Happy Halloween!!!

I wish I were still a kid during Halloween time. Finding the perfect costume--somehow I think I'd go as a lost sock this year--the smells in the air, getting candy, the excitement of the evening in general!
Luckily for the past 2 Halloweens I have been living with my nephew, so I got the chance to see the perfect costume and be a part of the evening with him. This Halloween, however, I am on my own. So I dressed my teddy bear up as Batman and the Sister Missionaries are coming over. I doubt we'll get any Trick-or-Treaters. We never do. Everyone hits the town these days.
Speaking of Batman, I'd date him. Some reasons why: 1. The Batcave! How cool would that place be? Just think of all the buttons to push! 2. The Batsuit! He has so many cool gadgets. Besides, he looks pretty good in the Batsuit, doesn't he? 3. The fact that he's a superhero through gadgets and willpower only--no radioactivity that causes him to turn into a spider--let's face it, who knows what else Spiderman is going to develop over the years. And he's not an illegal alien like Superman. 4. Bruce Wayne is pretty hot too.

Loooooong Time

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted anything!
Days go by here. Our computer died and we got a new one--one of those all-in-one jobbies with a touchscreen. We got a new puppy, one of Ziggy's sisters, actually. Her name is Easter and she's a little peanut. She looks so much smaller than Ziggy, it is hard to believe they are from the same litter! To me, Easter doesn't look much like a Jack Russell, with those short little legs, but she's still adorable. She's just settling in. I have been working on my book and am pretty happy with the development of it so far. We're going to Kurt and Kat's pretty soon for Kaelan's 4th birthday. I can't believe he's so old already!

Aggressive

I got an email from my agent today announcing that she thinks it is officially time to get aggressive with pitching my manuscript. I thought we already were...
Basically she will send me a list of publishing houses and then I have to pick how many and which ones we will be attacking. This means that my agents do all the work so far as contacting the publishing house, writing the query letter, printing out my manuscript and setting up the entire pitch. I foot the bill.
Ouch!
However, I think I have made up my mind to do it. I would have to pay for it if I were to do this on my own, after all, and they do know what they are doing.
So I guess we're getting aggressive...

Soooo....

Now that I have been home for a little while--2 weeks, it feels way shorter than that--I have some projects to work on.
I am writing like crazy! I have 3 books in the works, but even though I get flashes of inspiration for all of them at odd times, I really only want to seriously work on one. I also plan on pushing my other book with my agent more. Who knows how much work they are really doing with it, you know? I am getting skeptical...
I also plan on rearranging my room. I have this whole scenario worked out in my head. Perhaps it won't work, but we'll see. What I really want is a huge hammock. That probably won't happen.
Of course, the big J O B thing will have to happen soon. I am rather lackadaisical about that one, mostly because I really do hate the idea of working. Especially a job that is just for 'right now' and that I probably won't be too crazy about. I'll give myself a swift kick and get into action soon.
I also got a new phone! At first I couldn't figure out how to answer it, let alone any of the other things it does, but now I get it. It was sad to stop using my last phone. Does anyone else get these insane attachments to non-animate objects, or is that just me?
It is becoming fall here! I love fall. I love the smells, the pumpkins, the rustly leaves, Halloween, the smells again, and just the feeling of it being fall. Unfortunately, it is always too short and then winter hits and I don't feel the same level of amicability toward winter as I do towards fall.

Ewwww

I have arrived! The flights weren't that bad--despite being awake for 24 hours. I slept like a rock--or like a cadillac, as Kaelan says--on the last flight and only woke up once we landed. I hate the looks you get when you're the only one on the plane who looks like you haven't slept in a week! I wish I could have a sticker to put on my forehead that advertises my travels so they all know why I look so awful.
Now for the ewwwww....
Remember that mushroom hunt I went on? Well, I picked up about 4 ticks from that excursion. All the previous hikes I have been on where there is a tick danger, I have known what to look for. German ticks are tiny. I didn't see them until it was too late. So I removed them and have been researching ticks now just in case I come down with some horrible German tick disease.
I feel dirty.
AND completely happy to be home! Yeah USA!

Castle Manderscheid

Yesterday we were at Kat's grandparents' house in Landscheid. During that time, I got to go on a spectacular mushroom hunting trip, where I learned that I don't know squat about which mushrooms are acceptable to eat. However, Kat's dad pointed out that every mushroom can be eaten at least once--and if it was the wrong mushroom, well, you'll never eat it again. I got incredibly muddy and wet on that trip, but we did find tons of mushrooms and I am glad to say that they know what they were looking for.

Then we drove to another castle that is nearby, called Castle Manderscheid. It was probably my favorite, for the express reason that they let me crawl all over it! I loved being able to explore every inch. Plus, it was the most medieval looking of all the castles we have seen.

View from the overlook at Castle Manderscheid. There is another tower higher up, but we didn't bother walking to it.

A replica of the castle--I don't know if they made it for a map, or what, but it is old! And very cool.

The view from the top of the highest tower toward the bottom. I loved being able to climb to the very top! And you get in for only 2 e, which is so good compared to the other entry fees we've been paying.

Today we are going back to Mannheim to meet some friends of Kat, and then we are just going to hang out there. Afterwards, we will be packing!

We are leaving bright and early tomorrow morning--7:30 the airport shuttle will come pick us up. We fly out at 10:40--which is like 2:40 AM MST back in America. We get into Detroit at 2:30 in the afternoon and then have 2 more flights to look forward after that. I hate long flights.

And then I will be home!

Food

I am a little bit ready to come home. I am going to miss seeing castles and Roman ruins--and I am not looking forward to that loooong flight. However, I am pretty excited about hearing English again and knowing what everyone around me is talking about. I feel like the only person in the room who doesn't get the joke over here. I have become really good at tuning out German completely--I barely hear anyone talking now, because I'm so used to it never being to me and it always being in a language I don't understand!
Another thing I am excited about returning to America for? Food! The food over here has been good--I haven't starved. And I really like the ice cream and the pastries. The rest of it, though, is a bit strange and makes me feel homesick. And I think I'm done eating sandwiches for quite a long time.
I am excited for microwave popcorn, for yogurt that I recognize, for our 2 gallon milk containers, for cold drinks and not lukewarm ones, for cheddar cheese--it doesn't exist here. I am also really excited about being able to read the signs and to know what the heck I'm supposed to do, even in a strange situation.
We went to another castle today and it was probably my favorite--it was the most medieval and even though it wasn't completely standing, you could climb all over it! I loved that part. I'll put up pictures tomorrow.

Trier and Roman Ruins

We went to Trier yesterday to see the Roman ruins. It was amazing! Probably my second-favorite city, just behind Mannheim. I really liked the vibe I got from the people and the places and, of course, the sheer volume of cool Roman things still present.

We parked by the Porte Nigro--or the Black Gate--and then ate some lunch and went on a bus tour of the place. It was a short one--just an hour, with a guide who spoke English, hallelujah! We drove all through the city and saw the Roman baths, the Roman ampitheatre, and some more of the Porte Nigro.

Porte Nigro--Black Gate, not because it was in a fire like it appears, but because the sandstone has turned black over time. It is the only gate still standing from the Roman Empire in Trier. Very cool! I think the black is actually from lichen on the stone.

The Roman baths--this was the ruins of the Empireal Baths, which means the public were not allowed.

After that we walked to the Roman baths and walked all over in there. You could go downstairs in where the water was, where the servants would go to make sure everything was working correctly, I assume. It was like the Labyrinth down there! It smelled incredibly old. I really liked the baths. I wish someone would build a real working replica that you could go into and see what it was like inside. It was probably amazingly ornate.

Me on the medieval wall that was put up around the baths--it was pretty cool, because the Roman bath ruins are ancient and then there are old medieval walls everywhere, too. Anyway, I climbed a sketchy flight of stairs to get up here.

