Okay, So I am signed up to do two *HOOP A RAMA* camps thru VSU's Continuing Ed department this summer! Woo woo! The first one was supposed to be next week, so I called today to see how many kids were going to be in it so I knew how many hoops to make. Turns out, the camp needed one more kid in order to make.... so it ended up getting cancelled ***sniff***** I was pretty bummed out, because I have spent a lot of time making up a routine... makin up games, schedules, stretches, art projects... I've been hooping with my kids at the Discovery Center (where I teach art) and they have been doing AWESOME... so I had a really good feeling about the hoop a rama camp. I was really excited about it, ya know? PLUS, I was counting on that money I was gonna make to pay for my Rothbury ticket, which now I'm not sure if I will be able to afford :*(

Sooooo I went to my job at Discovery Center, and was telling Martha (my boss, the sweetest lady ever) about how the camp got canceled... so she said she would look for a location for me to do the camp through the Discovery Center!!!! (There is not enough room inside for more than a few kids to hoop at once, or we would do it there) We told some of the parents about it and they were really excited, too. So, yeaaaaa maybe it will work out after all! I've sold 4 hoops to little kids at Discovery Center this week... and a few of the moms want to set up a mini workshop so their girls could build and decorate their own hoops! It makes me so happy when people get that huge smile on their face from hooping! I just know how much it has changed my life for the better, and I am hopeful that they might get a similar experience, if nothing else, a fun new hobby!

Since my camp was canceled next week, I am going to FINALLY get back together with my boy's and girl's club kids. I have missed them terribly since school has been out. It is my goal by the end of the weekend to approach Lowe's about donating some materials to make those kids some HOOPIES of their own!!! They deserve this more than anyone!

I have been feeling very passionate about spreading this hoop craziness lately.... it's hard to stop thinking about. I'm at the point in my life where I'm almost done with school (for the second time, ugh) and there are a MILLION different directions I can take my life in. I am determined to make my career something that I love and I am passionate about. I know I am passionate about teaching kids, art/ceramics, and hooping. More than the actually hooping and art themselves, I am passionate about the feeling of pure joy and total, complete TRANSFORMATION that creative self expression can bring to a person. now.... how to do this and pay rent :)

Wow, this is really long....better go before I start (keep) rambling :-D