live for March Madness

it is 4:54. 3 NCAA games are underway. I am currently listening to the Davidson Maryland game and watching small glimpses when the video actually decides to work. This is better than nothing. Davidson is doing much better than I expected, its always a bad sign when the first game to start already sets your bracket wrong. We shall see.

I spent the morning cleaning out and organizing the youth club art and craft cupboard with Maura down at the Macrory site. If there is anything I have truly learned about myself this year, it is that I adore order, plans, and organization. The cupboard was a disaster, but taking everything out fed my love for cleaning and organizing. There is still more to be done, but I know that now that the actual supplies we have are somewhat orderly, the crafts the kids can go on Saturday nights will be better. So that is a plus.

I also helped my photography club students enter their photographs into a local competition today. It was pretty stressful as the computers were not good to us and we lacked the skills with photoshops to really do what we needed. I was very frustrated, but the boys have given up too much time and been annoyed enough of their own with club getting cancelled that I wasn't leaving until I'd submitted all their entries. We will see how they do, but I hope at least one of them wins something or gets an honourable mention. Some of the pictures were really good.

Tomorrow is Red Nose Day! woo hoo!! The local shops at Fortwilliam will be giving The Point a percentage of their profits from tomorrow, with the leading man Stanley the Butcher. I admit I have not been as good at followingthroughing with this initiative as I could have. But we will see how it goes. Even if they give us .50p that is okay with me.

So, fun enough, I got an email from the denominational curriculum coordinator for the PCUSA. One of the pieces she is working on is all-church summer which is a multi-generational curriculum of 13 sessions geared for summer use in 2008.

In this summer curriculum each session includes a mission connection, and they have decided that this year all mission connections will be YAV's. And I have been chosen as one of the YAV's to be featured! Fun huh? I have spent some time reflecting and thinking about why I became a YAV and why in Belfast to send Judy, and I guess I should share that with you, in case you do not know.

I decided to be a YAV for many reasons. first, I wanted to travel. But I didn't just want to go here and there for two weeks at a time. I wanted to live somewhere for a decent period of time, where I really got to know and be a part of the culture. I wanted to serve, I wanted to make a difference in the lives of others, and change the lives of others. I wanted to see the bigger Church, to see what PC(USA) was doing around the world. I wanted to prolong graduate school, to gain experience working with different people and in different roles, and to boost up my resume. I wanted an adventure.

I don't know if I really chose Northern Ireland or it chose me. I say this because I entered into the program determined to go to Africa, either Kenya or Ghana. I had thought about Belfast as a back up, but was pretty set. My interview with Doug Baker for Northern Ireland went fabulously. I liked the questions he asked and the conversational tone of it all. My interest was peaked by what I heard, namely I was attracted to the program because of the nature of the work: youth work and church work. But I will still stuck on Africa. I left the decision up to the Site Coordinators to decided and here I am. I guess Doug that my interview went well too : ) I have worked at a summer camp for 3 summers and adore middle and high schoolers. I wanted to continue to work in that age group. I loved my youth group days growing up and have always had an interest in working as an advisor for a youth group. Here, I am not just an advisor, I am the youth director. Northern Ireland was also of interest to me because of the Troubles and the situation here. I knew nothing of the Troubles before I interviewed for this placement. Now, I have learned so much and still can't confidently say that I understand it all.

So I am pretty stoked to be part of a curriculum. haha. Summer 2008, you should all take part in this summer program! Not just to hear about me, but to hear about all the other YAV's experiences across the world and US. What a good way to get the word about YAV out and to wee kids at that. Very good idea PC(USA).

Alright, BC and Texas Tech are intense! and poor Stanford, how did they get into the tourney??
Enjoy your comfy couch access to CBS this March for me!
xoxo