Sunday, December 21, 2008

I Made It

It was the longest, hardest trip of my life, but I made it home alive. From Portland to Carmel total, it was 19 hours. 19! Thursday it took me 8 hours just to get to Ashland. I sat in 3 hours of stopped traffic while a bunch of truckers took up the road putting their chains on. It was snowing hard almost the whole time. By the time I was nearing Ashland, it was almost dark, and there were 3 more spots where chains were required on the road ahead. The snowy, icy, mountainous roads are scary enough, and putting chains on is enough of a challenge without the dark. So I stayed at a hotel in Ashland (where my mom and I stayed on the way up). Friday morning I had someone put chains on for me, because I was having too much trouble with it. There was only one zone to get through where I had to have my chains up, and then the weather started to warm up and the roads cleared. I was sort of having an out of body experience when I was lying on the side of the freeway underneath my car taking the chains off, with a steep drop on one side, and semi trucks barreling past me on my other side. It was special. It took about 9 hours on Friday. But once I got through Redding it was such a relief to be done with the insane weather. I am definitely going to consider taking the coast home. Remember how I was concerned about the 3 extra hours it would take me? Ha ha. That was funny.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

The Long Journey Home

Well, I am currently sitting on the bathroom floor at my friend Kristin's house in Corvallis, because my dogs will not stay quiet and subdued unless we are together, and everyone else is sleeping. Soon I will wake them up to tell them I'm leaving. The problem is... how am I going to get where I'm going? No, I do not mean philosophically. I mean that various places between here and Redding (which is about half of my drive) are snowy, icy, slushy, and wet. My main concern is the area between Ashland and... I don't know... Yreka? Weed? Anyway, the part of the road that's big, windy, mountain road that's not 100% easy to begin with, and is now sporting patches of ice. My only alternative, however, is taking the 101 down the coast, which sounds just lovely, doesn't it? Yeah, it takes 14 hours. But alas, I must make my decision soon, and begin the long and treacherous journey to the homeland. So wish me luck, dear ones. If you think of me today, throw up a prayer for a safe one. And feel free to call me, because I have my trusty bluetooth, and if I'm on the flat and dry part, I would love some entertainment in the form of... you. :)

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Snow!!!!!!!

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This morning when I opened my front door to let my dog out, my mouth fell open and hung there for about 10 seconds. I knew that it sometimes snows in Portland, and I knew that it was in the forecast to happen this weekend, but looking out at the white blanket over the parking lot, the cars, the rooftop, and the little flurries heading down from the sky... amazing! I don't know if you can wrap your head around how much I love snow, because I've never lived in it, and rarely even visited it (mostly because I hate skiing) but I love it! It's basically the best thing, and it came way before sliced bread. I'm sure that once you get used to it, you can start to think of it as a nuisance, but I never will! And I won't get to have a white Christmas, but I get a little white pre-Christmas! Yipee!

Rocky ran around the parking lot exploring, and Penny had a very difficult time deciding where to pee, since there was no available dirt. She finally settled on creating some yellow snow. Now we are all just sitting in the house watching it fall outside the window like it's prime entertainment - which for me it is!

Unfortunately, I don't get to miss anything boring today. Everything basically shuts down in Portland when it snows. I am missing church and my small group tonight, both of which I love, so that's a bummer. But I'm going to spend the day making angels in the snow and teaching Rocky and Penny how to make a snowman. :)

P.S. Linda - I'm stealing your fun font style. It makes things more interesting. 

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Life With The Crazies

I know that's super un-pc, but what can I say? Political correctness is just not my thing. So... I started a new job! I'm sure I mentioned something about it in earlier posts, but I'm too lazy to go back and see what I said. :) So if you already read some of this or I've already told you about it, feel free to skim. The job is at a group home, which I'm not going to name just in case. It's a locked down residential facility for mentally ill children and adolescents. Look at it like this: remember the kids I worked with in SLO? If they couldn't cut it in the programs at FCNI, they would have to go to a place like this one. So it's a little wild. However, given that I knew what I was getting into, the first couple days were surprisingly mellow. (I'm not even going to bother knocking on wood, because there are going to be crazy days when I want to pull my hair out regardless.) There are 4 units on the premises, one has 5-11 year olds, one 7-13, and two have 13-18 year olds. Of the teenage units, they have "internal behaviors" (self harm, suicidal ideation, etc.) and on the other they have "external behaviors" (physically aggressive, etc.) The 7-13 year old unit actually have the most severe behaviors. There are 12 beds in each unit, and they are almost always full. Got all that? There's a quiz later.

