THIS is where he works

Unfortunately there were cars behind me or I would have screeched to the side of the road to get a picture of this sign. Ya'll would have gotten a big ol' laugh out of it. I am going to try to recreate it as accurately as possible, though.

Imagine yourself driving through a very picturesque small town in Pennsylvania. It is a hot summer day and not a cloud to be seen. On the right is a sweeping expanse of manicured green lawn with immaculately placed bushes, day lilies, hydrangeas and ornamental grasses on a gentle rolling slope. Around the sides are pockets of mature and healthy trees providing shade to whoever may choose to run through the grass. Rabbits, birds, squirrels and groundhogs all call this place home.

The lawn ends at a paved driveway that snakes up the hill. There is a sign with white lettering on a dark blue background that proudly proclaims this as:

CHRIST'S HOME

OFFICE 

Wow. Just wow. Who knew Christ had a home office in Pennsylvania?!?!

Next time I promise to stop and take a picture for you. Pinky promise!

Road trippin'

After I dropped the Turkey off at camp this weekend I realized I had a free day on my hands. So after stopping for a cold beverage I decided to see where the road went. That road there, the one on the left. I usually veer off to the right to go towards camp, but this time I turned left.

Then I turned right.

Then left.

Then straight at a 4-way stop sign.

And pretty soon I found myself here:

This is about an hour north of camp. It's the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania. I had stopped at an orchard, a winery that was closed (bummer!), and meandered through all sorts of adorable small towns before arriving here.

Here's another view of the river:

It was a calm day so the water was quite reflective. So reflective that... well, see for yourself:

I was sitting there feeling as if the river was watching me. LOL!

Thumbs up!

Good news from camp -- the Turkey is enjoying it! I headed up there to pick the kid up for his first day off and was greeted by a filthy, sweaty, stinky teenager with rivers of dirt running down his legs, tired eyes and a grin as big as Texas. Gosh, I really hope that kid was mine!

Turkey dude had a good 36 hours ensconced in air conditioned splendor. His first stop was the shower. (Thank goodness!) I think he took at least 3, if not 4, showers while he was home. There was laundry, 2 nights in his own soft bed, a haircut, a run to the optical shop to get his glasses fixed, some of his mom's cooking, snacks and snacks, computer games, and then packing for the week to follow. It was over in a flash.

The next morning it was back to camp. The Turkey got out of the car, grabbed his stuff and was off. Um. Hell-lloooo? How about a hug for mom? At least a high five? Apparently not. I shouted, "Hey! I might love you!" as he disappeared into the trees and that was it.

It.

Until Monday night and his next day off.  :-)

Let the adventure begin

Welcome to summer camp 2010! Three days ago I dropped off the Turkey for his last day of school.  Today I dropped off the Turkey for his first day of summer camp counselorhood. Besides his weekly day off, here's his home for the next seven weeks: 

The first order of business ... raise the flag! This ritual will take place at 7:50am every morning. Breakfast is at 8:00am.  That's the pavilion directly behind the flagpole where all the meals will be served. Notice the lack of walls, air conditioning, white table cloths, chairs with cushions, and silver serving pieces. (I know you can't see the serving pieces in this photo so you'll have to take my word for it. Plastic. White plastic.)

This is the male barracks. Hotel? Accommodations? Tents? Whatever you want to call it (them?), it's what you get with the boy scouts' version of Hilton Honors.

This is the Turkey's room for the next seven weeks. See those two air conditioning units in the back? They look like big ol' holes in the tarp and, upon closer inspection, they are! Score! Who knew there would be AC here in Boy Scout Camp Land? Wonder if they have turn down service every night, too?

This is the view from the Turkey's front door flap. That's a fire pit surrounded by chairs and a "couch." He's got a great spot for the marshmallow roast.

The barracks are nestled at the end of a path through the woods. Lots of woods. But here's what's at the start of the path:

That, my pink turkeys, is the bathroom. Glamorous, is it not? The designer really did a fantastic job of bringing the outside in. Super trendy. I just wish I had gotten a sneak peek at the tiling inside. Betcha it's gorgeous.

*cough!* 

Sarcasm aside, this beats pitching your own tent every night, the kitchen is not far, the bathrooms include running water, and the pallets on the ground really do help to keep the critters at bay. Somewhat. The staff is super great, too. I really think he's going to have a great time.

Bye, my Turkey! Have fun! I'll see you in a few days for your day off and a dose of home cooking, air conditioning, laundry, and a comfy mumfy mattress. Before taking you back for week #2.

Libraries

We are big fans of books in our house. BIG fans! When we were in NYC a few years ago the Turkey actually cried real tears when he realized the New York Public Library's shelves weren't for public perusal. Real tears, folks! It would have happened at the Library of Congress too, except we found a door that we could peek through and actually SAW books! Whew. Granted, these trips both happened over 3 years ago but I like to think the examples are still valid.

More proof of the rampant Book Love in our house:

On the Last Day of School our first stop was the library to pick up some new tomes before going out for celebratory pizza. We ate pizza while reading. That was 2.5 days ago. Both books the Turkey checked out have been finished.

The Turkey's favorite t-shirt was the ONLY shirt he ever purchased while on vacation. It was purchased at the Library of Congress and looks like this:

Said t-shirt was retired only when a teenage friend commented he mistook the last word as "boobs." The shirt was never worn again. Yes, folks, books won out over boobs!

So when I came across this list of the most interesting libraries in the world, well, any of these would qualify for the Turkey's Ultimate Vacation. Yowser! Flip through it and you'll be floored. I was. And what a happy moment to discover we have already visited one of them. :-)

But just in case you are flying through one of these cities and want to purchase a book instead of just borrow it -- helping out the local economy, natch -- you can also put these most interesting bookstores in the world on your ultimate travel list. There's some serious ooh and aah here. And yes, we've been to one of these, too.

The MDDs are back

MDD? Huh?

Mom Detection Device. It looks and sounds like a jingly bracelet and serves to alert an unsuspecting teenager (or sometimes VERY suspecting teenager!) to the imminent arrival or whereabouts of said Mom. The light jingling sounds -- a gentle clinky-clanky-swishy-wishy jingle -- are well below the obnoxious realm but just enough to perk up teenager ears and let him know Mom is on the move.  

Most mornings I slip on an MDD after attaching matching earrings to the lobes. This habit is usually employed in the warmer months because never ever ever would an MDD compliment a sweater. Ick. The sweater would be pilled in a heartbeat. So instead of killing sweaters, I rely on the MDD in the summer to perk up the wardrobe and provide an inherent jingly soundtrack to life.

Most unfortunately for the Turkey one of my MDDs is currently on the fritz. It has lost most of its jingliness due to excessive use love. I guess the beads just got tired of being tossed around like dice and decided to amscray. It was a silver bracelet with all sorts of jingly goodness dripping off of it. Drip indeed! Anyway, I've been looking for a replacement and found this lovely thing on etsy: 

Oh, WOW! What a conversation piece! Conversation meets jingles. Nice.

My birthday is coming up...

Just sayin'.

The amazon list has been updated...

Again, just sayin'.