Do You Know Where Texas Roadhouse Is Based?

I'll give you a hint: It's not Texas. It's Louisville, Ky. Last night a large group of accountants from Texas Roadhouse came down to help out in McCreary. Normally they take a couple days and have a fun mini retreat (usually in Gatlinburg), but this year they decided to come volunteer with CAP instead. They split up and did different things in the area, but I spent the day with six guys working with the housing crew: Kevin, Janean, and Shanna. We worked on an addition to a  participant's house. The floor was already done, so today we framed and had all the exterior and interior walls up (including closets) by the end of the day. I used my first circular saw and did a lot of hammering. I felt really productive, and it felt good to learn "useful skills." I think that has been the theme of my year of volunteering. Before CAP:
- I never would have thought I'd feel comfortable driving a pickup truck.
- I never would have learned to use a chain saw.
- I never would have learned to use any type of power tool.
- I never would have known how to frame a house.
I'm glad that I now have these skills. Before I was in the mindset that I'd have to call a guy to do these type of things, but as cheesy as it sounds, it really is empowering to know that I'm capable in those areas... at least somewhat capable.

My friend Shanna teaches me how to use a circular saw.

Although it was fun today, I can't really see myself doing Housing for 11 months. I still really like Family Advocacy best of all and think it's a perfect fit for my talents and desires. But I do love getting out of the office and experiencing different parts of CAP.

This evening, the Texas Roadhouse group had a big picnic for everyone in the community. It was really cool. They brough bbq from their Knoxville location (as well as line dancers from the Gatlinburg location for entertainment). The guys grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. There was tons and tons of food that I'm pretty sure the accountants all made themselves and brought from home. There were games set up for kids, cornhole boards for the adults, and music playing. Someone even dressed up in the stuffed armadillo costume and took pictures with everybody. (That someone happened to be one of the guys in my crew today). There was a great turnout and it looked to be a great success!

Long Time, No Post. Sorry!

Well, I was working on this super long blog post about Chain Saw Training and my week as a nomad, traveling around the east side of CAP.... but I just keep putting it off. So here's what I've done this weekend:

On Friday night, a couple girls from my house plus all of the McCreary house and quite a few from Jackson went to a Contra dance in Berea. It was my first time and a lot of fun! Contra is a type of folk dance where you and your partner dance down the line, joining with other pairs and switching partners repeatedly. There is a caller who tells you what to do, so it's pretty easy to pick up, and no one cares if you make mistakes. Contra dances last about 3 hours and although I didn't dance the ENTIRE three hours I was still so tuckered out by midnight. The dancing is very upbeat with lots and lots and lots of spinning. During one song I was dancing with Ben from Jackson. We were really getting into. There was one move where the gents circled in the middle before coming back to their partners and swinging around. Ben would always say something funny like "I'm coming for you!!" or "Let's go, girl!" before we took off, which made me laugh hysterically. So we were spinning so fast, and laughing, and somehow I ended up flat on my butt in the middle of the line. I was laughing so hard it took a while for me to get up (plus I was really conscious of my skirt and making sure I didn't flash anyone as I got up). My excuse was that God felt we were showboating and needed to humble us some. I'm going to contend that we had the most "pizazz" while dancing.



On Saturday Shanna and Janean from McCreary, Sara and I from Rockcastle, and Alister from Jackson went to the Spoonbread Festival in Berea for a couple hours. We saw a ten year old lip sync and dance to Michael Jackson hits, and we got to try spoonbread (like really moist and buttery cornbread, eaten out of a bowl and with a spoon). Then we drove to Georgetown for an Autumn festival at this farm. We went through the petting zoo, a corn maze, and played in "people spinners" (aka huge industrial plastic tubes sawed up that you could roll around in). We had a lot of fun!

Long Overdue Update

I can't think of good titles for these blogs... "Busy Day/Week" is what I want to call this one, but that wouldn't distinguish it well enough from any of the countless others!

Last Monday I went to Clay County to help Jane with her Christmas Basket sign ups. I had gotten to the point where I didn't want to see another CB sign up sheet ever again! I was so tired of asking ladies if they'd like a sheet set or cookware, or suggesting that their husbands may like hunting or fishing equipment or a good pair of work boots. Overall, the day went well enough. I just had this one family that barged into my office not once but TWICE to ask me questions regarding their proof of income. Seriously?? Wait until I'm done with this person! It didn't help much that the woman appeared to be of below average intelligence. I felt sort of sorry for them, but it was still majorly irritating. Pam Azanza, I met your twin in Clay County! She's a volunteer with elderly services and she's also from Southern Cali. She's petite and sweet and you both even sound alike! I even went so far as to ask her if she knew you. She didn't. haha.

On Tuesday we went to Natural Bridge for another Family Advocacy meeting. We really nailed down what we are going to be focusing on, while still leaving room for alterations as we go. I won't miss driving out there, squashed in the middle seat, but I will miss hearing Owen's colloquialisms and stories. We're meeting again in either January or February. Julia stayed for dinner at the Rockcastle and we had THREE prospectives also staying with us, so it was a full house. One of those prospectives, Kristi, returned last night (Sunday) to begin her time of service. She's actually been living out of her car recently, having just packed up her life in Washington state and wandered across the country until getting to CAP. I only know a couple tidbits of her life story, but she is really turning out to be such an inspiration to me.

On Wednesday it poured. I'm so glad I decided to bring my lovely rainboots back with me when I went home for the wedding. They came in handy. I spent a lot of time out of the office, picking up School Readiness vouchers from the Family Dollar, going to a meeting at the volunteer offices, and the like.

Thursday was sunny. I explored my office in the morning and found these gems: Richard Simmons workout tapes, one of those 20 questions electronic handheld games, and - wait for it - an original polaroid camera, WITH film! And these were just things in the office, not including all the stuff in closets I've yet to explore. Sarah and I used a good part of the afternoon to practice swerving backwards through cones (stupidest. skill. ever.) down at the community center, so I saw Jenny before she officially left the valley. Sarah really helped me to understand my reference points, although even she agreed that my mirrors are totally screwed up. See, it's not just me.

On Friday I helped out at the pantry since I didn't have much going on and "the truck" (aka God's Pantry) was coming. Elaine, Nancy, and I went through these huge bags of carrots and put the healthy ones in smaller bags to hand out. We came across some really funky looking mutant carrots. That evening Sarah, Mandy, Karen, and I helped Grace move in at Berea College. We kept joking about how we probably looked like a crazy cult or commune. I kept telling "Sister Grace" that we were going to miss her labor come harvest time. We hung around Berea a bit, walked around campus, ate Mexican, met Grace's roomie and said our goodbyes. I'm sorry Carl wasn't there to provide the "father figure" role, but I'm glad we girls could be Grace's stand-in family. I know I would have really appreciated it if I was from California and didn't have any biological family helping me move in. We have promised to periodically kidnap Grace for some CAP fun.

On Saturday Mandy, Karen, Sarah, Elaine, and I went hiking at Anglin Falls in Rockcastle Co. You actually drive up someone's driveway to get there. And the sign is like a homemade looking sign. Sounds sketchy, but it's pretty cool. It rained, but luckily we found shelter and waited it out. The misquitos were awful! But we also saw a ton of butterflies all over the place, flying in swarms.

