Suddenly, I Felt the Urge to Find Some Glass Footwear.

Can I just tell all of you that I love Thursday night for all the wonderful television it brings for me? 30 Rock is simply wonderful, Grey's Anatomy has reached classic status, and if you're not watching Community, you should be ashamed.

In other, more interesting news, I have had a week full of highs and lows. A week full of roses and thorns. A week full of happies and crappies...

My number one story is a happy and a crappy at the same time (which is funny, because I always hated when campers would say that during devotions).

This past Saturday, I was asked if I had any plans by my one new friend, who we'll call Rae-Rae. After making what I'm sure was a hilarious joke about my crazy single life, Rae-Rae invited me to the big deal event of the season: The Annual Cattle Barons' Ball. Just like that, Rae-Rae became my Fairy Godmother.

After magically sensing I didn't know what to wear,my Fairy Godmother made sure I had the best duds possible for such a Ball, and picked me up in her car, along with two of her other friends.

I had never been to a Ball, so when we were driving to the event that could easily make or break the beginning of my Longview social life, I felt it appropriate to say, "So will the car turn back into a giant gourd if we don't make it back by midnight."

Yeah. And the night was only just beginning.

We get to the Ball and I find out that the tickets to this shindig are well over $100. And that was just for the regular townsfolk. The Longview VIP Royalty were paying waay more. Just as I'm thinking, "well, this was fun," Fairy Godmother Rae-Rae comes over and says she has gotten all of us in. For free.

When I say free, I want you all to know what that implies. Gourmet chicken, BBQ, and steak, beer, margaritas, music, entertainment, and Port-a-Potties all at no cost to me.

Suddenly, I felt the urge to find some glass footwear.

Now, as the night is unfolding, I'm learning that the Cattle Barons' Ball is a very noisy affair. The event was inside a large, echo-y pavilion and the live music acts were being blared from the largest speakers I had ever seen. It didn't help that the only place to sit was right next to the stage. So, yeah, I got a headache.

I would've drowned my headache in free booze, but as I am a responsible Director of Youth and Family Ministries, and it was Sunday the next day, I abstained. So, yeah, the headache got worse.

Nevertheless, I was determined to show Rae-Rae I was having a good time. Every time the music stopped, I would try to jump in the conversation among the close group of friends I had come with. But thanks to short music breaks, my awesome, audio-impaired left ear, and my status as the new guy, my attempts to break into the conversation went mostly unnoticed.

Rae-Rae, like the sweetheart she is, would keep asking me if I was having a good time, to which I always replied with a hearty, "yes!"

I think she knew something was up.

As the night wound down, the music got steadily less booming and I was able to break into the convo and get to know the group a little bit. At this point, I still felt like I was auditioning for a spot in their group, though. But when I was invited to be a part of their end-of-night group picture, I was uplifted. As we posed there, beside two gigantic, bedazzled plywood cowboy boots, my only thought was: "I really hope I'm still friends with these people in a year, or else I'll be known as 'that weird stranger who messed up their picture".

Now, let it be known, I did have a good time at the Ball. I got in for free, and not many people can say that (the next Monday, I went in to work, told everyone where I had been on Saturday night, and Snickers said, "Ooh, Daniel's all hoity-toity!"). And the food was great. And when I was able to talk to them, the people I went with were fun to get to know. It's one more reason I love Longview. I already have a tiny group of people who I know can tolerate me for at least a night. The trick is now to gently ease them into dealing with me on a multi-night basis. Ha.

Oh. And we were fine on the way home. No gourds.

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My number one crappy for the week is that I had my first high school youth meeting and only one kid came. That was a bummer, but I got to sit with the one kid and get to know her pretty well. So that was nice. If you want to pray for these meetings to take off, I'd appreciate it. I know I will be.

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It's funny. I'm beginning to realize that this is my career. It's a strange feeling to know that the actions and decisions I make right now will define me as a youth minister. With so many friends blowing up Facebook about graduation being right around the corner, I've been jarred to the realization that the situation I am in is not measured by semesters, but by the job I do. It's been five years since I've had any semblance of a steady lifestyle that has lasted longer than four months.

This is my new life. And I intend to live it.

Okay, on that incredibly corny note, I'm gonna go re-watch last week's Glee episode. Which was epic.

-Danul