Weekend in Oregon

I didn't realize how much I missed all my weekend trips to Oregon. But I did. Tremendously. Anyway, I went up this last weekend for Grampa/Uncle Lester's funeral. We left Saturday morning around nine, and got there just in time to go see the play of Cinderella at the highschool. It was pretty amusing. Even when it wasn't supposed to be. Wouldn't you know it, I got to sit next to Allyson, who knew all the songs and lines, and started singing along. And then I realized that Prince Christopher was actually played by a guy named Caleb that I had heard a lot about from a certain cousin of mine...Anyway, he wasn't the best actor in the world. Or kisser...we could tell from the audience that when he kissed poor Cinderella that she was trying her hardest not to gag. (I found out later that Caleb had asked out Cinderella a couple months earlier, and now every time they went through the play, it was incredibly awkward for both of them...I'm guessing she turned him down AFter the first time they ran through the kissing scene...) My favorite part of the whole play though, was when they were trying on the slipper. The stewards went around to each girl, and two of them would kneel so she could sit on their knees while she tried on the shoe. Anyway, after the last girl went and ran off crying, this gay guy came up, plopped himself down and offered his foot. When the steward refused to let him try it on, the gay guy got this "Oh no you di-in't!" look on his face and started chasing the poor steward down the aisle.

Totally made my day.

Anyway, Sunday was meeting...of course. We went to Gramma Van's afterward and pretty much had a family reunion. I didn't know any of them, so I literally sat in a corner and did a puzzle. Puzzles infuriate me, though, because the edge pieces have this really annoying habit of not showing up when you want them!

Monday was the funeral, and there pretty much weren't too many dry eyes in the place. We even had the funeral hostess crying, which I thought was pretty impressive. One of Lester's garbage trucks followed us to the burial. The burial got over just in time, because it started dumping buckets as everyone was heading to their cars. We headed home around two, and got back to Loomis by 11:30. When we got home, I decided that there was no way I was going to go to school today, because I was so tired. So I packed instead. It was pretty productive. I got all my stuff in my room packed up. Three boxes. =)

Day one of the four day weekend. I've been looking forward to this since the last break lol. Not sure when that was though. And it has been completely uneventful. Thursday was kinda interesting though. I took cookies again, and they were a hit, even though they were a little overcooked. I got quite a few over-enthusiastic hugs and a request for the recipe...as well as things like "I gave my cookie to [insert name]...can I have another?". Giving away cookies amuses me. Chelsea came up to me afterwards and told me to open a cookie shop called Kara's Cookies. If I could make money at this, it'd be even cooler lol.

Today Steph went to work with dad...so she set her stinking alarm clock for seven. So I got to get up then too. I tried to take a nap earlier, but it didn't work out too well. I might just go to bed early tonight, seeing as I have absolutely nothing else to do. Except crochet. And watch movies. And listen to the rain. Hmm.

Going to Don's tomorrow to see his new litter of puppies. He now has 22 dogs. A little outrageous if you ask me. But still pretty cute. =) After that I'm going to go sing at the county talent show with the choir. Should be pretty fun. My choir dress needs to be used a little more anyway.

Just a little awesome thing...

So this morning I printed off the outline for the history chapter I was supposed to have read over the week...that was pretty hard to do, though, considering the book was at dad's. Anyway, I read the outline first period while waiting for the water to boil (we were doing a lab in Chem). Took the test second period and definitely got a 23 out of 25.

Booyah.

Go me. I totally kicked some serious booty.

Took cookies to school today. About 4 dozen. Maybe more. Either way there were two large tupperware things full. The first one was annihilated by third period. I gave Baggett and Linda the last four of the first then grabbed the second one for choir. It was definitely gone within 10 minutes. It was a lot of fun getting rid of them though. A friend of mine was on the other side of the room and told me just to throw one at him. So I did. And it got intercepted and landed on the floor. So I threw another six...all of which got snatched. It was really amusing though because the first cookie that hit the ground got picked up by someone else and thrown back at my friend from about a foot away...hit him in the forehead.

These are the things that happen in choir lol. I think I'm gonna make Friday cookie day from now on. This is just too fun.

