I watched "Angels in the Outfield" for the first time this evening. Although it's not on my favorite movie list, I got quite a few good laughs out of it.

It was strange to see Matthew McConaughey not being cocky!

Baseball just doesn't seem to be up Adrien Brody's alley, but he was fun to laugh at.

Pictures From My Visit To the Hills...(Which was a while ago)

Sabbath Is Coming...

It has been one busy busy busy week. Most of you know by now that that the majority of Monday was spent shopping. I don't think I ever want to go shopping again. The endless "oohing and aaaahing" over clothes that just don't really work, it's a grievous injustice. Anyway, I got a few things. Woopdedoo.

Tuesday I was at the lake from 10-3!!! It was very fun, thanks Valerie and Nika (as well as Spencer and Sage) for a wonderful time!

I'm finishing up last year's school, and my mom wants me to get a minimum of three hours done each day. (Fifteen hours a week.) I didn't do any school at all on the first two days of the school week, so the past few days have been spent cramming five hours of school in. I did it! Praise the Lord for the Sabbath, though. I am sooo tired.

Ryan asked me to play some soccer with him the other day, so we sauntered down to the lawn and kicked the ball around. Our goals we were using were not so great. One has large holes in it which have been there since a few years ago when my dad cut the neighbor's cat out of the net. It had strangled itself. Suicidal feline. The other nets are miniscule. About two by two feet. We stick two of them together to make one net. So Ryan and I puffed and kicked around for a bit. For a while we were running around doubled over laughing with that sort of exhilarating, spluttery, gaspy feeling you get when you laugh while you run. So that was fun fun fun.

I keep saying things in threes. (fun fun fun, busy busy busy.) It makes me feel like Nanny in the Eloise books




A good Sabbath to all! I go now...

Today I went shopping. I went shopping for a long time. I went shopping for a very long time. I went shopping for 10 hours. (Total.) I am tired. Good night.

Say These Really Fast

Today after dinner, Bria, Aaron, Ryan, and I spent a few minutes reading Fox in Sox. We each read it through once (out loud) seeing how far we could get without stumbling over our words and muddling the sentences. I know that the difficulty of the book is mostly because of all the difficult phrases in a row, but here are a few of the most challenging. They are not as hard when set apart from the others, but they're still enjoyable. What a genius Dr. Seuss was! So say these, fast! It's guaranteed fun.


Clocks on fox tick.
Clocks on Knox tock.
Six sick bricks tick.
Six sick chicks tock.

Here is lots of
new blue goo now.
New goo. Blue goo.
Gooey. Goeey.
Blue goo, New goo.
Gluey. Gluey.
Gooey goo
for chewy chewing!
That's what that
Goo-Goose is doing
Do you choose to
chew goo, too, sir?
If, sir, you, sir,
choose to chew, sir,
with the Goo-Goose,
chew, sir. Do, sir.

Bim comes.
Ben comes.
Bim bringgs Ben broom.
Ben brings Bim broom.
Ben bends Bim's broom.
Bim bends Ben's broom,
Bim's bends,
Ben's bends.
Ben's bent broom breaks.
Bim's bent broom breaks.
Ben's band. Bim's band.
Big bands. Pig bands.
Bim and Ben lead
bands with brooms.
Ben's band bangs
and Bim's band booms.

Luke Luck likes lakes.
Luke's duck likes lakes.
Luke luck licks lakes.
Luke's duck licks lakes.
Duck takes licks
in lakes Luke Luck likes.
Luke Luck takes licks
in lakes duck likes.

Through three cheese trees
three free fleas flew.
While these fleas flew,
freezy breeze blew.
Freezy breeze made
these three trees freeze.
Freezy trees made
these trees' cheese freeze
That's what made these
three free fleas sneeze.



When tweetle beetles fight,
it's called
a tweetle beetle battle.

And when they
battle in a puddle,
it's a tweetle
beetle puddle battle.

AND when tweetle beetles
battle with paddles in a puddle,
they call it a tweetle
beetle puddle paddle battle.
AND...

When beetles battle beetles
in a puddle paddle battle
and the beetle battle puddle
is a puddle in a bottle...

...they call this
a tweetle beetle
bottle puddle
paddle battle muddle.
AND...

When beetles
fight these battles
in a bottle
with their paddles
and the bottle's
on a poodle
and the poodle's
eating noodles...

...they call this
a muddle puddle
tweetle poodle
beetle noodle
bottle paddle battle.
AND...

Now wait
a minute
Mr. Socks Fox!

When a fox is
in the bottle where
the tweetle beetls battle
with their paddles
in a puddle on a
noodle-eating poodle.
THIS is what they call...

...a tweetle beetle
noodle poodle bottles
paddled muddled duddled
fuddled wuddled
fox in sockx, sir!

Fox in socks,
our game us done, sir.
Thank you for
a lot of fun, sir

(I had to include the whole tweedle beetle part. It's too wonderful to leave out.)

Fun Times

My life has been so busy and full of fun the past few weeks. I am amazed at how many memories have been created in so small an amount of time. Friendships are stronger, new ones are made, and life is pretty much just great.

Girls' week was so wonderful. Thank you, thank you, Andrea. We did so many amazing things: shopping, uh, shopping, and um, shopping, SHOPPING! Yes, we did shop a lot. No wonder the week was such a blast! I had never realized how much fun it is to shop with a group of girls who share similar tastes to you. And hey, even if someone didn't like what I got, there was at least one girl who did! The benefits of a large shopping group are many.

