Author: Kelly Page 4 of 8

On Thursday, I bought a hook, on Friday I taught myself how, on Saturday I practiced, and on Sunday I crocheted an adorable, tiny  amigurumi tiger!  According to Wikipedia, amigurumi is the Japanese art of knitting or crocheting stuffed dolls. Amigurumi can be as simple as This or This and as complex as This orThis. Simple or Difficult, the end result is always adorable!!! My modest little tiger is not quite finished yet as he doesn’t have any eyes or other facial features, but as soon as he does, I’ll take a picture and post it up!

I got the pattern from this really cool magazine that Dad got for me called Knit.1  It included an easy starting project for knitting lace that I want to do, and of course the 12 amigurumi zodiac animal patterns. 🙂  I am soooo excited about all my crafting! I have a blue and green scarf that’s almost done, 1/4 of a pair of purple fingerless gloves done, 9/10ths of the way done with an embroidered Betty Blonde napkin, a new fruit-themed napkin to embroider, TONS of amigurumi, Betty Blonde (of course) and maybe some knitted lace! Yay!

So on Thursday (maybe Friday) my neighbor friend Jenna came over in the afternoon and went with us to Christian’s guitar lesson.  We went to the Micheal’s that is right next door to the music store where Christian takes lessons, and looked at all the yarn. Jenna and I are crafting buddies now that she has learned to knit.  An added benefit of being her friend: someone gave her a huge box full of embroidery and cross stitch goodies and she is kind enough to share with me. 🙂  After that we all went to the gym. I usually do the ellyptical with mom, but this time Jenna and I walked around the track.  After that we went home and she and Christian and I all dissected the worm. Thankfully Jenna was brave enough to pull the worm out of the dead animal bag.  Unfortunately, all of the animals were placed in one big bag, with nothing separating them. 😛  We had SO much fun dissecting the worm though!!!  I was surprised! I thought I’d be really squeamish (and I was at first), but it was awesome.

Making the world a better place. That was the gist of Dad’s epiphany last night, and it sort of goes hand in hand with the whole narcissism thing.  We’re not here to help out ourselves! We’re here to help out other people!  Imagine that. 🙂

OK, so on a more self-centered note, I’ve been stressing out about my birthday lately. I am one of those people who enjoys stressing about things like birthday parties and get-togethers.  Every year around early February, I begin planning and worrying and such. Don’t worry! It’s a happy thing*.

Anyway, this year I’m really, really, really stressing out! Woot!  I have no clue what I want to do, but I made a list of options:

• Murder Mystery party. I’m thinking of making it a boy/girl party because I know a maximum of 5 girls who are at the appropriate age to enjoy this, and I need at least 8.  This option would be really fun if everything went off without a single hitch, but it rarely does.   There are a LOT of things to consider when doing it.
• Normal Party #1: Invite a bunch of kids over to play games and eat food and roast marshmallows and stuff.
• Normal Party # 2 Same as above, only with a theme
• Normal Party #3 Meet at a roller-skating rink or a bowling alley and then go home for dinner
• Sleepover : I’ve done this every single year since I was 10, and I want to do something different this year, but it works! So I just might do it. 
• Individual Thing: This is where I have just one person over and we do cool things all day then go out to dinner.
• Skyler Party: I had this friend named Skyler, who’s birthday was two days before mine. She would always wait 4 or 5 months before having her birthday party, so she could do it in the summer and take her friends to the pool.  It was a good plan.

Desicions, desicions.  I think that’s all that I’ve thought of. Does anyone know of any unique and fun party ideas? I’m running short.

*I am not speaking for the rest of my family here.  They don’t really understand what it’s like to be anal-retentive.

MOM FOUND MY KNITTING!!!! I’d been looking for it for the longest time! The half-finished scarf was stowed away in a plastic bag in a drawer somewhere, but the important thing is that she found it!!  I was totally blah on knitting for several weeks because I had spent a lot of time on that scarf, and it was very pretty, and I had no idea what else I wanted to knit.  But now I’m back!

