Wifi, for better or for worse

24 hours into having "my own" internet, I'm sick of the sight of the computer, but can't put it down. I have dishes to wash (my own, instead of the literally hundreds I've done each meal this week), a trip to pack for, a tent to hike to, Harry Potter to read (for those of you who are familiar, he's just been assigned to get the memory from Slughorn)....and still I sit on the couch, uploading photos and writing emails. Also tried to burn some pictures to CD so I have room to take some this weekend, but that didn't work. I'll worry about it later.

I have been adding pictures to old posts, and I'm not done yet, so keep checking if you're interested (especially if you're not on Facebook). It appears to only let me put 5 pictures per post, which forces me to pick a representative sample--not a bad idea at all.

This week has been all or nothing--we have a camp here put on by IHS (Indian Health Services? not sure) to teach Navajo kids how to be healthy. We're feeding them a lot of packaged food and chemicals and giving them drink mix to put in their water bottles so they learn to make good food choices. A typical day: make huge breakfast, wash hundreds of dishes, clean the bathrooms & showerhouse (which are frightening), wash hundreds of dishes after lunch (I didn't get picked for all-week lunch & dinner crew, so no prep for me), do some task, putter for the rest of the afternoon, wash hundreds of dinner dishes, mop, drop. We're all coming to dread the mealtime cleanup, but the afternoons are quite pleasant. I got some quality time with Seth today, setting up the picnic area and starting the fire for the sweat lodge. The weather was sunny and finally warm (it hasn't rained all week--fortunately, since I wouldn't trust the rain flies on a lot of the tents the kids are in), and we spent a couple amiable hours sorting out things that need to be done at a gentle pace.

Tomorrow, the intensity only ratchets up. We usually get done with breakfast clean-up around 10, and the kids' families are showing up for a BBQ at 11. In that golden hour, we need to get all the food ready, finish setting up picnic tables, clean up camp, and be ready to direct parking. Then, of course, there'll be all those dishes. Mrs. Owner went out and got disposable plates today, but we used them at dinner, then washed them afterward, so not sure it's going to help much. We're expecting everyone to be out of here by 3, though, so I'm hoping we'll get an early day. I have a 4-hour drive to make, to Buena Vista, so I can get on a raft at 8:30 Sunday morning. I've never been rafting before, and am looking forward to the warm embrace (relatively speaking) of people I've known since my housemates were in knee pants.

These last few posts haven't quite met my goals for eloquence or relevance, but hopes are high for better days ahead!