Life In The Oyster

2011-03-16T23:34:00.000-04:00

Holy crap, it's been nearly a month! My sincerest apologies!

Where to begin? Ah, I know. I don't believe I've told you about my ambitions in the knitting world. I'm going to start an Etsy shop! My friends have been saying I should for a while now (years.), but I've been limited because I didn't start making my own patterns until last fall. They're not published, but I've made several of my own hats, mittens, and a SWEATER all by myself. At the end of February I even charted out some colorwork. Ooolala. That chart is now on a laptop cozy and almost a completed hat.

Which brings me to the real topic of today's installment: DPN's. Or my lack of them. Ok, I have at least a dozen complete sets of double pointed needles. However, they're the really tiny ones used mostly for socks. I don't know why I have so many, I don't even enjoy sock knitting tiny needles, thready yarn, TWO socks required, having size 10 feet and not being able to enjoy them anyway because I don't have size 10 patience! Woosah. What I do need them for is finishing up hats, and I don't believe I've ever even seen a set of size 9 dpns in person.

Such is life. BUT.... I have a birthday coming up, and I know of at least one friend who attempted to give me yarn for Christmas but was overwhelmed by the choices and walked out shaking his head, so perhaps he might be interested in my dearth of size 9 dpns. Maybe he'll like a manly set of kevlar? titanium? needles.... Hmmmm.....

Well, I'm out for the evening. I will finish this hat using the old bend the circular needle method.

Good night all!

It's a Small World After All

2011-02-26T01:18:00.001-05:00

I started reading blogs on the regular in October 2010. Less than 4 months ago. It really started as several blogs bookmarked that I didn't read on a very regular basis. But in October, I discovered Google Reader. I now subscribe to approximately 46 knitting blogs. Minimalists everywhere no doubt just gasped. They should see all my yarn. I mean, it's not all that much, honestly, have you seen the Yarn Harlot's stash ROOM? It's as big as my house.

Forty-six is a rather large number. Some of them I subscribed to only to discover that they're famous knit world personalities, like Jared Flood, and Franklin. Others, like Ysolda, have work that I've admired for a long time. I've had Vivian in my Ravelry queue since December 31, 2008. I haven't even bought the pattern yet because it's so beautiful I'm afraid to own it. If I ever ran into Ms. Teague on the street, I might behave like a 6th grader meeting Justin Beiber.

Many of my initial forays into the knitter's blog world began at Knitty. Before Ravelry, I waited anxiously for each new issue to be released, then I studied patterns and clicked blog links. Now, the process is rather reversed. Recently, Ann Weaver, of WeaverKnits had a pattern published in Knitty, called Oranje. I don't like orange, so I am imagining it in blue and teal and purple with more ease and long sleeves, or perhaps as a vest.

Nevertheless, it is interesting to read the customer reviews for JC Briar's new book Charts Made Simple, and recognize Cat Bhordi. Maybe recognize isn't quite the right word, since it says Cat Bordhi in plain English, my native tongue. But I know who she is. She rights books, and more importantly taught her middle school students to knit and ignited a movement in her area to combine knitting with academic pursuits. I too work in a middle school and have taught some students to knit, with differing levels of success.

Thanks to recent blog posts about Madrona, which I'd never heard of until a bunch of people started packing and going on about Washington State, I even know who Sivia is. She made those lovely beaded gloves that look like veins and tendons. Not in a gross way. They're beautiful and one day I might work up the courage to do beading and fingers in the same project. I know there's a fingerless version, but I don't think it makes the veins and tendons visual as clear, and I think fingerless gloves are silly and inefficient.

What I Do On Sick Days When I'm Not Sleeping

2011-02-09T00:45:00.003-05:00

So, once in a while I muster up some energy and do something.

1. Cancel Plans.

Buddy/Pal Tea and Puzzles Date. This is when my good friend and I put aside time for each other and talk about work, school, boys, politics, religion, etc, while drinking hot beverages and sometimes solving physical jigsaw puzzles.
Work, twice. "I'm running a fever and can't work today, ~~even if your daughter is having a root canal~~. Sorry!" (there's some sort of time limit on returning back to work after these things. I don't make the rules, I'm just grateful for them.)
Pancake Date with another good friend. ( I was really hoping the fever would stay gone, but it returned, higher than before, at the same time as my appetite for pancakes)

2. Part 1 of a TB test for work, as well as H1N1 and Tetanus shots. Hooray!

3. Take Brother #1, mechanic extraordinaire, currently unable to drive, to pick up Cheerwine and Sister #2's car from work. We didn't pick up her car, some excuse about not enough time to fix it, but he did add Cheerwine to his daily soda intake today (supplementing his SunDrop addiction).

4. Make MACARONI! After ~~years and years~~ a day and a half of no appetite, I decided to woman up and cook something to eat.

5. While the water is boiling, I take a couple minutes to upload a picture to the internets for my Father and his handy, much more technologically savvy assistant, Brother #3.

A pretty, shiny motorcycle Speedometer! My dad is putting together a bike more or less from scratch. This process has introduced him to the wonderful world of online forums, where he gains insight from other BSA enthusiasts. I can't help but smile when I think of thousands of guys like my dad (60-something, ex-biker/hippy types) bumbling around, figuring out how to use a tool that was mostly science fiction when their bikes were new.

6. Halfway through my dinner, Brother #1 gets a phone call from Sister #2 that her car died on the side of the road. Off we go to rescue the fair damsel in distress.

7. Write this. Now, it's late late late, and I'm about to succumb to sleep's call.

You may notice that I didn't mention a smidgen of knitting. I haven't knit since SUNDAY! What is the world coming to? Well, I'm just not very good at knitting laying down. I thought about taking it to the doctor's office, but knitting in public opens up conversations. Most of the time I welcome such communication, but I didn't feel like talking today so I brought a book instead.

I did, however, take time to admire this blanket on Design*Sponge and marvel at the artist's patience. I don't yet have the patience to knit a blanket, in pieces or other wise.

What do you do on your sick days?

Sick Day

2011-02-09T00:02:00.000-05:00

I am ILL. Sunday night, my throat started itching and making coughing sounds, and by Monday morning, I was miserable. Achy and lightheaded and coughy and gross. My first thought was Strep, since I work with kids and both myself and my sister have been exposed to it in the last couple weeks, so I scheduled a throat culture, just to be on the safe side.

I don't have strep. I was almost hoping I did, because the other option is a yucky cold. (This is how sick I am. I said yucky). When I am sick, my number one fix is sleep. So Monday was spent sleeping. I also don't feel like eating when my throat is like this, so I drank a couple fruit smoothies to keep my sleep well-fueled.

By midnight, I was running a fever, which means even if I feel up to it, there's no going to work for me. I didn't feel up to it though and spent more time sleeping. I'm also plowing through my stack of library books in a way I haven't since highschool. My current nonfiction reading, has been replaced by three works of (young adult) fiction, so far.

First, Girl, Stolen, April Henry. A blind girl gets accidentally kidnapped while her stepmother's car is being stolen. Also, blind girl has pneumonia. It's not a pile of terrible things happening though, it's realistic, I think. Even the ending isn't quite as immediately happy as I was hoping. (Obviously, blind girl regaining her sight and marrying prince charming and then riding off into the sunset is a little farfetched.)

Second, Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, by Jessica Day George. I like fairy tales. I have several volumes, including the Blue Fairy Book, and I'm aghast and appalled when I learn my friends don't know who Rose Red is. This book is a retelling of the story East of the Sun, West of the Moon. It has Isbjørn, trolls, centaurs, and spinning. Is there really a better recipe for a book?

This evening, I finished Light Years, by Tammar Stein. This one was a tearjerker. I don't normally cry in books, but due to my compromised state, I'll allow it. Maya is from Israel. She comes to my own lovely state, Virginia, to study, escape and find peace. I wasn't sure this book was going to be good sick day reading, but Ms. Stein opens the story with a detailed, accurate description of the humidity here. I immediately felt right at home, and since I spent the last part of the book shivering under several blankets, it was a welcome reminder of warmer days.

This being said, I'm almost out of books because during my last visit to the library, I managed to be slightly realistic about the amount of books I read in a week. Unfortunately, this is not a normal week, and now I am down to my last three books and I'm not sure I want to read them.

So I stare at this for 15 minutes, utterly defeated, since the three books I have left are all downstairs anyway.

(Lemon Perreir tastes like lemon lollipops from the bank. Too sweet for my taste. I washed the bottle out and put plain old tap water in it. So much for making lemonade.)

A Pearl is Born

2011-02-06T00:36:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since this particular piece of cyberspace has held new words. My words have been elsewhere. Many things have changed. I have a facebook now. Okay, that's not the biggest change. There are actually a lot of little changes that have caused and are caused by the biggest one. This is a story that is best told from the beginning, with a sneak peek at the end with bits of the middle thrown in.....

No, not really. The last post here is from October 2006. I was 19. Homeschooled, still pretty shy. In my second fall at the community college studying international business. I had just decided to stop calling the boy I was hanging out with and see what would happen. I had red hair. I shared my room with my 3 sisters. I still said I could play guitar. I went to church with my parents, worked with kids and tried not to have too much contact with adults. I rode the bus though, and people were always striking up conversations with me. I was taking Arabic. I discovered Regina Spektor and the Postal Service that fall. I visited my first yarn shop. It has since closed. I still don't frequent yarn shops, but there's one that opened close by a few months ago that I've been meaning to visit. I think I'm afraid if I ever set foot in one more than twice a year, I'll become addicted and never have any money ever ever again. I'd just bought my computer. I guess it is that old. My sister was talking to the boy who would become her fiance, but only for a little while, since they would break up. Paramour was on the radio.

Now, I'm a woman. I can talk to strangers and be confident and I'm my own supervisor most of the time at work. I can drive a car, and I'm not afraid. I don't share a room with anyone anymore. I have confronted my parents like an adult. I left my parents' church filled with people who've known me from birth, and now go to one around the corner where I am an adult, and not someone's child, where the community is as much a part of their daily lives as it is mine, and were God is more important than religious rituals. My hair is its own color again.

And, I've become addicted to knitting. If I leave the house without something to knit, I have to take deep breaths and reassure myself I'm going to be fine. I can't knit at the grocery store anyway. Last fall I had some time off of work, and the only thing keeping me from insanity was some yarn and a couple of needles. Christmas came around and I decided to knit my rather large family hats. Christmas Eve found me weaving in ends at 10 PM. I thought that I would be tired of knitting. I knit so much my my arms would be sore at the end of the day. But Christmas day found me knitting another hat for a good friend, and Boxing Day I was making my sister the twin to my brother's hat, the next week I worked on the last couple of sleeves for Grandma's sweater and then it was January. My grandfather died, and my brothers were pall bearers. It was cold, so I made them hats to match their suits. Three simple hats in three stressful days. I wanted my own mittens, so I made some. Just big enough to be too big, so I gave them to my brother. My aunt asked for a hat to sleep in, so I made her this. I used Caron Country, in Silver Service and Charcoal.

January was supposed to be punctuated by a camping trip in the Shenandoahs. It gets much colder there, and a dearth of handknits or anything woolen at all was discovered in my wardrobe. The camping trip was canceled, but the idea stuck and there is now a lovely sweater of my own design on my needles. It began its growth on Monday, and the weather immediately became ridiculous. Wednesday I wore a tshirt to work, because it was 65 degrees out. This time last year we were gearing up for 18 inches of snow. So, here's crossing my fingers that when this sweater is born, it will bring snow with it.

2006-10-27T01:08:00.000-04:00

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!**

2006-10-20T00:37:00.000-04:00

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

2006-08-27T23:39:00.000-04:00

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.....

2006-07-29T13:52:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-24T01:16:00.000-04:00

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.

2006-06-17T21:09:00.000-04:00

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

2006-06-08T21:48:00.000-04:00

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.

You can't see me

2006-05-31T09:52:00.000-04:00

Our county has been having power issues. The last few nights, and during the day too, the power has been going out. For HOURS. I guess I'm just spoiled.

Monday night, we were sitting down for devotions, and suddenly darkness and silence descend. We wait a minute, expecting it to come back on, but it doesn't, so we scurry around looking for flashlights. We have a HUGE one, that lights up the room for about fifteen minutes, then starts to dim. My dad says to Jackson, "Plug it into the wall so it can recharge." We kindly remind him that the power is out. We perservere, and continue reading with smaller lights. But come nine o'clock, we give up and go upstairs.

Alas. It is Ninety degrees plus humidity, and without the fans, the loft is unbearble. I move downstairs and sleep in the hammock, wishing it were still light so I could put up a tent and sleep outside. After exchanging texts with friends in the area, I learn that not only is it out all over town, but apparently it's out all the way up to the mall, some 10 or 15 miles north. Shocking.

The power comes back on, and turns off again, and then I give up and go to sleep. A couple hours later, I wake up, the power is on once again, and I move up to the loft to my bed that doesnt give me a crick in my neck.

Tuesday. Hot as blazes. Humid as the Amazon. We decide that even with fans, the loft will be too hot and put up the tent. Good for us, 8:40 rolls around and the lights are out again. This time, they stay out till 12:15. Crystal texts me that she's doing her homework by candlelight, and we wonder if the power stays out if she'll have school in the morning.

We turn in, the boys have put up a tent across the yard from ours, and are sleeping there, except for hayden, who sets himself up on the picnic table. It's so humid, you don't want to touch anything, and the tent is on a hill so I keep rolling into Anastasia. By 10:30, it's cooled off enough that you don't sweat where you lie, not moving, and by midnight, it's cool enough to cover up with a sheet. I get up to go get a drink and as I stumbled around looking for my shoes, the lights come back on. I go in, turn off all the lights that have been left on, get a drink and go out to the tent and to sleep.

Every one was up by eight, and by nine, I'd dyed my hair back to brown. I wanted to do it last night, but it was so HOT the thought of it made me sweat. Hopefully I won't have to dye it again. I think I'm through with that.

ON an off note, my uncle went rug shopping with the first lady. :-P

The Many Adventured of My Family

2006-05-16T09:48:00.000-04:00

So grampa asked for stories about my large family that will fit into a small country. Um, I don't have any. NOt really. I could always tell the Fletcher stories, but they're kinda all the same. Someone comes up with some stupid idea that no sane person would ever do, and Fletcher, not being sane, does it.

Idea and Author:
1. Stick beads up your nose. Anastasia
2. Tie the sled to the clothesline pole and sled down the hill. Anastasia
3. Split open a spray paint can with a trowel. Bethany
4. Climb up on the roof to get his glove. Jackson but I'm told that I'm the one that threw it up there.

I know there were more, but those are the ones that I remember off the top of my head.

Consequences:
1. Bead gets stuck, and he has to go to the hospital.
2. The chain didn't reach to the bottom of the hill, so the sled stops, Fletcher keeps going, sliding on his face til he gets to the driveway which is gravel and has no snow on it. He had a scrape right up his nose.
3. This one he decided to try when my mom wasn't home, for obvious reasons. He hates me. So as Bethany is yelling at him that she was only kidding and to stop beating on the can, the can explodes and he's covered in green paint. I've just read a book about a boy who's brother put spray paint in his eyes and made him blind, and being the encouraging sister that I am, I tell him this. Ten minutes later my mom gets home and is NOT happy and Fletcher gets his face scrubbed off with a brillo pad. All the while Bethany is crying that she told him not to do it, that she was joking.
4. So, apparently, I threw his glove up on the roof. It's fairly flat, jsut enough slope for the rain to run off, so he climbs up a ladder that doesn't quite reach the roof to retrieve it. But the ladder doesn't quite reach the roof and so he's too scared to get back down. The rest of us, seeing history in the making, run upstairs and lock all the windows that face the roof, so he can't crawl in that way. So he sits on the roof crying for a half hour while we play, until my mom figures out something is up and comes outside. Imagine her surprise to find Fletcher up on the roof crying. I don't think she was very surprised at all. The rest of us can't understand why he doesn't just drop off the edge of the roof, it's only about six feet up.

We don't really pull a lot of pranks all together, although there was a girl that used to stay with us, and we were awful to her. We managed to get ahold of her underwear and we hung it out the windows when she was talking to some guys next door. We were awful to her. We have since apologized.

We told Faith the youngest, that there was a monster in the toilet and then she wouldn't let the bathroom door be all the way shut when she was in there. Anastasia and I told Bethany that there were bad guys in the trash room of our apartment building which was below our parent's bedroom and that they would climb up into their room. Bethany actually only heard half of the scary things I imagined, and Anastasia and I were scared of them too. I had to take the trash down there every day. She didn't know about the guy with the gun hiding in the closet behind daddy's dresser. Anastasia and I wouldn't go back to our room alone when the lights were off.
It's the weirdest thing. I don't mind being outside in the dark. But a dark house gives me the willies. If I'm home alone at night, every light in the house is on, and I avoid windows. My imagination is a curse sometimes.

Oh yeah, and we take crib mattresses and slide on them down the stairs. We pile them up and jump out of the loft. Or we slide down them from the loft to the floor until they collapse and we all fall down. Pre Loft, we threw the matresses over the joists and lay up above the world hiding.

Oh, the only weird thing about having such big family, is days like today, when all three boys are gone with my dad at work, and Bethany is in London, so ther's only three kids home. The house feels so empty, and most families only have three kids to begin with.

Anyway. There you go Grampa, hope you enjoy it.

GO READ

2006-05-16T00:27:00.000-04:00

So Bethany is in London.

I never thought I'd miss her this much. But I do. She leaves and suddenly all this stuff comes up that I need her for. AND I DON'T EVEN HAVE HER EMAIL!

But... She's having a great time and I can't ruin it with my whining. You can read about her adventures at http://bethanysineurope.blogspot.com .

In other news, I'm out of school and enjoying it immensely. I sleep until noon. I don' t mean to, honest.

Today I won a one legged race. And I got a trophy for using Ain't correctly.

Yesterday was Mother's Day. The guys at church all went and sang for the ladies. I think we all died laughing.

What are your views on Donut Holes? Are they actually the holes of donuts? because holes are actually nothing. Also consider the quandry of jelly filled donut holes.

Note to self: January 31st.

Farewell Dear Heart!!!!

2006-05-09T23:59:00.000-04:00

As I said at the end of my last post. My sister Bethany is leaving. She's going to be gone for a whole month! As much as I hate to admit it, I"m going to miss her. But not her borrowing my makeup and never giving it back, or my hair stuff or using my shampoo, or her leaving her clothes in our room or her telling me that I act like I"m twelve or that I'm in Looove with Tim. *rolls eyes*

But I will miss days like today. Today we went shopping, stopping at old navy to exchange some stuff, and then going to Sam's Club to buy snacks for work, and then grocery shopping for the family. We have very different styles when it comes to our clothes. Once in a long while they match, but we con't buy each other clothes. For example. For Christmas, she bought me this sweater. It was a nice sweater. But it was all preppy and this light pink and it looked awful on me and I don't have anything that it matches anyway. She leans towards.... the hip preppy look, what ever it may be, and I like the more bohemian styles, like suede boots and peasant skirts. But we can usually both find something at old navy.

Sam's we ran around like crazy people. No, not really. I'm sure we did something amusing, because we were laughing. We got smoothies.

Then we went to Ulta. Cause last fall I bought a makeup collection (the one's that have everything in them, blush and eyeshadow at least in this one), and it had THE most perfect blush we have ever come across. It's THE perfect shade for our complections. But. We've not seen it since, and then in the add we saw the same company doing another set with what looked like our blush and we jumped up and down for joy and squealed. And ran to Ulta. *sigh* We were disappointed. it was a new shade. *sniff*

That's what is so cool about sisters.

