Her eyes are wide open

It was our younger daughter’s birthday on Friday. Our traditional yearly visit to the beach for this occasion was foiled by the weather; 100% chance of rain was the forecast. Instead we strung together a bunch of her favorite things for her birthday. She could invite a friend and we would do all the fun things she could think of. On the agenda:  Riding the monorail to Seattle Center, walking around Pacific Science Center, dining at the Old Spaghetti Factory, wandering the outdoor art exhibit from SAM, and lastly riding the Seattle Great Wheel. All of which was bookended by rides on the ferry across the sound which is its own kind of excitement. 

When we landed in Seattle, the two teens complained that we weren’t going to start the outing with food. They were both hungry so I sent them off with some pocket money and they promised to meet us at the Pacific Science Center. 

When they finally arrived at the Pacific Science Center, I was surprised to find my 14 year old daughter unashamedly jumping into my arms and hugging me like she had been spooked. I hugged her, happy to be embraced but then aware that this wasn’t normal for her out in public. 

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Something’s wrong. What happened?” I asked into her hair, her cheek pressed against my neck. 

“Some guy grabbed my ass when I was walking off the ferry.”

My baby girl had been assaulted by some slimy guy. Sure I felt rage, sure I wanted to cut somebody. But I kept my voice even and asked, “Did you see who did it?”

“No, he got into the crowd before I could react. It was just as we were leaving the terminal, right as we get on the overpass. My brother was walking in front of me so I didn’t look like I was with him.”

This alone broke my heart. The idea that she’d be safer if she were "owned" by a man -- a boyfriend, brother, or father -- was already indoctrinated in her somehow. I’ve never consciously told her that this is how to protect yourself from unwanted attention but I’ve done it myself. I wore fake engagement rings when I was in my early twenties; I remember to arm myself with my wedding set whenever I’m traveling or going out for ladies night. It somehow keeps unwanted attention away. Except that sometimes even that doesn’t work. The whole concept is a holdover from a time when women were chattel and men were our owners. Isn't the fact of our personhood enough? The fact that we are complete human beings should give us the right to control our bodies and be allowed to walk around unmolested.

In the end, she could only remember that he was wearing a hoodie and jeans. She couldn't even tell what race he was. She was absolutely shaken. 

For the past couple of years, I've mentioned to her when I'd caught boys and young men noticing her. She's been oblivious to the attention. It's been really sweet -- this little bit of innocence still preserved in her. When she and I walked in Seattle in the past, we'd heard comments or whistles and while I bristled at the attention, she laughed. She never internalized the threat or recognized it as such. Perhaps it's because the scales fell from my eyes so long ago, I have always been aware of the danger.

But with this assault, her eyes have finally opened.

She recalled to me this past summer when she went to Girl Scout Camp with her troop. The girls were going swimming in Hood Canal and the rocky seabed they were walking on was covered with seaweed so she was trying to be careful where she stepped.

"I looked down noticed that the seaweed was moving funny. It turned out it was one of those green spider crabs. I was just about to step down on it so I'm glad I saw it. Then I looked at the rocks and what I had thought was seaweed was actually crabs. There were hundreds of them. They were everywhere. That's what this is like."

She told me of walking hand in hand with her brother through the pedestrian traffic of Pike Place Market and seeing for the first time the looks from men. The greetings and whistles she had so easily laughed off turned into dangerous situations. Despite her 6'4 brother, she felt afraid. The crabs were everywhere.

So I'm angry.

But the amazing Girl Scout she is, she said to me today, "Mom, this year I really want our troop to work on self defense and personal safety." The Girl Scout process is 3 steps:  Discover, Connect, Take Action. I wish she didn't have to discover and connect with the issue so intimately.

Watch out lecherous jerks, this Girl Scout is about to take action.



*UPDATE* A couple of you have asked me what my husband's reaction was. That evening he was not particularly demonstrative. He was quiet as is his way. But this morning he read my blog and the reactions to the post. He told me that he is certain he'd have been in jail had be witnessed the event. Violence begets violence. It's part of our animal nature. This is what violence against women looks like and why we react with anger and rage. This stuff has got to stop. 

