Do you smell something burning?

Bethany and I

Sorry, kids. Work has been pretty hairy the last couple of weeks and I just haven't been able to convince myself to sit down and write a blog entry when I get home. I've stayed at the office late most days to finish up some hot projects and, once I get home, it's been much easier to convince myself I need to sit down on the couch and watch pointless TV. And, hey, who am I to argue with myself. Arguing is just rude.

Anyway, on to Bethany - or BK as we like to call her.

Unlike Lock, I remember the first time I met BK. We had just moved into 4-H House and we, as the new pledge class, were set to cleaning the dorms. Because that's what the new kids do (we can talk about my contempt for this in another blog SERIES).

Anyway, I can't remember if she and I were cleaning the same dorm or seperate ones, but either way, as we're cleaning, I hear someone say, "Do you guys smell smoke? Something smells like it's burning." When I looked up, there was Bethany. She was short (hey, to me - Amazon Woman - everyone is short), had brown hair and, at first, seemed shy.

After taking a quick poll, most of us did smell smoke and did some investigating.

Apparently, an electrical outlet in one of the dorms was smoking. Something had shorted out and this thing was on fire. Yep, our first day in the house, not only did we clean the dorms, we also worked on our fire preparedness and met the fire department (firefighters...yummy).

After that, BK and I chatted at house functions, but it was a while before we really became good friends - and a while before the Fabulous Foursome made an appearance.

But, once the Fabulous Foursome really came into its own, I realized some of my initial impressions of Bethany were totally wrong. For instance:

• This kid isn't shy.
• Just like Lock, some of the funniest things pop out of her mouth - things you totally wouldn't expect. More on this in a later post.
• She's a genius (okay, that initial impression wasn't wrong. I pretty much had her pegged as a smart kid from the get-go).
• She's strong - and I'm not talking about muscles, here.

This kid sure is a lot of fun.

Okay, Rach. You're the last piece of the puzzle. And, I have the most dirt on you, so get ready.