I actually logged some work hours on Sunday because I had to help receive some school supply donations from GE with Sr. Robbie. This guy and his wife delivered them and we talked for a bit. They were really nice and excited to hear about what we're doing at CAP. A lot of the time it seems like outsiders have more enthusiasm for the program than I do... I see the day-in day-out grind, which can sometimes wear me down and can cause me to be pessimistic about people in general. That's why I love talking with groups that come to volunteer or donors... because they have an enthusiasm that is contagious. It's something that reminds you why you signed on in the first place. I talked with Sr. Robbie about that, and hopefully I'll get to help her out more this fall, hosting groups.

And today? I cleaned up a lot of old documents from the computer mostly. Helped a couple people with disconnect notices (I think I'm technically over budget for the month, but it should even out over the 5 counties). Talked to three seperate Brescia staff members on the phone! Yay! But it made me miss Brescia so much!

So that's been my week.... busy. fruitful. full of change.

Rain Is a Good Thing

Last night some volunteers from the Mt Vernon, Jackson, and McCreary Houses went to the drive-in in Somerset as a send-off for Lucas, Ludivine, and Jenny. Lucas and Ludivine left today and Jenny will be leaving midway through this week. The Jackson crew drove down to Mt Vernon, and then we met up with the McCreary bunch in Somerset where we had dinner at Fazoli's (Did you know Fazoli's began in Lexington?? And that it's more of a "Kentucky thing"?) I think we had about thirteen people all together.

We stepped outside of the restaurant to find huge black clouds rolling in from the west. Everything in the air that was blowing around us said it was fixing to storm. As if the powerful wind wasn't enough, lightning was going off like Christmas tree lights. I don't think I've ever seen as much lightning. It felt so good to stand outside and feel that wind while we tried to make a decision regarding the movie. We ended up sticking with the original plan. As much as I love the drive-in, I wasn't sure how this was going to work out, as it was clearly about to storm. Luckily, the Mt Vernon group had driven the CAP minivan. We put down the back seats and sat in the back with the back hatch open. The six of us got pretty close, and it was a little warm, but the storm air kept us cool. Not long after we parked it started pouring. I'm talking sheets and sheets of rain, pounding on the roof so loudly that it was hard to hear the movie (turned all the way up on the radio).

Lucas was so excited about the fact that we were sitting in the middle of a storm watching a movie. His giddiness was contagious. It was cool. Even after the heavy rain and thunder stopped (about 15 minutes into the movie) lightning continued to light up the sky for the rest of the night. It was the kind that leaped from cloud to cloud, making the sky behind the giant screen a pinkish purple. Nature outshone the silver screen that night. This morning Lucas said that he'd always remember that night. I have to agree. I'm glad we stayed.

It makes me think about the plans we make in life: they don't always turn out exactly as we thought, but I guess they turn out just the way they should.

The McCreary branch drove straight home after the second movie, but the Jackson group drove back to Mt Vernon to spend the night. As we drove home, Carl got a call that his father passed away that evening. His parents just celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary a couple weeks ago, and Carl and all his siblings had gone out to Arizona to visit them. I'm really glad that they all got to spend time with their dad not long before his passing. Carl seems to be handling it well, his dad was 92, and Carl had suspected that he didn't have much longer when he last saw him. The ride home was a quiet one as Carl called his siblings and tried to figure out travel arrangements. When we got to the Mt Vernon house, we all just sat around the living room, bundled up in comforters (in true sleepover fashion) and talked with Carl. It was a really great community moment. Carl told us how much the entire CAP community meant to him, and that he thought of us all as grandchildren. After Carl and Jenny went upstairs to bed, it was about 2 am and everything was hilarious:  things such as "Do bugs breathe?" / "carbonbunoxide" / any country song lyrics, but especially Luke Bryan's classic "Rain Is a Good Thing" / and the way Bridget snorts when she laughs.

This morning I went to Mass in Berea and then went to the Mt Vernon house for breakfast with the Jackson House. Lucas made banana and chocolate chip pancakes. Yum! Then it was time to say goodbye to Lucas and Ludivine. Although I haven't spent a lot of time with Lucas, it was still a hard goodbye. That's just the way things are, sometimes you've only known someone a short time, but they make such an impact on her your heart that it seems much longer. And of course there is the flip side, when you wait anxiously for particularly difficult housemates to give their goodbyes. Anyway, Ludivine is going back to Paris, but she loves Kentucky, so I have a feeling that I may see her again. Lucas is much closer, in Cincinnati, and I know he'll be back at CAP every now and then. It was also hard to say goodbye to the Jackson House in general, the ones who aren't even leaving, because it feels like I don't get to see them very often and they're so much fun to be around. They invited me to come hang out sometime, so I'll have to take them up on that offer.

Speaking of hard goodbyes, I got several pieces of mail on Saturday (my most in one day - 4! and 2 were packages!). One of the packages contained my mix CDs from Olivia! I wish she could still be here with me. I know she would have had fun at the drive-in. And don't even get me started on what it will be like to say goodybe to Jenny this week. I think it will be my hardest goodbye of the whole experience - not just so far, but possibly of the entire 11 months. I can project this theory because Jenny is the only person I will have worked so closely with.

So it was a really great weekend! But oh I hate these goodbyes.

Christmas Basket Sign Ups

I'm way too tired to give an in-depth update of the past week, but here it is in a nutshell:

Monday - Drove to Owsley County. Did Christmas Basket sign ups
Tuesday - Drove to McCreary County. Did Christmas Basket sign ups
Wednesday - Christmas Basket sign ups in Rockcastle County.
Thursday - Christmas Basket sign ups in Rockcastle County.
Friday - Recovering from Christmas Basket sign ups. Called it a day around 2.

The sign ups in Owsley and McCreary weren't bad at all. There were five of us in Owsley and three in McCreary, but both of those counties had a relatively small turn out compared to Rockcastle. I think as of now we have about 130 signed up for our county - which is technically over the limit.

And the sign ups themselves were just a madhouse. People were lined up long before we got there at 8 am. Then they all tried to cram into the air conditioned (and small) office. People would leave the door open and there were flies all over the place. We still have three or four flying around our office! Even though the air was on, it was hot and stuffy in the lobby of the office b/c of all the bodies crammed in there. It's like a refugee camp.

Sign ups are tiring!! It takes way more energy than you would think. And of course we still have people calling and wanting to sign up - I don't want to hear another call about it. Some people get really hostile when you tell them they can't sign up! Two people were rude to my face about it (one thought Jenny was accusing her granddaughter of being a fugitive, and the other tried to slam my office door - which is incapable of slamming since it gets stuck at the door jam), and another woman on the phone wasn't rude but she did keep talking on and on about how I should be careful of false prophets and how her toilet fell through the floor of her trailer.

