Busy Day....

I realized no one had blogged today. So, now, at 11:36, I'm blogging. Its actually only 10:36, because I'm not quite use to this time change. We now have lots of daylight to play after work. 

The office was very busy today. Lots of work being done, hence the no blogging. 

Be expecting the Balcones Times or Hiney Writes soon. They will be spectacular!

More from Anna tomorrow!

-Martin

So I went Diamond Hunting...

It was a crazy at camp this weekend, we had one of our over the top weddings. Most of us are use to seeing the cabins with five bunk beds, and nothing on the walls but curtains, but when we have a wedding, everything changes. The Rio looks different, cabins change, and even the bathrooms smell nicer! Its one of those things you have to see to believe.

I was not able to go to that wedding because I made the long trip to Central Arkansas for another wedding. This one was a little closer to my heart though. My long time friend Garrett Peters (aka G-Unit) married a great girl on Saturday. Many of you will remember him as B-Compound head in 2007 and the creator of the B-UNIT cheer. They will both be traveling to Africa this summer and I wish both of them the best of luck.

On the trek back, I stopped off in Murpheesboro, AR to the World's 8th Largest Diamond Field. I sifted through a couple of buckets to no avail and decided it was time to keep on my journey back to camp.

The great new of the day is that the forecast shows rain the rest of the week. Ted could sure use it and Travis, well, its had its better days. But never fear, the summer will go on!

85 days.....

Till Then,

Martin

Camp is Beautiful

It has become a common occurrence in this office to all of the sudden find people "missing". One minute we're all chatting and working away, and the next minute we're looking around going "where is everyone?" Well this mystery, when you think about it, is no mystery at all.

Camp is a beautiful place, and the last couple days have been filled with extra beauty with the spring weather. It is just human nature to find yourself drawn towards the out of doors. Don't get me wrong, the office is lovely with it's concrete floors and soothing light green color, but nothing compares to the beauties of camp.

There is the crisp blue color of Lake Ted, the bright green blanket of grass on the sports fields, the faint whisper of quacking coming from the fishing pond, the strangely strong smell of horse poo near the barn, and the exquisite landscaping around camp including the peace-sign flower bed outside the Rio. I mean, need I say more?

That being said, we full time people of camp, make it our duty to escape the confines of the office and enjoy the blessings of this beautiful land. I hope that you are able to live vicariously through us this year until summer brings you back again.

Willcox is really great at Basketball

I love when days are filled with many random things. But what I love even more is when I'm doing those things with great people. I've met a lot of people the last six summers, all with different attributes, strengths, and stories. Today, I spent time with 3 different campers, past and present.... all with different stories, different lives. But today, (yes today!), camp brought us together. It was great for a few of them to be back at camp after being gone for a few years. As soon as we pulled into camp this afternoon, they started telling stories about their time as campers. These types of things always remind me just want camp is all about; the genuine relationships, the fun and a good ol' game of basketball. I was joined by Todd, Conan, Willcox and a few others out at the Hippodrome for my version of Phunanza. I kinda wish we still had Phunanza everyday at 5. Although I lost big time in one on one, it was worth it seeing Willcox play in Chacos. Can't wait for the next time we can escape the office.

Today was a great day
--Martin

The Disappear Button a.k.a. Where's Todd?

Hello all! This is Todd Darby your resident Boys Camp Director. As many of you know, I have worn many hats and gone by many titles at CBS. Some of you know me as your coach, others as your counselor, some as your sponsor, others as your compound head (gramps, pops, pee-paw, etc), and still others as a friend/older brother. Well during the off-season things change up for me quite a bit. I trade in being able to see your smiling faces for the screen of a mac-book and I trade the beautiful sights and smells of the outdoors for a desk and scented candles.

Well there are times where I get restless sitting in this chair from IKEA and I long to get a little taste of being out and seeing camp. I see it as a necessary part of my job (maintaining my sanity) but Jenn Jones, who used to work for us, calls it my disappear button. She spent many hours trying to figure out where I would be from time to time. Well I will share with you some of my reasons for needing to hit the disappear button and some of my "secret areas".

My first reason for needing to "disappear" is that I cannot stand being in the office for hours on end. For you campers and counselors I'm sure you can sympathize with me. Those long hours of sitting in the classroom, library or study hall can start to get to you. Well the same is true for me.

