An Amazing Day!

Well sir! This group of days off have been my most amazing to date. I have done some pretty friggin cool stuff since I have been here, and have some more in the works but this day was by far one of the most amazing experiences I have had.

On Sunday Zaza gave me drive home and we devised a plan to go rafting on the bow river with Michelle. Well Michelle met us at home and then we went down to the river to blow up the raft. Once we got down there she realized that she didn't have the plugs for the raft to keep the air in. So.....we can't really go rafting on a deflated raft so we packed it up, a little disappointed and went to get something to eat instead. We went to a place in Kensington called Sams and it was really good food. Then we called it an early night because I had a very exciting Monday to attend to.

So Amy, my cousin, works for STARS. They run the air ambulance for the province of Alberta, and soon other provinces as well. The deal there is that when you work a statutory holiday you can apply for a family flight where you and two family members can go up in the helicopter. As some of you may remember I was scheduled to do this a few weeks ago but got rained out. This Monday they were forecasting sunny skies and no wind. I was super stoked for this! Monday I got up bright and early, had a shower and got ready to go. A little after 8 we headed down to the airport for our family flight! We went in, we met the pilot and signed our lives away before we went in the hanger. We were then given helmets with mics on them and led into the hanger, where they keep the helicopter. James, our pilot opened the door and

sitting on a wooden platform was a bright red helicopter. It was super cool to have a look around inside. James went over some safety stuff with us, like what to do in case of emergency etc. Then we stood on the platform while they towed it out to the tarmac. We put our helmets on and took a quick picture before it was time to get in. Amy, being the super awesome cousin she is let me sit up front with the pilot. So we got in our seats, strapped ourselves in and James readied us for take off. He showed me all the dials and gauges, and what the start up process looked like. The headset helmet was cool, and voice activated, so whenever I talked everyone in the helicopter could hear me. I could hear everyone, except Amy. I think there was something wrong with her mic because she was apparently talking to me and I couldn't hear her, and I also couldn't see her because she was in the back and I was in the front. Then it was time for take off! James switched the switches, turned the knobs, pulled the levers and we started to lift straight up from the platform. It was so cool! Then he did a little ballet move where he spun around before he finally took off. I really thought it was going to be a bit more rough, but it was a super smooth ride for the most part. We started out over the city, and it was just so amazing to see the city below us. We glided over suburbia and then over Nose Hill park. Then James said, "Okay, you can fly now." I was nervous and said no he could do it. Then

he took his hands and feet away from the controls and said, "Well my hands and feet are off so what are you going to do." Then I actually flew the helicopter! Obviously with instruction from the professional, but I steered it to the left and flew it towards the Canada Olympic Park. It was so amazing! I can't believe I actually flew a helicopter!! Then we went over the hospitals, swung by downtown, over heritage park and then turned around and headed back. On our way downtown he was telling me about how they can hover in the air just like when we took off. Then he did it. He stopped the helicopter in mid air and we watched down below as the rest of the world went by. Talk about freakin cool! Going by downtown was super awesome because we were so close to the same height of the buildings. It was so much different then being in an airplane. I took a bunch of  pictures and just sat with an ear to ear smile as we went along. The flight was about 20 mins or so and then we were back at the hanger. I thanked James, the pilot, and Bruce, the medic, very much for taking us up. Also a big thank you for Amy for hooking up the whole family flight deal. What an amazing experience! I am so happy I was able to do that. That is something I will definitely never forget!

Amy and I had a whole day planned. We were going to sail the skies in the morning and then go to Calaway Park for the rest of the day. That is the "amusement" park here in Calgary. So after a quick stop at the house we headed for Calaway Park. We went in the gates and walked around a bit before we both had the same feeling. The feeling that this park sucks and there is nothing amusing about it. Upper Clements park in Digby is about 5x better then this place. It was small, and all the rides seemed to be for small children. I felt embarrassed going on the rides, like I was some overgrown girl child or

something. We were going to go on the bumper cars until they told us that we all had to move in a clockwise circle. WTF! When does the bumping happen if you are just driving in circles like idiots!? So we got something to eat, walked around a bit and got the hell outta there. We spent the rest of the day at Costco and Value Village, which I feel was much more entertaining then Calaway Park would have been.

The rest of my time off I spent drinking beer in the sunshine and genuinely enjoying life :) Back to camp in the morning!                                                                                                   

This week at camp

This week at camp was nothing short of eventful that is for sure. You know I was so worried about last weeks family camp because of their preceding reputation and turns out they were just fine. This week however was a whole other story. The days of the week were pretty good, nothing major to talk about. Usual camp stuffs, carnival, grand council, the usual for the week Then Friday came, and it was time for family camp.

