Happy Birthday Emily!

Bonus picture from the Herb Jeffries room last week-

Egg Yolks Should Be Orange.

Trust me. I have chicken experience.

Sitting On The Counter And Dollar Taco Night-

Both are fun for all ages.

Because Food Posts Are Kinda Boring, This Is A Spelling Post.

I'm never sure how to spell "strudel". I always want to throw another 'e' in there.

Let's Confer

This year's sectional conference was held at The Oaks in Lake Hughes, which is about thirty five miles from my mom's house in Frazier Park.


Because I'm a blue/green (hang tight- that'll make sense shortly) I cringed during all of the ice-breakers. C'mon people. We're all in the same field. We'll make friends organically. Please don't make me cluck like a chicken! Oh, to have Nancy's social grace...that's her donning styrofoam and toilet paper.



We stayed in 7B.

There is a long flight of stairs up to the dining hall. After dinner the first night as we headed back down to our cabin, we realized how poorly lit the stairs were. We had the aid of a flashlight, and I advised the group that there were forty four stairs. Erin made fun of me for the rest of the week- not for counting the stairs in the first place, but for remembering the number several hours later.


We spent a lot of time lounging around in these sitting areas, which reminded us how badly we need places like this at our camp.




What do nerdy people do during free time? Strength Deployment Inventory tests which assess one's motivational value systems, patterns of motivation, and conflict sequences, of course! Sarah and I attended the seminar in which this assessment was given, then promptly tested Josh and our friends from Camp Alandale.


Mike and Lisa


Dave

As a blue-green, I have a "cautious- supporting motivation and a concern for thoughtful helpfulness with regard for justice", but as conflict increases I go from "simply being prudently cautious" to "trying to escape from the opposition" to "having to retreat completely". Oh boy. And on a completely different note- there were inflatables!





Jeannie, Erin and Diane

Maria, Miles, Sarah, Josh and Rey

What Have I Become?

What was my Target splurge today? This giant spice rack. Yes, it rotates and makes me happy. Yes, it's an odd thing to be excited about. A year or so ago, I began to pray that I would be better at my job. I was expecting to suddenly acquire a long list of mad skills, but He, not shockingly, is accomplishing this in me in a way that had not occurred to me. He's making me like to cook. I've never disliked it, I just didn't really care about it. Go figure.

On my walk to the post office yesterday I wore flip-flops. They kind of hurt my feet. The disappearance of my flip-flop calluses is a sure sign that winter has stuck around for too long. It's more reliable than that old groundhog.

Grillz

Found this picture of Hot Tub Man #1 and I in my picture folder today - I clicked on the file to investigate its title: Psycho Teeth. We were at a Fall Out Boy concert of all places (I know. But the tickets were free, it was August, and I really needed to get off the hill. I was impressed that they covered Michael Jackson and Sinead O'Connor- nailed them both) and felt like celebrating our post-braces smiles with a picture. While it is true that the quality of color is not perfect in cell phone cameras, I believe that my hair is, in fact, lovely chlorine green.

Dear HSBC Auto Finance,

We're over. This is the last you'll hear from me; you've been trying to control me for far too long. Don't try to contact the car, either. We'll both be happier without you. I'm sorry if that hurts, but it's the truth. You know where to send the pink slip.

Goodbye forever,
#500040047893

Four Down,

thirteen to go.


Our MMAPer ladies have painted our punch- stained tables. They look great, but the paint won't be completely set for a few days still, and we are about to be swarming with Girl Scouts, so we're hoping that plastic tablecloths will prevent any chipping. Bring on the masses!

I'm A Bit Of A List-Maker.

Placa Azul Especial

Because cooking and dish-washing is a big part of my job, I tend to shy away from recipes that require multiple shallow dish filling, dipping and excess- shakings when at home. I am glad, though, that I wasn't deterred from the pistachio crusted chicken recipe that I tried tonight. It was a little ridiculous. I just wish that Stater Brothers hadn't been out of coriander.

Ausgezeichnet!

Our last two summers here at camp have been internationally seasoned, as we have had kids come all the way from Germany to be a part of the staff. This winter Dominik sent some Kinder Eggs our way. Kinder Eggs are made of delicious German chocolate and house a huge variety of little toys and figurines like those pictured above. My prizes were surprisingly appropriate.

I don't know the person that they used as a model when designing Ipod earphones, but one of us is freakishly misshapen.

There Goes My Quick Bank Run On Payday.

Highway 74 is, as my friend Katie says, "Out of order".

Jeannie Oleson, a longtime Camp Maranatha employee, brought me a bag of coffee today from her daughter Rebecca. Rebecca lives in Costa Rica where she teaches the kids who live in shanties along the river in Jaco.

I was a week late, but got to celebrate Jen's birthday with lunch at Mojito, pedicures, four games of Catan, some Wii Fit and lots of visiting. I love being there for longer than a night or two- we even had time to get my car's oil leak fixed!



Miranda wanted in on this photo op.



Jen made delicious chicken piccata for us; I forgot to steal the recipe- next time.

One of the Wii Fit games asks that you flap your arms like a chicken. I caught the kids flying alongside their feathered father.

Seventeen?!

Lacey is one of the few youth groupers who we've been able to talk into being on summer staff. She moved down to Hemet last year, so is no longer in our youth group, but fortunately is still available for coffee dates. She wanted to hang out on her birthday- what a sweet girl. After Starbucks and a quick trip to Anady's Trophy Shop, we realized that we were hungry, so we made like Del Boca Vista residents, and early- birded our way to Red Robin for a 4:15 dinner.





I don't know where she learned "The Job", but she shows much promise, no?

This Is Real.

Really. I received these directions tonight: "Okay, well you go down Tollgate pretty far, and then you will pass a street, and then keep going straight, then you will see a semi- big, red house, and mine is the bright blue one right after it." After a few follow-up questions, I learned that her house would be on the right, and the street that I would pass "might be" Delano. Break the cycle. Teach your kids their addresses. Thanks.