Summer + School...Hmmm

19) You have to sacrifice for school.

So. It has been a while:) I hope that I haven't lost all my faithful followers! I've been so busy that it isn't even funny. I got done with school a few weeks ago, and I had...drumroll please.....one glorious day off of school before going back again. That's right. One. So, let me take you on a trip through my life this summer.

Alright. I wake up at 6:30, throw on some clothes, brush my hair and my teeth. Then I eat breakfast. Dad drives me to my new high school. Yes, I know, I'm ancient. Anyway. We sit in front of the computer the whole 7 hours and copy exactly what the teacher puts on the board. Doesn't that sound delightful? And I am doing this for almost 2 months.

You may be wondering what the heck I was thinking. I was thinking that I had no time time in my schedule to complete my gosh darn Computer Competency credit. Ugh. Times infinity. So I am taking Computer Applications all summer and I think I am losing my love of computers. Ugh! I'll survive though. I have to post soon about our new family members, so I must go! I will post much more than I have been. I love you all, and thank you for reading!

It's Mother's Day!

15) Work on the farm is NEVER over.

It's Mother's Day weekend over here, and it's been hectic as all get out. On Friday, I had to make Mom's present( A duct tape llama) and I had to make my poster for history class. We watched Inkheart, which was pretty good, plus they mention duct tape, so I was happy.
Saturday was work. Well, for most of us. First Mom met with a blogger friend, taking G, Grammy, and Darby with her, so J, Dad, and I went out shopping. We hit some some farmer stores, then had samples from Costco for lunch. When we came home, Mom's blogger friend was there with her Chinese Cresteds, who were adorable! Now, when you think Chinese Crested, cute isn't the first word that comes to mind. They are cute in their own way, inspired perhaps by their sweetness, innocence, and prancy little steps when they run. My baby girl, Darby, is part Chinese Crested, and when you look at her hair you can tell. They left eventually, leaving us farmers at home. Grammy and I went shopping too! We had to get *cough cough wink wink* Pepsi. We DID get Pepsi, but it wasn't the first thing on our list. First we stopped by a feed store and I looked at ADORABLE PUPPIES!!!!!!! While Grammy searched for a present for Mom. We left empty handed, since nothing in particular struck Grammy as a good gift for Mom. I personally would have liked a puppy, but, alas, it isn't Daughter's Day. We went by Lowes and got Mom some honeysuckle and a pretty plant with red, tubular flowers. Mama loves her hummingbirds. THEN we got Pepsi and came home.
As soon as we got out of the car we had to change into work clothes, put on muck boots, and head out to the second pasture. We were put to the task of raking sticks and leaves and loading them in to the trailer on the back of the mower. I even got to drive it once, though I couldn't get it started by myself because you had to push in the very very stubborn brake lever, and me, being *dainty and fragile* had to have my Dad help me just a bit. Then we all went in and walked around like zombies until we finally trudged over to bed.
Today, (Sunday), was a bit more laid back. We had waffles for breakfast, then laid around for a little while. G and I watched some Scooby Doo. I came upstairs to escape from "the Wiki Tiki" who was the monster in the movie, and Dad invited me to go shopping with him. We went to the PUPPY PLACE AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!! Then to Home Depot for some sprinkler stuff and various other things for the goats and such. I got lazy and rode in the cart until we loaded on the sand and concrete. Home was dinner and Mother's Day presents before bed. I must depart now, for my bed and sleep await me!

Frozen Deserts

14)Well, even the desert has it's cold days...weeks...months...

First things first; When in Washington has just gotten an official makeover! I may switch it back, but I thought it could use some brightening up. Any comments? Is it fabulous?

Anyway, I have been going through life normally...except for the fact that I am officially an icicle. It is freezing here! The desert, freezing?! *GASP*! Is it even possible? Well, believe it or not, it is. We've been under 70 degrees, which doesn't sound bad- till you add in windchill. As my PE teacher so wisely stated:
"If it weren't for the windchill that makes it -30 degrees..." It is a bit of over-exaggeration, but it is pretty cold. It's May and we're over here in jeans and sweatshirts! OK, well I am, but not everyone is. Some people, who are apparently cold resistant, are wearing shorts and tank tops. Psh, I would rather be warm and not as stylish than frozen and stylish, but people will have their preferences. SO! Otherwise, life here is pretty good. I have been talking to people- yes, yes, *GASP...AGAIN*!, and I am making some friends.
In general, my school is like the traditional school of this level that you would see in movies. We play real dodge ball where when you get hit you sit out until someone catches a ball. That's pretty fun except when you get nailed in the face with a ball. Then there is the bell, which actually rings and isn't-at least I don't think-computer/intercom generated. It is very loud and very obnoxious.
I have to go now to attempt to finish M's present with my Grammy, who got here a little while ago. Wish me luck, and send some blankets! :)

I'm Doing Alright

13) Look out for rattlesnakes! AH!

