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Friday.  Christina Tam and I met at Borders so we could carpool to watch Slant.  Craig Wen and Brian Thao-Huane were there, too.  I skipped out on FBCC’s monthly social: Iron Chef!  The secret ingredient was mango, and I heard the results were better than expected.  Jacky called at around 9pm to ask if I could watch their belongings while they did a run the next morning.  Uh..sure….

Saturday.  Christina and I again met at Borders to carpool to Jacky’s apartment, where Ted drove us four to be at Minute Maid Park at 7am.  They prepared, clipping on their running numbers, drinking water in the small cups being passed out, and stretching amongst the air “people” that would occasionally hit us (the way the air was blown and all).  We saw a man on stilts pretend he was a super-tall person, making balloon animals.  The girl and guy bunny suits wearing Astros attire came around to take pictures with the kids and whoever else wanted.  I’ve never participated in this sort of thing, so Jacky explained how it worked.  He paid $25 to participate, but they would get two free Astros tickets with an option of choosing from four games in the future (June 10, 11, 24, and/or 25).  They give you a timer that will start as soon as you step onto their carpet they have at the starting line and would stop when you step on the carpet at the finish line.  Some runs ask you to return the trakcer/timer, but this time they said the runners/walkers could keep it.  This is Ted’s first time, and afterwards he looked pretty winded (was it his knee, since he had a brace on? didn’t ask).  Jacky ran ahead.  Denver stayed with Ted. 

Christina needed coffee, so we walked around downtown.  We saw the “oasis” in front of Christ Church Cathedral–Christina couldn’t believe such a nice place in the middle of downtown.  She said she’d still feel unsafe walking around by herself, if I wasn’t with her.  I also saw some people waiting outside the Urban League.  We finally found this free-standing building all by itself on one side of the street to be Starbucks (good thing we used the map that the city provides atop the sidewalk, thank you Houston!).  At 8am, I bought her a drink (a grande mmchip frapp for $4.50), then we rested for a few minutes (she was carrying her papers to be graded in a backpack, then she volunteered to also carry Jacky’s, Ted’s, and my belongings–heavy!).  We headed back, realizing the run had pretty much ended (that was fast).  We had to walk all the way around since the doors were locked.  When we entered, a wave of stench (sweat and gym) hit my nose (never liked that smell).  Denver saw us, and Jacky encouraged us to get some food (he had his shirt off–not that it was attractive because I barely glanced, but that always makes me feel uncomfortable for some reason).  I stood in line for some lettuce wrap with meat on top (reminds me of that Chinese dish).  Jacky said there were also kolaches, so I stood in line for that.  They lady said, “Ham and cheese?”  Sure.  “Two?”  Sure….  JT said hi, and I think his girlfriend is Heidi.  She looks really familiar but I don’t know why.  Khon-Whey Tay was there with his two friends (they’re a couple of..Asian Indian descent?).  I wanted some fruit and found a pear within the tubs of water/ice/water bottles.  Was it supposed to be there?  I put it back, unsure of it’s cleanliness.  Later, after seeing many runners carrying fruit,  I realized I could use the water from the bottled water to clean it, but the pear was not there anymore.  Ah well.

I was so incredibly tired, even though I didn’t even participate, but since I wanted to have a somewhat normal sleeping pattern, I was determined to stay awake and not take a nap.  Christina and I went to Lowe’s to check out movies and their times.  Nothing particularly interested both of us, so we went to Fuddruckers at 11am.  By the time we arrived at her apartment, we would’ve completely missed the beginning of the movies we were debating on (sure bad at estimating time huh?).  We watched Stardust on her computer while eating lunch (I ate the big dog with chili and cheese while got the burger/fries/shake combo).  Phoebe called to watch the new Narnia movie.  So Christina quickly reviewed through the first Narnia movie on her computer, supplementing with verbal summarizations.  Then I browsed her books (she’s an English teacher at Kempner).  I asked about Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.  She has no idea why the play references that; she was famous in the literary world and the title is a play on “who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?”  She took a nap while I looked Woolf up: “Dreadnought Hoax was a practical joke pulled in 1910 by Horace de Vere Cole and five friends, including Virginia Stephen (later Virginia Woolf)…Modern diagnostic techniques have led to a posthumous diagnosis of bipolar disorder…The ethos of Bloomsbury discouraged sexual exclusivity, and in 1922, Woolf met Vita Sackville-West.”  She committed suicide.

