Sprain:(

So I went to the doctor's this morning to get my ankle checked out. On Wednesday, I tripped and landed on it funny and then when I was running on Friday, I stepped off the curb funny and felt something pop. There was no break or any fractures but I do have a nice sprain which is unfortunate. Not only am I walking around funny with it all wrapped up (no crutches for me at least), but now I can't run until it's better and I just started a challenge on Nike.com with Stephanie. Don't worry though Stephanie, I'll catch up, it'll just be a late start.

Our Talk...and my new shoes!

Our talk at Mercy High School went pretty well. We spoke for about 40 minutes and then answered a bunch of questions. We got some interest going for Mercy Volunteer Corps and it was a good experience. Last night we went and saw the movie Once which was very interesting and has a great sound track. I recommend it although I don't know how much longer it will be in theaters. Afterwards, we went out to a few bars in Oakland which was cool. Oakland is much busier compared to Sacramento and it was fun to see a new city and hang out with Mike and his roommates Julie and Rachel.
On our way back (which took forever because traffic was so bad) we stopped at the Vacaville outlets and I finally got some new running shoes. I needed new shoes really badly because mine are about 2 years old and my legs have really started to bother me. I have had a new pair in between my old ones but didn't bring them out here with me (I had pretty much run them into the ground). Anyway, because you're only supposed to put 300-400 miles on a pair of shoes and I've run about 350 just since Easter, I decided it was definitely time for new shoes. I spent a lot of time looking for some and finally found ones I liked today...and the best part was they were only $32!

Catch Up

I realized I hadn't written in a bit so I decided I'd get right on that. This past weekend was nice. Meghan went to visit her boyfriend down in Oakland and I decided to stay home and hang out. I caught up on all the Real World's online and Friday night hung out with the JVs. We went to a bar/restaurant for a bit but mostly just hung out at their house. Saturday was great. I woke up around 11 and went for a run then got back home, showered, put on sweats and stayed in them all day. I had planned on getting a lot of reading done but ended up taking a nice nap instead. Then I watched City of Angels for my first time. It was a good movie and I can't believe I hadn't seen it before.

Sunday we went up to Auburn, CA to the mother house for Mercy Day. The house is really nice and very large. It was a good day, there was a mass and then a lunch afterwards. Monday and Tuesday have been relatively uneventful. I went to a fair on Tuesday and Wednesday for Clean and Sober where I hang out and pass out information at work places in the hopes of raising funds for Clean and Sober. Tonight, Meghan and I are driving down to Oakland for the night and then to Santa Clara tomorrow morning to speak at a school about Mercy Volunteer Corps. It should be quite the experience speaking to an entire senior class of girls. We'll see soon enough.

Larry King Live!

Today a guy named Larry King came into the office. He's an old veteran who is homeless and comes in every once in a while to get some food or other things he needs. He has a very touching story and has even been written about in the paper out here. He sustained some injuries from the war and isn't quite all there. He gets around $1,000 a month for having been in the war but gives it all to the home that his wife lives in. He basically chooses to remain homeless so his wife can get the care she needs. He's a very sweet man and it's stories like this that help me get through some of the hardships every day. For example, a 16 year old came in today looking for help so we sent him to a more appropriate program for his age group. This reinforced for me how lucky I have been in life and things like this that happen every day help me realize why I'm here for this year.

Mexican Fiesta!

Wednesday night, we had a bunch of the Sisters of Mercy and some people from work come over for a potluck Mexican dinner. There were about 15 people all together and the food was delicious. I had never eaten a lot of Mexican food before and didn't even know what some things were so it was good exposure for me. I'll gradually be building up a strong liking for Mexican food. Last night, we went over to the JVC house for dinner. They made chicken, mashed potatoes and risotto and we brought salad. It was nice to hang out with them again and very nice of them to invite us and save us from cooking.

Tamale Festival

Today was the Tamale festival at Caesar Chavez Park. It was quite the day. People arrived at 6:30 AM to start setting up and making the tamale. For those from the East Coast who may not know because I sure didn't, a tamale is usually corn husks wrapped around corn meal (masa) with meat and stuff inside. Today, Clean and Sober was in charge of putting together the worlds largest tamale which ended up being 44 feet long! It is now in the Guiness Book of World Records. It was a great day, I had a lot of fun hanging out and getting to know all the residents a little more and I think that everyone had fun working together to accomplish such a great feat.

Governator

This morning I had to get up really early (we're talking 5:30AM) to go to the United Way kick off breakfast. Clean and Sober sets up a booth where we hand out pamphlets and try to get our name out there and raise some money. (Clean and Sober does not accept any government funding so all the money they get is from donations and fundraisers). I wasn't too upset about this breakfast because they were giving us food and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was supposed to be there. After standing at our table for almost 2 hours, we went into the other room for breakfast where we found out that the Governor would not be there in person but "live" on satellite (or something like that). It was a huge let down. Not only did I wake up before the sun was up but the governor wasn't going to be there, and to top it off, the food wasn't good. I ended up eating a mini blueberry muffin and then some Life cereal when I got home. So disappointing.