OK. This is going to be a loooooooooooong post, so make sure you have some time.

I'm sorry that I haven't written in a while. I've been busy, believe it or not. Alright. This is flashback one: The night before the move.

It was a dark and stormy night...okay, okay, I lied. It was not a dark and stormy night. But for the sake of imagery, pretend it was. But anyway, it was nighttime. And guess what we did! A whole bunch of nothing. There was some tweaking of suitcases and carry-ons. Such as my mom taking out all the duct tape I had put into my backpack! Ah! It was only half of it... if you've ever seen my supply, well, you know how much duct tape that is. So that is all that I did the last night I was in IL.

Now, flashback 2. This is the day of the move. Well, my goodness, that was just... you'll see.

It was 4 a.m. I know! That's insanely early! But I was not tired for some reason. We all walked out to the truck, carrying backpacks and suitcases and Darbys. J and G and I sat in the backseat, and I know I was watching my precious home for the last time...at least for a while. J and I spent the 15 minute drive...can you guess? Counting cars. I know it sounds dumb. But there were only 13 cars out that early...besides at the airport.
We sat for about 25 minutes in the airport, waiting for the flight to start boarding. It finally did. I sat and stared out the window, watching the lights and squares of farmland filled with corn fade away below me. I slept the whole way to Detroit.
I woke up when we landed, preparing for a 3 hour layover. We got a healthy breakfast of McDonalds before looking for our gate and settling down. I rocked out to my tunes, then searched for some postcards. There were some pretty ones of the Detroit area that I bought. More lounging, more lounging, some comic reading, some texting...okay. We decide to get some lunch to take on the plane. We got some peanut butter and jelly bagels from a place named after Einstein. Hmmm. I didn't know he specialized in bagels...Anyway, our plane came half an hour later than it was supposed to, which was not good because we had such little layover into our local airport in Washington.
Our flight went well. I fell asleep before I had a chance to eat my bagel, so when I woke up I was starving. I listened some more to my iPod, then fell back asleep. When I woke up, we were in Salt Lake City. I can't say that I've ever seen anything that beautiful in my life. There were huge mountains everywhere. You could see the white tops blending into the sky, the rivers snaking through the lands, and some beautiful forests. I was taken aback. I had never seen a mountain before. I couldn't believe how pretty it was in Utah. When we landed, the fiasco began.
We who were heading into Washington were driven on electric carts to our gate. Despite that, we missed our flight. It wasn't fun at all. Mom looked like the world was ending as we went up to customer service. The lady said that the next flight to Washington was not for 6 more hours. There were some...interesting dilemmas, such as not knowing whether Darby was still here. We were reassured that she was indeed here in SLC with us. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Finally we were given tickets for the next flight. We had nothing to do now but to wait. Much more laying around. Mom called Dad and I called A. We had Chinese food for dinner and frozen yogurt for dessert. Then finally, finally, we were on the plane home. We got off and waited in exhaustion for my dad. We hugged him forever, then I went to go get Darby, who was so excited that her tail was booming against the edge of her crate. We drove to the apartment and fell into bed.

Okay, so, that sure was a grand old time, huh? Finally, flashback 3. The first day of school:

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was taken on a tour by some nice girls and I met all my teachers. I only needed paper, a pencil, and my flute. I missed science because of the tour, but I went to band, honors reading, social studies( which is, by the way, dead BORING!!!), PE, lunch, honors algebra, and finally language arts. So, all in all, it was another day at school...only I was lonely all day because I only knew a few people.

My moving experience wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it might be. I miss everyone over there, and if anyone's reading: HELLO!!!! Alright, I'll go now, but I will be sure to post much more often!

Sweet Home Ilinois

12) Strut your stuff hon, it ain't so bad!

Ok...So I suppose I should take my own advice. No one there gets to see my "strutting" quite yet though.

