Busy Weekend

I had a wonderful weekend! Every day something good happened. On Friday, we had a short work day. All staff participated in a fundraiser called "Stuff a Truck," where we stood outside in cold grocery store parking lots, filling trucks with donations. Actually, "we" didn't all do that. I got a cushy job. I signed up for working at the phone bank, so I was warm and indoors the whole time. We were at Fox 5, collecting donations over the phone. They showed us on air like 5 times! Whenever they showed us, we pretended to be talking on the phone. As soon as they showed us, we'd get real calls. I was there from 6 AM - 10:30 AM. I wanted to start early so that I could get done early. As my roommate pointed out though, I came home and slept til 3 PM, so it was really only like getting out of work a few hours early.

That evening, I went over to a co-worker's house to dress up for her friend's party. They were hosting "Festivus," which is something from Seinfeld. There were no airing of grievances or feats of strength like the in the episode, but dressing up beforehand was really fun. I love wearing other people's clothes!

On Saturday, I finally got to a project that I'd been meaning to do. I decked out my bike. When we were in Goshen for Thanksgiving, Mom & Dad bought me a helmet, two bike lights, and a side mirror. On Saturday, I attached everything, putting a mount for the light on my helmet and on the handlebars. Plus I repositioned the back wheel and raised the handlebars. That evening I made a bike pouch for holding everything I need to patch a tube. I bought the one last thing I needed for the kit - tire levers (or wheel spoons, as I called them) - and attached the kit to the crossbar. Woo safety consciousness! I'm always proud when I can fix things or attach things myself. Tomorrow night I'm going over to a coworker's house to spackle a small spot on her wall... Anyway, I sewed the little tire kit in the evening while I sat in the kitchen with housemates. It was just what I needed - a nice night in, bonding time with the housemates, and baked goods (they were making soft pretzels).

On Sunday, I got up at 9:30 and worked nonstop on a super-long to-do list until 4:30. It was maniacal but satisfying. I had to stop because... Hugo arrived!!! Yes, he was visiting Randy Keener in PA, and they drove down for the night. We went out to eat with some housemates, and then met up with Hilary for salsa dancing. The place we went was aMAZing. There was a huge ballroom floor, room for dancing, really good dancers, and not-creepy people. Seriously, these dancers were so good. We stood on the side a lot and watched. But we danced too of course. It was a great night. We got back at midnight, and then I stayed up making a breakfast casserole for my guests, and my roommate and I stayed up talking after that. I'm paying for it today!

On Monday I worked at the farm, and the weather was unseasonably warm. It was in the 60's, and I ended up working in a tee-shirt. For lunch, I sat on a sunny knoll with the farm dog.

How wonderful was that clump of days!

By the way, here is a sweet article about our food culture, and our culture in general: www.ecoliteracy.org/publications/vandana_shiva.html