Here goes nuthin...

The campers arrive tomorrow.....(yes, the "...." means i am lingering)

I am SO excited to actually have them here FINALLY....but i am absolutely terrified as well! Everything has been SO hectic here and what they call "quiet"....so its going to be 10 times more intense and i can barely handle the intensity as it is! I feel a bit more prepared tho...we have done meeting on everything from how to handle a bruised knee, to homesickness, to how to deal with a girl starting her period for the first time, to how to discipline them. I feel prepared, but not ready if that makes any sense. I feel like no training or meeting can prepare me for what is about to happen tomorrow. I pray to god that i am patient, loving, easy-going, and everything that i need to be for these girls. I also hope to teach them something about themselves that they cannot learn from anyone else....i have a lot of things i want to accomplish this summer.

Some funny things happened the past couple of days....i feel they need to be documented. I will put it in chronological order.

Thursday night- I did not plan on going out, but Lily, a girl i hang out with often here, asked me to go over to the boys camp with her for a bonfire because the van that was going there left without her and she didn't want to go alone. I decided that i would go considering thursday and friday were our last nights out for a while. I showered, got ready, then I was informed that there would be abotu 3 other counselors joining us...awessssome (note:sarcasm).
So, we head over to the boys camp, literally abotu 3 mins away. We got there....no bonfire.....just a bunch of boys standing in a parking lot drinking in the dark....again.....awesome. I mingled a bit...but i was exhausted and just wanted to go home. Well, i didn't drive so i was at the mercy of the owner of the car and other passengers as to when we would be leaving, so i sat and waited. The next thing i know, one of the girls who came with us is walking into the woods with one of the boys camp counselors that she had just met. She came back abotu 45 mins after and told us what all she had just done with a complete stranger.....trust me, you do not want to know. I decided that i was going to get a way out of there asap because it was just not the kind of place i wanted to be at the time. So i grabbed a ride with other girls that had shown up...went to my bunk...and went to sleep.

Friday- A looooong day getting stuff together and wrapping things up and I decided i would take advantage of our LAST night out for over a week. I went out with the same girls, including the promiscuous one and we joined other staff from the camp at a local bar in waterville. My superiors were there and it was honestly a blast! The girls decided they wanted to go back to the boys camp and i bribed them to drive me back to MY camp. On the way back the promiscuous one started talking about how she had brownies that she brought with weed in them...how she brought her bowl to smoke pot with her...etc....she then proceeded to beg to ride in the trunk on the way home, as we had too many people in the car. I am assuming you are catching my tone of voice while writing this, but it is a "Are you fucking kidding me?" kind of reaction. I finally got back to my bunk and went to sleep.

Saturday morning- (Which let me tell you, did NOT feel like a Saturday) I ran into the promiscuous one and asked her how her night was at the boys camp. She started telling me how she had run off with ANOTHER boy. This is when it really started setting in that thsi girl may have some serious issues.....probably self esteem issues. I was wondering if I should talk to her more to try to get to the root of her issues or if i shoudl totally avoid this other counselor. Before I could decide what was the right choice, there was an announcement in the rec hall. The director has told us many times that he is upfront and honest with us at all times and today he made an announcement. Ms. Promiscuous had been fired because of drug parafinalia (sp). So, i learned a few things.....1- girls are crazy. 2-you reap what you sew. 3- This camp does not screw around. 4- That i am getting older because the entire time that all of this stuff was going on all i could do is think of the more responsible alternative in the situations.

So yeah...that is a recap of the last few days. I am sorry you just wasted 5 mins of your life reading that, but try living it haha. But i should go to sleep....breakfast in 7 hours. I just wanted to be sure and document the past few days.

((i guess i should have mentioned that Ms. Promiscuous is only 19 years old, so she is at an age where she can make mistakes and learn from them, so pray that she does))

Also, If you want to send anything the address is on the previous post but be sure to add my name and Bunk 10C to the first line. Also, email me your address so i can write you letters during our letter time every other day :)

Love you all and miss you all!

