Not again

I volunteered for an event today.  For the first time in all of my volunteering, I left early and I didn't let anyone know when I left.  I was so over it.  I gave them 6 hours out of the 9 I was signed up for.  I like volunteering for events and maybe I've been spoiled because I've worked so many up in Seattle for really established charities.  This group has only been doing this event for 4 years so that's not really a lot of time in the grand scheme of things.  Nobody there knew or remembered my name so I'm pretty sure it wasn't noticed. Especially since they kept moving me from place to place.

I was already annoyed when I realized I had to get there at 9:00 this morning and yet the event didn't start until 11:30.  I'm cool with helping set up events but did we really need 2 1/2 hours for set up?  No.  I got there at 9 and the coordinator for my area wasn't there.  She eventually showed up and then left me again. And ultimately we were ready like 45 minutes early.  Time wasted.  It also bothered me that they were charging for the kids' activities.  It was only 50 cents to do a game and they had some good donated prizes but for some of the games the 50 cents seemed chintzy.  Plus it then meant you had to have a ton of change which we didn't. 

I got shifted around to various jobs during the day because they had way too many volunteers for the barely used kids' area so they kept moving me places.  They needed help at the live auction.  Turns out they didn't need help and I hung around there for freaking ever.  The problem with the live auction was that they were doing like one item between each band playing.  Seriously, how can you draw a crowd to check out the live auction if it is just like a commercial?  And there wasn't enough of a crowd for the 4 volunteers they pulled from other areas to watch the crowd. 

Eventually I got moved again and this time it was to trying to sell fully cooked briskets outside the store whose parking lot we were in.  After they decided to move the brisket sale to someplace else I ducked out and just didn't get with the group.  They had like 5 of us there trying to sell these briskets (mostly unsuccessfully honestly).  By then I was overheated and totally done with it.  I just felt like the whole thing was a disorganized mess and it was totally unfun.  Freezing my ass off for the Leukemia & Lymphoma society was more fun than this.

First shift down

Tonight I went to my first shift at the shelter.  I spent the evening in the 'pre-school' room with about 8 or 9 kids between the ages of 2 and 4.  There was an actual employee with me which meant I was fortunate because in the older kid room the volunteer was all by herself.  There have been a lot of new families in since I did my orientation there a few weeks ago.  They've doubled the number of kids since I was at training.  I had a good time with the little kids.  I sat in their teeny chair and we talked about shoes and i ate pretend food and engaged as many as I could in conversation.  There were 2 new kids whose mom had just gotten there today.  The little sibling cried the entire hour. Mom was seriously missed.  Towards the end older sibling started crying.  I think younger's crying just wore the kid down.  (I know it wore me down.  I was wiped out when I left). It was fun and I'm excited to go back. 

I got to screw!

I may or may not have mentioned I've joined a couple of Meet-Up groups.  I haven't really decided how I feel about the Meet-up groups, but whatever.  The book club one I haven't been to yet since they keep doing books I have no interest in.  The other one is a volunteering group. 

Today I volunteered for a ramp project where we built a ramp for a home.  It was actually fun.  The main group is a group of older men volunteers.  They were really funny, bickering with each other like... well like old men. :)  I got to drill and clamp things.  The smell of fresh cut wood is really attractive.  Calvin Klein could bottle that up and I would be very happy. :) I really enjoyed the project and I think I'm going to do it again.  Hopefully I can volunteer with some of the same people again so maybe I can make friends.

Orientation

I've decided Fort Worth's volunteering organization(s) will be ones that benefit women. I've emailed Dress for Success in hopes of volunteering with them but haven't heard back from them. The other is a secret organization who helps women get out of DV situations. I decided to work with that one because they have a kids' program and I think it might be helpful for me to work with kids who have come from less than ideal situations since I'm hoping to adopt from foster care (and those kids have definitely come from less than ideal situations). I attended orientation this morning. I'll have to do an interview and then some more training and I can start working with their kids' program. I think I could end up working just 2 hrs per week or 3. I'm excited to start this. I think it will be a good project for me.