THen we went to the grocery store where teased eachother and our mom and talked and Bethany tried to get us thrown out by flicking pennies everywhere. Then my mom called her Thunder Thighs and we all fell over laughing. Not Literally of course.

Later tonight, she took my phone and called up a friend of mine and pretended to be me. We look and sound a lot alike. But then she said what and not pardon and gave the whole thing away.

She's crazy and I'm going to miss her like nobody's business.

To Be, Or Not to be!

2006-05-08T18:38:00.000-04:00

Shakespeare! What memories it recalls.

First, there was our drama group's first run in, and I'm sure it was a disaster. A Comedy of Errors. There was the mime at the beginning where Andrew who was playing the father, took his twin sons (dolls, thankfully) and carried them around by they're heads which he squeezed with a rather disturbing amount of relish. Lines weren't memorized, costumes were, funny. The fat cook weighed about ninety pounds and was five five. (or the equivalent thereof) I was a nun.

Next was A Midsummer Night's Dream. If I put the 's in the wrong place, I apologize, I will never get it. THAT was fun. Rehearsal week, we memorized EVERYONES' lines, and the whole week, we were reciting them. Shakespeare applies to every part of life. Some of you might recall running lines in a big room with the lights off. There were also snacks. So in the middle of a line, someone would yell to pass the chips, everyone would erupt into laughter and it would take a few minutes to get back into character. Then there was the fun of saying some one else's lines, Jacob and Alex crawling around under the tables and tickling feet and stealing shoes. Once you know the play well enough, you can insert lines in wrong places and everything. Hilarious stuff.

Last year, *sniff* my last play with that group... We did Twelfth Night. Read it, it's hilarious. You know that line about "some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them"? Out of context, it sounds inspirational. When you know what's happening, it's hilarious. This guy is in love with the lady he works for, but he's a total dork. So she won't give him the time of day. For some fun, some of her other servants write a letter in her handwriting, set the trap where he'll find it, then when he reads the note he is inspired to do crazy things because he thinks she's asked him to, but since she hasn't he looks like an idiot, is thrown in prison for being crazy and then they send down a fake priest to make more fun of him and Oh Boy. That's just a sub plot.

My sister played the crazy man, I played the guy who pretended to be the priest, Jacob and Andrew (mrs. S's son, not crazy dad) played his sidekick, they work together nearly as well as Jacob and Jason did. Heather played Jacob's girlfriend who he ends up marrying. We had so many things go wrong in the performances. The first night, my guitar was waiting in the back of the auditorium through the first couple scenes before I have to bring it with me. Well I take it up and start to play, and something isn't right. I check my fingering and it's fine, as I'd been practicing nearly nonstop all week. Some of the kids running around (little kids, like preschool, a hazard of a family theater night) had messed with the nobs and it was ALL out of tune. My uncle, master guitar player, was in the audience and said I caught it fast enough that it wasn't noticeable, but... I was horrified. THEN in the scene where the crazy man is in the dungeon, and Jacob and I contrive to trick him, the robe and beard were never where they belonged. heh. Jacob is a whiz with mess ups and ad libbed thorugh it and we mimed them.

Since Jacob was supposed to be a drunk (he couldn't be CALLED that because it was a family show) it caused much hilarity.

And then.

There was the best one yet.

Perhaps of all time.

The Taming of the Shrew.

The ladies were beautiful. The guys handsome. Everyone was funny. I laughed till I cried. The make up. Like wow.

Some of you may not recognize that guy as Spencer. When he first came on stage I did an inventory trying to figure out who he was. Then I remembered. Spencer was spectacular. His voice, his walk, his mannerisms, his attitude, A wonderful job.

I have become boring.

Bethany leaves for London on Friday. *Sniff* It's so cool that she's going to the same place I did, and I get to tell her about the hair salon, or the house, or Lily, the housekeeper. She's going to go to Sevan, and Tblisi, and maybe Gumri and everything. Just thinking about it makes me want to go back. I wonder if all the same people will be there.... Like Rob and Chad, and Kerry and Tim and Arman and Roy.... Wow.

That is a post. It stinks, but it's a post.

Fulsome Prison, Nottingham and other random thoughts.

2006-04-21T20:30:00.000-04:00

There is a guy in my English class named Jonathan Little. The other day they were talking about it, him and some other folks, the others saying everytime they saw him they thought of Little John, like in Robin Hood. The thing is, Little john was a nickname because the other outlaws thought it was funny that a guy named John Little was so daggone BIG. Jonathan is really tall. He sits in the corner of class, in the back, two seats behind me and stretches his legs way out in front of him. He's a funny guy. And he has a really nice deep voice.

Faith is learning how to sing Fulsome Prison, you know, by Johnny Cash. I play, she sings. I taught Hayden how to play and sing it, since it's fairly easy to play. E7, A7, B7. Repeat.

Now for those other random thoughts. I can't remember what they were. I specifically remember something that I wanted to write, about work .... but it's gone.

So instead, I will ask. What is your favorite Fla-Vor-Ice color, Blue, Green, Orange, Purple, Pink, or Red?

(If you don't remember what they are, you ought to have your childhood certification revoked, but I'll remind you, they're those popsicles that your mom bought in a box of about a gazillion and they're long and you eat them out of the plastic and you ate them by the dozen in the summer and your little brothers would have the juice running down their chests and you'd be sticky for hours until dinner and your mom made you wash your hands, then gave up and threw you in the tub to make sure you were her child.)

That, my dear watson, is a run-on sentence.

The absolute coolest quiz ever.

2006-04-19T22:59:00.000-04:00

So I found this on someone's xanga *dies* and thought OH MY GOODNESS!!! THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE COOLEST QUIZ EVER!!! And then they said I was Westley, so my first reaction had to be true, right?

Which Princess Bride Character are You?
this quiz was made by mysti

Oh to be a grown up.

2006-04-19T20:06:00.000-04:00

I know, it's been weeks since that last oh so confusing post.

Thankfully, I only have a couple more weeks of school. I'm so excited. As much as I enjoy my business classes, I don't like school.

What to do between the end of my school and when I have to start working full time. I'm thinking about taking a trip. (I always say this. But I never go anywhere.) This time.... I'm determined. I'm getting Cabin Fever and I feel like I have to do something to prove my adulthood and since moving out is out of the question because of finances and transportation and my dad is in the middle of building me a house, I'm not an ungrateful daughter, I must do something else.

It is so stifling here. I'm 19. I have to be home by 8 p.m. on weeknights unless given express permission. My little sister is constantly telling me what to do, and I don't understand how she is so much more experienced at getting ready for work. She's never had a regular job!

The story of my life. Have I somewhere forgotten to put up walls to make me older and wiser than my sisters and brothers? I don't want to do that, not really. I just want people to realize that, yes, Marguerite IS capable of taking care of herself.

Maybe I"m too nice. I don't run off without telling people where I'm going. When I go to school every morning I make sure to tell someone I"m leaving. Or when I go to work. I thought I was being considerate. But.... I guess not. I guess I'm being a baby. (I have no idea how that makes me a baby).

Maybe it's because most of my friends quickly become friends of my family. So my siblings know all of them and I get no peace. Most of the time I don't bite people's heads off for asking the first time who I'm talk to on the phone.

There has to be some solution besides getting mean all of a sudden and developing an attitude problem. I thought I already went through that stage! Apparently, my folks didn't take the hint.

Did you know that Lego makes Ferrarris?

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-04-01T16:20:00.000-05:00

ANASTASIA BROKE!!!!!!

SHE BROKE TWICE!!!!!!!!!!

SHE'S GOING TO REGIONALS!!!!!!!!

*Marguerite flips out*

So yeah, the State Debate tournament is today, and my little sister made it not only to Octifinals, but to quarterfinals! And they're not done yet. She's never broken at all before today, and today she broke twice.....

GO ANASTASIA AND CHARISSA!!!!

That's all folks. :D

sigh I think I'm in LOVE....

2006-04-01T11:33:00.000-05:00

Don't worry, It's not some movie star. But... It's a guy who was pretty old when he died. And was married. I think his son is as old as my dad. But golly, the man can sing, and he's so romantic. And sad. Girls always seem to be leaving him. Poor guy. Johnny Cash.... He's so dreamy. *sigh* I think I"m going to listen to him sing forever.

Um... Yeah. I'm sure there was something else I was going to write about. But I"m not sure what.

Lately, I've become aware that not everyone has the benefit of the teaching that I have had. My parents, from before we could understand, have been reading us the Bible every day, and explaining it. Not only that, they taught us about Creation. Which I've come to realize is not as normal as I thought it was. Not only were we learning about it in the Bible since I can remember, my dad did a lot of studying and handed on what he learned to us. We have Creationism books all over our house, and while I've not read even half of them, I betcha I know most of what's in the rest of them. See, the other night I was talking to a friend who's Catholic, who just recently came to believe in the literal six day Creation. He went to Catholic schools his whole life but the two years that he was homeschooled. So we got to talking about Creationism and the Flood. I mentioned the flood and he didn't know how it connected. There are things that I know, that just seem part of it. Like everyone being vegetarians before the Flood. I've always factored that in, always known it. But it seems totally foreign to a lot of people that I"ve talked to about this. (Check out Genesis 1:30 if you're wondering, and then I think chapter Eleven, when God tells Noah that hey tcan eat meat.)

God has really blessed me with my parents. My dad's had us disscussing the Bible for as long I can remember. I don't know what I would do without the things that they made sure I learned.

SQUIRRELS!!!!

2006-03-20T09:09:00.000-05:00

I told you they were up to something!

Squirrels Give Age of Grand Canyon

Isaiah 44:24

Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb: 'I am the Lord, who makes all things, who stretches out the heavens all alone, who spreads abroad the earth by Myself.'

Who would have thought that squirrels would tell us how old the Grand Canyon is? Yet creation scientists tell us that the tassel-eared squirrel, who lives near the rim of the canyon in Arizona, has done just that.

Tassel-eared squirrels are found on both north and south rims of the canyon. Scientists have assumed that the squirrels were there before the canyon was formed, supposedly millions of years ago. However, since the canyon has kept the two populations apart for so long, the differences between them should show what millions of years of evolution will do to squirrels.

There are minor differences between the squirrels on the north rim and the south rim. But they're not even enough to classify the squirrels as separate species. North rim squirrels have white tails and black bellies. Squirrels on the south rim have white bellies and dark tails. But many north rim squirrels have coloration like those on the south, and many on the south rim are colored like those on the north. Creation scientist Dr. John Meyer has carefully studied these squirrels. He has concluded that the squirrels on the north and south rim are actually one population that has a complete range of fur colors.

According to a law of evolution accepted by evolutionists, there should be a much larger difference between the north and south squirrels if the Grand Canyon is really millions of years old. The conclusion must be, then, that the Grand Canyon is quite young - only thousands of years old.

References: Meyer, J.R. 1985. Origin of the Kaibab Squirrel. Creation Research Society Quarterly, v. 22. ICR Grand Canyon Field Study Tour Guidebook. 1990.

OH HAPPY DAY!

2006-03-13T10:35:00.000-05:00

Er, um yeah. :-D

Yesterday, my last day of spring break, of freedom, is over. But boy it was fun while it lasted. First, it was BEAUTIFUL. I got up and got to wear sandals to church, which is so cool. And then I got to drive to church, with the windows down and singing with the radio. First time I've been able to do that. Then we got to church and had sunday school outside in the sun and warmth. It was really nice. Then after church we were going over to our pastor's house for lunch. Since I'd driven my car, my dad and I set out to find their house on our own. Daddy said he knew how to get there. Haha.

We drove around for a half an hour before we found it. But it was so pretty out, and the windows down and the birds singing, and driving on these really fun roads that twist and turn. Wow. It was a lot of fun.

Then we hung out at Pastor D.'s house, talking about dogs and stuff, cracking up with Scott and Liz, our youth pastor and his wife, also the son in law and daughter of our pastor, but... :-P that's another story. Bethany got to talk about all the things that happened at Brian's Tae Kwon Do tournament, which he won, of course. It was her first one.

A little girl moved up a division to fight, and there were fouir boys in that one. They thought they had her beat. She beat them all and made two of them cry.

Back to sunday. Then Bethany and I went with Dave (pastor's son, who I've known well, since I was born I guess) because he got his liscence and a truck, so he took us downtown for coffee and it was great fun. (He drives fast, but don't tell anyone, haha)

After evening church, which was also good, about worshipping and praising God, even when we're not at the top, or happy or ...insert human emotion here...

BUT....

The crowning moment of my day was the ride home. I finally took the leap. I drove at night. In the rain no less. And I didn't even scare Daddy once. It was really cool.

I used to drag my feet so much about driving, but now... I love it. I mean, I still am not so sure about everything, like the interstate, but it's all good. I'll get it, no worries. I'm going to get my liscence soon. Woot! :-P Later

PS Jason, today I rode through your old neighborhood. Funny stuff. And memories. Chicken pizza and star wars monopoly. I still don't get either one.

Contradictions

2006-03-11T19:39:00.000-05:00

Chili

Think about that word

It's an oxymoron

Of a sort

Because

Chili is hot

Unless it's cold

But have you ever EATEN cold Chili?

Sounds gross to me

And what good is Chili if it's not SPICY HOT! ?

None

And what do you do with no good chili?

Think about the spelling

If you type it out a few times

It begins to look odd

Like it is not spelled correctly

I'm a stickler for correct spelling

The moral is:

Don't eat chilly chili

Especially if you spell it

Chili Chilly

2006-03-05T15:47:00.000-05:00

1. First Name? Marguerite
2. Were you named after anyone?My great grandmother
3. Do you wish on stars? Nope. Even during meteor showers.... weirdness.

4. When did you last cry? hmmm... I can't remember, probably about a month ago over some stuff at work.

5. Do you like your handwriting? It's constantly changing. sometimes I wish I could write like someone else, but most of the time I like mine.

6. What is your favorite lunch meat? turkey.

7. What is your birth date? April 13, 1987

8. Mountains or Beach? um.... I love the beach, but at the same time, I like the mountains. So mountains in the fall and the beach in summer?
9. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you? hmm. Yeah, probably
10. Do you have a Journal? yup
11. Do you use sarcasm a lot? not as much as I used to, and it depends on who I"m around.
12. Do you have a nickname? Pearl, Jael, margerine.
13. Would you bungee jump? um. Probably not.
14. Do you untie your shoes when you take them off? no. I untie them when I put them on.
15. Do you think that you are strong? I'm not weak.
16. What is your favorite ice cream flavor? do I have to have one?
17. Shoe Size? 10 or 11 women's, 9 and 1/2 mens.

18. Red or pink? depends on the shade. Really it does. and what it's on.
19. What is your least favorite thing about yourself? sometimes i feel so helpless, even when I'm not.
20. Who do you miss most? Old friends who have moved away and I've lost contact with.
21. Do you want everyone who reads this to post it on their blog and fill it out? yes. Everyone should have to. Mwhahahahaha!
22. What color pants and shoes are you wearing right now? Blue stretchy pants and no shoes.
23. What are you listening to right now? Anastasia chewing loudly (hah! I"m not the only one!) me typing and faith going down the stairs, also cars driving by on the street.
24. Last thing you ate? An apple
25. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? hmmm. Perhaps a lovely brown. Or maybe a blue. Not a red, that's for sure, or a purple or yellow. Maybe a green.

26. What is the weather like right now? Lovely. Sunny, warm. Perfect for a hike. I hate being sick.
27. Last person you talked to on the phone? My mom. She couldn't find me at the tournament. Heh.
28. 1st thing you notice about the opposite sex? Height
30. Favorite Drink? I like Milk. Also raspberry iced tea.

31. What is your favorite sport? I like to ride horses, and play field hockey and soccer.

32. What is your Hair Color? red, with a tiny bit of brown showing at the roots. I only dyed it a couple weeks ago... it grows so fast. :P
33. Eye Color? Blue
34. Do you wear contacts? No, glasses

35. Favorite Food? Chinese, from my favorite chinese place. :)

36. Last Movie You Watched? Ocean's Twelve? I think...

37. Favorite Day of the Year? Christmas
38. Scary Movies Or Happy Endings? Happy endings
39. Summer or winter? Winter... i don't like humidity... and this being VA.... :P
40. Hugs OR Kisses? Hugs. I'm saving my kisses
41. What Is Your Favorite Dessert? um. I don't have one?
44. Living Arrangements? Little old farmhouse that is not quaint, but a hundred years old, I share a room with my two sisters, and the house with the other sister, three brothers and parents.
45. What is on Your Mouse Pad? Don't have one

46. What Did You Watch Last night on TV? I didn't.
47. Favorite Sounds? spring

48. What's the furthest you've been from home? Armenia or Georgia

Oh my. Head. I am sick!

2006-03-05T15:34:00.000-05:00

this stupid cold. It came on yesterday, quickly, and now I can hardly talk.

Yesterday was the Odessey of the Mind meet. Jacob and Kate's team is going to states, on Three awards. They competed in two problems, something that is not common, they used the same skit for both, and they did the balsa wood problem. Their, structure, just over eight inches tall and weighing only 15 grams, held 311 pounds. They won that problem because they had no competition. They won the Jungle Bloke problem because their skit was marvelous. Clair played her harp, Patty and Kate danced, Benjamin and Jacob played Watson and Sherlock Holmes. They also won the Renatra Fusca (I'm sure I spelled that wrong) for their creativity in making the same answer to both problems. And doing an Excellent job of it. It was REALLY good. We had four or five homeschool teams from co-op, my three brothers were on one of them. They placed fourth. Another placed second and then there was J&K's team who placed first in two problems. When one of the groups was going up to recieve their certificate, a group of people yelled some anti homeschooler stuff at them. ARGH! That's so mean. Really. Unsportsmanlike. But at the same time, while the balsa team was setting up, one of the spectators sitting next to me turned to her neighbor and started talking about how she remembered one of our teams from last year and how good they were. :)

It's pretty neat that they won, because they used Bible verses and a moral and everything in their skit. :D Now the message will travel farther.

HAPPY HAPPy HAPpy HAppy Happy happy

2006-02-21T19:37:00.000-05:00

BIRTHDAY BETHANY!!!

Her Birthday is tomorrow (February 22). So!!! You should all go wish her happy birthday on her xanga. *gasp* I know, Xanga. But! even if you don't have one.... You can sign in as Anonymous_Birthday and the password is George and Then go to http://www.xanga.com/iWiShIwAsAlLaMa And wish Bethany Happy Birthday.

Oh, Bethany is my sister, she's turning seventeen. GO wish her Happy Birthday, even if you don't know her, because she thinks her best friend is going to forget it and while I have more *coughcough* Confidence in him, she still needs lots of happy birthdays. Because I said so and it is your duty as humans. :-D

No Comment

2006-02-17T11:14:00.000-05:00

Ahhh. *yawn*

No school today.

My computer keeps wanting to restart. At least it asks. My mom's doesn't it's just like *bloop bloop bloop* All the windows close and it's shutting down. The End.

I'm listening to Greenday on Jacob's xanga, over and over just to annoy Bethany. Wait... I'm not supposed to like this.... Oh well.

Debate tournament this weekend. Jacob is going to nationals for his dramatic speech. WOOHOOO!!!!

Valentine's day is over. I celebrated by going home from school early and then calling a friend and handing the phone to Bethany half way through the conversation. He didn't notice.

Yesterday was weird. The house was emptied by 7:15 am. Every one but Daddy and I left at 6:45. In the morning. The night before we were commenting on how it felt like we were going on a trip. My mom is in charge of the food for the tournament, there's only like 300 people a meal or something. She's been shopping and coordinating for the last three weeks. Our freezer was full of lasagna and bagels. And Wednesday night she was going all crazy with last minute stuff.

