BEES IN NEVERLAND

I was napping the other evening before dinner and I wake up to banging. Mary Ellen is trapped inside our room. She's been trying to get out for the past ten minutes but the door handle wouldn't turn. She wakes me up and tries to get me to open it. I can't but I suggest climbing out the window and trying it from the other side.

We punch out the screen and realize that we have to either a) jumped from a second+ story window or b) leap across a flight of stairs to reach our porch. Mary Ellen refuses to let me even stick my head out the window because she says I'll kill myself. But Mary Ellen is to scared to try. We both are sitting on the windowsill (see above) arguing when Leanne comes around the corner. She stops, laughs, and then comes to let us out. Of course as she's climbing the stairs to let us out I try the door again and it opens.

But remember our screen is not in our window anymore. We normally leave our window open with a fan blowing. Over the next couple of days every time I come into the room it's stuffy stuffy stuffy because ME has closed the window claiming bugs are getting in. I keep opening it and I never see any bugs in our room.

This morning ME and I finally put our screen back in after I'm about to drink from my Nalgene and ME starts freaking out. I guess yesterday I giant bee was in our room and ME only had time to grab my water bottle (mind you her's is sitting right next to mine) and catch the bee in it. She doesn't bother a) emptying the water and bee out or b) telling me. But that's Mary Ellen for you.




On Thursday instead of having our normal staff meeting we had Staff on the Rock. Which is this party twice a summer for staff on some rock somewhere off the ranch. We all dressed up as Peter Pan characters and went down to the pond where there was a giant moon walk in the shape of a pirate ship with little tea candles floating all across the pond and lights strung up in the trees and couches hauled from the upper staff room. Basically Neverland in Colorado. We had a giant dance party, ate pizza and played 2 truths and a lie, took tons of pictures, and just relaxed.

I think my favorite party were the costumes. Hannah and I were Lost Boys and spent about an hour just getting dirty: rolling in mud, rubbing ash on our faces, putting sticks in our hair. I even had a teddy bear that I ribbed up and kicked into the creek to look old and loved. But on top of my costume I somehow became the Costume Lady and spent the all day helping about 10 different people get their costumes together. I made mermaids, pirates, Indians, aligiators, peanut butter jars, and Peter Pans. I think that part was more fun the party itself.


Heidi as Wendy and Sable as Peter














The Lost Boys from left to right:
Allyson
Molly
Katelyn
Hannah
Me











Aly and Tammie as Tinkerbell
Logan as Peter Pan













Left to Right:
Mary Ellen as Mrs. Darling
Leanne as a can of Peter Pan Peanut butter
Heather, Katie, and Caroline as Indians










Debbie and Abby as mermaids.

GLUING UNDER THE STARS

I've spent my morning cleaning my room and washing my sheets. My roommate, Mary Ellen, is a neat freak but claims that she doesn't mind my messy side of the room as long as her half is clean. I know she's lying. Today she comes running in, sees the room, freezes, and then proceeds to jump on me and tells me she loves me.

I've decided though that I don't really like sleeping inside. Every once in awhile I'll pull my blankets off my bed and sleep out under the stars somewhere. Last night is was on our roof. Tonight Jenny the Baker, Jordan, and I are going down the creek awhile and sleeping there.

I just finished wandering to various parts of the ranch asking different crews if they have brightly colored Indian feathers. Of course the last crew I ask are the Kiddie Sup's and they have bags and bags of them. I'm now attempting to load House online and hot glue gun feathers onto my Indian headdress for tonight's Melodrama. FYI: It's hard to type with your finger tips coated in dried glue.

HOBART THE PEPPERS

I spent five hours this morning chopping peppers. Small dices, big dices, fat slices, tiny slivers. It was ridiculous. I stopped once in awhile to Hobart (the dishwasher) and make pancake mix.

But I'm off now until 1pm tomorrow.
I love the live of a kitchen boy.

