formerly a fearless temp

The banquet last night was lovely. The first batch of kids arrived early (almost twenty of them) and we weren't done setting up inside, so I went out there to keep an eye on them. Naturally, I kept them in order with my commanding voice and intimidating presence.

Me: Hey guys! You look great! We're going to have to stay out here for a little bit while they set up.

Random Kid: Can we go in?

Me: [Using outdoor voice, speaking loudly enough to be heard by everyone] No, we can't go in until Emily and Alex tell us it's ok to come in.

[Spots Random Kid2 pulling door open]

Me: Hey! Could you come over here? We can't go in.

Random Kid3: Why?

Me: Because they're setting up. [Notes kids are forming disturbing Scatter Formation.] Guys! GUYS! Could you stay, like, right here? Just for a little bit.

[Most kids semi-obey, six kids continue walking off.]

Me: Guys, could you, like, stay here?

[Still walking.]

Me: Ok. Well. [Louder] Could you stay in my line of vision? Stay where I can see you!

[Start chasing each other across the field.]

Me: [Muster up Most Commanding Voice] ERIK! MEKKAH! RAFAEL! GET BACK HERE! NOW!

[Kids continue running, eventually rounding the corner of a building and disappearing.]

Me: Dammit!

Random Kid: What did you say?

Me: Nothing! I like your bow. Chris! Get out of that car now! Please?

Anyway, six kids temporarily misplaced but all were ultimately recovered and no automobiles/people/property were hurt. LOTS of kids came, as did a good number of tutors, and the food was good, the prizes for the kids good, and I got presents! Which kicked the evening up a notch even though it didn't need to be. It was really nice, very emotional. I'm going to miss all of them.

After the banquet Anna called me and asked if I wanted to go out for ice cream. We'd both changed into pajama-ish clothes but decided to go with it and take it one step further -- in honor of the evening, we decided to wear the COCOA House T-shirts we got a couple of years ago. Jo decided to come too, and when we picked Anna up she had the crayons we got as part of our gift from next year's officers with her and we decided to get a coloring book for the heck of it.

So, fast forward like a half hour and SCENE:

JESS sits at a small plastic table outside a sidewalk ice cream shop wearing a COCOA House T-Shirt. She's coloring in a picture of Grover visiting his grandma, lips pursed in concentration as she debates whether Grover's grandmother should be blue like him or whether she should make a nod towards multi-culturalism and go for a different color.

Next to her is ANNA in her (slightly dirty) matching COCOA House T-shirt, coloring in a picture of Big Bird and Snuffalupagus. She's eating her second ice cream cone, the first having fallen apart minutes before and now lies in a melting heap on the chair and pavement next to her.

JO is next to them, wearing presentable clothes, not coloring, already done with her ice cream, just surveying the scene with her purse on the table in front of her.

JESS: [licking melting ice cream off her hand] What color should Grover's Nana be?

ANNA: Blue?

JESS: Hm.

[Long coloring pause.]

JO: [Taking in the image of the three of them at the table.] You know girls, this probably looks pretty funny. Matching shirts, ice cream, coloring books. Like I'm this nice person who took the two of you out.

JESS: Oh my God! They probably do! I thought those girls were giving us a weird look.

ANNA: Can you get us a day pass next week, Jo?

JO: I'll try! Maybe we can go to the museum.

JESS and ANNA: Oooooooh.

Banquet for COCOA House, my tutoring group, was tonight. It went so well! The kids were great, even if a lot of them didn't like the dinner. (There were mushrooms, and no matter how often I channeled my mother by telling them to "eat around them," a lot of dinners remained unfinished). Thank God Student Forum agreed to move and let us have space that we could use for the banquet.

It was so nice! The kids were running around, going on and on about how beautiful the place was (my college does have a beautiful campus, I must confess, I think landscaping is where the bulk of our tuition goes). They helped us decorate, hung up streamers, and were good about sitting through the speeches during dessert. Oh, and we had a great slide show during dinner that made my trek on the highways to get it developed totally worth it.

You know what I never get over? When I ask kids to do something and they *do* it. It's just so strange to have that power. Like when I say "guys, no running," they'll stop and walk for at least 2.5 seconds. :)

Oh, it was so great! I'm just all bubbly and cheesy right now thinking about it. At one point, all the tutors got called up to the front of the room to be recognized, and then one of the kids who's been going forever got up to the mike and began presenting awards to us! It was so nice. The kids had gotten together and created "Kid's Choice" awards for each of us. Corrina was "Shorty", Bill "Hottie" (big laugh for that), Andrew got "Tall, Tough, and Buff", and so on. They gave me "Kindest" -- I was so touched! And then we got up and gave tutor testimonials (which went pretty well, considering the fact that none of us had prepared anything ). Even I, Miss Petrified of Public Speaking, spoke. It was funny -- I got up there all nervous but once I looked out at them it was easy to talk about my experience. They're all such great kids, and the tutors are great as well. The word I always think of when I think of the organization is bright -- it's like every person in there shines a little bit, in different ways. It's wonderful.

