About 6 weeks ago I got a text message from my aunt, "Only 14 days until Summerville!" I don't remember how far in advance we had made plans for my aunts and my cousins to visit, but in any case, on that particular day we were down to only 14 days left until the beginning of the visit. I was extremely excited, I mean, it had been roughly a month since I had seen anyone from Ohio, and about 4 months since I had seen my aunts and my cousins. At that point, 14 days sounded like a long time, but when I got home I decided that I was thankful for that "long" wait in between that day and the visit.
The reason for the thankfulness? As I got home that night and scanned my apartment, I noticed the mess. There were my shoes piled around the front door and NOT in the shoe holder I have, the three dog leashes I have were piled in front of the patio window, there were dishes left on the end table, and the kitchen had all my dish rags and newspaper ads left scattered on the kitchen counter. While not unsanitary, my apartment was definitely cluttered and in desperate need of a through cleaning before I had ANYONE in that apartment! I know I focus in on weird things like this, but I always thought that when I moved into my own apartment, I would keep my house immaculate. Ha.
Now, find my mom, my best friend, or anyone who I talk to on a regular basis and ask them what I am doing while I talk. Nine times out of ten I am cleaning when I talk to them on the phone, Skype, or by Facebook chat. It's not because I have obsessive compulsive disorder and have to clean my house 24/7, it's more like I am incredibly ineffective at actually finishing any cleaning task I set out to accomplish. But...I decided that since I had a goal, I would be more effective this time and I would keep my apartment clean for 14 days, complete with washing the walls, cleaning the carpet, and scrubbing every laminate floor. You can imagine how that turned out.
Day 1: Entire apartment is cleaned, vacuumed, dusted and all the trash is out. It "only" took me from 6:30 to 11:30 to accomplish cleaning 680 square feet. There were a few episodes of Parks and Recreation in there somewhere.
Day 3: I don't do anything on Friday nights, this includes not putting my dishes away, leaving my mail on the table, leaving my clothes in a pile on the floor.
Day 4: I wake up late on Saturdays. I consider getting my laundry done my accomplishment for the day.
Day 5: Go Sunday! I have everything cleaned, vacuumed, and dusted. If it was in the living room.
Day 8: Somewhere in the next three days my apartment has gone from fairly cleaned and straightened to cluttered with coupon clippings on the table and receipts for online payment piled around the end table the printer sits under. I did manage to vacuum, but the dog took it upon himself to roll on his back and wiggle through the living room, which was cute, but left a trail of dog hair all over my freshly vacuumed carpet. This is of course right after I took the filter out and washed it, so now I can't vacuum again until it's dried.
Day 9: I get the great idea to rearrange my room. Which is fine, except I moved a whole bunch of random stuff from the other rooms in here. Now, as I try to maneuver my bed and my top heavy bookshelf around the room, I first have to move all the other stuff out of my way. Hey...I haven't read that book in a long time...four hours later it's time for bed.
Day 10: I discover my list from 10 days ago and remember that I wanted to keep my apartment completely cleaned for 14 days. I laugh and rededicate myself to the cause. I fall asleep on the floor while watching The Colbert Report on Hulu. When I wake up it's time for bed.
Day 11: I realize that I have just about no time left, complete with an incredibly busy work week that will probably keep me there after hours and require me making a dessert for the staff meeting day after I get home. In any case, I get the floors vacuumed.
Day 12: Today I make that dessert. I accidentally drop the sifter full of powdered sugar. Big mess. The kitchen gets cleaned, but before I reach the rest of the house I get a phone call. No worries, I will finish cleaning tomorrow.
Day 13: I watched Castle and fell asleep at 7:00 p.m.
Day 14: 5:00 p.m., I check my phone. They're in Columbia?! That's ok, it gives me another two hours. Then I realized that the fact that they have made it this far in a little under 10 hours indicates that they are moving a lot faster than I expected them to. Haha. Upon further texts, I realize they are 30 miles away, traveling at 70 mph. Anyone good at algebra? I decide that my apartment is cluttered, but not dirty, so it's all okay. Then I notice that my refrigerator is the one place that hasn't been cleaned out and is filled with all sorts of pretty, but unnatural colors. Quickly it is cleaned out. My laundry, which has been drying all over my apartment since yesterday afternoon, is quickly gathered into baskets and shoved in my closet. They arrive, and all is forgotten as we travel the tri-county area, picking up trinkets, meeting locals, revisiting history, and playing in the ocean.
Day 18: As I attempt to clean up now that everyone is gone, I find the original cleaning list. I laugh, throw it out, and sit back to watch the Amazing Race, since I now have network TV courtesy of my aunt. I'll clean tomorrow.
Today (Day 25): My apartment is back in it's usual state: Clean (sanitary), but my newspaper is scattered on the table, my library books are piled by the futon, where I have been reading all day, and I know the ironing board is still set up in my bedroom, where I left it this morning before church. I can't help but laugh at myself for my overly ambitious goal and my inability to meet that goal. I guess I can be thankful that I don't really have anything bigger to obsess about right now. There was a tornado that touched down and destroyed a few homes and a church about an hour north of my house last night. Everyone was okay, but it looks like a big mess!
Well, the only thing that remains to be done tonight is enjoying the weather. I have no idea what the temperature is, but it's perfect for spending time out on my patio, and that's just what I intend to do. I have my new citronella candles ready to repel those pesky mosquitoes, some nice iced tea, and a few more books to read. Ah....
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Tourist in my own town...
