I am back.

The summer in California was more than amazing and I can't wait to go back. pics and whatnot are all on facebook.  Let me know if you need access.

Life here is a little crazy, but honestly, I've stopped waiting for it to be anything other than nuts.  Waiting to hear back on a job.  Hopefully I got it, I need money....and a life.

Talk to you all later.

So the camping season is upon us again.  Yes kids, its that time again where I head off to the somewhat unknown and tackle the joys of summer camp for yet another 3 months.  This year I'm back to Camp Krem in sunny CA to work with the greatest population of people on the face of this planet.  This year I got the job as the Outdoor Camp director.  This means I get to plan camping trips, hiking trips, sleep in a tent, and cook copious amounts of food for people.  Basically, I found someone to pay me for things I'd already like to be doing.  I leave on Wednesday and the transportation method this year is the train!  A while back some friends and I got together and realized that taking the train sounded like the best idea ever, and so we all booked our tickets.  Wednesday morning I load myself on the train, and with a minor train change in Chicago, I'm going to be on the thing until Friday evening sometime.  I'm packing food and games and really just hoping for the best!  What else says fun like 3 days on a train with 4 boys?

All this being said, I'm having a hard time leaving.

Reason #1:
I love my roommate.  She is amazing and I don't want to leave her for 3 months. 

Reason #2:
I have a person and the thought of leaving him for 3 months makes it a bit harder to breath.

Reason #3:
I will miss my cat more than I care to realize at this moment in time.

If anyone knows of a way to pack these three beings into my luggage so that I can have them with me all summer, please let me know.  It would be nice to not have to say goodbye. 

However, I have no doubts that this summer is going to be amazing.  I have plans to get involved with local conservation groups and start getting the campers involved in beach clean ups and education about the oceans and all that wonderful stuff.  I really hope to do at least one off site camping trip per session.  It would be amazing to just take these campers out into the woods to go hiking and everything.  Imagine a day on the ocean.  It would be magical.

I think this is it.  A bit disjointed today, but there's been a lot going on lately.  Keep a lookout for more postings a bit more frequently.  This summer I'm making an attempt to blog about the ongoings at camp.  So many great things happen that should be told to all of you.  Stay tuned, there will be more.

Abbey

Add to the band list:

Matt Nathanson-- "Bulletproof Weeks"

So, its been a while.

I write lesson plans.  Lots and lots of lesson plans.  I write plans on behavior, museum visits, Ireland, map skills, and the american revolution.  I write lesson plans.

I work.  I am the giver of life...ok really its just caffiene, but really, sometimes I see no difference.  Thank goodness I get to drink on the  job.

Did i mention the lesson plans?

Camp season is getting underway again.  I'm headed back to CA for the summer in May.  This time, I'm taking the train.  Yes kids, 56 hours on a train.  Its gonna be SWEET!  For those who don't know, I got the Outdoor Camp Director position at a camp for people with special needs and disabilties.  I will be planning activities, leading hikes, camping trips, and hanging out with the most amazing people on the face of this planet.  I'm getting paid to sleep in a tent....I'd do that anyway.  The staff this year looks amazing!  Of the 40(ish) staff that we hire, 30 are returning.  This is amazing!  Rarely do the horrible staff want to come back, and its even more rare that the horrible staff that want to come back get hired.  So, this summer will kick some ass.  Seriously.

Down side of camp season starting in March, I no longer care about things here at home.  I just want to leave.  Leave the clouds and grey and head to sunny CA and live in the mountains.  I don't want to write lesson plans or make people coffee.  I just want to camp and be surrounded by amazing people.  Camp is amazing, school is not.  Its hard to concentrate on something that you don't find amazing.

I think I will start the countdown on April 1.

I love camp.

Roadtripping to NY in a few weeks.  Heading home to v isit with the roommate's family.  Should be great times!  I get to meet her Nana and Papa.  Nana has apparently been dying to meet me since roomie moved in.  Should be an excellent trip, definately looking forward to it.

