The Heat Goes On

The topic of the day seems to be the heat. 100 degrees plus is still the norm. We have a few days in the 90's and that seemed cool!

In the midst of this we have acquired some new residents at the pasture. First to arrive was a baby coyote, a baby bobcat, 3 baby raccoons and 3 young pheasants. Next came the 4 fawns (my favorite) and after that one badger (he looked and sounded rather mean). Finally a full grown raccoon who promptly climbed to the top of the nearest tree when he was released. I talked to the new director of the zoo last week and they still have some kites, an owl and maybe another critter or two that they want to release soon.

For those of you who live far away, Grandpa is doing pretty good. He had appointments with the doctors that saw him in the hospital and they all thought he was doing well. The highlight of his week was when 2 cousins (one from Washington state and one from St John, KS) stopped to visit last week. It was good to see them and hear what is going on in their families.

Finally I am going to attempt to get some pictures lined up in the order that our new residents came except for the first one. Tell me if you can find the unusual object in the tree.

I prefer to be busy

Having kicked off the summer, the blog's schedule conspires to have me finish it off as well, what joy! Although, in all truth, this isn't actually the end of summer. I'm just used to the idea that when school's in, summer's out, so as I'm getting ready to return to school summer is ending (no matter how many more days are left on the calendar). All set to go back, the period between when work ended (August 5th, mercifully) and when I return to WestMo has been strange for me.

In my first post of the summer, I talked about how used to being busy I was, and how the downtime I had at home was difficult to adjust to. Now though, I'm not sure what I was talking about: I worked two weeks in June, had a week and a half off (9 days of which were spent in Denver and Boulder with a few of my housemates), then returned to work on July 9th, never having more than two days off until The Worst Camp Ever ended on August 5th. Let's work this review in reverse.

(We didn't have a place to stay at this point. We weren't worried)

My last camp of the summer was Merits of Space, a boyscout, 6-day extravaganza. It highlighted one of the lowlights of my job: being a nanny. Never would I have expected the boyscouts to be so delicate. 16 of 35 on medications. 4 sick campers required staying up on 2 different nights. 1 camper who didn't take his ADD meds. 1 camper scared of the dark. 1 camper scared of the storms. 1 who gashed his foot open on the shower and was lucky to have a fire science student talking to us in the dorm lobby. 1 who was a natural carrier of staph who had open sores on his foot (and showered on the same floor as the kid with the gashed foot). 2 thieves. 1 phonecall from a parent. Countless campers who had to call their parents RIGHT NOW. 1 camper who twisted his ankle. 27 campers who couldn't hold onto their stuff. 2 speeches by the directors, which reflects poorly on us as counselors when it has to happen. And 2 counselors who couldn't get along and I had to mediate between as head counselor. My graduation speech, when we finally got there was short: "To have survived these 6 days, you're either really stubborn or really patient. So congratulations and congratulations on your successful missions."

The prior two before that were some of the best. Both Space 201 camps, formerly level 2, they granted me the opportunity to enjoy one of the benefits of the job: personally connecting with campers and helping them do things they thought they couldn't do. However, the first one I worked started half a day after I returned from Houston...

I went to Houston with my second camp of July, a Space 301 that was an absolute blast. The entire experience was a constant balance between extremes: the bus had no A/C, but I'd never seen Johnson Space Center before; I had to clean up vomit, but helped inspire a future counselor; I got only a few hours of sleep on our return trip, but came back with big plans for the Cosmosphere's future. The consequence of not being able to sleep meant that when I went on the next camp as a night counselor (meaning I spent evenings and nights with the kids) the deficit grew and grew and grew and grew until I was absolutely destroyed on the final day. It saddened me, considering how much I enjoyed the kids on that camp that I was incapable of summoning all the energy to interact with them that I wanted.

(Standing in Mission Control, we watched the sun set over Atlantis, 175 miles above)

Prior to 301, I had worked a Mars Academy, a relatively banal time, but one that prepared me for the camp from hell later in the month. And before that I had worked the other two 201s, making me an expert on how to run the camp :P.

Some things did suffer from my business, especially bike riding. Early in the summer I bought a used LeMond Reno road bike I promptly christened Dasein. I enjoy the symbolism of riding a bike that literally means "being-there." She's a beauty and I was fortunate enough to get some long rides in with a co-worker, but I'm looking forward to more rides with more people when I return to school and get involved with the beginnings of the Westminster Cycling Club.

(A rather poor shot of my new love)

Other things I look forward to at school include taking the helm of Philosopher's Corner, the school's recently-deceased philosophy club, and invigorating it with some awesome ideas and awesome people. I'll be presenting at the first "What if...?" conference, a day-long expo of crazy ideas put on by one of my housemates and another one of his clubs, for which I'm treasurer, a fun time for sure. This will be the first time I begin looking at graduate schools in earnest, and deciding if the plans I've laid up for years are what I want to do (working at the Cosmosphere has planted a few seeds of doubt).

But until then, I've got time to kill, and the empty hours are both a luxury and a curse. It makes me a little disgruntled (sorry family!) as I'm not quite at school but definitely done at the Cosmosphere, which itself is a little hard to take. Counseling is probably the best job I've ever had the privilege of doing. It was exhausting and grueling, but made me proud of my work and conscious of the position I held; it was taxing, but rewarded me with a few great new friends and experiences that I can tuck away and save up for when I teach in earnest.

(The trainer used by the first commercial astronauts arrives on my last day of work)

It's Pouring in NYC!

