Wait, This Isn't the Shower for Bridget?

About ten years ago or so, my friend, Aleta, went to a party where a girl suddenly burst in, tripped, spilled all of the articles from her purse, collected her things and quickly left. This was actually a game. The party attendees were supposed to write down as many things they could remember about this mystery guest. For ten years she has told me about how she would love to do that and today, that dream has come true - only better.
   Aleta threw a baby shower today for a friend at church. I didn't know most of the people there (I knew 3), but I came as the mystery guest. I dressed up in a bold print dress and my vintage Audry Hepburn hat and showed up thirty minutes late to the shower. Guests were building scrapbook pages for the mom to be and I wandered around the room, waiting for an opportunity to get to know people.
   The night before, I was in a panic. I did not have a good back story to my character and I needed a reason to: a) be at a shower and not know anyone there b) have people frequently see the contents of my purse. Finally this morning at around 9, I had come up with a solution that seemed easy and probable. In my story, my mom was supposed to come to the shower and she suddenly got ill. She asked me to go in her place so I could bring a present and take pictures of what happened.
    Back at the shower I finally sat down to do my page for the scrapbook. I introduced myself to all sorts of people (including accidentally introducing myself to the mom-to-be who looked a little confused as to why a stranger was at her party). I got up the courage to talk to my first group.
  "Hi, do you mind if I take your picture? My mom was supposed to come and she got sick so she wanted me to take pictures so I could show her later." I then proceeded to pull out several items from my purse as I looked for my camera. Those items included several books, anti-bacterial gel, sunglasses, and I think even some chapstick. I finally pulled out my pink camera and snapped a shot. I repeated this 6 times throughout the party at each table. Some people saw me take out my stuff a couple times and I'm sure they wondered why I didn't just keep my camera out.
   We sat down for food and I felt like I was giving an unfair advantage to my table mates as I was talking longer with them, but they were just so entertaining and interesting that I was actually giving them true facts about myself that I didn't even intend to include: my city, my church city, my most recent vacations, my gluten intolerance, my penchant for French food, the fact that I speak a little German, and about my blogging. One girl at my table had never had a chocolate covered strawberry before. I took a picture of her second bite and she looked like she loved it. She even said she had to thank the mom-to-be for getting pregnant so that she could try chocolate covered strawberries. Such a fun group.
   Then Aleta stood up to start the games. She had told everyone there was to be a game of memory requiring you to be perceptive. She had a tray of baby items on display and started to cover them.
   "Oh, but first, I just want to welcome you all to Carrie's baby shower..."
   I covered my mouth with my hands and then said, "Wait, who? Carrie?"
   "Yes"
   "This isn't the shower for Bridget?"
   "No, it's for Carrie."
   I stood up and covered my mouth again, "I'm so embarrassed. I'm at the wrong shower, wait, not Bridget, right?"
   Aleta shook her head no.
   "I'm so embarrassed." I started to walk out from the front of the hall to the back end passing each table to get to the exit. "It was really nice meeting you all. I can't believe I did this!"
   Then as I was about to leave, a woman told me to wait and she took out her camera and took my picture. I stopped and said, "Oh, I better get the present."
   I walked back to the gift table and took my gift off of it and ran out the door hearing people laugh, as they were trying to be polite and hold it in.
   I got to my car, shut the door, and laughed heartily. I was on a high for hours. It was just like acting again only even better! The people at the shower then had to list as many facts they could remember about me. I wish I could have overheard their reactions when they found out the true story. After the game was over, Aleta texted me saying they wanted me to come back, now that they knew who I was. The woman sitting at the table with me won (unfair advantage since she was so nice to talk to), but a woman at the first table I took a picture of got second place with 13 facts correct. She was a pro since I probably spent only 1 minute total with them.
   That was so much fun! I can't believe it worked out so perfectly. What a fun thing to play such a great role in making a friend's ten-year long dream come true.

I am Buddy the Elf

I was watching "Elf" again and I realized that I have so much in common with Buddy (the elf who is actually human, but raised by elves). Here's some ways in which we are similar:

1) I love sugar and I like to put sugar in lots of things (even things that don't usually have sugar)

2) I am usually happy and cheerful.

3) I like to whisper, too.

4) I get distracted by shiny things.

5) I love New York.

6) I don't sleep much (last night I got a full 45 minutes)

7) I love to decorate for Christmas.

8) I like to hug people.

9) I sing in public even when there's no song playing anywhere, even when people are around.

10) I went through the Lincoln Tunnel.

I was not raised by elves, but I do celebrate Christmas in the Reimer family, so that's practically the same thing.