(Random Topic Switch)

I've been listening to a lot of new (to me) bands lately and I feel the need to share my discoveries.

1.  City and Colour--  "Sleeping Sickness"  "Save Your Scissors"
2. Josh Radin-- "A Girl Like You"
3.  Kings of Leon-- "Sex On Fire"
4.  Death Cab For Cutie--  Ok, I've known about this bad for a while, but everyone should know about them.

There will be more where this camp from.

So  I think that's about it.  I hope you enjoyed the randomness.

I still exist.  I know that some may begin to think that I am myth and legend, but trust me, I'm here.

School is nuts.  I'm finished as of Monday for the semester.  I'm suppose to be writing my final for a class now, but alas, I will update first.  School went well.  I expect good grades.  I may have even pulled a B out of my math class.  That would be amazing and since my goal at the beginning of the year was a solid C I'll take it! 

Work is insane.  I work almost 40 hours a week....seriously.  Between school and work, I spent more time away from the apt than in it.  Oh well,  I guess this is life.  I like my job though, and I'm getting a ton of opening shifts, so I'll deal and sleep later in life.  I'm only young once.

Death Notice:  We had to Max down earlier this week.  He got sick last week and the vet said that things weren't looking good.  Didn't think it would go quite as fast as it did, but at least he didn't suffer.  Binx is crazy happy to be an only cat again and I'm disapointed in this because I taught her to be a better cat than that.  *shakes head*  and farther into crazy catdom I go.

Brighter side of life, looks like I may be getting involved in a Battlestar RPG.  I've wanted to get into more gaming for a while now, and some friends had a spot open up with their group.  It should be fun and a good excuse to do something fun at least a few times a month.  I'm very excited about this.

I really think that's it.  The fam is great and I'm seeing most of them over Christmas.  Going out to NYC for a week over new years which will be wonderful.  The roommate is amazing as always.  I think that's life for me in a nutshell.

You know what sucks about putting yourself out there?  Because 99% of the time it fails. 

I have an "I really don't care" attitude, because honestly, its needed.  Why get wrapped up into something that has a high percentage of not working out?  Its easier, from the beginning, to just not care and not get attached. 

This is why I push new people away.  This is why I keep my distance.  Lesson learned...again.

In other news, I work a lot.  Like 30+ hours a week.  And then I go to school.  I see the inside of the coffee shop more than I see my own house...seriously.  If I'm not sleeping or at work, I'm at school where  I spend the majority of my time figuring out a math class being taught by a very very bad teacher.  I'm sure there are better words to describe her teaching style, however, these are the only ones I can find right now.  Just accept the fact that she's horrible.   Horrible.  However, thanks to the fantastic study group I have going on, there's a chance I could come out of this class with a B, which is a whole letter grade higher than I was originally aiming for.  Woohoo!

Cat update:  They are fantastic.  Binx is obnoxious and her favorite activity is batting at my face in the morning when she hears my alarm go off.  Max is gaining weight and looks like he has a potbelly.  They still hate each other, but that's just entertainment for roommate and I.

That's life in a nutshell.  I'm baking muffins and trying to keep my sanity.  It's the single, crazy cat lady life for me.

 I just had a friend get diagnosed with breast cancer. 

This may be a selfish view of the situation, but I can't lose another person.  Not now.  I don't know the details, she's keeping to herself for the time being.  However, looking at my past interactions with this; its surgery, chemo, radiation. 

Its just too much sometimes.

 I would own a pastry shop.  I have no idea what I'd call it, but it would be something fabulous and witty.

I woul serve desert things and bread.  Good bread.  I'd make something special for everyday of the week.  I'd make Macaroons on Mondays and Tarts on Tuesday....You get the picture.   (Challah on Fridays for sure though).  And of course I'll have your standard muffins, scones, cookies and rolls.  But I'd like to change up the flavors so people don't have to eat the same thing everyday.  I'd also make fabulous sandwhiches.  Not a lot because I want the main focus to be other things, but I'd have a kick ass tuna and crossant sandwhich as well as a few fantastic veggie options.  And of course there will be coffee!!  Espresso drinks, plain coffee, everything.  Whatever I can't make and needs to be bought I'm going to get from local vendors.

