Monessen Day 2: The Kids

Our first full day in Mon Valley started early with a shower at 5:45.  See, I had to wake up, and then walk to the third floor to pee.  From there, I walked down one more flight to the second floor to shower and then the whole way back up to the 4th floor again.

We ate breakfast and I came to the realization that I was going to need to pop over to the supermarket during our free time later as breakfast was not giving me many possibilities.  After breakfast, we had devotions and then my group followed Kyle across the alley to where Kid's Club was hosted for an orientation.  

I was a little floored and confused by all the rules.  After all, Kirk and I had done Kid's Club the previous year and there really weren't any rules and Megan had even told us last year that if there were any disciplinary problems to bring the kids to her as she was the one person who would be with them all summer.  Now, here was Kyle empowering any of us to give timeouts.  

After orientation, we broke down into groups.  All of my church kids elected to head up crafts, which I hate, so I wound up going with music with a handful of teens I didn't know.  They handled things more or less themselves though I made a few suggestions.  At lunchtime, before the kids arrived, we had to eat with our groups and I am one who is surprisingly shy with folks I don't know.  I could see our kids at the craft table and I longed to be with them as they laughed and teased.  Then one of the girls I was sitting with said, "That Maryland group is weird."

I was very much taken aback.  Did she not know the group she was talking about was mine?  I elected not to say anything as she continued, "I mean, they're nice and all, but they're really loud."

I was rather offended.  The fact was that our kids are extremely outgoing.  They are the group that never meets a stranger and will welcome most anyone into their fold.  They are as close as siblings and all these traits had always struck me as positive things.  I didn't comment on what was said and as soon as lunch was over, I spoke to Kirk and we both pondered over all the rules of Kid's Club.

My vehicle was one of the cars that would be dispersed to go and pick up kids from the projects and I had to take a male and a female youth with me, so Kirk and PK came along.  We followed the directions up the hill and we laughed at all the shoes tied to the power lines (we didn't learn until later that the shoes represent gang activity) and felt a little uncomfortable at all the men hanging out along the streets, jumping to and from cars.  The area we'd been in last year was very rural, but it was becoming abundantly clear that we were now in a very urban neighborhood.

We arrived at the project development and the African American kids swamped the car.  We had to check them in and stamp their hands as to what development they would be returned to.  What seemed really odd was that there was not a parent in sight.  We could take 4 kids each trip and Pam, one of the other adult leaders from Michigan was also picking up from this development and she had a van.  Even with her van, my car had to make three trips to get all the kids.

When we arrived back at Kid's club, it didn't take long for us to understand why there were so many rules.  The kids were a different breed altogether.  Some were adorable and sweet and others were loud, disrespectful and carried two ton chips on their shoulders.  Paula and I buddied up with two girls, both doll babies, named Shalon and Miya and we played a game of Sorry until it was time for the kids to move up for songs and their Bible lesson.  This is the time when the problem kids acted out the most.  Two of us, had to essentially play Bouncer by making sure no kids tried to escape lesson time.  Others would talk loudly during the lessons and songs and we had to try to get them to pay attention. 

When the lesson time was finally over, the kids split into two groups; the older kids had playtime outside and the younger ones had craft time and then in thirty minutes, it would switch.  As music was over, I headed outside to help Paula, who was on game duty.  Most kids shot baskets or played Four Square.  Others played in the trash can that the balls were kept inside of.

The time went by fast and I helped usher the big kids back inside and prepared to help the little ones outside to play.  Pam walked up to me and whispered, "Holy shit."  So I knew it wasn't just me getting an eye opening experience of where we were.

The rest of the time went by quickly and soon we were driving kids back to their respective developments.  When we returned, I approached Kyle and informed him that he was definitely going to heaven and was sitting next to Jesus.  As we all took seats and discussed the day with Kyle we learned that there were actually kids who were on a week suspension from Kid's Club but would be returning on Wednesday. I think we all secretly rejoiced that on Wednesday, we would no longer be at Kid's Club, but would be painting and cleaning up apartments at the projects.

We were supposed to go swimming that afternoon, but due to rain, we were unable to go.  So our group headed to the grocery store, where I bought some low fat peanut butter and bananas for breakfast.  The rest of the evening was dinner, Club and church group time.  The kids were still disgruntled about their lack of friend making, but we assured them it was still too early to judge anything.