More things my kids have said

I was going through my papers I brought home from work and found some papers on which I've written funny things my kids have said. Here's a sampling.

1) "I had my homework this morning, but then I had too much pie and I lost it."

2) Bryan entered my class just after PE. He called to his friend from across the room, "Smell my PE shirt, it smells like a man!"

3) While speaking in a British accent, my student and I had a conversation.
Me: You sound so intelligent, sophisticated.
Her: Yes, it's like glasses for your voice.

4) "Ah the sweet smell of second period!"

5)Me: "I've been to every one of Josh Groban's concerts in Southern California...but I'm not obsessed. Not like some of his fans."
Kevin: "Like the ones who go to every concert?"

6)student 1: "Arnold Schwarzenagger, who's that?"
Me: "He's our governor and a famous actor."
student 1: "Really?"
student 2: "Yeah, he's from Germany."
student 3: "No, he's from Australia."
Me: "He's from Austria and speaks German."
student 1: "Is Austria the same as Australia?"

7) "Insurance money is good motivation for murder, you know."

8) An: "If chocolate releases endorphins and exercise releases endorphins, why can't people just eat chocolate?"

9) Me: If you say "Youler" instead of "Oiler" other mathematicians will laugh at you.
Anna: Where is this math community you speak of?

10) Ty: "Do you ever even think bad thoughts?"
Me, dripping with sarcasm: "No, my mind is as pure as the driven snow."
Nicole: "I believe it Ms. Dempsey. You're like a saint. You're like the Virgin Mary!"
Me: "Thanks?"

People who don't understand why anyone would want to teach Jr. High just need to see this snapshot of my life with these kids. I never stop laughing.

My Summer To Do List

I love lists and I love summer. So what better to do than make a list about my summer plans?
Here are my goals for this summer:

1) Go to Kenneth and Tammy's wedding.

2) Turn thirty.

3) Go to Hoboken, New Jersey. Why, you ask? Why not, I say! It's cheap.

4) Sleep in... a lot!

5) Read a book or two.

6) Play with Madison and Michael and Natalie.

7) Clean out my garage. This is quite a task. Somehow my garage has exploded a little bit at a time. I have half empty storage boxes and stuff from the bathroom project at church all over. And somehow I squeeze my car in. What a relief it will be to have it clean!

8) I want to buy myself something from Tiffany's. This is a ridiculous expenditure. Do I need diamonds? No! Pearls?No. Something pretty that comes in a little blue box?...no? Yeah, I can maybe be convinced that spending money that could feed starving children is worth it. It's a pretty, blue box!

9) Go to Stanton Park. Now that I've finally found the entrance (it took my three years of curiosity to find it), I have to go. It looks so pretty.

10) Play Uno with my grandma once a week. Or any other card games. My grandma loves games and she consistently wins while seeming to not understand how to play. I especially love to play Oh,Nuts! with her. She's so good and gets way into it.

11) Go to Vegas to visit Dana's sister and see the Cirque de Solei : Love. It's crazy French circus performers doing crazy French circus performances to Beatles music. That's what I call awesome!

12) I want to learn how to cook something cool. I don't know what yet, but it will be impressive, probably made with lots of sugar, and expensive. If you're lucky, I'll let you try it.

13) Teach VBS. In person! I was out of town for our church's vacation Bible school last year and had to record my lessons. Recording was fun, but it will be more fun live.

14) I will be in town for Natalie's birthday!! I was in Switzerland when Natalie was born and Uganda for her first birthday. As exotic as that sounds, I'm really very sad that I wasn't there for those two important days. I'm going to spoil her rotten that day (shocking, I know!).

15) 4th of July picnic!! The best picnic of the year. We have games and sing songs and have the yearly egg toss that always ends well.

16) Celebrate Bastille day...and my mom's birthday...simultaneously.

So there's my jam packed summer :)

The Hills are Alive!

