Sushi!

 Week 1 of being 18

My first week as a legal adult. [My mom says that you're not really an adult until you can provide for yourself. She kind of has a point.] The glorious day of my birth began with fog so thick I could barely see the other side of the high way on my way to school. It ended with gifts from my family, including my wondrous new Nook! I still haven't really used it yet, though, because I have some books that I bought a while back that I need to read. I finished The Once and Future King, over a month after I started it, and I'm not going to review it. Honestly, I don't have enough words to do it any justice. You should definitely read it, though. My WYSE team advanced to sectionals [yeah!]. Unfortunately, I didn't place in my subjects, English and math, but I don't really mind as much as I thought I would. My friends took me out to a sushi and steakhouse. It was delicoussssss! I hadn't eaten there since prom last year, and I had forgotten just how delicious it is. They [sort of] surprised me with cheesecake. And we ended the night by eating Blizzards from Dairy Queen and watching re-runs of Hey Arnold!

The only downside to this week is the illness I'm now fighting with Advil, Luden's Cough Drops, and cold medicine. I don't think I've ever had a birthday without getting sick at some point. But overall, a great start to my 19th year. And thanks to Lex, Anna, and Hazel for wishing me a happy birthday!

Day 16

A picture of someone who inspires you.

I was scared of this day because I wasn't sure who I was going to chose. Should I chose Emma Watson, simply because of how talented, determined, smart, etc she is? Or should I chose my grandmother because of how strong and spunky she is? There were so many different ways I could have gone with this. But when I heard about Dame Maggie Smith's story I knew instantly I was going to chose her. For those who don't know, or realize, who Dame Maggie Smith is, she's the actress who portrays Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter movies. I was perusing my tumblr feed a couple days ago when a post caught my eye. In it I saw something about Dame Maggie Smith and breast cancer [whaaaa?]. Apparently she filmed Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince mid-treatment for breast cancer. “I was hairless. I had no problem getting the wig on. I was like a boiled egg." If that's not inspiring, I don't know what is. I find it hard not to look up to someone who survives on pure dedication and will power. [Here's an article from 2009 where she talks about it.]

What is a lobster, for 100.

As of right now, this is me.

Allow me to explain myself. This summer I managed to land myself a pretty sweet babysitting job.When I say land I mean my best friend Kayla got her license suspended for the whole summer and was forced to work at her mom's orthodontist office therefore giving me her babysitting job. Bad for her = good for me. The kid's name is Reese and in 13 days [he informed me this today] he will be 9. His mom, Daphne, works with Kayla's mom, so when Kayla had to give up the job Della, Kayla's mom, suggested me. Reese has two older brothers, one's 18 and the other's 15. I say it's sweet because he's such an awesome kid. He talks nonstop and is really easy going. I babysit Monday through Thursday, 9-5ish.

They have a pool membership to a private pool literally 2 minutes away from their house, so I go for free. We went Tuesday and Wednesday this week for the first time. I didn't do much swimming, mostly just read the newest Sarah Dessen book while on the layout chairs. I swear I put on sunscreen! I promise! But my skin is so fair that it really didn't matter. So I'm burnt all over and it hurts to move once I've been in one position for long enough. I woke up this morning and I guess I got up too fast. I started feeling light headed [I've never fainted but I can only guess that's what it's like], pukey, my lips and face were chalk white, and to top it all off my burn was killing me. Thankfully, it's gotten better. Which is fantastic because tomorrow afternoon my mom, dad, brother Conor, Aunt Patti, and I are leaving for Colorado until next Friday. Yep, I sure picked a good time to get burnt.

I realize I've taken a pretty long sabbatical from blogging as it is. But I promise to be a better blogger when I get back. I promisepromisepromise. While I'm at it, thank you to everyone who complimented me on my last blog!