Cookies

I don't know why cookies are such a popular fund raiser. What a terrible thing to fling at middle aged parents! I'm trying my best to get ready for my high school reunion this coming fall and I've got to wade through a fund raising mine field.

Shoot, the Girl Scout cookie sale is in March. That shouldn't be too terrible considering that the cookies are all in sealed boxes so I never have to actually be confronted with their delicious yumminess. Cookies are one thing, but cookies with a good cause thereby making you feel like you're doing the world a favor -- well, that's just hard to resist. Both of the girls are taking cookie orders right now so if you're looking for cookies, they can hook you up.

Last fall, my hubby ordered 3 tubs of cookie dough from my friend's kid for his soccer club. It keeps well in the freezer so despite them telling us that the dough was ready, we've avoided having it in our house by never picking it up. It's been a good arrangement. We pay for the cookie dough and we don't have to actually eat it.

But... two things happened at the same time this past week. 1. I was at my friend's house. 2. She remembered about the cookie dough that has been taking up freezer real estate.

Shucks.

My husband had ordered peanut butter, chocolate chip, and snickerdoodles. I'm not really much of a cookie eater. None of this really phased me at all. My hubby's real Achilles' heel is the snickerdoodle. He just can't get enough.

As far as I can tell, it is a sugar cookie with a slight tartness from cream of tartar, and covered in cinnamon before it is baked so you can see the fissures in the surface as the dough spreads from the heat of the oven. Kind of like skin on the aliens from the movie Alien Nation.

When I discovered that a big snow storm was on its way, I decided to cook up the cookies. It would be good to have prepared food on hand for the kids just in case we lose power. It has happened for over a week for us before.

But I decided to stick the snickerdoodle dough in the freezer.

Lil'T couldn't understand my reason at first.

Me:  I don't like us having cookies around much in the first place because I know your daddy might sneak them. He can probably resist the peanut butter and the chocolate chip, but snickerdoodles are his favorite. I don't want it to easily available for him to eat.

Lil'T:  We'll a-course he's gonna sneak them. They are SNEAKerdoodles!

I'm so totally not making this conversation up. My baby girl is hilarious. She made up a joke all on her own.

Genius.

Girl Scout camping without girls

This weekend was the first ever Peninsula Girl Scout leader retreat. I'm not 100% sure what I want to say about this past weekend other than the very non descriptive:  It was AWESOME!!! We had representatives from all over the peninsula including vampire/werewolf country:  Forks, WA. I'm thinking I need to make a dig to the SU's from Bremerton and Poulsbo because they missed out on a fabulous weekend. We talked a lot about the girls, commiserated about challenges, things we had learned, but mostly just got together and had a freaking blast.


Our contingent ended up getting there a little later than we should have. Turns out it is hard to find the camp in the dark. It is in the middle of BFE, I mean, the Tahuya National forest. The sign for the dirt road turn off for the camp is about the size of notebook paper. Anyhow, when we did finally get our gear put in the cabin and get downstairs to meet the rest of the people, I have to admit, I was a little intimidated. That didn't last very long, mind you. But still, I was a little nervous. The whole point of the weekend was for leaders from all over to get to know each other. 


I walked into that room and I thought they all were a bunch of old friends -- they all must have come from the same area. I had to fight that urge to sit by myself or find a table that had enough seats for my contingent to sit together. Instead, I went to a table already in the middle of something -- unwrapping the hershey kisses on the table so they could make a foil ball to see if they could make the trash can from across the room. (It made sense then. What can I say?) Anyhow, I got right in the middle of this and I was welcomed instantly. Cool, right? Turns out that these ladies weren't all from the same service unit. Turns out a lot of them had just met the hour before. But how cool is that?


The next day we could attend discussions, do crafts (which were pretty darned cool -- batik & decoupage -- not at the same time but I suppose you could) or whatever we wanted. I took a hike around the lake after we attended a morning discussion about resources in our local communities. Later that afternoon we had a great discussion about the new Girl Scouting program. Yes, has changed once again and it is really really cool. Change is good. Stagnation is bad. Stagnation = irrelevance. It's that simple.


