Christmas break has come and gone, and it feels like the Urban Compass holiday party was months ago. I was blessed to be able to go home for 10 days, where I spent lots of time with family, friends from Cherry Hill, and even a couple BC friends! It was a lovely break from LA, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t miss my students and housemates. In fact, I still miss my kids because they have another whole week off before school starts! Oh, LA Unified School District… (but that’s a whole other story). 

Being away from work made me realize how much I do in fact love my job at Urban Compass.  I got lucky Being away from Casa Dorothy Kazel made me realize how important my community is to me on this journey.  In fact, this morning as I was listening to Juanes’ new album (thanks, Santa!) and a line from the first song, “Amigos” stuck out to me:

Compañeras, compañeros de este viaje,

Brindo por ustedes, Brindo por ustedes

Ustedes los amigos verdaderos

Por eso yo les quiero dar

Gracias por estar conmigo

Rough translation, not nearly as poetic as Juanes:

Companions on this journey,

I toast to you, I toast to you,

You, my true friends,

For this I want to give you thanks,

For being with me

How beautiful! The lyrics are just as true about all the family members and friends that are such blessings in my life. What a nice thought at the beginning of 2011.  Happy New Year to all of you!