Thanksgiving

Tomorrow campers come to spend a snowy Thanksgiving at camp. There is currently 8 inches of crunchy luxurious white snow on the ground. I had forgotten how much I missed just looking at snow. Tennessee does not get snow (no matter what anyone from there tells you), and when I go home for Christmas I am usually rushing around from this house to that house that I never get a chance to actually LOOK at the snow. By look at the snow I mean to just stand and watch the light sparkle off the snow like undiscovered diamonds. The thing I love most about snow is how it forms to the trees. The snow hugs the limbs and adheres itself like crazy glue, never to let go...well until the sun says to let go and melt away.

We have a lot of fun things planned for the campers. The activities will range from scooping out pumpkin guts for pies, to snowman building, and hand tracing for turkey arts and crafts. My suggestion that was received wonderfully was to watch "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" (cartoon version..OF COURSE) Thanksgiving night without fail TV channel TNT always shows The Grinch (cartoon version). So after Thanksgiving dinner aka all the leftovers from lunch I will be singing "You're a mean one...Mr. Grinch" with the campers.

At first, I was sad that I was not going to be with my family for Thanksgiving (still kinda am) but then I remember that Muskrat and Grasshopper are a part of my extended family, and how great I could make a camper feel by showing them that they are a part of my family too for the Holidays. A lot of the campers we serve don't have homes with a Mom and Dad like most of us do. Some group home life can be great with caring staff and roommates that form a support system, and others can be like bad foster care. I want to make a safe place where campers know they are loved when the drive the windy roads into the woods to Upward Bound. That makes me not as sad to be going home to know that I can make a camper feel safe at home.

Funk

I'm not really sure what to call it. Some call it "finding yourself" others "settling in"...I call it a "funk" there's not really anything fun about it. There's not much going on it Stayton. The Santiam Cannery is processing onions so that is a real joy. I can only describe it as a skunk eating a bag of onions and then deciding to spray the rotting onion bum bum smell every morning. Not pleasant.

Chelsea and I made homemade whole wheat bread. It is very yummy and freezes and toasts very well. Chelsea also had a bread demonstration about how to make/bake bread. It was pretty awesome and informative. She is like a little Stayton celebrity. Everyone loves her and her bread, proud to call her my friend (tear).

Still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. I'm starting to think that will be continually on going. I thought when I got to Oregon I would breath and feel a sense of belonging and new found home. Now I can't stop thinking about what is next. Should I do my Masters? What should I do my Masters in? Where do I want to live? I want my own place, but where and what can I afford? And how do I be 3 places in one? The list goes on...and so explains my 3 week FUNK of not talking much to the outside world. Because what do I have to say to anyone, when I can't even figure myself out?

Hello Seattle

OH MY! I noticed how long it was since I last posted something. Well there is a lot to catch up on. My special music at church went really well. I took "score bars" (saltine crackers with a brown sugary- chocolate yummy gooey mix on top, finished with chopped walnuts) needless to saw it was a hit and I think I got hit on as well, but whatever. Afterwards I hung out with my walking buddy and awesome Stayton friend Chelsea. I'm trying to get her son, Malachi, to say "Jill" but he kinda just says something to the effect of "DUH" which is kinda demoralizing and doesn't make my name sound cool at all. We are working on it.

So we were suppose to have a camp over Columbus day weekend, but not enough people signed up. We bumped the few that did signed up to the end of the month, combining two small camps into an awesome big one! I decided since I had a long weekend (or thought I did) I would try to go exploring. I somehow ended up on the Amtrack website and found a cheap train ticket to Seattle. Thanks to my parents continued renewal of my AAA card, I got an extra $10 off. YIPPEE! Anyway, I LOVED SEATTLE. I have a few friends that recently moved to the city from Southern. There were so many cool places to eat. I had pizza, went to an all dessert-chocolate bar, and had my first Frittata (eggs mixed all kinds of vegetables) from a yummy breakfast place. My favorite part of Seattle was Pikes Place. I know what your thinking "Wow, how more touristy can you get and did you get a picture of them throwing fish?" No sorry I didn't get a picture, I'm not a good action shot things flying in the air kind of photographer. But I did love tasting all the honey, apple, and jam samples. There was fresh produce EVERYWHERE and huge bouquets of fresh flowers for $5. Basically a food lovers dream spot.