My restaurant would be homey and quaint.  None of the tables would match and they'd all be wood.  It would almost be a bonus if the chairs didn't really match either, but, they can if they come with the table.  Of course I'm picking them up from garage sales and 2nd hand shops.  My coffee cups would all somehow be personal, not your standard white mug in a shop place.  I'm going to encourage my costomers to bring in their own mugs to help save on waste and paper usage.  I'd want a fire place too.  It doesn't have to be wood burning, but someone warm with extra large squishy chairs would be fantastic.  The art would all be from local artists who would be able to advertise their stuff (and shows) in my place.  I'm going to have random magazines for people to look at too.  Not your standards like Forbes and Cosmo....my people are going to look at Gourmet and Backpacking....National Geographic!  Haha, I finally have an excuse to subscribe to National Geographic.

I'll let you all know when I open ;)

I'm moved.

I'm in the new apartment, I have my final walk through tomorrow morning and I'm done.  I no longer live in a closet...and I can walk into my new one!!  I am the proud user of a dishwasher and I can't wait to decorate my sun room.  Yes folks, it looks like I might almost live in a big girl apartment.  Now, Carly just needs to move in and we'll get things started.  I still need to unpack (which is infinitely better than the packing process) and bring a few things in from my car, but really, the big, heavy, and hard stuff is over with and the rest is just fluff.  My friends who helped me are super amazing.  They were troopers beyond belief and I owe them something amazing.  I don't think pizza is going to cut it this time.  They deserve homemade dinner and baked goods.  Pot roast and chocolate chip cookies should do the trick I think.

I finally had an appointment with the allergist today and I finally have a diagnosis!!  For those of you who don't know, I break out into hives whenever I'm cold which is pretty much all the time since i live 4 miles away from the artic circle and walk to class with wind chills below zero.  Ok so really, I'm not that close to the artic circle, but I may as well be.  Anyway.  My diagnosis is Cold Uticaria.  I've not done a lot of research on it yet, but basically its simple.  I get cold, my immune system gets pissed off and sends lots of histamines into my body causing the hives.  This is fixed by dressing warmly (already doing that) and taking anti-histamines.  And I get my very own personal Epi-Pen for any extreme cases (which I plan on avoiding).  The doctor said that I'll hopefully grow out of this, but it could be 1 year or it could be 25 years, no one really knows for sure.  Either way, I'm not crazy and I finally know what's wrong.

My trip to CA was fabulous and wonderful and I really can't wait to go back.  The wedding was a success and Chris and Jessie are officially married.  Yay!  It was a great vacation.  For one day I had my toes painted, my legs shaved, I was wearing a dress (with special thanks to spanx), my hair was done, and my nails were manicured.  Yes kids...I was a girl....a real one.  I looked good too.  Though, I"m sure the dress helped a bit.  It fit by the way.  I bought the most unrealistic undergarment in the world called spanx.  Basically, its a modern girdle.  It sucks you in and smooths you out and makes me fit in a size 10.  The ladies however, did not fair as well and no amount of shoving and jiggling made them fit into the dress enough that I didn't feel dirty in front of the priest.  Oh well, the groomsmen had a good time with it.  We drank, we sang, we danced.  It was fun times had by all.  

I also got a new tattoo!  Its beautiful.  Bigger than I was planning on going, but sometimes its worth it.  Its all scabby and healing now so it itches like you would not believe, but its worth it.  A few more days and everything will be grand.  Its a cross with Psalm 139: 7-10 in it.  I'll try to post some pictures, but it will most likely be on facebook.  I'll see what I can do to get them on LJ though.

Other than that, life has been cake.  I love my job and I still love coffee.  Binx is wonderful and adjusting nicely to the new place.  

Life right now is wonderful.