week five of eight

- Harry Potter at the drive-in

- Sublime at Bethel Woods

- outlet shopping

- finally hitting the wall & just being tiiiired all the time

- cry a little, laugh a lot

- still no job offers, still no interviews

- waking up every day knowing that I'm one day closer to the end of summer & not knowing how i feel about that

outside my scope of practice

Skills I've acquired in 23 years:

- piano. flute. bass clarinet. vocal performance. musical theater

- queen o' the stick shift

- francais. espanol.

- hitting a vein on the first try on a terrified 9-year-old

- hot grandma (knitting, baking pies, writing letters, telling bedtime stories)

Those I have yet to master:

- doing a cartwheel

- learning how not to care when people don't like me

- finding the delicate balance between total honesty & unintended cruelty

- networking

- how to paint my nails without smudging one or all of them

busier & busier

Today, I was:

"Please come up & get your medicine & try your best to remember to come see me tomorrow."

Patron saint of making grilled cheeses without setting off the fire alarm

Cheerleader & slave-driver when it came down to getting quick strep tests done.

A bundle of nerves & a sick stomach.

"Boys, you have five more minutes & then back to activities & no, you absolutely do not need crutches."

2:30 p.m. & disinterested in lunch

One 20-minute stint of laying on my bed, not moving, eyes closed, just because I could

Two days away from my day off

Hot sauce & scrambled eggs

love packages

Today, I got not one, but TWO care packages, which I prefer to call "love packages" because let's face it: they're always from the people who love you the most.

Package One was from Russell J & contained contraband treats (peanut M&Ms & walnut chocolate chip cookies...I solemnly swear to keep them in my room & wash my hands before touching any campers. I really don't feel the need to stab someone with an Epi-pen this summer. Or ever.), knee socks, pore strips, mouthwash, HOT SAUCE (thank the Lord), & MAGAZINES!

I have a serious magazine addiction. I am so happy.

Package Two was from the congregation of the lovely church I go to in Guadalupe. It was chock-full of snacks, puzzle books, & even a can of Silly String & a Slinky! The kids who have to stay overnight in the Health Center when they're sick will totally appreciate those. The pastor's wife even sent me a few dollars "to buy some ice cream". It was so sweet that I nearly cried.

Today, I also got my first hemp friendship bracelet. With beads! That's how you know you're really special :)

more about camp

At the behest of Bekah, here is a little more about what I'm doing:

I am working at a camp riiiight on the border of Pennsylvania & New York. It's a traditional, summer-long sleepaway camp that keeps every day packed full of activities like tennis, waterski, ceramics, ropes courses, camping trips, theater productions, yoga, a skate park, gymnastics, lacrosse, & just about any other sport you ever played as a kid. The campers are predominantly Jewish, so we eat kosher style, which works for me, because pork is a fairly recent addition to my diet so I don't miss it much. However, I desperately miss putting cheese on my burgers & sandwiches.

There is no garden here & I've been missing out on most of the fun camp stuff while we set up the Health Center. I have yet to make an art or a craft. Most depressingly, I have been here for fifteen days & have not eaten or even seen a s'more. However, I have a connection & hopefully he will pull through & drop some off a the Health Center for me, because I am really, truly dying without one. I mean, really, what is summer camp without s'mores?

I'm making a couple of friends here & there, but mostly spending a lot of time with the nurses & scraped up kiddos.

I would LOVE to have pen pals (in English or in any other language, really), so let me know if you'd like my address.

Love you all very, very much & although I'm having a blast, I'll be excited to come home in August.

xoxo kt

hobbies as of late

- shredding my abs on the Bender Ball & then walking around the whole next day like I was involved in a barfight

- lots & lots of yoga

- trying foods that I'm pretty sure I won't like (Note: If it looks like an Egg McMuffin, that's probably what it tastes like. Go for oatmeal.)

- remembering the days when I could sleep past 7 because my neighborhood didn't blast wake-up music

- band-aids, ice packs, & tympanic membrane thermometers

- feeling like Wal-Mart is a sign of reaching civilization (ouch)

- reading reading reading reading

- Gmail voice & video chat

- "What's your name? What's your division? What happened?"

- finally learning how to use a walkie talkie

road trip 2011: 3 putes, 4 stars

Once upon a time, two girls thought it would be a really great idea to take a cross-country road trip. Seven days, an H&M bag full of snacks, & a borrowed SUV.

They saw the Meteor Crater, the world's best preserved meteorite impact site.

They visited Dorothy's house in the heart of Liberal, Kansas.

They saw the Arch in Saint Louis, & sat in a creepy capsule of an elevator to get to the top.

They went to Chicago to meet up with the third member of their elite posse. While in Chicago, they ate & ate & ate. Their recommendations include Frontera Grill, The Purple Pig, & Quartino (ask for Scott, the best waiter in all the land & my boyfriend's doppelganger).

They drove 19 miles out of their way to visit Punxsutawney Phil, who lives in a tiny rodent habitat attached to the public library.

And finally, they parted ways to attend to their responsibilities at work.

I am at camp. The kids don't get here until Saturday so for the past eight days I have been filing, cleaning, socializing, stocking shelves, Ace wrapping elbows & knees & ankles, & tending to other miscellaneous injuries. The food is good, though I'm not impressed by the desserts (shocker). It is beautiful here, but it's been raining for the past two days. In my free time, I'm doing a lot of yoga & a lot of reading.