Christina suddenly got up and realized that it was time to go.  Good going, Christina.  She, Phoebe, Linton, Hannah, Tina, James, Jonathan, and I watched Prince Caspian at 4:30pm at Lowe’s (barely missed the matinee price for movies before 4pm on Saturdays).  Christina left because she was pretty wiped out.  Chris was at work.  I joined them (and Ariel came, too) at Avalon Diner for dinner at 9pm.  I got the turkey/avocado omelette for $10.  They ran out of the recommended-by-the-waitress dish of steak and eggs.  Hannah’s order was right, but James and Jonathan’s dishes were a bit mismatched–Jonathan wasn’t bothered much, just got the pork version.  The main question discussed for the evening was, “If you didn’t believe in Jesus, what religious would you follow?”  Here’s the breakdown: Phoebe said Unitarian Universalism (or Ba’hai or whichever incorporates getting along with all religions, obviously none of us know much), Linton said Mormonism (he arrived back today from Utah for business), and I think the rest of them said atheism (or James said burning incense to ancestors).  I said atheism/agnosticism.

We walked to Borders and sat for a bit (Hannah checked to see if there were any sales).  Then Tina jumped on another’s suggestion to walk to the water, “Yes, Tina needs to walk.”  The girls chatted about clothing (I think Ariel’s going to a wedding), then Tina suggested we get ice cream since Hannah regretted not ordering a shake.  Cold Stone Creamery was near Lowe’s, so we spanned the entire complex I guess.  James is always asking if something is junk food or not, or making explanations that it isn’t junk food.  Yeah….  “Not today” says Jonathan, since he got some.  Hannah got coffee with heath (yum).  Hannah mentioned a quarterlife crisis, which James somewhat related.  Linton says he hasn’t reached there yet, that he is still on the way up/forward to something.  LOL, it was funny how James said that he loved it when he resigned.  I got home at midnight and crashed.

Sunday.  Charles and I drove to Elliot’s house, where the three of us met up to carpool.  (Elliot couldn’t convince Ed to come, and so Pepsi didn’t come either.)  Charles drove us to pick up Henry from his apartment then headed to Jack In the Box at 1212 for lunch.  I ordered four grilled chicken strips for $4.64 (felt like a ripoff).  Then we got to MFAH at 1pm.  We browsed around until 1:30, when they started seating us to watch Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.  The guys talked about having dirt on each other (and Ed Ly) and using it against each other, revealing it, etc.  We looked at the pamphlet they gave out for this Target Free Sunday (comparing the pictures of plants to their names).  Christina suddenly appeared and sat to my right right when the lights dimmed at 2pm.  I liked the movie because she was really going for understanding.  And she was amazing in all her abilities, as Lord Yupa already professed at the beginning of the movie.  Indeed, “What are you so afraid of?”  A lot of violence is borne out of fear of “the other.”  Henry says she should’ve died (there were Christian undertones), but Elliot said, “No, she has to live, so I can marry her” LOL!  Hey, she’s like Rocky and Gandhi put together, as Dave would say it, haha!  Who wouldn’t find her attractive?

Afterwards we went around to the exhibits (Pompeii wasn’t free).  Elliot teased Henry when he tried to explain one of the drawings on the wall, that the explanation didn’t exactly match what was written on the author plaque.  One artist painted Egypt abstractly (I don’t ever get it, so they make me annoyed).  We spent quite some time in the Korean exhibits.  Henry said he really liked the small wall-mounted plaque statue of the elephant in the other Asian exhibit.  Lastly, we observed the poles that important people carry/use.  Each had something on the top, so there were explanations.  Elliot really liked the one that went like, “Holding a kingdom is like holding an egg; hold it too hard and it’s crushed, hold it too loose and it will fall and break.”  Henry said he liked the quote that went something like, “A crab doesn’t give birth to a bird.”  The one that got me thinking was, “The hen knows it is dawn but lets the rooster crow.”  Christina found it to be anti-feminist.  Jacky called, so I called Wilson about football.  We sat around discussing the next step (board game?  buy Ziggity?  eat?).  Christina suggested we eat, Elliot of course suggested Fuddruckers (to which Christina got all excited about), Henry suggested Niko-Niko’s, and Charles jumped on that and made the decisive push to leave (5:30 pm).  I got the Hercules Plate.  Then we all left for home.  Charles stayed with Elliot to help him with his Microsoft Word.  I end up napping from 7:30 until 9 pm (sigh, so much for trying to stay up until nighttime).  Lil goo-goo took the trash out and left for her workplace.  I watched Dead Like Me because it was the only thing on and then went back to bed.

