Middle School, anyone?

I would just like to let any readers with whom I grew up know that I got to watch the Thriller music video in my family room with Mr. Lillard (yes, everyone's favorite 7th grade science teacher).  And, yes, his level of cool has officially been raised to an even higher level of cool on my cool-o-meter (if it could get any higher than it already is).

He came by to visit my brother, Nicholas, because they are good buddies and because tomorrow Nick goes off to the United States Naval Academy for good (I won't get to see him until Thanksgiving).  Here's a fierce picture below of him running, which he will be doing a lot of at the academy once the season starts:

 

Now it's off to the post office and coffee shop/bakery with my mom.  Maybe later she'll take me to feed those lovely LaMancha goats I have dreams about.  Until next time...

T&S spell it out: Moog

A funny video I found of my favorite canadian twins:

Moog or what? from Tegan and Sara on Vimeo.

"Good morning, angels"

Last night, David defeated me in a game of scrabble.  In my defense, I was distracted by a Charlie's Angels marathon (in honor of Farrah Fawcett).  We also watched about five or six of Michael Jackson's music videos (and then the Weird Al parodies of those videos).  And just as I was starting to feel a little less depressed about everyone dying, a news reporter announced that Billy Mays had died at the age of fifty.  And I proclaimed to the heavens, "OxiClean!  Noooo!"  My mom and I were such big fans, with all of his products in our cupboards.  

But now, refreshingly, I'm home in Maryland.  My room has been re-arranged and I feel like I'm staying in a hotel (in a good way).  The food in the refrigerator does not even feel like part of my territory, so I've placed a bag of melted whoppers from my car on one of the shelves.  I'm slowly moving back in, you see.

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:

Awkward Family Photos

I promise to update soon (meaning in 1-2 days) about...stuff.  For now, I leave you with:

from here

Funny motions

David and a caterpillar (I just had to share it)

I had night duty last night which means today is my day off.  However, all I can think about today is how much I miss my camper!  He is THE CUTEST KID I've ever seen before in my life (and I mean, c'mon, I work at a nursery full of cutie pies during the school year).  Anyway, he could do commercials or model.  He is the epitome of what it means to be eight years old and cuddly cute.

My favorite part about him is that he is a natural comedian.  You see, whenever we go to the pool we like to show each other funny faces and funny "motions" underwater.  I started with "the pizza eater" face (me motioning eating pizza underwater) and he offered back things like "the sleeper" (pretending to sleep on the pool floor) and "the accident" (his mimicry of a boy who had pooped in the pool earlier that day).  And while "the accident" is always a crowd pleaser, nothing can beat these next few that I will explain:

1) The frightened man: He goes underwater and pretends to run away.

2) The angry woman:  Underwater, he screams and motions pulling out his hair.

3) The cement mixer: He swirls around in a circle underwater.

4) The pig in the mud: He swirls around in a circle underwater.

...at which point I told him that it was funny that "the cement mixer" and "the pig in the mud" were the exact same move.  He agreed with me and suggested that we do:

5) The pig in the cementer mixer: He swirls around in a circle underwater, while oinking.

I wish I could post a picture of me and my camper, but I can't...yet.  I need proper permission first and I hope to acquire it (but my blog, with the addition of said picture, will probably cease to exist due to an explosion of cuteness)!

So, for the rest of the day, I need to write my daily notes for yesterday.  I need to shower and get dressed up (because David is coming to take me to dinner or something).  And for the meantime and in between time, Andy and I need to figure out what to do for our day off (he had night duty last night also).  

Love,

Monica

Weekend in Wilmington

This past weekend, David came to camp to see the talent show.  My camper did a fashion show and was awarded the "Long walks on the beach" award (because of the slow, yet romantic, pace at which he walked around camp for the week).  My friend Jean had a friend in Wilmington with a house about 5 minutes away from the beach.  So, after the talent show ended on Friday, David, Me, Jean, Andy and Elisabeth drove there.  

Highlight of the weekend: Skinny-dipping in the ocean with Elisabeth