Lare night ER and rats in the garbage can

Right.,
So
Much to my delight, I got called in to work yesterday!:) It was with the group that had 4 girls who are very high maintenance.. feigning sickness and coming up with crazy symptoms...
We had a lovely day.. lots of giggles and we made brownies that night... snuck a spoonful of frosting and licked the brownie batter bowl clean. Then ended it off with a huge slice of chocolately goodness.
Then...
nighttime rolled around..
The girls and i sat around on the carpet in the room, chatting, bonding, telling stories.. 9:45, 15 minutes after it was supposed to be quiet time, i sent them to their beds and went to the bathroom
JUST as i was about to PEE i heard a crash and a yelp. At first i thought it was another of their shenanigans.. goofing around.. tickling.. but when i came back out, one of the girls was on the floor in obvious pain, her arm crooked to the side. I sat down beside her, asked her if she was alright.. if she could move her fingers.. the whole she-bang.
Meanwhile i sent another one of the girls running down the hill to the boys cabin to get another counselor to help.
She ended up going to the hospital with JP and Doc. I felt horrible.. The one minute i chose to take for myself, something bad happened.. She was in MY care..
She had fallen off the ladder on her way up to her bunk.. the ladder wasn't screwed in correctly...
Meanwhile the rest of the 3 girls were in a tizzy, not knowing what to do, worried either about themselves and their phantom illnesses or about the girl who had disappeared into the night.
Slowly, I got them settled down... one of the girls came outside to chat with me.. an old friend from the past 2 summers who shows excellent leadership and mothership and caring and understanding.. She had a very close friendship with the girl who had fallen and was quit worried.
We went back inside... and no more than 2 minutes after we had laid down, we heard a loud rustling.. the girls jumped from their beds and we all tracked the noise.... which led us to the garbage can where a cute little mouse was running about. The sides were too slippery for him to escape so he was running back and forth. After a few minutes of gazing in awe (or,,. for some... disgust) I took the garbage can onside. As i was about to let the little guy loose, I realized he was not in there anymore. He had escaped somewhere between the walk from the garbages home by the beds to the doorway. I did NOT let the girls know.. and pretended i had set him free.... so hes probably still in there somewhere.
Alas, the girls were riled up once again. In an attempt to get them to quiet down and get to sleep, I allowed them to pull their mattresses down on the floor so we could have a sleepover. the catch was we had to have our heads on our pillows-laying down. We could talk we just couldn't read, walk, dance, etc.
It worked.
Until the girl came back.. which incited more excitement and restlessness. It turned out she had only a badly sprained arm.
It lasted only about 15 minutes this time and we all crashed there.. on the floor.. in a mess of pillows and blankets and sighs of sleepy content.

Wonderful Tongiht...

So.
I have been enveloped in the new book.. though it really isn't new.. but still
Wonderful Tonight by Pattie Boyd.
I find myself drifting there with her.. laughing along with the Beatles, drinking the coffee from the dentist laced with LSD and trying hard to find a way to get back to where we need to be... feeling the loneliness of having George so far away during tours... the feeling of getting dressed up and snazzy for photoshoots.. frolicking the upscale hippie bars and clubs and traveling to India for a transcendental retreat with ... feeling the agony of the sitting down for hours cradling the sitar until it comes out just right.. meeting RAvi Shankar.. walking in the door of the huge house to find boxes of letters from frantic fans... trying feebly to escape from the high mobsters in haight Ashbury when the Beatles refused a joint.. feeling the emptiness and utter lostness when Brian died of drinking and sleeping pils combined...
I will soon be to the part where she is with Eric Clapton..

at the same time.. im desperately in need of friends.. but so far no one is able to come visit..
until then.. the world of Pattie Boyd it is...

and now for the nighttime slide

and now
every night i am not at work
i start the downhill slide.
texting people just so that i can get that rush of delight that someone cares enough to text back
sipping on the wine wishing that i had people to play with.. people to entertain..
but HOW do i meet those people?
It end to chicken out... not believe that people actually would WANt to hang out with me.. why would they? what do i have to offer?
I make up excuses if i do happen to get an opportunity to hang out with someone.. i scare myself away.. i put up walls..
Im still in that world where i am waiting for someone to save me . .
i know better
i know better
i just need to believe.. to allow things to be.. to go outside and read on the benches in downtown instead of curled up in a ball in my fun round chair that i keep falling out of.
the time will come
i dont want to play this game anymore

but..
back to the kids on Wednesday :) YaY! it cannot come soon enough

Inappropriates.. Praying Mantis.. packing for campout...