The food was fabulous. (Honestly, when do you get creme brûlée while camping?)There were flushing toilets, showers & electricity but my data connection was spotty at best. (I know, lame to use a cell phone during a camp out but how else was I going to check my Facebook?)


And while we were on our weekend high, our group decided to host next year's event. This was an event pulled together just since this past June and already the bar is set crazy high. But since we have a year to put it together, hopefully it won't be too bad. 


Just don't know how to top creme brûlée.

Goalsetting with Girls

Every year it surprises me how much "anti-cookie" sentiment there exists in our community. We have brownie girl scouts out in front of grocery stores selling cookies. They have dreams of going camping, having a horse back riding adventure, painting pottery at a studio, and simply having fun. Every year my parents come back from selling cookies with stories of people berating the adults about childhood obesity, too much sugar in children's diets, & the negative message selling cookies has for our girls.

And yet we keep doing it. I don't need to re-argue the why. The Girl Scouts Organization does that far more eloquently than I can. Every year I have a cookie selling story that makes all those negative comments fade away like morning fog. Here is this year's one.

Before we launch into the cookie selling, the girls and their leaders discuss goals. For the past 2 years, my girls have been focused on going to the Great Wolf Lodge. What 8-9 year old child wouldn't want to go there? While we were setting our goals, we did some quick math finding out that we needed to sell 1444 boxes to reach that goal. This would be the year that we could raise enough money to go there overnight. Then we discussed a service project that the girls could get behind. We would participate in the usual Operation Cookie Drop which sends cookies to our troops overseas. However, we wanted something that was just our group's focus. Unfortunately, we ran out of time and the girls were charged with trying to come up with a service project by the next meeting.

The week before our next meeting, the earthquake in Haiti happened.

When we met, I thought I would ask the girls if they had heard about the Haitian earthquake. They had. The girls all had their hands up talking about their schools collecting money to send to Haiti. Each girl talked about pictures they had seen on television, or their parents had shared with them in the paper. They spoke about their ministers or priests urge for generous donations for Haitian relief over weekend. I credit our parents, schools and churches with talking to these girls and giving them their boundless capacity for compassion.

I mentioned to them that Girl Scouts and Girl Guides are everywhere in the world, including Haiti. In that moment, you could see in their eyes that they could identify with their sister girl scouts. They were so moved that one of our girls suggested we just give all our money in our bank account to Haiti. However, there was some protest at that idea, and the girls had worked so hard to save up towards their goal, we came up with a compromise. We would donate the first $1000 of our cookie proceeds towards the Haitian relief effort. I told them that we'd essentially double our cookie selling goal to almost 3000 boxes. If we didn't make our goal, we might have to postpone our trip to Great Wolf Lodge one more year. They understood.

One of my girls put it very succinctly, "they need it more."

In the intervening time, we participated in the Cascade Bicycle Club Chilly Hilly bake sale and raised $310 towards our goal. Also during the Chilly Hilly, our girls helped out at the Squeaky Wheels Bicycle Club's chili feed. That event raised $1400 for the American Red Cross. Because of our participation in that event, the organizers have given us the honor of presenting that check to the ARC. Along with our $1000, our girls have helped raise $2400 for earthquake relief efforts.

So go ahead and complain about GS selling cookies. This is what building girls of courage, confidence and character looks like.

Balls of yarn

We had a Girl Scout meeting last night. The brownie who was running the content of our meeting had us turning skeins of yarn into balls of yarn so that we'd be prepared to teach preschool potential scouts how to make yarn dolls. You would be surprised how hard it is to efficiently turn skeins of yarn into balls of yarn.

I complained, "Every time I try to go fast, I drop my ball."

My daughter said, "I'm making them half fast."

What you need to know now is that when my 9 year old brownie girl scout said that, the other parent there and I both about dropped our balls. Say the phrase "half fast" out loud and you'll see what I mean.

Then I replayed what she said and very carefully inquired, "So you're making them half (pause) fast?"

She nodded and said, "yeah, but I still drop them."

The other parent there and I about fell over laughing but the rest of the girls had no idea why.

