Day at the Beach June 30, 2010

On the Beach

Yesterday I had my day off and it was GREAT! I was at the beach for only two hours in the afternoon until I decided to leave. I was applying SPF 70 every 15 minutes, and could still feel myself burning! It’s just not much fun lying on the beach when the sun is that hot.

My Beach Setup

Then, I went to a whole foods store and got my weekly sushi, then went to a Starbucks to read with an icy beverage. It really was a great day, full of relaxation. Hope you are all doing well! I hear Oregon had a tease of summer, but I see the weather report is expecting rain. Sad. Our weather today is much more pleasant than we’ve seen recently. Its only 82 feeling like 89. That’s a lot cooler than yesterday!

First Week June 28, 2010

The most exciting story I have for this past week was….Friday morning.

I woke up and was getting myself dressed, when I heard some smashing, crunching, and general car crashing noises. I thought to myself, “That sounded awful close. I should look out my window.” I couldn’t see anything out of the first window, but out the other, I saw that a car had crashed through the fence that surrounds campus. Not only had it gone through the fence, but also crashed head-on into an oak tree. I grabbed my phone and keys and went out to see if the driver was okay.

The woman behind the wheel was trying to start her car, but she seemed alright, though I questioned her level of functioning. I told her she should probably stop trying to get her car to start. But she really wanted to get it home. I described to her that the front of the car had been pushed into her wheel and I didn’t think it was going to move. That was when she got out of her vehicle for the first time to have a look at the damage. She really had no idea.

Then, I looked at the other front wheel, to see the tirewas slashed. Finally, some people who worked at the school started showing up for work and began calling the authorities and their bosses to come assess the damages to the property.

I looked across the street to see a woman coming over. She said “That’s my son’s car.” I said, “This is your son’s car?” pointing to the car that had crashed into the fence/tree. She said, “No, the one that’s parked on the street. It didn’t look like that last night. Who’s the driver.” Then, I shamelessly pointed to the woman, and told her I think she hit that car that was parked. The whole party moved out to the street to see what more damage had been done. Honestly, that parked car was really bad, and was probably totaled in the accident. The driver had no idea she had hit a parked car.

It came about the she had fallen asleep at the wheel, because she was just leaving work on the night shift. I am thankful that no one was injured, because mere yards away was a busy intersection and things could have been a lot worse. My family should be proud that I stayed on the scene until the authorities arrived and did everything I should have to help in that very unfortunate situation.

The Damaged Fence and Oak Tree

On a happier note, we are into our second week of camp and on Sunday, we get 16 new campers! Then the schedule gets all crazy as we get this second round of campers caught up on the program. Wish us luck! And I have my full day off on Tuesday, so feel free to give me a call!

The Office June 24, 2010

At My Desk

Our first week is running smoothly. I am frantically working on the schedule for next week, so that I can take a day off in a few days. You might notice the white computer in the picture. The exciting news is that I bought a new computer! I named him Falkor, after the Luck Dragon in the Neverending Story. Falkor is white and shiny and so is my computer. The cost was reasonable – under $600, but it was necessary to get one. I appreciate Ellen so much for letting me use her old computer until I was able to get one myself. However, I quickly became aware of why she got a new one last summer. It was very tedious creating schedules on such a slow computer.

Now I am back in business. A huge thanks to Liam for downloading the software I needed for printing. For some reason, I couldn’t download the printer software online, so we spend many hours over Google Chat, downloading and installing. With the time difference, we kept having to take breaks at different times for lunch, then snack, dinner…..rough, but we finally got me printing!

Reflection From My New Computer

I confess, I did not sleep well last night. At 4:00 in the morning, I got word that one of our family members passed away this last weekend. Not exactly the kind of news you want to hear in the middle of the night, but I appreciate being notified. It refocuses some of my thoughts, however. I am gone a lot for various jobs, but I am always thinking about my family and how much I miss them. I know they understand that I care about them, but I could be better about coming around more often. Please be safe this summer, so I can see all your smiling faces when I get home!

First Day of Camp! June 20, 2010

Today was the first day we got campers! This was a great day. So far, most of camp seems excited and eager to learn our program. This summer has started off feeling very positive and I have felt good all day.

Quick shout out to my Dad: HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!

