Crazy Dog Lady

Olivia is my baby. I question whether I will ever have a real baby because I'm not sure I could ever love another living thing as much as I love her. And if I do love a real baby as much, or even more, I think my heart might actually explode. In the nearly two years I have had her, I have spent a small fortune (I could have had a new car for what I've spent), shaped my life around her every waking need and pretty much gone completely over the edge of "crazy dog lady."

Olivia is very social and loves other dogs. At home, we go to play times, the dog park, I have friends over who have dogs, she goes to puppy daycare, and she gets lots of playing time. She loves camp and the attention from kids, but I can't help but notice her looks of longing when dogs pass by with their owners while out for afternoon walks.

In addition to looking lonely, even I can admit, Olivia is a spoiled brat. My darling precious baby angel, yes, but also a cliche only child who throws tantrums when she doesn't get her way. So obviously there is only one solution-Olivia needs a baby brother.

I have been talking with breeders and thinking about another puppy, however, I would also like to put in $4000 worth of insulation in my house this fall, and it's kind of an either/or situation. I could rescue a puppy from the pound, but my obsession with bullies is just too much to consider that.

Last week, one of the breeders I had been talking to called me and told me of another breeder (F) who had a 13 month old puppy who needed a home. F wanted to show the puppy but it wasn't working out. Additionally, F had gotten into a fight with the owner of the stud dog and she wouldn't sign the papers, so this puppy was a purebred, but couldn't be sold for full price because it didn't have papers. I love a bargain, so I called him up and we agreed to meet.

I wouldn't have made a special trip to the city just to see a puppy. I happened to be coming home to pick up four staff from the airport, so it worked out. BF came with me and we brought Olivia to meet the puppy.

Puppy needs eye surgery and needed some serious grooming, but was friendly, goofy and Olivia didn't hate him. By the end of the 30 minute visit, Olivia wasn't exactly jumping for joy, but she was crabby about leaving camp, tired from a long drive, out of sorts being in a new place, and I figured she'd be okay once we got home. F told me I could take the puppy for a few weeks and if it didn't work out, I could bring him back.

I bought my puppy a puppy.

I'm not sure I really want a second dog. Twice the money, twice the dog hair and slobber, twice the work... But I want Olivia to have a best friend, someone to keep her company and play with all the time. So if she likes him, I will gladly have a second dog. If not, I will have to take him back. We'll see how it goes once we get back to camp tomorrow.

A Three Hour Tour...

Yesterday, BF and I had a wonderful, perfect, magical day at camp. We started the day with pancakes, took a long boat ride around the lake and soaked in the sun, went to a very cute little wine shop and did a tasting, watched a few episodes of "Sopranos" on DVD (we've been making our way through the series for the past few months and still have two seasons left), relaxed, ate good food and enjoyed every minute of being together.

Today, we planned to do the same.

We weren't hungry when we woke up, so we decided to head out on the boat for a little ride and then come back and have a big breakfast. Our little ride ended up being a bit further than we'd originally planned, but the sky looked really gray and so we were trying to enjoy being outside before the rain came.

We had been in the boat about 30 minutes when it made a funny noise and shut off.

Um...

Weird.

Turn it back on.

*click*

Nothing.

Um...

Several thoughts went through my head.

1. I had just recently finished typing the "pre-trip" checklist staff are supposed to go through prior to taking the boat out. Why didn't I use that before we left? I'm quite certain neither of us checked the gas tank...

2. If in fact we are out of gas, what exactly is our emergency action plan? We are in the middle of nowhere, no other boats in sight and I didn't bring my cell phone.

3. WHY DIDN'T I BRING MY CELL PHONE??? I bring my cell phone to the bathroom when I brush my teeth, why didn't I bring it on a boat?!?!

4. Let's say I had my cell phone- who would I call? My dad is out of town and S&A, my two staff at camp don't have another boat, so what would they be able to do??

5. Stupid junky camp, stupid run down boat. What's wrong with this stupid thing now, I thought that our boat guy from in town checked this thing out before we launched it!! Obviously this is not my fault, I am a victim of a junky boat.

It turns out we did in fact, run out of gas.

The BF and I haven't been in a stressful situation yet. Past boyfriends would have yelled or freaked out. I was relieved and impressed that BF was calm and good natured through the whole thing. He was mad at himself for not checking the gas, but overall, we handled it in the same way- mildly amused, sort of annoyed that we were stuck and sort of unsure of what to do, but mostly just an easy going, "what are ya gonna do?" attitude.

We anchored the boat so we wouldn't drift into the weeds and then we sat calmly, discussing our options. We used his phone to call a mutual friend and ask him to facebook message my staff, explaining our situation and asking them to call BF's phone and help us. I wasn't sure if they would check their email and if they did, what exactly they would be able to do, but it was a start.

