Modpodge of Goodness.

Saturday, June 28

Michelle and I are up, eating yum brekky of mini wheats for me and oatmeal for her, and watching Hannah Montana. We both got up at 7:30 and guess what. Today is Saturday. Isn’t that pathetic. We sort of laughed when we saw each other and looked upon the time.
Two weeks of camp are over, and I feel like a ton has happened since I last wrote.
Last Saturday, we all (minus Kara because she wasn’t here) went over to Russ’ and Sarah’s. We got there, jumped in the lake, floated about

for a while (though I usually can’t handle the cold) and then went inside and talked for a while. We talked about books and food and Sarah told me that she has trouble sleeping so Russ reads to her each night. They have been reading aloud to one another since they got married (!!!!!!!!!!). That is just very wonderful, I think. They have such a wonderful relationship. Russ is so caring and Sarah has such a fun and strong personality. She also lectured us on the importance of going to theee…eh hem…womenaly doctor, if you get my drift. I feel like they are both grandparents to me while I am here. I just really appreciate how much they care for the interns.
After we talked, Sarah had gotten the fixin’s for a DELICIOUS SALAD!!!!!! And we ate it. And it had strawberried, spinach, romaine lettuce, sunflower seeds, tomatoes, oranges, kiwis, cucumbers, and maybe a few other delightful toppings. It was so good. Then afterward we had ice cream and watched the movie ‘Big Money,” which was okay. It was pretty good only because I really like Diane Keaton, Queen Latifa, and Katei Holmes from Dawson’s Creek.
We woke up on Sunday and did not go to church, but instead had some quiet time which was very nice. That afternoon it started to storm (surprise, surprise) so we called Luther, who had invited us to his house, to see if he still wanted us to come. He did!
And guess what. We got there, put our swimsuits on, got in the water, and 20 minutes later the sun came out and it was warm and gorgeous! I rode one of the two Sea Doos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And then I successfully water skied!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT!!!!!!!! I am so mega talented, but even I had several whip outs which were quite painful. One even gave me the worst (or best) weggie I had ever had in my entire life. I though for sure I would just pull my swimsuit out of my mouth it was so far up yonder there. One time when I crashed, I sort of face planted my self in the water, and I felt like lake water had gone waaaaaaaaaaaaaay down in my eyeball socket. But my contact was still intact!!!!!!!!!!!!

:::I have to comment on this photo. Nick the cat it so elusive and he esacepes me all the time. Plus, he is foul and mean. And mysterious.:::

I woke up on Monday really, really tired. But 10 or so of the kids were absent, so Monday was easy peasy. No big D. It was relaxing, and I felt like I really had the chance to spend good time with my kids, without having to yell at them.
THEN BLACK TUESDAY occurred, which is the day the kids were very bad and the interns were very woe begotten and even sad and everyone was in low spirits indeed. We were all so frustrated. At one point, a boy for which I have almost nil patience was looking at me with a balloon in his mouth (when I had told him twice to not touch the balloons) and I told him to give me the balloon right now. He just raised his eyebrows and said “No.” real nasty-like. I said it once more, same response, then I just looked down, knew I was about to cry, and left my TA with the kids and took a walk. I think I was tired, overwhelmed, and stressed out. I normally would not cry when such a thing happens, as it happens often with kids in general, but this one boy. mMMMMMmMMMmM, he pushed my buttons. But Wednesday was better, Thursday very good, and Friday very good. On Thursday, we planned some really special things for the kids. We had an hour and a half where they went to three different stations outside: dodge ball, drip drip drench (where the kids sit in a circle and play duck, duck, goose except with a cup of water and they drip, drip, drip, drip DRENCH! And run around) and then Michelle and I were at a station where they made goop (which Bryan insists has an official name and it is “INSERT LAME NAME HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”) and I painted their faces (most popular requests: kitty nose and whiskers, doggy spots around eyes slash doggy nose, black widow with a red hourglass in the middle of the body, spider web and spider, butterfly, and dog).

Then on Friday we had a woman who trains service dogs come in and talk to them and show them what the dogs are trained to do. The kids were very patient and respectiful; I was so surprised. There were two dogs—a golden retriever that reminded me SO MUCH OF ALLY that I felt a bit sad because I wanted to pet him but I couldn’t because he is a service dog and you can’t pet service dogs but alas, I shall petski Ally in 2 weeks so all is good on the Ally missing front, and a yellow lab. The kids asked really funny questions:
Allyisia: HOW COME THAT DOGGIE (yellow lab, still a puppy and in an earlier stage of training) GETS TWO TREATS AND THAT PUPPY DOESN’T EVEN GET ANY?

