Christmas

     Yesterday was Christmas! I've decided that it's much more fun to say "Happy Christmas!" Who even says 'merry' anyway? Oh I'm feeling quite merry today. No.
     I'm sooo happy! I received a new camera and a piano bench with storage in it and a bunch of knitting stuff! I can now take beautiful pictures that are good quality! THANK YOU FAMILY! I LOVE YOU!
     Today was my second day of work. I didn't work yesterday so I stayed a bit later today. I got a $3 tip for it! But then I left it in the uniform laundry... Meh. Tomorrow I won't have to. It's really nice to be able to snowboard though! I get a free season pass. I'm just bussing tables and washing dishes but sometimes I'll see people I know.

Good Things...

Today's Joe's birthday! He's 12! Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I'm starting work at the mountain! I'm quite excited. This is a really short post but that's what's going on. :)

Famous

This morning I got up early and went over to the library at 8:15. I was invited by my friend Max to be an extra in the library's new commercial. I found out when I got there that the commercial would be in Spanish...on the Spanish channel. But still! I'm in a commercial! I didn't get paid but it was a very fun time. Max, Christian, and I goofed around a lot. They're hilarious. We just had to walk around a bit and look at books and sit at the computers. I carried around Harry Potter 6. Afterwards we went to Starbucks and had hot cocoa. Definitely a good morning. Keep an eye on the Spanish channel.
I might start work at the mountain tomorrow!

Winter break!

It's here!!! At last, freedom! Although I got homework from 3 teachers... But whatever! I can actually do some things now! Well maybe. I got a job. :) I took a drug test today and will probably start work on Monday at the mountain! I need to go Christmas/birthday shopping soon. And learn how to drive in the snow. I need to learn some Christmas songs on guitar. I'm wondering if there will be karaoke at the Christmas party tomorrow...because there better be.
I wonder if anyone is opposed to these very short posts I've been writing...there's not enough information to make a long post lately, I guess.

Ramblings

The concert went really well! However, it was 2 hours long. I think there were more good things than bad though. My solo went well but the lights turned off in the middle of it. I wasn't really nervous though, for which I'm pretty proud.
I'm really cold right now. I would wear my footsie pajamas but they have thunder thighs so I'd rather not. Anyway, it's the weekend! I'm so happy! Lately I've been working on thinking about everything I say. It's a difficult skill to acquire so I'm hoping I shall acquire it. Man, I'm hungry...
I'm in need of some serious sleep. I've been deprived from it all week. But I did find the best white elephant gift I've ever thought of. I think I might as well say what it is. It's a Barbie box from 1989, including a Barbie with its head taped back on, a Kelly doll, and a Madeline doll. There are clothes and accessories and everything. I put labels on it that says what's in it. I can't wait to see whoever opens it. The other gift will be a bikini top that's too small for me. (It's reversible!) Oh how I love white elephant.
Well this was a random post!

100th Post

Hey this is my 100th post! Yes!
          I have a few exciting things going on. Yesterday I auditioned for a solo in the choir concert on Thursday and got it! I'm so happy! It's kind of hard though so I've been practicing a lot. I'm gonna be quite nervous but I can't wait! We're singing 3 songs plus Carol of the Bells with all of the choirs together. Hanerot Halalu, a Hanukkah song, Frobisher Bay, and Jing-a-Ling, Jing-a-Ling, which is the song I have a solo in. I finally got them all memorized today.
          Second, I switched houses with Kate for the weekend! I'm staying with her family and she's with mine. We do each others' chores and everything! So far I'm loving it. Since I was grounded I've been home for a really long time so I wanted to have a break, and she wanted to be out of her house too so we just swapped. My brothers are hers and hers is mine.
          Last thing, we're going to a Hanukkah party tonight, held by our very good friend KP. :) We'll be having White Elephant as well. I'm really excited for the Christmas party on the 18th. It will be intense.
          Anyway, happy holidays to you all, whoever you are. Thank you for reading, if you do! In case I'm not sure if you do, feel free to hit the 'follow' button. Until I write again, goodbye!



At White Elephant I got a $10 Cuppa Yo' gift certificate! I've never been there so this'll be really great! :D

Thanksgiving Break

Virginia was wonderful! On the flight there we stopped in Denver and then went on the Dulles. The hot tub is working now so that was fun to use. We had ping pong and darts tournaments and played lots of games in the yard including bear in the woods. In the city we went to an old train station, an old post office with a big tower, the FBI building, and the museum of natural history. We didn't stay at the museum for long but we saw some really cool stuff. Thanksgiving was incredibly lovely. The food was amazing. The only really bad thing was the flight back and that I was sick most of the time. We didn't switch planes so we stopped in 3 cities: Chicago, Minneapolis, Pheonix, and finally we got to Portland. It took 12 hours. Miserable. And then of course there's the 3 hour drive home. Sitting for that long is not healthy. Oh, by the way, the lost our luggage. Of course. So now I'm just trying to recover from the cold and wait for my bag to arrive, probably on Tuesday.

Ungrounded!

Is that even a word? I don't know or care, really. :) Freedom! Except I can't really hang out with anyone tomorrow since they're all going to see Harry Potter and getting in line hours before. Like right after school. And I have to focus on taking tests. :P I also have to pack. We're leaving for Portland on Friday and staying in a hotel. We have to be at the airport at like 6 am. Then, it's off to Virginia! I'm very excited to see everyone again and see the changes in the house! I should get to bed now I guess. I'll try to write while I'm there.

Yarn

This morning on the bus I decided to knit to pass the time. When we came to the stop after mine, I didn't realize that my yarn had fallen off my lap and into the aisle! Someone walked past and got tangled in the yarn! It was so embarrassing. I picked up the yarn and gathered it up. Note to self: beware of yarn in a vehicle...I guess. Well, anyway, it was embarrassing so I thought I'd post it. Hehe...

Realizations

I visitied my grandparents in Silver Lake on Thursday and we just got back today. I realized a lot of things...
But first, let me just say that I drove all the way there! It was about an hour and a half! I'm so proud! I'm planning on taking driver's ed and I'll need to drive 50 hours before I get my license. I'm almost up to 9 hours now. Here's my realizations...

#1: I tend to drift to the right when I'm driving and always have to drift myself back. :P
#2: I want a puppy. :)
#3: I really like kittens, but not cats. And I really wouldn't want one...
#4: I think blogs are just better with pictures. I'd like to just have them whenever I can now.

My grandparents just got a puppy about a month ago and he is absolutely adorable. His name is Luke and he's a border collie/corgi mix. We have a tradition of naming dogs after Star Wars characters. We've had Chewie, Solo, Obi, Leia, R2D2, Naboo, and now Luke. My mom thinks that R2 and Naboo don't count though. (They were a bit too spazztic so they were given away.)

They have a cat, Milo. We're all pretty sure he's pure evil. He is big, black, and very unpredictable. I saw him and he walked over to me so I started petting him. He seemed to like me; he was purring. Then, out of nowhere, he bit me! Right on the wrist! It didn't really hurt, it was just surprising and slightly disturbing.Another thing about Milo is that it seems like he just won't die. He's got to be at least 15 years old and he still hunts, kills mice and birds, gets in fights with other cats...he even killed a rabbit! He's insane! He might be going blind in one eye, but we doubt it will affect him much. He has a history of scaring large dogs. It will be a sad day when he dies, but who knows...maybe he won't. Muahahaha!

This is Luke!

This is Leia! She's a miniature pincher/chihuahua mix.






















This is Milo...pure evil.








This is what Milo did. (on the right)
Thus, realization #3.



















My uncle found a kitten and rescued it!
I put it in Joe's hat.
Also thus, realization #3.

Grounded

I've been grounded for about a week now because I failed to do quality chores for too long. I'd gotten distracted by freedom I suppose. At first it wasn't that bad being grounded. However I really wish I wasn't sometimes. I don't get to go to youth group or connecting group or hang out with friends other than at school. I only get to go to church. There's 2 more weeks of being grounded to withstand. Then it'll be Thanksgiving break and I'll be going to DC again. I haven't been there since the summer. I'm so excited! I'll see my dad and Amy and Ayla and Mason and my grandparents and aunt and uncle will be there too! But for now I just have to push through the weeks. There's a 4-day weekend starting Thursday this week and I'll just have to stay home the whole time. I hope I have plenty to do...but not really because I hate homework. I just hope I'm not going to miss out on anything.

Kate Nash

The concert was SO AMAZING! Oh my goodness that was it so fun. I was with KP, Kate, and Maya. We went to Nicolas's first and ate Indian food, and then we went to the Wonder Ballroom. Kate's friend Danii joined us. We were pretty close to the stage so we had a good view. A band called Peggy Sue opened for her and they're great! I got their album and they signed it at the end! I also got a picture with them! Kate Nash was soooooo great! I sang along to almost everything except one crazy song with a lot of F-bombs and took tons of pictures. She's so funny! I also got a Kate Nash t-shirt! We went to the VooDoo Doughnuts shop afterwards and I got a Captain-crunch doughnut. We stayed at a hotel and left really early this morning. We got back to school during 2nd period, which I have open block in. Pretty much just a fantastic couple days.

