Calico Farm

Today, Jenna took me and Stephanie to a place called Calico Farm (I actually saw a Calico cat there.  Inspiration, perhaps?).  Jenna had first discovered the place on a class field trip.  She had since brought back some fresh, homemade butter and milked some cows.  After telling Stephanie and me (two cheese-enthusiasts) that the farm made delicious, melt-in-your-mouth, fresh, homemade cheese we penciled in a quick outing to the farm.  Here are some photos from today:

Their mascot, a little camera shy...

Picking out cheese, Jenna: Fresh feta and ranch dip, Stephanie: Fresh mozzarella and skillet cheese, Me: Cheese curds and Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic Cheese dip

Stephanie making a friend

Hungry cows in need of milking

I almost took this little, fluffity guy home with me.

Funny thing

During the past week I was asked by a mother to babysit her children last night.  However, I had too much homework to do so I gave the job to my roommate, Jenna, who gladly accepted.  When Jenna came back she told me how one of the kids kept thinking that she was me.  I thought this was so funny.  I work on Sundays at the nursery and watch both of these kids in the morning and Jenna said that the little girl was so confused that she thought she (Jenna) was going to be working at the nursery instead of me.

This morning, I got to see how confused the little girl was for myself.  When I saw her she gave me a great big hug and said, "I missed you".  I foolishly thought that she was referring to my absence during babysitting the night before.  However, it became clear to me that she meant "I missed you since last night" when the little girl called me Miss Jenna instead of Miss Monica.  The saddest part is that she has known me for two years and Jenna and I don't look alike at all.  I feel so replaceable and disposable.*

Love,

Monica

*By the way, this is the little girl that says she loves me and gives me hugs just to get cookies.  And she tricks me every time.

Week 3 and Week 4

My camper from last week, the sudoku wiz

Finally an update...

Week 3 has passed and week 4 (12-17 yrs. old) is just about to.  Today is my day off and, after having a full night's sleep on night duty (the chillens were well-behaved), here I am. 

I really miss my camper from last week, a lethal combination of cute and cuddly, but my camper this week is quickly becoming the love of my life.  He is a slow-walker, non-verbal and functions cognitively at 2 months.  Therefore, he is a big baby and I love helping him around camp.  He is cutest when drinking from his water bottle and when floating awkwardly in the pool (his swirling motions remind me of a sea lion or otter).  The best thing about him, and also the most confusing thing about him, is that he will stare into my eyes for extended periods of time.  He kind of drops is head down, gets in your face and then locks eyes.  It is cute because I know he wants something from me but I also have no real way of knowing what it is.  

Today he is with a floating counselor, but as is with any day off, I can't help but think about my camper.  To distract me from longing for him, I'm thinking of running some errands of the Target variety*.  I also might find it in myself to drive to Elon and clean my fish tank.  The drive isn't that long and if I do decide to go, I will probably get to see Jenna (who was abroad Spring semester).  It's been a very long time and she'll have lots of London stories to tell.  Jenna would also be able to catch me up on the episodes of True Blood that I have missed (no cable, not even TV, at camp).  

In the afternoon, I will probably meet up with David.  He taped an episode of Chopped, which is our guilty pleasure on food network (among many other guilty pleasures on food network).  It's basically like three short Iron Chef competitions (one for appetizer, main dish and dessert) and involves four competitors instead of just two.

I should probably get going now.  I need to shower and plan my day.  

Love,

Monica

P.S. My week off is next week (starting on Friday) and I will be going home to MD for the first time since March!  Can I just say, I miss seeing (and smelling) cows each and every day.

*My "water-proof" watch filled up with water yesterday evening while in the pool.  It stopped working completely minutes later (though I'm not sure of how many minutes).  I'll need to get a new one as soon as possible because you can't live at camp without knowing what time it is and I need to cover up this horrendous watch-tan.  Speaking of tans, take a look at this ring tan I've developed:

I almost cried...

...when I came back to Elon and saw that the automatic fish feeder had failed to feed my fish (I've been relying on it for the past two weeks).  The littlest, Julius, was swimming around when he saw me but Orange, the big one, was resting on the bottom of the tank and I couldn't tell if he was breathing or not.  I started to panic and sprinkled the food pellets in their water like I sprinkle sprinkles on my ice cream (i.e. like mad crazy).  It took them a while before they started to eat and they still haven't eaten most of what I have given them.  

Now I'm trying to go to sleep, but I'm so worried about them that I will probably have a restless night ahead of me.  My main concern is that the sudden influx of food will hurt their starving stomachs.  Their behavior is just so odd and they won't even come up to the surface to nip at my fingers!  They are completely out of character and it is all my fault.  I swear, I don't know what went wrong with the auto feeder.  When I left, it was moving full speed ahead, powered by the new batteries that I had put in it.  

Luckily, Jenna is coming in only a couple of days and will be able to feed the brave little guys for me, providing them with the wonderful human interaction and supervision that the auto feeder is unable to give.  

I hate robots.

For: Jenna

Hope you're still reading. 'Cause this one's for you:

Amish horses