Homeless Count

Last Tuesday, from 9:00pm-6:00am, everyone in my office joined with law enforcement, private security forces, businesses from the area, other social service agencies from the Hollywood area, volunteers from the faith community, politicians, and property owners from the area. Our task: to conduct a snapshot count of Hollywood's homeless.

I was a team captain for my area, and with the help of four other people, we set out in the field and counted our area. I was given a map of places to count, and was looking not only for people sleeping on the street, but also persons encamped in cars, vans and RV's. We also had two Senior Lead Officers from the police department following us in a squad car, to make sure that we were safe.

The night was very successful, everyone was safe in all their counting, and hopefully the report of homeless numbers will aid local politicians in coming up with strategies and policies to help homeless people in the future.

The count consisted of two parts: the first part, from 11pm-2am, was done in the area of the map that I was given. The second part, from 2am-5am, was a separate count to count the number of youth in the area. Besides seeing a coyote running down Hollywood Blvd at 4:00am, the evening went as planned. There was a shooting close to the area that some of us were counting, and as my team and I were being picked up by one of my co-workers to go back to the dispatch center, my co-worker Brendan asked if anyone would mind if we prayed. He was driving the van to get us back. Granted, I knew that he and a few other people in the van were Christians. But there were also some people in the van who were markedly uncomfortable- for example, someone who worked with the city's Chamber of Commerce. Brendan started to pray for the people who had been in the shooting, for their families and for the person that they were still looking for. This moment to me, praying at 2:30am in the morning in a minivan filled with people from different walks of life, is one of my favorite memories of the year so far. Being able to pray for the unnamed people we hadn't even known, while we were working this strange shift, was such a testimony to the power of God and the fact that He kept us safe in the midst of the shooting. Some of my co-workers actually heard the shots from where they were counting.

I also felt very honored, humbled and blessed to get to be a team captain. God is teaching me that I can lead! I was very scared at first (if you knew how bad I was at reading maps, you would be, too!) but then felt God's leading and guiding hand with me and my group for the whole time. The air of collaboration and sharing that night between agencies and people from all different walks of life was so amazing. It was simply one of the most rewarding things that I have been involved in all year.

Wow!

It was just a simple Saturday afternoon. Brian and I were out walking in the Larchmont neighborhood, a place not so far away from where I live that is more peaceful, quiet, and a lot less populated. We had just had lunch at Noah's Bagels (the perfect lunch!) and were walking down Larchmont Blvd. when suddenly someone caught my eye. Sitting at Peet's Coffee and Tea was someone who looked suspiciously familiar. Who could it be? I thought. Then it clicked, and I thought, "No, it can't be!" but then at that same moment had another contrasting thought, "It is him!" I had just walked within two feet of Victor Garber. I walked by, trying not to make a spectacle of myself, and then when I was respectfully out of earsight I exclaimed, "Oh, my gosh!"

That's right friends, Victor Garber- the father of Sidney Bristow on Alias, the builder of the Titanic in Titanic (of course), and the father of the Prince in Disney's sad and politically correct remake of Roger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella, where Victor Garber is the Caucasian king, Whoppie Goldberg is his wife the queen, and they both have an asian son who is the Prince. I can't believe it! What a small world we all live in... maybe I'll go up to Larchmont on a Saturday afternoon more often. :)

A Weight off my... shoes?!

Some of you are aware that my health this year has not been what I would have wished it to be. I'm always tired. When I walk home from work in the afternoon, at times I am so exhausted that all I can do when I get home is crawl into my bed. I also have been getting some pretty bad headaches during the day, so much so that one day I had to leave work early. Last week, I eagerly went to the doctor to try to figure out what the problem could be. The doctor's office just happened to be at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, a hospital in Beverly Hills where many famous people go. (Case in point: it's where Dennis Quade and his wife had their twins). I chose my doctor from this hospital because my insurance is a little sketchy and a few of the doctors I had called previously were not very encouraging. In other words, I wouldn't want them to be my doctor. I knew that if I could find a doctor at my insurance from this particular medical center, even if their office was not at the hospital, they would be legit.

So up I went, to the 11th floor of the hospital. A plastic surgeon rode with me up to the 10th floor. And the doctor's office was nice and inviting, the nurses accomdating with my insurance plan. However, when the nurse went to weigh me, she first weighed me and then told me she was subtracting two pounds for my shoes. How crazy! Only in Beverly Hills! My shoes that I was wearing that day didn't even weigh two pounds. Besides that fact, I am happy with how I weigh. What difference does two pounds really make?!

We discovered that I had a sinus infection, something that I was expecting. I am feeling much better this week. However, the blood test they did revealed some abnormal liver readings (whatever that means). Please pray as I go back two weeks from now that the next test will be normal. My mom's dad passed away from serosis of the liver, and my mom now has to be pretty careful with her liver. I'm not too worried, I think that all will be well. Continued prayers for my health are appreciated!