Beefloaf says I have to.
1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4. " 'Won't--,' her voice squeaked. 'Go to"... From "When She Hollers" by Cynthia Voight, one of my all time favorite authors.
2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What's there? The Ceiling. I'm up in the loft.
3. What is the last thing you watched on TV? Actually Watched. Really on TV? hmmm.... I can't remember. It's probably been months... But I watched Lost: Season two on dvd in my computer today.
4. Without looking, guess what time it is: 1:00 AM
5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time? 1:08 AM
6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear? Distant cars, but then the computer started humming...
7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing? 8:59 PM, tonight. I was leaving work to go home.
8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at? Beeefloaf's blog, where I discovered he'd tagged me. I'm trying to stop procrastinating, so here I am.
9. What are you wearing? My pajamas.
10. Did you dream last night? yes. And it was weird.
11. When did you last laugh? Hmm, that I remember, at work, when one of the guys had a thread hanging off his clothes and didn't get the way I told him, but then his friend thought it was hilarious.
12. What is on the walls of the room you are in? Some Psalms, a Panthers Sticker (the local highschool) The Valentine's letter Jacob wrote in... A long time ago. And random scribblings. (The walls are just unfinished drywall)
13. Seen anything weird lately? No. Not really.
14. What do you think of this quiz? If Nate thought it was boring, why did he make me take it?
15. What is the last film you saw? The Motorcycle Diaries
16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy? Yarn, a new computer, my own house. An old truck.
17. Tell me something about you that I don't know: I have a freckle on the inside of my left ring finger.
18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do? Golly... That's a tough one. Human nature?
19. Do you like to dance? Do I like to? Yes. Can I? That is still to be determined.
20. George Bush? Should have another daughter and name her Rose.
21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her? I'm not sure. It depends on if Bethany's used Cleobelle yet.
22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him? Llarken Coy
23. Would you ever consider living abroad? Yeah. I'd like to. A lot. In lots of different places.
24. What do you want God to say to you when you reach the pearly gates? You did good. welcome home.
25. 4 people who must also do this in THEIR journal [blog]: Well.... Joe, and Elisabeth, since they actually read this from time to time :-P. Otherwise... ?
26. What website are you looking at? The one where you write the posts.
27. What colour are your eyes? blue.
28. What's the first thing you remember doing? Waiting for my mom to get home from the grocery store. I was standing at the window in my nightgown, that was flannel. It was either that or Priscilla getting mad at me for climbing into bed with her and making a mess.
29. Who is the biggest influence to something you enjoy doing? My mom taught me to read. My cousin taught me to knit. Jason's dad taught me play guitar. My dad says it's ok to be abnormal, and that's got to be what I enjoy most.
30. If you could be animal which would you be and why? Such a hard question! Swim, Fly, Run.... I think I'd like to fly, so maybe a Hawk.
31. Grab your favorite book. Turn to page 72. What's the first quote on the page? "No, you aren't Melody," he said. "It doesn't make any difference, I won't starve to death in a few hours."
A Solitary Blue by Cynthia Voight. I'm not sure that's my favorite, but it's probably the closest that I own.
32. If you had the opportunity to do something extremely extreme what would it be? Um. I'm not really extreme. Like that... Maybe go skydiving?
33. What would you do if you fell off a really tall ladder? Hit the ground. Maybe I'd manage to grab something on my way down, but probably not.
34. If you could suddenly know one language, besides your native tongue, what would it be? Russian. Love the cyrillics... :)
**If you do this you have to add a question!**
Golly, It's been a while. I don't even remember what I wrote last. Or when. Let's see.....
The news is:
I'm not in school this semester, saving money to go next. I'm thinking about changing my major, again.
My mom leaves for Nepal a week from yesterday. She's going to teach at a conference for the Christian ladies there.
Brian, my sister's boyfriend, is joining the Marines to be a translator. After he wins at the National Tae Kwon Do competition.
My uncle is in Kosovo, and my aunt is back from Kuwait.
I'm going to Peru at the end of January, if the Lord allows everything to go smoothly.
The Christmas music is coming out. At least, I'm listening to it.
I think I'm an iPod snob. Like, I snob iPods. When Anastasia was deciding whether to get and iPod or a Creative, I rallied for the Creative, and that's what she got, and Fletcher also got a Creative, instead of a Nano. nAno?
Um. Somehow I feel more like an adult now. Sometimes? Or maybe, people see me as one, when I'm not with my family? I don't really feel like one. I still feel twelve.
No, Joe, I did not roll my eyes at you. How could I do that?? At
You?? Seriously, dude.
Jars of Clay Next Month!!!! WOOT!!!!
That's all, hope it helps, if it doesn't, please try
http://www.xanga.com/jael2413 .
Old Friends
In my short life, I have had many people I called Best Friend.
First, there was Melissa. We were friends before we started school, and becoming best friends was a decision we made while hiding in a closet one afternoon. A couple of months later, she moved to west virginia. We were too young for the telephone, so I went to her birthday party. And that was the last time I really saw her besides weddings and funerals until she was eleven or twelve and had cancer. I went to visit her in the hospital and we played Trouble. Then I saw her once a year at a picnic, but she stayed with her family and I with mine. I'm not very good at striking up conversations in person.
