I'm baaack....

So didja miss me or what? I definitely missed the 'puter. I went from Monday to today without even touching a piece of machinery with internet capability. But I broke down in the car and used ma's cell phone. I have arrived home since then, and am now using a computer with a FULL SIZED KEYBOARD! typing with my thumbs just didn't cut it. But it's amazing the things that you miss out on while cut off from your main source of communication. Like my friend went to the hospital with some mystery disease (she still hasn't emailed me back about WHAT exactly it was). Aparently that happened some time Monday after she left 3rd period. Go figure. The moral of this particular story is that I never want to be seperated from my loved ones again.

Don't go getting a big head. I'm talking about the computer. lol.

Anyway, had a pretty eventful Thanksgiving week. We met up with the Bartons at meeting Sunday evening and went to supper with them and pretty much everyone else there. (This was after I almost ran my mother's car into a tree stump backing out of my parking spot. Have you noticed she's been getting a little twitchy lately?) While there, we (meaning Sierra and me) plotted to kidnap me so i could go with them Tuesday instead of waiting until Wednesday. It definitely worked, but on the way up there, we overshot Oregon a little bit, and ended up in Washington. Lol...we had to drop off Allyson's boss's car, so the three of us made the trip and stayed there over night. During our stay I discovered the stupidity of drinking a full bottle of sparkling cider on your own. The reason being, any fizz that you don't burp back up...well, it's a killer stomach ache. Just trust me, and don't do it. Anyway, we got back just in time for the whole Turkey Day meal.

Turned out that those cousins of mine have some pretty strange traditions. One of them being their habit of dressing up for Thanksgiving dinner. But not really dressing up like you're prolly thinking. We went and dug through the attic, and I came downstairs wearing some sort of fairy dress and a wig made of red yarn that resembled some sort of Raggedy Anne doll with a really bad haircut. Pictures of that incident have been confiscated for everyone's safety...if you saw them, I'd have to kill you. Sorry. That's just how it is. =)

We all had a great time tho, playing a new credit card version of Life...lotsa fun. Headed home Sunday morning. Definitely an awesome Thanksgiving.

I've got some problems. I just finished packing for tomorrow's trip...we're gonna be gone until Sunday, so that generally means 6 outfits. Except in my case, I like to over do it a little and pack a couple extra outfits. I didn't this time, 'cause I only have a suitcase about half the size of the one(s) i had for spring break to fit the same amount of stuff into. Kinda stinks, but there wasn't much I could do about it, except to not pack as many outfits.

You'd think that would've helped.

But no.

I still had to wrestle the thing closed. And I'd like to point out that I'm only taking 3 pairs of shoes.

If you're Sierra, you'd prolly know how much I'm downsizing. It kills me. But I'm making the sacrifice.

Of course, that's just my suitcase.

Then there's my bag of crocheting stuff, which is quite monstrous. Joyful.

News Flash

My religion has doubled in population since the last time I said anything about it. I now have 8 followers.

I feel pretty special.

Miners vs Bulldogs (I think...)

That was the football game last night. The second one I've gone to this year, and the third one ever. Kinda sad. But who cares.

Anyway, at lunch on the big screen in the cafeteria they played clips of last Friday's game. Laura and I very much enjoyed sitting and laughing at all the guys as they got tackled again and again in slow mo. After that was over another clip was played of this guy walking around campus asking random kids if they knew what the Vaccaville mascot was. Some of the answers were:

The Vaccaville Vacuums (Thank you Tyler)
The Whales
The Cows
The Flamingos

There were some others too, but they were all really generic. But apparently they were the Bulldogs (which, btw, is the most commonly used mascot in the US. You just learned something!) So anyway, that entertained us too.

The game itself was a lot of fun. I got to know some more choir people, which is always a good thing...there may be a ton of people in choir, but if you don't know any of them it doesn't do you much good. So I hung around with Chelsea and Larissa and Adam and Ryan until the guys had to go off and sing the National Anthem. When they got back, me, Chelsea and Adam went off to find a seat and accidentally ditched Ryan. (We didn't realize he wasn't following us and by the time we did he was waaay behind us. We didn't see him again for the rest of the game. He's prolly gonna give me grief for that in Chem on Monday.) We ended up grabbing a bench on the visitor's side, which was fine by me. I think Adam got a little embarrassed when Chelsea and I started the "Oooh aah, you wish you were a Miner" chant all on our lonesome. In defense, it wasn't our fault that we were the only ones cheering...

