Halloween and such....

Well, I hope each of you is coming down from your candy-induced sugar high. I made pumpkin cookies (thanks to April Butcher's recipe) and have eaten way too many! We took a trip to the "east side" to the Floyd Co. volunteer house for a Halloween party. There were lots of great costumes, and we all had fun (or at least our house did) coming up with great ideas and helping one another put together costumes! Here's a picture of our house.. (can you find me?)

I'm afraid I have not completely escaped sickness...I woke up this morning with a sore throat. However, I feel ok so please continue to pray that I feel better by Thursday when I leave for El Salvador. I am really looking forward to this vacation and to seeing Ginger as she begins this next part of her life!

As far as work, the boxes are coming in and I am getting ready for Christmas! This week, Rich & Barb, a couple from Florida, are coming to volunteer through Christmas. They come each year and I am excited to have company at work! They are tons of help, and just wonderful people. I'm planning on posting some pictures soon as our storage space fills up with boxes and goodies. I'm also going to do another small distribution of the "extra" stuff we have donated for families who did not sign up in time....we'll see how it goes! It's a little more work for me, but will be helpful in the long run, so that the donated gifts are used for their intended purpose.

Anyway...here's a few more October pics since I haven't been good at posting any :)

Amanda, me, and Sarah at the Respite Luau Dance

Bittersweet parade-watching (girls from Rockcastle, Patrick from Jackson, Alex from McCreary)

A Night in the ER

Who says volunteer life isn't exciting? Tuesday night I took a trip to the ER. But don't worry, it was for one of my housemates, not me. She was having chest pains and had been sick for a few days. So, of course, I quickly drive to the hospital (fortunately, we have one in town, so it's only a few minutes away). As we walked in, I looked around to see most people covering their mouth and nose with face masks. I kept hearing murmurs of the "swine flu." Then I looked in the line to get checked in and noticed one of my friends from church, obviously in pain. Then several family members were rushing by to one of the rooms. I later learned a young girl had suffered a skull fracture and was being flown out to a larger hospital. So, needless, to say we waited for a while to be seen. I went to the front to ask if we could be seen quicker as my housemate was really in pain. They did give her a heart monitor, which made us feel a little better while we waited to get into a room.

After a few hours in the waiting room, we were finally shown to a room. As we walked past each room, I became resigned to the fact that I would not make it through the week without getting sick. I was surrounded! (As a side note, at the same time we were in the ER, another of housemates was being serviced at the Urgent Care in Berea). We were shown to a room where we waited again. Then another older man was given the other bed. Then one of the nurses came in to care for him. With only a curtain between his bed and our area, they removed and replaced his catheter!

Finally, they were able to tend to my housemate, and everything seemed to be ok, according to the tests. Hopefully, it was a result of the virus she has had. I checked on my friend who was still there and she will probably have to have her gallbladder removed. I was glad I was able to see and pray for her while she was there. So, after 4 hours, we were finally able to go home and go to bed.

After all the sickness surrounding me (five of my housemates have taken off work in the last two days because of viruses or colds), I am taking lots of vitamins and tea and trying to sanitize everything! Pray that any sickness will not hit me....at least not during the week of my vacation to El Salvador!

I love fall in Kentucky.

I love festivals. chili. orange and yellow leaves. cool air. new tv shows. mist on the mountains. scarves. pumpkin bread. costume parties. warm clothes. quilts. college football. a new start. Christmas preparation. hayrides. running. the color orange.

For all these reasons and many more, I love autumn. I'm trying not to complain about the fact that it's getting cold. Because I really do love this season and I want to enjoy it.

Bittersweet

Today, I accomplished one more goal I had set for myself...to win first place (in my age category) in the Bittersweet 5K, inconjuction with the Bittersweet Festival here in Mt. Vernon. This may sound like a lofty goal. However, here in Mt. Vernon, most women my age are not out running...unless they're running after their children. Last year, several of us from CAP ran in the 5K and we all got trophies.....this may sound amazing until you find out we were the only ones in our categories. So..this year, since there were no volunteers age 25-29, I assumed I would be a definite gold finisher. This morning, when we arrived to register, I found out there were 4 runners in my age group....so I was immediately concerned about my odds for finishing first. I was never quite able to determine who I was running against (the bulk of the runners were high school age), but I got first in my age category! Also, two of the volunteers from Jackson, Patrick and Alex, came down and they both placed as well (Patrick got 2nd overall!).
Later, after a big breakfast of pancakes at home, we went to the very-small parade and booths on Main Street. I just love small towns and their festivals! It was a gorgeous day to just relax outside and I enjoyed seeing all the booths with baked goods and other wares.

Also, with Jenna leaving, it was nice to connect with some of my new housemates. With the craziness of the last couple of weeks, we haven't all been home at the same time. So...I was thankful for a day to be at home and spend time with them.

On Monday, my co-worker, Brenda, is returning to work, so I will be able to focus on my job as a caseworker. We also have a very large group from Wisconsin coming to do housing in Jackson County so I may help out with that if needed.

Hope you all have a great week and enjoy the beginning of autumn...don't you love this season?