The most amazing part of the Girls' week was the devotions and meetings. Our theme was "Intimacy With God." We would do a quick Bible study of a few Psalms, and then write down our heart response to the message we had read. I know that I grew in my friendship with Jesus, and I believe the other girls did as well.

I am still so thankful that Uncle Tim was our driver. I love him! Van rides were pretty much the coolest time ever. A few times some girls performed skits in the back seat (Meredith and Indiana Jones was a title of one), we sang a few songs, but the best parts of all were the waving and the honk signs. Every now and then, as we were cruising down the highway, we would all plaster ourselves on the window of the van and wave for all we were worth at the poor people who happened to be passing us. We also made signs that said "HONK!." Ah, that was the most fun of all. We got so many people to honk, and if someone was too embarrassed or too non-obliging to honk, we would stare at them and wave and bang on the window until they turned red in the and zoomed off down the highway. Good times. Once we were waving to some guy in a truck, and apparently we amused him so much that he took a picture of us. That was funny.

The family convention was fabulous. Thank you to Paul and Laura. (No, I don't usually call them that, but I try not to use people's whole names on my blog. So those of you who thought I was being incredibly disrespectful can rest easy. I wasn't.) I would list my favorite activities I participated in, but that would pretty much be the whole convention, and if you want to read about what we did, just go to Craig's blog.

However, there are a few things not in his post that I enjoyed IMMENSELY. I spent the first afternoon on the lake with many of my good friends. We canoed and swimmed (swam?) and laughed until I thought I had died and gone to Heaven. Since when was this much good fun allowed on earth? A few of the boys came very close to tipping my canoe, which I shared with two other girls, but they were gentlemen and right before we were thrown into the watery depths of the lake, they rowed to shore to get us a bailer. And here I am ashamed to say how we repaid them: We tipped them! Apparently, later one of the guys thanked us for it. It was delightful to see the canoe sink down down down. Somewhere we had a glitch in our canoe tipping plan, because we ended up with the under water canoe of the guys, and the ended up with ours which was above water and floating. We ended up swimming with the canoe (under water) toward shore until someone came and rescued us and emptied the canoe of water and blah blah blah you've heard enough of this story.

Basically, it was a good time had by all.

Your Driving Is is: 67% Male, 33% Female

According to studies, you generally drive like a typical male. You're confident in your driving skills, and hardly any situation gets the better of you. And while you may have a few tickets under your belt, you're still a very good driver.

Do You Drive Like a Guy or a Girl?

You Are Batman

Billionaire playboy by day. Saving the world by night.And you're not even a true superhero. Just someone with a lot of expensive toys!

What Superhero Are You?

In Which I Reduce My Body To Charred Remains...Almost

Today I was going to make chicken on the grill. I went out side, turned the propane on, opened the valves, and lit a match to light it. (The bottom of the grill is so full of charred remains of meat; it's too clogged or something.) Anyway, the match wouldn't light right away. I got it on the third try. Third try is the charm, right? I hate that saying... I tossed the match into the grill and WHOOMPH! A gargantuan amount of flame flew into my face. I shielded my face with my arm and stepped backwards. After the flames died down in about one nanosecond, I quickly checked my hair to make sure it was still there. It was. But then I smelled the stench of frizzled and fried hair. All the eensy weensy hairs on my arm are reduced to a half a millimeter. My mom told me to pray next time I start the grill. The End.

When I was in NY, Klara and I had fun dressing up...something I hadn't done in a looong time. She was Nanny McPhee and I was Mrs. Quickley, though you have to use your imagination to tell she's the person I'm trying to look like. Hurray for fake beauty mark and crocheted and yarn hair! The funnest part of dressing up was saying: "Behaive" and "Aw, look at the little small things."

Update

Vacation was wonderful. It was glorious to bask in the sun, not worry about school, run around playing and being crazy, and to just relax. Hurray for the summer.

I came home to a very different house and room. My walls are now a beautiful red, instead of the flowered wallpaper they were a few weeks ago. I have wood floor instead of rug, and that is perhaps the greatest blessing. I am very very hard on clothes, furniture, and things like that. My rug was well worn and had definitely payed for itself, but it was looking very sad and sorry. I also got a fan/light fixture installed. Three cheers for home improvements! Maybe I'll post pictures later.

I was gone the last few days to one of my favorite places. I had a wonderful visit with some of my favorite people. Thanks to the Holschers for a lovely relaxing time at their house.

Since War and Peace, I have read two Lemony Snicket books (I figured I had to read them sometime.), and half an Alistair MacLean. My reading skills are almost completely exhausted. However, I have the whole summer ahead to enrich my mind and vocabulary with other great literature.

Mission Accomplished

Last night at 10:30, Cara officially finished War and Peace. It took me approximately five weeks. The last part of the epilogue was the hardest. My dad says that I'm now officially a nerd. Ha. Now I can relax with a nice cosy Alistair MacLean. H.M.S Ulysses, here I come!

Fasting From Blogland

I have decided to have a blog fast for the next few days. I'll be working to get us ready for the Cape, to get the house ready for home improvements, and to finish up school. Because blogging is my #1 time waster, I'll refrain from the enjoyment of visiting each different site and seeing what people have to say. So tata for now, and perhaps you'll hear from me when I'm at the Cape.