Then, there was Ameris. She and I and Karina were good friends for a couple years. From third to sixth grade or so. But she started public school and became busy with swimming and volleyball, and I moved fifty miles south. I guess the phone worked for a while, but school brings new friends, that you can see, and I was forgotten. Karina moved back to Australia. I didn't like to go to her house after the incident where her older brother found out I had a gigantic crush on him.
Nicole and Ameris overlapped a bit. They both came to my tenth birthday party. She and I have known eachother since she was born. Our parents are friends, and we'd been in the same circle at church since forever. She was the person I talked to when my mom was in the hospital. She was the one who encouraged me to do my hair and wear girls clothes.
At the same time, I was good friends with Rebecca, because she and I were in the same grade and therefore the same sunday school class. We didn't talk on the phone often, but we spent many sunday afternoons at her house doing I can't even remember what. That kind of stopped though, after I punched her because of something she said to my little sister. Totally my fault.
Nicole and I were friends even after she went back to school. But then her family started going to a different church. I guess I must have been fourteen at least.
Then, I met Jacob. I think that he's known me best out of all my friends, barring sisters. The first year I knew him, it was only at homeschool group, until the summer. Then, me being the internet junkie that I am, we started emailing eachother. Like, all the time. I mean, once or twice a day. Now there's a way to get to know a person. The next school year, we were on the same Odessey of the Mind team, in the same writing class, in the same plays, and worked together in Mock trial. Odessey of the Mind required not only the thursday two period class practice, but also a meeting on Mondays at his house. In any case, we got to know eachother pretty well. I guess he was like a brother, in the sense that he could tell what I was thinking, the way my sisters can. Then, I went to Europe for two months one summer, and wasn't there when things started happening, then he wouldn't talk about them, and when I did learn about them, I didn't agree with him. He got busy with school, I got a job, we started thinking about things and didn't see eye to eye. Then I graduated and we didn't talk anymore.
It seems like some people are made to be memories.
I'm in love.....
I'm in love with a big blue frog,
A big blue frog loves me
It's not as bad as it appears
He's got glasses and he's six foot three
I'm not worried about our kids
I know they'll turn out neat
They'll be great-looking cause they'll have my face
Great swimmers cause they'll have his feet
Well, I'm in love with a big blue frog
A big blue frog loves me
He's not as bad as he appears
He's got rhythm and a PhD
I know we can make it work
He's got good family sense
His mother was a frog from Philidelphia
His daddy's an enchanted prince
I'm in love with a big blue frog
A big blue frog loves me
I've got it tattooed on my chest
It says P H R O G
I've started using my xanga. Blogger doesn't get along with my computer.
www.xanga.com/Jael2413
Kryptonite
Today, the last day of the first week of summer camp. I have survived, and even enjoyed myself. Despite teens with attitudes, and first graders with tears.
But Alas! Group Seven has discovered my weakness.
I Cannot Play Spoons And Sing At The Same Time.I mean, I can play, but I have a hard time watching the cards and getting a spoon and so then I get the points and I lose.
So of course, there sit seven girls, "Ms. Marguerite, what's that song that you and Ms. Bethany sing that's really funny?"
Like I would know that. It describes just about every song we sing.
In any case, I refrained from singing, mostly.
I did end up humming while beating a girl at a card game she'd just showed me how to play.
And I whistled while cleaning up the Lincoln Logs that were dumped all over my floor by eager young men who didn't know such things existed.
And I may have tapped a beat on the counter while taking some young ladies' temperatures. (They were burning up. I wonder if being a mom part time to a hundred kids makes being a mom to a half dozen full time easier.)
I really do like my job, especially on days like today when the kids are happy. When they're good they're not too bad, when they're bad, they're horrid.
That's all Folks!
It was the grooviest of times, it was the stinkiest of times.
Groovy:Today, Christine, Marieke, and I got together for a much looked forward to event: The Coconut Conference. Duh Duh.
But allow me to begin at the beginning.
12 AM~ My sister has a friend over and we are watching a movie on my laptop. Yay. I have become fed up with movies, but I always say that when I'm not in the movie store. FINALLY, I go to sleep.
4:30 AM~ I awake shivering because the fan is on and it's freezing cold, but if you turn it off, you can't get back to sleep because it's too quiet. It is very sad when you wake up after four hours of sleep hoping it's 6AM so you can get up.
6 AM~ I get up, and ready to go, including jeans, because as much as following Marieke's instructions appeals to me, I cannot bring myself to go to her house in my pajamas.
7:15 AM~ Leave for the VdV's with my dad, he drops me off on his way to work. I like riding with him, he listens to public radio, which is so interesting, if very liberal. Today's discussions were on pension plans and diversifying, and this guy who started an improv class for kids with cleft lip and palate (is that how it's spelled?). And then classical music until we turn it down to talk. I really enjoy riding with my dad, because it's about the only time we can talk without distractions.