I did have a very nice time in McCreary. The last lady I signed up was blind (she was just recently blinded within the past year and she may have MS). We had a nice long talk about what careers she thought I should go into (Public Relations or Special Education were her choices for me). I really enjoyed visiting with her and her mother. She was so upbeat for someone who has had such rough luck the last few years. I wish I could write more about her, but I don't know where to start and I'm just too worn out. I ended up staying for dinner at the McCreary house and I'm glad I did b/c Shanna made yummy Taco Bread.

Another interesting tidbit of the week, courtesy of the Mt Vernon Signal: A female wedding crasher in Brodhead stole some gift cards from the gift table and ran off. A male guest at the wedding heard about this while in line for cake. He kicked off his dress shoes and ran after her. There were some quotes from the guest in the article, one beginning "I was like, 'Woman, you can't do that...'" They apprehended the woman (who was running toward her accomplice in a purple Camaro) before she got away. She is now facing charges.

Next week is Jenny's last week, and my housemate Jen left this afternoon. I'll miss watching the Bachelorette / Bachelor Pad with both of them!

This Saturday some of us CAP volunteers from different houses are going to the drive-in in Somerset. I'm looking forward to just relaxing tonight and going out tomorrow.

Wedding Weekend

Got back to Rockcastle House at 9:40ish, with a note from Jenny saying we're leaving tomorrow morning at 7:15, so I have to keep this short and get to bed.

The wedding was great! Matt and Ashley were beautiful and I teared up a bit. I saw several Brescia / Owensboro friends at the wedding reception and afterwards around town (including running into a couple people that I didn't even expect to be in Owensboro!) It was so awesome to be back in that environment. I almost started crying as I drove into Owensboro on Friday afternoon because I was entering a town where I knew I had a lot of love and support. Not that Rockcastle isn't a nice enough area, but I'm still very new and it just isn't home to me (yet?)

I didn't get to see EVERYONE I wanted to, but I definitely plan on coming back to western KY for Labor Day weekend (if not before). And hopefully I'll have it planned out better so I can see all the people I missed this time around. I miss all of yall already!! The weekend felt so rushed... sometimes I felt that I wasn't fully "present" because I was running all over the place, doing a lot of driving and having rushed conversations. I truly apologize for that, and hopefully the next time I'm in town there will be more time to just sit and relax!!

And one more note: I talked to a couple different people about my blog this weekend and I wanted to make something clear - things are not always as they seem. Yes, I'm really really really happy about the work I'm doing here and I've met some cool people, but it is definitely not some walk around the garden. I'm still adjusting. I still miss everyone back in western KY a lot. I have issues with housemates. I sometimes feel lonely and out of place. I just didn't know how appropriate it would be to bring such things up. So just know that this journey is not an easy one and I need to know that I'm being supported from afar (though, not really very far).

I thought it would be very hard coming back to Rockcastle today after a weekend in Owensboro / Manitou, but so far so good. I'm so thankful for this weekend and all the beautiful people in it!

Fail

On Friday I spent the whole morning and early afternoon at a required driver training session. Right now I am just a "temporary driver." After passing the class you become an official CAP driver. I can't really tell the difference between the two, as I've been driving the truck ever since I passed my temporary driver test with Robyn my first week.

The session was a lot like being back in the graduated licensing class in high school. We had to watch old videos and listen to an old man tell crash stories. We took ridiculously confusing tests on road signs and "What do you do when..." scenarios. Then in the afternoon we had the actual driving portion.

The test consisted of serpenting forward through 10-12 cones, and then doing it in reverse. And also backing into a parking space (into a circle of cones) and exiting. You had 10 seconds to do each of the 4 things. If you went over, you got a point deducted for every second and if you hit a cone I think you lost like 5 points? Anyway, I did just fine backing into the space and exiting. No problems whatsoever. And going forward through the cones was a piece of cake, but I had a lot of difficulty with the backwards driving. I hit one cone and took forever. Afterwards the instructor told me (privately thankfully!) that he was going to suggest that I redo the test next month when they have another training. I was so upset!! First of all, I only did badly on ONE section! And secondly, I had to use my mirrors the whole time (b/c of the way my truck is set up with the hood and all) which was confusing on which way I needed to turn and where I had already been... I don't know how to describe it, but it's all just very confusing. And so I couldn't look out my back windows at all, but I SAW another woman in a truck doing just that her whole time and she got to pass (her truck doesn't have the hood). Not fair!

So I guess I can still drive, but I'm not looking forward to telling Robyn that I didn't pass and have to go again. I just really hope I'm not the only one who failed. It makes me want to cry!!

Seriously, when am I EVER going to have to serpentine backwards through several obstacles??

A Very Hot Week Spent Indoors

The first half of the week has flown by since I've only been in the office about an hour total. I was in the office a little Monday morning before I drove down to Op Share in Corbin to drop off a heavy duty appliance dollie they'd let us borrow several weeks ago. I stopped for gas and used the Fleet One card for the first time. It was funny... the guy who was running the cash register asked me what CAP was and what we did. He said he'd seen several trucks that day come through for gas, and I guess he'd never heard of CAP before. Of course it was near impossible for me to explain all CAP does in a couple sentences, but with a line forming behind me there was no alternative. Then I drove to McCreary County to help Julia set up for her school readiness distribution. I got a tour of the famous McCreary trailer before heading back to Rockcastle.

Jenny, Robyn, and I drove straight to McCreary County Tuesday morning. Luckily Julia had way more help than the previous distributions, so we didn't really have to do too much work. A Jackson elderly services volunteer came to help, as did Julia's two sisters who were visiting, and a couple of older community volunteers - one nicknamed "Hot Shot". Hot Shot's wife thought I was Julia's sister and said I "favored her." We all got a laugh out of that. It was soooo hot that day, so I was glad to be in the air conditioned elementary-school-turned-community-center all day. It's nice to see the different set ups in each county. McCreary has a ton of space for programs and storage, and once they get the house built that place is going to be so busy I'm sure.

Last night I got some of my housemates to play some boardgames with me - Parcheesi, Trivial Pursuit, and some National Geographic photography game that looked like a cool Carmen San Diego type thing but we couldn't figure it out. And Julia came up to spend the night because....

We left this morning at 7:20ish (We originally were leaving at 7 am, but it got pushed back a little b/c Jenny had to run get a check from the office). Julia, Jenny, and I rode to Berea where we met up with Robyn and Anita (the manager of all the program managers). We all rode together to Natural Bridge State Park for a big Family Advocacy meeting. The Sandy Valley (east side) caseworkers and manager were there as well. It was my first time meeting all of them. I also finally met Jane, the Clay caseworker. The Sandy Valley runs things pretty differently, not just Family Advocacy but all of CAP it seems. It's like a totally different organization in some ways! Kinda confusing... so they're (or I should say "we're") in the process of revamping Family Advocacy - possibly changing the name (again), adding new programs / reintroducing old programs, etc. It's exciting, but sort of sad. I like the name Family Advocacy, and I'll be sad to be totally rid of EHI's. It's just tough for me to let go of things. I always worry that other people won't pick up the slack, so I have to do it all. But I'm really excited for the Garden Seeds program which will build stronger bonds with fewer families (quality over quantity). We have another meeting in a couple weeks, so hopefully we'll figure out some more things then.. We just have a lot to go over and talk about. In an all day meeting, we only really fully covered like 2 or 3 topics. But I'm pretty used to that from SGA executive officer meetings and the Board of Trustees meetings.