Shoe Quotes

1972: The first woman falls of her cork sandals. Millions follow. ~Vogue

When a woman pulls on a great pair of boots, she not only walks differently--she behaves differently. ~Catherine Wilson



You want to fall in love with a shoe, go ahead. A shoe can't love you back, but, on the other hand, a shoe can't hurt you too deeply either. And there are so many nice-looking shoes. Allan Sherman

Give a girl the correct footwear, and she can conquer the world. ~Bette Midler



If shoes don't hurt, they don't have style. ~Emma Bombeck



If the shoe fits, it's too expensive. Adrienne Gusoff

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way, when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them, and you have their shoes. ~Frieda Norris

A pair of shoes must be perfect like an equation and adjusted to the millimeter like a motor piece. ~Andre Perugia

Always wear expensive shoes. People notice. ~Brian Koslow

Stilettos--not combat trousers and pierced tongues--are a real source of girl power. ~Lesley Thomas

Something I Read Recently Which I Found Intriguing

In order to persuade the public to support a particular viewpoint, environmental activists often exaggerate some risks and downplay others. By using true but misleading statements, practically any substance on earth can be made to sound like a menace to society. For example, consider the following true statements about the chemical dihydrogen monoxide(DHMO):

• DHMO is a powerful solvent that can corrode many metals.
• At high temperatures, DHMO decomposes into explosive gases that can be used as rocket fuels.
• Chronic exposure to solid DHMO can cause severe tissue damage and gangrene; exposure to the liquid form causes temporary changes in the skin. Contact with DHMO vapors can cause severe burns.
• Laboratory animals fed large amounts of DHMO exhibit nausea, vomiting, edema, and electrolyte disturbances; only a few grams injected intravenously can be fatal.
• DHMO is used in the manufacture of pesticides, plastics, and nuclear weapons; it is also used as a general-purpose solvent and coolant in the chemical industry. Many industries dump DHMO into the environment. It is often stored near populated areas.

Based on the above facts, would you think DHMO should be banned? Carefully regulated? Or not regulated at all? Actually, banning dihydrogen monoxide would be a grave mistake. Even though all of the above statements are true, human life would be impossible without DHMO--which most people call water.

Although no one seriously proposes to ban water, many current environmental debates--from chlorine bans to the elimination of pesticides--are based upon similar exaggerated fears. Although there are many legitimate concerns about pollution, keep in mind that not everything that sounds ominous is a threat to the environment.

Movie Which Guarantees Enjoyment To Almost Everyone...

Check out this amazing movie I just came across. ;) Here it is...

Your Hillbilly Name Is...

Leanne Lou Rambler

Hillbilly Name Generator

Drawings by Cara

Here are my two most recent drawnings. Thought I'd share them with you...

Driving

My first days of driving have gone really well. Wednesday was spent anstily waiting for my Dad's automatic to be available for me. I worked hard on school and even cleaned the house a little. Then I called Daddy to see if his car was ready for me to use, and guess what? He had to go to Portsmouth. Well, that left three options.

Option #1: To wait till he got back
Option #2: To illegally drive the uninspected GMC Safari
Option #3: To attempt the standard.

Option 3 being the most appealing to me, I decided to drive the standard. (Here's where I heave a long sigh.) Mama graciously set aside somet ime for driving with me, and we set out in the Camry. Starting went really well. I smoothly started, got out of the driveway and accelerated on our road, and then...I forgot that there's more than one gear. Yes, I know, it's embarrassing, but I totally forgot that I had to shift and then I did it really hasty and then I freaked out and decided to have my mom drive me to the parking lot and to practice driving there. Some more humbling things happened which I'll leave to your imagination...

The parking lot was good. I practiced shifting between gears, and starting on hills. It all was good, until little kids started to run in directly in front of me. Then I had to back down a hill to let someone pass me, and from there on it was downhill...no pun intended. I had difficulty starting up again. Lots of mothers at the playground nodded their heads sympathetically when they heard me stall. They all knew what it was like...argh. After a while I got tired of people watching me, and I had Mama get me out of there.

When Daddy came home around nine he asked if I still wanted to drive with him in the automatic. We decided to give it a try. I got the crash course (my dad laughs when I say that, then he starts making jokes about the "crash" course...) in driving that evening. We went on some back roads, jumped on the highway for a few minutes, took some shortcuts to a gas station, Daddy had me pump the gas, then we went to Hannaford and I parked, then we got back on the highway and went home. It was all so unbelievably easy and uncomplicated. I want to drive to Fairwood and visit Bria now...

So that is my saga about my first day of driving. I have attempted the standard one more time since then. I drove it to my house from my grandfather's, about two and a half miles. It was a magnificently flawless ride. My spirits were boosted and now I'm ready to shift again.

Onto other things--

Highspeed Internet is the most glorious thing in this world. A few hours after we had it installed, Aaron was looking up some stuff online. I needed to call mom, so I was hunting around for the cell phone. Then Nancy pointed out to me, that I didn't need one. I could actually use the phone and be online at the same time. Thank God for wireless and highspeed.

I've been chipping away at War and Peace for the past couple of weeks. I had expected it to be a totally baffling, boring book. On the contrary, it's very easy to read. It also has an enjoyable story line. The most daunting part is the length. My copy is 1384 pages. The Russian names are sometime difficult to remember. I get Anna Pavlovna and Anna Mihalovna mixed up now and then. But for the most part, it's a straightforward book. I wouldn't say that Russian literature is my favorite stuff to read, but it definitely isn't too bad.

The pool is open! Come on over and swim, everybody! The majority of the leaves have been skimmed out, but there is still a layer of dirt which needs vacuuming. However, with a little zap of the heater, and a little warmer weather I'll be in it, dirt or no dirt. I can't wait to start this year's lap chart. Last year I started counting laps in the end of July/beginning of August. (A lap is there and back across the pool) I got 200+ something in, but I've already blogged about that. Maybe I'll get 500 in this year...

