Friday, December 31, 2004
My Apologies
I was reprimanded this morning for not having updated for a week, but you can't blame me--I haven't had internet access! All the pictures are caught up, though, so that will just have to hold you over until I get home from my Winter Break adventures.
Friday, December 24, 2004
Christmas Tradition
Essay Topic: What does the author mean by, "Delicious Chaos"?
5th Grade writing assignment
"Delicious chaos" for me would be Christmas Eve at my house with my 13 cousins, four aunts, four uncles, my parents, and my grandparents. We're all talking, shaking gifts, getting food, or looking for an adult to tell that "he's chasing me!" or, "he stole my doll!" or "she said I was dumb!" You see, I am the oldest of 14 grandchildren, nine of which are boys. My sister is the youngest.
On Christmas Eve, we go to our church in Perrysvlle for a service, and afterwards go to my house. Almost no one rides with their parents because it's so great to be with our cousins! Some peopole leave earlier than others from the church, and we all want to change out of our church clothes. So we wait for our parents to come, and then we change. But then we have to change back into our church clothes for photos. It's so confusing, but it's so great. Oh yeah, then there's New Year's...
Well, this year, there was no church service because of all the snow, but we read the Christmas story ourselves. There were no childish arguments, but there was just as much good-natured heckling as ever. Some things might change in appearance, but not in nature. And those things are the best kinds of traditions.
5th Grade writing assignment
"Delicious chaos" for me would be Christmas Eve at my house with my 13 cousins, four aunts, four uncles, my parents, and my grandparents. We're all talking, shaking gifts, getting food, or looking for an adult to tell that "he's chasing me!" or, "he stole my doll!" or "she said I was dumb!" You see, I am the oldest of 14 grandchildren, nine of which are boys. My sister is the youngest.
On Christmas Eve, we go to our church in Perrysvlle for a service, and afterwards go to my house. Almost no one rides with their parents because it's so great to be with our cousins! Some peopole leave earlier than others from the church, and we all want to change out of our church clothes. So we wait for our parents to come, and then we change. But then we have to change back into our church clothes for photos. It's so confusing, but it's so great. Oh yeah, then there's New Year's...
Well, this year, there was no church service because of all the snow, but we read the Christmas story ourselves. There were no childish arguments, but there was just as much good-natured heckling as ever. Some things might change in appearance, but not in nature. And those things are the best kinds of traditions.
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Sweaters
Sometimes, home and school are like two favorite sweaters that you can't take when you leave each place. And in a "grass is always greener" moment, you're wishing you had the other one.
The sweater at home...oh, you've had it forever. Your mom and grandma took you shopping and helped you pick it out; you wore it when you had your first real date, while you took your ACT. It has a little tear on the elbow where it caught a nail during play rehearsal and a stain at the wrist from the time you baked cookies for the entire basketball team. And when you're stressed about finals, all you can think about is how good it's going to be to get home and wrap up in that sweater. So excited that you're not feeling bad about leaving that new sweater you bought right after you left home.
That sweater isn't quite as beat up. It's comfortable, but not worn in yet and sometimes, you get a little worried about wearing it because you're not sure you picked the right one. It's a fun little sweater though, and it makes you happy to wear it. You've had some great times in it.
So you get home, you put on the old sweater...and you look in the mirror and realize that all the places where it used to fit just right don't feel so right anymore; the color is wrong, the style is outdated, and that hole from the nail is aggravating. All you want is to have that nice new sweater you have, the one that is locked up miles and miles away in your dorm room.
The problem is, you just can't wear them both at the same time. It's one or the other. And this is where my analogy ends. Because I can't think of a good way to solve that problem.
The sweater at home...oh, you've had it forever. Your mom and grandma took you shopping and helped you pick it out; you wore it when you had your first real date, while you took your ACT. It has a little tear on the elbow where it caught a nail during play rehearsal and a stain at the wrist from the time you baked cookies for the entire basketball team. And when you're stressed about finals, all you can think about is how good it's going to be to get home and wrap up in that sweater. So excited that you're not feeling bad about leaving that new sweater you bought right after you left home.
That sweater isn't quite as beat up. It's comfortable, but not worn in yet and sometimes, you get a little worried about wearing it because you're not sure you picked the right one. It's a fun little sweater though, and it makes you happy to wear it. You've had some great times in it.
So you get home, you put on the old sweater...and you look in the mirror and realize that all the places where it used to fit just right don't feel so right anymore; the color is wrong, the style is outdated, and that hole from the nail is aggravating. All you want is to have that nice new sweater you have, the one that is locked up miles and miles away in your dorm room.
