December 29th 2011

          So, I figured out how to post from my phone! Hence the post with the picture! Yay for snow! We actually got a little bit during the Christmas season. Where I used to live, we don't get snow until the end of January into February. Me and Leo and my Uncle even built a little snowman! But since we're in desert country, it melted before the week was out. Today I walked to this little strip mall near our house and applied for different jobs. Two clothing stores, a supermarket, and a little grill. I'm kind of rooting for the waitress job because I'll get tips! I've never actually had a regular job. My job at the church where I used to live was on an as needed basis, and I wasn't needed very often. I wonder what it'll feel like to have a regular cash flow! And by flow, I mean into the wallet and back out into the economy. Lol, I have no self restraint when it comes to shopping. My biggest weakness would have to be sunglasses. Yesterday we took my Uncle to the airport and we got to town early on purpose so he could see the city. We ended up going to this huge upperclass outlet mall. I say upperclass because it was all high end stores like Coach, and Nike, and Saks. Right up my alley. Now, Leo doesn't really have any knowledge of brand names and the like. So I took him in Saks and told him to tell me how expensive a pair of sunglasses were. Now, he knew it was an expensive store so he guessed really high...$50. I think he almost choked when I told him the pair he was holding was about $400 on sale.
          On the way home my phone started malfunctioning big time, so since we were already in the city, we stopped at an AT&T store to get it fixed. That was probably my best experience ever with AT&T customer service. The guy was very knowledgeable without making us feel dumb. That's a talent, I tell you! Oh yeah, I can't remember if I told you or not, but I got the position on YAC! It was funny actually, I found out when I went to see Nutcracker with my dad. I was picking up my tix from Swan and she yelled congratulations as soon as she saw me. Now, being in the middle of a move, I hadn't checked my email in two days. I thought she was leaking secrets or something. And that made them think they might be in trouble until I remembered I hadn't checked my email! So it was pretty funny.
          I can't wait for New Years!! My friend Scout turns 21 tomorrow, so we'll see him on the 31st to wish him a happy birthday. Plus mom wants to buy him a drink in honor of it being 21st and all. After that, I'm spending the night at Hope's. We're hoping to check out this teen club on its grand opening. It's wayyy bigger than OYP. I checked the website and everything, but they don't say if there's a cover charge. I'd imagine there is, but you'd think that if their target audience is 13-18 then all the information is on the internet. But no. I even called and left a message, but their machine was so annoying! We'll have fun either way. Lol, she's trying to set me up on a blind date. But seeing how disastrous the last one was, I'm a little bit nervous.  I'm not averse to the idea, it's New Years Eve after all. Just, apprehensive.
          That's all for now folks!

December 25th 2011

          MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! I had an awesome Christmas so far. We went to midnight mass last night, and it was just beautiful. This morning we slept in a bit, then it was time for presents. I got a lot of cool stuff, but the best was probably the Coach purse and wallet my mom got me! But I haven't talked to my father yet and he usually manages to do pretty well, lol! Gotta go, have a great day!!