Then we walked to the ampitheatre, and that was even more amazing! Granted, I don't think I would have liked to watch the Roman games--maybe the Gladiator games--but like Kat pointed out, we now have a whole new outlet for our blood-thirst: Grand Theft Auto! Very true, but playing it on a video game is so different from actually tossing poor souls into an arena to be eaten by tigers.

The Ampitheater! A view from the very top. See the holes in the floor that go down? All the seats were removed to build stuff in later years, but they uncovered this much that was still standing.

We went underneath the floor, where they kept the poor unfortunates who were going to be thrown to the beasts, and the animal pen in the back. It was filled with water and very drippy down there. Then we hiked to the top and looked down at everything. It was amazing!

I really like Roman ruins.

Then we decided that since we were so close we would drive to Luxembourg. Kat and I said it would be an adventure, and Kurt said we were crazy, but we went anyway. And then promptly got stuck in a traffic jam as soon as we tried to cross back into Germany. Which took us off the highway we wanted and sent us an hour in the wrong direction. We finally pulled off somewhere in East Deliverance, Germany, and asked for directions. We discovered that we then drove right past Kat's grandparents, where we are going in the morning!

We ended up pulling in a little after 10, which was way later than we had originally intended, but it was fun. At least the kids slept in the back.

I don't know what we are doing today. Everyone is still sleeping from all the excitement of yesterday.

Mannheim

Yesterday we went to Mannheim to shop and see the castle. The shopping went really well--I found some things that I liked and even bought some books. Let me tell you, books here are more expensive than clothes! We found a big enough bookstore that actually had more than 10 books in English, so I was able to find 3 that I actually wanted, rather than would be forced out of necessity to read.

The castle is huge! I couldn't even fit the whole thing in one shot. And I didn't get to see the parts that wrap around, either. I only saw what was right in front of me, in the courtyard. We were too late to get the guided tour, so we did the audio tour. No pictures inside! Bum deal. However, it has mostly been rebuilt, as we bombed it in WWII. Imagine that. Probably made a nice big target from the air. The tour wasn't the most fascinating thing in the world, but I enjoyed seeing the little that we did get to see. Only a tiny part of it is on display. The rest is used for government offices and then the University on the other half.

The front of the palace--and it wraps around in a big square shape, but that is impossible to get in a picture.

Chacos on cobblestones--my footwear has been very excellent for European travel. I have a pair of Merrell hikers that I wear for tramping around where my nem--stinging nettles--hang out.

We had ice cream after the tour and just hung out with Kat's friend, who rode the train to see her.

My overall impression of Mannheim is that it is the prettiest city we have been in yet. I really liked it. The entire atmosphere is pretty cool. I think I could see myself living there--minus the fact that I don't speak the language at all. It is the sight of a very large American Base, though, so there are many Americans. I probably saw more American on signs there than anywhere else.

Beautiful Mannheim!

Tomorrow we go see Roman ruins in Trier!

Today we just took it easy. Everyone was tired and Kameron has a bit of a cold. Poor baby. It was nice to sleep in--well, it would have been nice, but whoever is working on the house decided to do something involving a loud power drill at 7 this morning. Holy buckets! So Kaelan and I got up and ate some chocolate for b'fast. I went back to bed at noon and woke up in time for lunch and then felt better.

I can't believe we fly home on Tuesday already. Where did the time go?

General Impressions

I do not like the water here. Everyone drinks mineral, sparkling, bubbly, or whatever you want to call it. I prefer plain old, non-mineral, non-sparkling, quiet water. I just don't like the taste of the other. So now everywhere we go there is a bottle filled with tap water for me. I get strange looks whenever I say I don't want bubbles in my water, but oh well.
The roads here are small. One lane at best. And sometimes the roads make me carsick, which never happens back in America. Back home I can read in the car all the time. Here, I would be puking within seconds. Here, unless I'm in the front seat I get slightly green around the edges.
The cars here are small. I love the teeny tiny little Bozo cars--I think they call them Smart cars. I would love to drive one.
I have also discovered that not knowing the language is a pain in the butt! I know how to say danke and bitte, but sometimes when I am confronted with someone speaking German--say a cashier--my mind freezes up and I totally want to speak Spanish! I never realized how much of that I actually learned until I was here. Crazy, huh? Especially since I am not even in a remotely Spanish speaking country! And yet, all these Spanish phrases come to mind and I realize that I can say more than I realized. Perhaps it is time to dust off the Spanish vocab books and get back into that.
I'll write more tomorrow. We just got home and I'm going to have a bowl of cereal--oats and chocolate, what more could you ask for? And then I'm going to bed! Gute Nacht! Auf Wiedersehen!

Heidelberg

We are finally in Carlsberg--after a very long drive yesterday of being squished into the back of the Beemer. The weather is definitely better here--which is interesting, because we drove 3 hours over from Herton, leaving the cloudy, rainy weather behind. Here near Mannheim it is sunny (for the most part) and warm. I think I like it over here better, too. It is prettier and there are more castles. I dig castles.

We drove to Heidelberg today to see Castle Heidelberg. That thing is amazing! It is huge, with rambling grounds, and more crumbly, half-fallen down towers and things than I could have asked for. The only downside is that they don't let you explore any of it. Blah safety rules. Ok, so it's probably good to further preserve the integrity of the castle, but still. They should make an exception for me--or at least that is what I tell myself.

My favorite part of the castle--this tower used to hold gunpowder, and during a battle, they got off a really good shot and blew themselves up! I really wished I could go explore that part of the tower the most.The legend is that a knight of the castle was in a big hurry to get out, so he leaped from the top and landed on the balcony outside, making this indent as he rushed off to do battle or something--who knows why he was rushing? My foot didn't fit inside it. Must have been a very short knight.A panoramic shot of how big this place is--and it is only from one side! And no, I didn't get to go explore this, either. Boo.

Anyway, we got tons of pictures and then drove up the hill to the very top and ate lunch. We sat where they take off in their gliders, and I was really wishing I could be in one of those! The view was amazing, but imagine it from the air!

We then drove to yet another castle--which turned out to be a private residence and only open on Sundays. Bummer. So we crammed back into the Beemer and drove to Lotsch--I think that is how you spell it--and looked at this monastery that was built in 780 or something. The main gate house part is on the world's registery for oldest buildings--authentic, too! It was pretty cool. Kaelan and I had fun picking up all the huge snails in the garden and poking them so they would stick their heads out. We are talking escargo-size snails here.

The gatehouse, built in 780 or even earlier. I didn't get a full shot because I was too close.

After that we had some more ice cream--I really like the ice cream here. I'm going to come home having gained some poundage due to ice cream and bakery items. Oh boy. And I haven't even eaten any chocolate! I'd better get right on that requirement.

Spoon Artist And Spoon Pirate On The Horizon

I have finally found my calling!
We went to this open air museum in Hagen--I think that's the name of the town--Kat will tell me if I'm wrong. :)
Anyway, it was this enormous village type thing dedicated to how people lived way-back-when. Some of the buildings were already there and some have been moved in since. They have people who recreate the old trades and make their own horseshoes and other metals, old printing presses, an old brewery, shoes, etc. And spoons! Yes, spoons made from wood, along with other eating utensils.
It is on a HUGE area of ground, so we walked and walked and walked and got tired about 3/4s of the way through, but we pushed on. I took many pictures before losing interest in old metal instruments and huge fireplaces. I did really dig the architecture, though. And the area was pretty beautiful. I really wanted to slide down the big overspill thingie, but since it was out of bounds I figured I would get us kicked out before I had a chance to buy a wooden spoon! I refrained.
The one place I wanted to see was the spoon building area, and it was this tiny little workshop in the back of where they make wooden clog type shoes. I fell in love! It was amazing. I wish there had been someone inside, making spoons, but apparently that is now a lost art. Wooden spoons and utensils don't hold up real well in dishwashers, you know. Bummer. I think I need to resurrect the art of the perfect spoon from wood. I learned that they used to ship the spoons and utensils all over--which means I could also be a Spoon Pirate! I could sell my spoons, ship them off, and steal them back! More profit for me...
I went to the gift shop to buy a genuine wooden spoon and--no bueno--they don't sell genuine, hand-crafted, wooden spoons. They did sell a genuine hand-made teeny-tiny scoop for flour or something, so I had to content myself with that. Now do you see the need for my new hobby? I could be selling these things to tourists for 10 euro a spoon! And in return, they wouldn't have to be disallusioned like I was! Amazing spoons and other utensils! If I had been born back then, this is what I would have done! Just think, I could have been the one to invent the spork.Where the spoons and other utensils are actually constructed...be careful not to lose a thumb, as that is probably the biggest deterrent facing spoon-makers.