“A humanitarian.”  Heh, that’s what Jon-Erik commented when I said that I was off to volunteer at the Beacon after just volunteering at Project C.U.R.E.  Jessie had planned for the FBCC Career Group to volunteer at Project C.U.R.E. (Commission on Urgent Relief and Equipment, not Project Cure or Project CURE) this morning.  It’s like Medical Bridges, but based in Colorado, not Houston.  I was supposed to drive over to Jamie’s house so that I could drive (since she had mentioned needing more drivers).  However, I overslept due to staying up too late last night.  Charlene called me, so I called her back and asked whether they still needed me to go down to Sierra Plantation.  They said just to meet them at the building.  We pulled up at the same time (wow, that’s how far south they are) LOL.  After that we ate at la Madeleine (I got a pork florentine with roasted potatoes and green beans at 1246 for $12.98).  Jessie got a large tomato-basil soup, Annie and Sam got a bowl of soup, and Joe got a cup of soup.  I say just get the large if you plan on getting the bowl because they seemed almost the same amount, just a little more. 

Project C.U.R.E. was really fascinating for me because I could be around all the medical supplies and not have to worry about killing someone by tripping over lines or something (like I felt on my acute physical dysfunction rotation at St. Luke’s).  While sorting  through all the bags of donations (or they would’ve been in the trash), I could identify some of the supplies (since Annie Dai works in business everything was new to hear but she’s one smart gal I’m sure she’ll learn it faster than me).  One of the ladies wearing glasses was from Hawaii, and she teared up just mentioning the injustice to women and how far her family’s come (she’s the first in her family to be able to go to college).  She told us to take advantage of what we’ve been given, like a job, etc.  “I sound like your mother, don’t I?” she remarked afterwards, smiling.  Another white lady was more laid-back, and she’d calmly let us know what went where.  I ended up sorting one bin because I didn’t realize that they had expiration dates on them (for the air bubbles in the liquid).

• Group picture:  http://prayriefayrie.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/04-19-08cure-24.jpg - wow, larger than it looked since we were all spread out
• Charity report:  http://charityreports.bbb.org/public/Report.aspx?CharityID=332&bureauID=9999 - doesn’t meet all requirements :-o

Then I planned on going directly to the Beacon but got lost and figured I might as well return to the southwest since I was headed in that direction anyway.  I took a few-minute nap outside Hannah’s house then Linton tapped on my car window and he drove Hannah and me to pick up Chris to go to the Beacon.  I think this is Chris’s first time.  I wanted to see his new apartment, but we just got to see the lobby (spring/lime green theme) and the public kitchen room (with free internet) instead. 

Brian Thao-Huane was in town, and he came with Craig.  Jesslyn came, too!  She helped Brian find some church clothes for one of the later ladies who came in to take a shower.  Brian Lee was there, as usual.  Linton and Chris were grabbed to clean and disinfect and water/mop the kitchen (hefty labor, dudes).  Hannah stood at the coffee condiments stand…not very exciting, but Jesslyn was cool and went over to talk with her.  This shift was different because it’s from 3 to 5 pm, after most of the people have gone.  Phoebe, BTH, and I helped with cleaning the tables, throwing away trash, using the broom, and putting up and setting out the chairs and tables.  Phoebe of course went and talked with one of the unkempt ladies sitting near a pillar–you’ll have to ask Phoebe about the lady’s life.  One of the guys asked me to take a picture of him, such a ham!  He was very courteous, drinking his coffee and reading the newspaper, guarding his belongings.  He used the phone (I think he uses the Beacon as his, contact information, you know).  He said he had just set up an email account with the Beacon a week or two ago but forgot the address so I couldn’t email the picture to him.  I find most of the people I meet who come to these shelters, I guess they have to keep joking and smiling otherwise their soul will be cut down and won’t be able to continue.  One table was surrounded with them playing dominoes.  It’s interesting how this population just loves dominoes. 

