Camp #$@!

When I was called to be Camp Director back in November they told me we would be going to St. George (4 hours away and mighty hot) and staying in condos. I was hesitant to be in charge, but figured condo-camping is my kind of camping so I accepted the calling.

My assistant and I met each month with members of the YW presidency and the YCLs (the 4 teenage girls in charge of all the girls) to plan our itinerary. This whole trip was masterminded by our YW President so she was the one lining up the condos and deciding what we'd be doing. As we met I often looked to her because it was clearly her project, it seemed like she just needed help organizing things (something I can do).

As we met each month...January, February, March, and April it was becoming increasingly hard to plan things because we still weren't sure where we'd be staying! Apparently we had access to a couple different small condos, but that would mean splitting up the group (28 girls plus 8 leaders) and that wasn't going to work; especially since our theme is "United We Stand".

{shirt designed by Randy}

As this went on I was becoming increasingly stressed and frustrated. I felt like I had nothing to do with this experience and that I was actually in the way except for helping to organize things. I was super stressed about going to St. George in June anyway because I don't do well in the sun, but kept thinking things would work out.

Then in early May it was decided that we wouldn't be staying in condos at all, but would be camping (!) at Snow Canyon (i.e., dusty surface of the sun). I made it through that meeting with a grimace on my face but felt totally sick about things. I knew I could NOT do this! It wasn't a matter of not wanting to do it, it was a matter of physically not being able to do it. I end up with a headache any time I spend time in the sun or even under the umbrella at the pool. I just don't do well when I get overheated or something; but any extended time in the sun leads to a killer migraine, so I just knew I had to pull myself out of this. I emailed the YW President and let her know I was happy to continue helping to plan things, but that I could not actually go to camp. Of course, I felt embarrassed and sorry about this, but I also felt hugely relieved. She was very nice about it and said she would just keep having me help plan things.

About a week later the assistant camp director called me to say she couldn't go to camp either! (At this point, she didn't know I wasn't going to be able to go.) It turns out her husband ended up taking a class that occupied much of his time so he wouldn't be able to stay home to care for their 4 small children. I totally understood (of course) and had been surprised she'd been asked to go to camp in the first place because she was still nursing her baby! She thought she'd be able to wean him in time, but he hasn't been too keen on giving it up so that was another factor for her.

So after many meetings, much planning, emailing, calling, borrowing of equipment, packing and stress later--today is the day! This is Whitney's first time going to camp, and while I'm sorry I won't be sharing that experience with her I am relieved at the same time because I know she will do better without having me there to cling/complain to. She needs to take the plunge by herself! This has been confirmed to me over and over again through this planning process, and then again this morning as the girls gathered to eat breakfast. Whitney hung off to the side and seemed like a reluctant participant. I know she will end up having a great time at camp, but I also know she wouldn't be as likely to reach out to others if she had me there to hide behind.

I don't know why both me and the other camp director were chosen to head up a camp we couldn't actually attend, but we both feel good about it and know it was for a reason. It has been humbling and weird for sure. I'll be spending the rest of this week praying for Whitney and the others to be safe and to have a good time.

This Girl

I am convinced...this girl is trying to kill me! 

So much personality.

So many opinions.

So much subject changing.

So much cracking herself up.

So many messes.

So many feelings.

So much humor.

Bits and Pieces

 I took this snap shot of my work area...I feel like I live at work sometimes. The junior high has invaded my subconscious so much that I often dream about random people from there or tasks I need to do...I should get paid for the space it occupies in my brain!!

A student's mom left this note for us (Wendy and I) the other day, it was kind of her to do that.

My mom brought lunch for Wendy and I just to be nice!

Another student's mom dropped this off for us at parent/teacher conference night.

After weeks of receiving nothing from my new secret pal I finally got this...Cadbury Eggs are a good one to make amends (I've been spoiling my secret pal of course).

 

Landon stayed home sick on Tuesday and Wednesday and left me all this homework to turn in for him, I was very impressed with how organized he was.

This is the note he left for me, very sweet!

I saw this beauty in the school parking lot, man oh man I didn't know these were still around.

 I had a very delicious car lunch with Michelle today.

We hadn't gotten together since our last car lunch back on February 8th so we had a lot of Smotherhood to commiserate about, things have not been easy lately for either of us.

Lastly, I received this hilarious bit of good mail from Lori.

Creative Friday--Fall Break Edition

Landon and I were excited to have a Creative Friday with Michelle and Lucas on the Friday of our Fall Break! We took this self-portrait while waiting for our big beverages at Sonic (I'm tired of not getting anything so I tried a Cherry Limeade).

We took our self-portrait right away (before we ate or got haggered) but I still look red-faced and not very "made up" looking.