Honest Answers

I got tagged by a friend of mine to do this on Facebook and as my blog and FB are linked, I figured I'd post it here and it will eventually be posted there. Here are my answers to this MEME.

Can you fill this out without lying? You've been tagged, so now you need to answer all the questions HONESTLY. At the end, choose at least 8 people to be tagged. Don't forget to tag me!

To do this, copy this entire message, then go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, delete my answers, and type yours.

Next, tag 8 people (in the right hand corner of the app). Click publish (at the bottom). Have fun! :)

1.What was the last thing you put in your mouth? Clam chowder that was leftover from last night. OMG I am a good cook. It is the first time I tried making clam chowder and I just tried what I thought would fit. Granted, this isn't like figuring out how to make a souffle but it was a triumph for me.

2.Where was your profile picture taken? At home after a dinner party with my mobile phone -- a Palm Pre. Hubby is getting increasingly annoyed with the Pre because it could be faster about loading apps, etc. but I don't care. It is freakin' awesome that I can answer my email, txt, send pics, etc. I love it!

3.Can you play Guitar Hero? We don't own Guitar Hero but I have played it before. We do own the pads for DDR for our old Xbox which is very similar, except was done with your feet.

4.Name someone who made you laugh today? My good friend Marisa. She did tell me what felching (sp?) was. Before you Google or Bing that word, remember you can't unknow something that you now know. And the visual is simply not pleasant.

5.How late did you stay up last night and why? Around 1am. I was up coughing. Damned cold.

6.If you could move somewhere else, would you? Norway. Just watched SICKO by Michael Moore. The fjords are gorgeous.

7. Ever been kissed under fireworks? Yes. We got married on the Fourth of July. The country celebrates our anniversary with fireworks. At least that is what we tell our kids.

8. Which of your friends lives closest to you? I'm gonna say Sharon. But I haven't taken out a map. It could be Marisa. Not sure.

9. Do you believe exes can be friends? I think you can go back to friendly acquaintances. But true friends? Probably not.

10. How do you feel about Dr Pepper? It is good. It has been over a decade from the diet Dr. Pepper vaca on Kauai that Hubby and I took. We had about 4 days left on the vaca and we went to the grocery store. The "cube" of diet DP was on sale and I couldn't pass up on that price. After 3 days of drinking nothing but diet DP, Hubby and I couldn't touch it without wanting to throw up. I think we left some in the fridge of the hotel room.

11. When was the last time you cried really hard? When Uncle Nofre died last December, I wailed. I mean truly loudly wailed. I still miss him terribly.

12. Who took your profile picture? I did.

13. Who was the last person you took a picture of? Julia's dogs. Does that count as persons? If not, I've got Julia's leg in the picture.

14. Was yesterday better than today? No.

15. Can you live a day without TV? Hubby would disagree with this claim, but yes, I can live without TV.

16. Are you upset about anything? Not right this second. Oh wait, the railing on our deck fell off when it was dumping rain last night. I may have to get into it with my insurance company. But that is about it.

17. Do you think relationships are ever really worth it? Never. jk. Of course.

18. Are you a bad influence? Yeah, most likely. I could be better about cuss words and not losing my temper. I also keep a fairly messy house, as my mother would attest to, so that's not a good influence on my messy kids either. So definitely I'm a bad influence.

19. Night out or night in? In. I'm an old married lady with kids.

21. Who was the last person you visited in the hospital? My mother, last October. She's cancer free now.

22. What does the last text message in your in box say? It was a note from Julia at 8:38am. "Not so fun standing in the rain at a soccer game..."

23. How do you feel about your life right now? These are the good years. I'm living the dream.

24. Do you hate anyone? No

25. If we were to look in your face book inbox, what would we find? Emails from friends. Nothing scandalous.

27. Has anyone ever called you perfect before? Yes. By my dentist. I have beautiful teeth.

28. What song is stuck in your head? Nothing right now. Blessed silence.

29. Someone knocks on your window at 2:00 a.m., who do you want it to be? Paul Gross. I have a crush on that actor. He's on Eastwick on ABC this year. OMG yummy. He also was on Slings and Arrows, which is where I first started crushing on him. He's tall with dark wavy hair and light eyes. What can I say? I have a type.

