my job rocks

"The freedom of man, I contend, is the freedom to eat."
- Eleanor Roosevelt

salutations from seattle!
aside from missing my transfer bus on the first day of work and dealing with the ridiculousness of the three hour time difference (which i reallllllly am annoyed with communication wise!)- this week was PERFECT. as some of you might have noted, i am really excited with life right now. like- i dont think I have been this happy since freshman year at denison- that was the last time i truly felt that God led me to where I needed to be. i know that part of faith is to trust that God is putting you where you need to be even if you dont feel it, yet its always nice to reach these moments in your life where you are perfectly happy with where you are. its like seeing the rainbow after the flood and remembering God's covenant ;)

so my job= perfect for me. i work at an AIDS alliance which is an amazing organization which has lots of departments (housing, insurance, development, education, thrift store (the best thrift store ever...where i recieve employee discounts and got a 10 dollar gift certificate for helping volunteer for like two hours...and where 80 cents of every dollar help fund our organization)....i work for the food department though. if you know anything about me, or my buffalo upbringing- you will know this is the most perfect place i could be at. which would be accurate. lets just say i wake up every morning with a smile on my face excited to go hang out with some awesome people. and eat awesome food.

the food program consists of a team of dietitians who work with clients (both who have HIV/AIDS or who are elderly), and configure the type of meal service they would like to receive (this includes culturally specific grocery bags, freshly packaged frozen meals with diebetic, heart healthy, etc options. then the kitchen goes to work to fill the orders of the frozen meals, and the warehouse compiles grocery bags filled with fresh produce, eggs, milk, cheese, etc.. to get clients though a week. let me just stop and say i have worked in MANY soup kitchens/food pantries and i have NEVER seen one operate like this. it simply blows my mind how much this organization does with so little. it is clean, the staff and volunteers (many of whom have volunteered there for over 15 years and come back rain or shine every week)smile and are happy to work there. perk: every day the kitchen prepares an OUTSTANDING lunch of yumminess. last weeks meals: coconut rice w/ curry veggies, veggie lasagna w/ ceasar salad, artisan cupcakes with buttercream frosting handpiped on...shall i go on? you get the picture...i am happy.

so what is my job? well its a mix of things: coordinating volunteers to work in the kitchen/warehouse/deivery and get them excited to work there. which isnt hard as i am easily exicted and try to spead my akwardness onto others to make them feel comfortable. it seems to work as we had a dance party rave in the walk in fridge the other day while the manager of the warehouse flipped the light on and off to simulate a strobe light. yeah. that happened.

i also deliver meals all over seattle to home-bound clients. which ROCKS. they are the sweetest people in the world and so appreciative of the food. and i am getting my bearings of seattle a little better every day, and have some pretty sweet views of the local mountains. pretty sweet. on tuesdays i will be driving down to tacoma to a drop off center there, and on saturdays i work with volunteers at local grocery chains (and whole foods!!!) to ask customers to shop for our clients. seattle has some pretty kind and big-hearted people i must say!

one quick other perk: my organization had free tickets they needed people to use, so i saw rufus wainwright and his sister live in concert at this beautiful concert hall downtown. for free. gahhhh! and it was one of the best concerts of my life. no big deal.

ok- so this is getting really long. let me sum it up....i love my life. i love getting up in the morning to go to work (though its not work for me...its fun). i love my house, my housemates, my neighborhood. i love seattle. i love you and miss you all. so there is that. i am sure there will be more exploring and more stories to come, but for now- i am just chillin like bob dylan and having a blast. talk to you as soon as i can!

love, me

ps- THANK YOU GOD!!!!!