Point Made...

In my previous post I mentioned the difficulty that I have finding stylish shoes in a size 12. Case in point... this afternoon I was looking online at a few sites that I have had luck with in the past. On one, I searched by my size and this shoe and one other lovely geriatric option was all that was available for my hoofs. Comfortable... yes, Able to be worn by a 28 year old in public... no.

A head above the rest

As you already know, I am tall. Not only am I tall, but I am very tall. My dad is 6' 6", so obviously I got his genes as I am 6 feet tall myself (or 5' 12" as I like to say). Being tall has its perks, but it can also be a little irritating at times. With my extra inches I have found additional storage in places that other people cannot reach. I can also see that there is still one box of cereal at the very back of the top shelf in the grocery store. As a teacher my height allows me to come across a little more intimidating when I stand over a student who is off task.

With that being said, there are also some things that are a little irritating with my considerable height. People assume that I am a basketball phenom. I did play on my church basketball team, but I cannot dribble, shoot a proper lay-up or make a 3-pointer. I played on the church team more for the fun than the actual opportunity to acquire some athletic ability.

Carrying my 6 foot frame around also requires that I have very large feet. Finding stylish size 12 shoes is not an easy task. Most of my shoes come from Payless because they carry up to a size 13. (Note to Payless: Please do not waste your time crowding your size 12 shelves with 3 inch heels. People who are shopping for clown shoes are most likely tall, therefore we typically do not want to add 3 inches to our already freakishly tall bodies.) I met a girl the other day who wears the same size shoes I do. She asked where I shop for shoes and I told her that I shop at Payless and Clarks. She said she doesn't really shop at Clarks because she doesn't wear leather since she is a vegan. Hmmm, so you are telling me that you limit yourself and your big feet even more by only wearing pleather??? That is just plain silly. Shopping for pants is also a continuous issue. I have actually been wearing capris my whole life. They just ended up that way after I dried my pants by mistake.

So basically, being tall is just one more thing that makes me uniquely who I am!

Up and Over

As mentioned earlier (see "Perspective") last week I worked as a camp counselor. When I received the tentative schedule for our week I was a little concerned when I saw that all counselors would be required to take a swim test upon arriving at camp. Immediately I became anxious about being asked to demonstrate the butterfly and appropriate flip turn at the end of the pool while the cast of Baywatch critiqued me from poolside. All of these worries were for nothing when we arrived at the pool and were asked to simply tell the staff how well we could swim. I never even had to shed my swim cover-up.

Crisis averted... or so I thought.

Skip to the next morning when we were supposed to have breakfast and then do team-building activities before the campers arrived. We were led to a ropes course where I (naively) assumed we would do a simple trust fall, sing "Kumbaya", and call it a day. Needless to say, I was wrong... way wrong. Had I known ahead of time what we would be asked to do I am sure I could have come down with the 3 hour bubonic plague to be excused from this activity. We were broken into different groups and assigned a staff member that would lead us through "Satan's Torture Games". Our first activity required a lot of balance, which I handled okay. We finished that and I was still thinking, "This isn't so bad." I knew better when our instructor led our group to a 15 foot fall and explained that we would all have to get over it. I was thinking to myself, "Hmmm, this guy is funny. There is no ladder or rope or escalator, so obviously this is a joke. Seriously, what's next, Rambo?" He gave us the rules for this activity, which would require two people to man the top of the wall. They would help pull you over once the other group members lifted you up from the bottom of the wall.

Now, let's take a moment to get the full mental picture here. I am 6 feet tall and have what appears to be a 2nd trimester belly. I also have considerable junk in the trunk.

I was speechless. How in the world were these people going to hoist my badonkadonk over this wall?!? I began thinking of excuses, but one (82 pound) girl assured me that our group would not be able to move on until ALL the members were over the wall. "Ummm, easy for you to say, Barbie. Pretty sure I saw you nibbling on a blueberry at breakfast while I had an extra donut." I stood away from the group and observed the first 4 or 5 people lifted and pulled over the wall with no trouble. I continued to inch slowly back until Vesta (who is in her 60's) kindly reminded my group that, "You better get her over before you send too many people to the other side." Why, thank you Vesta. I appreciate your support and encouraging words. The group then turned their attention to me and encouraged me to give it a go. (Sure why not, it will be your graves). All I could think to say to the 2 guys at the bottom of the wall that would have to shoulder my weight was "I am so sorry." They used their hands as steps for me and pushed me up to the 2 guys waiting at the top. These 2 grabbed my arms and pulled me to the top (only slightly dislocating my shoulders).

Surely that was the worst of it, right? Wrong again.

Next we headed to a circle of hula hoops with a rope dangling in the middle. We would need to swing from one hula hoop to the next using the rope (Tarzan-style). "Uhm, have we not already learned that I am out of shape and have no upper body strength whatsoever? I thought this was supposed to build team unity, not humiliate the chubby girl and provide hours of laughter for her group members later." Well, here we go. I reached up as high as I could on the rope and prepared to swing into the other hula hoop where a very skinny boy was braced to catch me. I attempted to swing the first time and simply fell off the rope into the leaves. "Great, this should be loads of fun." Take two... I swung and pulled my leg behind me like a kick-stand. Take three... while the instructor was not looking I inched my hula hoop toward the other one so I could basically just jump into it.