30.Wanna have grandkids before you’re 50? My son would be in his early twenties then and while it is possible, given that he's gorgeous but (thankfully) awkward, I doubt it. Hubby always jokes that we'll be grandparents in 3 years. (The boy is 12 right now...)

31. Name something you have to do tomorrow? Pick up the boy from a campout.

32. Do you think too much or too little? Too much -- but obsessively on one thing at a time. So the last couple of days it was all Girl Scouts all the time. A couple of weeks ago, it was all dog training all the time.

33. Do you smile a lot? I think so.

34. How many hours a day do you spend on the computer? I think maybe 5 - 6.

35. If you could be anyone else for a day, who would you be? Paul Gross's mistress. jk. Martha Stewart before prison. Well, she wasn't so bad after prison either.

36. Facebook or Twitter? Facebook. I'm tweeting but not really well enough. There are some people who tweet way too much and I end up being deluged by them so I don't like checking too often.

37. Chicken or Beef? Beef. I'm sure I'm a mad cow and will likely turn into a flesh eating zombie if Zombieland is to be believed. Prepare for the zombie apocalypse.

38. Mac or PC? PC

39. Have you ever punched anyone in the face? No

40. Have you ever been punched in the face? Yes, by an old man who was a patient when I was a nurse. I wasn't familiar with him and had not heard that he was violent. He was sitting in a chair out in the hall and the nurse who was caring for him was in the breakroom giving report. He was tearing stuff up and throwing it on the floor so I bent over to pick the stuff up. I got too close and he gave me a fat lip. I was so shocked as I totally wasn't expecting it. He didn't even look angry. Who knows, maybe when I'm old I'll do crazy stuff like punching 20 year old nurses in the face too.

I will NOT be your weenie wife

I remember reading about Kennedy family dinners from when Bobby & JFK were kids. Every day, the kids were expected to learn a new thing and tell the family about it. What a great exercise, right? So when I learn something new (and as I get older and my brain fills up, it takes a little longer to find my new thing) I like to check the time and notice how long it took for me to gain some new knowledge.

This week at Girl Scout day camp, I am finding that I learn that new thing well before noon, usually before 10 o'clock. Pretty cool!

I've learned a bunch of knots. Before camp, I only knew the square, overhand, & lark's head. Now I know the taut line, bowline, and clove hitch. And of course the granny knot which is kind of a derisive label considering it is usually an intended square knot that got messed up on the second step. I don't really know what a granny knot is good for and if I can forgive naming a knot that is in some way dismissive of grannies and the role they play in peoples' lives.

I've also learned how great it is to be open to gaining knowledge from young adults as well as my elders. I have been learning all kinds of outdoor skills from my 19 year old co-leaders. I've also been learning about the history of scouting and the history of the island from my retired teacher and Girl Scout 1st class recipient (gold award from back in the day) co-leader. I only hope that I have something valuable to teach them.

The girls themselves are not without wisdom to impart as well. In fact, on the very first day of camp, one girl informed me that blue berries and raisins were both bad for dogs. I had blue berries in my lunch and there were raisins served at snack. I tried to be vigilant with Holly given this new information. Another girl told me that Toto from the Wizard of Oz was a Cairn Terrier. I had no idea! You would think I would know that considering my life long love affair with that movie. I was writing out the girls' camp names and when I came to Doughnut, I had spelled it the Dunkin' Donuts way which is wrong. She told me that I had spelled it wrong and that she knew that it was d-o-u-g-h-n-u-t because she even looked it up in the dictionary. Damn spell check! I need it implanted into my brain.

I have become impressed with the teen aged Program Aides. Before camp I was all stressed out about not knowing enough Girl Scout skills to competently teach the girls their progressions but it turned out I need not have worried. The PA's are all very skilled and know their stuff. The girls in the unit all look up to them and I know both the PA's and the girls are learning valuable life lessons.

I am also enjoying the silly songs at camp. I do, however, wish the infamous Vegas commercial applied to GS Daycamp. What you do in camp *should* stay in camp. My princess is constantly singing a song about a weenie man who sells everything from hot dogs to buns. Someday she'll be his weenie wife and share his weenie life. Oh, how she loves that weenie man. Cute song the first couple of times. We're now on the 3rd day of the non-stop singing of this song. I go to bed with it running through my head. Please. Help. Me.

