First Week of Overnighters

Last week was my very first week of overnighters. We had campers come Wednesday and stay until Friday. I was so nervous for this group to come. First of all we get our list of campers the week before and we also get their applications. Well I only got their names. I knew they were in elementary grades but not a specific grade. I was hoping that their were really no serious problems with any of the campers. I prayed and hoped that my group would be good. Well Wednesday came, I was so nervous I couldn't even eat breakfast. I had HUGE butterflies in my stomach. Then about 9:30 my group came. I took a DEEP breath in and let it out. I was as ready as I could be. From then on it would either be smooth sailing or bumpy waters. Either way I thought I was ready. The day turned out to be good and I thought my butterflies were going away. Then I remembered that I had night duty that night.

Night duty is when I have watch the campers in their cabin. We have alarms so they can not go out the door. My butterflies came swooping back! The staff who has night duty usually gets 30 minutes break. I didn't get my break. I only had enough time to hurry back to my room and change into some comfy clothes. By the time I got back to the cabin almost everyone was sleeping. The teachers that came with them got them all ready for bed and put them to bed. I did have some campers who wanted to talk but I laid down the rules. I had a very cute camper who was in kindergarden and couldn't sleep. I told him a bedtime story and left some lights on, so he could sleep. By 10:30 that night everybody was fast asleep! I was so shocked and happy. I stayed awaked until midnight and then slept for a little bit. I woke up off and on the check on everybody. Thursday and Friday went great! My campers were amazing! I did feel bad because we couldn't do some things due to the rain. They did have fun though. Friday we were suppose to get off earlier then 4:00 but we had to clean the cabins, look at our schedule for this week, and we talked about last week. I am now ready for this week. We have two overnights this week. Our first one is Monday through Tuesday then our second one is Wednesday through Friday. After that I am doing respite weekend. So I am basically working Monday through Sunday! It really doesn't bother me. I am really pumped for this week. I know it will be long and tiring but the aftermath is my reward. To see the campers leave with a smile on their faces and not wanting to leave, that is worth not getting that much sleep.

Last week was good and bad. On Tuesday afternoon a friend and co-worker of mine went to the hospital. Her right side was in pain. The doctor told her she needed to have her appendix out. We took her to Cedar Rapids, IA (that is a 30 minute drive from here) to the hospital so she could have surgery. Her surgery started about 8:30 that night. We waited for her surgery to be over, to see her. While she was in surgery we went out to eat. The food was really good. When we went back to see her, we stayed talking to her until 12:30 am. We didn't get home until 1:30 am. Then to make this week bad, starting Thursday two other friends of mine were sick. They went to the doctors and came back with a spastic colon. In one week we had a girl that had her appendix taken out and two girls with colon problems. We were all scared that swine flu hit the camp. I didn't want to get sick. I helped them out as much as possible but just in case they had something catchable I put distance between us.

Today we had a going away party for our Travel Director. He and his wife our moving to Wyoming. He had a job offer from a park. I told them that they are closer to my house and they invited me to come and visit whenever I can. I told everyone that they can come home with me to go visit them. Next week on Mother's Day we have a baby shower for a co-worker. This is her first baby and the baby is due in June. Summer traing starts May 17th at 1:00 pm and goes till Friday at 4:00 pm. Then summer season starts May 25th. I am excited but nervous at the same time. I will be starting off as a program staff May 17th. I will not be able to go home until August. Then in August I am going to Las Vegas with a friend to celebrate our 25th birthday. I am also thinking about going to Alaska with the camp. Then comes December and I will be off for a month. Then back for two more seasons and see what happens next.