Hello all, Kurtis here with an update from the NYC chapter of the Family. It’s been quite a whirlwind of events since we last posted. We started off by closing the show Angels in America at the Signature Theatre, this show we had been working as subs. We then rolled strait into a very crazy time of life as Angels closed I went to work striking the show and loading in the next, The Illusion. At this time Mary began working overtime at the millinery where she was building hats for the Kentucky Derby. During this three week period Mary and I slept in the same bed, but that was about it. Just when we thought relief was in sight we received calls from the Signature Theatre asking for us to be a part of the crew for the last show of the season, The Illusion. So we rolled into our fifth straight 60-80 hour week. The old adage, “when it rains, it pours” has definitely held true for us here in NYC.

The Illusion ended up being a great opportunity for us for a couple of key reasons. One, three weeks in to the show, things started to slow down a bit and we were able to relax just a tad. Two, we were able to work together on a show, which is definitely something that we have enjoyed in the past, but had not been able to truly enjoy here. In the middle of the run, we returned to KS to visit – it never seems to be long enough as there are so many to spend time with. Ten weeks out from the start, The Illusion came to an end and we were on to the next thing. I had several opportunities pop up at the beginning of July which I grabbed hold of.

One day I received an early morning phone call from one of my freelance job bosses. This particular call was from Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet concerning a job opening. I was asked to apply and interview for the position of Technical Director. So after three nerve-wracking weeks I was offered the job and I gladly accepted. I am extremely excited about this opportunity. First off it gets me the chance to have a “normal job” with a title and benefits. Secondly and slightly selfishly there is the travel. This job comes with 15-18 week’s worth of touring, mostly international. This coming season will have me traveling through Germany, France, Italy, Serbia, England as well as some domestic dates. The final thing that this new job accomplishes is more time at home due to less free lance work. Hopefully, this also means a certain amount of being able to accomplish personal goals and balance in a way that I have not been able to in the recent past due to a lack of time at home.

Now, it’s just a matter of keeping our fingers crossed for Mary who has moved from hat making, to Off Broadway, to the Jersey Boys on Broadway. She went a week without work after our show closed, became an official resident of NY, and filed for unemployment. Since she can’t sit still long, she was off and working the second week, including a bit of time at Cedar Lake with me and leading to a phone interview this past week with the Blue Man Group for a full time, full benefits lead wardrobe position. This one will also be a lengthy wait as she has two more parts to the interview and another two weeks. She would really like to have this kind of a position also as it would allow us both to have some great balance and stability here.

We’ve been lucky enough to have many visitors to the city including Pam, Charles, Grandma Johnston, Hannah and James among other friends. It’s always fun to have people we know come visit as it encourages us to get out and see a few new things too. We look forward to having several more of you come to see us in the future if/when it becomes available!

For now, that’s a fair update of our lives – we’ll finish off the summer enjoying time with one another, a few short trips out and about and starting new jobs. Wishing you all the very best and sending love your way!!!

A Busy Summer

Hello everyone,

My summer has gone well. I have managed to fill most of my time so I have felt busy even though in reality looking back I really don't think I have done much.

:) I still go to Wichita two times a week for appointments a

nd have been taking online sociology simply to give me something to do. I have discovered I do not care much for online classes. Thank goodness this week is the final. I have also been spending time with Adelynn and Cassi and I have enjoyed the girl talk and baby time although now I guess I should say toddler time. I also love seeing Miss Olivia and Sarah when they are in town. She never fails to make me laugh.

I have spent a lot of time training Shona. We finished our second basic obedience class and have now started a rally course. Rally is an interesting offshoot of obedience. Instead of a judge telling you what to do cones strategically placed give you instructions about how to do the course. Here is a link if you want to know more.

Working with Shona is probably my most important news. Since I have been home I have been exploring the ideas of getting Shona certified to become my psychiatric service dog. Kansas (and the nation in general) make certifying a service dog relatively easy (not counting the training - that's hard) and it looks as if there is a strong possibility that in the next six months to a year Shona will be my official service dog. The benifts of having Shona certified to go everywhere with me are numerous. I still become very, very anxious in social situations. Shona provides grounding and distraction. In addition, sometimes my memories are intense and Shona can sense this and often will jump onto my lap to give me comfort. Perhaps most imporantly though is that Shona will be able to go on campus with me. I need some sort of support to sit through classes, be around young men and simply be in a college environment. Shona will provide me the support that I will need in order to accomplish this.

Last night we met with our new trainer for the first time but since this blog is getting long I'll simply give you the link to my own blog where I plan to have an account of how it went up in the next 24 hours or so. That reminds me. If you didn't know I do have two blogs. One (fighting my way back) is simply an

account of my recovery and life. The other (My gracious gift of God) chronicles Shona and my journey to becoming licensed. Look on either spot they should both have accounts (the second one shorter - the first one more detailed). I love my blogs because they give me a chance to write and also provide a wonderful opportunity for me to look back on my life and see how much I've grown.

One last thing - the end of this month is my six month anniversary of being in recovery and home from CFC. It's been the hardest thing I've ever done but oh so worth it. I have been behavior free for a very long time. I still get very depressed, anxious and scared but with support and coping skills I can move on. Your letters, prayers, thoughts, conversastions and other means of support has been my lifeline and continues to help me move forward. Knowing I have this family behind me gives me strength and motivation on those days I couldn't move forward on my own.

We are the strongest group of people I have ever met and that is the biggest weapon I have against my illness.

Anyways, here are a few pictures of my summer....

First it's been hot...

very, very hot

Second we celebrated Papa's Birthday in Style

Third, Shona enjoys parades (except the part with horses)

Finally, we had to say goodbye to Amelia Bedelia (age 16) and Connor (age 10). Connor had cancer and Amelia (the old bird) had finally grown old and was ready for a rest. We miss them but know they are in doggy heaven.

Love to all of you!

-Kate