comfortable with the new teacher. Then they had to write some about themselves for me to guess to get to know them better.

Some of my statements were "I don't like salad." (true) "I have three cats." (false) "I grew up on a farm." (true and false... Don't worry Lee, I explained it!) So then they started coming up with their own.

I reminded them to write them as statements, as facts about themselves. Write them as if they are true. I started walking around and looking at their facts and one of my fifth graders has written "Do you think I'm cute?" as one of his statements. Oh my. So I tried not to crack up as I walked over to tell Jayme (we share an office at this school) and then I tred to reiterate the directions -- no questions, write it as a statement, this should tell me something about you. So I see this kid start to erase furiously. Whew. Crisis averted. I didn't want him to share that with the rest of the group! Then I look at his paper a few minutes later and he has written "Ms. M is cool." Well, obviously this is true, but not the point of the assignment. So, again I say something about making sure it tells me something about you. More erasing. Then it comes time to share and I save this kid for last. Finally I get to him and I don't remember any the statements he wrote except for:

I think I'm pretty. True or false.

Wow. Just... wow.

My Fantasy Football Team

Yes, you read correctly. I have a fantasy football team. Is it because I love football? Nope, don't even understand it. Is it because I have a husband or boyfriend (or both...?) who loves football and I want to be more involved in his interests? Nope, though I'd enjoy having that as a reason...

Basically the reason I have a fantasy football team -- well the reasons are threefold really: 1) I get to pick out a name for my team (which shall be revealed in good time). 2) I like math, and the scoring is math-ish (though the computer does all the thinking for me). 3) I get to talk smack to my friends Lee and Gwyn who are also in my league and other girls who I know less well and therefore get less smacky-talk.

So, what is my team name you ask? Up until this week I had stuck with the simple "Team McRary" that espn.com chose for me. But once I hit my two game winning streak (yeah!) I decided that a proper name was in order. So while taking a shower this morning, I began contemplating an animal that I had some sort of connection with. This was difficult, because as many of you know, I'm not an animal person. But then it hit me -- LEMURS! In college an extremely misguided young man named Jason decided that it was a compliment to tell me (and my friend Melissa) that we looked like lemurs. Something about the big eyes... he was a strange little man. Anyway -- no NFL team has the distinction of being named after lemurs, and hence my selection was made. Then I needed an alliterative adjective to go along with it. Lucious? Ick. Leggy? Double ick. And then it came to me, inspired by that freckle-faced, red haired orphan we all love: Annie. Which lemurs would we be? The Leapin' Lemurs! And yes, I included the ! which makes for an even more exciting scoreboard: Bailey vs. Lemurs!

[* For you non-Annie fans out there, she often exclaims "Leapin' lizards!"

So, I am now the proud owner (runner? operator? coach? ) of the Leapin' Lemurs! who are ranked number 2 in our league which will probably end soon... OH! And did I mention that in nature, female lemurs are the dominant ones? I thought this was way appropriate for my super-butch fantasy football team! Woo hoo!

Now our league has done an autodraft for the past two years. But there are times where some changes must be made. In keeping with my hardcore knowledge of football in general, I now present Amanda's two rules for trading, dropping, and adding players:

1) Any players whose hair hangs out of their helmet must be dropped.

2) Efforts should be made to attain players who have alliterative names (i.e. Muhsin Muhammad).

Oh yeah. It's gonna be a good season!

My Insane Realization

I just realized that I have a totally unreasonable number of email addresses right now. Now, I really only use two of them, but still, the fact remains that I have not one, not three, not even five, but EIGHT EMAIL ADDRESSES!!!! How in the world did this happen????

I have my regular yahoo address that I've had since college. Then I have another yahoo address that I can give to my students. Of course I have one for Hickory Public Schools that hasn't been canceled yet because I was using it for my AIG certification classes. My new address for NCCS is now operational. Then I got one for google so I could comment on friend's blogs which then turned into me having my own blog. My MSA cohort started their own blog, but I didn't want them to necessarily read this one, so I got another google address so I could contribute to that blog without giving myself away. Finally, as a student at both ASU and HPU, I have an email account with each of them.

