Day off

I broke my tradition of going for a hike on my day off to ride the bus down to the lake and hang around for a while. There was a group of 7 of us originally, then 2 hiked down and 1 ran down. We spent the day lounging in the grass at refrigerator harbor and jumping in occasionally to escape the extreme heat. We played Frisbee and rummy and just kind of layed around and talked. It was the perfect day, one that I will definitely judge others by. After a while we went over to the main dock before the boat got in. We spent a long time jumping in the lake over and over again. The freezing water felt perfect since it was above 90 F. After a while the bus came and we headed back to the village. Once back in the village we still all hung around for a long time. After Vespers I watched Aladdin with some people in my chalet. Great day.

Monday I was back to work. Both shifts went really well, I had great people helping me out. I had a small child come up to me this morning to tell me that Holden wasn't going to be the same without me. After I told him he could still get ice cream he was a little happier. Haha. I see what I am to these people...the supply. I found out Monday morning that I could officially go on my out! I spent the rest of the day (outside of work) finding people to cover my shifts. I gave one shift to a different person every day. Yesterday (around midnight) I spent a while typing up a very detailed description for how to do my job. I think things will run smoothly while I'm out. I now owe some people some favors for talking multiple shifts. I will be re-paying them by going to Safeway tomorrow at home to get some things they can't get in the village (peter pan peanut butter? White bread?).

Yesterday at 4:30 I had dinner dish team. It was a great team and things went really smoothly. The monday after I get back (when my family is all here) I have garbology duty (a once per month requirement for all staff). I can already see them walking up to the second level to laugh at me crunching up compostable bits for the compost bins....mmmmmmm, smelly.

Diana is coming to pick me up today when the boat gets in to fields point, I'll be home (packing) all day Wednesday, then Thursday morning I leave with the famed Ebenezer hikers to hike into Holden. The idea that I am going on an out purely for the sake of hiking back in is impressive to some villagers and disturbing to others. It's kind of funny to see reactions.

I feel like I haven't seen my family in a long time, the 5 days of hustle and bustle in between graduation and leaving for Holden were not enough for me. I'm excited to be home, even if it is only for a little while. That's all for now. I'll see a lot of you soon (tomorrow).

Goodbye for now from Holden!

Amy

4th of July

I woke up this morning to Brandon jumping on my bed asking to use my ipod. It didn't really phase me because I'm used to being woken up that way.

I finally got up around 8am and hung out with some people in the shade (because it was already a sauna everywhere) until 9:15 when breakfast started. It was a special brunch because it was the 4th of July. French toast. Breakfast. I said goodbye to the bus. After the bus left there were proclamations which included anything from reciting a speech from Sitting Bull to "Oh captain, my captain" to an amazing made-up proclamation read by a man in a penguin head and a graduation gown. After the proclamations I started carrying buckets of ice and supplies and ice cream and dishes and laundry down to the snack bar. That took until noon when it was time to line up for the parade. I found a rootbeer float costume in the basement of the VC where I keep my extra pop, CO2, and ice cream. I convinced some 17 year-old kid to wear it. We lined up for the parade behind the Pool Hall, and in front of the minors and junior minors. Turns out the kid I convinced to wear the rootbeer float costume decided to wear shorts that were short enough to not see them and take off his shirt so that he looked like a naked rootbeer floats. I wore my crown and carried Kinicin. The rootbeer float was a big hit haha. There were alot of pictures taken. Watch for them. The parade was a lot of fun!

After the parade I ran around the village looking for my rootbeer because we handed out free rootbeer floats. I never thought my production and manufacturing class would come in handy but it did for rootbeer production. The line was consistantly small and we had a really good time! We cleaned up and headed to dinner. During dinner there was a joke-a-thon. I hung out there for a while until it got too Hot, then I moved to Lodge 1 porch. A bunch of us hung out there until 7:00pm when there was Vespers on the arc. Patriotism galore...but it was fine. Oh, before Vespers I went to a session where we watched Obama's inagural speach. I left during the discussion. After Vespers we all moved to the VC for fireworks. Turns out fireworks at Holden are as follows. Everyone packs into the VC, they turn the lights off, project a fireworks show, play music and and out bubble wrap to EVERYONE. Amazing!! Fireworks will never be the same.

After the fireworks were over I rushed over to the Snack bar to open up. IT was a good night. I HAVE A STAFF MEMBER NOW!!!! I thought one of the people here was just volunteering but turns out she is assigned to me. Woohoo!!!!! I'm so happy to finally have someone for the first time since Allison left. I guess she is going to be working with me until the 14th when I get a different person, then after they leave, she'll be back to work with me. Yes.

After work I caught the end of the talent show....nice. Then I went to the dining hall to hang out and now I'm here.

