Hello and good morning to you!I had to double-check my day and date this morning, on both my planner and my wall calendar. I feel very thrown off this week.
After yesterday's "oddities," shall I say, its no wonder!
If I told you my coworker finding a bong on one of our ping pong tables was *not* the strangest part of the day, would you believe me?
Actually, it was the strangest part, but the whole day was silly. *G*The field trip was great, not sure why I was so worried. There were 9 HS kids and each had their own aide. The head teacher of the group is phenomenal and sweet and supportive. At one point, she asked a question about a tree, and I said something about Lauren being the tree guru and that I had big shoes to fill. She told me how amazing I was doing and that she'd pass that along to Anne (the director). It was super hot so we had them eat lunch in the main room, no point in being outside. The class was really excited about the s'more and we went to the shadier fire circle behind the main building. Another one of my coworkers was going to follow us out to build the fire- I kinda suck at that- hehe. We are all settled in around the fire circle when he radios me that the bear is in front of the main building and he is staying there to watch it. I go through the basics of fire building and have the group make a lot of noise. Then it dawns on me that if he is watching the bear, then I am making the fire.-- And I don't even have matches! Hahaha
He drives a box of matches down to us and then leaves. I am struggling to get the fire started. Lily and I went through a ton of matches just to get a little smoke. (NB: It wasn't just my awful fire-building skills, everything was damp from the rain and humidity but my fire skills sure didn't help!
)We had about 10 minutes left to go when Fu-Xin got it lit, and then we had to figure out how to get past the bear to the parking lot for the bus.
The bear wasn't in the front which was good and we sang on the top of our lungs. We saw the bear across the street from the bus being yelled at by a man whose house the bear was visiting-- I was hoping that the bear would stick by him long enough to the kids settled.
So that was the field trip.
Oh yeah-- the bong! We walked past the stream and my coworker saw it just right there on the ping-pong table. Pot is legal in NJ but our property is alcohol/smoke/vape free. Not to mention it's for kids and families!! Our camp director ran down with a bag to grab it. Now it is sitting in the office and somebody is trying to figure out where in the world they left it! And it isn't something we will post on the public Lost and Found page
Absolutely never a dull moment there. Never.
I also kinda stepped in it, me and my big mouth. Nicole (camp director/one of the FT Educators) was working on a presentation proposal for a conference we are attending in September. She was having trouble getting the proposal started and I offered to help brainstorm. We are doing great, bouncing off ideas and topics and strategies. Anne (Main Director and Trustee) turns to me and asks if I want to co-present with Nicole. Ummmm... yes (and no!). I have never even been to any sort of professional conference, let alone co-present, but what a fantastic opportunity. Even if I have an anxiety attack and pass out right before it.
As I was cooking dinner, Anne shared a Doc with me that goes over the rules and guidelines for my campers and their parents. I have 7 kids signed up, most 4 yos. I asked her to add something about making sure they can get their clothes on and off independently, if they can't tie their shoes to wear slip ons or let counselors know, and that they are capable of carrying their own water bottles. And then one of the biggest-- remind their children to pay attention to their bodies-- we have scheduled bathroom breaks but let us know in advance if they need to go before it is urgent. The last thing I want to worry about is a kid having an accident in the forest.
It's getting real!!
(So excited! Nervous, to be sure, but excited!)
But this makes me so happy to hear, that bone-crushing fatigue is depressing and awful. How amazing it must feel to be able to do things your brain knows you can do and that your body agrees!
