Busy, Busy, Busy

I feel I've been afflicted with some sort of disease that completely cripples my ability to create interesting titles. It pains me deeply.
Well the group that came in last weekend were called the "Fun Knits Knitters". They must suffer with some strain of the same problem.
And what a strange group! Most were older ladies, settling down on the couches with their needles and yarn within minutes of arrival...though there was one knitter man. Maybe he was hoping to score a date with Deb or Joan. I don't know.
Cooking for them was...interesting. Initially we had three Gluten intolerant guests, but by the end of the week we had seven (supposed) "Glutens", and three "Dairies" and a Diabetic. They were indignant that we weren't preparing proper food for them. Gah.
But there were fun people too. There was one older lady who had just had all her bottom teeth taken out, so she brought her own blender and cutting board so that she could make shakes out of all the food! Sick. But very funny. And she was super cool, and fun to chat with.
We also had one lady who loved our food so much she hated to see anything thrown out...so she would gather what she could and take it back to her room with her! Hilarious.
The weekend did not go smoothly, and there were many stressful moments, but it was not all bad either. And the food was good...when there was enough to go around.
When the camp was over three of us girls decided to head out to Nanaimo for our two days off and shop! I was excited, but didn't end up buying much because, lets be honest, this years summer stuff is pretty lame. Or maybe I'm just too poor to buy anything nice :P
The cooks moved in today, so yesterday was spent cleaning the Ivy House (previous residence of Mike & co.) from top to bottom; painting, scrubbing, vacuuming, and arranging furniture. Bachelors can be so disgusting.
Jeanette and I baked over 1,200 cookies today on top of our regular cooking schedule, and Mike got his tooth knocked out today by one of the girl staff here, when she threw a rock at him. hah. hah.
I'll admit I was not in the best of tempers when I found out, especially since he just paid his "last" visit to the dentist in Victoria two days ago.
So today I write to you weary in my bones and in my mind. Its been a very long, long week.
But on the bright side, it was a very nice sunny day. Yes Paul, I made a pun. Sort of.

Back to Work

So my week since Monday has been slackness to the extreme. I feel I'm being spoiled.
There have been no groups in that need cooking for, so I've had free time galore. Yesterday it was sunny for the first time and i spent a lot of time reading down at the point, which was glorious. The rest of the week has been cold, dreary, and rainy. I've played with the Schurman kids a bunch, which has been awesome. Such cute kids! They can't seem to remember my name though, but that will come in time. I hope!
Tomorrow a ladies retreat starts, and the menu is fantastic....and very time consuming! I'm sure I'll be working my butt off, so this might be my last post until the end of the weekend. Thanks for all the comments and emails! Its nice to hear from everyone.
Signing off...

Irish Experiences

I'll bet you were all shocked and horrified that I didn't post yesterday, wishing you a Happy St. Patrick's Day. My Irish-loving ways suddenly seemed cheap, artificial, and put-on. A fraud.
But that is not the case, my dear friends. Do not doubt me. I was in fact celebrating the Irish ways and didn't have time to post.
1. The Irish love food. I was cooking it. Nearly all day. There is a men's retreat going on right now, and let me tell you they eat A LOT. Jeanette does way more than me and she only got 30 minutes off between (approx) 7 AM- 7 PM. EEEK! But she will get her reward soon, as she's heading off to Mexico for Spring Break today!
2. The Irish raise sheep. As it would happen, one of the girls that lives here grew up on a sheep farm right here on Quadra Island. Her mom still runs the place, and yesterday evening we got a phone call saying, "Come right away if you want to see a lamb born!"
We raced out the door to their farm and arrived just as the ewe started to give birth! AMAZING! What an unbelievable experience! The lamb was black and very big and cute and slimy! I was actually very surprised how quick and clean the birth was though.
We hung around for a bit and held some of the older lambs (VERY CUTE!) and then discovered that the ewe was going to give birth to ANOTHER lamb! Then Sarah's mom told us it was a "breach" (I think everyone knows what that is...) and we all got worried.
The legs started coming out (it was whiteish) and she pulled the rest of it out and quickly wiped away the slime from its nose and mouth, but it wasn't breathing. Explaining everything as she was doing it, she began to swing it by its hind legs which would have been really funny if we weren't so worried. She said that this would make all the goop that was clogging its lungs come out of its mouth and then it would be able to breath. For a few minutes we just watched as she alternately swung and wiped.
It began to breath a little!
Very exciting!
Eventually it was doing just fine, and it even began to walk and nurse a little. What a resiliant little thing! Compared to her brother, she was very skinny and small. And covered in poop because of the "strain" of the difficult birth...gross. Thinking I was being sympathetic when I said, "Poor little Crapper.", I actually cursed her with the name, and she will henceforth be known as 'Crapper'. You just can't win sometimes.
3. Yes, the Irish love their pubs and alcohol. Last minute the girls asked me to come along with them out for a drink to celebrate St. Patty's. How can I say no to celebrating all that is Irish? I admit I was a teensy bit nervous because...all right here it is...I've never been to a pub before! As a good little homeschooled Christian girl I never did underage drinking. But now that I am 19, the time seemed right.
We went to the Heriot Bay Inn which was actually quite nice. Guiness was the special but I didn't think I would enjoy/be able to finish it, so I ordered a Mike's Hard Lemonade which tasted like pop. Mmm. We talked for a while there, and I told the story of St. Patrick because I was the only one that knew it, and we all had a good time. It was very fun!
So that was the most Irish day of my life so far. I'm hoping to improve it by spending St. Patricks in Irleand one day!