Anyway, enough hypocritical advice. I really just sort of feel strange. I know that there's gonna be a change, everyone else knows that there's gonna be a change, but it doesn't feel that way. Sure, we're surviving on just egg sandwiches and frozen waffles, sure the basement looks like a box factory, sure Mom has sticky notes all over the counter saying things like "what to leave behind" and "what to carry on", but in reality, the change seems miles away. I think that someday soon it's just going to crash over me, and I'll be immersed in the feeling of being lost and be drowned in the change. Right now, right this very second as I sit on the couch typing this post, I feel the same. My mind is swirling with the thoughts of moving and of the Lovely News, yet I don't feel different.
Also... have you ever had something, anything, no matter how petty or trivial, that you always complained about but never really thought about leaving or giving up? That's what Illinois is for me. I always complained at how flat it was and how there was never anything to do. Now that I'm leaving I realize how much I truly love this place. The corn seems less boring and more naturally beautiful and the sky seems more blue. I value visits into town and to the mall more than before. I can't even imagine leaving here. Maybe this is why my Grandpa can't leave his town. You feel so attached to a place that, no matter how boring you think it is, you can't get up the strength to leave.
I guess you just have to learn to value what you have, because you never know when it may be pulled out from under your feet and gone. :)

Surprise!

11) Even the desert has beauty; Just take the time to look for it.

Well. I have been waiting for something to blog about. Now, don't get me wrong, school is just 'marvelous' (hint hint wink wink) but it just isn't blogging material. However, when life gets boring, you can always expect your mom to create something interesting, and, in this case, life changing. And so it begins...
I had just gotten home from a lovely sleepover at my Grammy's house. It was G's first time, and it actually went well. I was really surprised! Anyway I had just gotten home, and the door was locked. I knocked and Mom opened the door. She let me in where music was blaring and the house was, as usual, immaculate. Then she gave me a huge hug and asked, " DID YOU HAVE A GOOD TIME AT GRAMMY'S?" I sort of looked at her thinking well, Mom, I've only been gone a day but I love you? Then, all of a sudden, all of my friends from school here, plus Madgirl, jumped out from behind the island and yelled "SURPRISE!!!!" I was a bit baffled, to say the least.
So I sort of stood there looking at A,K,E,M,C,S,L, and Madgirl and was trying to put my face into a normal expression as everyone laughed at me. Mom even took this lovely picture! And then I thought I suppose that's why she needed so many pizzas... I finally managed to get my face to move and said " Well, hello there,um..."
As everyone was laughing I was being herded over to the stairs. We went down and M was very excited as she opened my door. There were colorful streamers everywhere and pretty handmade posters on my walls. There were 8 pairs of shoes of all different sizes in random places around the room. 3 presents were lined up on my windowsill. Of course, then I HAD to open them. First C's, which was a pretty card with a sparkly ice cream cone on it, then M's, which held a small jar full of paper stars. She explained in a little card that they were pick-me-up stars, and that whenever I was discouraged I could open one and there would be a message inside. These were a huge hit.The last gift was from S. It was in a manila envelope with a white bow. I pulled out the contents. On top was a letter, saying that this was the rough draft and that the real one would be made and delivered next week. I moved the letter aside and found a blue binder that was the rough draft of a calendar! Each page included pictures of one of the people at the party and had places where they could write their messages to me. It was great! I was very excited to see the real thing.
G came down and he informed us very professionally that there were chips and dip upstairs if we'd like them. The majority of the girls were overjoyed at the prospect of food and stormed up the stairs, while I told them that I'd be up in a moment. M stayed behind. I almost cried, just almost, but since there were people around, I held it together. We went upstairs and had pizza, chips and dip, and delicious red velvet cupcakes homemade straight from the box! For the rest of the time we learned how to make stars, made duct tape squares, and laughed a lot, as girls do. Everyone slowly was picked up, and the calendar got its final touches, and phone numbers of people not known before were exchanged. Addresses were written down. M stayed over, and the whole thing seemed almost to have been surreal. It made me very happy, but also very sad. It feels so much more final now that I've had a goodbye party, but I would not have had my final days here any other way.

My, My, How Time Flies!

10) Even the desert has some trees.

