I feel like I just can't catch up. Belated Post #4 is about a simple coffee date turning into quite the journey. Actually, it was only simple in the planning stages. As soon as the plans were put into motion, it became an unnecessarily difficult task.
During the quilt auction (an auction where quilts are sold. We have one every year at camp), I had won a game called "Heads or Tails." It's a simple game, really. The auctioneers had a quarter and they would flip it. Before each flip, every person at the auction (including camp folk such as myself), would have to commit to either heads or tails. I guessed correctly every time, making me the victor. As my prize, I was given a $20 gift card to Deidra's Coffee, which, as I hope you've guessed, is a coffee shop. I don't like coffee, but I do like someone who likes coffee: my now-girlfriend, Erika Meierding. I asked her if she'd like to go to Deidra's with me, and she obliged (I know, I know, what kind of guy uses a gift card on a date? I have no excuse for that one. But you know what? It worked out. So there).
Erika and I decided that the last day of camp would work best for our coffee date at Deidra's. On the last day of camp, though, we at Shores have to clean the camp. Erika did not work at Shores. Nor did she have a working phone, which made arranging the whole thing pretty difficult. On top of that, I wanted to say goodbye to everyone at Shores, since, sadly, I probably won't see some of them ever again. I ended up going over to Green Lake (which is where Erika worked) around 1:00. I think. I'm not entirely sure because I've taken too long to write this. Anyway, when I got to Green Lake, I saw that I had a voicemail. I listened to it, and it was Erika using Drew's (the guy from "Belated Posts #3: The Final Cabin" saga) phone. Some people had gone out to eat, including those two. Unfortunately, I don't have service at Shores, which is why that was a voicemail instead of having been a phone call that I answered. The fact that I didn't have service at the time of the call also meant that my phone wouldn't show me the number from which the call was. So, when I heard Erika leaving the voicemail, I assumed that she had gotten her phone fixed. I tried calling her, but it went right to voicemail. This is because her phone was not fixed. I listened to the voicemail again (and again and again and again) and realized that at the end of the message, Erika said she was using Drew's phone and that I should call him. However, I didn't have Drew's number. So, I texted Emily Stets and Mic-Mac from Shores to see if they had Drew's number. They both did, gave it to me, and I called it. It went to voicemail. Defeated, I sat on a bench, watching a wedding party take pictures. After about a minute, my phone started ringing, and it was Drew! Except it wasn't Drew - it was Erika! And they were going to Dairy Queen! And I could come, too! So I did! I got to Dairy Queen, Drew, Jeremy, and Bethany left, and Erika and I went to find Deidra's.
We drove all around Spicer, which isn't really that big, so it took a little more than five minutes. However, we didn't find it, so we went back to Green Lake to utilize their internet and google the location of Deidra's. My hatred for google maps is well documented, but we used it anyway. Guess what - it was wrong. It told us to take a left at a certain intersection when, in reality, we were supposed to do the exact opposite of that (which is to take a right). We went back to winging it, and eventually, we found it. We arrived at about 2:45, and it closes at 3:00 on Saturdays, which is what day it was. I think those times are right. Maybe not. Regardless, we got there fifteen minutes before it closed. Consequently, the espresso machine was turned off, which was actually fine because neither of us wanted anything that required an espresso machine. However, when I presented my gift card, the lady (Deidra?) said, "You know what? This is on the house. You guys are so great. Thank you for understanding about the espresso machine. I'm sorry again about that, so this is free."
Whelp. Alright, then. I feel like that was the universe's way of showing that it felt bad for me for not being able to find Deidra's, and for using a gift card on a date.
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Monday, August 27, 2012
Belated Posts #3: The Final Cabin, Part 3 - My Least Favorite, Favorite
So, the last week of camp I had really dumb kids and a sick kid. Now I'm going to tell about the most dramatic change in favoritism I've ever experienced.
The youngest and smallest kid in my cabin started out as my favorite kid in my cabin. He was so sweet and cute, I couldn't help but make him my favorite. He'd give me hugs for no reason, hold my hand whenever we walked anywhere, and he even had a cute little voice. But then things went south real fast, and it all started when I decided to bring my cabin on a pontoon ride.
It was a windy day and, consequently, there were some waves. Once in a while, some globules of water would splatter on us in the pontoon. When the first one hit my lil' favie, he dropped the f-bomb, as in, "What the (f-bomb)?" Kris, the waterfront director, called him out on it.
"Did you just drop the f-bomb?"
"...No."
"I'm pretty sure I heard you drop the f-bomb."
"No, I said, "What the...frick."
"No, I heard the f-bomb."
"I said-"
"You know what - I don't care. Just don't say any more things that start with "What the," okay?"
