Free at Last!

Summer camp came to an end on Friday and I am officially unemployed again. Wohoo! Now before you think I didn't enjoy myself teaching camp - that is absolutely not the case. I love teaching, and I really enjoy camp because you have the same kids all week. In many cases, you have the same kids most of the summer. That being said, camp takes a lot out of you. When I worked fulltime, the end of summer camp was always followed by a vacation. I don't have a vacation planned, but I am getting a visit from my best friend, Joey, which is super exciting.

This summer ended on a bit of a down note. I was teaching the insect field camp for the 5th-6th graders and I had a special needs child in my group. To say this child was difficult is an understatement. I did the best I could, but finally had to ask that the child be removed from camp on Thursday morning. Not only was he monopolizing my time, but his behavior was impacting the other campers to the point that they were starting to become verbally aggressive towards him. If I hadn't had two amazing Junior Volunteers, Ali and Sheri, I wouldn't have been able to keep it together. They are the type of teenager that keeps you positive and hopeful for the future. They will also make excellent camp teachers someday soon. The rest of Thursday and all of Friday were so much fun I really regretted not having him removed sooner. I feel like I didn't have much time to bond with the other campers, but I must have done something right because I got hugs from everyone at the end of the day on Friday - and hugs are unusual from that age group. I also got lots of hugs from the younger campers that I had taught most of the summer, but that wasn't surprising. They've been giving me hugs all summer.

Some highlights from camp:

• teaching 1st graders how to fold paper airplanes for the first time. Way too much fun!
• having my 1st graders help the 5th graders paint murals of Australia
• playing freeze dance
• silly jokes
  
• visiting the new Megalodon exhibit - over and over and over!
• getting 12 3rd graders quiet enough to stalk egrets
• bringing in a special snack on Fridays
• Hugs!

Back to Work

This week marked the beginning of me teaching summer camp at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus. I taught there last summer also. I joked with one of my workout pals that I've got my work schedule backwards - working in the summer and taking the rest of the year off. He remarked that given how gross it is in Florida during the summer that I've actually got it right. Good point! Of course, I'm only working half days so it's not that big a deal. Also, we have a 2 week break in July so I really only work for seven weeks. How will I ever make it? So far everything is going well. I'm behind on my lesson plans because of the unexpected length of our New York trip but I'll get caught up. I don't have any funny stories to share yet since it's only the second day but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

On a separate note, I'm starting to get back into a training groove. I did the stadium stairs again today. I was able to go all the way around the stadium running the whole way. I even went all the way to the nosebleed seats one time - I had to walk towards the end of that, but I got there. My legs felt much better than they did last week. Of course, it had rained earlier today and was cloudy and cooler than it was last week which I'm sure helped. I'm really good at training on my own and sometimes even prefer it, but for this type of workout it's nice to have a group to keep you motivated. I may even convince one or two of the group to join me on the track for my speedwork - now that I'm off the treadmill and back on the track. I'm considering having Brandon Marsh put together a training program for me for the Hammerhead Olympic Tri (HOT) in August. I did this race last year with Joey and we both had fun, but my training kind of fizzled during the summer after the Gulf Coast Tri so I didn't have as good a race as I could have. This year I would like to do better. Plus my tri season so far has been all about rebuilding my base. I still have a lot of work to do but I am feeling pretty good, and it would be nice to focus on improving my times for the HOT. It will also be my last tri of the season so I'd like to have a good race and finish on a positive note. Actually, I've made up my mind about Brandon, I just have to contact him and get the ball rolling. That's all I've got for now!

Hello North Carolina!

Nancy, Beth, Katie, Diane, and Michelle, and Leiana and Darcy, too – I wanted to write an entry just for y’all. I’m really sorry for falling off the face of the earth. I was really sick last fall – in September I contracted an extremely severe kidney infection that took over a month and 4 different antibiotics to get rid of. Nothing like your own bacteria trying to kill you. The recovery process has been long but it looks like I am finally done with tests. Today is what I hope is my final doctor’s appointment for a long time. I know I was doing a poor job of keeping in touch before then but I promise to do better. Two extra special shoutouts - Beth, congratulations on the latest addition to your family - I read the email during one of my moments of lucidity while I was sick and it really cheered me up. I hope everything is going well. Diane, congratulations on the new addition to your family – I loved the website. I hope everything is going well with you also. Hello also to my yoga group – I really miss all of you and everyone at the Museum.

So what has been going on here in Gainesville? Not too much really – other than two consecutive basketball national championships and a football national championship. Go Gators! You know I had to put that in somewhere. Don’t worry the Gators still rank below the Terps, Longhorns, and Blue Devils, but it’s been fun being here for all the celebrations. Brian has settled into work. The first year was rough – it took forever for his lab space to be ready so that has made it difficult, but everything is up and running now and he is very busy with teaching, students, writing grants, and papers – all the stuff a professor does. Check out his website if you want to see what he’s up to. As for me, I still haven’t found a job that motivates me enough to get me back to work fulltime. I taught summer camp at the Florida Museum of Natural History and will do so again this summer. Other than that I have been concentrating on my triathlon training- more on that later. I hope everyone is doing well and I look forward to hearing from you.