At This Moment

Somebody is thinking of you.
Somebody is caring about you.
Somebody misses you
Somebody wants to talk to you.
Somebody wants to be with you.
Somebody hopes you aren't in trouble.
Somebody is thankful for the support you have provided.
Somebody wants to hold your hand.
Somebody hopes everything turns out all right.
Somebody wants you to be happy.
Somebody wants you to find him/her.
Somebody is celebrating your successes.
Somebody wants to give you a gift.
Somebody thinks that you ARE a gift.
Somebody loves you.
Somebody admires your strength.
Somebody is thinking of you and smiling.
Somebody wants to be your shoulder to cry on.

Week THREE! - Heat Waaaavveeee!!

I'm a big fan of not hot. My favourite season, to be sure, is autumn, followed by winter, then spring. Last is summer. I don't dislike the summer as a whole, don't get me wrong. Who doesn't love the sunshine and long days, cottaging, beaching, drinks on patios... It's the heat I can't do. This week, the thermometer hit readings of 47 (FORTY-SEVEN!!!) once humidity was factored in, and that, my friends, is my idea of the worst possible working conditions I could imagine.

But despite the Calcutta-like environment that overcame Southern Ontario this past week, week 3 of camp was beyond awesome! In summary, below you will find the HH news for the week...

1. Danny was initiated into his first ever (explosive!) poop crisis!
2. Michelle was basically told to eff off each and every day and then had a camper crying on her shoulder begging her to stay with her next week!
3. Lindsay pushed that wheelchair EVERYWHERE and smiled through it, even though she lost at WAR many many times!
4. Andrew made a Rhino into a Hippo, AND took on 8 stranger kids ON A FRIDAY!
5. Tasha managed to dodge smooches, even disguised as a flamingo!
6. Joanna perfected her tennis grunt, and got to do things other than field games and the High School Musical puzzle!
7. Christina fell out of a canoe, and made a little boy's experience so good that his mum wants a 3rd week!
8. Sarah got her sluggish and anxious friend to swimming for 2hrs on Wednesday!
9. Laurie can now perform each and every song on the Taylor Swift CD!
10. Kaitlin also fell out of the canoe, but was so good she caught it in pictures!!11. Alex can SIGN anything!...... WITH BOTH HANDS!!!
12. Chaylene was the PERFECT counselor for her Celine Dion-loving, dog-loving, spray bottle-wanting, technology savvy friend! I'm not sure I would have been nearly as successful, NICE JOB!
13. Jackie managed to deal with prepubescent hormones and impulsive cries of LOOOOOOOOOVE!
14. EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU REMINDED ME HOW LUCKY I AM TO HAVE SUCH A SPECTACULAR STAFF TEAM!!! Because I believe in you and can trust you all so much, you make my job that much easier. I can't thank you enough.

Week 4 is going to pose a bigger challenge than last week. I have little doubt we can handle it though. Family Night is on Tuesday... I'm actually looking forward to this (even though it's cutting into my running intervals and speed training).

Cool Beans.

Don't Be Reckless With Other People's Hearts...

... Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Tell me I'm clever. Tell me I'm kind. Tell me I'm talented. Tell me I'm cute. Tell me I'm sensitive, graceful, and wise. Tell me I'm perfect -- But tell me the truth.

If there's one thing I can't stand, it's being lied to.
Don't.Fucking.Lie.To.Me.

Got it?

(I'm mad at myself for this. And a little bit that you for thinking I was so stupid. Maybe I am.).

Have fun.

Theeeeeeeee End.

Week TWO! - Black Whales and Break Coverage

What.A.Week.!.

Definitely tough from my end, and lots of room for improvement. But I'm not going to focus on the negative aspects of the week.