News from the busy week...

This week was a little different at our house, since four of our housemates were at orientation (a week-long training for new long-term volunteers). It gave me a chance to spend more time with our other new volunteers (they are short-term so they didn't attend orientation). It's just so much easier when there's 4 or 5 at dinner, compared to 12!

Also, this week, I was asked to speak at Commissioning, which is a service to bless the new volunteers who are beginning their term. There are three pillars in CAP: Service, Community, and Spirituality. I spoke on Community. I'm always jealous of people who do not get nervous speaking in front of people, because despite my rationalization and relaxation techniques, I always get nervous! However, it really wasn't too bad....I didn't mess up and went well. I had gotten different thoughts from former volunteers about what they learned from community and they responded with very poetic, well-thought-out responses. It made me really miss my community from last year!

Yesterday, I did something a little different at work. Robyn, my supervisor, and Donnie, one of our crew leaders, are voluntarily working on a home here in Rockcastle. Usually, there are very few homes we work on, since we don't technically do housing here. However, since we weren't purchasing supplies and it was a special situation, they are working for a few days on the flooring. I went out to see them, along with a former volunteer who was visiting, and helped Robyn and Megan (housing volunteer in Clay County) lay the tile floor. Donnie had to leave so it was just us girls! And- I learned another skill and was able to get out of the office for a day! Although I do not want to do housing every day, it really is refreshing to spend time with other volunteers in a different venue occasionally. I'm thankful that I have this flexibility in my position!

This weekend we had hoped to make it to the World Chicken Festival. In case you didn't know, Colonel Sanders (founder of KFC) made his debut with his chicken restaurant not far from here in Corbin, KY. But, with the rainy, stormy weather (lots of flash flooding) this weekend, it looks like we'll have to find indoor activities!

Also, it's Jenna's last weekend here in Kentucky. I'm going to be very, very sad to see her move to Virginia. She has been a wonderful friend to me this year and my saving grace in this time of adjustment to a new community.

And, last random bit of news, Ginger is getting married in El Salvador! So....I finally was able to find a ticket this week (that didn't drain my savings too much!) for the November wedding, so I'm excited to have a short vacation to share with Ramfis and her on their special day!

Spoonbread

So this weekend is the annual Spoonbread Festival in Berea. Berea is our nearby college town (about a 15-20 min. drive) where we go to eat out and go to Wal-mart. It's also a huge arts and crafts center. This weekend is the festival so in honor of this delicacy, I found a recipe for Spoonbread and made it with dinner. It turned out very well! Ironically, I found this recipe in my "I Love Paris(TN)" Cookbook....even though I didn't hear about Spoon Bread until I moved here. So, if you want to try it out...here it is!

Spoon Bread
3/4 c. cornmeal
1 TB sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. milk
1/4 c. butter
4 egg yolks, beaten
4 egg whites, stiffly beaten

Mix cornmeal, sugar, and salt in a saucepan. Add milk and butter. Cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Stir hot cornmeal mixture 1 tablespoon at a time into egg yolks. Cool to lukewarm. Fold into egg whites gradually. Spoon into greased 1 1/2-2 qt. baking dish. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. Yields 8 servings.

Looking back...

Today (as many of the days have been lately) was very busy! We have a new lady in our office helping out since Brenda is out. It's nice to have help, but difficult since we only have one computer with all the information we need on it. When I get in the groove of working on matching families on the computer, that's when I get interrupted to help someone who comes in for help with emergency assistance! But, honestly, I'm not complaining... I'd much rather be busy than things be slow.

Last Friday, I got a break from work to go to a volunteer meeting. All the current volunteers met together at Natural Bridge State Park in Slade, KY. CAP's president along with our other leaders were able to share pertinent information and announcements with us. It was also nice to see the new group of volunteers....it gets larger every year! After the meeting, a few girls from my house and the volunteers at the Jackson House went camping in Red River Gorge. We went to the same spot as we did last year. Now, as most of you know, camping is typically not something I enjoy. In fact, after our adventure last year, I said I would never go again. (Last year included my tent being pitched on a slope, a long walk to the outhouse, and trail-blazing down the mountain and back up). But my extroverted, social side came out and I wanted to be included! So I went....and I actually had a nice time.

After I got home, I looked back at the things I did...didn't complain about walking a good distance to the bathroom (because I still refuse to go in the woods) or no shower and a nice hike with even a little rock climbing (which also scares me a little). I think I've accomplished stepping out of my comfort zone a little here in Kentucky--and I'm thankful that God has allowed me to have this opportunity. I'm enjoying things I wouldn't have attempted, and definitely not enjoyed, before. When I think about some of the things I do now....walking blindly into home visits that would probably make some people a little nervous, driving a large truck daily on country roads, living with a very diverse group of people and putting up with habits I wouldn't have before, and even just living in a very small town and actually becoming a part of it...I just hope I appreciate this as much now as I will when I leave. My friends (former volunteers) who have left in the last few months remind me of this often, because they miss it so much! I'm really glad that I decided to stay in this great place a little longer!