As per usual they rolled in at 5 and started the registration. The checked in, got some sleeping bags and then a slushie before hopping on the wagon for a ride down to their tipis. I was working slushies this weekend so I spent a few hours alone in the slushie hut passing out sugary beverages. I went on break from 7 - 8 and then headed back up to the hall to serve snack for the evening. After snack we had to go to our assigned sections and make sure the families are settling in alright and have everything they need. I came out of the hall and down the path by tipi town and in the middle of the wide open lake I see two girls smoking. Well for starters smoking is not allowed unless in the designated smoking area. So I stood and watched them for a few minutes. I could see that they were passing it back and forth and each time they inhaled they would hold it in for a few seconds before exhaling. Now I don't know one person that smokes a cigarette like that. I know lots of people that smoke silly cigarettes like that tho. So it was clear that these young girls were smoking pot, and we have a hard fast rule about any kind of drugs or alcohol. The rule is, if we see you with it, you're gone. At the time I didn't have a radio so I yelled up the hill to Lemongrass that was on her way down, to let me use her radio. As soon as I yelled that the girls in the canoe heard me and looked our way and put their hand down by their feet. Lemongrass came over and gave me her radio to radio our manager and Dragonfly came over to see what was going on. As soon as these girls saw the three of us standing there in our staff shirts they started bookin it for the dock. Zaza told me to go to the boathouse and meet them there, so I took off and the race was on to see who would make it to the dock first. Diana our director, who also works family camps with us, was on the other side of the lake already and also had a vehicle with her so Zaza radioed her and told her to head to the boathouse. As I rounded the lake in a near sprint I saw across the water that Diana had made it to the dock, so I could slow my pace a bit thank god. Diana was standing on the dock with her feet about shoulder width apart and her hands on her hips and had her fiery gaze locked onto the delinquent teens. The girls in the canoe also noticed that Diana had made it to the dock before me as I watched them both look up and when they saw her they dropped their paddles for a few seconds. I chuckled to myself over that one, it was pretty obvious that they were caught so they slowly made their way back into the dock to meet Diana. Now I don't know if any of you have been stoned as a teenager, but I will tell you that no one wants to talk to the cops when they are stoned and 16. Although we didn't have the cops we did have Diana, who when she wants to be can be quite intimidating and is the director of the camp. So they girls were not too keen on talking to her and hid on the back dock behind the boathouse. Diana talked to their leader and told her they had to leave right away no exceptions. So about 3 hours into family camp we had our first bust of the season and these girls were sent packin. I thought they were rather silly because our camp is surrounded by woods! If they had of hid behind a tree like a normal person I probably wouldn't have caught them, but since they were sitting in a canoe in the wide open lake it was a pretty easy bust! Just call me Morreeeny the crime dog.

The rest of the weekend was filled to the brim with needy demanding families. This makes for a super long weekend and it is very tiring to deal with. We all kinds of crazy people from the mother who needed a pair of socks for her 14 year old son because he wouldn't get out of the car without socks. To a crazy hypochondriac mother. The woman with the 14 year old son was just down right silly. She said she picked him up from cadet camp and brought him to our camp for family camp. He had forgotten his shoes and all he had was his cadet boots and he wore through his socks. So she needed us to get her socks so her son would get out of the car. I am pretty sure if that was my mother I would have been left in the car and she would have walked away. I am sure he would have come down to the tipi after a bit anyway. So we got that straighten away and they were settled for a bit, but not surprisingly were a needy family for the rest of the weekend.