"But I didn't-"
"I don't care! Just don't do it!"
After that, he quickly descended my rankings of favorite camper. By the end of the week, the only time he would talk to me was when he was tattling on someone, and he talked to me a lot. He'd tattle on anyone for anything. One night for devotions, Drew and I integrated our cabins and did bro-tips. Being very bro-ish in nature, both of us had a good amount of combined bro-knowledge. I feel like we passed on a lot of useful tips such as, but not limited to, always lift the seat when you pee, respect the ladies, call girls 'pretty.' 'beautiful,' or 'cute' instead of 'hot,' be nice to your friends' parents, etc. After we ran out of tips, Drew took his kids back to their cabin. As they were leaving, I gave them all high-fives. Once the last of Drew's kids were in their cabin, my lil' no-longer-favie came up to me.
"Um, Joe?"
"Yes?"
"Um, you know that kid you just high-fived?"
"Yeah?"
"Um, the one with the red hair?"
"Yeah. What about him?"
"Um, well, he steals things from other kids."
"(To myself, in my head) 'Ohhhh my goodness. No he doesn't. You need to stop tattling.' Sigh...Okay. Thanks for telling me that. Now go to bed."
And yes, he did start every sentence with "Um."
The youngest and smallest kid in my cabin started out as my favorite kid in my cabin. He was so sweet and cute, I couldn't help but make him my favorite. He'd give me hugs for no reason, hold my hand whenever we walked anywhere, and he even had a cute little voice. But then things went south real fast, and it all started when I decided to bring my cabin on a pontoon ride.
It was a windy day and, consequently, there were some waves. Once in a while, some globules of water would splatter on us in the pontoon. When the first one hit my lil' favie, he dropped the f-bomb, as in, "What the (f-bomb)?" Kris, the waterfront director, called him out on it.
"Did you just drop the f-bomb?"
"...No."
"I'm pretty sure I heard you drop the f-bomb."
"No, I said, "What the...frick."
"No, I heard the f-bomb."
"I said-"
"You know what - I don't care. Just don't say any more things that start with "What the," okay?"
"But I didn't-"
"I don't care! Just don't do it!"
After that, he quickly descended my rankings of favorite camper. By the end of the week, the only time he would talk to me was when he was tattling on someone, and he talked to me a lot. He'd tattle on anyone for anything. One night for devotions, Drew and I integrated our cabins and did bro-tips. Being very bro-ish in nature, both of us had a good amount of combined bro-knowledge. I feel like we passed on a lot of useful tips such as, but not limited to, always lift the seat when you pee, respect the ladies, call girls 'pretty.' 'beautiful,' or 'cute' instead of 'hot,' be nice to your friends' parents, etc. After we ran out of tips, Drew took his kids back to their cabin. As they were leaving, I gave them all high-fives. Once the last of Drew's kids were in their cabin, my lil' no-longer-favie came up to me.
"Um, Joe?"
"Yes?"
"Um, you know that kid you just high-fived?"
"Yeah?"
"Um, the one with the red hair?"
"Yeah. What about him?"
"Um, well, he steals things from other kids."
"(To myself, in my head) 'Ohhhh my goodness. No he doesn't. You need to stop tattling.' Sigh...Okay. Thanks for telling me that. Now go to bed."
And yes, he did start every sentence with "Um."
Friday, August 24, 2012
Belated Posts #3: The Final Cabin, Part 2 - Smells Like Teen Spirit. No Wait, That's Vomit
This post could very well be #3 in the short "Worst Night of Camp" series, but it's already part of another series. Posts can only be a part of one series. That's common knowledge. Therefore, it is not part of the "Worst Night of Camp" series. Just know that it could've been, though.
This particular night did not necessarily start out nice. It started out pretty bad. It escalated to something much worse, however. Let's start at where I want the beginning to be. I had just finished the nightly devotional, which was probably "highs and lows," where each camper shares what their favorite and least favorite part of the day was. That's a go-to devo for me, because it takes no planning, and planning is an area in which I do not excel. We finished earlier than I had anticipated, so I did the one thing I swore I would never do: I gave the kids flashlight time. I feel as though I am the strictest counselor when it comes to flashlight privileges in that my kids don't have any. I always explain to them that there is no need for a flashlight at camp and, really, there isn't. There are lights on the outside of cabins if they have to go to the bathroom at night, and that's the only scenario in which they would be outside when it's dark. However, flashlights are on the list of things to bring to camp that is sent to the parents, so every kid brings one. For flashlight time, I turned off the lights in the cabin and they all shined their lights spastically on the walls and ceiling. For some reason, that's fun. Then I thought of something else we could do, so I abruptly ended flashlight time and explained the new thing. Unfortunately, I can't remember what the new thing was, but I do remember that they were not participating. Consequently, I ended the new thing abruptly, too, and declared a premature lights out. The kids were surprisingly quiet for the first five minutes or so, but then a couple of flashlights were turned on. I confiscated them. Quiet for a few more minutes, then whispers. Whispers gave way to laughter and soft talking, which birthed normal talking. I told them to be quiet a number of times. Each time, the level of anger in my voice was more notable than the previous time. I was on the verge of using my angry-dad voice (which is quite terrifying) when the talking was reduced to only a few whispers. I drifted in and out of sleep for about an hour before finally activating full-sleep mode. That's when the trouble started.