This week I had two of my aunts and two of my cousins visiting from Ohio. We drove so many places. We walked so far! I think we gave a huge boost to the city's economy. We toured two beaches. We had great Uno Attack games. We kind of sort of visited three plantation homes. We rode a boat to a historic battle site. We met a lot of very nice, friendly people. Some of us did not eat eggs for breakfast on Saturday! Overall we had a great time!
More than once during this weekend I had to say, "I honestly don't know. I've never been here before." It was great! There is so much to see and do in Charleston. Friday we set out to Fort Sumter, then the Charleston City Market, then Sullivan's Island. A lot of back and forth driving and walking (almost 6 miles when it was all said and done) culminating in a trip to the only Fazoli's in the area! Even with all the walking and touring we did, there are so many more places I need to visit. (That is why I need more house guests! I need more people to take out and about so I have more reasons to visit these places!)
Saturday was a little more of the same. We drove down Ashley River Road, which is one of the prettiest drives there is. We wanted to visit some of the plantation homes, but they were kind of expensive. So we just drove in the driveway and then turned around and left! After that we drove to Folly Beach, a trip that took us through James Island. I usually have no real reason to drive an hour south of my house, but there seemed to be so many cool shops to visit. I need to visit there more often!
I started thinking about this in relation to Ohio. I never really had any out of town guests visit my family when I was home. Almost all of my family lives within an hour of my house. All of my friends lived within Medina County, and the few who moved away had lived here for so long before they left that when they came home they never needed to "tour" the area. This is probably a good thing though, because there is just about nothing to do in Ohio. I remember making fun of tourism guides for places other than Cleveland, Columbus, or Cincinnati.
Essentially, the "must see" destinations in Ohio are Cedar Point, Amish Country, The Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Rock Museum, maybe the Science museum, and if you really want to go to Akron...um...maybe go there during the Firestone tournament?
It's not really a fair comparison. I mean, Charleston has a much longer and richer history. Being situated where it is also gives it a much broader range of ethnic, cultural, and regional influences. Ohio is like every other state in the Midwest: Maybe 150-200 years of statehood, a large portion of their citizens are descended from immigrants of maybe three or four European countries, and really obnoxious weather that changes whenever it feels like it. (And honestly, Ohio does have it's perks. I just feel like picking on Ohio. Always a fun and easy target!)
I can't wait for my upcoming weekends. I have about a million more places I want to visit, in addition to just chilling on the beach. Come and visit me some time. We'll have a ball!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Eat, drink, run, and be merry.
A flower. A match. A bowl of heated grains. An ear of corn. A bridge. Moth larvae. On their own, all fairly inane objects that are just "background" items in our day to day lives. Seemingly almost unrelated to one another, right? However, believe it or not, these items all do have something in common: They are all the basis for large festivals!
For weeks now people at work and church have been talking about the events of this last weekend here in Charleston, especially Saturday. You see, in the morning there was the Cooper River Bridge Run, a 10k race on the Arthur Ravenel Bridge (If you watch Darius Rucker's "Comeback Song," you'll see the bridge in the background.) Then, in Summerville, there was the Flowertown Festival. It was a huge deal, almost 200,000 people were expected to attend. As I listened to co-workers and church-goers I really couldn't believe just how big these events were supposed to be. It just didn't seem right that a town of 40,000 people would draw 200,000 to an arts festival held in and around a small park named after a fairly common flower. I was wrong.
Summerville is known far and wide for two things: Pine trees and azalea flowers. They even combined it into a motto, "Flowertown in the Pines." To me these seem like the key aspects of general Southern landscape, but I guess Summerville just has a higher concentration or just likes them more. In any case, I signed up to help face paint in my church's booth. I parked over a mile away from the event just so I could avoid the traffic. Even at a mile away I was still too close :) So I began my trek to the booth. It wasn't long before I ended up in the middle of a throng of other people walking towards the festival. It was one of those times where once a group started walking they didn't stop, and the police ended up stopping the crowd just so that cars could go through the intersection. Once I finally got into the festival I looked forward at the next mile of road. It was a wavy ribbon of wall-to-wall people. Now I could see how 200,000 people could fit here. Vendors lined both sides of the road and were set up in Azalea park. It was easy to see all of them in just one pass merely for how slowly we had to walk. Plenty of time for observation! Next year I need to take a friend and spend more time looking through the vendors...
So once I got home from Flowertown yesterday, I started thinking about how big the event was, given the nature of the event and the population of the host town. To me, it seemed like some of these area festivals were so much larger than any events that I had been to in Ohio. I did some reaseach...
The Flowertown Festival draws 200,000 visitors from about 14 different states. Vendors come from as far away as Alaska (Can't say I blame them. Seventy versus ten below? Yeah.) It's a three day event held in an area of about three square miles. Busy busy. Entertainment? Art vendors, a "Taste of Summerville", and various amateurs singers.
I tried to compare this to the Medina County Fair. They have about 100,000 people over seven days
spread out over 60 acres. The slightly larger Wayne County Fair draws 133,000 over five days. Entertainment? Famous country music acts, amusement rides, a bajillion (real word) animals, and various other domestic competitions. The base populations of the host towns are 27,000 and 26,000 respectively.
St. George, South Carolina has a population of 2,500. Each year they host the "World Grits Festival," a three-day event honoring the fact that they have the highest grit consumption per capita in THE WORLD. Average crowd? 50,000. Entertainment? Grit eating contest, roll in the grit contest, and a 5k grit race. Oh yeah, and lots of vendors.
There is the Blue Tip Festival- Wadsworth's pride and joy. In the two days prior to the kick-off parade, chairs and blankets are set out along the parade route, staking claim to the best seats. The parade goes on for almost two hours, featuring local politicians, bands, every fire truck and ambulance in the three county area, and lots and lots of candy. The festival itself, spanning five days, features amusement rides, carnival games, and vendor booths from local area businesses and organizations. It draws about 30,000 people each year.
