What makes me feel alive....

:: Helping a local Indian mom, practically a stranger to me, with international child abduction. Using my network to line up lawyers, paperwork, finances, tickets, etc within a couple of days. And more importantly, providing strength, trust, and a listening ear....

:: Cooking a Gujarati lunch for my American friend and admin at work, who just finished chemotherapy and got an all clear on her illness. She loves our simple homecooked meals, and spoils my children rotten. And even though she is the one who is sick and recovering, she ALWAYS bakes cookies for us and brings them every single time we meet.

:: A movie date night with a longtime friend's wife who is new to my part of the country. Shopping, dining and travel tips, tidbits on life with 2 kids and work-life balance, and providing a listening ear to her daily struggles as she settles down here....

:: Volunteering to make a fall rainy day gift basket for the daughter's school. A first for me. And in the process, connecting intimately with 2 moms who were part of my team. Learning about African culture, their life story, their kids. Sharing a bit about us too.

:: An invitation to volunteer and support World Relief Sacramento, which helps refugees settle into the Greater Sacramento Area. The Syrian crisis is still on my mind, and I will use this opportunity to do something about it.

:: Through a volunteering position on the Executive committee for a local non-profit, it's been a pleasant surprise to find a group of like-minded Gujaratis who have extended our close circle of friends and family here. Kids have also found new best friends, and we are hoping for lots of fun times ahead with this group.

:: A calorie busting, sweat dripping cardio workout at home. And the sweet pain that follows. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWy_aOlB45Y

:: And last but not the least, Chocolate!!!! THIS Orange Marmalade chocolate and it's wrapper.....you can't beat British classiness....

Last Friday....

Fridays are always busy for me, and this one was no different. After a day filled with  meetings at work, I picked up the son from his daycare, and waited for the husband to arrive home before leaving to pick up the daughter from her preschool.

She was playing outside with her friends, with leaves and twigs. Play and friends - the two most important things for a preschooler. So inspite of being late, I did not rush her. When she was done, she happily came to me and hopped in to the car seat. Much better than trying to pull her out of her play and dealing with a tantrum during the drive :).

We reached the church in about 15 minutes....and were greeted to some Mozart playing in the background. We quickly found our friends, and the daughter got into action.

We were there to feed the homeless - a social event held by the church every second Friday of the month. There were all kinds of people - young, old, children, disabled, poor, sick. Pizzas and treats were already served, so we started helping out with grocery distribution. The daughter and I were giving away Cereal boxes, and since we had limited supply, we were only allowed to distribute one per person.

It seemed like Cereal, among other things like cookies, pasta sauce, etc. was the hot item that day. I think Cereal has become such a versatile staple.....you can't do without it. Its easy, can be consumed with or without milk, and does not go bad for months. I do not bring any kind of cereal to our house, because they are all heavily processed, and laden with sugar as well as salt. But even with the homeless, I was happy to see many people checking out the label on the boxes, and many asking me which one was the healthiest. The Kashi blueberry granola clusters was the most healthiest option, and we ran out of it quickly.

The daughter also got to interact with a little girl, almost her age. It was all new for her, but she had blended in seamlessly, and was not bothered at all to be in a room full of strangers, and strange-looking people. My friend A and I were amazed.

Since we reached a little late, we were only there for about 90 minutes. The daughter helped cleaned up (the only thing left on the grocery table was cookies) and as we headed out, I realized that someone was actually playing all the beautiful tunes behind the piano. The music kept the whole atmosphere so lively, and gave a whole new feel to the place. So thankful for this person to be volunteering that day!

I was most interested in the daughter's questions that would follow post this experience. She asked me why these people did not have homes, or money to buy food. Where they lived? What they did? Whether the kids went to school, or to swimming classes, or Taekwondo?

When a friend of ours visited us over the weekend, I had her describe our experience to him, and her answers amazed me. She UNDERSTOOD. It was a profound as well as proud moment for me!