Then Larissa showed up, and Christine, and a girl named Sarah with too much energy, and her friend, who's in choir as well, but her name isn't really coming to mind. It doesn't really matter tho. The more people we had there, the warmer we got, so there were no complaints anywhere. Well, except from Adam. I had lent him my blanket 'cause he was cold, but all he did was wrap it around his hands, hunch over and say "I'm freezing!". I suggested he use his pockets, but he seemed to think that that might ruin his dignity or something. Go figure.

The people who sat in front of us were pretty entertaining too. This one fat guy was sitting right in front of me, and since those benches were pretty skinny, you can guess that half of his flab was hanging over on my side of the bench. That made it kinda hard to move without jabbing my knees into his back, so i tried to keep movement to a minimum. After a while, tho, he started leaning against mine and Sarah's knees. After seeing if she noticed it too (she did), I leaned forward, tapped on the guy's shoulder and said "Excuse me sir, you're invading my bubble". So he said something along the lines of "Well you keep moving around back there...could you scoot back at all?" (except not that politely). As if we hadn't already tried. Apparently he didn't notice that we had people behind us in the same situation. Except we weren't fat! Blame officially lands on his shoulders. Heaven knows they're big enough to handle it!

Anyway, that was most of the game excitement. Except Adam had this ring with PMC written on it, and after a little while of trying to guess what it meant, we asked him. And he wouldn't tell us! So we spent quite a while on it. Didn't get it, but over obsessive freak that I am, I looked it up today, using the hints he had given us. The P is an adjective, and ends with a T, and the M and C both end with R. The only answer that fit was Past Master Councilor. I can't wait to see if I'm right. 'cause it's been driving me completely crazy!

Ladeda

Well, dad's officially home from his train trip. We went to his place a little early because of that, so we left ma's Friday after school. Spent a lovely Saturday doing nothing (that's actually what made it lovely). Dad asked me Sat night if I'd drive him to Santa Rosa Sunday to take pics of some houses (the life of a real estate agent isn't all too glamorous), 'cause he wasn't feeling good. I wasn't feeling to bad about not going until he mentioned that he'd pay me for it.

Oh dear, you poor thing....can I get you some asprin to take care of that cold?

So ya, I drove down to Santa Rosa Sunday morning. Pulled into the Burger King parking lot around 10, and went in to eat breakfast. We came back out half an hour later, only to realize that the car wouldn't start. Joyful. The rest of the day went as follows.

10:30- car wouldn't start. Dad begins pondering just what can be done to remedy the situation.

10:40- after walking around the parking lot looking for a place that sold car batteries, we run into a guy at an oil changing place that offered to give us a jump.

11:00- After many failed attempts at jumping it, the guy gives up and leaves.

11:05- an older guy from BK who had been watching our futile attempts to jump the car from the battery in the trunk (BMW's are odd cars), he informs us that you can also jump it from the front and we might have more luck that way.

11:15- Guy from the oil place comes back, having figured out the same thing that had just come to our attention. He attempts to give us another jump, but of course it doesn't work.

11:30- Guy gives up again, and leaves. Dad is on the phone for most of the duration with Carol, trying to figure out plan A's and B's and C's...

11:45- Dad calls a taxi to take us to a Kragen store down the road a couple miles.

11:55- taxi shows up.

12:10- We get to Kragen...I'm pretty sure that the driver took the long way around, to tell the truth.

12:20- We walk out of the store with a new battery and head back to BK.

12:40- Dad plugs in the new battery, and I try to turn the car on, but still no dice. Dad gives in and calls a tow truck. He is told it will take about 45 minutes.

1:30- Dad gets a call that the company has just found a tow truck to send for us. It'll be there in about 45 minutes.

2:15- Tow truck finally shows up and loads up the car to take us to the BMW dealership which is the only place that can work on it.

2:30- We get to the BMW place and hang around for a bit while dad fills out the form and drops off the keys and calls (yet another) taxi.

2:45- A turquoise Scion (the toaster car) pulls into the parking lot, and we're pretty surprised to realize it's our taxi.

3:00- We are checked into a hotel just a few minutes away, within walking distance of a few stores and a couple fast food restaurants. And there's officially nothing more to do.

We just bummed around for the rest of the day. I pretty much reached my all time high of movies watched in one day.

