Halloween is NOT an Excuse to Dress Immodestly

This is my soapbox issue for the month. I was looking at the ads for Halloween costumes and every costume they had for adult women were all skanky, short skirt, hooker shoes outfits. Just because it is Halloween does not mean it is suddenly okay to look like a hooker. What's worse is that this trend is now extending to little girls' costumes. I was reading this article about the costumes out there for little girls, costumes that portray ten year-olds as "sexy maids" etc. The child models in the ads are made-up with heavy makeup and the author speculates were probably told to make their "best sexy gaze." What kind of parent would buy this for their daughter?

Adopt-A-Family

The past month at work has been really busy because we have been signing up families for our Adopt-A-Family program, aka Sub for Santa. Every day I sit down with about ten families and find out a little about them, get their clothes sizes and ask them what things they need and would like for Christmas. It makes me feel so blessed, and so lucky to be born in a family that could afford to buy me new clothes when I was growing up. The number one thing that people ask for is clothes because after paying rent and utilities they barely have enough for food. Clothes and other essentials often get put off for a long time because they are not as important as shelter and food. Occasionally I will get people who are still low-income, but who are not in as dire need and ask for something like a DVD player.
When I ask the mother's what they would like for their household the most common responses are a blender, an iron, a toaster, towels, and blankets.

A Day in the Life of Melarie

October 23:

1. Get up and drive to work

Robert and I carpool to work since we both work downtown.
Sunrise and traffic- there was a lot of smoke from the fires so the sunrise looked exta pretty.

Approaching Downtown

2. Work Site #1- PATH Mall

The PATH Mall is a "mall" of services for the homeless. Some of the free services they offer here are a job searching center, a barber shop, showers, hot lunches, case management and other agencies like Travelers Aid and, of course, The Salvation Army. Here I mainly help homeless families find an emergency shelter that has space for them, although I do occasional get people needing utility bill or rental assistance. They also have a homeless shelter on the upper floors. Here is my area

3. Work Site #2- Downtown Office

In the afternoon I go to The Salvation Army downtown offices. Here I also find shelter for homeless men, women, and families. Mostly though, we give out food and clothes and sign up families for our holiday programs.

There's my car! And yes I am parked in a handicap stall, parking is sparse in our lot and when I come in at mid-day I'm lucky to even get a stall. I just park in whatever area I can.

My office, it needs a little more decoration I think.

4. Come home and make dinner 5. Stake Temple Night

Robert didn't come because he was studying for his CPA exam that he is taking on Monday, so I just shot a quick picture from the car. I love how the L.A. temple just sticks out in the city, especially on this street. There's no ignoring it.

And that's it. A typical day in the life of Melarie.

Missing the Outdoors

The thing that I miss most now that I live in Los Angeles is that I hardly spend anytime outdoors. I go from my apartment to work and back to my apartment. I would like to be able to sit outside and read, but we don't have a yard to do that. The only place would be the park or the beach, which is always busy. The sad thing about living near the beach is that we don't go very often because it is a hassle to mess with parking. I guess what I especially miss is being able to be outdoors with not a lot of people around.