Tomorrow and Friday Jenny's out, and Friday I'm leaving a little early to drive back to Owensboro for Ashley's wedding!

Cumberland Falls, and So Do I

Yesterday afternoon, several housemates from Rockcastle and Mt Vernon drove down to Cumberland Falls. Although it only takes parking and walking a few hundred feet to see the waterfall, we ended up hiking around the park for something like 3.5 hours. It wasn't as humid as it has been the last few days, but we still worked up quite a sweat. We ended up going off the trail and down to some rocks in the river to dip our feet. Meaghan unfortunately slipped and doused her camera in the water, while also slightly ripping her toenail.

We did a lot of balancing acts, hoisting ourselves, and scaling rocks the whole afternoon. I prided myself on my Girl Scout savvy hiking skills. (Using protuding roots to pull myself up a steep and potentially treacherous hillside? Check. Swinging down to the river by wedging my arms between two rocks? Check.)  I did not have one mishap... until the last ten minutes of the hike. We had gone down a wrong (and possibly unused?) trail that parallels another trail, down by the river. This trail was higher up the side of the hill. Instead of backtracking, people decided to lower themselves down at this one point so we could get to the trail by the river that leads to the parking lot. I want to go on record that I thought the idea was sketchy in the first place. I couldn't see how the trails hooked up. That wasn't the case though... and that would have been preferable to what happened.

I happened to be at the back of the line at this point, so I waited while everyone else got down, no problems. Then Karen went down and stepped in a different spot than everyone else. Apparently she stepped on a bee hive because she got stung three times (her first stings of any kind she claims). The bees were swarming at the spot that I needed to go down and I was the only one left up top. I told Mandy I'd backtrack and meet them later, but she convinced me to go further up the path (and further up the hill) to the section of the path where these enormous tree roots cascaded down the hill to the point where everyone else was. I told her I would just take a closer look at it and then plan out my way to come down (as I did with every other physical fanagling that day). Well, when I got to the roots, my foot slipped and I ended up sliding down the slick roots on my stomach, feet first (probably the safest way). I kept thinking, as I was sliding, that I would catch myself and then I could figure out a safer way to lower myself, but that moment never came. It seemed like I slide forever, and it was pretty scary. Meaghan says she thought it looked to be 10 feet at least. I wish I'd taken a picture for proof.

I landed on my knees, shaking like crazy. My camera stayed in one pocket, but my cell phone and ID flew out of the other. Thankfully Mandy retrieved them, because my mind was going every which way and I probably wouldn't have noticed until much later. My legs, arms, and stomach were almost black with ground-in dirt. Dirt was crammed under my fingernails. Somehow my face and neck missed being scratched (Good thing my insticts said to keep my chin up!) but my legs are another story. It could have been much worse. I didn't break anything, and my scratches are shallow. I'm sore still from the bumpy ride, and bruises are starting to pop up (To my Europe friends: Remember the bruise Michelle had after running into the barrel at the winery? I have a bruise like that forming on my right leg, beside my kneecap. It's a hard lump of a bruise that is only now beginning to purple a little.), but it was probably a best case scenario. It was mostly just my pride that was injured. My legs looked like a 3rd grade boy's.

I know it's a story I'll probably laugh at later, and even today I can see some humor in it, but at the moment I was not in a great mood. Luckily we were at the end of the hike and the shower back at Rockcastle helped a lot. Enjoy some pictures!

Me, Sarah, and Mandy

This is after I got somewhat cleaned up in the public bathroom at the park, so not quite the full effect!

PS. We came back to find that Carl and Grace had returned from Disaster Relief, a day early than planned! It's good to have them back in the valley.

- Special shout-out to 4-year-old Ellie for her delightful phone call this afternoon! I DO get a cell phone signal here, so feel free to call or text.

- Lost AND gained a housemate in the span of a day. Mandy dropped off Meaghan at the airport this afternoon and brought back Lauren, the newest long-term volunteer who I haven't actually met yet. She's been unpacking all day.

Wore Out

What a busy day! We put out leftover school supplies for people who missed School Readiness sign-ups and everybody and their cousin wanted in on it. I think something like 35 extra kids were served today (in addition to the near-100 served on Tuesday. Was it only THIS Tuesday??)

The most emotionally draining incident happened early in the morning, less than an hour after coming in. A young woman came in wanting help with the past-due amount on her electric bill. She'd just got her child support check that morning (her only income). Added to the $50 CAP could provide she'd just cover the past-due but didn't count on the reconnect fee. Well, CAP can't help out financially if the participant can't assure that the power will be turned back on. When I told her that she needed to come up with $137 more she started crying. As she wiped away tears she told me about her young son - She was glad he wasn't at home when the power was shut off so she wouldn't have to explain it to him. She told me about food rotting because she could only store a little food in her neighbor's fridge. Worst of all, her landlord was coming by in the afternoon, and disconnected power meant an immediate failure and eviction. I didn't know what to say to her. I don't know what any of that is like, and although I try to put myself in that position, I really don't have a clue as to what any of that feels like. Thank God that she went outside and called her grandmother who agreed to loan her the money for the reconnection fee. After I gave her the check she hugged me and said "God bless you" but I didn't feel very good about myself. I felt out of place mostly.

Needless to say, it was a busy day, like most days. We left work a couple hours early, since we worked so long yesterday. When I got back to the house I had a couple cards waiting for me from some lovely friends. :) Keep them coming! I only saw three of my housemates this evening. Jen, Mandy, Karen and I had dinner and then Jen, Karen, and I went into town to get some postcards for Jen to mail back home, and we stopped by the IGA (where they have Ale-8 vending machines and one bottle costs 50 cents!) Random sidenote: While waiting for people I found a ton of Christmas cards and several dreidels in the computer room - as well as other random stuff like sidewalk chalk, floam, badmitton birdies, etc. So now I'm all set for Christmas cards! And Sarah from Mt Vernon House can teach us how to play with the dreidels. Tonight my three housemates and I went over to Mt Vernon House and watched Love Happens with some of the housemates over there. It has good soundtrack (Rogue Wave! Postal Service!) Tomorrow we may be hiking at Cumberland Falls or checking out the Little World Fair in Brodhead (apparently Rockcastle doesn't have a county fair, so this is the stand-in)

Thank you, Mom and Dad, for finally sending my camera! Pictures from tonight:

A Frat House for Jesus

How many hours did you work today? Know how many I worked? Almost 13! But I enjoyed it! I really like that I'm not stuck in an office (at least for the majority of the time). When you're out and about, doing things and seeing people, time goes by much more swiftly.

I didn't even set foot in the office today because Jenny and I drove straight to Gray Hawk (Jackson Co) a little before 8. It's about an hour drive. We spent the rest of the day working with the Jackson and Owsley caseworkers plus a couple other CAP volunteers from Educational and Recreational Programming. Jackson's School Readiness Distribution was today. They do theirs a little differently. Most of the volunteers shopped with a family, so I walked around a lot this morning, riffling through clothes, trying to find the right sizes and the styles the kids wanted. It was much more difficult than it probably sounds! It was nice to be one-on-one with the families. There were some really sweet families there today.