  




Here's the band Peggy Sue.

Kate Nash!!

She got so intense sometimes!

Here's me with Peggy Sue! :D

Rockstar Party

Today Kate, Maya, Jake and I went to a rockstar costume party with my youth group. I dressed up like Cyndi Lauper (Girls Just Wanna Have Fun) and Maya was Joan Jett (I Love Rock and Roll). Kate couldn't think of a costume so she borrowed my ghost costume and was the 'ghost of Elvis.' Jake just threw something together at the last minute and had a cardboard star with a rock on it (rock-star) and a purple clown wig with a beanie. It was so funny! There were a bunch of games. I did most of them. Competitions included 'best head-bang,' 'best air guitar,' 'best drum solo,' 'best moshpit dance,' and 'best rocker scream.' I did the head-banging, air guitar-ing, and the scream. I won the scream! Apparently it was really scary sounding. I won a voice disguiser. :) Maya won the head-banging. Kate won best air-guitar and got 'most creative' at the end. It was a great time. I decided I'm just going to be Cyndi Lauper for Halloween. It's much more fun than a ghost. I used temporary red hair color spray. It was so gross! It felt like my hair was straw. I had a very pink shower earlier...the soap looked appetizing, it was so pink. Anyway...dang! I forgot to eat dinner. :( I really should sleep. G'night!

Maya, Kate, Me

Showing Off

I think I just want to show off my drawing... it makes me so happy. :)

Snow

It's snowing! In October. Well it's not much of a surprise I guess. I just hope it doesn't snow on Halloween. Another thing I'm doing next week is going to the school play on Friday! I've never gone to a school play so that'll be fun! Kate wants to get me into art more and she gave me a sketch book. She's giving me assignments to draw. It's fun!

Next week!

There is a lot of pretty awesome stuff coming up! On Wednesday there's a halloween costume party at my youth group! It's a rockstar theme. :) Then the last home JV game is on Thursday. On Friday or Saturday I want to try to go to the school play. It's a musical comedy called the Drowsy Chaperone. Sunday is Halloween! Monday is the best one. Usually Mondays are pretty bad but this is amazing. First, Kacie's turning 15! Second, my mom's starting school! Third, I'M GOING TO A KATE NASH CONCERT IN PORTLAND!!!!!!!! I'm soooo freakin' excited! I love Kate Nash! If you (probably) haven't heard of her, you should look her up. We're going to leave right after school and get there early. It's at the Wonder Ballroom. :) I can't wait!!!!!

Driving, fences, and ghosts.

I think I ought to post something. It's been a while. Today I did some driving. This morning I did really well! But this afternoon...not so much... I made several people mad. I swerved out of the way of someone when I was turning, I got honked at, I killed the car twice in the Wendy's drivethru, I turned too late at least twice, and I almost ran a stop sign. Ugh... when I get a car, it will definitely be an automatic. Stick shifts frustrate me. I'll just keep the stick shift driving knowledge in my pocket for a time when I need it. Otherwise, I'll be perfectly fine with a good 'ole automatic. Unfortunately I don't really get to drive automatics very often because my mom has a stick shift. Oh well.

On a happier note, we're building a fence in the front yard! I'm so excited! Right now we just need to put the pickets in and the panels for the tall part. And we need two gates. We planted a bunch of cute plants around it and it looks so great! We're going to put a willow tree in the middle and have a path from the side. It's going to be amazing. Plus the dog won't escape. It should be done before too long. :) By Halloween for sure.

By the way, I'm going to be a ghost. Some people think that's just a lame default costume when you don't have anything else, but I've been planning this for a while. I'm going to have it attached to my head and arms and it will be legit. Hehe...

Duct Tape

It's spirit week this week! Yesterday was twin day and Kate, Jake and I were triplets. It was pretty great. Today I wasn't feeling it and didn't dress up for opposite sex day, although I realize now that I could have. But I made up for it by participating in the competition between the classes at lunch. Yesterday there was a rap-off but only freshmen and seniors did it. Kate signed up for the one that happened today but the person who was supposed to do it with her bailed. So I joined her! She had to rap me in duct tape with the sticky side out. Some people tossed candy all over the floor. Then I had to roll on the floor and pick up as much candy as I could. It was so fun! It was really hard to turn sometimes because I would stick to the floor. I had to stand up once so she could reapply duct tape. When the time stopped, Holler had to help me up because I couldn't get up. My hands were trapped in front of me and my hair was just all in my face. It took a long time to count all the candy and it was even harder to get the duct tape off. We got some scissors but Officer Maunder had to use his knife to cut me out. At the end, the freshmen got 11 pieces of candy, juniors and seniors both got 44, and we got 45! We got to keep the candy we grabbed. Although a lot of it was squished and some of it broke open. We were so proud! Tomorrow is career day and I'm gonna be a barista. (A person who makes and serves coffee) I have a Starbucks apron and I'll wear my hair in a loose bun-thingy. Thursday is superfan day and Friday is class colors day. We're green. The homecoming assembly and game are then as well. Saturday is homecoming. :) Great week.

Honk

Today I drove to and from church in my mom's car. It's a stick-shift. The last time I drove it I broke down crying in frustration. Today was good. I'm getting better. But on the way back, I came to a stop light and killed the car like 4 times and had to wait for it to turn green 2 or 3 times. The first time wasn't bad because no one was behind me. But the next time, someone came up and honked at me because I wasn't going. My mom turned on the hazard lights and they honked again. My mom opened the window and flipped them off! I got a little agitated when they honked again but it wasn't too bad. It was so funny! 

Zoom Zoom

I pretty much like my schedule a lot. But I have a good day and less good day. Biology, choir, history, and PE. Less fun. Math, open block, Spanish, and English. Fun. Still, times are good. Tomorrow I'm going to a football game. I missed the first one so I'm excited to go to one. There are only 4 home games this year. :( Homecoming is October 2nd. I'm excited for that too because I missed the first dance, which was after the first game. I was in Macminnville with Kate.
Speaking of Kate, since she broker her knee, she got a wheelchair at school and a lot of the time I was pushing her. She would say "Zoom zoom" and I'd take off running. It was really fun and people would dodge out of the way. One time, I zoomed and swerved too fast and Kate almost fell out of the chair! D: It was a bit scary. I didn't zoom zoom since then. But luckily the doctor told her she can walk on it now! Woot!
I have a ton of math homework. I ought to do that now...

Schucks.

Tomorrow is my first day of school. Jake went today for freshmen day. Tomorrow is just starting right up. Not as much fun as freshmen year. It'll probably still be fun though. Seeing who's in my classes. However that could be bad too... I got all my school supplies and stuff ready and now I'm trying to make sure the bus stop is still that same.
I decided not to change my schedule. I talked to a bunch of people about it and I'm guessing that they just decided I didn't need to get an audition. She heard me sing in guitar class last year and said 'It would be great to have you in choir!' And I can do those other classes next year. Besides, I emailed my counselor and the first things that are being changed are classes that are the wrong level. Well schucks. I'll just try and have fun in choir.
I'm really excited for school though. Tomorrow I'll go to biology, choir, ap euro, and PE. I'm glad I have PE d block again. Then I won't be sweaty for any next class and I can just go home.
Owwwww...I just tripped up the stairs.

Spillage

Today I went to Art Walk with Annie and about the time it was getting dark, she, Hannah, Hannah's dad and I went to Soba for dinner. When we sat down and got drinks (I had water), Annie had her phone out and was texting. I waved my hand in front of the screen but she looked at me and continued texting. So I messed around with her fingers and we both laughed. As I pulled my hand back, I accidentally pulled my water glass and it went ALL over me. I just sat there for a moment as it soaked in. I was so shocked. I was laughing a lot. So was Annie. My eyes got all teary from laughter and embarrassment. I tried to make it more like laughter. Then I went to the bathroom to clean myself up. Annie came in and grabbed some paper towels. I was wearing a dress with jeans underneath so I had to take the jeans off. When I got to the bathroom I was just mortified. Why am I such a klutz?!

Mostly good day

Today was the storm starter day. Rae, Kate and I woke up at 6 this morning to get ready to go. We left the house at like 7 and went to Kate's house. Then around 8:30 we left for the school. I was so tired. I saw a bunch of my friends and was generally very happy. I got my schedule and it's really messed up. I'm going to get it fixed as soon as I can.

