So, for those of you who don't already know, I'm jobless and spend most of my days at home reading, knitting, watching TV or filling out job applications. Then, at night I head off to night class. Although I have stuff to always keep me productive and busy, I just feel so disconnected from everyone except my family (who I still live with) and Paul (who I talk to every night).
How do people stay connected? I spend time on Facebook reading peoples' updates and seeing what they're up to, but do people actually do that in return? Are there people out there who are really tracking my life through my status updates and the pictures I post? Are there those who really do secretly care what I'm up to and I just never realize it?
I'm just really feeling at a loss lately. I feel like I have so much time on my hand right now that I should be using that time to deepen friendships I had a year ago when I was living at college. If anyone has any idea on how to effectively do this, please chime in and leave a comment. It'd be a lot of help!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Spreading Sickness
Kids+close living quarters = spreading sickness
Day after day here in LA kids are being sent home from CTY left and right. Yesterday alone I had to pack up 5 different student rooms so they could go home. Most of the students are running high fevers (over 100 degrees) and showing flu-like symptoms. Because of the ever-spreading H1N1 virus, we are being required to quarantine and then send home any sick students.
The sickness has been hard on students and staff alike. Students cry after finding out their roommates, camp friends, or hall mates have been sent home for being sick. There's widespread paranoia here as well concerning the spread of the illness. Students are afraid that they too will succumb to what their roommate has which, in their minds, inevitably leads to being sent home. Many students here are now afraid to go to the nurse's office. They see her as the bad person of camp. After all, she's the one that sends everyone home.
Additionally, staff is beginning to get sick. Already we're one RA down. Yesterday we had another RA have a fever. Luckily he's ok today and can be back around the students. The past few days my partner in crime, Christian, has been getting worse and worse. First he had a fever, then felt really tired, and today has a really bad sore throat.
So, between working side by side with a sick guy, walking past the infirmary every day, and packing up the items of students having the flu, I'm left to wonder when sickness is going to hit me. Pray for myself and my co-workers that we can all stay well enough to enjoy the second session of camp! Prayer combined with lots of fluids, vitamins and hand washing should just about do the trick!
Day after day here in LA kids are being sent home from CTY left and right. Yesterday alone I had to pack up 5 different student rooms so they could go home. Most of the students are running high fevers (over 100 degrees) and showing flu-like symptoms. Because of the ever-spreading H1N1 virus, we are being required to quarantine and then send home any sick students.
The sickness has been hard on students and staff alike. Students cry after finding out their roommates, camp friends, or hall mates have been sent home for being sick. There's widespread paranoia here as well concerning the spread of the illness. Students are afraid that they too will succumb to what their roommate has which, in their minds, inevitably leads to being sent home. Many students here are now afraid to go to the nurse's office. They see her as the bad person of camp. After all, she's the one that sends everyone home.
Additionally, staff is beginning to get sick. Already we're one RA down. Yesterday we had another RA have a fever. Luckily he's ok today and can be back around the students. The past few days my partner in crime, Christian, has been getting worse and worse. First he had a fever, then felt really tired, and today has a really bad sore throat.
So, between working side by side with a sick guy, walking past the infirmary every day, and packing up the items of students having the flu, I'm left to wonder when sickness is going to hit me. Pray for myself and my co-workers that we can all stay well enough to enjoy the second session of camp! Prayer combined with lots of fluids, vitamins and hand washing should just about do the trick!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Gladiator
CTY has many traditions scattered here and there. There are certain songs that must be played at dances, certain things to do during particular songs, various theme days, etc. However, my favorite thus far has been the Gladiator battle that topped off Time Travel Day.
Here's the premise: the students are supplied tape and cardboard boxes and must create armor for their RA to go battle in. During battle an RA is out when all of their armor has been ripped off. With that being said, here are the results:
The ladies are ready for battle.
Jon and Will begin to reconsider their scant amount of armor.
Chaos ensues
Dane takes out Kate...and not in the nice, dating sense of the word.
Rahsaan collides with Dane...perhaps payback in the name of Kate?
Dane karate chops Will...why are there so many pictures of Dane? He didn't even last that long!
The final three taunt each other. It's Doheny Bikinis vs. Sullivan's Black Magic...who will win?
Seriously Rahsaan...it's not football.
Jon goes for the quick take down.
True to his word, Rahsaan has no problem "going there" in order to take off Jon's armor.
The Doheny Bikinis take the win in the end and all the students joyfully celebrate.
