End of training, the Tetons, and WMI!

well..... its been a hot moment since I posted last.... although if i really stop and think about that statement for more then five seconds its laughable!.
since at times i go for almost a year with out posting or updating anything
the last week and half seem to me like they have been non stop. after the rest of the staff showed up it was a seres of  trips up in to the mountians and down to lander to climb, hike , canoe and over all be amazing. the group of people that i am working with seem to be all excited about being with the program and I  have to admit that is very refreshing compared to soem of the other places that I have worked for in the past.

when the main part of staff training winded down it was time for us course directors to pick and chose who was going to go where for the staff teams. I have to admit it was a bit of a process and nothing like I have every done before. my past experiences have always been, do what your told, work where  your told, get to work, and no that not going to change. soo needless to say I think that this is a wonderful chance both for my self and for the people that will be working under me  in terms of our professonal developopment

due to enrollment  numbers and being short a few staff our directors decided to go with staff teams of three, vs two staff teams of two, thats fine with me, I have to admit that while I have already been here for a month not a day goes by when I dont feel stupid or like I should know more about something then I do..... however thats all part of the learning process so I am ok with it, as long as I am making something good out of each day that I am happy.....

After we got our staff teams we all took off for four days of small team staff training, I hope that the people I will be working with are not too upset or challanged by my ways, I asked for feed back and didnt get any so who knows.....  was up front with them in explaing that this was a learning process for me and that I would be right there with them, figuring things out and learning how things work.....

We started off by exploring the town of jackson wyoming, also know as jackson hole  to some named after the famous ski resort, there is a lot crammed into this little mountain town a lot of people coming and going, and nothing is cheap.  I have to admit that it has its charm but it is with out a doubt a tourist trap from there we were off to spend two and half days tourning around Teton national park as well as the rest of the yellowstone park and over all srounding area.... it was an amazing time but there was so much to see i feel like i could have spent a month there vs two and a half days, the entire experience left me tired and wanting for a soft bed to sleep in. getting back to base I cut my staff team loose and turned around and drove the two hours back to jackson to meet up with Leslie for the first time in over a month. It was wonderful to see her from what I can tell she is enjoying her job working with the forrest service. we got to see first hand how expensive this little town is by simply finding a place to spend the night that was not on the ground

the last day that I was in yellowstone, I got a cal form WMI of NOLS, they offered me a spot on their Instructor course.... its a fancy way of saying come take this course prove your not an idiot and then work for us !.... I couldnt belive it, I am thrilled over the top excited and at the same time almost not beliving the whole thing..... this is something that I have  been eyeballing and working for and toward for several years, I feel like it is almost too good to be true, that if I think about it too hard or too long then it will be taken away form me.... I have to admit I am scared and worried and I do not know what to expect, and the thing is that this is my dream.... its been some thing that I have been working toward for a while ..... i guess i just have this huge bundle of emontions about the entire thing and some of that is stress..... will I be able to make enough money? will i get enough courses? who knows I am jsut not sure about it other then I know its what I want and It is something that I am willing to work towards and make it work!



alas we are both back to work in the am, her back to Idaho and me back to my base  to loads of paper work and get ready for the students arrival the next day. I am very excited to see them and see how my team turns out, I think that they are ready and it is time for us to learn and move forward and give these kids the best time we can....

thats all for now
cheers
td