one last "home for the weekend" blog

Well, it's Sunday afternoon. After taking a lovely nap, I decided it's time for my final "I'm home from camp for the weekend"-type blog.

This week marks our last week of camp. I'll be working at day camp with 1-4th graders. This means that the same kids will come Mon-Fri, but only from 8-3:30ish, not staying overnight. That's pretty nice, because that means that I'll have some of my nights free (not all, sometimes we have to help out) and be able to start packing up.

On Saturday, we need to be out of our rooms by noon. I'll officially have spent 11 weeks at Inspiration Hills. It's been a really good experience. I'm glad I did it.

That's what's going on over here. When I get home on Saturday, I'll be home for just over three weeks, and then I leave for Costa Rica!

life is good

I'm hanging out at my house with two other counselors. We're having a baseball party. Hooray. A much needed hang out time. Life is good with baseball.

I worked with junior high this week. It was good. A nice change of pace.

I go back to 4-6th grade next week, at lodge. Good ole faithful. It will be good.

I only have 2 weeks left at camp. Hypothetically, they'll be at lodge and then at day camp. Then I go home.

I'm working the weekend at camp, but we always have Fridays off. I'll be busy cleaning/setting tables for the rest of the weekend.

Laundry at home and not waiting in line is good.

I'm studying in Costa Rica. (That's for you, Kunnari).

another one down.

some tidbits of thoughts from the last couple of days...

another high school/childhood friend got married today.

while there, i realized a good high school friend has now been married for two years!

my camper thought i was 27 years old this week.

campers see a ring on your left ring finger and immediately assume you're married.

when you tell them you're not, they ask if you're trying to make people think you are.

camp food is like eating in grade school lunchrooms all over again.

some songs never grow old... like "Pharaoh, Pharaoh."

in three weeks, i'm done with camp.

in six weeks, i'm leaving the country.

i'm not ready to leave the country.

i'm home for the first time in a month.

when you spend a lot of time with the same people, you think you see them all over, even when you know they're not even remotely close to where you are...

it's hot outside.

i like my house.

i like my family.

i feel disconnected, in "almost no reception or internet" land.

i'm going to bed now.

weekend at camp

hi all. it's another weekend at camp. i spent the week working around the camp and being sick. i slept the 4th of july away and then went to the doctor this week where they said "yep, you're sick" and gave me medicine. so, the good news is that i'm starting to feel better.

it's staff development weekend here at camp. that means that yesterday we all went out to eat at Panera and then went to Wal-Mart/Barnes and Noble for the night. Today we're doing evaluations with the coordinators and with our boss. My evaluations were fine - both were "yep, you're good, keep up the good work" sort of stuff.

the other interesting thing going on this weekend is that a bunch of the boys are getting mohawks. crazy and impulsive, it's actually sort of hilarious.

i bought a spanish book at barnes and noble last night. short stories by Sandra Cisneros. Hard to read (takes a lot of time), but it's good.

k, here i go.

work.

hello.

it's a work weekend for me. 2 weekends this summer, I hang out and clean, set tables, clean bathrooms, etc. lifeguard a bit at the pool. not such a rough life, but no sleeping in. sad.

it was another good week at lodge camp. we had a lot of sickness, but the week got better after wednesday.

i think i'm getting sick. i have a sore throat that hasn't gone away since i woke up four hours ago. i'll keeping drinking liquids.

next week i'll be doing "buildings and grounds" duties instead of counselor, since we have less kids than we initially anticipated. part of my time i'll also be "counselor backup". it will be a different change of pace, but probably a well-needed change of pace.

next weekened we have a "staff development" weekend. not sure what it all entails, but I know that means we all have to hang out here for the weekend.

so, that's what's up. i'm over halfway through my stint here at camp. 5 weeks to go. it's been a wonderful experience so far. keep writing me those letters - they help tremendously.

hasta.

Cleanliness...

Well, hello.