I love The Sound of Music! It is one of the best movies ever created. I love it so much I often quote it and not just the normal quotes that everyone knows, but the really obscure ones like, "Hello, where are you?" "In a world that is disappearing." "Is there any way to bring you back to the world I'm in?" or "It'll be my first party, Father!" I was able to see the Sing-Along sound of music twice: once in London and once at the Hollywood Bowl. Both were great experiences.
When the opportunity came to go with a big group from church this year, I was excited to plan it. Sadly, I waited too long to purchase the tickets. They were so very sold out that I couldn't buy two tickets together at any price, let alone 29 seats all together.
So what does a Dempsey do when the original plans for a fun evening are impossible? They make their own. My parents were gracious enough to host a party at their house and I created goody-bags and trivia.
We sat outside in their drive way and projected the movie on a big screen. Everyone got their brown paper packages tied up with string (thanks for the idea, Julie) containing props for some songs (Eidelweiss and curtain fabric among others). Some people wore costumes and we ate Germanic food. The kids in the group made signs for each of the seven notes in the Do-Re-Mi song (my two favorites were the arrow pointing to Madison as "me" and the antlers for do). We sang with each song, booed the Baroness, sighed at the romantic moments, and still got bored during climb every mountain.
It was such a fun night, possibly better than the Bowl - at least it was cheaper and the traffic was nicer. There is just something so great about that movie. It has everything: singing, romance, characters with strenght and dignity, singing, beautiful scenery, some songs, an interesting story line, and a great score. I love that I have friends and family who are as strange as I am and are willing to embrace dorkiness to its fullest. Well, the sun has gone to bed and so must I, so goodbye!

Funny things my roommate and I say and do...

Frankly, I think my roommate, Julie, and I are hilarious. We make each other laugh all the time because, well, we're super funny. Here is a sample of things that Julie and/or I have said that have made us laugh.

1. Tonight when Julie was going to bed.
Julie: Goodnight.
Brenda (distracted while typing): Goodbye.
Julie laughing. Brenda realizing her faux-pas: Or goodnight.
Julie: I'll see you on the other side of that journey we call sleep.

2. We bought festive flowers for Memorial day. They have glitter blue sticks in them that look like fireworks. We sing a new patriotic song in honor of these flowers (and our military heroes) every morning. In harmony. With percussive accompaniment. So loud that our neighbors can hear.

3. We play Jeopardy! while it's on. We mock the contestants for their lack of social/fashion sense. We then discuss how we would be much better dressed contestants and how great Julie's hair would be. We also often make nerd jokes about clues and categories. We mock Alex's mocking voice. We are just super funny. Trust me. You'd have to be there, but you'd laugh if you were.

4. Whenever we watch cheesy and predictable movies (or change that to 'when we watch tv') we always ask questions about the obvious plot direction and then answer them. For example, while watching some romance movie where the characters are obviously going to end up together, but are going through some contrived conflict, one of us will ask, "Oh, no! Will they ever get together?" and the other will respond, "I don't know. It seems like this conflict will keep them apart forever!"

5. When watching Pride and Prejudice we make the same comments we've made for the past 8 years of watching P and P. We clap four times during the dance in which they pause to clap. When Elizabeth says, "I can safely promise you never to dance with Mr. Darcy." one of us will say, "Oh, yes you will." When Darcy is done writing the letter and there is a strange sound in the background that supposed to be a rooster crowing, I say, "Why is there a dying woman screaming?" and Julie says, "It's a rooster." When Darcy is taking a bath we say, "Nude scene!" After the proposal at the end (sorry for the spoiler), they both turn to walk and Julie says, "And they just keep walking." The best part is that we say these same phrases as if they had just occurred to us. It's like some bizarre self-imposed ground hog day.

6. Instead of saying 'thank you', Julie says, "Donkey" is a mocking salute to her mother's inability to pronounce German. I reply with a "Bitter" and we laugh and laugh.

7. We often times will speak with strange accents that always turn into British or Russian.

8. We try to guess who's calling and who the phone is for whenever it rings. I mean EVERY time.

9. We sing whatever song is in one person's head so as to get it into the head of the other.

10. We try to guess what the other wants to eat and we are usually right.
Julie when she came home from choir practice: Guess what I was thinking about the whole way home from choir practice?
Brenda on her way to the kitchen: How you wanted milkshakes for dessert.
Julie: You read my mind!

11. We make up stories about what our neighbors are really doing based on the strange sounds that emanate at all hours of the day. Our latest idea is that they have taken up tap dancing, but have some strange disorder with their balance so they fall a lot. They are also currently remodeling which requires them to move all of their furniture to the bathroom by dragging it across the floor. They also like to bowl - with their dogs. Their baby is really quiet though.

12. We make up names for the neighbors we don't know. Ugly dogwalking lady, tai-chi man, Frisbee guy, skater boys, Gilbert's baby, crazy pool lady. We are obviously very creative.

13. The other night we had this conversation:
Brenda from her room with her window open: Wow! It's really raining hard!
Julie from her room: really?
Brenda: Wait, is it 11:30?
Julie: It's 11:38, why?
Brenda: It's just the sprinklers. Sorry.

Laugh riot, right? No really, if you lived here you would lose weight simply by the excessive laughter burning calories. But you'd probably gain it all back from the plethora of snacks available - and the milkshakes. But you'd be happy.