Not What I Expected

I volunteered for The Rockettes' Christmas Show this morning. At 9:30 this morning. I don't know what I thought the Rockettes' show would be like but it seemed weird to me. I think I mostly liked it. Maybe. It was kind of cheesy. There was singing and dancing and kicking and precision moving. I think I might have thought the Rockettes danced more than they do. I mean they dance, but a lot of their schtick is the precision work, which was very cool. The turns completely in sync and of course the kicking. It did make me wonder if there were like 2 troupes to the Rockettes... a touring one and one that stays in NYC. My friend Jen from high school used to tap dance and one of the performances they always did was the toy soldier march from the Rockettes. It was interesting to see it done by the real thing.

The thing that surprised me the most was the end. They do a big song about winter and there's singing and dancing and you think it is done, unless you work for the theater and know that the show runs 1 hr and 57 minutes and there are still about 17 minutes left. Then you think hmm... And then it starts. The religious portion of the show. I wasn't expecting this twist at all, but they did a living nativity and the whole Jesus story and all that. It was all very solemn and religious. The most interesting part, to me at least, was that they had 2 real camels and sheep and a real donkey on the stage. Who was expecting a real camel?

I have 2 more shows to do. I don't think I love it enough to sit through 2 more shows. Both shows are 9:30 am shows (we have to be there an hour and a half before showtime). They scheduled these shows very tightly... my show starts at 11 and ends at 1, the next one starts at 2 and ends at 4 and the 3rd starts at 5 and ends at 7. Since they open the doors an hour before showtime it is very close.

A conundrum

I've been an atheist for a very long time, well over 1/2 my life. Growing up as a family we usually supported The Salvation Army. We donated our goods to them. We would shop in their store. We dumped change in the buckets at Christmas. It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized that they are a religious organization. And, based on their position statements on their website they are a religious organization that doesn't support the things I do. If I were voting, I wouldn't vote for them.

There are a couple of places local that I could donate to. I'm not really that fond of either of their stores. I find them kind of icky. They do good work, though, so I'm just being shallow.

So do I donate to the charity my family has always supported but whose values aren't mine or do I break out and start giving to some place new? (Of course, who am I kidding... I'll end up donating to the place that is open on the weekend since I'm not taking a day off to donate crap.)

Taxiscam

I just spent an outrageous amount of money on a taxi home from pouring beer. As I was walking down Phinney (I think) in Fremont, I saw the bus go by on 34th. As I got to the stop it was long gone and a quick perusal of the bus schedule indicated the next one was 45 minutes later. I couldn't believe that spending 45 minutes outside in Fremont at midnight was the best plan ever so I caught a cab. So not only was I paying x amount per mile, I also noticed that the meter counts time as well. I was a little peeved. But since it is a rare luxury I'll get over it.

Pouring beer was pretty fun but not as fun as usual. I was at a brewery that wasn't that popular. It is a common Seattle brand so not a lot of people would come by. They can get that anywhere. There were a few people. People who have been drinking can be kind of funny people... funny in their own minds. This one guy with big hair kept coming back to get beer from me. He would always pretend he hadn't been by already for the exact same glass he was getting. He also pretended to give me a token instead of actually doing so. Towards the end of the evening, there was another guy who spent about 15 minutes griping about the box the beer comes in. Apparently they changed their box style and he was unhappy with the new marketing. He was VERY drunk. He finally left me and went over and harangued the yelp lady for another 10 minutes. One other guy was asking about volunteering and he asked what would happen if a person signed up for a Sat shift and then got their free beer on Friday night and then didn't show up for their shift. I said that you're inviting bad karma with that and you end up with your girl friend breaking up with you... and an STD. His friend busted out laughing and he looked mock offended. It was quite funny. All in all it could've been worse. :)

Sickness and non-sickness and why 8 hours in the cold is NOT the reason I'm sick

So Sunday I volunteered for Slopes for Hope at Snoqualmie ski area (I'm sure there's a formal name, I do not know it.) It was pretty fun. I talked to little kids about their skiing and watched skiiers and snow-boarders go careening down hills. I took some photos that I'll try to remember to post later. Also, luckily enough, one of the people I was with knew a girl who was skiing and she took my camera up with her and took some shots of the whole area. That was pretty darn cool I'd say. I had toe warmers on both the tops and bottoms of my toes and by the end of the day even that wasn't helping too much. I was fine most of the time, but by the end, I was pretty darn cold.

Now I'm sick. I know it wasn't the 6 hours in the cold that did it since you don't get sick from the cold. Plus I was feeling it on Sunday night while trip planning with Lyday. Sigh. A day and a half off from work has not helped me feel better. I'm still wiped out. I'm also cranky and quite possibly whiney. Eh whatever.