Landon cracked us up by adding his partially eaten apple to the table scape.

I picked up a couple Pork Tostadas for our lunch and was amused yet again by the mistake made with my last initial. Granted, it's always loud at Cafe Rio and "S" does sound like "F" but "S" doesn't sound at all like "A" right?

Oh deliciousness, I never tire of you!

Eva was having a rough day and was feeling quite overwhelmed by the task of cleaning her room. We finally motivated her by timing her with the stopwatch on my phone and she completed her tasks in under 6 minutes! (She had spent far longer than that crying about it.)

Max tried to silently play the piano for a bit before heading out to find a ghost town with some friends.

In a Creative Friday first I brought my laptop (courtesy of Stefanie) to try to get on top of my Escalante Weekend Photos so I can finally post about our trip...it's overwhelming.

Michelle's kitchen is under construction while she's doing the incredibly laborious job of painting all her kitchen cabinets! It's a good thing she had no idea how challenging this project would be!

These are the few she has done and it changes things drastically!

The expression on Eva's face while lamenting something (possibly not having the right noodles for lunch) was classic, I'm so glad I caught it!

It took forever just to load one blog post's worth of Escalante photos onto my blog. Meanwhile Michelle was super productive and wrote many thank you notes.

 

It was a little weird to spend so much time on the computer while at Michelle's but we were still able to talk and catch up on life.

Eva's dreams were crushed when friend cancelled their playdate because she wasn't feeling well. Michelle was neck-deep in smotherhood for sure, but handled it like a champ as always.

Even after so many years of blogging I still get a little thrill when I see my blog on screen.

We didn't see much of the boys, but at one point they stopped in to use the computer and sat on the same chair.

One of my other big tasks for the day was cleaning out my wallet! I had so many coupons, receipts and miscellaneous notes in there that it had gotten quite thick. It felt great to clean so much out!

**When was the last time you cleaned out your wallet?

Have you dealt with any Smotherhood lately?

Do you enjoy Cherry Limeades?

What do you think of Landon's contribution to the tablescape?**

Comment Window Tidbit: The extra hour I get on Early Out Mondays is phenomenal! Today I picked Whitney and Madison up from school, completed my 3rd visiting teaching appointment for the month, did 2 loads of laundry, sorted through all our newspapers and junk mail, emptied the recycling and blogged! However, I did NOT make dinner.

Sunshine Day

I met Claudia and her boys at Thanksgiving Point on Tuesday around 11:30. Originally she was going to have the friend she is staying with drop her off there, but she ended up being able to borrow a car instead.


Normally it costs $10 to go to the gardens, but every Tuesday in August was only $2, so the 4 of us were able to get in for less than the cost of one regularly priced ticket! (I find the cost rather scandalous, that's why I don't usually get to go there.)


I loved it that they had this scripture at the beginning of the gardens.


I gasped when I saw that Claudia was wearing these shoes to hike all over the gardens, but it turns out she had a pair of flip-flops in her bag of tricks.


As always, I was totally smitten with the flowers and took many photos.


I love catching them as they are getting ready to bloom, when they're all tucked up and look like cloth.

I'm always drawn to yellow flowers.

I enjoy water features.

The Koi were out in full force for the food people were throwing them. I had never seen so many in one place or swimming all over each other to get to the surface.


I gave the boys a quarter to buy some fish food, then they worked Claudia over for several more quarters.


Jorvik caught this tiny dragon fly (and possibly maimed its wing).


This is the only self-portrait we took all day. I have loads of photos of Claudia and the boys, but only one of the two of us.

I love this view from the bench we sat on.

It smelled so fragrant with the roses in bloom.

The boys were both wearing their medals from catching a chicken at the ward rodeo.

Lovely no?

The boys were rather obsessed with catching grasshoppers, and were quite good at catching them (so was Claudia).


After a couple of hours we ended up on the grassy hill near the water fall and took a break.


The boys were all over Claudia, but ran back and forth to the water fountain many times so we were able to get little snippets of conversation in then.

I would lose my lunch if I rolled down a hill like this now.

I always enjoy moments like these.

We were ravenous by the time we finally got to The Pizza Factory for lunch at 3:30. We were the only people in the whole restaurant.


Claudia used some reverse psychology to get the boys to "want" to sit at the booth across from us instead of right on top of us, but it was still lunch interruptus to the max, then I had to dash off to make it home in time for soccer practice.

**Do you think $10 is a tad pricey?
Do you enjoy photographing flowers?
Do you like the smell of roses?
Do you miss being able to have
uninterrupted conversations?**

Comment Window Tidbit: I slept badly last night after having a week of good sleep. I can't figure it out!