Week 2 of Camp

July 11^th, 2011. Can you believe it's actually the 11^th? Time is passing so quickly! It seems like we should still be in the first week of camp. :-) But no, we have a brand-new group of kids and I have a different person with me in music. Yes, I'm not alone as I had feared. Molly Fogarty was assigned to music and we are having a blast. Molly and I met last year when she was still a camper and immediately liked each other. Not only does she had the most awesome talent as a guitarist and singer/songwriter, she is also an amazing person. The kids like her. I like her. :-) :-) Can you tell I'm thrilled??

Yesterday when I got back to camp, Seth mentioned that he wasn't feeling well. Sore throat and all that. I gave him some oregano oil, ginseng and zinc. It doesn't seem to be helping. He woke up still feeling really sick and had to spend a good portion of the morning resting. The oregano oil I gave him is usually really strong and costs $20 for a small jar. I tasted some of the new bottle I got and was a little disgusted because it was so weak. Honestly. When you pay money like that, you really would like it to be good quality. ::sigh:: If it was as strong as it usually is, perhaps it would actually be helping. Blah. Anyways, Seth, Brianna and Daniele are all coughing and not feeling well. I have just a touch of a sore throat but I'm trying to dose myself. I really hope to avoid getting sick this year. Last year I got something and it hung on for about two weeks. I completely lost my voice and the girls had to sing for me. Lol. Ah, the joys of camp.

And it is fun. :-) So far, all of the groups have basically cooperated and, more importantly, enjoyed themselves to a certain extent. We have three rules for Castle Musick: 1 – Have fun. 2 – Participate. 3 – Stand while singing. Our schedule ran like this today: 9:00 – group 1. 9:45 – group 7. 10:30 – group 6. 11:15: group 5. Lunch at Noon. 1:00 – group 4. 1:45 – group 3. 2:30 – group 2. The first day, you really do sing for 45 minutes for each group because everyone is learning about the songs, what you expect from them and about each other. The firs day is definitely hardest in some ways. They like to test you and see if you're a liar or not. They like to see how far they can push their group buddies. Lol. The girls like to flirt with the boys and be all shy. ;-)

The activities this year are: art, music, swimming, catechism, survivor, sports and woodworking. Added to that are three meals, canteen, cabin clean-up, horse back riding, golf, waterslides, mass, free time, canoeing, etc, etc. As counselors, we try to keep the kids busy all day long, from 7:45 am to 10:00 pm. Usually we are up an hour later than that with prayers and winding down.

Highlights from the evening of the 10^th and so far today:

     meeting the kids when they arrived at camp. Familiar faces! New faces! Really exciting.

           going into the pool for the first time: yes!!

       Listening to Morgan (10) play Fur Elise, which he taught to himself. Impressive. 

          Hearing how one of the boys threw up, then went back into the Mess Hall and asked for cake.

     Eating the best birthday cake I've ever had.

     Listening to my boys regale us with tales about the camp director made them behave last night when they were being wild and boy-like.

     Playing music and singing with Molly.

July 12^th, 2011

Me: Jordan, you need to sing.
Jordan (12 yr. Old boy): I was singing.

Me: Nope. You were talking.

Jordan: Johnny Cash talked sang and he was famous.

Molly: And Johnny Cash... is dead.

Lol!

I feel like a new person. :-) Yesterday, I spent most of the day feeling sick. It seems that I had gotten a flu/cold combination. I dosed up really well and never threw up but I had no energy. Even with a rest between sessions and supper, by the time 8 pm had rolled around, I went to my room and crashed. Today, I woke up before my alarm rang and have been full of energy for most of the day. Tonight, I went in the pool with the kids and had lots of fun for a little over an hour, then went and had my shower. I still feel like I have lots of energy so I can join the hug crew tonight.

Seth and Daniele are both feeling much better, as well. It's good to have everyone back. :-) Stirling is sick now but he seems to not be feeling so badly. A couple of my boys have been sick (they probably picked something up from me!) but they both seem to be on the mend as well.

Today, the singing went so well. The kids sang and had fun and asked for extra songs to sing. I am so happy. :-) Molly and I make a good team. We both love music and we both sing our hearts out. We're both adore kids and at the same time, are firm with them. It makes for a great partnership. Doing music class feels really natural with Molly involved.

Some valuable lessons have been thrown into my lap the past couple of days. The most important one is that no act of love ever goes without notice. Someone sees, someone feels, someone appreciates, someone thinks. So, dear self, whenever you are feeling anxious and perhaps irritated at a child who seems to think his sole purpose in life is to make your existence miserable, don't give in to the pressure. The easy path is to snap at him or her and try to make them feel as annoyed as you feel. Lol. The hard path... well, it is referred to as the hard path for a reason. ;-)

Well, it's time for campfire, I think. Goodnight. I hope you're having as great of a month as I am having! Remind me to tell you about the other lesson .... namely, the one in which I have to take to heart the words of a song... “please swallow your pride... if I have something you need to borrow... lean on me...”