Today I did something that I should have done a long time ago.  I got out my CLEP History book to read for twenty minutes, but then I remembered all those study books that Dad got.  Simply reading a book for twenty minutes is not the best way to retain information!  So I pulled out a notebook, pencil and highlighter, and flipped all the way back to Chapter 1.  I skimmed the chapter and wrote down all the treaties and amendments and such, and the dates that went along with them. I also wrote down two sentence summaries of the important events, a list of Resconstruction Era vocabulary words, a list of the presidents in office between 1865 and 1877, and two timelines.  All on one sheet of paper! After reviewing the sheet for a little while, I decided to try to do even better than that! I got out a stack of notecards and wrote down dates, vocabulary words, presidents, and amendments (and such) on the fronts of all of them, and then wrote down information on the backs. Instant flashcards! 

I feel like a genius. 🙂

A couple of days ago I finally finished Teaching Textbooks Geometry, and finally started Teaching Textbooks Pre-Calculus.  Phew!  Normally, I would not be jumping-up-and-down-excited over starting a new math book, but this time it was different.  All I can say is that Geometry is not Algebra. It does not give me the same comforting, logical feeling that Algebra does. And yes I know Geometry is very, very logical. It just doesn’t feel the same. Thankfully Pre-Calculus has a similar feel to Algebra.  It’s harder than I expected, but I am actually enjoying it and looking forward to doing it. I’m trying to not set my hopes up to high though. Every time I start a new math book, it seems pretty easy and obvious and straightforward in the beginning. And then by Lesson 15 I’m knee deep in corrections.  All a part of the learning process I suppose!

As you’ve probably already read, I got my ACT scores in. I am very happy with them, but I hope to do better next year, especially in the math department.  I think I will, because just yesterday I learned a very simple something in my Pre-Calculus that was on the test.  That was kinda frustrating, but there’s nothing I can really do about it but retain the information for next year’s ACT.

Yesterday night I was trying to think of a new plotline for next week’s Betty Blonde. I’ve found it’s much easier to do a plotline a week than just several gag strips by the way.  Longer plotlines (like Nosey-book) will last two weeks, and normal stories will last one, with the occasional gag strip to separate the storylines.  Anyway, I was thinking and thinking. Christian suggested doing one about Big Wilma’s hair. I liked that idea because I do feel like I need to develop Big Wilma more, but I honestly didn’t feel like drawing that one right then. Dad also suggested one about Betty Blonde taking a test, and I want to do that one too! Bu I couldn’t think of any good jokes for it.  So then Dad and I came up with a new idea. It has to do with music, it includes a side character that I’ve already used before, and I really like the entire story. I hope you all will too!

Being yourself is more easily said (or typed) than done.  I always believed that I was pretty good at being myself.  Or maybe I deluded myself into believing that I was pretty good at being myself.  Either way, being ‘me’ has proved to be not as straight-forward as I thought.  For example: I want people to like me.  Who honestly doesn’t?  So, when I’m talking to someone that I don’t know very well or haven’t talked with in a long time, I will begin to imitate them. I will mimic their way of speaking, I will use their slang, I will point out every little thing we have in common.  It’s always very awkward. And after the conversation is over, I will come out of my silly state of mind, psychoanalyze the conversation, and berate myself. I promise myself I will be real next time, so people will like me for who I am.  Like I wrote in the beginning of this paragraph, easier said than done. I also might go on and on about me and my life and how wonderful I am.  I know that’s got to be grating to all but the most patient and kind-hearted of people. Truth be told, it’s a sad cycle.

What about group situations? There I have a totally different problem.  I still want other people to like me, but it’s harder to act like just one person because (obviously) it’s a group.  So now I will tug and pull and push and shove the spotlight in my direction, until I am standing right in the center of it.  And then I’ll put on a ridiculous show.  But I’m working on it!  It’s the sort of thing that requires the help of God and a personal choice I suppose.

Oh the insecurities!

Thank goodness some people do see past that. And I know it’s not always as bad as I say it is. Otherwise I wouldn’t have all the lovely friends I have now. I do not know why they’ve stuck with me, but I am very glad that they have. 🙂

My ACT essay is on Saturday and I’m afraid I am feeling quite unprepared.  Today I spent a good chunk of the afternoon reading and re-reading the big fat ACT prep book and taking a couple of the sample tests. Right after this post I’m going to write down another practice essay.  I have also been reviewing the relevant chapters in all four books on studying and test taking that Dad got. All of the books are different, but they do agree on one thing.

Cramming is a no-no.