In the afternoon we boxed up the remaining clothes (way too many men's clothes!) and Julia came by with her sisters. Julia is the McCreary Family Advocacy caseworker. So now I've met all the Family Advocacy caseworkers in the Cumberland Valley region, except for one who works out of Clay. I'll meet her in a week or so when we have our big Family Advocacy meeting for both regions at Natural Bridge.

Jen's out of town currently so Jenny was hosting a group this evening. We made dinner (Mom, you wouldn't believe how much cooking I've done in the past 3 weeks) and facilitated a group discussion. The group of younger teens had been working with Elderly Services in the surrounding counties. Some of them really seemed to have been struck by their experiences. However, we also had a couple people - one girl in particular - who were extremely disrespectful and rude! This one girl kept interrupting and was getting on Facebook on her phone, and even told her mother and grandmother (grandmother!!) to be quiet. I was shocked! Jenny and I kept looking at each other like "What the heck?!?" It was awkward and uncomfortable... But, like I said, there were some kids who seemed genuine about their experiences and shared those with us.

Before dinner I was talking to one of the adults about how I came to CAP and she told me that her mother, who is 70, became a missionary after her father died just about 7 years ago. She'd always wanted to do it, and finally she had the opportunity. I said it was great that she knew what she wanted to do and knew her passion, because I don't know mine exactly. The woman said I'd find it one day, but I hope I don't have to wait until I'm 70!

During dinner the kids kept asking me questions. Basically it all boiled down to: Why are you here? It was a slightly challenging conversation to have. Although I feel like I've "explained myself" several times to different people, this time I was really listening to my answers and getting some insight into things. I told them about how I had this plan for the rest of my life (essentially) but I began to realize that I wasn't sure I wanted to live that life. I wanted adventure. Life here is an adventure everyday. But I was terrified because I was on this track and was scared of the unknown. I'm glad I got off that track because I've been learning and growing so much here and in ways I didn't even think about until I came. I didn't realize this was a "weird" or "unusual" thing to do until people started to say so.

One big misconception from the kids was our living situation. I honestly think they thought we lived in shacks without running water. When explaining our community living I told them it was like living in a frat house.... for Jesus.

And because I didn't blog on Wednesday, here's what happened:
In the afternoon, Ross (a Housing crew leader from Jackson) came to Rockcastle and Jenny, Robyn, Ross, and I went to Jim and Reecie's house (the elderly couple that can't hear and gave us blackberries) to assess what Housing may be able to help them with. It was a nice visit, and Reecie even gave one of her quilt's to Ross (His wife had a baby not long ago.) And of course Robyn and Ross each left with their own gallon of blackberries!

I'm hoping to get hearing aids for Jim and Reecie through the Starkey Foundation. I heard about it because of my Aural Rehab class (so there WAS a point to going to class all those long nights!) There is a bit of cost involved (I have no idea where the money's going to come from) and a lot of moving pieces, so there's no guarantee, but I'm really really hoping I'll be able to help them out! Say a little prayer that God will provide!!

School Readiness Distribution and House Meeting

Today was the Rockcastle School Readiness Distribution. Jenny and I got to First Baptist Church at 8:20-ish and there were already about 15-20 people waiting in line. Luckily we didn't have much set-up to do. Robyn and Amy (CAP Volunteer Recruiter and former Family Advocacy/Outreach long-term volunteer) came shortly after and we got underway. I was working the backpack area. It was fun to see some kids get excited picking out their bags. My personal favorite would be the 1st grader who got the Superman backpack (complete w/ cape). His grandma told me he was an honor student. I joked with some of the little boys, trying to get them to pick pink or purple backpacks. Of course there were some difficult moments where a couple kids didn't like any of the bags we had and pouted about it. Even a couple of parents got that way! But overall it was a good experience, and we were all pretty tired by 11:30.

We had a ton of clothes still left over. It's almost overwhelming! Looking at it I started to think of who we could give it all to when it dawned on me, WE are the ones who people give it to! Like, we're not going to give these clothes away to the Goodwill, we ARE the Goodwill! (Not really, but you know...) Crazy!

I did help one little girl with clothes. She was super cute and sweet. She was going through all these dresses, even pulling out ones that I was sure would be either too big or too small. When I mentioned this, she said she could "make any dress fit," explaining that she sometimes has to wear things that are too big. The honesty of this statement struck me sad. She said she couldn't wait til her dad came home from work and saw the pretty outfits she had picked out. It reminded me of the "fashion shows" Carol and I would have for Dad after a day of shopping.

I came home this afternoon to Brianda's neatly made bed, which is unusual. I found out that Brianda left for home today because her ankle (which she broke on Saturday) was not healing properly. It's nice to have a room to myself again, but I'm sorry to see her go so early on. And I know she didn't want to leave this early either. She was really enjoying her position at FLAC.

Tonight was my very first House Meeting, so Kiara (the Volunteer Life Manager for our region) came and made us a yummy dinner and we talked about community - the struggles and benefits. I do feel like I'm becoming more a part of the community, but with so many people (a few of whom work 2nd shift) coming and going it can be really hard to connect. So our challenge for the next few weeks is to have a conversation with all of our housemates (or as many as possible) in order to create opportunities for connecting. I know for a fact that living in this community is the hardest thing about CAP, b/c you are living with people that you have not chosen and of course there is always that one person that just rubs you the wrong way. So I'm dealing with that inwardly, but for the most part I have enjoyed getting to know my housemates (slowly but steadily I think). It's just very different to go from Brescia and Owensboro, where I already had very established friendships, to Rockcastle where the environment is .... just very different for some reason.... I can't really say why right now. But I look forward to the challenge Kiara presented us with!

Front Page News: Stolen Moss

News from the front page of the Mt Vernon Signal: Several dozen bags of stolen moss were discovered! Stolen moss? Yes, and it's a federal offence since this moss happened to come from Daniel Boone National Forest. The short news blurb said that moss is "often used in floral arrangements" and can sometimes be "of some value." hmmmm... Charges are pending for the perpetrator.

Other things that happened today that didn't make the front page:

- A 20 year old girl poked her head in the door and quietly asked for some toilet paper. Her mother passed away last December, and she is raising her brothers, one of which is actually older than she is. She's a waitress at the truck stop diner. She told Jenny that the next time she came she'd "fix you something special."

- We delivered a mattress and boxsprings to a couple named Chillit and Flo. They live in a rough trailer park behind the IGA. Across the gravel road, a skrawny boy stood watching us in red underwear. Later his mother came out and stared at us too. It seemed like a look of distrust.

- Did an EA (Emergency Assistance) mostly by myself. Set up for School Readiness Distribution tomorrow (lots of loading and unloading - backpacks, boxes of clothes and books, etc). Let down by The Bachelorette.