I know it's been a while since I've posted. Last weekend was a lovely weekend, filled with a trip to Sioux Falls, mass Sunday Dinner Celebration, and a lot of good sleep that I needed. We celebrated my birthday, and it was great. A good birthday, although a bit more disjointed than normal.

This past week I was at wilderness camp, camp with framed structures and tarps over top of them (we call them "tenabins"), cooking over the fire, sleeping practically outside, hearing thunderstorms, and lots of hiking. It was a week of no showers, smelling horrible, but having a good time. I spent the week with 4-6th graders again, which was mostly good once again.

Last night we went to one of the counselor's houses to hang out for a while and just chill, which was really great to just let go for a while. Now, it's parents' weekend at camp and we're getting ready for all sorts of people to come and hang out and see the camp.

So, that's my life at the moment. I'm "in the swing of things" at camp now, which doesn't necessarily mean a whole lot (I move around a lot... :s) Next week, Lodge camp again, 4-6th grade again.

Until next time...

I bid thee adieu and adios.

another week, another post

well hello again to all my friends.

it's another week gone, and we've officially finished staff training. which also means we got our first paycheck. which also means we know each other as a staff REALLY well and are ready for this weekend.

next week will be our first week with campers - I'll be at "lodge camp," which means that I'll be at the regular camp, as opposed to day camp or wilderness camp. i'm pretty excited - we have 4-6th graders next week.

other than that, not a whole lot is happening - the pool was finally open this week, which meant a lot of swimming and whatnot. and it's been a lot of loose ends this week, as well as getting the camp ready for camp. it was a different week from last week, but still good. it went really fast!

so, this is about it from me again until next weekend, when I go home for various reasons: fathers' day, my birthday, and a celebration of dave and shannon's wedding! (while they're actually in california....).

So, until then...


signing off.

week in review

it's been a week.

i'm sitting at home by my laptop, although my computer is being ridiculously slow. i think it's been suffering from not being used much lately. i'll restart after this.

it's been a full week of getting to know each other as a staff as well as getting used what will be going on when we finally get campers. amazingly enough, we actually don't get our first group of campers until June 12th. Next week is more staff training, video-ing, physical preparation for camp, as well as hopefully a few jumps into the pool.

i'm home for just over 24 hours. home for things i forgot, home to watch the final episode of alias, home to hang out with my family, home to go to church for pentecost. that wasn't in order of priority by the way...

anyway, that's about all i can think of to tell you. nothing has been too amazingly exciting that you need to know. a few jokes about mock dating and blindfold weddings, but those will just have to stay with the staff....

26k internet equals:

Nikki won't be posting much. Slow dial-up internet pretty much decided that. That, and I found out that weekends are pretty much the only times that I'll be able to get on the internet. So, this is a rare occasion (a guess. i'll probably prove myself wrong...)

So, anyway, here I sit in my boss's office working on the internet. it's a weekend and that's how it goes, they say.

I came to camp on Monday for some lifeguard training. the first day of class, they tell us that we're going to do a swim test that's required for certification. 10 laps (a lap is "there and back") in an olympic sized pool. front crawl and breast stroke only. i get through two laps and discover there's no way that i'm going to be able to do this.

so another girl and I have been hanging out at camp without much of anything to do, since we can't be lifeguards. but, it's been a really good time to get to know the people that are here, to establish a relationship, and get a head-start on some of the basic rules for camp (music, attire, internet, cleaning, living, etc). We're also only 30-40 min away from Sioux Falls, so we've trekked out there a few times. Last night we went to SF to go to someone's house and Wal-Mart. Tonight we might go over there to watch a movie.

So, it's definitely been good so far. All of the summer staff will be here on Sunday night, when we have a picnic and begin orientation stuff. We have two weeks of orientation and our first week of campers starts on June 12th. I'm pretty excited to get started with all of this stuff!

So, you might not hear from me for a while - if anything, you'll hear from me on the weekend of June 17th, when I know I'm going home. Birthday celebration, baby!!

