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i’m making a switch back to my old blog. this doesn’t mean i’ll be any better at blogging, but its worth a try. check it out.
peace.
It was a wonderful full day of activities and lots of new toys at work today. All the kids looked super cute including this one boy who insisted on wearing his slacks pulled up past his belly button with his shirt tucked it. I mean cmon’ thats adorable. 
All the staff and kids campus wide had a nice breakfast together and afterwards the kids got to open their presents. Yesterday at work was the most insane present wrapping phenomenon i have ever seen. Hundreds and hundreds of toys had to be wrapped for today. I made a little dent in the present wrapping, but its no wonder why my parents quickly shifted to gift bags all these years. This morning after breakfast the kids got to open all their gifts. There were some pretty priceless expressions when they were truly excited. Now, if wrapping the presents is time consuming then try extracting all the toys and dolls from their packages. Why in the world do they come in those child and adult proof tough plastic thingys? I mean once you finally bust through the plastic each doll is connected by at least 30 other little plastic thingys. Its a maze and kinda dangerous too, but both dolls and staff made it through without any harm. Popular gifts this season if you are 10-12 years old… for girls : BRATZ dolls, hannah montana dolls and anything related to high school musical, for boys: transformers are a pretty big deal and the usual video games and toy cars. I wonder what was big for me when i was that age. Does anyone remember the talkboy from home alone 2? I know for sure that was a big deal at christmas.
After lunch there was a program/ performance by a variety of kids. There were quite a few soloists who weren’t necessarily talented, but absolutely awesome and brave for performing in front of everyone. Our cottage sang feliz navidad while my supervisor played the guitar. They were cute. It reminded me of all the christmas programs in elementary school that are so precious and probably on video somewhere in my house.
It was a fun day at work and tomorrow is my last evening there before i go home but i come back and work 7 days in a row so the break will be nice. I’m still gonna miss them.
If you know me, you know I’m not a big shopper. I prefer to shop out of neccesity rather than hobby. I just get too tired and bored if you leave me in a mall for too long. Now that school is over I finally have some time to make it to the mall. I have gone twice in two weeks and that is alot for me. Yesterday was an attempt to find a new cute christmas outfit. We are having a christmas program at work where the children dress up, there are performances, fancy food and of course presents. Lots and lots of presents. I figured this was a good time to buy a new skirt. Well, it wasn’t so easy. After a day of shopping I came home with two new shirts which i’m not convinced i love enough to keep. I brought them home and have been putting together outfits in my head to see if I can come up with something good. If it was summer or spring I’d be set. I have plenty of dress clothes for those seasons. But now it is winter and sleeveless doesn’t work so well. Plus it is actually raining. I know its crazy, but its true. In fact, it might actually continue to rain for a couple days. Why did I leave all my winter clothes at home? Oh sweaters where art thou?
Last friday at work we got to take the kids to the see the California Philharmonic christmas concert. My friend Michelle and I thought it was great and were bummed we had to leave early. The kids on the other hand were not quite as into it and half were alseep by the second song. I can’t blame them honestly, I’m not sure if i could sit through it at age 10. We did tell them to dress up and look nice for the evening so they were pretty cute. I’m excited to see them dressed up for the christmas party. Just four more days until I’ll be home for Christmas. I’m excited to be with family and friends. When its warm and sunny it doesn’t quite feel like the holidays to me. My mom told me the house is all decorated. yeah! And that she has put 5 extra blankets on my bed. It will be a little bit cooler at home, but we don’t use the heater in our house here so it really probably isn’t that much of a difference. Well back to finding/creating the perfect christmas outfit. tata
The last several weeks have gone by with a flash. It was a last minute trip to AZ for thanksgiving, to attend a memorial service of a dear loved family friend. Next it was the last week of classes, which equals the start of massive paper writing. Then it was finals week which means luckily the massive paper writing comes to an end. Now its the 2nd week of december, christmas is in the air and I finally have time for shopping and movies.
I’m really loving work. I spend the most time with the kids fri- sun, when i’m there in the evenings. I miss them on my off days. A couple weeks ago i had to perform emergency surgery on a stuffed kitty who sustained a hole in its head. The poor kid was seriously worried and convinced that his kitty was going “die”. This all happened at bedtime so I tried to reassure him that if he slept with him close, his kitty would still be alive in the morning. My bedside manner wasn’t much help because he told me he couldn’t get to sleep so i had to resort to my mad medical skills and poor sewing skill. Luckily, it all turned out okay. His kitty lived and he went to bed.
