scarlet fever

one of my mother friends has a son who just came down with scarlet fever. can you believe it? i havent heard of anyone nowdays having it. really odd.

so, apparently its really contagious. he hasnt been in contact w/ erica for awhile, which is good. though, i saw him on sunday. i didnt really play with him or hold him or anything, so i'm not really too concerned. but its still really odd.


This weekend, i was away at camp. it was fun. Between '97 and '01, i worked at a kids camp near where my parents live. well, some of my mother friends have kids within the range of going to camp. but the kids [and parents, for that matter] were a bit afraid of sending the kids away for a whole week during the summer, since they'd never been away from home before. And they're all homeschooled, so they arent really used to meeting new people much.

So, i had the idea of taking them to the camp's weekend kids retreat. That way, it was a short trip, and i would be able to be with them. This sounded good to the parents. So friday night, i drove 1 hr up to the camp, with 3 girls and 1 boy. the girls were able to stay in my cabin... obviously not the boy... but he's more outgoing and i knew he wouldnt have a problem.

well, it went really well. i knew it would. i've been a helper before at their winter program, and knew it would be tons of fun. Friday night was a great ice-breaker. we got their around 7:30, and we settled into our rooms. right away, one other girl teamed up with my three. then we went down to the big gym where all the kids and helpers were gathered. the theme of the weekend was light and dark... so we played glow-in-the-dark games. it was TONS OF FUN!

they had these fist-sized balls that sparkled different colors when squeezed. so we turned off all the lights, put the balls in the middle, and the different cabins worked as teams to pick up the balls and throw them at other kids to get them out. Then, they had a HUGE bucket full of tiny glow-in-the-dark balls. they threw them all out-- there were hundreds of them. the teams had to collect as many as possible. we won the first round, with 111 of them. go team!!!

then off to the dining hall for a small snack. then off to bed. a lot of the girls in my cabin [not just my 3] were a bit apprehensive that first night, but all went well. they slept pretty good thru the night.

in the morning, we had breakfast of course. then down to the gym again for songs, games and a "lesson" of sorts. we learned about how the rods and cones in our eyes receive color and images. quite intriguing. i had heard it before, but its still amazing. light passes on ALL colors, and when it hits an object, all the colors are absorbed, except for one, which is reflected of and into the cones of our eyes. thats how we see color. it just doesnt make sense to me.

oh well. then we played more "glow-in-the-dark" games. the gym didnt have many windows, so it was easy to cover up the few that were there. Then there was free time. blessed free time. actually, it didnt last too long. then lunch came again. then another "session" down at the gym. that time we learned about the sun and moon. most of the kids found this stuff fascinating. then more games. then free time. i volunteered to take some kids on a hike. really, i just wanted to see camp for myself. i hadnt been there since 2001, and several things had changed. i wanted to see it all, and reminisce over the past. So i took them all over the place, pointing out the things that we passed.

it was FRIGID! i complained awhile ago about such warm weather. well, this weekend it was cold. so while on our hike, i had two pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, three shirts, a big heavy coat, gloves, and ear muffs. and i still got cold by the end.

then we got ready for dinner. it was so fun. it was a "carnival" of sorts. they had black lights up in the dining hall, and there were 7 or so games, all with neon colors and glow-in-the-dark things. i was in charge of a game of "bowling," knocking over milk bottles painted in neon paints. the kids could eat whenever they wanted, just simple chicken nuggets, fries, carrot sticks, and apple sauce.

after that, we had a "campfire" time, though just inside and around the fireplace. we sang silly and loud songs, and the camp leader for the weekend did magic tricks. its always so funny to see the kids try to figure out her methods, but never getting it right. in the past, i had been her assistant, so i knew all the tricks, so it was fun to kinda play along myself to figure it out.

anyway, that night the kids didnt want to sleep. they were so loud. and i had an awful headache. it was terrible. the black lights had really affected me, especially with all the bright colors it produced. my head got worse and worse and worse. i couldnt fall asleep. and i was feeling nauseous, i really thought i'd throw up. finally, i dont know how, i fell asleep. i woke up in the middle of the night, just in a haze as i rolled over. but the headache immediately hit me again. i had been sure that it would go away with sleep, but it didnt. i was really tempted to call my parents and beg them to come get me. they only live 6 minutes away, so they could get me much sooner than andrew. but i told myself that i'm an adult now and couldnt go calling my parents to rescue me. again, i dont know how but i fell asleep. In the morning, i didnt want to wake up. but the noise in the cabin didnt make that possible. and to my disgruntlement, my headache was still there. i told one of the other helpers about it, and she said "oh, i have ibuprofen. i'll give you some. i should have thought last night to give it to you."

GRRR... that would have saved me so much pain and anguish. oh well. The rest of the morning went well. breakfast, another "session" where we did charades of sorts. then free time. then lunch. then pack up to leave.


all in all, i was glad to go. i had fun. i was glad to be there for the girls. it was nice to be away from erica for the weekend. [though i love her, she's been very tantrum-prone lately.] and, it gave me an opportunity to talk to the assistant director. she's retiring from camp, and may be moving away. so this was probably my last opportunity to see her. i'll miss her so much. i'm kinda glad that i'm past the time in my life to work at camp, b/c things are so different. the director stepped down a few years ago, and i really liked him so much. he was a great guy. and now the assistant director is stepping down. now, i wont have any connection to any of the leadership of the camp. and thats sad.

OHH... i forgot to mention... I FELT SO OLD THIS WEEKEND!!! okay, so i'm only 25. thats really not that old. but there were other helpers there who had been MY campers!!! and they were YOUNG when they were my campers. ugh! wow, how time changes. the one guy came right up to me, i hadnt recognized him at all. and he said, "hey, i was a camper when you were here." and then i remembered him. ughhh... he's older now, old enough to be a counselor, not just junior staff. all grown up. not the little scrawny kid i remember.

***sigh***
i'm now called Aunt Becky at camp, not Miss Becky. i'm no longer young, full of that crazy energy and enthusiasm as in the past. not jumping around and "making a fool out of myself," but in a good way that the kids love. it really hit me. b/c one of the other girls there, who was acting as program director for the weekend, was my camper. granted, she was a bit older by my last summer there. and i had had a pretty good relationship with her. so it was great fun to see her again. but looking at her made my heart sad to realize that i used to be like that... during song time, singing her heart out, jumping around, doing all the crazy motions and stuff.

to my own credit, i did at least play along in the games. i really got into our game of bombardment. [two teams, on different sides, throwing the balls to try to hit people and get them out.] And i did roller skate with my girls.

enough for now! i really need to get going. lots of "wifely," "motherly" things to do. *sigh***


[just fyi: though it sounds like i'm complaining (and in actuality, i am mourning my youthful years), i do love and appreciate my life right now. i am glad to have my husband and my daughter, two things that i didnt have in the past. (though, andrew and i did meet at that camp and start dating then... ahh, the memories... i saw the bench where we sat and had "the talk," trying to figure out what our relationship was.) ...oh, right, i'm supposed to stop typing now...]