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.