Hmm... Thankfully I've not seen the guy from Jamaica again. *whew*

Jason, I do have school on Monday, and the Halo thing says it will take 12 (!!!) hours to download. My computer only stays alive for about one. So.... I don't think it's going to happen *sniff*

Later you crazy peoples!!!!

A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes...

2006-02-10T23:36:00.000-05:00

Today I went to school. The bus was 10 minutes late when usually it's five minutes early, and then there were LOTS of people on it. So I rode the bus, and talked to this guy from Jamaica, and then my friend got on , but he didn't see me, so he couldn't rescue me from the guy from Jamaica. That was sad.

But then I got to school. And I sat downstairs and read my book for a half hour before going up to class. I climbed the nine sets of stairs and came to the third floor and there in the hallway, hung a banner. I though, "Oh some club is doing something." Since the African American Club is making itself known, it being Black History month and all. But I came too it, and realized that it wasn't really up to their standards. It looked like it'd been cut from a bedsheet, and the painting was obviously done by hand. And then I read it. "WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE MORGAN?"

I thought that that was the sweetest thing. Makes me almost want a Valentine. Almost, but not quite.

To clarify on the Gentleman issue. I LOVE Gentlemen. I do! I just have a little trouble with knowing how to react, since there seem to be an odd lack of them in my life. Not that the guys aren't gentlemen, but that they don't do more than open doors, really. I was not in anyway placing fault or anger on gentlemen, but completely on myself. I am a work in progress, some days the progress is faster than others, and sometimes it seems to go backwards.

2006-02-06T19:39:00.000-05:00

You know, I've always dreamed of being a pirate queen and sailing the ocean blue with my ship of hardy pirates, plundering rich merchant ships and freeing slaves. And Now I'm one step closer to my drema, thanks to Marlow.

Now, I have a name.

My pirate name is:

Mad Morgan Bonney

Every pirate is a little bit crazy. You, though, are more than just a little bit. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Storms In Africa

2006-02-05T21:56:00.000-05:00

At long last, I post. Honestly guys, I don't know why I don't post anymore... I think I've gotten tired of my own nothing words. So I said Enough. BUt! I think of you often, and of things I can tell you, especially when I'm on the bus. You know, about people that ride it and the weather and how the area around Jason's old house has changed and how his neighbor who used to be the Sheriff didn't get re-elected, but became a real estate agent until he got taken to court for stealing his gun when he left his last day on the force and embezzling like $200 or so from the department.

The other night my little seven-year-old sister goes up to my dad and says, "Daddy, do you have any money you don't want?"

Bethany won her American Legion Speech Competition, for her post, because she was the only competitor, and then the District's. She was against five public schoolers. Everyone was in awe. They asked my mom if she was the one who taught her to speak. My mom just laughed and said no. She has some lovely coaches in her speech club in homeschool group. In any case, we are ecstatic about it. It's really a lovely speech.

Middle school reminds me so much of when we did the play, "A Midsummer Night's Dream." There are the King and the girl he likes, and there's another girl who likes him, and he might like her back. And he and the first walk around, you can just picture them in evening wear, long gloves and tiara, while the ladies in waiting hover off a few steps behind, twittering about them. I honestly am coming to HATE middle school drama. Really and truly.

I have to say, when it comes to gentlemanliness, you Yankees have nothing on Southern boys. They're so sweet. Ok, I'll be honest, some of them are. Some are complete jerks, but I"m nearly positive they're not actually Southern. I have a friend who's from Georgia, he moved up here last summer. We ride the bus together to school. He's always so polite, and he'll go all the way up to the third floor from the first, where his class is, to walk me to mine.

And then there are Brian and Tim. They went up north, and while at dinner, Brian pulled the chair out for the young lady he was with, and she got angry at him and the waitress slapped him. I can't even figure it out. Why on earth would they do that? Ok, I admit, I'm not really used to guys doing that, my mom had to remind me to let them be gentlemen and do things like open doors and help you out of cars and carry the groceries and such, because sometimes it seems like they don't think I can do that for myself.

But I am too full of pride. Yup... that's all.

Daddy's Friends

2006-01-16T11:56:00.000-05:00

I'm thankful for them.

It's now time for another update on my house. YAY!!! Actually, it now has four walls, a roof, a ceiling, two floors, three windows, and..... Some other stuff.

The other stuff hasn't been installed yet. But last night my Uncle gave us a skylight, for over the stairs, I suspect (I may be called down today for my opinion on that matter), and he gave us some wood flooring (woot!). And then daddy's friend (almost another uncle to us) gave us some carpetting for the loft. What would we do without them? Well.... we'd end up painting the floor and getting splinters. Ouch.

So now there will be a lovely wood floor to go under my rug, and then we can dance and cut a rug. haha.

Anyway. I tried to tak a picture for you all, but..... It didn't work.

The windows in the loft face east and west, so I'll be woken up by the sunrise. :) Well, if I weren't going to be investing in some window treatments. :P And we're going to put bookshelves over the stairs (my idea, and totally brilliant, if I can say so myself). It's sooo Exciting!! I can hardly wait. :D

I talked to Jason's mom and she said that you folks out in Washington are feeling cold, wet and depressed. I understand. The Redskins beat you. But then the Redskins were beat. *sigh* The whole area was rooting for them. Even people like me who don't follow football. (I just had to ask my sister to make sure you'd been beat).

I apologize to all of you for being out of contact, my parental controls are being stupid, so I write comments then they are lost in cyberspace. I declare, this is oppression and fascism if I ever saw it.

That's also the reason for the lack of posts. (argh!!)

And Elisabeth's Xanga is turning her into Joe. (A kitten sniper? that is sooo Joe)

The wind finally quit blowing. I think. But last night we went out to my uncle's in the country and it was CHILLY. Like you're standing there, no wind or anything, in your coat and hat and scarf and shivering in your moccasins. And then you get in the car and just shiver for the first fifteen minutes. It's sooo cold!

We had to read this story in English about a lady who is a bit mad and she's put in this room for the "rest treatment" and the room has garrish yellow wall paper and she starts seeing things in the wall paper, like a lady. Then she starts seeing the lady outside her windows, all of them, whenever she looks out. At the end, she thinks she is the lady trapped in the wallpaper, and she tears the paper off to get free. That was an interesting story.

Then there was the boy with the rocking horse, who rocked to find out who was going to win horse races, then he bet on them and won 80,000 pounds before he rocked himself to death. All for his poor unlucky mum. That, in an odd way, was a very sweet story.

Enough of my random ramblings. :) I'm off to write a "Writing Sample" for English. Whoopee!

and....

And the big bad wolf said....

2006-01-14T19:07:00.000-05:00

haha! I scared you!

I scored as William Wallace. The great Scottish warrior William Wallace led his people against their English oppressors in a campaign that won independence for Scotland and immortalized him in the hearts of his countrymen. With his warrior's heart, tactician's mind, and poet's soul, Wallace was a brilliant leader. He just wanted to live a simple life on his farm, but he gave it up to help his country in its time of need.

William Wallace

71%

The Terminator

67%

Batman, the Dark Knight

63%

Indiana Jones

58%

Captain Jack Sparrow

50%

Lara Croft

50%

Maximus

50%

El Zorro

46%

Neo, the "One"

42%

The Amazing Spider-Man

42%

James Bond, Agent 007

42%

Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0
created with QuizFarm.com

So yeah, I'm William Wallace, But I PROMISE!!! I don't look like him. At least, I'm clean, and today I'm not wearing plaid, though it's cute. I scored lowest as James Bond... what does that say?

The wind is blowing really hard, whistling around corners and leaves sail past the windows in straight paths. It's also snowing, it's rumoured.

Yesterday was my dad's birthday. He is very old now.

And....

Hmm.... think of something witty....

2006-01-13T08:26:00.000-05:00

School Started!!!!! And I"m going to be going crazy. So don't mind me. I"m taking four classes three of them on one day and I don't know how you all do it, because I am seriously confused. Like, my assignments, I'm trying to remember what I have to do for what class. I did write them down, so no worries... But still. And then I don't have all my books yet and they're not supposed to be in for two days and a week at least. *pulls out hair*

I have school everyday. I have to get up at 5:30 Tuesday and Thursday. I am not good at that.

Hmmm.... And.... So far I know.... No One in any of my classes. Actually, the guy who sat in front of me in Math is in my English class, and a girl named Neelam is also in English with me, and she was either in english or Math with me last semester. English. They've stuffed twenty five of us into this Leeetle Tiny room. The teacher's looking for something bigger. And we're reading and writing about short stories and we had to talk about our theme statements with one of the other students and I got stuck witht he guy who thinks the whole story was about.... well... Let's keep this G. That was delightful. Then we had to say whether we were a "talker" or a "listener" in class. (this is the same professor who gave a quiz on the syllabus). Then we were paired up with one of "our own kind." That was fun. I'm a listener mostly, and I got paired up with this guy who is seriously quiet. But..... THat doesn't matter, because I just asked him about a gazillion questions. Why do people sign up for classes if they're never going to show up?

I am avoiding reading my management book. But I think now I have to go get ready to go to school. (Doesn't that just sound so cool? "I'm Going to School!")

And today is Friday the Thirteenth, also my dad's birthday. His friends are all calling to say happy birthday and I get to play secretary.

I have had some deep thoughts of late, but they don't linger long enough to make it here.:-P

A Post

2006-01-03T14:21:00.000-05:00

You're right Marlow. I do need to post. My computer is still acting all weird, but when we took it in to be fixed, it was normal. Stupid thing. So I'm working on the family computer that I must pry away from Anastasia.

Let's see........... Christmas. We went to the Christmas eve service at our church, then went home and went to Midnight Mass with Brian and Tim. That was interesting. We didn't get home until 4 AM. Then four hours later we were up opening presents. My mom says Faith and hayden were up earlier at like 6, but they lay down and went back to sleep (Thank you!). I was so tired at eight, I went back to bed until 3 after we finished. Our Church didn't have a service, which irks me. I think I went over that already though. Then my aunt and uncle and grandparents came over, and Brian and we played games and Uncle Barry played the guitar and I sang. Uncle Barry is an exceptional guitarist. We're going to have a music night at his House soon. :-D There are few things better than that.

And..... Let's see. The week has been pretty uneventful. Sunday Bethany and I went hiking with, guess who, that's right Brian and Tim. I think we need to get a life or something. Anyway. We went to the forest down here by us, which Jason might remember. That was fun. Beth and I took off and they couldn't find us. (They say they weren't looking, whatever) That was enjoyable. Bethany and I got to do some talking. Haha. THen we went back and they'd moved the car and climbed up trees. We taught them how to play MASH. :-D And we made Tim watch A Walk to Remember. It's a great joke, because our dad has said some of the things her dad says. And we're not allowed to date either. We are a bit disapointed in her attitude about it. It's not the end of the world. Golly. *rolls eyes*

And............ Tim came over yesterday and showed the boys and faith how to wrap their hands for the new punching bag that they got. You'd be surprised that he knows how to, He and Brian have scabbed up knuckles from theirs. Crazy boys. We taught him to play a new game and we played Rummy and then after dinner we took a plate up to Brian who was sad that he couldn't come too. He has to work ALL the time. We put tiny portions of food on his plate. The real plate was left in the car. He was so disapointed. :-D

I saw King Kong. SCARY!!!! ARHRHRHHHH!!!! I spent half of it with my eyes closed. I must thank you all because it was on your recomendation that Faith stayed home. It was too scary for her to see.

The Nanny Job fell through, which is something of a relief. IT was really messing uop my schedule and stressing me out and I hadn't even met the family yet.

Ok. there a post. An awful one, I apologize.

Oh yeah. One last thing. We live in a not so great neighborhood. The "Ghetto" is just down the street. LOL. Anyway, you know, you don't take walks at night, basically. Actually, I was at the Chinese place the other day and there were some guys there talking about drugs. Yeah anyway, not so hot neighborhood. So last tuesday the boys were out playing and riding their bikes at the church next door. Suddenly Hayden comes running inside crying and babbling. My mom can't understand what he's saying, so Fletcher comes in after him and his questioned, and come to find out, Hayden's been shot. Yeah. They think it was a highpowered BB gun or this special kind of handgun for shooting groundhogs and such. IT was shot from across the street, and they couldn't see whoever it was. Anyway, he has a big bruise and a scratch, not a bullet embedded in him or anything, but they aren't so eager to play outside anymore.

I think I"ve got to go to work now. Take care you all. :)

Happy Christmas Eve Eve Eve

2005-12-22T11:36:00.000-05:00

I just realized it's been Weeks since my last post (eek). I apologize. Let's see..... what's been happening. Well....

Friday night was the invasion at Scott and Liz's. That was fun, we sat around and talked about vented gas fireplaces, and ate food, of course, and then *duh duh duh* We did Karaoke. Oh boy that was awful. A mess. Embarrassing. But, I have to say, the girls did way better than the boys. Partly because we cheated. But THAT is beside the point!

Oh, but you haven't heard about the Christmas party! LOL, Brian and Tim came and made quite an impression. We were playing this game where you find something to do with Christmas for every letter of the alphabet, and Bethany and I decided we were going to beat them and wouldn't let Brian see our paper. Well, Brian is very competitive, so he decided that he and Tim were going to beat us. Heh whatever, but they got their piece of paper and sat down to think. One of them comes up with the brilliant Idea for Jiminy Cricket. He has nothing to do with Christmas, although they argue he was in Mickey's Christmas Carol. The brilliant thing about it was that they put it under G. Our Pastor was sitting there across from them, watching them and laughing. Now he calls them the Einstein Twins.

So... then on the way home from the invasion, Jackson and I were the only ones going, so we rode down with Tim. On the way home Kristin followed us so she wouldn't get lost, and she was sooo afraid she would lose us, because drives an Echo, and Tim has a BMW (everybody say oooo). So we went slow and then Tim turned on his blinker, even there wasn't a road in sight, and Kristen does the same thing. Boys. He did that like three times, then we nearly missed our turn. Haha.

And we went and saw Narnia, it was lovely. *sigh* Then we went to Silver Diner and got dinner and talked to the waiter about how he came Nepal and he's the only person in his family to be here, he's been here two years and his wife is still in Nepal.

And work has been.... The kids are ok, but the staff is a bit stressed, like relations and stuff. People don't like the other one or whatever. And then there's the bosses getting in stuff.... And one day my kids Were bad, and that was awful, but I think it worked. Let's just say I was stressed that day.

I'm going for an interveiw for a job as a nanny next week. I'm not sure if it's really a good idea though. It would be seriously time consuming and they want something longterm and I'm going to New York next year for school and then there's my fulltime job in the summer, and they're talking about me going with them to their beach house. And the kids are young, one and two year old twins. I don't usually do babies. *sigh* So we'll see about that.

I'm definitely majoring in International Business. It seems so dry, but.... Yeah. :) That's ok.

The Christmas chior program was Sunday and it came off without a hitch. David got back from Jordan and he's fine.

We went to Brian and Tim's business Christmas party. My dad was worried about that one, "What kind of party is this??" Kind of thing. But it was fine, their "Boss" is a Christian, and the wildest part was the preschoolers literally bouncing off the walls. :D

There is other stuff... but not stuff that I think you want to hear about. I miss homeschool group and my friends there immensely, but at the same time I"m making other friends in college. But they're different in a thousand ways.

Also, go check out Daniel's Xanga because it's hilarious. http://www.xanga.com/trekiedaniel
OH boy. That's just funny. OK, you have to be mildly knowledgeable about debate, but only as knowledgeable as I am, which is about nothing. This is not pie song Dan, this is Daniel. :D just so there's no unfortunate mix ups.

WooHoo!!

2005-12-09T09:06:00.000-05:00

It snowed!! and I have a Real Live Snow Day!!! (First one ever in my ENTIRE life!)

I got up at 8:10, and my brothers were already heading out to go sledding. Of course, they were being very quite, and I heard rumors of "If you wake up Faith, you have to give up your tube." I"m just glad they were quiet. Cause when they are loud they are very very loud, and when they argue they are horrid. And usually they are loud because they are fighting.

I get to go to work at noon and stay until six. :-D And right now there are about six kids. And four staff. :-P My mom said they were getting ready to play spades.

Oh, you do know, my mom and Bethany and I all work the same place. We have different jobs, though. My mom works in the morning and drives a bus to pick up the lovely children from school,also to take them. Bethany works in the afternoon same as me, but I run snack and the third grade homework room, and Bethany keeps the upstairs running smoothly, you know, answering phones, filing, talking to parents and teasing our bosses. She's good.

Now she has announced that she is going to make brownies and eat them all herself. lol.

Oooo, Tomorrow, We are going to see the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe with all those debate folks. And Tim is coming so everyone can meet him. o_O And tonight is the Christmas party at church. Yay!

I got five hours of sleep last night. You all know what that means. Heehee.

Well, I think I"m going to help Bethany. Laters!

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:PPPPP

2005-12-08T10:57:00.002-05:00

I'd like to thank Jason and Marlow for their very nice phone call. *sniff* That was sooo sweet of you guys.

You completely baffled Anastasia. She had no idea who you were. (me niether, at first.... heh heh)

It snowed. Yay! the kids got a day out of school. It's weird how many people don't like snow around here. *sniff*

ONLY 17 DAYS TIL CHRISTMAS!!!!

YAY!!

Next Wednesday I have an Exam and a paper due, then the next Monday is my last Exam and then I'M OUT OF SCHOOL!!!!!! WOOHOOO!!!!

And in case any of you were wondering, JAcob is still alive. I talked to him last night. And he does post on his xanga (everybody say "Yuck"). http://www.xanga.com/manonfire_89

I have a theory though, about xanga people and Blogspot people. Xanga people only comment on Xanga blogs. They are selfish and selfcentered. Blogspot people don't like Xanga, but they sacrifice their preferences and get a Xanga so they can read and comment on their friends blogs just about every day. Because they are good friends. :-P

That is all. :)

sigh

2005-12-02T19:12:00.000-05:00

Marguerite is very tired. So she is getting a bit depressed. She is tired of being a person who says Hi, and not a person who is said Hi to. She is tired of being the person who calls. Not the person who is called. Everyone needs to be needed.

In the good news, my father and I had a nice conversation on the way to school, and it looks like i'll be able to continue school next semester, but I'm still going to have to get another job. I don't know how that's going to work with me in school and my first job... ( I warned you, i"m depressed).

Work was crazy. I almost got mad. Faith and I went out to lunch together. *yay* It was cold, and the wind was blowing. And then we walked to work. Poor Faith. She doesn't complain, but...

I'm playing my guitar again. My fingers hurt. I play blues and Greensleeves. And the old folk/country stuff.

A friend said he was going clubbing tonight. It all seems so empty. Like, why? *sadness*

Marguerite is seriously stressed out folks. She wants to listen to emo music and write in black. She wants to cry. This is why Marguerite MUST get plenty of sleep at night. But not tonight, tonight she is expecting a phone call. And it's like that seventeen song. Marguerite is going to borrow Bethany's DHT cd and be depressed.

Goodnight.

also, this lady got a face transplant.

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusintl/ap12-02-060441.asp?reg=europe&vts=12220051519

ooooo weirdness!

2005-11-30T19:53:00.000-05:00

http://louhi.kempele.fi/%7Eskyostil/archive/dump/flash/psychic.swf

Check that out! it's really cool. Kinda scary too.

My Genius Engineer friend, Adam (DonutGuy), Figured out how it works. because he's Genius.

Now. i am going to get ticked off.

2005-11-25T17:30:00.000-05:00

ARGH!!!

thank you.

