Hmm, well here I am.

No rain last night! The kids were late sleepers again this morning. We did tell one mom our plans and she got her two girls up by 10am. We did last night's craft with them and then I let them do one I had planned. Might as well use some of the loads of supplies I brought:) They are really sweet girls. All the kids were good kids, we just didn't get to see them a lot. Gentry and I hung out quite a bit and I chatted with a lot of the 8th grade "campers". Such a strange weekend. I thought about leaving at 11am, but fried fish is always on the menu for Sunday lunch. I love batter dipped, deep fat fried, fresh fish at Merritt! I'm glad I stayed because I got to sit and hang out with Angie and her boys. I somehow got roped into lizard-sitting for awhile. Justin, Nolan, Gentry and I named it Wizard the Lizard. Good name, huh? As soon as I had eaten I zipped out. On the road again. I decided to go a different route today and turned off on the Brownlee road. Yikes! It look

I tried to wake up in time for leader devotions, but...we're pretty much on the timezone line. I set my cellphone alarm on one side and it woke me up on the other, making me an hour too late for devotions. I did wake up dry however, unlike those in tents. The rain lowered the temperature considerably and not many hit the water right after breakfast. None of the kids were up either. Hard to do an activity with no kids:) The ones who just moved up from kids to campers this year came over though. They didn't know what to do with themselves so...I played a game with them. I lost Misty at that point. By then it was lunch time. Right after lunch was the volleyball tournament. I wish I would have gone ahead and signed up, the kids all did their own water stuff and I ended up being free. I got to sit in the car and read, getting a suntan on my legs at the same time. I also took a few trips down beyond the volleyball courts on the beach. It was really pretty. Honestly, the whole time I

I'm doing the kids activities at Merritt Youth Retreat. I'm doing said activities alone. Alissa, I tell myself, it will go just fine and you are so prepared! I repeated these things to myself all the way up to Merritt Reservoir...nearly all of the 2.5 hour drive. And a beautiful drive it was! I went all the way to Mullen and then up on 97. It was so much what I needed. Just me, the van and the wide open sandhills. The sandhills always relieve me and make me feel peaceful. I don't mind being the only one for miles and the vast expanse around me. I even drove the last 30 min without any music, just me with the windows down drinking in God's creation. Like I said before, I had pretty much been psyching myself up for this weekend instead of letting myself worry. Grrr. I was getting my stuff out of the van for the evening activity when I heard someone yell my name. This conversation took place: "Hi Alissa? My name is Misty and I hear you're helping me with the kid&#