Finalizations and Celebrations

Ecclesiastes 3
" 1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace."


Well, yall, 'tis the end of my Atlanta adventure. I have had two solid months' worth of learning and leadership, service and sightseeing. The bittersweet end of both of my internships was compounded by the fact that it was my birthday this past Friday. An unfortunate epiphany presented itself: the older I become, the more goodbyes I have to say. What a bummer. However, the Lord has taught me a great deal about myself and the limits/freedoms of independence; the importance of exploration and "forging ahead"* (see note at bottom); and numerous other omnibus lessons.

In fine, I thank all of you who read this (even if no one did, I sure had a fine time figuring out a pinch of CSS to format this baby as well as composing each blurb!) and wish you the best. I am home now and excited to find new adventures. :) Take care and God bless!


One final noteworthy lesson from this Idiot's Guide:

Take the rented DVDs out of your DVD player before trying to return them.

I rented two films highly recommended to me which I hadn't seen before, Sleepless in Seattle and Out of Africa. Packing all my stuff up to head home and checking out of my apartment, I intended to swing by Blockbuster on the way back. When I got to the store, I suddenly thought it might be a good idea to check and see if the DVDs were actually in the cases--sure enough, Out of Africa was out. Ah-ha! I thought. Left it in the DVD player. Which, as Murphy's Law would have it, was at the bottom of the biggest box on the floorboards of my car.

When I unearthed the player and triumphantly pressed the Open/Eject button, nothing happened. My DVD player happens to require electricity to work, you understand. A very nice boy who happened to be on break from his job was watching my progress from the car over, and he suggested I just find an outlet. Honestly.

So I marched into Blockbuster, DVD-player under my arm, and explained the situation. The woman at the counter was absolutely impassive, as though these sort of kooks come in all the time. I plugged it in, the DVD shot right out, and all's well that end's well, eh? :)



*My family has a few time-honored rules for travel that I think yall may enjoy:

1. Forge ahead! (if you want to go see it, better do it now. you may not pass this way again, or it could be raining later.)

2. If there is an available restroom, go ahead and use it. (my family typically travels with a lot of kids.)

3. If it's free and not harmful, take it. (consequently i have a lot of maps in my car.)

12. If someone/something looks weird, just say "Rule 12 at 4 o'clock!" Everyone will surreptitiously stare at the spectacle, and the parents are spared the embarrassment of a child saying "Look at that crazy with the pink mohawk and tattooed cheeks!" (and yes, it's rule 12--my family is obviously not bound by the niceties of standard numerical order.)

There are more...but I'll have to just publish a book on 'em. It's in-progress now, a detailed, true-to-life-but-sprinkled-with-exaggeration annals of a marvelous family with many memorable characters.

Back to the abbreviated Idiot's Guide to Atlanta

Upcoming Publicity on CNN!

This morning I came in, proudly printed my latest project (46-pages of recipes for the Saturday/Sunday brunch, typed and edited in 1 day, booyah!) and went downstairs to deliver thank-you notes and sweets to the Cafe 458 staff. When I went into hallway, there stood 8 or so volunteers in aprons, lounging against the wall. They told me that because they were minors, they couldn't be filmed.

Filmed? I asked.

Yeah, they nodded glumly. You have to be over 18 and have signed a press release to be on CNN.

My jaw dropped--oh YEAH, someone did mention that a camera crew would be in the kitchen today. Why didn't someone notify me that it was a CNN crew?!

So I went back upstairs and didn't think more about it. NOT.

It suddenly looked as though the kitchen needed help (which they really did), as the majority of the volunteers were under 18 and barred from serving presently. I donned an apron and immediately went to taking orders--the regulars were glad to see that I was back, as I usually just help out on days when volunteers are short, my primary tasks requiring me to be upstairs in the administration offices.

When the crew exited to the next room for an interview with my boss, head chef Sara, the younger volunteers rushed back in and reclaimed my apron and restaurant pad.

The interview was great--I was in charge of noise control (really tough with 80-odd people in-and-out and 4 doors) and Sara continually smiled over at me for reassurance. She was worried afterwards that she rambled, but I thought the information she gave was meaningful and central to the mission of Samaritan House of Atlanta.

I was chatting with the anchorwoman and thought to ask when this interview would be shown. She told me that CNN would air this as a segment for Anderson Cooper's 360 show.

Awesome.

Anyhow, the camera crews will be back tomorrow, and even though today was technically my last day, you can be sure I'll be in before the rest of the volunteers helping Sara out. :) Oh, another early Saturday!

Take care and God bless, yall!

P.S. So I enjoyed being a year older for the first time today--I am hard-pressed to think of a better, more exciting present than witnessing a CNN crew for Anderson Cooper do a great segment on Cafe 458!

Back to the abbreviated Idiot's Guide to Atlanta