My parents are weird sometimes. My sister and I are going to go see a movie with some friends. Unfortunately, they are friends that happen to be guys. Not just any guys, Brian and Tim guys. And because of that, they flip out. It's not a date. If we went to the movies with any other guys it'd be no problem. Really. You know, go with Jacob, no problem, go with Daniel, no problem, go with Collin, no problem, go with Ryan, no problem. But mention going with Brian and Tim, who are perfect gentlemen, and they're like, "You're not dating anyone who's Catholic!!" Who mentioned dating? Sure we tease eachother like that, but we tease eachother about lots of guys. And seriously, they don't have a problem with me going with guys from school, who aren't Christians, and don't believe in Creation and don't even believe in God, but they have a problem with very nice, Christian (yes, they are, ok?), gentlemanly guys (they won't let us open doors or carry groceries or pay for stuff, and it took some talking to let one of them ride in the front seat of the car). What is up with that??

Not only that, they even like these guys! Which is good cause some days they practically live here. They get along well with the kids and all and are polite and call my dad Sir, even when he says they don't have to.

But they hold a grudge against them because their pastor isn't married and because they have a Pope and believe in purgatory. They're not the only ones to believe in purgatory. If I had a friend who was, say, Armenian Orthadox, would they have such a problem? I doubt it.

Also. My house has a floor and windows and *drumroll* Two Walls. Yeah. And tomorrow it's scheduled for the other two walls and the second floor and the roof. Tim and Collin are coming over to help. (Collin added the ninja in our story, remember? he's very cool.) Well, Tim's coming to help, Collin's just coming. *yay*

My brothers had to help my dad today and now they're saying i have to pay them. They are so greedy and complaining and *argh!* I do appreciate that they're helping. I do. Really, but you know something, I think I'd be more grateful if they didn't whine and demand payment, when I didn't ask them to help, and then threaten to "strike" if I don't pay them $25 an hour, which I don't even make and they don't make that on real jobs. And then I said, fine, cool, but they didn't strike and they're still demanding I pay them. "Do you know how cold it is out there/ I had to hold a hammer all day." Actually I do know cause I was out there some of the time, you know.

i think i"m going to have to work full time this next semester and then go to school in the summer, because I don't have the funds to pay for this semester. And I have other bills that are coming due. *AHHH!!! ADULTHOOD!!!* Ok, no adults read this. cause it's not really, but ....

*sigh* I am making socks and I finished my first pair of mittens. What would I do without yarn?

Oh yeah, and my sisters are taking over my friends again. THAT gets on my nerves. You know, I get to know someone for MONTHS, then they pop their cute little heads in and say "hi" and then never shut up. Ok, Beth may be feeling the same thing with me and Brian, but I don't talk to him that much and if they hadn't had the Brilliant Idea to introduce Tim and I this wouldn't be a problem. But now she gets to see Brian more.... Anyway. And then there's the school friend thing. "Oh, Collin is sooo cute! Hi Collin!!!" But how about we ignore Joe cause he's not cute and not six and a half feet tall. Argh.

Okay. This is getting really annoying.

2005-11-16T12:21:00.000-05:00

I wrote a post to go with we're all going to die. I did. But then it got lost somewhere in cyberspace. ARGH!!!

Anyway, I've got Strep Throat for the first time in my life. Why now? I'm 18, I'm supposed to be beyond that or something. My mom doesn't want anyone else getting it so she's put me on quarantine which is why Fletcher makes a cross with his fingers and says "Unclean" every time he passes me.

I don't think he realizes that the lepers were the ones that said that, not the "clean" people. But he stopped because Mommy said she'd spank him if he did it again. *pwned*

And I had a strange conversation with our doctor about dating. But that's another story for another time.

Everyone go take that quiz/untest/survey thing and post your answers and then go make up a distortion for your blog and we'll all go take it and turn up idiots. for example- August- your mom goes to college.

yeah

WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!

2005-11-16T12:13:00.000-05:00

2005-11-15T17:17:00.000-05:00

Don't cheat, If you are honest, this tells the truth. It's pretty good. Writeyour answers on a piece of paper, and NO cheating!! The answers are at thebottom.

1. Which is your favorite color out of: red, black, blue, green, or yellow?

2. Your first initial?

3. Your month of birth?

4. Which color do you like more, black or white?

5. Name of a person of the same sex as yours.

6. Your favorite number?

7. Do you like Flying or Driving more?

8. Do you like a lake or the ocean more?

9. Write down a wish (a realistic one).

When you're done, scroll down. (Don't cheat!)
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Answers
1. If you choose:
Red - You are alert and your life is full of love.
Black - You are conservative and aggressive.
Green - Your soul is relaxed and you are laid back.
Blue- You are spontaneous and love kisses and affection from the ones you love.
Yellow - You are a very happy person and give good advice to those who are down.

2. If your initial is:
A-K You have a lot of love and friendships in your life .
L-R You try to enjoy your life to the maximum &your love life is soon toblossom.
S-Z You like to help others and your future love life looks very good.

3. If you were born in:
Jan-Mar: The year will go very well for! you and you will discover that you fall in love with someone totally unexpected.
April-June: You will have a strong love relationship that will not last longbut the memories will last forever.
July-Sep: You will have a great year and will experience a major life-changingexperience for the good.
Oct-Dec: Your love life will not be great, but eventually you will find yoursoul mate.

4. If you chose:
Black: Your life will take on a different direction, it will seem hard at thetime but will be the best thing for you, and you will be glad for the change.
White: You will Have a friend who completely confides in you and would doanything for you, but you may not realise it.

5. This person is your best friend.

6. This is how many close friends you have in your lifetime.

7. If you chose:
Flying: You like adventure.
Driving: You are a laid back person.

8.. If you chose:
Lake: You are loyal to your friends and your lover and are very reserved.
Ocean: You are spontaneous and like to please people.

9. This wish will come true only if you post your answers. It will come true before your next birthday!

Haha. Ok, I'm bored so I did this... and um yeah. Here are my answers.

1. Blue- spontanious and loves kisses and affection from the ones you love.

2. M- you try to enjoy life the maximum and your love like is soon to blossom.

(is that why two people asked me if I had a boyfriend yesterday? Faith says I should have a boyfriend, so I said she could get me one for Christmas, then she said I should marry this guy because we both have red hair. )

3. April- you will have a strong love relationship that will not last very long.

(if it's that strong why does it not last long?)

4. Black- your life will tak a difficult turn and it will be hard but best for you and you will be grateful for the change.

(that sounds ominous....)

5. Khadijah- this person is your best friend.

(she's pretty flipping cool!)

6. 5- close friend you will have in a lifetime.

(that's a comfort?)

7. Driving- laidback.

(oh yeah. pretty much. As much as I love flying *daurogh and that cool flight attendant* driving is so much fun!)

8. Ocean- spontaneous and likes to please.

(you know me so well. the ocean is just cooler.... like no gross pond weed)

9. I'm not telling because I'm not telling. So there. hah. But I did say that beautiful yarn was what I wanted for my birthday.....

Speaking of which.... http://coolboysknit.com It's this boy who is cool and knits. *my hero!*

Wild Medicine

2005-11-10T13:38:00.000-05:00

John 14:6
Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'

Is it possible that your pharmacist could be a chimpanzee? That's not such a silly question. Naturalists are discovering that many animals use a variety of plants and other items to treat their illnesses. Animals often know about the medicinal properties of plants when modern medicine has yet to learn about them.

Recently naturalists noticed that one of the monkeys in the African preserve under their care had become lethargic, lost her appetite, and obviously had a severe gastric upset. A few hours after she became sick, she started munching on a native shrub that is not a normal part of the monkey's diet. She chewed the plant, swallowed the bitter juice and spit out the pulp. By the next afternoon her symptoms were gone and she was feeling better. After a little research, scientists discovered that local tribes use juices from the same plant to treat intestinal upset and loss of appetite.

Studies of the juices of a root that bears rub into their coats show that the bears are using an effective insecticide. Scientists have observed elephants, monkeys, birds and bears eating a variety of things that were not a normal part of their diet only to discover that the things being eaten had medicinal properties. Most amazing is that the animals know how best to take their medicine. If a leaf is best swallowed whole to kill intestinal parasites, it will be swallowed unchewed!

Who other than the Great Physician Himself could have taught the animals this medicine?

References: Cowen, Ron. 1990. Medicine on the wild side. ScienceNews, v. 138. p. 280.

~Creation Moment for Thursday, November 10, 2005

Epiphany

2005-11-08T11:28:00.000-05:00

Last night I was asked what my most recent epiphany was. Golly. What a question to ask someone at 11 pm. I couldn't think of anything except something I wasn't going to say for fear of offending the person I was talking with, because it was something they had said that made me think of it.... Anyway, not much of an epiphany.

So I copped out and said something about the Pythagorean Theorim. I finally get it. After three or four years of trying to figure it out in highschool, I finally get it now after reading it once in college. But it was so cool.

And Tim told me this cool thing for finding square roots. See you take the one that you know, say 12. 12x12=144. Then you add twelve, 144+12=156, then you add the next number up, 13 in this case, and you have 156+13= 169, which is 13x13. cool stuff.

OOOh, I like Enya. She reminds me of Christmas. Probably because the last time I borrowed her from the library it was Christmas. But it's so pretty.

Calor!!!

2005-10-31T21:15:00.000-05:00

My dad turned on the heaters!!! Yay! I think he finally got that we were cold when we started holding our hands over our food at dinner to warm them up. That and Anastasia wearing gloves all day in the house.

Hmmm... what else?

The guy in Home Depot yelled at me tonight because I was going to look in one of their washing machines. Weird.

Today at work we told a scary story in the gym with the lights off. It WAS scary. About this guy coming after kids with a hammer. One of them (he's one of my favorites, my "sister's" "son") started crying.

I bought a mini orange sharpie.

A guy in my Spanish Class dressed up as Zorro (sp?) and wore the mask the whole class, including the exam.

My school put the library on the fourth floor. Somehow that just seems backwards.

Everyone should be at least some One's number one priority.

And we did nothing for halloween. No costumes. We went to dinner with friends, then wandered around and talked. We are weird, but we like it that way.

WILL IS HOME!!!!!! YAY!!!!!

Rose Colored

2005-10-28T13:01:00.000-04:00

I did it.

My Hair is now Red.

Not like Beth's, I didn't want to copy her's, but darker. Like Burgundy. O.o

I like it.

Did I mention it's cold?

Also, why do I always miss the bus the days my mom isn't home?

Frozen through

2005-10-27T14:20:00.000-04:00

I'm writing my research paper on the Armenian genocide. Have you ever heard of it? Probably not, most folks haven't. One and a half Million people were killed, brutally worked to death and tortured and driven from their homes to the wilderness to starve to death, or be murdered. And no one has heard of it. Pitiful isn't it? Over half of the population was killed. Look it up. Actually, last night I tried too at our school library. We have three books in our entire library system on the genocide. In chronicles of the times, there would be one sentence, mentioning them in passing. KNow something? The United States knew about it. But we didn't do anything about. Pretty sad.

Another guy is doing his on some stuff with people disapearring in Argentina and Chile, weird stuff, gross stuff. Another is doing his on Marijuana use. "Timely" says the Doc. Some officials on the Hill are saying the war on drugs is making a lower class that is um... being fought against by our government. I think that's how he put it. Interesting. My professor is hoping some of ours can be sent upstairs to be saved for the files, the records, for when accreditting services come. OOoo.

I talk way too much these days. I'm considering not talking for a couple days. I mean, I even talk to myself. I can't seem to think unless I'm talking. Which may explain some of the really random stuff that ends up as comments.

Also, Halloween is on Monday. It's giving me the creeps.

I'm considering dying my hair. Probably red, but I'm afraid Beth will get mad at me for copying her. I'm totally not trying to. I"m tired of being boring though. That's a simple way to not be boring. And less permanent than getting my ear peirced.

Tomorrow is the Corn Maze. Brr.... Note to self, Bring gloves. Hold up, self, do oyu even have gloves? Find some nice cozy gloves.

Last year at Scaremare we stood in line for a couple hours and it was COLD. Like colder than now. And most of us weren't dressed for it, so we huddled together and held kettle corn and tucked our hands in our armpits and danced around and sang. It was fun. And scary.

Brrrrr

2005-10-23T19:45:00.000-04:00

It is COLD folks. I can't seem to get warm. brrbrrrbrrrr. I mean it's not even that cold. I think walking around in the rain on friday has gotten to me. I"ve got a cold too. Blah.

Friendship takes time. If you're not willing to give time you can't be a friend. If work already consumes you now, how much more will it consume you when you are grown? What is it that you work towards so diligently? And will it be enough in the end, when you have no one left?

Anybody out there into robotics? Cause I'm writing, or well, i'm not actually writing it yet, I have to write, a paper on robotics. Fun stuff.

I"m wearing a pirate on my ring finger. what does that mean? Pirates went against society. Whoever ends up putting another ring there will have to too.

I like Enya. And Louis Armstrong. I like to sing blues. My sisters are annoyed by it.

My church is talking about merging with another one. I don't want us too. I'm jealous and selfish, our church is really cool, really selfless and a family (actually it is pretty much only a few big families.), and I don't want that to change. There aren't cliques. It's not really big enough to have them. But really, people are just really nice. It could use some color, but otherwise it's cool. I don't want to go with this other church, cause that'll all change, and we'll be back where we left the last church. With the reason I didn't hardly go to church for a year. Scary society and gossip.

I've started a new sweater. It's a pattern I"ve done before, but I'm thinking about changing the sleeves a bit. Woohoo! Last time I worked about nonstop for six weeks. this time will take longer I expect. I suppose I could start dragging my knitting along on the bus and weird people out. What if I knitted in Spanish.... heh heh heh.

Last summer in Prague, my aunt cousin and I came up with another meaning for knitting. But I won't tell what it is. :P *raspberry*

Whole milk is sooooo good. Even if it does make me colder.

I like green peppers. And California pizza. mmmmm.

Good evening.

PS. A BREADKNIFE!!!! (for oldtime's sake)

2005-10-21T14:07:00.000-04:00

i'm getting annoying again, forgive me. i need some kind of other hobby. or to do my homework. something, anything. i am the most annoying person i know. oh i know, i need to stop relying on people so much for entertainment. maybe a book will do the trick. hah. oh. i know the problem. my room looks like there was an earthquake hit. don't tell anyone. it's a wreck with a capital w. tomorrow. i will clean it. and do laundry. and maybe see wallace an gromit? and write a paper. and... golly. i should go. but i can't drag myself away!! my fingers are stuck to the keyboard! AHHH!

um no. i'm going now. bye

The Lady Across the Street.

2005-10-19T22:24:00.000-04:00

Haha! I have written fiction after all! Perhaps those crazy Washington BoyScouts will enjoy it.

The Lady Across the Street

By Marguerite, Aurora, Joe and Collin

A petite, black-haired, blue eyed woman tucks her sweet-tempered, darkhaired, brown-eyed munchkin in rocket-covered long john pajamas into bed, kisses him goodnight with full, dark cherry red lips and turn out the light as she leaves the darkened bedroom. Jonny slips out from under his thick, dinosaur comforter to sit on the end of his bed, his elbows tucked on the window sill, his impish face resting on his tiny hands.

Across the street, there stands a Pepto Bismol pink, two story Victorian house with plum purple, fancy, curlicue trim, its huge, sagging porch covered in faded white wicker furniture. Around this fantastic monolith are small, proper houses, each looking like they came from the same cookie cutter. Jonny has heard his friends’ parents calling the old house an eyesore, but he thinks the old lady that lives there is right, they wouldn’t know beauty if it hit them in the face.

The curved front walk, paved with large cracked stones threatened by overwhelming weeds, wanders to the bottom of the warped wooden stairs. The crazy patches of vines all over the front yard makes it seem like a wild jungle worthy of the deepest exploration. His curious gaze takes in the peeling white picket fence where it shows, in small sections, through the heavy leaves and grasses. Watching silently, he notices the regal lady herself through a softly lit window, settled in her sky blue paisley wingback chair, knitting with rainbow-colored yarn, the long, fat, mint green needles clacking rhythmically. Her neon green crown of hair nods slightly above her aged face as she speaks to her grandson across the room. Her back, bent with the weight of time, is a sharp contrast to her chin, betraying obstinate stubbornness. At her feet is the most flea-bitten, mangy, loyal subject ever to grace a person’s presence. King lifts his head long enough to gaze at his mistress with adoring, brown doggy eyes before settling his huge head on his crossed forepaws, his brindle coat making him appear even more moth-eaten than he is.

Jelly’s voice, nasal and complaining floats on the evening breeze, “Awww Granny, come on! Don’t be so old fashioned!” Jonny’s scrutiny shifts to Jelly, his bowl-cut hair in black with orange streaks, his Pinocchio nose, his thin lips and skinny, wiry frame as he perches restless and tense on an ancient straight-backed chair that threatens to overthrow his balance at any moment. Jonny tries not to giggle as Jelly’s bulging eyes appear to be ready to pop out at any second.

Dusk casts its pall over the neighborhood, settling a shroud over everything. A dark grey car slides up to Granny’s unkempt house and three figures in long black coats and black felt fedoras exit the car. Picking their way gingerly up the path, they get to Granny’s door and knock quietly. King raises his head and growls at the door as Granny slowly rises from her throne and hobbles over to answer it. The police flip open their badges as the old wooden door slowly creaks open, a watery hazel eye appearing in the crack. Throwing off their coats and fedoras, the three men reveal black ninja garb and thrust the door open, Jelly jumping up and running to catch Granny as she stumbles back. King howls then grabs a small porcelain lamp in his ugly yellow teeth, dragging it to the puddle he had conveniently left just inside the front door, electrocuting the three ninjas as Granny and Jelly dart through the house and out the back door.

The ninjas laugh as their rubber waders insulate them, saving them from death and trip over the huge mutt blocking their path. King nips one on his way around them to follow Granny. In the darkening gloam, the screen door slams as two figures and their faithful guardian lopes along beside them, barking encouragement and turning to growl and snarl at the house. Fitfully traversing the overgrown path to a rickety old dock, Jelly and Granny reach the end of it and stumble into a leaky, faded rowboat, King jumping in beside them. Jelly shoves against the rotten boards of the dilapidated dock and turns as they glide slowly onto the dark, still lake, then snaps in frustration as he realizes the oars are still on the dock. *oh snap*

The three ninjas suddenly appear on the dock and jump into the lake to swim out to catch Granny and Jello but their black waders fill with water and drag all three under the unexpectedly deep water, causing agreat splash. The wave they made turns into a wild tsunami, pushing the half-sunken rowboat to the far side of the lake, beaching it on the gray sand. The shadowy figures crawl carefully out of the boat as it starts to rain.

Jonny startles awake as the ice-cold drops hit his slack face. Blinking owlishly, he slowly stands up, toddles through his dark, toy-strewn room and out the blue-painted door. The toilet flushes and he stumbles back into his room, tucks himself back into his single bed and rolls over, long lashes fluttering softly on creamy cheeks as he falls back into dreamland.

The End

I think I'm starting to act like a girl

2005-10-18T12:47:00.000-04:00

*GASP* Marguerite acting like a GIRL! eek. Cause, like here's the deal. Saturday we went to the mall, for like seven hours. Of course, we didn't buy anything. But then last night I went to target and in twenty minutes bought a bunch of clothes.

And some stiletto boots. Oh my. I"ve never bought stilettos before. (those are the really spiky heels that are named after a knife or something. :P) I"m wearing them right now. yay.

and um. what else? I have my own floor! Yay! but that's all, just a floor. We had a youth activity on friday. We played capture the flag and sang around the fire. We're going to Belvedeare at the end of teh month, so if anyone wants to come it's really cool. And fun. And.... it's the same night as homecoming at the local highschool. Big surprise.

