always go out with a bang

Sunday was the last day Nativity House was open before our summer break. We close for 2 weeks in the summer to make up for the holidays we work throughout the year without holiday pay. Also, it serves as a transition time between the current Lutherine and Jesuit Volunteers and the new group of volunteers.
So Sunday, about a hour before closing time, I was sitting playing cards with some guests when the fire department showed up. This isn't such an abnormal occurance, so i didn't think too much of it. Next thing I know I hear loud banging. I turn around and the firefighters are trying to get into the bathroom (as a preface, we have 4 single occupance bathrooms for our guests that are built completely into the cement structure). Each bathroom has a key, so we can get into the bathrooms in the case of an emergency, so i was confused as to what was going on. As it turns out, a guest had gotten locked inside the bathroom and called the 911 to help get her out. First they try our key, no luck. Then they move on to a crowbar, still no luck. Next thing i know, they've got the jaws of life out, trying to pry open the stuck door. Still no luck. At this point, the firefighters have been there for about 15 minutes and everybody is completly entranced in what is going on. Finally they get a sledge hammer. After 5 or 6 blows, the door comes slamming open and the crowd goes wild. The woman inside ran past the firefighters and out the doors. We later learned that she is clautrophobic.

don't taze me bro

a little over a week ago this incidence occured...
a gentleman, who happens to be severly mentally ill, came into nativity house. this was not the first time i had seen this man, and considering we provide services to many mentally ill individuals, i didn't pay him too much notice. he first caught me attention when he and another man, jerry, were arguing over a bathroom. we have 4 individual bathroom stalls, so waiting for the bathroom is very common, and arguments over the bathroom are just as common. from what i gathered, the first gentleman had cut in from of jerry, who was waiting for the bathroom. the 2 started arguing, the first man getting very agitated, when jerry backed down. when i asked him later what had happened, jerry said he could see how mentally ill the man was, so he let the situtaion alone. during this time, we (staff and guests) could hear him yelling and screaming from inside the bathroom. when he emerged, he continued yelling and screaming, causing a huge scene, yelling obsenities and threats. it took 4 or 5 staff members about 10 or so minutes to escort him out of the building. several hours later, the gentleman came back. our security guard approached him and told him he needed to leave. he started yelling and screaming again, so the decision was made to call the police. the police officer arrived after about 5 minutes. he walked over to the gentleman. as soon as he saw the police officer, he started freaking out, yelling and screaming. the police moved toward him to get him out of the building and the man threw a table at the police. the officer reached for his taser and just as he was about to shoot, the man threw a chair and his head. the taser wired got all tangled up in the chair legs and as a result, another one of our guests (who just so happend to be sitting calmly, watching a chess game) got tased instead. long story short, the mentally ill man got arrested and the guest who got tased, has a lawsuit pending.

on a better note: i got an apartment, yay!

you know what happens when you assume...

*favorite nativity house story thus far*
preface: nativity house has a no alcohol in the building and witin 2 blocks policy.

a few weeks ago a gentleman was given a 30 day ban for being seen with a tall can of icehouse in the field next door. guests are allowed to contest their ban by filling out a grievance form. the following conversation ensued wen he turned in his grievance.

man: i think my ban is unfair, your staff is being unjust.
me: well, for what its worth, i also saw you walk behind the wall with the icehouse.
man: well you all just assmed there was alcohol in that can.
me: huh?
man: you shouldnt assume that there was alcohol in that can, thats unfair.
me: if you saw an icehouse can, wouldnt you assume it was filled with icehouse?
man: if that guy ovr there gave me a dirty look, i would assume he didnt like me, but that may not be the case.
me: okay...
ma: im saying, your staff should have approached me to find out what was in the can.
me: by the time my staff got ou there, you were alread finished and coming back inside. so if there wasnt icehouse in the can, what was it?
man: water. it was the only can on the i found on the street tha i could use as a water bottle.
me: hmm...chance as the ban is going to stay in place, but i will take your grievance form.

i didnt remind him that we have a plethora of clean cups and an endless supply of water inside.

hooray snow!

so it's been awhile, too long in fact. i was in california last week and got quite a bit of grief for not keeping up with the going-ons (cough, cough, dave hale, cough).

things in tacoma have been pretty intense as of late. due to the economic hardship, we at nativity house are finding that we are serving far more guests than we are really able to. in addition, we are also suffering from the bad economy, there has been a serious lack of donations and funding, so much so that we have had to cut back on services and staff. it's really pretty bad, so bad the guests can sense the stress and lack of control.

on a different note, the weather has been outrageous. it has snowed at least a foot over the last week (you must understand that this is quite the anomolie). it's been interesting to see how the town shuts down here with what most places would consider a small amount of snow. however, no one here is prepared for this kind of weather. all but the major streets have been baracaded off, shops and business have been closed and folks are being encouraged to stay home unless absolutly necessary. lucky for me, this just means that it's much more important for me to go to work. in all honesty, i have been quite annoyed by all this snow, it has only made daily life more complicated, until yesterday. i was waiting for my friend to get off of work, so i could go over (it's been much to cold to stay in my house). whilst i was awaiting her phone call, my roommate arrived home. i hadn't seen oliver in a several days so i went to the kitchen to chat. he informed me that he had been sledding everynight until the wee hours of the morning and was planning on the same this evening. so he and i went outside and played in the snow at 10pm. it was really quite fantastic. it was snowing and the clouds were so low

all the city lights were reflecting the light making it really bright

outside inspite of the late hour. next thing i know oliver decides to snowboard down our street, so he straps on his board and heads to it. it was really quite amusing.