The problem is, you just can't wear them both at the same time. It's one or the other. And this is where my analogy ends. Because I can't think of a good way to solve that problem.
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Snow Day
I didn't get home until 2:30 last night, and then I decided that it would be fun to talk online (it's just not fair when your best friend lives in a time zone two hours ahead of yours). I decided that instead of getting up early to make cookies and brownies for my mom's English students, I'd just do it before I went to bed.
So at 3:30 I was baking brownies and mixing up chocolate chip cookie dough.
It wasn't my best effort ever. I don't know if it's because I was so tired or because I don't remember the last time I baked anything. Anyway, I didn't bake the cookies until I woke up around 11, and then I took a shower and I was just getting ready to take them over to the high school when my brother walked in the door. THEY CANCELLED SCHOOL. Right before the class I was baking for.
I can't complain though, because like I said, I've done better baking. Besides, I remember in the 5th grade when they cancelled school and we conned my teacher and my principal into letting my best friend come to my house instead of going home. Too bad they never cancel classes at Miami.
So at 3:30 I was baking brownies and mixing up chocolate chip cookie dough.
It wasn't my best effort ever. I don't know if it's because I was so tired or because I don't remember the last time I baked anything. Anyway, I didn't bake the cookies until I woke up around 11, and then I took a shower and I was just getting ready to take them over to the high school when my brother walked in the door. THEY CANCELLED SCHOOL. Right before the class I was baking for.
I can't complain though, because like I said, I've done better baking. Besides, I remember in the 5th grade when they cancelled school and we conned my teacher and my principal into letting my best friend come to my house instead of going home. Too bad they never cancel classes at Miami.
Friday, December 17, 2004
I thought this break might never come
I'm home and enjoying:
- having ABSOLUTELY NO schoolwork to do WHATSOEVER.
- not wearing flip-flops in the shower.
- the fact that my Italian book is nearly 200 miles away.
- sleeping in my own bed.
- having multiple rooms to live in.
- not having to worry about how I'm going to make the $25 left on my meal plan last for another week.
- tormenting my sister.
- seeing all the people I haven't seen forever.
- the fact that Christmas is only 8 days away, my trip to Shreveport is only 9 days away, and I'm leaving for C'05 (more on that later) in 12 days.
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Stolen from Sarah
| Which Sound of Music character are you? Liesl Sweet, charming and innocent (as a rose)
|
| Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests. |
I am 20 going on 21...
hmm.
doesn't work quite as well as I'd hoped.
Friday, December 10, 2004
Fortune Dilemma
If there were two fortune cookies, and I picked one up to open it but Cassie asked for one so I threw the one in my hand to her and picked up the other for myself, and the fortune I read was "Now is the time to go ahead and pursue that love interest!" and Cassie's was, "Your talents will be recognized and suitably rewarded," whose real fortune is whose? And furthermore, what should we do until we figure it out?
Maybe #11 Should Have Been, "Be your friend if you don't like this song."
Geeze...I caught more hell for that "10 Things" post than anything else I've ever written. 7 comments, a mention in Nate's blog...I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to offend, I was just looking for material.
On the other hand, I did enjoy all of the commenting, it made me feel good.
Now I have a little bone to pick with some of you: If you do not know Paradise by the Dashboard Light, go listen to it. (Because I'm not posting the lyrics.) NOW. This is cultural literacy, people!
Liking this song is not the product of growing up in Loudonville. Sure, they played it every year at prom (along with Dixieland Delight...holy crap, I can't believe I just admitted that), but they play it every year at formal here and not only do they not play Dixieland Delight but everyone also knows the words. So that's my defense. And the next time I ride in the car with you I want to be able to sing all the words with you. I'll even let you do the girl part if you want.
On the other hand, I did enjoy all of the commenting, it made me feel good.
Now I have a little bone to pick with some of you: If you do not know Paradise by the Dashboard Light, go listen to it. (Because I'm not posting the lyrics.) NOW. This is cultural literacy, people!
Liking this song is not the product of growing up in Loudonville. Sure, they played it every year at prom (along with Dixieland Delight...holy crap, I can't believe I just admitted that), but they play it every year at formal here and not only do they not play Dixieland Delight but everyone also knows the words. So that's my defense. And the next time I ride in the car with you I want to be able to sing all the words with you. I'll even let you do the girl part if you want.