That's about all the news I have right now. Have a wonderful Saturday everyone!

The Long Awaited Day

The big day has come! The moment we've all been waiting for! I start driving today! Unfortunately, the long awaited moment has to wait for a few more moments. My parents are gone for the afternoon, and Mama still has to dig out my birth certificate. Anyway, I now can drive on the road without breaking the law. Hurray! No more furtively avoiding eye contact with policemen in case they'll read my inner thoughts...just kidding. Just you wait tomorrow! I'll be cruising New Hampshire's roads.

A Story For You To Enjoy

The Dinner Party
by Mona Gardner

The country is India. A large dinner party is being given in an up-country station by a colonial official and his wife. The guests are army officers and government attaches and their wives, and an American naturalist.
At one side of the long table a spirited discussion springs up between a young girl and a colonel. The girl insists women have long outgrown the jumping-on-a-chair-at-sight-of-a-mouse era, that they are not as fluttery as their grandmothers. The colonel says they re, explaining that women haven’t the actual nerve control of men. The other men at the table agree with him.
“A woman’s unfailing reaction in any crisis,” the colonel says, “is to scream. And while a man may feel like it, yet he has that ounce more of control than a woman has. And that last ounce is what counts!"
The American scientist does not join in the argument, but sits watching the faces of the other guests. As he looks, he sees a strange expression come over the face of the hostess. She is staring straight ahead, the muscles of her face contracted slightly. With a small gesture she summons the native boy standing behind her chair. She whispers to him. The boy’s eyes widen: he turns quickly and leaves the room. No one else sees this, nor the boy when he puts a bowl of milk on the verandah outside the glass doors.
The American comes to with a start. In India, milk in a bowl means only one thing. It is bait for a snake. He realizes that there is a cobra in the room.
He looks up at the rafters—the likeliest place—and sees they are bare. Three corners of the room, which he can see by shifting only slightly, are empty. In the fourth corner a group of servants stand, waiting until the next course can be served. The American realizes there is only one place left—under the table.
His first impulse is to jump back and warn the others. But he knows the commotion will frighten the cobra and it wills strike. He speaks quickly, the quality of his voice so arresting that it sobers everyone.
“I want to know just what control everyone at this table has. I will count to three hundred—that’s five minutes—and not one of you is to move a single muscle. The persons who move will forfeit 50 rupees. Now! Ready!”
The 20 people sit like stone images while he counts. He is saying “...two-hundred and eighty...” when, out of the corner of his eye, he sees the cobra emerge and make for the bowl of mil. Four or five screams ring out as he jumps to slam shut the verandah doors.
“You certainly were right, Colonel!” the host says. “A man has just shown us an example of real control.”
“just a minute,” the American says, turning to his hostess, “there’s one thing I’d like to know. Mrs. Wynnes’ how did you know that cobra was in the room?”
A faint smile lights up the woman’s face as she replies: “Because it was lying across my foot.”

Books

A few weeks ago I read my 50th book of the school year. I thought I'd celebrate the wondrous occasion with listing a few of my favorite books on that list.

1. Pride and Prejudice
2. War of the Worlds
3. Wuthering Heights
4. In This House of Brede
5. Far From the Madding Crowd

I read a bunch of heftier books, but they weren't quite as wonderful as the previously mentioned. I'd planned on reading m any many more books this year, and I enthusiastically started books like Anna Karenina, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Les Miserable, Crime and Punishment, etc. However, I didn't finish any of them because I felt that I wasn't enjoying them and giving the attention they deserved, so I put them aside for later reading when I can throw my heart and soul into it. So for now I'm just finishing up Dickens and such.

A few nights ago, I was feeling the need for some light, enjoyable reading. I scoured the house, Bria's room and basement mostly, but nothing jumped out at me. Then my brilliant mother came up with a brilliant idea and a brilliant book. The BFG by Roald Dahl. Growing up, I strongly disliked Roald Dahl's books (except for Charlie and the chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator) especially James and the Giant Peach. I never would have thought that when I was fifteen I would love them and be reading all of Dahl's books. Yes! It's true! I've finished the Charlie books, The BFG, now onto Matilda, The Twits, the MinPins, etc. Roald Dahl has the most wonderful imagination. He comes up with such lovely creatures. (e.g. Vermicious Knids, Sausage lipped giants, the unforgettable Oompa-Loompas, humplecrimps, wraprascals, crumpscoddles, and the great squizzly scotch-hopper...the last few which area ll mentioned in The BFG.)

Anyway, the BFG is about a Big Friendly Giant with huge ears who is nothing like the other nine giants int he world who hunt little children and eat them every night. He's a sweet, runt giant who catches dreams and gives little children nice dreams at night. One night he finds a little girl who has seen him and takes her way and together they save the world from the awful giants. And he talks in a loverly way. This is not the best example of his amazing speeches and words he comes up with, but it will do. At this time in the story, Sophie is very worried about little children in England because the giants have just headed their for a midnight snack.

"We've absolutely got to stop them!" Sophie cried. 'Put me back in you pocket quick and we'll chase after them and warn everyone in England they're coming.'
'Redunculus and um-possible,' the BFG said. 'They is going two times as fast as me and they is finishing their guzzle before we is halfway.'
'But we can't just sit here doing nothing!' Sophie cried. How many girls and boys are they going to eat tonight?'
'Many,' the BFG said. 'The Fleshlumpeating Giant alone has a most squackling whoppsy appetite.'
'Will he snatch them out of their beds while they're sleeping?'
'Like peas out of a poddle.' the BFG said.