The daughter was a very fussy eater as an infant and toddler, but she has made a complete U-turn. From never wanting to eat....even with videos shown to her, she eats everything that's offered to her. She insists on NO TV during her meals, and she understands why it is important to not leave leftovers on the plate. I only hope this positive trend continues......forever :D!

It was a Friday evening....very well spent!!!

{I did not feel appropriate to take pictures, and I think I made the right call.}

A Friday morning well spent....

“Sail beyond the horizon; fly higher than you ever thought possible; magnify your existence by helping others; be kind to people and animals of all shapes and sizes; be true to what you value most; shine your light on the world; and be the person you were born to be.” -  Blake Beattie

The husband is on bonding leave. Mum n dad are also around for another week, and that means I could afford to take some time to do volunteering. There is a women's empowerment center in downtown that takes homeless women and empowers them with basic skills (through sessions that last 8 weeks) and helps them find jobs. They start earning and can at least afford shared housing of some sort. Some of these women have kids, who are taken care of at the onsite daycare. During the course of the session, temporary housing is provided, along with loads of other perks. Our company sponsors the computer lab, and every week, on technology day, a few volunteers go to teach these women basic computer skills.

I wanted to volunteer here for quite some time, since I first found out about this center. But its requires more than half a day of commitment, and with pregnancy or breastfeeding full time, I could not find the 6 hours that it required. But last Friday, I went. And I'm so glad I did.

The session for last week was to teach them how to write a professional letter - it could be asking for a letter of recommendation, applying for housing, applying for some grant, etc. The second part of the session was to help them export their resume from a software that the center uses to Microsoft word and help them scrub it.

The class started with attendance, introductions, and some women sharing their life stories. Some were alcoholics, some were drug addicts, some were abandoned by family, some were abused by their partners. It was heartbreaking to listen to their stories. Some shared how they are finding courage and inspiration to move on. One of the students was absent, but she sent a beautiful poem on how to stay positive and keep moving forward to the class. She had gone to Vegas to attend one of the trade shows to launch her swim line (and I wish her all the success in her endeavor).

Once we were in the computer lab, we were focused on learning. The women were all so grateful for our presence and guidance. Small things like showing them how to change the template, doing a spell check, formatting tips in word, doing print preview, etc were met with amazement.

One lady was very slow in typing up the sample letter in the assignment we had given them. I sat down with her, and patiently walked her through all the steps and helped her finish. At the end, she told me this: "Thank you for being there for me today. I was having a rough morning but your patience calmed me down. This might look very simple to you but it's not for me. {she showed me her resume and said} - see, I can do things that you may find difficult. Each one of us have special skills. I am grateful that you did not put me down while showing me simple things in Word. Thank you for your time."

Need I say any more?

My Friday morning was truly well spent.

Update:
So I went for volunteering one more time. The same lady, Bridgette, who said the words above, broke down into tears while doing the assignment for that day (Internet search) and ran to the bathroom sobbing. I followed the protocol and alerted her social advisor, who asked me to go and talk to her. So I met her in the women's restroom and asked her if I said something which hurt her. She said, "No not at all. I just feel very bad that I have to ask for help at every step of the assignment. I feel I know nothing". And then I gave her a few examples on why she should not feel that way. One was of my parents....they knew nothing about computers when I moved to the US. Slowly, but steadily, they became computer savvy, and both mom n dad can now make a FaceTime call to me to video chat. It's the most amazing invention ever....and I'm glad they learnt how to do it. I re-iterated the fact that Intel volunteers were there to hold their hand and guide them through this program, and also that the more questions a person asks, the better his (or her) understanding is of the task given.

I'm glad I was successful in driving my point across to her. And also helping her calm down, and bring a smile to her face. I got a warm hug from her, and by the end of our conversation, had 4 other ladies around us who provided their support to Bridgette too.

Again, another Friday morning well spent, truly making a small difference in someone's life.