Hey Staffers!

one of the best parts of my job is the summer staff. honestly, maybe THE best.

24 staffers (+1 video guy) show up in mid may. some of them are returners and know exactly what they are getting themselves into. some of them are 100% new to look up and the first time they ever stepped foot on the property was their interview.

summer staff 2K12

 

 

last year we had 18 new staffers and 6 returners. this was good for me, as I was also the new kid in town whose first look up experience was my interview.

 

this year we had 7 new staffers and 17 returners. this also proved good for me.

 

in April when all hiring was made final, we had only 1 short month to wait to be reunited. the staffers most excited about each other of course. but myself most excited to see their bright and shining faces and to have 24 (whether they knew it yet or not) of my favorite people back around for 3 months.

 

 

these students are beasts during the summer. i honestly don't know that i could function on the level that they function for those 3 months. they get up, go to breakfast with their kids around 8am, go to chapel, lead an activity, go to lunch, lead group rec, work free time, go to dinner, sing and act in funapolooza, go to chapel, lead group application time, hang out with their kids, probably had meal duty once that day, likely helped some kid with a minor injury, go home and have quality time with their roommates no earlier than 10pm and get up the next day and do it again. and again and again. and when each camp session is over they clean the entire camp.

 

there are many ups and downs during the summer.

 

some weeks we all want to not be here.

 

some weeks everyone gets along seamlessly.

 

some weeks there is that one thing that happens that can make the entire summer worth it.

 

and at the end of the summer, after the end of summer dinner, they all leave. (well, a few stick around a little longer and a few others don't stay gone for very long)

 

the relationship you form with someone in one summer at camp is just different than with any other people you meet in your day to day life. so much intense time in each other's lives. you know so much about someone in these short short months but looooong days.

 

and then in mid august you go back to your regular life.

 

being a former staffer at a few different camps, i know how they feel. as if you leave a part of you with each person you met this summer. as if a part of you leaves with them.

 

the staffers (for the most part) have been gone for almost 2 weeks.

 

being the introvert that i am, i have enjoyed the peace and quiet. BUT. i would have them all back in a heart beat to share the laughs and chats that were so good this summer. and i look forward to surprise visits and planned times that they will each show up because they just can't stay away.



Dear Rory Gilmore #2

i'm not the best reader.

but i LOVE books.

the smell of a new book. the smell of an old tattered used book. the notes in the margins. the dog-eared pages of a favorite book read many times. the first bend in the spine of a fresh new book soon to become an old fave. the characters that become friends. the note about the author and small glimpse into their life on the last page.

pictured below are most of the books i am currently reading:

there are a few more books scattered throughout my life right now that are not in this picture.

i started some of these very recently and will read them quickly. and some of them i started over a year ago and will finish them eventually.

in looking at this stack of books, i find it easy to pinpoint my favorite types of writing.

#1 being memoir.
i love a book that is written like a journal. as if someone is talking to me like an old friend. i enjoy the glimpse into someone else's life that allows me to learn a lesson or to see that maybe i'm not as crazy as a i think i am and that we are not alone in this world. or maybe we are all crazy, just each a different bread. one of my absolute favorites is tuesdays with morrie.

#2 being YA fiction
i love classic YA chapter books. many of which containing familiar stories that have been retold in various ways. my favorite YA books are peter pan and bridge to terrabithia. both are about imaginary places that are full of adventure and interesting characters. sometimes i feel a little silly being an adult (for the most part) and reading kids chapter books. but i love a simple story with some imagination required too much to feel silly enough not to read them.

most other books fall into the #3 all together in no preferred order.

my new goal is to finish all of the books pictured above by 10/1/12 before beginning any new ones.

this however will be a difficult task partly because of the time it takes me to read. but also because of my love of amazon.com and used book stores. i already found myself perusing amazon.com yesterday and adding potential new reads to my cart.

i have started to chip away. since setting the goal, 3 of the books in the pile have been finished. one of which it took me a year and a half to read the first 165 pages and i read that last 180 in 24 hours.

but of all the goals to set in life, i think finishing the pile of half read books that i have acquired will be one of the more enjoyable and rewarding this year.

book art

in recent artistic endeavors i have come to thoroughly enjoy art with words on it. i dont think i have made any art in the past 3 years that didnt have some word or quote on it actually.

for a while now i have been trying to decide how to turn my favorite peter pan quote (*see below) into something to hang on my walls.