Here's the premise: the students are supplied tape and cardboard boxes and must create armor for their RA to go battle in. During battle an RA is out when all of their armor has been ripped off. With that being said, here are the results:
The ladies are ready for battle.
Jon and Will begin to reconsider their scant amount of armor.
Chaos ensues
Dane takes out Kate...and not in the nice, dating sense of the word.
Rahsaan collides with Dane...perhaps payback in the name of Kate?
Dane karate chops Will...why are there so many pictures of Dane? He didn't even last that long!
The final three taunt each other. It's Doheny Bikinis vs. Sullivan's Black Magic...who will win?
Seriously Rahsaan...it's not football.
Jon goes for the quick take down.
True to his word, Rahsaan has no problem "going there" in order to take off Jon's armor.
The Doheny Bikinis take the win in the end and all the students joyfully celebrate.CTY
The past 2.5 weeks have just flown right by! For those not up to date on my happenings, I have been working with Johns Hopkins University's Center for Talented Youth (CTY) summer program. The program is all about giving gifted students a place to not only grow intellectually but socially as well. Being a Senior Resident Assistant, I'm in charge of assuring students are being given opportunities to socialize inside and outside of the residence halls. It's back to college life with living in the dorms and college night life with late hours and early mornings. How I'm surviving, I have no idea...I just enjoy what I'm doing and it gives me the drive to keep going!
The first day I was here it was all about unpacking and moving in. The staff quickly changed a hall of dorm rooms into functional offices. My partner in crime, Christian, and I had to unpack and organize three different office spaces (our office, a sports supply room, and an art supply room). After the first day I was exhausted, and not feeling at home. My dorm room walls were white, my bed was too hard and too high (I still have to get a running start to jump into it), and the dorm food just plain sucked.
There's no way of sugar coating the awfulness of the food I ate the first day here. The cafeteria only offered one meal option: pre-cooked hamburgers and hot dogs. By the time I got there, there wasn't even cheese for my burger. Moving on to the soda machine, I found they were only supplying us with 7 ounce cups to drink out of (these later changed to 5 ounce cups). No sandwich bar, no salad left at the "salad bar," and to top it all off, no desert. After day 2 I was so sick of the food I dreaded eating. I must report, though, that since the students arrived a week and a half ago the food has gotten considerably better. It's still not as good as Concordia's and we're still drinking out of 7 ounce cups, but it's definitely better than the first week here.
The first day I also met my wonderful roommate Michelle. She's the camp nurse. I actually made a joke before coming out to CTY hoping I'd be rooming with someone older and more mellow, such as the nurse. Looks like I got my wish! I wouldn't necessarily describe Michelle as mellow, but she is definately the kind, caring, nurse-type. I've come home from late nights in the res office to find notes on my bed wishing me sweet dreams or a bag of chocolate to make up for the ones she ate from the candy dish in our living room. She also affectionately greets me in the morning and at work with "Hi roomie!"I know that if I ever come down with something she'll know how to take care of it right away! I'm really glad to have her as a roommate.
My RA staff here is amazing too! Small problems aside, they really get their jobs done well. There are so many stories I'd be dying to write down here about them, but it would take so long to get them all out! In short, the ladies are wonderful, sweet and genuinely caring. They've gone out of their way before to be sure I take a break and have personal time amidst the chaos of residence life. The gentlemen...well...they're guys. I love them all. They continually make me laugh. I was thinking today about how nice it's been to go to work everyday knowing that there'll be something to smile about and take joy in.
Some of the staff takes the time to imitate the way Christian dresses and poses - very unique.
The other Senior Resident Assistant I work with, Christian, is a God-sent. He's been here for five years now and has helped me figure out in the ins and outs of the program. He understands my sense of humor, and ever since the first day we've just clicked. It's actually kind of creepy that at times we'll finish each others' sentences, say the same things at the same time, or anticipate what the other person will do before they do it. Even creepier is the fact that our birthdays are only one day apart. His is July 6th and mine's the 7th...two cancers aren't supposed to get along so well! We're pretty much an unstoppable duo. I'm the girl version of him and he's the guy version of me.
Watch out CTY...Brandi and Christian are on duty, watching for trouble at the dance.
The first day I was here it was all about unpacking and moving in. The staff quickly changed a hall of dorm rooms into functional offices. My partner in crime, Christian, and I had to unpack and organize three different office spaces (our office, a sports supply room, and an art supply room). After the first day I was exhausted, and not feeling at home. My dorm room walls were white, my bed was too hard and too high (I still have to get a running start to jump into it), and the dorm food just plain sucked.
