My first day back to the Y went smoothly though I just keep adding things to my to-do list: grant writing, recruiting volunteers, making email lists, starting our compost etc etc. It's just me besides the after school staff--Courtney's at a conference for a week and Andy is in Africa until February. It feels strange with them gone, but I'm being put on the pay roll this week, so I'll be rolling in the dough (comparatively). One of the 12 year old girls who always hangs out with me in my office came into the Y today, realized that I came back and exclaimed, "Oh my god, Amanda's back," came barreling towards me and almost knocked me off my chair with a ginormous hug. It made my day, especially since it turned out to be a hard one. Word on the street is that a family of kids who are Y regulars were taken by the state today. This will make a total of six kids who have been taken away since I moved out here (which was six months ago to this day by the way--can you believe it? In some ways it feels like I've been out here forever and in some ways it feels like I just moved in). This is one of the hardest parts of the job--connecting with kids who are here one day and gone the next, with no warning. Some return when their parents finish parenting class or are taken out of foster care to live with extended family, but only time will tell.
Words of Wisdom
When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully everyone is blessed. --Maya Angelou
If you judge people, you have no time to love them. --Mother Teresa
I do it for the joy it brings, cause I'm a joyful girl. 'Cause the world owes us nothing, we owe each other the world. --Ani Difranco
If you judge people, you have no time to love them. --Mother Teresa
I do it for the joy it brings, cause I'm a joyful girl. 'Cause the world owes us nothing, we owe each other the world. --Ani Difranco