Every Changing Move

Today has been a nothing day - one of those days where you lose track of time and have nothing much to show for it. I'm feeling blah anyways because Olivia left this morning. I miss her already! I can't believe she won't be dancing into my room to talk anymore, or doing bad Paula Deen impressions with me, or calling me for dinner. I will always remember her big smiles, the way she dances when she's standing still, her stories about her mom complaining about "damn Yankee drivers", and the day we were surprised by two huge spiders. I didn't really get to know Olivia until my second week here (the first week was such a huge transition), and I wish we could have had more time together, but then I remembered that originally I wasn't going to come to CAP until August or September, and I would have missed her completely!

Other than seeing Olivia off, the only thing I did today was go to Mass at Our Lady of Mount Vernon (right next door to my office). It was definitely different from CTK or Brescia. First of all, there were only like 35 people there! And several were visitors! (Renfro Valley is in full swing this hot and humid weekend). The priest was a pretty good homilist (not quite as good as Fr Larry though!), but the singing was so awkward. They used a CD and just sang along to a strange sounding praise-and-worship guy. Just not what I'm used to at all... and they sang different songs that I'd never heard (isn't it funny about things like that? They use the exact same hymn book as every other Catholic church I've been to and yet I've never heard these songs!) so I couldn't really sing along anyway. I think I'll try Berea's Catholic church next weekend (same priest does ALL the Masses in this area, so it's a good thing I like his style!)

After Mass a few people came up to me to talk. This one family was just visiting (on their way to Lake Cumberland), but the parents were both former long-term volunteers and the husband actually had my job! So it was cool to talk to them. They kept asking if so-and-so still worked at CAP and which houses were in use and the like. They told me they met through CAP and I was tempted to tell them that the only boy living in the valley currently is retired! haha. The husband was sooo excited to talk to me about CAP. I think he really misses it. At one point he looked at his wife and was like "Maybe we can stop by and see so-and-so." The wife pointed out that they had to leave on Sunday and no one would be in the office during the weekend. I said (half-jokingly, half-not) that they could come by the volunteer house because we were "just hanging out". The husband got a nostalgic look in his eye, smiled and almost sighed, saying, "Yeah, just hanging around, playing cards..." and I knew he was remembering all the good times he had as a volunteer and the friends he had made. I hope I can be as lucky! The wife started to tell me that "Kentucky gets in your blood" and you don't want to leave and always want to come back, but then she interrupted herself and said, "But, of course, you're a Kentuckian, so you know all that!" I don't have a clear view on it, since I've only ever lived in Kentucky, and I don't know if everyone feels this way about their home state, but there does seem to be something about Kentucky that keeps pulling people back.

So my first housemate is gone. As she fights the gravitational pull of Kentucky so she can return to her studies, I prepare for this lifestyle of fluctuating housemates. We are gaining a new long-termer next Sunday (as well as losing another short-termer). In the words of a song I've recently discovered and fallen in love with, "I'll follow you and every changing move" - the "you" of course in this situation being God!

A First for Me and Olivia's Last Day

"What did you learn today, little one?" Jenny asks me as she and Lucas chop vegetables for dinner.

It was a day of experiences! Today was my first day alone in the office. Totally alone. Jenny was out east, Brenda doesn't work on Fridays, and Robyn was taking a vacation day. So it was just me in the whole Family Advocacy side of the Williams Street office. I spent a good chunk of the day reading through the training manual and fielding phone calls about Christmas Basket sign-ups and air conditioners. (One woman had some relatives pick up her A/C at the office today and within the hour her kin were calling about getting one of their own!) But I also had some interesting experiences with a shipment of socks (6 huge boxes), a man wanting a bed, and a man wanting me to help with his disconnect which was going to happen Monday at 8 am (and he called at 4:15 on a Friday!) So yes, I learned a lot today, as I do everyday!

My housemate Karen got back from Disaster Relief today, but Meaghan is still out in Pike County until Wednesday, and Carl and Grace (both of the Mt Vernon House) are staying until next weekend! Karen says it was brutally hot which I can imagine. It's been in the 90's and super humid the whole week, but that's Kentucky summer for you! Apparently Carl, Meaghan, and Grace are all loving it out there. I would be dying!

This evening we went to dinner at a small diner in town (near my office) as a sort of send-off for Olivia. She has been wanting a Vanilla Coke for some time and finally got one tonight. I'm so sad that Olivia is leaving tomorrow morning! She is my first housemate to leave. Although I've only known her for just under two weeks, I'll surely miss her cheerfulness and taste in music. She has promised to send me some mix CDs when she gets back to North Carolina.

On the sidebar you will notice the addition of the "Evolving Housemates" list. Let's see how many people I will have lived with by the time my 11 months are up. For the sake of clarity, I'm only counting people who lived in Rockcastle House (not Mt Vernon House, although I do consider them housemates-once-removed) and short- and long-term volunteers (not prospectives who only stay for a couple days at most).

I think one of the most confusing? weird? interesting? things about my living situation is that I live Kentucky in a house full of people not from Kentucky. Aside from Jay Jay and I, everyone else is from somewhere else, and most aren't from the South at all. Today some of the housemates were teasing me and Jay Jay for the way we pronounce things like crayon (crown), tour (tur), and the like. But before it diverged into that conversation we were talking about the stress that comes with service. It's very easy to help someone that you like, but it is a real test of Christian character to help someone you don't care for - someone who you are almost positive is lying to you, or taking advantage of you. But I'm thankful for people like that, because it causes me to stop and look at my motives for service, to reassess my judgements, and to practice "cheerful giving"

I'll leave you with some kernels of wisdom from the training manual:

Rats and Bugs - When roaches get on you - be cool - shake them out of your clothes and get going.
Roosters - Cockfighting is very common in our culture but not a discussion topic.
Do not lose your sense of humor.

The last one is very important, I'd say!

Sermons, Forklifts, and Bluegrass

I don't know if my life is super interesting, or maybe I just find a lot of things interesting, therefore it seems more interesting to me. Either way, I see/experience things daily that I feel need to be recorded.

The day began with a package from a former pastor up north. In his letter he said he was including some things to be donated as well as the sermons he wrote while in the seminary. The letter was signed

"Our gov't in deep disarray,
In Him,
Ed"

hmmmm... that's the most interesting valediction I've ever seen! And I have no clue what Family Advocacy is going to do with a stack of sermons...

Jenny was in Robyn's office this morning, so I had the privilege of answering the phone when Rich called! Rich and Barb are a retired couple who are Kentucky natives, former long term volunteers, and regular short term volunteers. Jenny told me that they come every year for several weeks to help with Christmas Baskets. I've heard only good (and funny) things about them and I can't wait to meet them in a few months! I talked with Rich a little, and found out that he once played in a scrimmage with the great Mad'villian Frank Ramsey!! Small world...

If you've been following my blog, you should know that I love my job. But sometimes I feel upset when we can't help someone. I think it's a job that really attracts people who want to help and make a difference, so when you can't help someone or change their position it becomes very frustrating. Not that it happens often, but today a woman came in who had just lost her home and was trying to find a place to live. As an organization, CAP just doesn't have the resources to help this woman. It's hard to sit there, looking at this woman who tells you she hates to ask for help but doesn't know what else to do, and you have to tell her you can't help her. Jenny did give her hygiene supplies (which we have quite a bit of). The woman was so appreciative. I liked her, and I really hope that one of the other organization in the county is able to get her some housing. There's just not much here! There's CAP and the local churches (with very limited funds) and one other human services organization (which seems to be limited in similar ways to CAP). Appalachia is the poorest area of the country.. why don't we have more here for people??