It seems as if the clock can't make up it's mind. It just seems as though it goes faster and faster as the days go on. It seem like only yesterday that my dad got the call saying that he had the job. It seems like only yesterday that he left for Washington. Now, my parents already have a house chosen. Can you believe it? Time flies when... well... time flies. Now we may be in a house just after we get there. That's a relief, since rentals are scarce and rentals that would allow Darby are even more scarce. Darby would have had to stay with farmgirl_dk, which isn't bad, but I would have missed my baby!
Anyway, the clock will virtually stop next week. The battle of the school year, ISATs, are coming!
*weighing in at 5 pounds, with over 300 questions and twice as many rules, the ISATs!!!!*
*weighing in at x pounds, 3/4 year's knowledge, and a hatred of tests, little ole me!!!!!*
Oh, yes, you must watch this battle! Actually, you shouldn't. It is three hours if complete silence throughout the school. No one is looking forward to these, not even the teachers, who have given us the knowledge for these tests. ISATs don't even have perks anymore, since they've decided not to give us snacks during them anymore. Some teachers do, but I don't think that the school provides them.
A's baton issues are clearing up. This is REALLY exciting! Yay! Last night in band we played with the pep band for the regionals game. We dominated!!!! Woo!!!! Anyway, it was pretty hard. It was music for the grade above us, and that made it really hard, so I only hit half of the notes right. Mr. J said that that was pretty good, so I was pretty pleased. I was actually sort of upset too because S hit about a zillion more notes than me. ( I love ya, S!) We played Poker Face, Living on a Prayer, and a few other songs, and it was pretty awesome!
I only watched about half the game. When we weren't playing, I was texting my friend A.L. who was on the other side of the gym. He was a ditcher face! But that's OK because someone stole his phone.
All in all, this week has been pretty cool. We even did artsy stuff in language arts and social studies today. As for me and my battle against the clock, I hope time can slow down a little.

An Interesting Sort Of Week

9) The beach there is cold, not warm.

The strange thing about school is that just when it gets so boring that you don't think that you can stand it for one more second, something comes up that makes it interesting again. For instance last week, the fire alarm went off because of a problem in the boiler room, and the whole school had to evacuate to the building next door. It was a huge hassle, and A didn't even have time to grab her precious baton before she was rushed out the door! Some people were getting dressed for PE and they were forced to run out the door with no shoes. It was just a big problem, but the school was shot through with adrenaline for the rest of the day.

This week has been strangely interesting. In English we had to give presentations on those immigration papers that we wrote, and that wasn't fun. But as a result, we were allowed to have INTERNATIONAL FOOD DAY! That was a blast, and we had it today. I couldn't bring anything because we didn't have time to make stuff, and because Mom is attempting to use as many of our groceries as possible, and not buy more than is necessary. I would have brought baklava, which is phyllo dough covered in honey and chopped nuts, and I though it sounded delicious. Mom was not quite as enthusiastic because she is NOT a honey person, unless it is in her tea. Even though there was no baklava, there were some delicious dishes spread on the table. There was German chocolate pie, Filipino fruit salad, tacos, Naan, Indian trail mix, sushi with cooked fish, some Polish cinnamon fruit salad, mashed potatoes, Norwegian cookies with jelly, chips and dip, pretzels, Swedish Fish, rice candy, German Spritz cookies, and a few others. Quite the International Food Day, huh?

In science, we're having a blast. Yesterday, we did a lab on soda. Well, I am not a fan of drinking soda, but there were other people in the class who were willing enough to have mine. We were seeing how much carbon gas we could get out of the soda and into our balloons. There was one cold soda and one that was sitting in hot water and we had to "agitate" them for 2 minutes, then measure the circumference of each balloon which was atop the open bottle. The cold one worked just fine, but when my partner and I got to the hot water stage, things went downhill. The first balloon that we put on worked until the bottle went into the hot water. Then a screaming noise erupted and the room grew quiet. Our little bottle was screaming for help! The second we took it out, the noise stopped, and we discovered a hole. Every single one of the other 4 balloons that we tried had a hole too! By the time we were on our last one, the gas was gone and we gave up. Mrs. B thought it was funny and we had one of the best ways that the experiment could go wrong! Tomorrow we're tie dying, and I'll tell about that after it happens.

Social studies is a study of ads. This isn't necessarily fun, but everyone gets to be creative and to learn advertising tricks. The foreboding thing is ISATS. Those are the worst tests ever. The state says that we have to take them, and it shows the school's progression. I suppose that not all of school can be fun, can it?!

Presidents Day Weekend

8) Some schools get out early every Wednesday!

