Hey!

Catch my latest post at UC-SA for some religious meditations and a cute story from work!  I've been working on a more serious post for this blog, but alas, I am all too readily distracted.  Hopefully tomorrow I'll have something else interesting to post.

Cheers!

My internship

Hey y'all (yes, my politically correct geek overcame the grammar geek, which means I now use y'all with startling frequency):

If you're interested in learning more about my summer job/internship/, check out the webpage of my employer, Urban Connections:

http://www.urbanconnection-sa.org/

Basically, UC works with the families of Lincoln Heights Courts, a low-income housing project and helps them construct better lives.  My job involves the kids of the Courts, and I gotta tell you, I love them.  I help run summer camp, teach kids how to stand in straight lines, make frequent bathroom trips with kids, and spend way too much time in time-out with unruly children.  But it's great and I love it.

And, if you want to learn more about my coworkers and some of the staff at UC, check out the blog below!

http://urbanconnectionsa.blogspot.com/

Cheers!

In loving memory

Last week, we heard the devastating news that my beautiful, brave cousin, Anna Lee Basso, lost her battle with Ewing's Sarcoma cancer last Tuesday afternoon at the tender age of 18 years.  She entered Christ's eternal arms peacefully and while surrounded by loving family.  She fought her battle nobly, with enduring strength and admirable faith.  She touched over 1 million people in her eighteen years, and her memory will 'float on'.

Tonight was her prayer service and visitation, and the funeral mass begins tomorrow at eleven.  Please continue to pray.

With love through Christ,

Laura

Some thoughts

3) (All 9 seasons of Seinfeld) Last year, I became obsessed with Seinfeld.  Jerry’s whiny voices has not yet started grating on my nerves.  I love to hate George, while still maintaining a glimmer of love somewhere inside me.  Kramer is . . . Kramer.  As for Elaine, at some times she’s a role model for me, at other times I have no choice but to shake my head.  Thanks to my grandparents, I was able to purchase not one, not two, but ALL NINE SEASONS of Seinfeld in one glorious box set. 

I started Season One (NOT that entertaining) before school, but then I watched the remaining eight seasons at school.  Looking back, I have no idea when I did this or how I found the time or why I thought it was a good idea, but now I can relate moments back to Seinfeld on a nauseatingly frequent basis.

I think #4 and my love of arts and crafts warrants their own post, so that will follow shortly, but I do want to start filling you in on my summer job.

I feel blessed and lucky to have this job – I applied not late, or later, but really late, and it turns out someone had pulled out at the last minute and that the non-profit, Urban Connections – San Antonio wanted to offer me that position.  I accepted the offer last Monday, and now, 1.5 weeks later, I’m going through official AmeriCorps training in Dallas.  “AmeriCorps training” is code for corny-yet-still-strangely-effective team building games and listening to people talk.

I also learned much more about AmeriCorps (not challenging since my previous knowledge was nil), and I realized how exciting it is to be part of something big, to feel like am important member of an even more important organization doing good throughout the country.  It made me really excited about non-profits and working with others to benefit a community.  I’ve now met all my team-members, and I’m sure issues will surface throughout the year, but we know we can always return to the basic fact: we’re here because we care and want to make a difference.  That’s the bottom line, and it’s so different from my past.

I’m very goal-oriented, and once I set that goal, I will do everything within my power, and then some, to reach that goal.  We definitely have a goal here, but not only is it broad, but it’s community-based, teamwork-centered, and not self-centered.  I’m excited to dedicate a summer to something other than tennis, piano, or school.  I’ll be exhausted and sun burned (unintentionally!) and frustrated at times, but it won’t be about me.  It will be about approximately 75 kids from a low-income housing development and making their summers memorable.  And I can’t wait to start.