Afterwards we ate at…after some internet searching:  Distrit 7 Grill (what’s most prominent is the sign that reads “Zesty food.  Zesty life”).  I got a Turkey Meatloaf Lasagna for $8, lol, because of it’s name.  Not bad.   It was Hannah, Phoebe, Linton, BTH, and Craig.  Boy, I’m way too tired to go to Jeff’s birthday party.

Monday, April 14, 2008.  We have five new patients today, so Rick helped out by reporting in rounds and taking over task group for me: Thanks!  I was able to meet with four of them.  At lunch, Jennifer was so sweet and bought an angel-food cake to celebrate Sally’s birthday.  Sally was gone for her birthday last week, so that’s why we celebrated today.  Jennifer had already cut it so that she could layer it with strawberries she had already cut and topped each layer with whipped cream.  Sally was excited and took a picture of the cake, and then with Janet and Rick, awww.  After work, I called Vickie to tell her that as I was walking from the BTPC through the hallway to the BTGH, I thought I saw Grace (JoJo’s wife) and waved, and I think she at least recognized my face.  Then I went to the MFAH. 

Tuesday, April 15, 2008.  I only had self-care group today, and good thing.  I had four discharges, and forgot one on Team C (we had traded, and I knew she was leaving, but I forgot since I was her therapist I had the responsibility to give her home instructions).  I performed two evaluations along with one home instructions.  Some common patterns among Team B patients:  if you’re a female then you have pseudocyesis (delusions of being pregnant), you have a past history of running naked in the streets, or you are somewhat malingering to stay here instead of to go “home.”

Wednesday, April 16, 2008.  Due to EPIC training, Theo preferred that Rick not be gone to his Patient Education Committee meeting that he has once a month.  I went by myself to present my brochure.  It was nice since I could go in a bit later since the meeting starts at 9 am.  I was the first one there, so I went to the restroom.  When I returned, the woman who last week presented on an already-published patient-education-worksheets packet regarding diabetes management sat to my right.  She’s quite outspoken about corrections, which helped me because I didn’t want to really say much by the end since I’m just sitting in for Rick.  For example, I wrote a certain correction on the sheet (Rick had printed out the materials for me beforehand) that we were sharing, so she spoke up and it was a good suggestion that everyone agreed upon (they were debating between two phrases, and I provided a third option).  When I went to my park, I had a parking violation (I had read the sign about only those going to Holly Hall, and I interpreted it wrong) but the police officer at the front desk from which I inquired from said that I didn’t have to pay a fine or anything, just that if I were to continuously do it I would be banned from parking there in the future.  Whew. 

To celebrate OT month, Theo offered to treat us out for lunch at Murphy’s Deli (we walked there).  It was interesting because she printed out the menu and indicated which ones on the menu we could pick from.  They had a salad bar, but Sally changed her mind about it and ordered the combo (sandwich, chips, drink).  Sammy stopped by to say hi, and Jennifer couldn’t make it because she felt sick (and interestingly enough, Theo didn’t schedule her for anything).  It was nice to have a break in the morning, but I had to catch up in the afternoon about the goings-ons.  I spent the rest of the afternoon administering two evalutions then writing up 5 of 7.  Rick had given me $10 to pay for parking; isn’t he generous?  I was happy that I could leave without waiting, but unfortunately I forgot where I parked so I walked for some good minutes before finding it, haha, sigh.  I really didn’t want to miss Ladies’ Group, but after mental calculation I knew that I just wouldn’t be able to make it, and missed it for the first time.  At home I made some last minute changes on the brochure (since the BTPC computers display it different from my home laptop) then went to eat dinner at Old Place Cafe at 7 pm with my parents.  They saw a dentist and his wife who they recognized; he was in Mississippi for six years with the army but is now retired and having a lot of enjoyment traveling.  Afterwards we went to Kinko’s to print out four brochures (very nice quality, and I paid for it - $12, for paper, ink, and time spent on the computer).  Then we went to Wel-Farm to buy potstickers (I figured dumplings would be nasty the next day being soggy and all).  We got home at 8:30 pm and turns out that potstickers are tricker to cook than dumplings.  We learned we could not cut corners (i.e. cook more than 7 at a time).  A plate dropped and shattered.  Dad ended up cooking the mass majority of them.  I printed out handouts (regarding where to get them printed at BTGH) and then went to bed past midnight.