Wee...
and im off duty again :(
Its been fun!
They are definitely teenage boys.. with raging hormones.. and being the only girl in a group of 8 boys 14-17 its amuzing.
They practice their pick up lines on me.. ask me questions about girls.. i answer to the best ability that i can.. when possible.. when appropriate.. though at night we do have a time during evening group that we discuss "Inappropriates" where the boys can ask any question about an inappropriate subject and us counselors have to answer with textbook answers.
Some questions that have been asked
"Which is better, vaginal or anal sex?"
"If a girl has stretch marks, is it okay to ask her about them?"
"Sometimes after I am with a girl, my fingers smell disgusting... what is that smell and whats the best soap to get it off with?"
"What were those dogs doing outside?" ..(earlier 2 of the resident dogs were..humping..)

One day as we were walking one of the boys, who is usually scared of bugs, let out a surprised yelp and jumped back. We all turned around and saw this beautiful green creature fly up in the air and land on a leaf. We all gathered around and gazed in awe at the praying mantis. None of us had ever seen one in the wild before. I popped out some facts that i learned while working at the Children's Museum on praying mantises.. a teachable moment..

One of the boys.. the one who is sensitive to smell freaked out at lunch the other day. He had left a box of pizza in the back refrigerator when his parents left. We made it clear to him that he would not be able to eat it. He wanted it. He argued. He put his hands on my upper arm and shook me. I talked him down.. calmed him.. Thompson.. the boss man.. came down to talk to him and lay down the law that he could not have special privileges that the other kids didnt have... He had to be part of the group in order to level up and reach the point where he would be able to spend his allowance on outside food. He argued some more.. Thompson left because he had business to attend to. I managed to get the kid to sweep the porch in order to maintain his connection to the group and we were off.. no more problems,.
He is also the one who takes his shower last so he can "relieve himself"..
He is ALSO the one who tried to drag his mattress to the bus for the overnight hike/campout
He is also the one who carries around a dirty blanket with him everywhere and lays down at any chance he can get.. though he has gotten a lot better

We had a dance party the other night. :) Everyone was so energetic! The energy in the room.. the vibes.. were AMAZING. Everyone was free to be.... even if someone tripped while attempting a new dance, it was all good... even when one kid put on the Pokemon song to dance to.. there were only slight complaints..

Gummi Bear Trivia is the highlight.. i am stunned at their knowledge.. and not surprised at their desperateness for candy...

My co0staff was not very helpful as i tried to get the kids packed for their overnight trip. I had no idea what to bring.. what to pack.. how to pack it.. if the supplies left out was enough or too much... if everything was supposed to be packed in the kids backpacks, distrubited evenly or if the food nad group stuff was going to be unloaded at the campsight with no need to pack.. I had no idea how long they were going to hike.. what the weather would be like... and I wanted to do sooo good.. I wouldnt be the one camping with them. Whitney and JP would be the ones taking them out... so if i messed up, it would be MY fault.. and they would be stuck out there...

It continues to remain beautiful out here... and we continue to sing on the porch during Email time...

Our group name, after some debate and some dissapointment and much delight,
Beatlejuice
it was supposed to be Beetlejuice.. but due to my love for the Beatles. and everyones mutual agreement, we changed the spelling..

Day 2!

