Not So Broken #1

I got a new digital camera for Christmas from my parents. It wasn't anything intense, just a practical camera for taking photos of friends, family, and the like. It unfortunately met an untimely death when I brought it with me in March to Kentucky for Workfest - CAP's Alternative Spring Break for college students. One second it was fine and the next second I took it out of my nail pouch and the LCD screen was broken. Completely destroyed.Because my camera isn't of the highest quality, it doesn't have a viewfinder so that I could at least guess-timate what I was taking pictures of and therefore it was down for the count.  (Yes, I know the nail pouch was not the ideal spot to be keeping it, but when you're balancing on a rotted tin roof your options for putting down your camera are quite limited.)

Unfortunately, my camera did not have a warranty protecting it from user stupidity so I have been out a camera since then. When I came to CAP, I realized that this was going to be a bit of a problem since I would have no way of documenting my adventures and I had no extra money to fix my camera or buy a new one. Therefore, I decided to start aiming my camera in the general direction of what I was trying to capture and hoping for the best.

There is definitely a learning curve with taking pictures this way. In general, it is best to take multiple shots of whatever you're trying to capture because some may not come out focused or the subject may not be centered in your photo. However, as far as a broken camera goes, the pictures have not been that bad at all.

I've decided to start posting some of best of the photos unedited in any way. Just as they come out on my camera when I push the shutter and hope for the best. I'm including three of the ones I've taken thus far in this post, but in the future I'll try and post them as I take them.

So here goes - Not So Broken: Edition 1.

Time Flies By So Fast

I have recently come to the realization that I have more of a busy social calendar since I moved to Eastern Kentucky than when I lived in the Northeast. I don't know if that is an indication of the lack of a social life I had back home or if it speaks to the amount of adventures and activities we try to fit into our lives down here. If the past month has been any indication, I may be leaning more towards the latter.

In the month of October, our house has had some sort of activity planned every weekend whether it was a house event or a CAP wide event, we have been going non-stop and it is starting to get exhausting and we're not done yet. Here is a rundown of my most recent weekend adventures.

#1 - APPLE DAYS

On the first Saturday of October, a group of us from the house went to Apple Days in Paintsville which is a huge festival all about, you guessed it, apples! The theme of the 47th annual Apple Days was 'A Slice of Heaven' and although I wouldn't go quite that far there was some interesting things to be seen. The main attraction was the parade which we went to go see. It was the slowest moving parade I have ever witnessed in my life; at times, it was legitimately at a stand still for five minutes or more. Not moving at all. Just sitting. And that happened a lot more than  once if you can believe it. At one point, Kate and I left to go buy some popcorn and came back about ten to fifteen minutes later and we had missed maybe one car. The best part of the parade though was definitely the Shriners. They were all dressed up as hillbillies and were driving around in ridiculous cars with signs that said 'Hillbillies Helping Crippled Children'. I wish I had a picture to show you, but just use your imagination and I'm sure it will come close to the actual thing.


#2 - CAP PICNIC/WEEKEND AT THE WEIDERMAN'S

Kevin, Chris, Caitlin, Jordan, Me, Kate

This weekend was especially long as it began on Thursday with the CAP-wide company picnic in Lexington. There were a bunch of different activities going on as well as delicious food and opportunity to see volunteers from all over CAP. Some of the highlights of the day were a cornhole tournament, a 5k run/walk, bingo, and a volleyball tournament. The day was even made more amazing by the fact that my team dominated the volleyball tournament and were rewarded with a lovely trophy which I currently have proudly displayed in my room.

Kate, Maggie, Me, Rachel

One of my housemates, Rachel, is actually from Kentucky and lives less than an hour away from Lexington and she invited us to come stay at her parent's home for the weekend. So directly following the picnic we headed to the Weiderman's house in Danville. Momma and Poppa Weiderman spoiled us the entire time we were there with crazy amounts of delicious home cooked food and wonderful company. It was like we were staying at the most amazing bed and breakfast except it was affordable for a CAP volunteer. While we were in western Kentucky, we also decided to try and visit some places on the Bourbon Trail (http://www.kybourbontrail.com/). We were able to visit three of the six distilleries on the trail including: Wild Turkey, Four Roses, and Woodford Reserve.  Each of the distilleries offered a little bit of a different tour, but of the three we visited I would have to say my favorite was Four Roses so far. They had  a swing made from a bourbon barrel out front which was amazing and provided a great place for a little family photo (minus quite a few members).


#3 - SPLENDIFEROUS FALL EXTRAVAGANZA

There are a total of three volunteer houses on the East side of CAP - Floyd (where I live), Johnson, and Magoffin. Even though we all are working for CAP, we don't all get to see each other that often because of our varied programs, schedules, and the distances between our houses. The Johnson house decided to hold a fall festival AKA the Splendiferous Fall Extravaganza in order to allow all the houses to get together and fellowship. And with a name like that, you can imagine the expectations that were being set for this event. The Johnson House did not disappoint. There was a bonfire with great food - steak, pork chops, chicken, potatoes, and biscuits - and wonderful music. I was conned into helping roast the apples on the bonfire which I originally agreed to thinking that it was going to be fun and a pretty easy job. I mean, all you have to do is turn the foil-wrapped apples every once in while with tongs, right? FALSE. It actually involves running around a very hot fire with a pair of tongs trying to turn apples before they burn or are crushed by falling logs with sweat forming on your brow and tears streaming down your face because your eyes can't handle the intense heat for such an extended period of time. But it was all worth it when the apples were sliced up and served with vanilla ice cream, homemade caramel, and crumb topping.


