Processing

Rereading my journal, I came across another excerpt to share. I'm not sure if anyone even reads my blog, even with it imported to Facebook. But if you do, that's great--if you don't, that's great, too.

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13 July 2007
11:22 pm

Something I want to remember from this summer: it's the little things that are most awesome. ASP staffers find joy in the strangest things, and I want to take that enthusiasm for life's little quirks home with me. Bubba at the h'ware store is awesome. Why? Because he has a mullet and wears plaid and knows everything. And the Webb's house is awesome. Why? Because they're so full of love, plus we just this week finished installing 4-60' girder beams under their floors. Awesome. I love how it's usually people that staffers find to be awesome--I want to find that back home, too. That wholesome, friendly, accepting feeling.

Surprising my church with a visit yesterday was also awesome. I'm so proud of my dad, how he told me he wishes he could take that "warm fuzziness" from ASP back home with him forever. He's grown, but I think still growing. It was really, really great to see all of them. Really great.

I don't want to write anything depressing. The... group... with St. M's was awful--to the point Howard didn't want to insult my "lady-like" ears with what the 20 year old GL was doing. Gross?

And Wild Cherry--the situation at [this particular] home is one I don't feel ready to confront. We're not working there anymore. I actually felt faint and nauseous hearing about it. The isolation of the mother--the 9-year-old girl's description of sexual abuse--the mother jaded by her own abuse--and there isn't anything we can do except report it to social services.

I'm not prepared to think about that.

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And to end on a happier note, here is something amusing that happened:

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20 July 07
12:47 am

This morning I woke up and realized that I had forgotten to take my laundry out of the dryer. Dammit. I went to retrieve it, only to discover that our staff liaison had folded it for me so that he could dry his own clothes. He folded probably better than I would have, I was impressed :)

But something was missing. Something rather awkward. I knew for certain I had put a pink bra in with that load. But where did it go?

Awkward.

So I thanked Ryan for folding my clothes, but then I had to ask him where it might have gone. He remembered it--he had put it on top of the towels, he said, to avoid touching it. Ok. So I went back to look for towels.

No towels. No pink bra.

But then, as I was looking around confused, Ryan met me in the laundry room and motioned for me to follow him. He led me to the kitchen.

"So I was eating pizza."
"Ok."
"And I had a napkin for my pizza and when I finished my pizza I went to throw it away and... look what I found." He pointed to the garbage can.

What the hell?

Awkward. But hilarious. Kristina and Ryan were wondering how we could make an announcement to the church group asking for the return of a missing bra... interesting possibilities, no? :)

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I later found out that our cook had found it on the floor in the kitchen and thrown it away, thinking it was some kind of prank. The assistant cook might have carried it in with the towels and dropped it en route to the cabinets? Who knows.