December 24th, 2011

          Alright, I know it's been a long time, but just you wait! I've been busy, I promise!
On December 10th, I took my ACT again and my mom picked up the uhaul. We had a ton of big strong manly helpers to load the truck, and I was taking my test so I didn't really have to do much on that end of things.  By the time my test was done, they were only loading little stuff into the very front of the truck. But since the drive to our new place is so long, we didn't have nearly as many people volunteer to help unload at the other end. My friends Neecee and Sketch both volunteered their services, and one of my parents friends offered to drive the truck so mom and dad could drive their cars. Sketch couldn't come at the last minute so it was the six of us unloading in the dark. And honestly, it took us half as long to unload, in the dark, as it did for the whole crew to load her up! But we got it done at a mostly reasonable hour and went to Taco Bell for dinner.
          I'm afraid our new town is incredibly small. Mom decided the best way to get out and meet people in a town this small would most likely be by going to church. Since mom was raised mostly Catholic, she found a Catholic church nearby. We went to Mass our first Sunday here, and promptly signed up to help decorate the church, because I don't believe in doing things halfway. It wasn't as bad as Leo was groaning about it, but it wasn't easy work, lol! There turned out to be a few girls my age there, so I may have pumped them for info on the town. One of my fears came true when they told me the nearest mall was 90 minutes away. I really want to get out and start meeting more people, because they told me their main form of entertainment is house parties. And you don't get invited to them unless you know people, duh.
          So, my mom's brother is in staying with us for the holidays and it's pretty awesome. Some people might think I'm weird for it, but I genuinely like and enjoy almost all of my extended family! Some of my friends moan and groan about family gatherings, but I love them! I firmly believe that without family, you're nothing! Family is always there for you and loves you. Even if you need some tough love every now and then! lol. Anyways, my uncle is an amazing cook! He makes the best omelets you've never tasted. An he made some delicious pork sirloin that sat in the oven for two hours and he's making ribs on Christmas! I know, not very traditional, but who cares! I love ribs!
          Yesterday was the 23rd, so we all drove back to our old town for my grandparents Christmas party. I was really happy because we got to stop in and see Neecee and the kids. I got to see all the pictures of them on Santa's lap and it was really hard to say good-bye, but it had to be done. We got confused about which grandparents house the party was at, but luckily my grandparents and my great grandparents live pretty near each other. So it no biggie. My gramma got me this gorgeous purple set, it had a scarf with an "M" monogrammed on it, some super soft slipper socks, an extremely snuggly blanket, and it wasn't the teeny kind that you can barely cover your legs with, it was a big one! and an absolutely adorable purple beret! I don't know how she knew about my not so secret love of berets, but she nailed it!
          After the party was all done, presents unwrapped and thank you's proclaimed, mom drove Leo and I back into town to spend the night at our friends houses. I got to see Hope and Doug!! Hope had to work in the morning, so we watched some Grey's Anatomy and worked on her last minute Christmas presents. We went to bed around 11:00pm, but I wasn't tired at all, and I could tell I was really bugging her with my incessant chatter. So I got up to see what Doug was up too. We ended up staying up til 3:00am watching American Dad on his MacBook. I'd never seen it before, and dangggg it is hilarious!! I'm going to have to check Hulu and see if it's available to stream. So after we realized what the time was, I crawled back into bed and didn't even move until the alarm went off. I dragged myself out of bed, but I wasn't really awake yet, so I sat downstairs on the couch with their adorable miniature yorkie until I felt like getting some cereal. By the time I roused myself enough to take a shower, my mom was there to pick me up and it was almost time for Hope to go to work anyways.
          After Hope and I said our goodbye's, it was time for the verrryy long drive home. I mostly just turned on my iPod and zoned out for the whole trip. Nobody was letting me drive, so I didn't have anything better to do. Now we're home again and my uncle is listening to the football game on the radio while my parents work on secret things in their bedroom. Their subtlety may have fooled me when I was eight, but come on guys. lol, it's alright. I just love being able to think "TOMORROWS CHRISTMAS!!!"
          I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and that you find time to count your blessings. You might be surprised at the number ;-)

December 5th 2011

                Lately I’ve had so much stomach stress issues! We’re moving on Saturday, and it seems like every day I find a better reason to stay here! Last week, I threw up Saturday night and then I had indigestion all week. I actually fasted all day Friday to see if that would help my stomach settle out. And it did, mostly. But dairy still makes me a little bit queasy.

                I spent yesterday afternoon at Hope’s house eating wings and watching movies with Doug. It was really nice! Their mom gave me a ride home because Leo locked mom’s car keys in the car. Both sets. I’m not sure how he managed to get both in their, but its Leo. Hope and I walked to Wal-Mart to get some movies, picked up the wings on the way home and plopped on the couch having some girl talk and chilling out. Doug came in halfway through the first movie, Something Borrowed. He tries to act all tough, but he’s such a sucker for romcoms.  Then we watched Pirates 4. I LOVED IT! I hadn’t seen it yet, and neither had Hope. I absolutely adored Penelope Cruz and Johnny Depp together! I’m going to miss them so much. I know it’s normal to grow apart from your high school friends when you start getting ready for college, but I really thought I had one more year. Maybe I’m being melodramatic; it wouldn’t be a first for me. It just feels so unfair. And I KNOW I should be grateful. There are so many people who can’t even consider the possibility of college or whose parents don’t have jobs or don’t even have parents. So I am grateful. But maybe I’m really selfish too.

                Enough of that. I really hope we go to the library today! I need some new books.  I wonder if we’ll have to stop using our library system... I hope not! We’ll be back at least three times a month! That should be plenty of time to return and borrow books. I’m just scared this new library won’t have nearly as large of a system. I know for a fact really. There’s no way they have over 20 libraries across this itty bitty town, lol.

                I know it wasn’t very long, but I just don’t have the energy to do more today.