This weekend was, as most of you know, Presidents Day weekend. That means 3 days off. Yay! Since my family will be moving in less than 7 weeks, all of our other family and friends are trying to hook up with us to do things. My grandparents, who live a couple hours south of me, came up this weekend. It was lots of fun! Grandma was supposed to come up Friday, but Grandpa was coming Saturday. Lo and behold, when I got home with M, Grandpa was sitting at the counter talking to my mom! Grandma didn't know that he was coming, so when she got here she was really confused. It was funny though! We sort of hung out and ate after M left, and then turned on the Olympics.

" If we were in Washington, we could've gone to see the Olympics!" I told Dad, since the Winter Olympics are in Vancouver this year. He just laughed. I think he's nervous. He's leaving this week.

On Saturday, Grandma took me, J, and G to Barnes and Noble Bookstore. Normally I'm really in to books. I still was, but I hadn't read any spectacular books for quite a while, and the ones I like I own. In the end I decided on The Book Thief (to learn more, click on the link!).I am very interested in the Holocaust and this is one of my favorite books. Next we went to Meijer to get some groceries, then headed home. More Olympics, then bedtime! Sunday was Valentines Day. Grandma had made us each a little bag. Mine contained a Marshmallow Heart, a box of candy hearts, and a small plush elephant. She was pink and very cute. G and J got some too and we actually spent all day playing with our elephants. Farmgirl_dk sent us a package too! Inside was a big bag of cherry gummy hearts and a valentine for each of us. I loved mine, and ate the Reese's Heart inside at once.

Also on Sunday, our vehicles were taken away to be shipped to Washington. My grandma had driven down a van for us to use and Dad borrowed a car from a friend, so we were all good. There was lots of crying, mostly by my grandma, and a few hours later, my grandparents left. My dad almost cried that day. He almost let himself show the sadness that he held toward the situation. But he didn't. Instead, he breathed deeply, and Mom hugged him hard. Now we are all hoping time will slow down so that my daddy can stay longer. It won't, and he'll be gone before I know it, but soon enough, I'll be out there too.

Gorgeous Glittering Snow

7) You'll miss the snow days!

Alrighty. I have been really busy with school these past few days and so I decided to hold off until I had free time. Well, when Mom woke me up at 6 this morning, I knew that I was gonna have some free time. Yes, thank the goodness of the world, it's a snow day! I slept until 10 this morning, but only in fragments. I thought back on all the busy things that were happening this week. In Language Arts, Mrs. G was has been making us write a 4-6 page research paper on immigrants from a certain country (mine is Greece) and then we had to write 30 note cards, 3 speech cards, and then prepare a Power Point presentation that has to be from 4-6 minutes long, and make speech cards for that! So my speech, when I practiced last night, was 10 minutes long! That's a problem seeing as I'm 4 minutes over the limit. So I cut it down and now it's 5 minutes and 50 seconds. Woo.
On a happier note, I had L over! We went to the A Cappella concert that my school holds every year. It was great. The Xtension Chords ( see LINK!) are my favorite, because they are hilarious and they are great singers. There was No Comment (see LINK!) who were really good too and sang quite a few popular songs. Then there was Four Feet Long (see LINK!) who were pretty good, but I still like the Xtension Chords best! Oh, and C won the new iPod nano which has a camcorder with it. She was pretty excited.
On Sunday I went to the triplets house. We watched part of the Super Bowl (really only the part where Carrie Underwood sang the National Anthem) and then we hung out in K's room playing Would You Rather and listening to music. It was really fun! All in all it was a good weekend, and today should be fun too. I'm not looking forward to school coming again, but I'll survive, I suppose.

The Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

6) Fruit is popular there.

As you may have guessed, I had a bad day. The cause of it was many sided, but it all came back to one thing: Washington.

Flashback- It was a dark and stormy night... OK no it wasn't but we'll say it was. It was around 8:30 pm when my mom came flying down to my room. I was on the phone with A, discussing her issues with her baton. Things with it are going badly right now and she was upset and I was scared. As you can imagine things have been stressful around my house. I had just said to A "... and Mom doesn't usually upset me..." when, by golly, my mom flung the door open. She yelled "Hey!" and I thought that she had heard my less than friendly comment about her. Then, her voice getting ever louder- loud enough that A could hear it from the phone held in my hand- she asked " What's L's mom's name?!" I fumbled around in my overwhelmed brain for it, then she gave a name and I said that it was right. "She totally just put an offer on our house!" I stood there speechless, then told her that I had known that it would happen and she ran full speed back up the stairs. I told A that I would call her back and then cried. That wasn't the first time that I cried that night, and certainly not the last time that I did for a while. That was last night.