Back to the part where I said I thought I had the weekend off. I just assumed that since there was no camp that we had the weekend free. Also I have had every weekend off since summer camp ended back in September. Come to find out as I was sitting in the train station in Salem, my boss called to inform me that I was indeed still on this weekend. Apparently the only weekends I have off are the ones labeled with my name on it. I wasn't yelled at (which was good), just a slap on the wrist. There is a lesson in this. Never assume anything, lol. I definitely see where they are coming from, and agree that I was in the wrong not to have double checked and asked if they wanted me around for the weekend. In my defense I'm not really use to checking with people to see if it is OK if I leave and choose to go on a trip. For those of you that haven't noticed I'm pretty independent, from going to a Red Sox game solo just because I wanted to see a game, to moving out to Oregon where the only relationship I have with the state is Google Earth. I'm use to doing things on my own. Anyway, I'll have a meeting with them working out what weekends and time off I get, and plan my trips from there. Oh, and come to find out I can use my train ticket anytime within a year of purchasing it. (Write that down). Had I known, I would have just saved the ticket for a later date, but I continued on with my scheduled trip after many "I'm sorrys" and "I apologize and take full responsibility" to my bosses. Don't tell...but Seattle was SO worth it :)

I Have a Friend!

Well I actually have more then one friend in life, but this is my first real Stayton friend. For the past couple of Sabbaths I have been church hopping. I have to say that some potlucks have been better then others. My favorite ones are when they let the visitors "me" cut to the front of the line. Some churches were more friendly then others, but all missing the "homie vibe" not like gangster "homie" I just didn't feel totally comfortable and at home. Then I went to the Stayton Seventh-Day Adventist church. Go figure that it would be the church that is literally 5 minutes from my house that I would completely fall in love with. Well I now know it's 5 minutes from my house, I got lost the first time and it took me 15 minutes because I refuse to use my GPS around Stayton so I can get to know the town better. Thank goodness there are about 3 ways to get anywhere in this small town. The people at the bank already know me by name (freaky). 

Anyway back to church. It is one of the smallest churches I've seen except for maybe one or two churches in Maine we sang at in high school. I met Chelsea in the lobby. She was swaying back and forth with her blond haired blue eyed boy, Malachi, in her arms. Chelsea asked me if I had been here before and I gave her the whole "new in town" speech which I seem to give to everybody and really need to switch up because I'm starting to bore myself. Can't imagine what others think. After that, I don't really remember many details, I just remember talking a lot (shocker). I sat with Chelsea and her husband Sean at potluck. I met various Elders, Deacons, and Sabbath School leaders. Each one was equally nice and eager to hear where I was from and why I didn't have a Massachusetts accent. By the end of lunch I had given 3 ladies my number and address, had a church directory and adult Sabbath School quarterly in my hand, and somehow signed up to do special music this Sabbath. I just remember hearing a lady ask me "do you sing?"..."OK, next Sabbath."

Since Sabbath I've hung out with Chelsea and Malachi everyday. We have started to walk around the nearby High School track every morning. We both live about the same walking distance away from the track, except my route takes me past the same bus stop as all the neighbor hood kids walk to everyday at 7:15. I've started taking my ipod along and put my earphones in so I can look like a legit walker. This is because the first couple days I walked the same way with 5 kids and I felt like a perv, I'm dressed like them in a sweatshirt and causal pants, but with the minor detail of that I'm not going to Middle School. It's really weird. I even jogged past them today to establish that I was on a hard core mission and to confirm that I was at "workout" status. Speaking of hardcore working out, Chelsea and I are going to do a 5k (3.1 miles) in December up near Portland. I'm pretty excited and motivated to "get my walk on" even more.

