No Lows

What an amazing week! At the end of every week, after campers have left, we have a staff meeting to de-brief and I always ask everyone to go over their highs and their lows of the week. It is a good way to reflect, wrap things up, bring up issues and gain closure so that they can move forward to the next week. Today for highs and lows, everyone had several highs and almost everyone said, "no lows this week". It was just that great.

Everything went according to schedule, everyone did what they were supposed to do, kids were respectful listeners, counselors had giant grins on their faces, very few campers were homesick, no one got hurt, I didn't have any behavior problems to deal with, boats didn't break down, and I spent the majority of the time outside, laughing with kids, being part of activities and loving every minute of my life. I was too busy to write, too busy to worry.

On Wednesday night, I drove home for a early Board meeting on Thursday morning. The meeting was to touch base since the Boss left, etc. On par with my week, it was FANTASTIC! The Board had a lot of wonderful things to say to me and were extremely supportive. I got to talk all about camp and how great things are, we talked about the Capital Campaign that is beginning in September, the future of camp, and after the meeting, I got to talk to about 6 people, one on one, who wanted to tell me good things and tell me how great I am. It was awesome.

After the meeting, I went with my best friend X to her final dress fitting for her wedding dress. It was a fabulous coincidence that the fitting and the meeting were coordinated, and I was THRILLED to be able to be there for her.

When I got back to camp on Thursday, every single person, camper and staff, greeted me with big smiles and "YOU'RE BACK!!! We missed you!" They were so genuine and sweet and it made me feel so good.

On Thursday night, we had a dance, which is always the highlight of the week. Except, this week, we decided to go a little crazy, and we held the dance on the field outside. We laid down 10 big tarps, covered them in dish soap and then sprayed them with a hose to make the most bubbly, sudsy, mess of fun we could imagine. Kids got to dance on the "dance floor" with bare feet, covered in suds. It was not slippery, kids thought it was awesome, and all of the staff had a blast! Yeah for creativity and giving kids once in a lifetime experiences.

Last night, we also tried something new for the closing ceremony. Prior to the ceremony, S and C made "fuzzies" which are yarn balls at the end of a string. Each person got one and then got to pull it apart, giving small string to people who were nice to them or they wanted to thank for something throughout the week and then tie it on their string. At the end, the string that your fuzzy had been at the end of was covered in small strings, representing all of the great connections of the week. It was a new idea and I wasn't sure how it would work. But at the end of it, I had about 25 strings, had been told by several counselors I was the best boss they've ever had, and been told by several campers that they appreciated my hard work. Kids were crying and hugging (sometimes crying is good and this time it was), and I was thrilled because everyone had a lot of strings, and seemed truly moved by the activity.

It was a wonderful week and a nice way to recover from last week. And now it's the weekend and I'm relaxing!