goodbye waterdeep

on saturday, don and lori had their final waterdeep show in the KC area before moving to nashville.  they asked kirk to run sound (he's become a bit of a regular go-to guy for them lately), which is just a bittersweet, full-circle thing for him.  it's kind of his dream job to run sound for them, and just when he's become a trusted person they know to call on, they move on.  i know it was a little sad for him.  

i should say, it was a little sad to me, too.  their music has been the part of my life, like i'm sure it has for many of you, that allows me to be who i am with all the rough edges and dirty, dark corners.  their persistent honesty and raw lyrics make me feel like i belong with christ, like there's room for someone like me.  they don't clean it up, make it nice, package it just so.  i feel at home with their words.  there are a few significant things in my life that have allowed me to truly experience the gospel, the good news of grace and mercy:  waterdeep, sara groves, brennan manning's writing (e.g. ragamuffin gospel), cs lewis, being married to kirk, and working with kids that are as rough on the outside as i am inside (and sometimes outside!).  

so, thanks don and lori.  (and sara, brennan, clive, kirk, etc....)

funny percival story

so, cecil's brother, percival, is just the sweetest, most playful cat.  taking a cue from my friend tiff, i have a litany of cute-sy nicknames for him:  percy, muffin, muffin-face, biscuit, smudger (i don't know), etc.  

anyway, he got into a little scrape a while back and had a gash on his arm.  he never seemed to be bothered by it (because he's just a sweet cat, so playful), no limping, no cringing when i touched his arm; i thought i would just let it heal and skip the vet.  well, it wasn't healing, so finally i took him to the vet and found out it had got infected.  i know, gross.  anyway, antibiotics didn't help, so finally, we had to take him in to cut away the infected part and stitch him up.  traumatic.  

kirk dropped him off in the morning, they put him under, shaved him and stitched him up. later that day i went to pick him up.  i just felt so awful, his arm looked horrible and the stitches ran the length of his arm!  i was looking at him and i noticed that his whiskers had been shaved!  here's the conversation (my thoughts are in italics):

"what happened to his whiskers?" i said to the vet.

"what do you mean?" said the vet to me.

"his whiskers have been cut."

"i don't know what you're talking about."  (what the - ?!  how can you not see this?!) 

"look.  half of his whiskers are gone!"

"well, we didn't do that."  (WHAT THE - ?!  who says that??)

"well i certainly didn't do it.  when we brought him in this morning, he had whiskers!"

"well, we didn't cut his whiskers."  (i want his whiskers back!  give them to me NOW!)

well, see for yourself.  the shaver-guy must have been on drugs.  i nearly asked for a discount on account of his whiskers being shaved.  

big announcement

i know it's been forever since i blogged and there is a reason for that. the only thing that is going on in my life right now is that i've been trying to get a job. i reinstated my teaching license last fall and am eligible to teach special ed while i'm completing my masters. however, this is a stupid time to try to get a job with the state of the economy and schools facing cut backs. so, it's been a long process with lots of disappointing closed doors, which is why i haven't wanted to say anything about it until now.

i hoped to stay in lawrence, as it has been my home for 4 years as a para. i live only a few blocks from the school, have 4 years of relationships established with the teachers and the students, and it's familiar. but, to cover my bases (and due to rumors that lawrence was facing cuts in teaching positions) i also applied in the KCK school district. those of you who know me well know that i've always wanted to teach in an urban school with a diverse population. well, i was called in for an interview with a sped person from the KCK district about a month ago. the interview went well and my name was passed along to a few building principals to consider for a second interview. instead of a second interview, i was offered a job 2 days later!

since then, my application had to approved by the school board and i had to complete some preliminary paperwork so i've been waiting until i had the contract IN MY HAND before i really made the official announcement. i just couldn't face telling everyone that i'd been offered a job and then have the district cut my position or something else happen, so i waited.