I have tomorrow off, so hopefully I will be able to blog about more of my adventures. This past week as just been crazy because we have been trying to get the camp newsletter out that sums up this past summer. My parents will be getting a copy so you can harass them for the details on that. At first I was going to try to sneak a couple of "my people's" address' on the mailing list, but I knew I would be found out if they all of a sudden saw a large amount of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Tennessee address' and zip codes going out. I thought better not press my luck, we already had the unfortunate incident of a campers last name entered in the database as "Turtle" when it was "Tuttle" ....oops, everyone laugh though.

Who Needs College?!

I always knew I'd be a good secretary. Whenever I go into my Mom's office I always love scoping how many green files she has neatly stacked on her desk with white papers stapled to the front. She always has her desk set up like I feel an organized desk should look. The calculator in "on" mode with the neon blue "0" ready to go and the touch of a button. A Diet Coke always within arms reach, but not close to the computer keyboard, just in case a quick jolt of caffeine is needed. Of course my favorite part would be the ever changing (and multiplying) pictures of myself in simple frames or tacked with a colored push pin to the gray side of her "cubical". I can hear the click her Mom's fingernails on the typewriter. Yeah, I said it TYPEWRITER, my Mom is hardcore and old school like that.

Long story/memories later, now that camp is over and after 5 years of college I'm kinda a secretary. I don't really know how else to put it. Let me describe to you what I've been doing to past couple of days and you tell me. It consists of answering phone calls with "This is Jill, how may I help you?"  Multiple runs (well, literal walks across the street) to the bank. Approximately 4:30-5:00pm 2 block walks to the post office. Updating databases and keeping clients files current. Probably my favorite part of the day, writing receipts. No seriously, I love it. I think it's the same reason I liked Accounting class in High school. Notice I said High school, NOT college, it sucked and was really hard in college. Because like 6 column worksheets in accounting there is a rhythm to writing receipts. It's a pattern, it never changes. A debit is always a debit, as a credit is a credit. Just like there are labeled columns on an accounting worksheet, the receipt always tells me what to put where. I love the constant repetition of filling out receipts.

This is why I love office work because I can have the constant mail and bank runs, but there are surprises as well. I got a call from the local grocery store today saying they had to get rid of white chocolate covered pretzels because they weren't up to "store standards" translation: some of the pretzels were broken and cracked. She wanted to donate them to us because we are a non-profit. I said "give me 10 minutes." What she didn't tell me on the phone was that they were JUMBO white chocolate pretzels with M&Ms perfected placed in the yummy chocolate. Also this just wasn't one pack...try 30! As I walked into the office with a bucketful of neatly wrapped packages of 10 beautiful looking/tasting pretzels each, I'm wonder to myself "how many packages can I take?" Good thing I now have office keys in my possession (evil laugh).

I didn't go into all the details of my everyday, but I gave you the nutshell. Sounds like a secretary. Not in a bad way at all, I love my job, and they directors I work for are uh-mazing!  I should think of ways to incorporate my major into office life though. Maybe timed relays around the building? We could use staplers as batons, oh, that could get messy. One bad hand off and I'm using my First Aid certification. Eh, good practice for me either way. I've already introduced shooting every little piece of paper into the farthest possible trash can. Harder then it looks.

Tomorrow I move "off the mountain" to the town where the office is conveniently located. So instead of a 40 minute commute navigating windy roads and forgetting to lock the gate. I will have a 5 minute drive/bike (the directors have an extra). I like the small town life too. The bank tellers know me by name already and I quickly found a great sandwich place with cheesy onion bread, and there is a coffee/breakfast place directly diagonal from the office, $3 for a large coffee and homemade cinnamon bun. Yum!

Meetings, Meat, and Monday Night Football

Since we talked last summer camp has officially come to a close. I've already facebooked a couple of staff telling them that they can come back now. It feels like they just went home for the weekend and I will see them bright and early Monday morning at 8 AM. But I won't. I'm sad, but not. I look forward to experiencing what camp is like in the off season. I like to think of myself as a behind the scenes person like in the movies, or the water bottle squirter in the NASCAR pits. You never think of the water bottle guy as important, but if he didn't do his job the driver would get dehydrated and might not be able to finish the race. AND what if the squirter squeezes too much? We would have an unfortunate H2O situation. (Call me Gordon). Anyway, you get what I mean. I am just as valuable and important as I was during the camp season. Plus I knew I would be a great secretary if the whole college thing never worked out. Muskrat always thinks it weird that I like walking to the post office (it's a small town) and answering phones. Needless to say I'm excited to split my time between the office and camp. 