There's no way of sugar coating the awfulness of the food I ate the first day here. The cafeteria only offered one meal option: pre-cooked hamburgers and hot dogs. By the time I got there, there wasn't even cheese for my burger. Moving on to the soda machine, I found they were only supplying us with 7 ounce cups to drink out of (these later changed to 5 ounce cups). No sandwich bar, no salad left at the "salad bar," and to top it all off, no desert. After day 2 I was so sick of the food I dreaded eating. I must report, though, that since the students arrived a week and a half ago the food has gotten considerably better. It's still not as good as Concordia's and we're still drinking out of 7 ounce cups, but it's definitely better than the first week here.
The first day I also met my wonderful roommate Michelle. She's the camp nurse. I actually made a joke before coming out to CTY hoping I'd be rooming with someone older and more mellow, such as the nurse. Looks like I got my wish! I wouldn't necessarily describe Michelle as mellow, but she is definately the kind, caring, nurse-type. I've come home from late nights in the res office to find notes on my bed wishing me sweet dreams or a bag of chocolate to make up for the ones she ate from the candy dish in our living room. She also affectionately greets me in the morning and at work with "Hi roomie!"I know that if I ever come down with something she'll know how to take care of it right away! I'm really glad to have her as a roommate.
My RA staff here is amazing too! Small problems aside, they really get their jobs done well. There are so many stories I'd be dying to write down here about them, but it would take so long to get them all out! In short, the ladies are wonderful, sweet and genuinely caring. They've gone out of their way before to be sure I take a break and have personal time amidst the chaos of residence life. The gentlemen...well...they're guys. I love them all. They continually make me laugh. I was thinking today about how nice it's been to go to work everyday knowing that there'll be something to smile about and take joy in.
Some of the staff takes the time to imitate the way Christian dresses and poses - very unique.The other Senior Resident Assistant I work with, Christian, is a God-sent. He's been here for five years now and has helped me figure out in the ins and outs of the program. He understands my sense of humor, and ever since the first day we've just clicked. It's actually kind of creepy that at times we'll finish each others' sentences, say the same things at the same time, or anticipate what the other person will do before they do it. Even creepier is the fact that our birthdays are only one day apart. His is July 6th and mine's the 7th...two cancers aren't supposed to get along so well! We're pretty much an unstoppable duo. I'm the girl version of him and he's the guy version of me.
Watch out CTY...Brandi and Christian are on duty, watching for trouble at the dance.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
I was on my way to church when...
Two years ago when I was getting ready to take off to Vacation Bible School, I went out to my car to find that my windshield had been smashed, but not broken.
Today, I was going out to my car to go to church, which I'd planned on going to since Monday in order to observe a student we just got that has special needs. I was supposed to be figuring out what would make him sit and listen like the rest of the kids and showing the teachers how to implement supports for him.
However, when I went out to my car, to my surprise, the passenger side window was smashed in and the place was tossed. They'd gone through my glove compartment, my center console, and my center storage area. Luckily, I'm always paranoid, so the only thing of value they made off with was a portable CD player I bought when I was in middle school...but who uses those anymore? Go figure they wanted nothing to do with the play money, air fresheners, hair brushes, gum, or August Rush CD I had in there.
Being a person who is absolutely afraid of bad people, the whole event shook me up. However, when the police finally arrived, they put me at ease as they joked around, hung out with the family, and ran a license plate of a sketchy guy that had been sitting across the street without seeming to have any purpose (yes, paranoid me wrote down his plate, car type, and description just in case).
The officers also catered to my curious sister and gave her practice in the art of fingerprinting everything in my car the jerk may have touched.
The officer went through the lengths of showing her how to use the duster and even gave her her own pair of gloves so she didn't get messy. After dusting many different surfaces, they didn't come up with anything, until I had the bright idea that there might have been fingerprints on a bag of air fresheners that were pulled out of my glove compartment. Voila! My sister lifted a great print off of it! This meant I had to be printed as well, which I'm quite skilled at from having to be printed for everything requiring me to work with children!