Instead let's talk about the GREAT things Week 2 presented. Like Wilson having a glitch free week of getting on the bus (which he re-named Black Whales) each and EVERY day, including Friday when he arrived much earlier than expected!!! Aaron and I got to do our "smell tests" every morning and then again every afternoon before he got on the bus (note: great reports on smell factor following each and every test for each of us!). Ben inspired everyone he spoke to, which is not unusual but still melts me every time I witness his grace in dealing with other children and staff. Josh and Dylan (along with Ben) engaged in the most epic of pool noodle light sabers battles, and Gabriel kept the office cool with every chance he could by keeping the fan on #3 at all times (and by the way it doesn't matter if your papers blow away). Jordan stayed with his group 99% of the week! Chase made amazing friends in his group and got to play "Everybody's It Tag" in the water, and Gregor went canoeing with only minimal anxiety! Lorena got three core values hands for being amazing over in the LIT program. Finally, each and every HH counselor survived every challenge and obstacle that came their way. There were lots of obstacles this week, but my team is seemingly THE BEST, and everyone pulled through with the highest potential.

HUGEEEEEEEEEEEEE THANKS to our AMAZING supply staff this week: Alicia, Kylie, and Jenn!! You three helped Helping Hands to the max this week, and I'm SO grateful! This crazy week could have been a WHOLE LOT crazier had you not supplied for us, so thank you for being awesome!

Kudos of the week!:
1. Chaylene - for a SUCCESSFUL HWDSB interview, and for doing a fabulous job integrating Aaron all week!
2. Alex - for listening to that children's music CD with Gabriel, in particular the song which counts down to ONE from NINETY-NINE!! And also for being amazing with Gabriel!
3. Laurie - for NOT getting lost on the hike, and for being the best person to work with Jordan this week!
4. Danny - for being so flexible with me when I switched campers on him, and for being so amazing both integrating Chase and helping Chaylene with Aaron. Dude, you rock!
5. Lindsay - for cleaning up SO MUCH garbage with Sean this week!
6. Andrew - for being so brilliant with Josh, and for playing SO MUCH LIGHT SABER WARS!
7. Kaitlin - for surviving a Monday 9am bite on the boob, and turning it around for a stellar week!
8. Tasha - for again being the only person on Specialty this week, and for allowing Lorena to play with her hair so much!
9. Joanna - for getting through a very hot week of ONLY field games and nothing else!
10. Jackie - for learning how to feed through a G-Tube! And for being BRILLIANT with Ben!
11. Michelle - for being so kind and wonderful with Emily, even when your hair and clothes were being grabbed!
12. Sarah - for getting that sand toy back to it's rightful owner! ;) You were ridiculously amazing with Gregor this week!
13. Christina - for being a Laryngitis survivor!

And I cannot forget my amazing support team of Christina, Jenn, and Karen... you three help me so much day-to-day... I'll never be able to pay you back. But thanks for believing in me and tolerating my inadequacies as I continue to learn and evolve in this role.

Week three. BRING IT!

(a little rain would be nice)

Week ONE! - What happened to your Orange Shirt? You jumped in the river, you jumped in the river!

I think I am the luckiest Site Director on the Sr. Staff team this year. FOR REALZ!! The Helping Hands team this year is mind blowingly awesome. MIND BLOWLINGLY! So mind blowing that Matt even bragged about us to his family during supper one night. Supper time conversation?.....I believe, folks, that is what you'd call "hitting the big time". NBD ;).

Anyway, the best part of this first week of camp 2011, besides my ridiculously phenomenal staff team, was that all persons, children and staff alike, made it from Monday to Friday with all body parts still attached (albeit, some were a little bruised :S) and all belongings in tow.

The week started off in a way that was VERY hectic. After 6 consecutive days of training for general staff training immediately followed by site specific training (I think I talked more in those 6 days than I have in my entire life combined!), everyone was friiiiiiiied. But that didn't matter, because 250 kids were coming at 9am Monday morning, with more energy than we could likely handle. But we did handle it.