anyway, i'm really excited about the job! i will be an Emotional Disturbance (used to be Behavior Disorder - the so-called "bad kids" that struggle to succeed in traditional school settings) teacher at Washington High School in KCK. it is definitely an urban school facing all of the usual challenges, but there are a lot of exciting things that the school and the district is willing to give a try in order to see their students succeed. i will have my own classroom, which i'm excited about (may not seem like a big deal, but it's not always a guarantee for sped teachers). i've got a lot of ideas for how to decorate! once i get all set up, i'll take some pics of my classroom and post them! i will be co-teaching part of the day in general ed classes (probably math, social studies, maybe english, hopefully not science!) and then i will have both studies skills and social development classes of my own to teach.

oh, by the way, i will be tripling my yearly salary that i've been earning as a para. yeah.

anyway, look for my summer reading list sometime in the next couple of weeks. i just have to get through the next week and a half of school and then i will be a more rested, lively version of myself!

random questions

my friend laura always finds these surveys with the greatest questions, so i stole some of the questions off of her blog.  i'm not going to lie, i chose only the questions for which i had witty answers because i like to edit myself so that i appear to be more awesome than i really am.  

1. Song that always makes you sad?  ok, maybe it's just me... but i love a good "sad" song because the lyrics are usually really honest and it makes me feel like less of a freak show!  so, i can't really think of many songs that truly make me sad... although country songs usually make me sad just because they're awful.  sorry, country fans.  

2. Last person you argued with?  a student tried to argue with me about why i wouldn't "help" her (translation:  give her the answers) on a test.  so, i stole her student planner, flipped to the "rules and regulations" page and wrote at the top, "MENDY IS ALWAYS RIGHT" and told her that it was the #1 rule at LHS, so, sorry, guess there's no arguing with me.  i don't think she thought it was as hilarious as i did.  
3. Do you put Peanut Butter before putting the jelly on? totally.  otherwise the jelly makes the bread soggy... peanut butter is a buffer.
4. One of your stuffed animals' names as a kid? Lamb-y.  it was a stuffed lamb.  i was really creative with my naming process.
5. T.V. show you secretly enjoy?  i'm not terribly embarrassed by any shows that i watch... i am, however, embarrassed that i am sitting at home on a friday night blogging and watching The Masters... The Masters... really? and this after taking a 3 hour nap when i got home from work.  i think i actually skipped my 30th birthday and went straight to 84.  
6. Would you rather play basketball or hockey?  i love basketball.  in my imagination i was always a really great player, but then it never seemed to translate into actual physical talent.  
7. Do you know all the words to the Canadian national anthem? i'm with you, Laura, i can't even make it past the first 2 words... O Canada, dum da di dum di da... seriously, what are the words?
8. Favorite Cheese?  all of them?  eww, except gorgonzola. bleh, it tastes like sick.  
9. Did you go to your high school prom? oh prom.  hideous bridesmaidal dress (yeah, i made that word up), awful "dyeables" shoes from payless (ugly AND uncomfortable), do-it-yourself hair-do, and an AWFUL sunburn from a soccer game earlier that day (shin guard lines and sleeves lines don't really flatter)
10. Do you use your queen right away in chess? no, and i've yet to win a game.  so, i'm no prodigy.  
11.Ever been in a car accident?  yes.  and it was my fault, which sucks even more.  side note:  i've also backed into a police car.  kirk and i have also both backed into the same exact car belonging to a total stranger on two totally separate occasions.  i know.  
12. Closer to mom or dad...or neither?  both.  i think my mom is "close" to everyone she's ever had a conversation with. she has this way of drawing people out and having deep heartfelt conversations with just everyone.  dad and i are sports pals.  and rolling-our-eyes-at-mom pals.  dad and i tend to have the same exact spiritual thought processes. mom and i read the same books and love the same movies.  my family never really lacks for things to talk about.  i'm sure you are all shocked.  
13. What decade during the 20th century would you have chosen to be a teenager?  i would never have survived any era when girls were supposed to be LADIES.  i think i would have been a quite rebellious '50's teenager!  yeah, the '90's were probably the best fit... you could get away with wearing t-shirts, baggy flannel shirts, baggy jeans.  anything earlier than the '60's and i would have had to wear dresses and skirts.  nope. 

