I must apologize for my neglect of my blogging duties last week.  The internet at the house has been out for about two weeks so any internet usage means that I need to hang out at work.  So, this blog post is going to be a very simple, no-frills, rundown of what has been going on over the past couple of weeks in the order that they happened, and not the order of importance.

1.  Embracing the History of Fried Chicken Joints:  We’ve been going to church in Corbin, which also happens to be the location of the original KFC.  The building that is there is not the original KFC, but it’s apparently on the same spot.  It is the same as a regular KFC, just with museum exhibits sprinkled throughout.  Apparently it is a favorite haunt of Japanese tourists.  Who knew?  Check that off of my list.

2.  A Winter Hike:  I don’t think I’ve ever gone hiking in the winter.  Hiking in the winter in Michigan would generally mean trudging through snow and slipping on ice, which is, of course, not fun.  I went hiking with my housemate Kate and her fiance Josh who has come to KY to visit Kate/be a short-term CAP volunteer.  It was a pretty nice hike.  It was a little muddy and required us to ford a stream a few times but it was very pretty to see the icicles hanging off the rocks.  Fresh air and outdoors-y-ness = happy Elizabeth.

3.  Work week:  I had a great work week.  The kids at SPARK made some fantastical inventions in honor of Benjamin Franklin’s birthday.  I played Just Dance for the first time ever.  I was a little hesitant since I um, never dance, but I survived!  And the kids really like it.

4.  Good-byes and Upcoming Hellos:  Our lovely housemate Olga left CAP this weekend and went back home to Chicago.  She’s missed by all of us but I’m sure that there are a lot of good things in store for her back home.  We welcomed a new volunteer to take over her job at the preschool this weekend.

5.   A Poorly Planned Lexington Trip:  We all decided that it might be nice to do something in Lexington after dropping off Olga at the airport.  However, we didn’t really have any specific plans.  We looked at a “Best of Lexington” brochure at the airport.  Most of the things that we were interested in doing were outside things that would have to wait until the spring.  In short, we ended up visiting a chocolate shop, a used bookstore, and a cupcake shop that were all not really what they were expected to be.  It was a nice, but kind of quirky trip.

6.  Work week #2:  I didn’t have the best work week.  There was something a little bit discouraging that happened pretty much everyday of the week.  But, that happens.  The week ended on a nice note, though, with a Mexican/Scottish themed celebration of my housemate Janet’s birthday.  Ahh, chocolate brownies and ice cream.  How do I love you?  Let me count the ways.

Elizabeth L. is a long-term volunteer in CAP's Child and Family Development program. She is a member of the McCreary Volunteer Community.