So apparently I’m doomed.  Therefore I’m telling myself that I should just plunge into it Betty Blonde style with a smile on my face, a Black Warrior #2 pencil in my hand, and a song of hope in my heart. Easier said than done. In reality I feel like I’m wading barefoot into a dragon infested swamp with only a 10 year old calculator and a fading memory of pre-algebra and elementary grammar to help me pull through. Bleh.

In other, happier news, this one book that Dad bought, How to Become a Straight A Student (I forget, do you italicize, underline, or quote book titles?) by Cal Newport, is really interesting and fun to read.  Basically it’s about the title.  It tells you how to schedule your day, find good places to study, write a really good reasearch paper, and it gives you lots of tips on making good use of your worktime so you can have more time for fun activities.  It’s actually made me really excited about going to college!  That sort of balances out all my bad feelings about the ACT.

I gotta go finish up that essay… I’ll write more later this week.

My CLEP psychology book is actually really interesting.  I wouldn’t want to be a psychologist, partly because psychology seems so cold and God-rejecting, and partly (well, mostly) because Dad won’t let me. 😉  But I have learned quite a bit these past two months. For example, my mother and my Mexican grandfather both have mild cases of OCD. I’m afraid that the older Mom gets, the worse her obsessive cleaning and scrubbing will get.  I’m also fairly sure that my dad has a psychological disorder too, but it’s yet to be discovered. It probably has something to do with having a bunch of energy at all hours of the day.  That’s just not natural in my opinion.  My little brother’s psychological disorder will most likely emerge when he is older. You see, he’s had quite the traumatic childhood. At the age of seven, he knew more about changing screensavers than anyone in the household. That’s not natural either. I am in the 12-18 year old stage. I’m supposed to have a crisis of Identity versus Role Confusion.  In other words, I’m a troubled teenager. I’m probably really messed up by now though. According to CLEP, the only way I can grow up to be a ‘good’ person is by being around others who are empathic, accepting, genuine, offer me ‘unconditional positive regard’ and don’t impose ‘conditions of worth’ on me. That way I can be self-actualized and feel great about who I am. Because after all, everyone knows it’s all about me.

Yeah. I’ve really been enjoying this. But it’s not all bad. I was reading the book the other day and it says that when we’re conforming to a norm (even one that is blatantly wrong) it’s because we don’t want to be rejected by the group that has set that norm. Obviously.  THEN I read my Bible and it said:

Romans 12:2: And be not conformed to this world: but be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is
that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

So I thought, I shouldn’t be conforming to this world or the people in it, I should be transformed by God and then conform to God! It was cool to read because it sort of (not exactly, but still) went along with what I had been studying in my CLEP and it made me think.

All for now!

In case you haven’t noticed, this week’s Betty Blonde is about Facebook. For those of you who don’t know, Facebook is a very addicting social-networking site where you post up photos and talk to your friends. People of all ages and backgrounds log on to it, making it a very interesting place to be. I’ve had an account since late August, and let me tell you, it is not easy to drag myself away from the computer when I’m adding more friends or looking at a new photo album. Facebook is not healthy in large doses I am sure, but there is much humor to be found within it’s blue and white pixelized walls.

For example, the ’25 Random Things about me’ craze. Like I said the other day, it’s spread like a wildfire since it requires you to tag 25 other people to do the same thing. They’ve been really fun to read, especially since a few of them are hilarious. Christian’s list being one of them. I may be biased, but I thought that his list was the most underappreciated one in the entire bunch. I just had to share it here. I didn’t understand some of the ‘segments’, but I’m sure that smart people like Troy or Catherine will.

