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Today was so busy! It has been slow around the office for a while due to the Department of Homeland Security. They created an additional security check for refugees to go through, which threw a wrench into the whole process. Refugee resettlement was halted around the entire country for about a month. It was comparable to how things shut down after 9/11. No arrivals = less work for me, since my job is very much tied to people coming. Thankfully, we are getting arrival notices again, and we'll probably get a 'bulge' of arrivals later this fiscal year sometime, so I have that to look forward to.

It has been slow, and today was my first really busy day in a while. It ended pleasantly, bringing a mom and her 2 year old boy to meet a Burmese (not Karen) family with some young children. It was really fun to see the kids interact, like it always is. I also was given a Thai energy drink. I might save it for tomorrow when I'm in a long seminar about housing for immigrants with the feds. I think this refugee family/volunteer match will go particularly well. I'm excited to see how it progresses. It's a young couple with young daughters. They know enough English to communicate a little, and they don't seem to shy. That goes a long way.

I'm going to read a bit before I go to bed. I just finished The Alchemist, which I enjoyed. Now I'm reading Condeleeza Rice's autobiography, Extraordinary, Ordinary People.