Hope you're all doing well.

this is it

hello friends, enemies, readers alike.

today i leave for camp. no idea if i'll be able to post or update or what. if anything, you'll hear from me on my weekends home.

buh bye now.

a small picture sampling...

here's a small sampling of the va-cay-shun. (in no particular order, include jack and jazz with herman, herman, and me at san juan capistrano..i have no idea what order they're actually in, but you can figure it out. I'm not the dog!)

world traveler.

my brother says he thinks i cut my hair so that i don't have to wash it as much now that i'll be traveling all over the place. that wasn't the purpose, but he's got a good point...

i leave for home today. i had a wonderful visit to pasadena. hiking on Sunday was spectacular. my legs hurt for a while, but it was definitely worth it. monday was another hang-out kind of day, but good. i got to cook supper on monday, so that was fun.

tuesday, jazz and i took herman along to the farmer's market. it was small but interesting. got some good cherries. then we went shopping for jack's b-day, which was quite successful. went out to lunch and then rented some movies and watched some movies.

yesterday, jazz and i went to the mall for shopping, that was fun also. we ate at california pizza kitchen, which is good stuff. then we got home and ate supper and gave jack a few b-day presents (early). then we watched movies again.

all in all, a wonderful vacation, i must say. and with that...i must stuff everything back into my suitcase and sit on it and zip it shut.

fun-filled funness

holas.

i'm hanging out in good 'ol Pasadena on a Sunday morning, drinkin' my coffee and feeling satisfied after some lovely french toast.

it's day 4 of my visit to jack and jazz. it's been a wonderful visit so far. went and ate greek food on the night i came, which was really nice. then on thursday just kind of hung out and went shopping a bit with jack and ate supper. and crashed. my jet lag hit kind of late.

on friday, hung out again while the kids worked. then jack and i took herman to the dog park and went grocery shopping. went to the barrio where jazz has been working. i have to say that i totally loved the barrio. it was really awesome. i felt transplanted into another country for most of the night. we went to a furniture store, where the guy spoke so-so english and was disappointed that jazz didn't speak any spanish. then, we tried to find a tiny mexican restaurant that a friend of jazz's owns. purely by accident, we finally found it. and the food? it was awesome. so good - i had tacos al pastor, very good. i would definitely go back there. yum. after supper, we went and saw the new movie "Goal!", which was also a splendid movie. You should go see it. it's good.

saturday, we lazed around for a while, slept in and whatnot. then we got ready for our excursion. decided to eat at in n out, which was harder than we first thought it would be - finding one on our way and then getting off the interstate and actually finding it was kind of hilarious. but we found it. then, we went to mission san juan capistrano. which was amazing. absolutely amazing. i don't think my words can describe how wonderful it was. there was a church there that used to be the biggest church in california, but suffered an earthquake in 1811. they excavated what they could and we got to see a bunch of the original walls. we saw a lot of other stuff, too. i'll post pictures of it when i get home, i'm sure. totally inspired me. i want to visit every mission in the US. eventually.

anyway, so after sjc, we went to the beach. we went to the laguna beach area and found a nice beach and took little naps on the beach. after that, we started our drive back home. we stopped and ate at applebee's, which was also excellent. then we came home, played a round of scene it, and then just kind of hung out and whatever and then went to bed.

which brings me to this morning, the "halfway" point through our trip. french toast this morning. herman woke me up. again. :) he's a funny dog. i'm sure i'll have lots of herman stories to tell. what a hilarious dog.

we're going hiking today, taking herman along. that's exciting. good plans for today.

so, a good vacation so far. i'll probably post pictures when i get home (i didn't take my camera cord along, so i can't take them off...silly me). Hope you're having a good day/week/summer or whatever you're having.

like a child on Christmas morning...

It's like it's Christmas Eve...and on Christmas morning, the good stuff comes.

Tomorrow I leave for California to visit Jack and Jazz. I'm there for a week. (You might hear from me while I'm there). Plans include San Juan Capistrano, the beach, hiking, some shopping, maybe a little Jay Leno, probably some other stuff. I get to see Herman, the three-legged wonder!!