25 Palatable Segments
by Christian

1. Our kitty’s vet told us that one of our cats was 6 pounds overweight, while I read off the scale that she was actually 6.2 pounds off. We’re getting a new vet.
2. I am totally confused by he rune-scape ‘assist’ system.
3. I haven’t snail-mailed a letter to the free software foundation asking for my own copy of the GNU GPL, even though all of the software I install says I should.
4. I am a Google conspiracy theorist only when I want to be. Sometimes. ~(0_o)~
5. I am 1/5th of the way done with this crummy excuse of a post.
6. My real name is not Klaus Fiedler. (Who knew!??)
7. My bedtime is 9:00 but I usually get into bed by 9:30 because it take time to get ready for bed. Setting bedtime earlier is totally out of the question.
8. My favorite color switches between heliotrope and flurple depending on what day of the month it is.
9. The only Apple product I own is a firewire cable. ( Not counting Kelly’s iPod. )
10. I laugh every time I hear the ‘In soviet Russia…’ meme even though I know it’s at least 10 years older than me.
11. Same with Chuck Norris jokes.
12. I can’t think of any more, so I will just stop at half and do the rest later.
13. This is only half a fact, so if I leave this as an incomplete sentence
14. I was the first person to operate the coffee grinder at the ‘Rays Foods’ grocery store in Albany, OR. Unfortunately, it broke down after 15 seconds of normal usage.
15. Every time I drink out of an aluminum pop can I always attempt to drown the small amount of soda trapped inside by the ridge on the mouthpiece. I have never succeeded.
16. I still cringe when I recall an embarrassing incident that happened 8 years ago involving me and some guy who is now long dead.
17. I don’t always get a new toothbrush every 3 months.
18. According to the Runescape community, ‘I died last Tuesday’
19. I once thought that a less than proper word was a substitutable word for ‘the sound scissors make when they are cutting’
20. I got a 99.9 % score on a math test once, but there were only 25 problems.
21. I have only just realized (as of a few months ago) that the words ‘ghetto’ ‘holla’ and ‘chill’ have colloquial English meanings.
22. Contrary to popular belief, I CAN-NOT out-cuss the Mexican on the street corner. Please stop asking me to recite Spanish swear words.
23. I have only one pair of sage-colored pants.
24. When someone IM’s me a texting acronym I am not familiar with, I quickly scamper away to look it up on the urban dictionary, and then go on with the conversation as if I already knew it.
25. I have made several unpublished Betty Blonde comic strips deemed ‘too political to show publicly’
26. When I went to a ball game with Dad once, I heard him use some simple baseball jargon in a conversation. I thought that ‘HR’ stood for ‘Human resources’

Oh, my mom just got a Facebook. If you have an account, then do add her as soon as possible. I don’t know how long it will last seeing that Dad is vehemently opposed to the whole social-networking thing. (And he’s the one with the almost-6 year old blog 😉 ) Everyone says that he should get a Facebook too, but being the Luddite that he is, he refuses. Ah well…

The sleepover went well. Jenna, Kasey and I stayed up and talked and talked mostly. We also googled camel spiders per Jenna’s request. Not a good idea if you’re looking for a good night’s sleep. Other than that, we had a fantastic time. I really can’t wait to do something like that again.

On Saturday morning we went to the library. I found a new Agatha book there! Thank goodness! I had gone through all of the ones that our library had so I am quite thankful for Death on the Nile. I also picked up a couple of fantasy stories and a historical fiction book. Also on Sunday afternoon we went to Gospel meeting! It was so nice. Tomorrow I go to my piano lesson. I haven’t gone in two weeks because of all the snow, so we’ll see how that goes. I’m pretty sure I have my song memorized. I hope.

On Facebook lately everyone’s been posting a ’25 Random Things About Me’ post. It’s been really fun and interesting to read all the random interesting things about people. Speaking of Facebook, y’all should really be watching Betty Blonde this week. I’m quite excited about her upcoming storyline. Many people will be able to relate to it. I know I do. 😀

Well I guess that’s about it. Just the normal every-day happenings have been happening around here. School, piano practice, more school, gym, school again… but I’ll letcha know when something exciting happens. 🙂

I wrote this silly little poem for my blog’s bi-weekly writing challenge. This week’s topic was ‘your least favorite food and why you like it’ but it basically got shortened to ‘your least favorite food’. Which is fine, because who can write good things about their least favorite food?  Not me. I shoulda known better. 😉

Ode to an Olive
By Kelly Chapman

Oh round little veggie
thy blackness so deep
utterly entrances
with nauseating mystique

So supple, yet hard
thy firm shiny shell
giveth an odor
that does not bode well-

-with my fragile proboscis
Ah what a shame
I’d eat you in bushels
if it weren’t for the pain-

-of enduring your
succulent salty sweet taste
But alas my poor taste-buds
are simply disgraced-

-at the mere thought of seeing you
now isn’t that sad?
It’s not your fault poor olive
that you taste so bad

Fabulous, isn’t it? Anyway I am quite proud of that. Got to scoot off to guitar lessons, but I didn’t want to leave my dear readers hanging!

Toodles!