A bunch of random thoughts leading up to one whole post

I donated blood today. I was pleased I managed to have enough iron in my body to do it for a change. Usually I get yellow carded for at least the first two attempts. They have a new machine, now, to test the hematocrit. Weirdly, the first time they did it I totally failed. You have to have a 12.5 reading and I only had a 11.4. So they did it a 2nd time and passed it. It did make me wonder.

I've been having crazy ass dreams lately. Two nights ago it was a long drawn out dream that actually continued after every time I woke up. There was something about children and I rescued them from the side of the road where they were just sitting. Kind of like picking up a stray dog. I took them to work to find their keepers and I can't remember the rest. Although in the beginning of my dream they were boys but by the end of the dream one was a girl. I can't remember last nights except that an ex made an appearance and it was so real when I woke up this morning I was briefly confused as to whether or not I had seen him in Seattle. (He's not from here so why would he be here?).

Other thoughts include that I find this one concept for mascara creepy... lash tubes. I don't really get it but every time I see the ad on TV I get creeped out. (Completely illogical I know)

I'm trying to cook more at home. So far I've managed two meals in a row. That's not saying a lot. :) Although both were really good. :)

Chocolate for Itches

Last night Stephen and I went to NARAL's Chocolate for Choice event at Safeco Field. It was an interesting gathering. I probably won't attend again, but I'm glad I did and I picked up some nice chocolate. There was a silent auction, which Stephen won something from, and a regular auction of cakes. I didn't bid on anything, but I considered it. I always feel badly for the things that don't get bid on. Like somehow they weren't good enough. It's weird, I know. I think it is actually that I feel badly for the people that donate the item. I know that if I were donating an item (and a lot of the items were handicrafted) I would take care and choose carefully picking something that I thought would earn money for the charity. I guess I would be disappointed if I thought something was great and nobody else did. I might be too sensitive about rejection (or perceived rejection). :)

One thing I should have thought about, but failed to, was the amount of food I might be able to consume. I know I read that both bakers and confectioners would be there, but it was mostly bakers. There were only a few stalls with chocolate that wasn't a baked good. Although Stephen more than made up for my inability to have things. (I'm pretty sure he ate more chocolate than I did all the while proclaiming his dislike for chocolate. ;) ) I did have this wonderful chocolate gelato that had a burnt sugar something or other that was divine. I also got several truffles from theo's chocolate so that I haven't tried yet. I picked up some fudge. Have I ever mentioned I don't really like fudge? I know, for a chocoholic like me to not like fudge it is a weird thing, but I think it is the addition of condensed milk which kind of burns my throat that does it.

Vampires

As you may recall I got another tattoo last year during my visit to Michelle's... On around the 27th or 28th. When I got back to Seattle and was called to donate blood I explained I couldn't and wouldn't be able to until around the first of 09. I opened my email today and received a reminder that I'm now eligible to donate blood and I should make an appointment today. If only everything were as simple as that. :)

Thoughts on a long and totally wasted weekend

SO my sister visits in like 20 days. I need to clean my apartment. I apparently am incapable of actually doing this. Sigh.

Lyday and I went to Thanksgiving dinner at Black Angus. We did not eat turkey but had steak instead. Yum yum. We did have the worst waitress ever possible. The people in the booths around us came got served so much quicker than we did and not all of them were doing the Thanksgiving special. Lyday's friend paid which was very nice. We went and saw Four Christmases after. It was pretty funny. I enjoyed it.

Yesterday Lyday and I hit the sales. We were out at 4:45 in the morning. I finished everyone's shopping except Michelle, Kenna and Bryan and my parents. My parents are difficult. My mom actually provided a list this year which is refreshing. She rarely does. My father's included one thing - slippers. Crikey. I did get a few things for me. I picked up this scrap book that I've been coveting for a long time. I had a 50% off coupon for Joann's fabrics. Now I actually have to do the project. Sigh. :)

After a nap and a shower, Stephen and I went to get him a tattoo. I liked his artist. I may let her do my next one. I haven't figured out what or where it will be though. Although I still want to get one in Ireland so maybe that'll be my next one. Commemorate turning 35 with a tattoo. :)

Tomorrow I have to get up at the ass crack of dawn and bundle up and go to volunteer for The Seattle Marathon. I did that a few years ago and didn't really enjoy doing it but I got an email that they needed like 200 volunteers or next year they wouldn't get to do it and I felt sad for them. I do enjoy watching the marathoners, but the organizers never have enough people to do breaks for people or to end our shifts at reasonable times. I think this year I will bring with me a book, perhaps my nintendo, my chair from the basement and definitely enough snacks.

