December can be a great month at times, it can be awful sometimes, it can be a time for reflection, and it can be a time of frantic busyness. In just the first week of December I have already experineced all of thosee aspects of this month. Besides my typical activities (Nutcracker, MBA, school), I have added one more of intense physical demands.
For the last 3 years, my awesome mom has organized a event called: "The Great Giveaway", which is far too innocous a name for such a killer event. The premise is that there are people in the community who have too much stuff, and want to get rid of some of the stuff, and there are other who need stuff, and would be willing to take the unwanted things from the other people. Most people agree with that idea, and most fit into one of those categories, but connecting the two groups is the slightly tricky part, unless you are Elaine Hays, social connector extrodinare! How does the Great Giveaway impact me? Besides the couple of things I get (Jaws, in paperback!), I do a lot of the heavy lifting and moving for the GG, which can be hard. In previous years, this has not been too much of a burden, but with everything else I am doing, my body and mind are tired. (Small aside, Mom and I had a conversation about the GG. She was wondering if I liked helping with the GG, or if I disliked it, and she knew she could find out by reading my blog. If only my feelings about it were that simple, sometimes the work can be ardous, but seeing the results are incredible, the amount of blessing that can be given with just a little bit of work. Sorry Mom, no solid answer, you have to decide yourself!)
The event of note at the MBA today was quite cool really. Part of the MBA is what is commonly called the "Great Tidepool", an area that is sheltered from the pounding waves and easily visible from the MBA's deck. Today, two Sea Otters came into the pool, riding a swell. Not was this a great chance to see the otters up close, but also puzzling, because otters are typically shy animals. One of the other volunteers told me that one of the otters had been recently mated because her (it was a female based on this deduction) nose was red and swollen. I asked how that meant she had been mated, and he explained that the male Sea Otters grab the females by the nose. (Be thankful ladies!)
The previous paragraph about the GG was written on Friday, this is Monday. The giveaway is over, and things went great! 52 families went blessed, 5 couches, 3 TV's, 3 loft beds, 5 bikes, and 280 lbs. of produce were taken! This was a great year, lots of donations, lots of attendees! Well worth the hard work.
Church was good, don't know if I mentioned this, but I, along with one of the other youth, are going to be working on developing a youth-generated website. Very cool!! Once things get rocking with that, I will link to it. The Liberia meeting was really good, sounds like this will be a close team, really tight.
Today was clean-up from the GG, returning tables, a dolly, etc. Not too hard, but the funniest thing happened in the car. I was sitting in the front passenger seat, the 3 babies were sitting in the middle row, and Alex was in the back. All of a sudden, a pink marker (open, which just adds insult to injury) flew past my ear, and clipped my hair! With that, war broke out in the car! Markers, gloves, ice cubes, pretty much anything that would not hurt the target was being thrown. Mom and Beth were just sitting in their seats, and Mom was covering her drink, hoping to protect her ice.
Aside from hoping to recover from the GG, things are more or less back to status quo. This weekend we are going to Fresno to visit family friends, which should be great fun!
Have a great day!
More later!
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