Lodi is home to the yearly Sweet Corn Festival each year. Following a parade (which features the pro-marijuana crowd!) there is a three day festival that includes amusement rides, food, and a tug-of-war competition. Attendees? Based on research, anywhere from 10,000-20,000 people.
Back to that Bridge Run, it's a 10k spanning the Arthur Ravenel Bridge. This year they stopped taking entires once the first 40,000 people entered. All but about 2,000 people ran. There was an estimated crowd of 20,000 people. For three hours they have a festival with food booths, vendors, and other entertainment. But 40,000 running over a bridge? Though different races with different qualification criteria, for comparison purposes the Boston Marathon has 20,000 participants, and the NYC marathon draws about 43,000 runners.
So, just as I thought, relatively speaking South Carolina draws incredibly large crowds to festivals that feature fairly inane objects and have minimal carnival entertainment. Ohio on the other hand has festivals with lots of amusement (and way more parades) but relatively smaller crowds. Why is this? I have no idea. This is a blog, not a research article! In the words of my boss, "We just like big parties here in the South!" Big parties they are, and fun parties at that!
Oh, just to highlight the one VERY large festival that Ohio throws, there is always Dick Goddard's Wooly Bear Festival. This is a one day event that draws almost 100,000 people to a small town to watch a parade with 2,000 entries that worships a worm. Congrats Ohio, you win the crazy festival award!
On that note, my good friend Benadryl is calling my name, and I must heed it's call or else I won't be able to breathe tonight. I love pollen. Have a wonderful evening and plan on attending next year's local festivals with me! (Except for the Grits Festival. Can't say that I'll ever go to an event celebrating ground up corn!)
P.S.- Happy 22nd Birthday to my favorite brother!
For weeks now people at work and church have been talking about the events of this last weekend here in Charleston, especially Saturday. You see, in the morning there was the Cooper River Bridge Run, a 10k race on the Arthur Ravenel Bridge (If you watch Darius Rucker's "Comeback Song," you'll see the bridge in the background.) Then, in Summerville, there was the Flowertown Festival. It was a huge deal, almost 200,000 people were expected to attend. As I listened to co-workers and church-goers I really couldn't believe just how big these events were supposed to be. It just didn't seem right that a town of 40,000 people would draw 200,000 to an arts festival held in and around a small park named after a fairly common flower. I was wrong.
Summerville is known far and wide for two things: Pine trees and azalea flowers. They even combined it into a motto, "Flowertown in the Pines." To me these seem like the key aspects of general Southern landscape, but I guess Summerville just has a higher concentration or just likes them more. In any case, I signed up to help face paint in my church's booth. I parked over a mile away from the event just so I could avoid the traffic. Even at a mile away I was still too close :) So I began my trek to the booth. It wasn't long before I ended up in the middle of a throng of other people walking towards the festival. It was one of those times where once a group started walking they didn't stop, and the police ended up stopping the crowd just so that cars could go through the intersection. Once I finally got into the festival I looked forward at the next mile of road. It was a wavy ribbon of wall-to-wall people. Now I could see how 200,000 people could fit here. Vendors lined both sides of the road and were set up in Azalea park. It was easy to see all of them in just one pass merely for how slowly we had to walk. Plenty of time for observation! Next year I need to take a friend and spend more time looking through the vendors...
So once I got home from Flowertown yesterday, I started thinking about how big the event was, given the nature of the event and the population of the host town. To me, it seemed like some of these area festivals were so much larger than any events that I had been to in Ohio. I did some reaseach...
The Flowertown Festival draws 200,000 visitors from about 14 different states. Vendors come from as far away as Alaska (Can't say I blame them. Seventy versus ten below? Yeah.) It's a three day event held in an area of about three square miles. Busy busy. Entertainment? Art vendors, a "Taste of Summerville", and various amateurs singers.
I tried to compare this to the Medina County Fair. They have about 100,000 people over seven days
spread out over 60 acres. The slightly larger Wayne County Fair draws 133,000 over five days. Entertainment? Famous country music acts, amusement rides, a bajillion (real word) animals, and various other domestic competitions. The base populations of the host towns are 27,000 and 26,000 respectively.
St. George, South Carolina has a population of 2,500. Each year they host the "World Grits Festival," a three-day event honoring the fact that they have the highest grit consumption per capita in THE WORLD. Average crowd? 50,000. Entertainment? Grit eating contest, roll in the grit contest, and a 5k grit race. Oh yeah, and lots of vendors.
There is the Blue Tip Festival- Wadsworth's pride and joy. In the two days prior to the kick-off parade, chairs and blankets are set out along the parade route, staking claim to the best seats. The parade goes on for almost two hours, featuring local politicians, bands, every fire truck and ambulance in the three county area, and lots and lots of candy. The festival itself, spanning five days, features amusement rides, carnival games, and vendor booths from local area businesses and organizations. It draws about 30,000 people each year.
Lodi is home to the yearly Sweet Corn Festival each year. Following a parade (which features the pro-marijuana crowd!) there is a three day festival that includes amusement rides, food, and a tug-of-war competition. Attendees? Based on research, anywhere from 10,000-20,000 people.
Back to that Bridge Run, it's a 10k spanning the Arthur Ravenel Bridge. This year they stopped taking entires once the first 40,000 people entered. All but about 2,000 people ran. There was an estimated crowd of 20,000 people. For three hours they have a festival with food booths, vendors, and other entertainment. But 40,000 running over a bridge? Though different races with different qualification criteria, for comparison purposes the Boston Marathon has 20,000 participants, and the NYC marathon draws about 43,000 runners.
