Hello Canadensis! Sorry I haven’t been able to blog as much as I used to, but things have been so busy here in the winter office and with my “new” life. The question I seem to get most whenever a parent calls this office is “How is married life?” Well to answer that question for everyone, it’s absolutely AWESOME and Robin and I are settled into our new townhouse in Ambler, PA. As great as married life is, it just seems I am always more busy! I used to go home, pickup chinese takeout (or cook something quick and not very gourmet), sit on the couch watching TV, and blog all at the same time. Now that Robin and I live together, I don’t think she would be so fond of eating dinner with me while I am sitting on the computer blogging, watching TV, etc. So, things are different. On the flipside, we both watch GLEE together and enjoy it (I admit that I am a Gleek), it was nice to light the Chanukah candles with someone else, and the quality of dinners has dramatically increased.
Robin is teaching Kindergarten at a school in Montgomeryville, PA and is enjoying it, although she unfortunately misses out on some of the evening camp fun that I get to do. For example, last night I had dinner with David Brucker (Junior boy last summer). David is doing really well in school and is so excited again for camp. You may remember him as Oliver in our show last summer and we definitely discussed some ideas for a show this year. But, of course he also enjoys a ton of other activities at camp. It was a good opportunity for me to ask him tons of questions about camp, like what was your favorite evening activity, meal in the dining room, etc. We had a great time at Bertucci’s and I look forward to seeing ALL of you at the reunion in a few weeks. (More on that later).
David as Oliver!
Other camp news: Matt Unger was up at camp yesterday and we are both headed up there next week. He actually went up to deliver a bunch of new weight room equipment. Our weight room is used by our older campers and our staff and there will be additional treadmills, recumbent bikes, elliptical machines, benches, and weights. Of course I will be the first one up each morning leading the 5AM workout session, so if anyone is interested in joining me, let me know (haha).
I was up in Boston last week for a meeting with 10 other camp directors and kitchen managers to discuss our dining hall and share ideas from other camps. I once again gained some new menu ideas, things that worked really well at other camps, and some new enhancements for us to try. This is an area that we are definitely going to be putting more thought into in order to keep the menu items new and exciting for all of you. One small hint: how about a pretzel roll to go with perhaps a grilled chicken sandwich or turkey, etc? Trust me, that’s just a small idea- I have alot more for this coming summer!
I have also been really busy finalizing my recruiting trips around the world. This year, I will be going on 3 “world” trips to many of the same destinations, but just to keep it fresh and new there are a few new places as well. (Do airport layovers count as destinations, hehe). Robin will be accompanying me on one of the 3 trips, but she is bummed out about missing out on the big “Down Under” trip, which has opposite seasons than us, which means while she is freezing here in Philly, it’s summer “Down Under”. Planning the logistics of these trips is a huge undertaking, so I have been busy with a new passport, specific country visas, flight arrangements, etc. Oddly enough, I have a specific department I called at Continental Airlines and am friends with several of the 9 employees who work there. We are on a first-name basis! Shout-out to Judy!
Back to camp stuff, a few weeks ago we embarked on our local “tours of the area” via our canteen on the fly events. They were once again a HUGE success, so thanks to all of our families who came out to see us. We saw over 150 campers and tons of parents, as well as new campers who are so excited about Canadensis. How cool that they all came out to see us…or was it because of the free ice cream?? For those keeping track, on Day 1 on Long Island I didn’t have any ice cream, Day 2 in NY I had a giant amazing cone at Ben & Jerry’s and that was all, and Day 3 in Philly…well it went downhill from there- 2 out of 3 places. Does it count if one was frozen yogurt?!
Following our Canteen on the Fly events, we hosted informational sessions for our 2010 CIT’s, some of whom will be returning as JC’s for Summer 2011. It was great to see all of them and we are looking forward to having some of them as counselors for you all. Definitely an exciting program and a time for them to share what they learned as campers and apply that to being an amazing counselor.
Pam, Brian, and I are headed tonight to Westchester, NY to meet with the Kilman Family and some of their neighbors/friends who might be interested in coming to Canadensis over the next few summers. I will be hitting the road while I am not overseas and visiting many more campers over the next few months, so let me know if I should stop by and say hello!
Finally, I am so excited for our upcoming reunion. It seems so far away (a month from today in fact), but with the holidays and everyone taking vacations, it really is just around the corner. Pam has found an awesome spot for us called Jeepers in the Newark Airport area (Jersey Gardens Mall) from 11AM – 12:30PM on Jan. 9th and the best part of all is that Canadensis officially takes over Jeepers as we are the ONLY PEOPLE THERE!! We can make as much noise as we want and have tons of fun going on indoor rides, playing video games, and of course enjoying lunch. So, make sure you save the date and I can’t wait to see you all there.