Some days life seems so shallow. Like, I go to school, but what for? a degree? I never put much stock in degrees. To learn? Am I? it just seems pointless. And I buy new clothes and try to look nice, but what's the point? there isn't one.

Oh okay, I'm depressing myself.

Good news. We're going to be reassigning chores. YES!! And you're like, um, so what? I am sooo tired of doing the dishes, and usually my mom ends up doing them. I've had dinner and dishes for two years. And now my evenings are consumed with dinner and dishes, and I have no time for anything else, like cleaning my room or homework. And you Know that's what I would totally do. (hah) I don't know what I would do, really, but it'll be nice to be able to do something else. It's also kinda annoying cause it seems like I"m the only one that does my chore everyday. (I don't actually, sometimes my mom does the dishes.) But.... I'm going to be so happy to get my own room.

Enough! Um, I know someone who is an adult who's never had kiwi, sad world huh? and in Spanish one of my classmates and I are arguing over the best gum in the world. I say it's Trident Tropical twist, and he says it's Wrigley's Green Apple. What do you all think?

and yesterday at work I got yellow paint on my face. That was funny.

And I'm teaching a fourth grader the lattice method of multiplication, we learned it in math. And we're learning about other bases, and it's seriously interesting. Math is my favorite class.

On that happy note, i close.

Ode to Chucks!

2005-10-12T22:49:00.000-04:00

I got Chucks!
I got Chucks!
I'm so happy
I got Chucks!
I got Chucks!
I am nuts!

And I had coffee!
I had Coffee!
I had Coffee
And I'm Hyper
I had coffee
WooPi!

And I went to English class which totally gets me hyper cause I'm part of the three stooges and then I had coffee and forgot my wallet and dropped my phone in the car and didn't have a ride home. But the other two musketeers are flippin awesome and offered me a ride home. (ok, I asked and looked crazy and scared them into it). And then we spent half the class laughing and joking around. Discreetly of course. Actually, it wasn't all three of us, just Collin and I cause we were sitting in the back. He has a smashed up pop tart in his backpack and we chew the same gum. And he listens to trance, which is yet another strange simularity to my friend Sjorzo across the ocean.

And um, aurora hates us but that's fine. I'm working on my diplomacy skills. :D And..... I got to talk to maurice in my class about Robotics and super smart talented family members. And that was cool.

We're going to be writing setetients or something in class, which is poetry with seven lines a stanza and the last words from the lines of the previous stanza repeated in the next one. Weirdness, Ezra pounds did some of that.

Woot! Enough of the craziness. HSG manana so the craziness will continue with my coconut friends! Yay!

Good night my fellow humanoids!

Vi Daraugh. I want to strangle mi hermana. But don't worry, she knows.

2005-10-10T19:43:00.000-04:00

I'm going to strangle my sister. She likes to meddle in my life and mess things up. I hate it. And.... It emphasizes how different we are, despite what Jose and every one but tim says.

It's so strange. Someday perhaps I'll understand it. For now... My heart is as open as it's going to get.

But allow me to say, Jason, Joe, Marlow, you guys are awesome. Please never grow up. It's awful.

Then there's the issue with friends. You know how all the old people say that you don't stay in touch with very many folks from Highschool? I wanted to be different. I'm picking up friends in college, but I love my HS friends too. But I'm not part of their lives anymore it seems and... It's not bad as I make it sound, really, but lately has been lonely. That's all.

Goodnight

PS. I rode a segway today. And ate pancakes. And made an origami boat in honor of colombus day. I named it the Pinta. :)

Prose

2005-10-06T15:33:00.000-04:00

*Ahem*

O scandelous control
the voice of too many
Razing friendships
Building walls
Pull back your reach!
Allow us to breath!
Allow us to run free!

For now we play the parts
Actors on the stage
Until we dance on your strings no more
Farewell marrionetter

When I Survey....

2005-10-04T13:43:00.000-04:00

What is your favorite color? Me Gustan Azules!

What is your favorite dessert? hmmm Icecream. Yummy.

What is your favorite candy? Almond joys. it has nothing to do with our dear Elizabeth, but they are the greatest

What food(s) are you allergic to? Pepperoni. Which stinks cuz sometime I like it

What do you prefer, coffee, tea, or soda (and what type)? Raspberry Ice Tea.

What sports do you like (or do you not like sports)? Field hockey and soccer in PE. Also,

Basketball at work or soccer with the kids.

Do you have an Amazon wishlist (if so, let me know the URL or username)? Nopers

Do you like to buy stuff for your house? I love to. Well, for my room... and some ofit has

migrated to the rest of the house.

What is your favorite TV show (current)? or all-time? I really like Gilligan's Island, and Alias is pretty cool, all spies and stuff.

What pets do you own, if any? and how many? 1 dog, who is "Officially" mine, and who likes me best, and a fish that's not mine and a hamster that I offered to marlowe, but isn't mine really

What are your hobbies? Knitting, it's so relaxing. Avoiding English homework by writing other places, singing. LALALALALALA la

Do you prefer to pamper yourself or rough it? hmmm I love to go down to the corner rite aid and spend too much money on "pamper" kind of stuff, but... I think I'd be more comfortable roughing it than "pampering".... if that makes any sense

What is more important to you, cost or comfort? hmmm To a certain extent both, like, i have a price limit, but I go with the most comfortable within the limit

What do you mostly spend your money on? umm... I don't know, it really changes, not something that's consistent. Um, room furnishings is what it seems lately.

Video or DVD? DVD is what I've got so it's what I like

Democrat or Republican (or something else)? Um.. I'm probably not republican, though I lean that way, but I'd prob be libertarian or some such thing

Political or non-political? I want to work for the government, and I was voted most likely to succeed in politics, and I have a classmate that drives me to considering politics, all the diplomacy I've been using. But... probably not too political

What is your favorite article of clothing? My long skirt or a certain shirt that I wear a lot

Do you like getting dressed up or hate it? i like it. A lot.

Like to shop (offline) or not? when I have money, yeah, and when i'm not a on a mission to find something. Then I mess up and get something i don't even like

Like to shop (online) or not? I don't mind it, but I like to see what I'm getting

Kleenex or handkerchief? Kleenex, otherwise, it's just gross, lo siento

Do you celebrate your birthday? not really big or anything but yeah

Christmas? It's my favorite

CD's or MP3's (or something else)? both, and LPs

Is music an important part of your life? yeah

What type of music do you generally listen to? folk and Christian and bluegrass

Do you play any instrument (if so, how well)? guitar, well enough to play some folk to sing too

Like to travel, or not, or not sure? Love it. Talked to a new friend yesterday, we're both in college, we both want to work overseas, that's why we are studying what we are

What is your favorite vacation spot? the beach or the northern neck

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? I really enjoyed Armenia, and Prague, i miss armenia.

Prefer renting or owning a home? owning, then you can do zany stuff with it

If you had to live in an apartment, would you prefer upstairs or downstairs? I don't know...

Prefer maid service or cleaning it yourself? maid service would be cool, but would i trust them?

Do you want to be buried or cremated? tied to rocks and thrown over board. JK, Burried, graveyards are so cool, like the one where my dad's family is, up on the mountain.

Are you a calm person or do you get upset/excited easily? Not calm.

What three things would you want to have on a desert island? My Bible, a good friend and a cruise ship

Do you plan ahead or put things off to the last minute? put them off

Are you a worrier or not? yeah I overanalyze stuff too much

In a group of people, do you usually let other people decide things or do you like to take charge? i can take charge, but I'd rather not

What is your favorite flower? Wild violets or crocuses

Mac or PC? PC

What is your favorite computer game, if you have one? solitaire

Prefer Dogs or cats? both. Well, i like big dogs better than cats, but cats are way better that

little dogs except scotties

Which do you prefer, camping or going to a luxury hotel? Camping.

Do you enter sweepstakes or play the lottery (both or either)? neither

Do you prefer winter or summer? spring and fall, but winter is better than summer

Do you like to use the A/C in the summer or prefer to open windows? open the windows and

turn on the fans, we don't really have a choice

Do you keep your curtains and blinds open or shut? open

Do you know your neighbors very well? not even their names

At a party, would you stay just with people you know, or try to meet new people (or a little of both)? depends on how big it was. I'd prob meet some new people

If you were going on a trip, would you make hotel reservations or try to find a place after you get there? make reservations

Do you plan all your activities ahead when you go on vacation, or just play it by ear? play it by ear

Do you have a calendar where you keep track of your appointments and events, or not? not really

Do you own a Palm pilot or similar device? Is it a fun toy, mere convenience, or something you can't live without? DOn't got one

If you have a CD burner in your pc, do you know how to use it? Yeah I know how, but I don't think I have

If you were in a karaoke bar and your friends paid you $100 to go up and sing alone, would you? what are we doing in karioke bar anyway? But um, it'd depend i think, i wouldn't do it for the money, but it might be fun

Are you the type of person who gets embarrassed easily or do you not care what people think? I care what people think, but i don't get embarrassed easily

What is the worst experience you ever had? I don't want to talk about it :P

The best? last summer traveling, or... having all the cool friends I have now

Do you prefer salty or sweet foods? sweet wait salty, I don't know it depends

Do you collect anything? If so, what? Madeline brandies books

How many states, provinces, or countries have you lived in? one state and two countries

How old are you (or, you can give your decade)? I am eighteen

What is one issue or cause you feel strongly about? abortion, the underdogs

What are three things we might be surprised to know about you? 1) I have three fingernails painted pink right now. 2) I LIKE KIWI!!! 3) I'm not that mysterious, if you don't know it there's a reason for it.

If you could do anything you wanted in terms of profession/career, what would it be? Work

overseas in the State Department or with a non profit organization or something like that.

Extra Extra! Read All About It!!!

2005-10-02T14:16:00.000-04:00

Big News Folks. Huge Gigantic MONUMENTAL NEWS!!!

I drove.

I drove on the Street.

I drove on the street with Other Cars.

I Drove on the Street with Other Cars on a Highway.

I drove on the street with other cars on the highway ALL THE WAY HOME FROM CHURCH!!!!!

Aren't you proud of me? I didn't even run into anyone and only scared my mom a couple of times. And we only argued once when the road was narrow and she thought I was too close to the curb and I though I was too close to the other lane. :) But we survived.

And I had three sarcastic siblings in the backseat telling me I was doing everything wrong. Especially stopping. I stopped too close apparently. I didn't run into anybody. golly. They need to lighten up.

I think I finally got tired of Bethany gloating over driving on the road, so i took a leap and drove the 25 miles home from church. Yay! I still have to work on turning though. Not quite comfy with that yet. :)

Oh boy oh boy oh boy.

2005-09-26T22:09:00.000-04:00

I got an A- on the paper I thought was going to flunk.

Then I got the college catologue and wonder if I've taken on enough work.

Now I remember that the counselor I met with recommended these classes and no more, so I'm good.

International relations or business is looking pretty cool.

My sister is trying to set me up with some guy.

I think it's something like the taming of the shrew.

Last night I drank a liter of pepsi and didn't get to sleep until five am. The occasion? nothing! grrr.

Today we celebrated my school's birthday. They had a party and everything. Free food, cake, karioke by fellow students. They butchered Simon and Garfunkel.

My school is cooler than yours, because mine gave us FRISBEES!!!!! YAY!!!!

Aren't you just jealous?

Coconuts. At the Oscars. With Bodyguards and Charisma.

2005-09-23T12:55:00.000-04:00

Christine, the one whose fans are a bit over-zealous. She had Spencer, Michael, Jacob and Sam to protect her.
Marieke, she's a natural.

I have to say I have some pretty awesome friends, hmm?

I was going through my email and found these and couldn't resist.

Now, if I found others like them in my email, I'd gladly post those too.

*hint hint*

(you aren't hiding anymore of these, are you, Marieke?)

Reasons to hate Xanga

2005-09-20T13:15:00.000-04:00

1. those little shooting banners on the top of the page. Have you ever tried them? They're too much fun.

2. annoying people. I have yet to have an annoying person comment on my blog here.

3. Milk from Chernobyl

I don't really hate it. and it is beginning to become more comfortable. But.... I shall hold out.

I'm reading a book about Catholic Saints. It's a picture book for kids. I'm reading it to expand my horizons. Or something. Do you know that Saint Anthony is the patron saint of Gravediggers?

Whoa. I'm sorry, but I totally cannot agree with this. "Remembering Jesus and Mary in their sufferings made Gabriel all the more generous in proving his love. Imitate this youthful saint by thinking frequently of the sorrows of Mary, that through her motherly care you may reach holinesss and save your soul."

Mary can't save anyone's soul. Not even her own.

Talk about broadening of horizons.

I'm going to the "Until my hearts caves in tour"!!!!! YAY!!!!

I like Kiwi. It's the greatest. I usually eat one for breakfast.

enough with the randomness.

Goodbye

Two in one day?

2005-09-17T11:46:00.000-04:00

Yeah :) How's abouts it?

I was catching up in the last one, and this one is for fun. Or something.

So, I finally took Dan's advice, and borrowed some Pink Floyd from the library. He was nearly positive I wouldn't like it. Because I'm a girl. Whatever. Anyway, I do like it. To describe it... Um. My first reaction was, A mix of the Beatles vocals, because they're British and a quartet, and the Moody Blues, because their music is um like electronica ahead of it's time. But more spacy sounding. Now, they don't sound the same, so you might be able to skip the beatles part. :) But, seeing how I like both of those groups, there's no reason not to like Pink Floyd.

We've got STRING CHEESE!!!! Oh yeah. heh, that reminds me of the cheer at camp. See we were all down at the lake for an activity, and we started cheering, "We take showers yes we do, we take showers, how about you?" Then the other team would cheer back the same thing. Then we said "We use soap! We use soap! We use Soap!" Things went downhill from there. Like "We have facial hair" and so on. The guys didn't cheer that loud.

Oh! We put up the hammock in our room. It's so comfortable! Faith sleeps in it ever night. She's like one of the little lost boys. except she's a girl. :P So cute.

I was attacked thursday night. I saw him first, by the wall, in beige. I knew he was looking for trouble. I could see it in his eyes. Being the peaceful person that I am, unlike someone we know who kills with his legal pad, I decided to let him go without getting hurt. No, I gave this fellow a chance to leave peacefully. But some folks don't know when to give up and go home. I turned away from him, then next thing I know, the little tan guy is leaping at my face. Let's just say, he didn't have a happy ending. And I even like grasshoppers. But this one was possessed.

And don't get me started on the beatle. Ugh.

Two girls in my spanish class got into a heated arguement over who was better, Girls or Guys. One was saying that guys are physically stronger and more athletic. The other was getting really upset, saying NO THEY"RE NOT! it makes you wonder what happened to make her so defensive about it. It was rather funny though. La Profesora called for a break to calm things down. It looked like there might be a fight right there in spanish class. It was comical.

I hve a new pattern that I'm working on with my needles. It's pretty. I'm learning how to make holes, on purpose :). It's nice to be knitting again, I wasn't for a while, because of work and stuff. But things have calmed down and we're reading the Hobbit. It's pretty funny and we've gotten into some discussions about certain parts of it, like what's going to happen next. silly us. Why not just read on?
Enough for one day? What do you think?
for now at least. :D

Don't worry, I did survive English

2005-09-17T10:47:00.000-04:00

I know you were all worried about me. That my professor decided right then and there to kill me. Alas, it isn't so. Every time I do anything to do with that class I am reminded of how AWFUL that paper was. It was/is awful. I think I'm going to burn it.

But in other news. I took the first Math and Spanish exams. I did ok, a B, in Math, when the average was a D. And I'm not sure yet in Spanish, my professora wasn't done with the grading on Wednesday. It was weird this weekend. Being the procrastinator that I am, yeah lazy, I did my lab work and the work book and the practice tests all on the same day. So I had spanish running through my head. If you talked to me, you would notice.

Around the house, I have an urge to put on my headphones and never take them off. To play loud loud music to drown stuff out. It's a battle ground and I'm tired of it. I have the same urge at school, because people don't know how to talk. Such filth comes out of their mouths. Everyone warned me it would be a shock. "The real world" they said. Well, talking and warning me doesn't do me one jot of good. Cause I'm going to have go sometime, why not prepare me for it. And I don't mean becoming accustomed to cursing. No thanks. You step off and suddenly you have to defend everything you've ever known, and frankly, I don't know how. People.

I am looking forward very much to "my house." A space that's just mine, where if I clean it and don't throw things down, it will remain clean.

This evening I'm hoping to go to a concert. FUN!

Did anything else happen this week? Hmmm. I've been riding the bus to and from school. Even on my own. Usually I ride with Joe. And he's an old hand with the bus system. It's strange how quickly two complete strangers can get to know eachother. We've known eachother for a month and people think we've known eachother since highschool. Or that we're good friends. When, we only see eachother or talk at school. I'm glad to know him though, he's much more confidant than I am. Crazy too. But who isn't.

One of the kids came down to snack yesterday and said, "did you dye your hair?" And I said "No....." Then she realized I wasn't Bethany. :) It's really funny how often that happens.

Did I mention that I have twins in my homework room? I think I did, but I shall mention it again. They're really cute, but pretty different. One is quiet, and the other one isn't really loud, but easily distracted. They dress alike. But one says the other always wears what he does. :) They're so sweet. I really enjoy my group of kids. I think I have more girls this year than last. But I still have ten boys. Which suits me fine, you don't get as much drama, "She won't talk to me!" and crying. I do deal with that anyway, but during snack, not homework or among our kids.

When you get to know some of the kids, your heart breaks for them. Or you see them change and you wonder what made that happen.

I'll sign off now. Until.

Nothing longwinded today.

2005-09-06T11:23:00.000-04:00

yeah, I have a paper due tomorrow and I'm replaying my junior year, waiting for the last minute to get writing. Eek!

So Taken, it was funny. It still scares me and I"ve seen it three times. I showed it to Hayden last night. I had him sit right up close teh the computer, all by himself, and he watched it. It got to the waiting part and he was getting puzzled but we said just watch. And *CRASH!!!* He jumped. Oh boy, it was funny.

My siblings started school this morning. Boy oh boy. They get on my nerves sometimes. They can't mind their own business, but call you out on that if you say anything about their lack of manners and respect. They argue with my mom at every turn. Boss eachother around.

If I did that in my classes, I'd be kicked out. They just don't get it. Sometimes I thiink they should go to school for a week to learn how to be in school. How to act. Cause they seriously don't seem to be getting it.

Off to write my paper. G'day Maties!

Random Random Random!!!

2005-09-01T20:40:00.000-04:00

This is a funny funny funny video thing. FUNNY! At least to me, the easily amoosed one. :D

http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/On+The+Moon+ep.1/

And please pray for Will, you know, Flatbill. There's a possibility he may be deployed to Louisiana. So, um yeah, pray for him.

And this is what it will be like with Will on duty.

http://www.weebls-stuff.com/toons/taken/

Heehee.

Y'all take care now!

OOOh A Survey!!! Someone forward this to Andriyko, just to be nice :)

2005-08-31T17:25:00.000-04:00

THREE NAMES YOU GO BY:
1. Marguerite
2. Pearl
3. Adam calls me Jael

THREE SCREEN NAMES YOU HAVE HAD:
1. Meg 332 or something when I was twelve or so.
2. Jael2413
3. Are we talking about not current ones? cause the first one was it. :P

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF:
1. eyes
2. hair
3. hmmmmm..... Freckles!!!!

THREE PARTS OF YOUR HERITAGE:
1. Scottish
2. irish
3. scandinavian?

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE YOU:
1. Homework
2. popular people
3. driving with other cars anywhere close.
THREE OF YOUR EVERYDAY ESSENTIALS:
1. Sleep
2. Glasses.
3. Music?