After the woman left, Jenny and I went down to Op Share for the third time this week. That's got to be a record! The drive takes about an hour one-way, so it takes a bit of time, but not too terrible. This time we took Robyn's CAP truck so the fridge would fit. Dominic, one of the warehouse guys, helped us secure the fridge, and although I trusted him, it didn't look very sturdy! Jenny and I joked on the drive back about the fridge toppling over, but luckily that didn't happen!

Can I just add: What amazing things you can do with a forklift! There are some seriously skilled forklift drivers in the Corbin Op Share.

This afternoon we delivered the stove and fridge to the family. Jenny had to drive out east right after lunch, but thankfully, Kevin, a CAP employee, happened to be around, so Robyn and I had some extra help. I'm sure he regretted it, because he ended up doing all the work pretty much! Another reason he may have regretted it was because I got us lost and the 15-30 min trip ended up being 2 HOURS! Oh, I got so turned around on those backroads! And we were in two trucks (me with the stove in my truck, and Robyn and Kevin following in her truck with the fridge), with no cell phone service, weaving around backroads looking for this trailer park. I was afraid the fridge would topple over during some sharp turn. But we did find the place eventually and get everything delivered. The woman was very happy and her mini collie was adorable.

Then tonight the house got pizza from this local place called Shaker's and got to go w/ FLAC to one of the Renfro Valley barns for free and hear some bluegrass/old time country music. Not really my style, but nice to get out of the house.

Olivia just left my room after being in here for a couple hours. According to her she just came in to play a French pop song for me and ended up staying much longer. haha. I will miss her! She's leaving Saturday, so tomorrow we're going out to eat in Mt Vernon and watching Titanic (which we found on VHS in the Rockcastle House video collection). Housemates coming and going... who can understand it but those of us living it!

Appliances and Fleas

Just a note: Originally I wasn't planning on posting so frequently, but I find that so many interesting things or memorable things happen on a daily basis. It also will help me to remember this whole year if I post frequently. Read at your leisure! :]

This morning we drove down to Op Share to pick up a stove and fridge for a family in Rockcastle. Jenny drove which was lucky because it poured buckets the entire time we were on the interstate. Visibility sucked with all the fog and driving rain. Once we got down there the rain had stopped (lucky for us!). Unfortunately the fridge wouldn't fit into the back of the truck since it has that camper/hood over the bed. A new life lesson I learned today: if a refrigerator is turned on its side, it needs to be upright for 24 hours before being plugged in and used. And the old ones aren't supposed to be tilted at all.

Since it was an old fridge, we had to leave it and just take the stove. Tomorrow we're driving down in Robyn's (open bed) pick up to get it. Because we were waiting to deliver the stove, we instead did a follow up home visit to a participant. This participant had received one of the air conditioners Family Advocacy was distributing in the early summer. She told Jenny over the phone that the house had been infested with fleas, but she had put down sawdust to deter them.

As we walked up to the house, the husband greeted us, just as nice as could be, but fleas? I wasn't sure I wanted to walk inside. The husband went outside to work on his truck, and Jenny and I talked with the wife. She was sitting on the couch with a cigarette in hand, big smile, and small tattoo on her forearm reading: Elvis Lives. A layer of sawdust was prevalent throughout the house. The woman showed us her legs, covered in scratched sores from the flea bites. She said she had relegated the dogs and kittens to the porch, still, I kept imagining I could feel fleas crawling on my bare legs as I sat on her couch.

The house was cool thanks to the window air conditioner CAP provided. The woman was very appreciative. She also told us she was trying to quit smoking because the doctor told her that if her lungs were a gallon of milk, only 1/8 of it was getting any air... or something like that. She was late-middle-aged and said she'd been smoking since the age of 9.

The day ended early since Jenny has to drive to McCreary County tonight to speak to another group. Spread the Good Word: ELVIS LIVES!

A Prayer on the Hill

This evening I walked up the monstrous hill beside our house. (Pictures to come!) I was hot and felt gross, but the scenery was beautiful. I stood at the top of the hill and looked around the valley - the blue sky and pink clouds, the moon, the hills covered in Queen Anne's Lace - thinking vaguely of this quote from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn:

"Dear God," she prayed, "let me be something every minute of every hour of my life. Let me be gay; let me be sad. Let me be cold; let me be warm. Let me be hungry...have too much to eat. Let me be ragged or well dressed. Let me be sincere - be deceitful. Let me be truthful; let me be a liar. Let me be honorable and let me sin. Only let me be something every blessed minute. And when I sleep, let me dream all the time so that not one little piece of living is ever lost."

So many times we go through life without realizing the beauty around us until we start to see it slip away. I hope that I can continue to see the beauty around me throughout my 11 months and not just during the first and last. I don't want to wake up in 10 or 11 months and try to squish all my living into my last few weeks in Renfro Valley.

In other news, I began my AmeriCorps paperwork today, and Jenny had her exit interview, so I was alone in the office for an hour or so. Of course that's when everyone decided to call or just drop by! An elderly man (by the name of Virgil, or "Virg") called me because his power had been disconnected and he was "meltin' here." Have you ever surprised yourself by doing exactly what needed to be done, even when you thought you didn't know how? Ultimately, I did have to wait until Jenny was out of the meeting to come to a final decision because there were issues with his SSI amount, but still, I knew what to ask and look for. That made it easier when a woman dropped by to sign up for School Readiness (2 months late, and a week before distribution). I pulled out the Family Advocacy application, took a look at her food stamp letter and went to town. Naturally, I have to give major props to Jenny who taught me all this.

First Week Recap

Monday - Jenny and I drove an hour to Jackson County (one of our neighboring counties) to prepare backpacks for school readiness. The caseworker for Jackson is having some surgery done, so we were just helping get things ready while she was gone. A family from Pennsylvania donated a ton of school supplies and helped us stuff backpacks. We also made hygiene bags to include.

Tuesday - We drove back to Jackson Co again and continued to stuff backpacks with the help of the Pennsylvanians. By the time they left, right before lunch, we were all done with backpacks for both Jackson and Owsley County. For the rest of the workday, we sorted through donated clothing to be given away during the school readiness distribution. That week the Jackson Co CAP center was hosting a youth group from Ohio while they were doing some housing repairs with CAP. Sr. Robbie, who is in charge of Christian Partners, was on vacation, so Jenny was filling in for her, explaining to the group how they can help CAP when they go back to Ohio. For dinner we cooked Pizza Casserole (a delicious CAP classic) for the group. Needless to say, we didn't get back to Rockcastle County until 8pm, putting me at 11.5 hours worked! (with 30 mins for lunch)

Wednesday - This was the first day I actually stayed in Rockcastle County for the whole day. Robyn, my program manager, had me fill out a lot of the necessary paperwork. Jenny took a prospective volunteer on a house visit. Meanwhile, Robyn showed me how to do a vehicle check (I now know how to check all the fluid levels under the hood!) and I got to drive her CAP truck around town a little bit. It was my first time ever to drive a truck! I was so nervous, but very proud of myself. When Jenny and the prospective got back, we all went to a nice little Mexican restaurant in Mt Vernon (not quite as delicious as El Bracero, but I'll always be biased). That afternoon, I folded and stuffed letters about the school readiness distribution - just like working as a student ambassador!