Side note: This picture was the closest thing I could get of Flat Katherine and the Governor. There are some more pictures of Flat Katherine and the adventures she has had here.

A little chubby

So in the office that I work in, they have AA and NA meetings daily at 10AM. Most days, this guy comes in who is about 5 feet 7 inches and maybe about 300 lbs...not exactly on the small size. Anyway, the meeting room tends to get a little warm with all the people in there so we usually turn the air up but yesterday, we forgot. Part way into the meeting the guy comes out to me and says, "could you turn the air up a little, it's a little warm and I'm a 'little chubby.'" It had me laughing for a while, he's a pretty funny guy and clearly very comfortable with himself.

chicken noodle soup

So my boss Manny broke his tooth and as a result had been living mostly on Jamba juice and soup. Today for lunch, he brought a can of Campbell's chicken noodle soup with the intention of eating it while on-the-go. He cracked open the can and was about to drink it when I said, "isn't that the kind you're supposed to add water to?" to which he replied, "I don't know, is it?" After dumping out some of the broth and drinking the noodles, he found that it was indeed the kind you should add water to. For everyone who is wondering, you shouldn't try the soup without adding water, it is disgusting (not that I tried it but I'll take Manny's word for it). This little lunch episode resulted in an immediate trip to Jamba Juice.

Weekend update

This weekend was pretty fun. Friday night, Meg and I went out with the intentions of checking out a jazz club but found that there was a cover, so as volunteers, we decided to search out the free place. We ended up at Hamburger Pattie which is more of a diner but there was karaoke which was very entertaining to watch. Saturday we ran lots of errands and went to Second Saturday at night. There was also a block party and we met up with some of the JVCs. After all the galleries were closed, we went to the JV house for a little bit then I went out to the Streets of London (our favorite pub). It was nice to hang out a little more with the JVCs and get to know them a little better.

Sunday we had planned on going to the beach so after I went to church, we headed out. I got directions of the website for beaches in CA so I thought we were all set. It should have been a two hour drive down towards San Francisco but it ended up being about 4 1/2 by the time all was said and done. The directions took us down this wicked curvy road that was on the edge of a mountain and was up and down. To add to the fun of the drive, we were low on gas towards the end and thought that on one up hill trip, our car would just stop. Luckily, we made it out of the mountains and ended up at a different beach than planned. Had we known better, we could have done the trip down in less than 2 hours-this we'll know for next time. Instead, we ended up driving a total of 6 1/2 hours over the whole day and spending only 3 at the beach. Oh well, I guess it will prolong the onset of skin cancer that much longer.

San Francisco

We had quite the weekend. On Saturday morning, we went to Gold Rush days which was a lot of fun. There's a part of Sacramento called "Old Sac" where Gold Rush days are held and they had dumped dirt all over the roads (which are lower here than the rest of the city) and then there were horses and lots of old fashioned stands set up. There was also a reenactment of the landing of the Mercy Sisters (the group that as a Mercy Volunteer I am now associated with). The Mercy Sisters played a huge roll in the development of Sacramento and they've been around for over 150 years. The whole morning was very exciting.

Afterwards, Meghan and I went home to pack up for San Francisco. We left and got down there in about 2 hours. It was a little difficult as the Bay Bridge was closed but we went over the Golden Gate which was more exciting as I am a fan of the show Full House. We went to Angela's house and then after meeting up with Mike (Meghan's bf), we went out to dinner. Angela's mom was nice enough to treat us which for us poor volunteers is a huge deal. The dinner was delicious and we then set off to go out in North Beach for the night. Angela drove in and parked her car and we then went to a few bars, ending up at Fiddler's which was a lot of fun. We got a cab back and then Sunday, after breakfast/lunch, Angela and I went to pick up her car. This is where it gets interesting. Her car wasn't there anymore! She called impound lots to find it but it hadn't been towed so ultimately, she had to file a stolen vehicle report. It was very sad-it seems that things like this aren't supposed to happen to people you know.

By the time all was said and done, we returned to Angela's house for a little bit then went out again with her Mom-who was again nice enough to take me out (Meghan and Mike were at her friends house) . We went to Tres Agaves and then to the Philly Club (Philosophers though not Philadelphia). Monday, Meghan and Mike returned and we went to Crissy Field for a cookout with Angela and her brother and his friends. Overall it was a good weekend-minus the stolen car bit. Here are some pictures.

Legos

So last night, Meghan cut my hair and when I looked in the mirror, the first word that came to mind was "legos." Haha, it wasn't really that bad, just a little choppy. I "feathered" it a little so now it's a little smoother it was just funny at first. This morning, we're on our way to Gold Rush days where a bunch of people dress up and act out the gold rush. It should be fun. Afterwards, we're heading to San Francisco where I'll see Angela! and we'll see some of Meg's friends for a bbq-we're really excited for our first real adventure outside of Sacramento!