THREE THINGS YOU ARE WEARING RIGHT NOW:
1. Jeans
2. Pink tank top
3. gypsy earings

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE SONGS:
1. I refuse
2. to limit myself
3. or show favortism

THREE THINGS YOU WANT IN A RELATIONSHIP:
1. The Lord
2. respect
3. trust

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE (in no particular order):
1. I have homework
2. i hate tea
3.

THREE PHYSICAL THINGS ABOUT THE OPPOSITE SEX THAT APPEAL TO YOU:
1. eyes
2. brain
3. common sense.

THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE HOBBIES:
1. singing
2. at this moment, guitar, cause I'm sitting messing around playing random stuff
3. Hanging out with my awesome friends.

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO REALLY BADLY RIGHT NOW:
1. sleep
2. have my homework done already
3. sing some cool bluesy song. but i don't know any. *sniff*

THREE CAREERS YOU'RE CONSIDERING:
1. foriegn correspondent
2. acquisitions editor
3. stupid feminists

THREE PLACES YOU WANT TO GO ON VACATION:
1. Armenia, I miss it
2. Ukraine
3. Um actually anywhere russian or ex.

THREE KID'S NAMES YOU LIKE:
1. Larkken
2. Coy
3. Ludmilla (haha)

THREE THINGS YOU WANT TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE:
1. get married
2. have a house on the water
3. live in a foriegn country and Canada doesn't count

THREE WAYS THAT YOU ARE STEREOTYPICALLY A BOY/GIRL:
1. i cry about the weirdest things
2. i like make up (but i don't wear it all the time)
3. Sometimes I'm really ditzy and when I'm tired I act really... um manipulative sometimes.

THREE CELEB CRUSHES:
1. No
2. Thank
3. you. what's the point?

THREE PEOPLE WHO HAVE TO TAKE THIS QUIZ NOW:
1. Jacob
2. Marieke
3. and whoever else wants to I suppose. :P

I'm sitting in a railway staton.... Aw never mind.

2005-08-31T16:34:00.000-04:00

Have I told you all that I like Simon and Garfunkel? Well I do. So there. They're left over from my hippie stage.

I really don't have anything that I want to write about. There's still the thing with my sister trying to marry me off, and then bringing it up again. There's the thing on monday. I rode the bus home and had a nice conversation. Or perhaps not so simpatico. Joe and I talked about beliefs and such. He says he's going to make up his own religion and he believes in Evolution. Hardly anyone does anymore. It's just stupid.

We had a quiz today in Spanish which I'm fairly certain I flunked. I'm awful at spelling. I mean I could probably do okay using the words in a sentence.... but ... Oh well. She drops the lowest grade.

I tuned a string on my guitar by ear. Yay. I"ve never done that before. And it actually sounds decent. Not perfect, but decent.

We went camping. It rained. We went in a cave. That was cool. Actually it was really cool. And cold too. I drove my car on a real road.

I placed right behind Jason in the snowmobile game we played at Chuck E. Cheese's. That was really fun. It was really cool to see Jason again. It reminded me of how crazy he is. Or was. He's mellowed out a bit I think.

Second English class tonight. We get to actually meet our teacher. El Professor. Scary, you know. Like, we have to have read stuff and have stuff ready for him before we meet him. Which is scary, because you know nothing about him.

How about a career as a foriegn correspondent? That could be fun. Like as a journalist. OOh.

HSG starts next week I believe. Yay. I'm going to miss it so much. Do you know how different it is to be surrounded by people who aren't Christians and don't have the same values? Ugh. So different. What I"m going to miss most of all is the afternoons spent in Gary's office discussing stuff. Some stuff completely dumb and some Biblical. I probably learned the most there.

OK, well I have homework to finish. Later.

Gone Camping, be back soon.

2005-08-26T16:41:00.000-04:00

Yeah, we're going camping. I like camping. :) We've added three friends to our already overflowing abundance. :) That makes twelve of us. At the moment I'm exhausted. :P That's me all the time now.

Last night I got to see Jason for the first time in two years. He's grown. When he left he was shorter than me. I'm five six. Now he's tall. His voice doesn't sound quite so funny in person. Mostly because you can see he's not making a funny face. I always suspect he is when I talk to him on the phone.

We went to see Pride and Prejudice. I LOVE PRIDE AND PREJUDICE!!! It was really good. Mrs. Bennett really stole the show I must admit. And Lady Catherine was marvelous also.

I just filed down my nail playing There is A Time. That was fun. Now my fingers are numb and they're typing to the same rhythm as that song.

My sisters, mother and my sisters' debate coach started scheming last night. It is evil. There was a line in the play about women's minds immediately turning to marriage. Tis true, I regret.

They tried to set me up with Mrs. S.' son. My sister makes a comment about us being "cute" or something, and his mother replies that he IS eligible. So she drags me over and introduces us. (not really drags, but calls me over, and I hardly know her... :P) Weirdness. Anyone else have a mom like this? I certainly don't. He's nice. Later I found out he has an awesome job.

Did you know that there are journalists that go overseas to find stories? Ok, yeah, duh. It sounds like a very interesting job... Perhaps i should pursue that..... I've got to stop shooting down every idea.

My english professor is weird. He's doing our whole semester on Blade Runner. Yeah, that old Harrison ford movie about the guy who is looking for clones or robots or something. I mean, weird or what?

I have to write an introduction for one of my classmates, shannon. She seems really nice. And then I found out she was a pagan. I mean, weird. Ok, not really. But.... yeah. Like on the one hand she's really nice and all, something of a kindred spirit or something, I mean we both hate toe socks because of the way they seperate your toes, and flip flops too. I mean how cool is that? We both like milk and horses. She says I remind her of her sister. And she and I could probably be good friends, but she's pagan. I don't want to be good friends with someone like that. You know?

CAMP IS OVER!!!!!! I am so glad. And my boss' daughter is going to work this year. And she's really nice. Today we went to the pool with all the kids and the two bosses' daughters and my sister and I hung out. It was a lot of fun. Crystal and I took Beth and kai's sandals, and we took one of each pair and wore them in the water during break. Um yeah, we're weird.

Then while we were waiting for the bus, I braided one of the girls' hair. And all the kids were surprised because I was doing big cornrows. Like a white person can't braid. :P Sheesh, we're still human you know. :P One of the girls said, "Miss Marguerite, I didn't know you could do nappy hair." lol.

Anything else to add while I'm writing meaningless things to keep you all busy while i"m gone?

Math class is interesting. We're learning about sets and venn diagrams and such things. Interesting stuff.

I'm not sure, but I think I may be actually learning Spanish. Despite not practicing.... Shame on me. It's a cool class, lots of talking. You learn a bit about people.

I'm going. Woohoo!! I've got a hammock! and we're camping by a water fall! and it's not blazing hot! In fact it may turn out cold and rainy!! But that's ok! Cause we're camping! yay!

The Lord Be with You My Dear Friends!

*someone needs more sleep, and it isn't AO*

How many days til I graduate?

2005-08-24T22:37:00.000-04:00

Tis I, the college student. I like college. My profossers are nice. My classmates so far are nice. I have one classmate who has the exact same schedule as me. Scary huh? His name is Joe and he works in a button factory. Er, not. He works at a store. He also lives near me, so perhaps we can carpool to our evening English honors class. He's smart. Or at least, he knows the answers in our math class and our Spanish class. Hopefully I'll do all right in English. I didn't realize it was such a writing class. I had to write an essay in class today. Three pages is what i managed.

I do like college though. I've met some people and I'm doing ok. For the second day you know. I talked to people. That I don't know. And made conversation. Decent maybe even.

I'm so.... surprised by the language I guess. I have been sheltered I guess.

But... I've been getting up at 4:55 AM every other morning. And I 'm tired.

So I bid you adieu.

Buenos noches.

How many days til I graduate?

2005-08-24T22:36:00.000-04:00

The County Fair

2005-08-20T22:08:00.000-04:00

Yeah, we went to the county fair today. It never ceases to amaze me. Just all the different people that live in our county. Ok, I guess I'm labeling people again. But that's a post all in itself.

See, we live on the east end of the county. And we don't go to the west end very often at all. That's the end with the farms and such. Also, we don't hang out at the same places most of the people that come to the county fair do. We're not preschoolers and we're not hicks. I have nothing against either one. But truth be known, I wouldn't know where to find them if I tried. At least not in our county. Ok, perhaps that's not true. I know a lot of them live in our own town. But we do more stuff in the town next door. The town that's half country club half ghetto.

Boy. I like the rides there though. I can sit on the Scrambler for hours, spinning round and round. I don't like rollercoasters. But give me a good fast spinny ride and you can leave me there for hours. Well, at least three turns. That's how many times in a row we rode the scrambler. And then we went to the mud bog and got nice and baked. Like red. Yeah I know dan, I tell you all the time to wear sunscreen, and what do I do, not wear sunscreen. Now I'm all red, again. And my brothers and their friend. :) But it was a lot of fun.

I added some new links. If I've forgottem anyone, please let me know. I don't have Elisabeth's. I'm working on it. :D Jason, when you get here, if you still need help with yours, let me know.

I start school on monday. Oh Boy. I'm nervous. What if i forget something? What if I'm really too stupid for the Honors class I'm taking? What if my professors hate me? Thankfully they're all women. I don't know why that would make a difference, but it does. Unless they're feminists. That could get interesting. :D

I'm rambling on and should go to sleep.

My sisters are at a debate picnic thingy. This year's resolution is to change the medical malpractice policy. Jason, when you get here, it's going to be just us, against all those Debate Nerds filling their heads with Medical malpractice stuff, and spewing it back out at us at random moments, sparking heated discussions about everything to do with it. You are lucky. You missed the petroleum addiction resolution last year. That's not what it was called, but perhaps it will keep certain people from spewing random facts. :D

And to all a Goodnight.

Finally, another post.

2005-08-19T19:39:00.000-04:00

I'm considering deleting that last one. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I have a little sister who is six. Her name is Faith. She's awesome. She happens to like fortune cookies a lot. :) Sometimes we'll walk down to the library and get a bunch of books. We share a love of reading. Then on the way home we'll stop at the chinese food place and get some sweet and sour chicken. We both like that too. And she always askes for a fortune cookie.

She's eleven years younger than I am. When I was younger I figured she could live with me when I moved out. Now, I don't think that's going to happen and hopefully things will improve once we move. But I am looking forward to having her over to my house and having girl nights. Ordering chinese and fortune cookies and reading books. Perhaps she'll like Jane Austin as much as Ana and I do, and we can do a marathon of Jane Austin, reading it or watching the movies. Though they really can't compare, even if they're five hours long. :)

I guess you guys are a bit "huh?" as I keep on listing sisters. I have three sisters. And three brothers. I'm the oldest of seven kids. There's me, Bethany, Anastasia, Jackson, Fletcher, Hayden, and Faith.

Anyway, that nasty post is out of the way, but I'm running out of time. So I'd better go.

Farewell My Friends!
The Fool :D

Ever seen Marguerite Angry?? Well, this could be your chance.

2005-08-12T21:27:00.000-04:00

Ok, truth is, I think I've calmed down now. Now I"m just sad. I don't understand how some one can be so twofaced.

Here's the deal, I thought as a treat, though, I wonder if it's really right, That I might rent a movie for the family to watch. We don't have a tv, but my laptop has a dvd player on it and my brothers recently acquired a PS2. We don't see movies at home very often. Today was tiring and I thought it'd be fun. I think MUCH too highly of fun.

Anyway, I brought hom a movie about three kids planning a bank heist to get money to save one of their dads. Now that I think about it, it's against my morals too. I don't think it's ever right to steal. But I didn't think of that till now. I also got fiddler on the roof, because I've never seen it. So, I get home, tel my dad about the movie. Unfortunately, he's already het up about us taking so long at the movie store, and is ready to snatch up any reason to be angrier, it seems. And.... I'm not very diplomatic at times. Neither am I a good salesperson.

He got mad. Talking how I"m bringing evil into the house. So I said, ok, we won't watch the first one, we'll watch Fiddler. But no.... We couldn't watch all of it tonight anyway. So what's the point? OK, then I'm sorry for wasting your evening.

But why does he have to get so mad? I didn't think. I'm sorry. I appreciate him watching out for us. In this instance. But do you think we may have learned more if he had explained it minus the yelling? At least he's cut back on the cursing lately. And then he sets into my mom. That tears me up. This movie was completely my decision, nothing of hers. I am an adult. Please allow me the responsibility of my choices. And of course the topic turns to money, but by this time I am upstairs.

And my other sister who has a bitterness and rebelion problem, chooses this time to come in and call him a name. I told her to watch her mouth or get lost, because, frankly, I hear enough of this stuff at work and seriously, I'm the one who he offended, not her, and he is looking out for us, though that's something she never appreciates anyway.

I think I have mascara all under my eyes now...

How about some good news? Josh has consented to go to Church with us on Sunday. Ok, so he's going cause they let you skate in the parking lot, or so he says. I think he wanted to go anyway, but .... I don't know, too macho? (Josh Macho? lol not that he isn't strong or anything, but he... isn't like that.) I'm glad he's coming. Sometimes... I don't know, we all have our tough things to go through. Ugh.

I apologize, this post has such a pessimistic feel to it. But I needed to vent a bit, and ... Well, usually I just dump on one of you, but I thought, you guys see lots of other parts, why not this?

It may not be wise, but then I never said I was. I didn't name myself the Fool for nothing. Biblically, I am. I"m also a loser.

I have a pride problem, I don't need help with my self esteem. Please don't try to make me think I'm not a loser. Or a fool. Because, you all are too.

Contacts

2005-08-10T22:07:00.000-04:00

Ok, so you might be wondering how to reach me through something other than my blog.

Or you may be overwhelmed with all the Margueriteness on this blog and couldn't stand to see anymore of me. In that case you can skip this post and go back to your happy life. :)

Email: Jael2413@msn.com
That's also my msn messenger.

AIM: Jael2413

YahooIM: Hillcity2413@yahoo.com

So, now you know how to reach me! Yay!

LOL. At work, we must have a director's signature on all accident reports. We have to fill them out if we give a kid a bandaid, or ice or anything for a wound or injury that's all in their head but they're screaming about anyway. So today, I filled out about a half a dozen of them. And my boss has to sign them all day long.

So to switch things up, I decided to throw in a bit of drama. My boss was sitting watching soe of the folks play Madden football. So I walk over, and then start yelling, "Oh My Goodness!!!! It's Miss Steph!!!!" And going hysterical. It was lots of fun. So then I hand her the paper to sign, "Can I have your autograph!!!" Then one of my coworkers who doesn 't like me anyway, he's one of those one's who thinks I'm too smart or something, he starts going off on me. And he used improper language. So I told him to go refresh his memory of the Code of Conduct, somewhere around number seven it says "Avoid the use of improper language." I'd just had one of the kids read it. :P Actually, he wasn't one of our kids, he's a schoolyear kid, and he was visiting. Anyway, Mr. Football, told me he wasn't reading any stupid code of conduct. And I made a crack about his reading skills that I'll have to apologize for tomorrow. Anyway.....

That was my fun for the day.

Also, me and one of the other girls who works there have this week started to get along splendidly. The other staff has shown their true colors. And we're kinda in the same boat. Unfortunately she heads off to college this weekend and I won't see her again. Totally bummer.

oh, and josh had a water balloon that he was going to use on AO, when he came outside, so he's sitting in a chair talking about what he's going to do, and LP is sitting next to him with a pen. So he's scheming and she reaches over and pops the balloon all over him. It was really good, he had no idea it was coming and he was drenched. :D

Oh, and I have a book in my room at work with stories from shakespeare. On the front it has Titania kissing Bottom. Anyway my girls thought it was gross, too gross for me to even explain or read the story to them.

Good night!!

Ahem, I have an announcement to make.

2005-08-09T21:38:00.000-04:00

I'm now an official college student. Or officially registered for all my classes. :D Yay!

I'm also an officially exhausted counselor. I'm going to bed.

2005-08-08T22:42:00.000-04:00

um... reread the part of my post on why Christian guys should stand up for modesty.
I forgot something. Do guys realize that they, too, can dress immodestly? *coughdancough* the incident at the mailbox... cough cough...
Jason, Adam has been DonutGuy for ages, like three years or so. So, you lose. And no racial slurs please. You have no Idea Jason. And um, have you talked to Beth lately? Heh Heh. We live in the ghetto. And my phone isn't a verizon, it's a cheapo phone. :)
With the staying close to Papa thing, we only need our Papa's approval, not any guy's. But doesn't mean we don't want it.
Guys get in the rest of our business, and negatively in the clothing business, why not go positive? I know, let's all start wearing sheets. Then they'd notice and comment.... Of course there'd be a lot of teasing... See what I mean??? :P
Christine, that is a wise woman. but does that mean I should wear a mask? don't answer that. :P
another boy at work offered to give me a makeover... They can't leave well enough alone. If these boys are willing to get into my business, why can't any other guys? NOt that I'd let you guys pick my clothes anymore than I'd let them... :P

I took my math placement test tonight! It was freezing in the testing center. My fingers turned red and got stiff. I had goosebumps. I sat next to where I took my english test. The same lady was there, who I saw on saturday. (awful grammar) I used up three sheets of scratch paper.... And they had a calculator...

Oh, did you want to know how I did? I did better than average Barbara said. I was surprised, because I didn't remember some of the stuff at all, some I'd never heard of. But I did manage to make an honor's liberal arts math class. Unfortunately, I won't be taking it because they don't offer it my campus. Bogus. I could also take a precalulus class. But I don't think so since I have no clue what calculus is to begin with. I'm going to take either an Algebra class, or the Liberal Arts Math. I think the latter... but I like Algebra.... I don't know, I"m going to see a counselor this week... I'm going to take a history class also, An honors one, I can becasue I'm taking Honors English. Yay! It's the history of western civilization, or some such thing. I'm not sure what Science.... I don't have any classes on Thursday so far, so I can come to HSG!!!!! YAY!!!

I got a lot of sleep last night and it felt really nice..... I think I"m going to try that tonight.

Farewell Dear Hearts,
For I must needs be gone
Her Eyes do show her days are almost done...
But I shall never die!
Yeah Right, I lie.

Heehee, and three merry men.

Stand up Stand up For What You believe in believe in believe in God....

2005-08-07T22:11:00.000-04:00

I think that Christian guys should stand up if they think that girls should dress modestly. The world is not afraid to say, "Hey wear that disgusting dress," or whatever. It's in songs all over the place. And yet Christian guys are all quiet about it. I mean our dads and all will encourage us. But when does a guy compliment a girl on dressing modestly. Other guys whistle in the mall, on the street, encouraging the girls to dress like that to get attention. But do Christian guys give girls who dress modestly any thumbs up or... Attention? I mean, we may dress modestly, but that doesn't mean we don't want attention. Just not the whistling on the street kind. Why should a girl have to dress like that to get attention?

I admit, it's harder to be friends with the guys at work than with the guys from HSG or church.
1) some of them I don't want to be friends with because they are so worldly. i.e. After findingout last summer that my mmom had a daughter 2 years his junior, he promptly askes if she's available. (Once he actually met me and got past that, He's actually ok, like he does his job and isn't completely stupid, doesn't tease maliciously, knows how to apologize.)

2) Some of them are just.... Not very smart, and lazy. And they, hmm, may be intimidated, because I know more than them? Because they act like they know nothing? I'm not saying they do know nothing....

There are the exceptions. Brandon and Josh are nice. My boss is the awesomest, Jeff watches out for other people. He's also grown up.... :P

Ok, sorry guys to be ranting on you. I'm not sure that you should be paying us all that much attention. Girls need to listen to their Papa.