I Miss You : )

Hello everyone!
I am simply writing this to let you all know I am thinking about you, and I miss you. As much as I love it here, I love you guys too and I'm glad we have blogs to chat and keep updated on each other's lives.
Life in the camp kitchen is lovely. I'm really enjoying it (my fruit/veggie platters are beeeeeautiful if I do say so myself), especially working with Jeanette! She is so much fun and we always have good times when we're together, in and out of the kitchen. And she's a Dutchie like me, only more so! A great bond has formed between us :P
However, our time working alone is swiftly coming to a close. Soon the new head cooks will be here, and we're both a little nervous about the transition. The couple coming in has never cooked at Homewood before, and don't really know anyone so it will be difficult for them as well. Please remember us in your prayers in the next few weeks! (we're gonna need it heh heh)
I hope you are all doing good, too! I'm finding lately I have way more computer time than I expected, so emails are nice :)
Youth Group people & Young Adults- I am SO jealous of you all getting to go to the Blazers games! Let me know how it goes!
Rebekah- For some reason I can't comment/read comments on your blog most of the time....I don't know why it won't let me. But you and the Queen seem like great chums! Haha!
Anyway I should go. Love you all!

Jill

The Good Life

Just as we were cleaning up breakfast from our last group on Sunday, we got a call from a friend of Homewood inviting the group to spend some time in the next two days up at their condo at Mt. Washington.
Amazing!
Completely last-minute, seven of us staff piled into the Homewood van (with an obscene amount of luggage), crossed to Campbell river where we made a stop at Blockbuster (entertainment), Superstore (junkfood), and Tim Hortons (bagels and caffiene), and then drove up for some sweet relaxation time in a fabulous condo with a stunning view of the mountains.
While up there we went exploring/crazy-carpeting in the snow, sauna-ing, board-game playing, and being the only customers at a restraunt late at night (their new-york cheesecake was the best I've ever had.)
We were planning on partaking of their night-tubing, but unfortunately Fate was against us and we never seemed to be there at the right time.
I learned how to play crib, and did alright both rounds.
I also learned that the girls I now share every moment of my life with, are highly emotional and dramatic, and often overreact to everything (If you guys read this, I want you to know I love you anyway :D) !!! Coming from a family predominantly male, this has definitely been a challenge. Heh...anyway, it is a learning experience, though I doubt I shall ever understand it all fully.
The adventures don't end there, but for the sake of my poor mother's heart I shall refrain from telling the tale of our trip home :P
I will only say it involved smoke, flames, and tears.
Muahahahaaaaa!

Now the REAL work begins!