Thursday, April 17, 2008.  I presented the brochure to the OT department.  Rick negotiated our groups for the day so I could have time in the afternoon to finish my paperwork; wasn’t that sweet?  And I did finish, so that I spent some time helping Elderine on Excel for her employee project (after Jennifer helped her for two hours).  I semi-re-learned about =average() and helped set up the chart so that she wouldn’t have to calculate by hand each time before inputting, but that all she had to do was input the number of people who attended and the number of people who were present.  Jennifer offered to take me home, so I asked Rick if it was okay that I left early with her at 4 pm.  He gave me permission, and in fact he himself stayed and administered an evaluation for Elderine (the patient spoke Spanish).

When I got home and checked my email, at 4:14 pm Linton had emailed asking if we wanted to watch When Autumn Sunlight Comes at 1915.  Linton picked up Elliot and me.  Afterwards we went to CiCi’s to eat.  I explained the Beacon to Elliot, if he wanted to join us in the future.  Told him about how the manager of the Beacon used to work for CiCi’s.  Elliot informed me that Chase Culpepper proposed to Lauren Drake!  She’s graduating tomorrow in Galveston, so they’re going to support/celebrate with her.  Somehow relationships popped into the conversation, so I mentioned about someone asking me out, back in November or something.  Linton asked if it was Robert Hwang, “the annoying loud guy” LOL.  No, it wasn’t.  I don’t think I had even met him at that point in time.  I told Vickie about this comment haha.

Friday, April 18, 2008.  Rainy morning!  Rick’s not here today, preparing to attend Dr. Barber’s wedding tonight.  In fact, it was just Elderine, Jennifer, and me, but it wasn’t as bad as I anticipated because they “closed downstairs” (i.e. outpatient appointments).  Since I’m the student, I helped with all three groups.  I helped give hurried home instructions to one patient (-Tuesday) because it seemed like she was going to leave (they were gathering all her belongings from her locker).  Turned out her parent (-Wednesday) didn’t pick her up until after we OTs were gone.  I tried to blow up the beach ball, but it didn’t work.  I was afraid to ask to leave early to try to watch Road to Partition since I had already left early yesterday, but I finally did (10 minutes early) and Elderine let me go (still got lost a bit in the parking garage).

After the movie, I rushed out and ordered my usual burrito from Chipotle at the corner at 7pm.  Vickie called, so I told her where I was and what we were doing.  I barely made it to Magazine Gap Road that started at 1915.  I went in just as the WorldFest guy was making some announcements.  During that time Hannah had called me back (do’h, my phone was on silent), so I called her again, but I think by then she had put her phone on silent.  I was thinking that maybe they had gone to see another movie, since I didn’t see them.  Finally I just decided to go up to the seats, and good thing, they were all sitting on the bottom row on the left on the third tier: Phoebe, Chris Sun, Jennifer Yu, Hannah Kwan and her boyfriend? from WHCC?, and Hannah Lin.  Linton came when the movie ended.  He was debating as to what to do with it (watch another movie? give it to someone? refund?); I don’t know what he did with it.  We went to Grand Lux Cafe afterwards for dinner outside with their dim lighting and high heating.  I didn’t order anything, but finished up my burrito.  I went home.  Linton and Chris went to his apartment, then Linton took Chris out drinking, haha.