So, just as I thought, relatively speaking South Carolina draws incredibly large crowds to festivals that feature fairly inane objects and have minimal carnival entertainment. Ohio on the other hand has festivals with lots of amusement (and way more parades) but relatively smaller crowds. Why is this? I have no idea. This is a blog, not a research article! In the words of my boss, "We just like big parties here in the South!" Big parties they are, and fun parties at that!
Oh, just to highlight the one VERY large festival that Ohio throws, there is always Dick Goddard's Wooly Bear Festival. This is a one day event that draws almost 100,000 people to a small town to watch a parade with 2,000 entries that worships a worm. Congrats Ohio, you win the crazy festival award!
On that note, my good friend Benadryl is calling my name, and I must heed it's call or else I won't be able to breathe tonight. I love pollen. Have a wonderful evening and plan on attending next year's local festivals with me! (Except for the Grits Festival. Can't say that I'll ever go to an event celebrating ground up corn!)
P.S.- Happy 22nd Birthday to my favorite brother!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
The daily grind.
I remember a day about three years ago shortly after whatever the latest depressing economic news happened to be had been announced. My boss, Ted, and I were walking toward the back of the store to go pick up some supplies for the bakery. As we walked he said, "I pity your generation Kate, you won't have the opportunities my generation did. It'll be hard to find a job and hard to support yourself. I'm not trying to depress you, I just feel bad for you." He wasn't the first to make those statements, and he wasn't the last. In fact, people still repeat those words to me today! But being a true teenager/young adult, in a moment of true rebellion/naivete, I politely smiled and nodded and made up my mind to get a job and not listen to him in regards to this anymore. Ah, to be young!
In any case, God blessed me with a job that supports me and amuses me. I normally don't like to even think about work on the weekends, much less write about it. I am definitely one of those people who likes to forget they have a job on the weekends! However, for some reason I decided I wanted to write about my job for today's blog.
For those of you who don't know, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infant, Children (WIC) is a federally-funded venture meant to provide nutritious foods and nutrition education to those demographics that traditionally are more at risk to fall through the cracks, specifically women and their children.
At 8:30 a.m. I walk through the doors of the health department and head to my office. Our first clients walk in the door at the same time, so while they're filling out all sorts of paper work and proving things like identity, income, and residency to our admin team, I set up for the day. Each morning I put my purse away, change my Hoops and Yoyo calendar, start up my computer, print off my client roster, grab the roster, fill up my water bottle, and then talk with whoever is in the hallway, in that order. If things are going smoothly, I will see my first client around 9:15.
Each of the client's fills out a questionnaire when they come in. The form has about 20 questions meant to give me an idea of how to guide my nutrition assessment. This, in addition to the lab results of height, weight, and Hemoglobin, dictate what we talk about. We cover everything from encouraging people to make sure they eat a variety of foods from all the food groups to eating iron rich foods to help prevent anemia, from making sure they're not mixing formula incorrectly to helping trouble shoot breastfeeding problems. For kids it seems like we spend a lot of time encouraging the parents to be parents and not let their kids be dictators. I think I talk to every mom about limiting juice so their kid doesn't get cavities...or weigh 50lbs when they're three. Once we're all done talking, I print up their food package. Clients get a pretty decent package these days- things like eggs, whole grain bread, cereal, fruit and vegetables, in addition to milk and cheese. On a typical day I see between 15-20 clients, with each session taking anywhere from 20-30 minutes.
That's the magic that happens four times per week. On Wednesdays I teach class. This is about eight 20 minute sessions spread out over the course of the day that are directed at prenatal women, children 1-5, and infants of different age ranges. It's quite fun, I get to sit in a room and discuss nutrition topics with 10-20 moms. Sometimes it's quiet and I just basically talk to myself. Other times it gets rowdy, especially when people start throwing misinformation around and you have to tactfully tell people the correct information. It sounds easy, but if you saw all the background work and dealt with all the nonsense that goes one with hosting a class, you'd know why I am exhausted and have a headache when I leave work on Wednesday. I go to church about an hour after I get off work, and there have been a few Wednesday night prayer sessions at church where my first prayer is "Dear God, please help me stay awake for the next hour and a half!"
I am very thankful for my job. It's steady, it pays well for entry-level, and it's a way to use my degree. I enjoy getting to talk with a lot of my clients and provide them with just a little support to help them through the month. It's also a source of frustration. (Ask my mom, she bears the brunt of my frustration!) For every person who is on the program because they just need a little help for the month there are people who are the third generation of their family to be on WIC merely because they feel it's their right to get free food from the government (That is truly what people have told me). It's a source of sadness too. For every family who is just in for a supplement to help them through the month, there is a girl who has little or no family support and no support from her child's father- she is the one who checks yes to box number 7: Do you skip meals or have limited food because of a lack of funds?
People who work in WIC are typically cocky about "knowing" that their jobs will be around forever. Since we serve such a limited demographic we don't come close to running out of funding money. A lot of clients are unlikely to see a change in their income or nutrition status for a variety of reasons, so we'll always have a client base, and funding follows the clients. Honestly, I wish we could see people in the community give just enough to help these families get by for the month or take these young single mothers "under their wing" and mentor them to their own success and see the WIC program shrink! (Shhh...don't tell my boss!!) But that's a dream for further on down the road when I have more resources and more knowledge about how to start something like this...I think!