In other news:

I took my English Placement Test for College.... And I did Very well and I'm completely psyched!! And I get to be in Honors English. yay!!

And I bought a cell phone. Beth bought one... kinda riled my dad 'cause she didn't ask. So I asked, and pointed out that I' m going to college and Mommy likes to drive my car. And he said yeah I could. So now.... I have a cell phone.

Jacob bought a pink shirt. It's cute.

The Mall used to have a "Breakfast foods" Playplace. It had Pancakes and waffles and bacob and eggs and sausages and fruit, all really big, for kids to crawl on. Well, they've gone on the Atkin's diet. They took out the Pancakes and Waffles.

We found our writing teachers books at the bookstore. They were on the Clearance shelf. We were crushed.

We went to the Mall last night. Without any money. That was weird...

My mom said I was weird last night because I was doing a "dance" that we did at camp to all teh techno songs. We were listening to techno music.

Today on the way to church, we say this guy in his car. He was rocking back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. In his car. While driving. The whole time we could see him. Like three minutes. We first spotted him going up a hill, and we thought maybe his car was weak , but then he kept it up going down the hill.... Strange folks in these here parts.....

I have a foam sticker stuck to my leg that says I am Bossy. Anastasia wrote it. There i took it off.

Hows abouts anotha song?? Hows abouts ah new ahtist?

Deeds
By sanctus real

Yeah mister deeds has got you wrapped around his finger
With what you think you need to be delivered
You look for accidents so you can be the hero
You wrote the charity check that ends in double zeros
You help old ladies cross the street
You welcome homeless where you sleep
YOu give to everyone in need
You even hold a city key
Aren't you great?
But that's not good enough

If you don't have faith you have nothing at all
if you don't have deeds you faith will fall
They can't be true without eachother
You can't have one without the other

You think your faith is where
You sit on Sunday morning
You've got a front row seat
Where you can't be seen snoring
Throughout the week you
Live your life inside a bubble
You find your happiness
Avoiding peoples' troubles
Your life revolves around
Yourself, you don't treat
Others very well
You day your faith will get
You by and that you won't be
Left behind
You might be right, but that's
Not good enough

If you don't have deeds you
Have nothing at all
If you don't have faith your
Faith will fall
They can't be true without
Each other
You can't have one without
The other

You know I can't see thinking
That I'd be
Better off living just for
Selfish ambition, noI know that faith is more than
Just believing
We should do the right
Things, for the right reasons

Sanctus Real is Coming in October And I"M GOING TO SEE THEM!!!! YAY!

I nearly repeated a headline. Golly.

2005-08-06T00:28:00.000-04:00

Ok, I don't look at Barlow girl as having to be Christian. The song doesn't say anything about God. It's a rant on stupid fashions.
Will, my subjects seem related because at this point it's a bit of what's going on in my head.
I've been thinking lately... I'm glad I'm a Christian, because the world keeps on pushing me further and further away. If I weren't a Christian, I'd probably be dead. NOT that I'm suicidal! I know I'm not of the world and this stuff is Supposed to happen. I'm saying if I didn't know that, I'd be suicidal probably. Or a totally different person. wow, let's not even think about that.
Anyway, I adore beautiful clothes. But I don't like to spend so much money, so I"m a fan of thrift stores and walmart, the latter of which is not known for so much beauty. And thrift stores.... I like to dress up my sisters... :P Most of the stuff at the T-store isn't my size. :D
elisabeth, I love! that line about the models. I thought it was sooo funny. Welcome to my blog, btw. :D
Mella!!!! I ABSOLUTELY TREASURE YOUR COMMENTS!!!!! It's the best to come home from work and find that SOMEONE IS ACTUALLY READING MY BLOG!!! YAY!
Work has been hard this week. It's nice to have some people who actually know what I"m talking about.
You all know what a thesbian is, right?
And Will, Don't mind Jacob, he actually agrees with you more than it seems. (you do jacob, admit it) He just isn't as loud about it as you are. He should be. I don't understand the pull either, and I feel it. Weirdness. I mean, they do it to stand out, but it makes them look like every one else, if they dressed amish every day, Guys would notice them. But they don't want to be noticed that way. Some days I want to be "normal" so much I could cry. hmmmm.... My dad was talking about normal tonight.
He said that normal people follow the Lord. He doesn't know how wrong he is. normal people don't even go to church. Or they do, but they certainly don't follow the Lord... I didn't realize my dad was so sheltered....
Ok, time to go, tomorrow I have to go take tests. So I can go to college. Yay! First day of school stuff! ugh, I"m nervous. I did algebra 2 twice and I don't remember formulas or anything.... glug....

2005-08-04T23:03:00.000-04:00

lol. I don't have a problem with what my grandmother did. I mean she brushed her teeth and took showers. People don't have a problem with that. I don't have a problem with being different, and I'll call it courtship. hmm... About the middle ages, they do have their down side, but they're fascinating. Like robin hood and ivanhoe and all that lovely stuff. We had a Mideival Banquet thing for Homeschool group. That was a Whole lot of fun. I don't know if I could take no plates every day. Yeah I have to wash the dishes, I could take it.

At this point.... I'm not sure how I'd handle even courting. I mean there's the get my dad's permission thing, and the get to know the family too thing. But at the same time.... I'm out of highschool.... It's different. Like... I don't know, maybe it's me and my expectations changing... I know they have.

Mella, I read Clothes to Jacob. He didn't find it nearly as amusing as I did. I'm wondering if maybe the humor I saw was purely a girl thing. I mean the things I find funny are not in any way original, they're things the "Modest Ms.es" say all the time. Any way, I'm going to post it here, so you can all decide for yourselves. :)

Clothes
by Barlow Girl

Clothes aren't what they used to be
They don't seem to fit you and me anymore
Modesty is out the door
Flaunting what we've got and more is in
Yeah it's in

They're saying
Don't ask why just do what we say
You'll look like a model if you'll only obey
To get the attention, just do what we say

Pay so much for clothes so small
Was this shirt made for me or my doll?
Is this all I get?
I looked so hot but I caught a cold
I was doing just what I was told
To fit in

We're saying let's ask why
Don't wear what they say
Don't want to be a model
They can't eat anyway
that kind of attention will fade with the day
So I'll stand up and say

Clothes that fit are fine
Won't show what's mine
Don't change my mind
I'll be fine

I realized why the song sounds so familiar. Every time my sisters and I go to the mall, it's a game to make light of all the skimpy clothes. We don't go to the mall That often. Well, Anastasia and I don't, Bethany goes every week or so to stock up on Chucks.

And yeah, barlow girl doesn't have the greatest songwriter. They're pop punk, it's to be expected. But That wasn't the point :).

Woot!

2005-08-01T20:31:00.000-04:00

Ok, forgive me. But I found this song. And.... I've been having something of an identity crisis of late, and was ready to cry tonight, but it cheered me up. So here you are! :D

Average Girl
So what I'm not your average girl
i don't meet the standards of this world
Chasing after boys is not my thing
See I'm waiting for a wedding ring

No more dating
I'm just waiting
Life sleeping beauty
my prince will come for me
no more dating
I'm just waiting
'Cause God is writing my love story

Boys are bad, that's certainly not true
'Cause God's preparing one for you
If you get tired waiting till he comes
God's arms are the perfect place to run!

Sleep that's the only thing
For me 'cause when I sleep God's
Preparing one for me....

Ok, some of those lines just seem weird, but.... People think I'm weird, I don't mind being different, but this is different. And yeah, waiting is hard. Like you wouldn't believe. Guarding my heart isn't easy. I'm just thankful for the weekend to recover. Seventh day is good.

The song starts nice and with an attitude. Which sometimes I really wish I had. lol. Anyway. devos should start soon. I think I shall work on plans. Farewell my dear friends.

Shout out to Jason. Holla! er, yeah. yes porky I hear you. :)

I'm moving out. into the yard.

2005-07-28T22:40:00.000-04:00

Actually I'm serious. See, my dad, the master builder/architect guy, is going to build a small outbuilding that will be fully furnished with heating and electricity and we're trying to work out water. And it will be mine, and mine alone. MY OWN ROOM FOLKS!!! Can you imagine? Ok, so it will be small, but cozy, with a sleeping loft and.... oooo I can hardly wait! And we're also considering a porch. :D

Ok, you know how excited I am over this, but imagine. Remember, i have two Daddies. And my Papa, you know, the Almighty Lord? Well, he's building me a house too. And it's way beyond having plumbing. And a porch. So how much more excited can I be about that?? :D OK, my sister only lent me the phone, so I must be going. Take my shoe.

PS. I pulled out my armenian pop music. Marieke, we'd have a blast with this stuff. Practice our "Lightbulb" :D:D:D:D:D:D I'm bringing it to work with me tomorrow. Heehee. Make the kids listen to it. :D I"m so cruel. Take care my friends.

NEWS!!

2005-07-27T18:49:00.000-04:00

um. like with half my posts, it's storming outside now.

I'm wearing orange nail polish that matches my shirt, on my fingers. My toes are a different color. but i"m wearing shoes.

I drove a car for the first time on monday. Yesterday I went faster than 5 mph.

I've applied for college, officially. Now just to hear back...

Jacob's leaving. David is going to Jordan for months.

It's been really really hot. I have an awesome co-worker who picks me up half way to work sometimes. Thank you Brandon!

Josh saved a kid from choking yesterday. He's my hero. (seriously though, I was scared when the kid came over to us, but Josh was.. well, he was scared too, but just got up and tried the heimlich and the kid was fine. Seriously though, Josh is really really cool.) He should be staff.

Later y'all.

I'm BACK!!!

2005-07-24T22:46:00.000-04:00

Didja miss me? I missed home. Mostly for the washing machine, dryer, toilet paper and shower that's usually free. And you guys and my family.

Oh. I just realized something. I start school before Jason gets here. That stinks totally. Oh well. I'll make time.

Camp was really great. I'm exhausted, can't sing, and sound like a guy, but it was totally worth it. I called home and my own sister didn't recognize my voice. My Lord really used the camp to convict me of some stuff. And I've completely given my life to Him. Which is worth anything bad that happened there.

I also made some new friends. And got to know some old ones better. It was a really good week.

I think the biggest thing was how much time was set apart for Scripture. I mean it wasn't really that much. An hour or two a day? only a quarter of it was personal quiet time. But that's more than normal. A shame. But the truth. I"m going to change that in my life. I mean, usally it's been about forty five minutes a day, with maybe five of them just me. prob not that much. I prayed this week more than I have in a long time. When I sang the songs in church this morning, they meant something new. Like I actually meant what they said. That's a big change. It's totally totally wrong to sing them otherwise, but I did.

Ok, this may seem all cliche or brainwashed or something, but there may be a slight major change in my plans for college. See, the BI specializes in why I wanted to go to LU. I can get the other LU stuff, like an education, at the local college. For way less money! and I can live in our new house. Which I really wanted to do. And keep my job. Maybe. Except for the year I"m up North for BI. Don't worry, they give a month for Christmas and Thanksgiving and a long Easter break.

Our speaker in the morning showed like four calvin and hobbes comics every day. :) Isn't that cool, my calvin loving friends?

Ok, I"m exhausted. And there's WORK!!!! tomorrow!!!!! Goodnight to all, from Rexall!

PS. you know Baloo, the bear from jungle book, and Little john from Robin Hood, were both spoken by Phil Harris???? Isn't that so strange? I never even knew it! But then we watched them both on the way home and I could see both bears saying, "Now Remly, be reasonable..." or alice.... I can't remember which. One's his brother, the other his wife. i think Both.

Crash Boom Bang!

2005-07-14T20:04:00.000-04:00

Jiminy Cricket, it was really thundering. Right outside our house it sounded like. I had to go hold the dog. I was afraid he'd get electrocuted.

Work is crazy, as usual. Charlie. Today we took all our kids in my room, then he sat in the back, and I was in charge of pictionary and everything. Then he left them all with me at the end. I don't have a problem with that, but I wich he'd tell me what's up. You know, through the whole hour all he said to me was, "I wish I could take my kids in the Ed Center." I really don't mind that. But it's just weird sometimes. Do they think I"m a pushover looking for acceptance? Um, no. I'm easygoing, I don't mind. Josh is welcome to my fries and I don't mind giving him a dollar. I don't mind taking Charlie's kids in with mine, but .... A little help please.

Now Ana and I are packing for camp. We leave at 4 AM Saturday morning. Ana's going crazy. She's bringing almost everything blue. We're on the Blue team. I have matching luggage for the first time in my life. :P My backpack and duffel bag have a matching hibiscus pattern in blue. LLBean ROCKS! I've decided to forgo clean clothes and take Jacob with me. My duffel is big enough. He's going to tell his manager he's eloping with Miranda Otto. haha. that's actually .... not believable. Truthfully I don't think he would. Seriously, to run off with someone he's never met, who's faith is unknown, who's in Hollywood.... He wouldn't do it.

Jason, it was nice to talk to you after forever. You sound different and you do such funny voices and all.

I've really got to get back to packing. Dobree Dzyen

A kettle of fish.

2005-07-10T22:30:00.000-04:00

Oh boy. that's all I can say about this kettle. on the one hand I wish it would just go away. But on the other I don't like what would happen for it to go away, or at least the most likely way for it to go away. Of course there's always the way I would like the problem solved, but it's rather unlikely, would take two to six years and I'm not sure it's the wisest decision. Definately not at this point. And you're all like HUH?? Except for perhaps Marieke. But even she does not realize the extent of my predicament. Or perhaps she does. Jacob, don't be offended. You wouldn't want to hear about it anyway. Believe me.

Our good friend Pat was back today at church. He's only in the states for a few weeks then it's back to Jordan. That's Mitchell's dad for those who know who he is. Pat is so funny. I miss their whole family. Talked to Marshall the other day. He sounds fine. Same crazy humor. You've got to love him. Uncle Pat didn't recognize me though. I think he thought I was Bethany. Or something. LOL. He's standing behind me talking to Daddy, "Your oldest isn't here today." yes sir I am, I'm right here :).

I'm such a town girl. The thought of living ten miles from the store is terrifying to me. It makes me claustrophobic. Even if I have a car the idea of living that far away from "civilization" scares me. I suppose if there were something to keep me there I'd be ok. Something like a horse or having a friend live with us. But ... And I know Beth would go crazy. She likes to be glued to her computer, but she also likes to go to work eight or nine hours a day. And to movies on weekends.

My sister is sitting on her bed reading Genesis. The Lord just made Man. She's six.

People keep asking how I can buy a car when I've never driven. Um. The same way you do if you have driven. You just don't test drive it yourself.

Now I'm just babbling.

Marieke. There IS NO NOVEL!!! er, sorry. Yeah. It's all a figment of Jacob's imagination.

OH I'm tired....

2005-07-09T22:44:00.000-04:00

Today was my Graduation Party. It was totally awesome. Totally Totally. awesome isn't the right word, but I"m too tired to choose something else.

And boy am I tired.

But I am soooo .... I don't want to say happy, but that's the word. Kinda shallow right? a party makes me happy. But.. it's true so live with it. I mean, my feet are going to be crippled tomorrow. But I don't care. It's my fault anyway. Stupid flipflops. Jacob, I should have worn your shoes when I took them.

And yeah Jacob, that was all me. Marieke didn't even know what was going on until just before you and john nearly broke the door. But that was sooooooo much fun. Believe it or not, it's great fun to get histerically scared with the girls once in a while.

So I took their shoes when they were on the trampoline and hid them pretty much in plain site, just not where people usually look. Then John notices, and accuses Mariane and Kate. They have no clue. Then we go inside with Marieke, and then john's coming in so we run upstairs to "hide" in my room. Kate and I go upstairs there in the loft while Marieke guards the door, still not knowing that I took his shoes. So he busts in and demands his shoes back from Mariane and Marieke. While Kate and I are in the loft cracking up because he doesn't know we're there. So then he leaves and we're all four of us in the loft, and Jacob and John bust in, and we all scream.
It was great fun.

And I got some wicked cool gifts. Marieke, gave me this totally cool cover for my new car's steering wheel. And Jacob gave me a BEAUTIFUL Journal. To write my Novel in. More on that later. And the coolest book from his trip.

My grandparents were talking with my mom tonight. They were commenting on what nice, good friends I have. Of course, they thought most of you were older. :P They asked if Kate was your girlfriend Jacob. I nearly fell out of my chair laughing.

And some of you got to meet my bosses. They're totally the coolest coolest coolest. :)

About that novel Jacob. I keep on trying to think of how I can write a novel. It's probably not going to happen. I could fill it with letters, or do like I did with the green notebook at Christmas. But a novel? I write what happens. not much else. I mean, I've written about two short stories my entire life, and I'm not even positive I finished the first draft. There was the one where I was an old lady living on the chesapeake bay. But mostly... It's like monologue kind of stuff. Not Novel. You're welcome to read it. Just remind me to dig it out. It's locked in a chest in a painted cigar box. I think.

This is most of the writing i do these days. ok. All of it.

And I would like to present Marieke with the #1 Poster award. :D It's good to know someone pays attention.

Buenos Noches

explanation anyone?

2005-07-07T12:07:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry for leaving you all in the dark. Last night I was tired. And angry a bit, but more really really sad. I was ready to start weeping right on the keyboard. Yes, folks, the Fool does cry.

The whole car business really makes me depressed for some reason. I do like the Car. It's a 98 Nissan Altima. It's got nice paint, tires and A Sunroof. Which I secretly wanted but it was frivolous so I didn't tell anyone. It's got lots of room for baseball equipment and siblings. It's green. It doesn't have a radio, but my dad has one to put in. So no problem. Grampa says it's good, probably for at least ten more years. But it was a way out of our price range. But... It's worked out and we're buying it. I was worried about cutting into college money. But it's worked out. :) I've been praying about it all day. It looked like I was going to have to pay back over a thousand dollars. Which from one perspective isn't much. From mine it's too much. I don't want to get into something that I couldn't handle. So we're buying a car and maybe I"ll actually drive for the first time.

um. Don't rush me.

I found out tonight that my cousin didn't tell my grandparents all our stories from last summer. So I get to tell them. From what they say she was pretty tight lipped. I'm pretty open, so the stories will come pouring out. :) My family was tired of them after two weeks. Heehee.

Jacob is back. need I say more?

My graduation party is on Saturday. I pray it doesn't rain like it is now. Our house is not that big.

My little sister is growing up. She's so helpful. Mommy was telling about how she took care of the lists while they were shopping. And she switched books with gramma for a page and read aloud. She's so funny in that way. She'll read books aloud to her stuffed animals. She's good at it too. I love her. Oh and tonight, she ASKED me to Brush her hair! She hates having it brushed. I was surprised. But she has such pretty hair. All long and straight and shiny. I envy her sometimes. but not really. My hair was like that once.

I've watched the first half of Flubber five times in the last two days. And the end none. :P Anyone know what happens in detail?

Another sister is seemingly ignoring my grandparents. She won't eat dinner with us. She's only been down to see them a couple of times... They do notice you know. It's a bit rude. Um. I guess it's not much of your business and she'll tell me so no doubt. But.... We don't talk and she doesn't like to listen to me anyway.

Later.

$$$$$ is the root of all evil.

2005-07-06T21:46:00.000-04:00

Grampa is here.
He's expert on cars.
Go shopping for a car.
Find one.
Too much.
Come home.
Dad asks how it went.
Too much we say.
$$$$= !@&$#&@^!@#*#^&%
Evil.
Parents fight.
Public Transportation anyone?

KA BOOM!