All in all, I'm having a blast. I'm so excited to be part of this community of women and 3 men. There are 2 young men watching the boys unit which is comprised of the brothers of the girls whose mothers are volunteering at the camp. There is a dad who is working at base camp and is our resource manager -- essentially he's in charge of the U-Haul trailer where we lock up our gear. It is amazing the kind of work and coordination that goes into this event.

As an aside, here is the boys' unit cheer. I loved it, and even though they've since truncated it because the little boys couldn't remember all of it, its brilliance must be recorded and shared:

We are boys
We are diverse
and noticeably loud.
We are boys
attempting one verse,
and we can't rhyme.

Oh, and my official camp name is now TESTING 1-2-3. Like it? I thought it would be a good one considering that it sounds so much like my real name. I actually respond when people call me.

Camp Songs

Over the weekend, I was really hard pressed to sing to the girls. We did a lot of walking which I am sure would have gone a lot faster had I some songs to keep the marching going. Problem is, I don't know very many camp songs.

I did learn a new one for me called Black Socks.

Black Socks
They never get dirty
The longer you wear them
The blacker they get.

Sometimes
I think I should wash them
But something keeps telling me
"Don't do it yet!"
Not yet,
Not yet,
Not yet.

I actually tried to teach them Show Me the Way to Go Home which was made popular by the movie Jaws.


It didn't really stick. We ended up singing Knick Knack Paddy Wack.

I kind of think that maybe a popular song that I already know would be a better choice. This morning I was listening to the radio and Born To Be Wild came on. Couldn't you just see a group of 7 year old girls singing that? So I'm putting it out to you. If you have any ideas for popular songs that would make good camp songs, put it in the commments. I'll teach it to my Brownies if I can.

Get your motor runnin'
Head out on the highway
Lookin' for adventure
And whatever comes our way
Yeah Darlin' go make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space

I like smoke and lightning
Heavy metal thunder
Racin' with the wind
And the feelin' that I'm under
Yeah Darlin' go make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space

Like a true nature's child
We were born, born to be wild
We can climb so high
I never wanna die

Born to be wild
Born to be wild

Sleeping outside

Princess had her first encampment this past weekend. I should note that I had my first encampment this past weekend. GIRL SCOUTS ROCKS!!! I can deflect saying the girls had so much fun. They just loved it. While this is true, I must be honest. I HAD AN ABSOLUTE BLAST. There were times when I thought I would cry out of happiness this weekend. And then I thought, what an absolute sap. (I'm not pregnant. I swear I'm not pregnant. At least I don't think I am.) But I loved how empowering it was to be amongst all these girls and young women, and have my faith in the youth of this country emboldened.

The camp allowed all the girls to be able to take risks and feel safe and accepted. I watched two teen aged girls lead some younger girls in singing campfire songs as we waited for the dinner service. These girls were wearing all black. One had a row of safety pins holding her black hoodie shut. They both wore their hair black, long and straight. I think one had hot pink highlights streaked through her hair. The only thing missing was white skin makeup and black lipstick. On the street, I would have judged them as disaffected youth posing as emo or goth. But here, they were 2 Girl Scouts leading camp songs complete with silly hand motions and laughter. And let me tell you, it was all I could do to keep from sobbing. Thank God for sunglasses.

The weekend showcased the industrial spirit of the campers. We saw how capable and helpful even little Daisies can be if allowed to work. Every last one rose to the occasion. Man, I wish I had been allowed to join when I was a kid. There were fun activities all day long -- all run by girls -- teen aged and young adult Girl Scouts. These young women were so put together and confident. I just loved being around them. In them, I could see what my Princess and Lil'T could someday become. That was truly a gift. The encampment was organized and run by a group of 5th grade scouts. Yes, that's right, a group of 10 & 11 year old girls. Every event, every game, the theme of the weekend, was orchestrated by these wonderful girls. They were such great hosts. They engaged with my 5 little Brownies and really made them feel welcome. Heck, all the girls at the camp made my Brownies feel welcome.