I was awoken by the sound of someone pouring water out of a bottle onto the floor. "Why? Just...why?" I thought. "Eh, it's only water; I'll worry about it in the morning." Three seconds later, the worst smell ever to enter my nasal cavity entered my nasal cavity. "Oh. Oh no. That's not water." And it wasn't water. It was vomit. The kid was on the top bunk, just leaning his head over the side and letting it rip. I turned on one of the flashlights I confiscated earlier and caught the eyes of the kid. I simply pointed at him and did the finger motion for "come here."
"Can't I just get a drink of water or something?"
"Nope, we're going to see the health aid."
"Why can't I just get a drink of water?"
"Because you just threw up! Let's go!" For a second, I thought about just going next door and waking up Drew since, like I said in the first installment of "The Final Cabin," Drew was the health aid for the whole summer. I decided against it, though, since he had his own cabin to worry about, firstly, and secondly, we'd still have to go to the health aid office. I walked with the kid to the health aid office, making a short pit stop at the dining hall so he could rinse his mouth out. I explained to Haley, the interim health aid, what had happened and she took over from there. At this time, I realized that I still had eight kids in a hot room with the stinkiest puke puddled on the floor. I decided I should relocate my kids and then clean the puke. Luckily (and I do mean luckily), I ran into Katie, AKA Katie Dubs, AKA K-Dub Money, a service staff and tie-dye extraordinaire, on my way back to the cabin.
"Joe? What are you doing out?"
"Oh, one of my kids threw up and I had to bring him to Haley. And now I have to move my kids and clean the puke."
"Do you want me to clean the puke?"
"...Yes? If you could, that would be awesome."
"Okay! I'll clean the puke!"
I got back to the cabin and woke up all my kids and told them we were moving to a different cabin, because this cabin stinks. This took about twenty minutes because when I woke up one kid and went to the next, the first kid would fall back asleep. Paul, a counselor who was working Family Camp (which means he was not responsible for any kids), came to lead the kids to our new cabin, since he was staying in the other side of it. As I was grabbing my stuff, Katie Dubs came in with puke cleaner and went to work.
Then everybody slept and we all lived happily ever after. The end.
This particular night did not necessarily start out nice. It started out pretty bad. It escalated to something much worse, however. Let's start at where I want the beginning to be. I had just finished the nightly devotional, which was probably "highs and lows," where each camper shares what their favorite and least favorite part of the day was. That's a go-to devo for me, because it takes no planning, and planning is an area in which I do not excel. We finished earlier than I had anticipated, so I did the one thing I swore I would never do: I gave the kids flashlight time. I feel as though I am the strictest counselor when it comes to flashlight privileges in that my kids don't have any. I always explain to them that there is no need for a flashlight at camp and, really, there isn't. There are lights on the outside of cabins if they have to go to the bathroom at night, and that's the only scenario in which they would be outside when it's dark. However, flashlights are on the list of things to bring to camp that is sent to the parents, so every kid brings one. For flashlight time, I turned off the lights in the cabin and they all shined their lights spastically on the walls and ceiling. For some reason, that's fun. Then I thought of something else we could do, so I abruptly ended flashlight time and explained the new thing. Unfortunately, I can't remember what the new thing was, but I do remember that they were not participating. Consequently, I ended the new thing abruptly, too, and declared a premature lights out. The kids were surprisingly quiet for the first five minutes or so, but then a couple of flashlights were turned on. I confiscated them. Quiet for a few more minutes, then whispers. Whispers gave way to laughter and soft talking, which birthed normal talking. I told them to be quiet a number of times. Each time, the level of anger in my voice was more notable than the previous time. I was on the verge of using my angry-dad voice (which is quite terrifying) when the talking was reduced to only a few whispers. I drifted in and out of sleep for about an hour before finally activating full-sleep mode. That's when the trouble started.
I was awoken by the sound of someone pouring water out of a bottle onto the floor. "Why? Just...why?" I thought. "Eh, it's only water; I'll worry about it in the morning." Three seconds later, the worst smell ever to enter my nasal cavity entered my nasal cavity. "Oh. Oh no. That's not water." And it wasn't water. It was vomit. The kid was on the top bunk, just leaning his head over the side and letting it rip. I turned on one of the flashlights I confiscated earlier and caught the eyes of the kid. I simply pointed at him and did the finger motion for "come here."
