thoughts on Halloween

Tonight was my first real giving-out-treats-for-trick-or-treaters experience, and it was every bit as awesome as I always imagined it would be.  I counted how many groups came to the door, and we got 50!  And almost every single time the doorbell rang, I literally became giddy with excitement.  It was so fun :)  Here are some things I thought tonight...

midget Joel

- It really doesn't bother me when older kids come trick-or-treating, as long as they're at least dressed up. We had some kids come who I think are like, 18, and I thought it was fun because they were dressed up and into it, but we also had a group of three 15-ish-year-old girls come who weren't even trying to look dressed up.  They just had plain t-shirts, jeans, and purses.  I wanted to deny them candy.
P.S. Joel (and Carrie if we're neighbors at this point like we should be) - When we turn like, 90, we should go trick-or-treating. I think that would be hilarious to get old people trick-or-treaters, so we should do someone else the favor when we're old. Oh - not as escorts to little kids.  Just as old people.

hipster Alison

- I don't care if you are in my Primary class - you don't visit the same house twice (unless you're really great friends or something, because then it's not just about getting candy out of people).

- Isn't turning off your porch light the universal signal that you've run out of candy? (Why, yes, I was granted the privilege of running out of candy on Halloween! :)

- [as I'm walking to the door]: "Hey, this is the Spanish teacher's house!" [and, as they walk away]: "What are the chances?" (comic on that topic)

- I am so much more disposed to think kindly of you when you say thank you than when you take my candy and run away.  (Luckily, that was only a couple of kids.)

- One of my Primary kids was so focused on the fact that he was trick-or-treating that, when I said, "Hello, [name]," I think he had no idea who I was. :) Adorable.

- I'm kind of sad that Halloween is over.  It's never been my favorite holiday, but it was a lot more fun with a house for some reason.  I loved it this year. :)

¡¡Happy Halloween!!

Remember?

from Dallas Clayton

This is generally how I feel about work.

I love it,

but I often feel like I have no idea what I'm doing :)

answers

Sometimes Heavenly Father answers prayers in different ways, I remembered today.

For example, sometimes you give up things you really want to do so you can make a SWEET powerpoint for the classes you teach.  You rush around like a maniac trying to get everything done, but when you do, it's awesome.  You get to school on time and open your computer...

and then Powerpoint breaks and won't open.

But that's okay.  You just to decide to open it online instead, which works well...

until an hour later when the Internet in the whole school breaks.  The presentation is open online, but the later slides didn't finish loading when you originally opened it, so everything's fuzzy and unreadable.  And also, you only have half the Halloween songs you found for kids to vote on and sing.

That alllll may have happened to me today.  I said a lot of desperate prayers.  

"Please help me not rather die than go to school tomorrow because I have no idea what to teach."
"Please let me finish on time."
"Please let me find two pieces of clothing that match."
"Please let me get to school on time."
"Please let me get to class on time."
"[Gasp!] I forgot to charge my laptop this morning! Please let it still be turned on. Please let there be an accessible outlet in this first class."
"Please let Powerpoint stop being dumb and open."
"Why is it so fuzzy? Please let it finish loading."
"The Internet's broken!  Please let me think of something to do without using those materials that won't waste today."

I probably said "Please" about 1,000,000 times today.  (I didn't type out the several minutes of prayers that were just "Please" over and over and over.)

And then the end of school came, and I walked out of my last class, which had been really fun.  I thought about my earlier desperate prayers, and then about how Heavenly Father sometimes answers prayers differently than you expect or want.

Sometimes He answers in the way you want...

- I did think of something to teach, and knowing I'd prepared well made me feel so confident going to school today.  Sometimes I'm just nervous and scared the first time I do a lesson, but today I wasn't.  Do you know how often I pray for confidence?

- I finished all my prep work on time!

- I DID find matching clothes!

- My computer WAS still turned on, and there WAS an accessible outlet nearby!

...and sometimes His answers are different than yours.

- Sometimes when you pray to be on time, and you do get there on time, but your host teacher calls you out for being late (even while acknowledging that her clock is five minutes early), it's an answer to prayer when you open your computer and see that, even though she doesn't know it, you actually were early.

- Sometimes Powerpoint won't open when you want it to, but then you can still open the presentation you need online.  And the kids sing the ABC's very well and not rambunctiously while you're trying to figure out what's wrong with your computer.

- Sometimes the presentation won't finish loading, but then you realize that one of them DID load all the way, and the kids really love that one.

- Sometimes the one presentation that did work + the two songs you have are enough to fill the time and not waste it.




And always, at the end of every day (but especially when He saves your booty so many times in just three hours), you say thank you.

The Aristocats

Did you know it's a musical?  As in, a musical that a community theater can put on?

Me, neither.  But it is!  And I forgot to write about it when it happened, but on my birthday this year, I went to see a boy in my Primary class act in "The Aristocats" with the community group and it was adorable.  The oldest child in the group was probably 9-ish, so most of them didn't know the words or dance moves.  Nevertheless, it was awesome and I loved it.  Here's me with my little cat friend.

Please disregard the fact that the angle, etc., make this not the greatest picture for me and instead love how great that cat is. :)