If pride comes before a fall, get a band-aid ready...

Because I'm proud of something.

I personally recruited two counselors for primary camp at Camp Kellogg this past week. One of them was a pretty experienced counselor, I just convinced him to sign up for yet another week of camp duty. The other had little to no experience with kids, and I persuaded him that he would love camp.

When I was asked what a first-time counselor should expect, I had to pause. "Well... you'll hate kids for a little while. When, not if, that happens, take a break and maybe a nap, and you'll recover. You'll get exhausted and hot, you'll feel like you're in WAY over your head... and you won't regret it." Then I said that my experiences as a counselor have been the most fulfilling times of my life. And it's true.

There's nothing like the feeling of having someone (or eight someones) be completely dependent on you to help you grow up, fast.

I remember seeing a clogged toilet one night, and thinking, "Man, someone should take care of that..." and realizing that, finally, that person was me.

Sure, camp is fun, camp is free food, and a way to work on your tan because you're outside all the time, but it's also a lot more than that. It's a chance to focus completely on putting a child's needs before your own and to get over yourself.

There's a lot more that could be said about camp, but then again, I would never be able to say all of it.

Random but sincere spew of thoughts...

First of all, I'm sorry that I haven't posted for a while (I think that is what one is supposed to say when one abandons one's blog for a fairly long period of time). 

My mother's birthday was a couple of weeks ago, and when I wrote in the card I got for my mom at Serendipity in Bend, I realized something - I hope I'm like my mom when I grow up.

Specifically, I hope that one day I can live as gratefully as my mom does. I hope I write dozens of thank you notes like she does, I hope I call people and recognize what they did like she does, and I hope I learn to be as sincerely thankful for everything, like she is.

That said, I decided to thank just a few of the people, objects, events, and other things that I'm grateful for.

• Toms Shoes. I'm really, really glad that there are companies like this. They give away a pair of shoes for every pair they sell to children who desperately. Also, I love the shoes themselves - they're incredibly comfortable, and I wear them with everything. Literally. 
• Saturday Night Live, especially when it puts Tina Fey and Justin Bieber together, like in this sketch, Teacher. It's life-changingly hilarious! 
• Car mechanics, both professional and unofficial (this includes Les Schwab men). Whether it's noticing the air in your tires is low or replacing your cat converter,  they're looking out for you and your car. And it's always, always nice to be looked out for. 
 

Annnnnd pretty much everything else in the world.