Just got back from babysitting for Mrs. Muir. She had an after school class at Union Hill, so I watched her kids while she taught. The class ran over a tad...like half an hour. And I'm officially seven dollars richer. I'm apparently going to get the rest when I babysit for her again. But who knows when that will be, so I'm prolly just gonna stay with the seven bucks lol.

I'm off.

I've been hit!

Just tagged, actually. The whole picture thing.

Rules are...

Take the fourth pic from the fourth folder in your picture file and tell everyone about it...then tag four people.

so here it is



MLK weekend, pre-ski trip. Brandon and two other guys (don't know their names) showing everyone just how bored they were.

Mmk, I guess I can't tag sierra again, so let's try Lizzie, Kirstyn, Frank and Allyson.

And in case anyone cares, I've got a pretty good callus going on my finger from playing cello. Stupid thing. It's wounding me. bah. lol.

25 things...part 2

So I decided that these things were actually really fun. So this one may not actually be just 25 things...don't be surprised if it stretches itself out a little bit.

and maybe I'll just start writing at 26.

so...

26)I actually sort of like classical music. Once in a very great while.

27)I love organizing things (like my closet...repeatedly), but they never stay organized, because I'm too lazy to put things back in their spots.

28)I only write with pens. Unless I'm taking a test that will require lots of erasing.

29)Chinese food is amazing. Especially Asian Garden. But all you poor out of state people don't really know that lol.

30)I have shirts in my drawer that have never been worn in public, but I refuse to give them up on the off chance that I MIGHT wear them some day.

31)The librarian at school actually kinda scares me.

32)The last time I took an IQ test (about two years ago) my IQ was 118...a little less than the average Phillipino's.

33)I have had up to 18 people online at once, and still had no one to talk to.

34)Emptying out my inbox from all the FaceBook stuff is kinda annoying, but having all that mail actually makes me feel loved lol.

35)My favorite kind of food is anything that you can make in the microwave.

36)I have been reading the Host since about October. 600 page book and I'm still not done. It's sad, I know.

37)Out of the batch of cookies I took to school yesterday, I had a grand total of one and a half. Stephanie, you are no longer allowed to complain. You had five.

38)I can't stand looking at anybody's cuts...the blood grosses me out. But defrosting a hunk of bloody meat is fine for some reason.

39)I still haven't gotten any better at Solitaire. I'm pretty much a failure.

40)I very much enjoy being a "manly alto", thank you.

41)Even on my frumpy days, it still bothers me that my shoes are brown plaid and my shirt is blue and stripey. I think Kirstyn needs to get out of my head lol.

42)Spagetti+Ketchup=Heaven

43)I straighten my hair occasionally even though it's pretty much straight.

44)I am always out of the loop. When talking to me, just keep in mind that I most likely don't know who or what you're talking about.

45)I mix my instant oatmeal flavors. Strawberry and peach together are awesome.

46)I haven't caught up on sleep since Montana. It explains the zombie-like look I've worn on occasion.

47)I burst into song randomly, and I like to see how many times I can change keys before someone gets mad at me.

48)Wierd conversations follow me around. Doesn't matter if I'm not talking...if I'm there, someone will be talking about something wierd.

49)People that try to convince me to do something that's against one of my many morals just drive me nuts. Especially if they think that they can actually win. Pa-ha. I beg to differ.

50)I don't like being serious very often.

51)I don't eat leftovers. Spagetti is the only exception.

52)When I was younger, I used to walk around on the backs of my toes. Try it sometime. Just not on a hard surface. It hurts like everything.

53)At my last count, I had 20 jeanskirts and 25 pairs of shoes. Of those, I wear about 7 of the skirts, and three or four pairs of shoes.

54)I will turn sixteen while all my choir buds are in Ireland.

55)Rain is amazing, but snow is guaranteed to make my day bad.

56)I have no interest in four-year colleges. I'm going to invest my time in a JC, and get a two year degree.

57)Even though I'm not exactly a "rebellious teenager", I still love to turn my music up so loud that the speakers actually start moving.

58)Obama worries me.

59)I only drink milk with cookies, brownies and mac'n'cheese.