So minus the last two paragraphs, that's my job in a nutshell. There are more intricacies to the job, but they are very boring and only worth explaining if you need to know them! This is what I do five days a week, 7.5 hours per day (if I'm lucky!) Like I said, it's a great job and I'm getting to learn a lot even as I am sharing information with clients. I hope to get a few more good years out of it before I move on...not that I am planning on getting fired, I just have a feeling that this is only a temporary stop in this part of my life.
I hope I haven't bored anyone with my post today. I know it's a departure from how and what I usually write, but like I said, it's what I felt I should write today. And now, as always, it's late enough on Sunday night that I need to be thinking about getting ready for work tomorrow! It should be a peaceful night..the rain and mild temperatures will provide a peaceful background for sleeping! Have a great night everyone and have a fantastic week!
In any case, God blessed me with a job that supports me and amuses me. I normally don't like to even think about work on the weekends, much less write about it. I am definitely one of those people who likes to forget they have a job on the weekends! However, for some reason I decided I wanted to write about my job for today's blog.
For those of you who don't know, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infant, Children (WIC) is a federally-funded venture meant to provide nutritious foods and nutrition education to those demographics that traditionally are more at risk to fall through the cracks, specifically women and their children.
At 8:30 a.m. I walk through the doors of the health department and head to my office. Our first clients walk in the door at the same time, so while they're filling out all sorts of paper work and proving things like identity, income, and residency to our admin team, I set up for the day. Each morning I put my purse away, change my Hoops and Yoyo calendar, start up my computer, print off my client roster, grab the roster, fill up my water bottle, and then talk with whoever is in the hallway, in that order. If things are going smoothly, I will see my first client around 9:15.
Each of the client's fills out a questionnaire when they come in. The form has about 20 questions meant to give me an idea of how to guide my nutrition assessment. This, in addition to the lab results of height, weight, and Hemoglobin, dictate what we talk about. We cover everything from encouraging people to make sure they eat a variety of foods from all the food groups to eating iron rich foods to help prevent anemia, from making sure they're not mixing formula incorrectly to helping trouble shoot breastfeeding problems. For kids it seems like we spend a lot of time encouraging the parents to be parents and not let their kids be dictators. I think I talk to every mom about limiting juice so their kid doesn't get cavities...or weigh 50lbs when they're three. Once we're all done talking, I print up their food package. Clients get a pretty decent package these days- things like eggs, whole grain bread, cereal, fruit and vegetables, in addition to milk and cheese. On a typical day I see between 15-20 clients, with each session taking anywhere from 20-30 minutes.
That's the magic that happens four times per week. On Wednesdays I teach class. This is about eight 20 minute sessions spread out over the course of the day that are directed at prenatal women, children 1-5, and infants of different age ranges. It's quite fun, I get to sit in a room and discuss nutrition topics with 10-20 moms. Sometimes it's quiet and I just basically talk to myself. Other times it gets rowdy, especially when people start throwing misinformation around and you have to tactfully tell people the correct information. It sounds easy, but if you saw all the background work and dealt with all the nonsense that goes one with hosting a class, you'd know why I am exhausted and have a headache when I leave work on Wednesday. I go to church about an hour after I get off work, and there have been a few Wednesday night prayer sessions at church where my first prayer is "Dear God, please help me stay awake for the next hour and a half!"
I am very thankful for my job. It's steady, it pays well for entry-level, and it's a way to use my degree. I enjoy getting to talk with a lot of my clients and provide them with just a little support to help them through the month. It's also a source of frustration. (Ask my mom, she bears the brunt of my frustration!) For every person who is on the program because they just need a little help for the month there are people who are the third generation of their family to be on WIC merely because they feel it's their right to get free food from the government (That is truly what people have told me). It's a source of sadness too. For every family who is just in for a supplement to help them through the month, there is a girl who has little or no family support and no support from her child's father- she is the one who checks yes to box number 7: Do you skip meals or have limited food because of a lack of funds?
People who work in WIC are typically cocky about "knowing" that their jobs will be around forever. Since we serve such a limited demographic we don't come close to running out of funding money. A lot of clients are unlikely to see a change in their income or nutrition status for a variety of reasons, so we'll always have a client base, and funding follows the clients. Honestly, I wish we could see people in the community give just enough to help these families get by for the month or take these young single mothers "under their wing" and mentor them to their own success and see the WIC program shrink! (Shhh...don't tell my boss!!) But that's a dream for further on down the road when I have more resources and more knowledge about how to start something like this...I think!
So minus the last two paragraphs, that's my job in a nutshell. There are more intricacies to the job, but they are very boring and only worth explaining if you need to know them! This is what I do five days a week, 7.5 hours per day (if I'm lucky!) Like I said, it's a great job and I'm getting to learn a lot even as I am sharing information with clients. I hope to get a few more good years out of it before I move on...not that I am planning on getting fired, I just have a feeling that this is only a temporary stop in this part of my life.
I hope I haven't bored anyone with my post today. I know it's a departure from how and what I usually write, but like I said, it's what I felt I should write today. And now, as always, it's late enough on Sunday night that I need to be thinking about getting ready for work tomorrow! It should be a peaceful night..the rain and mild temperatures will provide a peaceful background for sleeping! Have a great night everyone and have a fantastic week!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Six months down...
