Tirrreeeeeeeeeeedddddddddddddddddddd

Time flies when you’re learning a new job. I do intend to write a little more often, once I’m past the “I’m so new I don’t know what to do” phase of work. It’s really hard right now to do more than just absorb everything without being completely overwhelmed. Okay, I really AM completely overwhelmed, but that’s okay, because this place is like that.

We had a whole lot of team meetings this week, discussing all the aspects of the summer camp program to bring me up to speed. It wasn’t done just for me, but it sure has helped me to get a handle on where the big program is along with where the little programs are. See, the big program is the entire camp. The little programs are all the parts and pieces that make up the big program. It’s one of those “the sum of the parts makes up the whole” things. And that means there’s a ton to learn.

So we’d meet, discuss, share, and make some decisions. Then we’d go back to our offices and do a little bit of the business side, before we’d meet again. My vocabulary here includes some words that I’m sure to beat to death like model. We have a camp model, a behavior model, a program model, etc. We also have a work model though, that has us changing up what we’re doing every few hours, which is great. It means you aren’t spending an entire day at the computer and telephone. But at the same time, it means you aren’t spending an entire day at the computer and telephone, too, so you have to learn to really budget your time.

And then there’s the challenge of my first family weekend going on. A family weekend is when we open the camp up to campers who have a specific medical condition, either chronic or terminal, and their families. They show up on Friday evening and stay through Sunday morning. We run all sorts of program activities and events for them, through a ton of fabulous volunteers. Victory Junction wouldn’t function without volunteers, actually.

Anyway, everyone has a ton of fun, sings some songs, gets on stage and hams it up, does a ton of dances in the Fuel Stop, and whoops and hollers along the way. I’ve made it now to Saturday night and just have to get through tomorrow morning before I can rest. It’s been a heck of a first week at work, is all I can say!