I also wanted to share with you all a video we made to introduce the staff to the campers. It’s highly entertaining.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwCW1wxb7Cg

A new summer has begun and I can’t wait to see how our campers change and grow throughout our time here!

Summer 2010 Begins June 11, 2010

Our beach

Another summer begins in the wonderful state of Florida! My flight went very well – flawless actually, and I made it safely and promptly to Tampa. The first day, I tried to work a little too much after the red-eye flight and getting about 4 hours of sleep. Some of the other Senior Staff had been there for a while already, so I wanted to jump in too fast. After unloading the storage unit (which contained all our supplies for camp) I decided to take it easy to ensure my personal safety. I was just too cloudy-headed to do too much.

Some of the staff arrived early to take a lifeguard training and everyone else came on Wednesday. So we had our first day of training on Thursday to introduce the program and begin the process of building a fantastic team! I have good feelings, because it seems like everyone is eager to learn and help our campers reach their goals.

Getting ready for the high ropes

Today we traveled to the University of South Florida to participate in their ropes course! Very fun and helped our team build on trust and communication. Only downside was that it was an extremely long day in the direct, hot sun. I will admit, my body is not used to the amount of water it needs and I ended up getting quite dehydrated. I made some smart choices to get down fairly quickly to get some shade and water. I was never in any severe danger, because I know my body well enough to give it what it needs before I get too ill. It still took a good 2 hours to feel better with water, shade, resting and placing a cold bandanna around my neck. We ended our day early, so people could rest before another full day tomorrow!

Damp Bandanna To Cool Off

We don’t get campers until the 20th, so we have several more days of staff training. We will talk about so much, I know their brains will be full. It’s a good thing we add plenty of fun stuff between the lectures. We’re a summer camp after all!

The Pains of Travel August 19, 2009

Ian and I find ourselves at the Charlotte Airport. However, upon arrival, we note that our flight has been delayed and will be landing in Minneapolis just as our flight to Portland will be taking off….

So, we changed our flight to go through Atlanta and will be arriving in Portland only two hours later than originally planned. Not too bad, but now I understand why people get so stressed out when their flights are delayed!

Camp ended very nicely with a fabulous staff dinner. Looking back on the pictures, I look more tan than I’ve ever been in my life!

Tell me I’m wrong!

Then, we drove our 12 hours to Asheville North Carolina. We stayed in a somewhat sketchy hotel, but I didn’t really care. We were right downtown and there were fun coffee shops and bars to fill our time. Ellen showed Ian and I the Academy, which I was a little surprised at the location. It really is at a summer camp, which does not fit my idea of a private school. Though, I hear the kids like it, so I’ll stop judging!

After checking out the Academy, we met up to discuss the summer and have a bit of a debrief. Things we liked, things we’d change – the usual. Many great ideas were thrown around over pints, which rounded out the summer very nicely! So, we’ll get flying soon, and right now my computer will run out of battery, so I’ll see you all very soon!!!

Camp Magic August 14, 2009

I’ve absolutely found that bit of camp magic that keeps me working at summer camps. We are in our final family workshop and things are wrapping up very nicely. Tonight, we had a very emotional event: the final timed mile.

I did not understand the impact that this one event can have on our campers, because last summer, we did not do a timed mile. I was a bit sceptical, but also knew that other camps did them. I’ve very glad I saved my judgements, because all the campers have improved from their initial times and have a strong feeling of accomplishment. Our biggest improvement was 9 minutes! Standard improvement was 2 minutes and I think our average was 3.5 minutes. It really is amazing and there were many tears out on our track tonight!

Some campers have left and tomorrow is our last day. I get to go to the airport with three campers and will be saying my goodbyes to the ones getting picked up on campus. As tired as I am, I will be sad to end the summer. We have had a fantastic staff and a wonderful group of campers! Our celebration tomorrow night will be extremely fun and we truly deserve the celebration!

Ian, Ellen and I will be leaving for North Carolina on Monday, where were will get some debrief and hang-out time for ourselves. Then we say our goodbyes to Ellen before flying back to Portland on Wednesday. Can’t wait to see everyone! I’m ready to be back in Oregon!