Speaking of camp we had a board meeting today. I'm not sure how often they happen, but the board of directors came up to camp to talk about how to better the camp and upcoming events. It was great to meet all of them. The board of directors range from an ex-Orange County, CA Superintendent, Dentist, former camp staff, and Property Manager (shout out to Dad! woot woot). I made them salad. Well before that I took notes and looked very cute professional in my blue dress, black cardigan, multi colored high waisted beaded belt, and orange flats. Around lunch time, I excused myself and proceeded to make a very delicious salad (at least that's what everyone said) which Muskrat so graciously set out the ingredients for on the counter.  With the grace and ease of a waiter at Olive Garden I balanced the salad and plates safely through the rain to where the meeting was being held. I consider my salad a success and hopefully next time I am asked to do something more challenging like macaroni and cheese, or waffles (my personal fav). 

I have a confession. I haven't been a very good vegetarian since I've been at camp. At first i was just being nice. I didn't think there would be other veggies here, so i didn't want to be that new girl coming in and requesting all these exceptions and substitutes. I thought the cook would hate me. So when asked I said that I only don't eat pork and seafood and other then that I wasn't picky. Now I feel like there is a 10 pound brick in the pit of my stomach. It's not that food wasn't good, I'm just not use to it. Here I am struggling to get down the real meatloaf, and another staff member plops down next to me with a very much greener looking plate. When I inquire how she got such a deliciously vegetarian looking meal she replies with "i asked." The verse quickly popped into my head "ask and it shall be given unto you." Long story short now that I make my own meals...I'm proud to say I am a vegetarian. :)

Grasshopper surprised me with cable yesterday. He's such a nice guy. I wasn't expecting it, nor did I ask for cable. Now I realize that I did miss TV, and what the HECK happened to the Red Sox....8 games or something behind? What in the world! Hopefully I will get to watch some football on Sundays now, and if I'm lucky maybe the Patriots will be every Monday Night Football game (will never happen) or they will just play the Seattle Seahawks all season. Then I will FOR SURE get to see the Pats play. (Love you Wes)

Family Matters

Sunday I had a very special visit. Aunt Ellie and Uncle Maynard came to visit me. They took time out of their travel schedule to stop by camp. I have always loved that about them. No matter where they are in the country they take time out for family. I appreciated their visit so much. It made me miss home, but at the same time it felt good to show someone my new home.

Camp is at a new location this week. We are about 5 minutes from Statyon, which is where the camp office is. During the summer this camp is used by deaf people. I guess this camp owed a favor to Muskrat and Grasshopper for helping them out in the past, so this is why we had the opportunity to use the facilities this week. It is nice in the fact that there is a lot of room to move around. But it is also deceiving in the fact that even though the ground might LOOK even and smooth, the divots and holes are still present. This has made it very difficult for wheelchair maneuvering. One campers insists she is going to topple over in her wheelchair so now we have to double team her wheelchair moving. Not so fun for the back, but she feels more safe. I also started singing to one of the campers that is a slow walker. I noticed that when I sang she tends to walk faster. Oh how that backfired, now every time she goes to walk she waves her 2 index fingers in the air instructing me to sing. I am running low on song ideas, and have resorted to Christmas Carols, so any suggestions? lol

Speaking of songs. We had a talent show last night and one camper loves Kenny Rogers. She asked me to help her sing and the only Kenny Rogers song I know/can remember is "Buy me a rose, call me from work, open the door for me what would it hurt, tell me you love me by he look in your eyes.." Which she didn't know. So any suggestions? lol There is another camper that everyone calls the "Patriot" I knew I would get along with him seeing as I like the Patriots. Come to find out his favorite team is the Packers...but oh well. He also likes to say the Pledge of Allegiance. This camper can be found waving his mini American Flag equipped with Green Bay Packers sunglasses. I thought I would get to know him better by singing some patriotic tunes. He knew the National Anthem and the Battle Hymn of the Republic. When I started singing America the Beautiful he started to cry. I thought to myself, "OH NO! What have I done!? This guy probably served our country in a war or had a loved one die in battle, what can of worms have I opened?" I asked someone and come to find out he is just that patriotic, that at the words to a tune he can burst into tears because he loves this country that much. I thought "wow! what pride." Ever since the crying, we have been best friends.

