I don't know what to title this one.

Lit up palm at the "Festival of Lights" l 

Channel Four News Anchors

Kiss from Kai on our ride home to NJ

Sand masterpiece at the "Festival of Lights"

My little mentee, Iyana, doin the splits :)

I knew I spoke too soon.  You know when the impossible becomes possible and you think it’s just too good to be true?  But then you are convinced that miracles do occasionally happen so you then put all of your skepticism aside and start to celebrate the good news!  Well that’s when the evil miracle-thieves come out to play!  These sabotaging miracle-thieves blindside you, kick you off your high horse, and steal your miracles away!  Haven’t you realized that this type of incident happens all the time and is the root cause of your initial skepticism?  So haven’t you learned from your last robbery?  No, because underneath that constant layer of doubt there is an even thinner and just as constant layer of hope.  Well this thin layer of hope brought out the naiveté in me and allowed myself to be robbed of the only miracle I ever wanted and deserved.  Schmiane. Is. Back.

            Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating but hey, it made for a good intro right?  I know I’m overdoing it with the miracle snatching metaphor but it is true that she’s back.  It’s true that this news made my blood boil.  And it’s also true that I feel deceived because I was duped into believing that people actually did hear and care about our concerns as lowly VISTA volunteers.  But thankfully her VISTA position has been redirected and since she’s been back I’ve had very little interaction with her and she is officially no longer my supervisor.  I guess I can settle for that.  Besides what more can I do without stressing myself out to the point of stroke?  Nada.  In the words of a good friend, “Just roll with it.”

            On another note, the month of December was full of holiday excitement.  The “Lunch Buddy” mentoring program at Chicora Elementary School paid for a mentor/mentee field trip to the “Festival of Lights” on James Island.  Overall it was fun.  After a very loud bus ride there we walked around to all of the park’s festivities.  Seeing the holiday lights and decorations really stirred up some holiday enthusiasm in me.  I was officially getting in the holiday spirit.  Little did I know, this spirit had no chance of surviving the night once I stepped onto the big yellow school bus to return home.  Let’s just put it this way…twenty-five 2^nd – 5^th grade kids hopped up on sugar, waving seizure inducing strobing souvenirs, singing seven different holiday songs at once is no health benefit for, well, anyone.  All in all, it was fun as well as a night I soon won’t forget.

            Not five days later I was back with the Chicora kids.  I volunteered to help with administering the H1N1 vaccine.  I didn’t do the actual administering, I just helped to distract the kids while they received it.  I’m not gonna lie, it was kind of fun.  Some of the kids were not even fazed by the idea of a shot but others were absolutely frantic over the idea and acted as if we wanted to remove his/her limbs.  My friend Michelle told me that this experience was described by one of the nurses as “a good form of birth control.”  But being around all of those kids also sort of took me back to when I was a kid.  The older I get and the less I interact with kids the more I forget what it’s like to be one…like things I was afraid of and how easily distracted and gullible I was.  And so it goes. 

            Another interesting event I helped with was the “Healthy Holiday” at Zucker Middle School.  My friend Becky was primarily in charge of it and did an awesome job!  The event was open to the families of Zucker students and focused on how to prepare a healthy holiday meal.  Earth Fare donated the food and volunteer chefs came in to cook a healthy meal for its attendees and also demonstrated how to cook it.  I set up a diabetes information table and also invited a REACH employee to come and represent the organization.  The event was a hit and everyone seemed to be REALLY fascinated by the five pound of fat simulation I displayed at the table.

            On the fifteenth of December I became famous.  Yes! It’s true!  A big race and festival are coming to the Navy Yard (a.k.a. my neighborhood) in mid January so you can imagine how much publicity and how many volunteers one might need to pull this off.  Well, to do just that my friend Celia and I lent our services to Channel 4 news.  We answered volunteer telethon calls during the six and seven o’clock news.  The camera must have panned to us five or six times!  Haha so maybe I was forbidden to even look directly into the camera and probably can’t put that on my show biz résume but it was still a fun and seldom-occurring experience! 

            After this lollygagging with Chicora kids and basking in the glow of my television limelight I had to snap back into reality and get down to brass tacks.  Christmas was around the corner and I vowed to myself that I wouldn’t wait until the last minute to buy gifts. AGAIN.  I put on my creative hat and decided to make my gifts!  To achieve this I decided to learn how to make jewelry and apple butter!  Weird combo I know but somehow it seemed fun and fitting.  A few necklaces here, a bracelet and set of earrings there, top it all off with a jar of apple butter and voilà!  It was a very satisfying feeling to follow through with my plan!  Maybe if I’m poor like this next year I’ll be able to re-earn this feeling of satisfaction!  The end of the month was approaching and December twenty-second finally rolled around which meant it was time for my roommate Maggie and I to roll out for the holidays.  We packed the car, stocked up on Five Hour Energies, bid our farewells to Manley Avenue, and made our twelve-hour trek home to the Jersey shore!  My two-week break was much needed and though it flew by I enjoyed every minute of it.  My gifts were a success and it felt so good to be among family and friends.  I love you all and I hope to make it back soon!