60)I have no earthly idea how long my hair is...I only know that it goes to a little below my waist.

61)I'm currently following 13 blogs, including one of a woman in England who has no idea who I am. It definitely keeps me busy.

62)I think schools should have a designated nap time.

Just a little thought.

Spagetti.

Amazing stuff.

But only if it's made right. Sauce that's only on top is just wrong. I kid you not. It tastes way wrong.

So sauce mixed in. Keep that in mind.

With ketchup on top. Gotta have the ketchup. Along with the face parmesean to go on top. Together, you can make your spagetti as dry or soupy as you want it.

So add ketchup and fake parmesean as desired.

But then there's always that problem of your mouth turning orange because of the sauce and/or ketchup.

So keep a stack of napkins on hand. Good things.


Anyway, that just sums up into "Spagetti is awesome if it's prepared correctly."

That, ladies and gents is the truth. And the thought for the day.

Blogging to avoid boredom

But it'll catch up with me anyway.

So today was perfectly boring. No one (quite literally) was in class 6th period...except me. So I actually worked on that 300 word essay (pretty lame length for an essay...more of a note if you ask me) and of course I finished it. I think it's pretty cool. It's about Mrs. Mc...pretty much the all in one teacher...taught second, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth. Pretty impressive.

So hmm...had a test today in math. The last question I most definitely got wrong. The rest I did okay on.

Nothing exciting in choir today for some reason.

Had to write a timed essay in History today about the changes that were made in Europe due to the Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution. You'd think that since we've been studying that particular period for about a month now, I'd know what in the world I was talking about. But since I generally don't study, I didn't know what I was talking about so I just fudged my way through it. I hope he gives me extra points for having all five paragraphs and using some sources too. I thought I did pretty good for not having a book, or notes, or enough time. I needed someone to reattatch my arm after it fell off though.

Not pleasant.

There was Hawaiian pizza today for lunch. Made my day.

Dad woke up late this morning...also made my day, because I thought I would get to miss the bus and be driven to school. But no, dad drove like a maniac, and even though we left five minutes late, we got there two minutes early. Lame-o.

I have just realized that I wrote this blog backwards. Generally, days start with the waking up and END in math. I guess I'm just a little off my rocker.

lol...Forget that. The whole rocker just flipped over!

25 completely random things about me

I would honestly love to know where this thing started but it's currently all over FaceBook, and since I recently acquired one, well, I was exposed. So here goes...

25 Things About Me

1. I generally drink my drinks without ice, because it gets in the way and makes my teeth cold. The only exception is when then drink I'm drinking is supposed to be cold and isn't.

2. I think people should come with blinkers. And they should use them while walking down the sidewalk at school.

3. I hardly ever eat breakfast, and when I do, its generally just a bag of chips from the vending machine. Harvest Cheddar Sunchips. =)

4. FaceBook scares me.

5. I don't like practicing things unless I'm already good at them. Slightly ironic, I know, but that's why I won't be good at cello for quite a while.

6. I have never used my cell phone to make more than a 5 minute call. I text.

7. Nicknames are, for the most part, strictly forbidden. This includes Carrot Soup. And Wench, unless you happen to be Shawna whereupon it will only be allowed once in a very great while.

8. I sleep under about 5 blankets no matter how hot it is outside, just because I like the weight of them. My bed also has 5 pillows on it, just because I like them there. I only use one at a time.

9. My life revolves around my ability to procrastinate.

10. I eat ranch on everything except salads. Salads require Thousand Island.

11. I sleep more than is probably healthy. There have been weekends where I was asleep more than I was awake. Then going back to school the next week, I would indulge in several naps. I think I must be a teenager.

12. I tend to scare my mother with my driving. I blame the older two sisters that wore down her courage while they were learning to drive.

