Go

It was the very beginning of blue card day in the office. If any of you know what that means you should feel sorry for me. I am in charge of every single blue card… there are at LEAST 4 cards per kid and over 700 kids. That is a lot of blue cards. I was alone printing blue cards at 10:00 p.m. I had never done blue cards before and it has already been a long day when my boss comes out of his office at 11:45

Boss: “Where’s the other office worker?”

Me: “Meeting” (I am almost in tears from stress)

Boss: “Go to bed.”

Me: “What?”

Boss: “Give Grant a kiss goodnight and go to bed. The other office worker should have started this earlier, it’s not your problem.”

I am not even allowed to hold Grant’s hand here and my boss told me kiss him goodnight! What was that about? I didn’t question it, I got out of there as fast as I could and once I made it to the road I collapsed. I was exhausted and still in shock about my boss taking pity on me. I hadn’t complained once but he apparently wasn't crazy enough to keep me working. 

Someone Going Out of Their Way

One of the many jobs in the office is too sort the mail. For some odd reason they drop all the mail off in the office but the scoutmasters pick it up in the adult training center two football fields away. Apparently I get to do the mail single handedly and we had a LOT of mail today. There were around five bags that were half my height and an armful of letters. As I was making my third trip up to the Adult Training Center, Donnie, the guy who runs the kitchen drove up in a gator with one of his staff. The staff member stepped out, let me in, we picked up the rest of the mail, and then they carried all of it in for me. That was definitely not in their job description but they went out of their way to help me. I have done so much work today I was getting a little annoyed at how much I was doing. Then someone who had no reason to help me did. I needed help but I didn’t even have to ask. My hard work does not go unnoticed and there are plenty of people at my job willing to help even if it is not their responsibility. Donnie had great timing too, it was at the exact moment I was thinking “why am I the only one doing this?” then he drove up. He wasn’t what I expected at all but I am proud to say I was wrong and people actually do care.

Nutter Butters

“I am sitting in the middle of the national forest, licking the middle out of some Nutter Butters and I realize my life is wonderful. Not because of what I do but because I am eating Nutter Butters. It’s the little things in life.”  ~ Grant

I had another rough day but every day at around 11p.m. Grant and I have ‘tea time’ where we talk, drink tea, and eat cookies. Today was Nutter Butters and as I was whining about my day we were eating the peanut butter out of the cookies. It really made me stop and think after Grant said that. The whole point of this blog is to hold onto the little things, not whine about my day. What is the point of whining? That will get me nowhere in life. I needed to be talking about how I wrote several letters, how I helped several kids fix their schedules and how it put a smile on my face when a scoutmaster remembers me as ‘Ms. TCU’. Without internet it makes it harder to blog so I have been forgetting about my goal. Thank you Grant for reminding me that my life is wonderful because I was licking the center out of Nutter Butters.

The Illegal Hug

I am having a hard time at camp but today that hug made my day. Being at a BSA camp I am not allowed to touch anyone, no putting my hand on their shoulder when someone’s upset, no hugs when I have a bad day- especially from the campers. Today was not going well for me at all and I felt so sick because of allergies. I went to pick up my lunch and bring it back to the office when I saw a kid from my old church. He ran up to me and gave me the biggest hug with the widest grin I had ever seen.

I could get in trouble for even writing that I got a hug from a camper but for whoever knows this kid they would know he can’t greet you any other way. He is a little slow mentally but I have never met a happier kid. He smiles ALL the time and gives out hugs freely to those who need them but I don’t think he understood how much I had needed it.

Lysandra's Recital

I finished off my senior year with my senior recital. I believe that it was the best way for me to say good bye, to start this new chapter in my life. That day will be one moment I will forever cherish and be proud of. Even though I have been stuck in Oklahoma when Lysandra's recital was about to begin I knew I wanted to be there for her.

The drive was long, but I made it in time to hear her recital. I am so proud of her. So many years of practicing, performing, stress, and just everything. She has finally wrapped up her high school chapters and is about to start on a whole new chapter. It was awesome to see someone in the same position I was in just a year ago. Best of luck to you Lysandra and I get to head back to Oklahoma after spending 18 hours in Texas!

The Letter

I got my first camp letter today! I really doubt I will get many more but it still made me feel pretty cool. What has definitely been keeping me from getting too homesick has been writing letters to everyone. I have now written over 20 letters and I have had way too much fun doing it. I am pretty sure that less than half the people I am writing to will write back but I am still having a blast doing it. That is what I did during my First Aid class, because honestly the stuff that was taught was common sense so I wrote around six letters. Yay for pen and paper being able to make someone’s day.

Air Conditioning

Oklahoma wilderness is hot outside, just thought you would like to know that. But I luckily am working in the air conditioning because I am in the office doing paperwork. So I am extremely thankful for the nice cool breeze that I get to enjoy that most of staff does not.

That is not the main thing that has made me happy these past few days though. What has truly made my weeks was I sent out a request for addresses because as you can tell from ‘Monday’s’ post I was extremely lonely. I got a FLOOD of addresses! That made my day! I have been writing every single person and having so much fun doing it.

I think the staff here thinks I am nuts because of it but I don’t care. I have people that want to hear from me and they are just jealous that they don’t have people like that to write to! God has blessed me with some of the most amazing people in my life and I am thankful for every single one. I am more homesick here than I ever was at school but all the encouragement I have received from everyone has really lifted my spirits.