Anyway, we got a rental the next day and went around to go take pictures of those blasted houses. Got done 'round five ish and headed back home.

Yesterday was our Nevada County Choir Festival thing...We had our Concert choir, all of Bear River's choirs, and the choirs from the junior highs in the area. It wasn't very enjoyable on my part to have to listen to Bear River sing like the little kids...I mean, cute little kids singing all squealy is kinda cute, but once you pass about 6th grade, it's just not appealing. Aaaand that's all I'm gonna say 'bout that.

And today was Wednesday...a collab day, meaning we got to start at 8:20 instead of 7:25. It's good stuff. I got to go to school late. It was wonderful. But not really worth it. Collab days are kinda fun to get there on time and just hang around with friends for an hour before school. And, of course, finish unfinished homework...

Well I'm off. Apparently blogs have been stocking themselves up for me to read. I've gotta see if I can catch up on all of 'em.

Livin' on the edge

I have officially done something illegal. I drove without taking the driving lessons that actually validate my permit. Got to drive the whole two miles to meeting, then to Auburn (where we went shopping...woot!), then home from gosple meeting. I'm proud to say that I didn't hit a thing. =) Aren't you proud of me? I am.

Anyway, I woke up at 7:30 this morning, after dreaming that I was actually going to go to Ireland...Realized that I really really want to go, no matter how sure I am that it's not going to happen. I'll just make my friends take a whole bunch of pictures and stuff, I guess. So I got up and worked on Sierra's blanket for quite a while (looks awesome so far, btw) and got ready for meeting around 9 or so. We left at quarter after ten...meeting lasted half an hour.

Dropped off an older lady at her house, rather than make her son come out to get her, stopped by home for lunch, and set out again for Auburn where we ran by Styles For Less looking for some clothes for Steph. She walked out with a very cute dress and a jacket. I held two bags containing two sweaters, two tank tops, a pair of boots, a duster, and a pair of jeans. So we tried Ross. She managed to find a pair of jeans, two dresses and a sweater. I got two more dresses and a t-shirt. I almost got two t-shirts, but decided that I should restrain myself a little bit. It was a whole bunch of fun.

Gosple meeting was great. John Vandenburg showed up for some reason and spoke for the second half of the meeting. I love how he speaks. I could honestly listen to him for hours. I was pretty disappointed when we had to walk out of there. Except that I got to drive. That made it a little better.

Anyway, Laura's coming over tomorrow. Pretty excited. I asked ma if she could bring her bro too, but she vetoed that. I think she got the idea that things would be exciting enough with just the two of us. Anyway, we're gonna make cookies and cinnamon rolls. If we have time, maybe danishes. I dunno. They take time.

Found a new book recently, reviewed by the Barton clan...called Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl. Good book. Read it now. =)

List

This is mom's fault. She told me to. And good little girl that I am, I couldn't refuse. =) (did I get any brownie points there ma?)


My Favorite Things

-Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens (You saw that coming right?)
-Finding things that have been lost for ages (such as money, certain David Lanz books, and articles of clothing)
-Getting comments on my blog
-People asking me to sit by them on the bus (yes I know that sounds conceited, but it makes me feel special, so get over it =P)
-Staying home all day with nothing to do and planning out exactly what you're NOT gonna do all day.
-Doing unexpected things for people
-Heated mattress pads (aMAZing)
-Rain
-Walking in the rain
-Getting to wear my cute "cold weather" outfits when it's raining. =)
-Chinese food
-Talking about nothing with people who don't care that you're talking about nothing (that would be why Sierra and I have hour long conversations...)
-Getting messages in my Truth Box on MySpace
-Actually being witty once in a while (doesn't happen much)
-Finding a really good sale on clothes that are actually worth buying
-Getting my homework done on a day that it actually gets checked (which isn't very often...kinda makes me wonder why I do homework at all, honestly)
-Going to tons and tons of conventions every year (I made it to five this year, plus 3 special meetings in a row! I'm pretty much saint-like as of now)


Methinks that's it. Happy ma? =)

Just call me gimpy.

Thursday we did all sorts of aerobic-y stuff in aerobics...including weights and all that jazz. I woke up yesterday fully expecting to be sore, but myuch to my surprise, I wasn't. Then, later in that very same day, we played wiffle ball. A game in which I squng a plastic bat about 4 times, and ran through the bases once. Well this morning, I woke up and I'm definitely incredibly sore. Apparently my body hasn't realized that it was supposed to be sore YESterday. It's just a little behind I guess.

