Mile Markers

Well, since I haven’t gotten around to blogging but once this week, I guess that means I’ve been very busy. Oddly, it has seemed like a busier week. But it may seem that way for a couple of reasons. First, we have campers all week long. Our first junior high group doesn’t leave until tomorrow. Second, my usual weekly schedule has been thrown off a bit because we don’t have regular camp next week. Instead we have Family Camp. Which means there are several things I don’t have to do…but then there are other things I do.

Of course, work is going to get busier. The fliers for the two autumn women retreats went out late last week. Already, we’ve got twenty or thirty back with phone calls and e-mails asking if there is still space. Apparently, not only do these fill but there are always waiting lists. It also means I have to start thinking about them.

And the quilt brochures for the fall go out next week. Before the month is out, I’ll have piles of them on my desk. But just as we’ve been trying to streamline summer, we’re going to see what we can do to streamline quilt a bit. Lisa is open to ideas and since everything is new to me anyhow, we may as well get a little wild!

But with the end of this month comes some mile markers. For one, we are 1/3 of the way through the summer. We have six camps left for kids and will finish off the summer with a family camp, a week break and then a family camp weekend. It’s almost hard to believe I will soon have more camps put away in manila envelopes under my desk than binders full of registrations above it.

And I have only three summer mailings left to do. When I started nearly two months ago sending out letters to campers who would be arriving when (we hoped!) the snow would finally disappear, it seemed like I’d be working on them all summer long. But I’ll be done before July is up. And then I almost wonder what I’ll do with my extra time!

Not only that, but we seem to have started on a successful path of streamlining standard registration on registration day. We set a record this past Sunday of having our money reconciled, every camper present and canteen cards in the canteen before 7 pm. There were a few bumps, but it appears to be going really well!

I’m starting to wonder if we can’t do the same thing for Quilt. Marc and I are meeting with our database guy on Monday to see what he can tell us. And then I’ve got some ideas simmering in the back of my head that might also work. We probably won’t be on the cutting edge this fall (although we have five weeks of quilt retreat to make the attempt), but by next spring we could even have registration on line! We are talking of putting Women’s Retreat, Men’s Retreat and Dads ‘n Daughters online.

Camp Lebanon: Welcome to the 21^st Century!

Super Kids = Super Fun

One would think that registration day would be the most chaotic day of camp. After all, nearly 200 kids (plus another 50 or so junior staff) are arriving at once, trying to find their cabins, handing us money for the canteen, making sure the nurses understand that their child has a disease unlike any other child, putting mail in buckets for the week and trying to avoid playing bumper cars in the parking lots. But on that day, everyone has a place. And while I get hundreds of questions addressed to me, I don’t get them all at once on the walkie, phone and face-to-face. Thus far, they’ve been spread out.

On closing day, I have to be no where except the office. I honestly don’t know how chaotic it looks outside my office – I only know if it’s as awful as inside, I’d want to find a place to hide. First, no matter what time we end a camp session, the phone will ring off the hook as soon as closing assembly is over. And only 1 out of every 5 calls has anything to do with the kids we’re saying good-bye to.

Not only can I not answer 3 phone lines at once, I most certainly cannot do that and talk on my walkie. I try to keep it low so not to disturb the people attempting to get my attention in the office. However, my name is sure to resound every other minute. I have learned that parents have a bad habit of putting everyone (neighbor three doors down, ex-boyfriend from college, second cousin five times removed) on the list of people allowed to pick up their child and not putting themselves on there. Since we require a photo ID and signature from a person on that list, we’ve had a few perturbed parents over the last couple of weeks. If this happens (and it does at least three to five times), I have to okay the person signing in the office. Thus the calls from counselors. Or, even, personal visits.

I also get to be the number one person with whom you can file complaints. Or dispute canteen refunds. Or ask about missing teddy bears. Or babysit if the child isn’t picked up by staff meeting. (The latter I don’t mind at all.) To add to all this, the junior staff (who are anywhere from 13 to 17 years of age) swarm into my office as soon as the closing rally is over.  Their purpose is five-fold: pick up the cell phone we confiscate (and some of them really hate that), get their own canteen refund, turn in tax forms and identification for their paychecks (which they’ve had all week to do but haven’t), find out where they and the others will be next week, and then gossip/complain about it. To be honest, I think they’re scared of me. But for some reason, that doesn’t stop their griping about any number of things. Or making my desk public property.

And then comes 12:30…and camp becomes silent. The kids are all gone. So are the junior staff. The summer staff have a meeting and then clean up camp before they leave. I take a deep breath and finally get something done. And, honestly, I’ve enjoyed it.

Last week was Super Kids 1. Those are the kids ages nine to twelve. This week the girls outnumbered the boys nearly two to one. They’re not as cute or naïve as Adventurers, but they’re a fun group of kids. Next week will be a bigger change: Junior High 1 and only 110 kids.