Up til this afternoon, there were no groups coming through the camp, so we pretty much had all our time off. Yesterday a bunch of us went on a fantastic trip to a little island just a 20 minute canoe ride from camp, and explored a bit. It was soooo beautiful! Jeanette (the head cook herself) took loads of pictures and maybe someday I will be able to share them with you.
So today was my first day of actual WORK. And it was fun :)
I have a feeling that I will have some interesting adventures in the kitchen, though. See, I've never been the Martha Stewart type. I always mess up. For instance, today whilst creating a luscious chocolate cake I threw in 12 Tablespoons of baking powder instead of 12 teaspoons.
Yeah...
But its all good. I just have to be more careful.
Oh! they make the mose DELICIOUS chocolate chip cookies here, and once I find the recipe I'll share it with you guys, because they are soooooo wonderful!
Anyway, don't mock me for being on the computer again. Its getting late, and its cold and dark outside, and everyone else is off doing other stuff, so I consider it a legit time to be on here.
phbbbt.

There's No Place Like Homewood

Well, well, well...
Here I am!
It took me like twenty minutes just to get to this screen because of this lovely dial-up internet. ARGH!
Not that I am complaining. Actually I am...but I didn't mean to.
Anyway, me and the fam left Kamloops bright and early Saturday morning, and we spent that night at the Epps house in Union Bay (by Courtenay) so I got to see my friend Karissa and meet her fellow "Treadettes" (see the link on the right) for the first time, which was nice. Hopefully we'll get to hang out some more during my time here.
Sunday morning we headed for Campbell River, and after a quick visit with my Grandma, we took a fifteen minute ferry to Quadra, and on to Camp Homewood. Duh, duh, duh, duuuuuh.
I'll admit I probably wasn't a joy to be around during this time.
It was harder than I thought it would be to leave home, and I got into one of my "moods". All I wanted was to get into my room, unpack, and settle in. And have no contact with human life whatsoever.
None of the girls were home when I arrived, but I was fairly certain where my room was and that I would love it to pieces and never leave its confines.
I had stayed in this room for a week last summer, and loved it because it was private and had two LOVELY big windows that overlooked the camp and it was just generally a great room. So I was pretty excited.
Unfortunately...nothing works out the way I plan.
MY ROOM was filled with SOMEONE ELSE's stuff. The room was quite obviously occupied and didn't look like it was likely to be un-occupied any time soon. That was a blow. It would seem that it wasn't MY ROOM after all.
Later on I found out, sure enough, my room was down the other hallway.
I wanted to cry when I saw it.
First of all because I found out that I was sharing it (selfish, spoiled little "only girl" child that I am), and secondly because it had two tiny windows up at the top by the ceiling that reminded me of a prison cell. And they weren't even on my side of the room. AND I didn't even have a dresser or closet.
So I had a nice little pity-party all by myself as I unpacked what I could.
I was not a happy camper.

No, Mom, I'm not coming home.

I was still a little grumpster the next morning, and my roommate hadn't shown up yet, so I was nervous about how she was going to deal with me moving in, and all that jazz.
It wasn't until 3 that afternoon that we saw each other and it was very brief. But later on we started cleaning up our room and talking and GUESS WHAT-
we got along.
Yeah.
All my worrying for absolutely nothing.
She even helped me find a dresser and carry it in, and our room is all nice and tidy now, and it looks great. And it feels homey! Yay!
So right now I'm feeling pretty positive about everything.
Thanks for all your prayers, I appreciate them.
I have until Thursday off, so i MIGHT be on here again, but after that its supposed to be really busy.
Leave a comment- keep in touch!

Cheers,

Jill

Goodbye Girlie

The prodigal puss returned yesterday. It was a brief stay.
This morning I dropped her off at the SPCA.
I really didn't want her to have to go there, but what else could I do? There isn't a huge demand for stray cats with no records of anything about them. Beebs and her don't get along, and I'm leaving tomorrow...
Of course I felt guilty bringing her in. I know the SPCA is already struggling to find homes for their cats, and the last thing they need is another scrawny little tortiseshell. And Girlie cried so pitifully during the car ride...
The lady behind the desk was nice, but sceptical.
"Are you sure this isn't your cat?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
Gah.
I hope Girlie finds a nice home as soon as possible. She's such a nice, cuddly little thing.

(Picture: she liked the carrier, and purred when I put her inside.)

To Blog, or Not To Blog...