Thursday - I can't remember too much of what happened on Thursday. I do remember that Jenny drove me around the county and a lot of the backroads after we delivered a bed to a family. We probably drove around for 3 or 4 hours. We stopped at this little store outside of Livingstone called the Rock Castle Trading Co. The Carloftises, the family that owns it, are pretty prosperous and prominent in the community and they live next to the store. One of the son's is a professional (and apparently highly sought after) landscaper, so they have all these beautiful gardens behind the shop. Also in the backyard is the river. It's very lovely, and anyone driving through should check it out. Although we didn't buy anything, Mrs. Carloftis welcomed us, asked us where we were from, and offered us cookies and lemonade. She also encouraged us to walk over to her house and see their gardens. Unfortunately I forgot my camera in Manitou, so I don't have any pictures, but hopefully I'll get to visit again and take some pictures to post. You can learn a little more about the store and gardens here.

Friday - The highlight of the day was going on a home visit out near Lake Linville. The elderly couple are participants of the food pantry, and Nancy, one of my housemates who works in the pantry, felt that they could be served through our Emergency Home Improvements (EHI). The trailer sits on the side of steep hill, covered by a huge garden which attract butterflies. The front door of the trailer faces out toward the lake, so you have to walk down the hill and around the trailer to get to the front steps. The wooden stairs were steep. Lose your balance and you would fall off the steps and most likely roll down the bumpy hill. The man's health is declining and he would like a ramp. The toilet in the bathroom is about to fall through the floor because the trailer's underpinnings have gone bad. The whole living room was filled with a quilting machine. The woman is an avid quilter. She showed us all the quilt tops she had made within the past few weeks. She had dozens! Probably 40 or 50. She said she just sews and sews when she's mad (and currently she and her husband are refusing to speak to each other). So Jenny talked with the husband while the wife showed me her sewing room. I told her about my quilt and she told me to come over any time of the day or night and she would help me. The funniest thing about the situation was that both the man and woman are very hard of hearing, so we all had to yell at each other to be understood. Before we left, the woman pulled two gallon sized ice cream tubs full of blackberries out of the freezer. They were huge! She said she picked them herself from the garden. She poured them into two plastic bags for Jenny and me to take home. That afternoon, I had my official driving test with Robyn and I passed. So I can now drive my CAP truck!

Saturday - Some of the housemates from both Rockcastle House and Mt Vernon House (across the street) drove an hour and a half to Natural Bridge State Park. Although I've lived in KY for over 22 years, I'd never been to the Natural Bridge. We hiked around - up to the bridge and over it, and then to a few other look out points. Some members of the Johnson House (on the east side) joined us. Once again, I didn't have my camera, but I stole some pictures from my housemate Mandy.

Sunday - Carl, from Mt Vernon house, came over and said that there had been significant flooding in Pike County and that Disaster Relief was assembling. The phone was ringing off the hook and everyone was rushing around getting ready to leave or trying to help people get ready to leave. Two of my housemates and two people from Mt Vernon went with Disaster Relief. It was also a busy day because we got two new housemates who are both staying for a month. One is my roommate and she is from Pennsylvania. So now our house contains 11 people! I got to see Rainbow Respite (the center for adults with special needs) since one of the new girls is volunteering there. Olivia made blackberry cobbler (actually, 3 of them!) with all the blackberries I brought back (and there are still more left over!) and we watched a movie.

And today? Well, today Jenny and I did some office stuff, and I drove us to Op Share (Operation Sharing - a big warehouse with a lot of donations, especially corporate donations) in Corbin. We were picking up some more school readiness supplies. I've never dealt with so many boxes of crayons in my life!

So things have been busy here to put it lightly!

PS. Tonight I got to go down to FLAC (domestic abuse shelter) with Olivia and Mandy and play with some of the kids before watching the Bachelorette over at the Mt Vernon House!

The Next Chapter Begins

Hey, yall! My name's Lynn and I'm serving as a full-time, long-term volunteer with the Christian Appalachian Project in eastern Kentucky for 11 months. I've started this blog to keep my family and friends updated with all the things I'm doing here in Appalachia. Today marks my first full week with CAP and, in some regards, it already feels like I've been here for months!

I'm from western Kentucky, born and raised in Madisonville, graduated from Brescia University in Owensboro in May with my bachelor's in Speech Pathology and Audiology. Brescia really became my home for four years and I was heartily sorry to have to leave. A lot of factors went into my decision to serve with CAP. First of all, although I've lived in KY my whole life, I didn't hear about CAP until the Appalachian special on 20/20 back in April of '09. I started following the blogs on CAP's website and started thinking about volunteering after finishing grad school.

Well, around Thanksgiving of '09 I attended a lecture on campus presented by Tori Murden McClure who was the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic. That's putting it lightly... this woman has done everything! If you ever get the chance to hear her speak take advantage! McClure has worked at a homeless shelter and a camp for adults with special needs. She has a Master's of Divinity from Harvard, a Juris Doctorate from U of L, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding. She and another woman were the first women and first Americans to ski across Antarctica to the South Pole. And I'm sure I'm forgetting some things! (Oh, and currently she's the president of Spalding!) The life she spoke of reminded me that that was the life I wanted to live. I want to do so many different things... and many times those things seem to contradict themselves. Here was a woman who was making it all work somehow. Afterwards there was a reception. McClure walked by me and stopped close to me, but I was too star-struck to say anything. What I wanted to ask her was "How can I live like you?"

That night I spoke with Fr. Larry, the president of Brescia, and Todd Butler, my ministry professor. Fr. Larry had got it in his head that I was applying for CAP immediately, and Butler agreed. (His wife had been a CAP volunteer.) I kept trying to protest, but the more we talked the more I began to realize that if I didn't do this now I may never have the chance. I had already planned out the next few years: go to grad school, get a job. But I wasn't sure that was even the life I wanted. As Fr. Larry said, I was "operating based on fear." It's true. But I also didn't want to wake up, 40 or 50 years old, without the opportunities I have now.

So I made the leap of faith, stopped applying to grad schools, and interviewed with CAP. I originially thought I'd serve in the Child and Family Development program, but fell in love with Family Advocacy. Here we are now! I arrived at the Rockcastle House in Mount Vernon, KY (Renfro Valley) on Sunday, July 11th as the new Rockcastle County Family Advocacy caseworker. I love my job! Jenny, the out-going caseworker for Rockcastle, is still here until August, so she's training me. It's a huge blessing to have her here to show me the ropes. I'll really really miss her when she's gone!

I'll try to post again tomorrow and recap my first week activities. It'll probably be another long post, but after that I'll try to keep these things more succinct!