God! I'm such a sap! But now at least the masses who have been looking at this livejournal (and I know there are masses), reading me whine about COCOA House/Treasurer stuff, will understand why I do it all. On a night like tonight, when kids come up to you and ask you if you're coming back (scared that you're graduating), and they look happy when you say you will be back, it's just wonderful. And when they come up and hug you just for being there or to say goodbye, or when a kid that's always been distant does a funny thing like tap you on the wrong shoulder so you spin around like an idiot, it's just great.

It's a little sad too, though, especially when I think about the seniors who are graduating now -- i don't know what we'll do without them! But I think everything will be all right, we've got a really dedicated bunch now. It's all going to work out. It is.

No stressing over next year now! Must bask in the glow of tonight for a while longer! Happy thoughts!

Oh, and to top everything off -- dessert was a delicious chocolate cake. Does it get any better? I think not!

Whew! Survived hike, all children emerged intact (though it seemed touch and go for a while). The Outing Club people organized the hike, and I don't think they were aware that they would be taking

(a) Small children

and

(b) Out-of-shape tutors of said small children.

At many points I feared I was just going to collapse and could see the headline -- "College Student Medivacced Out of Local Park; Unable to Complete Hike With Small Children". But I made it. The trail was scary! There were these huge drops and we had to cross not one, not two, but three streams (only one of which had a bridge), and had to make the kids hop from stone to stone all the while having visions of cracked skulls and fractured ankles. But we made it! The two kids I was assigned to keep my eye on were good, especially considering the girl I was watching announced halfway through that she had to use the bathroom and I uttered that wonderful response we all remember from our childhoods -- "Hold it." Then she fell smack on her face a little bit later and earned a piggy-back ride the rest of the way. (Got bless random Outing Club guy. He will ascend directly to heaven) I made it! I hiked!

I never will again!

Anyway, must now go to bed, as I have to be up at 4AM tomorrow because I'm going to D.C. Woohoo! Only cost 35 bucks and we get to fly there and back. Exciting. Fear I will die in major air disaster. Happy thoughts!

Woo! The budget is complete! All 21 pages of it. (okay, so like nine pages of it is the club roster and our Constitution, but the rest of it involved actual work) Life is good.

I now have to write up my research proposal for my seminar -- James Madison and the Bill of Rights: Political Move or Ideological Shift? Exciting stuff!

Will probably be back later with more procrastinaty blather.

Usually, I just spend time checking my telnet as a method of work avoidance. But, tonight, when i actually want to send important, worthwhile E-mails, the whole friggin' system is down. Stupid school.

Off to write a cheesy letter to go with my begging budget proposal (Please, Pleeeeeeeeeassepleaseplease give us money! Please!).

So, my roommate and I had this cool Hillary 2000 poster, complete with Gore/Lieberman 2000 stickers (very hard to come by in New York, as they knew they had the state won when they decided to run), on our door for a long time. It gave our door character, we thought, as we have been, so far, too lazy to decorate our door as other people have, with inspirational/funny quotes or pictures, though we've been planning to. Anyway, we had this poster, and then it disappeared and we were both very sad.

Weeks pass.

This Tuesday, Joanna is walking down the hallway to the girls' bathroom, looks into the men's room on her way (why, exactly, I'm not sure. I'll have to ask her about that later), and discovers -- lo and behold! -- our Hillary poster, poised above one of the men's toilets, complete with a sign saying "Right where she belongs". Who did this, I'm not sure. I know of one for-sure Republican male on our hall, but he seems far too nice to steal our sign. Perhaps his smelly roommate, methinks. Regardless, the sign is in there and Jo and I are alternately (1) happy, because we can get the sign back, (2) amused, and (3) puzzled as to retribution. I have discovered that I am not the devious, criminal mastermind one would wish for in a situation like this. The only solution I could come up with is replacing the sign with one saying "Rick Lazio: Unemployed in Downstate New York, Right Where He Belongs" but I find that a little mean. He's a nice guy, Rick Lazio, or so I've heard, and I don't really wish him to be unemployed.

It would be easier if she had ended up running against Giuliani (whose name I can never spell). He I would have no trouble being mean to.

If there's anyone out there reading this, we're open to suggestions. Please?

Moving right along.

It's Saturday -- wohoo! -- and I have just emerged from a lovely midday shower. I overslept this morning and had to run across campus decidedly unwashed and skanky to set up the space for an event we were hosting for the kids a group I'm in tutor. It was fun. Dining services gave us mad food, the AV guy was really nice, the kids liked the movie, and seemed to enjoy just hanging out in the room afterwards. That may have been due less to the company and more to the foozball tables upstairs. Regardless, it was good. We watched Fern Gully, in honor of the environment, but the event had been so rushed and kind of under-prepared that we didn't have any activity to do with them afterwards, like talking about the environment or the rainforest. I just hope that some of the "Don't Kill Trees! Respect Nature!" message seeped through. A lot of them recycled their soda cans afterwards -- a good sign, right?

Am planning to go home for the evening, which will be nice. I do like living locally, especially at the end of the year. Quarters get close, people get annoying, and tensions run high. A nice trip to Casa Family is just the fix I need, I think.

Oh, and I get to do my laundry for free there. Also a plus.

I now have a yen to see Fern Gully II. I'm a sucker for sequels. Probably sucks, right? I mean, Fern Gully was nice, but not quite a cinematic masterpiece. Maybe it'll be like Star Wars, where the second flick is better than the first.

Wild Saturday night, here I come!