"Can't I just get a drink of water or something?"
"Nope, we're going to see the health aid."
"Why can't I just get a drink of water?"
"Because you just threw up! Let's go!" For a second, I thought about just going next door and waking up Drew since, like I said in the first installment of "The Final Cabin," Drew was the health aid for the whole summer. I decided against it, though, since he had his own cabin to worry about, firstly, and secondly, we'd still have to go to the health aid office. I walked with the kid to the health aid office, making a short pit stop at the dining hall so he could rinse his mouth out. I explained to Haley, the interim health aid, what had happened and she took over from there. At this time, I realized that I still had eight kids in a hot room with the stinkiest puke puddled on the floor. I decided I should relocate my kids and then clean the puke. Luckily (and I do mean luckily), I ran into Katie, AKA Katie Dubs, AKA K-Dub Money, a service staff and tie-dye extraordinaire, on my way back to the cabin.
"Joe? What are you doing out?"
"Oh, one of my kids threw up and I had to bring him to Haley. And now I have to move my kids and clean the puke."
"Do you want me to clean the puke?"
"...Yes? If you could, that would be awesome."
"Okay! I'll clean the puke!"
I got back to the cabin and woke up all my kids and told them we were moving to a different cabin, because this cabin stinks. This took about twenty minutes because when I woke up one kid and went to the next, the first kid would fall back asleep. Paul, a counselor who was working Family Camp (which means he was not responsible for any kids), came to lead the kids to our new cabin, since he was staying in the other side of it. As I was grabbing my stuff, Katie Dubs came in with puke cleaner and went to work.
Then everybody slept and we all lived happily ever after. The end.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Belated Posts #3: The Final Cabin, Part 1 - Power Hour
During the last week of camp, I was lucky enough to be counseling. It's always a blessing to be on site during the last week because, well, it's the last week and it'd be nice to actually be there for it. I was also lucky enough to have Drew Boraas as my co-counselor for the week. Drew was the health aid for the summer so, obviously, this was his first week counseling. You may be thinking, "Why was it lucky you had a first time counselor as your co-counselor?" Valid question, and the answer is simply that Drew is a pretty cool guy; it has nothing to do with his counseling experience.
Anyway, none of that is relevant, really. For the last week of camp, I had third graders in my cabin, which is pretty ideal, considering I'm going to have a career working with second graders. However, these third graders didn't have very good memory. I don't know if there was like, a virus in the cabin that spread from kid to kid to cause a coding/storage/recall deficiency or something, but they just could not remember anything. For instance, every day we have something called "Power Hour," which is when the counselors get an hour without kids. During that hour, the kids go play games with the Assistant Program Directors. I never know what games they're playing because it doesn't concern me. However, my kids always thought I knew.
Monday:
"Joe, what are we doing for Power Hour?"
"Playing a game with Stever and Annie."
"What game?"
"I don't know."
"Why not?"
"I don't participate in the game, so I don't ask what it is. I'm not even there for it, so I don't know."
Tuesday:
"Joe, what are we doing for Power Hour?"
"Remember what you did yesterday for Power Hour?"
"...Carpet ball?"
"Nope. You guys played a game with Stever and Annie, right?"
"Oh, yeah!"
"You're doing that again."
"What game?"
"I don't know."
"Is it 'Everybody's It Tag'?"
"Did you play that yesterday?"
"Yes!"
"Then no."
Wednesday:
"Joe, what are we doing for Power Hour?"
"I'm gonna go way out on a limb here and guess that you're going to play a game, and that it'll probably be with Stever and Annie."
"What game?"
"When was the last time I answered that question for you?"
"Umm...I don't know."
"I don't know what game you're playing."
Thursday:
"Joe, what are we doing for Power Hour?"
"I'm curious - what do you think you're doing for Power Hour today?"
"I don't know."
"Well, what did you do yesterday?"
"Play games with Stever and Annie?"
"Right! And what did you do the day before that?"
"Play games with Stever and Annie...?"
"Right again! And do you remember what you did the day before that?"
"Play games with Stever and Annie..."
"Exactly! So, if you were to just venture a guess as to what you are doing for Power Hour today, what would you guess?"
"...What game are we playing?"
"Sigh...Have I ever known what game you're playing for Power Hour?"
"No..."
"Right. And today is no different. I do not know what game you are playing."
There are a few more scenarios that are similar to this one, but I used up a ton of space with dialogue and I think it would be cruel to continue. Just believe me when I tell you that this cabin tested my patience more than any other cabin I have had. It was fun, though.