SORTA KINDA MAYBE MY CHILDHOOD

I spent three hours in the pool this afternoon playing the Color game with kids about Emy's age. It reminded me of my childhood. Except it was a pool not the lake. And it wasn't with TT and Lisa and Haley and Sarah. So that was strange. But it still feels like summer.

MR. CRABBY PANTS

I am sitting in the upper staff room with Hannah, Biff, and Kyle. Supposedly the other three are practicing for worship on Staff meeting on Thursday night. But at the moment Biff is sitting on Kyle's lap. Kyle is fighting him off. And OHHHH! Biff has "broke my fourth rib...You count from the bottom."

They've picked songs. But are now debating if they actually want to unpack their instruments. Kyle just woke up and is Mr. Crabby Pants and is complaining about the heat even though he's from Alabama and it's not hot at all.

HOW!

Every Friday night we have a Melodrama in the Hay Loft Opera House aka the Barn.
I'm the Indian. My job is to tell really bad jokes in between scenes to waste time.
Example of one of my really bad jokes: "What do you do when you see a bear?" Audience answers, "Run!" Indian: "No! You do not run. Why? Colorado bears like fast food."

A lot of my jokes require a volunteer. General rule if it needs a volunteer the joke's worse then a bad. I cringe inside sometimes.
But yesterday I chose this really quiet boy to be my volunteer. and his mother came up to me afterwards and thanked me for choosing him. He was so excited that I knew his name and was already repeating my bad joke to tell his friends back home.
It made me realize how much these kids look up to us. I was only an Indian telling bad jokes. Imagine if I had been there Wrangler taking them out on rides every day, twice a day. Imagine how big of an impact we, as staff, can have on these kids. How cool.

24 HR WAL-MART AND ER

ok so funny story or maybe not so funny story. but a story nontheless.

I was hoping into the back of a van and wacked my head on the top door latch thing.

Didn't black out but immediately started puking everywhere and the world was spinning.

A couple hours later when I definitely wasn't feeling better Mary Ellen drove me in to the nearest hospital an hour + away. We arrived at the ER at about 10:30 were there about two hours. The whole entire time I didn't see any other patients. No one else came. No one else was there. No one else left. It made everything for me go very fast.
After a clear CT Scan they drugged me up on some anti-dizziness/nausea meds plus some tylenol for the ridiculous headache I had. It felt like an army of jackhammers going off in my head. and sent me on my way.

We stopped at the Wal-Mart the only thing in all of Woodland Park, minus the hospital, that's open at 1am and bought supplies before we headed back into the middle of nowhere.
I don't remember much of Wal-Mart but for some unknown reason I bought egg rolls and socks.

This morning I woke up at noon feeling very very hung over and still with a blazing headache.

RASPBERRY FLAVORED YOGA

So I've been working out a lot lately.
I talked to my new coach the other day and she put the fear of God in me. In a good way.
So I've been working out.
This morning I swam for 40 min then did 20 mins of yoga and 20 mins of pilates with my roommate, Mary Ellen.
Mary Ellen is self-proclaimed health nut. In reality this means that she spends half of lunch searching through all the bread trying to find the "real whole wheat bread. The one that doesn't say enriched."
I on the other hand am getting hungry for lunch in 19 mins.
Why, you might ask? Well so far today I've had a raspberry sorbet smoothie with coffee frappuccino and cookie dough in it. Very healthy.

Listening to: Over the Rhine

BREAKFAST IN OKLAHOMA

As a Kitchen Boy I either work from 6am-2pm or 1pm-9pm.
This week I'm on the 1 to 9 shift meaning I get to stay up at night and sleep in in the mornings.
Except I've been getting up and eating breakfast in the DR with guests.
This morning I ate with a family from Oklahoma City who had 4 kids, ages: 8,6,4,2. They have a fifth kid on the way. The mother is seven months pregnant and looks gorgeous.
Our breakfast conversation ranged from fly fishing to homeschooling to skyscrapers to lincoln logs to cochlear implants to the best way to eat eggs.
It was a very satisfying breakfast Especially with my Cran-Raisin bread french toast.