I've learned this week that it is the little things in life, like a warm cup of coffee or a good cry for our country, that mean the most. Everyone thought that trying a bigger and "better" camp out would be great. But most all of the campers and staff miss home on the mountain, in the woods, where we catch fish from a stream not a horse trough.  (remind me to tell that story next blog)

Bloodshot Bunkhouse

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while. A lot has been going on around here. We have one more week of summer camp. Starting on Monday we will be at a different site about 45 minutes away. This is kinda like a test run to see how transitioning camp to a new location would work out. I think I left off last blog with the info that we were getting two new campers Tuesday. They are both men and are a blast. The staff have been working in shifts. Two staff at a time are "on" to hang out and do cool things with the campers. The other staff are "on" in making preparations for the move to the different camp. Along with the moving process we are also in the midst of winterizing the camp. The directors say that last winter was really mild with only about 3 to 5 inches of snow that didn't even hang around long. This winter they expect to be a hard one, winters before have varied between 3 inches and 3 feet so I'm just betting on wearing boots and a lot of layers the whole winter regardless of how much of that cold white stuff falls from the sky.


Monday, I had a new experience called "bunkhouse duty." This consists of sleeping in the bunkhouse on a bunk bed with the other campers to make sure everything is copacetic throughout the night. I was very weary of this because it was a lot of responsibility and I wasn't sure what kind of situation I would have to deal with or possibly clean up. Luckily there were only 5 women in the bunkhouse. Between the nightlight that felt like it should be on the rocky coast of Maine beaming in ships 5 inches from my face, snoring, and the dull roar of a breathing machine I think I did okay. It didn't help that I am already a paranoid light sleep that thinks ever unknown sound is a disaster or intruder. I'm not gonna lie, there were a few times I launched out of bed only to discover that people really do just shuffle around in their sleeping bags and it doesn't mean they seizured out of bed. All in all, it was my own fault that my eyes were bloodshot the next day, because they campers were complete angels, and thanks to watch guard me, safe and sound.

Day What?

It's official. I have no calendar or concept of time. Today was my day off. It was kinda special and a big deal because the directors don't usually give a day off when campers are arriving that same day. I was able to this one and only time because a close family friend was preaching in Salem. I set my alarm with enough time for a decent shower and hair straighten, everything was going to plan until I slept through my alarm. This is pretty amazing because I have never done this before, in all the days I've been here I have not once slept through one alarm. On the day I have to drive 50 minutes and put effort into my appearance I do. Man! The devil is working hard to make my life a hard one, but he will not prevail. I took a quick shower (didn't get to straighten my hair) and made it to church (20 minutes late). The good part was I didn't miss the sermon and potluck was super good. Success.

The calendar part would come in handy because I am getting confused on how long campers are staying over. I guess it doesn't really matter because as long as campers are here I'll keep having fun with them and still have the wildest conversations. A calendar would still be nice because I had it in my head that campers would be here till Friday, but the campers we received today for camp are going home on Tuesday and we will get 2 new campers from Tuesday till Friday.