More Music I love

I had a gift card to Barnes & Noble burning a hole in my pocket so after dinner on Sat, I went with Lyday. I made good work of that $50.00 card.

I picked up 2 Pogues CDs. I love Shane McGowan's kind of scratchy throat singing style. I started listening to them in college because I had a crush on a guy in one of my classes who loved them. I started listening to them so we had something in common. Little did I know I'd like them. :)

I also picked up some books. Yay books! I bought the book The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. It is a YA read and really good. I saw a preview for the movie when I went to see Happy Go Lucky (I think). I looked it up on IMDB and discovered that it does end the way the book does which makes me happy. I hate it when movies change books significantly and I think changing the ending could be construed as a significant change.

I also picked up In The Woods. We'll see how that goes. I'm only a short way in.

Sunday I volunteered at the Winter Pineapple Classic. I'm totally volunteering for that again next year. It was fun. (Although I grew hoarse cheering on the racers). I spent a few minutes before the race chatting with a totally my type guy... who volunteers. How awesome... that is until he said he was volunteering with his girl friend. Such is the story of my life. :)

Costumes

I spent the weekend at the Pacific Science Center volunteering. I love it there, I really do. Plus I get free tix when I volunteer so I can go again! Yay! It was their Halloween event and so the families were encouraged to dress up. Here's what fascinated me... the kids' costumes. I remember a time, quite a long time ago actually, where we wore those plastic pieces of crap that usually ripped and didn't offer a lot in ability to bend ones' knees or elbows. And yeah yeah, that was a long time ago and things change, but the kids' costumes have gotten so elaborate and.. I'm sure.. expensive. It just amazes me how much parents will shell out for an outfit their kid will wear maybe 4 times tops. I think I'm probably being pretty generous with that 4. There's school (if the school allows it, but not all do), trick or treating (or whatever their activity of choice is) and maybe a party or two. According to target.com they can run full price anywhere between 17 and 30 plus dollars. Kmart has about the same prices and Walmart is maybe 5 dollars cheaper. Were they that expensive when we were kids? Does it reflect on more disposable income than when I was a kid? I don't know... Maybe it is newer materials available. It just amazed me to see families of three and four little kids who shelled out at least 20 - 30 bucks per costume (not even counting accoutrements because I know those Disney costumes are the dress and you buy the shoes and tiara and whatever else separate).

The other thing that fascinated me... the parents who dressed up. There was one woman there rocking a skin tight harlequin suit and full make up. I kind of admired her, although I sure as hell couldn't wear a skin tight harlequin suit. :) Ever.

This year I volunteered both days from 9 - 6. There were also about 11 other volunteers... all from the local high school who knew each other. It was slightly weird. Me and 11 sophmores. They were nice kids and several of them did it last year so I remembered them. It was a good time as a whole.

Ideas?

I think it is time I obtain a new Halloween costume. I'm volunteering again this year at the Pacific Science Center so it has to be a G-Rated costume. I'm just at a loss. I was thinking of obtaining a simple blue dress and making a white apron, buying an Alice band (thick black headband), tossing on my brown Mary Janes and going as Alice in Wonderland. Or else making a simple blue jumper and wearing a white blouse under it and going as Dorothy. But I just don't know what I want to be. Looking at patterns and/or costumes online isn't really helping me either. If I didn't insist on chopping off all my hair all the time I could've had the braids to do Pippi Longstocking. :) (I did that once when I taught school in Fairbanks. My hair was down to my ass at that point and so the braids went out farther than my shoulders. I felt a little bad as I saw a young lady also with Pippi braids who weren't nearly as long. She looked a little crestfallen when she saw mine.) I was never really that good at this as a kid which is why I've always kind of hated Halloween.