We went to the encampment of a neighboring service unit so we didn't know any of the adult leaders save one. We were thanked repeatedly for joining them. I held such gratitude just for being invited to join their encampment. Many of the leaders learned the names of our 5 little brownies before the weekend was over. And looking at some of their numerous patches sewn on the backs of their shirts, I got to see my future too.

I'm am forever grateful to my sweet Princess for getting me into Girl Scouts. Sure, I wish I had joined when I was 7 instead of 37, but better late than never.

I am also forever grateful to my sweet Hubby who bought a $200 camping pad for me to sleep on. OMG. I actually slept last night. I didn't have to do the sausage-on-a-hot-pan roll over all night long. It was as close to heaven as you can get while sleeping outside and being accosted by mosquitoes.

Oh yeah, one more thing. I'm sure I wrote it before.

Hillary was a Girl Scout.

The Prophecy

We had our first Girl Scout sleep over. It was a trial camping experience in my co-leader's back yard. I'm glad that we did it. It felt a lot like a sleep over, but the girls learned a lot about camping and I feel better about the encampment this coming weekend. We didn't get any homesick kids or even over scared kids. I was worried about that. My co-leader saved my life by packing a queen sized air mattress. I actually slept. Sort of. I really like my bed. I love my bed. I missed my bed that whole night. But it was a better sleeping experience than I've ever had out of doors. Damn, frogs are loud.

We took a hike earlier in the day with all the girls. It went pretty well although I think if we had more songs, it would have gone better. I resorted to singing the Brady Bunch and a couple of lines out of Gilligan's Island. I kind of muddled my way through the Jefferson's theme song when Deb,one of the parents who was with us, said, "I think Tess is a tune catcher."

I have never been called a tune catcher before. I didn't even know that it was a talent. I like it though. I remember hearing a Kathy Mattea song once on a country station while I was in the car with my friend Jenny. She always played country. I never did. But the next time I was hanging out with Jenny, the song came on the radio and I sang along. Jenny was amazed. Who knew that is what a tune catcher does? That's me. My husband always marvels on how I can remember lyrics to Christmas carols. I suppose a lot of people can do that, but if you take into consideration that he is incapable of holding on to any lyrics, my abilities are nothing short of miraculous.

So I told my hubby about Deb labeling me a "tune catcher."

He responded with, "The one prophesied? The one sent to save us from the tone deaf tyrant?"

I must be.

I want a beanie too

I wish I had been a Girl Scout when I was a kid.

I was born for this stuff. I love the uniform and the fun iron ons. I love the songs and the camping. And I love selling cookies. I'm just the right amount of pushy to get cookies sold. There is a tenacity in my character -- like a shark that can smell blood in the water, I won't give up if I sense money in your wallet. Is that tenacity or just being a pain in the neck? Then if none of that works, I can always rely on my great depth of understanding of Catholic guilt. I used to be only on the receiving end of that but now, as a mother, I can dish it out like a pro.

There wasn't a Girl Scout troop for me at my school when I was little. I suspect that my parents didn't want to deal with the hassle of meetings and what not. Girl Scouts came to St. Joe's just as I was graduating from 8th grade. Now I know that my parents could have very easily found me a troop. Troops don't have to be sponsored by the school. Consider that they let my brother Norman join the Boy Scouts. Totally unfair. I know you feel my pain. It still smarts 25 years after the fact. Dear God, has it really been that long?

So I have to tell you about my great friends Sharon & Steve, who are in second place for best customer. During the presale phase of the cookie selling, Sharon ordered a paltry 6 boxes of cookies. Two of those boxes were the sugar free chocolate chips which no bugger will eat, but Sharon said she wanted to be "good" this year. I delivered the cookies and Steve, seeing that several omissions were made from the order, tasked me to get 6 more various boxes. When I delivered those 6 boxes of cookies, their son N noticed they didn't order any Samoas. I tried to get Steve & Sharon to buy Samoas on the previous days, but they said nobody liked those. N vehemently denied saying he didn't like Samoas. He professed that they were indeed his favorite Girl Scout cookie of all time. While N tried unsuccessfully to get his parents to order a case or 2, they did ultimately order 2 boxes. (I was rooting for N in this fight.) When Sharon left the room, Steve realized that they didn't order Trefoils so that too went on the order. And because son D had decided to give up sugar for Lent, they ordered another box of the sugar free chocolate chip cookies. Poor kid. So all together, they've bought 17 boxes of cookies. I'll let you know if they buy more.