My sister watched on with the bag she printed to make sure I gave them nothing but the best prints. Now we just sit and wait to see if the prints match anyone (other than me) in their system. We're praying it does so that justice can be done. But, until then my car sits in the driveway, battery pulled out, and the fake money still sitting out in the open, but that's about it. So, if you're looking to pull any funny stuff while my window is busted out, go ahead. Just remember, my sister was trained by the police ;)
UPDATE (6/18/09): Still no word back yet on the print...I doubt anything will come up. However, my mom was listening to the radio this morning and someone called in saying their car was broken into. I guess the following conversation went into why people break into cars, and GPS mounts in the front are one of the main causes. The person on the radio said that thieves look for that mount and think a GPS system is stashed somewhere in the car, so they'll break in, check all the compartments and under the seats to find it. This probably explains why he didn't even touch my trunk or back seat and why my seat was moved all the way back but the car wasn't hot wired. He was looking for my GPS. Too bad that poor guy didn't know I'm paranoid and NEVER leave such things in the car! Hopefully this will make you readers think twice about what you leave behind in your car...even if it's just hints of things you own.
$180 later and I have a new window too. I was excited because the window guys even vacuumed out my passenger seat and washed the window. This means 1/4 of my car got cleaned and I didn't have to lift a finger! What a deal! :P ...hey, I'm still trying to look on the bright side of it all here.
Today, I was going out to my car to go to church, which I'd planned on going to since Monday in order to observe a student we just got that has special needs. I was supposed to be figuring out what would make him sit and listen like the rest of the kids and showing the teachers how to implement supports for him.
However, when I went out to my car, to my surprise, the passenger side window was smashed in and the place was tossed. They'd gone through my glove compartment, my center console, and my center storage area. Luckily, I'm always paranoid, so the only thing of value they made off with was a portable CD player I bought when I was in middle school...but who uses those anymore? Go figure they wanted nothing to do with the play money, air fresheners, hair brushes, gum, or August Rush CD I had in there.
Being a person who is absolutely afraid of bad people, the whole event shook me up. However, when the police finally arrived, they put me at ease as they joked around, hung out with the family, and ran a license plate of a sketchy guy that had been sitting across the street without seeming to have any purpose (yes, paranoid me wrote down his plate, car type, and description just in case).
The officers also catered to my curious sister and gave her practice in the art of fingerprinting everything in my car the jerk may have touched.
The officer went through the lengths of showing her how to use the duster and even gave her her own pair of gloves so she didn't get messy. After dusting many different surfaces, they didn't come up with anything, until I had the bright idea that there might have been fingerprints on a bag of air fresheners that were pulled out of my glove compartment. Voila! My sister lifted a great print off of it! This meant I had to be printed as well, which I'm quite skilled at from having to be printed for everything requiring me to work with children!
My sister watched on with the bag she printed to make sure I gave them nothing but the best prints. Now we just sit and wait to see if the prints match anyone (other than me) in their system. We're praying it does so that justice can be done. But, until then my car sits in the driveway, battery pulled out, and the fake money still sitting out in the open, but that's about it. So, if you're looking to pull any funny stuff while my window is busted out, go ahead. Just remember, my sister was trained by the police ;)UPDATE (6/18/09): Still no word back yet on the print...I doubt anything will come up. However, my mom was listening to the radio this morning and someone called in saying their car was broken into. I guess the following conversation went into why people break into cars, and GPS mounts in the front are one of the main causes. The person on the radio said that thieves look for that mount and think a GPS system is stashed somewhere in the car, so they'll break in, check all the compartments and under the seats to find it. This probably explains why he didn't even touch my trunk or back seat and why my seat was moved all the way back but the car wasn't hot wired. He was looking for my GPS. Too bad that poor guy didn't know I'm paranoid and NEVER leave such things in the car! Hopefully this will make you readers think twice about what you leave behind in your car...even if it's just hints of things you own.
$180 later and I have a new window too. I was excited because the window guys even vacuumed out my passenger seat and washed the window. This means 1/4 of my car got cleaned and I didn't have to lift a finger! What a deal! :P ...hey, I'm still trying to look on the bright side of it all here.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Day 6 - Ending in Boston
Early in the morning we packed up and left Tilton on the 8:30am bus. It was sad to leave my family behind. We had experienced a lot in NH, but I didn't feel like I was around my family enough for my trip. Perhaps because I usually stay two weeks in NH rather than just 4.5 days. But, life called Paul and I to go back home and back to work or getting work, in my case.