On Saturday night we went ice skating, on Sunday night I did a bunch of push ups and ran around with a  group of kids, on Monday afternoon I ran a mile more than I usually do, and on Tuesday morning I ran a bit more than the day before.  Seriously!! It’s like all I do is work out!  Not really. My legs and feet are really sore and I sort of needed a reason to complain. 🙂

Yesterday I wrote my fourth ACT essay. It was about taking a year off in between high school and college. I wasn’t able to fully express my opinions about that subject, but I don’t think it came out too bad! I’m trying not to get my hopes up though.  Whenever I think something that I do is going to be good it turns out to be bad and vice versa.  😉 There’s probably a name for that in my psychology book. They have a name for everything in there!

On a totally different subject…  we had two of our new neighbor friends over yesterday night. We made a quadruple batch of these scrumptious and healthy whole-wheat carrot muffins together. It occurred to me today that we should have made some triple chocolate fudge brownies instead. I’m hoping they’ll still come visit me. Ah well. Not all friendships have to start with marvelous first impressions, right? 😀

I will post up the ACT essay on Friday, just like last week.  I’m getting on a little schedule now!

Here it is. After looking at it again, the writing really seems pretentious to me, and if there is one thing that I STRONGLY dislike, it’s pretentious writing.  And I wasn’t sure if I should mention ‘meeting’ because the judges probably wouldn’t know what that meant, but I decided to put it in there anyway because it’s in context and they’ll probably understand.

The subject was something like “Will you keep the beliefs and values that you kept and were taught when you were younger?”

Every single Sunday morning in my life I have gone to meeting. There is hardly a Sunday I can remember where I haven’t been sitting quietly on a metal folding chair, awaiting the first hymn.  My mother and father have brought me up to have a firm belief in God adn to follow his direction. The’ve taken me to meeting every Sunday. They’ve given me their advice. They’ve modeled their faith to me for fourteen years. So naturally I hae beliefs and values almost identical to theirs.  They’ve been there for me when I’ve succumbed to doubht. Doubt in the existence of  caring Father or a designed world. But with their help and with God’s help I have overcome that doubt, and I plan and believe that my faith will grow and become continually stronger. I believe that what my parents have taught me and the beliefs and values that I have held since I was very small are unquestionably right, and will always remain so.

Some may call me foolish or say that I am a sheep, blindly following a path already marked for me, with no tolerance for other ideas. I know better. My parents have ensured that I know both sides of an argument well. My Dad sits down with my brother and I on most nights and we read books about different worldviews and arguments for and against intelligent design. Dad explains it all, and we learn and ask questions so I know what I believe and why I blieve it. I know that my beliefs, my faith and my values wills tay with me for the rest of my life.

***

Weak ending, bad grammar, no fluidity, wandering off into other topics, pretentious… I am not happy about (and rather embarrassed of) this essay. But practice makes perfect, they say. Onward!

I started this book today. It is very well written and witty, but the important part is that it made me think. Devils are very real and powerful beings, and if we had no stronger God to help us, then that would be a frightening thing indeed. But on the bright side, I remembered something I read in the Bible a couple of weeks ago about everyone having their own angel. Now there’s a happy thought. While I’m on a spiritual subject I might as well mention that Bible study starts today! We had Monday evening Gospel meetings for a while, but now we are back to the weekly home Bible studies. I think (or I hope… heh, heh) we are studying Exodus 3 and 4 today. About Moses and the burning bush and such.

I wrote my 3rd ACT essay today. It’s more ‘human’ and ‘warm’ than before, but I was really running out of time at the end so the whole thing is a little lopsided in the quality area. I’ll post it up on Friday. I thought the book only had three prompts, but it has a list of 10 more in the back, which is a great relief. Kelly won’t be running out of homework material anytime soon.

So I heard on the radio this morning that they are looking for a new ‘Sherri’ to replace the recently retired one on my favorite morning talk show, Bill and Sherri in the morning. Apparently they are taking applications. I would apply, but you have to be experienced (read: older than 25, have been in the radio business before) know a lot about pop culture (read: get People magazine or the National Enquirer in the mail every week and be able name every hit single of the 70’s and 80’s), and be able to relate to moms (read: actual mom). I’m also thinking they don’t want anyone who will blurt out whatever pops into her head. So it looks like I’m out of a job for now… does anyone know if there are any radio openings for too talkative 14 year old cartoonists?

