Mentoring

I'm really excited because tonight I meet the girl I'll be mentoring for the next 6 months, "M". I'm part of a program here in San Diego called BRIGHT Families. They have such a great mission. It's a mentoring program like Big Brothers/Big Sisters, but it's a bit more structured and they have specific objectives towards preventing teen pregnancy/STIs/crime/etc. The big cities in CA have some of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the country and BRIGHT works with teens (girls AND boys, and their families) who live in the areas of San Diego with the highest rates. So far, I know that M is 15 years old, is one of 9 kids (!), and dreams of being an astronaut. I can't wait to meet her.

36 days until the Olympics start. I love the Olympics, particularly the Summer Games. My favorite event is gymnastics, since I was a competitive gymnast as a kid inspired by Mary Lou Retton in the 1984 Games. I think I signed up for my first class about a week after she won. I also enjoy track & field, swimming, & diving. I hope Greece is ready and I hope all of the athletes/delegations/fans are safe.

Have I mentioned I'm addicted to DVR/TiVo? Thank god I have it for the Olympics. I hate to miss anything and I love that I can fast forward through the ads and junk I don't want to see. Like Miranda of Sex & The City said, "TiVo is my boyfriend." It's one of those things, like my cell phone, that I wonder how I ever managed to live without it. I will put off watching a program just so I can have the joy of skipping the commercials.

First episode of "Amazing Race 5" was great, of course. I think it rocks that they have a little person on one of the teams. I hope they do well, but I think I'll be pulling for the father/daughter team to win since I would want to be paired with my dad if I was competing. He and I are excellent traveling companions. He joined me on a trip to Paris with an all-star dance team I was on in high school. We had a blast and I think it was our great attitudes that resulted in so many positive interactions with Parisians.