The question of my continued blogging has arisen.
Will I?
Won't I?
There are formidable hindrances. I will only have dial-up internet access, and time to access it will be very, very, limited.
However, as far as it is in my control, I will try to keep up PJ. I've grown rather attached. I will probably only be able to blog once a week; less during the summer months. Pictures will be a no-go with dial-up. It would take FOREVER. But I'll do my best to relay how everything on Quadra is running, and maybe throw in a few funny camp stories. You can never hear too many of those!
So there you have it...I will persevere! Don't abandon me. If no one comments, I'll assume no one is reading, and give it up until the Fall (when I can beat you up for not commenting!). You've been warned!

Last Weekend at Home

The last few days have been a lot of fun, which of course includes a lot of pain.
On Saturday I went up to Sun Peaks with some friends to learn how to Snowboard!
A few years ago there was a sort of "free day" where I tried snowboarding for the first time, officially. I only remember going down one run which seemed to go on FOREVER and by the time I made it down, I was too exhausted to do any more, so I was done for the day. The next morning I could hardly move! Lots of pain.
Needless to say, I was a little nervous about trying it out again, especially since I had to dish out the cash this time. For that kind of money you need to go down more than one run!
It turned out really good, and I actually made it down Three Whole Runs in a half-day...that's right folks, Three Whole Runs. One of them was even a BLUE. I know...I'm very daring. Heh heh...
It came a lot easier this time around, but it was still very, very tiring. The best part of course was the embarassing face-plants that conveniently take place under the chair-lifts or at the bottom of the hill where everyone has a good view of your wipe-out. It would be a shame to let those less graceful moments be wasted at any other time, when there is no one around.
ANYWAY...it was a very fun day, and the pain was well worth it. Yes, hobbling up and down the stairs is worth it. Not being able to lift my arms above my head is worth it. I'll try it again next season.
Sunday was a very exciting day! My friend Liz invited me to go out for lunch after church, but ended up luring me right into a suprise farewell party! No one has ever thrown me a surprise party before. Tear, tear. There was lots of food, and competitive games, and best of all, a Ju Jube war! Of course an innocent pack of ju jubes cannot simply be eaten at our party. They must become weapons of mass destruction. I learned just how dangerous a simple blob of ju jube can be when thrown at terrifying speeds. In fact I found a pretty nice bruise on my arm this morning from one shot. One candy was even embedded in the wall of the youth room. Wow.
You can find pictures of the party here.
To top it all off, I went to my last Sunday Night College & Careers meeting, and it was completely A.D.D. and marvelous! I will miss you guys tons!
Overall it was a very satisfactory last weekend at home!

Shut Up Michael Buble!

Here I am sitting silently in my room staring at empty shelves and clothes hangers listening to the lonely, mournful wailing of "Home" by Michael Buble. Its fairly depressing.
I decided to "start" packing up my things today. Somehow, in a productive frenzy, it escalated so that my belongings are divided into "staying" and "going", and both are neatly packed away. I even put away my picture frames (I might have to bring them out again so that my room doesn't feel so barren). One large suitcase is stuffed with summer clothes and bulky sweaters, another with books and DVDs that I can't part with. One tote has scrapbooking things, and another crafts and fragile room decor.
I know I should have resisted packing for a little later. I don't leave until Saturday and staring at my empty room all week is going to kill me...but its too late now. I refuse to unpack unnecessaries (barring the pictures).
I'm more attached to my bedroom than I thought. But I guess I have lived in it ever since we moved to Kamloops 14 years ago. Its undergone serious redecorating over the years, and lately its been morphing into a very Jill-ish space. I love it. And it looks so wrong all empty like this!!! Now it shall no longer have a loving, appreciative resident, but instead be relegated to the cold and impersonal service as a "Spare Room". How sad. How sad.
Bedroom, you shall be missed, and remembered fondly.

Girlie is Gone!!!

Missing!!!For the last four days, Girlie has not appeared for her morning feedings. I have not seen anything of her for the same amount of time...I think she might be gone for good. I just wish I knew what happened to her :(

Perhaps Beebs had something to do with it...that is not exactly the face of innocence....