It’s back to work for Christian and I!  Yesterday night I scheduled my entire day out. It was perfect. I had everything so neat and orderly. Every homework assignment and meal plan in it’s place. And then I woke up this morning and blew it. I underestimated the time it would take me to finish my math assignment, I read the wrong science lesson, and I only got half of my CLEP practice test done with not very good results. But that is all to be expected! After all, it’s only the first day back on the job. And I can’t fool myself into thinking that this was a bad start to the new year. I did lots of good things today. I learned some very interesting things about genetics, I mastered a couple of really hard math problems, I didn’t get frustrated about my CLEP score (that one’s a biggie), and I ate the right amount at the right times and wrote it all down in my food journal. Christmas break was fantastic, but it really is nice to be ‘working hard’ instead of ‘hardly working’.

Speaking of the food journal, I really like this new ‘diet’. All my friends freaked out when I told them that I’d be doing this, but it seems more like a healthy way of eating than a diet. And I’m not trying to lose a bunch of weight. Mom usually cooks meals like the ones in the book that we got, and I usually eat the right portions. My problem is snacking a lot in between meals, snacking while I’m reading, and snacking when I’m bored. So basically I’m just regulating when I eat and making sure that what I do eat has all the right things.

Lately I’ve been knitting a scarf. It’s loooong with chunky bright green and bright blue stripes. I’m very proud of her. As soon as I’m done I will take a picture and post it on the blog!

Here’s a big shout out to my cousin Kylee, who went through my entire Betty Blonde archive in one sitting, poor thing. And she left 7 whole comments for me to relish! 😀

One more shout out to Mrs. G… I loved your idea for my blog, and I will use it as soon as I have the time. Hopefully I’ll write about it tonight.

So we went Christmas shopping on Saturday!  I think this is the 4th or 5th year that Dad and Mom have let Christian and I shop for gifts for each other and for them. It was fun as it always is! I would tell what I got for each person, but that would ruin the surprise so I’ll just wait for another 11 days. 🙂 I can say this safely though: Each gift is absolutely perfect for it’s corresponding recipient! Also, every year we put together a puzzle for Christmas, and we have discovered that the 750 piece puzzles are just the right size for us. So Dad and I also went to Michael’s and picked up our annual puzzle. They only had three 750 piece puzzles there. Two were of four American pop culture icons (Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, and James Dean) and the only one left was one of 5 cute little kittens and pretty flowers. Which is fine! But you know, kittens do look a lot alike. So do flowers. So it’s a challenge.  Hopefully I’ll take a picture of the finished puzzle and post it up after Christmas before our cats get to it.

In school… I wrote my first practice ACT essay last Friday.  I did better than I thought I would, but it was much too short, rather badly thought out and had several more flaws that I noticed when I typed it down.  But here it is, unedited. Please don’t cringe!  (The prompt was second chances)

Everyone makes mistakes. It’s absolutely unavoidable to do or say the wrong thing. If it weren’t for second chances, then we’d all be leading lives of regret and guilt. Thankfully, there are some situations where we can turn around our own faults and make things better again.

Some are opposed to too many second chances. They say that second chances breed bad behavior and allow people to perform their misdeeds over and over again. I agree to a point. Some people obviously don’t want to change or make good. But many people have an honest desire to learn from their mistakes and do the right thing.

Because of this and because of my own personal experiences with second chances, I believe that society should soften it’s heart and learn to be more compassionate towards others. We’re all human after all, and who can honestly say that they’ve ever despised a second chance when it’s been given to them?

Well I had a very nice Thanksgiving. Grandpa and Christian and I cooked a bunch, and I started knitting a pair of fuchsia colored sparkle slippers. We were silly enough to go to JoAnn Fabric on Black Friday. Bad idea! The lines were insanely long and it seemed like everyone was at the craft store!!! Fortunately, the yarn that I bought was on sale for a buck a skein so that sort of made up for the long wait. Dad also got an iPod charger at Circuit City to replace my missing one. I am finally back to Celtic Woman and Flamenco Guitar!!! I also discovered my new favorite sandwich combination. Cranberry sauce and turkey on French bread. That stuff is good! Not extremely healthy, but good! 😀

Right now I am reading Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. I find it funny that I’d never read it before (Though I’d seen the animated movie Treasure Planet when I was little), but better late than never as they say! It’s a great book. The classic pirate adventure story.