Maybe my description of the book doesn't make it sound as glorious as it is. But I suggest you read it. Especially on a Saturday afternoon when you feel the need to laugh.

I Must Have Been Bored...

You Are Guinness

You know beer well, and you'll only drink the best beers in the world. Watered down beers disgust you, as do the people who drink them. When you drink, you tend to become a bit of a know it all - especially about subjects you don't know well. But your friends tolerate your drunken ways, because you introduce them to the best beers around.

What's Your Beer Personality?

Here's How I Scored!

You scored as Cara. You are Cara. Bouncy and happy (most of the time), you love art (whether it's creating it or critiquing it) and movies. Especially movies...and art. Cara 100% Alison 92% Duncan 92% Aaron 83% Ryan 75% Bria 50% Earl 33% Ian 33% Which Sandford are you? created with QuizFarm.com

Webshots!

community.webshots.com/user/carabethie

Catch-Up Time

Everybody~

I am so sorry that you've had to see my little annoying dinky post about Christmas fuzziness every single time you've gone to my blog. That is absolutely pitiful. If I'd realized it was such a short silly, nothing-really-to-sat-but-saying-something-for-the-sake-of-saying-something I would have written something else sooner. Enough said.

The youth weekend we had last weekend went very well. There were many amazing adventures we had...(Meredith's nose being ripped open, sort of, Me being slammed to the gym floor by the force of a flying ball which hit me in the head,...) but all was grand. I took another two rolls of film, mostly of people jumping around playing football, or girls in the sleeping attic.

I have lots of fun pics from when the Holschers stayed here the first week of January. Lots of shots of us skating. Speaking of skating, I used a snowblower for the first time yesterday. It made me feel nice and macho and tough. Heh heh. But then I got really cold doing it so I had Aaron take over while I shoveled. (Oh yes. I forgot to say I was snowblowing the snow on the pond.)

My newest hobby is snowboarding. I had some Christmas money to spend, and I was wondering what I should use it for. Aha! Snowboard and boots! So I went to the store, picked up a nice blue and purple snowboard and am braving my hill. My first time down was exhilarating. I was so awesome. And then my second trip down was on my back with my legs in the air from time to time. I had a bad start and then I couldn't get up because my board kept slipping further down down down. The rest of my attempts were more similar to the second one than the first, but my excitement and determination is as steady as ever! I need to find a place to do the half-pipe...Eventually.

Well tata and thanks for reading! I shall post again within the next half a year!

I am really looking forward to Christmas! I think that the best part of Christmas is when people like the gifts you give them. It makes everyone get the warm and fuzzies. I finished my shopping yesterday, but it was so tempting to buy more for everyone. All of the nice thngs that I knew people would love would jump out at me...but I'll write more later. An older sister whose name I shall not mention wants me to call and order pizza now so she doesn't have to wait for it to be made. Must free the phone line!

One of Many Conversations in My Busy World of Babysitting

With Christmas coming the kids I'm babysitting are getting increasingly excited and anxious about Santa's arrival. Here's what Dylan and Raina had to say about it:

Dylan: (In a very loud, melodramatic voice) Look what Santa gave me! SPIDERMAN and his motorcycle! *pauses to see my reaction and shakes with joy*

Me: Wow! I love Spiderman! When did you see Santa?

Raina: At my cousin's Christmas party. But the reindeer were scared, so they stayed on the roof and Santa came in a car.

Dylan: They weren't scared of me! (Triumphantly) And Santa gave only me a present, Raina didn't get anything!

Raina: (Heatedly and Belligerently) LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE! You didn't see any reindeer, and Santa gave me a present too!

Dylan: (for the rest of the evening, mumbles) Liar liar pants on fire, liar liar liar, liar liar pants on fire...

Left Brain, Right Brain

The subject in school that I struggle with the most is writing. It was a surprise to me when I realized this, because it used to be my strongest, not the weakest part of my schoolwork. I was trying to figure out how this had happened, and I decided that there could be one or two reasons why I have to work so hard to write a good essay.

#1. I used to write all the time, whether creative writing or a school composition. The last few years I had very few writing assignments, and my writing muscles slowly atrophied. Could the simple reason that I dislike writing so much be that I didn't exercise my composition skills?

#2. I've learned a lot recently about the differences of the right and left brain. They say that if you use your left side of the brain mostly, you think in words. (or something like that.) I used to see my words in my head as I talked. It was like those screensavers where you have a phrase run across the screen...I would see the words run through my head in consistent motion...and I think that you use the left brain for writing. However, a few years ago I learned that when you draw pictures you have to look at shape, something which the left brain doesn't do. Seeing the negative and positive spaces is a skill of the right brain. I taught myself how to use my right brain, to see shapes and colors etc. As I became more adept at that, my drawing skills increased, and I seldom used my left brain. Aha! Maybe I used my right brain so much that my left brain isn't use to the exercise! hmmm...

Or it could just be that my writing book is more challenging...which is probably what it is, but the other solutions sound more interesting.


I have watched a lot of movies recently, being sick and all. Probably my favorite one that I saw was War of the Worlds. Those of you who have seen it are probably wondering what's wrong with me. At least, I've had a few people ask me that already. Teehee. I've always been a fan of the science fiction and fantasy section of the library. (Though some gets a little too strange for me.) I just read some H.G. Wells this summer, and I was interested to see what a movie about one of his books would be like. Sometimes though, I wonder what Wells had gong on in his mind. Some of his stuff is very strange. I read The Time Machine at twelve o'clock a.m., and I did not sleep well that night. (And I'm not one to be scared, either.) Anyway, I absolutely was contented with War of the Worlds. The blood spraying everywhere was disgusting, but it didn't bother me that much. The part where the ferry tips over and all the people are in the water trying to escape the tripods made me want to become a really fast swimmer. That way if a tripod was ever chasing me, I'd escape. Yeah right. But I'm thankful that tripods and aliens aren't invading the earth.

