October Highlights

October (like much of my life) was a very busy month. A few select highlights:

Taking the Enneagram. Living in Faith House this year are two (very different) 4's, a 6, and myself, a 2. This was definitely one of my favorite community day activities, as we got to discuss our differences and similarities in a meaningful way.

Retreating from urban chaos. We had our first community retreat at Camp Emmaus (somewhere in the corn and forest wilderness of Illinois), where we told each other our life stories and continued our community building. Being in the country in the autumn sun made me miss home quite a bit, however, so it was a bittersweet experience.

Fielding my first intense Teen Text Line correspondence/crisis "call" for work, and processing the emotional distress that brought up.

Teaching cyber safety and bullying prevention curricula to 7th and 8th grade classes in Oak Park, and a one day workshop appearance at an alternative high school in the Austin community. Middle school is still a terrible, rough age for everyone involved, but I'm continuing to be amazed at how much I'm enjoying working with this age group -- something I would never have predicted prior to jumping in head first this past month.

Getting my first sinus infection of the season and teaching through it.

Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of Sarah's Inn at a fancy gala event and seeing my co-workers all dressed up and relaxed (even though the Teen Program still managed to have a meeting at said event).

Fostering children! Our director's family grew by three foster children, and we at Faith House followed suit... sort of. For two weeks, we fostered kittens from Sarah's placement at PAWS. Pictured here are Floy, Brock, and Lorin, two brothers and a sister. (After our foster term was over, Lorin- far right was adopted a few days later!)

Completing our application for a LINK card, also known as food stamps, and trying to work within the Dept. of Human Services system on a personal basis. Stay tuned for the results of our interview in a over a week.