An Evening Conversation

Thursday, March 10, 2011. 10:30 pm
*This dialogue occurs as Tatyana is (once again) the last one up finishing her homework by the light of the lantern.
******
Tatyana: (Looks up at Ms. Adrienne from her MeBook page) Why was you crying last Friday in class? You sad to see us go?
Ms. Adrienne: (With a semi-confused face because at first she couldn't remember what Tatyana was talking about. Then she remembers when she was welling up in class because she was thinking of something emotional that had happened recently. ~Ms. Adrienne really is a softy inside) Yup. That was it. I was sad. Now finish your homework, you gotta get your rest.
Tatyana: You didn't know I saw you, huh?
Ms. Adrienne: Nope. I will be sad to see you go though. Now seriously, get working girl.
Tatyana: Y'all should have a hotel here.
Ms. Adrienne: (Chuckles at the thought of the luxury and comfort of a hotel instead of these nearly 60 year old cabins) You're right. You wanna buy me a hotel?
Tatyana: (She gets really excited, but luckily keeps her voice at a whisper) Ya! Actually, I wish you and Ms. Heather could come to my house.
Ms. Adrienne: That would be cool.
Tatyana: When we older, you and Ms. Heather could come live in my house. That would be fun. (She looks beyond me as if she is imagining it at that moment).
Ms. Adrienne:(Yikes) Ya, That would pretty awesome. If we still know each other; we will visit.
Tatyana: Ok. (She smiles and gets back to work).

Just one more reason I love my job.
for.the.kids

Thoughts on a Thursday

Thought 1: Thursdays are interesting days. They bring to me children that want to do better than they have done all week, and they bring me childrent that just say "Forget it! I've done poorly this whole week, so I shouldn't really change now." It's an odd odd occurance.

Thought 2: I took the first group of girls on bathroom break today, and oddly it is made up of mostly girls from the other cabin, and one of my girls. So I essentially get to hang out with the other cabin for about 15 minutes. On the way to the bathroom, they all told me that they would rather be in my cabin because we "do a lot of fun stuff and decorate our cabin and stuff." I then proceeded to tell them that at one time or another most of the girls in my cabin had told me that they wanted to be in the other cabin because it seemed like more fun and that they didn't get fussed at.
~I kind of want to bring the two cabins together and have them vote for which cabin they would like to be in and see if they would like to just switch cabins. It's funny because it doesn't matter which cabin they are in, if you spend 5 weeks with the same girls, you are bound to think the grass looks greener on the other side.

Thought 3: I love spring. Everything is blooming and beautiful; except for the fact that my throat and my eyes itch because of my allergies.

Thought 4: Standers, Leaners, Sitters. If you are a Stander, it means you are nowhere near ready for graduation. Leaner- You have made some progress, but you can put a little more effort in to be a Pfeifer Camp Kid. Sitter- If we had graduation tomorrow, you would be ready!
We have: 2 Leaners and 5 Sitters. Yay! The two Leaners are actually sitting accross from each other on the brink of being Sitters once they work out the issue that they seem to have with each other.
So close!

Thought 5: One week from this Saturday I will be in Washington for Spring Break.

Update

To say the least, it has been a pretty exhausting session. One week and a couple days to go though, and the kids will be ready for graduation. Graduation is such an exciting time, and I can't wait for the girls to experience it.

I am sure you all have been experiencing pretty crazy weather, and down here it has not been any different. One day it there is thunder, lightning, and a possible tornado, the next it is in the mid 60s. Weird. Some of the girls had mild meltdowns during the thunder storm because the tornado sirens were also going off as we were quickly moving from the mess hall to our cabin. It was the darndest thing trying to convince them that these cabins made of stone and logs the thickness of tree trunks was the safest place they could be during a tornado. They were all crying for their mommies and I was trying to tell them that at this point in time, you really do not want to be anywhere else. It didn't work though. Luckily, my co counselor is a genius and distracted them with animal crackers and the Magic School bus. :D

Last week we got to go on a Field Trip with the kids! It was so awesome. First we went to the Big Dam Bridge. It was great having the girls ask questions and most of them had not been there before. It was very beautiful. I forgot to bring my camera, but I'm sure there are pictures on the link. After that, we drove downtown and had lunch by the waterfront. Lastly, we went to the Historic Arkansas Museum. The kids had researched about it earlier in the week, and were so excited to see the things that they had found on-line. Things like the bowie knife, the toothpick knife, and various guns. Many of them also loved the "We Walk in Two Worlds" exhibit. They were so exhausted by the end of the day they slept in the car on the way back! That was a nice break for us counselors so that we didn't have to keep them entertained ;)

Say a little prayer for the last week and a couple of days as we finish with this group of kids. After that, its a few days of "Transition", then I am off to home/Portland for Spring Break.

Love and miss you all!

for.the.kids