Summer begins on Catalina

I'm back on Catalina again. After two glorious weeks on the mainland - one lazing away and one working on summer camp prep and my tan, I've come back to the island. This time, I am in Two Harbors.

It was an adventure to make the boat...again. If this becomes a theme, I'm going to have to punch something. Because I refuse to run for another boat. Not my fault this time either...Chad didn't leave enough time for us to park our cars and get picked up. It ended up working out alright, because Tiffany and Kim just parked our cars, but it definitely was not worth the stress.

Anyway, here I am, back on Catalina. And Tuesday night was not a good night. I thought that 2 1/2 weeks would be enough to cure island fever. It wasn't.

Let me just say that I've never been a huge fan of camping. I mean, you sleep in a bag. You wake up feeling weirdly damp. You feel grimy all the time. I don't even like camping for 2 DAYS. How am I supposed to make it 2 MONTHS?!?!

Positive: I'm not in what we could strictly call a tent. It's more of a "tent cabin."
Negative: I'm not in the same one every week, and sometimes they are all rented out so we need to haul all our stuff 15 minutes down the road to Little Harbor.
Negative: The showers cost money. $.50 for 90 seconds. I can barely shampoo in 90 seconds. Plus, half of that time gets taken up waiting for the water to warm up. Also, they are all the way down a giant hill in town. By the time I get back up the hill I'm sweaty and dirty again. And, they don't really schedule much time for us to take showers...so I wore a bandanna today to cover my dirty hair.
Negative: The closest bathroom to our "tent cabin" is a set of porta-potties that haven't been cleaned since 1927.
Negative: They don't feed us on the weekend. Sure, they give us a stipend for showers, laundry and weekend food, but we have almost no way to cook things. Certainly no oven. Ryan and Julia graciously gave up their microwave to us. But the finer things in life (like creme brulee) will have to wait until I get an oven again. Hopefully September.
Postive: The giant hike up the giant hill helps work off some of the calories we get from eating fried foods catered by the restaurant. But only some. I'm going to need to detox when I leave this place.

Needless to say, I was a little depressed after getting off the boat on Tuesday. But a weekend in Emerald Bay with my lovely ladies Cari and Mel helped a lot. Plus, Jen comes this weekend!! So I get to spend the 4th with family. :) And Harry Potter comes out soon and I'm going to see it at midnight! Super excited. And then it's my birthday and July's almost gone. Happy thoughts. I just need to keep thinking happy thoughts. :)

The Cure for Island Fever

This past week has been a much needed week off the island. After being stuck on the island for almost two months straight, a week of sleep and pampering is definitely what I needed.

May was a bit of a crazy month - lots of children running everywhere...and some emotional drama among the staff as well. I think we all needed a break.

I ended the spring season with a group of pretty adorable sixth graders...my own group! I took them kayaking and snorkeling and taught them about nudibranchs and operculums. :) I had a FULL day last Thursday as I started with their inspiration time at 8 in the morning and finished with skit night around 9 at night. And, no...I didn't have any breaks in there. (Maybe a little time after dinner...but it was pretty much go go go.) In the midst of the insanity, I also had to pack up my life as I will be moving to Two Harbors for the summer. Of course I waited until Friday morning - but I got everything together with plenty of time to spare. And I swear my suitcase shrunk. I don't know how I managed to fit everything back inside, but I was really afraid of the suitcase breaking.

Throughout the last week or two of camp I also took on some heavy competition with several different games of Nerts. If you don't know what Nerts is...well, you really should learn. Basically, it's communal solitaire - but you are racing against the rest of the players trying to get to 100 points. Super fun. But apparently during May I gained the reputation as the person to beat. I also was accused of cheating. (Not true - I'm just that good.) :) Anyway - one of the boy scout employees - Hoover - challenged me to join the game. And let me just say - he's not better than me - we were always neck and neck for each game and he would get lucky and squeeze ahead the last round. Anyway, the night before we left camp, Hoover and Dennis told me I needed some Nerts therapy and we played one final game. I'll spare you all the details, but the second to last round I had 98 and he had 99...and we laid the same amount of cards down the last round...so he beat me again...by ONE. So upsetting!!! But it was fun. Anyway - here's a picture of us getting ready to play a round with our "game faces" on.