Anyway, none of that is relevant, really. For the last week of camp, I had third graders in my cabin, which is pretty ideal, considering I'm going to have a career working with second graders. However, these third graders didn't have very good memory. I don't know if there was like, a virus in the cabin that spread from kid to kid to cause a coding/storage/recall deficiency or something, but they just could not remember anything. For instance, every day we have something called "Power Hour," which is when the counselors get an hour without kids. During that hour, the kids go play games with the Assistant Program Directors. I never know what games they're playing because it doesn't concern me. However, my kids always thought I knew.
Monday:
"Joe, what are we doing for Power Hour?"
"Playing a game with Stever and Annie."
"What game?"
"I don't know."
"Why not?"
"I don't participate in the game, so I don't ask what it is. I'm not even there for it, so I don't know."
Tuesday:
"Joe, what are we doing for Power Hour?"
"Remember what you did yesterday for Power Hour?"
"...Carpet ball?"
"Nope. You guys played a game with Stever and Annie, right?"
"Oh, yeah!"
"You're doing that again."
"What game?"
"I don't know."
"Is it 'Everybody's It Tag'?"
"Did you play that yesterday?"
"Yes!"
"Then no."
Wednesday:
"Joe, what are we doing for Power Hour?"
"I'm gonna go way out on a limb here and guess that you're going to play a game, and that it'll probably be with Stever and Annie."
"What game?"
"When was the last time I answered that question for you?"
"Umm...I don't know."
"I don't know what game you're playing."
Thursday:
"Joe, what are we doing for Power Hour?"
"I'm curious - what do you think you're doing for Power Hour today?"
"I don't know."
"Well, what did you do yesterday?"
"Play games with Stever and Annie?"
"Right! And what did you do the day before that?"
"Play games with Stever and Annie...?"
"Right again! And do you remember what you did the day before that?"
"Play games with Stever and Annie..."
"Exactly! So, if you were to just venture a guess as to what you are doing for Power Hour today, what would you guess?"
"...What game are we playing?"
"Sigh...Have I ever known what game you're playing for Power Hour?"
"No..."
"Right. And today is no different. I do not know what game you are playing."
There are a few more scenarios that are similar to this one, but I used up a ton of space with dialogue and I think it would be cruel to continue. Just believe me when I tell you that this cabin tested my patience more than any other cabin I have had. It was fun, though.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Belated Posts #2: Camp Poops
As I said in my previous post, camp is now over. However, I have some untold stories I'd like to tell regarding camp. This one is about Camp Poops. Okay, it's actually called Camp Hoops, but say that kind of fast. It sounds like Camp Poops, doesn't it? Yes. Yes it does. This year, camp decided to have a bunch of specialty camps. For instance, there was Horse Camp, Music and Drama Camp, some other camps that I can't remember, and Camp Poops. I'm not entirely sure why, out of all of the camps, Camp Poops was the one where Camp was the first word, but whatever. Since my domination at the game of lightning is pretty much legendary, I was asked if I could counsel at Camp Poops. Of course I said yes.
If you've been to either Shores or Green Lake, you probably noticed that our basketball facilities are lacking. Camp Poops was held at Green Lake since it was for kids who are actually old enough to do basketball things. Green Lake has five(?) hoops, but none of them are very nice, and the court is also pretty meh. However, for Camp Poops, the court was repaved and some new hoops were put up. Also, a parking lot was transformed into a a court with four hoops. It was actually really nice. I was impressed. When I saw the parking lot court, I got really excited. I mean, I was going to get to play basketball. It's not like I'm good at basketball or anything, I just really like to play. I guess I'm okay at basketball, just not compared to most people who have actually played basketball.
It turned out, though, that the other two counselors and I didn't even get to play basketball. We didn't even really get to counsel. All we did was make sure the kids got to where they were supposed to be, which usually meant the basketball court. It was frustrating for us, though, because Camp Poops wasn't very coordinated. It took until Wednesday for there to be a set schedule. It didn't help that it rained a few times, so we had to get all of the kids to a gym. Also, for some reason, Camp Poops kids had to stay in different cabins from the rest of the campers. At Green Lake, all of the campers stay in a lodge with different rooms. Camp Poopers (those who were part of Camp Poops) had to stay in actual cabins, which I was totally fine with, except we only had one shower. One shower for nine sweaty kids is not ideal. Somehow, all of us, including me, managed to shower in one hour. I was so proud. Another bad thing about being secluded from the rest of camp was that our banquet for the end of the week was lame. Usually everyone dresses up, but since it was just a bunch of guys, we had no one to dress up for. Also, our cabins were not air conditioned, and we needed air conditioning more than everyone. Granted, the rooms in the lodge aren't air conditioned, either, but the dining hall in the lodge is. Whatever. Camp Poops was still fun. I got to hang out with the Green Lake staff, which I normally don't get to do, and I got a sweet shirt. I'd say that's pretty worth it.
