Peace Like A River

I don't usually blog on Saturdays but before the storm I had planned to participate in the Back to Blogging Challenge and I didn't get to do that because we didn't have power. I think it all worked out for the best though because it's been a long week and starting the weekend with some positive reflection is a good way to go so I'm starting off with What Makes You Feel Peaceful?

I've mentioned before that my grandparents live in a teeny-tiny fishing village and my grandfather's warf/boat are my favourite places in the world. Being there is the best kind of peaceful because it's not necessarily calm & quiet but it's comfortable in the routine of hard work, community and contentment. It gets extra peaceful points watching the sunrise over the ocean. 

I love being in the kitchen, turning ingredients into food is calming and there's something extra satisfying about making something delicious. Photography is a fairly recent hobby, but something I've come to love a whole lot the world seems a little kinder when viewed through a camera lens. Campfires are flat-out magical. Some of my best memories are sitting around a campfire with friends either in silence as we all watch the flames or in joyful conversation.

Camp is the opposite of peaceful in a lot of ways, but there are small windows of time when it feels like a pretty peaceful place. My favourite time used to be in the morning for about half an hour before everyone was up and about for the day, sitting in the office sipping hot coffee and getting to check in with the counsellors as they went by getting ready for the day. And another window of time at the end of the day when mostly everyone was headed to bed sneaking away for a few minutes to watch the sunset. And at the end of a session eating the first non-camp food meal of the week (often Subway, pizza or chicken strips & fries) and watching episodes of Friends or How I Met Your Mother. 

The similarities of my peacefulness are pretty obvious. I like nature and the outdoors, food and documenting it all for the future. 

Bonfires & Burgers

For the second time this summer the stars aligned and session break fell on a weekend. I drove home for the weekend since this is our longest break of the summer and pulled into the driveway at 7:00 Thursday night, perfect timing for a long weekend to officially begin. It's also finally starting to feel like summer around here. May and June have been cold, damp and rainy. We've spent a lot of time indoors and when the sun has been shining it's often still too cold to be outside without pants and a hoodie. Being able to wear flip flops without fear of frost bitten toes was a true highlight of this past weekend.

The focus for Thursday night and Friday morning was rest & relaxation. I took a nice long hot shower complete with great water pressure. I then proceeded to bed where I stayed until 9:00 Friday morning. I leisurely spent the day Friday drinking hot cups of coffee, finally catching up with blogs and enjoying every minute of being on having some real time off and away from camp. J. was house sitting this past weekend at his parents so I headed over there Friday evening for BBQ Burgers and maybe most importantly, Salted Carmel Ice Cream with chocolate sauce. I cohersed him into watching Love It or List It with me and then we got sucked into the last hour of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 that was playing on a different channel. Even with all that excitement I was home in bed by 11 p.m.. Sleep was very high on the priority list this weekend. 

Saturday morning I got laundry crossed off my to do list and enjoyed drinking hot coffee for a second morning in a row. J. and I had supper at Boston Pizza and then headed back to his parents for a bonfire. I'm not a huge fan of toasted marshmallows, I enjoy two or three and then after that I just feel gross. We toasted a few obligatory marshmallows and then opted to eat more salted carmel ice cream with chocolate sauce and whipped cream. And for the third consecutive night bedtime happened before 11:00 p.m. and all was well with the world. 

Sunday involved a stop at Wal-Mart to pick up a few things for camp and then home where I Skyped with H. & R., ate supper, prepared some blog posts for the week and watching the Food Network. All and all a great weekend, and it's not over yet. I'm not heading back to camp until Tuesday which gives me another whole day to focus on rest and relaxation. 

Linking up here.

Campfire Confessions #1

Happy Day 5! Once camp season hits I generally have no idea what day of the week it is and if you ask me what day it is I can guarantee I will reply with "Day 3" or whatever camp day it happens to be. (For those of you who are unfamiliar with camp sessions are usually organized by days. At my camp Day 0 is the day that all staff come back to camp after a session break (the days between each group of campers) campers arrive on Day 1 and go home on Day 7. There are always a few days between Day 7 and Day 0 for staff to go home and get prepared for the next week.)

I have decided though that I will keep track of Wednesdays because that means it's time for Confessions with Kathy! And between living/working/eating/sleeping/breathing with the same group of people (mostly in their late teens and early 20s) I'm going to have somethings to rant about   confess.

- I should probably be more stressed about the current staff situation, especially the lack of a head cook…but stressing really isn't going to fix anything so I can't be bothered. Finger's Crossed that sometime between now and June 2nd a cook materializes?

- I have been listening to a lot of Taylor Swift lately, it helps me deal with life.

- Daily "Let it Go" sing a longs have also become a coping mechanism.

- I started elaborate Pinterest inspired start of camp gifts for the head counsellors but ran out of time to finish them before camp started. I put the final touches on them last night and in typical Pinterest Project fashion they are far in superior to the original idea.

- It's been an emotional couple of days but I haven't hidden under my desk to cry yet and I've only ate gummy bears in bed once. I'm doing okay.

- Being surrounded by a bunch of 18 & 19 year old counsellors makes me feel old.

- Being surrounded by whiney people makes me cranky.

- Since moving to camp my coffee consumption has increased by 500%. By the end of the summer it will be the only thing flowing through my veins.

- I feel like I haven't written a real blog post in months. Everything is link ups and lists and random ramblings. Then again, I have no idea what constitutes a "real" blog post so you can be the judge.

- A few counsellors have walked by my office and clearly think I'm really busy doing work at 8:00 a.m., little do they know I'm just blogging.

I do need to wrap up this first confession session of the summer so I can finish planning my sessions on the Budget (Why we Don't Use Broom Sticks as Swords) and figure out how I'm going to stay warm for the rest of the day. Seriously Canada, Get your act together.