Preparing for Kid's Club



Four Square

Monessen Day 1

We departed from the church somewhere around 12:30-12:45.  Papa Don took the lead with Big Dumb Chris as his co-pilot (the kids nick named Chris that name affectionately.  Chris is big, but not dumb at all and he is a very good sport).  Paula's vehicle was in the middle, due to her fear of getting lost on a road that leads to a big city (seriously, this is her greatest fear) and she had her youngest son, Dane, PK, Corinna and Rachel.  I brought up the tail with Kirk, Molly and Shawnie.

The drive was pretty uneventful.  We stopped at Taco Bell (ugh for a WLS patient!) and I ate a couple of nachos.  Then we were onto the PA Turnpike for the remainder of the journey.  We arrived at 4:00 on the nose and were the first church group to arrive. 



 We immediately met our leaders, Kelly, Sarah, Jeremy and Kyle.
 


As we began to unload our vehicles of suitcases, duffle bags, sleeping bags and air mattresses.  Turning to Kelly, we asked where our sleeping quarters were and we were informed they were on the fourth floor.  There was no elevator.  Okay, so exercise was not going to be an issue.

We hauled all our stuff upstairs and the good part about arriving first was being able to select our sleeping quarters.  Once we were unpacked and our air mattresses were blown up, we headed back downstairs to the dining/kitchen/club room to wait for others to arrive.

When the other groups began to arrive, they did not seem all that friendly.  I said hello to some of them and they nodded in return but all in all it felt awkward.  The other groups were all from up north (Canada, Upper PA and Michigan) and it seemed they were just not as warm and outgoing as our kids were, but it was still way too early to tell.

We had dinner (I totally forget what we had) and just before that, the adult leaders headed upstairs for a meeting with Kelly, where we divided our kids into work groups for the next day.  My group, which consisted of me, Paula, PK, Rachel, Kirk and Corinna, would be starting off our week with Kid's Club, which is essentially a VBS for the neighborhood kids.

After dinner, we had Club, which is usually a time of music, some fun and then a more serious talk given by Sarah.  After Club each night, we all had our individual church group time and the first night, the kids were a little disgruntled but how cold some of the other kids seemed to be.  We tried to assure them that it was only the first night and that they needed to give it time, but actually, only time would tell.

When we were finished church group time, we headed back up to the 4th floor for bed.  Wake up the next morning for the adult leaders would be 5:45 if we wanted to shower.  I did.

I want to ride my.....

I promise to update tomorrow on the mission trip as today other interesting things have happened. 

The kids went with their grandmother for a little bit this afternoon, and The Brit told me we were going for a ride but would not tell me where we were going.  We drove to Frederick, which is about 25 miles away and when it was all said and done, I had an early birthday present:



The salesman took the bike outside the shop for me so I could try it out and I was scared to death.  I am turning 42 this month and have not ridden a bike since I was fifteen or sixteen.  Surprisingly, other than being a little wobbly, I did all right and was rather pleased with myself, though I had been convinced that The Brit and the salesman would be picking me up off the sidewalk!

I did take a little spin on it this evening, and again, a little scary, but I'm thinking it will get easier the more I ride it!  Thought for sure I'd be falling off when I came down our street and turned into the alley to take it around back, but somehow I did okay!  So, bike riding was one of the things on my list of what I wanted to do after WLS and I did it!

We had some major rain tonight and my kids, being a bit like me and insane, decided it was as good as a pool.



This was right beside the curb in the street!



And everyone knows you can jump higher on a wet trampoline!

Back, Thanks and More to Come

Holy crap, they added a font color picker....but I'm too tired to figure it out.

It was an exhausting, exhilerating, sometimes frightening yet amazing week, that I am still processing.  I am terribly sleep deprived and looking forward to a full eight hours in my own bed, instead of on an air mattress on the floor in a room with other people that I didn't know.  Sharing with our own kids and leaders was wonderful, but I can do without people that don't know how to take me.  This is the first time I have seen a computer, a television or a newspaper in nearly a week and for the most part, I didn't even miss them.

Thanks to my wonderful guest bloggers.  Laura, I LOVED the pictures!  I don't even remember any of them being taken as it seemed like a kabillion years ago!

I'll start relating the details of the mission trip tomorrow, once I am rested and in the meantime, I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!



 Monassen (Mon Valley) YouthWorks crew the week of June 29th-July 4th.

Guest Blogger The Brit

Well good news everyone........