Oh, I almost forgot. It was decided that I'm a little baby and need to have a friend from Shores come with me to work at Green Lake. Mic-Mac was chosen. I feel like that was a great choice, but it was kinda dumb because I was secluded from actual camp things most of the time. Oh well. We played a few games of LOL/WOW/MOM, and it was awesome.
If you've been to either Shores or Green Lake, you probably noticed that our basketball facilities are lacking. Camp Poops was held at Green Lake since it was for kids who are actually old enough to do basketball things. Green Lake has five(?) hoops, but none of them are very nice, and the court is also pretty meh. However, for Camp Poops, the court was repaved and some new hoops were put up. Also, a parking lot was transformed into a a court with four hoops. It was actually really nice. I was impressed. When I saw the parking lot court, I got really excited. I mean, I was going to get to play basketball. It's not like I'm good at basketball or anything, I just really like to play. I guess I'm okay at basketball, just not compared to most people who have actually played basketball.
It turned out, though, that the other two counselors and I didn't even get to play basketball. We didn't even really get to counsel. All we did was make sure the kids got to where they were supposed to be, which usually meant the basketball court. It was frustrating for us, though, because Camp Poops wasn't very coordinated. It took until Wednesday for there to be a set schedule. It didn't help that it rained a few times, so we had to get all of the kids to a gym. Also, for some reason, Camp Poops kids had to stay in different cabins from the rest of the campers. At Green Lake, all of the campers stay in a lodge with different rooms. Camp Poopers (those who were part of Camp Poops) had to stay in actual cabins, which I was totally fine with, except we only had one shower. One shower for nine sweaty kids is not ideal. Somehow, all of us, including me, managed to shower in one hour. I was so proud. Another bad thing about being secluded from the rest of camp was that our banquet for the end of the week was lame. Usually everyone dresses up, but since it was just a bunch of guys, we had no one to dress up for. Also, our cabins were not air conditioned, and we needed air conditioning more than everyone. Granted, the rooms in the lodge aren't air conditioned, either, but the dining hall in the lodge is. Whatever. Camp Poops was still fun. I got to hang out with the Green Lake staff, which I normally don't get to do, and I got a sweet shirt. I'd say that's pretty worth it.
Oh, I almost forgot. It was decided that I'm a little baby and need to have a friend from Shores come with me to work at Green Lake. Mic-Mac was chosen. I feel like that was a great choice, but it was kinda dumb because I was secluded from actual camp things most of the time. Oh well. We played a few games of LOL/WOW/MOM, and it was awesome.
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Belated Posts #1: LOL Week
Guys, camp wrapped up last week. I'm pretty distraught about that. As you may have noticed, my posts had become less common throughout the summer. Consequently, I have a few things about which I have wanted to write on queue. This post is about one of those things - LOL (Lord Of Life) Week. LOL Week is when Lord Of Life, a church located near the Twin Cities (or in that direction, anyway. I can't really tell you where it is. I mean, I know the town but I'm not going to say it. I'm not sure why), rents out the camp and sends it's kids there. For Lord Of Life Week, all of the counselors ride a bus to the church, which is about two and a half hours away, to pick up the kids. During LOL Week, we have the regular campers who stay for the whole week, and we have two groups of half-blast campers who each stay for only half the week. During LOL Week, I was assigned to double half-blast, which meant I would have one group of kids for the first half of the week and a different group of kids for the second half. Since it was LOL week, this meant I got to ride the bus four times. Once on Sunday with all of the counselors who were picking up their full week's worth of campers (even though I wasn't getting any campers on Sunday. Please tell me how that makes sense. I served no purpose. However, I did get a pretty good lunch at the church. Still wasn't worth the 5 hours of bus riding, though), again on Monday to go get my first batch of half-blasters, back again on Wednesday to drop off my first group and pick up my second, and then lastly on Friday, again with everybody, to drop off the campers. Let me tell you, riding on a bus full of kids is not something I would volunteer to do. Fun fact: kids love the song, "Call Me Maybe" so much, that they sing it almost continuously for over an hour sometimes. One of those times was on the bus. Of my eight bus rides (I said four earlier, but I just now decided to count each trip back as a bus ride, too), the first one was the only one during which I did not fall asleep. That was one without kids. I'm pretty much pro when it comes to sleeping. Is it irresponsible to fall asleep when I'm supposed to be supervising kids? Debatable. On one hand, I am supposed to be supervising children, and that's pretty hard to do when I'm asleep. On the other hand, we were on a bus, and who supervises children when they're on the bus to school? Nobody. I think it was acceptable for me to fall asleep.
