Winter Ball Adventure

Josh just lived through his first high school dance. As a 24-year-old adult. There are reasons some parents should just keep their kids home from such functions.

One thing this wonderful husband of mine has picked up on very quickly is that there are some duties of a teacher that also fall to the spouse, especially when the teacher is the yearbook adviser.

Sporting events, concerts, knowledge bowls, and dances have all become a part of our wedded bliss, and to be completely honest, are some of the only "date nights" we're able to squeeze in during this first year of mine at CVHS.

Tonight, in an attempt to raise money to off-set the cost of yearbooks, eleven students, two teachers, a counselor, Josh, and I put on a Winter Ball.

Announcements and posters stated the ball would be "semi-formal," a component chosen by my yearbook staff. Sitting at a table taking money from students was an entertaining treat, because we were right by the main entrance.

Girl after girl entered, took one look at the dressed-down boys, and ran to the bathroom screaming and covering as best they could the formal dresses and heels they were wearing. Then girl after girl exited the bathroom in basketball shorts and t-shirts.

All seemed satisfied, until about 30 minutes later. The entire escapade repeated, only girls were changing back into formal wear and heels, pranced around for about ten minutes, then ran shrieking back to the bathroom to once again don the baggy shorts and t-shirts.

I thought this would be the highlight of the evening, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Just before we left our house, I grabbed Twister from our cupboard to take along. Josh and I received the gift for our wedding, but had never opened it.

Let me tell you, it was a hit. I have not laughed so hard in a long time. Our foreign exchange student from Taiwan was in on the fun, and his 5'0" body was twisted beneath two of Clearwater Valley's 6'4" basketball stars. At one point the exchange student screamed, "You made me bite my lip!" Then he fell off the mat holding his lips.

The most memorable moment of this night however, did not involve dancing, or Twister, or photos, for that matter.

Halfway through our designated 3-hour event, the physics teacher found me and asked if I had seen a couple recently. Then we were on the hunt.

We did a lap around the outside of the school. Then we did a lap around the inside of the school. I walked through every couple on the dance floor. Nada.

This may seem like little cause for concern, but today, just today, this same couple snuck off school property...onto private property...to..."study."

I wasn't quite sure what to do.

There is a small hall closet on the back entrance of the stage. For some reason, my gut told me to try the door. I did.

And horror of horrors, I caught my very first high school couple in the middle of..."studying."

It was awful. I had no words. I simply pointed my finger at them, then waved that finger forward.

I wanted to vomit.

Eventually a parent came. I told my story. The physics teacher told his story. And the rest is history. The parent was taking both students home, though, and I would not be surprised to hear that one of the two had to walk home.

What a night! But despite the formal changing, Twister laughing, "study" busting that went on, today was a remarkable turnover from yesterday, and I'll take that as a step forward.