Drama

Drama.
I'm talking REAL drama, not life drama.
Musical theater drama!
I run the drama workshop at camp and
I have to say that the kids I have this year
are fantastic!
I teach them a number and they actually
REMEMBER it!
In the past we would rehearse a number
4987 times. Then the next day I'd ask them
to run through it and they'd look at me like
I was speaking another language and we'd
have to learn it all over again.
This group absolutely astounded me this
morning. I had planned to allot 1/2 of our
time re-learing our last number.
They got up, did it - perfectly - and I
sat there thinking....."now what"?
Love them!!!

Happy 4th!

We FINALLY have some nice weather here in NY.
It has rained for the past 397 days.
Ok, maybe not that many days but close.
Today is beautiful.
I sat out and damaged my skin, lovin' it.
We're off to a friend's house for a BBQ.
I'm wearing:

with white pants and THESE shoes:

Love them.
These sell for $56 on Zappos:

My green pair were $17 at Target!
I love them.
I'm getting them in every color.
(You do know, don't you, that since I wrote that,
the universe is working against me and just magically
sold out of all colors in my size. It just happened, just now.
Trust me.)
Dammit!

38 Days Left

First day of camp - done.
It was....um.......a little hectic, but
it always is on the first day.

One of our busses had a problem
this morning. We lease our busses,
and drivers (none of us drive busses,
they're all professionals).
A driver had a STROKE while driving
the kids to camp this morning!
She passed out at the wheel,
and the bus started hitting
cars. It is my understanding that
they were not going fast. They
were in local traffic. The 16 year old
bus counselor
had the presence of mind to
pull the emergency brake and stop
the bus. Thank God, no one was hurt,
well, except for the driver.
The kids were all fine, all other drivers
were fine. Everyone went to the hospital to
get checked out.
Unfortunately, the driver is not doing well.
How about that counselor, huh?
He's a Life Scout (right before Eagle Scout)
So proud of him!
Yeah, so there you go - first day of camp.
38 more to go and I reeaaaallllllly hope
they are much less eventful.

Oh wait I have a question:
Do I let my 13 year old son go on a
trip with camp to the beach for the day.
To the ocean.
With hundreds of other people.
Do I let him go when I won't be there
keeping my eyes on him every second
he's in the water?
He's a great swimmer, but, you know,
it's the ocean.
Weigh in people.
Paul says let him go.
Here are the facts:
About 30 kids going ranging in
age from 13-15.
5 adult counselors.
Life guards.
Ocean.
No mommy.
What would you do?

King of Pop

Loved watching this. I remember thinking how
cool it was that a kid has his own "real" cartoon.

Ok, this was amazing.

I remember when Marianne Walczak got the
Thriller album. We listened to it over
and over in her dining room - that's
where her family kept their turntable.
We danced all over the house.

Then he started getting weird.
I was into A Flock of Seagulls and Squeeze.
Forgot all about him.
Some years later I was at an airport
during a layover. I remember watching
something pretty amazing on a TV.
It was Black or White.
Amazing video.
How cool was that morphing at the end??!!
Wow.
Michael Jackson.
Wow.

Fast forward.
Dylan is little.
We're on line at the grocery store.
He sees this pic on a tabloid:

He asks:
"Why is that lady hanging her baby out the window?"
Yeah.
He was weird. Really weird.
But you cannot deny that he was a
musical genius.
I think I'll go play
Don't Stop Till You Get Enough
and dance around the house.

Camp Mode

Yup, I'm in CAMP MODE!
For those of you who don't know,
my school has an awesome summer camp
and this is my 4th year working there.
Who would have thought that I would enjoy
running around in the heat with no
make-up on? Certainly not me!
But I LOVE camp.
This year I was promoted to
Special Events Coordinator -
ie: the Julie McCoy of camp
(If you get my reference let me know!)
which also makes me an administrator.
Pretty cool.
There have been some major staff
changes this year which are not sitting
well with some people which is lending
to some tension at camp.
TENSION AT CAMP.
Now tell me - should that sentence
ever have to be uttered?
IT'S CAMP!
Camp.
Tension.
Those two words should never go together.
I vow NOT to let the tension spoil
my camp buzz.
We'll see what happens.
Stay tuned!

Voices In His Head

So we're sitting at the dinner table
and Dylan starts talking about the
new iPhone YET AGAIN.
I told him to knock it off, he's not
getting one.
He continues to sing its praises so
I said:
"Look, I don't want to hear it anymore.
Just say it in your head."
He answers:
"The voices in my head don't
want to hear it either."

Voices in his head.
Yup.
He's my child.

My sweet little boy

7 Year old with an attitude

And I wonder about the voices??

Hey - it won first prize.

He still won't tell me how he got Silly Putty
back there.