Unfortunately, since I waited so long to write this (LOL week was like four weeks ago. Maybe five), I can't remember much about my first batch of half-blasters. One thing I do remember, though, is that I had two kids who looked very similar. Almost all of the staff, including myself, was fairly certain that they were brothers. "Nope. Everyone always says that, though. We're just neighbors." The "We're just neighbors," part lead us all to the same conclusion - one child's father had an affair with the other child's mother. Inappropriate to jump to such a dramatic conclusion? Possibly, especially considering we all work at a Bible camp. But come on - it was scary how much like brothers they looked.
My second half-blast, though, I remember very vividly. Well, I remember one kid very vividly. He was quite obnoxious. When everyone else was trying to sleep, he would just sit in his bed and talk. Not necessarily to anyone in particular, either. One time he woke me up at 6:52. "Joe? Joe? ...Joe? Hey, Joe?"
"........What."
"It's 7:00"
"No it's not - it's 6:52."
"I was rounding up."
"Oh. Wait, why does it matter if it's 7:00? We don't get up until 7:20."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes. Now go back to bed."
On Friday, after we had gotten back to camp from dropping off all of the campers, Micayla, the other counselor who had double half blast with me, and whom I like to call "Mic-Mac," informed me that this kid had autism. Not severe autism; it was more like asperger's. Still, though, the kid's parents did not tell me this. I feel like that is something that you would want the person who is in charge of your kid to know. What's worse, I think, is that the kid didn't even know. Are you kidding me, parents? I was appalled, to say the least.
Also during LOL Week, Mic-Mac and I made up a sweet game. It's similar to Rock/Paper/Scissors but way more awesome. What happens is you and your opponent do a double knuck bump and explode. When you explode your knucks, though, you form a word using your hands and your mouth, one hand on each side of your mouth, which makes an "O." The three words you can form are "LOL" (for LOL week), "WOW," and "MOM." "LOL" beats "WOW," "WOW" beats "MOM," and "MOM" beats "LOL." I encourage you all to play. I hear it's going to be in the Olympics in 2016. Train up!
Unfortunately, since I waited so long to write this (LOL week was like four weeks ago. Maybe five), I can't remember much about my first batch of half-blasters. One thing I do remember, though, is that I had two kids who looked very similar. Almost all of the staff, including myself, was fairly certain that they were brothers. "Nope. Everyone always says that, though. We're just neighbors." The "We're just neighbors," part lead us all to the same conclusion - one child's father had an affair with the other child's mother. Inappropriate to jump to such a dramatic conclusion? Possibly, especially considering we all work at a Bible camp. But come on - it was scary how much like brothers they looked.
My second half-blast, though, I remember very vividly. Well, I remember one kid very vividly. He was quite obnoxious. When everyone else was trying to sleep, he would just sit in his bed and talk. Not necessarily to anyone in particular, either. One time he woke me up at 6:52. "Joe? Joe? ...Joe? Hey, Joe?"
"........What."
"It's 7:00"
"No it's not - it's 6:52."
"I was rounding up."
"Oh. Wait, why does it matter if it's 7:00? We don't get up until 7:20."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes. Now go back to bed."
On Friday, after we had gotten back to camp from dropping off all of the campers, Micayla, the other counselor who had double half blast with me, and whom I like to call "Mic-Mac," informed me that this kid had autism. Not severe autism; it was more like asperger's. Still, though, the kid's parents did not tell me this. I feel like that is something that you would want the person who is in charge of your kid to know. What's worse, I think, is that the kid didn't even know. Are you kidding me, parents? I was appalled, to say the least.
Also during LOL Week, Mic-Mac and I made up a sweet game. It's similar to Rock/Paper/Scissors but way more awesome. What happens is you and your opponent do a double knuck bump and explode. When you explode your knucks, though, you form a word using your hands and your mouth, one hand on each side of your mouth, which makes an "O." The three words you can form are "LOL" (for LOL week), "WOW," and "MOM." "LOL" beats "WOW," "WOW" beats "MOM," and "MOM" beats "LOL." I encourage you all to play. I hear it's going to be in the Olympics in 2016. Train up!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
License Renewal
I know it's eight days after my birthday, but I finally got my license renewed today. Since it took so long for me to actually get it done, I figured that things would go wrong once I actually made an effort to renew it. Well, nothing major went wrong, but there were definitely a few hiccups. These are those:
1. I thought I had to go to the courthouse to renew my license.
This makes sense, I think. I mean, that's how it is in Litchfield, where I'm from. I also thought I had to go to the courthouse because it was super convenient. Since I'm on a day camp, I spend most of my time at the church. Guess where the church is. Right across the street from the courthouse. So I went over to the courthouse and, since I'm not from Morris, I had no idea how to navigate my way through the courthouse. Luckily, A lady saw me staring at a map of the place in befuddlement and asked if I needed help.