So, my first two days, as I said, were pretty easy. Except for the fact that the shifts are 10 hours long. After working at Family Care, where we rarely spent more than 5 hours in a row with one client, it feels a little insane to spend 10 hours in a row with 12 clients, on a regular basis. Wow. But other than that it was good. A little overwhelming meeting so many clients and so many staff members, but still good. I worked on one of the teenage units yesterday, and the other one today. Tomorrow I'll be with the little ones, so that's sure to be chaotic. The teens are pretty predictable though. A little bit of attitude, a lot of moodiness, various attempts to manipulate me, some flirtation from a couple audacious boys, and a couple girls who are already my best friend.

There was, of course, a little excitement. Yesterday one kid tried to run during lunch, and escaped from the cafeteria, but not the campus. At dinner tonight three of the kids got into a fight, about five staff jumped into action within three seconds, restraining all three kids, (one to the ground) but not before one boy got punched. By a girl. It was a whirlwind. The restraining thing will be a little hard for me to get used to, because it's basically never done at FCNI (even though we were trained to do it) but sometimes it's necessary when you have 30 mentally ill children in one room. Or even 12 kids. I hope they don't overdo it though, because it's kind of traumatizing for everyone involved when people get restrained (in my opinion). Anyhow, outside of those events the kids were fairly calm throughout the day. On my unit, anyway.

Anyway, that's my news. I'm sure I will have plenty of stories to share in the future. (Disclaimer - it's sort of unethical to be writing about the clients, but I will never use names or identifying characteristics about any client. Just general stories.) I have a lot to learn about the organization, but being with the kids is kind of like coming home. I missed them. It's hard to explain if you haven't worked with this demographic before, but when you have, they stick with you. At some point, in some post, maybe I will be able to articulate why, but for now that's all I'll say. It's good to be back.

Before I go, I have a video, and one more little tidbit: it's supposed to SNOW in Portland this weekend! Woo hoo! I'm soo excited!!

I meant to post this video awhile ago, but I never got around to it. Some of you may have seen it already. If you don't have sound on your computer, you can still watch it. Just hum "Carol of the Bells" to yourself, and ignore the dirty looks from your co-workers. Enjoy!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Cruise Pictures

Ok, there are a lot, but believe it or not, this is actually a small selection of all the photos. I tried to sum up the fun, while giving you the whole picture. Enjoy!

Our first night at dinner (My Birthday!):
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At the karaoke bar:
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Beautiful Catalina (view from the ship):
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The little boats we took from the ship to the island:
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Our Catalina golf cart adventure:
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Formal night:
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Toasting Obama:
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Our waiter, Abi, serenading us:
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Oppa!!
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Roomies:
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Bunk Beds!:
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Ensanada:
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Silliness:
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Our day at sea:
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Kayla's hilarious booty dance:
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Our last dinner:
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The whole group (professional):
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Best birthday ever!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

I am thankful for...

... the plane ticket that my mom bought so I could come home and be with my family.
... a lifetime of happy Thanksgiving memories.
... the sunshine after the rain.
... Carmel Valley: the hills, the oaks, the smell, and the home-ness.
... seeing old friends and the feeling that even though its been months (or years) we can pick up right where we left off.
... friends in general, who make me laugh, and support me when I need it.
... giggles.
... Bennett, for having a birthday at Thanksgiving time so that I could see the whole family.
... music, chatter, and pumpkin cake.
... the holiday season, and all its reminders of how many blessings God has given me.

Happy Thanksgiving! Love and blessings!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

New Blog

I want to start by saying, that after almost two weeks of no blog entries, I was a little disappointed that when I finally wrote one, I got one comment. From my mother. Thanks for your loyalty Mom. (Patrick and Linda if you are reading this - please forgive my hypocrisy. I guess we are all at least partly motivated by the comments).