We arrived at South Station, Boston at 10:30 am and wanted to drop off our bags at the airport so we could enjoy a day of touring the other half of Boston we didn't cover the first day. We had packed two backpacks of stuff we may have needed for the flight, and my one large backpacking backpack full of stuff we weren't likely to use. When we arrived at the airport and checked in for our 6 pm flight, we weren't asked if we would like to check bags like we usually are. Come to find out, we couldn't check our bags in until 2 pm! This meant touring Boston looking like this:
Paul got the worse end of the deal. The bag he had on his back weighed 27 pounds (as measured when we were finally able to check in our bags at 4 pm). Since I had never climbed up the Bunker Hill Monument, it was our first stop. For those of you who have climbed the monument, you know how grueling the 294 steps can be, never mind carting a week's worth of clothes and tourist items up! To lighten our load a little we had the lunch we packed before going up.
Paul researched the history of the monument during lunch.
We made it...stuff and all. I was completely amazed I didn't end up passing out.
Paul shows off his load. Amazingly he can still smile after going up and down all those stairs!
Despite exhausted legs, we continued on our tour by walking the Freedom Trail backwards. Both of us had walked the trail individually, so it was nice to walk it together and not have to worry about stopping at every marker along the way. I was able to snap some shots of places I didn't get a chance to last time, and we were both able to travel off the trail a little to see other exciting buildings not specifically marked on the trail. One such place was Mike's Pastry.
The lobster tail I bought took me two days to get through. Paul's canoli was absolutely delicious. I can't wait to go back to Boston and try something else there!
We made it to the end (or beginning depending on how you look at it) of the Freedom Trail with enough time to relax on the Boston Common for an hour before we had to rush to the airport to leave. It was a nice time for the two of us to talk and reflect on the whole trip. Usually we keep so busy, we don't have time to talk about the trip before leaving, so it was extremely nice to share this time together.
When we arrived at the airport, Paul still hadn't eaten New England Clam Chowder and was looking forward to getting some at Legal Seafoods in Terminal C. So, after finally dropping off that darn bag, we made a mad dash out to terminal C and back only to have it dawn on us that chowder is a liquid and he'd have to eat it before we were allowed to go through security. We had a quick, 45 minute dinner together, ran through security, only to find our plane was already boarding. Luckily we still had time to get on, get settled, and fly back to Seattle for a day of relaxing before I had to go back home to San Diego.
I'm sad that vacation had to end so quickly, and it's always heartbreaking to say goodbye to Paul without knowing when our next adventures will bring us together again. However, life must go on and there's work to be done before we're brought back together for more happy and fun visits.
We arrived at South Station, Boston at 10:30 am and wanted to drop off our bags at the airport so we could enjoy a day of touring the other half of Boston we didn't cover the first day. We had packed two backpacks of stuff we may have needed for the flight, and my one large backpacking backpack full of stuff we weren't likely to use. When we arrived at the airport and checked in for our 6 pm flight, we weren't asked if we would like to check bags like we usually are. Come to find out, we couldn't check our bags in until 2 pm! This meant touring Boston looking like this:
Paul got the worse end of the deal. The bag he had on his back weighed 27 pounds (as measured when we were finally able to check in our bags at 4 pm). Since I had never climbed up the Bunker Hill Monument, it was our first stop. For those of you who have climbed the monument, you know how grueling the 294 steps can be, never mind carting a week's worth of clothes and tourist items up! To lighten our load a little we had the lunch we packed before going up.
Paul researched the history of the monument during lunch.
We made it...stuff and all. I was completely amazed I didn't end up passing out.
Paul shows off his load. Amazingly he can still smile after going up and down all those stairs!Despite exhausted legs, we continued on our tour by walking the Freedom Trail backwards. Both of us had walked the trail individually, so it was nice to walk it together and not have to worry about stopping at every marker along the way. I was able to snap some shots of places I didn't get a chance to last time, and we were both able to travel off the trail a little to see other exciting buildings not specifically marked on the trail. One such place was Mike's Pastry.
The lobster tail I bought took me two days to get through. Paul's canoli was absolutely delicious. I can't wait to go back to Boston and try something else there!
We made it to the end (or beginning depending on how you look at it) of the Freedom Trail with enough time to relax on the Boston Common for an hour before we had to rush to the airport to leave. It was a nice time for the two of us to talk and reflect on the whole trip. Usually we keep so busy, we don't have time to talk about the trip before leaving, so it was extremely nice to share this time together.
When we arrived at the airport, Paul still hadn't eaten New England Clam Chowder and was looking forward to getting some at Legal Seafoods in Terminal C. So, after finally dropping off that darn bag, we made a mad dash out to terminal C and back only to have it dawn on us that chowder is a liquid and he'd have to eat it before we were allowed to go through security. We had a quick, 45 minute dinner together, ran through security, only to find our plane was already boarding. Luckily we still had time to get on, get settled, and fly back to Seattle for a day of relaxing before I had to go back home to San Diego.