So, apart from the Nerts therapy, a night spent dancing in Two Harbors, a few hilarious YouTube videos and some Sour Patch Kids to go with them, I've spent the last week off the island. And it has been a GLORIOUS week. I got to spend an afternoon with my dear friend Chris down in Fullerton - catching up on life since January. I've eaten Thai and Indian cuisine, plus an amazing In-N-Out burger/Neapolitan shake. I've seen X-Men First Class, Pirates 4, and Super 8. I got accepted into Fuller Theological Seminary! Yay. And I've gotten an hour long massage and a pedicure. Can you think of a better way to spend a week? Because I can't. Island Fever got its butt kicked this week. For realzies. 

As for this next week, I will still be off the island, but probably working in Cabrillo for the week. Which kinda sucks because I probably won't get to shower for the week - just wash my hair in the sink. But we'll see - I might just take the first half of the week off...

Anyway - I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend. Love you all!

I'm not a poser!! I am a certified lifeguard. :) 

Headed out dancing. I LOVE this girl. 

The Month of May(hem)...

So, I began thinking about writing this post at the beginning of the month...and haven't had time to sit down and write in awhile. It's been awhile since I've posted, so I'll do my best to fill in the last month.

After I had my weekend of trials and tribulations, I was back on the island, and I haven't left since. By the way, island fever is a real thing...and I've got a touch of it. I haven't been off the island in a month and I miss civilization. There's really no place to escape here - you are stuck in one place almost all the time.

It's been so long since I posted that I'm having a hard time remembering what has happened in the last month. Camp is camp...and I haven't been teaching much, which is partly fine but partly sucks with me being in the office allllll day every day. I do have a new form of transportation though. I'll post a picture soon, but I have a purple  electric bicycle/moped sort of thing that I ride to the office a few days a week. We have decided to name it Nudibranch. If you don't know what a nudibranch is, look it up. They have to be some of the coolest things ever.

I also caught a halibut one weekend. Totally made life AMAZING! It was a weekend where I didn't know what to do with myself, so I went to say hi to Cari (aquarium intern) and ended up getting to go shark fishing! I didn't catch a shark, but a halibut nommed on my squid, and I reeled him in. :) His name is Lenny and he now lives in the Rocky Reef tank in the aquarium.

Easter went by quickly, and it definitely didn't feel like Easter. Although I did participate in an Easter Egg hunt! I haven't done that since I was a kid, and it was hilarious. I ended up being crowned the queen of Easter as I ended up with the most eggs. I definitely did miss home a lot though.

The rest of the month has been fairly uneventful - 2 trips to Avalon in a week (1 business, 1 pleasure) a lot of movie watching, and quite a bit of work. Exciting, right? :S 

Anyway, I'll try to update a little more as the last 3 weeks of the season go by. I hope you all are doing well. I miss you!

On our way to Avalon!

Hats!

These two are hilarious. :) 

Tales of Misadventure

So...apparently I spoke too soon last weekend about how good it was going to be. I had worse luck all weekend than I've had in a long time. Let me regale you with our tales of misadventure.

As soon as I shut my computer after posting last weeks blog, I got up to leave the Coffee Bean and realized my keys were locked in the ignition. Nothing like knowing your spare is 2000 miles away. So I called the police department (not 911) and they gave me the number for the locksmith. Thankfully he said he would come in about 10 minutes, but I knew I would need more cash, so I ran to the ATM in the grocery store next door. Unfortunately, I cannot remember my pin number and my dearest mother couldn't find the slip in my desk drawer. So I was basically screwed. I met the locksmith in the parking lot (a very nice man by the way), and realized that I should just keep blood pressure cuffs and a hanger in my backpack, because that's basically what he used to open the door. When I asked him if he could accept checks, he said "Not if it isn't local." Ugh. Thankfully he had the resources to take down my credit card info. Problem solved.

Friday night Melodie and I ate wonderful food and watched "Enchanted April"...apparently her day had been a nightmare too. And I got to sleep in a gigantically wonderful bed.