November 28th 2011

            Whew! I am still stuffed from Thanksgiving! I had a great holiday and I hope everyone else did too. My Dad came home for four days and it was weird. This is weird because it was weird. Does that make any sense? It’s just that he hasn’t been home but once a month for awhile now, and the house dynamic kind of changed while he was gone. But it was enjoyable none the less. I got to show off and drive all the way to my great grandparent’s house, which is an hour away, while daddy sat in the front.  This years Thanksgiving was actually kind of small. We usually have over 20 people crammed into the house, but this year not as many people could come I guess. I was just happy my cousin Lizzy could come!!! We had such a good time. We hung out in the spare bedroom just catching up for awhile, and then we went for a walk and saw a dead possum. Then we came back and ate pie for dessert. Finally we convinced great grandpa to let us take his golf cart out for a ride. In a series of unfortunate events including letting Leo drive, I bit the pavement and my knee is still messed up. I was kind of proud though because I haven’t actually skinned my knees in so long!

            When it was time to leave, Lizzy got all her stuff together and came home with us. We chilled at home for awhile and changed out of our family occasion clothes and got ready to go out shopping. We left for Wal-Mart around 9:30 so mom could brave the crowds to get Leo some new jeans on sale. Then we went to the mall to wait for it to open. We had such a good time sitting in the car laughing. Lizzy was explaining her new found obsession with chocolate. Apparently, she never really liked it until she had some really good chocolate and now she can’t get enough!! It’s really funny ;-)

            We had a great parking space right in front of the mall entrance, so we didn’t have to stand outside at all. We just waited until everyone else went inside then just strolled in like we owned it LOL!  We got some good deals at Hot Topic, mom and I found some super awesome Sailor Moon t-shirts and Lizzy found a Drake bracelet. Then we wandered around until we found the Rue 21. I absolutely love Rue and I think mom is on her way! They’re already pretty well priced so the sales were to die for! I didn’t actually find anything but a pair of cute sunglasses I wanted, but mom got a whole dang outfit and Lizzy got some super cute zebra print shorts.

            We got home around 2:30am and just crashed. I’m pretty sure we didn’t wake up until noon on Friday. We got daddy to take us to get some movies out of the Redbox machine at Walgreens. I let her talk me into getting Insidious and we both agreed on Your Highness. Insidious was supposed to be really creepy, but it was so lame! There were huge continuity gaps and to be quite frank, it wasn’t scary in the least bit. We were laughing the whole time. Then we watched Your Highness, which was supposed to be lame and it was actually funny because it was funny. Not crappy lol. We got to eat leftover pie all day, so I don’t think I ate a real meal until after she left Friday evening. Some of my parents friends came over to visit since daddy hasn’t been home much. After Lizzy left and I ate dinner, I was pretty bored all night until I fell asleep.

            It turned out to be a good thing Lizzy didn’t stay another night because I got sick on Saturday. I threw up and then I had a fever and chills. It wasn’t pretty. So I spent Sunday in bed eating saltines when I got hungry.  Today I have a board meeting and then I’m going to try to do an activity with Leo’s friends tonight at Braums. My plan should be fine if I can get a hold of my friend to see if I can get a ride! I’m sure it’ll work out, but I’m going to research bus routes just to be sure. Toodles!

P.S. To all my friends and family who actually know who I am, you may have noticed that I change all names! So if you can't figure out who you are, email or text me privately and I'll let you know ;-)

November 21st 2011

                So I know I haven’t posted in awhile. And I could lie and say I was super busy, but really I got in trouble and I wasn’t allowed any electronics for a few weeks. We finally have a set date for the move. I feel like it’s my execution date or something. I just want time to slow down so I never have to move away from all my friends. But it’s inevitable. I’ve already got my room all packed and we spent Saturday moving a ton of stuff into a storage unit because our new place is tiny.

                On a much happier note, Thanksgiving is right around the corner! I love Thanksgiving, it’s one my favorite holidays.  There is nothing more fun than going to someone’s house and seeing tons of family. Joking around with my grandparents, teasing my uncles and of course, getting to see my cousin from Illinois. Lizzy and I have really only seen each other fewer than 20 times. But spending a couple days hanging out every year is something I always look forward too. One year, she got a hold of my phone and left a message on my friend’s family voice message machine calling him a sexy beast and he said his mom never let him live it down. Last year, mom really wanted a black Friday deal for Leo's Christmas present from Wal-Mart, so we literally spent all night at the store. It was awesome.This year I really want to take her out to see Tulsa now that I live here…even if it’s only for a few more weeks.