Southwest Convert & Old People

This is sad to say to my poor baby sister but unless I'm flying free, I'm not flying her airlines. I'm not flying anyone's airlines except Southwest. (OK that's a sweeping generalization. There may be times when I have to fly a different airlines simply because Southwest doesn't fly there, but mostly I'm only flying Southwest). And I'm only flying Southwest because they currently don't charge bag fees. I may change my mind. They may start doing it (and then what?? I have to travel by train??) but seriously bag fees can add up to 100 dollars to a ticket. That's outrageous!

I've been obsessed lately with my index finger on my right hand. The nail is starting to go flat. It is so weird. It was never like that before. A quick google search says I may be lacking in vitamins. I'll have to start up with the multi-vitamin again. Sigh.

I went to this refresher training for my volunteering at the Paramount last night. I was mostly dreading it because I figured it would be one of those "This is what we're seeing everyone doing wrong" type of refreshers. (Clearly certain aspects of my personality will not succumb to my hopeful philosophy of believing in the best). Refreshingly it wasn't. Mostly they were telling us about changes at the Paramount and rah rah we're necessary. That's fine. I was one of the three youngest people in the group of over 25. And we were youngest by at a minimum of 20 years. Here's where I realize I don't really like old people though. In college (and I'm sure Michelle could back me up) old people (heh, when I was 22 old people were like 35 - 40) going back to school never seemed to go back for a physics degree or a mechanical engineering degree. They go into the social sciences fields and that's where I learned to hate adult learners. They always had stories to share that maybe related to something but usually they were just annoying and took away from class time where we needed to learn something and not just anecdotal evidence about how the special education system in the district sucks. I share this because old people are like adult learners. They share stories that don't matter and seem to ask questions that have nothing to do with what's being discussed. Or if they do, it is just the same stuff over and over. Yes sometimes the paid staff are short with the volunteers. Whatever. Get over it. The guy just said he's working with them on that so we don't need to keep rehashing that point. Amusingly enough, there was an old lady in front of me who clearly does not suffer fools. She kept making comments to herself wishing everyone would just stop asking stupid questions so we could just get done with this. I kind of dug her.

Never Listen to Morons

That is a rule I should live by but sometimes I forget.

I'll get to that. First I poured beer on Friday night for the Fremont Oktoberfest. The money raised benefits the Fremont Chamber of Commerce. Mostly I like pouring beer at these events. I get to flirt and just have a good time. And Friday was mostly like that. The only downer was that I was assigned to a truck that had taps and so we would pour the beer into pitchers and then pour the beer to the people from the pitchers. That seemed to take a lot more time and slow down the process. It was probably easier for the brewery liasons though since they didn't have to frequently mess with the kegs to make them pour correctly. (Which can happen if the CO2 gets off or if there's not enough ice in either the box or in the tub with the keg or if the keg is empty). At the end of the night, I was getting ready to pour out a pitcher and there was one guy trying to get me to give him what was left in the bottom. I couldn't since it was past the time and his cry of despair was heartwrenching. Poor guy. (Luckily it didn't rain on Friday night.)

Saturday I attended a 1st time homebuyer class. WA has programs but they require a certificate and you have to have attended a seminar in the past 2 years. My last one lapsed. I found my previous seminar a lot more helpful than this one, but this one was okay. The guys presenting it were much more personable and funny so it balanced out in a weird way.

In the evening I volunteered for the Light The Night walk with the Leukemia & Lymphoma society. I was to work with another person as a sweeper. Basically we followed behind the whole group walking around Greenlake (or is it Green Lake?) (I think it is Greenlake) and pick up litter and directional signs and the like. Here's where I should know never to listen to morons. The guy I was paired up with and I start out around the lake. At the very beginning of the walk is a huge line of signs memorializing various people. E, the guy, looks at the signs and says we should pick those up. I say, no, B the event organizer said there were no signs to get. We go back and forth on this for a few minutes before I finally give in because he's done this before and I haven't. Also, I'm lazy and didn't want to walk all the way back to where B was to ask her so my own lazyness also bites me in the ass. I totally ignore the logic that says come back for these signs after the walk. So we pick up signs. There are like 50 of them and they are stuck into the ground and have pictures taped on them. They look like the rough picture below.... roughly.

