Update

I have to admit that I've been lacking in keeping people posted as to what is going on in my life currently. I've been drained what with camp, followed by Sierra Service Project (SSP), followed by getting sick. So, here it is. Camp was great, as stated previously. I had a week to rejuvenate (which was not enough considering right after SSP I got sick) before heading off to the wonderful Loleta, CA to participate in Sierra Service Project - a project much like Habitat for Humanity, in which we go to an Indian Reservation (this year it was to the Wiyot Tablebluff Reservation) and rebuild homes. It was an interesting and educational experience for me and I enjoyed it very much.

As soon as we got to the little town of Loleta, located about 10 miles south of Eureka, CA., we were divided up into work teams and given a specific project to work on. My team was assigned to Pam's house, which needed new windows installed due to the fact that when the house was originally built 20 years ago, the windows were not properly weather-proofed and caused quite a bit of damage to Pam's home. Our group was the last to participate in this year's project (week 6 of 6) so a lot of the homes were just finishing projects. At first, our work team (which consisted of me, another counselor - Phil - and 8 high school students) had nothing to do. The contractor, Bob (yes Bob, and yes, we called him Bob the builder) was the only one who knew what to do and he was not scheduled to show up until Tuesday afternoon. So the majority of the first 2 days of work consisted of twiddling our thumbs. Finally, on Wednesday, we got to work. Tearing things out and installing insulation, removing screws and rusty nails (no one got cut, thankfully), installing flashing, followed by putting in the new windows and putting up sheet rock. I'm very proud of the kids for everything they contributed that week (and not just the kids on my work team, but the entire SSP group) and how hard they all worked to do something good for others. It really was a positive experience.

As someone who is accostomed to getting to know God through camps, I really wasn't sure of how this experience was going to be. It was a different experience and sometimes, I'm not the best person when it comes to changes (as I'm sure most of you out there are the same). But I have to say that I did get to experience God in the kids that were there. Seeing them do a good deed for others and letting them take things into their own hands was a rewarding experience for me. At the beginning of the week, something felt off to me though, and it took me a couple of days to realize what it was. I'm so used to camp and having the chance to know the other counselors really well. That was not the case here at SSP. I think I was expecting it to be a little more like camp than it actually was and when it wasn't, I was a little disappointed. But that's not to say that I didn't have a wonderful time. It was just different than what I expected. Anyway, the week was great, I made new friends, and got to to something good for someone in need. What more could I ask for?

Upon my return to reality, I was struck with a cold. No doubt due to the fact that I've been running around nonstop for virtually the past month and not getting the ample rest that I needed. But I'm almost all better, with the exception of a nagging cough - which is not helped by the fact that there is now a fire in the area and aggravating the hell out of it. School starts Monday, which will be good. With that comes homework, papers, projects, college apps, and stress, but hopefully I will be able to handle it well and do well this semester. And that, my friends, was my summer.

More unnecessary rambling...

2 part blog. Part 1: My experience at the DMV.

I recently (and by recently, I mean July 15) received a letter from the DMV stating that effective MARCH 27, 2009 my license was cancelled. WTF, Department of Motor Vehicles? You seriously took 4 MONTHS to send me a letter notifying me of my cancelled license? I've been driving around, thinking nothing was wrong, and here, at any moment, I could have been pulled over by a cop and easily been arrested because I was driving around with a cancelled license. That made me so unbelieveably angry! So I call the number that they provided to try and settle it over the phone, you know, so I wouldn't have TO DRIVE over there (illegally, mind you) and have to deal with it in person. I was willing to pay the $58 fee ($28 for my renewal, and $30 for the returned check, in which I was not notified that it was returned). But, the guy said no. I had to go and deal with it in person. I was scheduled to go out of town the following week, so I put it off until Monday. I went Monday afternoon (my mother drove me and, thanks to her as well as texting a good friend, I managed not to go completely crazy and yell at everyone and their mother). I just have to say that was one of the most unpleasant experiences of my life. I waited in line to receive a number for an hour, followed by another 20 minute wait once I got my number. If that wasn't bad enough, when I was called, I was told to wait for a supervisor, which took another 1/2 hour. The girl calls me back up and I begin to give her the cash to pay the fee and she then directs me to the cashier. I finally pay the fee and she then says that I'm gonna have to start the whole process over again and pay an additional $28 to get a new license. I say, "No. I'm not paying for YOUR mistake." I was waived the fee but then they tell me that I have to take a new picture for the new license, so my mom then asks if I'm getting a new license number. The girl says, "No, it'll be the same number." WTF? Then why do I have to stand in yet, ANOTHER line to take a picture in which I will end up looking like some kind of mass murderer or the Wild Woman from Borneo because I'm so pissed off? UGH. Needless to say, when I saw the pamphlet that said "How are we doing?" I filled it out with a rather long complaint and asked for a response. UGH. I hate the DMV.

Part 2: I hate what I'm becoming.

Not as a person in general. Just with certain aspects of my life. I've been texting a friend recently (a guy) and am beginning to have a crush on him. He's really sweet, but I'm driving myself crazy. That's really it. It's not that I don't want to like him, it's just that I want to like him, but in a non-crazy way. Like, I don't want to FREAK out when he doesn't text me back, or constantly check his myspace for recent activity. I really hate being a girl sometimes. Whatever. UGH.

That's my life in a nutshell right now. I am leaving for SSP (Sierra Service Project) in a couple of days and am REALLY excited. It's kind of like Habitat for Humanity in which we (me and some of the youth from my church) go to an Indian Reservation (this year it's to the Wiyot Indian Reservation in Loleta, CA - about 250mi north of San Fransisco) and help repair and build houses. I'm so excited that I get to go this year and can't wait to see what the week holds for me!