Saturday, we woke up late, ate waffles and went to Griffith Park and Hollywood, since I had never been there. We stopped at the Grove and met her sister Natalie for lunch. Great right? It was, but we ended up being 1 1/2 hours late for MSA's 2 hour fundraiser. The restaurant took forever, we ran into traffic, and then we got pulled over for speeding. (Thankfully it wasn't me driving.) Then I had to drive back up to Hollywood to pick up my car to head over to Riverside, where we stayed at Mary's house.

Sunday, we slept in again, streamed church online, and then left for Cabrillo to catch the 2 p.m. boat back to camp. No problem...except for stupid LA traffic again. Where were all those people headed on a freaking Sunday?? We had planned on being there by 1, but it ended up being 1:30, and I still had to park my car and get picked up. So I dropped off Mary, Ryan and Julia, told them to hold the boat for me, and parked in my spot by 1:45...and then waited for Melodie. Around 2, Annie called and said they could only hold the boat for 15 minutes. Melodie came around 2:10, and we sped back across the 2 bridges to Long Beach (thankfully no speeding ticket this time...although we were going much, much faster than the speed limit) and parked at the Pike. We immediately began running to catch the boat, and Annie called again, saying we had a minute to get to the boat. "We're sprinting!" I replied and hung up the phone. Now, picture Melodie and I sprinting as though there are a pack of crazed wolves behind us down 4 flights of stairs in the parking garage and down the street. Just to give you a better image, I am in flip flops and have a very heavy backpack strapped to my back. Not exactly Olympic-approved gear for the 100 meter (more like mile) dash. We had to stop to cross a huge intersection, and as we panted for breath I gasped out "We aren't going to make it. Annie told us we have a minute." Melodie took off as soon as cars stopped, I worked as hard as I could to keep up. We did make the boat, but it took a good 20 minutes into the ride for me to stop wheezing, and the rest of the day to stop coughing every now and then. The worst part is, when we got to camp, the Boy Scouts said we were early. EARLY.

The rest of the week was alright - nothing major happened, but it was long since I didn't have much of a relaxing weekend. I'm working to change that now. I did nothing all day but grade a few journals, lay out on the beach in my bikini and have a spa night with the girls. We've been wanting to paint our toenails for awhile, so Julia went crazy with it and gave us each a foot/calf massage. We ate dark chocolate and watched a bootlegged copy of Wicked. Amazing. And totally what I needed. I'm praying that tomorrow is more of the same.

Love you all!

Coffee...and snow.

Ugh. I cannot escape from the stupid snow. I was summoned to the mountains for the second half of this week, and I barely made it out today because it was snowing so ridiculously. It was heavy, it was wet, and it looked like Dip 'n Dots. Literally. It was coming down in little balls. Thankfully, I was done with work for the day and as soon as I was down the hill just a little ways it was fine.

So here I sit at the Coffee Bean. I was planning on heading back to San Pedro tonight and seeing Jane Eyre with Mary, but she stayed on the island an extra night, so I'm headed to Melodie's tonight instead. We are planning on watching movies and eating chocolate and ice cream. :)

So this week's recap: I was in the office a little, wandering Emerald for awhile, and then headed up to the mountain to work with Annie and to lead worship for the new staff. There are 4 1/2 newbies...I say 1/2 because Jeremy (our new Waterfront Director) came out to the island for a week before heading to the mountains. So, while he is still new-ish, he isn't completely an unfamiliar face. They seem nice enough, but it's definitely going to be weird when they come to the island.

Besides heading to Melodie's tonight, we are heading back to San Pedro tomorrow because there is a fundraising luncheon thing tomorrow and if we go we get free Armenian food and 1/2 comp day. Sounds good, right? I think Mary and I will head back to Riverside after that, and we'll go see Jane Eyre with Sarah. We don't have to be back until Monday morning, so who knows what the rest of the weekend looks like.

Alright, I'm headed up to the San Fernando Valley, so I'm off. Have a great weekend!! And enjoy the pics - the first three I took on a walk at sunrise on the island, and the last I took leaving Forest Home today. :)

Ups and Downs

It's been another couple of long weeks. But as of tomorrow everyone will be in camp! Last week we had some people in the mountains and one on vacation in Hawaii, so we've finally got almost everyone back. :) So nice.