I really dislike overly used phrases. When women come into my office after having a baby and start asking me if a reduced appetite is normal or pregnant women ask me why they are so weepy all of the sudden, I hate telling them, "It could just be hormones." When moms come in with kids who eat like crazy one day and then pick at food the next day, I hate telling them, "Well, that is sometimes how two-year olds eat." I don't know why it bothers me, I guess I just feel like I have a wide vocabulary and I should be using more of it instead of repeating the same several words over and over again. Maybe I could say, "Well ma'am, in the first several days after the birth of your child, chemicals in the brain....." Yeah, even I get bored with those terms! In any case, I am about to use another of my least favorite overused phrases: Time flies when you're having fun. That's right, this Friday marks a momentous occasion: I will have lived in South Carolina for six months.
I'm not sure where all that time went. On the one hand, it seems like I have been down here forever. On the other hand, well, I have no idea how six months has gone by so quickly. (Probably the same way almost a year has gone by since my college graduation and almost five years from my high school graduation!) So skipping over my blog's most overused phrases ("I haven't changed...I have changed...") I just want to dedicate this blog to everything that has happened in the last six months.
I learned that it takes one person a long time to go through certain supplies. I have a bottle of hair conditioner that I bought two weeks before I left and it's still 1/4 full. Just today I ran out of the cooking oil I bought the first day I was here.
Friday evening I finally unpacked my last box. Yes, 5 months and 3 weeks after I moved in, I unpacked my last box. And inside that box were some decorations that I bought specifically for this apartment.
I knew many years ago that I would be just fine living by myself. Sometimes I enjoy the quiet and I do like to have things set up "my way." That said, about a week ago I decided that I do need to eventually live with someone, because even with all my friends and co-workers it's just nice to have someone there with you at home, someone you can share with all the time.
Since I now know that I can achieve even my most lofty dreams, I have decided my next dream is to live in my own house, specifically one not attached to someone else's house. I try to give no thought to my upstairs neighbors, but every time I think I've gotten past their latest antics they up the ante. Now they have a guitar. And they like to sing. On the patio. At 12:30 a.m.
The women of the South have taught me that if you are over 18 and not in college or high school, you really should have no reason to not be married to/dating/living with someone. And if you don't have children already, they will suggest you get started immediately, if not sooner. One of my co-workers keeps telling me about this guy named Kyle: "All he wants to do is get married and have babies." Yep. That's a good reason to marry Kyle! I have no problem with marriage, and I can envision myself happily married to the right guy, but I can't tell you how obnoxious it is trying to politely change the subject.
I have learned what pluff mud, joggling boards, mosquito hawks, and palmetto bugs are. I have tried boiled peanuts, okra, and true Southern sweet tea. I have geeked out over finding starfish on the beach.
Well, these are just a few of the things that have happened to me in these last six months. So much has happened in the last 180 days and I'm sure that events will continue to unfold in a similar fashion for a long time to come. Lastly, I am a procrastinator and need to get ready for work tomorrow. Ta ta for now!
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Spring Fever!
I will first ask your forgiveness for the following paragraphs. They will border on bragging, but it's just too nice to not write about what's going on right now.
We went through a little bit of a cold spell last week. It was down in the 50s and low 60s for highs. I was comfortable, but it was quite humorous to hear everyone talking about the "last cold spell of the spring." Even the lows weren't that low, but I still got yelled at for not wearing a coat.
I went out yesterday and bought plants for my patio. I now have a hanging basket filled with a light orange Gerbera daisy, a "spiral grass" plant, and some draping, petite white flowers that attract the giant bees swarming around my patio. I have a four-tier flower stand that is now filled with a combination of alyssum, petunias, snapdragons, and marigolds- which are supposed to help keep the mosquitoes at bay this summer. Combined with my new patio furniture, my patio looks pretty darn nice right now!
Right now it's about 77 degrees outside. If you sit in the sun it is pretty warm, almost uncomfortable, but one step into the shade and it is perfect. Currently I am sitting in my living room, watching the wind gently play with the blinds which are filtering the sunlight streaming in from the west. The effect it creates is just about my idea of a perfect summer morning should look and feel like. I am saving up to buy some sheer panels so I can hang them up and have an even "softer" look to the windows in the apartment. Ahh...so pretty and relaxing!
With exception of the oak trees, I think just about every tree in the area is in the process of blooming or budding. The pear trees looked like giant snowballs for a few weeks, and now their light green leaves are beginning to poke out. The maples are just about ready to open their leaves I think. I learned what a myrtle tree is and discovered a few blooming ones in the park. The side effect of all these trees is the amount of pollen they produce. My blue car is now a weird shade of pollen yellow that sometimes appears green if you look at it in the right light. It is quite a sight!
All the birds are out early in the morning now. It is quite relaxing to wake up to robins, cardinals, chickadees, and mockingbirds singing their little hearts out. The other day there were two white water birds of some kind, but they took off before I could get a better look at them.
Also out now are the little lizards and fire ants. I love the lizards! They are not any bigger than my hand and they just sit and stare harmlessly at you until you scare them away. Fire ants, I am not a fan of. So far there aren't too many of their hills around, but I am adding them to the list of things I want to avoid while I live in South Carolina. Also on that list is being stung by a bee and getting bit by a poisonous snake.
Well, this is all I can think to write about at this moment in time. I also need to go out and plant some more flowers I bought at the dollar store today and take Cooper for a walk before he goes crazy. I hope you don't hate me now! Enjoy, and send me updates about Ohio's spring if you care to! Arrivederci!
We went through a little bit of a cold spell last week. It was down in the 50s and low 60s for highs. I was comfortable, but it was quite humorous to hear everyone talking about the "last cold spell of the spring." Even the lows weren't that low, but I still got yelled at for not wearing a coat.