Mollie: So, I know you said you pick up the….when a dog goes to the bathroom you pick it up with that baggie but…what do you do with the liquid? (i.e. the woman had showed us how she picks up the dog’s poo in a little baggie, and Mollie was confused about how that worked with the dog’s pee.)

Many kids: Can he roll over? Can he play dead?

Jeremy, sitting in my lap and whispering to me after the woman told them MANY TIMES that the dog doesn’t do “parlor tricks” like roll over, play dead: Can he jump? Do you think that dog can jump?

After that, we had them come into the cafeteria, and by tables, they came up to some long tables at which we had stations for them to make….

HOME MADE ICE CREAM!!! WEE!!!
You just have milk, sugar, vanilla in a wee bag, and put that small sandwich bag inside of a gallon size bag that has ice and rock salt in it. Then you shake the bag (i.e. churn the ice cream) and we had delicious toppings for them to choose from: chocolate chips, Oreos, and sprinkles. With 40-something kids, this was quite the feat. There was water everywhere, and 4 or 5 of the kids had taken their milk/sugar/vanilla ingredients and poured them onto their ice and rock salt. That obviously does not work, but it was funny nonetheless. They made new ones.
Then Michelle and I are the only ones home now, because Bre and Amanda went home for the weekend (Mom’s birthday), Ashlyn went home for the weekend, and Kara is still home from her week off. So Michelle and I went over to Charles and Lindas and had dinner (YUMMMMMMY grilled salmon with a delicious caper sauce, steamed broccoli, and a salad with spinach, carrots, homemade dressing, sunflower seeds, and some other delicious ingredients) and then we had ice cream and watched the movie “The Guardian.” It was quite good, but sad.
Some cool things about camp, to note:

We have decided to work our hardest to write a grant for money so that we can prepare our own menu for the kids next summer. I think I already wrote about how frustrated I am with the food (see above. Lunches = nasty soggy sandwich, potato chips, sugary fruit cup, chocolate milk while brekky = sugary cereals, always fruit loops, lucky charms, or trix). We are starting now, because the deadline is August 1. Michelle and I are researching and emailing people today, so I think we’ll start out strong.

We had a group of 4th grade boys who were giving us a lot of problems the first week of camp. Michelle was really frustrated (she leads that group) so we decided to try something new: They asked two of the boys, the two leaders of the group, if they would help out in the second grade classroom. They said that Bre and Amanda needed some help. So the boys accepted, and jumped on the chance to serve us. They asked what they could do, and now want to help out everyday. It’s funny, because it was really just a way to separate the boys and to sort of punish them. Instead, they have taken it as an honor, which is what we wanted, and now they are really showing great leadership in the camp.
We implemented “Mission: Treasure Box” on Wednesday. We have a treasure box and we award one, two, or three good neighbors the chance to pick something out of the treasure box each day. IT HAS WORKED WONDERS. One of our most challenging boys got to pick yesterday! Everyone is holding doors open for each other, and reporting to us ways that they are being good neighbors. Isn’t that wonderful?

We have all talked about that we want to come back.
OUR NEW YORK TRIP IS WORKING OUT!!! I don’t know if I reported this or not, but we all want to go to New York. Michelle’s g-parents have one week free (well, practically free) anywhere she wants to go, because they travel so much that they get these. And they had one week this year that they are not using! Also, Amtrack tickets are cheap because we are ordering them so early!!! So we are thinking we will go to see the Christmas lights, from maybe the 18-23. That way, We can get back on 23rd. and I can drive home on the 24th!!!!! Isn’t that awesome? So all in all, traveling plus lodging for a week would be about 90 dollars each!! Yay!

I am, I am certain, in love with the weekends. Right now, I just worked out for 45 minutes at the Y and Michelle and I are sitting in a wee café, sipping tea. I feel my lifestyle, the last three weeks, is exactly how I want to live when I am on my own. Work out, with a friend, on my own, or with my snog partner, drink lots of tea, enjoy the sunshine, spend time outside…it is all so wonderful.
I love it!