I also got to play Disney scene it this weekend. One of my roommates has the game so i took it to work on Sat. It was a bunch of fun for both the kids and the staff. The kids were really good at it and there were some questions that even stumped me.
Well, I won’t try to catch you up too fast because this blog could get really long. I don’t have school for another month, so I should be here more often. tata!
These are just some of the fun games i get to play with the kids at work. I don’t always play when they have their rec time, but last night i played all of the above. We all know kickball is a classic. You can never be to0 old for that. Wall ball took me back to elementary school. It was so fun and remember all the names we had for the different kinds of hits you could do? I was being re-taught all the lingo last night. I’m not quite as agile as i was when i was 10. Oh yes and of course dodgeball. This one was quite the work out I will admit. It was staff versus kids and they put the gymnastic mats up as shields. We played for like 45mins and sadly we lost to the kids. I have also tried my luck at capture the flag and almost nightly at the board game Sorry. All this to say i get my fix of fun and games thats for sure. Its a nice break from the serious adult world i live in most of the time.
I can’t believe how fast the quarter has gone. Just 3 weeks left of classes, 2 final papers and 1 class presentation. I’m going to register for my winter classes this week. I visited a Life group from the church i have started going to on Wednesday. It was really good and encouraging. I met a lot of cool people. I’m hoping to continune going and get involved with the church somehow. Its a smaller church about 150 people so I see the same people every week which makes it easier to connect with folks. Having come from huge churches where it was more difficult to get “in” this has been a refreshing experience.
I’m unfortunately becoming more and more a californian. I’m ashamed of most of it like running red lights. 
But most recently i’m sorry to admit that the last fews days it has been “cold” aka “winter” here and by “cold” i mean 65 and cloudy. It wasn’t just “cold” I actually said I was freezing and needed my winter clothes from home. I was wishing for my fleeces, sweaters, mittens, scarf and wool socks. Yikes, what is this world coming too.
Hopefully all the fires are settling down around here. Its been in the 90’s and smokey this whole week. In my opinion it makes the sky and the city look ugly. Can LA really handle anymore pollution? All week at work the kids weren’t allowed to play outside. I even opted out of running a couple times cuz the air is kinda gross. I can’t imagine what it is like closer to the fires. Today it actually rained like 1,000 drops for 2 mins and people were happy about that. I just kinda laughed about it.
I’m enjoying going to work. The kids are fun because even though they can be hard sometimes and throw big tantrums they do the cutest/strangest things that remind me they are just kids. This week i got to sit in on their “group” they have with their social workers. One of the guys who has been working in the cottage is leaving to work at another cottage so they anounced it at group and gave the kids a chance to express their feelings. It was really sweet and sad cuz two boys started crying when they heard the news. Others talked about what they would miss. It made me realize what a big deal it is for them to have someone stable and loving in their life as well as how hard it is for them to feel like they are losing someone in their life too.
I went to the projects today. My friend Mari is volunteering for 1 year at the dream center in LA and on saturday they send out buses of people from the church into various projects to invite people to church, pray with people, drop off food etc. We met some cool people, families and kids. I have never been in an area like that before as I’m sure most of us haven’t. It was during the day and quite a few people know or go to church at the Dream Center. There is a bus that comes from the dream center that picks people up and takes them to church. Its cool to be able to go there to meet people and build relationships. I really can’t wrap my mind around what it would be like living there or growing up there. And obviously at night its a totally different world as well. It would be crazy, but yet today we got to laugh with people, pray with people and play with some kids. I enjoyed it.
my intensive class. At times there was so much information coming at you I couldn’t take it all in, but overall a good class. We “ended” class night by attending a play called Butterflies of Uganda: memoirs of a child soldier. It was the story of a family whose two children were forced to fight for the Lords Resistance Army as child soldiers. The young girl is grown up and is telling her daughter the truth about the past. It was intense, powerful and disturbing. If only it was just a play…
http://www.un.org/events/tenstories_2006/story.asp?storyID=100
I have this great friend here named Antonia. She is from canada and is in both my classes. I love her because on Friday we took an adventure into hollywood to watch an international film called Outsourced. It was about a guy who worked for a company in Seattle of all places, and his boss tells him they are outsourcing to India and he must go train the indians to due his job. It was a cute romantic comedy that took place in India and it was fun to be able to appreciate the indian culture in the film. Antonia has also been to calcutta so it was fun to have a friend along that was excited as me to go see the movie.