"What will they ever do with just 2 campers?" you say. Well it is a lot of fun. They just chill with the staff and we do a whole bunch of fun activities with them. For example, every camper gets to catch a fish. We have made a "pool" if you will, in the section of the stream along camp. The camp at the beginning of every summer has the "pool" stocked with trout. Once the fish is caught we kill it by thumping it on the head or sticking a knife into it's brains. Side note, I have never tried any of the previous mentioned methods of fish killing, but I did pass a dead fish to a camper on a paper towel. This experience was quite horrific for me and I hope to avoid it in the future. Some other more pleasant activities we do with the campers are sock puppets, Tye dye shirts, wind chimes, and my favorite bowling. We actually have real bowling pins and one real and one rubbery bowling ball. (I prefer the rubber one...less injury). Depending on the mobility level of the campers we do a nature hike and paddle boating/swimming. An activity that all the campers like to do is archery. Paper plates are used as target and before getting to shoot them up, campers get to paint their target how ever they want. At the end of the week we put together bags for each camper. The bags consist of all the crafts done that week, a frozen fish they caught, an archery target, and camp shirt. These little mementos might seem small and insignificant to the average person, but to these campers summer camp and the things and memories they make are the world. At the end of every week each camper has become a part of our world. A world in which God reigns supreme and we are all His beings.

Mac Attack

My trip to Portland today was really fun. Simba and Raptor also came along for the ride, as I dropped Mango off at the airport. The city feels very "go green" and the fact that there are a lot of Green Peace people on every corner. One caught me outside the mall. I just thought he was a fairly cute guy with a ski hat on until he started talking to me and I looked down at his green shirt and said "Green Peace" in big green letters, by that time he was already into his speech. He asked me if I had ever heard of Green Peace and I thought to myself "DUH Whale Wars...and wow that show is crazy"  I said yes I had and then went on to explain that probably like him, I was a poor just out of college student that didn't have money to donate to Green Peace every stinking month. I gently tried to push him away with the "do you have a website I can look at?" line and quickly walked across the street. I've learned my lesson. In Boston, I just walk by no problem, but Portland people are TALKERS wowzers!

The Mac store was good and bad. Good because I got a new ibook and FREE ipod touch (once I do the online rebate.)  I also updated my facebook status from an ipad while I was waiting for my turn. I had a whole lot of fun playing with the ipad, but it's name disturbs me. I still can't say the word ipad without thinking of a special time of month for the female population. It just kinda ruins it for me. The bad part was the data transfer from my old computer to my new one will take a few days because of all the other computers in front of me. I was disappointed because I was looking forward to playing with it, and blogging tonight. I will wait. That just means another fun filled trip to Portland next week once the campers are gone.

Speaking of campers, we have our next batch coming in tomorrow. They will be staying till Tuesday. I think the group will be smaller just because we had 3 campers come last week by mistake that were registered to come for this week. Also just the fact that we lost Mango today as a counselor the numbers will be lower because we have to have a certain staff to camper ratio each week. I'm excited to meet the new faces and personalities. I'm gaining a huge blessing out of serving others and in turn learning more how to serve God.

Much love till I blog again. PS don't be afraid to comment...I love reading the responses :)

Is it a sign?

Sad story, I didn't get to go to the Army Surplus store. Instead I had an amazing and much needed hour massage. If I had to do it over again I would still pick the massage. Pocket knives will be there, but an amazing restful hour of getting the knots out of my back by a train professional...priceless. Well it actually cost me $40, but still...you know.

Another tragic (but foreseen) thing happened today. I think my Mac died. The screen had been flickering for awhile now. Over the retreat it took on a whole new meaning of flickering by changing into every color of the rainbow. I didn't mind at first because I felt like I was back at Disneyland watching the laser show anticipating which color would next flash across my computer screen. Now it won't even turn on. "How am I then writing to you?" you ask. Well there is a community computer the camp provides that I jumped on to report the sudden death of my beloved Mac. I would like to say a few final words about my Mac. It was a good Mac. I bought it in 2005 with my high school graduation money. Which I sent Thank You cards to every person that donated to the fund. Mac, you served me well. From procrastinating speeches, to late night portfolio fixes, you were always there for me without fail. Now tomorrow as I go to the Mac store in Portland, don't think of this as good-bye, or me replacing you. Think of it as TTFN (ta-ta for now), as Tigger would put it. You go on to a better place (EBay).

I take this as a sign that I was indeed in fact suppose to use my teacher discount at the Mac store before September 7th. I had finally given up and got over that bummer fact that I would wait till next year to purchase a new computer. But my now Mac gave up its computer life so I could have better. Thank you Mac, you will always and forever be remembered. Speaking of remembering, I would also like to give a shout out to my first car Dolores. Dolores you 1999 periwinkle Ford Taures SE, where ever you are, I miss you. I think of you every time I pass another Taures, even though you are not with me, you are in my heart.