I definitely don't check all of these regularly and a couple of them will go away soon (HPU and HPS) but STILL! This is just unreasonable.

Anyone able to beat me???

My AIG Certification is FINISHED!

I turned in my last assignment today for my AIG (academically or intellectually gifted) certification. YIPPEE!!!!! So, four of the six classes I have been taking this summer are over! AND I'm pretty darn close to finishing the other two (for my MSA) as well. Hopefully I'll be super motivated this weekend and get those assignments finished as well so I can just relax until school starts back.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I made As in all four of those?? WOO HOO!

Insanely happy right now. Must go celebrate by watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at CAST in downtown Hickory with Lee and Cecilia (featuring a kid a babysit for).

My Blog is No Longer Private

I started to make the title kinda sketchy, but decided against it in order to maintain my status as a PG rated blog. At least I think it is. I've watched a lot of Scrubs this week and I think the Todd is rubbing off on me. (Oh... and there was another opportunity that I shall let slip on by...)

I periodically do random internet searches to see if my blog is still searchable. And today is the first day that when I typed in my first and last name my blog didn't show up anywhere! In celebration, I am removing the private status off of my blog so I no longer have to invite people to view it.

If you decide to put a link to my blog on your blog, I'm totally okay with that, just make sure you keep my last name off so that if yours becomes searchable, you won't take me down with you! I just don't want nosy students knowing about my life outside of those buildings. It would be way creepy if a nine year old came up to me and quoted things from my NKOTB post. *shudder*

And FYI (because I know you're curious) the fungus is disappearing. Should be gone just in time to start my new job completely fungus free. Whew!

My Fungus Loves Me

Oh you only thought we were finished with fungus posts!

The whole fungus drama (see previous post) began right around my birthday (end of March). My regular doctor said it was a fungus, gave me a cream and sent me on my way. Well, the cream did seem to work -- kept the evil fungus at bay. But just when I thought it was safe to stop applying the cream, it would come back, little by little. I thought maybe I should just use it a little longer. Then I'd stop and it'd creep back in. Never big, but annoying.

So, I called the doctor and asked for a referral to a dermatologist. I got an appointment and she didn't think it looked like a fungus after all and maybe it was just a reaction to the cream I had been using. I was told to stop using that cream and use another one. Big mistake. The next thing I know I have a disgusting two inch EXTREMELY ITCHY place back on my face, WAY bigger than that original fungus patch ever thought of being! So, I called the dermatologist back and told them that it was getting bigger.

PA that I saw is out of town, she'll see me in a week and a half. So, this thing has grown two inches in a week and you are telling me to wait another week? I call back again -- please help me, this is really getting out of control. Come pick up another cream. So I pick up another cream. This cream angers the itchy red patch (which has now grown a small, equally itchy friend.) I am so overwhelmed at my elephantman face that I don't know what to do.

(Jayme, I know you will be shocked that I am posting TWO pictures of my fungus, but what good is a fungus if you don't share? :)

Here is what it looked like back in April. A cute little unassuming fungus.

And here is what it looks like at this point in the story. The reflection off the shiny fungus kinda doesn't show it's true red beauty. And it actually got even a little worse. This was taken a day or two before I finally got some real help for it. Keep reading...

So, Lee offers to call Mary D. in Asheville to see if Duncan would mind seeing me. Duncan swoops in and saves the day! I cried when she told me he would see me that very day. I went up Thursday, cried when told nurse about the whole ordeal. So emotional about hideous face. He scraped my face and said it was indeed STILL a fungus (the first cream wasn't strong enough to kill it for good) and gave me mega medicine to wipe it out from the inside out and from the inside in. This is the second time Duncan has saved my skin's behind. (um... yeah...) He also treated a strange rash back when I lived next to them in the pink house. Had his nurse give me a shot in the biscuit. You can't give your babysitter/neighbor a shot in the biscuit. Too, too weird.

I love that family, whether they save me from my fungus or not. But especially for saving me from the fungus. I think it's working and I hope to be fungus free in a week or two.

And obviously that fungus REALLY loves me far too much to say goodbye.