Sunday, November 23, 2008

I decided some time ago that I would make Sundays my day to update my blog. However, as you can see, I haven't been doing so. I have just been grossly uninspired to write... But just for the sake of keeping a goal, I'll tell you what I've been up to.

Thursday I skipped school and volunteered all day with Richmond's first annual Homless Connect. Basically people from all different service oriented fields gather in the Richmond Convention Center and provide free care to the local homeless. (medical/dental screenings, free hair cuts, free boots, etc...) The dental school had a very small representation that included me, Dr. Brooks and maybe a dozen others. I screened patients. I took patients one by one, heard their stories, took a look in their mouth and said "yep, you're right, you do need to see a dentist" and gave them information as to where they could go to receive free dental care. It was not what I anticipated. AT all. When I think of homeless people I imagine dirty piles of people, stoned out of their lucid minds, and completely unable to communicate at even the slightest intelligible level. At the very least I imagine a remarkably creepy and dirty dude. I personally met with probably 20 plus homeless individuals (and saw 131) and only 1 of them came close to this description. The rest of them were as the cliche' goes, simply hard on their luck (is that the saying?) It was a learning experience for me. In general, they were polite, and gracious, and making efforts to improve their lot. I felt compelled to reach out more.

Last night I went bowling with some new friends of mine. In 5 years (not counting Nintendo Wii) this is the second time I've been bowling. I think I bowled a 67 and a 98... It was refreshingly fun. I got to know a couple new people and really enjoyed myself. I know this sounds unremarkable...but if you are one who is unaware of how grossly unsocial I tend to be, this is headline news :) I think I'll do it again.

I'm going to an LDS gala December 5th. My roommate in a desperate attempt to get me to go, actually went and searched for a suitable dress for me so I couldn't bail last minute b/c I didn't have anything to wear. She went to Macy's picked out a few and sent me to go try them on. One of them turned out to be magically delicious and I immediately bought it.
She's a genius. When I have money I am going to pay her to be my personal shopper on a regular basis. I can't wait to post pictures of me in my new dress. Get ready to be dazzled!

Lastly, I gave a talk in church today. I love giving talks. It's a lil adrenaline rush and gives me the opportunity to search the scriptures more than I normally do. I spoke on testimonies and faith. Most importantly I got to wear my other new dress that I bought for the occasion :) Yay for new dresses.

3 comments:

julie said...

Man, you should bowl with me. A 98 would kick my behind and a 67 would be fierce competition.

Love speaking in church?! Love searching the scriptures?! Wait..that one is good. :) Now I DO love a new dress. Or a hand me down dress is good too..if there's any you wanna send me, don't hesitate.

Dixie & Markus said...

I can't wait to see you in your new dress!!
I have to admit when I first started reading about your volunteering to inspect homeless people's mouths I was thinking, 'oh my goodness she is brave, I would totally vomit all over the place.' Thanks for clearing things up for me, I too had the same inncorrect preconceived notions that they would be obscenely dirty people. Thanks for sharing your experience and clearing that up for me and many others, I'm sure.

Lindsey said...

Yay new clothes are always great, especially dresses-finding ones that actually look good on me are few and far between! That's all I want for Christmas from Jake is new clothes.....he might need my help though! Can't wait for you to tell me you got into dental school! Good luck!