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you all that I created a second blog. :) I was trying to clear out space on my computer, and my Cal Poly senior project was taking up a lot of space, but I didn't have the heart to just delete it. So I had a brilliant thought. Make a blog! I had already created all the makings of a web site, I just hadn't done anything with it, so now I have. It's a web site with positive parenting tips for foster parents (although they apply to any parent). It's not very exciting, but it was a lot of work (plus the 20 page research paper that went with it!) I don't really plan to update it, it's pretty much just... done. So oblige me and just take a little glance at it, will you? Thanks. :)

http://fosterparentresource.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Dear Blog,

I am sorry I have been neglecting you. You are important to me, I promise. I think you're valued by others as well, and I know that when I neglect you, it affects them too. I have been selfish and I apologize.

Ok, moving on. I had an amazingly fabulous time on vacation. I got some quality time in with the fam, and then set off on a nautical adventure of epic proportions. I am going to wait to talk more about the cruise when the pictures have been compiled so I can do a little photo journalism... more fun that way.

A little about the family time... Kelly and I took the kids trick or treating, which was a fun and hilarious time. (Especially the littlest boy running after the others, chanting, "oh god, oh god, oh god." Ha ha.) If Tommy had his way he would have stayed extended amounts of time at each house, trying out the kids' toys and chatting with the adults ("you'll never believe what I saw at the last house!") We had to hurry him along so he didn't get left in the dust by the bigger kids, but that made it all the more entertaining. Then throughout the weekend: Ally and I had lengthy intellectual conversations about Harry Potter, we all cheered at Ally's soccer game, Tommy and Bennett had a grand old time playing in a fountain (Tara: "hypothetically, Kelly, if Bennett were soaking from head to toe, how would you feel?"), I got to watch Ally do a triathlon (she's quite the athlete), spent some quality time with Arletta, watched Sesame Street with Bennett, and in the end, with a sigh in my heart, said goodbye to everyone. Good thing Thanksgiving is next week! :)

After the cruise (details later, promise) I returned to the land of Port. I had a lot to catch up on with school, despite the fact that I worked my tail off before I left. I also had a bit of a financial crisis. Basically, reality came crashing down on me, and it was a bit of a rough week. Hence, no blogging. But I am doing better now, remembering to trust God, He's gotten me this far after all. And, speaking of His faithfulness... I have a job interview on Tuesday! It's at a group home, and I'm a little nervous about that, I'm not going to lie, but I think it will be good experience and I really need the money. So, say a prayer for me that I'll get the job. Thanks!

So that's about all I have for you, other than this special clip that I have Bennett to thank for. It's brought to you by the letter J.
Don't forget to turn the sound off on my playlist at the bottom. And you don't need to watch the whole thing, just about a minute and a half or so and you'll get the good stuff. :)

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Cruising into my 25th Year

Just wanted to give a very brief update so that people don't wonder where I've been. The last couple of weeks have been super busy getting ready to go out of town. This weekend I've been in So. Cal. having a lovely time with my wonderful family. Tomorrow is my 25th birthday (aah!) and I'm going on a cruise to Baja Mexico with 8 of my fabulous friends. So I'm super excited about that, and there will be much to write about when I get back to Portlandia. More about my time away when I return.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The Bible is Hilarious

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Seriously... every once in awhile, when I need a good laugh, I get it from the Word of God.

The masses have requested a new blog entry, so I decided to write. (And by the masses, I mean Kevin). Since I don't really have any news to report, I thought I'd share the verses that made me giggle today.

I'm sure that many of you are familiar with the phrase from the Bible that goes something like this: "You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness." It's even included in a worship song or two. What I bet you were not aware of is that those words were spoken in accusation. Jonah, who spoke them, was angry at God for being merciful to his enemies. Basically, in the same breath, Jonah tells God, (in my words) "this is why I disobeyed you in the first place, and I was right! You are loving and kind." (As in, kind of a pansy?) In the next breath he asks God to take his life. Clearly, life is not worth living, with a God who is loving and merciful. Ha! If you haven't read the book of Jonah, you should, it's very short. The end of the story is funny too. Jonah continues to be completely ridiculous, and God teaches him a lesson using a gourd. It's good stuff.

The picture is from Jaffa, a city in Israel that we visited. It's where Jonah fled when he was disobeying God, just before his adventure with the whale.

Funny stories of the week:

#1 features a 9 year old boy that I worked with.
Him: What kind of phone do you have?
Me: A Samsung.
Him: Oh. Do you have an ipod?
Me: I have a Shuffle.
Him: Oh. Do you have a boyfriend?
Me: No.
Later... after a discussion of my schooling and credentials.
Him: So you graduated college and you still don't have a boyfriend?