I found out today that campers don't actually come till Thursday, so as I stated before I will be going to Portland to get a new Mac, tour around the city, and take Mango to the airport (in that order). Tomorrow I shall bloggeth from my new laptop. Yippie!

Retreat

So the retreat has been a lot more packed than I had originally thought. I apologize for my tardiness with the blogging my 5 faithful few followers. We are at a beautiful resort town outside of Bend, called Sun River. It reminds me of my childhood days when the game night crew would all pitch in to rent a big house that seemed to fit a million people so we could enjoy the skiing and the good company. 

The house was suppose to come with 11 bikes, there were 2. Luckily, Grasshopper thought ahead and brought 4 from camp. The downside was we were not able to complete out all staff bike ride. There are paved paths that loop around the "resort city" as I call it. My first adventure was a bike ride with Mango to check out the little shops. For those of you that know me well know that I am not fond of bike riding unless it includes a rather large gel seat for my tush; needless to say there was no gel what so ever on the seat. Dang you boys mountain bikes with your non existent seats! 

Everyone was scheduled to make a meal for the rest of the gang during our 2 day retreat. Mango and I made breakfast this morning. I called Mom up to get her amazing "monkey bread" recipe. The original recipe calls for a bunt pan to make the magic happen, but i forgot to check to see if we had one at camp. So I was forced to pull a remix and do without a bunt pan, it turned into monkey bread in a brownie pan. I was nervous but low and behold it turned out great! Everyone loved it and I breathed a big sigh of relief. To accompany the monkey bread, we also supplied ingredients for breakfast burritos. I was in charge of making the hash browns because Mango is from an island where hash browns apparently don't exist. 

Today I also went on a girls trip into Bend with Mango, Blizz, Hushpuppy, and Poppy to check out some stores. We found a used book store where I purchased "A Separate Peace" for $5. My high school English teacher should feel very accomplished because I read the book in high school and remembered liking it so much I bought it all over again. Can I tell you what the book was about? Nope. Not a clue. But I guess that is a good reason to re-read it. 

Tomorrow afternoon we head back to camp. To get ready for new campers on Wednesday. On the way home we are stopping at an Army surplus store. Everyone is super excited, I'm not exactly sure I have been to one before. I expect to see a lot of camouflage, guns, and mullets.  Also, I'm pondering getting a pocket knife, not one of those red Swiss Army ones, but a Leatherman or some single blade thing the folds out. I know that is a vague description, but you know what I mean. In a nutshell, something that has a safety lock so I don't slice myself. 

All in all, the retreat has been wonderful. I'll miss the awesome hot tub conversation and frequent showers that I don't have to walk outside to a bathhouse to take. Most of all I feel like I have better bonded with the staff and directors. Two thumbs way up!

P.S. As I re-read though my post I see that I said "on the way home," during prayer tonight I said "Lord, I thought I didn't have family in Oregon....I was wrong." These people have opened their arms, homes, and lives to me. They are a true blessing from God.

Nonverbal Love

This past week I fell "in love" with a camper. I know from taking A LOT of Education classes that you are not suppose to have a favorite student, but I'm making an exception. His name is Vernon. Which was weird at first because I have a Grandpa Vernon. He is nonverbal but is very expressive through his sound effects, hand gestures, and emphatic high pitched "YEPS." For example, I always knew when he wanted me to sit next to him because he would slap the chair very loudly next to him until I was in the seated position by his side. Every morning when he saw me he would point to his eyes and then his tent and chirp loudly as to show me that he slept in that tent every night.

My favorite moment with Vernon happened on a walk down the gravel road of camp. Let me back up. From the first day I met Vernon whenever he wanted me to go somewhere with him he would grab my arm to link it with his. We constantly looked like we were in a wedding together walking around camp arm and arm. On Wednesday, Vernon decided we should take a walk. He took the lead of course putting my arm through his. As we walked he all of a sudden started holding my hand, not just holding my hand, but interlocked our fingers together. I teared up thinking to myself, "how did he know?," how could he have possibly known that I needed a real handhold at that very moment? I looked down at his wrinkly hand locked perfectly into mine, and knew my heart was gone. He said nothing and probably thought nothing of it, but it was the most perfect handhold at the most perfect time. A picture I will never forget.

