Where Did The Week Go?

Monday October 4
Monday was a slow but busy day at work. The first thing I was asked to do was take inventory on how many Project Sunshine shirts we have in stock. We had run out of a few sizes so before ordering more Jenny wanted me to see which ones needed to order. Then I was told that on Thursday we were having a Sunshine Chefs event and I was the person who was going to find the recipes and craft we were going to do. I spent most of the day looking up recipes. This was a harder task then I thought it would be because I never thought about food allergies, nutrition of the snack, and if we had already done a recipe similar with the kids before. Lets just say that I did not find all of the recipes I needed on this day. I ended the day with printing off many more sunny grams because every time I look at the big stack I have just printed off their is only half of the stack left.....where do they all go?

The GREAT thing about this day was that I was complimented by two of my coworkers on how well I am doing here which made everything I am doing worth it and makes me feel like I finally belong!

After work I started back on reading my book and am not hooked on finding out what is next...I can barely put it down. But I did and went to watch Gossip Girl with Lisa. We always have a good time hanging out and I am so glad to have that time in the evenings most of the time to hang out.

Tuesday October 5
The search for the right craft and food continued....I finally got an okay on the recipes for Fruit Kabobs with yogurt and granola with a dessert of Banana and Chocolate Parfait! Sounds delicious right...Well the only problem was making pudding....we could not decide whether to make it all in one big bowl or to let the kids make it themselves in individual cups. So I tested this out and decided that individual cups would work just fine. For the craft we decided to use left over glasses from the carnival event and make masks to go with the kids Halloween costumes. So we were going to bring feathers, stickers, markers and glitter for them to decorate with.

Later in the day Caitlin asked me about kids from my chapter at Sam Houston. Both boys have great stories that are amazing but will break your hearts and she was finding stories to tell at the Project Sunshine Annual Board Meeting. I felt so honored and grateful that our chapter has such great people and families involved. To end my day I sent 150 band aids off to a hospital that wanted some kid friendly so I sent what else but Dora Explorer and Sponge Bob band aids :)!

After work me and Brianna had decided that we wanted to go see a movie so I went back to my place and met up with her. Of course we had to buy snacks before the movie so we ran to K Mart and looked through the whole store just to see what there was....Then we met up with my friend Lisa to buy tickets for "You Again". The movie was really funny and was alot of fun to just see a girly movie on such a dreary rainy day!

Wednesday October 6
Today was the big EVENT! I was so nervous because everything was basically riding on whether my ideas would work...
First though we had Naomi's fifth anniversary party to worry about. Her last name is Sugar so everything was in the theme of  "Walking Down Sugar Lane" and my job was to print and cut out a yellow brick road pattern we found online. Then we taped the road all around the conference room wall and attached pictures of her all on the road. Everything looked so cute and came together wonderfully with the whole staff frantically trying to decorate while she ran an errand. Nothing is much of a surprise in the office because it is so small but whoever the party is for just stays away from the conference room for the day lol...
We had Kosher food for lunch which I had never had before. I must say it was not bad but is still not going to be a top item toe at on my list...Then for dessert Caitlin had bough Magnolia Bakery cupcakes and we we crushed up candy bars for toppings. We had our own little "Make Your Own Cupcake" station...since Naomi is in charge of the Sunshine Chef events. After we were all full and sugared up it was back to work...

At 5:30 me and Jing headed out to ICC Incarnation Children's Center which provides specialized care for children and adolescents living with HIV/AIDS and is where our Sunshine Chef Event was. When we got there our food had been delivered and the volunteers had arrived. The volunteers included me, Jing, and four other people. I had to tell everyone what we were going to be making and how everything was going to be handled. At first everyone looked at me like I was crazy but once the kids started to arrive and the snacks were starting to  be made the volunteers quickly realized I knew what I was talking about. The pudding for the parfaits worked out perfectly with the kids making their own pudding. The only unsuccessful thing about the event was that the kids were not all that interested with the food portion. All they cared about was making the craft which was the mask for their Halloween costumes. I think this was because they were able to show their creative side and do whatever they want. The staff at the facility was so great and helpful and truly loved being around these kids and having a relationship with them.

All in all this day and event was a great day! My day was a tiring one but I felt accomplished once it was all over!