tipi, she is hurt and we are afraid to move her." My immediate thought was oh shit this lady is unconscious, something was broken that we had a serious situation on our hands. I immediately radioed Diana told her what I knew and told her to meet me at the tipi, and she said she was on her way. I ran over to the tipi to where the woman was. Once I got over there I saw this woman laying flat on her back staring up at the small crowd of people that were around her. I went over and bent down. I asked if she hit her head "No" "Do you know where you are?" "Yes I am at (insert camp name here)" "Can you tell me what happened?" "Yes, I was coming out of my tipi when I tripped and fell and banged my knee." "Okay, is your neck hurt?" "No" "Is your back hurt?" "No." Then my internal voice said, "Then what the fuck am I doing here, GET UP!" What the hell lady! So you fell and banged your knee, get up and shut up! I helped her up and sat her in a chair and had a look. She had just scraped her knee and there was not a single drop of blood to be seen. Diana arrived and I filled her in, and then I left because I had better shit to do. Diana gave her an ice pack and sent her on her way. Later that afternoon before dinner she wanted to know who was going to transport her to the hall for dinner. I felt like saying, you and your two little feet and your heart beat lady. I refrained and told her that we were unable to provide her with transport to the hall and that dinner is served from 5-6 and it was now 4:45pm. She asked if someone could bring her dinner to her. I replied no not unless you want a cougar in your bed, and then you couldn't run from it because of your knee. Her concern was that she wouldn't make it before dinner was finished being served if she had to walk all that way. I assured her I would talk to the kitchen and tell them to save some dinner if she wasn't there by 6, and I left before I cursed at her. Surprise surprise she made it to dinner before it was even being served. I could tell by the size of her gunt that this lady was not about to miss dinner! Her whining was continuous until she said she was going to go home. I thanked Allah and told her it was too bad, but hoped she felt better soon. See-ya! But you know as frustrating as she was I must have been doing my job well because she went and talked to Diana and said that I was so helpful and she really thought I was great.

This family camp we also blacklisted a family because the father was kicking the horses. Yep you read that right, the father a grown man was acting like a sadistic toddler and got his whole family blacklisted from the camp. WTF! This was a super frustrating family camp and boy was I glad on Sunday when it was the start of my days off!

On My Days Off....

So along with another week of camp I had another set of days off. I have really been getting out and about on my days off and trying to experience the most of Calgary as I can. (With lots of help from Amy and Kev). To start this time off Amy came out to the ranch to have the grand tour and go for a swim in the lake with me. I have started swimming everyday at the lake, because I figure why not! After an afternoon dip in the lake we headed home to Calgary. Amy told me that we would be going to Japanese Village for dinner. I was excited because we don't have an abundance of cultural foods at home in the east coast, and it would be great to try some while I am here.

Our Chef

The Japanese Village was great food and a great atmosphere. The grills were right at the table so you watched the chefs prepare your dinner. When we walked in the room was a buzz with laughter, applause, chefs talking and the sizzle of the grill. We were shown to our table, and before long the chef came out to prepare our dinner. Our chef made excellent food but unfortunately wasn't as outgoing as some of the other ones around us. We think he may have been an apprentice or something because behind us they were having 'happy fun time hour' and our table was a bit dudsville. However it was cool to see him slicing and dicing the food, and he did a cool candle thing with an onion. We at our delicious dinner, and as we were finishing our dessert a guy came over and asked us if we wanted a little magic show. Who says no to magic?

The Magician

So this guy started with a card trick. He flipped through a blue backed deck and told Amy to tell him when to stop. When he stopped he turned over the card (a 9 of hearts) and gave it to me and got me to write my initial on it. Then he pulled out a red backed deck and found the 9 of hearts in that deck. He put the blue backed card with my initials on it on the table and told Kevin to put his hand over it flat on the table. He took the red backed 9 of hearts and moved it around a and did a little something something, and then told Kev to lift his hand. There was indeed a red backed card under Kevin's hand now, and the magician was holding a blue backed one. He flipped over the red card and my initials were now on that one!!! It was very impressive! It might not sound like it in text but it was awesome to see.
For his next trick he said he needed a 5 dollar bill that could be ripped. So a different guy at our table gave him a 5 dollar bill. The magician ripped a corner off the bill and handed it back to the guy and told him to keep the 18 cents. Then he folded up the bill and did a little something and then when he unfolded the bill it was a whole bill again. That was very cool, but not the end of the trick. Out of his bag he got a coffee cup and a butter knife. Then he did a few tricks where folded up the bill again and put it under the coffee cup, and then it would be in his hand. He did a few tricks where he made it look like he was dropping the folded bill through the coffee cup. Then for what I thought was the grand finale he dropped the bill through the coffee cup, when it landed he put the cup down over it, and when he pulled up the cup there was a lime under the cup. A LIME! His sleeves were rolled up, how in the hell do you palm a LIME! Then I looked at Kevin and said, "If the 5 dollar bill is inside that lime I'm going to loose it." No sooner did I say that and he stabbed the butter knife into the lime and pried it open, and inside there it was, the folded 5 dollar bill! I exclaimed, "OH MY GAWWD!" I was super impressed with that. Then before he left he signed the back of the card for me and gave it to me. It was pretty amazing! So good food, and a good show!