The second reason is that it allows me to remember all of the great times we all have when camp is in full swing. I sometimes head down to the Amphitheater and remember great BASEline skits. I head down to Balcones Beach and imagine sitting with some of you guys sipping on Breezes and eating sno-cones. I even head down to a certain secret hide out where from time to time you can hear the resounding noise of buffalos. My back yard is one of the most beautiful places around. I mean take today. It is a beautiful March day, the sky is blue and the temperature is warm. How could I not go outside and enjoy this?

One of the last reasons that I push my "disappear button" is that it gives me time to think of great things I would like to see happen this summer. When I walk around camp I get to see God's wonderful creation and it just allows my mind to focus better. I've thought of several great things that I believe would add to the great things that camp already does. So maybe sometime down the line I'll blog about some of these ideas if they come about.

Well I hope you enjoyed this insight into some of my off-season "adventures". Until we have the opportunity to do it for real keep imagining all of the phun we will have this summer.

See you guys later....It is time to "disappear"

Todd "Toddles, T Darb, Triple D, T-Dub" Darby

Llamas are people, too.

I was a little nervous when Martin asked me to blog today. After all, what could I possibly say that is interesting? All I've been doing is interning at camp and living at camp and spending alllll of my time at camp.... Ah ha! I can tell you about being at camp.... well then, allow me to give you a little inside scoop on what it's really like to live at camp during the off season.

First of all, it's quiet. too quiet. No one running around screaming & laughing, no risk of getting hit with a water balloon everytime I walk past B compound, no one banging their forks on their plates everytime we eat in the Rio.... it's weird. I'm ready for you guys to get back!

And then there's the name thing. No one calls me "Hot Drinks" in the off season. Everyone calls me "Anna" and it's a little confusing at times because there is also Ann (the girls' camp director) who works in the office and people tend to get our names mixed up. And then half the time, I don't even think that people realize that "Anna" and "Hot Drinks" are the same person. Yep, it's still me, Anna S. Drinkwitz..... weird last name, I know. That's why it was shortened to "Drinks." And the "Hot" part? Well, who isn't a little bit hot when you're outside in the middle of a Texas Summer?

Another weird thing about living at camp in the off season is the llamas. Sometimes I feel like I live at a petting zoo or something. Q-Tip and Cookie (our two llamas) like to wander around camp and lay around all day long. By late afternoon, whenever I'm off work, they always seem to have migrated to my front yard. And almost everyday without fail, Q-Tip is there to greet me when I get out of my car and try to walk to my front door. He looks at me with his big, black eyes and then he walks right at me. He gets close to me and keeps walking. Apparently, no one ever taught llamas about a little thing called personal space. Q-Tip loves coming and getting right up in your face and just when you think he's waaaaay to close for comfort, he comes a little closer and wraps his neck around you in a kind of llama-hug. awwwwwww.

That's one of the coolest parts about living at camp. I get to have llamas & horses (even a mini-horse!) as my pets. And I have two lakes, a treehouse, tennis courts and a basketball court in my backyard. It's pretty sweet.

Too bad it's only me, Kim and Ann in the office today. Everyone else is at CAMPference, a conference about camping. Otherwise, I'd suggest we all go play a quick game of knockout on the basketball courts. Maybe tomorrow......

Until next time,
Anna aka "Hot Drinks"

Laffy Taffy's have the best jokes!

It was a great weekend for all of us here at CBS.

Friday gave us the perfect weather for a bonfire down at Psycho Far. S'mores down at Lake Travis surely remind me of camp-out, besides the fact that is was around 60 degrees and not 100. I have to admit, the pirate ships looks a little creepy at night.

Saturday, the wind blow into Austin like a hurricane. So, what do you do when that happens? Fly a one dollar kite from Wal-Mart of course. That actually didn't work out for our Spiderman kite, but the Barbie kite flew perfectly. The wind did nothing for my lacrosse game either. Trying to throw the ball around in that kinda wind only makes for many chased balls. Sorry Grayson.

So when all else failed we decided the only logical thing to do was to go down to Hey! Cupcake and chow down on some of the most delicious baked goods in Austin. The perfect ending to the day.

Thanks to all of those who attended our CBS Film Party in San Antonio on Sunday. It was a great success! If you are from San Antonio and didn't show up, shame on you! Just kidding, we hope to hang out in San Antonio again really soon! GO SPURS!

Thats all for today! Maybe, I could get bored in the office later!

Martin