december 18th 2009

my supervisor dian explaining the screening form to a family


families at the early literacy program table to receive free books


dr richmond at the gift table


free h1n1 vaccinations


families with kids from all ages attended


they lined up and waited for hours to receive their free toys

 
this is the line at the entrance to the uci family health center. the line was about three blocks long and from 7am to 4pm, it didn't slow down. there are so many people right here in orange county who are in dire need of services, resources, and basic necessities. it's hard because these are all parents who would do anything for their kids, even if it means going without electricity because they couldn't pay the bill and bought their kids food instead.

poverty is our neighbor.
you and i have so much.
remember that.

merry christmas.
: )

brown paper packages tied up with string

@the office, working on my quarterly report #2 for AmeriCorps VISTA.. it's going to be part of the report that gets sent to the Feds to prove to them that Americorps is actually doing something for America. btw, this week Congress approved of funding Pres Obama's Edward Kennedy Serve America Act, which means the Corporation for National Community Service (aka my bosses aka the government sector that is the Peace Corps & AmeriCorps) will get a major boost in funding to support national service in the upcoming years. the Senate is also expected to look at the Jobs for Main Street Acts of 2010 which will support more AmeriCorps members next year (25,000 to be exact). soo awesome!!

on a less exciting side of life, i learned that my site is open on christmas eve. which means i might be working on christmas eve. CHRISTMAS EVE. hopefully i'll be able to get off early (heh). not that i have anything to do that day besides church service in the evening. and apparently, the members of the gang formerly known as mlg are going to do the dirty and hit up our usual denny's for some hot midnight action. aka, greasy diner food time. i think we're gonna learn too late that our metabolisms ain't what they used to be.

i have so. many. pictures. to upload. for work and others. one at a time. 999 left to go.

during my lunch break today i went to south coast plaza to run some errands. the parking wasn't too bad, but i'm not planning on returning any time this week. although i will say that banana republic is having an it's-a-wonderful-life moment with their 30% off marked prices sale. yay for unexpectedly low prices of lovely cashmere sweaters! even if i can't afford to buy many, i will pretend.

tonight i'm going to drop into target quickly to pick up last minute office gifts. and then i'm marching onward to the apartment for some HEAVY-DUTY CLEAN ATTACK ON THE KITCHEN! AAAAAH!! SO DIRTY!! IT'S SOOO DARTY!! i HATE messy kitchens and our kitchen is some kind of ugly. i haven't used the kitchen in like a month (does that give an indication of how lazy i've been? how much i've eaten out?). and janet has been gone for about a month on her residency duties. which leaves one person culprit (oo i'm wicked aren't i?). i'd been planning on suggesting to my roommates "HEYYYYYYYY let's do a CLEANING PARTYY!" this week, but one's gone to san francisco for vacation and the other is already at home. thus i suppose the duty to sanctify the unholy kitchen counters from hades falls to the last one standing.

i must learn to weld this sword to get the crusty layer of spilled food off of the stove top.

i wish i was exaggerating.

call me dwight schrute bc i am office master

there's a certain culture of speech that you learn within the Office setting. i've been at this for about six months now, going from meeting to meeting, introducing myself to strangers in business suits, smiling at random people who walk by the office, drinking cups of black coffee in chilly air-conditioned conference rooms..

only a few topics are appropriate for conversation with those you happen to stand awkwardly in an elevator with.

"cold day, isn't it?"
":polite chuckle: yes, yes it is."
then you turn to face the elevator doors and pray that they get off on the next floor. but usually the doors open, no one gets in or out, and you share a laugh and hit the "close doors" button a few more times than necessary as you ride the next five floors up in silence.

in collaborative meetings when you're early and waiting for other people to arrive, the conversation is allowed to turn towards the freeway.

"they're probably stuck in that awful traffic on the 55."
"oh yes, we were in that too.. there must have been an accident."
and then someone shares about how terrible the traffic was that morning when they were driving to work, or the mess the freeways are during rush hour. if someone moved here from out of state then they'll describe how they'd never seen such traffic until they started working here. but no one is really listening. it's just nice to have the quiet filled with something. 

budget cuts, especially in the non-profit sector, especially in these economic times, are described in hushed voices and grave whispers.

:grave whisper: "did you hear that her organization is getting a 30% cut in funding?"
:hushed voice response: "oh my, it's just horrible."
"well, it's everywhere, not just them."
"i hear ya.."

around doctors and nurses, you usually stick to the hiney flu. otherwise known as h1n1.

"how's your office doing?"
"aah packed appointments.." "flu shots left and right" "ran out of vaccines" "parents" "busy busy" "getting ready for the next round of vaccines.." "wash your hands!!"

luckily, once in awhile i get to talk to little kids.

me: "hey, little buddy! what's your name?"
him: "my mommy said not to talk to strangers.."
me: "oh that's okay! you want a sticker? here you go.."
him: "MOMMMMMYYYYY!!"
me: "ARRIGHT ARRIGHT gimme back the sticker!"
mom: "Excuse me, why are you taking my child's sticker?"
me: "it's mine."
him: "MOMMMMYYYY!!"

sigh.