So, that's what happened. I was really miserable looking when I got to school. I was worried about A and awfulness was in my head. I wasn't even A's helper like I normally was. Everyone who I could have talked to about moving was so worried about A that they didn't notice that I was on the verge of tears all day. I ended up breaking down and crying a little bit in the bathroom at the end of the day. Then I couldn't even mope properly because I thought it was selfish with what A was going through. So then I felt even more upset and wasn't feeling good and wasn't hungry and wanted to go home so that I could be alone there instead of feeling alone at school where I couldn't talk to anyone.
Well. About 2 hours ago L's parents accepted our counter offer and we're supposed to leave at the beginning of April. And now I don't know if I have any tears left to cry. I can't feel bad now because I knew that this was happening when Mom picked up the phone and her face lit up and she talked in a slightly sweeter and higher voice to the person on the other line and when she shushed us. And now I am resignedly waiting for the sold sign.

Part 2

So. It is almost 11:30 and S left about an hour and a half ago. We had a lot of fun. We made a duct tape trash can which was pretty cool and we messed one up which was hilarious. What happened was that we dropped the roll on to our sticky square of duct tape and when we pulled it off it all folded together. It was really funny and S apologized about 50 times for wasting it. I just kept laughing. We had 3 cookie breaks during our whole project. My cookies are a source of many happy smiles and apparently Darby likes them too. She jumped straight up and licked S's cookie! We couldn't tell if she'd actually gotten it so S ate it anyway. I had some too and they were delicious. C and I did a good job.
Then we tried to watch Lemony Snicket's The Series of Unfortunate Events but it didn't work, so we watched Alice in Wonderland instead. It was pretty good actually, as I haven't seen it in a while. I figured out the oyster part that M had told me about earlier in the week. Then we crashed around 1:00 and slept until the little man G came to get us. A quick breakfast of my mom's waffles and then we were getting ready and she was leaving. Then I had to do chores. It was pretty yucky but I listened to my iPod so I was all good. So this concludes my fun weekend!

A Funfilled Weekend

5) Have an adventure!

This weekend was unusually packed. For me anyway. Mom thinks that we are always busy. Maybe she is, i think that life here can be dull sometimes. Dull, but never quiet! Of course when I voice these opinions, she tells me that she can give me more to do if I want, and I run downstairs and hide in the closet. Love you Mommy! Anyway, I'm having two people over this weekend. C came over last night and we had a blast. I was laughing hysterically!
First we just laid around being lazy because we had to walk a whole two minutes to my house from the school. It's just dreadful and wastes so much energy! Then when we decided that our fragile bodies were capable of moving, we got my iPod touch out and played. Really, we were not in the mood to exert ourselves. We had a delicious dinner of Chicken and Orzo and some of Mom's homemade bread. Then we went back downstairs. I decided to pluck up the courage to get my friend A.L.'s number. I am not good with doing things like that, but C talked me into it. It's not that he's scary, but I don't know what to talk about. So we just sorta asked random questions, and C was being very nosy and watching everything over my shoulder. Then when I would smile or even just look at her she would break out laughing. At my lovely face!
Then we decided to make some cookies. A.L. DEFINITELY wanted some. We were laughing pretty hard. After stuffing our faces with cookie dough and telling A that we were ready to talk, we went down to my lovely bedroom and watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding. It was really good, and would have been better if C hadn't been snoring through half of it.:). Then we went to sleep. In the morning we had some of my dad's delicious pancakes and made G a dog out of red duct tape. Well I did while C played with my touch. It was really fun and I laughed a ton.
Introducing: S. S is C's best friend and they are some of the most hilarious people ever! All three of us play flute in band. S is pretty, smart, popular, an amazing singer, athletic, and an amazing gymnast! I've never really seen her at a meet for gymnastics, but she is spectacular at it in P.E. She is the busy one though. She could barely make it this weekend!
C wanted all three of us to hang out but it didn't quite work that way. It will be fun anyway because she is coming tonight! Yay! Hopefully she isn't too tired from her busy day to stay up late and eat lots of cookies! Yum delicious! So I think I will have to write again in the morning. I won't have a tip for that post because it will be a continued version of this one. So, To Be Continued...