Saturday, March 29, 2008.  Sally works today.  I dropped dad off at Home Depot then picked up Phoebe and Becka at the Lins’s house.  Hannah had Houston READ (website’s not really working lately) training that morning so she came by herself around noon.  Our Beacon shift is from 11 am to 2 pm.  Other people who came today were Linton, Brian Lee, Chi-Chi, Greg from Access, and six Rice students that Peter Ou invited.  Hannah helped with the laundry, and as expected (this is her first time) she was very impressed with the efficiency.  (They didn’t pass out clothes today, like I did last time, which was my first time.)  Becka and I volunteered to help with the salad, not knowing (or at least not me, but probably her as well since this is her first time) we’d have the hardest lunch lady jobs.  It’s the hardest because while the entrees just need to be scooped (which I’m guessing can be difficult as well since you need strength to scoop), we had to assemble ours on the spot (and you know how they can be picky).  It was basically nonstop for the full three hours.  Becka handled the fruit salad but helped me out when there was a stream of garden salad requests (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and dressing).  I abandoned the utensils and just used my latex-gloved hand to put the lettuce in the bowl, but later on one of the staff whispered in my ear that I had to use the tongs, so I returned to that method.  I didn’t ask about this method, but sometimes I would just use the bowl and scoop the lettuce that way.  Turns out Thousand Island is the most popular, with a close second from Ranch (one guy asked me to pour it on literally everything on his tray), with Italian dressing being the third pick (and it’s also probably the healthiest, because it’s the clearest).  We were sometimes good-naturedly hit on, and one woman commented on my “Cindy Crawford beauty” mole. 

For lunch we went to This Is It.  It was cleaner than the last place we visited (The Breakfast Klub).  They also had two fish tanks: the one close to the restroom is saltwater while the one with the turtles is freshwater (reminds me of Andrew Eng and I don’t know which environment is harder to maintain, I think he had said saltwater because of the salt concentration?).  Phoebe and I shared a combo, and good thing.  Becka and Hannah shared a combo, too.  Peter and Linton of course got their own plates.  Haha, Linton likes this place (probably due to quantity).  I do think The Breakfast Klub is slightly overpriced due to the hype they build up (I felt they were a bit arrogant, if we had contested).  During the meal, Phoebe shared that she had talked with the staff.  Though it’s only been a year since the Beacon opened, there was a lot of planning behind it.  The main guy at first worked with the church staff as a consultant since he used to work at CiCi’s (thus knows how to stretch a dollar), and as a hotel manager (thus the laundry system).  When it was concluded, the church staff asked this church member to join their committee (paid of course), so he agreed.  Amazing how God works; reminds me of “you have come to [this] position for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14 - hey I’m not a Bible scholar in the least, so I may have totally taken that out of context). 

How would you rate the job you have right now?  Linton says he’d rate it a 4-6 on a 10 scale.  Someone mentioned that the better scale would be a 7 scale because 10 is too many and there’s not a significant difference between the hash marks.  Haha, so he calculated what his 10-scale answer would be on the 7 scale.  Hannah asked me how I would rate occupational therapy.  I couldn’t really give her a real answer (or maybe I gave a better answer?) and she was understanding.  I think all settings of occupational therapy are amazing, especially working with children (I feel if you get that job you would have the most variety of exposure, especially working at Ben Taub), whereas in physical dysfunction you’ll probably have more depth than breadth (e.g. my CI at St. Luke’s really liked neuro, and Shanae ended up getting a job at TIRR in I think Brain Injury).  With my personality, I probably have to go with depth because breadth would probably overwhelm me.  I think what would work for me is to get my handle on something, and then as I learn more and more about it, and research more on my own when I’ve leveled out, I can get better at my little part of the world.  I never really had much of a “vision” either.  That’s just my thinking right now.  But there’s nothing that pops out for me, so vareity and breadth is also attractive….

Everyone left afterwards.  I went to R.E.I. around 4 pm because I saw it from the road (off Westheimer) and figured I’d check it out.  Jessie Tan had mentioned she got a sweet deal on a sleeping bag (that’s awesomely soft, insulated, and easy to pack into a small bag), but the sale was over when I went over and checked.  Michael’s was nearby so I went inside and browsed (bad idea - my time killer).  I finally bought from the clearance rack, about $10 worth of dollar and half-dollar items:  glow sticks, candle tins, big bubble-blower, rolls of yarn, photo mat so I can trace, two decks of magic cards (for Wilson, haha), and brushes for my activity analysis.  I finally arrived home at 6:30, read the comics, ate dinner, played the piano, then went to bed at 8:30.  They went on a night on the town for Kenneth See’s going-away party (since he’s going to California), but that’s not my thing.

