Monday, November 29, 2010

Wonderful Visits & New Volunteering Opportunities

Greetings to all! Happy Monday night. I got home from dropping Pat off at the airport not too long ago. It sounds like he had some trouble getting his ticket (at some point a woman said to him, “You shouldn’t even have been able to leave Spokane…”, and later a Travelocity representative said via phone, “Are you SURE you’re in Tucson? You made it to Tucson from Spokane?”), but he was finally able to board at 7 p.m. bound for a Salt Lake City layover before landing in Spokane. Of course, it remains to be known if he will be held in Salt Lake City due to snow conditions. So he may have an interesting night ahead of him.

We had a wonderful time together. We tried out a restaurant called Bamboo Club last night for a drink and appetizers. We got a little bit of shopping done – I think we both were just looking around for Christmas ideas, although not much materialized. It will take a while to get used to having the apartment to myself again. He did leave me with some good new music to listen to, though (Kings of Leon’s new stuff) and a new book to read (the third of a fourpolly sent from my sister), so at least I’ve got some things to stay occupied with for a while. 

Upon arriving in Tucson, I set about looking for volunteer opportunities. I spent two or three years of college volunteering at a nursing home (with Sara) and found the experience to reap unparalleled rewards. Learning from the older generations, and watching them meet difficult challenges, has taught me so much. I was therefore very excited to start that back up with the free time I’d have down here. Unfortunately, a lot has changed since I volunteered in Ellensburg. A minimum of 30 training hours and a tetanus shot must be administered before you can even apply to be a volunteer now. Sad story. After much personal debate, though, I finally found something that fits my personality – I applied for and have been matched to write a ‘pen pal’ prisoner in Texas through God Cares We Care ministry. Maybe it’s a little bit ‘out there’ for some of you, but I hope you can at least appreciate that it utilizes my free time, my love of writing letters, and my love of loving other people, despite their backgrounds. So… I got my first letter today and will be responding to it shortly. Just wanted to share my excitement with you – it feels good to ‘volunteer’ and help other people again.

Not too much else new. Again, I had a great time with Pat. We made use of the hot tub and pool, watched some good movies, ate a ridiculous amount of food and took everything very slow. I’m very lucky to have had company over the holiday weekend. Now it’s back to the grindstone of working, which really isn’t all that bad, anyhow. The weather should be warming back up to the 70s by Wednesday, and it couldn’t happen fast enough for me. My toes are freezing as I write this.

Love you all!!!

4 comments:

  1. "Are you sure you're in Tucson?" Are you kidding me? Wow! Hope he makes it ok.

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  2. Got an email this morning from him saying that he made it in on time. :)

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  3. Hey lover! Great Post! Can't wait to hear what comes of the pen pal! I sure miss your smile and bright attitude! Hug a red rock for me and jump in the pool! Get crazy and live it uP!

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  4. Glad to hear your doing great!

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