Today is my last day of work with Hope Haven for a while. I'm excited to see my last kid for a while, maybe do some hammock fun, go to the park, just hang out a lot. I love this kid. I'm going to miss him. I won't see him until December probably. Sigh.

I got to translate for a head start program last night. It was really quite exciting. Parents came in for the parent meetings and I translated what the teacher say to update them on their child. I was excited to have some real-life Spanish action and they were excited to be able to communicate with the hispanic parents. Ah, how I love the Spanish language. And I love Hispanics, because they are usually nice and help me with my Spanish proficiency, as well. Top that off with a bunch of mom-translating in Spanish for her work, and I've been swamped in thoughts about California and Spanish. Hooray. Huzzah.

Being unlike Xanga (which is a good thing generally), Blogger doesn't have the "Currently Reading/Listening to" option. Which I don't mind, except right now I'm going to share with you.

Currently Reading: Wicked: The LIfe and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West
By: Gregory Maguire

Wow. Crazy book. It's all starting to come together. 80 pages out of 406 to go.

Hooray for summer reading. Hurray for summer vacations! Hurray for no homework, no tests, no papers, no exams! Hurray for visits to the public library! Hooray for sleeping until 8 in the morning. Hooray for spelling hurray differently!

gradumatation and other milestones

so, it's been somewhat of a whirlwind week over here in iowa. full of exams, there seemed to be a million other things going on as well.

as probably obvious from previous posts, my knee has been bothering me. after two doctor's appointments and an MRI, I received a cortisone shot for the pain this week and it seems that it just may be working. that's a happy news right there.

in other news, i found out my information about costa rica...when i have to fly and all that. that's good info. so if you're moving back to dordt on the monday, i'll be here...i leave on tuesday, registration day.

the final most recent event was graduation day. becca and i sat way up in the bleachers together and i managed to get some tiny pictures of a few important people...i don't know if they'll be useful, but they're good for posterity, i suppose. so, here are a few exciting pictures after the fact. #1: laura, me, and phil. #2 our coffee girls' group, me, sarah, and mel

the rumors are true...

well, in light of a crazy week and a half past, a not so upbeat me, and myself looking for some change, here is what resulted:

Hair Chopped!

things that suck (in no particular order)

**if you're involved in one of these...please understand I'm not attacking you, but the situation**

- knowing that you're the world's worst roommate
- knowing the above and seeing how well the room gets along without you
- not knowing what's wrong with your knee
- having everyone but you forget about how much your knee hurts
- stairs
- feeling like bawling because life is no fun
- telling someone you're worried and having them reply "i'm worried, too, I don't know how to comfort you."
- feeling like an event you plan is more of a pain than a joy
- wanting to tell someone how you really feel, but afraid you'll sound selfish and bitter and weak and insecure
- being absolutely scared to receive no answers whatsoever on Thursday about my knee
- knowing that Jesus will take care of things, but being completely unable to just let it go
- feeling like everyone's nice and no one's "close" at this time of year

Life is funny, life's a mess
Sometimes a curse sometimes a blessing
Don't worry about a thing
Life is sticky, life can bruise
Sometimes you win sometimes you're losing
No matter what it brings
Don't worry about a thing

whiner

my knee hurts. and i'm a whiner. and it hurts, and i'm making sure that's clear to all of you.

on another note, i think leann rimes must know me personally. her newest song, something's gotta give, must actually be about me. she just doesn't know it yet. "jennie's got a job, a cat named jake, 31 candles on her birthday cake next year. she thought by now she'd have a man, two car seats and a mini-van, but she's still layin' here."

Okay, so I know I'm not 31, I'll have dog...but I swear, 10 years from now, this will be me.

okay, enough whining, back to talking about other religions.

Putting it all into numbers...

28 days until I leave for camp
16 days until I leave for LA
6 average hours of sleep each night (until vacation!!)
5 days of classes
4 exams
4 new pairs of jeans!
3 m/w/f classes left
2 days of exams
2 conversation classes left
2 t/th classes left
1 take-home exam