But God is so good and His timing is so perfect. Last night, after the Super Kids left, we got hit by a major storm front. No tornado, but it looked like one this morning. I woke up many times, wondering if the siren would go off and trying to figure out what to take to my bathtub with me as wind whipped around my apartment, the heavens thundered, and rain poured down in a deluge. I’ll admit, it was scary. Thankfully, we didn’t have any kids at camp for counselors to keep calm.

This morning, trees had been uprooted and thrown across lawns. Hard wood trees lost heavy branches or even split in half, taking down more trees as they tumbled to the earth. Branches, leaves and shingles were scattered across the roads. Some towns are still without electricity. At camp, we had a lighter tree land on one of our larger buildings, but it didn’t do any damage. We had a huge tree come down just in front of two cabins (one of which was occupied last night). Praise God we have no damage to buildings, but it is going to take some time to get that tree moved and Phil has made the cabins off limits until he moves it. But with only 110 kids this week, we weren’t using all the cabins anyhow.  The timing couldn’t be better!

So, it all starts again on Sunday. Another registration day. Followed by a week of preparing for the next several weeks, and now we’re even starting to talk fall events and getting mailings ready for them. And then closing day. Truly, never a dull moment!

Dads

Somebody once remarked that isn’t it interesting how on Mother’s Day pastors stand in the pulpits, bless the mothers of their congregation, encourage them from one end of the sermon to the other and – maybe – throw in a word of counsel. On Father’s Day, however, the dads are thanked for what they do and then told how they can do it better. In a way, those differences exemplify how we view our parents differently. When I think of my mom, I do think of all the sacrifices she has made (and still does) for me and how much I want to be like her. When I think of my dad, the first things that come to mind all have to do with fun.

Like casting fishing poles from the front porch. When I was learning to fish, we would sit out on the front porch of my great-grandfather’s little house in Tennessee (where we lived for several months) and practice casting into the yard. I caught a lot of grass.

Or wrestling. Dad taught me the proper way to wrestle: shoulders have to be down on the ground before the count begins and you shout, “One! Two! Three! Four!”; throw up your hands in the air and declare, “I’m the winner!” Come to think of it, wrestling was the one game I could be the winner in (not that it was ever honest when you’re a tiny toddler). Every other game started with one important rule which was recited before the game began: Daddy always wins.

Or swimming. Thanks to Dad, I was jumping off diving boards at the age of two and dog-paddling to the side with him nearby just in case. Unlike other little girls who are scared of water at their first swim class, I wondered why we couldn’t jump off the diving board into twelve feet of water versus standing in two feet of water waving our arms around. And just as much fun was getting thrown into the water by Dad.

Or going on visitation. At our church in Tennessee, the men did visitations to people’s houses once or twice a month. Most of the time these were people who had visited the church, or stopped coming, or a friend had given us their names. The purpose of the visit was to encourage, see how they were doing and, of course, share the gospel. Katey and I got to switch off weeks. I loved it when it was my turn. I like doing visitations, especially if the family had kids. And especially if we went to Hardees for soft-serve chocolate ice cream afterwards.

Dad taught me to ride a bike, paddle a canoe and drive a stick-shift car (that was not all fun). He threw balls around with me, (ever claiming, “You throw just like a girl!”), assisted on my softball teams and even taught me how to throw a football although my hand will never be large enough to get around the thing. He took us swimming, threw napkins with us at dinner, and cheated me out of M&M’s when he thought I was too young to know what he was up to. Dad is fun.

And I’m glad. If the Lord ever gives me children, I hope they can say about their dad that he tickled them, let them ride on his back and tossed balls around. But most important of all, my dad has taught me some of the most valuable lessons of my life. Because of him, today I know how to manage money as a good steward (although I no longer keep my tithe, savings and spending money in three separate piggy banks). He read to me Bible stories from the time I was too young to remember, but to this day I can match those stories in the Bible with the pictures that were in my book. He taught me how important it is to memorize Scripture, serve others, be in a local church and ask God for wisdom.

There isn’t a Proverbs 31 for men, but if there was that would be my dad. And I am very grateful the Lord has given him to me.

The "Adventurers" is Over!

I missed the initial invasion on Sunday of 178 kids ages 5 to 9. But I arrived at work Monday morning to hear them laughing, and screaming, and running about as they headed to breakfast…and then cabin clean up…and then morning games…and then lunch. This was followed by a break for rest period, but it wasn’t very long before the laughing, and screaming, and running about started all over again with afternoon games…free time…canteen…dinner…and then I went home!

It all ended yesterday. Since they’re younger, we only have them here until Wednesday. It started with breakfast and clean up as usual, but it ended with a closing rally, picnic lunch and lots of playtime before camp cleared of kids. Settling everything back down took until the end of the day. And when I arrived at work this morning, the place was like a tomb. No screams. No laughing. No hundreds of kids and staff running all over the place. The day has crept by at an alarmingly slow pace… Remind me yet again of how full and wonderful life is with kids – and how dull and boring it is without them!

