DeMolay Sweetheart Dance, Official Visits of Bethels #38 and #107 and #86, #99, and #110, and Night at the Museum

From my calculations, I owe you a few blog entries, so I suppose I will start now before I'm three entries behind.

On February 12, I was lucky to attend the Demolay Sweetheart Dance. It was so much fun, and I was amazed at the number of people that attended. I was excited because more girls from my Bethel attended than ever before. It was really fun to see all of the other girls for the first time since All Day School of Instructions. I danced with everyone and was really impressed with some of the dancers, especially James Gordon, who's the current State Master Councilor. I had no idea that he could dance like that. I shared a slow dance with Lynn and talked and danced with everyone. The lemonade was really tasty, but the trip to McDonald's before the dance was even more hilarious because we were all in our semi-formals.

Then, on February 19, I attended a number of events, the first of which was the Official Visit of Bethels #38 and #107. I had a great time, and I was so happy to assist in the initiation of a new member, pro-temming Chaplain and doing the Inner Guard's part when necessary. Almost all of the stations were filled, and I was happy to present the new member with her gift from the Promotion Committee. I was also happy to see my friend, Jamie, presiding in the East. We were originally Honored Queens together, and I also crowned her as Junior Miss Indiana Congeniality 08-09 so we have been good friends for several years. The girls did a wonderful job in the ceremony, and I'm sure that it was very special for the initiate.

From Bethel #38, Speedway, I sped to Bethel #99, Plainfield. I pro-temmed Third Messenger there, and it was an extremely short Official Visit with the candidates absent, but they informed us that they will be initiating them soon. I am looking forward to that. The Official Visit went well, and I was happy to see the sidelines filled. Three Honored Queens sat side by side in the East, and I was happy to see that. The food and fellowship directly after the meeting was fun, as always. The Daughters had made pizzas for us so I was a bit suspicious when one of them made the remark that "she wasn't going to eat it." Everyone was very excited because it was nearly time to leave for Night at the Museum.

Finally, after shifting luggage from one trunk to another, we were off to Louisville. I was really excited because it was my first trip to Kentucky. The drive was hilarious, but if I learned anything, I learned that Genesis and I can never sleep when we're together. The most hilarious part of the drive was when Vicki's pants were wet, and after trying all the other methods we could think of, we dried her pants by hanging them out the window, that is, until they started "knocking" against the window to let us know that they wanted back inside. We were pretty late so Genesis and I decided we'd stick together since neither of us knew where anything was. We watched the girls do their experiments to solve a mystery, mostly because we missed the instructions. Then, after a short snack, it was time to begin the scavenger hunt. Genesis and I went together with some of the little girls from Bethel #107, but we had some issues when we lost them in all the mayhem and could never hear exactly what we were supposed to be looking for. When we got lost, we started playing games. We learned one thing: Genesis drives much better drunk than she does when she's sober, at least according to a simulation. We almost missed the IMAX presentation, but I made it in just in time to get blinded and dizzy from the screen. I thought the film was interesting. It was all about how Boeing made its 787. After that, the scavenger hunt really began-for our luggage. That was much more difficult than the scavenger hunt for information. Finally, everyone found their things, and I laid down to sleep next to the girls from Kentucky. The morning was chaotic as everyone reloaded their things and went down to breakfast with bedheads and sleep in their eyes. Even though Genesis and I had a very late night, we still didn't manage to sleep at all on the ride home. Overall, it was a fun time and fabulous experience that I'm trying to duplicate here at the new Children's Museum at Terre Haute.

Well, tomorrow, I shall see many of you again. I can't wait, and I am looking forward to the rest of this term!

All Day School of Instructions

It has been some time since I last blogged, and for that, I apologize. It's been a while since I attended a state event since we haven't had any. I'll be back into the habit soon enough.

For the first state event of the new term, we had All Day School of Instructions. In the morning, we went over some of the events coming up in this term, including the Night at the Museum promotional event that I am so excited to attend. We also talked about Pageant and Ritual Contest, among other events, but those are two of the most important and also the two that I would probably encourage you to participate in the most. Grand Bethel Executive Committee presented a skit, and I cannot tell you which was the more amusing: Becca, who did a performance of Kesha in the middle of the skit, with blue lips I might add, or Raquel, who was the three friends from the East with two balloons taped to her shoulders. Maybe it was Holli though, who played a child for whom nothing was going right. It was absolutely hilarious. Then we broke into two separate groups: the adults and the Daughters with Grand Bethel Executive Committee. During this time, the girls were divided by station and learned the particular ins and outs of their ritualistic work. Rachel and I assisted by leading the group of Messengers, bouncing ideas off one another and talking about subjects like Grand Bethel and how to explain Job's Daughters. I think the girls really learned a thing or two. Finally, it was time for lunch, and it was very tasty. Then we gathered together once again to listen to a man who worked in the Cyber Crimes division of his police department. He was a very interesting speaker, and he taught us how to be safe on the Internet. Hope was definitely embarrassed when she was consistently admitting to making most of the mistakes on the Internet, especially on Facebook. It was a very good presentation, and he was quite funny. Finally, Genesis and I brought up the rear, explaining our philanthropic projects, which you can learn more about by reading the issue of the February edition of the Bethel News or checking out the flier on the Bulletins page.

I'm looking forward to Saturday's dance, and I promise that I will blog much sooner next time. I'm sorry for the delay, but better late than never! I hope to see everyone soon! Have a happy Valentine's Day full of Job's love!