Look at the Fishies August 4, 2009

It’s the beginning of the last 2 weeks at camp! We are down to 15 campers and so far, things have been running very smoothly. One would think that would happen when you lose half your camp! I was able to finish the weekly schedule very quickly – mostly because there are only two groups to schedule, and those groups are so small that they can’t do many activities by themselves. SCHEDULE – BAMM!

AND I GOT TO GO TO THE FLORIDA AQUARIUM! That was pretty much amazing, because I got to see the fishies and the sting rays and the sharks and the jelly fish and the sea horses and the star fish!

Alright fine. I admit I was a little frightened of the sting rays. Can you blame me? They are big and slimy and can kill people…The other picture was me being ridiculous….and touching my smooth, green face. I’m Elphaba…

We also got to go bowling! That was really great, because all the campers loved it! Sometimes, I am a really good bowler, but this time, I wasn’t very good. Only one strike in 2 games. Boo. But I look like a pro!

I have made my travel plans and after camp, Ian, Ellen and I are driving all the camp supplies up to the North Carolina Camp. Caravan Road Trip! Then, Ian and I fly out of Charlotte on August 19th, arriving back in Portland in the evening. So, I will be around again soon and can’t wait to give everyone the stories from the summer!

In other great news, upon my return I will be moving to a house in NE Portland! Me, Lore, Jen, Lo, and Vero will be living on the corner of 84th and Prescott! The pictures online look beautiful and they assure me the house is great. I trust their judgment…

And now, I must get back to work. Staff evals, next weeks schedule, and culinary shopping are calling my name.

More than Half Way! July 27, 2009

Oh my goodness, I know it’s been a ridiculous amount of time since I last wrote anything about my summer! The truth is, we had our first family workshop and it was a bit insane for a while. I was doing things like presenting a workshop about our culinary program and explaining how to cook for your family, so that your camper remains on-program. Needless to say, it went well! Of course, there was a bit of pressure, since I was presenting myself as a bit of the “expert” in cooking, when I rarely cook anything for myself in my everyday life. Working at camps and outdoor schools will do that to you!

My stress level went down significantly after the parents left. I have to admit, it was fun to see the families, because they were very pleased with the progress made by their campers. One of my favorite moments was watching the families run side-by-side their child during the timed mile. We have some fantastic families who are ready to support the campers we have been able to spend so much time with during the course of the summer!

Some of you have heard about the lizards that live here in Florida. Well, I was able to capture a picture (finally)! This one is very small compared to the ones I usually see scurrying around everywhere. I’ve seen them as big at 4 inches, where this one is about 1 inch. A camper caught this one, I think because it’s a baby and did not move quite fast enough. I’ve been trying to capture a photo all summer, but they are just too fast! Thank goodness for campers!

That said and done, right now we are in the midst of COLOR WAR!!! That’s right, you may remember last year how we broke Color War with the famous Wellspring Girl Video. This year, we went with a different tactic: burritos, and we used food coloring to dye the eggs! It was quite brilliant! So far, it is going very well. we had a slight upset when we were unable to do relay races at the beach. An unfortunate storm system made it impossible, seeing how there were “water spouts” out on the ocean. If you don’t know what those are (and I didn’t until a staff member told me), it’s when water is sucked up into the sky from the ocean! No joke! I guess they are common during storms, but you DO NOT want to be caught in one, because you will probably drown. Awesome.

So, in case you were counting, we only have three weeks of program left! We have many campers leaving on Sunday – then we’ll be down to 14 campers. It’s quite unbelievable to think about how small the camp will be for these last 2 weeks, but I think we will be able to have a lot of fun!

Yoga

The Craziness of It All July 5, 2009

Wow. Let me tell you that the 4th of July was a bit on the crazy side here at camp. We had a lot going on and the best part: THE CAMPERS HAD A GREAT TIME!!! The inflatable nonsense was a huge hit, though I think they loved the make-shift slip ‘n slide more. We were able to watch a bunch of fireworks from the on-campus boat house! It was truly a great holiday!

So, I have never done a slip ‘n slide before (I know, that’s weird) so I thought I’d document my first go!

The ready stance

The slide

Obviously, I am a professional. And was not worried at all that it would hurt once I hit the ground. But all the campers were doing it, so I had to give in to the camper-pressure.

I also did the bungee run. And at 5pm, I decided to be patriotic:

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July! Miss you!