As we sat, hoping for another boat to pass, it started to lightly drizzle and that's when my patience for sitting around ended. I could see a dock, with a boat about 400 feet away. It was completely alone, no cabin in sight, and it looked sort of abandoned, but were pretty sure the dock must lead somewhere, like a road, so it was better than being stuck on the lake. There was also potential that the boat would work and we could borrow it.

BF didn't like the idea of me swimming. He offered to go, but I'm a lifeguard and he's not much of a swimmer, so I didn't like that idea either and we were at an impasse, neither of us wanting the other to go. At that point, it was raining and cold, so it was okay since neither of us was eager to jump in and swim to the abandoned dock without much of a plan.

When you pull the anchor up, the boat moves as you pull the rope, so I suggested that if we pulled in the anchor with force, the momentum would propel us forward and then we could throw the anchor out, pull it in, over and over until we go to the dock. BF was skeptical about the idea, but agreed to try.

30 throws, 30 pulls later BF was out of breath and exhausted, but we go to the dock. We grabbed the gas tank and headed into the woods and towards the sound of the road. We came out about 5 miles from camp and began walking down the highway. About 100 yards into our walk, a nice couple pulled over and asked us where we had come from and where we were going. When we told them camp, they let us know it was a ways away and asked if we would like a ride.

When we arrived back at camp, there was a power outage, so the staff had not seen our facebook plea for help, but it was probably better, because I still wasn't sure what they would have done. We filled the tank with gas and then they drove us back to the road we'd come out of. With a full tank of gas, the boat ran like a dream and we were back to the camp beach in no time.

Our 30 minute boat ride had turned out to be a three hour adventure, but it was a good experience to see how we deal with a crisis together. I have a tendency to get into situations like that- I don't try, but things like that just happen. So it was a good test to see how BF would react. He was wonderful, so I'll add that to the list of reason why he's a major catch...

BF Goes to Camp

My boyfriend is coming, my boyfriend is coming! Two weeks is a long time to go without seeing someone I adore as much as I do my boyfriend, but he's coming for a visit this weekend and I can't wait!

When we first started dating, some of his friends were excited to hear about camp. They encouraged him to date me at least long enough so that they could come to camp and hang out. So in late April, about 6 of us came to the woods for a weekend of fun. It was rainy and cold, but we still had a campfire, played some games, ate good food and enjoyed the weekend. Apparently I had made camp out to be rougher than it is because during that visit, BF shared his relief that it wasn't so bad after all and he was looking forward to more visits... a good sign for sure!

It has been sunny and warm and very summery these past two weeks, so I am looking forward to taking a boat ride, swimming and hanging out with my boyfriend. S and A (the Assistant Program Director) are excited to meet him because every other sentence begins with, "oh that reminds me of something my dreamy BF said..." Luckily I'm the boss and they have to smile and nod and enjoy my stories.

Now I will spend the next few hours bouncing around, driving my staff crazy and waiting, waiting, waiting....

One Week

Program Director S and I have been here a week and there is very little to write about.

Camp looks beautiful.

Organizing, programming and everything else is going well- smooth, easy, fun.

I feel confident about the summer ahead.

This is my third summer and S's fourth. She is one of only a few other people who truly understand how far this camp has come in that amount of time and just how difficult it has been.

Three years ago we spent every single day, all day, desperately attempting to make this place look like a camp instead of the backside of a trailer park. In my mind, I could imagine it beautiful, but hours and hours of hard work did little to actually make a dent in the workload. It is a pleasure to be able to work along side of her just three years later and be able to spend the days painting pretty, colorful signs and decorations, plan fun programs and get excited for a wonderful summer ahead.

I've been here one week and no tears yet- a promising start.

Camp+ Relationship=???

Camp is like a roller coaster- sometimes arms are up and you are lost in joy, elation, enjoying the ride, other times you are holding on for dear life, just praying to make it through. There's no time to think, to live your real life, for personal time or breaks- you must be completely present for the kids and the staff. It is a wonderful, exhausting, life changing ride, but it is also 3 month pause in real life, at the end of which I find myself shaking my head thinking, "was that a dream or did I really just live through that whirlwind???"

4 months ago I began dating a wonderful guy, and while I'm taking this relationship one day at a time, not getting ahead of myself or allowing the excitement of new romance to cloud my judgement, I will admit that I can very easily imagine a future together.

Which makes leaving for camp this summer a little scary. It's a 3 hour drive, but city life and camp are worlds apart. The BF and I have pretty much been together every evening since we started dating, so adjusting to seeing each other every few weeks will be different. If the situation was reversed, I'm not sure how easy going I would be about him leaving. Luckily for me, he is a much more understanding person than I am and he is not worried.

Camp is my life, so it's important that my relationship is able to fit in with my lifestyle. I know that if we make it through the next 4 months, our relationship will be stronger and the future I keep imagining will be a possibility. I also know that if it doesn't work out, as sad as I will be, it just means that it was never going to work out anyway. But I really like him. A lot. So the thought of that makes me anxious and sad and apprehensive about heading off to the woods. I'm trying to be zen-like, but I really don't want to lose my boyfriend this summer.