I went out yesterday and bought plants for my patio. I now have a hanging basket filled with a light orange Gerbera daisy, a "spiral grass" plant, and some draping, petite white flowers that attract the giant bees swarming around my patio. I have a four-tier flower stand that is now filled with a combination of alyssum, petunias, snapdragons, and marigolds- which are supposed to help keep the mosquitoes at bay this summer. Combined with my new patio furniture, my patio looks pretty darn nice right now!
Right now it's about 77 degrees outside. If you sit in the sun it is pretty warm, almost uncomfortable, but one step into the shade and it is perfect. Currently I am sitting in my living room, watching the wind gently play with the blinds which are filtering the sunlight streaming in from the west. The effect it creates is just about my idea of a perfect summer morning should look and feel like. I am saving up to buy some sheer panels so I can hang them up and have an even "softer" look to the windows in the apartment. Ahh...so pretty and relaxing!
With exception of the oak trees, I think just about every tree in the area is in the process of blooming or budding. The pear trees looked like giant snowballs for a few weeks, and now their light green leaves are beginning to poke out. The maples are just about ready to open their leaves I think. I learned what a myrtle tree is and discovered a few blooming ones in the park. The side effect of all these trees is the amount of pollen they produce. My blue car is now a weird shade of pollen yellow that sometimes appears green if you look at it in the right light. It is quite a sight!
All the birds are out early in the morning now. It is quite relaxing to wake up to robins, cardinals, chickadees, and mockingbirds singing their little hearts out. The other day there were two white water birds of some kind, but they took off before I could get a better look at them.
Also out now are the little lizards and fire ants. I love the lizards! They are not any bigger than my hand and they just sit and stare harmlessly at you until you scare them away. Fire ants, I am not a fan of. So far there aren't too many of their hills around, but I am adding them to the list of things I want to avoid while I live in South Carolina. Also on that list is being stung by a bee and getting bit by a poisonous snake.
Well, this is all I can think to write about at this moment in time. I also need to go out and plant some more flowers I bought at the dollar store today and take Cooper for a walk before he goes crazy. I hope you don't hate me now! Enjoy, and send me updates about Ohio's spring if you care to! Arrivederci!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Dora the Explorer has nothing on me...
Most of the time I am very content to let my daily activities be dictated by a to-do list of one kind or another. Some days the list has twenty things on it and other days just two. The tasks can be simple, like "make bed" or complex like, "Wash all the walls." (Hey, don't laugh. I have to deodorize this place somehow!) The list can be something I need to follow, like when I am getting ready before a long trip, or something I really don't care about, like on Saturdays when I just want to feel like I thought about doing something. Basically, I like to plan my life, just so I know what I am doing! But every once in awhile, that desire to be spontaneous just takes over and BOOM!, the next thing I know, it's 5 hours later and I've driven at least 80 miles.
Today was one of those days. After I got home from church I couldn't decide what to do. I needed a nap, but didn't want to sleep. I needed to get some minor chores done, but I'd rather do them at night when I'm less tempted to be outside. Then I decided it was too late to start anything so I had probably better just stay home and chill out for the day. Finally I decided that I should return two shirts I didn't want before I forgot about them, so I set out for the mall. Normally a trip to the mall and subsequent window shopping is a pretty good way to waste time, but I spent about 10 minutes at the mall and left. On my way out, I thought, "Hmm...I need gas. I'll stop at the next BP station." So off I went down 526, singing along to the radio.
The key to a Kate Homonai road trip is that there are never any directions involved. This has only been bad one time, when Katie and I ended up in a not so nice part of Akron. The rest of the time, only positive results have occurred. Most of the time I end up finding a few cool things and then accidentally finding my way back home. Today was no exception.
I knew 526 would end up taking me near Sullivan's Island (and the first BP station I knew I would find. Coincidence? I think not.) But along the way I found a few new thrift stores and my Wendy's gift card from Christmas, with just enough money left on it to buy a 5 piece chicken nugget. Not a healthy lunch, but it tasted good! Once I got on to Sullivan's Island, I got my "exercise" in for the day by walking the beach for about half an hour. The highlight of today's trip was finding a dead star fish. Then I went traveling around the island, trying to identify potential future homes. (Note: If anyone out there wants to buy me a house, I will show you EXACTLY which one I want. Thank you in advance!) Some of the homes were cute little buildings that look like any old beach house you'd see in pictures- wood sided homes with wrap around porches and rocking chairs and a number of older trees. Others were monuments to their owner's wealth- huge homes with modern architecture and expensive landscaping. Basically, I just ended up falling in love with the island a little more. Then I left.
I made it off the island and was sitting at a light when I discovered something out of the ordinary for South Carolina: a street name sign!! "Hmm...Rifle Range Rd. I've heard of that...wonder where it will go.." While I had intended to go straight ahead, I decided to turn at the last minute and off I went. One long, scenic road full of very nice homes, old trees with Spanish moss, and three round-abouts later, I came to a road I thought I knew, so I turned left since I thought that it might take me back towards Summerville, eventually. Looking at Google Maps just now, I made a few big circles, but I did find a Starbucks (another gift card!) and 526. As I started heading home I was relieved, mostly because I was getting tired. Then I missed my exit. This isn't the first time I've done that coming home from that direction, but I just kind of looked and went, "Oh, that was the exit to 26. Oh well." I knew the next five exits would take me towards home anyways, so what did I care.