Semester 1:
Biology 1
Adv. Algebra 2
Women's Vocal Ensemble
AP European History
Spanish 2
PE 2
Lit & Comp 2 Honors

Semester 2:
Biology 1
Adv. Algebra 2
Women's Vocal Ensemble
Americana Project
AP European History
Spanish 2
Intro to Arts
Lit Comp 2 Honors

How it works is every other day you have a different round of classes. There's green days and silver days. I wasn't supposed to be in women's vocal ensemble because I didn't even audition so that's not right and I'm going to get rid of it. Ugh...
In the first semester I have an open block on silver days during B block. However I need to add Health 2 in there. I also want to add Ceramics 2 to the schedule. I'll be quite an artist this year. And I want to change one of my teachers. I really hope I can get it changed soon. I also got my yearbook and locker with Jake. My friends' lockers are all pretty close so I'm glad about that.
Kate left then, and Rae, Jake and I walked all the way from the school to downtown. Like 3 miles. It took about a half hour. My feet were killing me. I was wearing my converse allstars and my heels were totally chaffing and they hurt so frickin' bad. They still do. We had Soba and then walked over to the loft and hung out there for a few hours. I took my shoes off when we got there. Then Jake went home and Rae and I stayed there for a while waiting for her mom. We went and got some hot cocoa and walked to the library. I couldn't put my shoes on because it hurt so bad so I was walking around downtown with one shoe on and holding the other one by the laces for a while. It was pretty funny. I was just surprised her mom didn't say anything about it.
I really hope I can fix my schedule. School starts on the 7th for the freshmen and on the 8th for everyone else. I'm pretty excited.

Accomplished

Yesterday was a very long day. Partially because I was up 'til 2 in the morning. But I got a lot done! Well maybe only a few things but it feels like I did. I finished all of my summer reading!! :D I'm SOO happy! It's over!!!! Now I can just relax for the next week. There's 8 days 'til school starts! And 3 until the storm starter day. Oh my gosh I'm getting my yearbook in 3 days! I'm so excited it's making me flip out inside. And I'll also get my schedule and locker. And the day before, I finished knitting a head-scarf. (A headband of warmth) I'm pretty proud. It's the best one I've ever made. Anyway, I'm just extremely happy right now. :) But Kate broke her knee a few days ago, the same day I fell off the skateboard. So that really sucks. But I'm gonna go keep her company today.

Well I feel stupid.

Joe came home with the dog from the park and told me and Kate there were some total punks on the way. Kate got the idea to go and mess with them and dress up like punks and act really cool. We went through the garage and I found 2 skateboards. We saw them on a corner up the street. When we were going to go, I started off too fast and just ate it on the sidewalk. I laughed for a second but then I realized how much pain I was in. It was horrible. And on top of that, Kate said they were laughing at me. I landed on the side of my leg and scraped it. I just sat on the sidewalk and said a few cuss words because it hurt so bad and Kate asked if I was ok. Then I started crying. I felt like such an idiot. I didn't look at the people on the corner. I made my way back to the garage and tried to hide my embarrassment and tears. I went up-stairs and looked at my leg and there's a huge scrape on the side of my thigh. This happened like 15 minutes ago. Also, as it turns out, there's a scrape on my ankle. It doesn't hurt but it was bleeding while the other thing wasn't. I put a Marvel Wolverine band-aid on it and Kate got me ice. I felt like crap. Kate told me some embarrassing things about her and made me feel a little better so I'm fine now. Ugh...damn skateboard.

Nice Day

Today was a good day. I'll be finished reading A World Lit Only By Fire in just 2 days! Then there's just the easy, good book left. I decided to rearrange my room again. But I have yet to actually do it. I brought some of the crap in my closet to the garage so now I have a bunch more room in there. I also fixed the screen in my window so bugs won't get in my room anymore. It was all messed up and sticking out so there was a big space without any screen blocking the window. But it's good now. :) I'll start rearranging soon. I'm just changing things up in my closet right now. I want to move the stuff on my walls too. I have a shelf that I need to put up and I'll put my books on it.
At about 3 today I floated the river with Kate, my mom, Jake and Joe, and my mom's friend and her son. Also our whole youth group. It was quite fun! I swam a lot of it.

Almost back to school

This weekend my mom went to a blue grass festival so my brothers and I are staying at our aunt and uncle's house for a few days. It's nice seeing them. They're going on a sabbatical soon so we won't get to see them for a while. I've been mostly just doing summer reading and being sleepy. I don't really know what to do. I might hang out with people tomorrow or Monday or something. I'm pretty bored right now. I'm getting through my books though, for which I'm proud. I just have A World Lit Only By Fire and The House on Mango Street, and I'm already about 90 pages into the history one.
We're going to go to the school on the 1st to get our schedules and yearbooks. I'm pretty excited. I also can't wait for Jake to come to high school. I'm going to be a really nice sister so he won't be too happy when I graduate and leave. It's too bad I won't ever be in the same school as Joe anymore. He'll be a freshman the year after I'm a senior.
I think this year will be much better than last year. I made a bunch of friends last year and now I'll get to enjoy them all year. I met Kate, Riley, Coleman, I strengthened some old friendships, and I'll probably make a few more friends too. Plus Jake will get to meet all my friends and get to know a bunch of 'cool' sophomores. It'll be cool to see him at school again. I'll try to never embarrass him and I'll give him his space to be a high schooler. It truly is a great time of our lives. :)

Friend Week

This week has been just full. I hung out with someone every day. I quite enjoy it. :) On Monday, Annie and I floated the river and she spent the night. On Tuesday, I was with Annie for a while longer and then Kate came over. Then I spent the night at her house and was with her most of Wednesday. Today I'm hanging out with Maya and on Friday I'm with Rae. Pretty much just an awesome week.

Buddies

I had a lot of fun yesterday with Annie! We floated the river and she spent the night. And we made a list of tips for high school that was mostly for guys. Today we wrote philosophy type things in the street really big so cars can read them. Kate came over on her bike. We got the kiddie pool out because it was really hot. Then Annie's dad picked her up. Oh how I love my friends.

Summer Stuff

We got back from camping yesterday. Kate came so that was fun. We went to a spot that was totally out in the wilderness besides a bunch of cattle that belong to a person somewhere. The first morning we woke up to a cow mooing really loud close to our site. Joe ate some bad potato salad though and had food poisoning the next day and felt horrible. :( But we had a lot of fun and made our own fire pit thing and I ate 4 s'mores one night. We drove past a bunch of creepy houses on the way back and a shoe-tree. I also learned to knit! I love it! I made 3 head band/ear-warmer thingies. I'm pretty proud. Kate made one mitten. :)

Tomorrow I'm gonna hang out with Kate. I really want to float the river soon!

Annie's getting back tomorrow! I haven't seen her since like the day before I left to California! We were in Target and I got a swimsuit and saw her there also getting a swimsuit. But anyway, I need hang with my wonder twin! And soon!

So...

I'm pretty bored right now so I think I'd like to blog. I could just go to sleep but I've decided to sleep downstairs tonight and it would take a bit of energy that I'm procrastinating from using. I'm going to sleep downstairs because my room has proved me to be hot, messy, and bugs keep getting in all the time. That screen on the window isn't being very loyal, I'm afraid. They're always in my lamp on my desk. :P

I did some math and my reading doesn't seem so difficult now. I have 33 (now 32) days, 791 pages, and I have to read at least 24 pages each day. I've got 40 pages down. I don't want to talk about school. It's summer. Blegh. Who's idea was it to give out homework during vacation?? Because they SUCK. I'm getting quite tired now. I'm just rambling. Um...I'm trying to think of something to write that isn't about school...having trouble...

Well my entire room is basically the same colors.
   

I'd say they're my favorites. I'm feeling a little extreme now... I have 2 walls of each color, bed spread, curtains (blue), picture frames, white board (blue), and closet bin storage thingys. Or is it thingies? And I just got some green locker shelves from my mom. Oh well. It's pretty. :)

I'm really bored now so I'm gonna sleep. G'night!

Refreshing

It looks like I've been writing less and less. But I'm finally back from Virginia and camp and I can finally relax. I am so glad to just have peace and calm for once. I can finally do nothing! Well...besides stupid summer reading. I will probably start writing more again. There's only one month left and I still have to finish 3 books. D: I have to read A World Lit Only By Fire for AP European history, and The House On Mango Street and The Good Earth for English. I wish I had photographic memory and could read one page per second. I also have to do journal entries for Mango Street and Good Earth. And guided reading questions for the history one. :P I'll probably do some more reading today. I need to make a habit of it. It's really nice out so I want go outside soon.

Virginia

It's been a long time since I've written! A LOT has happened. It took us 6 days to get to Virginia. One of our cars broke down on the first day so we didn't even make it out of California. Then we went through Nevada. We stayed one night there. We went through the top part of Utah, including Salt Lake City. There was salt everywhere! At first I thought it was sand or something. We spent the night at Little America in Wyoming. It's a really famous place. I got 2 post cards from there. Every time someone goes through there, they get an ice cream cone. So we got one too. They're only 50 cents! Then we continued through Wyoming and got into Nebraska. We went from my favorite state of the trip to my least favorite. Wyoming has beautiful landscape and sights. Nebraska is awful. Nothing but flat grass and billions of gross bugs everywhere! We stopped at a gas station and I had to run if I ever got out of the car. I hated it. At the hotel there were tons of frogs outside. It got to the point that if I saw a leaf blow in the wind on the ground, I had to double take to make sure it wasn't a frog. I was so glad to get out of there. We went through Iowa and got just inside Illinois and spent the night. We made it all the way through Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio and spent the night in Pennsylvania. Those states all sorta look the same. From the highway at least. Lots of corn fields and green hills. We went through a corner of Pennsylvania and through Maryland and finally made it to Virginia. Virginia had a lot of trees! It immediately looked different.