One more little slice of life, I met with my guidance counselor last week. Know what this means? For the first time since the 5th grade I won't be in band. GASP! It feels weird, yet slightly liberating. And sad, so many of my friends are bandies, but I can't take it any more. Simply put, band has gotten out of control. There are so many underclassmen that the director is constantly trying to discipline them. But he's so laid back, he lets it go and lets it go until it's finally gone too far. Long story short we spend more time dealing with immature freshmen than we do playing. Band politics, I know, I know. So instead I'm taking Intro to Business. And I will most definitely spend my school year being stalked by the band director.

Hope your summers are going good so far!

Still here!

World champs baby! GO PACK GO!

I feel like a super huge jerk. I promised I'd be all regular on posting and not go a long time without one. Sigh. I'm sorry! But last Monday (my birthday) I left school sick and was out the whole week. There is possibly nothing more that I hate than missing school. I hate make up work. I hate making up tests. And I hate making up lessons. I hate to make up five days. ihatemylifeihatemylifeihatemylife. But as of today I am all caught up. Praise God, Hallelujah! It was just the flu (with a mine bladder infection) but it sucked nonetheless.

The up side? I got to watch my favorite daytime shows! On TNT: Supernatural and Las Vegas. On ABC Family: Boy Meets World, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Full House, Still Standing, and Gilmore Girls. Well now I feel like a huge bum. Oh well, I was sick that makes it all acceptable.

Has anyone seen the commercials for I am Number Four and Beastly? I want to see both so so badly! I don't know if it has so much to do with the actual plot as it does with Alex Pettyfer. I know, I know, he's kind of the typical hot guy. But he's so attractive! And it looks like he might actually be a good actor. Seventeen did a little write up on him. I ate it up, of course. What can I say? There's just parts of me that will always be the typical teenage girl. And I am 100% okay with that.

A couple of months ago I went through this whole ordeal (for want of a better word). It was around homecoming and I was just becoming so stressed. School was turning out to be harder than I thought it was going to be, I was trying to decide if it was really worth it to be friends with the girls I was friends with, all my extra-curriculars were really demanding, and basically all my energy was just spent. (Talk about a run-on. My English teacher would be furious.) In the end school got manageable,  I decided my friends were not worth it and found new ones, and I cut back on my extra stuff. One was yearbook, which I think had more to do with my friends. I signed up with two of them, and I wasn't really that enthused by it anyways. But the other was piano.

You see, I've been taking piano lessons since I was six. I'll do the math for you, that means I've been playing for about eleven years. Piano used to be my life. I took with several different teachers before I found my last one. She's kind of like a local celebrity for piano. I think she might have been on the Tonight Show or something like that. She's amazing. Like, seriously, amazing. She specializes in ragtime and it's just so mind-blowing to hear her play. She started teaching  at the local university in the preparatory department and that's where I took. I actually went through a period in my life where I thought piano could my occupation. I love it.

Well, as a result of the whole ordeal I ended stopping lessons. Which was huge. Major. I'm not trying to brag, but I'm really good. I was Mrs M's star pupil. Last year I won first overall at the preparatory honor's concert. So naturally everyone thought I was absolutely crazy. Which I think is totally wrong. I think I just lost my passion for it. My heart wasn't in it. I felt stressed, panicked, and lost it. I just kept getting this overwhelming feeling that I sucked and I would choke at the next recital. But I've been thinking a lot about it and I believe I need to start my lessons again. If God gave me that talent I need to use it. I just feel so guilty for giving up on something that once was so important to me. And I kind of feel like I let down Mrs M. That's why I keep procrastinating calling her. I dread facing her, I just don't know how I can do it. But I have to. I have to suck it up and just do it.

Okay. Now that I've given myself a mini-pep talk here's one last thing. I stole this meme from DB. I love it! It's a handwriting thing and all you have to do is write down these things on a piece of paper, take a picture, and post.
1. What's your name/your Blogger name?
2. What's your blog's name/URL?
3. Write "the quick fox jumps over the lazy dog"
4. Favorite quote?
5. Your favorite song?
6. Your favorite band/singers?
7. Anything else you want to say?
8. Tag 3-5 other people

Whoops! I cut off my name

 'Tis all! I swear on my dead hamster Hammy's grave to post again soon.