Now it’s back to homeschool and exercising and all that fun stuff. This Friday most of the ladies from our meeting are coming over for a cookie exchange, so that’s another thing to keep us busy! I really can’t wait!! I think I found a good recipe: Peanut butter cookies with a Hershey kiss in the middle. Mom might make pineapple empanadas too!

Meet Mr. Bun, Mr. Bean, and Sweetiepie Lambiekins.  They are somewhat sloppy as I hand stitched them and they were my first attempt at making stuffed animals, but I love them anyway. I made them last weekend after some surfing on the Martha Stewart website and a trip to Target. They’ve got some really inexpensive gloves there in really cute colors. I’m thinking about going there again because I have a Mr. Bone and a Mr. Bell in mind. 🙂 Last night I finished  sewing the pink stuffed Sweetiepie Lambiekins. Christian wanted me to name it Rambo or Lambo, and then make a stuffed pig and name it Hambo. Boys.

Nothing terribly exciting or worth writing about is happening in my life. Just school and exercise and piano and meeting and more school as usual.  I did start my ACT prep and trigonometry this week though. All that means is an extra math assignment to do a day. Fortunately I’m allowed to use a calculator this time around! It’s like cheating, only you can get away with it. Let’s see… this weekend we are going to a get together in Charlotte! I am very excited for that!! And of course, Grandma and Grandpa are coming for Thanksgiving. Lots of things to look forward to, but not much going on at present.

I like to plan things.  I may never execute my plan, I may never hope to see it as a reality, but I still enjoy planning things. I love to share my plans with people, even though they don’t always love to hear them.  My poor brother has endured thousands of party schemes and outfit ideas.  I like to set goals too, but the ‘setting’ is much easier than the actual undertaking and achievement.  My diary is solid proof of that!  Anyhow, Thanksgiving day is in 2 weeks and 6 days and I have already started to put together a menu and a shopping list. I am very, very excited! Since Christian and Dad are not exactly partial to hearing my plan, I thought I’d share it on the blog.

Menu: (With the people who are making each dish put in parenthesis)
Turkey (Collaborative effort)
Cranberry Sauce (Out of a can (tee hee), or Grandpa makes it)
Grandma’s Gravy (Not sure whether Grandma will actually make it or not…)
Spicy Mashed Potatoes (Grandpa’s specialty)
Dinner Rolls (Christian, the dinner roll expert)
Sweet Potato Casserole (Christian)
Salad (Christian)
Some sort of vegetable, I’m thinking green been casserole (not very appetizing, but it’s a classic) or asparagus with garlic (Kelly)
Ambrosia Salad (Kelly)
Fresh Baked Bread (Kelly)

Dessert
Fancy Apple Pie (Kelly and Christian, with some help from Martha Stewart 🙂 )
Pumpkin Pie (Kelly and Christian; I was trying to decide which one to make, but it was so hard that I just chose both.  I think I’ll make them ahead of time.)

I have a chronological list of when we should prepare each dish, but that might be pretty boring to read.  Oh, and I did consult this list with Christian and he’s fine with it! Anyway, Grandpa already told us he’s making the mashed potatoes and he’s always been the cranberry sauce guru.  And Grandma’s gravy recipe is amazing.

So I think we’re all good! The only thing that really has me worried is the centerpiece…

I wore my special patriotic stars and stripes T-shirt, I updated my status on Facebook with McCain/Palin cheers, I even baked chocolate chip cookies!!!  And all for naught I suppose.

But do you know what? It’s OK.  It’s OK to lose every once in a while, even if it means giving up the leadership of the country you love to a Democrat (Democrats, read ‘Democrat’ as ‘Republican’ or ‘President Bush’ or whatnot. You might understand how I feel then. :D)   In spite of it all, I agree with what Dad says. I am not of this kingdom.  If God chose Barack Obama to be my president, then that’s good enough for me.  I just need to remember that there’s a divine plan underneath all the turmoil. Anyway if things get really bad, I can always count on being half Mexican. I’ll just hole up somewhere in rural Monterrey and wait for things to settle down.  🙂

On another note…

So there’s a little bucket of ‘wise’ and/or ‘witty’ quotes on the counter at the Y.  You take one after you are done working out.  Yesterday mine said something like:

“Tolerating other people’s principles is only possible if you have none of your own.”

I forget who said it.  What does it mean?