Two Recent Events

A couple interesting things have happened to me recently. One frustrating, one slightly funny.

1. I tend to leave glasses of water all over my room. Two on my vanity, three on my bureau, and one on my window sill, etc. My cat schooner has a habit of drinking from the glasses...a habit which I despise. When I wake up in the middle of the night thirsty, I never know if my water is clean or cat-contaminated. Schooner also sticks his face so far into my glass that he loses his balance and falls over, splashing my water all over the contents on my floor. (And there are usually quite a few things on my floor.)
On Thursday morning I ran up to my room to grab my library book. I was frustrated to see Schoons had once again dumped my water. I wiped it up, forgot about it, then went back downstairs. (An hour passes.)
I went to my computer to do math. I started it up, then turned on the monitor. (Or rather, tried to turn it on.) I thought that it had been unplugged, which happens often. Sure enough, it had been; but when I turned it on, instead of seeing the "Press a Key Now," I saw blackness. And then I heard "ffhp ffhp ffhp." Uh oh. No matter how much I tried the monitor wouldn't turn on. Whenever an electronic appliance doesn't work for me, I call Aaron. And that's what I did here. He and Mom came up and we all came to the same "conclusion." The water had shorted my monitor. Aaron comforted me with this: "Don't worry, it's the worse monitor in the house anyway." Thanks a lot. At least it isn't my very own, just a cast-off from my Dad's office which I grabbed.
END OF STORY #!.

2. I think it was Thursday evening around 11:00. I washed my face and went into my room to moisturize it. I almost used my hair straightener. (Lotion that's hair straightener...not the irons.) I thought that was very funny. I had just turned the lights out when I realize that my face needed a little more cream. I groped through the dark till I found my cream, then applied it to my face, climbed back into bed, and was wondering what that strange smell was. My hands smelled like it, and the scent seemed to be clinging to me. Then! Light dawned! I jumped up, turned on the light, and sure enough; I'd used my hair straightener. I flew to the bathroom sink, flushed my face, then made sure I used the RIGHT moisturizer. Aaron was saying I'd have very straight eyebrows...Ha! As if they were curly.

Signs...

Signs of Bria being gone:

~washing dishes takes a LOT longer.
~the graphing calculator is free most of the time now.
~my secrets are whispered into a black furry ear (kate's) instead of my sister's.
~not as many new, amazing, gourmet food (e.g cowboy pie, fried bananas...if you can call it gourmet. more likely "exotic.")
~whenever i get my e-mail on webmail I don't have to retype my name in because bria used it last.
~my exercise video is always where i left it.
~the laundry is backed up a little more than before.
~the Internet is free at night; I don't have to wait til one o'clock to use it.

Thank God for good food, clothes, a loving family, and shelter from the rain and storm.

Me an Obese Priest?

I took a test that said in my past life I was an obese priest who lived in North Canada who was killed in battle. Lovely.

Softball Pirouettes

Today we had a church picnic. It started with a loverly game of a trivia thing, and then there was food and all that jazz, and then the fateful softball game I'm here to tell you about. I was so absolutely determined to hit the ball out of this world. The ground was quite wet, and to my ABSOLUTE embarrassment, I swung mightily and twirled around all the way on my toes and gracefully (so I've been told by a few people) flopped to the ground. I sat there for like one second and was so incredibly embarrassed. but then I got up. I couldn't hit the ball for like TEN pitches after that. Oh joy I felt stupid. And then I hit it badly and dad caught it. Here's where I say a bad word. Next time up to bat practically all the people who knew anything about softball and baseball were giving me millions of tips on how to connect the bat with the ball. I swung again, and fortunately I didn't pirouette that time.

Someone came over to me later, and said they'd heard all about my twirling fall. She said she'd wished she'd seen it, and that someone had gotten it on a camcorder and then she could send it to Funniest Home Videos. Haha-*sarcastic laughter*. But then I re-enacted it for her. So all was fun and it was a good day.

I like lollipops

BEWARE! MUDDLED THOUGHTS!

Too many people I know have blogs! I could take the time to read everyone's blogs, but it would take ETERNITY! or some amount of time almost that long. I think we need to start stopping people from making blogs! Let's all congregate and start the Blog Control Organization of America.
Actually, I really do enjoy how many blogs are out there. I'm just making a big deal of it. There were some people who I didn't know well enough to carry a conversation, but now, thanks to blogs, we all know more about eachother. It's very cool.
Oh @#&*^$@^!! my luscious frappe has frozen. I stuck it in the freezer to melt, I mean thicken and chill, and it froze. not that surprising I guess.
An interesting thought came to mind just now. Why are certain things called what they are. Like, why is an oven called an oven, a tree a tree, a spoon a spoon, a pen a pen, etc. Of course,someone had to name them. I wonder if Adam had to name more things than just animals. I’d never htought about this, but could Adam speak right when God made him? That’s the impression I get from Genesis. Anyway, why call a tree a tree. Hmm, this is getting complicated. Now I’m thinking that God probably named a tree a tree, only, did He say it in English. Most likely not. So what did He call a tree? The word tree probably evolved from the word God gave it.
There’s also the Tower of Babel to think about. I wonder if when the people’s languages changed if their "linguistic area" in their brain was completely wiped out and replaced with Old English or whatever it was replaced with. Actually, they probably still made perfect sense to themselves and just couldn’t understand why everyone else was speaking strangely in gibberish. I’m afraid that I’m not educated enough on this subject to write much more. Probably quite a few of you know the answers to these simple questions and thoughts of mine. I’m not usually in a thoguhtful mood like I am now, and it’s a rather strange feeling to put a few of my many thoughts down on paper.
But, I’m going to stop "thinking" right now. I’m too muddled and tired and confused to continue. Guess I’ll go and browse some other person’s blog and read their written down thoughts.

