summer day camp

Summer day camp is almost over. It's a grueling 7 weeks (up to 10 in some locations) of 11 hours of operating hours a day, 5 days a week. This week is our last week. So much happened in the past 7 weeks. Here's a rundown:

Day one of SDC - boss informed me he had been offered a job in WY and would be leaving halfway through the summer
Day two - apply for said boss's job at his request
Day three - parent gets so upset at the way we handled a situation that she removes her kids from camp and tells me that I don't care about the kids we serve (at this point I had worked nearly 30 hours in 2 1/2 days)
Day four - Group of six-year-olds discover that boys and girls have different private parts and decide to explore. Results in a sit-down talk with said group of curious six-year-olds to explain that these parts are called private for a reason
Day five - find out I was selected to interview for boss's job. Problem theme of the day: wetting the pants (I seriously had something like 4 kids wet their pants, one girl wet them twice in the same day)
Day eight - interview for boss's job. Played the basketball game Speed in heels. Became the hero of the 10 year old boys playing against me.
Day 10 - first field trip of the summer to ASU pool. Have credit card (place is cash only) but don't have petty cash to pay for admission, so have to scrounge together $50 from chaperones to get in. Big, black lifeguard flirts with me. Get bright red sunburn. Should have purchased sun block/aloe combo
Day eleven - get offered boss's job and accept, find out who my replacement is
Day 18 - my replacement visits the club to get an orientation and see the facility
Day 20 - boss's last day, also same day as circus field trip. No one is there to open up the club at 7 and I get there at 7:25. Many upset parents. Field trip goes well, leave early for boss farewell fiesta. Two kids get in a verbal fight that escalates to physical fighting. Lots of phone calls to boss and I during our sojourn at happy hour.
Day 21 - Find out my new salary and not happy with it. Lots of crying results. Go out to Sweet Tomatoes with friend from church and that makes life better.
Day 23 - Try to negotiate better salary. Cry in front of new supervisor. Negotiations fail miserably. This makes me miss my old supervisor a lot.
Day 24 - Dbacks field trip. AMAZING. Down 5-0 in bottom of the 9th and come back to beat the Brewers 6-5! Get on jumbo screen far too many times (luckily not during Kiss Cam).
Day 26 - Go to lunch with my replacement and get excited about plans for the club. Angry mom arranges to meet with me in person next morning. As of day 30, still hasn't met with me. Email president of organization to meet regarding salary.
Day 28 - Get dressed up for organization-wide function for local and corporate board members. Really tired after almost 6 full weeks of camp. Make it through meeting and have to run from ballroom at back of hotel to front of hotel and around the corner to my car in pouring rain (while wearing 3 inch heels). Fail to get car keys out of black hole of a purse before getting to car door. New dress clothes soiled but not ruined.
Day 30 - Still no word about meeting with president of org regarding salary. Work hard to keep club running but get very, very tired in the process. Only 4 more days....

That's a short chronicle of the highlights from the summer. I'm sure there will be more stories to share after we have a carnival and talent show on Thursday and go to Amazing Jake's on Friday. Hope you enjoyed!

wonderful laziness

Today was a day of great relaxation. Sure, I did my fair share of house work (in fact....I finished all of my weekly housekeeping duties), but I did my fair share of relaxing and being wonderfully lazy. I love lazy days, especially in the summer. It's too hot to go outside, but there's so much to do and discover indoors. Hot summer days are my favorite times to spend reading books. A good majority of non-housekeeping time was spent reading. I miss reading books. I need to go to the bookstore and pick up some good ones to get sucked hopelessly into. I love old favorites, too. It's like watching your favorite movie over and over....the books pull you in and you keep reading like it's food to a starving stomach, even though you know what will happen. It's fun when it's been a while since you've read a book that you love. You remember key plot points, but it's fun to rediscover the way the story unfolds, and laugh over little moments you knew were there but couldn't remember how or where they fit into the story. I think I will get back to my reading here soon....I put my book down about an hour ago but I'm aching to get back to it. I'm nearly finished with it and I'm getting to the more exciting parts of the story....

oh the stress of it all.....

Change definitely leads to stress. There have been a number of changes lately that have led to some increased stress.

Change #1) Two new people living in my house. Steven and I are hosting two people from church at our house. They are nice guys, but they seem to forget who pays the bills around here. I guess this is a taste of what parenthood will be like.

Change #2) I got a promotion at work. This past week was a transition week with the old boss getting his things together to leave for his new job and me getting into the new position. It seems like Murphy's Law was at work in testing my ability to take on the new responsibilities.

Once the dust of shaking things up settles down, it will get easier. The beginnings of new chapters are always the hardest, since the action is all headed uphill. Little by little this too shall pass...

things that make you go hmmm?

Pregnancy tests for sale right next to condoms

Aloe vera & sunblock sold as a set

People who jaywalk feet from a legal crosswalk

Paying a graduation fee once your course of study is complete at a university

Birds that can't fly

simply me

Everyone I know has started a blog at blogspot. I guess this is the best thing since myspace to help you keep up with your friends, old and new. Let me tell you what makes me simply me.

I struggled for a little while to figure out who I am now that I am not a student. That was the central piece to my identity for 18 long, trying years. There are so many things that make up my identity that I shouldn't be so concerned with the one thing I am not...a student. I know that I am a blessed child of God, a loving wife, a good housekeeper. I like to watch Grey's Anatomy and read books. I like email but I don't like to check it. I enjoy Starbuck's sweetened green tea. I like going to see chick flicks with my best friend & neighbor Candice. I miss early AM swims with Carrie :( but I am so proud of her for chasing her dreams. I love alternative rock music and Saturdays home alone. I value independence but enjoy the company of others. I like it when I really stop to "consider God's wonders" (Job 37:14). I love my family - big and complicated and occasionally dysfunctional. Sometimes I wish I had a puppy, but not the mess and smell that goes with it. At my core I am a musician, and I love the symphony of God's expansive universe - the universe He conducts and holds in perfect balance with His mighty hands. I try to find joy in every situation and laugh at the frustrating circumstances of life. I miss the friends I had growing up through high school, but I am so amazed and what they all have become. All of this is simply me.