Well, it's over. Leadership Camp, workshops, presentations, mission trip - over. I find myself missing that life more than I miss the people. Great people, yes, but maybe not lifelong friends. I think part of it is that they were so much younger than me. I do miss Andrew, though. And Jenny. She's taking a break from AIM while they work out job descriptions and some other organizational stuff. She's looking at getting a job out in California. Isn't that sad? And Andrew wants to stay close to her while they're courting, so he's not coming back to Branson either. Jenny is saying she'll probably be back with AIM sometime - she's guessing around the end of the year. Headquarters without Jenny and Andrew - it just isn't the same. And Jenny's decided not to lead any more mission trips. *censored* It feels like the end of an era. Jessica was on Jenny's last mission trip. How sad is that? [I'm trying to find some good in it, but it's hard.] It is opening up more opportunities for me to lead and serve in the local team, which I really want to do.

Well, I started this entry to catch up on the last few days, not to mope about Headquarters.

After I finished my last entry, I asked Andrew what I could help with, and he assigned me to type up road reports. When I finished that, I asked again. "Man, now I know how Jory felt when I used to do that to him!" He assigned me to make a slideshow of our pictures from the trip to show at Leadership Camp. I worked on that for a long time. I finially finished the next day, just before Leadership Camp started.

That night after dinner, we went to this tiny [about 15 chairs at four tables] Baskin-Robbins to recap the mission trip and do paper plates. We talked over everything we had done, and it was good to remember all the details we had forgotten. Then we did paper plates. [At the end of a mission trip, each team member gives all the other members a paper plate decorated with what they're a Model of Excellence in (serious) and what they're most likely to become (silly).] Everyone had their own style, and it was neat to see how each plate was unique. Three people wrote about me keeping them going on makeup. [They were so SLOW! It took them about 15 minutes to put on their faces! So when they didn't have much time to put it on, I'd try to get them to pick up the pace. I do it all the time in Branson, but evidently they never put on makeup on a time crunch. :)] Andrew gave everyone the same plate on the front - it had a cloud following the van, Skittles, and a prop mallet [we left ours in Bakersfield and had to buy a new one at Wal-Mart], among other things - but different on the back. He said I was most likely to become an intern. :) [I'm inclined to agree.] Other occupations suggested were yodeler [I had to yodel a song for one of my letters], radio interviewer, and Olympic time keeper [for putting on makeup]. Fun.

I should have kept a list of what I gave everyone else. Here's what I remember. Mr. Brown - Goldilocks; Mrs. Brown - foser mother for teenage girls; Andrew - 5th member of Boyz in the Sink; Courtney - shower repairwoman; Emily - old-fashioned dress model; Olivia, Emie, and Rachel - don't remember. I'm trying to remember what I gave people for Model of Excellence. Andrew - Biblical insight; Mr. Brown - gentleman/father/driver; Mrs. Brown - kindness; Courtney - gentle (?); Emily - helpful; Emie - cheerful (?); Rachel - determined (read: stubborn); Olivia - can't remember.

Just passed Delaware Street.

Kristina lives about 10 hours from Calabasas [where Leadership Camp was held], so she drove down and spent the night with us girls at the Silvas'. That was fun. We used her alarm clock, but it went off 20 minutes late and we were scrambling to leave on time. When I got out of the shower, it was two minutes before we were supposed to leave. I packed up really fast and scrawled a thank-you note and missed breakfast, but we still ended up leaving 20 minutes late, and I left my toiletries bag. Such is life.

I rode with Kristina to Calabasas; everyone else was in the van. We had a good discussion. When we got to Leadership Camp I finished the slideshow, then stood around and waited for everyone else to arrive. Amy surprised me from behind, Jenny and I talked a bit, and I met Lizzy Armstrong.

Leadership Camp wasn't quite what I expected. For one thing, most of the HQ team (and former HQ team - man, it's hard to write that) did very little. Jenny and the Madrigals, to be exact. Jory, Andrew, Stuart Hughes, and Tim King did most of the talking and leading. Jory got sick on the 2nd day, and the other three did a great job of picking up the slack for him. Banner, Nation, and Lizzy also got sick, but they seemed OK by the end of the camp.