14. Were you in track and field? my track career was short-lived.  i did summer track club in 4th grade.  while waiting for mom to pick me up from practice one day i decided to practice hurdles on this little chain fence.  i think we see where this is going.  caught my foot, face-planted, looked around to see if anyone saw me.  kirk has a great pole-vaulting story, you should as him about it sometime.  
15. Baseball hat or toque?  what in the world is a toque??  i like baseball hats, but hair's a little poofy for them. 
16. Have you thrown up on a plane? yeah.  but only thing i'd had was oj, so... it was flying into NYC... i think flying so low over the tall buildings made me wretch.  
17. Have you thrown up in a car? not that i remember.  i'm not generally a puker.
18. Have you thrown up at work? no.  but i make puking noises when i see kids sucking face in the halls. seriously.  it seems to be more effective than asking them to stop.   
19. Who was your first prom date?  ha ha.  ryan aylward.  michelle's cousin's husband.  awkward.  point of clarification:  he was not anyone's husband when he went to prom with me.  i did have a really huge crush on him.  but he was just a really great friend.  i was really good at being "friends" with guys, i think it was the sports thing.  anyone else remember that hated phrase, "you're just a really great friend?"  bleck.
20. Who was your first roommate? the browning house girls.  
21. What was your first job? I Can't Believe It's Yogurt.  great name.  it was a popular choice for all the "Classy Cats" dancers that went tanning next door.  they always ordered large, non-fat vanilla, with candy bar toppings.  i never quite understood the purpose of the non-fat vanilla in all of that.  
22. Who was your first Best Friend and are you still friends with them? Carrie, and yes, we're still friends!  we were an unlikely pair.  the first time we met was when i moved to the neighborhood when i was 5 and she was 6.  she rode up to me on this brown bmx bike (she was a total girly-girl which made the choice of bicycles even more ironic) and asked if i wanted to ride with her.  her definition of "riding" was to shuffle along with her feet on the ground instead of pedaling. we were always together after that.  we had our own weird little way of talking with each other.  her mother thought we were retarded.  yeah, she actually used the word retarded.  hilarious.  
23.Who is the first person you call when you have a bad day?  kirk.  poor guy.  
24. What was the first concert you attended? DC Talk and Michael W Smith.  yeah.  i was a cool christian.  
25. First tattoo or piercing? the cartilage of my ear.  lost a bet.  made Todd go with me (he was the winner of the bet) because i am a chicken. 

26.   First celebrity crush?  ahh, ralph maccio (wait.  was that his name???).  karate kid.  christian bale has been my longest running celeb crush (going strong ever since Newsies)

frozen

here's a few shots from our yard this morning.  may i remind you that it is almost april???  god knows that i am trying to grow things (other than weeds) in my yard and he is trying to thwart me, i know it.  god smote my yard.  

(side note...kirk doesn't like that i didn't capitalize "god"... don't be offended... i don't capitalize anything.  it's not that i am ignorant of these basic conventions... or that i'm trying to minimize god... i'm just lazy.  i don't think god minds.)

anyway, much like my yard, i am feeling a little "frozen."  i see so many people my age that seem to have a real zest for life, pursuing their dreams, discovering themselves and their gifts for the first time, deepening their relationships with each other and with god... i feel very much on the outside of this phenomenon.  it's nobody's fault but my own, i suppose.  i don't know, did anyone else find that turning 30 left you feeling unmotivated, disappointed, and a smidge hopeless??  i have to believe it's not just me.  

i'm just not responding to life, aging, change, the unknown, very well.  i know what type of person i would want to be, i know what kinds of qualities i want to be characterized by, i know what kinds of activities i want to spend my time on... but this "mendy" is so far from the actual mendy.  i told kirk tonight that i feel discouraged by how much it would take to "right the ship."  

a quote from henri nouwen that i read recently that i found to be encouraging to me:  "keep returning to the road of freedom:  when suddenly you seem to lose all you thought you had gained, do not despair.  your healing is not a straight line.  you must expect setbacks and regressions.  don't say to yourself, 'all is lost.  i have to start all over again.'  this is not true.  what you have gained, you have gained... try to think instead as being pulled off the road for a while.  when you return to the road, you return to the place where you left it, not to where you started."

