Truth is, I can't remember what each day held. Monday was easy enough and only half a day anyhow. Tuesday started with staff meetings, but I guess my intro to that was short and sweet. I hear when Bill runs meetings, they can go on and on. With Eric, it's straight to the point. But, I've also learned that we're in the lull before the storm. There are only a few "major" events in February, but they're easy enough for they consist of smaller groups and/or church groups. Those are just easier to deal with: check in one mob with one payment. Haven't personally dealt with that yet, but I can see how that would be easier than over 200 women with over 200 payments in a myriad of varieties. That begins next month. They call them quilt retreats. Thankfully, 90% of the women are pre-registered and pre-paid in full.
So, what I have I learned this week? First, how to register family camps, house them on a first-come-first-serve basis and process those payments (which I may have forgotten a little by now...you deal with deposits on those and not complete payments).
Second, women are much more complicated than men. I'm sorry, but I'm a little ashamed of my sex. I can be complicated, I know, but I do try to be low-maintance. But women, in general, are not. Do you know how many steps there are to registering women for quilt retreats? And, I'm thinking, the complications are compounded because women are running the registration process. To me, there's got to be a simpler, more efficient way to do this. In fact, there's one step I totally don't get at all. But I do it. Because it might make sense later. Or I might toss it as soon as Carmen turns her back. (Which she won't mind - she knows you have to make the job your own.) Of course it would be all-around easier if most women didn't expect their own personal menu because they have a strawberry allergy or desire monogrammed bed linens. On the flip side, I hear these women are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. And even Pete (the program director) told me today he loves setting up for quilt retreats. It takes every single one of us nearly a full day to do it, but it's a blast. So, in the end, I'm sure it's worth it.
Third, men want nothing. Registration? Well, don't expect them to pre-register unless their wives do it for them. They'll just show up, put their name on a list, hand you a fist full of cash and be done with it. They don't want fancy name or door tags (stickers and a marker to make a name tag while masking tape with their name on it will do to get them to the right room). In the end, all Marc wants is the money to balance in the right accounts, Aaron wants there to be enough room and Bill wants the final numbers. I think I can handle that.
Fourth, summer will be a whirlwind of events...something like Pete who is fully in charge of that. Haven't dealt a lot with what all that will be like since it's only February and the full summer brochure isn't even out. But the two hour meeting with Pete today was certainly the fullest. I have an idea of what summer is like at camp - I have lived through two of them. On the other hand, it scares me the most. I'm kind of hoping Carmen might come back for a week to hold my hand. I'm certainly hoping I won't pull out my hair or break down in tears every day. Or kill a summer staffer for messing up the office supplies in the cabinets I intend to put in order. I hear it can be a free-for-all. I wonder if Eric would consider locks...
Fifth, camp is a ministry. From facilities to the kitchen to the housekeeping to the directors of events to my job. And, honestly, I think that is going to be the biggest learning curve. For while I considered hospice to be a ministry, in that office it was a business to be run efficiently, economically and with as little room for error as possible. For over three years I've been wound tight with following laws, apologizing for problems we never had any control over but had to fix, and running a tight ship both monetarily and by federal mandate. This week I've been told to "ere on the side of generosity" and "turn a negative into a positive with a cheerful spirit". So while the different account blocks, activities and my part in all of it makes little sense right now; I feel like I've walked into a foreign country because it doesn't matter if meeting with Pete goes on for two hours, or the phone goes to voice mail, or I'm late because the snow in my driveway is up to my ears. For events will get done whether my Excel worksheet is perfect or not. Women will quilt even if I put their payment under the wrong account block and have to spend fifteen minutes finding it when things don't balance. And kids will laugh and scream with delight whether I put a wrong name on a door tag or hang it upside down. Because camp is a ministry.
And not just for those who come...but also for those who work here.
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