13. Even with a 3" binder full of music, I often run out of stuff to play, because I get tired of it really fast.

14. I can't cook. I have ruined Mac'n'cheese. And once I put a bowl of Ramen in the microwave without water. But I make cookies. And brownies from a box. =)

15. I got an A in AP World last symester even though I got D's on virtually every test.

16. Vanilla ice cream is da bomb.

17. I know about 20 people in the choir of 100+ kids. And I see them every day. Maybe I'm just not social.

18. I could live on Crunchwraps. With no tomato or sour cream, add extra nacho cheese. Amazing stuff.

19. I dress to match my backpack. But only occasionally.

20. The chickens we had when was little scared the bejeebers out of me.

21. I considered many times running away and living in the pasture. In a fully furnished tree house that I would build myself, of course.

22. I'm world class when it comes to losing card games, especially to people that I've just taught the game to.

23. Taking off my sweatshirt is often just too big of a hassle, so you will often see me walking around with it on in 80+ degree weather.

24. I post too many survey/quiz things on MySpace. But most of you already know that.

25. Jumping out at people from behind corners is one of the many things I do to keep myself entertained.

Anyway, that's my list.

And a funny story...So I went to go get breakfast this morning (from the vending machine...duh...didn't you read number 3?). I dropped in my dollar twenny-five and punched in the letter number combo for my bag of chips. Now let me tell you something about these school vending machines. No matter how badly you want what you have just paid for, the thing won't always give it to you. And it mocks you too. Sometimes it'll drop whatever you wanted, let it fall for half a second, and then, somehow, trap it, in such a way that there is no real possible way to get it out.

You can guess what happened to me.

I spent a good five minutes alternately ramming the thing trying to get the bag dislodged and sitting on the floor trying to reach far enough into the thing that I could turn the bag just enough to let it fall down. Laura, meanwhile, stood there and laughed at me. The sad thing was, I could actually touch the bag, but i couldn't get a grip on it to turn it around. A couple of people came along trying to get stuff out of it, and they very nicely coordinated their purchase so that they got something directly above my bag of chips in an effort to knock it down. But no. Neither the gummy bears or the rice crispy thing worked, although the gummy bears got stuck for a second on TOP of my bag. Anyway, the girl who got the rice crispy thing gave it to me because she apparently didn't even want it, so my breakfast this morning was actually cereal. In a marshmallow-y form. Pretty tasty. =)

Another school day...

Except it was a little interesting. It rained for one, and I'm pretty sure that everyone reading this is well aware of my shoe situation. If not, let it simply be said that though I own 20 some pairs of shoes, not one of them is waterproof.

So needless to say, I walked to school in the rain, and my feet were soaked through by the time the bus pulled up. And today was the one day I wished that the classes were longer. I would almost be dryed out and thawed by the end of the class, and then have to go walk in the rain again. Love rain, hate being wet. Especially when my jeans figured out a way to soak themselves six inches up my legs. How in the world...?

We had a course preview day today...something that only happens once a year, which in itself makes it a special day, but really, it was especially special because the periods were shorter. Between second and third period we all got to go around to different classes and preview the electives that would be given next year. So I went and sat in the choir room and listened to Baggett's speel about how cool choir was...except he was really just preaching to the choir...'cause all the kids in there the first session were choir kids. Yup. I'm the master of puns, are I not? So then Chamber did their bit and sang some of their songs. Three of them were ones that Kirstyn sang while in choir eons ago. So I sang along a little. We even got to hear the fruitcake song again, which was the highlight of my day. Someone, who shall remain nameless (but if you've read many of my past blogs you'll realize this is another you-know-who story), thought that since this was the last time they would have to sing the song, he would screw with it...just a little bit. So when they sang the part about fruitcake, he yelled it. And when the tenors started rapping...so did he. I was muchly amused.

Sixth period, my good buddy Brittney noticed just how soaked my shoes were, so she insisted she find a way to dry them over the little portable heater in McD's office. I warned her that they would stink to high heaven, but she just replied that she couldn't smell anything. So she grabbed my umbrella, wrapped a couple rubber bands around it and attatched those to the buckles on my shoes, and propped it in between a trash can and the computer modem. It worked pretty well, in both drying out my shoes and smelling up the place. Brittney left after a while, leaving me and poor Jake (who was trying to sleep) to smell the horrer of the shoes. She left the office door open when she left, too, becuase the class was out at the comp lab, leaving no reason to close it. When the bell rang, two TA's walked in as I was going out and definitely started gagging. I left lickety split. Yup. That was my sixth period excitement.