Laziness!, Thy Name Is Cara!

I love to be slothful. None of this workaholic stuff for me. It would be so easy to live my life and just be lazy. Sleep in, watch movies, read blogs...it would be ideal. People tell me I'd get bored if I did that. Hmm. I wonder if I would. Maybe I should try it and find out. Even though I like to be slothful I'm glad I am not a sloth...(I believe that was a very profound and intelligent statement.)

School started up last monday. It "officially" started, although we're not all "gung ho" or anything yet. Just getting about five subjects max a day so far.

I've been swimming like crazy as well. My mom offered something like a dollar every four laps to whoever does the most, so I've spent a lot of time in the pool. Good exercise as well as a grand way to earn some money.

Caleb 

Bria and Karen 

This is a fav from vacation. 

Elizabeth 

kimberley! 

Dreaming and Fortunes

It's amazing how all of the things from our past week get thrown together into hundreds of dreams each night. A few weeks ago, when I was sick, I had just watched Sense and Sensibility. That night I had a very deep and sorrowful dream. Something about Willoughby leaving and being a jerk. I woke up totally convinced that I was Marianne and that dear dear Willoughby was gone, oh mournfulness... then i realized that I was still me in my bed in the US in the year 2005. It was kind of a comfort to come back to normal life.

We had chinese for dinner the other night, and I entertained myself with opening fortune cookie after fortue cookie. (four all together.)

Your winsome smile will be your sure protection.

Maybe you can live on the moon in the next century.

You will step on the soil in many countries.

There is a prospect of a thrilling time ahead of you.

Well! not too shabby for fortunes! Someone got one that simply said, "Tastes sweet!" I hope they meant the cookie...

Recycled Posts?

Whenever I have difficulty with coming up with a blog entry topic I decide that I'm going to recycle old posts. But I never can get myself to. It'd just be so easy! Take old ones and put them in half a year later, and maybe no one would remember it!

Anyway, I was thinking recently about people sneezing in (usually older) movies and how they stop the sneeze by putting their finger to their nose. I've never had the sense of mind to try it. But, I've always wondered if it works. I can only think of one movie with real people that someone did it, but I could tell you numerous Walt Disney cartoons where Goofy or someone stops a sneeze.

Catch Up

Okay everyone, I'm not burned anymore.

I'll get pics, hopefully within the next week. I haven't developed film yet.

Undeniable Fact

The undeniable fact is that i am a first class, grade A, bright red beet. to some extent... I red a book on the beach and got so into it that i didn't notice the passing time or the heat overhead...you know the rest!!!! I seldom burn, at least not this badly....Guess it's a new experience for me.

Cape Cod AND Bust

I just read Aaron's post about our unfortunate events. Unfortunate events indeed. However, he forgot to mention one. When the AAA guy finally picked our car up and headed back towards the Citgo station in asthma, (spell check...really Eastham) we realized that we didn't want the bikes to be left overnight at the station. (so far, what we had heard about the station didn't sound too promising. When Mom first called the people they told us just to leave the keys in the car and they'd pick it up during their night shift. She mentioned that there were bikes on the car, and she said, "oh, just leave the bikes there, we'll take them!" right. Then the lady said, "are they nice bikes?" no she didn't really say that, but she sounded very much like she was planning to organize some dirty work in the pilfering/stealing line.) Anyway, we four kids biked to the cottage. And right when we got there we noticed mom, Karen, and Nancy all clustered around something on the wall. They were also doing some strange actions such as jumping up and down, holding their ears, and poking the wall thing with furrowed eyebrows. Turns out that they set off the alarm when they were getting into the house. They were trying to punch in the correct code or something. They called some one who told them to do something and they managed to get it turned off before the rest of us got into the house. But the police had to follow up the alarm, and two polite but serious police guys showed up a few minutes later. It amused Nancy and I to see that the strange lumps in their shirts were bullet proof vests. Ha. We dangerous burglars we.

We have been having a grand time with Frisbee, swimming, tanning...You know what people do at a beach. Today we walked out to the end of the sandbars and found an eight foot stick and promptly "planted" it in the ground to see if it could withstand the onslaught of the coming tide. But then two party poopers, so to speak, walked out and dragged it back in to shore.

Bria and I went for a walk this evening and worked on skipping stones. I was doing quite well (at least I thought so), with an average of three skips and Bria having two. But then I found out that she counts how many times the stone's in the air, while I count how many dimples in the water it makes. Anyway, I did get four skips once...My skipping stone skills are getting quite good. Maybe I should look into it as a profession!

hmm, how interesting is it for people to read about my vacation. Well, whether it is or not, you guys are so missing out on being at the beach! What a compassionate person I am!!

Alex has a skim board, which I tried my "hand" at this afternoon. Ha. It looked easy! I sent it flying, and confidently, cockily chased it, then jumped on it, and promptly flipped into the air and landed on my side. Next try I managed a distance of three inches....

Cape Cod or Bust!

Tomorrow we head out to the cape for our annual two week vacation. I remember when the sibs and I were all younger, and one of the highlights of the trip to Cape Cod was making numerous colorful "Cape Cod Or Bust!" signs. Maybe I'll recreat the past and do it again tomorrow!

