A little while back, one of the Spanish interpreters was talking to me about an event she was coordinating. She is also a photographer and there was a call for photographers to donate their time to take portraits of people who wouldn't normally get professional photographs...and set a "date". She told me to watch this video and said that I would want to do ANYTHING he told me to do (because he is cute...ha ha!)
She ended up coordinating pictures to be taken at five different locations. Pediatric patients/families from two different hospitals and a skilled nursing facility, single moms and their kids from a transitional program, and at a church that holds a lunch every Saturday for homeless/poor people in that neighborhood/community. What a GREAT idea! This video from the test-event made me cry.
I was a "photography assistant" and am thankful to Ginger that this wasn't my first time in this role ;o) I went with a photographer and we did four patients who were unable to leave their rooms. We had to go back to two of the rooms since we did individual patient photos before we realized the parents were planning to be there. She is a photographer who usually photographs weddings and steers clear of children, so she enjoyed that this was out of her comfort zone. She and I made a really good team because I was able to position the patients and fix blankets and sheets to cover tubes and lines. It was SO much fun! All total, 17 families were photographed which is great! I saw on the web site this evening that with only 43% of locations reporting, there were over 17,000 pictures taken, over 1400 photographers, and over 27o0 volunteers--awesome!
After I was done volunteering, I met up with my "new friends" (hmm, sounds like I could be mentioning them a bit here, so will have to come up with something to call them...ha!) so the mom could go to the store. She wanted to go to Wal-Mart, since she heard that was a good place. Well, I'm totally NOT a Wal-Mart girl (Super Wal-Mart especially scares me!), so I "compromised" with her. First, we went "shopping" at my house (I told her she had to have blind eyes to my messy house). I have been "storing" some laundry detergent, stain remover, and dryer sheets for the mom of my "A-team girl", but figured she would be more than okay that they were used by someone who could use them since they have been sitting in a basket under my stairs for quite some time. I tossed some wash cloths, pillow cases, microwavable bowls, a coffee mug, and an extra hair dryer into a laundry basket...it was really funny going from room to room seeing what I could give them. Of course, the two-year-old played in my play room for a little while and we had to bring one of the bigger toys with us in the car in order to get him to leave, but he was SO good!
After the shopping spree at my house, I brought her to Kohl's. I had a 15% off everything coupon plus a $10 off coupon, so it sounded like a good place to start for me. At the top of her list (after the things she found at my house) was clothes for the little one and I know that Kohl's sells Carter's brand and things there are ALWAYS on sale. She also wanted a pillow which you ALSO can get at Kohl's. She bought an egg crate mattress and spent just under $80 total which I think is impressive. From there, we went to a natural grill because they have been eating cafeteria food all week and realized that we eat lots of starchy, sugary, fatty foods...welcome to America, right?! We both got these yummy chicken and rice bowls and smoothies (funny that she wanted the one that caught my eye too!) and then headed to the grocery store. Going to the grocery store with someone who has never been in an American grocery store is a riot! She kept saying "Wow!" as we walked through the aisles...I couldn't stop laughing. Of course, the store has these ridiculously large marshmallows that even I said "Wow!" to when I first saw them. She couldn't BELIEVE the ice cream aisle and that you can buy a BUCKET of ice cream with a handle to carry it! Then, down the candy aisle, she was cracking up at a "massive" bag of M&Ms..."M&Ms for fifty people," she said. (I haven't written a sentence like that in a while...I hope it really does go "comma" then "end quote" because punctuation USED to be my deal!)
We had a nice visit as we shopped and ate and that two-year-old is SOOOO good! I'm sure this isn't the last time I will hang out with them. If all goes well, then they will be here for a while...they have a very sick child, so they definitely need prayers for "all to go well".
We talked some about "blogging" and she told me that I should have a blog...I told her that I DO have a "blog", but that only a couple people I know read it. I'm going back and forth on if I should give her the link. It isn't that this is a "secret" and I suppose if my family really wanted to read it, I would give them the link (I have wanted to dedicate an entire post to wondering about what would happen if my family, or anyone I see on a regular basis I guess, read this blog...) I have been "careful" and only have one patient's mom as a fb friend (and that child has not been a "patient" in quite some time) and plan to keep it that way. I do read HER blog, so should I not give her the opportunity to read mine if she would like? I'm not necessarily sure of the downside to at least giving her access to it, but want to "sleep on it" and definitely will set some sort of "ground rules"...
After I dropped them off, I met up with some photographers who participated in the event today. They were meeting after 4, so by the time I got there, it was just the photographer I know, one I met on Thursday, and another photographer who were left. The four of us "hung out" for quite a while. I'm usually really comfortable around new people and wasn't exactly UNcomfortable tonight, and I am glad I was being "social" but it was interesting for sure. (Stephanie, the next time we talk on the phone, if I wander away from listening, please remind me of this night...ha!) The male photographer pretty much talked the entire time. He was super nice and easy to talk to, but seriously, the photographer I know was able to get in a few words here and there, but the other girl and I pretty much just sat there. I feel like I pretty much know his life story...well, maybe not QUITE his life story, but lots of it--in case "you" are interested, his parents divorced when he was seven, his dad married a 23-year-old, he doesn't like his older sister and she ruined his younger sister's wedding, he has four kids and his wife had an affair with her best friend's husband and they are getting divorced, and there were some wedding photography stories thrown in there too...does that at all sound exhausting?! Boy do I hope that my story telling doesn't make people want to close their ears for a little while (or go to sleep!) I suppose I was the "outsider" and I'm sure he needed to talk about his recent marital status changes (I do feel bad for the poor guy...he truly sounds like he loves his kids and is trying to go about everything in a way that will make it less tough for the kids). However, once I was there, I didn't really have an "out" since I don't REALLY know the one person I "know", and it would have been rude to leave mid-sentence (or mid-story) without some sort of excuse. When 10:30 came, I politely excused myself :o)
And, now it is after 1:30 and I HAVE to be at church by 10:15 so we can practice Christmas songs before Mass. Practice was canceled on Thursday, so we need to rehearse as much as we can since Christmas will be here before I know it (and I'm thinking maybe I WON'T put up a tree this year?!)
It's officially Nikki's birthday (since I stayed awake so long!) Hope you have a great day!
Good night.
No comments:
Post a Comment