"Yeah, actually. I'm looking to renew my driver's license...?" I tend to trail off and turn statements into questions frequently because I'm just very awkward in conversation settings. I can formulate fragments but then I get lost and just end everything with a "...?"
"Oh, you can't do that here. We do that at the (driver's license place)." I don't remember what she said, but it translates to "driver's license place" in Joe language. She went on to explain where that place was by saying that it was across the street from the post office and the library. That was really confusing because the post office and the library are on opposite sides of the street. Since I knew where the post office and the library were, though, I went in that direction.
2. The door to the driver's license place was "locked."
The License Bureau (which is what the driver's license place was actually called (the helpful lady didn't call it that)) shares a building with an attorney's office, apparently. I hate when that happens because I'm never confident that I found the right place. That happened this time, but I figured you gotta risk it to get the biscuit, so I walked up to the building. The door said pull. I turned the knob. Well, I tried to turn the knob. It was locked! Confused and distraught, I continued walking around the block. I decided to go to the church without renewing my license, but before I got there I had a change of heart. I continued right around the block back to the Bureau/attorney's office. I looked at the "pull" sign again. I mean really looked at it. I examined the word and thought really hard about it. "Pull." Then it dawned on me: I should pull the door. So I did, without turning the knob! Miraculously, it opened right up and I walked in.
3. Camera malfunction.
I walked up to the counter and the lady asked if she could help me. "Ummm, I'm looking to renew my driver's license...? Is this- can I do that here?" I totally could, and she let me. I filled out the form and stuff and she told me to sit in front of the camera so it could take my picture. That happened. There was a problem though, and it started off as my bad. The lady said not to move until I saw the flash. I moved right before the flash. "That one is a little blurry, let's try again." So we tried again. I didn't move this time. "It's saying that one isn't sharp." That happened for the next three picture attempts. "Let's try it without the chair this time. Just stand there." I did, and it worked. I got my papers and left, and now I have an acceptable replacement for a driver's license.
1. I thought I had to go to the courthouse to renew my license.
This makes sense, I think. I mean, that's how it is in Litchfield, where I'm from. I also thought I had to go to the courthouse because it was super convenient. Since I'm on a day camp, I spend most of my time at the church. Guess where the church is. Right across the street from the courthouse. So I went over to the courthouse and, since I'm not from Morris, I had no idea how to navigate my way through the courthouse. Luckily, A lady saw me staring at a map of the place in befuddlement and asked if I needed help.
"Yeah, actually. I'm looking to renew my driver's license...?" I tend to trail off and turn statements into questions frequently because I'm just very awkward in conversation settings. I can formulate fragments but then I get lost and just end everything with a "...?"
"Oh, you can't do that here. We do that at the (driver's license place)." I don't remember what she said, but it translates to "driver's license place" in Joe language. She went on to explain where that place was by saying that it was across the street from the post office and the library. That was really confusing because the post office and the library are on opposite sides of the street. Since I knew where the post office and the library were, though, I went in that direction.
2. The door to the driver's license place was "locked."
The License Bureau (which is what the driver's license place was actually called (the helpful lady didn't call it that)) shares a building with an attorney's office, apparently. I hate when that happens because I'm never confident that I found the right place. That happened this time, but I figured you gotta risk it to get the biscuit, so I walked up to the building. The door said pull. I turned the knob. Well, I tried to turn the knob. It was locked! Confused and distraught, I continued walking around the block. I decided to go to the church without renewing my license, but before I got there I had a change of heart. I continued right around the block back to the Bureau/attorney's office. I looked at the "pull" sign again. I mean really looked at it. I examined the word and thought really hard about it. "Pull." Then it dawned on me: I should pull the door. So I did, without turning the knob! Miraculously, it opened right up and I walked in.
3. Camera malfunction.
I walked up to the counter and the lady asked if she could help me. "Ummm, I'm looking to renew my driver's license...? Is this- can I do that here?" I totally could, and she let me. I filled out the form and stuff and she told me to sit in front of the camera so it could take my picture. That happened. There was a problem though, and it started off as my bad. The lady said not to move until I saw the flash. I moved right before the flash. "That one is a little blurry, let's try again." So we tried again. I didn't move this time. "It's saying that one isn't sharp." That happened for the next three picture attempts. "Let's try it without the chair this time. Just stand there." I did, and it worked. I got my papers and left, and now I have an acceptable replacement for a driver's license.
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