a magical transformation

 today I started my run and just felt awful. absolutely terrible. 5 minutes in I thought about turning around and giving myself a rest day. I convinced myself I needed a rest day and it would be foolish to do anything but. But then I ran into some counselors who I saw on a run on Friday, people I haven't seen in years, and that made me laugh so I kept going. And the trail I was going to run on was only a mile way so I figured I might as well get to the trail and run a portion of it and then I could cut the run short. And then about 3 miles in I felt great and was in a flow state and thinking about how great running feels and how I've trained myself to be pretty good at it. 

And then I almost achieved total spiritual awakening but then the trail stopped and I just ran back on the road, doing the run I had planned to do initially.

And this is just like a weekly occurrence at this point. 

what a counselor's job is

 you could maybe describe it in 3 layers

bottom layer: safety and supervision. you're maintaining the wellbeing of the kids you're in charge of. basic responsibility and common sense.

middle layer: a positive relationship. you're an older person that treats campers with respect and models positive behavior. we crave positive relationships and need them to feel healthy. You want your campers to feel seen and valued.

top layer: creating experiences. this is the most creative and imaginative layer. what jokes, games, conversations, experiences can you create that will impact a camper's life? I think with the right supports in place there's an infinite number of experiences that can be had in the camp setting. I think what goes on at camp is just as formative in creating world views as any type of media or anything that goes on in school. But it's not just making something for people to consume it's also a process that everyone participates in. at the risk of sounding way too corny it's living out loud.

Counselor Andy

I think I'm doing really well

 I'm excited for the future

give everything, come back with more

counselor bros for life

I love barefoot running

 if all roads were just grass and I could run barefoot on them every day I would be the happiest man

I'm always exhausted until it's time for camp again

 shopping at wegman's. running into old friends. leaving in my truck with the radio playing. everything feels good tonight.

I love camp

concert!!

what a great day!

fun day kayaking

long day. 

got many ticks.

driving a trailer stresses me out.

ran a good track workout. 

bruce barnes mile was fun

nobody cares about the fate of labor as long as they can get their instant gratification

 -Squidward Tentacles, marxist

saw erin and climbed today

 great to see Erin.

good to climb. I took the longest break I've taken in a while and I actually felt really good. A couple times my wrist was a little unhappy but overall it was very successful. I think I'll still take climbing very slow and also I'm enjoying just focusing on running and camp.

I ran my camp DnD game and I got the best possible group of boys to test run it for me. I announced I would do it and they immediately came over so that was awesome and the highlight of my week. It's really great to meet funny and awesome kids and be able to have a great camp experience with them. I'm much happier about this week. There was so much more going on. Next week camp will be huge and I'm excited for that too. I was telling Erin that I would obviously prefer to be having fun but I think I would rather be stressed than bored. At least at camp.

they call me the king of the shallow end

 when I lifeguard in the shallow end I am the king and the kids in the pool are my subjects. 

we try to acquire the gold at the bottom of the pool.

we try to get all the inner tubes for ourselves.

we talk bad about everyone else not in the shallow end.

we remember the brave knights who laid down their lives to banish the monsters of the shallow end.

being a heavy

 it's been a while since I've had to be a disciplinary type person and I remember why I don't enjoy it. It's not fun to have to make someone aware of why the way they're acting is negatively effecting others. Especially when you've just met the person and haven't really had time to establish a relationship. 

I'm writing this to remind myself that it's my job to speak up and say something at camp. I'm not there to mind my own business. I'm there to be involved and make sure that it's a safe place. And if I'm doing my job right, then I might help some of those kids make adjustments on their way to being who they are.

quick recap then off to bed

 woke up before my alarm

ate granola for breakfast and also a single egg and also a banana maybe I forget

drank a lot of coffee. my roommate Ian moved out today so I took a lot of coffee because he is taking the coffee machine and now I will have to get a french press or just buy coffee in the mornings

carpooled to work with Jenna. we talked about her new apartment and listened to 80s songs. jenna likes 80s songs.

this week at camp there's more kids. like 40 of them. last week we had 7. 

I lost in tetherball to an 11 year old

I made up this weird dice game and it ended up having two supernations declare war on each other

we played towelball. it was fun. towel ball is like volleyball but two people hold a towel between them to launch the ball over the net.

I swam my lap of the pool today. It's getting easier.

I had a decent run of 7.5 miles. It wasn't very fast and my legs felt dead but that's okay and to be expected.

I thought I was going to play DnD but I assumed wrong and so I worked on making this grid on a piece of cardboard and painting it for the camp DnD game.

Smriti came over while I ate dinner. I made rice and mushrooms and some microwaveable indian food.

I rearranged the living room and moved some of my plants around.

My wrist is slowly slowly starting to improve. I still have some random pains but not nearly as many today and overall it just feels healthier.

Some kids were being really inappropriate while talking at a picnic table today during pick-up and it just kinda bummed me out. 

I'm excited to move into my new apartment.

I'm ready for camp to really get going.

got it done

I did everything I needed to do today. 

Got camp dnd ready.

Bought groceries. 

Had a great run and broke 5 for 1600.

feels good. 

rest rest rest

took today very easy. spent a lot of time laying down and after a good run I feel like I have some energy back. 

I wish I didn't still have random wrist pain but even that is improving. 

Tomorrow I should get camp dnd ready. It's not as ready as I'd like it to be but it's definitely good enough to start trying out. 

to do:

-go to end games and buy a lot of dice

-go to staples to make copies

-prepare playing table

-prepare notes and stats

week one done

 really really tired. I never sleep well the first night at camp albemarle. my first time sleeping over there I didn't sleep at all. I also forgot my watch and had no idea what time it was and got up way too early. 

Other than being a little tired though I feel good. I went into this week with two injuries--one in my right achilles and one in my right wrist. My achilles has cleared up completely and I'm really happy about that. My wrist is getting better but it still has a ways to go. I bummed that climbing will probably prevent it from healing but also I'm so tired from camp it's hard to imagine having the energy to go climbing. That is the nice thing about how consuming camp is. I don't have to worry as much about the things I do during the year. I'm happy to just climb a little bit and keep up with running. 

I think I have De Quervain's tenosynovitis which is basically inflammation of the tendons around your thumb. The funny thing is I'm pretty sure I got it from the way I was holding the bamboo I've been working on. Looking online it says the condition is common for parents of newborn babies when they repeatedly lift the baby and use their thumb for leverage. That's the same way I've been cradling the bamboo when I'm sanding or lifting it. I'm happy to have a better idea of what's going on and I found some exercises and stretches that might help. I'm pretty sure I was only making it worse before but now I can actually work on it.

Excited for camp to really get started!

my team :)

I'm constantly eating