If you've paid any attention to me in the last year or so, you know that I volunteer at the Downtown Women's Center in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles. It's a truly amazing place, where lives are changed daily. I'm a member of Birthday Guild, which is in charge of monthly birthday parties for the residents of the center. We welcome creative and/or willing people who like parties. Let me know if you're interested in coming to a party with me.

DWC is a flurry of activity during December. This means that there are many more volunteering opportunities available. Last year I helped with the gift wrapping, but this year I have to work both nights. *sigh*

Here's a copy of the holiday wish list . . .

Gifts Wish List*
last updated November 12

For Residents

29 bath towel sets
45 clock radios
15 bath robes
45 Christmas stockings

For our Day Center Ladies

114 backpacks
120 wallets
120 pieces of jewelry
48 scarves (for neck or head)
71 make-up sets
120 perfume sets
120 gift cards (Ralphs, Starbucks, and Subway preferred)
21 fleece throws

*We respectfully request new items for gift giving.

We ask that all items be received by December 16 to ensure that we have time to festively wrap each gift.

I've had a crappy--no, shitty--past two weeks. *sigh*

My job has let me down. I had been teaching a class. It was a difficult class because of some circumstances out of my control. Frankly, I didn't even want the class to begin with. But I did my best. And they turned on me. My students never told me I was a bad teacher to my face, but they felt the need to say I was horrible and mean to my bosses and to anyone else who would listen.

The only good thing that came out of this is that I found out just how much I am supported in my classroom. Iain, Kelly, and Elizabeth all backed me up, and, because of my class's idiocy, are still backing me up--even though the course is finished. It is a far cry from having to work with JS, TM, TF, GB, and PH. I am grateful for their encouragement.

Still, the entire situation has put me in a really shitty mood. I am too old to be dealing with this petty crap. I'm a good--make that, GREAT--teacher. I'm always on time, I know my stuff, I cover all of the material IN THE ALLOTTED TIME, I support my center, I get people to come to workshops, I'm available to my students via email and before and after class, AND MY STUDENTS GET RESULTS! I do all of that, and still I'm vulnerable to the kind of attacks that I've had to endure. I'm angry and hurt and just want to cry.

And I was supposed to be happy about my birthday in the midst of this. I got a lot of well-wishes on Facebook. I was very grateful for those. I was also fascinated by who managed to forget. It was a little heartbreaking on a couple of accounts. Still, Stephen, Mesash and Ashley, and Virna all took me out for meals--on three different days! So that was quite nice. And Stephen, Chris, and Trish donated to DWC, which was really great.

Yet, my birthday left me feeling empty. I usually love my birthday, but this year, for the first time, I felt as if life has just passed me by. I was supposed to be at a different stage in my life than I am. And I'm disappointed, because I know that I'm too old for most--if not every one--of my wishes to come true. It makes me truly sad.

Last night I actually went to DWC for our monthly birthday party. The party was great, and the ladies had a better-than-usual time, thanks to Ricardo and his singing. But the party ended badly for me, due to people's lack of respect and boundaries. This is really the first time this has happened to me at the center, and it really did hurt. It was mostly due to misunderstandings, but it was not something I needed on top of everything else.

The worst part is that this cyberSCREAMing is really all I can do. There's no one home to talk to; I don't have anyone to hold me and assure me that I'm loved; even my best friends have other things going on in their lives--too much to concern themselves with my feelings right now. Sure, they can give me a few hours of their time--but, really, there's no one in my life that can give me of themselves. I'm not complaining; they have a right to their own lives and their own loved ones. It's just that I'm really sad . . .

Oh well. Back to work . . . *puts mask back on*

So, I haven't really updated most people on what's going on in my life, so I figured I'd take the time to do so (while I'm waiting for stuff to finish printing).

Work is going well. I am now teaching GMAT almost exclusively, though that is probably more due to scheduling than anything else. GRE students and GMAT students are different types, but they all manage to keep me from becoming bored with my job. I am planning to (re)take the LSAT sometime within the next couple of weeks so that I can teach that as well. Yeah, I took it a week ago. I needed a 164; I got a 161. Now, if I were planning to apply to law school, that would have been an awesome score. Unfortunately, I need to score exceptional to teach the class. So I'll study for it this time, and I suppose I'll do better. :p

I was working for a VERY short while at a vocational school. I was supposed to teach algebra once a week. The job turned into a complete nightmare that never seemed to end. They monopolized my time, required more and more work by the day but limited my hours, and seemed to think that I had nothing better to do than cater to their every whim. There wasn't enough parking for all of the faculty. Whoever heard of a school that has stacked parking for its faculty, including the part-time ones who come in at odd hours? I will refrain from mentioning the school's name, but I will try to fill you in on all of the gory details someday.

Milo is doing well. He is silly and goofy and cute. He has also gained more weight than he was supposed to, and he is starting to get fat. He sleeps way too much, and really seems to enjoy napping under the kitchen table. I suppose I should find him some training classes, but I'm just too lazy myself.

I started volunteering at the Downtown Women's Center over a year ago, and I am so blessed to have found them. I am now a core member of the birthday guild, which plans and puts on birthday parties once a month for the residents. I just love it. Unfortunately, work is interfering with it these days. I'm not complaining about the income; I just wish the two things didn't conflict so often. :p I hope that some of you will get to visit DWC with me and will see why I love it so much. I have pictures on Facebook, so those of you who read this there can go into my photos and look at the pictures.

I have been attending church on Friday nights at Renovatus at the Eagle Rock SDA Church. It is a post modern, intimate service with a great band and a welcoming message. Virna's husband Danny is in charge, and I also have made some other friends there. It's nice having friends again; I don't have very many.

My family is doing OK. In fact, we are getting a visit from the East Coast gang in a couple of days. Annie is now 5, and she knows everything--at least that's what she would believe. She's also quite gorgeous, which makes her a double threat. It will be a fun visit, but I'm sure it will tire me out.

My love life is still nonexistent, but not for lack of want. I tell people that I really don't mind being introduced to their friends, but no one ever does. Most of the time I can't help but think that most of my friends think I'm too much of a loser to meet THEIR friends, but, well, you know.

OK, well, I do need to get to work, but that's the LONG version of my life, in case you were wondering. Also, I managed to update my profile (on here, and on Facebook), so check it out at your leisure.