A Tragic School Day

4) It doesn't get very cold.

Today at school there was quite a scene. It started when I walked out of the gym and there was a huddle of girls- popular girls, mind you, sobbing into one another's shoulders. I wasn't sure what to do or what to say. A and I badgered K until she promised to tell us if she found out in PE, which she has with several of said girls. As I walked to math I realized what had happened. A girl at school, who shall remain unnamed, had suffered the loss of her father to leukemia. She was receiving many hugs and I put together the pieces. I still wasn't sure. Since I had to wait until next period to see K I turned to the girl who was crying the least- C. However, as I looked closer, C's lips were clamped shut and she was forcing herself not to cry. I had never seen anyone try so hard not to cry. It was sad and amazing at the same time. You could tell something had happened because my whole math class was silent except for some snuffling.
Mrs. M was slightly embarrassed to continue having a lesson with so many girls crying, so she stuttered about how we had to go in with the lesson anyway and that if someone needed to leave the room they should feel free to do so. Meanwhile, I fought back tears. Not necessarily for the girl and her father but because of my thoughts. It seemed nearly selfish to be worried about moving when there were things like this man's death happening. I realized that I could at least come back to visit. Her father couldn't just take a plane back from wherever Death took him and say hello to his family. I couldn't feel as bad about The Lovely News when there were trips taken that a person couldn't come back from. I don't think that I can accept fully the way that things are happening, but I can't mope around when I should be grateful that my family is just in a different place and not dead, never to return. And so with the farewell of this post I sit in a moment of silence in the reverie of my new found philosophy and in sorrow for the girl whose father will never come home.

Hometown Friends

3) Realize that there will be more country land than there is here.

When I was reading the comments for my last post, I came across a tip from an anonymous reader that I should introduce my friends better. I responded that I didn't believe that the particular post was right for that. I do however, think that I need to devote a post to the friends that I will have to leave behind, and I think now is a good time. So kick back, relax, and enjoy these brief introductions to some of the people that I cherish most.

I think we should start with A. There are two things that are important to understanding A. She is a triplet,(the oldest! She's proud of that.), and she is very gifted with the baton. No, she isn't the cheerleader type, but she does know how to work a baton. A is a great person. She is very smart, has a good sense of humor, and gives sensational advice. She loves country music and medical dramas. She is also athletic, plays basketball, and a tomboy.
Next, E. She is the second oldest triplet. She is the opposite of A. She is very girly, and really prefers not to get her hands dirty. She does have a passion for running. She is a great distance runner! E is a loyal friend who will support you in whatever you're doing. She also enjoys country music and adores her cellphone.
K. She is the youngest triplet. She is hilarious, and I love her for that. She always has something up her sleeve to make you laugh. She is prone to clumsiness, but she always gets back up laughing. She plays basketball too, on the same team as A actually. She likes country music, just like her sisters, and is great with little kids.
M is an oddball. No one from school would guess that, but she is. When we hang out after school, she instantly transforms. Once in the car or on the grass beyond the school's fence, you wouldn't even know that she is the same person. Unless, of course, you are me. She is pretty, smart, and fascinated with medical things. She is a living breathing broken person. Her leg, which had some issue with it, as kept her out of PE for almost a year. She is very artsy and I don't know what I would do without her.
D1 and D2 are inseparable. D1 is the only person that I have ever met who is funnier than K. His life's dream is to build a business called Hobo Haven that sells and adopts out hobos. I don't know if I could survive the day without talking to D1 first. D2 is the guy that my friends all pick on but really like. He's funny, somewhat smart, and knows random facts that are of no real importance. He is sometimes slow in the uptake, but you can't live without him.
L is a natural born runner. She can sprint but her crowning glory is her distance. L is very soft spoken at school but is very loud and outgoing outside of school. She is also very artsy.
C is great. She's one of the most popular girls at school. She's pretty, smart, athletic, crafty, nice, and she can be loud. She comes up with great ideas for crafts and is an amazing singer no matter what she says!
My final one is Madgirl. She is hilarious! She came over last night and I could not stop laughing. The world wouldn't be the same without her.
So those are my friends. Stories upon stories will be told of them, and there may be one or two additions to this list later. :)

Field Trip!

2) There are a more big cities there besides Seattle.

Hey! Thank you, everyone, for the comments. They help me a lot and really boost my confidence. Since I'm not actually in Washington yet, I will write posts of things that I find funny or interesting from school or home. Please be aware that it is indeed school, so I may not write everyday for lack of a subject. Luckily, we went on a field trip today, just my grade. We went to a career conference.

