Bleary North Dakota

Happy day after Thanksgiving! Hopefully the turkey induced slumber was good. Mine, well, not so much - last night I watched Amityville Horror. Let me start at the beginning...

Instead of going home for Thanksgiving (which I have never done since I went to college) I headed up to my dear friend Brendan's house. I absolutely adore his family and it was great to be able to spend time with him and his family. Now that he has moved to The BIG Apple (google the term sometime, what you will find is very interesting) I don't get to see him as often. There was a big get together at his aunt and uncle's house with so much food and so many pies that it was hard to get a handle on. Good food, good friends, good fun!

After plenty to eat and some heavy duty relaxing, we headed home to play Catch Phrase. What a great time! Sad to say, Brendan, Maria (B's sister) and I lost to the parents and James (B's brother). That's okay though, I kicked some serious butt during Monopoly against James the night before (not without a little help from a "financial advisor"). We then proceeded to watch Amityville Horror and after being scared out of my wits, Sex and the City. It was a late late night...

I headed back to Fargo this morning after a very short trip up north. I got back to town expecting snow on the ground (I was warned by someone from work) only to find that Fargo had not plowed the roads at all. ARGH! As I was taking a nap (still turkey in the system?) I was rudely awakened by heavy pounding and crap falling onto my face from the celing. Don't ask me what was going on, but the nap was not nearly long enough!

At any rate, I was inspired by Thanksgiving. Things are starting to come full circle for me in regards to my life as an AmeriCorps *VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America). In my position as a VISTA I am working to eliminate poverty along with 6,000 others. Probably the easiest way to describe being a VISTA is like the Peacecorps domestically. Organizations, mostly non profits, can get a VISTA. There is a process involved but we don't need to go there. At any rate, the goal of a VISTA is to work with the organization to get a program set up and after three years the program should be sustainable within the organization. The Corporation for National and Community Service pays our living stipend. (If you noticed the volunteer in VISTA then you will realize that I don't get an income, but rather a stipend.) The organization will receive our services and knowledge for one year to work with the program. For myself, it is only a one year commitment, but the organization will have a VISTA for three years. I will come back to being a VISTA in future posts.

The day before Thanksgiving I was at my staff meeting at the YWCA. That's my sponsoring organization. The YWCA where I work has both a childcare center as well as an emergency shelter for women and children. We were going around the table talking about our individual positions and what was going on with them when one of the case managers at the shelter was talking. She said that we are giving out almost double per day of food baskets. That is a lot of people that are hungry and looking to feed their family. I've never known what it is like to be HUNGRY. I mean yes, I know what it is like to have a grumble in my tumble, but not actual hunger. I have the means to purchase food, even if money is tight sometimes, not to mention that I have my parents to fall back on if necessary. Some people that are hungry just don't have these options like I do.

So instead of focusing on the food (that was delicious) and how full I was after dinner, I thought about the people in my life. I did a mental inventory of the people who are making a difference in my life every day. I also thought about the girls in the program that I work with and how much I enjoy spending time with them. If I can be a role model to them and make a difference in their life then I know my year as a VISTA will be well spent.

Today I am thankful for all the people in my life, the roof over my head and even Fargo. A little sentimental but it's important to take inventory every once in a while and remember what is important.

I'm going to leave you all with a little something (thanks to Laura for the idea!)...recipe of the day is Pomegranate Martinis (Rachel Ray on Oprah) and thank you to Brendan for introducing me to a new beverage. Quote of the day: "It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference." Tom Brokaw.