If Thursdays with Natalia aren't super enough, I am just LOVING my Fridays! I had such a GREAT day!!!! Walking to work with Amit and Gray was fabulous. I got to work 5 minutes early (always a plus!). Cassidy greeted me with a smile. I opened mail and then Gabbo called me around 10am, asking me to go help out her office with constituent tours. I'm always down for meeting people from my district, so I was very excited.

Solis' office had 31 people come in from some middle school that I've never heard of. Talk about strange and crazy encounters. For all you sappy folks out there, check out this story. So I'm checking out the crowd, seeing who these people are. I spy this lady amongst the crowd and was immediately attracted to her animated way of speaking that I just HAD to talk to her. I asked if she was a teacher. She replied with, "Yes, but not with this school." Said me, "You remind me so much of my old kindergarten teacher." Said she, "I never taught kindergarten, except a long time ago at Potrero..." Together in unison, "HEIGHTS!" I then burst out with, "Mrs. Hernandez!!!!" Three thousand miles away from home, and out of some random turn of Fate, I am reunited with one of my FAVORITE teachers... from kindergarten!!!! I used to never believe that people could cry tears of joy, but today was one of those days. I lost contact with her sometime after my 4th grade year, and I'm one of those students that periodically go back to visit old teachers. Apparently, she had taken some time off from teaching to take care of her two little boys and so nobody really knew how she was or how to get in touch with her.

It was great telling her about how I've been in the past decade and how she influenced my life. All the other teachers were very touched that we found each other, too. It's like one of those stories on Oprah... and I know how cheesy this entry is gonna read to everybody else, but for me, it was stupendous.

Fridays are also great because it's the only day that Natalia, Gabbo and I all work. We were able to catch lunch together and exchange stories about what we did last night. I live with Dumb (Gabbo) and Dumberer (Natalia). (I'm Dumber.) It's cool to give sandwiches soulmates and walk down 17th Street singing the theme song to "Pinky and the Brain" in a round, while marching in unison.

When I got home, I found not one, but TWO care packages waiting for me. Star Buddy and I have been reunited!!!! Thanks to Caroline and my momma, the care packages were like the cherry on top of the sundae.

All in all, a wonderfully great day... reunited with Mrs. Hernandez, good day at work, silly but wonderful roommates, and a lovely reminder that I am loved at home (both in Berkeley and LA).