So there I Was...

In the middle of the English camp office, only one printer cartridge left in my gun... the enemy all around peering out at us through the jungle underbrush ready to strike... Ok so yeah, my life may not be that dramatic right now, however the stress is definitely mounting "office wide" (at least in our department) So if you could be in prayer that we would be able to finish the next couple weeks, and our preparations in them strong that would be awesome.

The blustery, blustery day turned into a blustery, blustery night

Actually, that's not entirely true --- we have had some rain in the past few days (a couple of big thunderstorms at that) but I'm talking more about work. We've basically got about one week to get our ducks in a row and then the majority of the planning is over. After next week we've got a week of setting things up and then staff get here.

So it seems like for most of us working on English camp right now, we show up for work in the morning, work at the office until six or seven at night... go home, and then possibly work more. (ok often work more is more like it). So it actually makes sense that I can't wait for English camp to start, not because I don't like what I'm doing now, but because I really want to see the pay off of it.

Its also strange because some of the projects I'm working on (ie our Adventure Day, which, since some campers somewhat regularly frequent this site I'm going to abstain from talking about more) are both at a place where I really feel they are "coming together" but still kind of shaky for a few reasons that are at least partially out of controll (IE finding people to run the game stations... still a little short there... yes campers thats the only clue you're getting as to what Adventure Day will be like this year :-) If I can wait two weeks to show y'all, you can wait two weeks to see it ;-) ).

Ok - I've got to get going, its a beautiful, if slightly overcast, Saturday. I've got things I need to do. possibly some work, definitely some more house cleaning --- probably scrubbing the rest of the bathroom out today... looking forward to that. But before I do I want to leave you guys with some pictures from a video we made yesterday involving a massive hamburger (Slightly over 1 lb of meat) - you can see a short clip of it on Facebook right now, the rest will be posted after camp.

So the first picture is of our English Camp intern Jenny and I as we prepare to dive into our "lunch" She's eating apples and yogurt... I've got the behemouth.
And there it is - a work of beauty a 500g hamburger. T'was a beast. I'll be honest I couldn't eat the whole thing (nor did I really want to for the record). But it was actually a nice change of pace to have a burger for lunch.

Update

I feel bad -as if I'm blogging because I don't want to work, which in part is true. Don't get me wrong I've got more than enough to do in the next few weeks before camps starts, but its nice to be able to take a minute during the day to do something almost unrelated to camp. It gets my mind out of the shifting rosters, and moving plans that are part of the day to day and hour to hour preparations that we're doing now.

Camp starts three weeks from tomorrow - its kind of a startling thought. Regardless of where our preparations are zero hour is right around the corner. I'm ready for it actually --- that doesn't mean my preparations are done, but I'm mentally ready to be at camp, to be done with prep work, and to watch the pieces that were put in place start moving. Its exciting. That being said its also exciting to see the way the work we've been doing for the past months is starting to gel into a whole.

That being said, the marathon is still on, and I've gotta get back to running.

Projects projects everywhere and not a stop to think

Projects, projects everywhere
And oh my braid did shrink...

And to the best of my knowledge I didn't kill an albatross to get into this situation (If you don't get the joke go read the poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge).

Its actually just the time of year. Its exciting because camp starts in about 3 weeks. Its kind of freaky because all of the projects that I've been juggling for the past couple of months and working on are due. It actually kind of reminds me of the end of a school year - similar work load, similar shuffling of projects... And the bar has been raised - Its actually nice that I can see the effects of the projects I'm working on and know how they fit into camp's master plan.

I just finished off a project that was hanging over my head yesterday, so I am getting things done. However there are a few that are still concerning me (ie making sure everything is in place for Adventure Day... Need to make a huge shopping trip this week for that). So the physical/mental endurance race is on. I'm trying NOT to work today (at all) just so I can keep at least one day of the week work free --- which should help keep me saner longer :-) .

Otherwise life is good - Really work is crazy, but I generally enjoy what I do... And its realy not any more work intensive than the end of a semester of college - and I know that it ends in a couple of weeks. SO I'm looking forward to the craziness of camp!

Pompeii

Ok --- so we've officially moved into the "crazy" part of the year at work. I'm feeling pretty good about it, and relishing the challenges of the month. At this point no news is good news in that I haven't hit any kind of serious hurdle that can't be overcome. There are challenges that I know about (finishing Adventure Day strong is one of them... actually its the biggest one of them) but I'm feeling alright about where I am in my work right now.

SO... I'm going to post something I've been thinking about for the past two weeks. While on the cruise I actually got a chance to walk around the ruins of Pompeii... which is something that I've wanted to do for a long time now. You don't get a feel for how big the town really was, or a feeling for the utter destruction until you've walked around in its ruins and gotten a feel for it. You kind of expect to go in and see a couple of streets of "houses" and whatnot... but when you start walking around you realize just how BIG everything was. How much time and money had to be spent building the temples, and baths, and houses. How many people were living out their daily lives, year after year. And it was wiped out in an instant one morning when Vesuvius exploded... gone. Literally thousands of people wiped off the face of the planet in an instant, buried for thousands of years until "rediscovered."

Back in town

Ok. I feel kind of bad because I haven't had a chance to update in the past two weeks - but there is a good reason for it. Last week I had a chance to take a week off from work and go on a western Mediterranean cruise with some friends of mine. I'm so greatful to have had this opportunity as it basically forced me to take some time, rest, and mentally prepare myself for the onslaught that is the month before English camp. The upside of all of that is that after getting over being tired from travelling, I feel really refreshed, and pretty un-stressed despite the crazy time of year.

The cruise was awesome. We started and ended in Barcelona (go if you ever get the chance... beautiful, beautiful city), then went to Malta (I really want to go back to Malta as well... the prices on everything were pretty afordable, and it was drop dead gorgeous on the island, and very laid back), then three cities in Italy (Naples, Rome, and Livorno/Pisa) where I got to fulfill two of my life's dreams (to see the ruins of Pompeii and Rome), and finally Cannes in the French Riviera.

I'll probably write some of my thoughts on the different cities on the blog in the next week or so and add some pictures as well to get it down. (its a great break from doing work in the evenings), as well as give some updates on what's happening with English Camp prep.