I have a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell! This is where they made their own cowbells. It was their own little cowbell forge...This tunnel was pretty cool. It was built for midgets, though...I had to bend almost over in some places.

Anyway, we are leaving here in the morning--back to Carlsburg to stay with Kat's dad and step-mom again for the week.
We have been going shopping and the only thing I have purchased is that lame-o wooden scoop! We have big plans for shopping in Mannheim, though. I also need to hit the English sections of the bookstores because I did not pack enough books!

Exploring the Neighborhood

Kaelan and I went out to explore the neighborhood tonight. Today is Kurt and Kat's 9-year anniversary, so they went out to eat. Kaelan and I started off by going to the park and then went exploring on all the little paths around the house. We pretended we were pirates--in jackets, of course. Kaelan told me at first that pirates don't wear jackets, but he decided that he could make a concession since it was a little chilly out. Anyway, all good pirates have to have some danger to avoid and ours was stinging nettles and fat slugs on the ground!

Photo Op

View from the top!
Kam-Kam looking like a little gnome. He loved the stroller ride.
Part of the stairs that took you all the way up.
A fat little goaty at the petting zoo.

Sci-Fi and Birds

The other day we climbed up a big hill to see the view from the top. They are building this huge horizon-detector thing at the top, and it looks all sci-fi and space-age. Or like the beginnings of an out of control roller coaster. Or, wait, have you ever seen that Jody Foster movie? Contact! It looks like the thing she sits in, with the rings spinning out from it. Well, at any rate, here's a picture of it.

And I gather the point of it is to pinpoint the exact location of the stars. Anyway, it was pretty cool, and the hill afforded a sweet view. It was incredibly windy up there!

You could either climb straight up via stairs, or take the windy stroller-bike-jogging path. We did a bit of both. Kameron sat in his stroller and after climbing half way up the hill on the path, Kaelan and I took the stairs. Whoo! That could get you into shape quick. I was feeling the burn in my legs. We had a nice picnic lunch up there and then climbed back down.

After that--which was one of my favorite things that we have done so far, my love of castles notwithstanding--we went to a little petting zoo. Everything there was fat! Fat little goats, fat peacocks, really fat monkeys, fat piggies, etc. I would say that they are well-fed. It was fun. We went into the birdhouse and it was amazing! You stand inside with the birds and they are swooping all over the place, dive-bombing your head. So loud in there! In a good way. No one got pooped on, so that was lucky. There are every type of bird imaginable in there--morning doves, sparrows, parrots, cornish game hens that can't fly, finches, and tons of others that I don't know the names of but like to look at. I posted a video of what it was like to be in there.

It was a good day.

I Love Castles!

Day...I have no idea what day it is for me here in Germany. Let me take a stab at it. Umm, 4? Today is Monday, so it must be day four. Anyway, while still in Carlsburg, the little town where Kat's dad and step-mom Maggie live, we took a hike through the forest to a castle that is now a youth hostel. It was built in 1100 something and was destroyed by the French in 1600 something. It has since been rebuilt into a youth hostel, but parts of the old walls are still standing. I took pictures of that one. It wasn't that spectacular, but it was my first castle. Spaghetti Ice Cream!

Then we drove to Bad Durkheim, where we surprised upon a bike festival that was going on and nearly got run over everywhere we walked. We went to a little cafe and had ice cream. I tried spaghetti ice cream, which isn't nearly as gross as it sounds. It is actually vanilla ice cream squeezed through tubes to look like spaghetti noodles, and then strawberry sauce on top to look like red sauce. It was really good! Ice cream here is a production.

After that we drove through this really windy one lane road--and one lane here does not mean one-way traffic, either! You have to pull off in some spots to let other people drive by. We were driving through the forest, though, and it was beautiful! At one point we could see all the way to the horizon of the Rhine valley, all filled with little towns and vinyards. There are tons of vinyards in this area.

After that we packed up and drove Kat's dad's BMW to Herton, where Kat's mom lives. The drive was an experience! We couldn't fit our luggage in the trunk, so we packed what we thought we would need in bags. I am now living out of my backpack and a garbage bag. And then we squeezed ourselves in the car--a feat with 2 car seats in the back--and headed out. Everyone here drives 160 kilometers per hour or faster, which is roughly 100 mph. So we were going at that speed almost the entire time, and it doesn't even feel like you are going that fast, because everyone else is passing you! I also must add that the chances of me ever riding in a more expensive car are slim to none. I did ride in Maggie's Mercedes, though, so...

And now we are here to stay for the week. I have my own room once again, but everyone shares the bathrooms.

This morning we took a walk to see the school where Kat used to go and then we drove to this old village where the houses are super old--some from the 1600s. I took many pictures. There was a castle there, but it doesn't really looke like a castle. Then we drove downtown and had lunch--a doner, which is pronounced doo-na, and should have the double dot doohickey over the o. It is basically a turkish version of the gyro, but bigger, and they use turkey instead of whatever the greeks use. It was good. Then we walked to the castle in the middle of this huge park with 200 year old trees. It was fascinating. We stopped at this playground to climb this huge cargo net. I felt like I should have been clipped in with a 'biner while someone belayed me!

This thing was intense! I love castles!

I do not love stinging nettles! The darn things are everywhere here, lurking where you least expect them. Thus far I have avoided a sting, but I know it is only inevitable, considering my penchant for wandering off the path to look at things. I crawled down off this bridge to get the perfect shot of the castle, and there were stinging nettles everywhere! I managed not to fall in to the moat and not to grab a stinging nettle by accident.

Another thing I am not used to is eating lunchmeat for breakfast. Salami, ham, many types of cheeses--all on a roll, eaten for breakfast. I do like trying out the different types of cheeses, though. They have some good ones here. I plan on trying many more. I'm not into the different types of sausages, but cheese is good!

More later!

Locations

I should probably say just where I am in Germany. We flew into Frankfurt and then drove about an hour to Mannheim, where Kat's dad and step-mom live. If you look on a map it is right next to the Rhine, close to the border of France.

I slept from 10 last night until 8:30 this morning. Kaelan slept with me and he didn't move until 10:30 this morning! He told me he slept like a cadillac--does that mean he slept like a rock? He also told me he stings like a beaver. I think he's going for the version of Cars where Lightning McQueen says he stings like a Beemer. Anyway, he's fun.

I think we're going for a walk today to see a castle and be outside. It is beatiful here. The countryside looks a bit like Pennsylvania--lots of rolling hills covered in trees. I took a few pictures of the view from the yard above the house.

I guess we are supposed to be taking it easy today, but I feel fine. I think my internal clock reset itself already. Once the sun goes down, my body said sleep, and when the sun came up, my body said wake up! No problems. Once I took a shower I felt human again. And I squeegied the shower doors. I did have to take some Tylenol at about midnight so my leg would stop hurting. It feels ok now, though. I was worried for a while there that I would have a permanent limp while we are here.

More later!

I am already taking lots of pictures.