this is important to me, as i need to remember that tomorrow is a fresh opportunity to begin anew, to begin doing things that make me feel alive, even if i failed to do them yesterday (like running, praying, connecting with close friends, pursuing kirk, loving people, loving my students, being patient with co-workers, eating healthy food, serving people other than myself and for no personal gain, reading, taking photos, playing the piano, getting plenty of sleep, waking up early, listening to music, etc).  

well.  those are my thoughts.  

grody

i used the word "grody" for the first time since perhaps 4th grade the other day. i don't even know how to spell it. but, i used it in reference to myself. i got sick on friday, so suddenly and so dramatically that i have not left my house since friday afternoon. i showered today for the first time since thursday (yeah, i went to work and didn't shower on friday, so what?). that was the longest that i had been standing up since i was at work on friday. i have gone through a box and a half of tissue and a roll of toilet paper since saturday morning. there is only one word to describe me: grody.

p.s. i am getting ready to venture out of the house for the first time in four days...don't be too impressed. i am going to dillons to get some meds. i live a block from dillons. and i'm not wearing a bra.

finally...the third and final leg of our SA trip...the Transkei

Thanks to my new computer (remember the "blue screen of death?" It proved to be the catalyst for buying a new mac!), I am finally able to tell you about the final leg of our trip to SA. After our time in Jo-burg, we flew down to East London, where we were met by Daniel and Kristi on Thanksgiving day. They are from the KC/Wichita area and have been serving in the coastal region of SA with an organization called Oceans of Mercy. Their purpose is to feed children, but that job can have many different faces. Kristi keeps a wonderful blog that you should check out from time to time as she describes their experiences. http://kristiapplesauce.typepad.com/kristi/

The region that we visited is called the Transkei. It was one of the 10 tribal homelands that SA was divided into during Apartheid. It was a "dumping ground" for Xhosa people that the white people did not want in the cities. It still is one of the most uneducated, impoverished areas of SA.

We were able to see a few types of ministries dedicated to feeding children up close from the "other side." We observed the benefits and challenges that Daniel and Kristi face in trying to feed kids in the most reliable, consistent way possible without giving handouts and stripping the people of their dignity. They constantly ask themselves how they can help people to learn to feed themselves and become self-sustaining without trying to "americanize" them.

One of the villages we visited, called Bukwini, has a child sponsorship partnership with a church in the States. The council maintains a list of needy children and families and prioritizes the "most" needy when a new sponsor becomes available. The money provides a monthly food parcel with basic like milk, mealie, oil, sugar, etc. as well as clothing for school. We visited on a day when the food was being delivered, sorted into parcels, and distributed to the guardian of the child that is being sponsored. There are challenges, though, like having to say "no" to giving away food on a whim (food depends on the number of sponsors) and knowing that once the food is distributed there is not a guarantee that it will go where it is supposed to go. It was good for us to see these challenges up close.

We also visited a village where Daniel and Kristi have helped a woman to run a daycare. At this daycare, Mama Christina is able to feed kids two healthy meals a day, store their school clothes and shoes in cubbies to keep them in good shape for longer, and teach the children. Mama Christina was recently trained on how to keep a garden and now she is teaching her daycare kids to do the same so that they will have this skill as adults. Also, she is a rocking soccer coach! She has a team that competes with other area villages and these boys are awesome! We played around with them for a few hours and they were clearly superior!

