Baaaaa! Baaaaa! Baaaaaa!

So...Jen and I are goofing off like normal right now. Nothing new.

Somehow we began discussing a dream I had last week about a beeeyoootiful baby girl. (With a head full of thick, jet black hair. Mustn't leave that out.)

**Oh, by the way, if you're not a baby lover, please disregard this post. ;)**

Where was I?

Ah yes, the dream. The baby was not mine, for several obvious reasons not important to this post, and it was a brief dream but for some reason we are talking about it.

I just now admitted that I am a baby addict. Well, I've always known it. Well, at least since I was, oh, five?! :) But yes, I've just come the the realization that I am one of those crazy women who smile at random children in public, dream about them (twice now in one week) and unconsciously rock them when someone else is holding them and they are fussing and or sleepy.

Yes, I want a child.

I tried to bring up artificial insemination to my father a couple years ago. That didn't go so well. Bummer.

Anyhoo. So, in jest, I say to Jen, "Hi, my name is Michelle and I'm a baby addict."

Jen replies this - I would’ve made you join BAA {Baby Addicts Anonymous} looooong ago.

Friends are grand, eh? She' s now going into something else...more sinister. I'll leave that part out.

So then I says we need a logo for our new group (she's in it, too) and VIOLA! :) Yes, I am pathetic but I think I can market this! lololol

I can get the logo printed on lapel buttons, round stickers...

Me and My Gang

Recently, my peeps and I went camping. Great times. I think the general feeling of our group prior to going was somewhat… subdued about the upcoming weekend. I don’t think they were as excited as usual. I couldn’t wait though. J Camping just makes me happy. Well, to be honest, any sort of vacation makes me happy!

Our “mission” this year was to become closer to each other, to bond. While not everyone went, most of the crew was present an accounted for. Our “challenge” this year was to let go of anything that normally prevents us from being as close to each other as we should be. Things such as personality conflicts and difference in age, we were asked to let go of. It worked. I believe we all worked together to make it happen. We had several different food groups that were selected to prepare the different meals (the groups were randomly chosen) and it was fun to see the different groups work to “cook” breakfast, lunch and dinner. I believe it created camaraderie between us that has been lacking for a while.

I am so proud of the crew that went! No attitudes for 3 days?! No snide comments or jokes at anyone’s expense (that created an issue). No complaining or grumbling. It was one of the nicest times we’ve spent together. From the first day, when we were accused of moving in on someone’s campsite (oops!) and the overwhelming heat, to the last day, when we packed everything up, we had a great time.

Day 1. Heat, uncertainty and sheer exhaustion. Not much was done that day. We’d had lunch while squatting on someone’s campsite, when they left, we legally moved in. Fun times setting the tents up! As soon as the tents went up, we went down for naps. Most of us anyways.

After naps, we had an early dinner. After dinner, a group of us stayed under the tent and talked in the dark. We were chased to our beds by several critters, Swiper the Fox and Pepe the Skunk. Nasty individual. Rhonda, Jen and Elissa met up with The Roach and initiated a Tent Check that night. At the call Tent Check!, we all flashed our lights quickly for any more creatures. Once assured that all was well, we’d lay back down. We ended up huddled together in the center of the tent by morning! Praise Jesus in His infinite wisdom and mercy, the breeze moved in that night while we slept and cooled us off. That same breeze continued to blow for the following two days. Wonderful, blessed breeze.

Day 2. The breakfast crew did an awesome job on the “mancakes”, eggs, sausage and bacon. Props to Jen, Estrella and….yeah. The other guys. After breakfast, we sang a couple songs and Joel gave a 10 minute sermon entitled “Candy or Vegetables” and challenged us to incorporate Bible reading into our daily lives. His sermon was interrupted by a friendly park ranger asking us kindly to not set the park on fire by grilling. Apparently the fires about an hour away necessitated a state wide burn ban that we were unaware of. (oops #2) After breakfast, some of us girls set out our blankets by the lake side and enjoyed the breeze while going through a magazine and talking about fashion, weddings and…I don’t remember what else. Some worked on homework and some slept. The men (ahem) went exploring for things to do that day.

When they got back, a couple of them joined us under the tree and “chilled” until lunch. Joel and Elissa fixed the egg salad sandwiches and served us lakeside.After lunch, we went to Devil’s Waterhole so the guys could climb the rocks and jump 20 plus feet into a 14 foot deep swimming hole. Yeah, that didn’t go so well. We nearly lost 2 of the guys to the Hole. We gals decided to leave and find our own “swimming hole”. We had a blast in the water! After I’d drifted to the other side of the hole, and paddled my lounge back, we had a game of Chicken. Kayleen and I are still the undefeated champion of the game!

After we nearly lost another one of the guys to the water, the dinner crew had to leave to start cooking. Fantastic meal that night. Grilled chicken breast, grilled fish with corn on the cob. After dinner, we sat and talked. It was our annual campfire dinner minus the campfire. We talked about past GTAC members placed some of them in our Hall of Fame and kicked a couple out. Or something like that. We then moved on to a very controversial subject for singles…marriage! We were once again chased to bed by Swiper, Pepe and their new friend, Mr. Armadillo. And the fact that it was 3am sort of played into the decision to go to bed. Yeeeeah.

Day 3. Boat Day! We woke up a tad too early for the last day at the lake but since we’d be on the boat, I don’t think we got too many complaints on it. After a rushed breakfast of cereal and fruits, the first crew went out on the boat and raft. The second crew stayed behind and took down most of the tents and began packing up. Crew Number One broke both the raft and the boat! Okay, well they tore the raft and then broke the propeller on the boat.(oops #3) This didn’t affect the second crew! We had a blast! Dad had another raft that we used instead. Fun, fun, fun times!

After we returned the slightly mangled boat to it’s owner, we returned to camp to finish packing up.

After lunch, we all packed back into the cramped church van and headed home.

Great fun, ya’ll! Can’t wait until next year!

P.S. The next day, when Jen and I got back to work, we both started looking up the camp site for next year! Daisy, here we come!!! Whooo hooo!