What a DIfference a Year Makes...

So apparently I've taken to titling blog entries exclusively with songs featured in commercials from bygone eras... but that's another topic for another day. My lovely friend Wendy wrote a blog entry about how she feels that she only blogs when she "has something to kvetch about," and then I realized that I, too, often blog only to complain about this or that. So I decided to read through my blog entries for the last 12 months and tally how many were rant-filled blog entries, and then calculate a percentage. You know, because its not like its 4am and its not like I need sleep.

But don't worry, as soon as I started reading previous blog entries, I was sucked in as if my blogging was indeed a work of mediocre teen literature. And then I got to blog entries from about a year ago at this time... and I recognized that, although I feel I'm at a standstill, life goes on and changes and twists and turns.

Before I use any more tired cliches (which is itself a tired cliche), I will use bullet points to illustrate the differences from 12 months ago:

• THEN: I felt I was a more creative and more energetic writer. NOW: I feel tired and bleh.
• THEN: Girls Rock Vegas was just starting out! NOW: Our girls just played the House of Blues!
• THEN: I got my very first hatemail! NOW: Girls Rock Vegas is supported by the Nevada Arts Council and has a successful partnership with After School All Stars. Don't hate the playa, hate the game (not sure why, but I really felt the need to type that).
• THEN: I was rocking my pink Motorola Razor phone and loving it, even though it only held a battery charge for about 20 minutes. NOW: My beloved pink Razor phone was stolen while I was in D.C. last summer, so now I have a Verizon smartphone. And yes, I feel smarter. And yes, I still have a M*A*S*H ringtone and an Alan Alda background on my display.
• THEN: My laptop emitted high-pitched noises that made my dog hide under furniture. NOW: Dell did right by me and sent a spiffy replacement.
• THEN: Mr. F****, the guy who owned the house next door was a greedy-bastard-slumlord who was basically one shade above a human trafficker as he exploited people trying to make an honest wage (this was when he wasn't threatening the neighbors with trespassing and assault). NOW: Mr. F**** has foreclosed on the house next door. It sold for $49k, when he bought it almost $300k. Don't feel bad, he lives in a $900k in an exclusive Vegas neighborhood... this was just one of his many rental properties. I looked into buying it, but it wouldn't pass an FHA inspection. Some unidentified investor purchased it with cash and is currently renting it to a nice young family who have earned my approval because they don't let their children play ransack my yard (at least not when I'm looking, which is really all I can ask for at this point).
• THEN: I was working in a terrible place where money was misappropriated, staff was abused, and dishonesty and harassment abounded. I was incredibly depressed and so stressed that it was taking a toll on my physical health. NOW: I work at pretty much the best school ever for the most supportive adminstrators I have ever had. When I reflect on the situation last year, it seems like a really bad dream, or at least like an episode of 20/20 I saw once where a school administrator abused a teaching staff so profoundly that they all collectively sued her and won. I can't believe I ever had second thoughts about leaving that place!

Perhaps our friends from Jimmy Eat World were right after all...
It just takes some time,
little girl, you're in the middle of the ride.
Everything, everything will be just fine,
Everything, everything will be alright.
 
Wow. I just quoted Jimmy Eat World. Now it is officially time for bed.

A Busy Week in the Life of Girls Rock Vegas

Yes, at the House of Blues.

And at the Las Vegas Springs Preserve.

I am really proud of our awesome girls! I am also very grateful for our partnership with After School All Stars and support from the House of Blues Schoolhouse Foundation, as well as from dedicated parents, teachers, and supporters! Girls Rock Vegas is going into our second year, and we have grown in ways I never expected. Last year at this time, when we were planning our first camp, I never would have dreamed that just one year later we'd be playing at the Springs Preserve, let alone the House of Blues! What a great experience for our rockers!!!

We Work Haaaard for the Money

Last Saturday, Girls Rock Vegas rounded up some of our dedicated supporters and we trekked out to Lake Las Vegas to volunteer at the Iron Girl Triathlon. We did everything from handing out medals at the finish line to monitoring the bike course. We raised over $250 for our Girls Rock Vegas Camp financial aid fund! The athletes were amazing and they even managed to inspire many of our Girls Rock Vegas volunteers to start training for next year's triathlon!

What I'm looking forward to this week...

• Tuesday... (morning) Field trip with my 5th graders, (afternoon) Arts in the Park night at school with a Girls Rock Vegas performance
• Wednesday... Girls Rock Vegas dress rehearsal with over 30 elementary school rockers
• Thursday... Girls Rock Vegas show at the Springs Preserve! Steve's flight gets in, too
• Friday... load up Girls Rock Vegas equipment into a giant moving van
• Saturday... Girls Rock Vegas after-school program showcase concert at THE HOUSE OF BLUES!!!
• Sunday... relax

I'll bring home the turkey if you bring home the bacon...

This is one of my favorites from www.angrylittlegirls.com.
Love, H

14,000 minus 1

I went to a church meeting the other night where the speaker told us how a high level church official implored him to raise the number of single adults that attend activities. Apparently, there are over 14,000 single adults in the Las Vegas valley. Less than 300 regularly attend church activities. He wondered why so many single adults don't attend activities. I've got a few ideas about this.

1) We are adults, not kids. A YSA ward shouldn't be treated as if it is an extension of Mutual groups. Many of us went to college and even have advanced degrees. Many of us have professional jobs that have hefty requirements. Playing broom hockey in the church gym just isn't appealing after a 10+ hour day of work.

2) The pressure to date and get married is intense. I think most of us would like to date and get married. However, there is a definite "type" of gal that gets asked out. Twenty-nine year old women with masters degrees who don't look like Barbie generally do not get asked out. Its fine to not get asked out, but its stressful when the focus of the ward is on dating and getting married. Shouldn't Christ be the focus of church?

3) The focus on dating can be hurtful when the men get the idea that they don't even have to be nice to people they aren't physically attracted to. Once, I called my home teacher, who had never met me before even though he had been my home teacher for months. When I told him who I was, his first question was, "Soooo, are you hot?" (This was years ago. I now have an awesome home teacher). Another example was when I attended a church luncheon. I sat down, and the guy next to me immediately grabbed his plate, glared at me, and stood up and moved to sit next to a (younger and hotter) gal on the other side of the table. Gee, sorry for taking up space.

4) People act like inconsiderate fools, Part One. A church leader once asked me why I'm single at my age. He didn't really want to know, as he cut me off before I could give an explanation. He then proceeded to rattle off a list of other overweight, "undateable" (his words, not mine) women in my age range and suggested that I hang out with them. Never mind that I have nothing in common with these women other than the fact that we are not size zeros, older than most, and single. That would be like me rattling off a random list of other Caucasian senior citizens and suggesting that they all go play a round of golf.

5) People act like inconsiderate fools, Part Two. Case in point:

On more than one occasion, I've seen this and other cars parked in the handicapped parking spaces' unloading zones. This is totally obnoxious. There are only three or four handicapped spaces and about nine jillion regular parking spaces available. This is totally not acceptable. This just symbolizes the kind of entitlement and obnoxious/immature behavior that encountered at the YSA ward.

I can't speak for the other 14,000 single LDS adults in Las Vegas, but these are just a few reasons why I don't attend YSA activities. I'd rather stay home and read a book instead of being rejected by people who are a decade younger than I am. I'll go to church. I'll read scriptures. I'll pray and pay tithing. But I'm done playing broom hockey.