Sunday, March 30, 2008.  I left the house pretty early this Sunday, around noon.  I was trying to find free wi-fi hotspot havens (houston.about.com/od/diningoutgoingout/f/wifi.htm) but all the ones I checked out turned out to be nonexistent (Doochie E-Cafe, Cakeland Cafe on Wilcrest, and of course I can’t be in the Holiday Inn parking lot using their internet, which seemed secure anyway).  I gave up and decided to drive to football but keep my eye out for any signs.  United Sisters Restaurant caught my eye, but when I opened the door there were a lot of African-American men watching a game on the television, and I didn’t want to feel like I’m getting on their territory or suspicious (plus my bravery sort of left me) and no one noticed I was at the door so I changed my mind.  I was really hungry so I walked to the Subway on Bellaire instead (it’s not part of the strip, but in the middle of the parking lot).  It’s a one-man show (only one guy is there serving and taking the money).  They didn’t have Seafood Sensation, or Tuna (which is alright with me, since they probably have the most calories), or ____.  I asked him what they DID have, and then he started saying that the previous shift before him didn’t prepare anything for him, so in the morning he was only able to cut the cheese, etc.  He seemed pretty frustrated, I wasn’t picky this afternoon so I wasn’t miff, but the lady behind me was a bit surprised that it was THAT narrow of a selection (she wasn’t demanding or anything).  I think she frequents here more than I do (well, this is my first time haha).  I finally asked for Meatball, which they finally had.  I then worked on school stuff from 2:30-5:30 pm at the Schlotzsky’s next to Randall’s a few minutes away from Willow Park.  I know, I kind of stumbled upon it, so I would’ve bought something to eat there plus use their facility (and their wi-fi, which is for customers only).  I watched them play football from 6 until they left at 7:30.  Tiffany said they were eating someplace close to where she lives, which is far from here, so I said I’ll go home to eat instead.  I went home and did so, talking with Vickie on the phone for an hour about Guatemala.  I washed my clothes, showered, chatted online with Nathan Wang and Jonathan, then went to bed at 11 pm.

http://www.paulmadonna.com/aoc/

Houston Outreach Medicine, Education, and Social Services (or H.O.M.E.S.) is a multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary student-run free clinic for the homeless of Houston. HOMES is an innovative and exciting new program in which the major higher educational institutions of Houston collaborate with community organizations to provide quality, accessible healthcare and social services to the homeless.  Sunday was the day chosen for the clinic, because a situational needs assessment conducted that year showed that there was no medical care available to the homeless on Sundays other than the Emergency Room. In 2000, the clinic opened at its original location, the Lord of the Streets (L.O.T.S.), a facility for the homeless that included the Caritas Health Care Clinic. Then in 2007, the clinic officially completed a move to a new location, the Cathedral Clinic at Christ Church Cathedral. The unique three-part learning experience includes social, professional, and personal aspects. During the operation of the clinic, public health, medical, and pharmacy students work together to provide a wide breadth of care, support, and services to the patients. At the end of their stay, students are involved in a reflection period to discuss the experiences, impressions, and thoughts of how these have impacted their view of the homeless population, healthcare, and themselves as providers (http://homeless-healthcare.org/ –> http://homes-clinic.com/default.aspx).

mandatum novum do vobis ut diligatis invicem sicut dilexi vos

This morning I joined Phoebe, Linton, Grace, Peter, Craig, and Brian Lee to volunteer at The Beacon.  The Christ Cathedral Church downtown started it on January 17, 2007, and they already have an incredible efficient ministry going on.  Go volunteer there one time (CHOM=Caethedral Health and Outreach Ministries).  Haha, I was chopping cucumbers with a guy named Matt, who “caught Linton’s eye.”  He seemed pretty nice: he’s in premed at UH, wants to be a general surgeon, and volunteers whenever he can in the kitchen at The Beacon and Ben Taub.  Afterwards we went to The Breakfast Klub because this week apparently the Ous have been hearing about their soul food.  The line was long, but when we finally entered we realized the place wasn’t crowded (Craig pointed out all the empty seats).  Their signature choices are “waffles and wings” and “catfish and grits”.  Grace pointed out that one of the guys behind us had really “true blue” eyes.  I was like, “Oh, you just wanted me to look.”  “Yeah, it’s a free country!”  LOL.

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