I'm sad that vacation had to end so quickly, and it's always heartbreaking to say goodbye to Paul without knowing when our next adventures will bring us together again. However, life must go on and there's work to be done before we're brought back together for more happy and fun visits.
Day 5 - Shaker Village
Monday morning was a day to sleep in. The only thing we wanted to accomplish was a tour of Shaker Village. Although neither Paul nor I were able to sleep in much past 7:00 am because of the sun shining through our windows, we lazed around for a few hours watching the news and eating breakfast. Ok, it was more than a few hours. It was more like 3-4 hours. This was the morning that Air France flight went down off the coast of Brazil, so at least there was something exciting news channels were reporting on.
Since we got such a late start to the day, we decided to pick up a few last minute touristy and tax-free items at Wal-Mart and Walgreens before heading out to my Aunt's house for lunch. At noon we were treated to an AMAZING lunch. The meal started off with Salad and rolls and was followed by chicken fettuccine alfredo then topped off with some pineapple upside down cake. We visited for a while before heading out to Shaker Village.
Shaker Village was once a fully-operating town of Shakers (not to be confused with the Amish or the Quakers). This religious sect worshiped God through dancing and lived a life of celibacy so they could be fully devoted to Him. Being celibate meant not producing any children who would grow up in their community. Therefore, the Shakers at Canterbury died off in 1992 when the last NH Shaker sister passed away. Maine, as we were told, is the last state to still have Shakers still living out the Shaker way of life. As a matter of fact, they've had a recent convert: a 19 year old girl became a Shaker 2 years ago and is still practicing today at the age of 21. Go figure.
Me in front of the Shaker school. Amazingly, the 2nd floor was built before the 1st floor. The school used to be 1 story, but when they needed to expand it, they lofted the second floor and inserted the first floor below so they wouldn't have to build another roof!
Paul poses in front of the dwelling house where men and women are housed separately in a manner similar to a dorm. Their only interactions are in pre-planned social times where they're assigned people to talk to about current events.
We have too much fun being together at any time. We definitely don't fit the shaker lifestyle.
When we arrived back home from our short excursion, we broke out the home videos and photo albums. Typically when Paul and I get together, it's too busy to just sit around and look at old pictures of our childhoods. However, now was as good of a time as any, and Paul loved seeing me and my family members years ago when life was much simpler.
Can you believe it? That was the entire day! We headed to bed early that night so we could prepare to leave the next morning - our last day on the East Coast.
Since we got such a late start to the day, we decided to pick up a few last minute touristy and tax-free items at Wal-Mart and Walgreens before heading out to my Aunt's house for lunch. At noon we were treated to an AMAZING lunch. The meal started off with Salad and rolls and was followed by chicken fettuccine alfredo then topped off with some pineapple upside down cake. We visited for a while before heading out to Shaker Village.
Shaker Village was once a fully-operating town of Shakers (not to be confused with the Amish or the Quakers). This religious sect worshiped God through dancing and lived a life of celibacy so they could be fully devoted to Him. Being celibate meant not producing any children who would grow up in their community. Therefore, the Shakers at Canterbury died off in 1992 when the last NH Shaker sister passed away. Maine, as we were told, is the last state to still have Shakers still living out the Shaker way of life. As a matter of fact, they've had a recent convert: a 19 year old girl became a Shaker 2 years ago and is still practicing today at the age of 21. Go figure.
Me in front of the Shaker school. Amazingly, the 2nd floor was built before the 1st floor. The school used to be 1 story, but when they needed to expand it, they lofted the second floor and inserted the first floor below so they wouldn't have to build another roof!
Paul poses in front of the dwelling house where men and women are housed separately in a manner similar to a dorm. Their only interactions are in pre-planned social times where they're assigned people to talk to about current events.
We have too much fun being together at any time. We definitely don't fit the shaker lifestyle.When we arrived back home from our short excursion, we broke out the home videos and photo albums. Typically when Paul and I get together, it's too busy to just sit around and look at old pictures of our childhoods. However, now was as good of a time as any, and Paul loved seeing me and my family members years ago when life was much simpler.
Can you believe it? That was the entire day! We headed to bed early that night so we could prepare to leave the next morning - our last day on the East Coast.
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