The conference was held at our local movie theater. The man who spoke to us first had just fallen down the stairs waiting for us. It was very funny until he managed to mention it every time he opened his mouth... Anyway he then introduced us to another man who did manage to make a new joke each time. He taught us 4 "gets" to keep in mind that will make it easier to find a decent job.
1: Get your work done with quality
2: Get to school/work on time
3: Get along with peers and coworkers
4: Get CREATIVE

Then we went to the sessions which, after taking a survey, were the best fitting to be interesting to us. The speakers that I had weren't the greatest, but not the worst either. For my Human Services session there was and army officer, an enlisted soldier, and a pharmacy technician for the army. The officer (a lieutenant he said he was ) was an okay speaker, but he was very textbook. The enlisted soldier didn't speak, but he did stand with his arms crossed looking very armyish. The pharmacy technician was my favorite speaker for Human Services. He was very friendly and made sure to include us as much as possible. I sat with my friend A, but her sisters K and E plus my friend M were there too. Then a Career Coach spoke. She was one of those people who thinks that she's being funny but only succeeds half of the time.
After Human Services I had Art/Communications. I was expecting lots of paintings and things, things that I would enjoy, but I was disappointed. The first man did show us a painting that he had done but only very briefly before going on to his job and real passion: Website design. He worked for a newspaper and he helped to design this website: Click! I made a link! Anyway he showed us part of a humongous list of computer instructions and then a huge stack of books on his subject. After that, a man who commentates for Illinois sports games talked to us. He played back some of last nights Illinois versus Purdue game. I did rather like him!

The best part of the field trip though was the lunch. We got to go to Monical's; one of the best places to get pizza on Illinois. I sat with M, A, K, L, D1, and D2. It was really fun! We had pizza and soda; well I had water because I don't like soda but you get the idea. :) . I switched name tags with D1 and became him for a little while. Then, sadly, we had to get back on the yellow buses and go back to school. Even though the field trip was boring, I did enjoy myself some. I didn't get a huge new idea for what to be when I get older, but I did get to see some new sides of the career clusters that I sat in for. Ta ta for now!

The Lovely News

Hey. I'm Ki-Ki. This blog will be made for the friends that will be left behind on my move across the country, but it may also give some kids from my new school an idea of my outlook on life. I will include pictures and tales of my daily adventures as I grow accustomed to life in Washington, as well as daily tips on what to do when you're in Washington. You'll notice the dots after Washington in the title. I will add the rest of the sentence. Although I'm not there yet, I will get tips to put on. My very first When In Washington tip....
1) Learn to realize that there is a desert there.
Alrighty. Now I 'm not sure how many people know that there is a desert in Washington. Here's how I found out:
We'll call it the Lovely news. My parents sat on the couch, faces serious, and told me and my brother J that they needed to tell us something.
"Did someone die?" was my first question. Mom laughed and shook her head. I let out a mental sigh of relief. I was figuring that nothing bad could've happened. The house wasn't back on the market yet, so we couldn't possibly be moving yet. Boy was I wrong. We had been planning to move about 30 minutes away from our cozy little home.
"Dad got a job interview that he is very interested in. It's in Washington." Mom broke it to us.
I thought that the world had fallen out of orbit around me. There was no way on Earth... Washington? My mom calmly explained about the job and how they would be going there soon to look at schools and a few homes. She told about how we could have a farm now which has been a dream of hers for a while now. I took it all in while my eyes were threatening to overflow. I could barely speak. I was asked what I looked forward to most.
"We'll get another dog." I said tonelessly, still in a state of shock. Mom was a bit irate. She wanted me to look at the positives. The positives? I was just making friends here! Then she proceeded to explain that we wouldn't even be living in a green part of Washington. We'd be living in the desert. Can you believe it? A desert in Washington! There are huge hills, she told me. And tumbleweeds.

So now I am waiting for the dreadful news that means that we will have to get in a plane and fly to join my dad, who will be going out in late February. He may be taking my baby with him. My baby girl, my puppy, Darby. Dad will be all alone out there, so they decided that taking Darby could help him not to feel so alone. You will come to discover that I adore my dog, and that many stories of her will be told.
If you're interested in what happens to me in Washington, follow When In Washington closely. Leave comments and I promise that I'll respond. :)