Unique SLANT

Today I participated in yet another service project. I did not go into it with the right attitude. You see, I have been super busy lately. So getting up early was not something I was eager to do. And I needed to start on my Christmas shopping. And I needed to get a oil change. And so on and so on. But I told my friend I would be there and so I went. Initially all I could think about was leaving early and how cranky I was. Then I was put to work.

The project engaged kids from St. Phillips School, Boys and Girls Clubs, and Girl Scouts. There were also Bank of America employees there to help out. The projects were pretty cool. One station had them painting holiday ornaments and making candy cane reindeer. Another had them making Thanksgiving cards. The third had them decorating Christmas gift bags. And the final one had them decorating bags in which we put and apple, an orange, and a granola bar. All of these gifts will be delivered with either the Thanksgiving food or the Christmas food for the Meals on Wheels folks throughout Dallas. A little love from the kids to those who can't get out and get food for themselves.
The closing had them creating a reflection of the work they did with magazines one a piece of cardstock.

Did I come around and snap out of my funk? Of course I did. And I didn't leave early. It was a cool project. I just needed to get out of my own way and remember that there is a reason I was there/here. It was only a matter of time.

Flame Throwers

Patience

Today marks the end of my fourth week working in my new position as Disaster Services Manager with the Volunteer Center of North Texas.

I was pretty excited on my first day. I had been a visitor to the volunteer center many times. It was a bit surreal to think I would be here every day. Now it's just another office building, nothing terribly special about it.

However, I am a service addict and have wanted to work in a volunteer center for many years (ok, about 13).

Now I get to work in the field of volunteer management every day. I get to work with people who work in volunteer management every day (and almost all of them are super-passionate about it).

I have a window outside of my cubicle. Now that may also seem a small thing, but to me....huge. To be able to see if it's raining, or sunny, or whatever--I love it. I now have my desk decorated with all kinds of service memorabilia. Pictures of the kids from SCA. The banner from the Wal-Mart community garden project I recently conducted (turned out to be my last for SCA). AmeriCorps pictures, post cards, and stickers are everywhere. Just happy to have my office not be the entire organization.

Thus far I have not been able to hit the ground running as I had hoped. There are pieces I am waiting for to be able to really start recruiting volunteers. But once they are up and running, I have some pretty big goals to hit. I am ready.

Some cool moments from the first few weeks:

Had a huge community kick-off for a big project day and got to see the Volunteer center team in action (both positive and negative stuff- mostly positive.)

Volunteered with a group form Johnson Controls on a project with Family Gateway. The group had the privilege of hearing first-hand from the ambassadors who had been recipients of service from the centers. It was humbling and enlightening.

Volunteered with AmeriCorps Alums at the Bridge serving food. Humbling.




Got to volunteer at the World Series. Even cooler than getting to do so myself, is that I was able to help coordinate so that Hoby students were able to volunteer as well.

Won a Halloween Costume Contest. Ok, so my costume was very simple and not terribly creative, but I enjoyed it. Plus got a $20 gift certificate.

Jonathan and I had a meeting with Habitat for Humanity AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps Alums is starting to find some momentum.

Invited to speak with Hippy AmeriCorps members- hoping to be able to make it work.

Getting my feet wet in the Disaster Call Center. Ready to see it used in practice (not for real yet).

I am sure there are more things I am forgetting, but so far, so good.

Urban Dare Dallas 2010

URBAN DARE RACE MAY 1, 2010

Usually Jonathan does this blog, but with his recent engagement, busy summer with the Youth Volunteer Corps and new AmeriCorps Program...you get my summary instead.

I did not want this race to go without an awesome report with pictures. It was by far the most difficult mentally and physically. This being our third race, we decided to fuel up at the Cafe Brazil in Deep Ellum before race time. This was not a tradition for our other races and I am not sure we need to repeat it. Fuel is good, but a full breakfast may not be the best course of action.

We came as prepared as possible to the Gingerman Pub in Uptown Dallas. This time we added a pre-printed spellbound sheet to make it easier to find the letters we needed. We also had a GPS (which we never used) and an Iphone and blackberry which neither of us had the previous races. And blue tooth devices which allowed us to run and talk at the same time (very helpful). Our support staff of my mom, my friend Sue, Jonathan's mom and dad were waiting for our calls for help. Many more people showed up for this race than the others we did. Many more kids as well. Jonathan shared tidbits of information on how to run an adventure race with several "newbies" before the race got started. He seemed to enjoy sharing the trials and errors of our past Dallas and Ft. Worth races. It felt pretty good to have some experience behind us.

As with the previous Dallas race, we walked ot a nearby parking lot where there was a costume contest prior to race start. Oompa-lumpahs, the Skipper and Gilligan, and some all-american superstars. I have to say I have forgotten who won, but there were some brave souls out there on the course, we saw them all over the city as we raced about. After the Costume Contest we then had to arrange ourselves for the trivia questions. The question was about some musicians with a history in Dallas and we had to chose one of four coned off areas (A,B,C or D). My logic this time was that they wouldn't have the group in the back win the question as they would have to run through a bunch of people who got the question wrong- so that left us with a 50-50 chance. Luckily we got it right on the very first question and were off to get our clue sheets. Last time in Dallas we were in the "everybody has left so you can go" group.