#4 - VOLUNTEER RETREAT

This past weekend we all spent up at Camp Shawnee at the Fall CAP Volunteer Retreat. Its a time for all the volunteers from both the east and west sides of CAP to come together and fellowship and

#5 - HALLOWEEN

This weekend activity has yet to actually occur, but just as a preview of my next weekend I thought I would include it here. Next weekend, I will be attending a Halloween party hosted by an independent living volunteer. Kate and I have been planning our costume since we first met in August and we have kept it a huge secret so unfortunately you all will have to wait till next weekend to know what it is, but rest assured it will be amazing. And don't worry there will be photos.

You Know You Live in Eastern Kentucky when....

...you have witnessed the following list of things in under ten minutes.

• A man riding his ATV on the main road as if its a car.
• A shirtless man aimlessly wandering in the middle of an intersection blocking traffic.
• A tractor driving on the road holding up traffic on the main road as if it also is a car.
• A group of random people directing traffic on a main road around a car accident (legitimately, waving people through and holding others up).
• You have been warned of said accident by a huge coal truck flashing its lights at you.
• A huge cloud of thick, black smoke coming out from behind some one's house where they are burning a large pile of garbage (which goodness knows what that contains).

That was my life yesterday and basically every day that I have spent here to some degree.

How could I not love it here?

A Lesson in Patience and the Like

The title of this post really only has to do with one small part of my life as of late, but I couldn't think of a better title so it remains 'A Lesson in Patience and the Like'. But I guess it is appropriate, as I'm sure you all have been patiently waiting on me to get my act together and finally update you all on my most recent adventures and for that I do apologize. Although excuses are generally lame and insufficient, I will try and explain the details of my ridiculously busy life as a way of explaining away my lack of communication.

The day after my last post I left for Maryland to go to my cousin Shane's wedding. Although I spent most of Friday and Saturday in the car alternately driving to and from the wedding, the trip was well worth it as I was able to see my lovely family whom I have missed dearly. I don't think I realized how much I missed them until I was face to face with them again on Friday night. Even though I only got to see everyone for a very short amount of time, it was a nice refresher to help me survive until I get to see everyone at Christmas.

Immediately upon arriving back at the house, I had to head up to Orientation for a full week. I know you may be thinking 'But Bethanie haven't you been in Kentucky for a while now?'. Well, CAP runs an Orientation every few months and I missed the last one by two weeks so I found myself heading up to be oriented just about two months after I arrived here. It was a very long week of lengthy meetings and group discussions and seminars with the final crowning moment of the week being a group of us reading the Volunteer Handbook from cover to cover out loud. Fascinating, I know. I would be remiss however in leaving out the wonderful moments I had with my fellow volunteers in between the sessions. I got to see some of my friends that live on the other side of the state who I don't get to see very often due to the distance between our volunteer houses. And I was able to form even closer bonds with some of my roommates that I don't work with everyday.

And all of that brings you up to date to last week in which I spent a good portion of my time exploring a new hobby - building mini corn hole. I had never heard of corn hole until I came to Kentucky, but for all you North East people its a game that involves two boards that you set about 20 feet from each other. The object of the game is to throw bags into the hole in the board or on top of the board. You score 3 points for getting it in the hole and 1 for on top. (You can find more specific and complete rules at http://www.playcornhole.org/rules.shtml). I decided to try and replicate a tabletop rendition of this game that I had seen being sold at a festival we went to. I made a set for Kate because her birthday was today and I must say I am pretty proud of how they turned out. Maybe I'll start selling them to supplement my $75 bi-weekly stipend. 

And now last but definitely not least, the reason behind this blog's title. I have completed another task off my 101 list - #34: Build a piece of furniture. I learned over the past four or five weekends how NOT to build a picnic table and in the process ended up with what you see below - 10 feet of beautiful treated 2x6 lumber in the shape of a table.

The issues we (Kate and I) encountered on this adventure were endless and would take far too long to recount to all of you, but I feel I should at least give you the highlights. But before I give you that, I must share a disclaimer for at least part of our struggles. The plans we were given were written up for us by a former CAP volunteer. Unfortunately for us, his hand writing is less than desirable leaving a little too much up to our interpretation.

So with that in mind, here are the best of our worst moments.

• Mishap #1: we cut a 45 degree angle on the table legs instead of a 15 degree angle which resulted in our table being suitable for extremely vertically challenged people.
• Mishap #2: we used the wrong type of bolts/screws to put together the legs of the picnic table which meant we had to remove them all and replace them which meant re-drilling all 16 holes.
• Mishap #3: we had re cut the legs of our tables with the correct angle but when we set our bench we realized our table was now only comfortable for people with very long torsos. For people of normal height/build, your feet were on the floor and the table top was just under your chin.
• Mishap #4: in order to make our table comfortable for average people we had to shave some inches off the top of our table which meant re-drilling half the holes (again).
• Mishap #5: we set the benches so that there was only a 12 inch overhang on each side, but then we realized most people need a little more cheek room than that so we had to take apart the entire bench in order to make it a roomier 18 inches.

Well, I think that about sums up our most thrilling moments with the table, and now you probably understand what I meant about a lesson in patience. Every time I look at the table now, I am alternately proud and enraged. Its the most intense love/hate relationship I've ever had with someone/thing. But it is another thing done off the list and for that I am happy.