Germany

I am finally in Germany. After an entire day of flying--which equals a day and a night with the time difference. I started the trek at 8:55 AM and ended at 7:30 AM Germany time the next day. Other than a leg that is absolutely killing me and hurts to walk on, I'm ok. A wee bit tired, but I took a 4 hour nap today. I didn't want to do anymore because I need to get my body adjusted to the time difference. It is currently 9 PM here and I am ready for bed.
Other than being completely clueless about every conversation that takes place around me--unless it is in English--I'm enjoying it thus far. We are staying with Kat's dad and his wife and they have a beautiful home. I'm a little afraid to use anything though, in case I get it dirty. My bedroom and bathroom are immaculate and I worry about actually using the bathroom! White marble and gleaming fixtures... having my own shower will be great, though.
So thus far I have some observations. The cars here are little--there are quite a few of those that look like the kind circuses can cram 15 clowns into. And they drive at incredible speeds, all while following too closely and breaking in a manner that throws you against your seat restraint. Yikes! The village we drove through to get to Kat's dad's house had the tiny, European style street and old quaint houses. I'll include pictures later.
Kaelan and I played a game of soccer tonight after dinner. He's getting pretty good at kicking!
More later, with pictures!

Home Again

I am back!
After an emotional goodbye to everyone at camp--I am serious, that was the hardest one yet. I was crying so hard. I had just gotten myself under control and was ready to get girls on my bus when Bill hugged me and told me I was his favorite. I had to then get on the bus to hide from everyone else, because I was done saying goodbyes. I couldn't take anymore.
After that I was so tired and burnt out from not sleeping very well and then crying really hard that I felt sick. I dropped off the girls and then had to wait for my car service to take me to Newark. My driver, when he finally showed up, was extremely interesting. His name was either Wally or Willy and he was a talker! He never stopped. And he was an erratic driver, so I felt like I was going to throw up. I finally had to close my eyes in the back.
I met up with Tanya, Erica, Heather, Lindsay, and Rachel in the airport and we all sat together until it was time for us to leave.
And then the fun REALLY began...
There was a tornado warning in Manhatten, so I was stuck at the airport for an extra 5 hours. My flight was supposed to leave Newark at 5, with an arrival to Minneapolis and then on to Great Falls. My flight didn't leave Newark until 10:30, which put me in Minneapolis at midnight. That meant I totally missed my connection. I had a complete breakdown in the airport. I was that emotional passenger, sobbing in the corner. I cried on the phone to my parents and then my brother called me. As soon as I heard his voice, I lost it. I couldn't even talk, I was crying so hard. He pretty much thought I had lost it. I was just so tired and the last thing I wanted was to spend the night in the airport.
I don't even remember the flight to Minneapolis. I do remember getting there and locating a spot for myself to sleep. I ended up at some random gate--C 5 or 6, I think--on a row of chairs with my cell phone plugged into the cell charger they thoughtfully provide. I ate some vending machine food and went to sleep at 2:30. At 6 I got up. I think I passed out at some point, but it sure wasn't restful. Every 20 minutes or so a security guard would ride past on one of those airport carts, some random television was turned on really loudly, and the lights were all on. Still, at least I was fairly safe.
My flight in the morning wasn't until 11, so I had to go check back in at the gate and go back through security. Then I bought some contact solution and fixed my contacts. I smelled bad, I could barely see, and I definitely looked like I had slept in an airport. Ah the joys of travel!
I got to fly First Class, probably the first and last time that will ever happen. I think I fell asleep before the plane took off. I remember sitting down and then I remember the plane landing.
I went to bed last night at 6:30 and got up this morning at 7.
I am so happy to be home.
As for my breakdown, I felt extremely dumb until I heard from Erica that she was stuck overnight in Chicago and she cried on the plane very loudly, and then Heather R. was stuck in Newark all night and she cried too. I think we were all feeling physically and emotionally exhausted from no sleep and having to say goodbye to our best friends.
I don't think I want to fly anytime soon. And I'm flying to Germany in 2 weeks. Great.

Emotional

Today was a hard day for me. I have 5 bunks that I need to make sure are clean--and it just wasn't happening. I had to take an hour and sit in the office because I couldn't even be in there.
We had a GL meeting--our last sit-down circle, where we all get to say how we are feeling about the summer and thank each other. It is always emotional, but today was an explosion.
I cried throughout the entire thing. I really feel as though we were all friends--not that we just got along and worked well together, but that we were friends. I know I couldn't have done it without my fellow GLs, junior or senior camp.
Friday is going to be rough. Tomorrow night is going to be rough.
I have never been to a place where I feel as supported as I do at Bryn Mawr. I love Bryn Mawr. I love it a lot.

Color War End

Green won Color War for the 3rd summer in a row! The Final Fight was pretty spectacular--a giant hotdog on the green's team was beating up on Batman, Spiderman, Superman, and a pirate. Who knew hotdogs were so butch?
We have cleaning today and packing tomorrow. My least favorite days of camp. It just seems to take forever...but it isn't as hot as it normally is, so that won't be an issue. It has been freezing here. Last night on OD I was again wearing layer upon layer.
I have packed most of my stuff already. I'm on a bus to Westchester at 9 AM Friday morning, so I won't have time to pack much then. All my last minute stuff is still out, but it will get stuffed into my bags Thursday night. I will be flying home in my uniform--and I am perfectly ok with that.
It is going to be so sad to say goodbye to everyone. I am already prepping for the tears.
I am tired from having 61 girls to look after and feeling extremely run down. I woke up this morning with a sore throat--does not bode well. I am pushing the vitamins and the Cold-Eeze already. I can't afford to feel like crap on the last 2 days. I need to be present right now.
One of my girls got hit in the eye with a baseball bat during Apache relay a couple days ago--the result of a couple PDs who have checked out already and don't believe they need to supervise anymore. I was so mad. Her poor little eye is swollen shut and her glasses are a tad on the broken side.
We have late sleep tomorrow!

Summer?

What happened to summer?
It isn't here at LBMC, that's for sure. It has been so cold the past week! Since August started, it feels as though summer has peaced. It has been either raining and cold or just windy and cold--and OD is killing me! I froze last night--I was wearing a T-shirt, a long sleeve T-shirt, a sweatshirt, a jacket, and jeans and I still froze!
We are in our last few days of Color War and then will move into packing and cleaning. I am on a bus to Westchester, NY, for Friday morning. We are all already getting weepy about having to leave each other. I am so tired and ready to go, AND I will miss everyone here like crazy.
Good thing I was offered that job to work Conference Center here. I would start in October and work until December. I think if I like it, I could come back for spring through summer again. I'm not sure how I like the idea of living in Honesdale, but I do love Bryn Mawr and I hear Conference is much more chill than camp.
My girls in 11 caught a fish half-way through the summer and have kept him for an early wedding present for Drew and Britton. They named him Mighty Bob Ditterman--a mix of Bob Ditter and Bitterman, I gather. Anyway, he died 3 days ago and Chale, the nature director, woke up early this morning to catch another one and do the switcheroo so they could present Mighty Bob Ditterman (the 2nd) this morning. As you can imagine, Drew and Britton were thrilled. The girls were so excited about it, it was cute. Drew and Britton and I had a good laugh over Mighty Bob (the 2nd) and his story, but there is some concern over his life expectancy rate--which is well-founded, I think.

Unexpected Setbacks

Color War is here and that means a very chill, hang out time with my girls. Except now my co GL had to go to the ER last night and won't be back for a couple days, if at all. Which leaves me with 61 little girls to be responsible for. I am not too worried, actually. I know the job well, I know the girls well, and they all like me. Also, it is Color War, which is so chill and laid back. If it was regular programs, I would be stressing right about now. Also, I have so many people to help me out if I need it. I am worried about Kara, my co, though. I hope she's going to be ok.
I played in the staff basketball game yesterday and my knee is telling me how stupid that was as we speak. I had to wear my brace today and it is all swollen. I just finished icing it and it feels a little bit better, but it is still pretty sore and feels tight.
Less than one week left.
Today I judged for the Junior Color War Gym meet. It was so much fun. Bill told all the girls that in 2005 I was the Pan-American Games 3rd place winner for Beam and not only did they buy it, I have had staff coming up to me all day telling me how cool that was and why wasn't I working in the gym? I told them it was because of my knee injury. After having a good laugh about it inwardly, I told them that Bill always tells people that. If you ask, I also hold the most records in the gym for flips and giants on the bars. It made me laugh, though. I wish I were a gymnist!