Seventh period...math...we're working on this math problem that's taking absolutely forEVER, because no one in my group (including me) knows how to do it. We got a fair amount of help from Bishop yesterday, and got part A done, but we ran into another wall of ignorance on part B today, and couldn't do squat with it without more help. So we raised our hands and hoped that Bishop wouldn't be too busy answering other people's questions. He doesn't seem to realize that his priorities SHOUld lie with us...Anyway. So after 10 minutes of watching him just walk past us to talk to other people, we decided that the best way to get his attention would be to pull out my deck of cards and start playing palace. This, without fail, manages to draw him over like a moth to a flame. Usually, he likes to pretend to take them away from us unless we get some work done, so we haggle with him (i.e. two problems and then back to the cards), and then realize that there isn't enough time to DO two problems anyway, so we're sunk. That's usually. Today, he didn't even look at us once! Even when we started using our telepathic persuasion-y powers to make him look in our direction. He finally saw us about five minutes before class ended.

Well, I did get a little done, anyway. I managed to lose two games of palace within fifteen minutes and get really annoyed with Patty for B.S.ing every single card when we played BS.

So I was kinda sorta productive...

ish.

mmk...gonna go check the brownies now.

ta

No More Funny Stories...Yet.

Back to school tomorrow, so there will undoubtedly be more.

Anywho...

Got back from the ski thing yesterday night. It was actually pretty fun. Friday night was hosted at the senior Nelsons...that would be Dan's parents...Hannah and Brady's grand's. Food consisted of taco salad or wetbacks or something like that. It was really good. Us kids kept ourselves entertained by thinking of games to play that involved a lot of noise. Taylor and Blake (quote) "tickled the ivories" for a while after I got done playing the only two songs I've got memorized. Then everyone broke ranks and headed off to the gender-specific houses...meaning Nelson's for the girls and Bergh's for the guys. Some of the overflow went to the VDM's. Thankfully there wasn't much overflow this year...there were about 34 people there instead of 60 like last year.

Saturday morning everyone headed off to go skiing around 7:30. Me and Katie Evans waited behind for an hour or so to go with Karen, who was bringing food, because we weren't skiing anyway, so there was no point in going early. We got there around 10. Apparently the snow was more ice than anything else, so there were about 20 stretchers being hauled in behind snow mobiles. Only two of the casualties were ours...Brenda VanDenBerg and Julia something or another. Both with broken wrists. They got hauled off to the ER in their ski clothes and cardboard splints. There were about 8 other kids in the same condition ahead of them, so they were gone for quite a few hours. They even got to sign the wall of fame of people who broke their wrists while snowboarding.

We left around four and went to Berghs for the bonfire. That only lasted a few hours. Someone got the bright idea to head out for Little Caesar's where the pizza's are only $5 each. So they got fifteen. All but 3 disappeared completely, mostly thanks to some of the guys who decided to just take their own box. All that greasy cardboard fed the fire pretty well, though, when the wood ran out. I ended up going back up to the house a little early because my headache chose that moment to come back. But that's all right. I just sat on the couch and petted the dog and listened to the adults talk.

Meeting Sunday morning was pretty monstrous. Again, not as big as last year's, but it still hit close to 60 people. And it was pretty teary for some reason. There was definitely a box of tissues being passed around.

Lunch was at the VDM's after meeting. Pasgetti and bread and salad. Good stuff. Then b-day cake for Joey. And ice cream.

Then whoever hadn't left at that point went of to gosple meeting. It was Dan's last meeting...I have no idea why, but he's going to North LA and we're getting Dale Schultz. I'm kinda bummed. Dan was really cool. I guess we'll see him again at conventions. Which start in May!! I'm pretty excited.

Arright...well I guess that's it for the weekend. Today wasn't all that exciting. I swept and mopped the floor, straightened the cook books, and then we went and saw Bride Wars. It was good but I still really wanna see Seven Pounds. Grocery shopping afterwards, during which I invested in a few new DVDs. And then I got a Crunchwrap. And now I'm home typing. And I think I'm done now. So ta.