famous.

look at me & o on a facebook ad for czc! ( :

it targets users based on what is on the page you are browsing. apparently, i need to be tanner, get married, and win a free macbook.

if you see it, get excited, but don't click it--czc gets charged for ad space.

BUT, you can click HERE to get more information about czc.

beyond belief.

comfort zone camp news:

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/article/CAMPGAT13_20090313-123402/230881/

http://www.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/local/crime/article/CAMP14_20090313-222808/231431/

what a trying weekend. i am so grateful for phenomenal people that just make this organization work. thanks to all - you have all touched lives this weekend.

i got to work this morning to find this storypeople quote in my inbox:

this is a machine that takes your life & does all the hard parts & leaves you all the parts you enjoy & almost everyone discovers they're not the parts you'd think they were at first glance
-brian andreas, "life machine"

working from home.

sorry for the lack of posting. i've had bronchitis for the last 8 days. note to self: don't get bronchitis again. don't work for 15 hours straight in freezing weather to contract bronchitis in the first place. there is no remedy for bronchitis. apparently it's viral. anyway. so because of this, today, which would have ordinarily been a day off for me to go to czc, i am working from home. venus cannot comprehend why, for god's sake, i have been sitting in front of the computer for the last 6 hours and have not been lounging on the couch with her or, god forbid, taking her for a walk and petting her incessently. instead, she has been pushing lucky the hedgehog against my leg for the last hour and a half. lucky was her valentine's day gift. he didn't have a name until he survived one whole week without going through surgery to get his squeaker removed. i would just like to give lucky a shoutout. and wish venus a happy birthday. she's 21. and that means she gets a new dog collar for big girls. (shhh, h doesn't know yet!)

resolutions.

i am really good at making lists. and sticking to them. just something about completing a task and checking it off feels really good. so last year i had a lot of new years resolutions. i think i stuck to most of them (or i just forgot the ones i didn't like). h motivated me to make a list of my own.

2008 resolutions:

• learn how to blog: check - i started out on mac.com because it was so easy to post pictures, but difficult to update and change the layout. back when i had time to do such things (!) and then moved here, hence volume ii. unfortunately, it's the first thing to go when time gets busy.
• stop drinking soda: check - i drank 5 sodas in 2008. pretty proud of myself. i didn't count ginger beer (my weakness).
• volunteer more: check - i met five wonderful girls at comfort zone camp this year: c, a 12-year old with better musical taste than me; t, who've i've watched grow up and am so proud of her at 14; o, a crazy 7-year old who nicknamed h "harrypotomus;" e, an 18-year old who i nearly thought would never leave her car but ended up smiling at the end of the weekend; and k, a 17-year old more mature and more inspiring than an other little buddy i've had yet. these girls rocked my world.
• start dating again, nothing serious: check - oops. ( ;
• buy local: check - i started getting a bi-weekly community supported agriculture box from washington's green grocer and went to the courthouse farmers market. i can't wait to buy heirloom tomatoes again!
• try new wine: check, i guess - i think i kinda forgot about this one. i did start drinking (& loving) white wine in june, and h & i went to a vineyard over christmas.
• stop biting my nails: ehhhh - i am getting better i swear!
• be more flexible at work: double check - i traveled nearly all summer, although i did have a great time!
• VOTE! (i voted for the first time!)
• donate money to a worthy cause: check - my local npr station: wamu 88.5
• take more pictures: an ever aspiring goal... it's easier when you have a fancy d80 to play with!
• read more: check - i read a couple of the best books this year: the confessions by jonathan franken and the yiddish policeman's union by michael chabon and the glass castle by jeanette walls were 3 of my favorite.
  

so time for some new 2009 resolutions:

• make a budget.
• stick to budget.
• REALLY stick to budget!
• go to the gym/exercise at least once a week (i know, ambitious, but i have to be realistic).
• write more snail mail.
• get The Washington Post Sundays. read it. & clip coupons. lord knows you need them.
• donate blood. i've gotten enough blood taken in the last 6 months, i think i can handle it now.
• continue paying attention to politics even though the election is over. at least read the political cartoons in newsweek.
• take daily vitamins.
• stop eating products made with high fructose corn syrup. i don't care what the new commericals say.
• get back into running and back into yoga. run at least 2 races this year.
• continue volunteering at comfort zone camp and feeding the homeless. consider participating or supporting a new organization; maybe girls on the run or dc design house?
• spend lots of time with friends and go to weddings and parties and have lots of fun. ( :

ha.

