What I've Been Up To: Weekend #2

February 7th-8th:

This was a weekend filled with Junior High Youth activities. It started on Saturday at 12:30pm when the kids met at the Redeemer offices to go play paintball. Yes, a bunch of 12 and 13 year olds running around and shooting at each other. Awsome. This brought back memories of the only time I’ve ever played paintball, and it was not a pleasant experience. A wooded field + 50 youth kids + me being freaked out about playing = Me getting shot in the back from less than 20 feet away, and ending up with a HUGE welt. Since then, I have had NO desire to ever play paintball again, but being the good youth leader that I am, and since no other 6 & 7th grade girl leader were willing to go, I volunteered. Conveniently, I somehow injured my shoulder the weekend before (see previous post “Weekend #1”), and was having trouble bearing weight with my left arm. So, I didn’t play paintball, but even if that didn’t happen, I’m pretty sure I would have still not played.

We had to travel via subway out to Queens with 10 Jr. High kids, and I will say that is definitely interesting keeping track of them while on the journey. There were only 2 girls that were brave enough to play, and the rest were boys. Let me tell ya, there is a huge maturity level difference between 7th grade girls and boys.

It turned out that they would be playing in an indoor warehouse, and since it was Saturday, there were tons of groups there. I was designated “the keeper of all things valuable”, while everyone else suited up and played. The place was absolutely disgusting. The paint that was in the balls was really oily (I don’t remember this being the case at all when I played—we also had bright colors, this place only had white), so the entire place was greasy. And don’t even get me started on the state of the restrooms. While the group played their three rounds, I read my book and tried to touch as little as possible.

The 2nd part of the day was a sleep over. One of our girls’ parents graciously offered to host. Judging by the address we were given, I knew this could potentially be a really nice home. (A lot of our kids are very wealthy—a completely new experience for me.) When I arrived via cab with the 2 paintball girls and greeted by a doorman, I had a feeling that I was going to be right.

This apartment (I hate to call it that, because they have half of a floor in a high-rise building) was amazing. Huge gourmet kitchen, with an island and half-bath; a full dining room; a formal living room, with grand piano; an office; a den with at least a 60” flat screen tv; there are 3 kids and they all have their own bedrooms AND bathrooms; and a master suite. My jaw nearly fell on the floor when I walked in. It is extremely rare to have 4 ½ bathrooms in a Manhattan home—In fact I’ve never even heard of it. The décor was very classy, and fun at the same time.

Anyway, the three of us played dress up and danced to music while we waited for another girl and two more leaders to arrive. We ate junk food, laughed, danced, acted silly, and watched a chick flick. The girls were, at times, running around all crazy like, and apparently their fun of the night was trying to “pants” each other.

The good thing about this sleep over was that the leaders were to take the kids to church in the morning, so we made them go to bed at a pretty reasonable hour (1:00am). The next morning after a huge breakfast, we arrived early (amazing!) to the Jr. High Sunday school room. I tried to keep my eyes open during the class, and afterwards said goodbye to the girls and took the long subway trip home.

It was a great weekend for me to bond with the kids, which has been difficult to do since we really only see them during Sunday School, but I was so thankful to reach the quiet of my apartment—oh yeah, and get to watch the Grammys.

See you tomorrow for "What I've Been Up To: Weekend #3"!