I’m not sure what the kids would qualify as highlights of their week, but I have a few to share:

• A little girl running up to Pete at breakfast Tuesday morning and proclaiming to him that she is now a Christian!
• Three or four little boys running in the woods near my office window, one of them shouting, “We have to stay together, boys! We have to stay together!”
• Kellen (one of the summer staff) duct-taped to a wall. (She was being “gift wrapped” as part of carnival.)
• Two counselors marching from breakfast back to their cabin with their nine little boys lined up between them, shouting as they marched “Hup-two-three-four! Hup-two-three-four!”
• Hudson locking himself in the bathroom. (Okay, that was not really a part of camp. Hudson is Aaron’s adorable 2-year-old who was here Wednesday morning who first simply locked the bathroom door so Aaron had him help jimmy it open with a credit card and then he locked himself inside…)

It’s going to be a fun summer, even if I don’t get out much to actually be with the kids. Just hearing them and seeing them brings joy to my heart. I’m going to hate it when it’s over!

Weddings!!!!

I think it’s safe to say it was an exhausting whirlwind of a weekend. For when I got home I slept a grand total of 12 hours between 1:30 and 6:30 the next morning when I got up. Not only that, but I can hardly remember driving home. I just know I did, and – praise God! – safely!

I headed to Boston Thursday morning. It was more than 12 hours of travel that day between my car, two airplanes, a bus, the subway and a commuter rail. Now I’ve been on the T in Boston many times, so the whole process wasn’t completely foreign. Doing it from the airport with luggage was different. But I arrived safely, got picked up, grabbed a bite to eat and got into bed about 10:30. Not bad, except it was a new place and a new bed and I couldn’t sleep. So, not only did I start out the weekend with two 12-hour work days behind me, I got only four hours of sleep!

The rehearsal was quite smooth. Anna knew what she wanted and we were done within an hour or so. The rehearsal dinner was a bit long. It was at a very nice restaurant and we had lots of food. People gave toasts. The groom’s party discussed Star Wars. I can’t remember everything we girls chatted about. Then we headed back to Gordon Conwell (the seminary Anna and her new husband David attend).

For a “bachelorette” party, we sat out in a glassed-in room of one of the buildings and painted on canvas. Since it was the first time I had ever done such a thing, my rainbow looked like a picture a 3^rd grader would do. Then we joined the guys (who had been at a shooting range – how come we couldn’t do that?) for dinner. We couldn’t get into the hall where the reception was going to be until 10. (For some reason the donors of the college are more important than we.) So, it was a late night…followed by an early morning.

In all honesty, I think everything went very smoothly. We bridesmaids were ready by 9:15. We drove to the church where Anna finished getting ready. Then we had pictures. The weather cleared beautifully so we could walk Anna outside and around the church to walk the aisle. I didn’t have butterflies in my stomach at all, but I knew no one was looking at me anyhow. And I was too busy trying not to cry. I didn’t manage that, although I held most of the tears back from rolling down my cheeks. This was accomplished by looking at the floor a lot. Anna was a beautiful bride. The service was quite long (Anglican!), but we all remained standing for the full hour and fifteen minutes. More pictures. And then the reception!

The reception was quite nice – good food and dancing (which I didn’t do). Didn’t cry at all there but laughed hilariously when Anna’s grandfather sat down with a plate full of all four different kinds of pies being served (this was after he already had a slice of cake!). He concluded they were all equally good. We saw the bride and groom off about five o’clock, cleaned up and collapsed at their new apartment on campus about 8:00. I guess we bridesmaids hadn’t had enough of weddings because we watched 27 Dresses. Truthfully, we just wanted to watch something that was more-or-less pointless.

The next morning I was up at 4 to catch my flight back to Minnesota. Hence the twelve hours of sleep later. But it was a good trip. I’ve just re-reached my conclusion that there has got to be a way to have a wedding and get married without falling over from exhaustion when it’s all over. Right?

Busy, Busy, Busy

I barely have time to write this, but I'm waiting for Pete to send me a list so I can finish up cabins, run a million and one reports and then go home, pack and fall exhausted into bed. WELCOME SUMMER!!!

Well, sort of. It's somewhere below 60 and raining today, but I'm beginning to think that's what summer looks like in Minnesota. I will say the lilacs are GORGEOUS!!!!! Haven't seen any in four years and I feel as  if I'm in heaven with them all!

But as far as the office goes, it is beginning to look a lot like summer. Staff is all here, running themselves ragged because they're college students who seem to believe they don't have to sleep...which has caused at least one large conflict. On Sunday nearly 180 first to fourth graders arrive! Thus the million and one reports, and cabins, and all that stuff. Which I have to stay to run as long as it takes tonight. Why? Well, I'm flying to Boston tomorrow to be in a wedding on Saturday. Not great timing, but at least I'll fit in with the staff when I get back: no sleep and exhausted!

Typically these hundreds of reports will get run on Saturday evenings and finalized on Sundays before check-in starts at 4. This week, everything gets run this evening and poor Andrea will make changes by hand with last minute stuff. Which means we have a lot to get in order tonight. Funny, but she's left confident she can spearhead check-in than I am and she was here all last summer. But I've learned one thing in life: look and sound confident. Even if you've no clue what you're doing!

So, now I shall check my e-mail and see if I can't get started...