this is oliver

snowboarding

my very first snow angel (at least that i can remember)

this is my house, so endearing,

like a snow chalet.

our dishwasher

today i had the great joy of attending a graduation from drug and alcohol treatment. the person attending has become a great friend of mine. he has only been hanging around nativity house for the past few months. starting his first day he has volunteered in the kitchen washing dishes. and what a great help he has been. we had been so spoiled by not having to wash dishes that we were in quite the shock when he left for treatment a month ago. he is also quite the flirt, showering the female staff with accolades dripping with sentiment (think int he style of: "your beautiy is as radient and 1000 blazing suns"). anyways today our friend graduated. it was such a pleasure to be there to share in his joy and support him on his journey, also so wonderful to see how he touched many of the other clients and the staff and this particular facility. he really is such a blessing wherever he is and i wish him only the best.

waiting for something interesting

so it's been awhile, but i've been waiting for something fun and exciting to happen for the update catch-up. but there really hasn't been much. i have been back in tacoma for about a month now and life is as ridiculous as always. i've started working another job (babysitting on my days off), so i haven't had a day off in three weeks, but at least i'm finally feeling not really poor. life at nativity house is much the same. after our two weeks of we had a rather large staff change, 6 new staff members to a team of 10. it's funny because i have become the most loved and most hated at the same time. the folk love me for staying and use me as a go-to while the new staff are still learning the ropes, but since i still say no to requests i deem silly, i draw more ill-will than before. i have been called a bitch more times than i care to count, and thus have been reminded that this job is not for the weak of heart. in my little spare time i can be found at my house trying to entertain myself as the house i live in is very sparse in the way of luxury items (such as television, internet, kitchen cabinets, etc), reading/stealing internet from my favorite coffee shop or attending a rousing session of bingo (yes i am a member of BJ's bingo hall).

busy, oh so busy.

we have spent the last 2 days completely cleaning out the building i work in. we shut down our program for two weeks in the summer to make up for the holidays that we work during the year, but before we close completely, we clean the entire building from top to bottom, and i must say, i am exhausted. what makes this process more difficult is the rest of the busyness that is my life. i have been trying to pack and move all my belongings out of my current habitation and then clean it, so it's not a complete disaster for the new volunteers moving in, in about a week. then having to come to terms and cope with the staffing changes we are experiencing has been difficult. three of the people i work with will not be returning in the fall, 2 of them being the other volunteers that started with me, and i must say, they have been brilliant and i will dearly miss them both. so needless to say i've been very busy and preoccupied with a lot the past week, but the silver lining is i will be home in california in less than 2 days, spending time with so many wonderful folks that i have missed terribly. can't wait to see your faces!

home!

so i found a place to live today. the house is only 3 blocks from where i live which is great because...1-i love my neighborhood, 2-i can still walk to work, the gym, library, etc., 3-i will still be near the catholic worker house and 4-i already know my way around. i will be living with an artist (he blows glass) and a guy recently returned from being and illegal resident in new zealand. yes this is my life.

goldfish, go fish

what did i do at work today? hmmm, i got to play with the cutest baby alive and then played go fish with a 7 year old who insisted that the game is called goldfish. not only did little mike and i play, we played with big mike and patrick, two guys in their 30's. patrick had never played before. in the end little mike won the game, with 9 pairs. mostly because he cheated through the whole game by hiding cards up his sleeves. it's hard to remember the days that are so stressful when all i do on the other days is play. days like today are the reason i love my job.

is a proposal a proposal if there is no ring?

so i've officially been proposed to at least 3 times that i can think of off the top of my head. the most recent was on sunday by one of our regulars, doug. i was in charge of cooking breakfast sunday morning, i decided to make biscuits and gravy, a rarity at nativity house. apparently biscuits and gravy is all doug really needs in his life. as i was cleaning the kitchen after breakfast, he approached me and gave me an open ended invitation to get married, whenever i liked. another proposal came by way of note, with a circle yes or no at the top. the part that continues to surpise me: i'm fairly certain this man was serious, and equally as certain that he doesn't know that my first name is something other than 'shorty'. last was a letter i received from a guest who was in jail, listing all of the goals he planned to accomplish once he was released. number 11 on the list: marry sarah.

although marriage proposals are few and far between, here are some of laura and my favorite pick up lines to date:
damn girl, how'd you get in them jeans
if you take me home with you, i'll buy a pair of teeth
tell my wife i'll be home by 8, and i expect dinner to be ready (spoken to laura about me)

conversation: where have you been? 'in the hospital' why? 'mending a broken heart'

you like to go to cinema?
are you straight? what a waste!
i didn't know there were angels...and then there is you.
it's been about two weeks, we should probably renew our vows soon.