Color War

Color War broke on Wednesday. It was an alien invasion, complete with spaceship. I was a bad alien, which means that I wore a scary glow-in-the-dark mask, dressed in all black, and snuck up behind the girls to attack the good aliens. I think they were going for an Indiana Jones themed thing, with the good aliens and the bad aliens. Regardless, all the aliens died. I was only stepped on once, so it was a good night.

Here is a shot of the scene, complete with my (supposedly) dead body in the front of the ship. You can't see me directly, but I'm there. We had lots of strobe lights going off, so that made it pretty cool. I'll have to watch the video to see how it all looked when we attacked.

Glory Days

Lsst night was Chocolate Banana Night! It is still too crazy to really describe, and yet I love participating in it. It never gets old. I love the crazy tribal-banana symbolism, and the drums, and the chanting. And even though I am not that crazy about frozen, chocolate-covered bananas on sticks, I still thoroughly enjoy the event when it happens.

Today was Carnival, and I was Funshine Bear. All the GLs collectively were the CareBears. We looked pretty good, for decorating our shirts the morning of. I made everyone a set of pipecleaner ears and we were good to go. I really dug my yellow soccer socks. I think the costumes were pretty awesome this year. I am always surprised, with how little time we really have to prepare, how creative and great the costumes are.

I was once again in the dunk tank. This year they rented it from the same company we get all our blowup rides, and it was bigger than the sketchy dunk tank. It wasn't as deep, so the danger of drowning was eliminated. It was wider, so you wouldn't bang your arms. It had a step, so you could actually get out of the thing. There were no wooden or rusty edges to take off your skin. There were no ants living in the seat. The seat actually stayed down and didn't drop you without warning. That being said, it was still not an enjoyable experience. The water was about 50 degrees and it was not the warmest day today--hypothermia was probably a danger. I'm serious, it was so cold that it took your breath away and hurt your chest and then when you got out, you couldn't stop shivering. I was the first one in again this summer--I do love being the dunk tank guinea pig! I didn't sit far enough forward on the seat on my 4th drop and the seat whacked me in the middle of my back on the way down. I have the biggest bruise there already. It hurt! After that, I couldn't stop shivering so I went and took a warm shower and gave up the dunk tank. I did not escape injury yet again. Maybe it doesn't matter what kind of dunk tank, maybe dunk tanks in general are just sketchy. There is no feeling worse than sitting on a slippery seat, balanced way out precariously, afraid to lean back, unable to grab anything, and waiting to be dropped into ice cold water. No worse feeling.

This is me climbing up onto the dunk tank. Notice the little window for your viewing pleasure.

And there is me being dropped into the dunk tank for my very first run--Kara, my thoughtful Co, gave the thing a push to test it out. It worked, as you can see.

So Bill brought me a snow cone to make me feel better about hurting my back on the dunk tank, and I proceeded to drip orange all down the front of my staff shirt.

After that I was a fortune teller with Charlotte--she made me a costume this summer! I read the TarUno cards--yes, they were Uno cards--and I had some fun making up fortunes for girls.

Tonight was the fake break for Color War. A bit of an Indiana Jones fake.

Color War is coming up!

JCSD And the Brick Wall

Junior Camp Special Day was awesome this year. We got to ride around in the golf carts and wear princess crowns--what more could you ask for? The girls had fun, too. I'm in the front of this golf cart--and notice Jenny Caine as an honorary GL for the morning!
I am feeling the brick wall--the same one I run slam into every summer at this time. There is 2 weeks left of camp and we are supposed to be all encouraging and go team for our counselors--and I feel as though I can't get around the brick wall in my path, either. I'm feeling tired and burnt out.
Last night on OD one of my girls was up consecutively, the last time at 11:22, crying because she's homesick and wants to go home. The problem with this girl is that when she gets like this, she's hostile. Puchy and I didn't know what to do with her, so we finally said if she comes out again we would call Bill in. Still, I realized at that moment that I don't have much patience left in me. It could have been the effects of a late night, a long day, and an even longer week...and I still didn't like it.
Phone calls today.

Extreme Flexibility

Being at camp requires a whole new level of flexibility. The best-laid plans are usually postponed or completely cancelled. I was so excited about two things this weekend: going to take the Explorers home to NJ and then the Gym meet. The trip to NJ with the Explorers did not happen today because they decided to put both vans together in one bus and send someone who was here expressly for the weekend so that I could be here with my girls all day. And I am not going to the Gym meet because tomorrow is my day off and I need to go do something relaxing instead. I see the logic, and hey, at least I know Bill is looking out for me. He thinks I'll be too burnt out if I give up my only day off this week to the gymnastics meet from 7:30 until 4 tomorrow. I am actually looking forward to my day off tomorrow with Rachel, actually.

3 Weeks?

Can you believe that there is three weeks left of camp??? Because I can't. Where did the summer go? Once again, proving my theory that the summer really and truly flies.
Things here are going well. I am scheduled to take the Explorers home tomorrow--to Livingston, NJ. I'm pretty excited about that, to be honest. It sounds pretty chill--ride in the van for 2 hours, drop off the kids, then ride home for another 2 hours.
And then on Monday, I am going to the Junior Wayne County Gym meet!! I am very excited about that.
And Jenny Caine is here!!!!!!!!!!! That gets a whole row of exclamation points. For those of you who may remember, Jenny Caine was my co from last summer. I have decided that she is coming back next summer and we will be cos once again.
JCSD is coming up soon--Tuesday, in fact.
Oh man.

NYC

Union Square, with the Empire State Building in the background
South Street Seaport and I'm in love with big boats. I think that is what I want to do next: become a pirate or a captain.
More random NYC skyline shots.

New York City was amazing. And also crowded, dirty, overwhelming, hot, intense, fascinating, fun, and I'm running out of adjectives. I had fun. We walked 10 miles in the course of our day, even though we rode the subway almost everywhere and took a taxi once. Big place.
We had Nancy and Matt Everett, who was at camp my first summer, as our tour guides. That was good, because they are both true New Yorkers, so we got to see places that tourists don't. We ate at this amazing restaurant called the Saigon Grill for dinner--the best food I have ever eaten, I think. We went to a Broadway play--we saw Avenue Q, which was a parody of Sesame Street and was freakin' hilarious. There is this smell that New York City has--I would describe it as a blend of gross, dirty washing machine smell mixed with garbage. The subways are soooooo hot and muggy. We left at 10:30 or thereabouts, which means we rolled into camp about 1:20. The morning wakeup was a fun one, let me tell you. Although because it was late sleep I got about as much sleep as I would normally get, so I was ok the next day. I want to take my family back there and see some more stuff. We did get to walk down Wall Street, which was pretty cool and intense. Very narrow and all these people in power suits speed-walking through. The Brooklyn Bridge was cool. The George Washington Bridge was cooler. The Lincoln Tunnel gave me a carbon monoxide headache. The entire time I was thinking of all the movies I have seen featuring New York City and all the landmarks I recognize that are completely different when you're viewing them in person.

Male Beauty

The GLs were male judges, as usual.
This year I shook up the theme a bit and was an old-man tourist--like the kind you'd see running around Disney. Dig my socks and sandals?
The fanny pack made the outfit! Although, Bonnie and Lindsay were pretty excellent as ballers or thugs, too.
Soccer Mike won Male Beauty, but I think it was a fluke. All the boys looked very pretty! This year, no cameras at all were allowed, not even personal ones. They are getting touchier as the years go on.