But the best was when Sharon recalled that their friend Joe bought 2 cases of Thin Mints each year. Two cases! And they didn't tell me until now? I immediately called full of hope that Joe didn't already know a pusher, I mean a girl scout, and Joe ordered only 1 case of Thin Mints and 1/2 case of Trefoils. The Trefoils are for the kids. His wife Julie ordered 3 boxes of Samoas -- so they are in the lead with 21 boxes. Those are GREAT customers -- and I'll have them on my speed dial for next year.

At the last Girl Scout meeting, we taught the girls how to blow past a negative answer to the question, "Would you like to buy some Girl Scout cookies?" If the customer said that they were on a diet, scouts should talk about the "diet" sugar free cookies. If they were trying to avoid chocolate, scouts should talk up the Trefoils, Do-si-dos and Lemon Chalet Cremes. If they were avoiding trans fat, scouts should talk about how Girl Scout cookies don't have trans fat. If they're avoiding corn syrup, scouts know that only the Samoas have corn syrup in them. The rest are corn syrup free. If they say they've already bought cookies, scouts should remind them that the cookies only come once a year and they freeze really well. Imagine frozen Thin Mints during the hottest months of the year.

And if all that fails, scouts should suggest donating to our Gift of Caring project. What's Gift of Caring? Why, I thought you'd never ask. Girl Scouts can select a Gift of Caring project to elicit donations of boxes of cookies or monies. Our choice this year is Operation Cookie Drop. Our council has a goal of sending 100,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies to our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. This endeavor is being supported by a broadcasting group who is donating the shipping. How cool is that? The Gift of Caring is a great way for family and friends who are out of town to participate in our scouts fund raising efforts. (hint hint, nudge nudge)

Princess's troop will be using their cookie funds to pay for camping, their badges for next year, a pottery painting party and a build-a-bear workshop. They've set these as their goals. Ultimately the girls are learning how to build a business, create business relationships with customers, and the importance of good customer service and manners. They gain so much confidence as the process goes along. Go capitalism!

I'm excited for when they are older and can set a goal of camping on a beach somewhere warm during the winter. Tahiti sounds nice.

Commiseration

We had a Brownie meeting tonight. My husband had a late conference so I had both girls and my son with the Girl Scouts. My son was supposed to keep an eye on Lil' T, but ended up eating almost half of the left over cake from snack. After that sugar high, he amused himself by bugging his sister and her friends. This is what I overheard.

Friend to Princess: "Your brother is evil."

Princess to Friend: (sigh and a defeated nod) "I know."

Cookies, anyone?

We had our first Girl Scouts meeting this evening. What a blast! It was a parents with kids meeting. Most of the time we spent speaking with the parents while one of my co-leaders worked on some Halloween crafts with the girls.

But what was most fun was talking about cookies. See, here's the thing. I don't think people know how big a deal the cookies thing is. As an organization, Girl Scouts doesn't turn any girl away because they can't afford to pay. And where exactly does that money come from? That's right, you clever cookie, it comes from those Thin Mints you ate last year. But aside from that, the girls get to keep about half of the money they earn from the cookies to pay for whatever they want to pay for. One of the high school troops last year took a trip to a foreign country. I thought that was pretty cool. But you should have seen how enthusiastic some of our moms got at the mention of maybe TRAVEL from selling cookies. They were on fire. I think we'll have a great year and I think also we're going to have some moms who will sell cookies until they're sunbathing in Tahiti! (We did consider Tahiti. There's a lot the girls can learn about by visiting Tahiti. Like the health of coral reefs and how to speak French. Not to mention the importance of sun screens and how to cook out on the beach. These are all important life skills that can be achieved by cookie sales.)

So since you've read this post, how many boxes can I set aside for you?