The caffeine from my iced mocha set in about then, and I decided that since I had already crossed two of Charleston's three rivers (the Cooper and the Wando), the Intercoastal Waterway, and played in the Atlantic Ocean, why not keep going and head over the Ashley River too. So six miles down the road I found myself in a nice shopping center in West Ashley. Again, intending to head back home the way I knew how, I found another street name sign. I had been down part of Ashley River Rd before, and thought I knew where it would eventually end, so off I went. Now, one of the cool things about Charleston is all of the history. Ashley River Road is home to three plantation homes/gardens. They.were.beautiful. The first one I passed, Drayton Hall, was filled with old oak trees with Spanish moss gracefully draped over their many branches. With the filtered sunlight shining through, it was gorgeous. The next, Magnolia Gardens, was filled with blooming pear trees and their many white blossoms and some other tree filled with tiny little fuchsia flowers. A definite sign that spring has sprung. The last, Middleton Place, also has an equestrian center, so it's grounds were filled with probably twenty horses all peacefully grazing and basking in the sunshine. I must visit these places someday!
Finally I ended up near where I had intended to, only to find myself a first hand witness to a nasty car wreck. Word to the wise, just because the car ahead of you turned left and crossed two lanes doesn't mean you're clear to do the same without checking first! All is well though, only minor whiplash injuries. Then I pulled in to Martin's Creek, then I got to my apartment, then I set up camp on the patio with a cold drink of water, my dog, and my laptop and watched the sun go down. Not a bad day. I could get used to this.
Well, once again I am finally out of words, so good night, sleep tight, and until next Sunday think about this question: If you could go anywhere on a road trip right now, where would you go? Oh yeah, and enjoy my pink February-themed background for one more day!
Today was one of those days. After I got home from church I couldn't decide what to do. I needed a nap, but didn't want to sleep. I needed to get some minor chores done, but I'd rather do them at night when I'm less tempted to be outside. Then I decided it was too late to start anything so I had probably better just stay home and chill out for the day. Finally I decided that I should return two shirts I didn't want before I forgot about them, so I set out for the mall. Normally a trip to the mall and subsequent window shopping is a pretty good way to waste time, but I spent about 10 minutes at the mall and left. On my way out, I thought, "Hmm...I need gas. I'll stop at the next BP station." So off I went down 526, singing along to the radio.
The key to a Kate Homonai road trip is that there are never any directions involved. This has only been bad one time, when Katie and I ended up in a not so nice part of Akron. The rest of the time, only positive results have occurred. Most of the time I end up finding a few cool things and then accidentally finding my way back home. Today was no exception.
I knew 526 would end up taking me near Sullivan's Island (and the first BP station I knew I would find. Coincidence? I think not.) But along the way I found a few new thrift stores and my Wendy's gift card from Christmas, with just enough money left on it to buy a 5 piece chicken nugget. Not a healthy lunch, but it tasted good! Once I got on to Sullivan's Island, I got my "exercise" in for the day by walking the beach for about half an hour. The highlight of today's trip was finding a dead star fish. Then I went traveling around the island, trying to identify potential future homes. (Note: If anyone out there wants to buy me a house, I will show you EXACTLY which one I want. Thank you in advance!) Some of the homes were cute little buildings that look like any old beach house you'd see in pictures- wood sided homes with wrap around porches and rocking chairs and a number of older trees. Others were monuments to their owner's wealth- huge homes with modern architecture and expensive landscaping. Basically, I just ended up falling in love with the island a little more. Then I left.
I made it off the island and was sitting at a light when I discovered something out of the ordinary for South Carolina: a street name sign!! "Hmm...Rifle Range Rd. I've heard of that...wonder where it will go.." While I had intended to go straight ahead, I decided to turn at the last minute and off I went. One long, scenic road full of very nice homes, old trees with Spanish moss, and three round-abouts later, I came to a road I thought I knew, so I turned left since I thought that it might take me back towards Summerville, eventually. Looking at Google Maps just now, I made a few big circles, but I did find a Starbucks (another gift card!) and 526. As I started heading home I was relieved, mostly because I was getting tired. Then I missed my exit. This isn't the first time I've done that coming home from that direction, but I just kind of looked and went, "Oh, that was the exit to 26. Oh well." I knew the next five exits would take me towards home anyways, so what did I care.
The caffeine from my iced mocha set in about then, and I decided that since I had already crossed two of Charleston's three rivers (the Cooper and the Wando), the Intercoastal Waterway, and played in the Atlantic Ocean, why not keep going and head over the Ashley River too. So six miles down the road I found myself in a nice shopping center in West Ashley. Again, intending to head back home the way I knew how, I found another street name sign. I had been down part of Ashley River Rd before, and thought I knew where it would eventually end, so off I went. Now, one of the cool things about Charleston is all of the history. Ashley River Road is home to three plantation homes/gardens. They.were.beautiful. The first one I passed, Drayton Hall, was filled with old oak trees with Spanish moss gracefully draped over their many branches. With the filtered sunlight shining through, it was gorgeous. The next, Magnolia Gardens, was filled with blooming pear trees and their many white blossoms and some other tree filled with tiny little fuchsia flowers. A definite sign that spring has sprung. The last, Middleton Place, also has an equestrian center, so it's grounds were filled with probably twenty horses all peacefully grazing and basking in the sunshine. I must visit these places someday!
Finally I ended up near where I had intended to, only to find myself a first hand witness to a nasty car wreck. Word to the wise, just because the car ahead of you turned left and crossed two lanes doesn't mean you're clear to do the same without checking first! All is well though, only minor whiplash injuries. Then I pulled in to Martin's Creek, then I got to my apartment, then I set up camp on the patio with a cold drink of water, my dog, and my laptop and watched the sun go down. Not a bad day. I could get used to this.
Well, once again I am finally out of words, so good night, sleep tight, and until next Sunday think about this question: If you could go anywhere on a road trip right now, where would you go? Oh yeah, and enjoy my pink February-themed background for one more day!
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