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
why cassie and i probably won't be carpenters
So. Cassie's mom brought down their old futon a couple of weeks ago, but forgot some parts so we couldn't put it together until now. We were going to enlist the help of some friends, but then decided we could handle it ourselves. We did. But not without some interesting moments.
First, we didn't have the right size dowel rods, so we used scissors, a pocket knife, and an exacto knife to whittle down the ones that were too long. After about forty minutes, we were left with dull blades, sore fingers, and two perfectly-sized pieces of wood.
Then we got everything put together with the dowel rods and were left with some long screws and little metal things. We also had a screwdriver kit but couldn't get the bit to stay in the handle. We just went without it and after about ten minutes figured out how everything went together. We were left with a sturdy (?) futon, that you are more than welcome to come stay on if you'd like.
First, we didn't have the right size dowel rods, so we used scissors, a pocket knife, and an exacto knife to whittle down the ones that were too long. After about forty minutes, we were left with dull blades, sore fingers, and two perfectly-sized pieces of wood.
Then we got everything put together with the dowel rods and were left with some long screws and little metal things. We also had a screwdriver kit but couldn't get the bit to stay in the handle. We just went without it and after about ten minutes figured out how everything went together. We were left with a sturdy (?) futon, that you are more than welcome to come stay on if you'd like.
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
10 Things I Promise Never To Do (Again) As A Blogger
- Whine, unless I think it is worth reading about--that is, I am passionately angry or it is funny.
- Post an entire song-worth of lyrics.
- Have a black background or an annoyingly busy template. TACKY.
- Get political. There are enough of those blogs, thank you very much.
- Go more than a week without posting. (I'm definitely guilty of this but I'd like to break 200 by New Year's...)
- Tell a story that just describes what I did during the day. I'm already boring enough, you don't need me to be working with boring material in the first place.
- Inversely, tell a story that is so reader-specific that only one or two people know what I'm talking about. There's no fun in reading that either.
- Be understanding about how no one ever leaves comments.
- Be unneccessarily insulting, give backhanded compliments, or say mean things in a roundabout way.
- Use poor English. (As if I needed to say that about myself. Truth be told, I was having a hard time coming up with a tenth promise.)
Sunday, December 05, 2004
Wednesday, December 01, 2004
Insomniatic Ramblings
Last year I never really wore my leather coat. It was either too cold, too warm, or not the right look. I did, however, wear it a lot in high school. I bought it on a leather coat shopping trip with Kurtis, wore it in one of my senior pictures, and generally liked it a lot. I mean, I still liked it last year but it just wasn't working out.
Anyway, today I decided to wear it, and that nice leather smell just took me right back to high school. Did you know that scent is the strongest sense linked to memory? It's proven. (I learned all about it in my Psych 111 class, I didn't just hear about it from that Old Spice commercial.)
It just got me thinking about how easily things in life can change. In an instant, things you never thought would or could change are gone and you're left to make the adjustment. They hand you that diploma and you're done. Someone makes a decision, someone goes away, someone shows up. Everything is different from then on, and there's nothing you can do but adapt.
(An interesting story: we went on a church trip once and my parents made us play this game they called "Adapt" in which Jimmy and I "adapted" to whatever anyone else wanted to do. Parents, I HATED that game. But, I would like to think that I am not bad at it as a result of that gruelling game of it which lasted for a week.)
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that nothing is permanent; no state of affairs, no emotion, no nothing. Enjoy the good things and trust that the bad things will eventually go away. Maybe this is as good as it gets. Don't waste it.
Anyway, today I decided to wear it, and that nice leather smell just took me right back to high school. Did you know that scent is the strongest sense linked to memory? It's proven. (I learned all about it in my Psych 111 class, I didn't just hear about it from that Old Spice commercial.)
It just got me thinking about how easily things in life can change. In an instant, things you never thought would or could change are gone and you're left to make the adjustment. They hand you that diploma and you're done. Someone makes a decision, someone goes away, someone shows up. Everything is different from then on, and there's nothing you can do but adapt.
(An interesting story: we went on a church trip once and my parents made us play this game they called "Adapt" in which Jimmy and I "adapted" to whatever anyone else wanted to do. Parents, I HATED that game. But, I would like to think that I am not bad at it as a result of that gruelling game of it which lasted for a week.)
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that nothing is permanent; no state of affairs, no emotion, no nothing. Enjoy the good things and trust that the bad things will eventually go away. Maybe this is as good as it gets. Don't waste it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)