On Monday Amy was working so I headed over to a trendy little spot in Calgary called Kensington. It is known for having trendy little shops and cafes, so I went to check it out. It is a cute little area with lots of little shops and designer stores. I looked around a bit, debated going and getting the other side of my nose pierced (it is something I have been thinking about for a while) but ultimately decided to wait until camp was done. I bought a very cool leather bracelet, and ate lunch there before heading home. I spent the rest of my days off just relaxing, reading, napping you know all the good stuff. Now I am finishing this, packing up and heading back to camp for the week. I will let you know how it goes when I get back.

Much Love to my Fans ;) xoxox

Another Week of Camp

I had a good week this week, and even a good family camp. This week at camp I had a day that was very humbling. Part of my job is hosting groups from a variety of organizations that come out for the day. We have several regulars that come several times a week as well as several groups that this year will be their first time at the camp. The children I deal with are much higher needs then the children that come for week long camps, and often come with high ratios and lots of aids. I had an especially special group this past Thursday. One of those moments where it truly makes you appreciate life a little more. My group showed up Thursday morning in a wheelchair accessible bus, ready to rock and roll. I usually chat with the leaders of the group about what their organization does, what services they offer etc. After talking to the leader for a few minutes she told me that the children they had there today were all in palliative care, and in the end stages of their diseases. For those of you who don't know what that means, it means that all the children (except the siblings) that I had there that day were dying, and probably didn't have much time left. Three of the five children had feeling tubes, and machinery that came with them. They were all in wheelchairs, and various stages of alertness. Only one could sit up on his own and respond with noises when spoken to. Some of them laid back, and could almost not open their eyes. At first when I found out I was taken back, and pretty sad thinking that these children won't be returning next year and what a cruel world we live in that these sweet children were dying. Then I realized that this day could possibly be the funnest day for the rest of their lives. They were going to have experiences today that would be fun, freeing and memorable! And I was the one they were going to remember helped them do that. That made me more excited to for the day, determined to show these kids a fabulous time. They went on a wheelchair accessible wagon ride, ride on the pontoon boat around the lake and each of them got the opportunity to ride a horse. Even tho most of them were non verbal I could tell by the looks on their faces, and the noises they were making that each and every child in that group was having the time of their lives! One of them got to drive the boat, and I though for sure his face would break because his smile was so big. The staff and family that came with the group were so grateful and pleased with their experience at the camp, they all thanked me profusely, and I in turn thanked them. They gave me a gift that day that I will never forget. Even tho we only had a few hours together I will remember each of those children for the rest of my life, and I am so thankful I was the one that got to share that day with them. For those of you who get caught up in the trivial negativity of life please try to remember that we are extremely fortunate no mater what bumps in the road we experience.

So after a heartfelt week, really loving what I do it was time for family camp! I was kind of nervous about this weekends family camp and trying to get myself ready for it. I was warned ahead of time that the group we had coming was notorious for being rude, demanding, disrespectful, stealing, and possibly drugs and alcohol. So I went into the weekend amped and ready for anything they wanted to throw at me. Friday evening they all arrived and they started to get settled in their tipis. About 2 hours into the evening a very wonderful and nice family came up to me and told me they didn't have any sleep mats in their tipi. This was strange and annoying, because I know that we make sure to have 10 mats in every tipi before the families come. I was supposed to be going on break, but I headed down to take care of this. The family that said they had no mats were in deer tipi, and this tipi is right next to eagle. I don't know why, but on my way down to the tipi I thought that maybe eagle had taken the mats into their tipi. So I approached them and said, "Hey guys, I am just looking for some extra sleep mats. Do you have any extra mats in your tipi?" They said, "No, we don't have any extra." I then asked, "How many people are sleeping in your tipi this weekend?" "Seven." To which I replied, "Well there are ten mats in every tipi, so you have at least 3 extra mats. I am going to go ahead and go and get those now." I opened the flap and low and behold they had about 25 mats in there. They had built themselves double beds, three mats high. I informed them that they had left their neighbours without any mats and I was going to go ahead and take the mats back, and proceeded to start ripping their beds apart. I thought to myself 'Gawd! Two hours into it and these guys are starting with the shit already!' However it turns out the weekend went pretty well . There were a lot of  great families there, and I was glad I got to meet a lot of them. There were a handful of families that lived up to the reputation, but there is a handful of frustrating families in every family camp. I did however, end up  missing a pair of sunglasses, but that was my only property causality of the weekend. The best part of this weekend, was no cougar!

Sunday after we cleaned up the camp we had some team building time, which involved a swim in the lake. It was a great way to end a weekend of work. Then Amy came out to pick me up and I was able to give her the tour of camp and we went for another swim in the lake. I was super happy that she got to see the camp I work at. Then I headed back to Calgary to enjoy some much deserved time off.