Eric the Baby Squirrel.

You're not going to believe this.

You're just not.

But I swear on my life, it's true.





I saw it with my own eyes and even got photographic documentation.

They rescued a squirrel.

A few things you should know:

4. There is a small group of about twenty guys here at camp that are getting the grounds and buildings all ready for the staff to arrive next week.

1. There are no children here yet.

6. Theses boys are ridiculous.

Basically, a group of the guys went into one of the cabins last week to clean it out and while they were in there they found a very skinny, very abandoned and very cute baby squirrel. The poor little guy came right up to them and the boys immediately took him in as one of their own. His name is Eric and they love him.

They built him a tree fort, feed him sunflower seeds and butter to fatten him up, and keep him warm.

They love him and want to keep him forever, but they know that he has to be released back into the wild and taught how to survive on his own.

They know this because they are responsible people and googled what to do with abandoned wildlife.





However, they are having a very good time carrying him around and freaking people (like me) out when they walk up to you with a baby squirrel on their shoulder. Or on their head. Or in their pocket.

Camp.

I'm back at camp (and in the USA!) and it feels so good to be here.

I'll be here at camp all summer, so posting is going to be far and few between. Stick with me though! I'm still working on a post about the Birthday Extravaganza we had this past weekend. 

This is a post I wrote at the end of last summer and I thought I would repost, just to give you a reminder of what I'll be doing all summer. Try not to be jealous.

Enjoy!

About a week ago camp officially ended. Our cabin was cleaned out, my car was packed, and goodbyes were said. I flew from camp down here to Atlanta where I've been hiding out and catching up on sleep at my parent's house ever since. It was the perfect opportunity to come home for a visit with my friends and family. But coming back to the real world is always a bit of adjustment. Getting used to cell phones, running errands and all the other day to day stuff is a bit of a shock. But the real shocker is always the questions people have about camp life. Foolishly, I assume that after working like this for the past 10 summers my friends and family would have some idea of how my summers are spent. I'm always amazed at how little people know about the camping world. It's just so natural and normal to me I assume it is to everyone else as well. 

The camp I work at is a regular, over night camp for kids. We have no religious affiliation, no sports focus or any other specialty. We're just a good ole fashioned fun sort of place -- the exact place you think of when you think of summer camp. We have plenty of counselors that are your typical college kids out to have the summer of their life, and they do. I spent two amazing summers as a counselor back in college and would gladly give my left arm to go back to those days.

These days camp is a little bit different for me. You see, someone has to manage and organize all those campers and counselors. That's where the management side of things comes into play. So while a lot of counselors grow up and move on to jobs that require them year round some of us grow up to become teachers, allowing us to keep coming back to camp. At this point we've outgrown the counselor job but there is still plenty of work to do at camp, even for us old farts. It's a win-win. We get to keep coming to camp and earning a little cash and camp retains some it's experienced counselors to help keep the place running smoothly.

Why do we give up normal life to work at camp after all these years? I don't know. Maybe because we love it, maybe because deep down we're a little crazy. Maybe because we love working with the kids and mentoring the counselors. I don't know. There are a million different reasons.

What I can tell you is that we are all just as close with our camp friends as we are with our real life friends. Sounds weird, but its a true story.

Much to everyone's shock, we're just normal people. With normal jobs and normal lives.

I promise that we all fix our hair everyday and wear normal clothes when we're at home and at work. It's just at camp these things aren't important. At camp the goofier and crazier you are, the better off you are.

 

So what do we do at camp? All kinds of things. Jobs you wouldn't even think needed doing. Jobs that I would love to explain but I wouldn't be able to do it justice. I'd have to use camp lingo to sufficiently explain it and then you'd just get confused. Let's just say that we do a lot - from directing plays, to organizing sail boat races, writing cheers, inventing games, creating craft projects and making sure the lactose intolerant kids get a popsicle instead of ice cream. But most importantly, we make sure the campers are happy and the counselors are working well together. 

I get it. Camp isn't for everyone. I understand that not everyone wants to live in a cabin, regardless of how nice it is. Not everyone wants to eat camp food. Certainly not everyone wants to be surrounded by 400 campers and 200 counselors all the time. But once you look past those details you find that its a pretty amazing place. (Break out the crackers, it's about to get cheesy.) We're the kind of people that like to be outside, like to dance, like to get creative, like to work with kids and like to be active. Not one single person at that camp is capable of sitting still for more than 30 seconds. It's just not in our nature. It's pretty fantastic to be surrounded by adventurous, creative and fun people all summer. There is nothing better.

If it wasn't so awesome than how on Earth would I be able to get all these nice looking people to act like this...

Seriously, don't they look like fun? 

The Stratosphere of Chaos.

It's Wednesday. Typically, my favorite night of the week. However, tonight was a little on the bittersweet side.

So much has been going over the past few days. Where do I even begin?





Let's back track a bit, shall we? There are four major things that have been consuming my life in the past week. In no particular order:

1. Getting an interview for a teaching job (that isn't an ACTUAL teaching job mind you, just the list of people that could potentially get a teaching job if one should ever open up).

c. Repainting, fixing up and finding new renters for our first floor apartment (remember, we own a triplex house and our tenants of the past ten years moved out, dammit).

5. Packing up and tying up lose ends so I can leave for my summer job at camp in Maine. On Monday.

3. Fighting the most persistent and headache-inducing sinus infection this side of the Mississippi.


I don't know where 2, 4, a and b went. Into the stratosphere of chaos that I call my life, I suppose.

Here's where I stand as of this very moment: I have a teaching interview. However, during the days that I was waiting to hear word on whether or not I got an interview, I had a major meltdown. Like the kind where you question the meaning of life and consider the fact that maybe, just maybe, you should go eat worms.

During that meltdown I found solitude in the hours and hours I spent painting the entire downstairs apartment...which lead to us finally securing a new set of tenants this afternoon! Thank goodness, the mortgage will be paid.

On the other hand, I'm leaving for the summer in exactly four days and not only have I not packed one iota of clothing, I haven't even made a damn packing list or done laundry.

Also, I have enough oral, nasal and eye antibiotics to wipe out an entire country.

So. Tomorrow begins the list. Lists of what I need to get done. Lists for what to bring to the Birthday Extravaganza this coming weekend. Lists of what to pack for the summer. And, finally, lists of all the things that I need to present at my interview - in Power Point format.

Should be fun, no?





Tonight was our last Why Not Wednesday of the year. Instead of sipping wine at our usual hole-in-the-wall, we chowed down on Chinese at Jaclyn's house and ohhhed and ahhhed over baby Zara. She has the biggest smile and biggest blue eyes of all time.





We changed up our routine tonight because we had to get Jaclyn to the airport so she could catch her flight to Peru! She's heading out on the adventure of a life time where she'll spend two weeks exploring Machu Picchu, Lima and Cuzco. I know she was feeling a little jittery with all of the anticipation, but she was more prepared for this trip than I have ever been on all of my trips combined - and I'm an organized person!

By the time she gets back from her adventure Annie and I will already be galavanting through Maine. That means our weekly Wednesday meetings are on hold until September when we will all be back in town.

Oh, we will have so many good stories to share by then. Let the adventures begin.





Also, shout out to TC who has been my rock through the chaotic days. He's pretty great.

And the cool photos? Courtesy of the rockin' new app from the blog A Beautiful Mess. Search 'Beautiful Mess' in your app store and you too can have fun phrases, doodles, borders and filters :) You can even upload from there to Facebook and Instagram. Elsie and Emma are pretty talented.