...drumroll please

So today I found out that I will be in a bunk with 10 year old girls!
I think its a good age because they are old enough they are somewhat
self sufficient as far as cleaning and unpacking (sommmmewhat) but are
not involved in the drama!!!! I am STOKED! There will be about 12
girls in my bunk and 3 counselors! It is actually one of the smallest
bunks, surprisingly! Also, I found out that I have Tuesdays
off....which means I will have to work on my birthday :( but i can go
out the day before! Sarah, I will be requesting a ENO (Early night
off) 2 weeks from now on Monday so I can leave camp at 5:30pm to head
to Boston and can spend the night there and spend all day Tuesday
there. Once it is all set in stone, i will let you know! Would you be
able to call off on a Tuesday to come hang out??????

Anyways, that is the news for the day! Love and miss you!

New email to mom and sis....enjoy...

Sorry i havn't written lately!!! Here is the update:

My radio shit is STILL not hooked up and campers get here Sunday....I have talked to everyone possible and they keep saying they will take care of it, but I am beginning to get a little frustrated! I guess last year the transmitter broke as well as the PA system SO radio BLEW last year. They said it will probably be the same this year which means no one will hear the "shows" that the girls learn to produce so it's pointless. Super aggravating! I figured worst case scenario I will have the girls do fun bits (like maxwell used to make me do) and make a podcast to put on the camps website.

We find out tomorrow what age we will be bunking with as well as what days off we will have! I put in for Juniors (8-10), and Inters (11-13) so cross your fingers i get one of the two! The only age group i opted out of was 14 and 15 year olds.....basically because i know how much of a terror i was at 14 and 15 and i don't want to have to deal with that haha (sorry mom!! haha) I guess the older girls get to do more tho. Inters and Seniors(14-15) get to do the socials and go white water rafting...juniors have to have lights out at like 8 and only get to go "fun-yaking" which doesn't particularly sound like something i want to be a part of haha. I am hoping to get an early night off followed by a day off so I can take a trip to Boston (sarah, you better meet up with me!!) and sight see and get a hotel room so i can actually sleep in a BED and take a shower in a REAL shower!

We went to Portland today.....it was actually really cool! There are little shops all over the place and the piers so there were boats all over the place. Too bad i don't like seafood or else i would have been in seafood heaven! They have FRESH lobster (which i heard was amazing) and pretty much anything else you can think of straight out of the water.

I talked to Ruth (Jimmy's mom) today while i was in town and she said JIMMY IS HOME! He got home on Fathers day! If i remember correctly, she said he only has 3 chemo treatments left!!!!! So keep him in your prayers for a continued recovery!

I still am not (technically) home-sick. I do miss everyone from home and wonder what all my friends/family are doing....i feel like i am missing out on a lot, esp the nice weather! I am even missing SHANE, haha...who ever thought that day would come? It serrrrriously feels like i have been gone for at least a month...its weird! I hope once the girls get here that time goes quicker because i feel like every day is 3 days here!!! Our schedules are literally mapped out by the minute...7:50 flag raising, 8:00 breakfast, 8:30- meeting, 8:45- dept time.....i swear, that is how our ENTIRE day is mapped out....with a few 15 min breaks. Doing laundry and taking showers seems to be the hardest part of it all! By the time we get done for the day (which could be anywhere from 7-11:30) I am wiped out! It is funny because today was a "sleep in" day since we got a day off and i woke up at 8:45 and felt like i slept until 2pm! I am enjoying the BEAUTIFUL scenery, although i am NOT enjoying the horrible cold, rainy weather.

Anyways, that is the update! I have a feeling that free time will start to diminish once the girls get here so I will have to write in my journal and post it all after the fact! Hope all is well back at homeeee (and in MA, sar!) !!! miss you ....PLEASE....e-mail, comment, write me a letter, whatever!!!! I need some lovin'!!!

Mailing address for now
Camp Matoaka
One great place
Smithfield, ME 04978

LOVE AND MISS YOU!