It was so fun when we got to the house. We played hide and seek and 'Bam!' Bam is a game my brother introduced. You have 2 teams and have 2 bases. You have to point your hand like a gun and if you see someone on the other team you say 'Bam __' and the person's name. It was really fun. We've been here for about 5 days.

Yesterday we went to Washington DC. I'd never been there before! It was so cool! First we went to the Museum of American History. Then we got some hotdogs at a stand and walked to the Washington Monument. It's the tallest thing there. It made me dizzy to look up to the top! I went up and touched it and it didn't really feel like hard, rough stone. It felt softer. I wonder what it's made of. The capital building is the second tallest. No other building there can be taller than it. We didn't go up to it though. We saw it from a distance. After the Washington Monument we walked down the National Mall towards the National WWII Memorial. There's a lot of national stuff. The National Mall is a huge stretch of lawn between the capital and the Washington Monument. The National WWII Memorial has a huge fountain in the middle and on one side there's pacific and the other has atlantic. It says all the different places on those sides that men were killed. We put our feet in the fountain. (A lot of people did) It felt so good! It was so hot outside! After the monument is the reflecting pool and the Lincoln Memorial. The reflecting pool looks cool from the Lincoln Memorial because the Washington Monument is reflected across the whole thing. But up close it's really green and gross-looking. We climbed a lot of steps up to the Lincoln Memorial. Everything smelled like sweat and we were all really sweaty but I didn't really care because I just had to get the perfect picture. Haha I'm such a nerd. It was really cool to see the big man in person. I realize now that I'm mad that I didn't go up and touch it. After that we went to the White House. It's surrounded by a big, black, metal fence with spikey looking tops. Haha for some reason I always thought the capital was the white house.

So Close

I pulled an all nighter last night. Loads of fun! I'm really really hungry now. Today I'm hanging out with my friend Conor. Then on Tuesday we're hitting the road and going cross country. We're driving to Washington DC. Well, near it, anyway. I'm pretty excited. I'll get to see a bunch of states and see some sites. :) I'll take tons of pictures.

Gist of the Year

Since school's over, I forgot to say the gist of my freshman year.

I came to high school. I kept many friends, met knew people, made new friends, and lost a few. I learned some Spanish, got pretty good at ceramics, learned the guitar a bit, and got straight A's at the end. I got better at snowboarding and softball and decided I want to do cross country next year. I rearranged my room about a million times, and got rid of a bunch of crap I didn't need. For the most part, I didn't care what people thought of me. I just had fun. I played piano in the band room and someone started drumming along with me. I got up during lunch and joined a spelling bee competition between the different classes. I got the freshman 2nd place. I learned some songs on piano, watched new movies and geeked out on books. I dressed up for spirit week, went to football and basketball games, and had fun at dances. I rocked out to the school band, considered joining dance team next year, then changed my mind. I don't think I cried during class at all except a little watching the Gandhi movie. I became comfortable talking about nearly anything with my friends and...well women. I picked classes for next year, wrote in my journal a lot, wrote on this blog, and went on facebook a lot. I fell over countless times, got new music, and gave many hugs.

Moving

I haven't written in a while. It's been a couple weeks since I've been in California. I drove my dad's truck a few times and we went to Water World and went to some parties. It's been fun! We play Guitar Hero World Tour like every day. My permit came in the mail so I've showed it off to my family. :P Lol. I'm sick right now. Conjested and coughing a lot. I took a ni-quil for the first time last night. That thing kicks butt!! I was knocked out cold! I went to bed at like 1:30 and woke up at 12:06!
Right now we're in the process of packing up the house. We're moving to Washington DC soon! I'm not actually moving, just my dad and them. It'll be awesome to see the sights and stuff! When I was little we moved from Georgia to the west coast but I don't remember any of the drive. So I'm excited to actually remember it. And take a million pictures. :) I've also never been to the east coast so that'll be cool too! I'll have to ask my dad for the route and put it on here or something. This roadtrip will take a few days. My dad wants to go about 600 miles each day. That's so far!! I'll have to do a lot of reading in the car. I have stupid summer reading. :P Ugh... it's like having to do tons of homework on the plane to Ireland. (I really did do that.) I'll keep track of all the states we go into and the stuff we see. I'm excited. :)

California

Today we drove into California. I got to listen to my new music I got and slept a little bit. When I got here I played piano, played with the dog, saw a bunch of my family, showed everyone my permit, climbed a tree, and ate Chinese food. So far things are starting out good. :)

I like this new blog design.

Permit

School got out on Tuesday. :) I'm sooo happy. After school I went and hung out downtown with Annie for a few hours. I got home by riding on the back of my uncle's motorcycle! Then we had our annual sundaes for dinner with a bunch of my friends. Then we got ready for the dance. It was fun but not great. Kate spent the night at my house.
This morning I went over to the DMV and we were the first people there. So we didn't have to wait at all. I got all my information for my permit but then we found out we needed a statement of enrollment. :P But I was still allowed to take the test. I got 28 out of 29! 97% The question I missed asked how long you'll get your license suspended if you get a DUII for the first time. It's a year, but I said 6 months. After that we went and got my statement of enrollment and came back for my picture and stuff. They got me a temporary permit until my real one comes in the mail. My mom will have to mail it to me when I'm in California since I'll leave before it comes.
Right when we got out to the car again, my mom asked if I wanted to drive. I was nervous. She has a stick shift. I'd practiced with it once before but I killed the car like 20 times. I killed it a couple more times today but then I got the hang of it. I practically drove out of town before turning around. I got yelled at a little for mistakes but then I was fine. I pulled over to the side before I got to an intersection. I was too afraid to face one of those yet. Then my mom drove the rest of the way home. I'm mostly scared of practicing in California with the huge cars my dad and stepmom have. I don't want to crush anything. At least they're automatic so I won't jerk the car around.

Trip

Today in science before the bell rang, I walked in to the room to go to my seat. My friend Ian was joking around and blocking my way. I tried to quickly maneuver around him. My foot caught on the table's leg and I fell right on the floor! Lots of people said "Woah!" I tried to lessen my embarrassment by looking at Ian with a "what the heck?!" look. Michael was laughing but was also saying, "Geez Ian you didn't even say sorry!" Of course it was my fault and he knew it but he ended up apologizing anyway. I hid my head in my backpack when I got to my seat after tripping because a lot of people were laughing still and looking at me. It was definitely my most embarrassing fall, I'd say. It was really funny though.

Mean Teachers

Today in history a kid got caught for the umpteenth time with his ipod touch. And it was taken away for the umpteenth time. Mr. Munson got really mad and said, "You are such a bad student!" I was quite surprised at him. Then in Spanish Mrs. Sweet yelled at Kyle. She was explaining our final and Kyle was talking. She said "Kyle! Stop talking! You'd be one not to realize the paper had two sides!" I could see that he felt bad from that. I wasn't really surprised by Mrs. Sweet being mean but still! When did teachers get so mean?

Finally

School is almost over. 11 more days. But by the looks of it they're cutting two days so it'll be 9 days. Finals are coming up. I have all A's so I think I'll be fine. I'm going to California shortly after school gets out and I'll be gone for all of July. I'm going to miss my friends so much but it'll be great to see my dad. He's finally coming back from Iraq.

Evil

Kate and I exchange notes. She gave one to me yesterday before I went to Spanish class. It was a very deep note. I started responding with a very deep note. My teacher Mrs. Sweet put in a CD that goes with the textbook. The person on the CD would say a word and we'd have to repeat it. I was writing and repeating at the same time. I was about half way done writing it. Mrs. Sweet was walking around the room. I saw her and stopped writing. I was kind of holding it close to me, off the desk. She calmly came over and just took the paper out of my hands and walked away. I was filled with such an angry fury at that moment. I wanted to punch her and scream at her. My face hurt like a demon was trying to get out of me. I tried to keep my expression together but I don't think I did very well. My heart seemed to hurt too. I did NOT want her touching that note, or even worse, reading it. I wanted to break my pencil in half. When she went back to the front I texted Kate and told her about it. A couple of swear words were included. When class finally ended I went to the end of the hall and up the stairs with Coleman and Kate was going the other way. She grabbed my arm and pulled me back towards the classroom. She had Mrs. Sweet last semester for French class. She told me Mrs. Sweet was mean to her at first but she started sucking up to her a bit and then she liked her. I waited outside while she went into the room. She told me what happened. She went up to her, said hello and asked if I was in that class. She said yes. Kate told her I was writing a note to her and asked if she could have it. Mrs. Sweet pulled it out of the trash can and asked what it was about. Kate told her she didn't know, just anything, and that we like writing notes back and forth. She told her that I shouldn't write in class anymore and Kate promised it wouldn't happen again. I was so surprised when she came back out with the note. I won't be writing in there anymore. If I get Mrs. Sweet next year for Spanish 2, I'm switching to the nicer teacher. I very strongly dislike Mrs. Sweet.

