Update.

My life has been hectic, but mostly I have been too happy and busy to bother writing. The Red Cross has kept me on my toes for the past few months and I'm glad to say that our efforts are producing results. In terms of shelter volunteer recruitment, intake and training, our little department of 4 worker bees has brought in nearly 700 people since October 17th.

Let me rub my eyes and repeat that. After roughly 14 training events, our largest at 130 participants, we have actually brought in and trained over 650 volunteers for sheltering alone. The media coverage regarding potential dam-related flooding locally, and the outpouring of response because of the Haiti efforts, have increased traffic to our website and our application numbers have jumped! It's all great news and we are happy to be one step closer to some higher level of preparedness, but we really want is to hide in a cave for a while.

You might wonder what it takes for a single person to become a volunteer, besides training? A lot of time on our part, mostly printing applications, contacting references, conducting volunteer interviews, transferring files from other Red Cross chapters if they had previous volunteer experience, processing background checks, conducting 2-hr volunteer orientations, etc. You know, the basics. After physically processing about 1,300 volunteer applications since the first of October I would suggest that the 3 VISTAs in our department are ready for vacation.

What's happening in my personal life?


Moved out of Bob, and into this quaint apartment with Carson in Seattle.

From VISTA year

Bob was great while it lasted but drama persisted and I grew tired of the 10-person consensus, the power struggles, the unexpected expectations, and what began to feel like an awkward struggle for personal ownership of the house and its ideals. Being a subletter in a house where I was expected to invest financially and emotionally was tough-- committing to the greater good was challenging when I wanted to respect my personal interests as well. Knowing that I would be leaving in August left me feeling ambiguous about putting time and effort into gardening and food preservation-- put in labor, but be gone when the reaping of rewards happens? Leaving was a tough choice and I miss certain aspects of group-living, like the big family-style meals and constant social company. Luckily my friends welcome me back to hang out and play cards often.


Home, sweet home. This little apartment lets me feel like I can finally put down roots in Seattle and start investing in the important things-- like home-canned pears, a little bit of love, a wonderful relationship, and maybe a cat sometime in the near future.