We did a few more activities that were about as bad, but by that point I really could not have been any more humiliated. What a great way to get to know the other counselors, right?! Uhm, no! I suggest next year we have a tiki bar and play some charades.

Perspective

First off, I know you have all been experiencing a massive void in your lives since my random anticdotes have been MIA over the past few weeks. Needless to say, my summer has ended up being WAY busier than I anticipated. It is filled with lots of great stuff, but I can't believe it is already mid-June!

Last week I worked as a camp counselor at a camp for kids with cancer. It was an amazing experience. There were around 60 children at the camp between 6 - 12 years old. My camper was 11 years old and has Leukemia. With her, you would never have known she had cancer because she looked very healthy and loved to talk about High School Musical, stuffed animals, and swimming.

For some of the other campers it was more obvious that they were dealing with way more than any 6 or 10 year old should have to deal with. Some of them had beautifully shiny bald heads, while others were just starting to get their hair back. I would overhear conversations where they used words like chemo, stick, port, relapse, remission, etc. More than once I had to ask what certain abbreviations meant (For example, ALL - Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia).

I was constantly amazed by just how brave and strong these kids are. I had to keep reminding myself that they are kids above all else and it was our goal to give them an amazingly fun week where they could forget about cancer for a while.

There were two children that really touched me. One girl was 11 years old, but hearing her talk you would think she was 20. She has been through a lot in her short life and has had some heart-breaking experiences. One day while we were in the cabin I overheard her talking to some other girls about their wigs. They were all talking about how much they hated wearing them. The other girls had already gotten their hair back, but she was just starting to get some. I asked her what her wig looked like and she said, "Oh I can show you, I brought it for my costume." She put it on for me and it was amazing how totally different she looked. She said, "I just don't like to wear it because I am used to being bald now. I figure if someone doesn't want to be friends with me because I don't have hair, then they aren't really a friend worth having." I thought that was pretty amazing and confident for an 11 year old.

The other camper that really stuck with me was a 10 year old boy who is currently being treated and has a shiny bald head. He seemed very angry and standoffish. Their personalities were all so different. Some seemed mature beyond their age, and others seemed very wary of people they didn't know. This little boy commented to me that he didn't want to be doing the activity his counselor was doing with him. I asked what he would rather do and he said he wanted to go back to the cabin to read. I asked what he was reading and he said The Lightning Thief. This is a book I have read with my class for the past couple of years, so I launched into a great discussion about the book with him. His face lit up and his whole demeanor changed. We talked and talked about our favorite chapters and characters and I got a glimpse of what this child was like without the worry, anxiety, and frustration that is cancer. When I got home I got on his caringbridge page and read all about his diagnosis and treatment. I now understand why he was so angry. It seems that his prognosis is not very good and the treatment is very aggressive.

After spending a week with these kids I feel even more blessed and thankful for all that I have. These kids will forever be an inspiration to me! I can't wait to go back again.

Totally Random Thoughts

Here are some of my recent extremely random thoughts that I wanted to share with you:
1. I think that God was getting bored with creating things when he got to cauliflower and honeydew. I feel that they are the red-headed stepchildren of fruits and vegetables. This is also the reason why I rarely order fruit as a side. Honeydew must be the cheapest of all fruits because most places load up on the green chunks while throwing in a cube of watermelon and a grape. Likewise, when you see "mixed vegetables" as a side you should ask what percentage will be made up of cauliflower. I would be willing to bet close to 96%.
2. Campaigning has overrun television commercials and the roadside. I am just about tired of hearing and seeing why I should vote for these folks. I have however been entertained by some of the candidates' names. Let's start with Young Boozer. No that is not a nickname he got from his fraternity brothers. That is his given name. Kind of hard for me to take you seriously, sir. This name also makes me think of a rapper, like Young Jeezy or Young Buck. I would have been more likely to vote for him had he performed a rap in his commercial, such as "My name be Young Booza, fool. I gon' get mo money fo yo school. Word".
The other guy that cracks me up is Slade Blackwell. This sounds like the name of either an American Gladiator or the villain in a children's book. I am physically unable to say his name in a normal voice. Every time I see one of his signs I must yell his name like he is entering a boxing ring.
3. Have you ever seen the show "Hoarders"? It is like a car wreck... you don't want to look, but you can't help it. I am fascinated by these people and how they justify saving everything. Now, let's face it, we all have the tendency to save things that really should be thrown out or donated to Goodwill. I still have clothes in my closet that I have not been able to wear in a decade, but I hold on to them thinking that eventually I can fit back in them. I also hang on to outdated clothes because I think they would make a great costume (since apparently I go to lots of costume parties). But, these people take this to a whole new level. One of my favorite quotes from an episode I saw yesterday was when this woman's son was helping her clean out her house. He moved a stack of boxes off the floor only to find the most enormous dust bunny I have ever seen. He picked it up and said, "This is not a dust bunny. It is more like a dust wolf." This woman had 57 birds. While watching this they showed a preview for another series on people with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Basically, after watching these shows I want to clean out my closets and then wash my hands 36 times.