Swimming

I'm at Kate's house right now and we're gonna go swimming soon. My mom got back from Texas today so I'll be glad to see her. Kate's coming to Sundeos tonight and then we're all going hot tubbing. :) I'm excited. Tomorrow's Memorial Day so we have a 3-day weekend. I'm quite happy about that as well.

Birthday!

Today's my 15th birthday! This is a good day. :) I had a really fun party Saturday night with Annie, Kate, Maya, and Riley. Now I just have to read that stupid driver's manual. I wish I hadn't procrastinated on that...but it's just like the most boring book ever!

At my party we played Catchphrase, Apples to Apples, Texas Stargazing, Celebrities, the question game, the sentence game, and had a dance party! They decorated my locker today too and Kate brought me some cookies. :) (Thanks!!)

I realized today how annoying someone really is. He's in 3 of my classes and I had one class with him last semester. His name is Kyle. He is always trying to copy my answers and asking me stupid questions. I always see him looking at my papers when we're working. In Spanish class, the teacher explained what we're supposed to do and right after, he asked me, "Wait what are we supposed to do?" I said "You should have been listening," with an annoyed face. He even asked me, "What's 'and' in Spanish?" That's like one of the first things we learned and it's just all around a stupid question. In Spanish, 'and' is 'y.' I gave him no answer. I just want to scream at him! He's such a pain!

iPod Miracle

This morning as I walked to the bus, I checked my shorts' pockets and discovered my ipod that had been missing for quite some time. I was SO upset! It had gone through the washing machine and dryer! I was so mad especially because I've had two phones go through the wash and it killed them. My ipod wasn't working. I wanted to cry at first but then I was just angry at myself.
After school I went to Kate's house for a sleepover. Just to try it, I put my ipod in Kate's ipod charger. Then I saw a little gray apple in the screen! It was alive!!! I was so happy! I ran downstairs acting like a total spazz and squealing with joy. Kate's mom was really surprised that it survived. I said it's a miracle. :)

Soon!

Today my cousin is turning 7! And in 6 days I turn 15! For my party I think I'm just going to invite a bunch of my friends over and hang out at my house. Or walk to the park or something. I'm going to have angel food cake and cherry pie! :D YUM. I have to read the stupid driver's manual. It's soooo boring. But I REALLY want to get my permit!

Tri-Schools Dance and Other Stuff

Yesterday was the Tri-Schools Dance. It was so fun!! It was really hot in there, though. Annie and I tied with one of the contests and Kate won the other. Good work buddies. ;)

Then today I had my last softball games. We lost them both but no surprise there. I'm glad the season is over. There's a lot less pressure on me now. But I'll have to start riding the bus home now. :P

Potter's spending the night tonight. We have so much fun! We can say anything without being awkward at all!

Face Shot

Yesterday I had a softball game at my school. It's the second to last game. My last one is on Saturday. I can't wait for this season to end. In the first inning, a really high pop-up went by the first base line so I went to catch it. It slipped past my mitt and hit me right in the jaw. It hurt SOO BAD!!! I went back to first and tried to shake it off. My coach called time-out and I let a couple tears flow. She made sure I was okay and we continued the game. I have a mark on my face now. It'll turn into a bruise soon. It hurts even if I barely touch it. There's a bump.

But in the last inning, another really high pop-up went around the same area and this time I caught it! I was so happy to redeem myself!

After that, Kate came over to my house and we just hung out. It was a lot of fun. :) Then my mom embarrassed her in the car really bad when we dropped her off. It was hilarious!

As of today, school ends in 1 MONTH! I can't wait for summer! And the Tri-Schools Dance is tomorrow! The 3 main schools are going to one place. It starts at 8 but they're only letting in 950 people. The doors open at 6 so we'll probably get there pretty early to make sure we get in. Annie, Kate and I are going to have a little competition when we get there. ;)

Not Too Bad

Today we had a softball game against a really good team. In the first inning we got 3 outs and kept their score at 0. Also in the first inning I swung at a really high, slow change-up and got struck out. :P I was embarrassed. In the second inning I made a really good out at first. (I was playing at first base.) The ball came really fast and I just snagged it and touched the base. I think I pretty much redeemed myself after that. We lost the game 2-15. But we've had worse. And it was fun! Even though I didn't hit the ball...

Yard Work

On Sunday we totally started changing our front yard. We live on a corner, so on the other side of the sidewalk, there are 3 sections of grass. But our lawn sucks and it's hard to take care of. So we tore up all of that sod and we're replacing it with bark dust! At the moment we are 2/3 of the way done. My right arm is so sore! And my left arm still hurts from getting hit with a pitch this weekend. :P Eventually we'll get a picket fence to go around the main lawn! It's going to look so cute!! Yesterday Potter came over after school. We mostly hung out in my room but we did a bit of yard work too. I showed her my old yearbooks.

I'm so excited about this year's yearbook! The book costs $70 though. It's huge, like 300 pages. I have about $50 saved up.

Hermiston

On Friday I left school at 8:30 on a 5 hour bus ride to play softball. We spent the night. I slept a lot and wrote in my journal on the bus. I brought 4 muffins with me. :) I ate 2 each day. We lost all three games. 2-14, 2-20, 0-16. It was kind of fun though. However in the last game I tagged someone at 2nd and the umpire called them safe and said "no tag." I was SO PISSED! I wanted to cry, I was so mad! I wanted to scream at him! But later in the game I made a really good catch. :) So I felt better. I was really glad to get back. On the way back I slept for like an hour. It was nice. My team is hilarious! They talked about the funniest things! I didn't say much because I hadn't experienced most of the stuff they talked about but it was still hilarious. :)

Coffee Spill

This morning, lunch was before all of our classes and all of the classes are only 30 minutes long. At lunch I was really spazzing out. Then I was just talking and using my arms for emphasis or something and Maya came up behind me and I didn't know and I swung my arms in emphasis and smacked her frapaccino thing out of her hands! It went everywhere!!!! It got all over Coleman's binder and backpack and made it all smell like coffee! I was so embarrassed but I was just laughing my head off! It was so funny!

Also, in my Spanish class, my teacher has finally started calling me by my name.

Early

Today school doesn't start until 12:30 because juniors are doing ACT testing in the morning. Lunch is at 12. However the bus schedules aren't any different. I woke up this morning at 6:20, got up and took a shower, said goodbye to my mom, walked outside in the cold, and texted Kate. She responded by asking why the heck i just texted her and if I forgot we get to sleep in today. I responded with some cuss words and slowly walked back to my house. Since I took a shower and walked in cold air, I wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep. Ugh... And then I felt bad about waking her up. This whole episode happened like 20 minutes ago. I want to sleep but I can't. I think I'll go eat breakfast...

Better Day

Today was good. There were just a couple drawbacks.

I really don't like my Spanish teacher. She's not very nice. Today she pretty much called a kid stupid. And she has an issue with remembering K names so she like never calls me by my name. She usually just calles me "K." Oh well, whatever. In science we mostly watched Mythbusters so that was fun.

Then after school I got ready for the game. I started out at first base so it was way better. But I only played for 2 innings. Then I got substituted in. I don't think this is fair because I was substituted out yesterday too. Anyway, I got a couple people out and it was pretty good. My coach was nice today and got us all to have good attitudes. She said whenever someone next to us makes an error, we were supposed to say some random word to make them laugh. I probably shouldn't write the things I heard...but they sure made me laugh. I hit the ball twice but got out both times. When I got substituted, my mom gave me a sandwich. It had spicy mustard but it was good. My aunt and uncle and cousins came to watch me too.

It was really close! We lost 10-11. It was a fun game. I realized that when you say 'great game' a lot really fast, it sounds like 'gay game.' I'll need to work on that...

After the game, my mom brought my to Sonic and I got a Sonic Blast and mozzarella sticks. They were so good!

I hope we win tomorrow...

Miserable

That was the most miserable game I've had this season. I've been practicing at first base all week. And my coach put me in at third. In the first inning I got someone out. Then in the second inning I fumbled it. :/Then in the third inning I didn't catch a foul ball and I fumbled it again. The foul ball doesn't matter though. Catching a foul ball is like a bonus. But throughout those first three innings, the pitcher was throwing ball after ball and walking people and walking people. And the catcher let a lot of balls past her. And people stole home over and over again. Before the third inning my coach pulled us all to the side and yelled at us. She said we were just standing around out there and having bad attitudes and like everyone could hear her. Then after I made that last fumble she put me out and another girl took my place. I was really mad. I didn't get to play for the rest of the game. Then at the same time I got put out, the pitcher got switched too. She was replaced by a girl who just started pitching this year. She was more accurate but really really slow. A girl got a grand slam off of her. I was pretty much not mad about losing. I was just mad about my coach being a beyotch to all of us. Especially me. We lost 15-2. After the game she yelled at us some more. She said we made ourselves look bad and that we looked like a bunch of spoiled brats. She said that we have a second chance tomorrow. Which we do, but I just really don't want to play third. I bet they don't trust me there anymore. Ugh... But still!! There were only like 6 plays in the field during the whole game! Because the pitchers freakin' SUCK! If my coach continues to be like this, I might consider not playing next year. It kind of makes me sad though. I love softball.

