end of the week

Friday June 27th
Spent the morning organizing, sorting recycling materials, and just putting things back in their spots (a lot of things got moved away from their "home" for the benefit last night). I was happy to do this work, as it meant I could stay indoors. I was really busy and it took most of the morning...just thankful to be out of the sun.

Stopped working around 11:45am to take a quick shower and take Jess (the livestock intern) to the airport at DFW. She is going on a much deserved and much needed vacation with her family in Philadelphia and Nova Scotia. Anyways, she needed someone to take her to the airport, so I volunteered to drive. Not sure why, as I have problems staying awake when I am by myself driving...but I did volunteer nonetheless. I also drove to Austin and back last Monday, and to Houston and back last weekend, not to mention that I drive back to Houston on Monday afternoon. Lots of car time!

Took me 4 and 1/2 hours round trip to go the 120 miles (one way) to the airport. Couldn't believe it took that long. AND couldn't believe how many times I ran into traffic. Literally hit hard traffic about 5 times. I hate I-35 so much and I wish it was 12 lanes across like I-10 in Houston. Listened to the radio a lot and all I heard about was Michael Jackson. I didn't realize what a huge impact he had on the world. The man who did the choreography for Slumdog Millionaire said that Jackson's dance moves really influenced him choreographer as a child. I mean, INDIA! I really like to think that Jackson isn't dead, that he faked his death, went to an island that he purchased with money made from his recent concert, and is living away from the media, finally. May he rest in peace.

For the first weekend ever this month, I won't be leaving the farm to visiting relatives, set up my apartment, or attend a wedding. I will stay at the farm, run some errands, get some good stuff done.

At least, that's the plan!

Monday is my last day here...wow. Can't believe that June has flown by to quickly. Summer school starts soon after July 4th...I can't say that I am excited for summer school, but it is always nice to start something new.

Thursday June 26th
Wow wow wow. BUSY day! Today was the WHR benefit/fundraiser dinner in downtown Waco. It was a lot of fun and we had a lot of participation, but boy was it a lot of work! We had a chef cater the event, and she was gracious enough to do it for free.

Menu:
Cream of vegetable soup with yogurt and parsley
cucumber salad
African meatloaf <--- ok, so that's not the name of it, but that's what it really was.
vanilla custard w/ nilla wafers, caramel topping

It was wonderful! The WHR vols and interns worked as the serving staff, which turned out quite well. We each got to serve a table and "cater" to their needs. I say "cater" because it's not like we can change a set menu if the guest does not like it, just gotta work with what we have! My table was super nice and I did not have any problems at all. Some of the urban gardening kids attended and talked to the dinner guests. Matt, the education director, had a whole program set so the dinner guests could hear about all that the farm does. Last year, we had this event on the farm and we served 35 people. This year, it was at the Palladium downtown, and we had 70 guests. Woo!

In the afternoon, I was using Matt's truck (which logged in at 511,000 miles. Read: NOT possible!) to run errands and pick up supplies for the party. Had to pick up rental stuff like drapes, glasses, silverware, etc.

Once the guests left, we finally got to eat the meal around 9 pm or so...boy were we starved! The dinner was so good though. There was a lot of food waste, as the portions were way too big for people to finish. It made me sad that we had to throw it all away. No way Campus Kitchen could legally recover any of that food...once it's been served on a plate, we cannot touch it. That's what happens when you serve a huge main course and have three other courses to compliment it.

I forgot that we were the ones setting up...which meant that we were the ones who had to clean up too. Every table, every scrap, had to be put away and thrown away. It took a while to get everything loaded into cars and sent away, but having so many people help makes it go by a lot faster. There were many leftovers (like vegetable broth, sliced cucumbers, whipped cream, etc) that we sent back to the farm so we could eat off it for a few days. I didn't think that there was that much food, but I was definitely wrong. 3 other girls and I spent at least an hour putting back food, freezing it, and making decisions as to what stays and what goes. It was quite a time. We put all the food in the 3 fridges in the main building.

I had never been in the "Ed building" at 11:30 at night, but it's kind of creepy. Not to mention that there are roaches living there. I counted about 5 or 6 just scurrying about...they really give me the creeps. I am also freaked out by lizards, but roaches are much more...disposable is the word I will used. I have no qualms about using Raid on the roaches...heck, just did it the other day on the three that I found in the bathroom. To treat my roach phobia, I try to send out vibes of "they are more scared of me than I am of them." This treatment sometimes works, but lately I haven't had much luck on scaring them off. Guess I am not a very scary person!

Didn't go to bed until midnight tonight. Wow. That's the latest I've gone to sleep here at the farm. And boy I was feeling it Friday morning!