Falling through Fall

This past month has been quite busy, hence the lack of blog entries. Not busy in the sense that I’m used to being busy. I’ve been busy relaxing, playing, observing, and of course busy at work…but mostly busy thinking. Because I haven’t written in a while and I have so much to write, I’ve broken this entry into sections…. Enjoy!


Work

At work, the month started off with the departure of NR… which I can’t say that I’m overly disappointed about. She moved to a new facility that can hopefully give her more specialized care for her diabetes. With NR gone, the corner house now has an empty room…which I’ve often thought of moving into to dodge the mold spores growing in my house (only kidding, sort of). Now that there are only four people living in this house, with three of those four that either sleep most of the day or go to day programs, I have had a lot of time to be creative! LB, who is a very sweet woman who spends literally hours a day fussing with her hair and looking in the mirror, used to attend a day program, but is no longer eligible. Therefore, she spends most of her days watching TV, going for walks alone when she feels up to it, and napping. I thought it might be fun to do some arts and crafts with her, things she would normally be doing at her program. The first activity we took on was a fall leaf picture/painting of sorts. I collected the leaves and brought all the materials and showed her how to do the project. After the first one, she decided she would make one for everyone in her house and all the residents next door. Now, all the residents in both houses have a lovely leaf picture hanging on their wall. This past week I brought beads that we had lying around our house. She spent an entire day making a necklace and matching bracelet (that didn’t match at all). She now wears both everyday and says, “How ‘bout that…I still got it, don’t I?” After thanksgiving I’m planning on figuring out a way for her to make Christmas cards that she can send to her family. If anyone has any good arts and crafts ideas, I could definitely use the help!

I haven’t spent as much time in the other house lately, but I still make it over there most days to say hi, and I do have an occasional shift over there now and then. Although I miss them, it has been good to spend more time in the corner house.

My biggest highlight of the month was taking DB to a Halloween party at the school where Scott works. For weeks DB and I talked about the upcoming party and what we were going to be. My mom (who you all know as Susan) was lucky enough to take part in going to get DB her costume a week before the big day. DB decided she want to be a vampire, which apparently is her costume of choice every year. She walked around saying things like, “I want to suck your blood” and “I’ll bite your neck.” Although we were supposed to be running an eyeball on a spoon relay race for the kids, DB insisted that we dance most of the night. DB was quite the dancer, which you can see below. After I successfully loaded her up with sugar, I returned her to her house where she told Ms. G all about how much fun we had. Later in the week when asked what she had dressed up as she said, “I was vampire and all my crew were crayons.” It was a really fun night, and it was really nice to see DB get out of the house and have so much fun.





Home

Well, what can I say, my house is a piece. Just when I think things are getting better, something new comes up. This month we had several new developments. In one day, the health inspector came and wrote a violation to our landlord, and the plumber came and repaired leaks in our basement. These leaks, I’ll have you know, were coming from all the water sources in our house. Yes, that means the sinks, shower, and the TOILETS. Yep, gross. The health inspector’s violation stated that the mold needed to be removed within 14 days along with a few other things. Now, we are still unsure about what happens when Marlan (the landlord), doesn’t take care of things within fourteen days, which I’m positive he won’t.

We may also consider going into rent escrow, which would mean we would pay all of our rent to the court instead of to Marlan. Which sounds like a good idea, however, right now we are using rent money to make repairs, which we wouldn’t have if it was all going to the court.

Other than the house itself, home is good. I can’t say that I’m not frustrated with the house, but I am trying to maintain the other values that I signed up for with JVC despite my frustrations. I’m trying to think of ways to challenge myself, but I often find myself failing. I want to live simply and grow in my spirituality, but I’m finding excuses not to do so. And I’m wanting to be challenged by my community, but don’t necessarily know what that means right now, and I’m too tired to figure it out on my own.

Travels

This past month I have been lucky enough to get out of Baltimore and visit some nearby cities: D.C., Philadelphia, and Camden. I’ve also had some interesting travel experiences in Baltimore on my bike the past few days.


Towards the end of October, my mom was in D.C. for work and was nice enough to drive up to Baltimore to see me and take me back to her plush hotel room. While she was in meetings, I slept, worked out, showered, watched cable television… it was divine. I also had the chance to go to Arlington Cemetery, which I don’t think I’ve been to since I was quite young. It was a very moving experience, made even more special by the funeral procession I witnessed and the amazing colors of the changing leaves.



Last weekend me and my community traveled to Philadelphia and Camden for the day to celebrate a fellow JV’s birthday. Philadelphia was fantastic! I saw the Liberty Bell, among other sites. We were quite disappointed to find out that the LOVE sign in “Love Park” was much smaller than expected. However, we were quite satisfied with the famed “Philly Cheesesteaks”. Later that night we headed across the bridge to Camden. The Camden JV house was magnificent. They had clean carpets, three bathrooms, beautiful furniture, a huge kitchen, etc., etc., etc.. It made it a little difficult to return home.

As far as the bike travels go, I’ve had some interesting run-ins with fellow Baltimoreans lately. Last week some point I was just riding along, heading home, when a bottle of sorts flew across the street and landed on my back tire. I was a little confused at first until I got a few shouts from the men across the street. Then, yesterday, while riding in unfamiliar territory after a training session for work, I was told that I “Better stay out of Park Heights…blah, blah, blah.” I then looked around and realized I probably was in the wrong part of town. I pedaled a little faster and headed back toward the area I was more familiar with.

The next few weeks should be quite exciting. First there is Thanksgiving, which I will be spending with the residents at work. The day after thanksgiving my sister will be joining me in Baltimore for a couple of days. Then in December, the lovely Larkin Odell is coming to visit me! Then comes Christmas in Colorado! Hopefully I will be better about the blog writing… Hope you are all doing well, I would love to hear what you’ve been up to!

SCH