Yes, I have. I’m wearing the most beautiful, most expensive, piece of jewelry that I’ve ever touched in my entire life and Saturday I find myself drooling over a Bulgari ad on the New York Times website, which turned into a quick click to read the story on Bulgari’s “Save The Children” line of jewelry, that became an hour long perusing of the Bulgari website. I have an addiction to spending money.

To counteract this addiction, I have signed up to volunteer at a food bank over in dekalb county, a summer program at this big methodist church that me and Jake used to go to, and am on the contact sheet for the same church’s tutoring program starting in the fall. This has been a thought in the making toward action. It culminated in the store the other day when this college student tried to judge me based on how I was dressed and the fact that I was sitting there looking at Nordstrom’s website. She tried to get into it with me over my shallow and materialistic habits and I totally ripped her a new one. I know envy may have played a part in her outburst, but there was a lesson that she needed to learn: Public Behavior. *sigh* I was once very outspoken about my beliefs too, but it is imperative that we all learn the right place, the right time, and the right way to go about promoting our views.

Anyway… Feeling a bit guilty is not the sole reason for me finally having found somewhere where I can help those that have not had the luck that I have. My junior and senior year in college, myself, a few friends (from the many clubs and organizations I participated in), my RA, and my economics professor’s TA (who I may or may not have been fooling around with at the time) met up and started volunteering at multiple churches, food banks, homeless shelters, and even Boy & Girls of America. So, I feel its way past high time I get back into volunteering. My mother runs a clothing drive several times a year, and my father would open up his farm to the public as a summer program for teens who needed a job or even just a place to be during the day, my family has never been one to shy away from sharing what we have.

When I told Scott about it, he pulled me into a hug and said, “Well haven’t you had a busy day?” and grinned. I don’t know how he can be so unfazed about anything and everything. I could tell him that I was growing a purple toe, and he would laugh and ask if I needed help doing my pedicure. We got to talking about it, and he wasn’t surprised at all the work I had done my junior and senior year. In fact, his parents used to work with Habitat For Humanity and even went out to Louisiana to clean up after Katrina. That’s where his brother met his wife.

In this downward-spiraling economy, no help offered will be turned away, and until we get out of this downslide, I will be doing all I can, withing good reason. I don’t want to have a sleep-deprivation-caused breakdown like I did halfway through my senior year. 

Happy spring break to all of those that are on vacation this week!