Camp!

Camp has come and gone this year and I have to say that it was a great year. We had a good staff and really awesome campers. I learned a lot from them and I hope they learned a lot from me as well. I seriously can't imagine my life without camp. It has changed my life in more ways than I can think of and I've made some of the best decisions of my life at camp. For that, I am greatful. Camp has become a mainstay for me and I intend to do it for as long as I can because it is an amazing experience to learn what kids think about God and that gives me new perspectives that I either thought about and forgot, or didn't even think about until it was mentioned.

Most of the staff consists of former campers, that, at one point or another, were so inspired by their experience at camp that they decided to become couselors and hopefully influence people in a way that they were as young individuals. I wish I cold say the same. Although I was a camper for 2 years, I don't really remember much of my experience at camp as a camper. In 2005, I was going through some changes in my life - one being a change of churches. My church was going through financial difficulties so the members decided to merge with another United Methodist church in the area. We made our change and started attending the new church. At the same time, I was deciding what I was going to do for the summer and decided it would be a neat experience to be a camp counselor. It was my mom that told me that our new associate pastor, Allan Strout, was the Dean of our church district's Jr. High camp. I don't remember calling him, but the next thing I knew, I was talking to him on the phone and accepting a position on the staff for that same summer. And my life has been changed ever since.

Camp has helped get me through the toughest time in my life and without it (among other people) I literally would not be here and I just felt the need to share my amazing experience with you all.

I'm very proud of myself!

I'm getting good grades for the first time since...since...I can't even remember. It's a good feeling knowing that I've worked hard and am being rewarded for it. I'm really on my way to getting my GPA raised!

Another good thing is that my counselor says I don't need to take any summer classes, which will allow me to do fun things like go to the beach and get tattoos and go to theme parks (finances permitting, as my job at school is being threatened due to budget cuts). This should be a good summer!

Thoughts...

I have somewhat of a dilema. I need to come up with a bible study for camp. Now, usually this isn't really a problem for me, but the particular bible versus I need to study deal with equality. The thing that bothers me the most about this is that the first thing that came to my head when dealing with equality is something that is considered inappropriate to talk about at a Jr. High church camp. It's gay marriage. With everything that the LBGT community has been facing with Prop 8 lately, that subject was of course the first thing to pop into my head. But I fear that if I talk about it at camp, parents will be less than thrilled that their child will have learned about gay marriage at a church camp. So, now I have to come up with something else to talk about. One story that popped up in my head was the story of the Rainbow Fish, and I can definitely use that as a vehicle for the subject but I need a personal story. Any suggestions? I guess it's a good thing that I'm going to a staff training session this weekend. Maybe I'll get some ideas there.

F my life...

Before I start, let me just say that if you don't want to hear me bitch and complain, don't read any further.


Before I even got to work this morning, people were pissing me off. I was driving to work and I got to an intersection where my light was red. I was looking around and I saw this guy walking. The thing about it though was that he was walking across the street when his light (also mine) was red. It really pissed me off because it made me think that if this guy gets hit by a car crossing the intersection legally, it's gonna be the driver's fault because "The pedestrian always has the right of way." WTF man? So, even when this guy is breaking the law and being a dumb ass idiot, it's the driver's fault for hitting him. I HATE that. So right away, my day started off with me getting mad.


Then, I get to work. Currently, I have posted 22 class cancellations on the school website and with those cancellations, I have to fill out faculty absence sheets, class cancellation notices to go on the classroom door, and take (thankfully not all 22) them to their locations. That's not such a bad thing because that's happened before, but the thing that gets me angry about some of these teachers is that:


1. Sometimes, they neglect to give me important information, like, their name or the class they teach. This causes me to have to search around for the teacher's name or class which takes up time and makes me irritated because these teachers are supposed to be competent enough to know that we can't just assume we know who's talking on the phone.


2. They sometimes give me the wrong class information or location. Like, this morning I had a chemistry teacher call in sick and she said that her class was located in one room but it was in another room, which then caused me to have to go back and post another notice on the correct room.


3. A lot of times, teachers call in at the last possible minute, literally, to cancel their class. I HATE THAT MOST OF ALL! Because not only does it make me have to go to the class and announce that their class is cancelled, but then I have to answer questions like, "Why do you wait until the last minute to post these?" and "How far in advance are teachers supposed to call in their absence?" and deal with disgruntled students because this is their only class that they had today and they drove 20 miles in the rain to get here and now they don't have a reason to be here. I feel like saying to them, "Tell this to your douche bag teacher because I didn't get the call until two minutes before I showed up," but I'm too nice, plus I'm pretty sure I'd get penalized by my boss for saying something like that.


But, on days like these when I'm angry, my co-workers make it better by playing loud disco music, as Sonik just did as I was writing this. They're definately the reason why I haven't quit yet because if I had to deal with crummy co-workers AND crummy teachers, I would've quit long ago.


That is my rant for the day. Hope you've enjoyed it.

Kürtőskalács!!!

After 3 LONG years of searching for the name of the most delicious tasting pastry I've ever had, I have succeeded! It's called Kürtőskalács. The english translation is: Stove Cake. It's a Hungarian pastry that comes from the Transylvanian region of Hungary. They are typically eaten at celebratory events like weddings and Christenings but they are frequently sold to tourists in Budapest, which is where I fell in love with this delicious gift from heaven. You have no idea how incredibly excited I am about this!