Visiting Day

Visiting Day this summer was stress free--for me, at least. I wore my normal size polo, had Erica french-braid my hair for ease of wear, and wandered around socializing with parents all day long. It was hot out--the humidity was fierce--but there was a nice breeze that kept it from being truly miserable. I had one very nice lady offer me face sunscreen that totally did the job all afternoon and I didn't have to reapply. And of course the cookie tent was amazing.
My girls have the coolest parents. I just sat and talked with one set for about 15 minutes. One of my girls who was having cabin troubles until we switched her has amazing parents as well. They are from South Africa originally, and have very cool accents. We hung out for a bit.
I sat in the gym and watched for a little bit and talked to Bill. Everything was going well in there.
Soon we are going to the pool and then it will be Male Beauty tonight. I am going to be a guy--although I don't have a clue as to what my costume is going to be.
Speaking of costumes, we filmed the break for JCSD last night. The theme is Enchanted, so we were princesses. The movie we made has the first half of the real movie, where it is in cartoon form. Then Matt is going to splice in the part where we pop out as the real characters. The dresses we could drag out of the costume room are hideous! Either they don't fit or they are stained. Mine was a size 18 brown ankle-length satin formal that makes me look like a monk. Yikes. We did a few alterations on it with hair-ties that made it look more princessy, but only barely. We added some jewelry and some crowns. The actual filming went well. We had a good part where Bill yells at us for trying to go into Manville. Still, the costumes were ridiculously hideous.
I get to sleep in tomorrow!!!

Wanted

I had a night off last night, so Erica, Rachel, and Heather and I decided to take the van into town to watch the movie Wanted. I am a huge fan of James McAvoy--he's pretty much attractive--so I was excited. I doubt Heather and Erica really knew what the movie was about, but they were game as well. I'm always up for a good assassin movie, too--a bit of research never hurt anyone.
I must say, it was far more entertaining to watch Heather and Erica's response to the movie in some parts. It was rather gory, so we were constantly having to tell Heather not to pass out--after her episode at Skinners, when she passed out just looking at Tanya's swollen foot. So she stayed all scrunched down in her chair for most of it and ever so often both Erica and Heather would throw their hands in front of their faces.
Rachel and I were into the movie. I enjoyed it.
We caught the 10 o'clock bus home and made it to bed before 11. Well, I did, at any rate.
Visiting Day is fast approaching...cue theme to Jaws.

Aquarama!

Monkeys and Flamingos and Slip'N'Slides, oh my!

Aquarama 2008! My first summer I didn't get to go because it was my day off, and last summer we didn't have enough water in the wells to do it, but this summer I got to enjoy! Erica and I took our friends monkey and flamingo to the photo booth and then did some Slip'N'Slide. It was a good time, all in all.

Potassium

I lost another camper, but this one was a happy thing, as she was a stage 5 life sucker. This kid was not happy here and she was making it quite miserable for her fellow campers, her counselors, and myself. Even Jane, Marjori, and Britton were tired of dealing with her.
I lost a counselor, which was not a happy thing. However, she was becoming burnt out in that bunk and I would rather see her move than lose her entirely.
I woke up in the middle of the night a couple nights ago with a humdinger of a cramp in my calf. Holy buckets, that hurt! And then today I was helping pull the pool cover over the pool and when I climbed out I got another cramp in my other calf! I curled up on the ground in pain.
This leads me to believe I am lacking in potassium. However, we don't get very many bananas, because Nancy is allergic to them and can't be in the dining hall when we have them. So, what else gives you potassium? I need it!!!
We had AquaRama today, which basically means we got wet. I went on the Slip'N'Slide and it was freezing! The other water slide rides were good. We spent time in the pool, too.
Tonight is AirBand and the PDs and GLs on OD are going to rock out to Journey.
I wrote our Spirit song this morning. We are singing to the tune of You're So Vain by Carly Simon, but the song is called We're So Great. It went really well--or at least the girls learned it well. They told me I have an amazing voice. I have never heard that before.

Stress and Relief

My girls in Bunk 15, the ones who got the warning about being bullies, have been doing so great! I'm proud of them. I was a bit skeptical at first, but all three have been really trying to do better and I think it is a safer place for everyone now.
The other problem we were having was solved with a girl moving bunks, and after an initial breakdown she has sense decided to have fun and enjoy camp. Now she's happy and smiling and making lots of new friends.
I have another girl that I am attemping to help make friends. We are arranging playdates with her and one other girl--I have one with her today, in fact. The road is long and mostly uphill, but I am hoping that in time she will begin to feel better about being here. Her parents don't want her to go home and she is convinced she needs to go home. It can get pretty bad at times. I have hope that we can keep that situation manageable.
I have another move taking place today that I am a little nervous about. We are bringing another girl up from lower juniors to be in my Bunk 12. I will let you know how that progresses.
I have tonight off, which is great because I doubt I'll be getting any time off today at all.
I am handling everything surprisingly calmly.

Tired

Yesterday was the longest day of my life.
I had phone calls, and those were going well--until about noon, when I was called to the office and the fun began. I spent, quite literally, from noon until 9:30 last night in the office, with a break for a late lunch and a break for a late dinner. The rest of it was meetings and waiting around for meetings. On the upside, Bob Ditter and I are now on a first name basis.
3 of my girls could potentially be sent home as a warning. They are bullying the girls in their cabin and just generally making it not a safe place. At least 1 of those girls is just a follower. One of them is the one who got my counselor kicked out of her cabin last summer by telling lies to her parents. Her parents yelled at Dan and Jane on the phone--all the way from Morocco, I might add, at 1 in the morning. I guess I'd be grumpy too, if I were woken up in Morocco to hear my precious daughter is a bully and might be sent home from camp. Of course it wasn't her fault. Anything but that.
That is just one of the reasons I felt drained.
They flat-out lied about everything. I even overheard their conversation and they still tried to deny it!
Anyway, last night we got our 3-year water bottles and We're Back shirts, and where was I? In the office, in another meeting. I was so upset about that. And then walking to pick up my stuff, I kept running into people who wanted to know why I skipped the presentation. Arrrrrr.
I also had to stick poor Kara with all the phone calls, and today was her first phone call day! I felt horrible.
I took out my contacts about 10 because I couldn't even see straight anymore. Everyone I encountered recoiled and gave me this concerned look and told me I needed to go to bed, but I was OD until 11:30. I walked back to pick up the miscreants from the office and had just sat down to wait for them to get out of another meeting with Dan when Bill walked in and escorted me from the office. He was trying to take me to the health center, but I told him I wasn't sick, just tired. So he escorted me to my room and made sure I went inside.
I was so tired I called my parents and then cried.
I feel a bit better this morning. At least my frame of mind is better. I could still sleep until next Friday.
I hope I don't have anymore meetings today. I never even got to see the rest of my girls yesterday. Just the bad ones. I need to remind myself that I like my girls and that I chose to be here for them.

Unlucky Day At Skinners

Today was a day off for all the GLs because the girls were at Dorney Park. It started off well enough. We got up early and waved the buses out of camp and then went to b'fast at the Trackside Grill. Then we picked up some lunches and headed out to Skinners Falls for some relaxation and swimming. It was a beastly hot day today, but we all had plenty of fluids and sunscreen.
We had just arrived and were in the process of walking across some rocks to find a spot to sit down. I heard something fall so I turned around and saw Tanya sprawled face-down on the rocks. She totally twisted her ankle--but it wasn't really her ankle, it was the top of her foot and it immediately started to swell like a balloon. I have never seen something swell up that fast--so the thought was that it was broken. We had just gotten Tanya settled on the ground with her foot in the cold water when I heard a commotion from behind me.
There were about 10 of us at Skinners at this point, but another group was just arriving. I couldn't see too well, just enough to assume someone else had fallen down. Then Danielle started yelling for someone to call 911. I ran over and saw Heather Rutledge had passed out and hit her head on a rock. This was literally like 4 minutes after Tanya fell.
Luckily, some guy walking past was a paramedic, so he came over and checked them both out for us and recommended that we get them out of the sun and to the ER. We had a time convincing Heather that she should go, but Tanya was perfectly ok with checking out her foot. It was massive and the paramedic said he thought it might be broken. So we loaded them up and Danielle, Jess Resnick, and myself took the two injured to the Wayne County Hospital, where we sat for almost 4 hours.
Tanya lucked out and does not have a broken foot. It is severly sprained and she needs to be on crutches for about 3 to 5 days. Heathe is ok as well. She was checked out by the camp doctor, as she still refused to see the doctors at the ER.
I am feeling extremely drained right now. I need to go to sleep.
When we got back, Jane told us that no one was allowed to go to Skinners anymore. I think I concur.