I'm really looking foward to my day off tomorrow. A bunch of us are going down to Lucerne to hang out by and jump into the lake. That will be great on a 92 F day.

I'm exhausted.

Pictures!

The view of the mountains from where we were watching the Sound of Music at the top of Chalet Hill.


I lightened the picture a bit so you could see that there really were people watching the Sound of music and so you could compare how big the screen is with how small the people are. There were a lot more people watching than this...behind me and next to me in front of all of the chalets on the hills there was pretty much the entire village sitting. It was fantastic!!! I've never seen the South of Music on a big screen before!

Baby in a bucket!....this isn't cute at all.


This is what we sang to welcome and bless the new espresso machine that isn't working yet for some mysterious reason that no one seems to know.

I'll get pictures of the llamas as soon as I snag them from a friend of mines camera. I chose to stake out my place in line for walking the llamas to the ranger station rather than run and get my camera. I think I made the right decision.

I just got done with dish team and my hands are dry and warm...it is supposed to be hot today.

Right now the village is a-buzz with plans for the 4th of July. We all had an excellent Canada day yesterday, I can't imagine what's in store for the 4th but I hear that it will be epic. As far as my planning goes, the Snack Bar will be open normal hours so I don't need to do anything special except for get together an all star group of scoopers for Saturday because it will be busy. I hear it's supposed to be in the upper 90's (thanks for the forecast Mom).

Right now I'm waiting around for my ice cream shipment to come. I only have 2 one half gallons of ice cream left. Last night I only gave out kiddy-sized cones because of the lack of ice cream and crazy lot of people coming in. I have a massive order in today and then I'm going to order more so it comes on Monday. Note to self- get a shipment every Monday and Thursday and order every Monday and Thursday....sheesh. We go through 60 3-gallon tubs a week...that blows my mind. What can you do?

Right now there is a drumming circle happening on the arc (Allison would be jealous). There are a bunch of Djembe's in a circle around the tree on the arc drumming away. Maybe I should go and document this with my camera. Hmm. You all can relax and know that I have started to carry around a bag with me so I will have my camera on me more often...all the better to catch the Villagers in their normal Holdentastic Hilarity on a more regular basis. Oo..coffee break bell, got to go!

I miss you all! E-mail me.

Amy

I'm famous!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30170251@N06/3669662870/in/set-72157619661056931/

Yesterday I went to Copper Basin. Fact, what I thought was copper basin was lower copper basin. What is upper copper basin is a lot higher than lower copper basin but 10 times as beautiful. Great hike! Extremely steep but worth it for the view. I'll put pictures up when I think to bring my camera to the computers.

By the time we got back there was time to shower and hang out for a while, then dinner. Cafe Holden....pasta! Mmmmmm. There was a jazz band playing while we ate...classy. Haha. After dinner we went on a heist to get some cookies that were designated for the minors/jr minors. Great heist. After Eucharist, a bunch of us watched Dr. No...or whatever bond movie that is...Sean Connery. I slept through most of it, I was all tuckered out from the hike :).

Amy

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.

Last night a bunch of us went up to the second level and went star gazing while sitting on top of the buses near the garage. It was nice. This morning, since we were out really late, a bunch of us had pancakes. This afternoon one of the high schoolers in the village was babysitting Aubrey again. He's made it a habit of bringing her in so I can hold her while he's babysitting. It's nice because then I can hand her back when she does something gross. Yesterday at lunch I got a necklace from someone who has been here as a guest. Aubrey played with it for a long time. THIS MORNING PACK LLAMAS CAME THOUGH THE VILLAGE TO WORK ON TRAILS!!!! I got to walk one all the way to the rangers station. This was the best day ever. Tonight they are projecting the sound of music on a massive screen at the top of chalet hill.....I can't find anyone to scoop ice cream but I know the entire village is going to come get ice cream to go watch it but I don't have anyone to scoop!!!! Urrgggg. I'm frustrated. I'm really excited for my new staff member to come. Since Allison left I have to do all the work myself. I've been starting at 11am to carry ice down and laundry and dishes then by the time garbage and recycling and cleaning and everything is done at night I don't get done until 11pm. I take a lunch and dinner break but my work load is a lot more intense now. I think I'm finally starting to be on top of my ice cream ordering. I just need to order 25 tubs (3 gallons each) of ice cream every Thursday and every Monday. Perfect.

Last night was the staff social at the Hinderlies' chalet. Paul made the most amazing chocolate fudge to go along with the ice cream I supplied. Oh man. These past few days have been nice hanging out with different people. The weather is finally warm and sunny again. It's funny to hear people talk about it now being too warm when the last few weeks people were talking about it being too cold! Hmm. This coming Monday I'll have been here 4 weeks. Does it feel like I've been gone that long? No.