My mom was angrier than I was about this whole thing.

Sliding

Yesterday after school I hung out with Kate before practice. She got to stay and hour after. Since it was Wednesday there was early release and I had to stay about 2 hours before practice started. It was okay though because I got to finish up all of my homework. Anyway, so we mostly stayed in my former English teacher's room. Kate plugged her ipod into his speakers after he left. We messed around a lot and I got a few bruises but it was fun. :) After a little while, my friend Rae came in. When Kate had to leave, Rae played her guitar while I did history homework. She's really good! Then I looked at my phone and freaked out! I grabbed all my stuff and sprinted down the hall to change into my softball stuff. Then I ran down another hallway, past the commons, past the gym, and out the door. My team was nowhere to be seen. I checked the gyms. Not there either. I went back outside and called Michaela. She told me, "It's only 2:45!" I felt so dumb! I took my time going back inside and found Rae.

When my real practice time rolled around, I went to the field with my whole team. We mainly did drills but I slid into third! It was the first time I slid on dirt! But the bad thing is that I was wearing shorts! My leg is so scraped up now! It really hurt. But now I'm not afraid to slide and hopefully I'll get to in the game today. I'm pretty much 1st base now. It's really fun. I love it when I stretch really far and catch it. Well, I'm in yearbook and I gotta go interview someone. Bye.

Weekend

This weekend I typed up my journal. It's really crazy reading some stuff that I wrote. I forgot so much that happened! On Friday night I went and saw Date Night with my mom. I don't care if people think that's lame or embarrassing. It's fun to just have some girl time and it was a blast! We snuck in sodas and Whoppers and Poppycock. (Poppycock is popcorn and pecans and almonds glazed in delicious caramely goodness!) I have homework due tomorrow. :P I should go do that. Ugh...

Mr. Thunder

Today school ended at 11 because it's the end of the quarter and teachers get a day to grade stuff. After school Maya and Riley went to Kate's house and we ate tuna and messed around on the computer and watched Napoleon Dynamite. I ate soooo much food! I had 1 1/2 tuna sandwiches, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, 4 Chewy bars, and 3 peanut butter cookies. Afterwards, we went up to Kate's room and just lounged a bit. After about an hour of that, we ate some quesadillas and left for the Mr. Thunder Pageant at our school. It's like a beauty pageant for 10 senior guys. They dressed up in professions, sportswear, and formalwear. And they each had an act. They had mainly musical acts but there was also a hilarious skit. The whole thing is a fundraiser for the Sparrow Club. Last year they made $15,000. This year they earned like $35,000! That's a national record!! It was amazing. The little 4-year-old girl who's our Sparrow has a rare blood disease that made tumors form in her head, collarbone, and hip. But now they have the money to get medical needs! It's really cool to know that. :) It was great.

Quote of the Day

Heaven knows we need never be ashamed of our tears, for they are rain upon the blinding dust of earth, overlying our hard hearts. I was better after I had cried, than before-- more sorry, more aware of my own ingratitude, more gentle... -Charles Dickens (Great Expectations)

Friends, Friends, Friends

On Friday Kate, Annie, Maya, Coleman, Riley, Hannah, Kate's exchange student, Josephine, and I went roller blading! It was soo fun!! I was the best skater there out of our group but I tried to slow down a little to be with them. Riley didn't skate as much as I hoped, though. There were sooo many middle schoolers there! It was like a huge middle school dance! :P They played some great music though... I only fell twice while I was skating. The other times I fell were when I was going really slow or trying to stand still. I'm much better balanced when I'm moving.

Yesterday I had double-header softball games. I had to get to the school at 7:45 to catch the bus at 8 to take us to the games. The first one started at 11 and the second one started at 1. We lost both of them but I got another double and made a bunch more outs. :)

After the games I went over to Kate's house and we watched Amelie and ate pizza and candy. Very fun! 

Softball and Strange Sub

Yesterday I had a softball game at my school. It was nice because we didn't have to go on a bus anywhere but it was freeeeezing!! Kate, Maya and Josephine came to the beginning of the game but got too cold and they eventually left. Before we even started warming up, though, I told them they couldn't sit on the other team's bench and that they could move the other one sitting nearby. But they misunderstood and moved the other team's bench! Then my team all started yelling at them and they got all embarrassed. :/ I was embarrassed too. One girl yelled at them and then asked me who they were. I shrugged my shoulders. She just cracked up laughing and told everyone what I did! It was really funny. I kind of felt guilty and even worse when my friends were all embarrassed and mad but it's funny, looking back. We lost the game, but I'm still really happy because I hit my first ball of the season! I actually hit it 3 times! Every time I got up to bat! The first ball I hit got caught. The second one, I got out at first base. But the third ball I hit a double! And I got an RBI! (That means I hit it, and I got to 2nd base and a runner scored.) :D I was so proud. I also got a bunch of outs when I was in the field.

Today in Spanish class we had a substitute. :) He was a really old guy with difficulty hearing and seeing. His name was Mr. Thompson but he told us to call him Mr. T, which I thought was kind of funny. But anyway, when he was calling attendance, he called a boy named DJ's name. Except he didn't say DJ. He said BJ! He'd misread the paper! Everyone laughed but the sub didn't get it! Then he asked what was so funny and another boy said, "It's an inside joke." That's when he got it. He was SO mad!!! He said, "That is just immature! You are in a classroom! You're here to learn! I'm so disappointed in you!" He wasn't yelling but his tone made us all feel bad. He's kind of a joking teacher so we didn't understand he was serious until he said, "Stop laughing!" He actually did kind of yell that. We were all really quiet then. It was really funny but he's probably going to tell our teacher about it and we'll all get in trouble. But at the end of class he said he was really proud of us and that we're really great and everything...except for that one thing.

We watched a movie in Spanish and I saw a blanket that I have at my house. :)

Easter

Happy Easter!!

Today at Sundeos there was a really great service. I felt sort of...refreshed when it was over.

When we got home, my brothers and I hid Easter eggs for my little cousins to find. It's really cute how excited they get. :)

I love chocolate....

80s Dance

My softball game was cancelled because of the snow. The double-header tomorrow also got cancelled. :) It's not that I don't like softball. It's just nice to relax a little once in a while.

The 80s Dance was SOOOO fun!!!! It was definitely my favorite dance all year. I got ready at Kate's house with Maya. We had tons of makeup and flash dancing outfits. When we got there, I hung out with Annie, Kate, Maya, Hannah, and Coleman. All of us danced with people or got asked to dance. It was an awesome time. :) I'm a lot more comfortable about dancing with people now.

After the dance I stayed the night at Hannah's house with Annie and Kate. That was a lot of fun too. :)

Flame and Unrelated Pain

The other day in science I volunteered to help the teacher with a demonstration. He was putting methane gas into bubble solution and I was given a yard stick with a candle on the end. I had to touch the bubble with the flame before it hit the ceiling. They burst into huge flames! It was sooo cool!

Then later that day I went to a softball clinic with my team to help little girls practice and so we could see potential players. It was snowing and freezing. One girl threw the ball to me and it popped up off the ground and whacked me in the lip! It gave me a double fat lip and I tasted blood. My eyes watered a little but I kept my cool and kept catching. But that freakin' hurt!!

I have a game tomorrow. Also, the 80's dance is tomorrow! I'm really excited!

Just sad...

Today I had to go to a softball clinic thing. We were teaching a bunch of parents, who were going to be coaching, softball drills that they could use. For some things, we could just fool around while our coach showed them what to do. So I was playing around with some whiffle balls. I threw one way up in the air and tried to catch it but it nicked my pinkie and now I have a blood blister! It freakin' hurts! It hurts to type with that finger! :(

Wow. This is kind of sad.

Sleepover

Yesterday at 1 PM I went roller blading with my friends Jessica, Jenny and Jessica's friend, Emily. It was really fun! And it was only $5. I tried both inline skates and quad skates. There were very few people there. Maybe about 20 little kids. I fell about 25 times though and now I have really bad bruises on my knees. They're really big.

After roller blading, we went to the movies and saw Bounty Hunter. It was better than I thought it would be! It was really funny.