A Nibble?

I got an email from my agent yesterday, telling me that they found a potential publishing house for my book. I had to fill out a form for this publishing house that was basically just telling them about myself and a brief synopsis of my book. I guess they were told that I was one of the writers who's work is ready to sell now and is a 'cut above'--their words, not mine--the rest of their submissions. This publishing house has purchased 3 books from clients of my agency, and they have funds for more.
I filled out their form and they said they will get back to me in a week or less.
Keeping my fingers crossed.
Today is my day off

One Of Those Days

Or actually the past couple days...
I think I'm tired. Luckily I get tomorrow off!
I lost an earring and then was given a birthday present by Mindy, the lady who works in the office here--of earrings! That was pretty awesome, until I looked at the earrings and realized they were genuine mother of pearl and also that they were expensive. I don't know if I can wear them for everyday. I'm afraid I would lose them here.
Some of my girls are driving me crazy, which is to be expected.
Last night for the all-camp campfire I got to do the Wee skit again with Jenny Magiet, Ashlee, Adam, and Matt Johnson. We do good work with that thing. That was exciting!
Bill has been telling all the gymnastic counselors that I am his favorite GL, so all of them now know me and keep coming up to me to say that they have been hearing all these good stories. That makes me smile.
I guess there are some great things mixed in to my past couple days. I'm just feeling like I'm a 79 Pinto with a gas leak right now. Tomorrow will go a long way to recharging my batteries. Except that we have to get up at the crack of dawn to get the girls on the buses to Dorney Park. After that we can sleep in.
Did I mention I won breakfast for 2 at the Trackside Grill during staff week?
I got to go into the pool for free swim with my girls yesterday and I waternoodled it up. It was exciting. And then after they all left for snack, I hung out in the pool with Puchy, who is the Pool PD. It was good to get to talk and just bob around in the water and not have to watch 60 little girls.
Today is Erica's birthday and we are going to jump off the dock for her, too. I think Drew is coming with us. More pictures to come of that!
Once I actually write everything down, the good more than outweighs the bad. I have almost been here a month, with one more to go!

Pirates Who Get Stung By Bees

I woke up this morning and went outside to sit on my favorite adirondack chair--only to discover I lost an earring!! I retraced my steps but could not find it, which probably means it fell down the drain in the shower. Bummer. Which also means that I am currently looking like a pirate, with only one earring. I have gotten some interesting comments on it already. I guess I could take the other one out....
I called Mom and she is going to send me the other ones I have at home.
I was also at the pool with my girls today, judging their Olympics events, and I felt something on my wrist. So I looked down and this bee was going to town, just stinging away. We're talking repeatedly jabbing his little stinger in there with a viciousness that was truly awe-inspiring. I am positive that had I been able to understand bee, he would have been swearing at me too. I don't know what I did wrong--maybe I was just in his way when he was having a particularly bad day. Anyway, it swelled up and I got a bag of ice to put on it because it stung like whoa. It is currently feeling better and the swelling has gone down remarkably.
Tonight is my night off!!! I am incredibly excited to call home. Last night was the first night I have been homesick since I have been here. I had to really concentrate on not thinking about home and try to enjoy our fireworks. I talked to Kaelan before dinner and he told me that if I were home, we could all watch fireworks together. Kurt and Kat had their little ones at Mom and Dad's house, and Brandt drove home too. I really wished I could be there!

Sad News

One of the things I do a lot of the first week of camp is deal with the homesick campers. I only had 3 this year, compared to the 10 last summer, which is definitely one advantage of my girls being one year older. Also, on a side-note, I have finally found the group of girls that I would like to move up with into Senior Camp. I doubt I will be allowed to, but I would totally dig it. I love this group of girls!
Anyway, back on topic.
I have been really dealing with one girl in particular who has been struggling with homesickness. We are talking crying 85% of the day, everyday. She's very intelligent, very articulate, and can be reasoned with--and has become attached to me. Still, it has been very time and energy consuming for me and for Jane and Nancy.
Last night she went home.
It was sad, but for the best, I think. She was trying to cope with her parents' divorce and her head was not here, no matter what we tried to do. I doubt her crying would have ever stopped.
I feel...a bit lighter, without that occupying my time now, but very sad. She was a sweet kid and I liked her.

Happy 4th of July and Happy Birthday to Me!!!!

My birthday was yesterday.

I worked, but it was ok. The day started out with me feeling a bit blah and under the weather--literally, as it rained half of the day. I wasn't feeling too good for some reason, not related to my ever-present, lingering cold.

However, I have never had a birthday where I have heard happy birthday about a million times throughout the day--by the same people! And I received birthday hugs all day long too, which made me smile. It was nice to see how much I am cared about.

Heather wasn't here for the birthday jump off the dock this year, so Drew and Erica went with me. It was great.

I was also on skunk traffic control duty yesterday twice, which is new for me. This baby skunk was wandering camp in the daytime. I directed girls around it and called maintenance the first time, and then when Drew and I went down to jump off the dock, we ran into it again, heading into Adventure with the Manor House girls--who are our littlest girls on camp. Not a good thing.

My parents sent me a shoe filled with a bouquet of candy!

All in all, my birthday was amazing!!! If I couldn't spend it with my real family, I'm glad I got to spend it with my camp family.

Stand Corrected

Ok, so according to my brother, you can get pulmonary edema just walking around. Good to know.
I took the LIT's out tonight for the Ice Cream Cottage and then Wal-Mart. The LIT's are a group of counselors-in-training who were Bunk 1ers my first summer here. They are basically good kids--about 17 now, I'd say. Anyway, they had the night off but can't leave camp unless someone the Division Heads or Jane trusts. I was asked to take them and since my stellar evening plans included doing my laundry, I said sure. We went and had a good time.
It's my day off tomorrow! I am so excited to sleep in, you have no idea!
Also, I feel a bit better. The cold has progressed into my chest, however, and I cough up some very nasty stuff.

Pulmonary Edema

Ok, so it isn't that bad--and yes, I know you can only get that in extreme situations, like at the top of Everest or way deep in the ocean. However, it doesn't change the fact that I feel like crap and pulmonary edema might just feel like the cold I have right now. Who knows.
My voice? Non-existent. I always love losing my voice at camp. Thus far it has been a regular occurrence for all three summers. It is hard to get the attention of 60+ 11 yr olds if you have no voice.
Other than that, things are going well. I have gotten right back into the swing of things here. Being a GL is like riding a bike--you never really forget. I just do things like I did it last summer, and so far so good.
Last night we had a pretty spectacular thunderstorm and rain shower. I was stranded on the porch of 13 with some other GLs and PDs until 11 at night--when we dashed back to our cabin in the rain. I was freezing for 2 hours and adding to that the dash through the rain--I had a fever in the middle of the night. It wasn't too bad, but I didn't sleep very well.
I am feeling ok right now--just extremely hot and my chest hurts. But I'm taking Cold-Eeze like it's going out of style!
I hate paperwork. I've had so much of it lately!
I have discovered how I can get internet in my room. I have to put the computer up against the window--which means resting my foot on the garbage can and the compter on my knee. It gives my other leg quite the work-out, I'll tell you what, but at least I don't have to dash down to the bunker all the time!
I'll keep you up to speed on the biological warfare that is being waged in my body.