So frequently the poster wouldn't cover the bottom rung thing so I could grab that and so most of the signs I carried I carried by the bottom piece but some had that taped over so I couldn't so I carried those signs under my arm. This works pretty well... for a while. And we set off. Part way down our walk I realize this idea isn't working that well because when I see litter I can't stop to pick it up on account of the ridiculous number of signs I'm carrying plus a lantern because it is dark. So we leave it. Also someone has attached a balloon to one of the signs and so as I carry the signs the balloon keeps banging me in the head, but it is all tangled so there's not much I can do about it. And so then we walk. And we walk. And we walk. And every once in a while we stop because E's signs get messed up and he drops a bunch but so far my method is working very nicely. So we get maybe 2/3rds of the way around the 2.8 mile trail and my hands are killing me. They are completely numb because of the angle I've been holding them etc. So we take a pit stop at the boat place. (This map shows Green Lake Park. We started at the upper right of the map where there is a swimmer and a sign for a swimming pool. The boat place is the lower left hand corner. We are walking the inner trail.) E goes to the restroom and I just rest my hands and arms. We eventually begin walking again and now my hands have had it. Even though they felt better about 15 steps in, my hands go numb again. I keep switching hands. I eventually accidentally pop the balloon attached to the sign. I am miserable. And I keep switching how I'm holding the signs so that at one point I end up with one tangled in my hair and another set tangled in my ipod cord. I think we get to about the next little pink picture on the map and I just drop all the signs. I've had it. E keeps swearing we are almost there and I could leave the signs and he could come back for them but I can't do that... so I'm getting ready to pick them up when an attractive Mexican man stops and offers to help. I'm so grateful I could almost cry. He took probably 3/4ths of my signs and we start walking again. He was out walking because he has troubles... he lost his job, his girlfriend broke up with him and his family was pressuring him to go back to Mexico to take care of his mom. We chatted the rest of the way with him holding the bulk of my signs until we reached the end. We take the signs where they need to go and he leaves back into the night. I see B, the event organizer, over by the finish line and I ask her... we didn't have to pick those up did we. No, no we did not. This, my friends, is why you should never listen to a moron!

The Phantom of The Opera something or other...

The Phantom of the Opera is playing at The Paramount. I've never seen it before today. I was a volunteer usher at the matinee today. While the costumes are beautiful and the sets are gorgeous, I found the play to be kind of boring. I'm sure a large part of that is because I really couldn't understand the songs that well. I have three more shifts to do with the show. It could be worse I'm sure. It could be Oklahoma!. :) I thought the chandelier falling scene was supposed to be some big dramatic thing. It took so long for the chandelier to do its fall it wasn't dramatic at all. Could've been a stage glitch I suppose, but it definitely didn't strike me as exciting or anything.

I am a petty petty person

I admit this. My employer told me earlier this year that I could no longer hold my scout meetings in my building the way I had for the past 3 years. Note how they waited until my boss, who had conferred with the lead counsel at the time and gotten permission, was gone. I've since decided that if they can't support my endeavors I can't support the ones I used to. I know it is petty. I really do. But I was really mad and felt it really (notice the number of uses of really here... because I'm REALLY fired up) said something to me. So they've been requesting volunteers for this one thing that I've volunteered for the past 5 years a number of times. I'm not doing it. (Also I'm not doing it because all the activities are like invasive plant removal and trail maintenance and I hate those so that's another good reason.) (Plus I'm still wearing the boot anytime I have to be walking up hill or doing a lot of it so I would be booted doing it.) (Look at all the justification and the parentheticals!) :)

Last Test!

I've started studying for my last CEBS test. (The test that makes me a certified employee benefits weenie according to my father). This test may kill me. I read the first chapter last night and I get it, but I had to reread several passages a couple of times to really understand. Economics. Sheesh.

Sunday I'm volunteering at my employer's graduation ceremonies. What does it say about me that the ONLY reason I do this is so that I can keep my face in the Toolman's face and show that my department IS engaged on campus and we do care about stuff. Also, I make sure to say hello to the Toolman when I see him even if it means making my way across a crowded room to do so. I have to be there at 7:00. That's awfully early for spite. :) But I'll bring my books and my nintendo and entertain myself during he actual ceremony.

I have photos to post. I have to take them off the camera first. I let the little girls use my camera while we were camping this past weekend. The batteries were dead by 2:00 PM. Sigh. I didn't get any of the group shots. :( I'll have to hope a kind grown up took one and will send it to me.

The big girls' camping trip is killing me. I keep having to change the date. I don't think I'm going to this time. Sigh.