                Tomorrow my book club is throwing me a goodbye party! I’m sure I’m going to cry. They’re all chipping in for my movie ticket and Cherry Berry afterwards. We decided to see Tower Heist because it looks funny and the boys will enjoy it too. This whole thing is very sad. I don’t want to say good bye to people! I know we’ll be coming back three times a month, but in the grand scheme of things that’s not very often. And mom is upset because the WoHeLo/Senior and parent meeting for Grand Council Fire is on Leo’s birthday. She refuses to see the good side of it. So we’ll have to spend the morning driving. But then Leo gets to spend the afternoon with his friends and mom. Then mom can give him some money to go off with his friends and have a good time! While her and I do our meeting. But she’s treating him like he’s 9 years old and not listening to what he actually wants to do. I tried to ask him what he wanted to do, but she blew up at me and told me it sounded like I was trying to get his hopes up just to crush them. I know Leo’s my little brother and I dump on him a lot, but I seriously doubt he’s going to want to spend his 14^th birthday sitting in our new place with none of his best friends around.

                I went to the Breaking Dawn midnight premiere with Hope last week, and it was AMAZING! I was also so freaking glad I am homeschooled that night. Because Hope didn’t get home until 3:00am and she had to sleep for four hours, then head to school. And after school, she had to work. Whereas I did not wake up until 12:00pm the next day. But the movie was just fabulous. Better than I expected. I’m so pleased with where they cut it off for part two. The best part was watching the transformation from Bella human to Bella vampire. I’m trying really hard to not do any spoilers. I could probably write a whole separate post summarizing the movie. I used to be this obsessed with Twilight when it first came out. But now I only get this giddy around the new movies. I took down all four twilight posters in my room last year and all my friends and my family thought I was getting sick or something. And just for the record, I’m team Edward all the way. The only thing I don’t like about the whole series, is that when you meticulously go through all four books counting the months, you realize that from the time Bella MEETS Edward to the time that they’re married with a baby and she’s a vampire is only a little over 18 months. That’s including the months in New Moon where Edward leaves. Kind of creepy. But other than that, Edward is pretty awesome. I mean, he does what he thinks is best for Bella throughout the whole series no matter what the personal cost. Jacob, not so much. He’s very selfish and says so himself.

                Anyways, Hope’s mom has got me hooked on puzzles. I was hanging out waiting for Hope to finish her chores so we could watch Grey’s Anatomy (and even then, Netflix was being a pain in the butt) so I worked on this 500 piece button puzzle they had laying out. I got about a 5^th of it done, complaining the whole time that I suck at puzzles. Then Hope came over and she was all like “Dang Razzi…leave some for the rest of us!”. It turns out I kind of dominate puzzles. But the only one we have at home is a 1000 piece photo mosaic wolf that looks really hard for a starter puzzle. I was thinking a 250 or 500 piece might be a good starter. And no photo mosaics for a long time!

                Well, I have to go work on other stuff, so more later!

November 9th, 2011

          So, a good friend of mine recently started a blog, it's called "Add Some Sparkle To Your Day" and it's definitely worth reading!

          These past few days seem like they are just crawling by. And I'm not even really taking advantage of it. I have so many things to do, but I just keep procrastinating :/ bad habit, I know. I need to work on my issue summaries for my WoHeLo, I need to document all my hours doing these blogs, I need to set up a day with OYP to come do my Homeschooled presentation. It's a little overwhelming. Which makes me think, you can be overwhelmed and underwhelmed. Can you ever just be whelmed? Something to ponder lol! 

          I know a lot of those words that don't really make sense. Like, Mouse Mice, House Hice? Nope. Spouse Spice? Nope. It isn't very logical.

          Tonight I'm going to the opening of the DREAM exhibit with my executive director and some board members. I feel so special to be invited to represent CFUSA!

          I finally found a Water Safety Instructor class! Well, Hope's mom found it for me. But same diff. I talked to my camp director and she said that as soon as we completed a contract, that she would include a clause that if I finish the summer at camp and they use my WSI certification, then they'll pay me back for the cost in my paycheck! Super excited for that. It means I get to do swim lessons by myself. Like, be in charge of them! I love being in the pool. I don't particularly want to be on waterfront. Em can have it lol. I know she wants it. I can't wait for summer to come back. 

          Candy sales are coming up soon, and I'm not looking forward to it. I can never decide if I want to go big or go home. We've sold up to three thousand worth before, but we've also had years where five hundred is hard. And so many people are quitting candy sales that it's really easy to get Top Seller awards. It's disheartening. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. That's all for now folks! TTYL