A pretty great day

So this week has actually been a neat experience. We have all sort of drifted into our "role" work.. meaning the tasks and curriculum specific to our role. Its amazing how God works because most of my role work has been done except for things that needed to wait til today for the others to add on to as they finished their own work. I got sick this weekend and to be honest it couldn't have been timed any better. While others were working on role things, I sat down, took a nap and tried to get healthy. The only work I could have been doing needed to wait a bit longer anyway so it was great.
Last night I was feeling pretty good so while the boys went to the Prairie preserve again to time drives and directions, the girls and I went downtown. We stopped for a snow cone.. not I won't lie, I was rather adventurous and blessing again it was tasty! I got a snocone flavored in yellow cake and chocolate syrup! WEIRD! But great all the same.

Mom I thought of you a lot as I wandered downtown. There are some amazing historical sights in this town that you should come visit. You and grandma would love it! I even drove through the cemetery out of curiosity to see what sort of names came up, who got what kind of graves etc. Fun! My staff thought I was nuts.

While we were walking downtown we found the one store open past five.. and this was a a special occasion. The Chamber of Commerce was having a snackity snack for local businesses in the "Spurs and Arrows" shop downtown. We went in to check out the goods and came upon a bunch of people we had met at church on sunday. They all got my cell promising to call if they knew people who had work projects, and to come to the community bbq on thursday nights! Great stuff!

This morning we all woke up and met Paddy who was escorting us to the local Kiwanis meeting where we all spoke about our work this summer, inviting them to join with us. Sadly we heard that a woman who lives in town, her son was at a bonfire this past weekend and threw a can of WD40 into a fire, it blew up and covered him with FOURTH DEGREE chemical burns. Pretty bad. They are taking up a collection, and the poor woman is trying to stay in Tulsa without any connections there. She works at the local mexican place, that we ate at tonight.. amazing food btw. The owner, amazingly enough, said if others continue to pick up her shifts, HE'll STILL PAY HER. They are taking up a town collection, and it is pretty awesome to see this community love on its members.

Tom Boone, one of our favorite people out hear.. his uncle died this weekend and they had the funeral today. It was a crazy affair, one we didn't attend but heard about, because apparently they wanted to smoke the body, like the typical indian ritual, and the Indian Baptist Church's new(white.. ehem) pastor yelled at them about it. BUt they figured it all out.. anyway.. they did the old indian ritual, and since the man was a retired police chief ALL the cops were at the processional .. aka if you want to rob someone.. today was the day to do it. They had a big ol feast afterwards and it was a pretty amazing ordeal apparently.

Have I mentioned I really love this community? I might not leave :) Or maybe all the sudden I realize that I actually do like this region.. and I might consider moving back here. This culture rings true in my heart. And yeah. I would forsake my northern fluffy grass for mesquite trees in Texas if it meant Y'alls, drawls, and feeling like I'm always at home... man. Who wouldve thought?

Back to OK

Well we're back in Pawhuska for the summer.. and I have a cold. It is kicking my butt and honestly slowing our team down a bit. Its hard to crack a whip, cough, snort and lay down in agony all in one breath. hahah.. jk. We don't have a WHOLE lot to do.. well I do but there isn't much team stuff left. Just a few random things to figure out.

I am going to go take a nap for a bit/read my newest book for awhile. yay.

ArkanSASS

I am in Booneville, AR this week working with two other teams to run a YW! week. We got here yesterday after a VERY long day of travel and frustrations. But we made it and today we have been working to set-up for our first week of programming. YAY! My team is leading the evening program, I helped with the Kids Club orientation and it was very nostalgiac. It is weird though, realizing how differently I play with American vs. Latin American kids. Just a different manner of discipline etc.

Ok. I need to go pull together a schedule and a shower in fifteen minutes.

Oklahoma Lowdown:

Well we are halfway through our prep week!! My team is amazing and I love them all very dearly. Yeah we are getting a bit tired, but it has been a great experience connecting and struggling.

Our building is awesome. We have pretty much the run of an entire elementary building. It has an industrial kitchen, copy/faxroom to our disposal, we sleep in air conditioned classrooms, have a huge gym/cafeteria, all of the staff are awesome and the playground rocks!!!

Les Potter is the principal.. he's hysterical.. very sarcastic and a jokester but loves us and really wants to serve youthworks and let them serve his community in return. Theresa is our custodian, Gladys is in the kitchen. They are great!!! Very helpful, and understanding too!

Tom Boone is a local Osage native. He and his family are phenomenal and super pumped to work with us this summer as always. He usually comes on Sundays to talk a bit about the area at orientation and dinner stuff. His daughter sarah is 7 and super cute. Her birthday is the same as Cornells!!!

Boys and Girls Club folks are super excited for our Kids Club and Outrageous Sports Camp.. looks like much bigger groups than we expected. Which is great! We are throwing a barbecue two weeks from tomorrow for all the B&G Kids families plus community members.

Mark Buchanon.. the mayor.. is our main contact for work projects. Should be a good start since last year's WP left us a list of jobs already.. She should be contacting them this week or next.

Other people we met: Greg Hembre, Paul, Debbie, Elizabeth, Earl, the Library girls, the secretary, a teacher at the school and her daughter, and many more!!

I am off to go get to work with my crew. It is 8am CT. Who's excited?