Let's see what's happened lately. Some not so good things...
   I got the Expedition stuck in the mud on the way into Two Harbors
   I was almost the only MSA staff member to stay on the island last weekend (thankfully
   Mary & Marcus stayed too)
   I cleaned a dirty microwave

And some great things..!
   I taught another Vert/Invert lab (and no one collapsed!!!)
   I watched Disney's Peter Pan with Melodie
   I listened to some good choir music and soothed my soul (thank you Eric Whitacre)
   I did laundry with Mary and we sang "Matchmaker" from Fiddler on the Roof
   Fran let me drive Zalophus (MSA's boat) - totally the best part of my week. :)


This place is crazy. And exhausting. And when you are exhausted, it's really easy to be crabby. Toward the end of the week, everyone is dying for the weekend, and Friday lunch is so silent because everyone's energy crashes as soon as the kids leave. Speaking of energy crashing, David took Nyquil or some similar product after dinner tonight and then was trying to get a sugar high so he could make it through the trust walk. I felt bad for laughing, but he was so sadly pathetic (I'm using the word in the best possible sense: that it was evoking pity/sympathetic sadness) that I couldn't help it. I've definitely made that mistake before and it SUCKS. Anyway, back to the subject at hand. We have a high school group coming in this weekend. So some people won't get to rest...and next week is going to be loooonnnnng. I haven't been told if I'm working at all yet or not, but my fingers are crossed. I need the weekend.

Anyway, that's about all I have. Apart from the fact that it's supposed to be 80 degrees tomorrow!! (Don't worry, it goes back to about 65 for the next week.) I miss you all and hope you are doing well. Can't wait to hear from the midwest!!

Another Island Weekend

I suppose it's time to update people on my life since it's been almost two weeks. I probably shouldn't have waited until now, especially since I'm having a hard time remembering exactly what I did last week. And I only know it's Friday today because our kids left on the boat today. It's really hard to keep track of time here. 

Let's see. Last week I spent a couple of days in the office (still trying to get my bearings) and the rest of the time running around camp trying to help out everyone that needed help. I actually spend a lot of time in the camp store when it's open. The more help the better when there's a mob of kids rushing to get candy. Melodie and I also spent a lot of time last week working on the store display. It looked a little dismal before we decorated. We added the sea, sun, Garibaldi and the sea star...plus some birds at the top. (The sun and the sea star were my fabulous handiwork.)

Friday we left on the boat with the kids, and I was at Mary's again. Her sister Sarah was in a play called "The Reluctant Debutante" which was a lot of fun. I also went to see "The Eagle" and "Beastly." Definitely a weekend full of entertainment for me. 

Sunday night we were back in San Pedro and we did some "training" on Monday and Tuesday. I honestly think they were just trying to keep us paid while we didn't have any campers in. We really didn't do a whole lot those days. 

As for the rest of the week, we had two more schools come in, and I had the opportunity to teach my first class - Vertebrate/Invertebrate Lab. It was actually a ton of fun...despite the fact that a kid collapsed because of dehydration. In the middle of the lab, when the kids were looking at fish in a couple different tanks, one came up to me and said "I feel dizzy." So I told him to go sit down, and he didn't even make it to the chair 20 feet away. Once he got onto the chair, I asked him how much water he'd had, and apparently it hadn't been that much. So one of their chaperons went to get water, and I went on with the class. 15 minutes later he was totally fine and back involved for the rest of the class. Between this and the bird lab where I fell in, I'm starting to get a lot of stories. Apparently everything happens when I am part of it. Anyway, the chaperons wanted to get a picture with me and the kids, so I asked if they would take one with my camera too. Here it is. :) They were so much fun!

As for this weekend, I'm planning on reading, sleeping, and playing guitar. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, which stinks since I was planning on kayaking and a possible hike to Parson's, but we'll see. Also, if it's cloudy tomorrow night and I miss the super-moon, I'm gonna be all sorts of upset. :) It's already ridiculously bright. Anyway, I'll close with a couple more pictures. Have a great weekend!

My bed...complete with ridiculously lumpy mattress and towel wind-screens. 

The rest of the Poly. (Short for Polynesian) We haven't had much time to decorate.

Our bathroom!

This is the road to Two Harbors. So much fun when another car comes. 

Another view of the road. You wind around a lot of small harbors, so this is from one side looking over to the other.