Every Day is a New Adventure.

First, every time I title my blog I have a mental mind-freak about which words to capitalize. Irrelevant.

So, I didn't really report back on last week. It was a whirlwind. I'm keeping a log of all of the stuff I do (I started it today). But, I guess I've kind of done a lot in the past two weeks. Crazy. I got a hug and a "You're making a difference." on Thursday from my boss. That was pretty cool. I think that some people have jobs where they never hear anything like that. I feel pretty fortunate. The facebook site still hasn't launched and I'm working on how to handle that. I have a week to get through the upper-level and to try to get it live. I think that I have everything done, I just need the ok. There's lawyers and stuff that have to get involved and a whole social media plan/policy that needs to be written by my boss. Except, I've written one from an example we got from a business in the area. My boss kept saying she'd write it, but I think she's been pretty busy so I did it. I'm just a little too scared to tell her I went ahead and did it. But, she's been gone for a few days so I may just tell her. We'll see.

I've been working in InDesign, which I'm not a professional at but I'm decent. I can work it and do image design. I have a pre-defined color palette which makes things a lot easier. It's kind of fun to see what I can do with that. My work probably isn't all that interesting to talk about. I really enjoy doing it and the days aren't that long, but describing it is kind of boring. It won't be that exciting until I finally get to launch something and upkeep the sites.

Of course, volunteering is a highlight for me. The kids down at the Bowden are pretty good. Some are pretty tough, but they're warming up to me. One kid comes up to me and shows me the progress of his loose tooth each time he sees me. I love it. But, today I got thrown into street outreach (and no mom, not the kind of street outreach that is in the Cross and the switchblade). We just go down to the "banquet" where they serve two meals a day to those who need it. Our job as street outreach is to sit there and make contact with families that have kids from 8-21 years old (or just the kids those age that are there). I was nervous because I didn't really know what I was getting myself into. I actually was pretty good at talking to people who weren't in the age range. Ha. I was working with someone though and when I get thrown to do it by myself that will be fun! Imagine, shy Liz doing this stuff. It's crazy.

The people there are really the ones that fit the stereotypical homeless idea. Dirty, holes in their cloth, etc. They all speak with you a little more than you would think. Of course, some people won't but some are fine with talking about where they are in life. Not to say they're happy with it, but they're not angry at people they talk to about it. One man was lamenting his stolen backpack that had everything he managed to gather up. He wondered that anyone who was homeless could steal from other people who were homeless. The first thought that popped into my head was they had the 'survival of the fittest' attitude but I managed to bite my tongue. Sometimes, I have to watch what I say because I find myself referring back to a home or asking about a mom or dad pretty naturally. But, you can't assume that sort of thing really. I've done ok, but I have to be pretty conscious of it.

Then after that I got back with the kids and played for an hour and royally messed up the kickball rules and the kids kept laughing at me and saying. "Liiiiiiiiiz" like I should know better. Woops. I'm still learning!

So all is well. I miss my family, but I'm doing well. Hope y'all are too!

Oh, and I got paid for my first week. $200, about $5 an hour. Woo. Doin' ok though.