Kids. Gotta love 'em. And later that night....

Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Him: An inventor.
Me: Neat! What will you invent?
Him: Weapons.
Pause.
Him: But for emergencies only. Not for the Iraq war. I'm tired of that war.

:)

Last story, involves my friend Ginger. (Who is 24).

Me: If you could be an animal, what would you be?
Her: An eagle. I mean definitely a big bird. Maybe even Big Bird!

Ha ha. (Also discussed: if Ginger were a crayon, she would be Cerulean and I would be Periwinkle. We were happy to realize that in a big box of crayons, we would be pretty close together).

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Me vs. The Dryer

So here's what happened... Sunday I purchased a washer and dryer on Craigslist. This was very exciting. I hate laundromats. I managed to find a pretty good deal, and a person who was willing to deliver the appliances to me. The man was very nice, and had his girlfriend with him, which made me feel more comfortable having a stranger come to my house. He installed the washer for me, but the plug for the dryer didn't fit in the outlet in my apartment. So the guy explained to me what kind of plug to get, and how to install it. When I returned from a successful trip to Home Depot, feeling accomplished and independent, I began the attempted install. After I plugged the dryer in, I saw a problem, so I climbed atop the washer and wedged myself between it, the dryer, and the wall. Moments later there was a pop, a spark, and boom... no power. In the entire apartment. So, I stood there, wedged in the crevasse, afraid to touch anything, and unable to see. I managed to climb out. It was like pulling yourself out of the deep end of the pool. In the pitch dark. I couldn't find the circuit board, and in the face of the following day, full of work and school, and a paper that needed to be turned in, I started to have a bit of a break down. I decided to go to bed, and deal with everything in the light of day. (It was late in the evening by this point). I dreamt of California. It looked more like Hawaii in my dream. I wondered why I ever left. When I woke up, I laughed at myself a bit, but was still fairly overwhelmed. I couldn't print my paper, couldn't use the internet to e-mail it to myself (because I don't have wireless) and I started stressing about the food going bad in my fridge... I tried everything I could think of with the switchboard to no avail. So I needed to make some phone calls... only to discover my phone was dying and I couldn't plug in the charger. (Are we a bit dependent upon technology? )

In the end, I managed to go to school, work, get my paper turned in (there's a corner of my apartment where I can borrow my neighbor's wireless internet, so I e-mailed it to myself) and at the end of the day, the electrician came. He got the power back on, and got the dryer hooked up (no more laundromats! Yay!) and fervently recommended that I not attempt any further installations of major appliances. He also mentioned that I was lucky not to have been seriously hurt. Did I mention that I already had a minor fear of being electrocuted, and that I literally say a prayer every time I plug something in? Oh yeah. So this helped a lot.

That's my story.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Call + Response

I had some crazy times this past weekend that are sure to make an entertaining blog, but I don't have the energy to write about them right now, so stay tuned.

I do want to make people aware of a movie that came out last weekend that everyone should see. It's called Call + Response. It's a documentary about an important issue that most people are unaware of. I definitely was. So spreading awareness is the first step toward making a change. I could tell you all about it, but instead you can just watch the trailer. (The beginning of the trailer is a little weird, but it makes a point.)



It's a very upsetting documentary, but it's tempered with musical performances and very interesting discussion. Also, every penny of the proceeds from the movie goes to charity. Go see it.

Friday, October 10, 2008

This Time Last Year...

October 2007 was busy and oh so fun. Currently, I am loving Portland, but I'm starting to miss everyone a little more distinctly. (Luckily I'll be seeing a lot of the peeps in a few weeks!) Today, I shall lovingly reminisce on this time last year.
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Corn maze with the girls at a pumpkin patch in Los Osos.
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Kayla was yelling? Or something? Krissy doesn't know!
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Camille and her pumpkin are ghetto.
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Rochelle was probably telling me something really interesting about pumpkins.
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Taking some home.
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Group photo op! Why I am I the witch?
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What to carve?
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Camille contemplates...
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Yummy pumpkin seeds!
And then Jenna and Phil's Wedding...
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And Halloween...
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Butterfly!
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Rochelle... aka preggo Nicole Richie... hilarious.
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The girls.
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The whole group!

Ok that's all... miss you guys! (And everyone else I love, who I did not have the pleasure of spending last October with).