Happy Tuesday everybody! Life here at the Ranch is pretty good. No complaints. Except I kind of had a nasty fall yesterday. It's a little hard to explain.....but here I go. There's this thing called the pendulum where you hook your kids up in a harness, pull them up really high, and then let them go...and then they swing...like a pendulum. It's fun. Anywho, whenever a kid is pulled up really high, someone on the ground pulls a string that lets them go, and yesterday, that was my job. You go, "One!..Two!...Three!" and pull, and the kid flies. Or if its a brave kid, you might pull on two or something, to catch them off guard. ANYwho, I was doing it yesterday, and I got to three, and pulled.....and nothing happened. So I kept pulling, "Four!...Five!...Six!" and still nothing. And the girl is just sitting there, like 20 feet above our heads, hanging in her harness. So I grab the rope, and, using all my strength, lifting myself off the ground, I pull. And it works. So the rope I'm pulling is no longer attached to the girl 20 feet up in the air. So I fall, landing on my back on the wood platform I was standing on. It hurt a lot, and I bruised my bum pretty bad, and scrapped up my right elbow nicely. What was cool though, is that as soon as I stood up, as my eyes were tearing up, about 19 girls gather around me and hug me and ask if I'm ok. It was so cool!

But it really hurt. And let me just say that you shoudn't go down a waterslide if you have a big bruise on your butt. It's just not a good idea.


So after my campers left today, I went to Mineola and grabbed a bite at East Texas Burger Co., "the oldest eatin' in Mineola," because everyone here at the ranch raves about their burgers. And yes, I enjoyed a rather tasty cheeseburger with spicy waffle fries. And afterwards, whilst driving around Mineola (which is a really cute town, by the way), I encountered Laura Drive! How sweet is that? But wait, it gets sweeter. After we passed Laura Drive, we passed Nancy Street (or drive or way, I don't really remember), and in case you don't know, Nancy is my mom's name. So I got pretty excited.

Other than that, today has been really good in that I got to spend a lot of time by myself, doing what I wanna do. I went to Starbucks for about 1 1/2 hours and just read and journaled, and went to Target and Barnes & Nobles, just whatever I pleased. It was refreshing.

Two more weeks.

I have Rascal Flatts in my head.

happy selah

I like coffee, I'm just going to put that out there.

I just finished a cup of it, and I am very satisfied. I am thankful Sky Ranch provides coffee in the mornings. Sometimes, as I'm going to sleep at night, I look forward to the cup of coffee I'll have with my waffles/french toast/biscuits and gravy/bagel sandwhich/whatever in the morning. And usually a little bit of cereal. I think I just love breakfast altogether.

Selah ( Hebrew: סלה) meaning "pause, reflection", within the context of a prayer or psalms, is similar in purpose to Amen in that it stresses the importance of the preceding passage.
In this way, Selah is thought to imply that one should pause and reflect on what has been said. Alternatively, Selah may be a musical notation (thus explaining its use throughout Psalms) or may mean "forever", as it does in some places in the liturgy (notably the penultimate blessing of the Amidah).

Every week, us counselors get a predetermined "Selah" day. I wasn't clear on what the word Selah meant, so I did some research (thank you Wikipedia). Now I know, and so do you. Oh, and my Selah day is today.

I'm in the mood for some pictures, aren't you?


So this was at TGI Fridays on my last evening at Baylor. It was a Sunday night, and I was to leave the next day after my last final, Religion. The people that you see sitting at that table are now all over the world - Paris, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Sky Ranch, Dallas, possibly Egypt. Hopefully next semester we can pick up right where we left off.

Ok, one more.


I just really like that picture of Jiye and me, also taken on my last night. It's right outside of a Collins' stairwell. And that Minnie Mouse watch I'm wearing (yeah, I know you can't tell its Minnie Mouse, but just trust me on this one.)? I got it at Disney World last May, after graduation. Yeah, I've been wearing it a whole year (I'm wearing it right now actually) I never hang onto watches that long. They usually break or I get tired of them or something. So that was thirteen dollars well spent.

Man guys, I really have a good life. And also, I just realized that Swizterland is a really funny word.


And all I intended to talk about in this post was coffee.

Hey, I just thought I'd drop in and say that I love my cabin of girls this week. This group will definitely be one of my favorites.

And want to know what makes my day? Letters. No, this isn't a plug for you to send me letters (although, if you look in my previous posts, you can find the address to send letters to me. Just if your curious.) I just got a letter today from a girl in my cabin the first week of camp (this is the fourth week) and it has made my day. Or at least my afternoon (because days are long here). It's fun to here from them. I want to try to keep up relationships with some of my girls throughout the year. I hope i can do that.

And I have a question. What is the difference between Coke Zero and Diet Coke? I can't figure it out.

french toast

I had the privlege of eating French toast this morning without the aid of my hands. And then I ate my cereal with my fingers. It was grrreat.