2005-06-29T23:12:00.000-04:00

I LOVE LOVE LOVE thunderstorms. Love them! And guess what it's doing? Thunderstorming! We totally needed it. It's been so hot and humid.

Everyone at work has been getting colds. Well, four staff. My theory: We move from 90+ degrees to 75 three times a day. and vice versa. Not good for me. And now my nose it dripping and it is driving me insane!!! Today Donnie and I were in my room and we're running out of tissues. And it's not because FernGully2 is so sad.

Today was stressful. I had the youngest group and they are a handful. I don't like yelling, and sitting them in time out isn't working. And... Then, we finally get all sitting down and settled, and half of them need to use the bathroom. They were JUST THERE!!! "But you didn't tell us to use the bathroom." And yet they are offended without me telling time, make noise without me telling them, attack eachother without me telling them!!

The older groups are so SENSATIVE! One girl thinks everyone hates her. That them touching her in passing was them smacking her because they want her to die. Another girl starts crying when a boy says her friend is the finest girl in the world. And I'm like.... um. you're HOW old??

There are a few kids I really like. The ones that behave and listen and are respectful and .... Quiet? Ok, I admit, my number one rule is Be Quiet. They get so loud. I'm losing my voice as it is. And yesterday they took half an hour to finally get them all in thier groups. Today I took my groups during lulls in conversation and left.

And yeah, I'm frustrated at some of the staff. I'm not going to talk about that, because they might actually read this sometime. And then never speak to me. grrr.

Divorce stinks. One of the kids is torn up about their parents divorce. They've been divorced a while, I"m not sure how long, but things are changing now, and he doesn't want them too. If you guys could pray for him, that God would be able to use me or some one to help him out. That He'd change teh situation or make it bearable for the kid.

If there's one thing that tears me up, it's kids hurting. Like the little second grader with the headache and tears pouring down his face. But how much can one camp counselor do? Pray, yeah, which should feel totally sufficient, but I'd like to do something to help them right now. The whole attitude is an underestimation of the Lord. Stupid human.

My grandparents are getting here this week. I'm psyched. I can hardly wait!! Woohoo! um yeah. :P

Oh and my mom told coach "yes" that the word is russian, which would be "da" then the kids started calling him coach Da. Some of them got in trouble for that..... It's kinda my fault, yet they wouldn't listen when I corrected them. Anyway.

Dobree Vechare

Tah Dah!!!!

2005-06-28T22:38:00.000-04:00

Guess What?? Bethany has a blog and I read it!!! And you should too!

She's going to hate me probably. But no one but the almighty sniper monkey posted on hers. You ought to be ashamed. She was the first one to post on mine, and I took this long to post on hers. I guess I figured her loads of friends would be quick to comment on her wonderful wit and humor. However, they have hesitated to do so. Now I've got to go beat them up. Er, I mean encourage them to comment.

Beth is one of the coolest sisters I have, ranking in the top three you know. And that's pretty high. So you all better show her some respect and go post. Like good ol' Joe. In fact, if you don't, I may have Joe concoct some pyro something for you.

You can go look at Joe's too. It's pretty cool. Like the fighting cats and all. I'll put the link up too. And Jacob has a picture with Big Ben.

Any way, as they say, Go Mira you bunch of coots!

Duh Duh Duh!

2005-06-27T21:51:00.000-04:00

I don't know why that's the title. Just sounded fun.

Well, today went well. Work. Wonderful, seriously. My first day of an actual lesson. I'm in the ED center. Which means some education might be a good idea. So this week everyone is learning about Mexico. Woohoo!

It's fun with the older kids. We have five sets of the same Encyclopedia, so I break them into teams with a list of questions to answer. Completely random info. Like, what was the first book printed in the western hemisphere and where was it printed? (it may have been published...) Anyway. Common knowledge, right? No one has gotten it right yet. They're listing books from the seventies. Nineteen seventies. Noah Webster anyone? Uncle Tom's Cabin? Hardy Boys for goodness sakes...

But the first graders learned about what a farmer would grow, that about a quarter of the people would be farmers, what countries touch Mexico and what bodies of water. Then they played pictionary. With words about Mexico, like tortilla and Pinata and stuff. Or Spanish, whatever.

The oldest group I had, sixth graders, took twice as long as the fourth graders to finish their scavenger hunt. But, they got a lot more right, at least the winning team did. Fifteen out of eighteen. My brother was on that team :D. I didn't help them any more than anyone else, I promise. They just know how to use the encyclopedia.

And... hmmm.... one kid got really mad at me. But then later he apologized. That was so sweet of him. He came up, and he's like "Miss Marguerite, I have something to tell you." And I'm thinking, oh no, someone hit him... Then he's like "sorry." and gave me a hug. Kids are great, you know. Adults never say it that easily. Er, well, I sure don't. Of course, tomorrow I'll probably be yelling at him for the same thing I did today... but...

Then one of my coworkers got flowers for their birthday and it was really sweet. I think that'd be cool. To have flowers delivered. And everyone sang happy birthday.

My job is so much fun. Of course, Coach yes was a bit frustrated at me.... But it wasn't my fault, I promise!!!! I didn't do it! Then this evening a coworker gave us a lift home, and so we're teasing his brothers and all. They're a cool bunch. :D

And I had a planning period which I kinda wasted upstair at the front desk. But that's the coolest place to be. Cause my totally awesome sister works there.

OOh and next week, My boss said I could rot the kids' minds! They get to watch movies in my room!!!! Isn't that awesome? I'm excited. The Beverly Hillbillies and FernGully2. Just don't tell them. Although I just thought maybe National Treasure. That's clean and hey, I like it, Dan likes it, why shouldn't they? It's got romance, but not too much, Action, wonderful action, mystery, intelligence, history like you wouldn't (well maybe you would) believe. Yeah that's better. National Treasure it is! :)

Now you all can see how I think. sometime this summer I'm going to make them watch the Swiss Family Robinson. I absolutely love that one. Their tree house is so cool. In the book they live in a cave too. And the water fall!!! seriously you should go see it.

Anywho. I need my rest. For the kids. Otherwise I'm a tad bit short. :P

Night

PS I"m homeschooled and this is soooo true. http://www.msnbc.com/comics/daily.asp?sfile=cl050627&vts=62720051742 Check it out.

fire and brimstone

2005-06-26T16:35:00.000-04:00

Today our youth pastor preached for the adults. Scott's pretty cool. I would have said awesome, but he did a lesson on true awesomeness and I've yet to find someone who is truly awesome. Anyway. It was a good sermon. About reaching the Greater Need.

I should explain it. But... Well, you can check out Luke 17:19-28. Jesus took care of the Greater Need. The spiritual need. How many people do I know? A lot. How many of them are going to hell? Not a Whole lot, as far as I know, but some of them yeah. Why am I ok with that? You don't often find me crying because of it. Once in a while, yeah. But not often. And I'll halfheartedly talk about my Savior. That's not right though. It's just not.

You know, I'm all depressed about things happening here, to me. And I'll cry over that and cry out to my Lord for that. But for someone who doesn't know Him? "It's their choice, I talked to them." Whatever. The prayer of the righteous man availeth much. Well, I'm not righteous by any means. Stinking rotten more like. Doesn't mean I can't pray, though.

I'm more worried about my hair and my tan than about my friends..... You can all disown me now.

You know, this morning, Scott preaches this great sermon, my mom joins the church, and my dad comments on how good it was. Then we get home and we go back to the same sour life. Snapping at eachother and filling the house with strife. That tears me up.

Enough of my depressingness I suppose. Later

Saturday seems a lot like Sunday sometimes

2005-06-25T19:35:00.000-04:00

Today is a bored day. I slept until ten. Then I did laundry, took a shower, then my aunt and uncle came over. Then more laundry, ate lunch, took a nap, then online. Bored.

And Jacob leaves tomorrow. *sigh* I will seriously miss him.

And then work again. And I have things that i'm supposed to do for my mom. That's why I"m bored. Because I'm avoiding things. I hate it when I do that.

What's your favorite kind of ice cream?

Aloha!

2005-06-23T22:41:00.000-04:00

I'm getting tan!!! very nice. Except it's a farmer's tan. But it's cool anyway. Skin cancer here I come!! Actually studies have shown that you do need a little bit of sun. So about forty five minutes a day scattered through-out the day might be a good thing.

You know, knowing this many kids, you don't go anywhere with out seeing someone you know, or at least recognize. Tonight my mom and I went to Walmart and the grocery store, and in both places we saw kids from work. One I recognized, but I don't know his name yet. The other we've known all year.

I had the oldest group of kids today for the first time. They're sooo much fun. They're the one's going into highschool. Outside of work, I hang out with kids their age. So we have fun. Cracking jokes the whole time.

Oh, my drama amigos, one of them told another to shake his ears. I thought it was hilarious. I work in the Ed Center, and I told them that when I'm gone for a week one of the guy counselors will be taking over. This guy is really fun, always joking around, He calls me Margarita to "liven things up." So while I"m gone it's going to be the Special ED Center. A hahaha hah. THEY thought it was funny.

And then there's one boy in the group who's the Camp clown, he's seriously funny. Then there are two girls in the same group that think he's hilarious. They laugh at Everything he says. That's pretty funny.

Then there's the kid who hated me the first day, and I think now believes I'm Gullible. I'm not stupid. I know he stole half the candy. He won't be getting anymore. That's all. On the one hand he's cool. On the other, he likes to see what he can get away with. He didn't know how to play Uno. So we taught him today. He has one of the most beautiful smiles.

There's one girl who is VERY quiet. the other day the whole group had to sit and be quiet because they were acting up. So I was "babysitting" them for their counselor. So I was talking to them. They're in trouble, I can lecture all I want. Woohoo. Anyway. They were cutting up some more a bit. If I had to talk to their counselor, they'd be sitting even longer, all of them. So I point out that that would mean this one girl would have to sit too. "HOw much has she been talking and cutting up all day?" And one of them says, "She hasn't made a peep!" I guess maybe you have to know this kid...

I work at a daycare, for those of you who didn't know and haven't picked it up yet. Like Maybe Pyro Joe or something. It's a great place to work. There are some kids who SERIOUSLY get on your nerves, but then there are the ones that are absolutely wonderful.

Oooh and the new staff guy talked today! it may not be a good thing. I yelled at the kids during snack yesterday, cause they wouldn't be quiet so we could send them to their classes. I was pretty fed up and kinda went off on them. So Charlie is like "maybe you should try again today." It was funny. Then we got to talking about his new tattoo and stuff. I had two conversations about body peircing today. It was weird. One was with a kid about peircings. Another with Charlie about his tattoos. They're cool. Ok, it's late, I need my rest.

Dobree Vechar

I survived... barely

2005-06-21T19:54:00.000-04:00

For those of you who were paying attention to yesterday's post, like Jason, (who has a new blog, btw, check it out.) I was super nervous about the summer daycare. But I have survived two days of it. Not like I'm an old pro or something... But I'm still alive and some of the kids don't hate me yet. Some do.

But yeah it happens. Some of the kids end up hating me, because i don't let them get away with things. well... for the most part. Some of them are really sweet. There's one, who does this awesome monkey face. He's pretty sweet. A seven year old proposed to me today. I was flattered, said I was too old for him, he's like "how old are you?" They're great.

What's funny is when the kids from last year think I"m my sister. They come up talking to me like I know them. It's really funny. Seriously. But we're used to the kids doing double takes when they leave the front desk, come to my room for snack and they're like, wait, you were just upstairs..."

I'm meeting the new staff too. A lot of them are new. We about doubled our normal crew. So I'm getting to know the college kids and all. It's a lot of fun. One of the guys who's been there all year, but as a junior counselor volounteer, he's started calling me Margarita.

And my dad picked up that awful nickname that Cheese calls me, and it's all Bertha's fault.

The new staff are pretty cool, of course, I haven't actually met them all. There's one girl I don't know, and a guy who I just met today. He's quiet, she's... I have no clue, she's on the trips taking kids to the pool or something. :D

Just so you all know, I'm prob going to be a lot skinnier at the end of this summer. We have about five minutes to eat lunch, and then we're talking to kids and all. And I'm riding my bike to work and back half the time. I'll have to get pointers from Applesauce Man on how to not be too skinny.

I have to remember names for about two hundred kids. I'm doing pretty well, I think. Except of course, the two that I mix up. Every year there has to be a couple of them. This time at least the names both start with the same letters. During the school year, they weren't. But those two hung out together, these two don't, one's a trouble maker, the other's a pretty good kid, but I always call his name when the other one is acting up. Pretty frustrating. And the good kid is like, I'm not doing anything. Prob by the end of the summer, they'll be answering to eachother's names, at least in my room.

I could go on. But I'm seriously tired, those kids will wear you out. I'm going to stop making sense or catching typos. So long for now.

In Response to that last comment...

2005-06-20T08:38:00.000-04:00

I've got comments! I've got comments!

I don't know what the usual courtesy for replying to these things is, so I"m going to reply here. :)

Bertha- Who is Sloth? It's not Nasty Asia is it? And fyi, he doesn't think you love him more than Sloth and I. He thinks you don't like him at all. So there :-P

Donutguy~ ADAM!!!!! he's right, I do know him. actually I think Jacob and Adam might actually know a little about each other.... Anywho... ADAM!!! good to see you how was the lastest week of work/Halo?

Mouth2Big~ I saved the best for last. :D I will not play a sheepskin, but I do have a Daduke somewhere around here, it sounds like a duck and you look like a chipmunk exploding with you play it. Lots of fun. :) Bagpipes are cool though. Speaking of which, does Micheal have a blog where we can annoy him to death with a million comments on why he didn't wear the kilt to the formal?

Yesterday we went and visited my Grampa. I didn't know this, but he was run over by a car twice, this is added to his finger getting cut off by a broken bottle. And he flew a plane in WW2, the eqivalent of 28 times around the equator. Pretty cool.

Then we went to D.C. and saw the new WW2 memorial and the Korean war and the Jefferson and mason and Lincoln Memorial. And I went to Georgetown for the first time that I can remember in my life. Which is weird. Anyway. Take care. I'm off to work..... AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

Thoughts

2005-06-18T20:13:00.000-04:00

So, yesterday Gary and I were talking, and he told me about something he's been chewing on. (not really, that'd be gross). See, you know how God the Father calls himself Abba Father, which is like Daddy. Gary was thinking, why didn't he want to be called Grandfather?

So he was comparing the roles of Daddy and Grampas. I don't know about your Grampa, but Mine has never grounded or spanked me. And I wasn't an exceptionally bad kid, but I did get punished a bit, by my dad.

So a father chastens us. And the Lord does that. Just look at the Isrealites. They were almost always in some kind of trouble. He grounded them with droughts and famines, spanked them with the Assyrians, Babylonians, and all those other people who they fought with and lost.

So that was that thought.

Oh and we're reading Haggai now. The first chapter is about God telling the people to build His temple. And they're like, no this isn't the time, we don't have the money. And He says, kids, you've got things in your houses you don't need, you spent money for those, but you won't build my house?

So how does this apply to me? I am God's temple. If you think about it spiritually, am I taking time to make my mind, heart, an acceptable home for the Lord? They said it's not the right time. For me, I'm always running and wasting time on stupid things then I "don't have time."

That's my thought for the day.

By the way you crazy drama people, Cheese is a nickname for a person... I'm guessing you got that. But ... whate'er, you're all crazy!! (me too)

Today we had training. They made the staff play those games we make the kids play to wear them out. Woohoo! It wasn't so bad. We got to spend time with our new co-workers. AHHH. Camp starts on Monday and I am going to be freaking out. It's a gigantic responsibility, and then there's the inspectors who show up with no notice and .... We're going to have new kids. The kids during the school year I know, and they're pretty good, but you hear all these horror stories at training. Yikes. OK, I've got to go. Later you all.

To Cheese

2005-06-17T22:59:00.000-04:00

I dedicate this post to Cheese. Cheese is really nice, except to Bertha sometimes. Not sour, for the most part, whatever you've been told about milk.

I'm not sure if this particular Cheese is orange or yellow or blue. I"m thinking caucasian, blue, brown. This Cheese is from SC, we've been to the same mall before.

This Cheese is more commonly known as Dan, is definately human, has never molded or been on a sandwich. Really nice guy.

Hah, Cheese, I wrote about you, now you have to read my blog!!! :P

A COMMENT!!

2005-06-16T19:05:00.000-04:00

ok, so yeah, I'm excited over my sister saying I'm awesome. But it's the first comment I've ever ever ever had on a blog! Woohoo! And Bertha beat you all to it. You ought to be ashamed. A million of you reading my blog, you absolutely love it, and yet it's my very own sister who comments first.

I guess my whit just leaves you all speachless. Or whatever.

Sorry, Marieke, that's your act. You can have it back now.

Today we had CPR training. That was fun. The lady who was teaching told a lot of stories so it was interesting enough. But let me tell you, daycare training is not for the weak. I had to do compressions about a hundred gazillion times. That poor dummy. And well, the awful stories you hear. They tell you so that you make sure to pay attention. And not loaf on the job.

I start full time next week. Woohoo. I"m a bit nervous, I get to have my own room. Not like I don't now, but summer is.... More responsibility. Yikes. But I'll do fine :). Today i found some games that the kids liked. Sigh. Tomorrow's the last day of school. It's a half day. I'll be at work for six hours. oh boy.

I think I'll end now. If anyone needs first aid or CPR, I"m certified. yeah, after the way I drone on and on, you'll all be hurtin.

Life In The Oyster

It's a Small World After All

What I Do On Sick Days When I'm Not Sleeping

Sick Day

A Pearl is Born

Old Friends

I'm in love.....

Kryptonite

It was the grooviest of times, it was the stinkiest of times.

The Truth

*You can't see me*

The Many Adventured of My Family

GO READ

Farewell Dear Heart!!!!

To Be, Or Not to be!

Fulsome Prison, Nottingham and other random thoughts.

The absolute coolest quiz ever.

Oh to be a grown up.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*sigh* I think I'm in LOVE....

SQUIRRELS!!!!

OH HAPPY DAY!

Contradictions

Oh my. Head. I am sick!

HAPPY HAPPy HAPpy HAppy Happy happy

No Comment

A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes...

Storms In Africa

Daddy's Friends

And the big bad wolf said....

Hmm.... think of something witty....

A Post

Happy Christmas Eve Eve Eve

WooHoo!!

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:PPPPP

*sigh*

ooooo weirdness!

Now. i am going to get ticked off.

Okay. This is getting really annoying.

WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!!!

Wild Medicine

Epiphany

Calor!!!

Rose Colored

Frozen through

Brrrrr

The Lady Across the Street.

I think I'm starting to act like a girl

Ode to Chucks!

Vi Daraugh. I want to strangle mi hermana. But don't worry, she knows.

Prose

When I Survey....

Extra Extra! Read All About It!!!

Oh boy oh boy oh boy.

Coconuts. At the Oscars. With Bodyguards and Charisma.

Reasons to hate Xanga

Two in one day?

Don't worry, I did survive English

Nothing longwinded today.

Random Random Random!!!

OOOh A Survey!!! Someone forward this to Andriyko, just to be nice :)

I'm sitting in a railway staton.... Aw never mind.

Gone Camping, be back soon.

How many days til I graduate?

How many days til I graduate?

The County Fair

Finally, another post.

Ever seen Marguerite Angry?? Well, this could be your chance.

Contacts

Ahem, I have an announcement to make.

Stand up Stand up For What You believe in believe in believe in God....

I nearly repeated a headline. Golly.

Woot!

I'm moving out. into the yard.

NEWS!!

I'm BACK!!!

Crash Boom Bang!

A kettle of fish.

OH I'm tired....

explanation anyone?

You can't see me

sigh I think I'm in LOVE....

sigh