Sunday April 18, 2010

It’s such a bummer I don’t get many chances to write these “blobs”. Well, I just got home from a wonderful hike on the path across the street from us. I have gone to the top before but dang it didn’t get any easier… It is such a beautiful day and on my few stops for water on my way up I turned around to take in the view and saw three groups of deer in three different directions of about ten deer each. It was breathtaking and makes me so grateful for this project even though at times it is very monotonous during the work day.

Last weekend was really fun when we went to the Rockies game. They lost in extra innings and we didn’t get to stay to the end because people came to the game for different reasons than watching the game and wanted to leave… lame. Also, we had to get the van back to Boulder by it’s curfew of midnight. The day was a little chilly and by the time we left the game it was mighty cold but it was my first MLB game in an open field and WOW it was amazing. With the mountains to the right and the cityscape in from of us, it made me even more excited to go to a game in the new Target Field. Friday Paul ad I went on a date to Old Chicago down on Pearl Street, he had never been and I was really craving pizza. It was really fun and nice to have some time with just us. Sunday a few of us went to and ISP with Ecocycle which is a nonprofit that focuses on recycling. We cleaned a park in this nice neighborhood, which was not far from an airport. It was constantly dropping sky divers so made for great entertainment. The rest of the day was filled with a wonderful nap and the gym/laundry and Internet.

This past week was a long one to say the least. Monday Paul Avi and I went to the Mexican restaurant right down the street from our house to watch the Twins beat the Red Sox… me in my Twins jersey and Paul in his Boston shirt which made it funny. We got to walk the water down on of the ditches we had been cleaning; which was an amazing experience, along with hard work. 1/3 of the team walked the water each day while the rest of us cleaned ahead of the water. I got to walk the water on Tuesday which turned out to be the longest and most intense day. We figured we walk about four miles with the water nonstop for 8 hours. We used pitchforks to remove the leaves and clogs of stuff from the water. During our day the ditch went where we hadn’t cleaned so it was a carpet of leaves, but it was neat because it was in the backyards of some VERY wealthy people living here in Boulder. We got to get very close to some of the biggest and most unique houses I have ever seen. We also climbed over bridges, fences to follow the ditch. One time Megan and I were in a backyard and had just ducked under a fence when we saw a deer within fifteen feet of us and were surprised it was by itself, to find out a few minutes later there were about ten other deer fenced in the yard we were working in and the one lone deer was trying to get back to its’ friends. Right after work a few of us went to REI to get a few things and I get a Bladder for my backpack which was the best 20 bucks I think I have spent in a very long time. I drink way more water now during work than I had before. The four of us who walked Tuesday were so drained that we all went to bed right after dinner to read and relax.

Wednesday was spent working, going to the gym/Internet making pizza, watching Meet the Deedles (a movie about P-Dogs) J and bedtime. Thursday was a rough day, our supervisor was in a horrible moods/it was really hot out/we had a lot of work to do. All of those things did not make very an enjoyable day at all, although we did get to feed and pet a horse and I played fetch with a dog so that was great!! After work the majority of the team headed to Denver for the training for the Walk MS we are volunteering at on Saturday May 1st for the whole day. The training was a lot of fun; we got Texas Roadhouse and our volunteer t-shirts along with meeting our crew leader. The day of the walk we have to be there at 4:45 a.m. and probably won’t get back to Boulder until around 7:00 p.m. It will be a long day but lots of fun and very rewarding. There is also a Wag MS and a Pooches Place which is where I will be any chance I can!!

Friday we went to the YMCA and then came home to shower and get ready. We headed back to the Y a little later for a free showing of Food Inc. which is a crazy movie. I had to look away for a lot of the animal parts and really think I am going to consider what I eat/might stop eating red meat and maybe someday become a vegetarian. I would love to eat only organic foods but it gets so expensive and that’s a problem considering the 13 dollars a day we make. From the movie we walked to Applebee’s for half off appetizers and when we found out it was BINGO night we were even more excited. Being it was a Friday night in Boulder it was pretty empty so our table of six won most of the games (I won once). Then we walked about a mile and a half to where the rest of the team was then took the bus home around midnight. It was a really fun night with the team.

Saturday was girl’s day for Megan, Ashley and I. We went to the Farmer’s Market then headed about twenty minutes to this amazing mall. It was so beautiful inside and had basically every store you could think of. I knew I didn’t need to buy anything but it was so great to be at the mall just shopping around. I didn’t end up getting much but it was a lot of fun. Megan and I went to see The Bounty Hunter, which was really cute. We came back for a relaxing night in at the house. And that brings me to now, after a hike, sitting on a comfy couch.

Today I think we are doing laundry and maybe the Y, then we are heading up to Nederland (a little town in the mountains) to eat dinner with a fire management team that is up there. Should be a good day, although we only have one vehicle due to the truck getting a flat tire last week which Paul put the spare on and then it got another one Friday so it had to be taken in and won’t be done till Monday (what a load). Haha so it may make it difficult to get around today.

I have been trying to figure out what I am going to do with my Life after Americorps but it is just so stressful. As of today I am thinking I will just be moving back to MN because it would be a lot easier. At this time in my life all I know is that I will be getting a dog where ever I am. Besides that I have no idea, which is scary and very exciting. I am just going to try to take in the last few months I have being in Americorps and try to not think about past that.

Update on next round: we found out last week that the teams that are down in NOLA this round got moved from their housing and are living in Camp Hope for now. They are not working as far as we know right now. This is all because of them having to leave work early due to gun shots and about 30 homicides with 7 being around their housing. People have also found a body at on of their worksites and someone was caught (on security camera) trying to break into what might be my house for the next two months. Due to all of that information we are not sure if we are even going down there anymore. But, we’re hoping they will just find us new housing so we are still able to help with the rebuilding effort. I probably won’t know until right when we are leaving what’s going to happen but I will write when I find out.

Love and miss all from home,
Coley