Tomorrow starts my two crazy weeks of school. My intensive starts tomorrow and to top it off I’m working 7-2pm the next two weeks. Luckily i finished my papers and don’t feel stressed about them. I did need a mental break last night from the one i wrote about children and sex trafficking in India. Not an easy subject to read about, so i watched Toy Story 2 and the Incredibles. I was in the mood to watch Finding Nemo, but no one owned it. Maybe next time. The other thing that helps is I’m actually looking forward to the course material so although it will be a busy two weeks i’m looking forward to it.
A “God thought” i have been having lately is about jars of clay, 2 Cor 4:7-12. Maybe i can do a better job of not being one, but seeing them around me as people who on the outside, to this world, might not seem like they have got it all together, but through their trials and perseverance give glory to God and carry his image. Can we think of any sightings or experiences we had with these “jars of clay?”
when your syllabus is 34 pages long, you have to finish two books and write two papers before class starts and your professors use books that they have written and are quoted in the other books you are reading. these are my recent discoveries about school. luckily i’m only taking two classes this quarter. oh yeah the above mentioned was just for one of my classes. 
i met this family from nepal. well i first met Sheela, the mom/wife then i met her two adorable kiddos and husband when she invited me to her house. she cooked for me and i got to eat with my hand. they have only been in the states 3 months and the kids don’t speak english. they are 4 and 5 years old and in school so the little boy who is 5 says english phrases like “you can’t catch me and just a minute” its so cute. the little girl is a squeezer too. she was just saying “how are you” repeating what i said. anyways they are a sweet family and i’m hoping to see them regularly.
i ended up taking the job i had mentioned. i had a 3rd interview mon that went really good. i’m going to be working full time once i get to a regular schedule. i have 40hrs of observation before that though. i haven’t gone to class yet because my one class is on friday. so friday i have my class from 9-12 and then my first day of work 2-10. it will be a long “first”day.
I can see that alot has happened since the last time I was here almost a month ago. I feel like i’m constantly apologizing for my long absences from my blog. I think it is mostly due to the fact I haven’t truly convinced myself I will still keep a blog. While i was in India, it made sense because i was far away, supported by many of you who were interested on my happenings in India and it was the best way to stay in touch. Now that I’m back, well back in the states at least, I’m torn between keeping it up to date or not. Here is why; I figure those closest to me will stay in touch the conventional ways such as the phone and emails so if they read my blog what will we “catch up” about when we do talk. I also don’t want people to replace picking up the phone just cuz they are “updated” by my blog. Now on the other hand, there are alot of people that i don’t normally stay in connect with directly and so blogging is actually a super great way for people to stay up to date in my life. I know for example, i love reading the blogs of my friends from India because it keeps me updated on their life happenings and it reminds me to email and stay in touch. If my dad is reading this, HI DAD , he would be telling me i’m worrying too much about a silly thing like a blog and I should just make up my mind. So i’ll just decide right now, I will blog. Now no promises as to how often or what they will be about. You can always count on me for some randomness.
Ok now that is decided I’ll fill you in but not all at once cuz then this entry would be super long, so we will just start with the basics. I’m going to Fuller Theological Seminary to get my Masters degree in Crosscultural Studies, concentrating in Children at Risk. Am i going to be a pastor or as my dad would say a “reverend”? The initial answer is no, but yes I am in seminary, more on that later… I’m living just north of campus in Altadena in a two bedroom apt with two other Fuller students. Laura, is my room roommate and is getting her masters in family therapy and Jessica is getting her masters of divinity and will seek ordination after graduation. You can call her reverend We live in Fuller Housing in a complex with just 4 other apts. Everyone is really friendly and sweet. I just got back from a walk with a couple that live 2 doors down. I’m still looking for a job. I have interviewed twice for one job and have a 3rd interview Mon. I haven’t totally decided if it is a job I want or the job the Lord has for me. It is at a residential treatment center for abused/neglected children. It is totally in the social services sector as all children are referred or placed by DHS. I have to remember that these children’s”problems/issues” are a result of horrible things have happened to them. They themselves are not horrible kids, really they are just kids. With Gods heart I could see it with this perspective. The job is mainly to supervise and be an adult presence throughout out their day; homework, activities, meals, bed time etc. I guess its kinda like a caregiving position. I feel like it could go either way, however I’m certain it has to be totally God. Whatever i decide, with God is the only way it will be possible. Tomorrow I register for classes and this weekend is the last real weekend I might have for 3yrs, haha. Alrighty we are all caught up, here is to lifes next big adventure; cheers!
