charlie and the moon archives.

Last week, I had this PRECIOUS camper who was about 7 years old. She was adorable. So you guys know those pillows that you can get that are super squishy and have the billions of tiny tiny beads in them? Yeah, well they sold those at the camp store. So she buys one. Later that night she asks me for scissors, and like the IDIOT COUNSELOR that I am, I give them to her. She didn't have the pillow with her when she asked me, so I didn't put 2 and 2 together to realize that she was planning to cut the tags off the side. So I'm up in the loft and I hear, "Um... Haley..." (and this is how she always started conversations with me.) I say, "What girl?" "...um, you know that pillow that I bought?" "...yeeeees?" "Well, I cut a hole in it." So I sit there for a second and think, "Hmmm. How can I fix this one?" DUCT TAPE. Grab the duct tape, go downstairs and tape up the hole. Crisis averted. :)

Three days later, right before bed. I'm up in the loft and hear, "Um... Haley...." "Yeah girlfriend!" "You know that pillow you taped?" "...yeaaaaah?" "Well, it came untaped. BUT LUCKILY it spilled ONLY IN MY BED and not on the floor." And by this time me and the rest of the counselors are cracking up because CLEARLY it would have been better if it had spilled on the floor because it would be way easier to clean up. Anyway, we get it all cleaned up somehow. But it's a funny story. Moral is never give a seven year old scissors. :)

One of my campers last week was named Covey. Which at first I thought was weird. But later that week I found out that COVEY is short for COVENANT which is stinkin' cool. Her name is COVENANT. That's awesome. The end.

Thursday we had Rockwall at 4:00. It was hot and our kids were tired and a lot of them didn't even want to climb. The few of them that did didn't get very far. I wasn't really surprised though, because the rockwalls at Sky are pretty hard and not a lot of my girls have made it to the top this summer. I was belaying on the left wall, which is the hardest. Only two girls in our cabin have made it up this summer.

So I belay the first few girls and last up is T, who is blind. And I'm thinking "Okay, she can try. But there is no way. She can't see." So we hook her up and get set. She has trouble starting off, so her two spotters pretty much pick her up and put her on the wall. She hangs around for about a minute and a half grabbing whatever she can feel and trying to listen to the directions everyone is shouting at her and then decides it's too hard and she doesn't like it. She hadn't gotten very far though, and I thought "It would be really cool to be able to tell her she made it halfway. Let's get her halfway." So I say, "Hey girl, listen. Lets make a deal. Keep trying for two more minutes. And if you still want to come down after two minutes, I'll bring you down." And she's like, "Oooooookay." So she starts to climb again. By this point I'm not even yelling directions at her because the other girls in the cabin have all began to encourage her and tell her where to grab and step. (I love letting the girls do this at Rockwall. It's such a cool opportunity for them to encourage each other.)

So they are giving her instructions and she's doing pretty well. She almost gets halfway but gets stuck again. Then, our PAD and one of the guy counselors come up and grab on to her rope right above where I am belaying. They begin to pull her up just enough to where she can get to the next rock. This continues on- - she finds rocks and climbs, they pull her up just enough.

She yells "Has it been two minutes yet?" It had been three, but I told her no. Because she was doing it. She was climbing that wall just as well as any of my other campers had. And something inside my head was like, "She's going to reach the top." And she keeps climbing.

So I'm standing there, belaying this blind girl as she climbs the rockwall, watching the rest of my cabin encourage her and the guys are helping her by pulling her up. And she does it. She makes it to the top and the rest of the girls go crazy and it is pretty much one of the most amazing things I have ever seen.

I can't adequately describe it or what i was feeling or anything, so I wont even try. Ask me to tell you in person. Maybe it will be better. :)

I have been finished with camp for a week and am still trying to move back into my apartment and get organized. It has been nice to be back and see everyone, but weird too. I think Austin is weird right now because half of my friends are still gone for the summer. So many times this weekend I have been bored and thought, "Well, maybe I'll go to Mike's later. Wait, no." I'm glad to be back, but will be excited when everyone else gets here too. :)

I HAVE enjoyed catching up on TV that I missed and having the time to sit and watch an hour of TV when I feel like it. Other things I appreciate more now:

- big showers.

- couches.

- being able to use the internet when I want

- a big bed

- having 5 bars of service on my phone

- food that isn't camp food

...I still have to wake up early for my 8am class (oh brother), but at least I'm already used to being up early. :)

Stay in Touch

My campers this year have been so much better about staying in touch! They text me and facebook me and write me letters. One of them even called me, which is a funny story but I have to tell you in person so you can hear the voice.

Anyway, it's fun. I love pen pals and texting so it works out well for all of us. :)

I feel like there was a lot more I wanted to write about but can't think of currently. I also feel like this post doesn't have a ton of substance/things worth reading about, so I apologize. I hope some of my others have made up for whatever this one lacks.

So. Cheers to all of you who have enjoyed my camp adventures this summer as much as I have, it has been fun to share them with you. I'd love to tell you more in person, so talk to me. Also, many thanks to those of you who sent me mail. It always made my day to hear from you. :) You are wonderful.

I think that's it. Like I said, for more on my heart, thoughts and life in "the real world" (aka, not summer camp) check out my normal blog which you can find here or in the "others" section.

As for "Charlie and the Moon," until next summer, to be continued.