The Craziness Begins

I left yesterday morning at 8:30 on a huge bus for Paramus, NJ--and came back at 3:45 with that same bus full of little girls and with ringing ears.
Camp has officially begun.
The fact that I have a cold doesn't help matters, either. My voice was almost completely gone yesterday, at a time when I most needed it--talking with parents. Yikes. I was pleasantly surprised, though. I was only yelled at once, and only a couple talked down to me. All in all, that was pretty much a win in the parents of Bryn Mawr campers category.
Josh Budler was the bus leader in charge, but he was on the first bus, so I got to be the brick wall that the parents ran into at the second bus. No parent was allowed on the bus, and no kid was allowed off the bus once she was on. No one really contested that fact, for which I was glad. I did have tons of last minute switches from bus 1 to bus 2--all of which I directed Josh's way.
And then one girl was late. Yes, there always has to be one, right? She was only like 7 minutes late, but the first bus left and some angry dad tried to storm the bus and told me that we had to leave. He informed me that this wasn't fair for us to wait for one girl. Holy buckets. I told him, in a firm voice--or as firm as my hoarse croak could be--that we couldn't leave her and she would be there soon. He wasn't too happy with me. At least he didn't try to get on the bus, though.
My girls are great. They're all excited to have me back and I feel as though I have an unfair advantage in the fact that I know them and they know me--and my counselors and co do not yet. I am hoping I can prevent all 68 of them coming to me for everything--which has been happening all last night and this morning. I keep telling the rest that they have their own GL and that I'm just her co, but they were my girls. They are used to me. This might be a potential problem.
This morning I didn't get up until 7:30, which was a very nice change from the 5:45 in past summers. Because Upper Juniors sleep until 8 or 8:30 this summer!!!! I'm excited about that.
My cold is slowly getting better. I was ordered away from cabin row last night at 11:15 by Charlotte, who told me to go to sleep. I did and slept like a rock until this morning, when my alarm went off.
Let's see how the first day goes....gymnastics try-outs and lice checks, oh my.

Doesn't Work

Alright, ignore the link. It doesn't work.

Amazing

Here is a link you should check out. I hope it works! If not, please let me know.

It is our Staff video--and has some incredible footage of Drew, one of my favorite people at camp! And yes, I am in the video.

http://my.campminder.com/Videos/

Yeah Pictures!

I finally got some pictures for your viewing pleasure...I have been slacking on the camera end of things. As soon as the web site starts posting pictures I'll be able to steal some of theirs with me in them, but for now...you get some quality toga pictures.

We had staff Olympics last night and got to wear togas again to promote it. For some reason we had a serious lack of bedsheets, so there were only about 7 of us wearing togas, but that was ok.

I love my GL group this summer! We all get along so well.

Jack hooked up with Rico, his brotha from another motha, for some good cooking fun in the Cooking room. They made some rockin' edible cookie dough. Charlotte and I had fun, too!

Discombobulation

We had our cabin placement tonight for the General staff. I was super-excited because I got the counselor I wanted--she is in gymnastics and has to be full time. The problem is that everyone in Senior camp wanted her, and since she had to be full time there was no way I would get her. So I went to Bill and told him that I really wanted her. I said I knew she wouldn't be around for rest hour, and he told me that he appreciated that I was willing to sacrifice that and that if she was with me, she would be great. I really appreciated that--I got the Bill Widman stamp of approval, which won me that counselor. She is in my Bunk 12, in Upper Juniors, which she told me she would like.
This is where the discombobulation comes in. We do our placements and are gathering with our staff and I look down and see the counselor I wanted in tears on the ground, saying she didn't want Upper Juniors.
My heart literally dropped to the ground. I wanted to cry. I fought for this girl--I got Bill to endorse me, I convinced everyone that she would do well in that bunk, in my Upper Juniors--and she was miserable about it? I was not cool with that. I felt so incredibly guilty. Of course I'm automatically thinking that here I was trying to do something great for my bunks and for my girls and all I did was manage to wreck a girl's summer.
But I sucked it up and went on with my welcome to Upper Juniors thing with the other 8 of my counselors--who by the way are all physched to be in Upper Juniors with me--and Marjori talked to her. Then I talked to her after that. Turns out, she is fine with the age group, fine with me--but didn't want to be full time in her program area. That made me feel so much better, because that has nothing to do with where we placed her.
I am feeling much better currently, but definitely exhausted and very discombobulated still. You know, it is the little things that throw you off your emotional track here during staff weeks. You're so exhausted physically and mentally that the emotion is of course dragging too. I need to go to bed.
Everything will look much brighter in the morning.

Airkicks of Happiness

The General staff has arrived--after we waited literally all day for the bus to show up. I guess they got lost once and were stuck in traffic the rest of the time, so what should have been a 2 and a half hour jaunt turned into 5. We had to push back dinner and everything.
It was late sleep, so I slept in until 8:30, which is unheard of, and then went out to breakfast at the Trackside with Shu, Charlotte, Erica, and Dallas. Of course half the camp turned up at one point or another, so the Trackside was hopping, but we all sat at out own tables. Anyway, the Trackside is famous for serving massive proportions and I got an omelett, which meant that when lunch rolled around 2 hours later I wasn't hungry at all. I helped serve and then ate an apple because we had these amazing golden delicious apples instead of the usual small and red.
So by the time the General staff arrived, I was starving. After dinner, which was chicken parm, my favorite on camp--!!!!!--we went to main campus for some icebreakers. I loathe and despise icebreakers of any form or function. So I helped one of the counselors find some lost luggage and then finally had to play the darn games.
Leadership staff introduced themselves at the Apple-O and then we watched the camp video--kind of a tradition thing. I saw Heather in the video and it made me smile. And then Bill was getting ready to dismiss down to the campfire we were having and he said "If your name is Jessie, you may go first." I just sat there for perhaps half a second before I realized he meant me! So I hopped up and got to lead the entire camp down to the campfire. It was pretty fabulous. And then at the campfire, I got to be in the Wee skit with Ashlee and Adam and Matt Johnson and Jenny Magiet! It was pretty spectacular.
We didn't dismiss from there until 11, at which point I made the rounds with my room of counselors and told them what time reveille blows in the morning--and then crashed. And I wasn't too tired this morning. I have kicked into camp-mode where I'm a morning person and I don't need much sleep.
On the way over to the Bunker this morning with my computer, Drew stuck his head out his office window and asked if we could get some adirondack chairs in there so we can sit together. It was nice.
I think the weather might finally start becoming warm...I haven't gotten a tan at all because we've either been inside or I've been wearing pants. And sweatshirts at night.
And today I am going to be the Group Leader in the camp introductions we do for the General staff. I'm pretty excited about that.

Growing

I have been having some amazing personal growth experiences these past couple days.
There is a PD in volleyball this year that I am not personally fond of. She is rather abrasive. However, I just avoid her as much as possible and be polite but distant the other times and nothing has come of the situation. Today she stood up in front of the entire group and apologized to everyone for her behavior and gave us all a bit of background as to why perhaps she is like that. Then she cried and I thought, you know, that took a lot of guts. Not only was she standing in front of 40 perfect strangers, she was humbling herself by admitting a short-coming. And it also made me realize that she is a good person. She wants us all to be friends, really, it just hasn't been coming across that way. It really made me think about my prejudices and my judgements and I really felt as thought I had learned something from her. Needless to say, my heart has been considerably softened in her direction. I doubt we will be hanging out often, but there you have it.
Another learning experience has been the fact that I have been hanging out with people who I wouldn't normally hang out with--at least I didn't in the past summers at Bryn Mawr. But we hang out every night and we are having a blast. No worries about the GLs not getting along this summer...
I am working on trying to not worry about how things are going to go with my co-GL this summer. I like her as a person, but she is not someone I would necessarily gravitate towards. Much too serious. However, I was talking to Drew tonight about that and we came up with some very positive things about the situation. So that is helpful.
I hung out with my Junior Camp GLs and Marjori and Britton, our co-Division Heads. It was our dinner and Ice Cream Cottage and Wal-Mart run. It was a good time. I really dig Britton. She and Drew are getting married in September and I'm pretty thrilled. Drew is one of my favorite people on camp and I think Britton is fast becoming one of them as well.
I hung out with Drew tonight for about half an hour in his office after we got back, and as a result got to hang out with Bill a bit too. It was some good times. We listened to Shooter Jennings and talked real life talk.
I am happy here.