Hiking day email to mom and sis

So today was the oh-so-wonderful "Team bonding adventure hike". As you know, I am the furthest thing from physically fit and...i am head of radio....i am NOT head of anything athletic because i do not claim to be athletic. Also, take into consideration the fact that i just recently quit smoking. Well today was a two mile hike up a mountain, and a two mile hike back down the mountain. Maybe I am just ignorant to what a normal hike is like, but this was not a walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination. This hike included rock climbing...vertical slants....90 degree angles, people! Needless to say I think the smoking and the "acute asthma" that Dr. Kageorge rold me i had when i was younger caught up to me and I had something similar to, if not, a full blown asthma attack. I have to mention that even though i had some weird breathing issue and i am totally out of shape....i was NOT the last in the line of about 19 people.....i was about...ehh...11? Well, anyways...so I am walking and I am determined to stay "with the pack" and I am breathing so loud my throat is making a squeaking sound (i later found out this is commonly known as wheezing). When one of the guys started to gain on me he heard my breathing and told me to sit down....then it all went down hill. The more i tried to breathe, the less air i was getting which would make me panic and made it worse. so i sat for a bit....they brought me an inhaler (yep, i am officially the nerd with the inhaler) and i took a few breaks and made it up the damn mountain. We ate lunch at the top and talked about leadership skills and enjoyed the gorgeous view (pictures will come when i find someone with a cord to hook my camera up) and started down the mountain. Well, of course, I was the dumb ass that tripped and gashed my knee on a rock...but I kept truckin' until i realized blood was running into my sock. I grabbed a napkin out of my backpack and continued down the path like a champ!

So that was the hike....an all day adventure....and now i am exhausted, sore, and not looking forward to the aches and pains that will be full blown tomorrow. I cleaned up my knee a bit, got a shower in and now I am waiting for 6pm dinner followed by game night because the other counselors arrived today and we need MORE team bonding apparently. Tomorrow we have to put on a skit and make fools of ourselves for the new counselors (which i am excited about...now it feels like home!). The sun finally came out and now it is scorching hot in the cabins....apparently there is not happy medium with temperature when you are in a cabin. I should be moving into my REAL cabin within the next few days which means I will finally be able to settle in!

Anyways...I was texting with Ruth (jimmys mom) today and she said that Jimmy started chemo today which means he should be heading home in the next couple of days so keep your prayers goin and fingers crossed for him!!!

Love you all!!! Miss you all!!! Keep me updated on what all of YOU are up too, as well!!! email, text, or comment!!!

A quick email to Mom and sis from camp

The 1st of many e-mails/blogs this summer while at camp. This one was sent to my mom and sister...

I finally figured out how everything is going to be working here!!!The campers will arrive in about a week and a half and until then weare getting camp set up, getting into the swing of things (waking upat the ass crack of dawn....by the way, the sun rises at 5am here...),meeting other people from our department....oh, wait, i am the ONLYone in the radio department. We have been doing a lot of "teambuilding" activities with our fellow HOD's (head of departments) and iguess the other counselors will be showing up by thursday. Thursday wewill be "going on an adventure". It is a surprise where we are goingso I seriously feel like im one of the campers hahaha.

I got my binder today that will help me set up the radio departmentand it looks like i will have 4- 50 minute periods a day with groupsof about 6 girls where I will be helping the girls broadcast their ownradio shows where they will talk every 3 songs and learn how to usethe equipment and it will be broadcasted over the PA for the entirecamp. There are abotu 350 campers so far signed up and Jason, theowner, said that there are about 100 more girls trying to get in btuhe is in the process of trying to make room for them.What sucks right now is trying to get settled in! Because it is justthe counselors at the moment, we are all put into cabins, but we will be moving to a different cabin within a week! So, for now, i will beliving out of my suitcase. Oh, and I forgot a pillow. Damn it....Iwill probably be making a trip to Wal-Mart tonight to get things ineed....a journal, a pillow, another blanket (its cold as SHIT rightnow...and rainy)...more shampoo and conditioner....an alarm clock (the fog horn they BLAST is not going to wake me up, i can already tellhaha) and a watch.

My cell phone will be in a locker in the officelocked up while i am "working" but most nights I will be able to useit after 8 and some times in the middle of the day. I have 15-30minute breaks a lot so I will probably be heading over to thecomputers during those times daily so anything urgent, for now, shouldbe sent through email. I will get you the mailing address and theoffice number soon.

Anyways....it seems like this is going to be a BLAST! Some of theother counselors are SUPER girly....and dumb (brought designer shoesand NO BOOTS to CAMP!) but most of the people here are very verynice!!!! I am SOOOO excited for the little girls to get here so i canstart working with them. Oh, and there are a lot of Australian peoplehere as counselors, so dont be surprised if i come home with a bit ofan accent or start calling people mate, or bloke....i have heard it amillion times already and i guarentee its going to rub off on me haha.