We started calling our support people right away. We always try to get away from the pack and it usually serves us well. On our way to Victory Plaza we came across the spot for clue # 8- This drink it traditionally served with three flies. Okay, so they're coffee beans. Get your picture in front of an establishment that goes by this name. (Sambuca 2120 McKinney)

After that we knew we were heading to the second spot for clue 10- Go to the oversize pair of owl statues for your spellbound dare. (Hooters near American Airlines Center). Our word was Discombobulate which was found on the back of our race card. The letters were very close together on a small grassy area, so they were easy to write down. Then it was off to dowtown Dallas.

When we crossed over Central Expressway into dowtown we found a small group of high school students with chaperones. We felt this was a good time to knock out three important tasks from our list #6. Photo Hunt- Get a picture of someone not in the race doing a cartwheel. And get your picture kneeling to propose marriage to someone not it the race. AND the 5:00 Minute Bonus- take a picture of a six person human pyramid. They must be non-competitors in the race.

Jonathan got good practice for his proposal to Amber by proposing to one of the chaperones and one of the girls was all too eager to do a cartwheel. The students event lines up for our pyramid.

We then ran to the Bank of America Plaza where we were looking for the plaque from clue #7. When we got there we did not find the plaque, but we did run across the Legalize Marijuana Protesters. We tried to ask them to help out, but for such open minded folks, they were surprisingly not helpful at all. We decided we would move on to the spot for clue # 1. "Build the news upon the rock of truth and righteousness. Conduct it always upon the lines of fairness and integrity. Acknowledge the right of the people to get from the newspaper both sides of every important question." Go to the park across the street from the building that bears this quote for your 3-legged dare. (508 Young Street). This was the park right in front of the Belo building.

We were better at the three legged race this time. We were even able to walk past one group of racers using our left, right, left, right mantra, only to be passed by another set of racers who were actually able to run while being tied together by the ankle. A little demoralizing, but we managed. After we left there we headed to the Erik Johnson public library still looking for the plaque from #7. On our way we came upon individuals who were participating in the huge protest against the new immigration law passed in Arizona and the protesters of the protesters- several thousand people participated in these protests. All shouting and carrying signs. And no plaque. So we decided to move on to another clue.

Clue #11. This song begins, "Now I don't hardly know her, but I think I could love her...." Get your picture in front of the Dallas store that goes by the name of this song, but spells it differently. (Crimson in the City 1514 Commerce) . This one was not too bad, but we later found there was another store that also would have worked in Uptown.

By this point, everything is a blur to me. We stumbled over to the spot for clue #9. Get your picture with the mosaic by Millard Sheets that graces a downtown building. (1810 Commerce)

We decided to give #7 another try. "Get your picture with a plaque where the (CCXIV TIMES IX) Republic Bank one stood." Our sources over the phone told us to try Thanksgiving square. We thought it was a good sign that there were a couple other groups in the area. But after quite a long time looking we had no luck. We ended up trading a clue with another group and finally found our plaque.

Our next stop took us to the West End for clue #3. The hand he was holding when he got shot playing poker is known as dead man's hand. Get your picture in front of his store. (Wild Bills Market 311 Market Street)

We found some nice tourist to take our picture there then we headed back across central expressway to the other side of downtown for the long trek to clue #2. Get your picture with the art installation at the intersection of a John Steinbeck story featuring Kino and a 1994 film featuring Jack Nicholson, Michelle Pfeiffer and James Spader. (Pearl and Wolf)

Another long jaunt to our wheel barrow race spot # 5. He once said, "I like whiskey. I always did, and that is why I never drink it." Go to his statue for your wheelbarrow dare. (Robert E. Lee Park Turtle Creek and Hall st.)

We then made our way to Uptown for our final clue #4. Shelly Hwang and Young Lee got together and collaborated in creating a new product that always featured one principle flavor- Original. Go to their store and take your picture receiving a sample. (Pinkberry 3839 McKinney Suite 157) . I would say that it was great to eat something cold, but the taste of dairy was not good at that exact moment. It would be nice to go back when not in the race. We decided to catch the trolley on the way back to the Gingerman pub as public transportation is an allowable for the race. We waited for a few minutes for the car to show up, then we were joined by other racers on later stops. The trolley driver thought we would be funny in asking a few folks to get off as the trolley could not make it up a big hill. I thought he was serious at first and my feet were seriously protesting any kind of movement. So when he said he was joking I was so happy. I did not think the driver was funny, but I was willing to let it slide because I did get to sit for a minute.

Finish- Go to the Gingerman Pub for the finish.
Our third race complete, a difficult route and some tough clues.
Race results- 3:25:35 approximately nine miles traveled. 33rd our of 114 teams.