YaY!
The kids are still a delight
:)
It was a whirlwind yesterday.. I got to go to classes with them.. laugh at their funny little quips they threw in.. console a couple who nealry blew up but were able to take a time out before they said/did anything they regretted..
I stepped on a bee.. IT HURT!! :( My toe filled up with juice of pain.. One of the kids jumped to attention, showing off his vast knowledge of plants and ran outside to retrieve a plant that was supposed to stop swelling after a bee sting.... it did not stop the pain :(
Afternoon activity was Water Balloons.. one big crazy wet mess.. controlled chaos.. trying to fill up the balloons, and NOT pop them before time to throw them.. though a few of the kids tossed them or popped htem anyway. One kid, being SUCH a jokester pretended to pee out the door and one of the other staff saw it and flipped out. HA! :)
After dinner, we had email time.. only 2 o the 7 kids were able to use computers at the same time. Soo... the rest of us piled on the couch outside on the porch and one of the boys strummed on the guitar.. doing his best to take requests from some of the lower functioning boys.. AND
my FAVORITE PART
was our sing alongs :)
We were all out there, belting out "Hey Jude"... "Fly me to the moon".. "L is for the way oyu loooook at me... O is for the only ONEEEE i seeee.."..... and a couple others.. we all ended up in a pile of giggles.
We also had gummi bear trivia. which was a hit. :) some of the spicier questions were rewarded with AirHeads or Tootsie Roll Pops.
I was sad though, I was told that I had to spend the night at the girls cabin because their staff was leaving that night. I didnt want to leave my boyS!!! But i did as i was told. and my heart glowed with happiness.. I told the boys just before evening group and they all protested asking why it had to be me. .. THEY REALLY DO LIKE ME!! :)
I do take the time each day to take each of them aside,put on my sober/calm/counselor face and remind them that i CAN be chill when i need to be.. asking them if they are okay.. checking in with them.. bonding.. building that repor (sp?) that is needed.
Tomorrow morning at 9
I leave
again
this time for 5 days
:(

Update.. THE KIDS!

I got a new tattoo today :)
Im quite excited :)
A tribute to my honey.. honey! delicious syrupy sweet liquid that i drizzle on everything...

The new kids came yesterday! I LOVE them all!
we now have 7 kids..
There are two 14 year olds.. that bond well together.. talking nonsensicalness about Natuiro and Gemstones and other sci fi type things.. very good natured and respectful of what we say.. always on the ball and does what is needed whether we tell them or not.
There are two 16 year olds.
one is a punker.. skater.. somewhat keeps to himself.. but when you get him talking, he has a LOT to say and is so amazing.. he says that when he skates.. it is the only time htat he feels like himself. he is my bright shining star!
One is a comedian.. he has videos on youtube and was acutaly on stage a few times.. Quite a crack up.. knows all about hip hop and all kinds of music. I played Ace Of Base and he knew the exact date that it came out. He also is reading a book, "The complete handbook on how to pick up women"
There are two 15 year olds... about the same level of functioning (in regards to their Asperger's)
One prefers to be called Homer. he is very very smiley.. constantly asking assurance... making sure that we are still his "best buddies".. :) another gem of mine
The other one is quite another story. One of the first things he said to me was, "Sometimes, during class, i feel the need to masturbate. I need my privacy." He has since shown us how he does it (with a chair.. it has to be a chair, not the wall, not a bench, but a chair) and refuses to go into the dining hall due to his extremely sensitive nose..... though i feel happy when i get him to smile. We struck up a deal. I wanted him to play a game of cards with me.. He thought a minute, then replied "Okay Penny. I will play cards with you under one condition.. if you teach me how to whistle." Soooooo cute :)
We got our other one we got last night.. so i havent gotten much of a chance to bond with him, though he seems like a firecracker.. joking around.. calling me "weirdo/crazy/wired/hyper" all with an amused smile on his face.. Which just gets me more excited/hyper, "Well you're gonna have to live with me the WHOLE semester and you are going to learn to love me!"
Ha! :)
It was hard to leave them for my day off.. knowing that i would miss a crutial day in their transition here...

also
my co-staff :(
he is on the COMPLETE opposite shift as me
He lives RIGHT NEXT door to me, though i will NEVER see him during this whole semsester.. we spent a LOT of time together during the last couple weeks.. plus a few times over the summer..
and now
i will never see him..
no more time togeether
I am close to heart broken.
....
....
I get lonely WAY too easy.
I need poeple here.. though i dont want to have to rely on people for happiness.. i am responsible for my own happiness... though i tend to disinigrate when i do not get the attention.hugs.hold that i need..
:(

YaY

A most empowring song.. :)
I was jammin to it on the way home last night.. or rahter.. early this morning
:)
stuck here at camp until Friday.. getting to know the ropes..
im getting pumped up now for the kids to ocme.. :)