7:58 AM~ Arrive at Marieke's house and rouse her out of bed (the bum!). I love the VdV's, they are one of the most lovely families ever. I arrive as "Bertie" or "Pa," as he is affectionately known, and his son Felix, prepare tea and cookies, and bring them upstairs, where we dine upon the bed and do sudokus and crosswords. We are brilliant. The bed reminds me of Prague.
The Mr. and Mrs. head out for a morning stroll, as Marieke goes to clean her room, and Felix heads off to work on math or some such thing. I am left to my own devices and soon stumble upon a lovely collection of Zits, the comic books. I burry my head in graphic tales of teenages woe until the Mr. and Mrs. return and we sit down to breakfast.
For the most part, the VdVs do not eat cooked food. I know, it sounds so bad, but they were pretty much vegetarians before and I will tell you, they have THE most wonderful food ever. It's quite delicious.
After that, Marieke and I worked on some more delightful crossword puzzles, they were fascinating, really, all full of clues and twists and quite stupifying. Mrs. VdV helped us, so we were able to make a bit of headway.
Then Marieke went to finish her room, Felix and the Mrs went to his game, and I was once again left to my own devices, as Hendrick played Halo in the living room. That was rather amusing. I worked on the crossword puzzle. Example: "Where one journeys in a safari.(4)" Answer: Afar.
IN a sAFARi... Yeah, they're like that. Hard.
Well, I got to see Felix play baseball and he was marvelous. It was the championship game, and he was pitching and did a gnarley job, in spite of an older brother shouting instructions at him.
2:20 PM~ Mrs. VdV takes Marieke and I to meet up with Mrs. M, so that we can go with her and her husband to Christine's dance recital. Christine did a very good job, even if she did kick us out of backstage when we went to tell her to break a leg.
We went back to Christine's so she could freshen up before we left for the main attraction: Dinner.
5:01 PM~ Call the restaurant to tell them we are coming, and leave our name as 'The Coconuts." Christine and I nominate Marieke to announce us upon our arrival. *O Mortification* Then we listen to Christine's "Happy Music" (pretty bad when you have to label one CD that..) until Marieke decides that we have to listen to ABBA (choke). So we drive down the road with the music up very loud.
5:15 PM: We arrive down town and find a parking space by the docks that doesn't require parallel parking. SCORE! Marieke, who has never tried to parallel park, does not fully recognize the value of regular parking spots. We walk a long way to the restaurant, in the process passing: A lady from a commune selling T-shirts that say "Don't [complain] Star a Revolution" she didn't actually say how they were starting a revolution, also, a quartet singing lovely songs, and... A lot of people.
5:30 PM~ Arrive at the restaurant. Marieke walks over to announce our presence, and you should have seen the look we got when we said, "Yes, we're the Coconuts." We ate and had a lovely discussion on a lovely topic, which I am not going to tell you so that your ears do not turn purple.
6:30~ Go back down to the docks, stopping at a toy store and to give a homeless man the rest of our pizza, because Marieke got tired of balancing the box on her head, and because she is very thoughtful like that. At the dock, we listened to a man play the flute, and watching a wedding party stroll by, and listened to a man play the cello.
7:28 PM~ The phone rings, and it is Mrs. VdV, coming to relieve us of her wonderful daughter. Christine and I then head for the metro, where she drops me off, so I can ride it to meet my mom. The first time i ever rode it on my own. No worries, I"m fine.
And now, I am home and exhausted, but wait there's more, we've got to get to the stinkiest of times.
Would you all who read this, and are so inclined, please pray for my grandma and my great uncle? My grandma went to the hospital last weekend and stayed for two days, while they ran tests. Turns out her sodium levels are dangerously low. If you know anything about osmosis, etc. it might make a little bit of sense. Other factors complicate it, but in any case please pray for her. And my uncle as well, as he has taken or been given the responsibility of taking care of this, and it's a lot of stress. At the same time my Great Uncle, her brother, has cancer and about six months to live, according to the doctors. His wife says probably less though. So, I guess, just pray for all of my family. Thank you. The End
The Truth
Now, I know how everyone has heard about how smart homeschoolers are. How they're all serious about their school, and their debate, and their speech. Well.... Serious isn't actually the word to use.
For evidence, I bring, That Funny Dance, a video of Michael, Jacob, Luke, and James, at the N.C.F.C.A National Debate and Speech tournament, 2006. Yesterday:
Michael, is on the far left, not on the chairs (thanks Michael for not being a vandalizing teenager, the world needs more young people like you.) Then there are Jacob, Luke, and James, "getting their groove on." I have come to believe that for these young men, tournaments are actually an excuse to dance. And when they can't find a girl to dance with, they dance with themselves.
Some times these "serious" homeschooled students gather in packs, blocking off streets, stopping traffic, because they are undersocialized and do not have school dances.
Not only that, sometimes they are so overwhelmed by the need to "cut a rug," they will grab anyone and beginto "do si do" around the room, or the mall, or the restaurant or whatever public place they happen to grace with their presence at that moment.
Much to the amusement of their victims.