We all spent the night at Jessica's house. At about 1 in the morning, we were all awake except for Jessica. I decided to start talking to her and see if she would talk back in her sleep. She did. :) We all talked to her for about an hour and a half! She said the strangest things! For example: "It's raining tater tots." "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." "Just keep swimming...You're on a diiiiet." "I love Miley Cyrus." "Re-e-e-ed Robin. Yum" She also said that she is going to marry me. And Miley Cyrus. And she did a lot of whimpering when we said things like "Shadows" or "Darkness." And when we said "Paranormal activity" she whimpered more than ever and moved around in fear. She hates that movie. :) But the worst part was when I told her that her dog died. She started crying! I didn't know she would believe me! You believe anything you hear when you're sleeping, I guess. It took about a minute to calm her down and distract her! I felt sooo bad! It was still a hilarious night though. I might just have to try it on some other friends...

This morning, we had muffins for breakfast. We mostly just played around a lot. Then Jenny went home. At 6, Jessica, Emily and I went back to the roller skating place. There were way more people today. 100 people easy. Probably more. I borrowed Jessica's knee pads this time. I used quad skates the whole time. I find them easier to balance and move in. I only fell 7 times! This is a major accomplishment! But the most embarrassing part was when I tried to join the limbo game and I fell and knocked the bar off when it was at the very top of the thing! I didn't try again after that. But later on, I got 2nd place in a quad skate race! They gave me a head start because I'm a girl. :P But it took this really good skater till the very end to catch me! I was pretty proud.

My goal is to learn to skate backwards. Then I want to get better with inline skates. I'm really proud of myself. :)

--Quad Skates
 Below: Inline Skates

Home Again

We left this morning at around 8:30 for home. The drive was about 8 hours long. Ugh... And we didn't make any long stops. The only nice things were that we stopped for In-N-Out and I got a 2 hour nap. Other than that it was not fun. About an hour before we got back I started having to pee, so by the time we got home I was in pain, holding it. About 10 minutes after we got all of our stuff in, the people I was planned to babysit came over. I had to watch them for 5 hours. Luckily, I got $50 out of it. :) That really was the highlight of my day.

Good and Good

Today I went shopping with my grandma and we got me some bookends and some really cool storage things for my closet. Then my brothers, my mom and I went to our really good friends' house for a few hours. We had dinner there and then went back to my grandparents' house where we watched American Idol with my stepmom and step-siblings. Lee Dewyze, Michael Lynch, Didi Benami, and Crystal Bowersox are my favorite contestants. It was really fun! Especially since I had TONS of energy. Then I had a bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup, strawberry syrup, and whipped cream. Delicious. I also got to see my cousin and that was nice.

Surprise

Yesterday we drove to California. Our friend Mike was in the car with us because we were bringing him to Woodland. He kept us entertained and kept my mom awake. It was probably the most fun long-distance car ride we ever had. :) Well, besides the fact that we had to get up at like 4:30 AM. That part sucked. Mainly because I didn't get to sleep until about 1 AM. And I didn't sleep very much in the car.

We stopped in Sacramento for about 7 hours at Kacie's house. That was really nice because I hardly ever get to see her.

Then we made the rest of the way to my grandparents' house. We surprised my grandma. She had no idea we were coming! She thought my grandpa was visiting us but we changed plans a few days ago. It was really cool. I was exhausted by the time we got there though. I went to bed at about 11 and woke up this morning at about 10.

I got my hair trimmed this afternoon and we had a bunch of family over for dinner. We had tacos. They were delicious.

Spring Break is Here!

It's finally spring break! I have no homework and no softball practice. :) Tomorrow I'm going to the mountain with Kate and my brother. It should be really fun. That is, if he can keep up with us...

Then on Sunday we're going to California till Wednesday. I want to get a little softball practice in. At least some throwing and catching.

Life Goals

I have several goals in life:

• to raise one eyebrow
• to whistle with two fingers
• to do the moonwalk, awesomely
• to be flexible and be able to do the splits

I have already accomplished my old goal which was to sleep for 13+ hours. When I was in Ireland I had really bad jet lag and slept for 14 hours.

Fun

At the game against Redmond, I didn't have to play catcher, which I'm grateful. Redmond is the best team we'll have to play all season. We lost badly, 18-0. It's better than Bend High did though. :) They lost like 25-0. I played 3rd and 1st base. I got two people out. It was fun! I'm proud of myself for having high spirits the whole game and not letting losing get me down. Plus Redmond is a really nice team with nice people.

At lunch today Annie threw a surprise party for Hannah! It was so fun!

I also got to experience breathing in helium from a balloon and having my voice all high pitched and stuff.

Sliding and Fun Stuff

A lot of things have happened in the last few days. On Saturday I went snowboarding with Kate. We took the bus at about 9:30 and left at about 4. She skis. It was sooooo fun!!! First of all, Kate pretended to be British to a woman while we were on the lift and she totally believed her! Kate said she panicked for a moment when the woman asked where in England she was from. So she blurted out "Er, London." She was afraid she would slip up and get caught but the whole ride up she completely fooled her! I would have used a British accent too but she already heard me talk in my normal accent.

When we were going down a pretty long run, I was making a heel-side turn/falling leaf (that means I was kind of turning to the right and kind of leaning back) and the front edge of my board caught and I smacked down on my stomach. It didn't hurt though because I immediately started sliding on my stomach like a penguin! I went maybe 20 feet before I stopped. We were both laughing really hard and Kate called me Super Kaitlin because my arms were out in front of me like I was flying!

There were these great big moguls (big jump-like slope things that are rounded on top) that were on the same run. We decided to try them out. There are 3. On the first one, I was doing a toe-side turn as I went up there (turning to the left a little) and when I got to the top I was facing backwards. Then I slipped and slid about half way down on my stomach, this time with my hands dragging, trying to slow myself down! I was screaming and laughing. Then I got myself up and went to the next one. I made sure not to go backwards again but when I got up there, I slipped again and somehow ended up upside-down! I slid upside-down, on my back, almost the entire way down the slope! I was just laughing hysterically the entire time. When I got to the bottom some people on the lift that saw the whole thing cheered for me! I wouldn't doubt that they heard me laughing my butt off. I didn't fall on the moguls at all after that. :)

A little bit later, Kate stopped on the run to tell me something. I didn't realized I was going so fast and I didn't slow down in time so I crashed right in to her! I laid there in pain for a moment while she was unscathed. Then she saw that her ski pole was bent! I felt so bad! She couldn't bend it back! Then a man was skiing past us and Kate said (in a British accent), "Are you a strong person?" "Sure!" he replied. He came to our aid and bent the pole back into place. When he was done, Kate exclaimed, "Woah, you're buff!" It was so funny!

Yesterday I had my first softball game. We won 13-8. :) I played 2nd base. Today I really started practicing playing catcher. I was one of the only ones that was willing to try it. Tomorrow I'll have to play catcher in the game. Hopefully it goes well...

Anyway, yesterday in the last inning I really had to pee so I walked way across the field to the port-o-potty. When I came back, the game was over! My team was about to tell the other team "Good game." (This doesn't mean I take forever in the bathroom!) I started running back to the field to join them but I was too slow! So I started yelling "Good game! Good game!" and waving my arms around. A couple of my teammates and my mom told me they saw me. They laughed. :)

Right when I got back my mom took me to a free freshman night for ice skating! Annie and Kate were there. It was a lot of fun!! Annie had to leave early. I fell 5 times throughout the whole thing. At the end, Kate and I had a race. I was winning at first but then I wiped out and slid. Then Kate fell about 2 seconds after I did! I won the race in the end. :)

Tropical Tango

Tonight I went to the Tropical Tango dance at my school. I had a blast for the most part. I didn't go to the last two dances because most of my friends didn't. I'm glad we got to go to this one. I learned something tonight about the structure of the crowd. In the middle are the couples and huge groups of upperclassmen friends and they're all squished really tightly. On the outer rim are the girls without dates and the people who just got asked to dance. Then on the very outside are guys without dates, wandering around, looking for someone to dance with. In other words, mostly creepy people.

I hung out with my friends in the 2nd layer mostly. One time, when the song Take On Me started playing, I went up to the front with Kate and we totally got into it. I love that song! Then all of a sudden someone's hands were touching my waist and they said, "Do you want to dance?" They let go when I turned half way around to look at them. I was kind of in shock. I'd never even met the guy before. I think he was a sophomore. I quickly tried to search for a semi-polite way to say no. I said, "Uhhhh, not right now." He turned and left without a word. I felt slightly awkward after that because I totally rejected him and Kate was looking at me like 'why didn't you say yes?!' But I was proud of myself and my self-esteem is high enough that I don't need to dance with someone I don't know to raise it. I mean geez! He invaded my space! He jumped to the conclusion that I'd say yes; touch first, ask questions later. *Shudder* I wonder if I set him straight... Doesn't anyone still follow the 'Stranger Danger' rule? Gosh!