This week I was reunited with some of the best kids I've ever met, and then introduced to some new kids I have come to adore just as much. Joseph, Nathaniel, Emily, Candace, Wilson, Lorena, James, Michael, Alex, Josh, Nolan, and Rebekah (of previous blog fame!) will forever be remembered by me as the first week of campers I have had the privilege to coordinate. A whole year had passed before the last time I had seen them (actually, that's a lie.... I saw Emily multiple times throughout the year for work, as well as James), and it was sort of exciting to see how much they had grown and developed over that time. Seeing and interacting with them was exactly that I needed to get excited for the next 9 weeks. They reminded me why I love this work so much. They inspired me to be the best site director I can be.

The highlights were high and the challenges only minimal this week. Everyone was with their group the majority of the time, which is the best of the highs! Also among the highs: Joseph and Emily being in love with one another (you SERIOUSLY needed to see them!), Rebekah getting to use our new accessible canoe chair for the first time!, learning that Alex and I have the same Tinkerbelle towel, Josh making a "cool" friend!, James being himself, Lorena wearing an LIT shirt, Wilson getting out of the water with virtually no challenges all week (!!), Candace styling my hair for the Site Director's meeting on Wednesday, Mikey being social, Nathaniel's NBC Peacock skit, and Nolan having an amazing week downtown! The challenges? Just some bus loading complications which, one day, came to my face in the form of a punch, a couple leg bruises, and a smashed toy school bus. But that was just 2 days.

I am so proud of every single one of my staff members this week. And now, for the kudos' which they deserve:

Kudos of the week:
1. Kaitlin - for having to be the only one not at Chip, and for having such an amazing week with Nolan and the downtown staff. They want you to stay there you know... It's not an option, we love and need you too much up at Chippewa!
2. Jackie - for being so brilliant with Wilson this week
3. Chaylene - for getting Candace to participate with her group so much!
4. Tasha - for being such a strong advocate for our kids
5. Danny - for being the best choice we made for staffing this summer. You blew me away watching you work with Mikey!
6. Lindsay - for rising to the challenge of Monday and really bringing it Tuesday through Friday
7. Michelle - for being so patient with James
8. Sarah - for wiping Joseph's nose so many times... hope your throat feels better soon!
9. Alex - for watching the NBC Peacock Skit what I estimate to be 700,000 times... in one week
10. Joanna - for nearly completing that High School Musical puzzle on Friday ;)
11. Laurie - for tolerating all those grabs and hair pulls!
12. Christina - for pushing that chair EVERYWHERE!!
13. Andrew - For being an AWESOME break person this week, and for being so flexible when I needed you to be. You were right, you CAN make any activity exciting and fun!

I also need to extend appreciation to all the extra support I had from other staff this week. Christina, Jenn, Area Heads, Karen.... THANK YOU! You definitely contributed to a very successful week one!!

Ok, here goes week 2!

I am SO obsessed with the song "Pumped Up Kicks" by Foster the People. I'm not sure if it's the whistle in the background, or the beat, or the muffled vocals, but the whole thing just does it for me.

Actually, I think it's the whistle after all.

A month and a half of blood, sweat, and tears, came to an abrupt start on Monday. Camp started. With a boom, and a bang, and a HELLO! WAKE UP! IT'S TIME TO START! Even if we were not ready. As of Monday morning, I had no clue what had happened to the month and a half that came before it, but it was too late to figure that out; It was show time.

A hectic first day, a punch in the face on the second, and a pretty spectacular meltdown on the third... I'm finally getting into the groove of things. Seeing the kids makes all the difference.

Now that I think of it... it might be the beat, not the whistle.

I'm currently settling into some new running goals. I really haven't had any since my marathon in May, besides a 25min (or sub 25min) 5k in Dundas in August, but who am I kidding.... a 5k isn't going to be enough for me. I'm leaning towards the full marathon for Road 2 Hope in November. Which, of course, will depend on the kind of training I can put in. Doing speed work, long runs, weights, and cross training takes up a lot of time, which I may or not have come September. I think I am at least going to start out with intentions of a full marathon. If it doesn't work, I can easily pull a half out of nowhere ;).

I've been pretty happy lately.

The muffled vocals are pretty cool, I really think it's that.

It's 12:21. I'm finally tired.