Anyway, today was the first day of our four-day weekend. I still haven't changed out of my PJs, and I honestly don't intend to until tomorrow morning when I actually have to. I spent the majority of my day sitting in a recliner crocheting. I managed to get a ton done, but seeing as this particular project was supposed to be a birthday present from back in August, I can't really feel good about that...it's already waaay late. But it looks really really really cool so far. I shall post a pic of it when I'm finished. I highly recommend looking forward to that...it shall be a momentous occasion. =)

Elections

I promise, I'm not turning into one of those people who rant and rave about anything Obama/McCain, but there have been some things that just bugged me.

So I was checking my MySpace, since I have extra time this morning (yay for collaboration days!)and I was reading through the bulletins from yesterday that were posted after I went to bed, and, I kid you not, 80% of them were related to Obama's win. Some people were moaning and groaning about it, and others, well, you can guess that there was a little bit of gloating...

So I almost posted a bulletin telling 'em all to "shuddup", but I figured it would be safer to do it on here, where only a fraction of them will actually be able to read it.

Yup, I can definitely claim to a few common sense genes. Once in a while.

So as for my "Shuddup" rant, here goes.

Yes, Obama won. McCain lovers, stop whining. There's nothing you can do about it now. (There never really WAS anything to do about it, actually. It's not like you could run in and change all the votes around...) Obama people, yes, your guy won. Have your little moment of victory and then (ahem) "shuddup"! I am thoroughly fed up with listening to everyone's different views on everything, especially when those views are apparently the only thing that's even worth listening to, according to the mouth that's spewing them out at a rapid pace. Granted, there are a couple people who I actually enjoy talking with about this kind of thing, but they're few and far between, so I'd much rather just not. So McCain's old. Who cares? That means he's got more all-around experience than a lot of people. Obama's a smooth talker. Whether or not that's a good thing, we'll just have to wait and see, don'tcha think?

There's no point in fretting about what's gonna happen with Obama in the White House. What will happen, will happen, and there's nothing we do that's going to change the decisions he makes. So then what if he ends up like Bush? With people hating him for a decision we all thought was good in the first place but ended up not as beneficial as we thought? Everyone will automatically forget that it was them that voted him into office and that they all worshipped the ground he walked on while he was running (no pun intended).

Anyway, we'll just see what happens.

(How's that for anti-climatic?)

Some days are stupid days

If only for the reason that I myself act stupidly. And today was one of those days. But oddly enough, I was only completely stupid once. But I've been thinking about how stupid of a stupid moment it was.

Anyway, I blame it on the fact that I didn't dress down for P.E. I met up with Joe (the only guy currently enrolled in 6th period Aerobics) as he came out of choir, and we walked to the girl's locker room, where I ran inside to ask Rhoden where we were going that day. (The wrestling gym where we normally go is being taken over by Freshmen for the time being. psh) Turned out, it was in the gym right next to the locker room, so I went out and informed Joe, and we very joyously walked the ten feet to the door (neither of us had been looking forward to going to the Ali Gym much). It was locked, so we stood outside and talked a bit, and then, he had to go and ask for my number. And, wuss that I am, I couldn't even come up with a good excuse NOT to give it to him! (I almost claimed to have forgotten, but again, I'm a wuss. I just can't do that to people. Gah.) So I typed it into his phone and, as is courtesy, gave him my phone to do the same. But I'm kinda thinking he got the wrong idea. So now I feel bad.

Anyway, aside from that, I had a pretty good day. Sat next to Kevin upon his request on the way home. It was a rare occurance...normally I sit with Laura, who happens to be his sis. I kinda blew up at a guy who sat behind us who kept messing with Kevin (he may be a Freshman, but he's MY freshman! lol). I almost called him a pedofile but settled for homo. He's just a creepy dude. And then Kevin asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I realized that I have no idea. I think I might just tell people (at school anyway) to make me cards. I feel bad getting Christmas presents from people I'm not related to.

Anyway, I got home and messed around on the puter for a bit. Showed Laura some really funny Jeff Foxworthy clips. And Achmed. It amazes me how many people haven't heard of him! And now I'm writing this. So I'm gonna head now. But you gotta watch this clip. It's pretty much hysterical.