The fish are still swimming, the cats are well fed and the guinea pig is still living... My jobs on the list (does that suprise you that I had a list) are complete

Now the next big question is should I attempt to Vacumn, could be going to dangerous terrority I think.

I also have one last journey I am thinking of attempting. Laundry..........

Should I go there? Is it safe? Am I going to end up with this foaming mass of bubbles filling the basement? I took a look at the machine and all those dials and buttons, they frighten this tech guy I can tell ya.

I know dirty clothes go to the basement and noise happens and then clean and dry clothes come up. Sometimes they appear while I am watching TV and this fresh clean smell drifts past me as the clothes are being folded by my gorgeous loving wife (can you tell I am missing her).

Well wish me well on this adventure. No doubt Kim will let you all know how well I did or didn't do.

Now where is the laudry liquid kept...Jeez this stuff is hard.

Have a happy and fun filled 4th...

PS. Any chance we can have the country back LOL

Guest Blogger Kelly

The Cost of Being Ill   

 

Had planned for something a little more interesting, but then I succumbed to illness and kept thinking I can’t afford to be sick!  My original thought was I couldn’t afford the lost time of being sick, but then I started thinking about the actual cost and figured this for my run of the mill sinus infection:

 

Copayment at the doctor’s                           $15.00

Antibiotic                                                       $15.00

Mucinex – Generic form                                 $9.99

Nasal Spray (so I can breath again!)            $3.99

Vapor Rub – Generic form                             $3.99

Head On Headache Relief                            $4.99

Tissues                                                        $3.99

Premium chicken soup for a couple of days   $5.00

 

$61.95 for a freakin’ sinus infection!  And that’s with good insurance and a decent pharmacy plan!  To heck with the time, I literally can’t afford to be sick!   Really makes me wonder how those without insurance manage. 

 

On an upside – USA Network has been running “Law and Order” marathons the past couple of days and I actually managed to wake up long enough to watch one I’ve never seen before!

 

I promise next time I guest blog (provided I’m asked) I’ll make a little more interesting and maybe include some photos.  For now congestion and icky tissues are all I know.

 

Wishing you all a sinus-infection free summer! 

Guest Blogger Laura

Hello all - again!!!   But this time instead of updates....I get to do my very own blog!!!

For starters, Kim & I met back when we were in high school.  It may be hard to believe but psycho mom (PM as Kim affectionately calls her here) introduced us (the one good thing to come out of that nutty friendship) and we discovered that our dads worked together at the post office (small world, huh?).  We ended up going to church together as well. 

My ambition back then was to marry Adam Ant (Kim & I did see him in concert) and Kim was going to marry a man with a British accent < only one of us achieved our goal - wonder who it was...... >.  Anyway, another thing Kim and I did together was work at Burger King and we each moved our way up the ladder to be Production Leaders.  Now at the Burger King we worked at a Production Leader was what they called you when they wanted you to be a Shift Manager at a regular employee salary (yeah, we were that dumb)...at most other Burger King's it meant you could train new employees.

So, as I forewarned Kim on several different occasions, I have dug out some old Burger King photos to share.

But first I want to share our Senior Pictures with you:

                              
     Me, of course to the left (Class of '82) and Kim to the right (Class of '84).

And now, for Burger King.....

 

To the left is our Store Manager, Mary and the right is the Asst. Manager Betty Jean.

The next few (as were the above two) were taken at one of the Christmas Parties:

 

Kim, very shy and then after the booze hit her (okay not really-we weren't allowed to drink at these things).

                         
     Sharing the holiday spirit with Jimmy and Matt (I think Matt was his name).

             

                            
                                        Kim very hard at work!

          
Always well liked by the crew...with Candy in the first and Teresa & Candy in the second. 

                       
This photo was taken at the Christmas Party also...the lady standing is Kim's (and mine) friend Robyn (who y'all have heard her talking about)....and speaking of Robyn, when she became the right age...she came to work at Burger King as well:

                    
Robyn (left) with Deena singing.....we worked at Burger King back in the days when you called the orders over the microphone...so after closing, when we were cleaning, we'd sing over the microphones with the radio!!!

Since I was behind the camera, there were no photos of me...however, I did find this one of me and Jimmy at the same Christmas Party:

                     

From looking at this photo and my senior picture...I am very happy to say that I now have an excellent hair stylist - God Bless Him!!!

And in case you were wondering which one of us achieved our goal....well, let's just say I'm not married to Adam Ant.