I had no interest in getting asked to dance by random people. I sort of made a point in avoiding those situations. It worked for me but Annie and Kate got ambushed by people at the same time. I saw it coming too! I had repositioned myself a minute before so that I was facing outward from the crowd. Annie and Kate were facing in. I saw a big group of guys come up behind them and I whispered to Annie, "They're like a pack, hunting!" *Shudder again* They were whispering with each other and looking at them. Then they just came up behind them without even asking at all! I widened my eyes at Annie, trying to warn her but she was looking at the guy ambushing Kate. Then the guy put his hands on her and she made a really funny, shocked, slightly uncomfortable, kind of smiling face. I was sort of shocked again when I realized that both of them were occupied so I gave them a weak little wave and made my way away from them and met up with Maya. They danced for like 10 minutes, till the end of the whole dance. I wouldn't call that very romantic but whatever floats your boat.

Yay and Meh

My softball practice was prearranged to be cancelled today so I'm home right now.

I'm really proud of myself because today in history my teacher told me I have the highest grade in the class! :) Yay!

At lunch we were throwing food as usual. But then Coleman decided to be a spazz and throw Annie's phone at me. I was "supposed" to catch it but I was not anticipating a phone coming at me and it was kind of a low toss so in my attempt to catch it I fumbled it in my hand and it fell on the floor. Annie was mad at me for it. She said that I dropped it. Meh. Well whatever. I did try to catch it, after all.

Movie Night

My softball practice got cancelled today because my coach was sick. This makes me happy but also anxious. I'm happy because sometimes I really just need a break. But I was counting on tomorrow for that because there's no practice tomorrow. I'm anxious because the first game is on Monday and I'm worried that we might not be prepared enough...I might have to play catcher! D:

Tonight was really fun! Kate, Annie, Maya and Riley came over and we all watched 50 First Dates. My mom ordered pizza and we got Sprite. This was the only day that it would work so I'm glad we got to do it. After the movie we played Horse Lips and Jiggle Face. It's hard to explain what it is but it's really really fun and involves a camera. If anyone who reads this doesn't know what it is, please tell me. I'd love to learn that some other people read this!

Hip-Hop

Today Kate and I went to a hip-hop dance "lesson." It was SOOOO fun! We dressed up with hats turned side-ways and sweatshirts with the hoods over the hats. We were total gangsters. It was really informal and we learned a bunch of new dance moves including the Robot and the Moonwalk and some break-dancing stuff. I'm really proud of myself for putting myself out there and just dancing! We plan to make this a regular thing every week. I absolutely love it.

On Tuesday we're having a movie night at my house. We'll be watching 50 First Dates. Most of my lunch group is coming. That includes Kate, Annie, Riley, and Maya. I'm so excited! Riley has never seen it. I love that movie!

The Tropical Tango dance is on Friday!

Lunch

I've been eating lunch with Riley, Coleman, Annie, Kate, Hannah and Sarah lately. I think they've kind of adopted me. Anyway Kate is gone this weekend and wasn't here today and Annie wasn't there for this so I'm writing this to them to show them what they missed. :)

First of all, when I walked up to them, Coleman shot a carrot at me and it hit me right on the corner of my mouth. (You guys know what I'm talking about.) I screamed. So anyway, Riley had some Thin Mints and didn't want to share them with people because people shot carrots at her. But Coleman really wanted one. They're just like brother and sister. Coleman sat on Riley's lap saying he'll get off if she gives him a cookie. When she used a fierce enough tone he got off. Then I sat on Riley. She didn't protest as much as she laughed. But then Coleman sat on my lap! So he was squishing both of us! It was hilarious. By the way, I got a cookie. :) Then a little bit later I was sitting with my legs out in front of me. Coleman warned me he would sit on me. I said "Just don't pop my knee!" (He's done it before.) Then he sat on me but I forgot I had slip on shoes and he took off my right shoe! Then he threw it in the trash can!!

We have good times at lunch...

Oops!

Tonight I went to an AP Class introduction thing at my school. Everyone went to the auditorium first. I was walking past my friends to get to the seat next to Coleman but I tripped on Riley's foot and totally fell on Coleman! Like everyone in the seats above us could see me and laughed. Of course I shook it off immediately and laughed at myself. It was funny to me because I totally pictured that happening right before it happened! I thought to myself, 'Gee, it would be so embarrassing if I fell right now.' And then, of course, I did.

Ouch.

A lot happened today. First in history class, my teacher asked if anyone did anything cool this weekend. I said I went to a chili cook-off. He asked if I brought chili. I said no but that I made cornbread and won 3rd place! Then after people started talking again a boy asked me how many people were there. I said about 50 or so. He said, "That's pro." It clicked in my mind at that moment that he was talking about people in the contest. There were actually only about 6 or 7. But I just kept my mouth shut and fought a smile. He'll forever think that I'm a pro cornbread-maker.

In ceramics class we're making Japanese lanterns. Not the paper kind, but the rectangular kind with a lid and stuff. I didn't know I was sitting on the broken stool. The broken stool's top comes off if you life it. Underneath the top is a metal square thing that's attached to the stool's legs. I tried to lift it while it was under me so I could scoot it forward. I lifted the top off and sat down before I realized it. I sat down with my finger between the top and the metal thing. I sprung back up and grabbed my finger, fighting back tears. It hurt so bad! My friends pretty much knew what happened. Then I looked at my finger. I was completely shocked to see a bunch of blood! My friends said my face got all pale and my eyes got all huge. I ran to the sink and washed it off. I started crying now. My teacher came over and asked me what happened. I tried to explain but I was crying and whimpering a lot. He had to say, "What?" once. It was so embarrassing! He got me a Band-Aid.

After school I went to softball practice. By the way, I'm on the JV team! Michaela is on the team with me. We don't have a pitcher or a catcher yet. They're all on the Varsity team. So today we had a sort of pitching/catching try out to see how people can do. When Michaela was pitching I had a fence behind me as a backboard. She pitched one that went over my head so I turned around to catch it off the fence. I was too slow. It bounced off and hit me right in the jaw! Ow.

After practice I went to Kate's house for dinner and we worked on the script some more. I love it! It's hilarious! It'll take us at least all summer to do it, though. We're trying to save money for props and stuff. It's very low right now, but it's ok because we're only writing the script right now. I'm so excited about it! I try to add to it whenever I get new ideas. Then I show them to Kate and we edit it. Today was a really packed day! So much pain... So much fun!

British

Today Kate came with us to a chili cook-off! I made cornbread and entered it in the cornbread contest. Kate brought her laptop so we could work on the script. We talked in British accents almost the entire time! My mom won 3rd place in the chili contest and I won 3rd place in the cornbread contest! I'm so proud! It was the first time I ever made cornbread!
Then afterward, Kate, my brothers, and I walked around downtown for a while. We went to Powell's and Kate talked in a British accent to the cashier. He asked where her accent was from. She said Britain. She told him she was an exchange student who came here this semester. He totally believed it! It was HILARIOUS! I held in my laughter the whole time and let it all out when we got outside again. Then we went to Goodies and we all talked in British accents. Nobody talked to us about it but I bet they all believed they were real accents. ;)

Script

A bunch of my friends and I are going to be making a movie. It'll take a very long time but it's going to be awesome! We're combining all of the Harry Potter books and funny-ing them up into one movie. Yes, I know we're nerds but it's so fun!

I went to my friend Kate's house and she, Riley and I started making the script. We're very creative. We already have most of the main parts casted out. The problem is that there are SO many characters! We wrote most of the first of seven parts today. We're really creative people and come up with tons of hilarious elements. It'll be so great!

Also, I saw Valentine's Day tonight. It's SO good! I LOVE that movie!

Sports, snow and slips

Today I went to the second day of softball tryouts. Yesterday we were only catching and fielding. Today we were only doing batting. Yesterday was a really awesome, nice, warm day. Today it snowed and it was freezing and miserable. I think I did well, though. Michaela is also trying out.

Finally, it ended and I headed back to the locker room. Annie was out at track. I just changed my shoes so I could stay as warm as I could in my sweats and sweatshirt. Then Tia and Anna came in from track. They were freezing! I handed Anna a Hotties heat pad that I had. She was soo grateful! Tia came in after her and I handed her my other one. She said, "I love you!" After about a minute though, their hands were heating up too fast and were burning, so they gave them back to me. Then Annie came in and was saying, "I'm FREEZING!" I handed her one of the heat pads. Her eyes got all wide and she grabbed me in a huge hug saying, "I love you!" It was hilarious! She kept hugging me and we started slowly spinning in a circle. It sounded like she was crying but she was just gasping and whispering and laughing or something. :) That was also hilarious.

When we got out of the locker room, a bunch of Annie's friends were out in the hall. People started doing handstands against the wall. I thought that might be fun and Annie said it's fun so I tried it. My legs bumped into the wall a little bit but they were spread way too far apart and I lost my balance. Then my arms kind of collapsed and my back curved and the back of my head and neck hit the linoleum. It really hurt! But it was funny from a different perspective, apparently, considering Annie and Anna were laughing really hard. I was fine though. Anna helped me up and I rubbed my head back to health. I said I'd never do that again.