Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Giving Back and Contemplating Life

The company I work for provides each employee with a bank of hours to volunteer at local organizations with. This is a fantastic benefit and part of the reason it is a great company (well, most of the time, nothing is perfect!)


Today I went to the San Diego Habitat for Humanity service with a group of colleagues and we all worked on a housing project. It was amazing to learn the story of the homes being built, be part of building them, and we even met 2 of the future residents.
They have to put in 250 hours of sweat equity into their home!

My job today was to paint the exterior stucco trim. I've done a good amount of painting before (my hubby's uncle was a painter...). It took a LONG time to paint because of the texture - that stuff really soaks up paint and does not forgive ANY mistakes!

During the day I got to talk with others and enjoyed the variety of conversations and getting to know other people and their stories. One person was out of work and volunteering between interviews, one person had their whole family move to San Diego at the age of 16 and what a story that was!

Another discussion was about the whole decision and life change of having a child. Do I, didn't I? What changes for the better, and for the not so better? How do I balance work and career and how will my thinking change after a baby? Do you feel "ready" to have a baby or do you just kinda go with the flow and get the shock of a lifetime? It is ok to not have kids? How will people view me? As a non-loving person? How do I know how to choose which path is right for me and the hubby?

Image Source: Cute Baby Blog


I am thankful for a day to contemplate such life questions - as well as help others make a step forward in their life.

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