Everyday life

He's the best - voices and all

I SURVIVED!!

Yup, I survived a 3 day trip
with the 8th grade.
We went to the Poconos.
(mountains in Pennsylvania)

Listen up people:
I WENT WHITE WATER RAFTING!
Yes, me, in a raft. Yes, me, who
hates all things having to do with nature.
I did it.
AND I had a raft full of Princesses.
They're terrific kids but any sort of manual
labor is totally foreign to them.
They were so busy talking about how cold
and miserable they were that
I had to remind them to put the paddles
IN THE WATER.
When they did put them in the water and I
finally did get them to paddle, I was the one
doing most of the work.
They were all saying, "stroke, stroke, stroke.
And in between I was saying,
"I'm having a.....I'm having a........I'm having a......."
I found that I could get them to work harder if instead of
saying stroke, I said, "Prada, Versache, Coach...."
That cheered them up and got them going.

Day 2 included a trip to a water park, boating,
putt putt, and all sorts of field games.
I actually played rock ball - I'm terrible, lol.

Day 3 - I'm not sure what we did.
The whole trip is a blur.
There was basketball, pool time, bowling,
hiking, BBQ, arcade time, volleyball, softball.
It was a fun, busy trip.
Bottom line - I survived.
I'm exhausted, but I survived.
.....and I'd do it again next year!

Good and Bad

Good

You must try these. So good.

Bad

Horrible mascara. Well, I wouldn't actually know because the brush
stinks! It's "flexible", meaning it wacks you in the eye
when you least expect it. It's my own fault. I only picked
it up because I was drawn to the green.

Good


My new Coach wallet. Just looking at it makes me smile!
The boys got it for me for Mother's Day.
Well, I helped them pick it out.
Mine isn't pink, it's these colors:

Blue on the outside, green on the inside.
They also got me that key chain!

Bad

Drinking this before bedtime. So dumb.

Good

Haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm reading the book.
LOVE IT.

Bad

Packing for a trip.
Yes, I am going on a trip.
Well, actually, I'm chaperoning an 8th grade trip.
We're going white water rafting.
Kill me now.

Rough Couple of Weeks

Yeah, so I haven't been posting.
Why?
Well, I've been reeeeaaaallllly busy.
I've been subbing in Pre-K:

Yes, they're totally cute and busy.
These are busy people.
Well, Pre-K ends at 3:00.
I see them off then run to the camp office:

I was asked to work in the camp office until the end of school.
I LOVE camp so I was glad to help out.
I get to give tours, interview counselors, sign people up.
It's a busy place.
The next day, back to Pre-K:

Did I mention these are busy little people?
How can 13 little people go in 144 directions??
Well, then back to the camp office:

So I'm back and forth for a week and a half
and now something on my back hurts:

Odd, nothing there, but it really hurts, like a bite or something.
So yeah we have Pre-K and camp and don't forget
baseball. Dylan had a school game, away and I'm chaperone:

Dylan is having a catch. The other kid throws him the ball, and just
as he does, Dylan sneezes. Now who can sneeze with their eyes open?

Yup, hits him right smack in the eye.

His eye is ok and his nose is not broken. Thank God.

Ok, back to Pre-K:

Man, they are busy and they never stop, how can 4 year olds
move around and yell so much and why does my back still feel like
someone is poking me with matches! It hurts!

Get home, now my back itches, let me take a look:

What the heck is THAT?
Go to doctor.
Guess what:

I thought only old people get shingles. I won't be old until August.
Doc asks me if I've been under any stress lately.
HA!

Ow. It's really painful.

4 Year Olds

This was the conversation at
my lunch table yesterday, between
me and three 4 year olds.

ME: I have a son here at school.
AMY: What's his name?
ME: Why don't you guess.
ALL: Yeah!!!!
ME: His name starts with the letter D.
AMY: Dinosaur?
ME: Close, but no.
SUSIE: Steve?
ME: No.
JIMMY: Dylan?
ME: Yup.

In three tries they went from Dinosaur to Dylan.
Not bad.

Hectic

I originally called this post "Crazy", but
hectic is more like it.

I've been subbing in Pre-K.
4 year olds.
13 of them.
Love them.
EXHAUSTING!
...and they don't listen.
They just don't seem to hear me.
I hear me.
The other teachers hear me yelling on
the playground, but the kids -
they don't hear me.
Maybe it's a language thing?
Maybe I need to brush up on my
4 year old speak.
"You're not my friend anymore."
"You can't come to my party."
"That's MINE."
"He hit me."
"He hit me first!"
"Gimme!"
"I didn't do it."
"She's lying!"
"It's MY turn!"
"I'm line leader!"


Yeah, I'll practice today.
("She's lying!")

Little League