I don't really have much else to say. Except I'm coming home tomorrow, just for the night. You know, Father's Day and such. I'm looking forward to it. But when I get there, I'll probably be looking forward to coming back, because even on my Selah days (which are my off days) and I get antsy to be back with my girls again. But I'm looking forward to my bed and bathroom. And wearing something other than shorts and tshirts. And seeing my family. Good stuff.

I'm in the correct time zone now. Yay! Thanks John.

I think it's funny how, in a parallel universe, if I was at home right now at this time, I would probably just be getting up and starting my day. But here, I've already done so much. Like cleaning our cabin and breakfast and waterslides and party pool and right now my cabin is at the team wall. It's going to be weird when I go home in 3 1/2 weeks and I can sleep till whenever I want (oh yes) and I won't have wake up a cabin of 22 thirteen year old girls and make them clean and I won't have a strict schedule to adhere to and a big backpack to carry around. I mean, I'm having fun here (usually), don't get me wrong, it'll just be different.

After this week, I will be half way done with being a counselor. I'll have had 3 weeks with kids and I will have 3 weeks left.

I want to stop thinking like that though. I just want to live one day at a time. One activity at a time. One minute at a time. One little girl at a time. Or I will get overwhelmed.

I've not been playing my guitar as much and my callouses (sp?) are starting to peel off. That makes me sad. My voice is back though. I'll have coughing fits every once and awhile, but other than that I'm gravy.

Oh, and I'm reading Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis.

And does anyone know how to change the time zone on this thing? It's really 11, not 9.

kind of awkward

It's kind of awkward when there are only two people in the counselor's lounge and they don't know each other and it's silent. Like right now. Kind of awkward. What's awkward about it is that they don't aknowledge each other's presence. I said hi when he walked in, but that's about it. Now we're both just sitting here, staring at our computers.

Ok, someone else just walked in. And someone else. And they're talking about basketball. I think I'll just go sit somewhere and read.

I feel so refreshed. I'm ready for Week 3. Bring it on.

Man, what a rollercoaster this is. There are some moments, like yesterday evening, when I just feel so exhausted and sick and alone, and I just wanted to go home and get a hug from my mom, and there are other moments, like right now, when I'm in love with all of my campers (not in a creepy way) and am soaking up every drop of God that he gives me, and I wouldn't rather be anywhere else. A rollercoaster, I tell ya.

I think I should just mention that last night, my cabin, Carmichael (C-Mike, if you will) won the Keep-Your-Counselor-Clean game. I couldn't have been prouder. We were all covered in syrup and flour and mustard and ketchup and chocolate and dirt, but were we so PUMPED! Because we're basically amazing.

I have all our cheers in my head, playing over and over and over again. Like...

Back! Back! Back! Back!
What?!
Gimme fifty feet!
Don't try to mess with C-Mike
Cause you know we got you beat!

I think it's a variation of some rap song I don't know. And then there's...

Carmichael
Always and forever
If you think you're better
Ch Ch
Whatever
Ch Ch
Whatever


..In other news. I think you should know that "a New York man has been charged with second-degree assault after he hit his mother with a bottle opener following a heated argument over American Idol."

a new week

A fresh batch of campers arrived yesterday. They are all a year younger than last week's campers (they are Sky 3, not Sky 4, if that means anything to you). I like them all so far. I encountered one attitude problem today, but nothing major.

I just got done doing the Zip Lines. I love doing activities like that, ones that are scarey for some campers. I like it because then you get to encourage them and see how much fun they end up having once they get past their fear. It's so cool!

I'm still kind of sick. That's not really fun. It was the worst yesterday morning, before the campers came. I just felt so exhausted and weak and I couldn't barely talk, and I wanted to be able to give my new campers 100% and make them feel happy and at home, but I just felt so sick. I feel a little better, but no where near 100%. But I'll push through.

and so ends the first week of camp

And it was a good week. A little exhausting, got a little sick, got a little too much unwanted shaving cream sprayed on me, but all in all, it was good.

I saw X-men 3 this afternoon. I have to admit, I was a little disapointed in it. I ate a hamburger at Cheddars that I was not disappointed in. My throat is scratchy, I have access to only a little of my voice, and my nose is running; in that I am disappointed. Life is rough. But I get to sleep in til 11 tomorrow. In that I am not disappointed.

I'm gonna go blow my nose.

I've really gotten to know this group of girls this week and really like them, and it's weird to think that they're going to leave soon and there will be a fresh new batch next week. And then the next week and the next.

I found myself getting a little bit homesick today. I just craved a person that really knew me, and that I didn't just meet a few weeks ago. But on that note, it's been really cool getting to meet people here. I've really grown a lot since high school, I think, in that I've been forced to get out of my shell and meet people and such. Like first at Baylor and now here. I still have my bouts of shyness now and then, and that's ok, though kind of annoying.

So, apparently Batwoman is a lesbian.