Last night I woke up around sometime in the middle of the night in a rather confused daze. As I was trying to get to sleep I heard the hinges of our front door groan. Oh no! I thought! It's a robber in the night! What should I do? I didn't panic. I just got up and shut my door and went back to bed. Ha. What a brave person I am!

That made me think of how at the last Youth Weekend Justin Lera was telling a bunch of people how one night in the men's dorm some guy started screaming in his sleep. It creeped Justin out and he said that he got up and locked his door. Then, later in the night, when he had to make a trip down the hall to the bathroom, he grabbed tha lacrosse stick as protection. Apparently, Wesley was wondering what he was doing...

Speaking of Wesley, the other day, Aaron, Ryan, and I were driving down the highway when I saw this tan car which looked like Wesley's. I pointed it out to the others, and we all thought that it would be interesting if it turned out to be Wesley. After a few minutes, we had managed to pass cars and be directly behind the tan-car-that-was-maybe-wesley's. then we zoomed past him (probably at a speed of 120), because our curiosity had overcome us and we were dying to know who it was! It was Wesley. He didn't notice us at first, so I peered out the window and waved my hands and head and grinned like a maniac to get his attention. It did, and our mission was accomplished.

Yoga and Such

Last night I was watching TV with Bria and Aaron. Towards the beginning of the show we were watching, I flipped through the channels to see if anything good was on. Star Wars episode 2 , which Bria hasn't seen, was on FOX. Ithappened to be towards the end of the movie, and we were just about in time to watch the fight between Yoda and Count Dooku/Dukoo - howeveryou spell that - and I was getting all hyped up and telling Bria that the fight between "Yoga and the bad guy is like the best part in the movie!!!" Seems like only I would call him Yoga! And then, this morning I was telling my mom that Star Wars had been on, and called him Yoga...AGAIN!

Quite often in my daily life, I see or say or think of something rather interesting and chuck it into the back of my brain to save for my blog. I've been realizing that the "back of my brain" is a bottomless abyss and that all of my wonderful blog topics are gone forever. So, people, you have been deprived of some very interesting subjects!

my hand drawing 

Artwork That Describes Me

You Are Best Described By...

Under the Wave Off Kanagawa By Katsushika Hokusai

What Famous Work of Art Are You?

Not Raptured

Today we went over to the Fairwood Bibleschool Graduation. It was a grand time. I'm sad to see Jeff and Lisa go, though. I'll miss them. I'll probably see them at Feasts and stuff...

When they were taking pictures of the students after the graduation ceremony, people were looking for Clyde because he was nowhere to be seen. After I mentioned that he must have disappeared or raptured, Derrick said that if he was raptured it wouldn't be good for me. I mentioned this laughingly at dinner. Derrick, my dad says, "Speak for yourself Biker Man." Ha. It turns out that Clyde wasn't raptured.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Kimmie... 

Stephanie... 

Katie... 

Kate (haha) 

Casey... 

Meredith... 

Kayla... 

Youth Weekend pictures! 

Atlas Fireworks

For a few months now, I have been planning where to have my house when I'm old enough and wealthy enough to get one. One day, on my way to Fairwood, I saw it. The perfect "house." Well, it's not quite a house. It happens to be a billboard. It's the Atlas Fireworks Billboard sign. (not the small one, the large one...for those of you who are familiar with the route from Chestnut Hill to Fairwood.) I decided that it'll be cheap, comfortorable, and I have no problem with sleeping on my side. I mentioned my plans to a friend last night, who told me that I'd have to invite him to the housewarming. I think I will...but it'll probably be outside. There's only room for one and half in a billboard.

Asparagus

I've wanted to liven up our basement bathroom with a coat of paint for what seems like ages now. Finally, I picked out this nice asparagus green which my fam liked, and Aaron and I headed out to Home Depot to pick it up. It's the coolest color around. Unfortunately, it's a lot lighter on the walls then in the can. It turned out to be a lime/bright green. Very spiffy. It did happen to be slightly limier than I wanted, but it was fine. I found out that I am a very messy painter. Right now I look like the green monster...only slightly less hairy than the Fenway one. I cleaned off my roller cover by squeezing all of the excess paint into the can, and my whole hand was green! no bit of normal/tan/peacy skin in sight. But it washed off...

The youth weekend was totally awesome. Some of you, or most of you have probably heard reports on it. I'll keep mine short. Sports were cool; they always are! The best activity was the road scavenger hunt. I had the best team...even though we came in third. :D Craig was the leader, and the rest of us were Tim (TJ), Melody, me, and Caitlyn. One of the things that I did was ask a store clerk to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Easier said than done. Craig and I figured that toy store ought to have a nice, cheery, cute little lady running it; One who would be overjoyed to sing a children's song to such nice, happy people like us. WRONG! The first clerk I saw was a man, a busy one too. I walked around the store and asked the other guy who worked there to sing the stupid little song. He told me that "Rob" at the front desk had a very nice voice. By the time I'd gone through the line to hear Rob's voice, I was getting impatient to hear the song and then get back ont the road. I asked "Rob" politely to sing the song for me, and he answered with an arrogant ring to his already grumpy attitude. "I'm not UP to that today." Okay ....on to the fish store. Finally, Chris was very nice and jolly and sang the song for us. Mission accomplished.

Among the few things I did and learned on the scavenger hunt, i learned how to pronounce Kawasaki. I was corrected after pronouncing it wrong and being laughed at. Oh well, you live and learn!