I Homeschooled For a Day...

and it was crazy.
Somehow word leaked out that I am unemployed for the next while, SO...a friend of the family asked if I would watch their four homeschooled children while they raced to Kelowna for a day for an appointment.
I knew there was no REAL reason to say 'no', and that it would be a "good" thing to do. I actually do have a fairly healthy conscience. So I said I'd do it. After all its ONLY eight hours, right?
Well let me tell you I have a new-found respect for my mom, and all other mom's that make the crazy decision to homeschool their kids. I don't know HOW they manage it day after day after day! I am thoroughly exhausted from simply being with those kids (I don't know their exact ages, but I'm guessing they were between 7 and 12) and always hounding them to get back to work, or helping them figure out (aka TELLING THEM) which of the four words in the list are misspelled, or trying to remember how to create common denominators...my poor little brain is only used to taking Tim Hortons orders, not teaching kids school stuff. It was unbelievably hard to keep up with four different "lessons" at the same time, and then move on again and make sure everyone was getting stuff done and not just taking advantage of Mom being out for the day and duping the stupid babysitter.
I think I was just as eager for school to get "out" as they were!!
Tomorrow's sleep-in is well deserved.

Checking In

So I endured a weekend of being called an un-employed slacker, which is completely unfair because even if I WERE employed, I am entitled to my weekends.
So today was my first day of legitimate slacking.
Sleeping in was definitely nice. I got up about nine, had a nice hot shower, a lesiurely breakfast, not too shabby.
Then I helped my mom grocery shop (my good deed for the day), and then shopped at good ol' Value Village with friend Liz. We figured we couldn't miss 50% OFF day...but we could have. We each found three items, waited a half an hour in line for the change rooms, and were unsuccessful. Sigh.
Then after a little coffee time at Zacks, we froze our butts off downtown, and bussed home.
I don't really remember much after that, except I vaguely recall a episode of 'Remington Steele' season one...
Its really scary how little you can get done in a day.
Tomorrow shall be a little less relaxing...I'll let you know how it goes. I may even have pictures.

New CD

I recently bought this CD, and I'm really enjoying the music. Leeland is a relatively new band, but very good. They write the kind of songs that get stuck in your head and you can't get them out alllll day! And that's a good thing. Check it out, you might like it.

Blast Off!!!

Check out my new best-seller! Its a big hit.

So...
Its over.
Weird.

Today went pretty much like every Friday at Tim Hortons goes. The only thing different was everyone saying goodbye to me. It made me sad, because I don't know when/if I'll ever see them again. But it was nice to know I'll be missed. I plan on sending them a postcard from Quadra!!!

Thanks for rooting me on to the end of this week guys! I'm not gonna lie, I could have done it without you, but it sure is nice to get such supportive comments :P

EDIT: If you're looking at that picture and thinking "what the hecK???", you obviously were not ferociously force-fed the teachings of this book.

One...

MORE DAY!!!
I just need to make it through one more gruelling 8-hour shift, and then I'm home-free. I'm even beginning to feel better, so maybe I won't be spending my free weeks before I leave in a coma. Its a cheering thought.
Oh and I have GOOD NEWS!

The Prodigal Chapstick Has Returned!
It was lost, but now it is found.

See, I have very specific chapsticks. I have a purse chapstick, a coat chapstick, a home chapstick, and an at-work chapstick. The above is my at-work chapstick, and the other week at the bus-stop when I needed it most, I couldn't find it. I seriously turned my bag inside-out looking for that chapstick!!! It was nowhere to be found. I figured I must have left it in the locker at work, but it wasn't there the next day. I was very sad.
So, imagine my delight when it turned up yesterday. I don't know where it was hiding, but it saw fit to return to me, and that's all I need to know. I'm just happy its back. Its Vanilla-Minty freshness was missed.

Two...

More wretched days at Tim's.
I had a wonderful blog all planned out for today, but when I got home I curled up on the couch with my sniffles and misery, and watched a movie instead. And now I'm going to bed. Better luck tomorrow.

Three...

more days at Tim Hortons!
Yes, I'm back from the near-dead. Though not 100% healthy, I was able to go back to work today. I feel kind of ripped off though. Sure sleeping lots and taking Monday off as well as having a free Saturay and Sunday MIGHT sound pretty nice, but trust me, it wasn't. Being sick is never fun. So my weekend was wasted. sigh.

Sick

I am sick. I can hardly talk because my throat is sore, and I have no voice. On top of that, I also have a perma-headache. It refuses to leave. Waaah. Yes, I know I'm whining. This is your cue to comfort me.