*'it would be delightful to report that they reached the nursery in time...but then there would be no story.'

i probably saw this on pinterest and cannot claim this as my original idea...

but the idea that hit me last week or so was book art.

as in, you tear up a book and turn it into a piece of art to hang on the wall.

at first, being the daughter of a librarian and the niece of an english teacher (and a few other teachers and avid readers), i couldn't bring myself to tear up the book. i thought maybe i would just keep the used copies i acquired and start a peter pan collection and become a crazy book lady as opposed to a crazy cat lady.

but then i made the first tear.

and it was actually rather satisfying to destroy a book and turn it into something else.

i should have taken pictures of the step by step process, but i get too involved in my projects to be hindered by pausing to take a picture or each step.

here are the final products:

the quote is from the live action movie, but is very similar to a sentence at the end of chapter 3 in the book. this one will hang in my tv room, where many a story is watched and told.

this is actually a quote from the movie hook. tinkerbell is talking to grown peter pan. i am going to make this into a sort of head board.

this is a going away present for my pal and coworker landon.

this is also a gift. it is for my friend kendall.

if you aren't ok with tearing up a book, you can check out this website that has a different kind of book art:

http://postertext.com/
i have been debating on purchasing the peter pan one for about a year now, but can't bring myself to spend $32 on a poster.

i am pleased with the project and look forward to such a simple gift idea for the future. so if you have a fave book and a quote from it and a birthday, let me know and maybe you will receive one of these.


even though i kind of like tearing up the books, i still might become a crazy book lady with multiple copies and editions of my favorite books...

thank you for calling look up lodge...

another part of my job involves guest services.

i would not hesitate to say that parts of this are the least fitting to my skill set in this job. but other parts fit just right.

my guest service requirements during the summer are much narrower than the school year.

during the summer (minus the occasional filling in for others) my duties are carrying the guest service after hours phone, answering the phone when the front desk is on the other line, and setting up for the leaders meetings we have at the beginning and end of each camp session.

setting up for the leaders meeting includes setting up chairs, printing and laying out evaluations, baking cookies, and filling coolers. although by this time in the summer this part of my job has gotten a little tiresome (well all parts really) this side of guest services fits me perfectly. i like order and organization and baking. and that is what this needs. it is behind the scenes and often a small place of solace from the madness that is camp.

answering the office phone can come in many shades and colors. often i just transfer someone to a voicemail box. but sometimes, people think i have all the answers. and as i usually have to disappoint them after they explain their situation and tell them, 'im sorry but i really cant answer that or help you with that, can i transfer you to [name]'s voicemail' they still just want to tell me what they need. sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's frustrating, sometimes people walk through my office and make faces at me making it really hard to concentrate on what the person on the other line is saying.

carrying the guest service phone after hours is, well, difficult, but not hard. it is difficult because from 5pm-9am i have to answer it and be in a reasonable location to help a guest in a reasonable amount of time. this means i rarely leave camp in the evenings all summer. it is not hard because it often doesn't ring and when it does, the problem are usually pretty manageable.

so what is on the other side of the guest service phone when it rings.....who knows. i think the top 3 needs are: 1. problems with the HVAC system, 2. locked out of chinquapin b1 or b2, and 3. toilets needing plunged. however this summer injuries/illnesses are creeping up the list of frequent calls. at least one a camp it seems.


although i do not see this part of my job as quite my niche, i am learning from it. and one thing i have learned is that if i am not struggling, i am not learning. and although much of my job could be done with my eyes shut and one hand tied behind my back, i need the parts that arent my niche to help me grow. (more on that in Romans 5.3-5)


those are my summer guest service responsibilities. more to come on the school year, well, during the school year.