Youth Group

Well, no one was killed or maimed this morning, so essentially it was fine. It's really really hard for me to keep conversation going in a group like that, though. There wasn't much empty silence, but it was a struggle on my part.

There were 5 kids there this morning, and one other adult. 4 of the kids were in the 9th and 10th grades, attend the same school, and like to whisper amongst themselves (the two girls were bad about this, in particular). The other girl was in middle school, and lives in another town. She was a sweetie, so I felt pretty bad about that. They say on one side of the room, she sat next to me.

I've heard a lot of people talking lately about kids who don't fit in, who get along better with adults than their peers. My priest's eldest daughter (whom I'm nuts about), the neice of a woman on a newlywed forum I'm part of, the granddaughter of some friends.

It coincides pretty well with what my spiritual advisor recently told me: Stop looking for friends your own age. That's not working.

I wish I'd heard that sooner.

I talked to my priest's wife today-- she's an amazing woman. I mentioned in passing how lonely it's been for me to live here, and she was stunned. Said she never would have guessed. Not surprisingly, she feels the same way. We're going movies together soon.

Letting go of my idea of who "friends" should be feels very exciting right now. It feels good to let that mean kindred spirits, rather than people who are in similar stations in life.

All this goes to say that the left-out girl in Sunday School this morning felt very much like a kindred spirit, and I doubt the morning was useful to any of the other kids there. *sigh*

In completely unrelated news, my turkey chili turned out great.

1 lb. ground turkey
1 medium onion
1 medium green pepper
2 cloves garlic
3 14-oz cans petite diced tomatoes, drained
2 15-oz cans pinto beans, drained
2/3 c salsa
1 tbsp cili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground red pepper

Saute onion, green pepper, and garlic. Add turkey, cook till browned. Put all ingredients into a large pot, simmer for 30 minutes.