We learned a ton from our time with Daniel and Kristi. They are also doing a lot of work to train people in basic first aid and nutrition to help lessen the effects of HIV/AIDS. Read Kristi's blog for more on that!

cecil adventures...funny story...even if you are dog person

so, cecil is a rather social cat. all of our neighbors know him and regularly report to us about his visits to their yard or porch. during the summer, he comes home every evening smelling of bbq because he frequents all of the neighborhood cookouts. he's quite popular.
anyway, due to cecil's roamings we have a little collar and a tag that says "CECIL" and my phone number on it. the other day, cecil came home in the evening with a piece of masking tape on his collar. on the tape was written, "i think every dish is mine" with a smiley face. "oh no," i thought, "cecil's pilfering from a neighbor's cat dish again." there's nothing i can really do about this. i mean, if you put catfood outside, you can't really be surprised that it becomes a community dish, right? i figured if the mystery sticky note person was really offended by cecil's behaviors then they could call me.

next day, cecil comes home with a new note attached to the collar. this time it says, "cecil t catt at facebook." we looked on facebook and, yes, cecil now has a facebook page. courtesy of a neighbor that has been wooed by his cecil-ness. i don't have a facebook page but my cat does. he doesn't even have thumbs, but he has a facebook page. hilarious.

so if any of you facebook-ers want to "friend" my cat you may do so. cecil t catt.

final installment of the south africa trip...coming soon!

so i'm sure all of my 5 blog readers are sitting by their computers eagerly awaiting the post and the pictures regarding the 3rd and final leg of our south africa trip (which was 2 months ago!!!), so put your minds at ease...it is coming soon!

i actually had the entire thing typed up and pictures were in the process of uploading a week ago and before i could publish the post the "blue screen of death" appeared on our computer. i don't really have a technical term for what happened at that moment but just know that i was not pleased. our computer is moving at a snail's pace. kirk is in the process of fixing this problem but until he does, i cannot easily update our blog. i am currently typing this post from the computers at school. yeah, blogging at work...don't judge.

so, please continue to check my blog! don't give up on me!!!

johannesburg and surrounding townships (second leg)

After spending about 4 days in the Northern Region (Limpopo), we returned to Johannesburg to spend a few days with Pastor Isaac and his family. It was an 8 hour bus ride with no air-conditioning. And it was nearly summertime. Yuck. I remember handling it quite well, with little complaining. Of course, Kirk says that I repeatedly said every half hour, "I'm handling this pretty well, don't you think?" Well, memory can be subjective.


Jo-burg was the eye of the storm during the Apartheid protests that finally led to the downfall of Apartheid. The white Afrikaans government had divided the country of South Africa into ten "independent" Tribal Homelands to which all the black and mixed race South Africans were assigned. People were forcibly removed from their homes to live in remote tribal lands, so that the best areas with the most opportunities could be reserved for the whites. The townships surrounding Jo-burg sprouted up as squatter camps, ghettos with tin and brick shacks as far as the eye can see, for blacks that worked in the cities (often as servants to whites). Blacks were not allowed to live in the city or the nicer suburbs. I knew of Apartheid before visiting South Africa, but have learned so much more about it from reading Kaffir Boy, the autobiography of Mark Mathabane in case anyone is interested in learning more.


During our time in Jo-burg we stayed with Pastor Isaac's family and spent our days walking through the township of Kathlehong, visiting a daycare for AIDS orphans, visiting HIV/AIDS patients in their homes, attending a home church in the township, and attending Isaac's church. One of the AIDS victims that we visited, Maria, was confined to laying on a mat on the floor of her mother's house, barely able to lift her hand to greet us. It was her 37th birthday that day. We were overwhelmed by our inability to do anything for her. On our way home, Isaac suggested that we stop at the grocery store to buy her a cake, cokes, and a card. We were so excited for the chance to celebrate her life! That evening we returned with the cake. Her mother saw us coming and began to weep. Later she told Isaac that when she saw us approaching, she thought, "who is my daughter?" We sang "Happy Birthday" to Maria and told her mother to invite the neighbors for cake and cokes. How simple it is to love people!
We also drove through Soweto, an infamous township where many protests took place. This is the first place that the government has begun to make improvements, so Kathlehong was actually in worse condition. I am realizing more and more just how rare it was for us to stay in the home of a black South African, and to walk the streets of Kathlehong as friends and brothers and sisters, not as oppressors that would exploit the people and the land. One younger man approached Kirk and told him how glad he was that we had come to the township and that were not afraid to be there. There is still much segregation there and it is one of the few countries in Africa where there is a democracy, an economy, an infrastructure, and yet directly across the street people are suffering, malnourished, and impoverished.