Amy

Picture update!

This is how Allison thinks pirates dress??? This was her costume for pirate night, our first theme night.

Group shot on the way down from Holden Lake. Nice scenery eh?

Allison and butt tree.

Hiking back down on the way from Holden Lake, this is the avalanche (way bigger than the one on the way to Hart lake).

I fell in the mud on the way down from Holden Lake on Sunday. Allison thought it was hilarious. Actually, I couldn't really stop laughing either the entire trip down.

This tree has a face... :)

Paaaaarrrrrrrrrate night!!!!

This is part of the snack bar for those of you who have yet to see it.

More snack bar. I took it from the door coming in, right to the left is a wall of windows. Around the corner is a stair case to go down to the pool hall or up to the village center.

Earlier today I went into one of the storage lockers (Moe) to get some supplies for the snack bar. I was in there for a second when a small child (probably 7 years old) came out of the dark and toward the door. I asked him if he just ran in because if he did that was a bad idea. He looked at me with really sad eyes and told me that he had been stuck in there for a really long time. Someone shut the door on him! Haha.

This was a sad day for me, Allison left! Not only did I lose my only staff member (until I get another in July) but I lost one of my best friends for the past few years. I don't know when I'll see her again but I'm excited for what she has coming up. :)

Safe travels Allison! I miss you more than you know up here and I couldn't have picked a better person to share it with!


Amy

Day Off!

Yesterday morning, being my day off and all, I decided to go on a hike to Holden Lake with a bunch of people (8 people). It was a great hike. When we got to the boulder field on the other side of the lake we all wanted to play on it for a while but it was still pretty snow-covered and really cold so we headed down after eating lunch and resting for a little while. On the way down I slipped in some mud and basically sat down in a river. Awesome. Actually, I found it really funny the entire trip down. We got back in just enough time to shower, hang out for a little but, then head to dinner. After dinner I sat around my chalet and read until it was time to go to Eucharist. Lot's of peace sharing at Eucharist. I think I peaced most of the village. After Eucharist there was disco line dancing in the Village Center!!! Allison and I waited around for that until the crowd showed. The crowd didn't show (why it didn't still baffles me). We started. It was just Allison, me, Norm (the guy teaching it) his wife and 2 other random people. After a while people started to become curious about the disco music coming from the VC so they came to check it out, and stayed after a lot of coercing. We learned how to do the Hustle, the Bus Stop, the Bus Walk, The Watergate, the Bump, the twist...I think that's it. It was a lot of fun. At the end of it we were just dancing around and my bare feet (slippery from the dirty floor) slipped out from under me and I fell on my butt. Lots of falling yesterday. It was also hilarious. After that was over a few of us headed over to the dining hall to play cards. We played spoons for a while and showed off some of our mad dancing skills ( the hustle), then played rummy for while. By that time it was around Midnight and we were all exhausted from the hiking and dancing and falling. We went to bed. I walked back to my chalet and there was a party going on. I wasn't going to get to sleep with everyone yelling and laughing and hanging out downstairs so I hung out for a while until someone came down and asked them to be quiet. The venue changed and I went to bed. What a great day off!

This morning I slept in and missed breakfast. I went to the dining hall to grab some toast when I saw Jacki and Jessie. We went and stuck our feet in the jacuzzi for a while. I made what I would later find out was a mistake and laid down for a while while everyone else had their feet in the jacuzzi. Coffee break. After coffee break I checked the kitchen computer for confirmation of my order of ice cream that I ordered Thursday morning...nothing still so I sent another e-mail asking how quickly they could get it here since they didn't receive my last order and I AM GOING TO RUN OUT OF ICE CREAM TODAY! I have 5 three gallon tubs of ice cream left (all chocolate) and I can easily go through them all this afternoon, especially given the fact that we were closed yesterday and 98 people came in! We're hoping for a miracle mystery ice cream delivery today....hmm. I'll keep you updated!

Now for the mistake of laying down outside near a lot of pine needles and leaves and stuff! I was ordering ice cream (on the kitchen computer) when I was playing with my hair. I felt a lump on my scalp. When I went to pull it out it was stuck pretty hard, so I pulled harder and PULLED OUT A TICK!!! I am SOOOOOO grossed out! This is the first tick I've seen, let alone had. I checked the rest of my head and body and I'm clean but I feel so gross! Ewwwwww.....

It's been an interesting morning so far, I'm curious as to how it will pan out. Ok, now I'm going to go and read for a while and try to get over how disgusted I am from finding a small insect burrowed into my scalp.

I hope everyone had a great fathers day and summer solstice!!

Amy