restoring faith in humanity.

i am reminded as i pass by the park by my house each day at 6pm, that there are still many homeless people in my neighborhood. i am also reminded that each day, a group of people has committed to making them dinner and another group of individuals has committed to serving. serving meals and serving their community. i'm proud to be a member of such an organization.

each day i drive home in six lanes of bumper to bumper traffic filled with road rage and capitalist yuppies. and each day i drive by the park and my faith in humanity is instantly restored. i am so blessed to be friends with such good people. good people who want to work with victims of domestic violence. good people who are trying desperately looking for a job in forensics to crack cases of child crimes. good people who educate our youth and good people who educate our community on the environment. good people who donate all of their spare change knowing that their own economic assets just tanked. often makes me think maybe there's something more that i can be doing...

yesterday was elle's birthday. she just started a new job and one of her clients, age 84, gave her an amazing little birthday gift after only knowing her for only a few sessions. i think elle, who had a jam-packed busy day at work, was pleasantly caught off guard at the nicety of a near stranger.

i travel nearly 90% of the time for work. i was on a plane a while ago and was watching the woman caddy-cornered in the row in front of me crochet a bright orange scarf (my favorite color) for the entirety of the flight. i didn't think she noticed me, but at the end of the flight she asked me if i she could give it to me. whenever i wear the scarf i think of her and smile.

every month, 60+ volunteers escape from the pains and frustrations of their own lives and come out to comfort zone camp to devote an entire weekend to a kid they've never met with some great void in their short life. and whether they know it or not, they make a lifetime impact on a child in just a quick few days of turbo-bonding.

a friend of mine devoted the year after she graduated to leading relief teams in new orleans to help victims of hurricane katrina. then she signed on for another year. then she signed on to work in the battleground of new orleans public elementary schools. she may be crazy.

in the words of john mayer, "i know the heart of life is good. i know it's good."

and on that note, i may go buy a coffee for that potentially homeless streetsense vendor in eastern market. he's been on my mind all day. and he let me have streetsense for $0.78 instead of $1 yesterday. and i'll do it not because i believe karma will reward me in the end, but because i want to.

oh to be seven.

this weekend was absolutely phenomenal. i know i say that after every camp, and i really do mean it, but, whew. working with the itty bitties #1, puts things into perspective, and #2, wears you out!

when i called my little buddy (all 52 pounds of her) on wednesday, i cried. a small, fragile voice picked up the phone, answered my questions politely (yes, she was excited; and yes, she was nervous, and was she going to sleep outside?). my heart broke for her. this was a seven-year-old girl who had lost her everything- her mom- just a few months ago, moved to a new house with her aunt & uncle, started at a new school, no longer had her "fun summer" of playing with mom and doing any 'ole thing. her uncle told me that he was worried she wouldn't talk to the other kids, let alone share her story with anyone. she started out shy, but by the morning of day two, you couldn't peel her off of me if you tried, she continuously posed as america's next top model for all the cameras, and she wouldn't stop talking and creating nicknames for everyone. she even sang every karaoke song they'd let her up there for. we really did have a blast.

but still, my heart ached. this girl was seven; only a few months had passed, and she was already afraid of losing her memories. as i was walking back from the staff meeting on saturday, h and i talked about the strength of our itty bitties and mentioned he had no idea what it would have been like to be me- to have experienced a loss so young in life. i fought back tears as i walked inside and my little buddy ran to me and threw her arms around my neck like she hadn't seen me in years. as we walked back to the cabin, she had her arm wrapped tightly around my waist, wrapping tighter as we walked further. she was excited about her new friends and heat lightening and eating s'mores.

when her aunt & uncle dropped her off, i remember thinking what a blessing camp was going to be for her. when they came to pick her up, i realized i what a blessing she had been to me that weekend. what a blessing she was in my life.