Vernon also surprised me the last night at the dance. I was trying to get him to dance with me. He would just wave his arms, make an "X". As if to say "are you crazy woman! NO WAY JOSE!" I finally left him alone till the last song of the night. (to tell you the truth I felt rejected that my favorite camper would not allow me ONE dance.) As if he knew it was the last song, he humored me and got up and danced with me. He spun me and I spun him around the dance floor. He smiled from ear to ear and hummed as I laughed and cherished our last dance together.

When it was time to go the next day, Vernon once again took my arm and sandwiched it under his and walked me to his car to show me where he would be sitting for the ride home. I gave his driver the sunscreen tube that I had applied on him all week so his balding head wouldn't get burned. I also gave him the bug spray I had strategically spritzed on him each evening to ward of pesky mosquitoes. I felt as though a part of me was leaving camp that day.

This is only one of the many campers that has touched my life here at camp. I thank God everyday for blessing me with the opportunity to give so little and gain so much in return.

My First Weekend

To catch some of you up to speed. Everyone at camp has a "camp name" mine is Chickadee because the Chickadee is the GREAT state of Massachusetts' state bird. REPRESENT! The male staff are Simba, Plato, Bug, and Chino (the cook). There is also the Director whose name is Grasshopper. The girls staff are Blizz, Poppy, Songbird, Mango, Raptor, and Sunset. The Directors wife is Muskrat. 

Now here is what I was up to this past weekend...also known as my first weekend at camp.

Friday morning campers left at 10 am. We (meaning the staff) starting cleaning the cabins and bunk houses. I then made my first trip into the "big city" of Salem, Oregon with some of the girls staff. Did I mention that I literally live on the side of a mountain. You can ask my dear 98 Oldsmobile Cutlass Olga about that curvaceous drive...her brakes are still aching, but at least I can't smell them anymore. We stopped at Walmart to get junk food to cram in the cabinets of the staff lounge. The camp meals are rationed, sugar free, and sometimes not enough. The car drive was filled of new advice for me and constant laughter about the memories we had all made with last weeks campers. I chimed in with my memories from the few days I had to spend with the campers. 

I went  to a church called Solid Rock in Portland Sunday morning. It was a cool Christian Church with a lot of good praise music. It is a very "come as you are" church in the fact that jeans were more then acceptable (which is good because that's what I was planning to wear for the day). After a stop at Chipotle (like Moe's) for lunch Simba, Plato, and I went to meet up with the rest of the group for bungee jumping. I have some video but the Internet isn't strong enough or has enough bandwidth to let me post the video. After bungee we went to a mall in Portland with an indoor ice rink. The food court overlooked the ice skating so you could see and smell the Cinnabun from the ice. lol...I went ice skating with Rice, a caregiver of one of the campers last week, and Mango, my roommate from Trinidad. Mango had never bungee jumped or ice skated so it was a great weekend for her. After that Rice, Mango, and I planned to use my $20 gift card to Olive Garden in Salem on the way back to camp. But Olive Garden being Olive Garden the wait was an hour, so we bounced to Red Robin which is kinda a burger joint and atmosphere like Friendlys (without the awesome ice cream). Next they had to show me Wynco which is a bulk store like BJ's or Costco. They didn't just have bulk items, everything was on discount like shampoo and books. They carry mostly everything but clothes.

Rice dropped us back to camp at 10 by curfew. We don't get campers until 2 tomorrow. From what I've been told Mondays consists of some last minute cleaning, and being assigned campers. Once we are assigned campers we must go through their files and list what kinds of food allergies/preferences/restrictions they have, and any other notable needs they might need throughout the week. We then share those with the other staff so they are aware of the needs of any campers they might come in contact with. It should be a good day...we get to sleep in till 8 :)