5 days down, a lot to go!

Hey guys,

So - it's here, my first day off, and to celebrate, I'm home! Well, at the Roebucks really, but it's just like being home :) 

In short, this first week has completely blown my expectations. Camp is what i wanted it to be, but so much more as well... everything is amazing. Peter and Proulx came to visit/pick me up earlier, and Proulx marvelled quite a bit at the sight of my summer dwellings! Peter did oooh and aaaah as well, but he'd been there before, so it doesn't count, right?

To start, i've realized today that my theme for the summer is COMMIT. Meaning don't do things halfway, stick your mind to it and dive in, all out, 100%. Commit to running my butt off at waterfront drills, commit to pulling out of the water on the first try at waterskiing, commit to figuring out that 360 turn at wakeboarding, commit to that verse i'm studying, commit to my faith, commit to that trampoline trick I've been trying to learn, commit and tell your story when someone asks you to. Go. Do it. So far, it's been humbling as i've wiped out, fallen on my face, cried a few tears, taped my ankle, swallowed a mouthful of lake water... but it's also been GREAT. 

Things i've learned this week:

• Camp food rocks. I predict that i will have gained 20 pounds by the end of the summer. 
• Camp games are silly but fun. Pick up ultimate, idiot ball (a variant of european handball, i'm told) and brog (a mix of capture the flag and flag football) totally brought out the competitive kid in me. Sweet.
• I can now kneeboard and waterski. I am so proud to announce that i got up on my own for the first time in both sports today, and didn't wipe out once in session this afternoon!! Wooooo!
• Last but not least, and perharps more importantly, I've learned to make time in a day for what really matters. Each morning, we were given a particular verse or self-examining questions to meditate on alone for 30 minutes. Then, we met with our IAWAH pods to discuss thoughts and feelings relating to our individual meditations, and finally, head into a session given by a guy named Gary (he used to play ultimate! So he's automatically cool!), a fantastic speaker who really drove points home. Very, very good. Left me good to go for the rest of the day. 

On a final note, the search for my camp name continues! I have had several nominations, and do have a favorite - but we'll see what gets voted in! Dear readers, maybe you can pick your favorite? Nominations are, in no particular order:

• Swiss Cheese or Swissie: because, like the cheese, i have many holes (piercings)
• Ultimate: duh.
• Indarye: the association is a bit more complicated - from "catcher in the rye", keyword being "catcher" because i play frisbee, but Indarye because you have to figure it out.

I'm heading back tomorrow evening, have more training planned for Monday, then Tuesday, the first camp starts!! It's a short week of family camp, so a bit easier than usual, but i'm looking forward to the real thing! Eeeek!

Bug-swattingly yours,

G