I Might Seriously Be the Worst Blogger in the History of the World

I remember when I first started this blog, I was super excited about it, and now I never update. I guess I think there’s nothing interesting to write, but I do sometimes get a kick out of going back and reading, so I try to update for myself once in awhile.
A lot has happened. Like the rest of camp, LOL. I really enjoyed the summer. Family camp one and multi disabled camps were hard, but the rest of them went pretty well. I had a lot of fun in arts and crafts. We made some cool things: ice cream, more ice cream, shaving cream paint pictures, bird feeders, rainmakers (those were a lot harder than I expected), picture frames, Halloween masks (you know, for Halloween in July), duct tape beach bags and wallets (a huge hit- Lindsey (Tonks) made the coolest one, which, BTW, I ended up with, not Shamy), stained glass, antennae toppers, wind chimes, more ice cream, and more. As you can probably guess, Ice Cream was pretty popular. I enjoyed being an activity leader. It gave me more time to interact with staff, which means that I developed stronger friendships with staff than I did last year. I really miss them; we had an awesome staff this year. I again fell in love with the campers at teen camp; there is talk of a visions trip to Hawaii in February- I hope so, because then I’ll get to see some of my favorite campers again. I really enjoyed all our special events (Panda did a fantastic job): the Halloween Dance, Christmas in July (my personal favorite), and all the regulars- Luau’s, dances, picnic games, carnival, pajamara, and awards dinners. I got to go deep sea fishing during teen camp. That was lucky because I wasn’t suppose to get to go, but Blue Jae told me to be ready as the alternate in case someone was late. No one was, but Taz took pity on me and let me go anyways. I had a lot of fun. I didn’t take Dramamine (I don’t know how to spell that) this time and I still didn’t get sick.
Breaks were a lot of fun too. During some breaks, I mostly hung out at camp, with excursions to Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Ventura, Camarillo, and Zuma beach. But I also went to Sea World, Magic Mountain, Laser Tagging (not a big deal, I guess, but it was my first time and it was fun), GDB Fun Day (lots of fun), Hollywood, and jet skiing. I had entirely too much fun spending my off time with the other amazing staff. I’m gonna miss falling off jet ski’s with Whale, getting beat up by the ocean during staff swim, massages at campfire, harassing Whale in the shower (funny how so many of the funny stories involve Whale), laughing at Tater-Tot when she has to change because she laughed so hard she peed, searching the whole cabin for that horrible smell and the reaction when we figure out it was the dead clam in Tater’s bag, watching the end of the year slideshow together, and reading my Camp Bloomfield “yearbook” for the first time. I love you guys!!!
We had a great group of dogs this summer. They got along great with each other and the kids. They were all easy to handle, which made it easier for everyone to get them out. I wish them all the best in their future guide work training.
I also learned to read Braille this year. Last year, I knew how to use a Brailler, but this year, I could actually do my own proof-reading too, although I felt a lot better when Tonks proofread it as well. I was pretty excited about that accomplishment. Now I just need to do numbers, and then it’s time to move onto Grade 2 Braille.
On Thursday, after we (Lilo, Panda, and I) stopped crying long enough to tear ourselves away from everyone that hadn’t left yet (we were in one of the last groups to actually get in the car and leave), we headed up north to Panda’s house. Mine and Lilo’s mom picked us up there Thursday night about 11:30. We went straight to Bend without stopping. But because my mom was on fire assignment in Roseburg, we only stayed in Bend long enough to put the stuff I didn’t need to take to school in storage, and grab the box labeled “Lacey’s school stuff.” Then we ran to the house, took showers, did a few loads of laundry and went to the DMV so I could get a new drivers license. Mine was going to expire while I am here, and I didn’t want to change to Hawaii residency. Then we drove to Roseburg Friday afternoon. On Saturday, Lyndsey and I (we had a hard time calling each other by our real names) went shopping- we both needed clothes quite desperately and I needed a few things for school. That night we went to dinner with our grandparents and one of our cousins. We had a good laugh at Nicki’s humor and at our crazy grandma (only we didn’t let her know we were laughing at her). On Sunday I went to Church. I always look forward to going in Roseburg because they are my “original” church family. Then bright and early on Monday morning we headed to Portland because my mom had some appointments up there. We dropped her off and then Lyndsey and I took our stuff to the motel (The Sheraton, courtesy of my good shopping skills). After our mom was done, we did a lot of shopping. I got a few more clothes, and my mom bought me an IPod as a very, very late birthday present. I don’t have it yet though, I left it with Lyndsey to load music onto (we had the laptop with us, but somehow ITunes had been emptied, so now she’s got to put everything back on). We met up with Stephanie, Ryan, and Steph’s brother for dinner at the Cheesecake factory. At about 8:50 pm, just before they closed, I ran to Penney’s to buy shoes really fast. They didn’t have a good selection but I didn’t have the luxury of waiting- I had already thrown my other tennis shoes out. I stayed up all night trying to put music on the IPod (this was before I decided to leave it with Lyndsey) but in the end that worked out ‘cuz it meant that I slept the whole flight. Nice.
I’m still not done unpacking. I’m in new room from last year, and while I miss my roommate, I love my new unit mates. I’m in a hale that has apartments. Four bedrooms, two girls per room, share a kitchen, living room, and bathroom (with 2 showers, 2 toilets, and 3 sinks- weird, I know). I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, having a kitchen and cooking for myself. I’m lucky to be in a unit with other girls that care about keeping it clean so that we don’t get cockroaches. I haven’t spoken to my roomie much, but we’re getting along.
I’m excited about a few of my classes and scared about biopsych and research methods. I probably shouldn’t have taken them the same semester because they are going to be hard. Oh, well, too late now. I already purchased my textbooks. I’m extremely excited about my folk dance of the pacific and personal and family financial management classes.
I just like being back here in general. Now, if only my financial aid would go through. I don’t even have the money to get hangers to unpack my stuff J
So, this was a super long blog, and I just kind of skimmed the surface on most things. Hope you’re still with me, but if you’re not, it’s okay, because I am.